Statement of Purpose

The Office of Inclusive Excellence fosters efforts to define, cultivate and support an inclusive educational community and workplace environment aligned with the St. Mary’s mission and its Catholic and Marianist identity. The office is committed to promoting community building and partnering to serve the common good. The work is guided by the St. Mary’s mission, the Characteristics of Marianist Universities and Catholic Social Teaching focused on the shared tenets of understanding, appreciation and respect for human dignity and cultural differences.

Inclusive Excellence Initiatives

  • National Heritage Month

    The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites the St. Mary’s Community to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.

    National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated each year in November. It is a time to celebrate the traditions, languages and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated Island communities and ensure their rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation.

    Read more about Native American Heritage Month here.

    Native American Heritage Month Resources

    • Bearheart by Gerald Vizenor

    • Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous, Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmere

    • Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

    • Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac

    • Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria Jr.

    • Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo

    • Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller

    • Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

    • Feed by Tommy Pico

    • Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

    • Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

    • House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

    • Maria Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief

    • Poet Warrior: A Memoir by Joy Harjo

    • Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band

    • This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples

    • The Book of Medicines by Linda Hogan

    • The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer

    • The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

    • The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

    • The Round House by Louise Erdrich

    • The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

    • There There by Tommy Orange

    • When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz

    • Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

    Books

    • Apache 8

    • Dances with Wolves

    • Dawnland

    • Drunktown’s Finest

    • Four Sheets to the Wind

    • Full Circle 

    • Indian Horse

    • Miss Navajo

    • On the Ice

    • Our Fires Still Burn

    • Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School 

    • Reservation Dogs

    • Rhymes for Young Ghouls

    • Rumble

    • Smoke Signals

    • Songs My Brothers Taught Me

    • Spirit Rider

    • The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

    • Trudell

    • Two Spirits

    • Wind River

    • Windtalkers

    Movies

    • All My Relations

    • Bands of Turtle Island

    • Media Indigena

    • Metis in Space

    • Native American Calling

    • Native American Studies

    • Native ChocTalk

    • Native Opinion an American Indian Perspective

    • Native Voice One

    • Our People Speak

    • Pod Save the People

    • Red Man Laughing

    • The Anonymous Eskimo Recovery Podcast

    • The Creative Native Podcast

    • The Red Nation Podcast

    • The Storyteller

    • This Land

    • Toasted Sister

    • Vanished: A Native American Epidemic

    • Young and Indigenous

    Podcasts

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the San Antonio River as Yanaguana, (Spirit Waters in Pajalate) as the source of life for this city and commit to protecting her, all her tributaries and connected waters and this land called Texas as Somi Sek to the Esto’k Gna people who are called Carrizo-Comecrudo by the Spanish, today and for future generations.

We acknowledge this place known as San Antonio as the traditional homeland of many Native American peoples who are called Coahuiltecan by Spanish records. 200 tribes/bands/clans were documented in historical records and include the Payaya, Auteca Paguame, Jarame, Pompopa and Borrado, as well as other aboriginal peoples such as the Carrizo-Comecrudo who continue to carry their traditional lifeways.

We acknowledge these Indigenous various communities as the traditional people of this land now called San Antonio, Texas.

We acknowledge this homeland that would later include Comanches and Lipan Apaches in the 1700s, as a place that is now home to nearly 30,000 Urban Indians spanning from tribes across the North, Central and South America who continue to sustain their traditional languages and customs.

Land acknowledgments honor historical links between Indigenous Peoples/First Nations and the territories. This traditional custom dates back centuries for many Native communities and nations. For the last several years, many institutions of higher education and organizations commonly begin meetings and events with formal statements of land acknowledgments.

In these public statements, institutions acknowledge history and express a commitment to current reality and future relationships between the institution, Indigenous Peoples/Nations and the land. For non-indigenous communities, this signifies respect and recognition and honors the traditional caretakers of the land on which we work, live and play. Knowing the unceded land we live on is important because Indigenous history is American history. By learning about the cultures and history of our original inhabitants, we honor their history and counter the narratives of discovery and colonization.

Land acknowledgments alone are but a small gesture and are made more meaningful by authentic and informed actions of support and solidarity with our Native Urban Communities. This is a first step in creating an ongoing intentional practice of amplifying Indigenous voices and moving toward truth and reconciliation. San Antonio College is inspired to action by learning a more truthful existence of our Native Urban community through our alliance with the American Indians of Texas of the Spanish Colonial Missions.

