To: All Undergrad Students & All Grad Students <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affiars" <vcsa@illinois.edu>

Reply-To: vcsa@illinois.edu
 Subject: MASSMAIL - Town Hall Regarding Campus Safety

Dear Students: 

We write to remind you about tomorrow afternoon's Town Hall regarding
safety on campus. We hope you can attend, and we hope you will bring your
parents or, if they aren't visiting campus this weekend, encourage them to
watch the live stream at http://illinois.edu/here_now/videos.html. 

As we prepare for the meeting, I ask all of you to be mindful that we are a
campus community that prides itself on a talented and diverse population.
Notwithstanding the exemplary contributions of all the members of our
campus and community, we are, regrettably, part of a nation in which racial
stereotyping and profiling remain persistent challenges.  These challenges
are heightened in times of stress and tension, such as has occurred in the
recent series of assaults in the campus town area.  Especially during these
times, however, we must respect and appreciate the presence of everyone
attending or visiting the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Although our crime alerts sometimes include information about the race or
ethnicity of alleged perpetrators, our goal should be to use this only to
aid detailed descriptions that include physical stature, clothing, unusual
characteristics, and perhaps the description of a vehicle. Racial
descriptions of criminal suspects do not by themselves offer a meaningful
picture of an assailant's appearance, and they should not be used
indiscriminately to describe large segments of our community.

Sincerely, 

Renee Romano 
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs 

Ken Ballom 
Associate Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students 
This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

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