In response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Saint Xavier University is renewing its focus on addressing and working towards dismantling racism.
According to Patricia Santoyo-Marin, the Director for the Center of Inclusive Excellence, “SXU launched a strategic effort to address the Sisters of Mercy Critical Concern of racism this year in alignment with an increased national consciousness surrounding issues of equity. Staff and faculty leadership have committed to a year-long equity, diversity, and inclusion training series led by the Center for Inclusive Excellence.”
Santoyo-Marin continues, “As a university and a Mercy institution, we grieve for the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and all the violent, unjust deaths that remind us of the urgent need to dismantle institutionalized racism in our country.”
Santoyo-Marin added, “We acknowledge that many students may have participated in the protest. “We take this opportunity to reflect and assess what we can do better to serve our students and community”, Santoyo-Marin continued.
She also notes that the institution “Led healing vigils, led student focus groups, updated our resource guides to include specific support for communities of color and anti-racist tools for all of us to use, renewed our commitment to partner with organizations of the south and southwest side of Chicago to create community advisory boards, began investigating other areas where student support may be needed, including food donation and other forms of assistance.”
Calls for police reform in response to the deaths of Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery have been at the forefront of societal discussions on addressing institutional racism.
Jack Touhy, Chief of Police and Executive Director of Public Safety states, “Public Safety will continue to monitor any changes or updates and make adjustments where needed. However, before the protests/rallies, Public Safety worked with our campus partners like Campus Life and Student Life on diversity training. We have set blocks of training that all our officers go through some on-line and other in person on such topics as mental health, cultural competency, procedural justice, use of force, de-escalation, domestic violence act, Title IX, Clery reporting, just to name a few.”
Touhy added, “We also review our policies and procedures on a regular basis to ensure we stay in compliance. Additionally, Public Safety is working with other campus partners on diversity committees, which we hope to present campus-wide to students and employees. I am a committee member of the Illinois Police Chief Association’s Diversity Committee, and our committee is working on programing/training for police departments across the state.”
An important factor of police reform and social injustice allows Criminal Justice Professor Tracy Crump to consider that “…there are approximately 18,000 local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the nation.” She also implies that “if we are going to have a meaningful discussion about transforming public safety, then we are going to need a collective effort that includes all stakeholders.”
Saint Xavier is in a unique position due to its location to the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood, where a large number of Chicago Police officers live. As there have been many police officers living around the school, Santoyo Marin added, “As a Mercy institution, it is our role to find common ground between interests that are often deemed at odds. Both protestors and law enforcement officials play crucial roles in the advancement of our community, and we must take an active role in understanding how such roles can be promoted in the most ethical and productive manner.”
*Correction: October 2nd. This article was previously published under an incorrect headline. The headline has since been corrected.