This week we honor Juneteenth, a day of celebration to commemorate emancipation and the end of slavery in the United States. While this holiday offers a welcome opportunity to celebrate that particular historical event of independence, Juneteenth also presents a challenge to confront the enduring legacy of slavery in America and how it continues to manifest in our social structures. More than a distant memory, the spirit of Juneteenth has the potential to energize our ongoing work at Georgetown to grapple with the institution’s own history of enslavement in order to realize in the present day more justice and more equity in our community.
The AJCU Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference focused this week on the work of racial justice in the mission of Jesuit higher education. The conversation surfaced many reflections that are relevant to the celebration of Juneteenth.
Juneteenth takes place in the midst of the AJCU Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference, a series of virtual programs intended to draw attention to the ways we are called to deepen a commitment to social justice in our schools. The conference featured a plenary session and a live question and response this week on “Racial Justice and the Mission of Jesuit Higher Education.” Many things shimmered in these discussions about racial justice in Jesuit higher education, but one image stood out for me as it relates to Juneteenth. Dr. Yohuru Williams, distinguished university chair and professor of history and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas, called attention to the longitudinal work of racial justice. Racial justice efforts on our campuses will not succeed if they are temporary and they will not succeed, said Dr. Williams, if they only focus on “massive change.” Instead, he advised, we need to also focus on the capacity and potential of individuals to make change in their own lives.
The panel and Dr. Williams’ comments reminded me of a reflection written last summer by the Jesuit Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J.: “Juneteenth: A Day of Hope.” In this piece, Saint-Jean articulates the need for transformation of individuals as well as entire systems. The key ingredient in the work, for Saint-Jean, is hope:
“As a Black man in America, I see hope as the biggest weapon that I can use to fight against systemic racism. When I wake to go jogging, go to the store, drive to school, hope is the only faith that helps me make it through. I have to hope that I will make it back home each day. As a Black body, hope gives me resilience to continue despite every dehumanizing structure oppressing and suffocating me.”
Saint-Jean links this hope to a living spirituality. He invites us to a deeper moment:
“[Of the] divine timing for us to live with the audacity of hope in the midst of the chaos. This is a time that calls us to enter into a meditative conversation with themselves [sic] and uncover the unconscious biases that keep us from moving to a place of spiritual conversion, a metanoia. … Today, Juneteenth is more than a date. It is a place of hope for the Black community. … Juneteenth is like the resurrection.”
The Jesuit Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J., contributed a reflection on hope and Juneteenth. You can learn more about the connection between racial justice and the spirituality of the Jesuits by reading Patrick’s new book.
We are fortunate in the Jesuit network that Patrick Saint-Jean, S.J., has recently written “The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice: A Month of Meditations with Ignatius of Loyola.” This is a helpful and necessary new resource for reflecting on the work of racial justice through the lens of the Ignatian spirituality that animates our Jesuit campuses. I hope that this Juneteenth holiday provides space to reflect on how personal and collective hope can sustain the difficult work of addressing the wounds of racial injustice and struggling together toward the full promise of freedom.
This week kicked off the 2021 AJCU Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference, a virtual gathering hosted by Georgetown and taking place throughout the month of June that will focus on racial justice, immigration justice, environmental justice, faith and justice, and women’s leadership and justice in light of the Jesuits’ four Universal Apostolic Preferences. Mission in Motionrecently reflected on how this conference fits into the larger context of the history of social justice education in Jesuit colleges and universities. The opening sessions of the first week affirmed this longstanding tradition and also invited participants to update the resources of Catholic and Jesuit education to meet the pressing challenges of today. Two of the conference’s opening session presenters captured the spirit of this challenge with their open-ended questions:
Robert Kelly of Loyola University Maryland helped kick off the 2021 AJCU Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference with a passionate charge to practice democracy and resist ideology.
Robert Kelly, Ph.D., Vice President and Special Assistant to the President of Loyola University Maryland, asked: “This time calls us to look at ourselves and our institutions and our students to see ways in which we’ve evolved, and need to evolve moving forward. What does that evolution look like?”
Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, asked: “The pandemic has struck us all, it has knocked us all down. Which of our plans will change? How can we better accompany the young as they build a future of hope?”
So many first week images stand out from the presentations and the live Zoom questions and responses, but one particular image surfaced for me most prominently. “Deferred maintenance” is a concept that Robert Kelly used to compare the situation of addressing pressing, no-longer-avoidable physical infrastructure needs on an aging campus with addressing persisting issues of injustice, particularly around racial equity and inclusion, that cannot be delayed any longer.
