Twelve UC Davis advisory committees, faculty and staff associations and other organizations on the Davis and Sacramento campuses issued the following letter today (July 12):

Dear Campus Community,

As you may know, Ted Hickman, the vice mayor of the city of Dixon, recently made deplorable remarks denigrating the LGBTQIA+ community in a column of Dixon’s Independent Voice newspaper. More details may be found in this Sacramento Bee article covering the incident. This hate-filled rhetoric is particularly egregious given his position in public office, and negatively impacts our local communities. As faculty, staff, students and scholars, we ask the campus community to stand together in renouncing such bigotry, and to reaffirm our values of diversity, inclusion, equity and mutual respect. Freedom of expression and the civil exchange of differing viewpoints are fundamental to higher education, but words and acts of hate are forms of violence that threaten our mission as a public research university committed to academic excellence and scholarship in service to the public good.

In this time of heightened anxiety and uncertainty regarding LGBTQIA+ rights with recent changes in the U.S. Supreme Court, we pledge to stand up and support the LGBTQIA+ community, and we affirm UC Davis’ commitment to the Principles of Community. We strive to foster an environment that is inclusive and respectful of diversity in all its forms — in our classrooms, our offices, on campus and beyond.

We encourage you to show your support by signing this online letter.

In community,       

• Chancellor’s Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual+ Communities
• UC Davis Health PRIDE Employee Resource Group
• UC Davis Health Vice Chancellor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council
• African American Faculty and Staff Associations at UC Davis and UC Davis Health
• Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance, UC Davis
• Disability Issues Administrative Advisory Committee, UC Davis
• Latinx Faculty and Staff Associations at UC Davis and UC Davis Health
• Native American Faculty and Staff Association, UC Davis
• Staff Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UC Davis Health
• Staff Diversity Administrative Advisory Committee, UC Davis