East Asian Studies at Trinity (EAST)
in Solidarity with Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander
Members of the Trinity Community
March 25, 2021

In his first prime time national address on March 11th, President Joe Biden condemned the violence and scapegoating committed against Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in America. This long-awaited message of support from our political leaders followed a surge of xenophobia and nearly 3800 racist incidents targeting AAPI communities since the beginning of the pandemic. Five days later, on Tuesday, March 16th, in a horrific targeted attack, eight people were shot and killed in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Even here in our own city, hate crimes have been perpetrated on Asian American business.

“Events such as those in Atlanta have awakened a new layer of fear among Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities of becoming the unexpected targets of violence,” writes President Danny Anderson in his recent campus-wide message. “We must all realize that an event like this creates additional worry for our other community members who hold social identities that continue to make them targets of injustice.”

Trinity University has devoted itself to building an equitable and inclusive institution and to rooting out systematic racism. Such efforts focus on our institution but should not be limited to our campus, for Trinity University is not isolated from the broader society.

As members of the faculty and staff of Trinity University, we must also stand up for social justice and promote equity beyond our campus, into our neighborhoods, throughout the state, and across the nation and world. We therefore proudly pledge our solidarity with the Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander members of the Trinity family, as well as those in the community of San Antonio, to strongly condemn the recent rise of anti-Asian hate crimes. During his visit to Atlanta on March 19th, President Biden remarked that “silence is complicity” and “we have to speak out.” We thus join together here to protest vociferously against anti-Asian racism.

We are forever grateful for the impact our AAPI colleagues and students have made to the success of Trinity University and celebrate their contribution to this vibrant and diverse community. We pledge to work as a campus to improve the lives of all members of the Trinity family and ensure that such incidents of hate never occur here.

EAST Faculty
with
CIE Staff and Program Directors
Student Support Group
Office of Academic Advising
Student Involvement
Student Diversity and Inclusion
The Collaborative for Learning and Teaching

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