Dear School of Medicine Community:

While our country continues to reel from the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, I believe it is important to re-visit our values as a community. I fully concur with President Perman’s speaking out against those who peddle hate and have tried to stain the moral fabric of this country.

The School of Medicine will continue to encourage mutual respect among faculty, trainees, staff, students, and patients and demand the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct. The diversity in our community only enriches us.

We will continue to collaborate and communicate with respect and sensitivity as we facilitate and fulfill our mission and vision.

We will strive not to be distracted from the relentless pursuit of excellence every day, while not losing sight of the issues of importance to the state of Maryland, the region, the nation, and the world.

We will continue our outreach efforts to the Baltimore community and the state of Maryland. The School will serve as a significant resource for addressing local, state, national, and international health and public policy issues.

Our values define us both as individuals and as the University of Maryland School of Medicine community. In light of the rhetoric and divisions facing our nation, I ask that everyone take a moment to recommit to the core principles that unite us.

Reflecting these values in our words and interactions is crucial to fulfilling our mission as a school, and as individuals.  Let us all consider the final words of President Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address to a deeply divided nation: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

As members of the School of Medicine community, we can do our part to unify our great country by always striving to unleash our "better angels."

Thank you.

E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland
John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and
Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dear students,

On Saturday August 12th, 2017 we witnessed a manifestation of neo-Nazi, white supremacist terrorism. This demonstration of violence and hatred that resulted in tragedy has rightly shaken us, as it should.

There are no words that can undo the damage that's been done. In times like these it helps to call on the inspiration and guidance of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

These words impart wisdom, and they present a challenge. Now more than ever, we must recall the very reason why we are here. We have chosen a path of service to others, not only to do no harm, but so that our work may be for the benefit of others, leaving this world better than how we found it. Let us start in our own community and bring that Light and that Love to our School of Medicine family, and to our patients. Let us celebrate the Diversity among us, recognizing and honoring the unique story each one of us brings to the table. Let us work and study with even clearer resolve to disprove those who may have doubted us, or made us doubt ourselves.

Each one of you is here because you belong here, because we believe in your potential, and we see the good you can and will do for others. Let us all support and respect each other, and be an example of the true strength in Diversity.  My door is always open; I am here for you, and encourage you to continue to be there for each other.

In solidarity,

Sandra Quezada, MD, MS
Assistant Dean for Admissions
Assistant Dean for Academic and Multicultural Affairs
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
University of Maryland School of Medicine