As members of the ISU campus community, we are saddened by a recent event that has caused pain to one of our staff members and that has ramifications for our entire community.

Recently, a hate crime was committed when a member of our staff was assaulted in Campustown. The safety of one individual, jeopardized by another who may also be a member of our community, suggests the fragility of the safety of all members. When one person is hurt, degraded or demoralized, in effect our entire community suffers the same blows.

Physical and verbal attacks by and against members of the ISU community are contrary to our values and conflict with the type of community we attempt to maintain. Hatred, bigotry and oppression have no place in a learning environment characterized by respect, responsibility and human dignity. Indeed, it is only when the members of our community reflect those values that learning can take place.

It is disappointing that acts of violence, such as the one experienced by one of our staff members, occur in an educational community; we would hope that our expectations could be higher.

When one individual suffers, we all are impacted by the lack of safety and respect. In an educational community, the least we should be able to expect from each other is civility. As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Ginny ArthurAssociate director Residence life