Dear students,
I write today to acknowledge the email distributed via SOM listservs on Wednesday, January 17th. First and foremost, I want to reiterate that every life, and every culture, religion, ethnicity, and identity has a place at Emory and within our School of Medicine. Respect for all people is a foundational value of our academic community. Each of us views and reacts to events on campus and indeed around the world based on our unique life experiences, and the way we share our unique views is equally as important as how we respond to the views and perspectives of others. The message distributed this week was unprofessional and should not have been sent via our official internal communications channels. Because of the impact it has created within our community, beginning today, messages sent to student listservs will be reviewed and approved prior to distribution.
I am proud that Emory School of Medicine is a place not only of brilliant minds and stellar innovators, but also a place where compassionate humans share the dream of a more perfect world. Each of you is among them. It’s important that we continue sharing our views and perspectives respectfully while making time and space for conversations even though they may be hard. With that in mind, we plan to offer additional upcoming opportunities for students to engage in dialogue that promotes both learning and healing. If these conversations are something you would like to participate in, please watch for future communications.
Advocating for your beliefs plays an important role in shaping opinions and fostering learning. However, using educational listservs in the way they have been used over the past 48 hours is unacceptable, unprofessional behavior and will not be permitted.
I know that I do not have all the answers, but I am willing to help determine ways for us to move forward as a community. If you have additional ideas, I welcome them. I also want to remind everyone that we are physicians or future physicians, and as such, we are healers. At the moment there is too much pain and suffering. Emotions are high and this is a very difficult time on multiple fronts. I invite all of us to put our efforts into healing and growing together through this time.
Sincerely,
Carlos del Rio, MD
Interim Dean, Emory University School of Medicine