Jesuit Foundation Grant Initiative

The 6 + YOU Initiative

The 6+YOU initiative was launched in Summer 2020 and concluded in Summer 2023.

In Spring 2020, in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery, and within the context of historic interpersonal, institutional, and state violence against Black people, a subcommittee of administrators convened the "Humanizing Instruction Subcommittee".  Formed in June 2020, its purpose was to identify what it means to continue teaching and learning at a Jesuit institution in the midst of ongoing anti-Black racism.  How can USF prepare faculty to facilitate dialogues about race in the classroom, and inspire students to act against anti-Black racism? Specifically, the Humanizing Instruction Subcommittee wanted to find ways to help students, staff, faculty, and administrators grapple with and make sense of racial injustices and envision and enact a more just society. 

Colleagues from across the campus were invited to speak with the committee about the anti-racism work already in progress at USF and to share their "dream projects" for work that USF might pursue to sustainably support increased racial literacy in our community and increased capacity to combat racial injustice.  Driven by an asset-based (as opposed to deficit-based) model of organizing, as well as by the principles of sustainable, long-term institutional and cultural change, the Humanizing Instruction Subcommittee created a Jesuit Grant proposal to support an initial investment tipped heavily towards supporting 6 "dream projects" already conceived but not yet enacted by active organizations on the USF campus due to resource constraints.

This proposal selected these 6 "dream" projects" based on their resonance with the Jesuit Foundation’s and USF’s mission of humanizing programming that:

• educates the whole person 
• builds our capacity to be a community “for others” 
• develops a “diverse, socially responsible learning community” and 
• furthers USF’s strategic goal of recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff, and student community.

In addition, these 6 dream projects were feasible, sustainable across time, and had the potential to address the specific racial justice challenges within and beyond USF.  The 6 projects were:

• One Community, One Book
• Black Student Leadership Fellowship
• Learning Across Difference
• Faculty in Conversations on Race Pedagogy (CORPs)
• Cultural Centers Dialogues on Race
• Re-Imagining the Department of Public Safety

YOU

The Humanizing Instruction Subcommittee also recognized that students, staff, administrators, and faculty at large (beyond those involved in these 6 projects) could bring their lived experiences, expertise and new ideas to anti-racism efforts at USF.  A part of the grant proposal to the Jesuit Foundation was a request for additional funding to provide small grant opportunities for members of the USF community to participate and pursue their own activist ideas.  Thus, the "YOU" part of the "6+YOU" grant provided an open call for small-scale projects with the goal of encouraging innovation in the arena of racial justice-focused education and programming.