FRONTLINES DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Environmental activist Naomi Klein, keynote speaker at the third annual Climate Change Conference
Creating conversation on climate change
Students, scholars, and concerned citizens gathered for Loyola’s third annual Climate Change Conference, “Global Climate Change: Economic Chal- lenges and Solutions,” in March. The conference featured a keynote address by Naomi Klein, activist and author of the critically claimed book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Klein told the audience that we
live in a moment of high contradic- tion, where free trade stands in the way of caring for creation and our planet. The three-day confer- ence focused on the economic implications of climate change and included panel discussions on inter- national policy and new economics. More than 600 people attended
the conference, including 64 par- ticipants from 15 members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The multidisciplinary conference also featured climate change artwork by Evanston art- ist Alisa Singer of Environmental Graphiti as well as a dance perfor- mance choreographed by Amy Wilkinson of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. Chicago’s WBEZ radio aired a live one-hour broadcast from the conference.
now to develop policy propos- als. The first deals with recruiting African American students from high schools on the city’s South and West sides; the second looks at the diversity infrastructure at Loyola and compares it to our peer institutions; the third involves diversity training for incoming freshmen; and the final initiative looks at ways to improve diversity in regard to faculty hiring. By June I hope to have
reports on those issues, with ad- vice on how to improve them in a very specific and tangible way.
You teach courses on African American history and the civil rights movement. What can Loyola learn from the past to help shape its future?
Professor takes on new role in advancing diversity
Associate Professor Christopher E. Manning, PhD, who was recently appointed to the President’s Cabinet to serve as a diversity advisor, has been a fixture in the Department of History since coming to Loyola in 2002. Away from the University, he’s the founder and executive director of Inspiracíon Dance Chicago, a nonprofit Latin dance group that offers free or subsidized lessons to students and adults. And if that weren’t enough, Manning is also an avid martial artist with black belts in tae kwon do and hapkido. It’s this varied background that makes Manning perfectly suited to help Loyola advance its diversity initiatives. Manning took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his efforts to advance diversity at Loyola.
What do you hope to accomplish in your new role?
My role is to help the President’s Office get a sense of what’s going on across the University as far as efforts to improve diversity. There are a lot of units at Loyola that are making real efforts to improve the community and to understand
our students better, but because they’re happening in different places, we need to coordinate those efforts.
You’re currently involved with several diversity measures already, correct?
I’m working on four initiatives right
The civil rights movement showed the importance of coali- tion building and working across various boundaries. It brought together people from all dif- ferent backgrounds but gave them a united sense of purpose. It showed people that despite having diverse histories, it’s in everyone’s best interest to work toward a common goal. That’s a very important lesson.
What are some things a uni- versity can do to make itself more inclusive?
The first thing an institution—or even a person—needs to do is recognize that notions of inclu- sivity and diversity are not static. They are constantly changing. That’s why we want to make sure the diversity statement we’re working on has the idea of change embedded in it, that it doesn’t just speak to respecting a list of diverse populations. That holds us accountable as
a community to constant growth and lets us work toward change, rather than setting a numerical goal and just stopping when we reach it.
8 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
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