Archive Posts
-
Voting Rights Symposium at St. Thomas Examines Access to the Ballot Box
Racial Justice InitiativeKicking off Black History Month on Feb. 1, national and state thought leaders and elected officials convened at the University of St. Thomas to examine the past, present and future of voting rights. The Symposium on Voting Rights, co-hosted by the university’s Racial Justice Initiative and FairVote Minnesota, focused on the evolution of access to…
-
Racial Justice Initiative to Host Voting Rights Symposium; Governor and Attorney General to Speak
Racial Justice InitiativeThe Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas, in collaboration with FairVote Minnesota and other nonprofits and universities, is co-hosting an in-person Symposium on Voting Rights: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future on Feb. 1 to kick off Black History Month. The symposium, which recognizes the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act,… -
St. Thomas Faculty Co-Authors Broaden Understanding for Inclusion and Belonging
Professional NotesSix faculty from the University of St. Thomas co-authored a book chapter titled “We're All in: Fostering Inclusion and Belonging Through Culturally Sustaining and Anti-racist Pedagogy." The faculty include Dougherty Family College Associate Dean of Academics Sarah McCann and Dr. Martha Alonzo-Johnsen, Anna Kurhajec and Amir Z. Mohamed also from the Dougherty Family College. They… -
Building Connection With Communities One Course at a Time
St. Thomas 2025 - Prepare Educators to Dismantle DisparitiesOn a brisk Wednesday afternoon last December, five University of St. Thomas students gathered at the Catholic Charities Family Service Center in Maplewood, Minnesota, to offer meals to families experiencing homelessness. This experience came about because the students enrolled in a Common Good Community-Engaged course called Diversity and Cultural Competence taught by Dr. Chelda Smith,… -
Dr. Yohuru Williams Joins NY Governor at Press Conference for Signing of Bill Favoring Reparations to Slavery Descendants
Racial Justice InitiativeDr. Yohuru Williams, the founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas, joined New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for a historic bill signing in New York City. Williams was invited by the governor's office to attend the event and offer remarks that put the historic legislation into a historical context.… -
Series on Indigenous Relations Grapples With the History of University Land
Diversity, Equity and InclusionDuring the academic year 2023-24, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas is sponsoring a series of four on-campus events and two off-campus visits to sacred sites to learn more about Indigenous communities in Minnesota and the history of relations between especially the Dakota people and the Catholic Church. The… -
Breaking Barriers: First-Generation Students Find Support, Belonging at St. Thomas
St. Thomas 2025 - Foster Belonging and Dismantle RacismGaofeng Xiong ’23 isn’t afraid of breaking a few barriers. When the Maplewood, Minnesota, native first arrived on the University of St. Thomas campus, she knew attending college would be a barrier-breaking feat for her family. The eldest child of Hmong immigrants, she would become the first in her family to go to college. “Coming… -
Tales from the Archives: Football Coach Ed Rogers
People & CultureAs we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, it’s fitting to shine a spotlight on a remarkable figure from University of St. Thomas’ history – one of its first football coaches, Ed Rogers. Edward Lowell Rogers was born in Libby, Minnesota, to an Ojibwe mother and a pioneering lumberman. His mother gave him the name Ay-Ne-Way-We-Dung,… -
Dr. Erika Scheurer Reflects on Being a First-Generation Student
People & CultureTransitioning to college is already a difficult challenge, but being the first to do so in your entire family is even more challenging. At the University of St. Thomas, there are staff and faculty who understand that themselves, including Dr. Erika Scheurer, who was a first-generation student and is now an incredibly respected professor. She… -
Dean’s Forum: Authors Share Their Lived Experiences with Racism and the Importance of Storytelling
Diversity, Equity and InclusionThree local award-winning authors convened on the University of St. Thomas Minneapolis campus in October to share their inspiring narratives and how they paved the way for other diverse voices to tell their stories through prose. The School of Education at St. Thomas, led by Dean Amy Smith, organized the panel discussion on diversity, equity…