R.I.S.E. Up Newsletter for Martin Luther King Day, 2022

John Carroll University Division of

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Volume 6, Issue 2: January 17, 2022

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Special Issue

R.I.S.E.* Up Newsletter

*Reinforcing Inclusion through Skill-building and Education

Photo of MLK with quotation - America has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.

It seems that everyone in America today is quoting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and many of these quotes are smoothly reassuring in their tone. “Dr. King had a dream,” we proclaim, “and the Civil Rights movement achieved that dream! America is a good place. Racism is over! Thank you, Dr. King.”

This facile reassurance may be comforting, but of course, it ignores reality. Racism is not over, and we still have a long way to go before Dr. King’s dream can be realized.

The truth is that the “justice and humanity” Dr. King described are still threatened every day in America. They are threatened by recent spikes in anti-Black and anti-Asian hate crimes. They are threatened by a rise in antisemitism and the persistence of Islamophobia. By anti-LGBTQ+ movements that try to delegitimize others’ very existence. By the inequality that has been exacerbated by the ravages of the pandemic. By the way COVID-19 policies continue to fail people with disabilities. By the passage of legislation that tries to claw back the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement and that restricts educators from teaching about the Movement’s place in American history.

But these large national issues aren’t the only place where justice and humanity are under attack. They are also threatened whenever those who benefit from the status quo hold back from embracing the difficult and controversial work of justice. And how many of us can say, honestly, that we have always gotten this part right? Certainly I haven't.

So, knowing that, what does it mean for me, a white woman who is part of so many predominantly white institutions, to quote Dr. King today? It means, as a beneficiary of an unequal status quo that must constantly be challenged, I have to take Dr. King seriously when he critiques “white society” for preferring tranquility over justice. It means actively working to recognize, confront, and grow out of my own biases. It means working every day to overcome the racism of my culture, the racism that author Scott Woods calls “a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it.” It means pushing, every day, against my own desire to do what is easy instead of what is right.

Today’s holiday is not a time for any of us to seek reassurance. It is, rather, as our Georgetown colleague E.J. Dionne writes in today's Washington Post, “a time to reflect on the urgency of social change and the racial and economic injustices that required, as King insisted, repentance and reform.” Dr. King, he points out, “was killed because he dared to challenge us to change. He challenges us still.”

This reality may appear bleak, and indeed the challenge is great. But the goal here -- and the means by which we pursue it -- is profoundly joyful. We should never forget that the vision towards which we are working is a vision of a richer and more abundant life for all of us. The “dream” of our Civil Rights leaders, from Rosa Parks to Malcolm X, from Fannie Lou Hamer to Bayard Rustin, from Ella Baker to Pauli Murray to Dr. King himself, is ultimately this: the dream that we can and will live together in peace and equality, that we can build the Beloved Community, that we can imagine a society where race no longer divides us, a society where everyone can thrive.

We may have a long way to go, but the joy of that vision can sustain us for the long haul. As Bernice King, daughter of Dr. King and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, posted today: “Let’s channel our love-centered energy into defeating injustice, living and speaking truth (and not just to power), and working for justice, about which my father said: ‘Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.’”

In hope, in love --

Megan Wilson-Reitz

Administrative Coordinator for Diversity & Equity

Looking to learn more or get involved this MLK Day? We have assembled a collection of resources, community events, and more on our website.

Resources include films, books, websites, university events, community programs, and a reflection written by Dr. Kenneth Chaplin of JCU's Dept. of Sociology and Criminology. Click the screenshot to visit our page.

Division Announcements

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day @ Tower Time:

King in the Wilderness film discussion

Wednesday, January 19 | 2:00 pm | virtual via Zoom

King in the Wilderness Trailer #1 (2018) | Movieclips Coming Soon

All JCU students, faculty and staff are invited to join us for a community-wide virtual film discussion in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, during our university "Tower Time" on Wednesday afternoon, January 19th.

Our discussion topic will be the 2018 Emmy-award-winning HBO documentary film King in the Wilderness, which follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the volatile last three years of his life, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in April 1968. (Click above to view the film trailer.)

