Racial Justice is Social Justice (RJSJ) is an organization made up of Fairfield University students, alumni, faculty and staff. In response to heightened racial violence around the murder of George Floyd and others of the Black community, RJSJ composed a statement which they shared with The Mirror. They have also been collecting signatures from across the Fairfield University community, including students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators. RJSJ wants to share this statement with our university community to continue their pledge to work towards racial justice on campus.
“To the Community of Fairfield University:
“‘Racial Justice is Social Justice’ (RJSJ) is a grassroots collective of students, alumni, staff and faculty of Fairfield University that was formed in Fall 2014. We are united in a commitment to anti-racist community building both within and beyond the walls of our campus. Our commitment is derived from the Jesuit values that support the “promotion of justice” in building a racially just institution of higher learning.
Along with everyone else in the nation and the world, we watched on video the slow, calloused and depraved killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by police officers whose obligation it was to protect Mr. Floyd. Instead, they used wanton violence to end his life. Mr. Floyd’s murder closely follows the murder of Ahmaud Aubery and Breonna Taylor, both victims of similar acts of racialized violence. For many of us, these acts of racialized violence are all too familiar.
RJSJ, along with its people of color (POC) and non-POC allies, acknowledges the sadness, frustration, pain and – perhaps more than all else – outrage of this particular moment. For many of us, these acts also recall the kinds of racialized metrics, microaggressions and culture that make our own university campus an unsafe and unwelcoming place for people of color.
We recognize the frustration and anger of many in our community who urge us to see that our university has not yet fulfilled its mission to forge a racially just institution. As a collective, we write to legitimize these sentiments, and to clear space for us to sit in them, together and in solidarity. In particular, we legitimize the anger we feel in a world that persistently puts the value of black life up for referendum and debate. We write to legitimize the anger we feel in a world that normalizes the anti-Black violence that robbed us of George Floyd, and that continues to shape how we learn, teach and live together at Fairfield University.
As a collective, RJSJ recognizes the productive value of this anger and outrage. It means that, as a community, we have not succumbed to apathy. It means that we are still alive in Dr. King’s hope for the Beloved Community, and share his belief that “the time is always right to do what is right.” It also means that we ardently refuse to shirk our responsibility to do the anti-racist work to which we are all called as members of this community. We pledge our commitment to keep that anger close, lest we forget precisely what is at stake in this work ahead – the valuing and sanctity of Black Lives.
It is the hope of RJSJ that all of our university community joins us, particularly those at the level of senior administration. We must leverage every bit of our institutional capacities to work seriously and earnestly toward a campus environment that is not only inclusive to all, but that prioritizes anti-racist work at all levels of the university’s organizational structure. This work must be grounded in the Jesuit tradition of ‘common concern for others’ and in racial justice.”
In solidarity,
RJSJ, Allies and Anonymous Staff
Kris F. Sealey, Ph.D.
Maggie A. Labinski, Ph.D.
Stephaney S Morrison, Ph.D.
Jennifer Adair, Ph.D.
Grace Farrell, RN
Elizabeth Hohl
Michael Harding
Melissa Quan
Erica Hartwell
Sonya Huber
Laura Field
Peter L. Bayers, Ph.D.
John Slotemaker, Ph.D.
Bob Hannafin
Jennifer Ewald
Mariann Regan, Emeritus Professor of English
Richard Regan, Emeritus Faculty, English
Allanah Dykes
Philip Eliasoph
Adam Rugg
Matt P. Coleman
Martin Nguyen
Richard Greenwald, Ph.D.
Cathleen M. Borgman
Jessica Alicea Planas, RN, PhD
Kimberly M. Barba
Uma Balaji
Milo W. Peck, Jr.
Bryan Ripley Crandall, Ph.D.
Jillian Smith-Carpenter, Ph. D.
Jason A. Smith
John R. Miecznikowski, Ph.D.
Suzanne Chamlin-Richer
Anderson Weekes, Ph.D.
Rona Preli
Paul Caster, Ph.D.
Alison Kris, Ph.D.
Martha S. LoMonaco, Ph.D.
John E. Thiel
Scott M. Lacy
Matt Tullis
Mousumi Bose Godbole
Emily R. Shamash, Ed.D.
Lynne Porter
Laura R. Nash, PhD
Laura McSweeney
Christopher Casement, Ph.D.
Sunil Purushotham
Chris Staecker
Shannon Kelley
Amanda Harper-Leatherman, Ph.D.
