Dear Harvard Chan School community,
In the days and weeks following the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida last February, the students of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School inspired a movement to call our public officials to account and get serious about preventing gun violence in this country.
Today, another deadly high school shooting reminds us that our work is far from done. We join the people of Santa Fe, Texas in profound sadness at this senseless loss of life. And we raise our voices in outrage at the continued lack of meaningful action at the national level to prevent such tragedies.
On the occasion of yet another heinous act of violence directed at young people in this country, we pledge to continue striving for solutions. We pledge always to remember the unimaginable loss suffered by the victims and their families. And, even as CNN reports that there has been an average of more than one school shooting every week this year, we pledge never to allow ourselves to become numb to these acts or to accept them as normal.
As a community of public health scholars and professionals, we are united in our commitment to overcoming violence, no matter how long it takes.
Sincerely,
Michelle A. Williams, ScD
Dean of the Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
