To the LMU Community,

We brought students to the table and asked them what their peers at LMU were experiencing and how they felt this education should be structured. We consulted with other institutions and our partners at the Rape Treatment Center to hear from them what was working and what wasn’t. We wanted to create something real; something true to LMU; something comprehensive.

What we didn’t expect was such transformative success in a relatively short period of time. The number of times a student comes up to me on campus to tell me about an “LMU CARES moment” they experienced at a party while witnessing someone step in to help someone else, or the number of students who have stopped me after a program to tell me how grateful they are that we continue to provide education to prevent misconduct on our campus is humbling. We are providing students with spaces to ask questions and express differences of experience to each other before they find themselves in real life situations.

We are empowering them to truly be persons for and with others when it comes to preventing sexual misconduct in our community.

As the Director of LMU CARES, it has been a privilege to be part of so many of these conversations and so many of these learning moments. I am also grateful for all of the dedication and hard work put forward by my colleagues, the faculty and staff, who have played a role in creating processes to support our students and giving their time to facilitate these workshops.

It was also an honor to accept the Ignatian Medal for an Outstanding Program among the 28 Jesuit institutions at the JASPA Institute, and to be recognized among our Jesuit peer institutions for providing valuesbased education about these important topics.

The LMU community strives to “Live the Lion’s Code.” We are respectful. We are courageous. We are loyal.

Sincerely,

Briana T. Maturi Director LMU CARES