To our students, staff, and faculty:

Like many, I’m struggling to figure out how to respond and appropriate course(s) of action I personally can take during this time. Many of you have probably seen the message from Chancellor Gilliam. I cannot come close to offering anything so powerful, and I encourage you to read it, if you have not. It is incumbent upon us all to look inward and outward as we come face to face with realities that some live with daily and others don’t fully fathom (or even recognize). Further, we all need to be mindful of the support we can, and must, show to each other. To that end, there are many systemic areas in our School that we can and will address in the coming time.

I share a couple of things that have recently been shared with me:

• Recognize that fighting racism isn’t about you, it’s not about your feelings; it’s about liberating people of color from a world that tries to crush them at every turn.
• Being an ally is a verb, not a noun. You can’t just magically be an ally to people of color because you say you’re one, it’s something that you must continually work on.

I’m certainly using these as a starting point as I begin my trek forward.

Specifically to our Black students and faculty: Our thoughts are with you and all those close to you during this time. You Matter.

Dr. Dennis AsKew
Professor and Director
UNCG School of Music