1 00:00:00,789 --> 00:00:01,989 Good morning. 2 00:00:01,989 --> 00:00:07,339 It is an honor to be here with all of you today, which is the one-year anniversary of 3 00:00:07,339 --> 00:00:12,850 the march on UVA and Charlottesville and, much less importantly, the 11th day of my 4 00:00:12,850 --> 00:00:13,850 presidency. 5 00:00:13,850 --> 00:00:19,750 I would like to start by recognizing those who lost their lives one year ago: Heather 6 00:00:19,750 --> 00:00:26,770 Heyer, Trooper Pilot Peter Berke Bates and Lieutenant Pilot Jay Cullen. 7 00:00:26,770 --> 00:00:30,410 Our hearts are with their families and everyone who knew them. 8 00:00:30,410 --> 00:00:35,490 I would like to especially acknowledge Heather’s mother Susan, who is with us today. 9 00:00:35,490 --> 00:00:40,180 I would also like to thank all of those who worked so hard to put together this event, 10 00:00:40,180 --> 00:00:43,350 as well as those who have participated in it. 11 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:46,590 And thanks, finally, to all of you for being here. 12 00:00:46,590 --> 00:00:49,820 It’s important that you are here. 13 00:00:49,820 --> 00:00:58,230 That we are here. 14 00:00:58,230 --> 00:01:02,690 We cannot turn back the clock and undo the tragedies that occurred last year. 15 00:01:02,690 --> 00:01:08,780 Nor can we take away the pain, both physical and psychological, of those injured by the 16 00:01:08,780 --> 00:01:13,790 neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched on our Grounds and who attacked members of 17 00:01:13,790 --> 00:01:17,290 our community both here and downtown. 18 00:01:17,290 --> 00:01:21,990 We can apologize, which I will get to, but we can’t undo. 19 00:01:21,990 --> 00:01:23,860 I wasn’t here last year. 20 00:01:23,860 --> 00:01:28,900 I watched it, in horror, from afar and in real time online. 21 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:31,530 But that’s different from being here. 22 00:01:31,530 --> 00:01:35,780 And I would be the first to acknowledge that what happened was experienced differently 23 00:01:35,780 --> 00:01:37,330 by many in the community. 24 00:01:37,330 --> 00:01:40,920 It was different for those who were close. 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,049 It was different for people of color. 26 00:01:43,049 --> 00:01:45,500 It was different for those of the Jewish faith. 27 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:50,310 It was different for those who were young and shocked, and for those who were older 28 00:01:50,310 --> 00:01:54,500 and less surprised, perhaps feeling, in the words of civil rights heroine Fannie Lou Hamer, 29 00:01:54,500 --> 00:01:58,240 “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” 30 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:04,130 I was not personally attacked, for a host of reasons – distance, race, and religion 31 00:02:04,130 --> 00:02:05,369 among them. 32 00:02:05,369 --> 00:02:10,249 So I offer these thoughts with deep humility, and in the spirit of an ally. 33 00:02:10,249 --> 00:02:13,540 I cannot truly know the pain of others. 34 00:02:13,540 --> 00:02:19,739 But I can recognize it and stand with them, in sorrow and in support. 35 00:02:19,739 --> 00:02:20,989 And that is why I am here today. 36 00:02:20,989 --> 00:02:26,609 Indeed, that is a big part of why I agreed, two weeks after the march, to become the next 37 00:02:26,609 --> 00:02:29,700 president of the University of Virginia. 38 00:02:29,700 --> 00:02:35,719 Despite its flaws, which are not unique to this place, I love this University and I love 39 00:02:35,719 --> 00:02:40,719 Charlottesville, having lived here for fifteen years and having raised our kids here with 40 00:02:40,719 --> 00:02:42,129 my wife, Katie. 41 00:02:42,129 --> 00:02:47,590 I felt compelled, and still do, to stand as an ally with those who were attacked, with 42 00:02:47,590 --> 00:02:53,790 those who still suffer, and with all of you who long for a better and more just future. 43 00:02:53,790 --> 00:03:00,280 As for that future, I believe that in the face of tragedy, having endured some myself, 44 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,519 that we can still find the strength to move forward. 