The missions of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University call us to join together in the self-reflective, honest, unrelenting, and bold journey of becoming a beloved community for all.

The groundwork for this journey is found in our Benedictine Values and Wisdom traditions, our commitment to the Catholic intellectual and social traditions, and our institutional learning goals. Our Benedictine values inspire us to seek an awareness of God, to live in community, to respect all persons, to listen attentively, to extend hospitality, and to work for justice and stability. The Catholic tradition call us to uphold the dignity of all people, to dismantle systems of oppression, to understand the intersection of faith and reason, and to unapologetically act for the greater good. And our liberal arts heritage, as expressed in our institutional learning goals, challenges all members of our community to think critically and seek wisdom through the integration of knowledge and information.

For these and many other good and principled reasons, we commit fully to teaching and learning about and understanding the full range of human differences, to advancing just practices that ensure access and success for all, to welcoming all as members of our community so each feels a deep sense of belonging, and to relentlessly working for justice. We do all this because it is good and right. We do this because our mission calls us. We do this for individual and collective human flourishing.

This call is simple, powerful, and enduring.

Let us continue the journey, together.

Brian Bruess, President

I am pleased to serve as the inaugural Senior Diversity Officer for the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSB/SJU).  In my new and exciting role, I am charged to provide counsel to the President on diversity and inclusion matters and provide leadership for our diversity and educational equity initiatives.

Since January 2023, we have been laying a foundation for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) that is based on the wonderful work that has been and continues to be done by committed members of our community, and which honors our Benedictine heritage.  We have centered our work around these priorities, which align and support the university’s strategic priorities:

• Building and maintaining a campus climate where all community members experience a sense of belonging and well-being that is supported through academic success, respectful engagement, authentic relationships, growth and flourishing.
• Institutionalizing our efforts by developing an infrastructure that is not a single set of initiatives on the margins but is an integral part of all functions of the university.
• Recruiting, retaining, and contributing to the success a diverse community of students and employees who bring a wider range of perspectives, expands networks of support, and enriches the entire CSB and SJU community.
• Enhancing and maintaining an intentional focus on curricular and pedagogical innovation, curricular and co-curricular offerings and professional development related to DEIJ for all members of our community.
• Developing and supporting the growth of existing and new partnerships in order to build stronger connections with diverse local communities.

All of this is done with the knowledge that both DEIJ and our Benedictine values enforce our work toward the central purpose of higher education-- to challenge students and all members of our community to think about their own perspectives, whatever those might be, and how they may best serve the common good.

Much has been accomplished, but we realize there is much yet to be done.  DIEJ work is by its very nature collaborative.  I hope that we will continue to work together to build a community and ultimately a world made better by all of the individual strengths we bring to this work and to our collective responsibility.

Sandra Mitchell, Senior Diversity Officer