Co-Creating a Restorative Campus Culture: The Evolution of Loyola Marymount University's TRHT Alliance

This essay elucidates how the initial phase of work undertaken by the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Alliance at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) between 2021 and 2023 has served as a catalyst toward the cultivation of a restorative university. By operating as an alliance rather than a stand-alone center, the TRHT Alliance has engaged stakeholders from across the campus community to deepen a collective understanding of how to create a campus where everyone experiences a deep sense of belonging. The existence of the Alliance has foregrounded the need to create additional infrastructure to support people in developing skills to be able to address conflicts skillfully and in ways that can be generative. These cross-campus efforts have illuminated considerable resonance between the TRHT framework and the tradition of Catholic social teachings, which has made it possible to directly align the work of the Alliance with LMU’s mission, garnering greater support and understanding from the LMU community.