45 00:03:03,519 --> 00:03:05,400 We must. 46 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:11,010 William Wordsworth wrote a poem over 200 years ago in which he got it, if I dare say so, 47 00:03:11,010 --> 00:03:12,059 almost right. 48 00:03:12,059 --> 00:03:18,859 He wrote: “Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory 49 00:03:18,859 --> 00:03:24,239 in the flower, we will grieve not, but find strength in what remains behind.” 50 00:03:24,239 --> 00:03:29,599 It’s almost right because I think we can, and we should, grieve for the fact than nothing 51 00:03:29,599 --> 00:03:35,139 can bring back the splendor and the glory of those whose lives were lost last August. 52 00:03:35,139 --> 00:03:40,840 But we can still, despite our grief, find strength in what remains behind. 53 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:46,579 And we can still have hope, which is what summons us here this morning. 54 00:03:46,579 --> 00:03:50,830 When the neo-Nazis and white supremacists marched toward the Jefferson statue last year, 55 00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:55,669 they were met by a group of intrepid individuals who had gathered around the statue. 56 00:03:55,669 --> 00:04:00,599 It was a remarkable moment of courage and bravery by our students and community members, 57 00:04:00,599 --> 00:04:06,699 who stood fast and found themselves, perhaps to their surprise, in a position of appearing 58 00:04:06,699 --> 00:04:09,609 to defend the Thomas Jefferson statue from attack. 59 00:04:09,609 --> 00:04:17,160 I doubt very much that all of those forced into that position were intending to defend 60 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:24,030 the statue itself, and I am certain they were fully aware of Jefferson’s complicated legacy. 61 00:04:24,030 --> 00:04:28,420 Author of the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed the inherent equality of 62 00:04:28,420 --> 00:04:32,030 all, he was also a slave owner. 63 00:04:32,030 --> 00:04:38,910 Yet these students and community members were forced into appearing to keep the statue safe 64 00:04:38,910 --> 00:04:43,590 from the white supremacists who had marched through our Grounds, intent on causing terror 65 00:04:43,590 --> 00:04:48,760 and seemingly intent on laying claim to Jefferson the slaveowner as opposed to Jefferson the 66 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:49,780 idealist. 67 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:56,650 This clash around the Jefferson statue, which was all too real to those attacked, also symbolized 68 00:04:56,650 --> 00:05:02,530 the on-going struggle between our aspirations and our realities. 69 00:05:02,530 --> 00:05:04,980 Professor Annette Gordon-Reed described this well. 70 00:05:04,980 --> 00:05:09,440 She’s an eminent Jefferson scholar whose research helped convinced historians and others 71 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,100 about the relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemings. 72 00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:17,510 Last year, she had this to say: “American ideals have always clashed with 73 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:19,290 harsh American realities. 74 00:05:19,290 --> 00:05:22,220 We saw that clash on the grounds of UVA. 75 00:05:22,220 --> 00:05:28,590 But how do we continue in the face of depressing realities to allow ourselves to hold fast 76 00:05:28,590 --> 00:05:35,030 to the importance of having aspirations, and recognize that the pursuit of high ideals—even 77 00:05:35,030 --> 00:05:41,060 if carried out imperfectly—offers the only real chance of bringing forth good in the 78 00:05:41,060 --> 00:05:42,060 world? 79 00:05:42,060 --> 00:05:46,150 In many ways, grappling with that question is what being a scholar of Jefferson is all 80 00:05:46,150 --> 00:05:47,150 about. 81 00:05:47,150 --> 00:05:53,520 Perhaps coming fully to grips with the paradoxes that Jefferson’s life presents is what being 82 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,200 an American is about.” 83 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,750 This, to me, is one of the most profound observations of what took place last year on our Grounds 84 00:06:00,750 --> 00:06:02,090 and in Charlottesville. 