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Black Lives Matter: A statement from our department

The UF Astronomy Department would like to add our voice to the recent message from UF President Fuchs in condemning racism, injustice, and hate. The deadly violence in the last weeks experienced by unarmed Black people have deeply disturbed, angered and frightened many of us. We know that the disproportionate use of force and violence against people of color, including by law enforcement, is an ongoing reality in America. These events affect our community directly. Many Black astronomers in this country are suffering at this moment. We express our unequivocal revulsion toward these acts, which are just one facet of systemic racism. As a department, we affirm our commitment to ensure the inclusion, support, and safety of every Black person and person of color in astronomy, including our colleagues and students here at UF. By stating our support, we are refusing to dismiss the suffering of those affected as if it were unrelated to us. The work needed toward making a just community, free from hate and racial inequality, may take many forms. We commit to undertaking that mission.

Signed,

UF Astronomy Faculty:
Elizabeth A. Lada      Anthony Gonzalez     Steve Eikenberry      Desika Narayanan
Sarah Ballard             Rana Ezzeddine         Adam Ginsburg          Rafael Guzman
Naibi Marinas            Francisco Reyes         Paul Sell                      Zachary Slepian
Charles Telesco         Paul Torrey                 Bo Zhao

UF Astronomy Affiliate Faculty
Laura Blecha              Katia Matcheva

UF Astronomy Emeritus Faculty:
Howard Cohen          Stanley Dermott        George Lebo

UF Astronomy Staff
Greg Bennett              Matt Glover                Fran Green                 Meghan Gertsch
Frank Varosi              Craig Warner

UF Astronomy Graduate Students:
Quadry Chance          Chenxing Dong          Karolina Garcia          Prerak Garg
Amy Gottlieb              Desmond Jeff             Sarik Jeram                Qi Li
Sidney Lower             Genevieve Markees   Theo Richardson       Jonah Rose
Billy Schap                 Khunanon Thongkham

UF Astronomy and Astrophysics Undergraduate Majors:
Riccardo Ansaldi       Kristina Berkova       Nina Brown                Deal Derod
Madeline Hall             Veema Jhagru            Isabelle Jones             Diana Lutz
Kiersten Meigs           Malavika Nair            Briana Rosa                Urja Shah
Pae Swanson              Kaite Teixeira            Daniel Warshofsky    Yan Zhou

If you would like to add your signature, please click here

To see the full and updated list of people endorsing this statement go here