My Dear Notre Dame College Community,
Many of you have gotten to know me and my family through brief video snippets during this time of social distancing and quarantine. You’ve probably noticed that I have a diverse family. My children are white, Hispanic and African-American. As my children have married, they have brought even greater diversity into our larger-than-usual family. You can’t begin to imagine the intense conversations about wide ranging issues when we are gathered together.
However, reflecting on recent incidents of racism and violence toward black men in our country, I am gravely concerned as several members of my immediate family are seen differently by many members of our society; I have two African-American sons and an African-American son-in-law.
One of the things that most attracted me to Notre Dame College was the range of diversity within the campus community and in the greater community that surrounds it. I feel this is a great place to raise my children. However, I fear that my sons and son-in-law are viewed all too often through the tainted lens of racism by many throughout our nation, merely because of the beautiful color of their skin.
As president of the College, I feel that I must reflect and respond when issues of injustice are prominent in our society. As a Catholic institution, founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame, we stand against any racism; America’s original sin.
I am idealistic, and I hope that Notre Dame College will stand as an example of how we can respect the inherent dignity of every human person and recognize that each of us is an amazing and unique creation of a loving God. For our students, we hope that a Notre Dame education will prepare you to live peacefully and as a problem-solver in a world of exquisite natural beauty and rich human diversity. We must attune our hearts to the suffering of the oppressed and mistreated. We should be a place of comfort to those who are marginalized. We should be a voice of reason when faced with unreasonable hatred.
Finally, I ask that you join me in prayer for healing. In order to move forward, we must grow in our understanding of each other’s circumstances, personal history and pain and develop hearts of love and forgiveness.
Let’s be a model of God’s kingdom, that all may be one, on campus, in South Euclid, in the greater Cleveland community and in the world.