UNIVERSITY BULLETINS | In partnership with ASLMU, the Office of Mission and Ministry, Ethnic and Intercultural Services, Student Affairs, and the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, a committee of students, staff, and faculty have coordinated a series of events focused on inclusive discourse for our campus community. These events invite students to “join the discourse” (as encouraged in the Lion’s code), promoting open and critical conversations about challenging issues that frequently divide us. Seeking to empower students with knowledge and skills for navigating contested topics and competing values, these programs have been designed to capture multiple perspectives that model the norms of inclusive conversations – being open and honest, exercising empathy, acknowledging diverse experiences, and maintaining the integrity of all those involved.
There will be four events during the fall semester. The first event, coordinated by the Office of Ethnic and Intercultural Services, tackles a number of issues related to race such as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Best-selling author and advocate Ijeoma Oluo invites us to reflect upon the question: So You Want to Talk About Race? The second event, students will be invited to participate in an interactive group discussion on sensitive topics and to learn strategies for addressing them. Additional events this fall will include the national dialogue on race and a panel of students, staff, and faculty on the joys and challenges of family conversations at Thanksgiving. Spring events include the Mission Day event featuring Julie Hanlon Rubio, author of Hope for Common Ground: Mediating the Personal and the Political in a Divided Church.
We invite you to participate in these programs to learn, share perspectives, and gain experience. Please join the discourse and help to enrich our conversations across campus. For dates, times, and locations, please visit: Bellarmine.lmu.edu/Discourse
Alo Coleman, ASLMU President
Czarina Ramsay, Assistant Dean, Ethnic and Intercultural Services
Rich Rocheleau, Associate Vice President for Student Life
Jon Rothchild, Associate Dean, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
John Sebastian, Vice President for Mission and Ministry
