Dear SCU Community:

We realize that it is a busy and exciting time as we get ready for the start of the formal academic year. From new Faculty orientation, department retreats, student staff workshops, etc. Thank you in advance for all of the work you are doing to make their transition into this academic year smooth. 

Amid all of this, we have all been dealing with the extreme heat, as seen with last Tuesday’s high temperature of 109 degrees. Did you know that the seven of the ten hottest temperatures recorded in San Jose/Santa Clara have all happened since 2017? It is a powerful reminder that as we think about the collective work of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, we need to consider the importance of environmental justice.  All of this is interconnected and has an impact on the SCU community.

We are also excited to build upon the collective justice, equity, diversity and inclusion efforts from this past year. We are honored to announce that for the second straight year, SCU has been recognized with the INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. This award recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.  This is truly a collective effort. 

JEDI Strategic Plan Update

We continue to make progress on the work that the Inclusive Excellence Liaisons did since January 2022. We continue to review the respective plans that have been developed and are working on finalizing Executive summaries for each area and bringing all of that together into one plan based around the Inclusive Excellence framework. As a reminder, the Inclusive Excellence Framework is focused on five areas – Access & Success, Education & Scholarship, Infrastructure & Accountability, Community Engagement and Climate & Intergroup Relations.  We are excited to share more details with the university community in late September and October.

 UNIT Updates

I. Division of Inclusive Excellence

• We held our first successful Inclusive Justice retreat to develop the strategic direction of the joint work of the Divisions of Inclusive Excellence and Mission and Ministry.  Our  joint work will connect the why and how of inclusive justice by building and developing the SCU Community’s knowledge, skills and faith to live into true reconciliation across communities and to work together to care for our earth.
• Some of the topics we covered:  Reconciliation, Community Discernment, Inclusive Justice, The Future of our Democracy, Interculturalism and Intergenerationalism.

  • Inclusive justice implies that we seek justice in the framework of intersectionality. That means that we acknowledge the interwovenness of various injustices that include but aren't limited to racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, ageism, and ecocide.

II. LEAD Scholars

• The LEAD Scholars Program is excited to welcome 105 first-year and 17 transfer first-generation college students to participate in the LEAD Week orientation program from Sept. 11-16th. 
• Join us for: LEAD Open House on Friday, Sept. 23rd from 3-5 PM in Alameda Hall. 

III. Office for Diversity and Inclusion

• In partnership with Alumni and Orientation, a series of welcome back receptions will be taking place this Saturday, September 17th for incoming new students. We welcome faculty and staff to join us if you can. Please email rplaza@scu.edu for more details.
• 5:30pm - 7:00pm
• Black/ Pan-African Reception at the University Suite in Leavey (3rd floor)
• MENA Reception at the Team Meeting Room in Leavey (1st floor)
• Latinx Reception at the Kerr Alumni Park
• APISA Reception at the Locatelli Lawn 
• Havdalah Welcome Dinner in Nobili Dining Hall 
• The monthly Community Conversations will be re-starting on October 4th at 12:10pm, with a focused discussion on the Dobbs Supreme Court decision.  More information to be shared via email.
• A special Transfer Student welcome reception will be held on Tuesday, October 27th at 4:30 pm in the California Mission Room in Benson
• A welcome back Graduate Student Social by the Graduate Student Inclusive Excellence Council will be taking place on Saturday, October 1st. More details will be sent to graduate students.
• A number of Tenure Track positions for the 2023-2024 academic year have been posted. Please share information about these exciting openings with your colleagues and peers at other institutions. To learn more, please visit: https://www.scu.edu/hr/careers/ 
• Dates and times for Fall quarter Safe Space and UndocuAlly Workshops will be announced shortly via email.

IV. Office for Multicultural Learning

• Latinx Heritage Month begins Thursday, September 15th and goes through October 15th. Stay tuned for more information on programs and events from OML as well as other campus departments and student groups across campus! 
• OML and the RRC will be hosting an Open House for Welcome Weekend on Thursday, September 15th from 10am-4pm. All are welcome to stop by the Office for Multicultural Learning (located at 832 Market Street - a house behind Swig Residence Hall) and/or the Rainbow Resource Center (located in the lower level of Benson, Room 11). 
• OML/RRC is in the process of onboarding new Student Inclusion Educators (SIE's) - the student staff who work for OML/RRC. We will be hosting our Annual Fall Retreat Friday, September 16th and Saturday, September 17th and will be sharing more about each student staff member on social media via an SIE Spotlight. Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook accounts for those spotlights in the coming weeks!
• For the new academic year, members of the community will see more of the professional staff in the Rainbow Resource Center! Starting Week 1, professional staff will be hosting weekly office hours in the RRC. Joanna (Director, OML/RRC) will be present on Mondays from 10am-12pm, Bernell (Assistant Director, OML/RRC) will be present Fridays from 10am-12pm, and both Joanna and Bernell will be present Wednesdays from 10am-12pm. These are in addition to the desk hours our student staff will be working in the afternoon/evening.
• OML/RRC is not accepting any new Racial Justice Workshop and Safe Space training requests for the month of September. We are currently at capacity, given this is one of the busiest times of the year for these requests. We will be able to take on new requests starting for October. If you would like to schedule a consultation for a Racial Justice Workshop or Safe Space training, please email oml@scu.edu and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

V. Office of the University Ombuds

• We may occasionally find ourselves challenged in our daily lives. Conflict is inevitable and can be profoundly uncomfortable, but the ways we navigate conflict together can turn discomfort into profound knowledge. Indeed, managing conflict well can transform relationships. How do we do this? It all begins with a safe environment, process, collaboration, and awareness of the nature of the relationships involved. If you would like to learn more about  active listening, what it looks like, and how you can improve your active listening skills to work through challenging situations, please call the Ombuds
• The Ombuds is a confidential, impartial, independent, and informal resource for SCU faculty and staff, to think and navigate challenging situations. The ombuds listens to identify and clarify issues, needs, goals, and offer support by providing facilitation, mediation, communication skills and, referrals to relevant resources on campus.
• Visit the Ombuds website for more information: https://www.scu.edu/ombuds/ or Contact the Ombuds: ombuds@scu.edu or call: 408-551-3542

CAMPUS PARTNERS

The Center for Arts and Humanities in partnership with a number of offices including the Inclusive Excellence Division and the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, is hosting an event on Monday, September 26th featuring Kate Schatz, co-author of Do The Work! 

Join us for a conversation, workshop and book signing with Kate Schatz, co-author of Do The Work!  Below is the schedule and link to register:

3:30PM - 4:15PM PST: Moderated Conversation with Kate Schatz based on DO THE WORK! (moderator is TBD)

4:15PM - 5:00PM PST: Workshop based on DO THE WORK!

5:00PM - 6:00PM PST: Book signing 

Register here:  https://bit.ly/dotheworkevent

 CAMPUS DIVERSITY CALENDAR

The Inclusive Excellence Division is committed to expanding awareness of the different diversity-related programming taking place on-campus. For those that use the Live-Whale Calendar, you can use the “diversity” tag to ensure that events will appear on the Diversity calendar that will soon be added to the Inclusive Excellence website.  You can also send your program information to inclusiveexcellence@scu.edu.

 If you would like to have items included in future newsletters, please contact rplaza@scu.edu