In solidarity:

Intellectual Saidiya Hartman suggests that American ideology fashions Black people as objects. As such, Hartman argues that Black people garner empathy only in death. Many will dismiss such an idea out of hand. We ask you to consider the renewed season of death we are living in; the differences between what is happening now and in the Red Summer of 1919, are few. While many Black people are not surprised broad daylight did not dissuade police officers from committing a public execution, for much of majority culture, George Floyd’s death served as an awakening. We are left to reckon with the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. as his mother begged for his life and the bare injustice of  Breonna Taylor’s grand jury outcome. It is with the spectre of national Black death on our minds, that we turn to similar threats on St. Joe’s campus. In September and October of this year, a number of women, many of them BIPOC, were harassed and threatened with physical and sexual violence. When they sought protection and justice, the University questioned their credibility, doing too little to investigate and protect them. It failed to demonstrate the cura personalis it demands of us all. This is unacceptable and we, the Faculty Senate, unanimously submitted a resolution seeking change. It reads: 

Whereas, recent, verified reports of harassment directed at students threaten both them and the core social and philosophical beliefs of our University; 

Whereas, as a Catholic, Jesuit University, the faculty of Saint Joseph’s values its commitments to social justice; 

Whereas, cura personalis, care of the whole person, defines our work with students; 

Whereas, systemic racism throughout the United States of America routinely marginalizes Black, Indigenous, and people of color; 

Whereas, we as a faculty believe women, and that harassment and any threats of violence must be taken with the utmost seriousness; 

Whereas, threats to the physical safety and lives of our students obstruct their right to educational opportunity; 

Whereas, the faculty of Saint Joseph’s University seek to end systemic racism and violence against women through our teaching, scholarship, service, and advising; 

Whereas, equity and institutional integrity are cornerstones of Jesuit education;

Be it resolved that the faculty of Saint Joseph’s University stand with and fervently support those students who have suffered such harassment; 

Be it further resolved that the Faculty Senate of Saint Joseph’s University demands close and productive coordination among (1) the Title IX Coordinator, (2) the Vice Provost of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, (3) the Office of Public Safety, and (4) the Provost’s Office in investigating and resolving all cases of racial and sexual harassment and threats of violence; as Chief Academic Officer,  the Provost should expeditiously issue to the Saint Joseph’s community a comprehensive report regarding such investigations, detailing findings, consequences and recommendations, as well as reaffirming our fundamental institutional values.

– Aisha Damali Lockridge, Ph.D, associate professor of English and Ann Green, Ph.D, professor of English, on behalf of Faculty Senate

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