All participants will receive login information to access and watch the film in advance on their own time, and a Zoom link to join us for the meeting on Jan. 19. Click below to sign up today! (Faculty and staff participants will receive 45 DEI Champions points for this program)

Community Book Read: The Person You Mean to Be

Wednesdays, 2:30-3:30 pm, Jan 26 - Feb. 16

This January/February, please join us to read and discuss Dolly Chugh's book The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias.

Previous campus book reads of this title have provided helpful grounding for many of our community's conversations on topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. If you've missed out on these conversations in the past, now is your chance to catch up!

We will meet on four consecutive Wednesdays from 2:30-3:30 pm to discuss the following topics:

Jan. 26 - Part I, "Builders Activate a Growth Mindset"
Feb. 2 - Part II, "Builders See and Use Their Ordinary Privilege"
Feb. 9 - Part III, "Builders Opt for Willful Awareness"
Feb. 16 - Part IV, "Builders Engage"

Meetings will be held on campus as public health protocols allow; a Zoom option will also be available for those preferring to participate remotely. Open to all faculty, staff, and students. (Faculty and staff participants will receive 60 DEI Champions points for this program.)

All participants will receive a copy of the Kindle ebook by email upon registration.

Click here to register

Host a DEI book read for your team!

Staff are available to facilitate small-group book reads of this or other DEI titles for your department, division, student organization, or athletics team. Please contact diversity@jcu.edu for details.

Wayfinders Workshop:

What's YOUR 2022 Vision?

January 26 | 5:30 pm | virtual via Zoom

All are invited to join CSDI's Wayfinders Program and the Graduate School for a virtual workshop entitled "What's YOUR 2022 Vision" on January 26 at 5:30 pm.

This program will feature motivational speaker Ramona J. Smith, the 2018 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking. Open to all members of the JCU community. Please join us!

Help us find our next VP DEI!

We are currently searching for our next Vice President to oversee the work of our terrific team here in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The committee is now accepting applications. Please spread the word in your networks and encourage strong candidates to apply! Share the link below with anyone who may be interested.

To nominate someone who you think may be a strong candidate for the role, or to ask questions about the search process, please contact the chair of the search committee, Dr. Edward Peck, Vice President for University Mission & Identity, at epeck@jcu.edu.

VP DEI Leadership Profile

In other university news...

John Carroll University Emerges as Regional Hub for Interreligious Dialogue with an Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies

We are delighted to report that John Carroll University recently announced a $1.5 million gift from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation to establish an endowed chair in Jewish Studies within the Theology and Religious Studies Department.

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Chair in Jewish Studies is also supported by a $1 million gift from The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation and a very generous lead gift from JCU alumna Norma Geller, an early advocate of the University’s efforts to create the opportunity.

John Carroll University is now poised to become a center for interreligious engagement around the three great Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, following the establishment of the Jack and Mary Jane Breen Chair in Catholic Systematic Theology in 2011, the Bediüzzaman Said Nursi Chair in Islamic Studies in 2003, and the Walter and Mary Tuohy Chair of Interreligious Studies in 1966 – the first chair of ecumenism ever established at an American Jesuit college or university.

Read the full press release here

Preferred names and pronouns now in Canvas

The University Committee on Administrative Policies approved a Name Usage Policy last May. In accordance with that policy, all students and employees now have the option to identify a preferred name and specify their pronouns using the self-service menu on their student/employee dashboard in Banner.

Canvas is now set to display a person’s preferred name and specified pronouns in class rosters and elsewhere in the system (if that person has chosen to add these in Banner). Other university systems will be updated over the course of time to include pronouns/preferred names.

Faculty and staff should make note of this information on course rosters and any other databases they manage, so as to be sure to use the names and pronouns students and colleagues have specified for themselves.

For more information, follow the link below.

Name Usage Policy FAQ

R.I.S.E. Higher: Featured Article of the Week

Exhausting Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy

Robin Givhan, TheWashington Post, January 11, 2022

There is always a lot of MLK whenever the subject turns to racial justice, equal opportunity and the dream of a colorblind society. Everyone lays claim to King’s legacy with such certitude that if as many people marched alongside him in the 1960's as have said they did, then there would have been virtually no one standing on the sidelines wielding batons and casting aspersions. The dream of which King spoke would be a reality. And the January holiday in his honor would be a celebration of the American experiment’s completion rather than a remembrance of a promise yet to be fulfilled. But we like our history pretty.