Catherine Giapponi
Chris Huntley
Susan Rakowitz
Ryan Colwell
Aaron Van Dyke
Deborah List
Jay Taylor
Janie Leatherman
Irene Mulvey
Nancy A. Dallavalle
Philip J. Lane
Dina Franceschi
Ashley Byun
Gabriella DiGioia
Anita AFernandez
Maggie Wills
Jenna LoGiudice
Navin S. Maswood
James Biardi
Christine Ross Earls
Rose P. Rodrigues
Erica Wuchiski
Johanna Garvey
Marice Rose
Kim Oliver, PhD
Scott M. Brenner, CPA, MBA
Katy Phillips
Gwendoline Alphonso, PhD, JSD
Danke Li, Ph.D.
Christopher J. DiBiase, PhD
Maryann LaBella
Jocelyn Novella
Meryl O’Connor
William M. Abbott
Niall Brennan
Emily Orlando
Lauren S. Gaskill, PhD
Elizabeth H. Boquet
Silvia Marsans-Sakly
Jennifer Schindler-Ruwisch
Camelia Micu
Alfred Babo
Laura Gasca Jimenez
Iman Naderi
Paul Lakeland
Dave Crawford
Jocelyn Boryczka
Geoffrey Church
Carl Scheraga
Margaret McClure, Ph.D.
Anne Campbell
Shannon Gerry
Kathleen Byrnes
Marc Alibrandi
Elizabeth Petrino
Jiwei Xiao
Steven LeMay
Patrick Lee
Catherine Andersen
Meredith Kazer
Kathi Mettler
Joan Lee
Sara Diaz
Kathleen Lovanio
Kathryn Nantz
Joan Weiss
Sean Horan
Sara Brill
Michelle Leigh Farrell
Claudia Calhoun
Harvey Hoffman
Gavriel Rosenfeld
Ryan Drake
Dennis Keenan
Glenn Sauer
Matthew Kubasik
Navin S. Maswood, Ph.D.
Shannon Harding, Ph.D.
Jill Bodach
Katherine Saracino
Nels Pearson
Michael Sciandra
Mark Ligas
Nicole Fletcher
Susan Bartos
Annemarie Iddins
Tanika Eaves Simpson
Betsy A. Bowen
Michael R. Andreychik
Mehmet Cansoy
Mousumi Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
Anna-Maria Aksan
Murray Patterson
Angela Biselli
Lydia Willsky-Ciollo
Isaac Macwan, Ph.D.
Cecelia Bucki
Gary Weddle
Robert Nazarian
Jessica Castillo
Stephanie Storms
Jerelyn Johnson
Christina McGowan
Christa Palancia Esposito, DNP, MSN, CNM
Brian Torff
Shawn Rafalski
Terri Germain-Williams, PhD
Olivia Harriott-Sims
Jie Tao
Joyce Shea
Kamala C. Kiem
Patricia Behre, Ph.D.
Karen Corcoran
Sebastián Pérez, Ph.D.
Christine Siegel
Gayle Alberda, Ph.D.
Adam Howe, Ph.D.
Sallyanne Ryan
Carol Ann Davis
Sergio Adrada Rafael
Bob Epstein
Judy Primavera
Katsiaryna Bardos
Rachelle J. Brunn-Bevel
Kevin C Molloy
Janet Striuli
Shannon King
Benjamin Fine Ph.D.
Robert Cordery
Zhan Li
Lucrecia García Iommi, PhD
Paul Baginski, Ph.D.
Jay Rozgonyi
Vincent Madera
Tracey Robert
Harsha Sundarram
Joshua Elliott
Will Johnson
Brian G Walker
Katherine Schwab
L. Kraig Steffen
Tommy Xie
Kathleen A. Tomlin, Ph.D.
Nicole O’Brien
Ellen M. Umansky
Emily Smith
Jo Ann Drusbosky
Linda Henkel
Julie Mughal
William F. Vasquez Mazariegos
Steven M. Bayne
Rob Hardy
Hedieh Shadmani
Susan Freudzon
Jodie Fitzpatrick
David W. McFadden
Kim Doughty
Audrey Beauvais
Gina Petersen
Kristen Zimmerman
Suzanne Chaplik
Kara Hunter
Walter Rankin
Lindy Briggette
Nadia Francine Zamin
Ayanna Eastman
Richard H. Heist, Ph.D.
Karen Burrows
Dawn DeBiase
Nazli Sila Alan, PhD
Alyson Martin
Mark Demers
Jessica M. Karanian
Toby Svoboda
Tiffany Wilgar, Ph.D.
Covadonga Arango-Martin
Sally O’Driscoll
Norm Solomon
Michael Pagano
Clarence Hardy
Marcie J Patton
Jeff Moretz
Gabriella Lester
Lenka Biardi
Sierra Bell
Wen Zhao
Joshua Neitlich
Tom Murray
Leave a Reply