President Wippman’s Writings & Remarks

Killings In Buffalo

May 15, 2022

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Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

Yesterday, an 18-year-old White gunman espousing White supremacist ideology killed 10 people and wounded three others, most of them Black, at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what the Erie County Sheriff has described as “a straight-up racially motivated hate crime.” We abhor all such repugnant acts of hate and racial violence, but our community may feel the pain of this horrific act even more deeply because it took place just three hours from our campus and in a city where many students and alumni live.

Even as the semester comes to a close, please know that the College stands ready to assist any member of the community who is seeking comfort and solace in light of this shocking act of racial hatred. I want to encourage anyone who needs support to take advantage of the many resources available through the Counseling Center, the Dean of Students Office, and the Employee Assistance Program.

What happened in Buffalo is yet another reminder of the need to redouble our commitment to take action against systemic racism and bigotry whenever and wherever we encounter it, and to support those members of our community who most have to carry the burdens of racism and intolerance and may feel the pain of yesterday’s events most profoundly.

David