To the Graduate Education Community:

I write today to condemn the rising incidents of violence and xenophobia against Asians, Asian-Americans, and people of Asian descent across the country.

While anti-Asian racism is not a new occurrence, the xenophobic rhetoric blaming China for the global COVID-19 pandemic has been directly connected to the increase in harassment and violence. In the past week alone, we have seen crimes against Asian and Asian American people in the California Bay Area and Atlanta, Georgia. These xenophobic attacks are causing great pain and fear among many members of our community – including our own students, staff, and faculty.

We want to reaffirm our resolute support of our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and staff. We will continue to work in solidarity to address the xenophobia, racism, violence in our own community and beyond. 

Earlier this month, Chancellor May shared a statement in support of the Asian and Pacific Islander community, urging each of us “to turn once more to our Principles of Community, which provides us with a roadmap of behavior, attitude, and reflection.”

Graduate Studies is working to further educate the UC Davis community on anti-racist practices as part of our Anti-Racism Initiative. Though we oppose racial bias in any part of graduate education and training, we acknowledge that racism has shaped the development of academic research, methods of training graduate students and postdocs, and the make-up of faculty, students, and postdoctoral scholars. We are deeply committed to re-envisioning graduate education and training that actively rejects racist assumptions and structures.

Racism and hatred have no place in our community. Please take care of yourselves and seek out the resources that UC Davis offers to support you:

• Resources for Racial Trauma: A list of resources and guidance documents from the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
   
• Counseling Services: Individual counseling is offered via secure video conferencing or by telephone consultation. Schedule an appointment via the Health-e-Messaging secure portal or by calling 530.752.0871, and Mental Health Crisis Consultation Services are available by calling 530.752.0871. If this is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. 
   
• The Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance (APASA) is available as a resource for faculty and staff (including GSRs, TAs and Postdocs). APASA promotes the welfare and interests of the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.  For more information about upcoming community events, please subscribe to the listserv by emailing apasaboard@ucdavis.edu.

We must speak out against anti-Asian hate and violence. We must also hold ourselves and our leaders accountable to do more to combat the scourge of racist actions and rhetoric. Let us all make time to reflect on these tragic events and to listen to the experiences of others.

Sincerely,
Jean-Pierre Delplanque
Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies