Strategic Pillar 1: Realize the "Culture of Family"

At the heart of Holy Family’s mission and vision is our foundational commitment to Family, a commitment to embracing diversity, inclusion, and ensuring an equitable and just learning community and caring for our common home. As a University that deeply values diversity and interconnectedness, promotes mutual concern, and ensures a focus on the “whole person,”. we are challenged to be steadfast in what it means to support every member of our community as members of our family—students, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, and our external communities.1 In addition, we are challenged to acknowledge earth as our home and thus make a commitment to global ecology. Through Holy Family’s thoughtful, rigorous, and well-designed education, students prepare themselves for meaningful lives promoting the common good and to be positive forces in their families, their workplaces, and as citizens of their community, the nation, and the world.

A. We will commit to diversity and social ecology in our learning environment.

• Re-envision the General Education curriculum to address considerations of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice and carry across the curriculum.
• Determine strategies to attract a more diverse student body, faculty, staff, and trustees racially, ethnically, geographically, and
• in religious preference.
• Provide an environment that supports the success and retention of a diverse student body, workforce, and Board of Trustees and lives out the commitment to embrace the dignity of every human being.
• Build an understanding of what diversity, inclusion, and equity means for HFU in the 21st century and how it can be advanced through HFU’s distinctive mission.
• Empower the Diversity and Inclusion Team to develop an educational program and other initiatives to address critical issues around “difference”—with considerations of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other differences.

B. We will engage the Holy Family University community in practices to improve environmental ecology.

• Establish a cross-functional task force to drive a commitment to sound environmental practices on campus and provide budgetary support.
• Ensure academic programs address environmental issues in courses and co-curricular activities, as appropriate, to recognize the importance of this area.

C. We will support a dynamic learning and work environment.

• Ensure that HFU’s policies and services are responsive to creating and maintaining a quality student, employee, and trustee experience; identify and proactively address areas for improvement.
• Engage all members of the HFU community around a “common experience” every year to promote intergenerational “family” dialogue among students, faculty, staff, and trustees around
• relevant issues.

D. We will incorporate the CSFN Charism and the Catholic Identity as foundational elements in a Holy Family University learning environment.

• Deepen the HFU community’s understanding of the CSFN charism and core values, especially its commitment to Family and the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and commitment to social justice; support faculty and staff in incorporating these elements into courses, where relevant. Use these teachings as a primary filter when making decisions around policy, campus aesthetics, and programming.