I write this due to the extraordinary circumstances convulsing American cities and their neighborhoods, and ask that we continue to share in a hope for a better future during this challenging moment in time. The trauma of recent events and the news of rioting will impact our students, families, faculty, and staff deeply and in different ways.
The American University of Rome has watched with shock and sorrow at a time when we should be all working together to defeat a common global threat, COVID-19.
As a leading exponent of American education and American culture, we are deeply saddened to see the physical embodiment of the fractures that still exist within our society made so clear, and our heart goes out to all those who have been affected by the death of George Floyd - and others like him across the globe.
AUR has always been an inclusive, multiracial, multicultural melting pot where an individual’s color, race, religion, nationality, or ethnicity are viewed as building blocks that help create the individual and where that individual is accepted and celebrated for their worth on merit alone. This, we believe, is a true representation of what the United States has always aspired to be, and we will continue to celebrate and uphold that aspiration as we move forward.
Now, more than ever, let us collectively seek to promote harmony and peace.
Dr. Richard Hodges
President, The American University of Rome