The task for all involved in Jesuit higher education is to confront the reality of racism and other pressing issues of social injustice present on campuses by engaging, according to Margaret Freije, Ph.D., Provost and Dean of College of the Holy Cross, both contemplatively and critically in this work. Taking meaningful action in response to these challenges from out of a stance of deep discernment is a hallmark of Jesuit spirituality and education. A more hope-filled future, one that is demanded by students, staff, and faculty who do not always feel welcome on Jesuit campuses including LGBTQ+, first generation students, and people of color, demands a perspective that brings together the contemplative and the critical.
Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J, Superior General of the Jesuits, used the metaphor of building a new city that inspires hope and welcomes all those marginalized throughout the world.
Another image that resonated this week was cura propria, or personal care and wellness, an addition to the familiar Jesuit lexicon of cura personalis and cura apostolica. Debra Mooney, Ph.D., Vice President for Mission and Identity at Xavier University, introduced this newly minted Ignatian virtue in the context of the ongoing psychological pandemic. Citing the alarmingly high rates of mental health struggles on campuses, Mooney offered that Jesuit educators and students of Jesuit schools need to take care of ourselves – body, mind, and spirit – if we are to address the questions of injustice that haunt us today. Mooney then pointed to the resources of Ignatian spirituality, particularly the Examen as a healthy habit of identifying gratitude, as a way to maintain personal care and wellness in times that will continually challenge our personal and collective resolve.
Fr. Tom Smolich, S.J., International Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, offered an extended reflection on the speech of prior Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolas about the challenges posed by two –isms: aggressive secularism and fundamentalism. Jesuit schools need to discern how to make service of faith an integral component of their commitment to justice. This means taking seriously the critical questions of faith that are presented by the Catholic, Jesuit intellectual tradition. Doing so and encouraging campus communities to embrace Jesuit mission requires discernment, said Smolich, or “decision-making about the mission where the perspectives of each person and the values of the institution are brought together to find the way forward, guided by the Spirit.”
There was so much more to explore in this week’s events. Gratefully, this year’s conference materials will be preserved as digital resources, including recorded poster presentations from across the Jesuit network of schools. You can still sign up for two more weeks of events by visiting the registration page.
Last month, Mission in Motionreflected on an article in the New York Times about the concept of languishing and its relevance to the Ignatian spiritual practice of the Examen of consciousness. The suggested antidote to the “blah” you may be feeling during the pandemic was a regular practice of creating uninterrupted interior space to reflect on moments of consolation, or effortless experiences of deep joy, in your daily life. The Examen, which we practice as an SCS community every Friday at 12 p.m. ET (register for SCS daily digital meditation), is an excellent way to notice the movements of consolation and desolation in your life. A regular habit of naming gratitude, even when gratitude seems difficult to name, ultimately leads to greater generosity, a sense of belonging, and a feeling of purpose. Healthy habits of self-reflection and a deepening awareness of one’s deeper purpose are at the heart of a Georgetown education, enshrined both in the Spirit of Georgetown and Campus Ministry whose mission is to help our community members “lead lives of deeper meaning, belonging, and purpose.”
SCS Dean Kelly Otter poses for a photo with graduate Daria Fish at last week’s Commencement in Nationals Stadium. This week’s Mission in Motion engages with the concept of “flourishing” and how savoring daily gifts, through the Ignatian Examen or other practices, can help us flourish.
Having celebrated the 2021 Commencement and now continuing into the summer and more pandemic-related transitions in daily life, I want to focus on another NYT piece about flourishing, the flip side of languishing. Dani Blum’s article, “The Other Side of Languishing Is Flourishing. Here’s How to Get There,” lays out a compelling set of suggestions about how to get closer to flourishing, or what Tyler VanderWeele, director of Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, calls “what people are ultimately after … it’s living the good life. We usually think about flourishing as living in a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good – it’s really an all-encompassing notion.”
Grounded in scientific evidence, Blum’s outline of flourishing-inducing activities resonates deeply with the wisdom of Ignatian spirituality. These suggestions include:
Assess yourself
Savor and celebrate small things
Try “Sunday dinner gratitude”
Do five good deeds
Look for communities and connection
Find purpose in everyday routines
Try something new
Each of these ideas could easily be located within the tradition of Ignatian spirituality or any of the many other spiritual, religious, and humanistic traditions expressed and practiced at Georgetown. I want to focus, in particular, on the notion of “savoring” and celebrating small things as a way to flourishing.
