"As I watch the horror of war unfold in Ukraine, I am saddened by the violence and suffering being inflicted on the Ukrainian people. Like most of the world, I am also angered by this violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and destruction of its infrastructure – reducing hospitals, schools and homes to rubble.
There is another response that we as a University are able to embrace. The saying 'truth is the first casualty of war' gives us powerful legitimation for what we do as a university community in the creation of knowledge. Senator Hiram Johnson is credited with this saying, coined from his remarks in 1917. He was skeptical about the news coming from Europe during the First World War, prior to the US entry. In the century that since unfolded, we can readily see how misinformation in numerous forms and fabricated intentional lies have led to conflict, violence and misery for millions. In short, the absence of truth has been the root of great turmoil, suffering and death.
That is why universities, especially in the democratic West where we treasure equity, inclusion and freedom, are so critical now."
Read Blake's Take here.