Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,
I write to inform you about several deeply appalling incidents that have come to our attention over the past 24 hours. Each incident involved phone calls to the university from individuals who directed vitriolic hate speech toward the MRC Student Coalition, whose members are conducting a sit-in in the offices of Matteo Ricci College. Let me be clear: we have zero tolerance at Seattle University for hate speech and such harassment and intimidation. There simply is no excuse or place for such behavior.
While I have been assured none of the incidents involved threats to specific members of this student group, we take each incident seriously and have reported them to the Seattle Police Department. If you receive any such communication, I encourage you to immediately report the incident to the university’s Department of Public Safety. Depending upon the nature of the incident, you can report it by calling Public Safety’s non-emergency line at (206) 296-5990 or the emergency line at (206) 296-5911, or an emergency may be directed to Seattle Police by dialing 911 if you are off campus. Public Safety promptly reports all such incidents to Seattle Police for further investigation and appropriate response.
Thank you for taking the time to read this communication. The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and visitors hold the highest priority for us as a university community.
I also want to let you know I will be sending a broader communication to the campus community over the weekend relating to this week’s sit-in by the MRC Student Coalition.
Sincerely,
Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J.
President
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