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“The failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Dear Members of the John Carroll University Community,

Tomorrow, June 19th, is Juneteenth, a day celebrated annually, particularly in the African American community, to commemorate the end of chattel slavery in the United States in 1865.

Juneteenth is an important reminder of the need for our society and our University to embrace a commitment to lasting racial justice.In the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm, we understand that action does not happen on its own, but rather flows from the process of reflection upon our experiences, observations, and learning. 

As such, all university offices and programs will close or cancel operations at 12:00 noon tomorrow, Friday, June 19, to allow each member of our community to engage in intentional reflection on how this country’s legacy of racism has shaped our current reality, and to discern how we might individually and collectively do the hard work necessary to correct racial injustice. 

I recognize that, due to the short notice, some university operations may need to continue through the end of the business day on Friday. Supervisors should work within their area to ensure coverage for essential services, and to ensure that staff who work Friday afternoon receive the paid time for individual reflection on another day later this month. Courses scheduled for Friday afternoon may continue, cancel, or shift the content of their coursework, at the discretion of the instructor.

I encourage you to consult the Juneteenth Reflection Day section of our Racial Equity Resources page to facilitate your reflection. In the coming weeks, we will share more details of the commitments we are making as a university to become more engaged in and supportive of the hard work of anti-racism. Together, we must live out our mission to cultivate learners who are “aware of the interdependence of all humanity; and sensitive to the need for social justice in response to current social pressures and problems.”

Sincerely,

Michael D. Johnson, Ph.D. President