University President William P. Leahy, S.J., has named Vice President and Executive Director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success Joy Moore and Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., co-directors of Boston College’s Forum on Racial Justice in America, a University-wide initiative designed to provide a meeting place for listening, dialogue, and greater understanding about race and racism in America.
Vice President Joy Moore and Morrissey College Dean Greg Kalscheur, S.J.
They succeed inaugural director Vincent Rougeau, the former dean of Boston College Law School, who assumed the presidency of the College of the Holy Cross in July.
In its first year, the Forum for Racial Justice sponsored multiple speakers, panels, and seminars to address topical issues regarding race, including scholarly exploration of conditions that result in racism and racist behavior.
Moore and Fr. Kalscheur said they were honored to accept University Fr. Leahy’s invitation to lead the Forum, and looked forward to working with faculty, staff, students and alumni to host a range of events in the coming year.
“I am excited to accept the invitation to serve as co-director of the Forum for Racial Justice in America, given how vitally important the topic is to all of us within the BC community,” said Moore. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff, and students to create programming to address issues regarding race and racial justice and to using my alumni connections to help form a national board of advisors to assist in guiding Forum activities in the coming years.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as co-director of the Boston College Forum for Racial Justice in America along with Joy Moore,” said Fr. Kalscheur.
“Promoting justice and reconciliation are at the heart of the Jesuit mission, and Boston College can provide valuable insights into the issues of racism and racial injustice in our country through the academic contributions of its faculty members and the resources available to us in the Catholic social thought tradition. I look forward to engaging with the University community on the important work of the Forum in the year to come.”
The Forum will kick off the fall semester with a September 8 event titled "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents," featuring Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson.
On September 14, the Boston College School of Social Work and the Forum for Racial Justice will co-host a panel discussion on the documentary White Noise, featuring film director and co-producer Daniel Lombroso, Center on Extremism Investigative Researcher Emily Kaufman, and Lynch School Professor Usha Tummala-Narra. It will be hosted by School of Social Work
Associate Professor Samuel Bradley.
Additional semester events, once finalized, will be posted on the Forum for Racial Justice in America website.
Jack Dunn | University Communications | September 2021