If you are in the U.S., this morning you woke up to a country rocked by the tumultuous events of yesterday. Perhaps those of you living in other parts of the globe were also surprised by the election results. One of our students walked into the office this morning and said “I’m so glad to be in policy school where everyone wants to talk about this.” Our dean, Susan Collins, sent a statement to our community today about the importance of the work going on here. I thought you might enjoy reading a portion of her letter.

Dean Collins says, “We here at the Ford School are privileged in the sense that we can do so much more than simply hope for a better nation, for better leadership. Every day we can prepare students like those who modeled our values so well last night (at our community election watch party). We can study, write, teach, and engage. We can become the citizens and public servants that our great nation deserves and so desperately needs. Individually and collectively, we can act with strength and civility to keep moving forward.

Yesterday afternoon, President Obama said that ‘no matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning’. Like the sun, we all rose this morning. We called our friends and loved ones, we got our kids ready for school, we resolved in our own way to keep working at it–to keep building the fair, just, peaceful America that we hold in our hearts.”

Regardless of your party affiliation or political beliefs, I think many of us are weary from this grueling political season. It is my hope that we will get better at civil discourse and mend the divides in our society as well as the divisions with our global neighbors.

All the best, Beth