DEI official at Catholic Loyola University sticks by DEI as other universities axe it
‘We have a 150-year history focused on social justice and working to support those at the margins, so DEI is not just a program that was created after the murder of George Floyd,’ she said.
‘No matter who is in office, it doesn’t move us away from doing our mission,’ she added.
The Chief Diversity Officer of Loyola University in Illinois, a Catholic school, recently expressed her support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) even as many other universities are ending such practices after President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive order.
The official in question, Dominique Jordan Turner, told The Loyola Phoenix in February: “Our mission calls us to do this work . . . That’s one thing people need to remember about being at a Jesuit Catholic institution. We have a 150-year history focused on social justice and working to support those at the margins, so DEI is not just a program that was created after the murder of George Floyd. This is very much connected with our mission. No matter who is in office, it doesn’t move us away from doing our mission.”
Turner continued, stating that Loyola University’s DEI office creates a “north star” for “all of our campuses.”
Though Loyola is a private university and President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order specifically applies to ending DEI within the federal government and to related contracts, the measure also encourages “the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences.”
An official at Notre Dame University, which is also a Catholic school like Loyola, recently caused controversy when he stated that “increas[ing] the number of women and underrepresented minorities on our faculty” is just as crucial for the school as hiring Catholic professors.
[RELATED: Alabama professors and students sue to overturn anti-DEI state law]
Others have also opposed President Trump’s move, with a group of law professors collaborating to publish a Feb. 20 letter defending DEI and bashing the Trump administration for its actions against the ideology.
Campus Reform has contacted Loyola University and Dominique Jordan Turner for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
