Proposed Guiding Principles for Dialogue, Partnership, and Collaboration

Introduction

Georgetown University and the Society of Jesus share a commitment to working together with the Descendants of the enslaved people of the Maryland plantations toward reconciliation.

We seek to strive for reconciliation through dialogue, partnership, and collaboration with one another and the initiatives that we undertake together.

We are committed to building a framework for dialogue, partnership, and collaboration among the Descendant, Jesuit, and Georgetown communities.

We are committed to dialogue, partnership, and collaboration with the Descendant community for the long-term.

We seek to identify, in dialogue and conversation with the Descendant community, a set of principles that can guide our work together in building a long-term and ongoing framework for dialogue, partnership, and collaboration that can advance shared initiatives focused on racial justice.

Draft Principles

• We value the points of view of each member of the Descendant, Jesuit, and Georgetown communities. We seek to be inclusive of diverse voices and welcoming of all members of our communities.
  
  
• We will focus on finding common ground and we will seek to establish consensus on the work that is meaningful and significant that we can pursue together.
  
  
• We will be ambitious in developing our shared goals.
  
  
• Initiatives that are prioritized will draw on the inherent strengths and expertise of the Descendant, Georgetown, and Jesuit communities and will seek to pursue racial justice.
  
  
• Initiatives we embark on will involve collaboration among the Descendants, Georgetown, and the Jesuits.
  
  
• Initiatives will be launched, evaluated, and refined, and over time, new projects will be set in motion.

Draft January 12, 2018