Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice
Contact
Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social JusticeKagin Commons, First Floor 651-696-6243
lsc@macalester.edu
The Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice is named after Catharine Deaver Lealtad (Class of 1915), the first African American graduate of Macalester College and a talented doctor; and Esther Torii Suzuki (Class of 1946), a survivor of the Japanese internment camps during WWII and a six-year member of the Macalester College Alumni Board. The Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice is located on the first floor of Kagin Commons.
Mission Statement
The Lealtad Suzuki Center for Social Justice works in collaboration with Macalester students to build a transformative community. We do this through learning, reflection, engaging in dialogue, and action. We interrogate our lived experiences and center the voices of those marginalized in our society with the goals of building strong relationships, critical consciousness, and collective liberation.
Learning Outcomes
Through participation in LSC programs, students will:
- Analyze the social and political contradictions in our society and how they shape our inherited values and understanding of the world.
- Utilize critical dialogue skills and tools to engage in complex and meaningful conversations.
- Through study and reflection, develop the skills necessary to navigate systems, organize and take action against oppressive structures in our society.
- Prioritize wellness, practice sustainable community engagement, and cultivate space for radical joy.
Land Acknowledgement
Macalester College is located on the homeland of the Dakota people – Mni Sota Makoce [Mini SOta Ma-KOH-chay], which translates to Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds. Although they were forcibly exiled by aggressive and persistent settler colonialism, the Dakota people still flourish despite this painful history. We make this acknowledgment to honor the Dakota people, ancestors, and descendants, as well as the land itself. Macalester engages in ongoing work toward repair and partnership with the Dakota people and the land, as well as to support Indigenous members of our campus community.