Read more at the Washington Post

Announcements from our network...

Baldwin Wallace University presents:

MLK Week Keynote Speaker: Fr. Gregory Boyle SJ

Tuesday, January 18 | 7:00 pm EST | virtual via Zoom

In this virtual lecture, Fr. Greg Boyle will share a sampling of what he's learned over the past three decades as the leader of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. Presented as part of the BW/City of Berea MLK Week collaboration.

Other articles we're reading this week ...

Martin Luther King Jr. was right: We must not choose order over justice. Sr. Josephine Garrett, C.S.F.N., writes that "today, as relationships are threatened by the veil being pulled back on the realities of racism, classism, white supremacy and discriminatory practices in our country and in our church, we have to realize that connections that are the fruit of a lack of integrity, authenticity and sincere justice were never really connections at all.” (America, Jan. 14)
Dr. King was bold. Don’t make him bland. This holiday weekend, Americans will celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. of their choosing. That’s not surprising. But it is a problem. (The Washington Post, Jan. 17)
More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. This new interactive database shows that enslavers in Congress represented 37 states, including not just the South but every state in New England, much of the Midwest, and many Western states. (The Washington Post interactive, January 2022)
‘This is Jewish life in 2022’: Hostage situation revives security concerns. Synagogues and Jewish institutions across the country have stepped up security in recent years after attacks and repeated threats of violence. Some have installed cameras and locks while others have hired armed guards. (The New York Times, Jan. 15)
Pope Francis praises Sister Jeannine Gramick’s 50 years of L.G.B.T. ministry: In a handwritten letter, Pope Francis congratulated Sister Gramick on “50 years of closeness, of compassion and of tenderness” in a ministry that he described as being in “the style of God.” (America, Jan. 7)
The poet Maya Angelou is the first Black woman to be featured on a U.S. quarter: A new quarter featuring legendary poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou and other trailblazing American women has officially started shipping to banks on Monday, the U.S. Mint announced. Angelou is the first Black woman to appear on the quarter. (NPR, Jan. 10)
How a teenager got more women of color added to history lessons in one of the country’s largest school systems: she has worked with social studies teachers to create Civil War material made available for sixth-grade U.S. history lessons, and she has written minibooks about Native American women for the school system’s young readers. (The Washington Post, Jan. 15)
Centering First-Gen Voices: In spite of all the talk in recent years about supporting first-generation students, campus officials don’t necessarily hear directly from them very much. That may be why stubborn gaps continue to trip up too many students. (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Jan. 12)
Black activists say the time for pretty speeches is over. They need an action plan from Biden on voting rights. (The Washington Post, Jan. 12)
Code-switching takes a lot of skill and a complex command of grammar. The visceral and powerful reality of the bilingual experience is grounded in the usage, flexibility and interchangeability of two languages such as Spanish and English. (The San Diego Tribune, Jan. 7)
‘The prophet must not have died in vain’: The Jesuits, MLK and the fight for racial justice -- John LaFarge, S.J., left an indelible mark on America—particularly in his unflagging devotion to the cause of racial justice for African Americans. (America, Jan. 12)
Student Creates Scholarship to Defy Sexist Professor: A college student who took action after a professor at her school stated that women should not be recruited into fields like engineering, medicine and law has now raised over $70,000 for a scholarship for women studying those fields. (Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 11)
Diversity, Advocacy and Career Prep: Back in Sight, Top of Mind? According to results and insights from the Student Voice survey on the fall 2021 semester, diversity initiatives, advocacy opportunities and career preparation activities were three particularly vulnerable areas of college life during campus COVID closures because of the “out of sight, out of mind” factor. (Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 12)
Prison systems insist on banning books by Black authors. It’s time to end the censorship. The need for educational and self-empowering materials in prisons is vast. Despite this need, prisons routinely impede access for arbitrary and biased reasons, a practice long overdue for public examination. (Washington Post, Jan. 12)

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DEI Division Website

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