Blum expands upon the idea of savoring by linking it to celebration and the acknowledgment of small moments:
“It’s not just the big occasions that should be marked. Acknowledging small moments is also important for well-being, research shows. Psychologists call it ‘savoring.’ Savoring is about appreciating an event or activity in the moment, sharing tiny victories and noticing the good things around you.”
A practical example of this savoring, according to Blum, is a study of how college students were overall more appreciative after taking five photos of their everyday lives for two weeks and then reflecting on the photos – favorite books, friends, campus experiences – and the small moments that elicited joy in their lives. This invitation to enter into deeper joy by engaging with the everyday data of experience is at the foundation of the Spiritual Exercises, a prayer guide designed by St. Ignatius of Loyola that animates the spirituality of the Jesuits.
Early in the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius invites the retreatant to appreciate the various levels of how human beings encounter and know God in their lives and in the world. Ignatius writes: “For it is not much knowledge but the inner feeling and relish of things that fills and satisfies the soul.” The point Ignatius is making is that through the affections, or emotions, one is able to, according to Michael Ivens, S.J., noted commentator on the Spiritual Exercises, penetrate “beyond the immediately obvious to the ‘inner’ experience of meaning of the person or truth known.” The habit of relishing graces or gifts, fully savoring them both intellectually and emotionally, can help root ourselves in gratitude and protect ourselves against inevitable periods of desolation or languishing. In the small moments of our daily lives, we are invited to comb through, savor, and journey deeper into the mystery of who we are and how God may be at work in your life.
Curious? Here are some suggestions for your journey to greater flourishing:
Please consider participating in the SCS Daily Digital Meditation offered Monday through Friday at 12 p.m. ET over Zoom (register for SCS daily digital meditation). The final meditation of each week, on Friday, is a guided Examen for 10-15 minutes inviting participants in silence to review their experiences of the past week. Please join us!
Reach out to explore how spiritual practices like the Examen and other forms of prayer and meditation facilitated by the chaplains and staff of Georgetown’s Campus Ministry can help you flourish. Send an email to Jamie Kralovec, SCS Associate Director for Mission Integration, to set up an initial conversation.
SCS Dean Kelly Otter and Reverend Ebony Grisom, Interim Director of Protestant Christian Ministry at Georgetown, welcomed virtual guests to this year’s SCS Tropaia Ceremony. You can watch the recording here https://www.facebook.com/GeorgetownSCS/videos/535154074147408
Recently, Mission in Motion focused on the Hoya Professional 30 as a cherished annual milestone in the life of the School of Continuing Studies. Tropaia, a yearly ceremony that honors the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of members of the SCS community, is another ceremonial mark on the calendar that invites us to celebrate together and reflect on the deeper purpose of a Georgetown education (you can view a recording of the event).
Typically hosted in historic Gaston Hall, the pandemic made this year’s Tropaia Ceremony a virtual event. But SCS Dean Kelly Otter, noting that this virtual setting is not what we traditionally envision for the celebration, lifted up how an online ceremony helps us appreciate the extraordinary ways that students, faculty, and staff have cultivated habits of leadership, excellence, and mutual support during the pandemic.
Reverend Ebony Grisom, Interim Director of Protestant Christian Ministry, provided a sacred introduction to the proceedings. Rev. Grisom affirmed that, despite the challenges of this past academic year, there is joy in the journey. She called upon the many diverse ways that our community names God and reminded us that we all share deeply in the mission that animates the Spirit of Georgetown. Our students, faculty, and staff, Rev. Grisom remarked, show consistent commitment to serve their diverse communities with compassion and respect, goodness, justice, and love. This prayerful context expanded a sense of gratitude about how the night’s honorees have exemplified the leadership that the world needs now more than ever before.
One of the signature honors presented at Tropaia is the Spirit of Georgetown Award, which is given to a graduating student, alumna, or alumnus who exemplifies Georgetown’s Jesuit values of people in service to others, commitment to justice and the common good, intellectual openness, and leadership. This is a highlight in the work of mission integration at SCS because it brings together a faculty and staff committee to more deeply reflect on our Jesuit values and how the award nominees have made Georgetown’s mission a part of who they are and who they have become as a result of their SCS education.
This year’s award went to Jocelyn Law-Yone, or Chef JoJo, who is a 2018 graduate of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. Chef JoJo emigrated to the United States from Burma in 1970 and has made her life about welcoming others by bringing people together over food, friendship, and hospitality. After two decades of teaching English and AP Art History, she opened a Burmese restaurant in Washington, D.C., and has won top awards in the restaurant industry. More than serving food, JoJo’s restaurant Thamee has gained attention for its intentional commitments to racial and social justice. You can read more about her work in these articles in The Washington Post, Zagat, and DC Eater.
