Dear Adelphi Community,
I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on the University’s actions regarding recent reports of alleged unacceptable conduct and racist and threatening behavior on social media made anonymously against members of our community.
As we stated unequivocally in our previous communications, the University takes any threat to the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and alumni very seriously. In response to the recent incidents reported to us by members of our Adelphi community, we are taking aggressive steps to determine their origin, the threat level they represent, and to enact appropriate consequences on those responsible for these behaviors.
In addition to the University’s internal efforts, we have sought the assistance of the following law enforcement agencies and professionals to help secure the safety of our community and to assess whether any credible threat level may exist to Adelphi students, faculty, staff and alumni:
- The Garden City Police Department
- The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office
- An external cyber forensics firm (to help identify anonymous threats)
Daily, I am meeting with a team of our executive leaders and emergency personnel. We are engaged in a coordinated approach with our teams in Title IX, Public Safety, and Student Conduct and Community Standards and local law enforcement. The official Clery Act notice you received this past Saturday was sent, as required by law, regarding instances of reported threats.
To date, the University and law enforcement have not identified any immediate physical threat to our community. However, we continue to investigate all reported evidence to ensure that our Adelphi family members remain safe.
Some of you may have noticed that my @prezriordan social media accounts were restricted over this past week. This was in response to an external attempt to hack those accounts. The University put the temporary restriction on them until we were able to guarantee security. Happily, that has been accomplished, and all my accounts have been returned to full functionality. Should this happen again, please know that I always remain reachable at president@adelphi.edu or by contacting my office.
I will continue to keep you updated about our community’s security and the steps we are taking to protect it. I want to be clear that Adelphi aspires to be an inclusive and welcoming home for all of us—hate has no place at our University. We want our community members to feel psychologically and physically safe at Adelphi, and we want everyone to feel included. Thank you for being invested in these core values.
All the best,
Chris