To the School of Medicine Family:

Our nation and our communities are once again thrust into turmoil because of the unnecessary death of an American at the hands of the police.

Many of us cannot even begin to fathom the everyday fear that many of our friends, fellow students and colleagues live with. The fear that at any moment, they too could become the next George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile or Trayvon Martin. And while we can never truly know their fear, it is incumbent upon us – as Americans, as humans and as Wayne State Warriors – to make a serious effort to understand and to do our part to end the discrimination intrinsic in our systems that allow these senseless tragedies to continue.

When one of us hurts, we all are hurt. We may not feel the immediate impact, but these deaths affect us. They affect our communities. They affect our friends and colleagues. They affect the people for whom we pledge to provide care.

WSU physicians not only care for their communities, they lead them. They are the catalyst that battles health disparities, many of which have their roots in systemic racism. Racism is a disease, and our vocation is to fight disease.

Every life is sacred and is a thread in the pattern that is our nation. That pattern will remain torn and unrealized as long as some Americans continue to lead lives cut short – either through senseless violence or by social determinants of health that dictate higher rates of disease, a lesser quality of life, a worse education -- simply because of race or ZIP code.

Racism of any sort will not be tolerated at our School of Medicine. I want every student, faculty and staff member, as well as every visitor, to feel welcomed and safe here.

Tupac Shakur wrote a poem about a rose growing out of concrete. Racism is like concrete. It is hard. Difficult to break up. And a barrier. Our role at Wayne State, our historic role, is to break up the concrete into fine dust and replace it with topsoil. To create the involvement where there’s not one rose, but a field of roses.

Your School of Medicine remains committed to maintaining an educational and professional environment free of all forms of harassment and discrimination. We have a number of options available to all, including “safe spaces.” The Office of Diversity and Inclusion, located in Suite 1374 on the first floor of Scott Hall, is a safe space where any faculty, students or staff may walk in and share without fear of retribution. Staff members of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are trained to be active listeners, versus listening to respond, a key component in safe space facilitators. Four staff members also have special training in Ally Support for LGBTQ+ inclusivity and advocacy. The office also offers dialogue circles, an intentional safe space created to discuss difficult issues and provide an equal voice to all participants.

For students specifically, the Institutional Justice and Inclusion Committee of the School of Medicine Student Senate publicizes and curates avenues, spaces, meetings and workshops for students to engage in conversations about awareness. The goal is to facilitate the training of students, faculty and staff on facilitation of conversations about race, gender, socioeconomic status, gender expression, religion, legal status and other identifiers that impact how individuals experience the world. Visit here for more information.

We are a community. Communities console and support each other. Communities listen. That is why Wayne State University will conduct a virtual dialogue June 3 at 5 p.m. Please participate via Zoom using meeting ID: 831 3199 8274 and Password: 598720. We want to hear you.

Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D.
Vice President, Health Affairs
Dean, Wayne State University School of Medicine