The Chronicle of Higher Education July 20, 2016 HBCU Presidents to Hold Symposium on Gun Violence by Gabriel Sandoval<http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/author/gsandoval> The presidents of 34 historically black colleges and universities pledged on Wednesday to organize what they called a first-of-its-kind symposium on gun violence, after the "debilitating impact" of a series of incidents that they said had "shaken our nation to its core and caused many people to question our country's direction." In a letter<http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/files/2016/07/Unity-Letter-HBCU-Presidents-Final.pdf> announcing plans for an "HBCU National Symposium on Gun Violence," the presidents invited all Americans to join them in helping the United States to become a "more perfect union" following the recent turmoil in Dallas, St. Paul, and Baton Rouge, La. They said they hoped to foster an environment in which all human lives are valued equally. "As people of deep faith and a unique sense of history, we know that senseless violence has never been the way forward in America," the letter said. "We are a society where, despite what many would lead you to believe, that which binds us to each other is far greater than anything that seeks to divide us." The presidents said their institutions had long occupied a "special place" in the nation's history and "were the birthplace of the idea that black lives matter to our country." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) 404-577-5158 (fax) Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/ 7th Biennial Membership Meeting: Register here http://hbculibraries.org/html/2016meeting-form.html for the October 10,11 Membership Meeting in Atlanta. NEW DIGS!!!! The HBCU Library Alliance has relocated to the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library. Transition process is near completion. Stay tuned!!! Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314-4207 www.auctr.edu Honor the ancestors, honor the children.