The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Care Team is a group of SJCME community members composed of staff, students, and faculty. The team’s charge is to provide support and care when a community member has experienced bias-related harm or is worried that they have caused harm. The JEDI Care Team provides support and accompaniment to each SJCME community member through a restorative approach.

Student discussion

The care team creates a space for members of the SJCME community to be heard and supported, but is not a disciplinary body. This means we provide listening, problem-solving, healing, accompaniment, resource referral, and/or a restorative circle approach, as appropriate. We may provide guidance on how to file a complaint for a violation of our student Code of Conduct, Title IX, or Anti-discrimination policies, but it is not the role of the JEDI Care Team to investigate or determine whether a reported incident involved a violation of the college policy. Our purpose is to ensure that Saint Joe’s continues to be the place “where community grows” by cultivating a sense of belonging and connection within the college community writ large. The service of this team is in alignment with the school’s core values, critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and mission to be a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive learning environment for all.

The JEDI Care Team will launch in September 2023 as a pilot program to address community members’ concerns or experiences of harm in or outside of the classroom, including online. At this time, faculty, staff, and students are all welcome to raise concerns of harm experienced by a student(s) in any of these settings by either completing this form or contacting any of the JEDI Care Team members directly.

Please note that the JEDI Care Team and this form are not for emergencies or immediate support. If this is an emergency, please call 911 or Campus Safety at 207-893-7911.

FAQs

We understand that for some, filling out this form might help you process your experience and identify needs. We also understand that for others, filling out a form might not best meet your needs.

  • If you don’t know what you want or who you want to talk to, please feel free to email jedi@sjcme.edu, call the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, or Inclusion Office, or come to Alfond Hall, Room 423.
  • You are also welcome to reach out to anyone on the JEDI Care Team that you feel comfortable reaching out to. Any member of the JEDI Care Team can talk to you about your concern.

The JEDI Care team is, first and foremost, here to listen non-judgmentally and empathetically to anyone who has experienced identity-based harm at the college. We accompany you through the healing process and help determine what your next steps forward toward repair might be. These can include:

  • Support, listening, and empowerment
  • Space for reflection and validation
  • Facilitation of a restorative conversation between parties
  • A sounding board for thinking through possible avenues of healing and justice
  • A team that can receive feedback about campus culture and help weave preventative measures.

  • Each party in the incident possesses an inherent human dignity that will be respected and protected.
  • Incidences of bias harm the victim and the community.
  • The goal is to seek and understand as much as possible the truth of what occurred. We cannot know for certain until we are told.
  • Where harm has been determined, the outcome is not to punish offenders.  Rather, it is to help them consider and reflect on the impact of the harm caused.
  • If possible (depending on the circumstances of the harm), and only with the agreement of the victim, the goal of this process is restorative: a reconciliation of the victim and the offender.

There may be instances of identity-based harm that people feel able to address directly with the other people involved, with the support of a faculty member, or advisor if appropriate. When that is not possible, or people need more support, the JEDI Care Team is here as a resource. If you’re not sure whether you need our support, please reach out for an initial conversation - we are happy to help you discern.

Absolutely. Restorative justice holds that no one is disposable, and that we all need strong support in order to be able to enter into a process of accountability, repair, and healing. The JEDI Care Team is poised and trained to support you whether you’ve experienced harm, caused harm, or both.

We are a private and discrete resource, but we are not strictly confidential. We are committed to providing a strong container for your story and your process. We rely on the adage “what’s shared here stays here, what’s learned here leaves here” in how we approach privacy and confidentiality.

Two individuals from the JEDI Care Team will work with you primarily, and the full team may be contacted for additional guidance and support. We will not share the details or particulars of your story outside of the JEDI Care Team unless we are required to as a responsible employee or a Title IX issue or concerns of harm or safety for you or others.

We can answer any questions you have about confidentiality and we want to hear about any needs you have related to privacy and confidentiality.

  1. Contact the JEDI Care Team either by intake form, email, phone, or in-person conversation.
  2. The JEDI Care Team member you contacted connects with you to engage in initial conversation about your experience.
  3. During this conversation, the JEDI Care Team member will offer a space of support for you to be heard and to think through possible next steps.
  4. Next steps will vary according to your particular needs, but may include problem-solving, healing and grief work, accompaniment, resource referral, and/or a restorative circle approach, as appropriate.
  5. If you need ongoing support, a second member of the JEDI Care Team will be brought in. Depending on the next steps you identify together, the team will stay with you as supporters or facilitators.

No. The JEDI Care Team is here to help support restorative processes in cases of identity-related issues and to provide accompaniment in the healing process. If, as part of your process, you desire support in initiating a conduct process or formal complaint related to your experience, we can help connect you to the right parties, but reaching out to us does not initiate any formal college disciplinary proceedings, which are overseen by Campus Life and Human Resources.

A JEDI-related incident, also known as a Bias Incident, is a non-criminal conduct, speech, or expression motivated, in whole or in part, by bias or prejudice against an individual or group of people because of their real or perceived characteristics. They could range from off-handed comments, jokes, gestures, that reinforce negative perceptions or stereotypes about an individual’s membership in a specific group. These incidents, while they may not rise to the level of a conduct or policy violation, can impact  some community members’ ability to feel safe, at home, and welcome at Saint Joe’s. Addressing them helps build a more inclusive and hospitable campus for all.

A list will be provided in the coming weeks.

If you have questions or would like to talk to the JEDI Care Team about a concern or experience of JEDI-related harm in the SJCME community, please reach out to us in whatever of the following ways you prefer:

  • Connect directly with any JEDI Care Team member via email, phone, or in person.
  • Connect directly with the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion via email (jedi@sjcme.edu), phone (207-893-7707), or in person.
  • Fill out the intake form.

If you are not sure where to start or who you want to talk to, we recommend connecting in person or via email, phone, or Google Meet with our AVP of JEDI Mouhamadou B. Diagne.