Fostering inclusion and diversity is foundational to our university mission

Dear faculty, staff, students and residents:

At UT Health San Antonio, we pride ourselves in the rich diversity present on our campus. We respect the many cultural backgrounds represented here and consider it an institutional strength.

Fostering inclusion and diversity is foundational to our university mission because it demonstrates a sense of belonging and it ensures everyone is treated with respect, and have agency and voice, no matter one’s race, gender, age, ethnicity, cultural heritage, nationality, religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic, veteran or ability status.

It is in the context of our university’s respect for all people that we view the recent attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in our country so jarring. These are not isolated events; close to 4,000 of these incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islander persons have been reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these attacks have increased over the past year.

The occurrence of violence and the frequency of anti-Asian hate speech at a time when we need maximum unity and commitment to the public good and health is troubling and stressful. It is at a moment like this that we should reaffirm our commitment to a safe and supportive work and learning environment for everyone at our campus. Extending empathy, increasing educational awareness and becoming active allies through bystander intervention are some of the many ways we can take genuine, proactive action to help each other and our greater community.

Listed below are several supportive resources available to our campus community should individual assistance be needed. As we navigate these times, we hope our campus community finds inspiriting our university’s unwavering fidelity to inclusion and respect as we reject divisiveness, rancor and violence.

Chiquita A. Collins, Ph.D., M.A.
Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence and Health Equity

William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP
President and Professor of Medicine


UT Health San Antonio Wellness Resources

If you need to speak to someone, please contact UT Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for faculty and staff, GME Wellness for residents and fellows, or the Student Counseling Center for students.

To Report a Hate Crime
Resource Guide on Anti-Asian Sentiment

In 2020, the Long School of Medicine’s Office for Inclusion and Diversity created information and educational resources, including a toolkit on microaggressions.



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