It was America’s promise of fairness, equality and justice that Rosa Parks was standing for when she refused to give up her seat on that bus some fifty years ago.
It was the belief in equality before the law, a just wage for an honest day’s work, and universal access to social services that sustained Cesar Chavez as he walked the dusty roads of California’s imperial valley organizing migrant workers.
It was the courage of Joseph Cardinal Ritter to integrate the St. Louis parochial schools six years before “Brown vs. the Board of Education” cut down “separate but equal” as the organizing principle of America’s educational system.
It is the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the courage of Morris Dees that brings us here at this early hour.
Good morning and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I invited you because I believe you to be women and men of good will. I also judge you to be interested in the wellness and the progress of our city and all of its citizens. And I want that “interest” transformed into engagement on behalf of the common good of this commonwealth.
In the nine months since returning to Omaha, after an eighteen-year hiatus, I have been delighted with the strides Omaha has made on so many fronts. I confess, however, of being disappointed in other areas. One of those areas is the focus of this breakfast and of today’s larger conference on diversity for business and corporate leaders.
Omaha remains a divided community.
I acknowledge that this initial observation may be somewhat dramatic. After spending ten years in San Francisco, in a city where "everyone is a minority," I may be jaded and my expectations that time heals all wounds overly simplistic or simply "too high."
Yet the fact remains that north Omaha, the home of the majority of Omaha's African Americans is in need of economic revitalization, especially commercial and industrial investment. Such investment would provide residents with much needed goods and services that make communities vibrant and healthy.
At the same time the unemployment and under-employment of Omaha’s African Americans and expanded Latino presence in south Omaha is unacceptable for a “city on the move.” To be a truly great and prosperous city, we must provide opportunities to fully utilize the gifts and talents of all our citizens.
Police and community relations continue to be big issues with district residents, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But economic issues, such as lack of business investment and jobs, are, I contend, to be the community’s most vexing, neuralgic, and troubling problems. Poverty and unemployment are both higher in north Omaha than in any other area of the city.
The Jesuits in Omaha have historically been trail blazers in the area of racial harmony and racial integration. Fr. Markoe was well before his time. He was in the advance guard of the civil rights movement in the 1930s and 1940s, long before the cause gained popular support and visibility. He worked actively with a group of Creighton University students and helped organize the DePorres Club for the purpose of promoting civil rights for blacks. They pioneered the sit-in technique later used throughout the country in the 1960s.
And Creighton, well before any national trend, educated scores of African Americans. Many have been highly successful as doctors, judges, pharmacists, lawyers, teachers, and entrepreneurs. For example, Dr. Floyd Malveaux who now serves on the Creighton University Board and is the present Dean of Howard University's Medical School and Omaha native J. Clay Smith the former Dean of Howard’s Law School.
Perhaps that was not enough.
It is because of the Markoe legacy and Creighton’s historic role in north Omaha, that emboldened me to gather you here today.
While our presence in the 2nd District may be perceived by some as diminished; the reality is much different.
* More than 2,000 Omaha youth are served each year in our Educational Opportunity Programs -- Upward Bound, Talent Search and other offerings.
* The Creighton University School of Medicine offers health care services to residents of north and south Omaha -- providing care to populations that might otherwise not be served. We provide critical support for the operations of the Charles Drew Clinic in north Omaha. And continue to operate St. Joseph Hospital, which is the primary health facility for both north and south Omaha communities.
* Our Legal Clinic -- both on campus and at the south Omaha location -- provides services to individuals who otherwise could not afford representation. The recently established Latino legal aid clinic at Juan Diego Center, serves Spanish speaking populations with Spanish speaking advocates.
* The Creighton University Diversity Scholars Program provides scholarship aid to minority students -- making a Creighton education available to this important population.
* Each summer, hundreds of area youth benefit from the National Youth Sports Program offerings on our campus.
* With our Native American Retreat, Native American Resource Center and other initiatives, we are taking steps to provide educational opportunities to this group, which is vitally significant in Nebraska. Creighton has the largest number of Native American students enrolled full time of any private university in the Midwest.
When I was President of the University of San Francisco I took decisive and aggressive steps to make that institution more culturally diverse and inclusive. For me and for the University the quest to build this inclusive community was fundamentally connected to our mission as a Catholic University, to our values and purpose.
We sought an inclusive community because it was the right thing to do. I have often said that the benefits coming from this inclusiveness are both pragmatic and enriching.
When I came to Creighton some nine months ago, I staked out that same objective in my inaugural address. For I believe that there is in the Jesuit world view an implicit acceptance and appreciation of cultural and ethnic diversity.
In that same address I expressed a desire and a willingness for Creighton to be involved in the deliberations that impact the quality of life and the future direction of Omaha. Creighton is the elder sister of every meaningful institution in the city. We were here early; we are here today. We intend to be here tomorrow. And like our founding family, we must share responsibility for shaping the future of our city and for the welfare of the common good.
That is why we gather this morning.
What have I learned these past years in my quest for building a more diverse and inclusive enterprise? Three quick points and a challenge.