Tropaia ends with the Spirit of Georgetown award. This year’s recipient, Jocelyn Law-Yone, is a 2018 SCS graduate who brings people together through her gifts for food, hospitality, and justice.
Former Jesuit Superior General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach once said that “the real measure of our Jesuit universities lies in who our students become.” Given that so many of our SCS students are adult learners well into their personal and professional lives, I would slightly amend this criterion to “who our students are becoming” because all of us, especially adults, are always engaged in dynamic processes of ongoing growth and development. This year’s Tropaia highlighted the many ways that SCS students, faculty, and staff are contributing their gifts to realize personal and social transformation needed to meet the demands of today.
Early in the pandemic, Mission in Motionpublished a post about a widely read article in the Harvard Business Review entitled, “That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief.” That piece provided a common vocabulary early in the shared experience of lockdown and identified the need to acknowledge and name our emotions in order to avoid becoming overcome by them. In response to that article, I offered the Ignatian practice of the Examen as a way of getting in touch with our temporary emotions and reflecting on how we might face the challenges of each uncertain day early in the pandemic. More than a year into COVID-19, another widely circulated article has provided an opportunity to explore the Examen as a possible response to a somewhat newly articulated concept of “languishing.”
In this week’s Mission in Motion, we explore the concept of “languishing” and how the Examen practice can encourage flow experiences as an antidote. Photo from 2019 SCS Faculty and Staff Retreat at Georgetown’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center
Adam Grant in the New York Times recently published “There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing” about the phenomenon of languishing, which falls on the mental health spectrum between depression and flourishing. Depression, on the one hand, Grant calls “the valley of ill-being: You feel despondent, drained, and worthless,” and flourishing, on the other hand, Grant calls “the peak of well-being: You have a strong sense of meaning, mastery, and mattering to others.” Languishing, a term first articulated by the sociologist Corey Keyes, falls somewhere in between and receives less attention in mental health literature and it refers to the absence of well-being:
“Languishing is the neglected middle child of mental health: It’s the void between depression and flourishing – the absence of well-being. You don’t have symptoms of mental illness, but you’re not the picture of mental health either. You’re not functioning at full capacity. Languishing dulls your motivation, disrupts your ability to focus, and triples the odds that you’ll cut back on work. It appears to be more common than major depression – and in some ways it may be a bigger risk factor for mental illness.”
Some of the hallmarks of languishing, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, include constant distractibility, an inability to focus, and feeling let down by regular experiences that may have once delighted you, like an afternoon walk. And, Grants says, you may not seek help or even try to help yourself because you do not realize that you are suffering. So what, if anything, can be done in response to this common and shared experience of languishing?
The antidote to languishing offered by Grant is the concept of “flow,” a term from the school of positive psychology that means an “elusive state of absorption in a meaningful challenge or a momentary bond, where your sense of time, place and self melts away.” Mindful that many barriers exist to flow experiences because of the demands of work, childcare, and other obligations, Grant outlines a few suggestions for entering into periods of flow, like giving yourself some uninterrupted time each day, focusing on small goals with a “just-manageable difficulty,” and carving out time to focus on a challenge that matters most to you.
The notion of flow as an antidote to languishing has a clear and relevant link to Ignatian spirituality and the practice of the Examen. In his article “Towards an Ignatian Spirituality of Study” in Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, the Jesuit Nicholas Austin makes an explicit connection between the Ignatian idea of consolation and the flow concept:
“I would claim that there is indeed an ‘affinity’ between flow and consolation. Most of the essential elements of flow equally characterize experiences of consolation: the sense of effortlessness yet full engagement, a loss of any anxiety or preoccupations, self-forgetfulness during the experience, growth in a sense of self following the experience, a concentrated attentiveness and so on.”
Austin goes on to note that the compatibility between these two ideas is not a perfect match since flow experiences do not necessarily relate to God but Austin concludes that Ignatian spirituality, and the practice of the Examen, welcomes the relationship. Any time an individual increases their awareness of their flow experiences, a possibility arises of noticing at a deeper level, either explicitly or implicitly, the work of the Spirit in one’s life.
Interested in exploring the Examen as a possible response to feelings of languishing that you’ve experienced? Here are two suggestions:
Please consider participating in the SCS Daily Digital Meditation offered Monday through Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET over Zoom (click here to participate). The final meditation of each week, on Friday, is a guided Examen for 10-15 minutes inviting participants in silence to review their experiences of the past week. Please join us!
