Dear Morehead-Cains,

I want to acknowledge the emotional turmoil that many of you are experiencing as a result of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week by police officers. I especially want to acknowledge the pain, fear, frustration, and uncertainty that our African American scholars and alumni must be feeling. I wish I could find the most helpful words to say to each of you individually, but I do not pretend to know what it is like to be in fear because of the color of my skin.

I am sickened and frustrated that incidents like the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor keep happening. They are stark reminders that racism is still pervasive in our society. The economic disruption from the pandemic will be slow and hard to overcome, but I am optimistic that there will be opportunities to address social injustice in our society in new ways. Let’s look for them and determine how we can help effect that change.

The trustees and all of us on the Foundation staff are very committed to making the Program a safe place where we welcome, support, and hopefully inspire, scholars from all races, genders, and backgrounds. We still have work to do. Please write to me with your ideas and suggestions on how we can continue to change to fulfill this commitment.

Let us know how you are feeling and if there is anything that we can do to help. Several of you have already. I want to hear what you have to say.

Sincerely,
Chuck Lovelace ’77
Executive Director
Morehead-Cain Foundation