“Never speak with contempt of any nation, profession, or class of people.” - Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy
Saint Joseph’s College commits itself to serving the needs of our community and beyond with the recognition that our perspectives are shaped by religion, nationality, experience, culture, status, and more. Unjust social structures dehumanize individuals and groups, devalue human life, alienate peoples from one another, escalate violence, engender poverty, and degrade our environment. In order to confront them, we embrace and actively promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion as vital expressions of our Core Values, the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and Catholic Social Teaching.
Our Core Values
The mission of Saint Joseph’s College calls us to make our core values visible in our daily interactions with one another. These values include integrity which requires a concern for the common good, a commitment to a community that embraces radical hospitality and inclusive relationships, respect for each member of our community, compassion and mercy for those who are excluded, and addressing injustices within and outside of our community.
Our Mercy Heritage
As an institution founded by the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Joseph’s College shares in their mission to “see Jesus in the most marginalized people and take a vow of service to perform works of Mercy that alleviate suffering.” Drawing upon their long standing concern for justice and service to the poor, the Sisters of Mercy have articulated critical concerns which guide Saint Joseph’s College’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They are the earth, immigration, non-violence, racism, and women.
Our Catholic Identity
The Roman Catholic Church is a culturally diverse global institution with the most growth now taking place in Africa, Asia, and South America. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it created schools in America to serve immigrant populations for whom access to education was being denied. The Christian practice of hospitality finds its origin in the ministry of Jesus who welcomed outcasts and the marginalized.
These values, individually and together, are expressions of the Church’s commitment to justice as articulated in Catholic social teaching. The foundation of this body of teaching is that all persons are imprinted with God’s image which confers upon them an incomparable dignity that is to be respected and protected without condition. That is, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are intrinsic to Saint Joseph’s Catholic identity.
Contact
Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
jedi@sjcme.edu
(207) 893 - 7707
Who We Are
