SUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor Malatras Statement on the Minneapolis Court Verdict Today
April 20, 2021
"The jury in the Minneapolis court has made its decision, and we hope the family of George Floyd may find some sense of closure. The divide that was laid bare by this tragedy in our nation doesn’t go away with today’s verdict. It is, though, yet another reminder to address and tackle issues of racial inequity and discrimination with even more determination.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' We want our students, faculty, and staff to know that our campuses will be a place of safe harbor from hate and discrimination. Also know that there are dedicated resources at SUNY here or on our campuses for our students who want to speak with someone.
We will continue to do all we can to eliminate cultural, institutional, and regulatory racial discrimination. That is SUNY's promise to our students, and in doing so we will be transparent and inclusive. Our students are leaders, and with their voice we move forward."
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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