A response to the Orlando massacre from Director Wesley T. Church II

June 20, 2016

The horror of the mass shooting in an Orlando LGBTQ night club should give us all pause to contemplate the senseless act of terror of a self-proclaimed terrorist. While the news media continues to remind us that this was the largest mass shooting in the history of our country, we need to remind ourselves that it should not take a massacre of 49 innocent people to understand that all lives are of value and no person or group should be seen or treated as second class. As President Obama stated in his address to the country, “an attack on any person, regardless of race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender identity, or sexual orientation is an attack on all of us.” The LSU School of Social Work community condemns this action and all forms of violence whether perpetrated on an individual, group, or community. We offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends as well as the Orlando community as a whole. This act of terror is but one that has plagued our country over the last few years and it should be a call for us all to unite against divisiveness and inequality, and stand together as a community against all acts of hate and work toward a just and whole society.