Greetings, all:

Hilbert College watches the unfolding of brutality, conflict, and sorrow in the Middle East with the compassion that is central to our daily lives as a Franciscan learning community.

We grieve for our Israeli and Palestinian brothers and sisters so far away, knowing there is little we can do from our home here in Western New York. Still, we pray for them.

We also have friends here in Buffalo who are deeply pained by recent events. These events pierce through their well-being because the crisis resurrects agony that comes from centuries of conflict.  Conflict often inspired by our different Abrahamic faith identities. We pray for these friends during these trying times as well.

We grieve, too, for the conflict that this crisis has incited across the higher education sector here in the United States. We live in perilous times where college students may feel unable to express what they are truly feeling for fear of social media repercussions. We know there is no love in fear. And fear does not lead to lasting peace.

As a Catholic learning community, we remain committed to the ongoing search for truth. We know everything in God's creation is sacred, including our relationships with others. Here at Hilbert, we study the liberal arts and sciences because it helps us understand what it means to be human. As a Franciscan community we take this to the next level: we are here to learn more about how we need to serve others.

Let's remember Saint Francis and his encounter with the Sultan. "May the Lord give you peace," was our Saint's greeting.

Sincerely, 
Michael Brophy, Ph.D., MFA
President of Hilbert College