Message from the Office of Equity and Inclusion
Loyola has a deep commitment to issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Expressing that commitment in words is important, but even more important is how those words match the actions and the work we are doing as a community.
In planning for concrete action steps, the office of equity and inclusion approaches these issues with an integrative model of leadership, which draws its strength from partnerships and collaborations extending to every division of our university. The work of diversity, equity, and inclusion doesn’t sit in any specific office at Loyola. This is the work of all of us.
Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan
Loyola's guiding principles and deep commitment undergird the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the 2020-2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan. This plan has measurable outcomes in the following areas:
- Education and Assessment;
- Inclusion and Accessibility; and
- Ignatian Citizenship in the context of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The current DEI strategic plan ends in 2023, which allows for the next plan to be informed by the University’s Strategic Planning Process, which launched in Fall 2022 and is expected to be completed by Spring 2024.
The Value of Student Voices and Perspectives
Through our mission and the faith tradition of our institution, we have a call to hear the voices of the unrepresented and to create space at the table for those voices. Our undergraduate and graduate students are essential to this integrated approach. Our collaborative, relational, and student-centered approach provides avenues and creates open doors for our students to engage in diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just practices. Our office will continue to seek out and cultivate relationships with students, while also inviting them to reach out to us at OfficeOfTheCEIO@loyola.edu.
Be Ready for Transformational Change
We understand that past and current injustices, along with our nation's longstanding and entrenched history of systemic racism, have been devastating. We stand with and for each other in our pain.
We also understand that it is frustrating and slow to walk the path of a companion: to talk and be with each other in these most difficult moments. If we don’t sit with each other, listen to each other, open ourselves to each other in trusting relationships, however, we will get this wrong. Without these key steps and dispositions, we will not get to systemic change that is meaningful and transformational.
In this moment, we need to be ready for transformational change. We must lean into our mission while always aiming for greater levels of accountability, transparency, and communication. We also must provide space for each of us to make mistakes, learn, grow, heal, and pledge greater collaboration and true, sustained commitment to our common goals.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion