Fairfield U. alumni push for school to embrace anti-racism

FAIRFIELD — Progress is being made to have Fairfield University embrace anti-racism, according to alumni trying to get the school to address what they see as institutional and individual racism on campus.

Jasmine Fernandez, the co-founder of the Fairfield University Alumni Response Team, said the group has had its second meeting with the Presidential Working Group.

She said the meeting was productive, a sentiment echoed by the university’s spokeswoman.

“We, as all do, recognize there is more work to be done, but are heartened by the progress we have made in these past few years since the working group was formed,” Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Anderson said in a statement.

“We definitely think (Wednesday’s) meeting is a good step in the right direction,” said Fernandez, who graduated from the university in 2012. “We are meeting again next week to continue the dialogue about the intersections between the university’s existing efforts and our recommendations.”

The meetings came after the response team in late June issued an open letter to the university’s administration with a list of requests to address forms of racism they and others have said they experienced on campus.

In the letter, Fernandez and co-founder Mark Elibert took umbrage with statements made by Fairfield University President President Mark Nemec in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and of Juneteenth.

“The statement you sent on behalf of Fairfield University — while well-intended — used coded language, offered little support, and failed to acknowledge the university’s continued shortcomings regarding inclusion, diversity and equity,” the letter stated. “This leaves us — a diverse group of alumni representing intersectional identities, graduating classes, and lived experiences — wondering: Will Fairfield accept its role as an institution for change? Will it prove this statement is more than just lip service? Will it commit to becoming an anti-racist institution? Does the university agree that Black lives matter?”

A petition created at the same time as the letter, which asked the university’s administration to address issues of racism on campus, has since received more than 7,000 signatures.

The requests the alumni had for Fairfield University included the creation of an Anti-Racism Steering Committee to be chaired by a Black faculty member, integration of courses on Black Lives Matter and race issues into the core curriculum and the establishment of an Alumni of Color Association.

At this week’s meeting, Fernandez said the two groups did not have time to discuss all of the recommendations, but that the grassroots group was pleased to learn that some of the initiatives already are underway. She said that included robust community engagement work, overseen by the Center for Social Impact, related to retaining faculty of color.

“We are looking forward to continuing the conversation in the coming weeks,” Fernandez said.

Mesha Joseph, a 2011 graduate and recent addition to the response team, said she joined the group because of her own experience at Fairfield University. She said the group presented her with an opportunity to create change.

“(We want to) hold Fairfield accountable for ... the culture that they say already exists on campus, when it obviously doesn’t,” Joseph said.

Fernandez, Elibert and Joseph said they had experienced forms of explicit and implicit bias on campus. They said recent and current students have reached out to them sharing their own experiences.

Among the stories were students of color being told in 2009 that newly elected President Barack Obama was going to “get assassinated like MLK” and being told, “you need to go back to Africa.”

Alumni also spoke of racial slurs being carved into campus property, segregated parties and, in 2016, a “ghetto party” that drew national headlines.

“We know that there are many issues that need to be addressed on campus,” Fernandez said. “For us, it’s really critical that we are focusing on racial justice, on anti-racism. That is where we need the university to move. We need them to take steps forward in actually implementing our recommendations.”

Anderson’s statement said that, as a Jesuit and Catholic institution, Fairfield University’s mission is fundamentally about the service of faith and the promotion of justice.

“With this in mind, the Presidential Working Group on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence was charged with advancing the work of racial justice,” Anderson said. “Members of the Presidential Working Group for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence, along with Fairfield’s President, met recently with leaders from the Alumni Group and will continue collaboration around ways that interested alumni can engage in important ongoing efforts around racial equality at Fairfield.”

Anderson said the university’s graduation and retention rates of minority students are the same as the graduation and retention rates for white students. She also pointed to an increase in enrollment of students of color by 22 percent and an increase of faculty of color on the tenure track from 19 to 35 percent.

As part of their push for change, the Alumni Response Team held a Day of Action and called on university officials to implement change. Fernandez said the group will be hosting a second event on Monday, where alumni can submit testimonials regarding experiences of individual or institutional racism they experienced while on campus. She said the event will be virtual and presented on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

“The system needs to change,” Joseph said. “People are noticing that and aren’t going to let up this time.”

Fernandez said getting support from alumni has been affirming; the support has come from former graduates of all races and from a wide array of graduating classes who told her they wanted to work with the group because of a sense of commitment to the university.

She said they all feel a sense of urgency.

“This is the time,” she said. “This is the time for action. We can no longer afford to wait. I think that Fairfield University has the opportunity to step up to the plate and become a model university for other Jesuit (colleges).”