Our Commitment to Diversity & Kinship
The vision of the Office of Diversity & Kinship is to cultivate a diverse community—one that thrives when we each experience a healthy sense of self, respect and care from others…in a word, when we each experience the sense of kinship.
Kinship, as defined by Britannica, is the system of social organization based on real or putative family ties. Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ puts it more simply by saying “Kinship is we belong to each other.” He continues, saying that “we seek to create loving communities of kinship precisely to counteract mounting lovelessness, racism, and the cultural disparagement that keeps us apart.”
Kinship helps to make clear that sense of community and family through that core Ignatian value of “Finding God in All Things,” which roots us in the awareness that God can be found in everyone, every place and in everything. It helps to create that culture of encounter that Pope Francis invites us to in his Encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti”. If we “belong to each other” than we should be more curious and passionate about meeting others, seeking points of contact, building bridges and planning projects that includes everyone.
Our efforts around building Diversity & Kinship consist of a multi-faceted and transformative approach seeking to enact the recommendations of the school's Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Plan that was approved by the Board of Trustees and President David Card in 2016 and spearheaded by the school's diversity directors in collaboration with the Assistant Principal of Mission, Ministry & Diversity and mission team.