Reflecting and Moving Forward

An email message sent to students on January 6, 2025:

Dear Assumption Students,

The last few days have been a difficult time for Assumption University and, I know, for you. Most of all, it’s been a difficult time for the victim of the incident. Many of you have written to share similar concerns for the victim and to endorse the University’s belief that the incident was unconscionable. That is among the many reasons my belief in the character of Assumption students and graduates is as strong as ever. 

Assumption students do so much good on our campus, in our community and in our world. We all wish we were in the news for that. But even—perhaps especially—now, we still have an opportunity to demonstrate who Assumption students are. You are determined. You are curious. You act with integrity. And you believe in holding the University and one another accountable when we fall short of those values.
 
Part of our character as a community is asking what we can learn from these events.
  
One lesson is that the fundamental Catholic teaching about the dignity of every human person applies to every human person—members of our community, guests of our community, people beyond our community.
  
That teaching also requires us to discern between the social media ecosphere from the moral reality that we are always—whether online or in person—dealing with real people, each a unique reflection of the Divine Image, who either benefit or suffer based on the choices we make. 

Another lesson is this: Individuals often get swept up in the actions of large groups. We know that from modern social science. We also know it from The Confessions, the one book common to the education of every Assumption student.
 
In that work, St. Augustine famously recalls being one among a gang that stole pears from an orchard. They gained nothing from the theft. They were not hungry. The pears were unappetizing, and they simply threw them away. Had he been alone, Augustine writes, he might have stolen a pear for some rational reason, however wrong that would still have been. Only a group, he writes, would have done wrong simply for the thrill of doing wrong.
 
My hope for, and confidence in, your character is this: When a group is rushing toward wrong, the Assumption student should be the person with the courage to stand up and say “no.” That may be on campus. It may be in your future career, when a question of ethics is involved. And it is what genuine friends do.
 
This, too, must be said: Each of us is accountable for the worst things we do. Each of us is also more than the worst things we’ve done. Each of us remains a reflection of the Divine Image.
  
So how do we go forward? We reflect and learn as a community, and I’ll be in touch soon about opportunities early in and throughout the semester for us to come together for dialogue and education.
 
Most important: In this difficult moment, we demonstrate who we are. Through our words and actions, as an institution and as individuals, we show the character of Assumption students about which I so often speak. We discern. We challenge ourselves. We pray for the victim of this incident.
  
I look forward to welcoming you back for the spring semester. Your character and curiosity—your capacity for reflection, responsibility, authentic sadness and authentic joy—always have and always will inspire me. For that, I thank you. 

Sincerely, 
Greg Weiner, Ph.D. 
President