Tripathi condemns anti-Asian violence

UB President Satish K. Tripathi issued a statement to the campus community Thursday afternoon condeming anti-Asian violence.

“To our entire UB community — and to our Asian and Asian American communities in particular, let me reiterate: Hate has no haven at UB,” Tripathi said. “We will never allow xenophobia to gain traction on our campus. We are here for you, we stand with you, and we deeply value all of your contributions to our campus community.”

The statement comes in the wake of the shooting deaths of eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a deeply disturbing spike in incidents of hatred and violence against Asians and Asian Americans in our country,” Tripathi said, adding that the Atlanta shootings earlier this week have intensifed the concern and fear reverberating across the Asian and Asian American communities.

“We stand in sorrow and solidarity with our students, faculty and staff of Asian descent,” Tripathi said. “Moreover, as a global community of scholars grounded in ideals of social justice, we condemn, in the strongest of terms, anti-Asian harassment, hatred and violence — just as we condemn the ignorance, prejudice and bigotry at their root.”

Tripathi said UB is “incredibly fortunate” to have a large and growing number of students, faculty and staff of Asian descent as members of the UB community, and added that the university has a long and proud history of contributions from Asian and Asian American students dating back to the 19th century.

“Throughout this time, we have always treasured UB’s Asian and Asian American communities for their diversity of intellectual perspective, the cultural richness they share with our campus community and their critical contributions to pressing societal issues,” Tripathi said.

“At this moment, sadly, one of the most troubling issues is xenophobia. That is why it is imperative that we at UB reaffirm, and recommit to, our mission and identity as a university grounded in principles of inclusion, diversity and social justice.”