Dear SANY Family,
On behalf of our grieving school community, I am writing to express my sincere sorrow about the death of George Floyd and the deeply troubling circumstances surrounding his death earlier this week. Videos from eyewitnesses clearly show Mr. Floyd was in custody, handcuffed, and pinned to the ground while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. Before he lost consciousness and died, Mr. Floyd was able to say he could not breathe. His wrongful death comes while we still grapple with the death of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed 26-year-old black woman who was shot by police in her apartment, and the death of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black man who was shot while jogging in a Georgia suburb.
With families, colleagues, and loved ones, we grieve and stand committed to calling for justice for George, Breonna, and Ahmaud. We speak against the utter absence of humanity in these acts. Hatred, bigotry, and violence against anyone anywhere shatters peace and affects all of us.
As a community, we wish for true peace everywhere, but it can only grow where the evils of racism and ethnic and religious bigotry are rooted out. I encourage you to be unwavering in your dedication to fostering and demanding respect for all. I call on everyone in the SANY family to stand together with renewed vigor to end racism by sowing the seeds of peace every day, everywhere.
Let us unite to build a better future based on peace, justice, and equality for all.
Sincerely,
Tolga Hayali
Superintendent
Science Academies of New York
