Yesterday's issue of The Wall Street Journal included an article about rising antisemitism on college campuses. I wanted to make you a
ware that DePaul is mentioned in the article, which you can
read here.
When I first stepped into my role as DePaul's president, I quickly became aware of the concerns our faculty, staff, and students have regarding antisemitism, both nationally and within our own university community. I immediately made it a priority to work with our Jewish community members, as well as our external partners at the Jewish United Fund and Hillel International, to understand the roots of these concerns and to begin to address them.
As we strive to uphold our Catholic, Vincentian mission to care for and respect the inherent dignity of every individual, yesterday's article reminds us that we must look deeper as to how we can truly create a welcoming environment at DePaul. Our work will continue with both our internal and external partners to address concerns and implement recommendations regarding antisemitism.
We are working hard to engage questions of bias and hate at DePaul. In the area of religious intolerance and biases, we have introduced training and various educational programming on antisemitism, anti-islamophobia, and Christian privilege with direct input from the Jewish United Fund and Hillel International. In November, DePaul also joined the Campus Climate Initiative, sponsored by Hillel International. Ensuring everyone feels welcome and comfortable on campus must remain a high priority for every member of our university community. We have taken the initial steps toward this goal, and our work will continue.
Again, when I began my presidency at DePaul, I promised we would engage all questions of this nature directly—and use our mission as the guide for our work. We will continue working collaboratively with areas across our campus to cultivate a supportive and safe environment for everyone. I also will continue to ensure that our policies, systems, and actions directly contribute to building an inclusive community.
I welcome your input on how we can improve these policies and systems at working sessions we will host throughout the winter quarter to design our university's future plan. I will share more details about these sessions in January. In the meantime, if you – or anyone you know – is a victim of bias or hate, please encourage them to reach out to me and my office directly.
This Sunday evening, members of the Jewish community around the world will light menorahs in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah. In recognition of the hope, faith, and courage symbolized by the Festival of Lights, I ask our university community to reflect on how we can further open our minds and hearts to be welcoming to all.