Loyola University Chicago

Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI)

Division of Student Development

Mentorship Programs

 

Mentorship is a transformative practice that has the ability to impact the experiences of all involved. CDI offers four mentorship experiences, Brothers for Excellence (B4E), Loyola University Chicago Empowering Sisterhood (LUCES), Queer Undergraduates of Empowerment, Support, and Triumph (QUEST), and Students Together Are Reaching Success (STARS). Each program is rooted in social justice praxis drawn from the conceptual frameworks of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality[1], Tara J. Yasso’s community cultural wealth[2], Gloria E. Anzaldύa’s conocimiento[3], and Critical Race Theory (CRT)[4]. We explicitly seek diverse mentors who are committed to the work of embracing the complexity of what our students represent and joining in the negotiation of their/our perspectives and stances together. Click on the links below to learn more about the mentorship programs.

[1] Intersectionality is a term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to serve as a lens to identify and examine the emanation of power and white supremacy, and the ways they collide and directly impact the experiences of individuals with multiple overlapping identities, especially black women.

[2] Yosso coined the community cultural wealth paradigm in 2005 and argues that institutions of learning should celebrate six dimensions of cultural capital students of color have rather than allowing racialized assumptions about communities of color to justify acculturation efforts.

[3] Anzaldύa’s 2002 concept of conocimiento focuses on the development of one’s critical consciousness particularly rooted in embracing vulnerabilities as a source of understanding, engaging in creative productivity, and striving to articulate multiple identities.

[4] CRT coined in the 1970s, recognizes racism as a historical and contemporary reality of society and critiques how the social construction of race and institutional racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tier. (ABA)