May 16, 2022, DAYTON, OH — The events this past weekend in Buffalo – the incomprehensible, racially motivated ambush and murder of 10 store patrons on a Saturday afternoon – and the emerging details from a mass shooting at a church in California, remind us that as much as some things have changed in the past two years, far too much remains the same.
Recognizing that we are in a time of escalated violence globally, particularly toward communities of color and religious minorities, should keep us humble and remind us to continue to strive to do better in how we evolve our business and our employee experience. We cannot passively root out racial discrimination in our society; we must be intentional and active. We aim to be the kind of company and community that is part of a determined, collective response to these persistent issues.
As a company, we are taking a day of silence to allow us to time to grieve the lives lost and reflect on how we can become more effective and active in our response to racial injustice, inequity and the mass violence that affects all our communities. As we take time to support members of the Centric community who are hurting and grieving, we commit to leaning into learning about racism and discrimination so that we can all can be better positioned to be effective allies for equality and change both within our company and beyond it.
— Dave Rosevelt, Larry English, Eric VanLuven, Jeff Lloyd