This year’s winners of the SCS Hoya Professional 30 reflect on how the Jesuit value of being “People for Others” has shaped their Georgetown experience and their professional lives.
Since its inception in 2015, the Hoya Professional 30 has become a celebrated and much-anticipated annual milestone in the life of SCS. The awards are given to 30 students at the School, representing a diversity of programs, professional experience, and future ambitions. In addition to the well-deserved recognition for some exemplary students, this process is an important mission opportunity to promote the Spirit of Georgetown, the characteristics and values of the Jesuit tradition that animate our work and study at SCS.
Which Jesuit value resonates most with you and why?
By asking each award winner to answer this question in their own words, the Hoya Professional 30 provides concrete examples of the Jesuit values in action. I feel pride each year listening to how these students express the many ways that they have interiorized Jesuit mission and values through their Georgetown SCS education and then put them into action as part of their professional development. The entire support network at SCS of faculty, staff, and community partners should share in this pride because the education we deliver at SCS is a shared project.
This year’s awardees reflected in a focused way on how much the social justice challenges facing our university, communities, and world inspires their way of proceeding. Karensa Thomas, for example, a student in the Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Risk Management program, is motivated by the value of Community in Diversity:
“I believe in ‘Community in Diversity.’ Exemplifying support for diversity, trust, and equal rights during these unprecedented times is critical for rebuilding and healing our nation. As a trusted leader at Georgetown University and in the community, church, and the United States Armed Forces, I will continue to create diverse teams founded upon honor, inclusion, and trust.”
Morgan Payne, a master of professional studies student in the Integrated Marketing Communications program, picks up on this value as well as others, like People for Others and Faith that Does Justice:
“While much of my work promotes the need for diversity and undisputed benefits of unique representation, it is impossible to ignore the need for us to be ‘People for Others’ and be accepting and supporting of each other. Also with this, of course, comes the need for faith and justice. As a Black woman working in social and racial justice in a time of civil unrest, these values are at the forefront of everything that I do. When developing communications, marketing and strategy for clients, these values often serve as a north star for where we all should be looking to evolve towards as we chart the path to a better future.”
This week’s virtual recognition ceremony was an opportunity to learn more about the awardees. You can watch a recording here
The many inspiring examples of their public leadership and the ways that a Georgetown education has inspired the professional journeys of these students calls to mind the critical importance of action in the paradigm of Jesuit teaching style known as Ignatian Pedagogy. The Jesuit educational tradition at Georgetown, which arises from Jesuit spirituality, is always oriented to making discerned choices about how to serve justice and the common good in one’s unique circumstances. The stage of “action” in the Jesuit learning cycle, which follows the stage of reflection, is meant to inspire generous responses to a world in need: “It is hoped that real education will lead the student to take actions, large and small, to make the world a better place for all, and particularly those most in need.” This year’s awardees are already making the world a better place.
You can watch the SCS virtual award recognition here
You can read more about each of the 2021 awardees here
Rondha Remy, an SCS staff member who serves on the leadership team of the SCS Diversity, Equity, Belonging, & Inclusion Council (DEBIC), shares her insights with Mission in Motion. A passion for student affairs and empowering students on their journey guides Rondha’s work.
This week, Mission in Motion sits down with Rondha Remy, SCS Program Director for the Business and Management degree programs. Rondha discusses her approach to providing student support, her reflections on the ongoing work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism at Georgetown, and advice about why it is so important to take time and space for rest and recharge.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. What brought you to Georgetown SCS and how does your role at the School align with your professional vocation and mission?
I am the Program Director for the Business and Management programs serving students within the Higher Education Administration, Global Hospitality Leadership, and Supply Chain Management MPS degree programs.I primarily assist students in navigating their degree progression and pairing them with various resources available within the Georgetown community or within the field. I work collaboratively with my faculty directors, our program manager, and assistant dean, to ensure that we are able to offer a great overall student experience.
Prior to my time at Georgetown, I worked in various student affairs positions at other higher education institutions and at a non-profit education organization servicing K-12 students. My experience sparked a need to familiarize myself with the potential threats to a student’s experience within the classroom and how I can best serve them there. I truly want to learn how to be a resource to students throughout all aspects of their educational journey. Here at Georgetown, I feel empowered to continuously act as a change agent/pioneer in how we service our students holistically.
2. In addition to serving on the leadership group of the SCS Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion Council (DEBIC), you have been participating at Georgetown in theDoyle Conversations about Anti-Racism in Higher Education. Can you share some of the most important insights from these discussions?
