Madison House Statement on Anti-Racism

Madison House stands with our community in affirming the basic human right to live without fear of violence. We grieve with our community the senseless killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, and countless others. We acknowledge and feel the pain, anguish, and anger of our community. It is a justified anger that speaks to intolerance, discrimination, and institutionalized racism.

We urge everyone to take a moment to read the Black Student Alliance at UVa’s Statement Regarding Violence Against the Black Community. Their important challenge is to Be Active, Utilize Privilege, and Educate Yourself. It is not enough to just do our best as individuals to try not to be racist. As an organization, Madison House has a responsibility to do our part to help create a new way forward. We recognize that our work must be actively anti-racist.  

We invite all UVA students to use the privilege we share as members of this academic community to be active, step off Grounds with us, and join us as we listen, learn from, and partner with members of the community in our local schools, hospitals, public housing, migrant labor camps, and youth mentoring programs.

We also recognize that a one-time statement is not adequate. For fifty years, Madison House has worked to build community partnerships to address community needs. We recommit ourselves to the pursuit of anti-racist work and remain committed to developing the next generation of community-minded leaders. We will continue to work to do better, to be better, and to stand in solidarity with Black leaders, student volunteers, alumni, and community partners.