(1) Diversity is a leadership issue. Responsibility for so important an issue cannot be delegated. This is one issue where you must lead from the top. Walk the talk and work the work. Why? Because everyone is watching! That is why I welcomed the opportunity to set an example at Creighton University by appointing an African American and a female in two of the three vice presidential cabinet positions I filled. Of course, both individuals were extremely well qualified for the positions, but the fact that I made history by making these appointments allowed me to show people that I am serious about this issue.
To build a diverse and inclusive workforce should be a strategic priority for every business and organization in Omaha. If for no other reason than the shifting demographics will dictate it!
But more to the point, to enhance the diversity of your work force is a major component of good corporate citizenship.
Omaha has made wonderful strides these past years. The emerging new skyline gives testimony to a far richer reality, namely that the future is extraordinarily bright for this heartland city.
And while we import talent to fill key corporate roles, there is a tremendous untapped resource in the citizens of north and south Omaha to fill out your corporate needs. And assist you in realizing those corporate aspirations contained in your strategic plan.
(2) Fostering diversity in the workforce pays huge dividends with minimal effort. I have found over the years that a more diverse and inclusive workplace is more creative and even more profitable.
It has been noted that “in a functionally multicultural society, people believe it is in their best interest to value the diversity that exists. By valuing people for their unique identity and enabling them to contribute, we can strengthen our resources, problem solving, decision making, and vitality as an institution, a corporation, a business, and as a nation.” (Katz and Torres, 1985, p.33).
Over the years I believed being multicultural to be fundamentally connected to the mission of any Jesuit, so it is to Creighton’s mission, values and purpose. We strive for diversity not because the administration or the front office thinks it is a good idea, but rather “because we recognize having diverse ideas, opinions, and styles of operations” is beneficial (Katz/Torres, p. 12). Diversity is a strength; it yields more creative, synergistic and effective outcomes. A diverse workplace is also more interesting, energizing, and informative/educational.
Corporate models of success in a diversified and inclusive workplace include Denny’s and Texaco nationally and Gallup locally. Denny's and Gallup are represented at this breakfast and at the larger conference.
(3) Diversity is good business. A company that makes it known that it desires an inclusive work force or office amalgam, enhances both its recruitment efforts and the retention of good employees.
This effort contributes to good customer relations and ultimately to profitability. Given the shifting demographics of Nebraska and the greater Midwest, diversity is a matter of corporate survival. And in some instances, it is the law.
Having mentioned profitability and corporate survival in the same paragraph, I suspect I have your attention.
After attending many breakfasts such as this and hearing speakers far more eloquent than you heard this morning, I would leave wondering what to do, where is the follow up, what is the challenge?
The challenge is this: Our city remains a divided city. You as business and community leaders can help heal that division and make Omaha a whole and inclusive community.
For my part I am committed to making Creighton a responsive and responsible participant in reshaping itself and reshaping our neighborhood relations.
To be seen as truly serious about diversity Creighton has to «walk the talk.» This commitment has to be reflected in our financial aid programs, infused in the curricula and co-curricular opportunities, reflected in faculty mentoring and staff hirings and promotions; evidenced in student retention; celebrated in our community.
When we speak of diversity the raw nerve of racism and bigotry is never far beneath the surface. Education traditionally has been the great equalizer. Perhaps never before has this challenge been so apparent or confounding. Access and opportunity are the only avenues open to resolving this dilemma, a complex dilemma that is (at once) moral, social, and economic.
If a century old institution, with limited resources, can envision such a future, how much better you as business and corporate leaders?
So I ask you to revisit your organization’s strategic plan. Is having a diverse workforce or customer base a part of that plan for you?
Diversity is a strategic priority. It is the right thing to do and it also happens to be good business. Is diversity a strategic priority in your company or organization's planning?
If not, I encourage you, indeed, I challenge you to revisit your plans and to refocus some of your energies and resources in the building of a more diverse enterprise.
* How can you diversify your work force?
* Where can you establish a rewards system for creative inclusiveness?
* How can you empower, promote and enhance the visibility for women, people of color and people with disabilities?
* What kind of mentoring programs are needed for a more successful integration of all employees into your corporate vision of an inclusive organization?
* Do you anticipate the need for role models for under-represented groups of employees?
* What steps are needed to make your work place welcoming and nurturing for people of color?
As you reflect and, perhaps, refocus your corporate strategic plan you are contributing, in that very process, to the building of a more inclusive and harmonious Omaha.
Let me conclude these comments with a remarkably timely quote from John F. Kennedy. In the face of the civil rights struggles in the early 1960s he wrote:
“Now the time has come for this nation to fulfill its promise. The events of Birmingham (and Cincinnati) and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city, or state or legislative body (or corporation) can prudently choose to ignore them….we face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people….a great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all.”
So my friends, as we live and work and have our being in the Omaha of today, we have a challenge before us; we have an obligation to work to make it work.
“If you believe in something strongly enough, and truly believe it is the right thing to do, then the next step is to take action.” (Diversity Journal, I/I, p. 43.)
It is time for that next step. It is time for action. So let the work begin.
Thank you for accepting my invitation. I look forward to working with you in building a more inclusive, representative and diverse Omaha work place.
May God bless you and your enterprises.
John P. Schlegel, S.J.
President