A message from Dean Patricia Hurn

COVID-19 has consumed so much of our lives these last months, claiming our attention, emotions and time. I ask that you pause and look hard at the unbelievably horrible events in Minnesota and the killing of yet another African American man, George Floyd. This new horror follows hard on the heels of escalating violence around the United States against men and women of color over the last months.

We have to increase our vigilance, stop repeating history and never accept this as just part of our lives, as the new normal.

Please join me in supporting our School of Nursing colleagues, students and fellow workers of color. Every outrage like Minnesota strikes closely to their lives, causing real pain, and deepens the worry that history could repeat for their own sons and daughters. I see that pain and worry, which is why I share it with you today. 

As nurses, scholars, allies and the U-M School of Nursing, we dare to see what is in front of us. We must flatten a different curve, one of violence and mindlessness that is a danger to our colleagues, students and patients.

Patricia D. Hurn, Ph.D., RN

Dean and Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts

University of Michigan