May 25, 2022

Statement on Uvalde, TX School Shooting + SMC Safety Resources

Dr. Kathryn Jeffery

Dear SMC Colleagues,

While I typically begin these regular updates with a positive greeting, today dawned with the realization that in Uvalde, Texas there are parents—families—who will never see the faces of their loved ones, 19 of them beautiful, innocent children, and two adults. Our hearts go out to the staff and families of Robb Elementary School as they deal with the magnitude and grief of this tragedy. This horrific incident came just 10 days after a shooting in another public place—at a Buffalo, NY supermarket, an act of hate-fueled domestic terrorism. The epidemic of senseless gun violence in the U.S. is not news, but—horrifyingly—is a reality that keeps repeating itself.

The Santa Monica College community knows first-hand the impact of such senseless violence, the pain and trauma attendant in the wake of such horror, having family members and friends ripped away. My heart goes out to all who have lost their loved ones to gun violence—including within our own community. To echo U.S. President Joe Biden, “Why do we keep letting this happen? . . . It’s time to turn this pain into action . . . We have to do more.” This kind of carnage has no place in a civilized and just society.

Given these tragic circumstances, below please find some important safety resources, with the relevant links. Please know, too, that the Santa Monica College Police Department is increasing vigilance, with a heightened focus on keeping our SMC community safe. Please share the following resources with your students.

Review SMC Safety Measures & Resources:

Resources that may be helpful to you and your family (specifically, children):

SMC Wellness Resources for Students & Employees:

“It takes a monster to kill children,” poet and activist Amanda Gorman wrote in a tweet yesterday. “But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity.”

In these fragile times, the knowledge of what we do here together—changing lives by providing an equitable, accessible education—continues to provide solace and purpose.

Kathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D. 
Superintendent/President