Solidarity Statement

The Fellowship Office of LUC stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.  In doing so, the Fellowship Office supports and follows the directives of two organizations: the Black Cultural Center of LUC, and the National Association of Fellowship Advisors (NAFA).

The Fellowship Office will take action primarily by following the recommendations outlined in the Black Cultural Center’s publication In Support of Black Students.  The FO will support the proposed Office Black Student Success and the proposed Black Living Learning Community, with specialized information and advising, calling upon Black alumni who have worked with the FO and won major fellowships.  The Fellowship will also follow the Zero Tolerance Policy and Mandatory Racial Bias Training.

Further, on June 3, 2020, the President and Board of NAFA released a statement on behalf of the entire organization, confirming our shared belief that racism has no place in our society.  The statement cites our Code of Ethics, based upon “our four core values of integrity, collaboration, respect, and fairness”.  Racism has no place in our core values.  As a member of NAFA, the LUC Fellowship Office will take action by actively using the expertise shared by other fellowship advisor nationwide, who have implemented proven strategies to support Black students and alumni that work. 

The NAFA statement also provided the following eight anti-racism resources that Fellowship Office actively promotes:

• How to Be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi 
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism - Robin Di’Angelo 
• Seeing White Podcast
• NPR’s Code Switch Podcast
• 1619 Podcast
• 3 Things You Should Not Say To Your Black Colleagues Right Now
• Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not
• Campaign Zero maintains a useful list of resources to help you take action at the local, state, or national level towards ending police violence

In solidarity,

Lisa J. Knepshield
Fellowship Office