It should be clear that any attack on any human is injustice; it is our moral obligation to free ourselves from these narrow walls, to recognize the humanity in one another and raise our voices against all forms of violence.

TV personality, talk show host, and children’s author Karamo Brown, known for his roles on the “Karamo Show” and Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” spoke at Washington University as a part of the Social Programming Board’s (SPB) Trending Topic Lecture Series on Nov. 28. 

No, with Tweets and comments from people in chillier regions telling Texans to suck it up and other general minimizations of the situation, it’s clear to see that some hearts have also been frozen over.

That’s why we ask that the Washington University community starts this spring with an important goal in mind—to remain empathetic.

If the University community wishes to partake in that privilege, however, we cannot ignore the responsibility that accompanies the realities of an in-person semester.

There is a striking disconnect between how the term “empathy” is used in popular culture and the scientific, psychological construct of empathy, Washington University Associate Professor of Psychological & Brain Science Alan Lambert says.

Do we have to love someone to want them happy and free and alive?

Calls for empathy will go unanswered and largely unfulfilled if we first do not understand the barriers to empathizing with people different from ourselves.