About Land Acknowledgements

  • Helping Individuals Enhance Intercultural Competence

    The world we live in is comprised of people from many cultures. Any given day we may interact with individuals from our own culture and/or different cultures. We rely on our personal knowledge, skills and attitudes to think, act and communicate effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds. Intercultural Competence is one’s ability to make sense of and respond to cultural differences.

    At St. Mary’s, we recognize the importance of intercultural competence as a key to inclusive excellence. To help each individual on their personal journey, we offer the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessment tool and developmental plan to students, faculty and staff.  IDI aligns closely with our mission to create leaders for the common good.

    IDI assesses intercultural competence –the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. After taking the assessment, IDI generates profiles on an individual’s intercultural competence paired with an Individual Development Plan (IDP) –a detailed blueprint for the individual to further develop their cultural competence.

    For more information, email inclusion@stmarytx.edu.

  • Employee Affinity Groups

    St. Mary’s University values diversity and recognizes the importance of all individuals feeling connected to our community, regardless of their personal identities. As we continue to foster an inclusive campus work environment, the Office of Inclusive Excellence is pleased to sponsor affinity groups for employees and has established guidelines for employees seeking to form an Employee Affinity Group (EAG).

    These voluntary, identity-based groups may be formed around demographic characteristics (such as, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or ability) as a way to bring together employees with a shared purpose. In addition to networking with individuals from similar and often marginalized communities, EAGs empower members to contribute to the education of our campus community, give back to the local community and be an active voice for change.

    Learn more on Gateway

  • Hear the Name, Say it Right with NameCoach

    At St. Mary’s, we value each individual and believe correct name pronunciation is a sign of respect. To continue fostering inclusion, in the classroom and beyond, we are providing faculty, staff and students access to the NameCoach platform which will allow each person to record the correct pronunciation of their name. 

    This animated short highlights the importance of names.

    Ideas for using NameCoach

    • Before a meeting, listen to name recordings if you are unsure of pronunciations
    • Ask students you work with to record their name and to use the recordings to learn their peers’ names
    • Share the Nivedhan video and have a discussion
    • Talk within your work team to discuss ways you might use Name Coach
    • Share the story of your name as an icebreaker and way to get to know each other 
    • Remind students of the NameCoach recordings as a resource before and during group work
    Get started

  • Language Resource Directory

    The purpose of the Language Resource Directory is to provide contact information for faculty and staff who need assistance communicating with campus visitors during regular business hours. We requested assistance from faculty and staff who speak multiple languages and are willing to be listed in an online directory,  and as a result, we have contacts for 11 languages: Arabic, French, German, Hindi, Kannada, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Tamil.

    Access the directory

    The directory is available for students, faculty and staff of the University.

  • Resources

    Students, faculty and staff can find comprehensive lists of organizations for diverse populations and resources to learn about systemic injustices and other cultures.

    Explore resources

    The resources are available for students, faculty and staff of the University.

  • Advisory Board

    Cody B. Cox, Ph.D.
    Associate Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
    Greehey School of Business
    ccox9@stmarytx.edu

    Léo Benavides
    Counselor
    Office of Student Financial Assistance
    rbenavides1@stmarytx.edu

    Mike Martinez Jr., J.D., M.S.I.S.
    Director Sarita Kenedy East Law Library and Professor
    St. Mary’s University School of Law
    mmartinez17@stmarytx.edu

    Verónica Contreras-Shannon, Ph.D.
    Professor and Program Director – URISE
    Department of Biological Sciences
    vcontrerasshann2@stmarytx.edu

    Wendy D. Martinez
    Assistant Dean
    Office of Residence Life
    wmartinez@stmarytx.edu

    Jenee Margo Gonzales, J.D.
    Chief Development and Communications Officer
    Community In Schools of San Antonio
    jgonzales@cissa.org

    Janet Guadarrama
    Executive Director of Human Resources, Title IX Coordinator
    Office of Human Resources
    jguadarrama2@stmarytx.edu

    Paul X. Uhlig, Ph.D.
    Professor and Chair of Mathematics, Marianist Educational Associate
    puhlig@stmarytx.edu

    Andre Hampton, J.D.
    Professor of Law
    St. Mary’s University School of Law
    ahampton@stmarytx.edu

    Marlon Furlongue
    Associate Athletics Director, Compliance and Internal Operations
    Athletics
    mfurlongue@stmarytx.edu

  • Contact Us

    Office of Inclusive Excellence
    St. Louis Hall Suite 105
    210-436-3616
    inclusion@stmarytx.edu

    Stella Silva, Ph.D.
    Associate Vice President

    Julieta Sanchez
    Program Coordinator

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