85 00:06:02,090 --> 00:06:09,120 Our professed and cherished ideals as a community were confronted with the grim and horrific 86 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,160 reminder that everyday realities are sometimes quite different. 87 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:19,330 To wrestle with that difference, to come to grips with the gaps that still exist between 88 00:06:19,330 --> 00:06:25,400 our aspirations and our everyday realities, is indeed what being an American is about. 89 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:31,260 It is also, importantly, what being a member of this community is about, or should be. 90 00:06:31,260 --> 00:06:36,960 We aspire, rightly so, to be a university committed to living the values of diversity, 91 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,860 of tolerance, of civility, of equity and inclusion. 92 00:06:40,860 --> 00:06:42,460 These are our high ideals. 93 00:06:42,460 --> 00:06:45,820 And, over time, we have come closer to realizing them. 94 00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:50,370 The university today is a much different place than it was 200 years ago; it is a much different 95 00:06:50,370 --> 00:06:55,730 place than it was 65 years ago, when black students were excluded, or 50 years ago when 96 00:06:55,730 --> 00:07:00,610 women were excluded and, to my eyes, a different place than it was even five years ago, when 97 00:07:00,610 --> 00:07:03,010 I was last here as a faculty member. 98 00:07:03,010 --> 00:07:08,050 And we are a university that should be proud to have graduated innumerable alumni who have 99 00:07:08,050 --> 00:07:14,200 dedicated their lives to advancing our values and to advancing racial, social, and economic 100 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:20,810 justice, like Judge Thomas himself or like his friend and fellow alum Elaine Jones, former 101 00:07:20,810 --> 00:07:23,580 head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 102 00:07:23,580 --> 00:07:28,840 Or like Leah Ward Sears, Donald McEachin, John F. Merchant, Gregory Swanson, Robert 103 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:35,060 Kennedy, Alice Jackson, Walter Ridley, Wesley Harris, Clarence Cain, and Dr. Vivian Pinn—to 104 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:36,490 name just a few. 105 00:07:36,490 --> 00:07:40,639 There has, undoubtedly, been progress, which should rightfully be celebrated. 106 00:07:40,639 --> 00:07:45,580 But this is also the university, we should recognize, if we have the courage to be candid 107 00:07:45,580 --> 00:07:51,560 and open to self-examination, that graduated two of the organizers of last year’s hateful 108 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:52,560 march. 109 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,720 To be part of this community—to be an honest and courageous member of this community – we 110 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:04,140 have to recognize that there is still a gap between our aspirations and our realities. 111 00:08:04,140 --> 00:08:10,070 Faced with this gap, we have three choices: we can reject those aspirations altogether, 112 00:08:10,070 --> 00:08:15,400 as the marchers through our Grounds would do; we can aspire to a better world but condemn 113 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:21,290 imperfections in those who might otherwise be our allies, which is sadly all too often 114 00:08:21,290 --> 00:08:28,840 the case today; or we can, with generosity of spirit, recognize, as Professor Gordon-Reed 115 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:35,029 put it, “that the pursuit of high ideals—even if carried out imperfectly—offers the only 116 00:08:35,029 --> 00:08:38,620 real chance of bringing forth good in the world.” 117 00:08:38,620 --> 00:08:41,810 I am here because I choose the third path. 118 00:08:41,810 --> 00:08:47,500 I believe with every fiber of my being that the pursuit of high ideals, even if carried 119 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:51,009 out imperfectly, is our only chance. 120 00:08:51,009 --> 00:08:56,910 And I believe that is what universities, and ours in particular, should be all about. 