Flags in front of the Eastman Quad and Rush Rhees Library fly at half staff after the mass shooting in Dallas, Texas. The University hosted two community dialogues on “Race in America, Race in Rochester” to seek answers to questions about violence, racism, and ways to bridge the divides in America.
Read President Joel Seligman’s statement from Wednesday’s community dialogue.

The NROTC honor guard presents colors during a dedication and remembrance ceremony for University alumnus Zhe “Zack” Zeng ’95, ’98S (MBA), a former Brighton Volunteer Ambulance member who was killed at the September 11 attacks while helping first responders at the World Trade Center. Earlier this year, Brighton dedicated its new ambulance, “In memory of Zhe ‘Zack’ Zeng and all the rescuers who died on September 11, 2001. ‘So Others May Live.’ ” / (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)

The River Campus, with Rush Rhees Library at its center, as seen from the the top of the Brooks Crossing apartments across the Genesee River. (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Mercury appears as a tiny black dot visible below the weathervane on top of Rush Rhees Library as it glides in front of the sun. Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, passes between the Earth and the sun only 13 times in a century, and took seven and a half hours to traverse the sun today. (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Aisha Mohamed ’19 takes a ride on the carnival swings at the annual Dandelion Day celebrations marking the start of SpringFest Weekend. (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Charles Blow, New York Times columnist and CNN commentator, read from his memoir, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, yesterday evening in the Hawkins-Carlson Room in Rush Rhees Library. “This book is about remembering, against all that this world may signal to the contrary, that you are not forever broken,” he said. “You are capable of giving and receiving love, and you are deserving of it.

Joan Saab, associate professor of art history and visual and cultural studies, points to illustrations popularized in the 19th century press purporting to prove there was life on the moon, during the inaugural Hagop and Artemis Nazerian Humanities Lecture. “I’m interested in this moment in the 19th century when people are willing to suspend disbelief and see things—and even though they know they’re not true, to believe for that moment that they are.” (University photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League and a former mayor of New Orleans, delivered the University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address, after the event had been postponed due to weather. “Every generation has a responsibility and a mission to improve things,” Morial told students at the Douglass Leadership House earlier in the day. “When you succeed, go back,” he said. “Do not forget the communities from whence you’ve come.” (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

The five-story, 50-foot sculpture made from more than 40,000 compostable balloons currently on display in the Sibley Building atrium in downtown Rochester is the work of University graduate and artist Larry Moss ’92. The exhibit closes this Sunday, February 7, with a giant “popping party.” (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)