The university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is anchored in and animated by its Jesuit and Catholic identity. Inclusive excellence has been elevated in the university’s future direction under the leadership of President Eduardo Peñalver, as reflected in his unveiling of Reigniting Strategic Directions in which the work of DEI is now an explicit goal of the institution’s strategic aims—Goal 4, “Promoting Inclusive Excellence” with the LIFT SU initiative being a major component.

In fall 2020, on behalf of the university, Professor Natasha Martin, JD, vice president for diversity and inclusion, announced LIFT SU, a five-point action plan for racial equity and antiracism that further evolves Seattle University’s inclusive excellence work and responds to the times, including the call to action from our students, faculty and staff to elevate efforts to address systemic racism. In the wake of incidents in the spring of 2020 that sparked a massive worldwide social movement around racial injustice, as the nation processed the tragedy, so did our university. The senior leadership of the university renewed its commitment in the endorsed, Commitment to Live and Lead for Racial Equity and Antiracism. A set of operating principles undergirds LIFT SU to support a growth mindset for change: L = Listen and learn; I = Impact through intentional action; F = Fail forward; T = Transform together.

Through a range of efforts, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) supported and chartered a pathway for responsive action, which led to the university’s first-ever Racial Equity Summit, Affirmation, Allyship for Solidarity and Action for Change. A LIFT SU Initiative, the Racial Equity Summit was a co-created learning community convening to reflect on and deepen the understanding of systemic racism and to catalyze around commitments to racial equity and antiracist education. The nearly five-hour virtual summit was attended by more than 1,000 university members and marked another historic moment in the evolution of the institution’s DEI journey. The summit offered a platform to affirm voices and experiences, renew solidarity and build collaborative capacity toward becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive university. There was a keynote conversation with Michelle Alexander, acclaimed civil rights scholar and author and an integration of music, art, reflection and analysis of our SU context and the broader structural forces of systemic racism from voices within our community.

Read more about the evolution of the university’s commitment to DEI in these two annual reports: The Way Forward documents the impact of this consequential year, our support of the campus and how our response builds upon ongoing DEI work and Harnessing the Power of Our Differences.