121 00:08:56,910 --> 00:09:04,300 To follow this path, we must recognize that those who are allies, who share our aspirations, 122 00:09:04,300 --> 00:09:07,430 are like family. 123 00:09:07,430 --> 00:09:12,680 Just like family members, we are not always going to like each other, and we are going 124 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:19,180 to get annoyed, exasperated, hurt, and disappointed by and with each other. 125 00:09:19,180 --> 00:09:21,300 (Or maybe that’s just my family.) 126 00:09:21,300 --> 00:09:27,769 But, like family, we are bound together. 127 00:09:27,769 --> 00:09:31,490 We may disagree about strategy and about tactics, but we should recognize that we are on the 128 00:09:31,490 --> 00:09:32,490 same side. 129 00:09:32,490 --> 00:09:36,670 And we are not on the side of white supremacists or neo-Nazis. 130 00:09:36,670 --> 00:09:39,350 That part, at least, should be easy. 131 00:09:39,350 --> 00:09:44,759 The harder and more important part is seeking together to close the space between aspirations 132 00:09:44,759 --> 00:09:45,790 and reality. 133 00:09:45,790 --> 00:09:48,689 How, in other words, do we live our values? 134 00:09:48,689 --> 00:09:52,990 We say we believe in equity, in diversity, in tolerance, and in inclusion. 135 00:09:52,990 --> 00:09:58,779 I believe those who espouse those values are sincere, and I know that so many of you have 136 00:09:58,779 --> 00:10:02,259 been working tirelessly to bring those values to life. 137 00:10:02,259 --> 00:10:07,269 Yet we also know that there remains a gap between those espoused values and everyday 138 00:10:07,269 --> 00:10:12,059 reality here at the University, as is true on campuses around the country. 139 00:10:12,059 --> 00:10:17,010 And the question remains: how do we close that gap? 140 00:10:17,010 --> 00:10:21,040 As I listened in to conversations over the past year, this is the dominant question I 141 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,920 heard asked around Grounds: how do we close that gap? 142 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:26,070 How do we more fully live our values? 143 00:10:26,070 --> 00:10:30,550 This is the question asked by the deans’ working group, which led them to propose and 144 00:10:30,550 --> 00:10:35,579 ultimately secure funding that will help us increase student and faculty diversity and 145 00:10:35,579 --> 00:10:41,129 to create programs that will encourage members of our community to cross lines of difference 146 00:10:41,129 --> 00:10:43,149 to find points in common. 147 00:10:43,149 --> 00:10:47,410 This question of how we live our values is also the question that has opened up newly 148 00:10:47,410 --> 00:10:53,100 vibrant conversations about the university’s past, and conversations about the university’s 149 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:56,820 relationship with the surrounding communities of Charlottesville and Albemarle county. 150 00:10:56,820 --> 00:10:59,620 And this is all to the good. 151 00:10:59,620 --> 00:11:05,519 And it is quite different—markedly, drastically, different—from the motives of those who 152 00:11:05,519 --> 00:11:06,860 marched last year. 153 00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:13,519 Let’s be clear: This group of marchers represented an extreme group of lost souls who want to 154 00:11:13,519 --> 00:11:18,819 reject our values and our aspirations, and they were emboldened—let’s be honest yet 155 00:11:18,819 --> 00:11:24,389 again—by a political climate that fosters the idea that those fundamental values might 156 00:11:24,389 --> 00:11:26,600 actually be up for grabs. 157 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:31,970 Such a different message, if you think about it, from the one delivered by the great Abraham 158 00:11:31,970 --> 00:11:37,360 Lincoln, who famously appealed to “the better angels of our nature” in an effort to bring 159 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,870 the country together and save the union. 160 00:11:40,870 --> 00:11:46,990 To summon hope today is to summon the better angels of our nature, who can help lead us 161 00:11:46,990 --> 00:11:52,779 down the path to the place where our aspirations and our realities meet. 162 00:11:52,779 --> 00:11:57,999 As a university, this means we must have the courage to acknowledge the gaps that still 163 00:11:57,999 --> 00:12:00,129 exist. 