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Support for Iranian Community

10/06/2022

Dear Stony Brook Community,

Unprecedented events are unfolding in Iran following the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was killed as a result of being judged as out of full compliance with Iran’s draconian dress code.

Protesters across Iran and the world are bravely leading a historic movement to support women and bring freedom to Iranians who have suffered through more than 40 years of oppressive rule. In particular, we are watching closely the protests unfolding at Iranian universities. Especially troubling is the recent violent treatment of students at Sharif University in Tehran.

As President McInnis affirmed in her recent social media post, universities are meant to “foster critical thought, intellectual inquiry and freedom of expression.” We wholly agree with this stance, as well as with her statement of support for these students, and other brave Iranians, as they fight for basic human rights.

Our Iranian community is a vital part of Stony Brook. We have many students, faculty, and staff who are from Iran or have other close connections to the country and its people. Several of our student-facing offices, including Student Affairs, the Graduate School, and Global Affairs, have worked together to contact our Iranian students to offer support. To our Iranian community, we stand in solidarity with you and your loved ones.

One of the roles of a university is to advance and engage in critical and challenging conversations and issues. Plans are already underway within departments and across our schools and colleges to host speakers at our university who can bring critical insight. Our University Senate is also eager to support those in our community and scholarly colleagues abroad who are affected by these troubling events in Iran. These events will be widely publicized as they take shape. We encourage you all to participate in events and other opportunities as they develop, as well as share your thoughts on how we can support our colleagues here and abroad.

Sincerely,

Carl Lejuez, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Harold Paz, M.D.
Executive Vice President for Health Sciences, Stony Brook University
Chief Executive Officer, Stony Brook University Medicine

 

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