In an email to the Colgate University community on Wednesday, Oct. 11, President Brian W. Casey and Provost and Dean of the Faculty Lesleigh Cushing released a statement with the subject “Crisis in the Middle East.” The statement addressed the recent conflict that has taken place following militant organization Hamas’ attacks on Israel, which began Saturday, Oct. 7. It also acknowledged the coordinated assault and the “images of slaughter” that have surfaced as a result of the violence.

“We join with many of our peers in higher education, as well as international organizations, in a full and clear condemnation of these senseless and brutal killings,” Casey and Cushing wrote.

The statement acknowledged the violence happening in the region, including the possibility of a “long and violent ground war in the Middle East,” as well as included messages of concern for community members.

“We recognize that, despite our great physical distance from what is unfolding abroad, it feels close to so many in our community,” the statement read. “Many have friends and family in Israel and Palestine; even those who are more removed are reeling from what they have seen and read.”

The University, in coordination with multiple other campus offices and programs, is pursuing different avenues for supporting community members.

“We are thus speaking with academic departments and programs, the Office of the Chaplain, Chapel House, the Dean of College Division, as well as other student support services, to develop, in both the near and longer term, programs that allow our community members to grapple with the intellectual as well as emotional dimensions of this crisis,” Casey and Cushing wrote.

As students returned to campus following Mid-Term Recess, Casey and Cushing emphasized that they are looking to connect with students, colleagues and alumni about the effects of the news as well as those outside the campus.

“This is our first priority: to tend with care and concerns to those on our campus and in our larger community who have been directly or indirectly affected by this violence,” the statement read.

The statement reminded readers of the current support services at Colgate, including counseling services, administrative deans, academic faculty, athletic coaches and residential life staff. It closed with thoughts of concern for community members affected by the crisis as well as those experiencing it firsthand.