Dr. Fauci warns Roger Williams University graduates about 'normalization of untruth'

BRISTOL — Americans must reject the "normalization of untruth" or face the prospect of decline into "a way of life where veracity becomes subservient to propaganda rather than upheld as a guiding principle for creating and sustaining a just social order."

That was Dr. Anthony Fauci's concluding advice as he delivered the commencement address to graduates of Roger Williams University on Friday morning. With a family obligation preventing him from traveling to Rhode Island, Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, delivered his roughly 11-minute address virtually.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have experienced firsthand something that has troubled and saddened me: a deepened divisiveness in our nation," Fauci said. "Unfortunately, differences of opinion or ideology are sometimes propped up by deliberate distortions of reality to the point of fabrications, conspiracy theories and outright lies.

"Segments of our society have grown increasingly inured to such falsehoods, yet the outrage in dissent against this alarming trend has been relatively muted and mild. And so if you remember nothing else of what I say today, I appeal to you, please remember this: It is our collective responsibility to not tacitly accept the normalization of untruth because if we do, we invite danger to ourselves, our families, our communities and our country."

'A major failing in our society'

Fauci began his address describing health inequities, an issue he said "aligns" with what he has learned about Roger Williams, the founder of the Colony of Rhode Island after whom the Bristol university is named — a man, Fauci said, who professed "passionate advocacy for justice and equity."

Fauci said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has made painfully obvious a major failing in our society: namely, health inequities. This was glaringly obvious to me just weeks into the pandemic. Longstanding disparities have been exposed that undermine the physical and emotional health of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska natives."

The presidential adviser noted that "people in minority groups infected with the coronavirus are more likely to develop severe health consequences due to elevated prevalence of underlying medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, among others, that increase their risk of hospitalization and death. Importantly, these risks are not genetically determined by race. 

"Nearly all of these conditions are closely related to social determinants of health experienced since birth such as housing instability, limited availability of a healthy diet, lack of access to health care and, tragically," the effects of "the undeniable racism that still persists."

A call to action

With that, Fauci issued a call to action to the Roger Williams graduates, saying:

"Let not our collective memory of the health inequities revealed during this pandemic fade. Rather, let it motivate us to undertake the long-term commitment that will be required to address the root causes of health disparities. I strongly urge you to be part of that effort. Together we must draw on our wisdom, courage, empathy and ingenuity to tackle entrenched elements of injustice manifested in so many subtle and overt ways to help heal this cultural disease and its downstream negative effects on health."

During his address, Fauci also lauded what he described as the decades-long "interdisciplinary collaboration" among scientists and others that led to the development and availability of COVID vaccines in less than a year from confirmation of coronavirus cases in the U.S. — "a truly unprecedented accomplishment," the physician said, that has "already saved tens of millions of lives worldwide."

The message in this, according to Fauci?

"In the words of a famous African proverb, 'If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.' Please consider this wisdom as you leave this fine university."

Fauci was introduced by Sen. Jack Reed and was awarded an honorary degree, as were Rachel S. Rollins, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts; Justice Francis X. Flaherty, retired associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court; and Chief Judge John N. McConnell Jr., chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island.