Dear UCSB Graduate Community,
GSA will be hosting a Graduate Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, June 3, from 7 p.m. to whenever it winds down. There have been various memorials, meetings, and sessions to help all of us who are grieving move forward, but it seems there has yet to be a solely Graduate Student Forum to discuss anything and everything. As such, we believe this could be a very useful and cathartic organizing of our wonderful community. This event will ONLY be for graduate students – no faculty, no counselors, no admin, just us doing whatever is needed to continue the healing process.
We, as graduate students, interact with undergraduates in our labs, sections, as Associate Profs, and they have become our mentees, our friends and our family. It seems that most of us have been putting the needs of our undergrads first and have tried to maintain a strong front to support those most directly affected by this horrible tragedy. But WE need our time to heal, WE need our time to come together, and WE need to do this as a united community.
I hope that this message is not just seen as another one of the many emails that have gone out; rather, this is our attempt to utilize OUR community of graduate students, and work through the process of moving forward with our lives while remembering and using the recent events to create the positive change we all are hoping to see in the future.
Feel free to RSVP on our Facebook event page so we can have a good head count: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/449091521902026/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular. OR just show up.
The meeting will take place following the GSA Assembly meeting from 6 to 7 p.m., which I encourage everyone to attend as we will be distributing the Excellence in Teaching Awards and the Dixon-Levy Award for service to the graduate community. Come celebrate those teachers and community members who have made such an amazing impact on the lives of the UCSB community at large!
Dinner will be served from Isla Vista Deli Mart at the beginning of the meeting, however we are buying extra to accommodate those who can only attend the townhall meeting.
So, please join us from 6 to 7 p.m. (Assembly) and 7 p.m. to whenever (the Town Hall Meeting). I really think that is something that will benefit everyone who comes.
Come as a group or by yourself. We want to further cement the bonds of our community and expand the support network that we present to each other.
Best wishes and don’t hesitate to send any questions or comments to me at this gary.haddow@gsa.ucsb.edu or at garyhaddow@gmail.com.
Thank you,
President Gary Haddow on behalf of your GSA Officers