Updated 9/1/22

The lives of our Black students, alumni, staff, faculty and all Black lives matter. We acknowledge the tremendous pain, trauma and grief felt by our Black communities, especially after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks. As our Loyola Community grapples with the question, “Where do we go from here?” the members of our Career Services team are committed to new ways of thought and action in our work.

Career Services, in support of the University’s call to action and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion's Statement of Solidarity, acknowledges and denounces the systemic forms of discrimination that continue to marginalize underrepresented and underserved students and alumni, especially members of the Black/African American/African diaspora.

We are re-committing ourselves to principles of diversity, inclusion, equity, anti-racism and anti-oppression to inform our interaction with each other and all facets of career development, including career education, advising/coaching, programming, and employer relations. 

• We are re-committing ourselves to practicing a holistic approach to advising that encourages students and alumni to reflect on how a person’s sense of identity influences the career development process. Specifically, we will focus more on what this means for our Black students and alumni.
• With intersectionality in mind, we continually assess and adjust our programs and services to be mindful of how power, privilege, and bias are at play within the employment process, including the initial hiring stages, performance reviews, salary inequities, legal protection in various states, etc.

Action Steps

We are committed to do more for our students and alumni of color, particularly our members of the Black/African American/African diaspora. The action steps below are not a checklist, rather, they are part of a live, ongoing initiative that demand regular analysis of progress as well as nominal funding for specific programming.

We will strengthen our commitment to marginalized students, especially Black students, through:

• Staff training & development with regards to confronting racism in all its forms, including allyship development.
• Ensuring that our career peer program (when active) and graduate training program reflect the diversity of our campus.
• Collaborating with campus partners to increase direct opportunities for marginalized students to engage and network with employers.
• Increasing the number of employers we engage with that are driving towards workplace equality in all aspects of their business as demonstrated by company culture as well as data in: hiring practices, salary equity and policies.*
• Encouraging employers we engage with to be transparent about DEI initiatives and policies at their organizations. 
• Creating intentional, thoughtful programming, including career classes, workshops and employer engagement that address workplace issues of racism.  
• Review current programs to incorporate issues of system inequities, including health inequities – an issue that our pre-health students will face as healthcare practitioners.
• Establish a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employer Advisory Council
• A commitment to examining resources, policies, systems, and structures that may unconsciously reinforce systems of racism
• Improving the positioning of our career readiness/management resources and programs that can directly support and guide our students
• Deepening our partnership with LUC’s Center for Diversity & Inclusion
• Assessment of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness’ (OIE) career outcomes survey data on the hiring of our diverse student populations, followed by action plans to improve LUC statistics. This will require collaboration from OIE and may require self-reported data from students.
• Continued assessment and refreshment of our websites, online resources and marketing collateral relevant to student identity & interests

We recognize and appreciate the diverse collection of identities, experiences, perspectives, and abilities of the students, staff, faculty, and employer partners with whom we collaborate. Through this partnership, we aim to both improve and promote within our own staff and the broader community, awareness of and appreciation for differences including, but not limited to, race, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, documentation status, culture, sexual orientation, religion, age, and ability.

As Loyola’s mission statement holds, “We are Chicago's Jesuit, Catholic University-a diverse community seeking God in all things.” Together, as a community rich in diversity, we are called to “expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice and faith.”

In an effort to create an environment where all students feel welcome, appreciated, and heard, we invite continued feedback and dialogue on how we can better meet these goals.

*Guidance from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and LUC DEI Employer Policy

- Career Services Team