Dear Staff Colleagues,

Seattle University Staff Council acknowledges that this is not a time for us to be silent. It is a time to stand against white supremacy and the recent injustices in our country, although these injustices are not new. We stand beside our black SU community members and all who are feeling the pain and weight of these times.

We support the Black Student Union’s petition for academic accommodations and acknowledge the compassion demonstrated and work required to support such adjustments Seattle University has made to the quarter.

We offer our solidarity, advocacy, support, and gratitude to black staff and all staff whose voices have spoken out against racism and oppression, and to all staff who work in many ways to promote and achieve justice, equity and inclusion professionally, academically, and personally.

We affirm the value and dignity of black lives. We acknowledge the entrenched and interlocking systems of racism in our society. We acknowledge the insidious role of white privilege in perpetuating marginalization and injustice.

We commit ourselves to listen to black voices. We commit ourselves to recognize privilege where it operates in our lives. We commit ourselves to name and confront racism wherever it operates in our world, our campus, and our selves. We commit ourselves to live in a spirit of honesty, respect, and hope. We commit ourselves to speak up and to act out for dignity, justice, and inclusion.

We answer the invitation by our Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Natasha Martin in her letter on Affirming Black Lives and at the Lament and Vigil for Racial Justice, that we remain aware of our responsibility in this moment to make SU a better place.

We want to hear your voices as well. If you have any ideas, please send us your thoughts via our feedback portal.

In solidarity,

Seattle University Staff Council