I’m still working on drafting a tentative agenda for the meeting tomorrow, but it will likely include the following items:
- Remarks by Lina Tori Jan detailing the experiences of her family members in fleeing the Taliban
- Announcements about the efforts already undertaken at UR to help take inventory of our collective efforts, e.g. HR hiring initiatives of Afghan refugees, EAP for current events in Afghanistan,
- Overview of existing resources and groups for people to help get involved
- Group consideration of how to organize meaningful and effective support
- A working draft of an action letter that I have started drafting with Rosa Lovo, Reda Ansar, and several other current and former students to see if it would be possible for the institution to match alumni donations to provide assistance [this may provide a framework to engage FCGR]
- Overview of ongoing language to request that senior leaders make some kind of statement of solidarity
- While our group will need to try to stay focused on the situation with the Afghan refugee crisis, our leaders need to be more agile and less myopic in terms of directing community attention and support to crises all over the world, e.g. the earthquake in Haiti, famine in Yemen, military conflict in Tigray, the Rohingya genocide, etc. It is not acceptable to turn a blind eye to these pressing global problems. At the very least, the school should publicly acknowledge humanitarian tragedies, and not yield to the status quo of indifference.