Editor’s note: The following message was sent to the Colorado State University community on May 25.

As with the rest of the nation, we grieve with great intensity today for the children and adults who lost their lives, their families and loved ones, and the entire community of Uvalde, Texas, for yesterday’s horrific elementary school mass shooting. The road to recovery for the families and others directly impacted will be a long, overwhelming journey and their pain everlasting.

We want to acknowledge this tragedy and express, on behalf of the Ram community, our heartbreak for Uvalde. Our mourning is also extended to others in our community, state and across the nation for whom this event has led them to revisit their own trauma related to gun violence, especially where mass shootings have left families, communities and our country forever changed.

We also stand in support of all who teach at all levels of education in the U.S. who are processing this tragedy, including those educators and staff in our own Poudre School District. Additionally, we have many CSU-PSD families, and we care deeply about the impact of Uvalde on them and their children for whom this event certainly creates immense sorrow and concern.