“In closing, I do want to say something about the terrible incidents that we’ve been seeing in Iran in the last few weeks. All of you will have been following the terrible death of a 22-year-old, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the Iranian morality police that has led rightfully to an expression of outrage in Iran and protests throughout the country—people demanding answers, people demanding justice and standing up for women’s rights in that country. We’ve seen those protests being met by restrictions on internet access and violent suppression. While this is troubling anywhere, it is particularly troubling in Iran that a number of these violent surpressions have taken place on university campuses—our sister institutions in that country.
"And so I think that all of us are heartbroken. All of us are shocked by the incidents that we’ve seen. As an academic community, we naturally feel a connection to those university campuses and we deplore the handling of these protests conducted by the authorities.
"I believe I speak for everyone in the Senate and indeed the University when I express my admiration for the courage of the students who are standing up for justice and women’s rights, and our hope for all of us that this violence will end quickly. Again, we have reached out to our students from Iran to support them and to provide any resources that they need to get through this very difficult time in their country. "
