Posts on social media associated with conflict in the Middle East have heightened concerns and tensions on our campus. In particular we have received numerous reports from members of our university’s Jewish community of feeling vulnerable and unsafe. 

I affirm our strong support for our Jewish and Muslim students, faculty and staff. We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and all other forms of religious and racial bigotry. The University of Florida welcomes and supports people of all faiths, origins, ethnicities and nationalities. 

I urge the university community to engage one another in the civil and productive discussion that is at the core of our mission as a university and that reflects our values https://president.ufl.edu/media/presidentufledu/documents/UF-Core-Values.pdf. My prayer is that we will embrace the goal of helping rather than hurting one another with our words.