Campus
3 John Carroll creates working group to research Jesuit slaveholding Sept. 15, 2016
www.jcunews.com
The Carroll News
Julie Hullett Assistant Campus Editor On Sept. 6, Rev. Fr. Robert L. Niehoff, S.J. announced the creation of a Working Group to investigate Jesuit institutions’ involvement in slaveholding. Niehoff decided to create the group in response to the report released by Georgetown University on Sept. 1. Georgetown’s Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation released a public report detailing their history of slaveholding, the sale of 1838 and steps to move forward from this past wrongdoing. In 1838, Georgetown, the first Jesuit University in America, sold 272 slaves to plantations in Louisiana to pay off its crippling debt. Georgetown’s Working Group has spent the last year looking into their history of slaveholding and has decided to extend preferential admissions consideration to descendants of the 272 slaves, which will give the descendants the same extra consideration that legacy applicants receive. Legacy applicants are the children and grandchildren of the Georgetown graduates. Niehoff also revealed in his letter to students that Archbishop John Carroll, the University’s namesake, was involved in the management of Jesuit plantations and owned at least one slave, who was given his freedom in the Archbishop’s will. “The interesting piece to me is how many people already knew about it,” said Niehoff. “Some of our faculty had already taught students this in their classes.” Since the Georgetown report has been issued, various other Jesuit higher education institutions have decided to examine the Jesuits’ past involvement in slavery, such as Saint Louis University, College of the Holy Cross and John Carroll University. The Society of Jesus, a male religious order of the Catholic Church, knew about the role that some Jesuit institutions played
in slavery but did not publicly acknowledge it. Niehoff has three main goals for the Working Group. First, he wants the Working Group to gather information about Archbishop John Carroll’s slaveholding and the role that Jesuits played in slaveholding. Second, Niehoff would like to see the Working Group come up with recommendations to engage the campus community. He believes that John Carroll students, faculty, staff,and alumni should know about the Archbishop John Carroll’s history and the impact it has on us today. Third, Niehoff expects the Working Group to consult with members of the JCU community for advice about how we can take steps to address the Jesuit’s involvement in slavery from an educational perspective. The Working Group will consist of John Carroll students, faculty, staff and alumni. Details are still being determined, but Niehoff emphasizes that multiple constituencies of our campus community will be included. Theron Ford and Sheri Young, Co-Chairs of the Faculty of Color Organization at John Carroll, believe that the creation of a Working Group is a big step forward for the University. Ford was not surprised when she heard on NPR nearly two weeks ago that Archbishop John Carroll owned a slave. “If you start looking at the history of our nation, so many institutions have been involved in racial injustices,” said Ford. “It is always deeply heartfelt knowing that this happened.” Ford and Young commend Georgetown University’s detailed, thorough presentation of their history. “Not covering up the event is the first step in moving forward,” said Young. Young would like the Working Group to focus on restor-
ing opportunities to those who may have been affected by Archbishop John Carroll’s slave ownership and plantation management. Young points out that when negative stereotypes are reinforced, it affects the whole community, not just people of color. “We are all deprived because we don’t get to know one another. We don’t get the opportunity to expand our community,” said Young. Ford also believes that an entire community is negatively affected by racial stereotypes. “Too often our white compatriots never have a sense of loss at not knowing or interacting with people of African American heritage,” said Ford. “They don’t see that as a loss and they should.” Ford and Young strongly encourage their counterparts to take an active role in uncovering JCU’s history. They claim that investigating the injustices of the past is a job for everyone, not just people of color. Ford is looking forward to watching how the administration handles the Working Group and its endeavors. “If there is a long, genuine, ongoing effort and support from the administrators, that will be the first step in this process,” said Ford. “We can work through this and come out with a much better face than we have now.” Young also has high hopes for the Working Group and its future accomplishments. “If there is a lot of transparency and individuals are given the opportunity to be a part of the process, that feels like a move forward.” Editor’s Note: If interested in serving on the Working Group, contact your dean or divisional vice president.
From BLACKOUT, p.1
Hamlin and Campion residents asked to evacuate their dormitories due to a power outage displacing students would not be necessary. However, the emergency backup generators in both halls failed. According to associate vice president for facilities, Carol Dietz, Campion’s generator failed to start due to a dead battery. Hamlin’s generator started but only ran for approximately eight hours before breaking down. The generators perform automatic weekly tests on themselves and Dietz said they were both fine as of Tuesday, Sept. 6. Once it was clear that the problem would not be resolved until a later time, Residence Life decided to enforce a mandatory evacuation. The generators provide emergency lights in the hallways, bathrooms and exits and keep the fire alarm system working. Without these safety precautions, the residence halls were deemed unsafe. Director of Residence Life, Lisa M. Cornelius-Brown explained that although inconvenient, the evacuation was necessary. Residence Life sent out an email to residents of Hamlin and Campion at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. respectively, informing them of the highly recommended evacuation. Senior RA in Hamlin, Evin Tolentino, stayed in the lobby of Hamlin directing people and answering questions. He explained that there is no specific training that RA’s receive for this type of situation. While they are given an overview of crisis response tactics, there is no procedure for longterm power loss. “It worked in our favor that the staff was on the same page,” said Tolentino. “We went through the halls, got people out and answered questions. A Photo by Pierce Srail common practice in residence life is crowd control.” “I recognize it was an inconvenience, but our first priority is always the Nick Bayda, Kevin Schleitwiler, Julianne Spataro, Vinnie Giovannitti, Samantha Sestito, Andrew safety of students,” Brown said. “We had to make the call and I know we Gilkey, Kendra Cundiff and Mary Stepanek spend the evening in the Lombardo Student Center. had to make it quickly but it was, again, because of the safety issue,” added Brown. “It would have been better if they had let us know [about the evacuation] earlier. But they didn’t have much control over it,” said freshman Campion resident Olivia Stein. Freshman Campion resident Nick Holoman said, “It was hot, sweaty and inconvenient.” Holoman stayed with friends in Sutowski Hall on the night of the blackout. Residence Life provided the students of Hamlin and Campion with three options. One, stay with friends on or off campus. Two, get a ride home. And finally, if the first two options were not feasible, the student center would be available for that night. The Jardine and LSC conference rooms, located in the student center, were cleared out for students. Residence Life also worked with the dining hall to keep it open late so that students would have a place to study. Food, ice cream and cereal were provided, in addition to water in each of the rooms that they would be sleeping in. “Though it was inconvenient, [it was] more comfortable for residents to be in air conditioned conference rooms than in dorms with no power for fans,” said Dietz. The email Residence Life sent out also recommended students bring blankets and pillows, items for studying and any medication or emergency needs that they may need overnight.
Please see BLACKOUT, p. 4
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Campus Calendar : Sept. 15 -Sept. 21 Thursday
Thursday Night Live event in the D.J. Lombardo Student Center atrium from 9 p.m.-10 p.m.
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Friday
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Saturday
Inflatable night in the DIY crafts in the D.J. Intramural gym Lombardo Student from 10 p.m.-midnight. Center from 10 p.m.midnight.
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Sunday
6 p.m. and 9 p.m. mass in the St. Francis Chapel.
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Monday
Carroll Faith Community kickoff at 7 p.m. in the Underground.
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Tuesday
Indians vs. Royals at Progressive Field from 7 p.m.-10 p.m.
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Wednesday
GYN clinic at the student health and wellness center from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m.