Notre Dame law professor Veronica Root Martinez welcomed Joya C. De Foor ’77 to discuss De Foor’s essay in Black Domers, a collection in which several Black alumni shared their experiences and reflections of their experiences at Notre Dame. As one of the first women and women of color to attend Notre Dame, De Foor spoke about her unique experiences both on-campus and post-graduation, offering her perspective and advice on the ongoing strive for diversity in today’s organizations and institutions.
Martinez began the discussion by asking De Foor to reflect on her thought process of choosing Notre Dame and reminisce about her early experiences on campus. De Foor responded by acknowledging the impressive education and remembered choosing Notre Dame despite the distinct lack of diversity. De Foor retold several moments when she was treated poorly by her peers because of her gender and race. Through all this, De Foor revealed that, for the other female and Black students, more effort was necessary to achieve the same results. De Foor went on to explain this by mentioning how students like her have historically been excluded from “the table,” whether that be job opportunities or entire networks of professionals. Martinez pointed to the negative experiences at Notre Dame and questioned whether De Foor has any regrets choosing Notre Dame, to which De Foor responded that she holds no regret about attending Notre Dame, maintaining that her journey, while tough, equipped her with the strength and tools to succeed in her career.
After this, Martinez offered De Foor a chance to share any advice for those looking to increase the diversity in their organizations. De Foor began by stating that any efforts to achieve diversity comes with costs that have been largely avoided, stunting the advancement of marginalized groups in the professional world. De Foor pointed to corporations that have been unwilling to incur certain costs to improve their diversity efforts. She added that too many organizations rely on asinine excuses to avoid admitting their fault and lack of diversity. Martinez chimed in by agreeing that she too often sees those in power reluctant to take the difficult road and work to tackle discrimination in their own companies and organizations. De Foor ended by calling on these organizations to do more than create useless policies and to “walk the walk” by actively listening to the stories of Black and female workers.
De Foor then addressed the audience, particularly those who shared similar experiences, and offered insight and advice. She began by offering her condolences to anyone who had any negative experience, acknowledging that Notre Dame is still a place that has work to be done. De Foor encouraged students and faculty alike to stay strong and vigilant in their battle against injustice and admitted that the path ahead would still hold several road bumps. She continued to call on others to not be afraid of breaking the status quo and challenged viewers to unequivocally support diversity and inclusion.
De Foor wrapped up the event by expressing her love for the Notre Dame community and the appreciation she still has for what Notre Dame had provided her. However, De Foor maintained that there is still work to be done in the Notre Dame community. She finished with hope for the future of Notre Dame, citing the massive improvements since her time as a student and the confidence in today’s students and faculty to step up to the plate.
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