In a statement Monday, University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler expressed support for the LGBT community and encouraged the University community to unite against terror and violence in wake of the Orlando, Fla., shooting. 

Gunman Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and injured more than 50 at Pulse Nightclub early Sunday morning.

The incident was especially sensitive because it occurred during LGBT pride month and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kaler said.

“We are saddened by this extreme violence targeted towards LGBT communities, as well as the terrible Islamophobic responses emerging in the wake of this tragedy,” he said in the statement.

Kaler added that each University of Minnesota coordinate campus will hold a food and resource drive to support LGBT organizations and their communities.

“We know many of you across the University system are grieving,” he said. “We are all responsible for creating the kind of campus climate where everyone feels respected every day.”

Kaler encouraged the University community to use resources as necessary for healing and to work together to move forward in light of the tragedy.

“We will continue working … to respond to these and other issues that impede our commitment to modeling the kind of living, learning and working community that recognizes, confronts and eliminates acts of bias, hate and terror,” he said.