June 6, 2022

Dear Members of the Drexel Community,

As we begin what should be a week of unalloyed joy of celebrating our graduates, I have the unhappy task of registering our community's horror and sadness over another fatal mass shooting — this time 3 miles from campus at South and Third Streets late Saturday night — which claimed three lives and left 11 people wounded.

While our hearts go out to the families whose lives have been shattered by Saturday night's massacre on South Street — one of three mass shootings across the United States this past weekend — we are long past the point of sounding the alarm about this country's severe public health emergency over gun violence. Since the massacre at Tops Supermarket in Buffalo last month, there have been upwards of three dozen mass shootings across the country, including more than a dozen over the Memorial Day Weekend. We also have surpassed more than 8,000 gun-related deaths this year. Among high-income countries with populations of 10 million or more, the United States now ranks first in gun-related homicides.

Whether a shooting takes place in geographical proximity to where we live and work — or halfway across the country — we should treat every shooting as hitting close to home. To reinforce my response to the horrifying massacre at Robb Elementary School in Texas less than two weeks ago, we need to rapidly enact effective laws and measures that promote public health and protect our citizens from violence — especially gun violence. I also want to reiterate my encouragement to create spaces at work and at home to process the psychological tolls these shootings have taken on all of us, and to discuss what we can do to help bring an end to this epidemic.

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to request an escort if you feel that you need one. Drexel Public Safety security officers provide walking escorts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and may be reached by calling 215.895.2222.

Sincerely,

John Fry
President