We Get By With a Little Help From our Friends. Thankful To Dr. B for Her Opening Remarks.

Dr. Jocelyn M. Boryczka

I'm using Monday's blog space to simply share the words of my colleague, Dr. Jocelyn Boryczka, Associate Vice Provost, and the wisdom offered to over 200 kids last Friday. I am fortunate that she shared her speech with me, as it was a wonderful way to kick off the youth conference event. 

For the last few years, Jocelyn has been a mentor, friend, guide and role model for how to survive the craziness of a higher education profession. I appreciate her zest for scholarship, for service-learning, for community-engaged work and for offering the rallying words that were heard by all in attendance.

Note: it was never my intention that our slides should match her professional attire - that was just luck!

2019 Identity and Education Conference

“Empowering Our Communities and Beyond:

A Writing Our Lives Event”

BCC

Fairfield University

Friday, March 22, 2019

8:30 - 1:30

Jocelyn M. Boryczka

Associate Vice Provost, Fairfield University

Welcoming Comments

Framing

Welcome to Fairfield University!  Let’s wake ourselves up a bit this morning.  I am going to greet you and say “good morning” and you will respond “good morning.”

You have just engaged in the most fundamental form of community building that, in and of itself, is a type of activism.  You have now had your voice heard in concert with others to begin forming a space of conversation and sharing.  It always starts with greeting.  Never underestimate the power of saying hello, or hey, or what’s up, or whatever you like to say.  It conveys recognition of the humanity and presence of others and a connection between them and you.  Community is born in that space.

All of you who have come together today are “writing for your lives and those of others” to empower our communities and beyond.  This is a fundamental and powerful form of activism.  You will assert who you are, who you are with others, what world you would like to live in, and how you will make that happen. This is no small task and one desperately needed.  To jumpstart your day and all the wonders it will bring, I would like to talk a little about three ideas:  activism, radical hospitality, and the beloved community.

Radical and Activism

I want to start with this word, “radical.”  Usually this means extreme - specifically politically extreme whether on the Left or the Right. Radical in its purest political form means is to advocate for the overthrow of all existing political, social, and economic structures. Whew!  That is extreme.  Truth be told, most folks do not hold to this kind of radicalism.  

But, there is another meaning of “radical.”  This comes from the Latin root of this word that means “the root,” or to get to the root of.  Radicals want to identify the key problem or problems in the world and figure out how to solve those problems to make the world a better place.  Huh.  This does not sound too radical to me.  

What does it take to figure out this key problem and then, most importantly, make a move about it?  ACTIVISM. How will you engage with the world in a way to think about the major problems that need to be addressed so that this world becomes the one in which you want to live?  You will need to take action.  That means be an activist.

Here’s the deal.  “Activism” has been identified with people on the Left who take extreme positions because most folks in society want to get by, get over, survive.  And that usually means not pushing for change.  Change is threatening.  Even small changes can upset folks.  If you and your friends sit at a different table in the cafeteria one day, other students will notice and it will likely create tension.  People don’t like change.  Activists make change happen.  Activists seem like radicals because any change to make this world a better, more just, more equal, more free, more inclusive place, honestly, is scary and equates with a massive upheaval.  Especially when we are living in a time of injustice, inequality, constraint, and exclusivity.

Taking all this down a notch, I want to hone in on a couple of critical moves each of you can make today in this activist spirit.

Radical Hospitality

Here, let’s consider the relationship of “radical” to the idea of hospitality.  Hospitality is the idea of welcoming and showing generosity to guests and even strangers. In the Christian tradition, this is conveyed in Matthew 25-35, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.”  

How can such a fundamental act of humanity be “radical”?  The very act of welcoming people into your home, your group, your social media network is an act of courage in a world telling you to build walls, shut doors, and protect your privacy.  Hospitality involves welcoming people regardless of their identity (race, class, ethnicity, age, abilities, religion, gender/sex/sexuality, etc.) to the table.  To be part of the conversation.  To share the food and drink - the resources - equally to all those at the table.  

But radical hospitality which is one of the four pillars of Fairfield University’s Diversity and Inclusive Mission Statement is more than that.  Coming from our university’s Jesuit tradition, it also means taking hospitality on the road.  Going out to meet people where they are and welcoming them when you are the person on the road, the MetroNorth train, or the bus.  You all took to the road today.  You are already practicing radical hospitality by coming together here at Fairfield University to engage with each other, to welcome one another, to share the rich diversities and differences that make up the tapestry of human life. 

I would like to invite you right now to turn to someone near you and shake their hand, greet them, and say your name.  

Beloved Community

You have now taken, in this short time we have had together, another step toward forming a beloved community, an idea and vision central to Martin Luther King, Jr. The first step is to greet, to connect, and to share your name.  You are locating yourself in relationship to others when you share who you are and hear them state the same.

In 1957, Dr. King stated “But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community…It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”

The vision is broad and maybe daunting.  The reality of how it happens is specific and completely doable.  You have already started this journey.   You are here.  You are present.  You have greeted me and you have introduced yourself to another person.  Open your hearts and your minds to each other today. Welcome each other into all spaces and share the vulnerability of exploring who you are and the amazing gifts that you bring to yourself, all who know you, and the world in which you live. This act is radical.  It requires bravery, courage, and persistence. 

As you welcome each other, Fairfield University welcomes you in the spirit of radical hospitality that can translate into the beloved community achieved through our collective commitment to activism - to making the world a better more just, equitable place.