West Cook News

An event for healing racial injustices will be held for Dominican University students later this month.

The event, called the National Day of Racial Healing, is scheduled for Jan. 19.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation established a National Day of Racial Healing in 2017.

The Village of River Forest approved the partnership with Dominican University in October to help the community commit to racial and social justice. 

The foundation’s RSVP form, however, asks very detailed questions about possible attendants’ racial and ethnic backgrounds. It notes in the form that it wants to “diversify the racial healing circles.”

The form asks for participants’ gender identities, as well as which racial categories they fall under, including American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin; Middle Eastern or North African; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; White; or another race, ethnicity or origin. 

The form also specifies examples in each category, such as Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe, Mayan, Aztec, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government or Nome Eskimo Community for American Indian or Alaska Native; Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese for Asian; Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somalian for Black or African American; Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Columbian for Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin; Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Moroccan or Algerian for Middle Eastern or North African; Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallese for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; and German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish or French for White.

The university and the village’s partnership began after Dominican students of color went to a village board meeting to explain discriminatory experiences they had in the community. 

The university also recently advertised for a new position — a chief diversity officer. The university has received nearly $20 million in Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)-related federal funding to help support the diverse student body since 2017.

The position was created to help recruit fewer white students and the university has received grants to increase the diversity of its student body.

The chief diversity officer will be charged with expanding the school’s new “center for cultural liberation,” launched in Sept.

The CCL hopes to end student segregation by creating a segregated student center for “black and latinx (sic)” students.

Latinx is a gender-neutral term for Latino/Latina people.

“Since 2017, Dominican has received almost $20 million in HSI-related, capacity building federal grants to support the success of its increasingly diverse student body,” the chief diversity officer job description stated.

The CCL is intended to be a “safe space” for black, Mexican and Puerto Rican students Dominican believes aren’t emotionally equipped to socialize with fellow white students.

One of the biggest missions we hope to accomplish is that the CCL is another safe space to build community,” said director Neri Arias. “Sometimes it is going to be uncomfortable and challenging but the idea is that students can be honest and open in this group.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has provided awards and grants to many organizations over the years, including the National Urban League, George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, the Tides Foundation, Ford Foundation, UnidosUS and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 

Kellogg was a conservative in his lifetime, however, his foundation has supported more left-of-center causes in recent years. They have provided grants to leftist activist groups to the tune of $24 million total, between $1.5 million and $4 million each since June 2017.