An Ad Hoc Committee that was formed to move a “Living Indigenous Land Acknowledgement” mandate through university governance met March 12 to discuss the mandate and prepare it for submission to Faculty Senate, Student Senate and the Staff and Administrative Support (SAS) Committee.

The University Council voted unanimously Feb. 16 to route the mandate to the Ad Hoc Committee in the next step toward the adoption of a land acknowledgement for all three St. Joe’s campuses. 

The Ad Hoc Committee, which finalized the wording of the mandate at its March meeting, consists of 15 representatives from various parts of campus, including three people from the Indigenous Cultures and Communities Working Group; three faculty representatives, one from each of the university’s three campuses; three administrators; three staff members and three students, according to William Wolff, Ph.D., associate professor of communication studies and one of the authors of the mandate.

The Ad Hoc Committee will communicate its recommendations to the University Council in the form of a report by May, said Melissa McClory, director for faculty affairs. If the University Council approves the Ad Hoc committee’s report at the May meeting, it will be forwarded to President Cheryl A. McConnell, Ph.D., for her approval.

The Indigenous Cultures and Communities Working Group, a committee of faculty, staff and students dedicated to the acknowledgment of Indigenous land, has been working towards finalizing a land acknowledgment statement for over two years.

Alec Mettin ’24, president of the University Student Senate, said he joined the Indigenous Cultures and Communities Working Group last December. After joining the group, Mettin wrote a resolution to gain the support of the Student Senate, which passed at the Feb. 5 Student Senate meeting. 

“That resolution that we passed was presented to the University Council as the supporting document for [the mandate],” Mettin said.

Milton O’Brien ’25, vice president of the Student Senate for the Hawk Hill campus, attended the Feb. 16 University Council meeting. O’Brien, who said the meeting functioned as the “final vote” to approve the formation of the committee, said it is important for St. Joe’s to address and acknowledge the land that it is built on.

“Land acknowledgments are part of many of the schools across the United States, and people at St. Joe’s are looking to be part of that,” O’Brien said. “We are looking to build relationships with the [indigenous people] in our area and recognize those people that were [here] before us.”

Wolff said the Indigenous Cultures and Communities Working Group aims to remove the current UCity land acknowledgment plaque, which is currently located near Alumni Hall, as it never went through the proper channels to be approved. They plan to have acknowledgment plaques on both the UCity and Hawk Hill campuses once the process is finalized. 

O’Brien said he is hopeful the land acknowledgment statement could be implemented as soon as the fall.