164 00:12:00,129 --> 00:12:05,319 It means we must admit to mistakes, including those made last year, understanding – and 165 00:12:05,319 --> 00:12:12,269 trusting that others understand – that mistakes in times of crises are inevitable, some avoidable 166 00:12:12,269 --> 00:12:13,850 and some not. 167 00:12:13,850 --> 00:12:18,009 It means pledging to do our best to learn from our mistakes, because that is the best 168 00:12:18,009 --> 00:12:23,639 that any human – or any institution, which is nothing more than a collection of humans 169 00:12:23,639 --> 00:12:25,379 – can do. 170 00:12:25,379 --> 00:12:31,939 And it means not being afraid to apologize for mistakes we have made. 171 00:12:31,939 --> 00:12:37,500 We do nothing more than recognize our common humanity to say to those who were attacked 172 00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:41,019 around the statue last year: I am sorry. 173 00:12:41,019 --> 00:12:42,930 We are sorry. 174 00:12:42,930 --> 00:12:49,510 Beyond this, we must be a good neighbor to Charlottesville and the surrounding counties, 175 00:12:49,510 --> 00:12:53,920 which are also home to our employees, who are the lifeblood of this university. 176 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:59,300 We must treat our students, faculty, and staff with care, respect, and dignity. 177 00:12:59,300 --> 00:13:04,939 We must seek ways to serve others and to make the world a better place through our teaching, 178 00:13:04,939 --> 00:13:09,449 our research, our medical care, and our partnerships. 179 00:13:09,449 --> 00:13:15,970 We must also seek, despite our righteous anger, to understand those who came last year in 180 00:13:15,970 --> 00:13:21,110 hatred, and to do so in the spirit suggested by Nelson Mandela, who observed that people 181 00:13:21,110 --> 00:13:27,790 are not born with hatred in their hearts but instead must be taught to hate. 182 00:13:27,790 --> 00:13:31,899 Just like any large and somewhat raucous family, we will certainly disagree and argue about 183 00:13:31,899 --> 00:13:34,369 the best ways to live our values. 184 00:13:34,369 --> 00:13:40,160 But this should be an argument in good faith, undergirded by a sense of trust and love. 185 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:46,139 Functional families argue all of the time, or at least that is what I tell myself. 186 00:13:46,139 --> 00:13:51,930 But they know in their bones that they are connected by an unbreakable bond of love, 187 00:13:51,930 --> 00:13:53,059 trust, and respect. 188 00:13:53,059 --> 00:13:57,660 And they give each other the benefit of the doubt, knowing that they are – and always 189 00:13:57,660 --> 00:14:00,189 will be – in this together. 190 00:14:00,189 --> 00:14:05,550 To the family that is UVA and the surrounding communities, I will end by highlighting this 191 00:14:05,550 --> 00:14:10,769 basic and simple fact: we are in this together. 192 00:14:10,769 --> 00:14:17,489 My deepest hope is that in the months and years ahead we will truly feel like we are 193 00:14:17,489 --> 00:14:22,850 in this together and that we will feel like our fates are connected. 194 00:14:22,850 --> 00:14:29,239 That we feel, as Dr. King observed, that we are “bound together in a single garment 195 00:14:29,239 --> 00:14:30,239 of destiny.” 196 00:14:30,239 --> 00:14:34,449 I stand here today as an ally. 197 00:14:34,449 --> 00:14:40,629 I am surely an imperfect one, which is to say I am human, like all of you. 198 00:14:40,629 --> 00:14:46,559 I will disappoint some of you for doing too much and others for doing too little, some 199 00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:51,189 for going too fast and others for not going fast enough. 200 00:14:51,189 --> 00:14:57,389 But I know in my heart where I would like to go, and that is the place where our aspirations 201 00:14:57,389 --> 00:15:00,790 and our realities finally intersect. 202 00:15:00,790 --> 00:15:08,259 I know that many of you, so many of you, would like to get there as well, and I look forward 203 00:15:08,259 --> 00:15:10,170 to our imperfect journey together. 204 00:15:10,170 --> 00:15:11,369 Thank you.