The brothers of the Delta Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega stand in solidarity with the black community and call for justice for the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the countless other people of color whose lives have been unjustly ended by police brutality and systematic racism. We recognize the detrimental effect that silence has as well as our Greek community’s shortcomings in combating racism within. Together, we voted on this statement and actions to take as a result.
To be silent is to ignore the reality of racism in this country. We recognize that posting on social media is not the end-all-be-all step towards supporting the black community. Along with the IFC, we will be donating to the Legal Aid Justice Center, a non-profit law-firm based in Virginia well-known for their advocacy for Civil Rights and Racial Justice. Our fraternity will push the IFC to stay committed to its diversity, inclusivity, and equity action plan, and we will commit ourselves to the actions that result from this plan. Internally, we plan to continue our commitment to diversity and inclusion by educating our members through training sessions during our chapter meetings in the Fall, reaching out to groups on Grounds that can help facilitate those meaningful dialogues, and continuing to welcome young men from all backgrounds into our brotherhood. Furthermore, we call on our members and on the Greek community to support the petitions surrounding this issue, to protest, and to stay educated.
Below are some links from the UVA community in regards to current events that we recommend reading if you have not already:
BSA Statement Regarding Violence Against the Black Community: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1beUXY6Vyx3LozyD2WYCApktYOlmy-ZVyNdA1IMxTWX8/edit?usp=sharing
IFC Statement in Solidarity with the Black Community: https://virginiaifc.com/?fbclid=IwAR2vv8Chfq2HspOCXhDDQhxiO7agrONk7VlQ39fAEYC26mAhkBG8P6OUyK0
In Solidarity,