The discussions were empowering because they gave me comfort to know that many departments across the university are incorporating new initiatives or ways to educate the community in relationship to diversity, equity, and inclusion work. One term that was used frequently to explain the notion of “digging deeper” in a conversation was interrogation. This wording may not have been intentional in their presentation but it was a word that I took notice to.
We all understand interrogation. We know that it is intentional questioning to unpack a thought/action. “Digging deeper,” typically used in student affairs jargon, gives a passive tone while “interrogation” gives an active tone which I believe is important when we think about this work. We need to actively think about why we have certain assumptions and why we participate in certain behaviors. Once we interrogate these thoughts/behaviors we are able to recognize, educate, and create new thinking/behaviors.
3. Your staff responsibilities include advising students. As you reflect on the future of your approach based on advising students over the last year of global pandemic, what lessons will you carry forward with you in this student-facing work?
Intentional follow-up is extremely important to nurture relationships and help students remain focused on their goal/investment. Whether it’s follow-up with new information on new policies set by the School, following-up on a conversation about internships with a link to a position that was shared with you, or just following up to congratulate them on their family addition because you remember their child was due sometime that month. Intentional follow-up adds an important human touch to the relationship in a time where human touch can be problematic.
4. What one message, takeaway, inspiration, or challenge would you like to offer readers?
At times you need to step back in order to fully recharge! AND THAT’S OKAY!
We know the fastest way to charge our phone is to put it on Do Not Disturb or Airplane mode. You are not easily distracted by the notifications and your phone data is not being used. This allows your phone to focus on one thing — charging the battery. Once charged, you can move freely and have the power to do all the things you want to do.
SCS Dean Kelly Otter and Vice Dean for Education and Faculty Affairs Shenita Ray have published a book chapter in Moving Horizontally: The New Dimensions of At Scale Learning in the time of COVID-19 about how the School has relied upon Jesuit values to guide its decision-making during the global pandemic. The chapter entitled, “Strategic Leadership and Partnerships to Scale a Remote Teaching Infrastructure Rooted in Jesuit Values,” speaks to the way that SCS administrative and faculty leadership have created a “thriving organization in the midst of uncertainty” by applying two key Jesuit values: cura personalis (care of the person) and cura apostolica (care of the work or institution). The text is an informative and inspiring insight to the degree that Georgetown’s mission and values have been intentionally embedded in SCS strategy and operations in recent years.
In this week’s Mission in Motion, a recently published book chapter by SCS Dean Kelly Otter and Vice Dean Shenita Ray highlight how Jesuit values have informed the School’s strategy in response to COVID 19.
Dean Otter and Vice Dean Ray introduce the chapter with the many shared and differentiated challenges facing SCS in particular and Georgetown as a whole. This respect for the unique context frames the SCS approach and is consistent with the first step in the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (more on the IPP and teaching in the Jesuit style here in a prior Mission in Motion post). SCS’s considerable experience in creating, developing, and growing online programs made it a valuable institutional partner when the pandemic forced a quick transition to remote coursework in March 2020. The School focused on a three-pronged approach, writes Otter and Ray: “Creating a remote course template faculty could use to rapidly develop, deploy, and transition a face-to-face course to a remote class; restructuring and training existing internal personnel to support the transition for all full- and part-time faculty (400+); and establishing a faculty development program to provide weekly and one-on-one instruction on online pedagogy.”
The complexities of scaling this effort to meet the needs of students and faculty required significant collaboration and coordination of many units across SCS. These efforts were undertaken after coalescing around shared principles for the endeavor, like adaptability as conditions and exigent factors shifted, and shared goals, like raising awareness and changing the language across the instructional community about the distinctions among online, remote, and in-person courses substituted with synchronous tools. With a framework in place for strategic decision-making, Dean Otter and Vice Dean Ray point to the way that applying Jesuit values explicitly in this work reinforced a sense of community in teaching and learning when the virtual learning environment had the potential to foster significant dislocation, reduced educational quality, and a sense of disconnection.
The chapter by Drs. Otter and Ray illustrates how Georgetown’s Jesuit values have been intentionally integrated in the course design and delivery process during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chapter goes on to outline strategic implications revealed by COVID-19, presenting a series of challenges that the pandemic surfaced and the way that SCS addressed these challenges. Of note, Otter and Ray point out that strengthening the School’s focus on integration of Jesuit values helped guide these efforts and ensured the University’s commitment to academic excellence: “Faculty and staff recognized that relying on ethics and values such as cura personalis and cura apostolica as the foundation for identifying and analyzing alternatives to solve unprecedented challenges in extraordinary times, would help to assure the quality of the School’s collective decision-making processes.”
