Our university community, like our society in general, finds itself at an important inflection point as we confront the overlapping and often overwhelming challenges of systemic racism, global health challenges, economic disparities, and political turmoil. In responding to these crises, we have an opportunity to propose real transformational change to our institutions, our attitudes, and our behaviors, change that can inch us closer to realizing our civic aspirations to form a more perfect union grounded in justice and to answering Jesus’ call in the Gospels to lay the foundations for the Kingdom of God in this world.

The work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism is neither tangential to our institutional mission nor in tension with it, but deeply rooted in our Catholic, Jesuit, Marymount, and CSJ identity. Our tradition affirms the inalienable human dignity of every human person, “all equally made in the image of God.”¹ It calls us to work concretely toward justice for our neighbor as an “absolute requirement” of faith,² and reminds us that true justice entails a world in which “we are in right relationship with God, with one another, and with the rest of God's creation.”³ We are called to hold a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable⁴ and to stand alongside the marginalized of our communities and affirm their belovedness as children of God.