If your organization would like to sign on to support our campaign, please sign this pledge. It is time for us to come together as the entire UVa community to make a change. Let's work together to make UVa a home for all of us. Please read our full statement below:

To the UVa community:

The rate of targeted bias-related incidents has increased dramatically over the past semester. These acts of hatred have made members of our community feel unsafe and unwelcome at the University of Virginia. The rise of hate speech across Grounds should concern each and every one of us.

In the past month alone, we have witnessed countless acts of bigotry. On September 2nd, racist slurs were written outside dorm rooms in Kent-Dabney. On September 29, Islamophobic slurs and death threats were hurled at a female student on her way home. Racial slurs were also directed towards a graduate student while he was playing tennis. On October 23, anti-Semitic graffiti was found on a corner of the GrandMarc apartment complex. This past Sunday, the word terrorist was scrawled across the wall next to the room of two Muslim students in Brown Residential College. In the past forty-eight hours alone, a group of first years have been harassed with racial slurs and an RA found multiple homophobic comments written on their door. This is just to name a few of the recent and reported acts of hatred in our community. The acts of hatred that we have borne witness to do not occur in a vacuum–they form a pattern of hateful attempts to build walls between the members of our community. We cannot let such an effort succeed. We invite students, faculty, administration, staff, and alumni to unite as one University to make our absolute condemnation of this behavior clear.

The time for silence has passed. Today, we are launching a new campaign to Eliminate the Hate. From November 14th to 18th, we will host a series of events to advocate for a safer, more inclusive community that respects all of its members. We will culminate in an end-of the semester town hall on diversity that we urge our fellow community members to attend. This campaign is an opportunity to make our voices heard–to fight all forms of discrimination. It is time to demonstrate our power and determination as one strong, united community. It is time to reclaim our University and remind our community that U.Va. is a home for everyone. It is time to take a stand. We invite you to join us.