For nearly 150 years, Yale University has benefited from a strong relationship with China. In 1854, Yung Wing graduated from Yale as the first Chinese person to receive a diploma from an American university. Today, campus bustles with resources devoted to learning from and, in turn, supporting China. Today, nearly 400 students from China can call Yale their home away from home.

As Yale students, faculty, alumni, staff, and community members, we believe strongly in the value of our university’s ties to China—to its people, its schools, and its government. We also know that the sign of a strong relationship—one of mutual respect and benefit—is open and honest dialogue.

Today, a situation has arisen in China that we—students, faculty, alumni, staff, and community members of Yale—feel deeply in our hearts. The recent protests, demonstrations, and violence in Tibet have touched us not as partisans with a political agenda, but as human beings saddened at the sight of bloodshed, particularly within a land of friends.

So today, we want to raise a humble voice to urge you, President Levin, to put the weight of Yale, an institution dedicated to liberal values, behind human rights in Tibet. We ask you to urge the Chinese government to engage in open-minded dialogue with the Dalai Lama. We hope that you might help convince the Chinese that the safeguarding of essential freedoms—freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from fear—serves to strengthen, not undermine, national unity.

We look to a day of peace and tranquility in Tibet, and to a continued strong, honest, and constructive relationship between our university and China.

Added On (2008-03-30):

PLEASE LIST YOUR AFFILIATION TO THE UNIVERSITY (SCHOOL AND YEAR, OR OTHER) IN THE COMMENT COLUMN

Added On (2008-03-31):

PLEASE ALSO LIST ANY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH CHINA (STUDIED CHINESE, LIGHT FELLOW, OF CHINESE BACKGROUND, ETC.)

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