03/02/2022
By Jacquie Moloney

I join the entire UMass Lowell community in expressing my horror at the events we are witnessing unfold in Ukraine, as well as my awe and inspiration at the response from the Ukrainian people to an unprovoked and outrageous attack.

I also want to praise those men and women in Russia who are risking arrest, imprisonment and worse for speaking out and protesting this callous attack on freedom and millions of innocent lives.

With representative democracy increasingly under pressure across the globe, it is essential that we stand up for the right to self-governance for all and remember that the actions of a totalitarian state’s leaders do not always represent the beliefs of its people.

Every day I am grateful to work at an institution where differences are recognized as strengths to build upon, not weaknesses to be eliminated. I know our thoughts are with those living through this difficult time as well as the members of the university community who have friends and loved ones in harm’s way.