President Shane Smeed Statement of Support for the Ukrainian People

Park University is a part of the international community, which defines our perspective on the events unfolding in Europe. International students have attended Park since 1880, and as an institution, we make global citizenship a core part of our liberal arts mission and community stewardship. We stand with the Ukrainian people.

We stand with all our international students, regardless of where they call home. This semester, we proudly serve students from Ukraine, Russia and 57 other countries. We understand that this recent conflict has impacted individuals from Ukraine and Russia and students from other countries. And after nearly two years of turbulence in our communities and throughout the world, many of our students, faculty and staff are more unsettled this week.

We encourage international students to contact the University’s International Education office for guidance and support. We encourage any student who is feeling anxious to contact our Counseling Center and Health Services. Licensed counselors are available at no charge to Park University students. Likewise, faculty and staff can visit the Human Resource Services page in MyPark for details about support offered via our Employee Assistance Plan.

This week, I had the honor to meet with Park students, faculty and staff at Joint Base San Antonio. The thousands of Park students and alumni serving in the U.S. Armed Forces remind us never to take freedom for granted. Such an understanding is deeply embedded in our educational and institutional identity. By serving those who serve, we feel a responsibility to lead principled and critical discussions about the world in which we live, in which they serve and which we all have a stake in preserving.

Let us always remember that our core values guide us. Let our University continue to shine a beacon of light in a time that demands leadership and a devotion to the universal applicability of our core values.

Shane B. Smeed
President
Park University