To the University of Miami Community,
Over the past week, turmoil has gripped the Caribbean. In widely documented demonstrations against dictatorship, we have glimpsed the violence to which unarmed Cuban civilians can be subjected simply for seeking freedom and petitioning their government to meet basic needs. The stories, images, and testimonies we are witnessing are mobilizing expressions of solidarity by people around the world committed to the values of democracy.
As the Cuban people bravely stand against more than 60 years of oppression, failures of governance in other countries across the hemisphere threaten civil liberties and undermine the fight against a pandemic that has taken a disproportionate toll on the Americas. Indeed, the pleas for “¡libertad!” in Cuba came mere days after Haiti found itself coping with the aftermath of a brutal presidential assassination, compounding pain and worry in South Florida over the desperate situations in which so many loved ones find themselves.
The University of Miami—like Florida and the nation—has benefited from the grit, talent, and ingenuity of scores of exiles, immigrants, and their descendants. Now is the time for all of us to come together in support of those whose heritage has contributed so much to the U.
We are more than a university in Miami, we are the University of Miami. Our history—like our present and our future plans—is imbued with a rich geographic endowment that strengthens our mission of education, research, innovation, and service.
When our institution was established in 1925, its founders envisioned a Pan-American university that would connect and bond with its neighbors throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. A year later, what would become the Miami Hurricanes team played one of their first football games in Cuba against the University of Havana.
Following the 1959 revolution in Cuba, the University opened its doors to many exiles so they could learn English and pursue education in their new home. More recently, hundreds of University of Miami faculty, students, staff, and alumni have spent time in Haiti to assist in infrastructure design, staff rural health clinics, and work with young Haitians to break the debilitating cycle of poverty. In the decades since, our ties across the hemisphere—particularly in times of need—have continued to grow.
In a city of immigrants fortunate to call the United States home, the powerful notion that true freedom cannot survive absent the mutually supportive coexistence of homeland and life—“patria y vida”—is one we understand at the most profound levels, no matter our nationality. At this historic moment, we stand ready to do our part. We fully embrace the call for connection, which is so vital to empowering the brightest minds around the pressing and complex issues our human family faces. |
