Empathy is Built into the Foundation of SHU Students’ Experience

Community outreach endures long past the college years

A simple scroll through social media is all one needs to see that two polarized responses to the current pandemic have emerged. On one side, people are sewing masks for health-care workers, shopping for their elderly neighbors and donating unused rooms, RVs and campers to first responders who don’t want to expose their families to the virus. On the other side, gun sales are on the rise, people are hoarding necessary supplies and instances of xenophobia and racism have become rampant.

At the heart of our individual response is empathy.

“Our ability to ‘feel’ the experience of another human being leads to the compassion needed to take positive action and help another,” said Sacred Heart University Professor Michelle Loris. “Empathy is one of our human capabilities that can help us overcome bigotry and prejudice and hatred. When we ‘see’ others—regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or culture—as all human, then we have a different kind of human connection.”

Research shows that behaving compassionately toward someone depends on how we view that person. People are more empathetic toward others who mirror their own status, be it socioeconomic, racial, religious, cultural or other demographic, said Christina Taylor, psychology professor. “How we act is going to depend on how we perceive the person. If they are dissimilar to ourselves, we may decide they are undeserving of our help,” Taylor said.

The good news is that most people can enhance their capacity for empathy. So, how do we move from the mindset of tribalism to one of empathy and compassion?

Finding the common humanity

Sacred Heart’s volunteer and service learning program has an important role in fostering empathy. When students are exposed to people who live differently than they do, “it really breaks down the sense that we’re different from one another. Our students gain this experience that lets them recognize the common humanity in others,” said Taylor. That exposure to common humanity leaves students better equipped to respond to situations with empathy and kindness, leading them to act with compassion, she said.

University Chaplain Father Edward Stewart agreed. “We have a great group of students who show a fantastic amount of empathy in their years at Sacred Heart, through their support of each other and through the volunteer programs they take part in … Even if their empathetic skills are at the beginning of their lives, these experiences deepen their ability,” Stewart said.

“Our philosophy is to have our students, faculty, staff and administration recognize the social responsibility they have to the world,” said Karreem Mebane, director of the University’s volunteer and service learning programs. “Every day, we promote an environment of true equity, real access and dignified compassion for the individuals and groups we aim to serve in our global community.”

Annie Wendel, assistant director of the volunteer and service learning program, said she and her colleagues “encourage our community members to think of others, especially those on the margins of society. Empathy and understanding are a critical part of action. Even if social distancing recommendations limit us in forms of service, we are still able to fundraise and advocate for our vulnerable neighbors.”

Socially responsible peer pressure

Social support plays a crucial role in building empathy, said Taylor. “The people around us can either lift us up or drag us down. We are seeing this operating online with people clapping and singing for the first responders and sewing masks. The social influence of other people appeals to our better angels.”

This is why, when we see our friends and neighbors or celebrities that we admire reaching out for the greater good, we are more likely to respond empathically as well.

Father Anthony Ciorra, vice president for mission and Catholic identity at Sacred Heart, cited University President John Petillo’s well-known mantra of presence. “In our division [of the University], we are looking at ways that we can be present to our Sacred Heart community and beyond through social media, programs and other creative ways,” Ciorra said.

“Witness is so important,” said Father Joseph Farias, SHU chaplain. “Look at the health care workers and other responders. They are putting not only their lives, but their families’ lives on hold. Witness is a major teaching tool.”

Challenges to empathy and compassion

Stewart noted some of the obstacles to building empathy during this unique time in our society. “One of the challenges we face in encouraging empathy is that the notion of the common good has diminished somewhat into an emphasis on self-actualization and self-fulfillment. It’s the cultural ethos that we all live under. Fostering empathy becomes a challenge,” he said.

Farias added, “If we’re talking about empathy, then we have to understand the notion of real fear, too, in order to understand where some people are at. Some of those motivations are from people who are usually mindful and community-oriented, but they are being destroyed by fear right now.”

That fear is driving gun sales. According to The New York Times, Americans purchased two million guns in March, the month when social isolation began, making it the second-highest month of sales on record.

Organizational empathetic response

Ciorra believes the University must model the empathetic response people hope to see in others. “Our mission statement says who we are. This crisis gives us the opportunity to cement the mission. We can take what we say and implement it, especially in terms of our care, our presence and our outreach to the wider community, which is the empathetic or compassionate response,” he said.

The University has taken that mission to heart. It has opened its empty dorm rooms to local first responders so they have a place to go if they do not want to risk exposing their families to the virus. The advancement department hosts virtual lunch hours for alumni, students and staff with guest speakers, homeschooling help and other programs, to send the message that the Sacred Heart community is behind them. Recently, Petillo sent out a video of SHU students and staff singing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” with the message to the University community that “every little thing is gonna be alright.”

Sacred Heart continues to look for ways to reach out to SHU’s internal community, as well as the greater local and global community, with empathy.