Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

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Campus O B S E R V E R catholic identity PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI Connecting Catholicism and Curriculum Robert Deltete looks to bring greater awareness to the Catholic-Jesuit identity of SU. For the first time in its 116-year history, Seattle University offers an undergraduate minor dedicated to Catholic studies. The program encompasses a deep exploration of Catholic social, spiritual and intellectual traditions in the context of contemporary challenges and life. The program addresses one of the significant changes Robert Deltete’s witnessed at the university since his days as a student here in the 1960s. “Our sense of identity has changed,” says Deltete, philosophy professor and director of the program. “Our identity is diffused; we no longer put the same emphasis on being a Catholic and Jesuit university.” The minor came about after two years of discussion and planning initiated by Wallace Loh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Wallace saw the need for an integrative program that had as its core the Catholic intellectual and cultural tradition,” says Peter Ely, S.J., who served on the program’s design committee, lead by Russell Lidman, a professor in SU’s Institute of Public Service. Most Catholic colleges in the United States have had similar programs for decades, which poses the question: Why is SU implementing one now? “We can no longer take for granted the Catholic character of the university,” says Father Ely, who is also rector of the Jesuit community at SU. “The university, as Catholic and Jesuit, needs to celebrate its rich tradition of intellectual and cultural activity and pass on the habits that have led to scientific as well as philosophical, theological, literary and artistic achievements.” The program, says Dean Loh, “speaks volumes about the ecumenical ethos of SU that an Episcopalian dean of the College of Arts and Sciences would ask a Jewish professor to chair a committee composed primarily of Catholic colleagues, including Catholic theologians, to create a Catholic studies program.” Loh envisions the program as a logical extension of curricular changes made to the university’s core in recent years. Before those changes were implemented, Loh says, “it was possible for students to take two required courses in theology and religious studies and graduate from SU with no exposure to this tradition, or even to Christianity.” The program’s curriculum integrates a range of core and major courses already in existence, from the English department’s Catholic Themes in Literature to the theology and religious studies course, Catholic Traditions, which is also the program’s sole required offering. As director, Deltete’s short-term goal is to promote and recruit for the program. When asked what kind of students might be drawn to Catholic Studies, Deltete suggests several possibilities. “I can see it hooking up with a number of things in addition to philosophy and theology. I could imagine an international business major who wants to do their work in a Catholic country, like the Philippines, or a student in business management who wants to know that businesses can be more successful if people care about their clients.” The plan is to expand the program from a minor to a major as student enrollment increases. —Bryan Miller 10 | Campus Observer
fair trade In Good(s) Conscience SU strengthens commitment to workers’ rights and humane working conditions in the apparel industry This summer, Seattle University joined about three dozen universities in signing on to the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), an effort to ensure that apparel bearing the trademarks of participating schools is produced under humane working conditions. In signing on to the program, SU becomes part of the program’s working group, which means the university will have a hand in hammering out the details of what could be an unprecedented approach to protecting the rights of workers in developing countries. The university representative on the working group is Dana Gold, director of the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at the School of Law. “Serving on the DSP Working Group,” says Gold, “is a great opportunity to apply the work of the center, which wrestles frequently with the role law and policy can and should play in protecting social and economic justice while supporting business enterprise.” The university’s involvement evolved out of its longstanding interest in protecting workers’ rights, a commitment that intensified five years ago when the university established the Anti- Sweatshop Committee. Around that time, the university also joined the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA), organizations focused on working conditions in apparel factories overseas. The DSP was initiated as a concept by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and adopted as a working document by the WRC in 2006. The idea behind the program is that participating universities can persuade vendors to offer workers living wages, safe and clean workplaces, and the right to organize. Joe Orlando, director of Jesuit Mission and Identity, says SU’s students played an important role in the university’s decision to sign the DSP. “Our students have really kept this issue at the forefront,” he says. One of those students, sophomore Sean O’Neill, is a member of the Anti-Sweatshop Committee. O’Neill calls the university’s decision “a step in the right direction.” That doesn’t mean the next steps will be easy. The DSP is “one of the most complex things you’d ever want to put together,” says SU Senior Vice President Tim Leary. Ensuring verifiability is critical, he says, as is avoiding unintended consequences, such as vendors pulling out of factories instead of complying with DSP standards. There are legal questions too. The working group has asked the U.S. Justice Department for an opinion on whether the broad outlines of the program might be in violation of antitrust provisions. Selling responsibly produced goods on campus is by no means uncharted territory for the university. The bookstore currently sells “sweatfree” T-shirts from a cooperative in Nicaragua that adheres to fair labor standards, as well as lines of merchandise such as jewelry and pottery from artisans in Central America and Africa. Bon Appétit, which contracts with SU to provide the university’s food service, has been selling fair trade-certified coffee for 15 years and more recently added fair-trade chocolate and bananas to its menu. —Mike Thee SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 11
Page 1 and 2: FALL 2007 Connecting Seattle Univer
Page 3 and 4: Volume 31 • Issue Number 3 • Fa
Page 5 and 6: People PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI global
Page 7 and 8: my dissertation and start looking i
Page 9 and 10: PHOTO COURTESY OF LORENZO VIGIL WIT
Page 11: PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI CATCH MORRIS A
Page 15 and 16: Faculty R E S E A R C H Dating Pool
Page 17 and 18: topic was immigration reform garner
Page 19 and 20: Khaled Jaraysa, ’08, is providing
Page 21 and 22: Khaled Jaraysa with his Seattle hos
Page 23 and 24: Real diversity occurs when Jacob Di
Page 25 and 26: With diversity comes Monica Nixon,
Page 27 and 28: T r U E c R i M e Writer Pierce Cou
Page 29 and 30: ex-grunge rocker-turned-prosecutor.
Page 31 and 32: photo COURTESY OF MEG BEADE Volunte
Page 33 and 34: Alumni Events Monday-Wednesday, Dec
Page 35 and 36: Children’s Fund to help provide a
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Page 39 and 40: class notes Richard Greiwe in 2006
Page 41 and 42: Belize trip Alumni are invited to e
Page 43 and 44: Emelissa Baluyot will serve as 05an
Page 45 and 46: Brigade (amphibious). He also serve
Page 47 and 48: the good word by pat o’leary, s.j

Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

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