June 12, 2020

Dear SRJC Colleagues and Our Community Partners,

We stand in solidarity with our African American/Black community that has faced oppression and injustices for years, across our nation. We grieve for the frustration and exhaustion that has been felt and that the African American/Black community continues to feel and experience. We are not new to struggles. In fact, our programs were created by standing up to injustice and inequity. We condemn not only those involved in the death of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor but all lives lost to police brutality. We stand against a white-as-superior mindset that after more than 400 years still allows the constant and continuous infliction of emotional and physical pain against African American/Black men and women, all without fear of reprisal or accountability.

We must be willing to have uncomfortable conversations. We must speak truth to power on behalf of those whose voices are silenced by bullets, fists, and knees. We must stand up for and with anyone experiencing injustice no matter where it is perpetrated or who it targets.  

We are committed to providing a healing space and resources for our students to safely voice their concerns and issues.

Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cub Scholars/CalWORKs/EOPS/CARE/NextUp programs support the Black Student Union and stand shoulder to shoulder with our African American/Black community, students, faculty, and staff. 

In Solidarity, 

The Staff and Faculty of Bear Cub Scholars/CalWORKs/EOPS/CARE/NextUp
Lily T. Hunnemeder-Bergfelt
Dean, Student Support Programs
Santa Rosa Junior College
707-524-1686 (desk phone forwarded to personal cell)
Lhunnemeder-bergfelt@santarosa.edu