KidsWinLoyola
Balanced Informed Discussion
Working to form a more inclusive and diverse Loyola Academy where all students, faculty and parents feel welcomed to challenge ideas openly
Who We Are
We are families who value Catholic and Jesuit education. Together we have sent multiple generations of children through Loyola Academy. We have served on the Board of Trustees, on the Board of the Mothers’ Club, on Women of Wisdom; served as team parents, and volunteers. We have contributed to the Annual Fund, Capital Campaigns, The Ramble and The President’s Dinner. We represent parishes all throughout the Chicago area. We have a deep love for Loyola and a desire to see it thrive.
We are not adversaries. We are family!
“Today, kids again are being taught that the color of their skin defines them – and if they look a certain way, they’re an oppressor. From colleges to corporations to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress. By doubling down on the divisions we’ve worked so hard to heal. You know this stuff is wrong. Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country. It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different discrimination….We are not adversaries. We are family! We are all in this together. And we get to live in the greatest country on earth.”
Senator Tim Scott, Address to the Nation, April 28, 2021 (Full text here)
Why We Came Together
We believe Loyola Academy’s recent aggressive adoption of an intolerant Identity Curriculum has created a growing crisis in the school. The presentation, method and tone of this curriculum, to the exclusion of any other alternative approaches, conflicts with the Jesuit tradition of rigorous open inquiry and discernment. Students and parents alike feel that the exclusive teaching of the Identity Curriculum has many negative impacts on the Loyola community, including:
- lack of intellectual diversity and development of critical thinking skills
- intolerance of alternative views and stifling of student discussion
- indoctrination of students and faculty
- verbal and cyber bullying of students
- deterioration of school spirit and division among student groups
- increasing levels of anxiety, depression and isolation in students
The students say that there has been a marked shift in the classroom that is divisive, one-sided, and contains elements of bullying and shaming. Parents’ attempts to work through the proper channels in the school were met with silence.
Our goal is to alert and inform parents and alumni of Loyola Academy of the depth and breadth of this crisis, specifically the harm being inflicted on our community and offer positive alternatives.
We are called to act.
What we ask of the Administration & Faculty:
- Listen to all voices and respect the views of parents.
- Present all sides of complex issues in the classroom and throughout the day.
- Pledge to unite, not divide, and never shame or bully.
- Be fully transparent with parents about all curriculum and training materials used for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
- Offer speakers, resources and curriculum from organizations that work to eliminate racism without divisive ideology such as FAIR, 1776 Unites or Heterodox Academy.
- Ensure greater participation by all parents to ensure full transparency and representation of all viewpoints, so that trust begins to be restored.
Listen to all voices and viewpoints • Present all sides of an issue • Form kind, courageous, resilient leaders
Our Beliefs
- We believe that Loyola Academy, in its role as educator of young adults, is tasked with teaching critical thinking, forming optimistic and resilient future leaders, in unison with families.
- We believe racism is a sin. We are instructed by God to love our neighbors as ourselves. Apart from any actual sin, no Christian needs to repent, to confess or to seek forgiveness from any other Christian.
- We believe Christ instructs us to assume the best in each other, to be slow to judge and to strive for unity.
- We believe in robust, diverse, constructive discourse and open respectful debate in the classroom.
- We believe shaming and silencing of voices and viewpoints should never be allowed; that attempts to pit one individual against another, one group against another, is destructive and dehumanizing.
We are all longtime supporters of Loyola Academy and want it to thrive in a complex world.