×
img

Beazley Institute, Annals of Health Law & Life Sciences, and the Health Justice Project Clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law

The Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy, the Annals of Health Law & Life Sciences, and the Health Justice Project Clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law join in solidarity with advocates and protestors across the city of Chicago, the United States, and the globe to call out the continuing devastation of racism on Black people and other people of color and to renew our commitment to racial justice through action. We denounce the continued perpetuation of racist policies and practices by federal, state and local governments, individuals, communities, organizations, and systems including the police, educational institutions, social services systems, and health care systems. We denounce the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others as a larger pattern and practice of racist policing and criminal justice across the country that has disproportionately targeted the Black community. We believe that a strong and healthy society is one where we invest in and ensure equity and inclusion in our health care systems, social services systems, and our schools, and support economic opportunities in long neglected communities of color instead of investing in police, jails, and prisons. 

We pledge the following Action Steps to begin immediately:

Support Communities of Color in Chicago and Beyond:

  • Launch a new medical-legal partnership in Maywood, Illinois in the Fall of 2020 in collaboration with Loyola University Medical Center and Loyola Stritch School of Medicine to address the structural and social determinants of health for vulnerable communities of color in western Chicago and the near western suburbs.
  • Act as a catalyst to explore the impacts of racism on health policy and actively collaborate with local, state and national organizations to do so.
  • Seek out businesses owned by people of color for Institute and program catering, materials, and supplies.

Prioritize Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Within the Beazley Institute:

  • Revise the Beazley Institute mission statement to emphasize our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
  • Revise the Annals bylaws to encourage and foster diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
  • Prioritize diversity as the leading principle in the hiring of a new tenure-track health law professor and Health Justice Project post-graduate teaching fellow.
  • Develop strategies to increase diversity among health law students and fellows.
  • Establish a culture of inclusion that does not tolerate explicit or implicit racism or silencing, and develop policies to ensure that any concerns about bias or injustice among the faculty, staff, and students of the Beazley Institute are welcomed, heard, and promptly addressed. 

Integrate Racial Justice into Health Law Curriculum and Programming:

  • Develop a new elective course in Spring 2021 focused on racism and health disparities.
  • Focus on issues of racism, inclusion and diversity across the health law curriculum. 
  • Plan and host two Beazley events on the intersection of race and health each year.
  • Address race, racism, and public health in the Annals Fall 2020 symposium and Spring 2021 publication.
  • Maintain and expand student conversations about the racial dimensions of health law and anti-racism through programs and reflection papers required for the health law certificate.
  • Recruit diverse scholars to the University to study and teach about the intersection of racism and health.