It is with hope that the chapter ends. COVID-19 has helped SCS sharpen its approaches to key elements of decision-making and ongoing strategy formation. With “renewed vision for teaching and learning,” Dean Otter and Vice Dean Ray offer some key lessons about how an intentional incorporation of Jesuit values in working, teaching, and learning can help address the myriad challenges facing our communities and the world. This chapter reminds me of several themes from Jesuit history of education. In his chapter “Mission and the Early Jesuits” in the book Saints or Devils Incarnate? Studies in Jesuit History,renowned historian Fr. John O’ Malley writes that the educational strategy of the religious order has always been ministerial and about boldly serving mission in spite of challenging circumstances:
“First, the schools became an instrument of ministry that the Jesuits carried with them as they set out to new places in Europe or elsewhere, and in that way the geographic sense of ‘mission’ continued to be fulfilled. Second, the schools were themselves a great innovation for a religious order, and hence can be understood as going out to meet a challenge rather than sitting passively on the sidelines. Constitutive of the idea of ‘mission’ was ‘seeking out,’ as Paul had done. The schools were simply one more instance of the inventive proliferation of new ministries in the sixteenth century that the Jesuits promoted and exemplified – signaling a great break with the highly formalized and ritualized service offered by the local clergy. This was all part of being ‘apostolic.’”
I see some parallels in the inspiration for Jesuit schools in its early period and the way that SCS has innovated to flexibly and adaptably meet the working, teaching, and learning needs arising from COVID-19. As this chapter makes clear, SCS has gone out to meet great challenges in the midst of uncertainty by relying on Georgetown’s foundational values and mission.
Georgetown’s Campus Ministry came together for an interfaith service to pray for an end to anti-Asian violence and violence against women in the wake of recent attacks. Ven. Yishan Qian, Sr. Thu Do, and Umbreen Akram, representing the Buddhist, Catholic, and Muslim traditions, prayed at the service. You can watch a recording here https://www.facebook.com/georgetownuniv/videos/521880068795769
In light of increased violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and recent murders in Atlanta and across the country, Georgetown came together last week to denounce hate crimes against AAPI and women. In a demonstration of solidarity with the AAPI community and others impacted by this hatred, and an affirmation of the university’s commitment to religious diversity, Campus Ministry hosted an interfaith service to pray for healing and for justice. You can watch a recording of the service here on the University’s Facebook page.
In addition to honoring the loss of innocent life, religious leaders summoned the Georgetown community to rise to the challenge of eradicating hatred and dismantling systems of racism that pervade our society: Rabbi Rachel Gartner, director of Jewish Life, invited us to have courage to speak truth to power–fueled by a righteous anger against hatred that is grounded in justice, not revenge; Umbreen Akram, Muslim residential minister in Henle Village, prayed for the empowerment of women and the rooting out of xenophobia; Rev. Ebony Grisom, interim director of Protestant Christian Ministry, asked us to repent our culture’s allegiance to toxic masculinity and white supremacy; Ven. Yisah Qian, Buddhist residential minister in Copley Hall, implored the community to see the interconnection of all beings and to experience an awakening in compassion; Sr. Thu Do, Roman Catholic residential minister in Village A, called on us to be prophets of reconciliation and peace who build up our communities in love; and Fr. Greg Schenden, director of campus ministry, appealed to our Jesuit principles and our Ignatian spirit in responding to the cries for justice.
The prayer service was a powerful reminder of the strength of our community in diversity, a commitment at the heart of the Spirit of Georgetown. I invite you to experience the service for yourself and take to greater prayer and reflection on how we might work together to dismantle the structures of violence in our communities.
Over the last week, Georgetown leaders have issued strong condemnations of the racial bias incident at the Law Center. As many know, two (now former) faculty members of the Law Center were involved in a conversation that revealed a pernicious form of racism that would have remained hidden had the discussion not been recorded. In the wake of this incident and the responses that followed it, this episode has been framed as a learning opportunity for engaging more deeply in the shared work of realizing racial justice, equity, and inclusion at Georgetown. But what can be learned from this and who needs to learn it? How can we make sense of the reality that each of us, because of our different identities, have different learning edges and needs arising from this case?
Kristen Hodge-Clark, Ph.D, SCS senior assistant dean for program planning, Janet Gomez, Ph.D, SCS assistant dean for summer and special programs, and Michael Canter, JD, SCS senior associate dean for students and academic operations, offer personal reflections about the racist incident at the Law Center.
