President Machen presents update on issues related to student arrest
September 20, 2007
To faculty, staff and students:
As we continue to learn from the challenges of the past week, I want to reassure you that I hear your concerns, and in fact, share many of them.
What I regret most of all about the incident that resulted in the tasering and arrest of a UF student at the close of a political forum on Monday is the lack of civil discourse, which is the keystone of an academic institution such as ours. It is important that we gain a full understanding of how events unfolded and determine whether protocols need changing.
Officers with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrived on campus Tuesday to begin an independent review of the actions of the University Police Department and its use-of-force policies. They have our full cooperation and we want them to have every opportunity to conduct a thorough review.
I ask for your patience as we allow the process to take its course.
Finally, it is important to remember that regardless of how you may feel about this incident, freedom of expression is alive and well at the University of Florida. With it comes responsibility. One of the most vital roles of an institution of higher learning is to foster a healthy exchange of ideas, and I hope you will agree with me that our collective mission is to ensure that remains intact.
Updates will be posted regularly at www.president.ufl.edu.
Sincerely,
J. Bernard Machen
President
University of Florida