In this week’s post, Mission in Motion offers space for personal reflections from three SCS staff members who serve on the leadership committee of the Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion Council (DEBIC). These personal reflections are intended to provide material for deeper exploration and engagement with the myriad issues surfacing from this particular incident.
In their book about facilitating dialogues around race, Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom, scholars Kaplowitz, Griffin, and Seyka maintain that the vulnerable sharing of personal narrative about race is “an important factor for breaking down unconscious and conscious bias, stereotypes, entrenched prejudice and discrimination” because “research on storytelling reveals that in the long run, people are more likely to remember a personal story than data.” Through their personal sharing, Dr. Kristen Hodge-Clark, SCS senior assistant dean for program planning, Dr. Janet Gomez, SCS assistant dean for summer and special programs, and Michael Canter, SCS senior associate dean for students and academic operations, offer us narratives that can deepen understanding about the reality of racism at Georgetown and in other higher education spaces.
Kristen Hodge-Clark: “The racist assumptions and statements made by two GU Law faculty have reminded me of my daily reality and the painstaking questions I ask of myself almost every day as a participant in several spaces (within and outside of Georgetown) where I am one of a few, or the only person of color.
I often wonder, now that I am here in this room, what is assumed of me because of my race before I even speak? What judgements will I face because of my race before I even work? What is said about me because of my race? How will what I say or do be measured against a standard that was predicated on racism and bias? Will who I am, what I have achieved, what I have contributed, what I have “proven” ever be enough to shield me from racist assumptions? Of course, I already know the answer to that question. So, I live another day with this burden on my back and these questions in my mind.
At this moment, I am also reflecting on the horrific tragedy and hate crime in Atlanta that resulted in the murders of several women from the AAPI community. I am again reminded that racism is both a pernicious and pervasive beast that rears its ugly head every day in every way imaginable. Racism and its devastating impact on numerous communities is nothing short of a national crisis. As an academic institution, we have a moral imperative to work every day and in every way towards dismantling the assumptions that lead to racist rhetoric and racist actions.“
Janet Gomez: “As many have articulated, the events that occurred at the Law Center are horrifying, dehumanizing, and have no place in our Georgetown community or anywhere. Events such as those underscore the need for more anti-bias and anti-racist training and education. It underscores the need for inclusive pedagogy training and practice. It underscores the need for difficult conversations that lead to proactive measures and not reactive bandaids until another event. It underscores that our work here still has a long way to go. We not only need to do better as a community, we need to BE better. If you are as angry as I am, you should be, but anger without productive action does not lead to change. What will you be doing about it?”
Michael Canter: “I made the goal of attending law school around the age of eight. Long before I understood what studying the law meant or what I would have to sacrifice to attend in the first place. Yet as a child, and more notably now, it was the power and allure of words that drew me to that profession. The ways in which people frame their statements. Their choice of tone and length. The structure of rules and regulations. And ultimately, the way in which the above shapes the experience of all members of our society. It has fascinated me. Inspired me. And infuriated me. All at the same time.
During my time in law school, I was very focused on my own experience and attempting to survive what at times seemed like an impossible task. I often never thought of those alongside me and what those individuals had to sacrifice on their own before their matriculation, but then most importantly, in the classroom. I wasn’t recognizing that I was taking my privilege of safety and comfort as a white man for granted—I could ask questions, perform poorly, put myself out there without a thought. Fail. Rinse and repeat. And do it again the next day without judgment. But what of my fellow students? Where was I in understanding their experiences?
Learning is vulnerable. Allowing our minds to expand. Challenging our ideals. Making mistakes. And pushing the boundaries of inherent skill sets. All make the classroom such a sacred place. And the leaders of the classroom, trusted figures. We entrust them with guiding students to success and most importantly pushing them towards their own personal evolutions.
Learning of the videos, I immediately viewed and reviewed as I am sure many others did across the world. I was, of course, drawn to the words. The tone. The framing. The pauses. All of which infuriated me. Not only for the loss of trust within our sacred spaces. Not for the feedback about budding legal scholars. Not just because of the disappointment in the faculty members. But I was angry with myself. Angry about my own ignorance from many years ago when I attended law school. Angry that I didn’t move to put my passion for words into action. Why did I not look to the left and to the right at my classmates? Did situations like this occur for them? Why was I unwilling to wrestle with my privilege? I don’t have answers to these questions but I do know that my heart and mind are ready in the present. Ready to use my words. And ready to continue to confront my privilege and to fight against systemic racism. “
For more Mission in Motion content on the relationship between Georgetown’s mission, values, and the quest for racial justice, see:
