North Cook News

A Loyola Academy High School theology teacher is teaching ‘Privilege I Race and Racism’ course to students.

Parents provided documents from the course to North Cook News. 

It was unclear which of the school's theology teachers was responsible for the test, which was posted on the school intranet and later taken down.

Screenshot of the test.

Joshua Hooker, 43, of Evanston, is the Theology Department Chair.

The test asks students a number of questions.

“How do you benefit from white privilege, and how have you held onto that benefit (despite the harm it does)?”

“What have you learned about the ways you specifically wield this privilege that do harm (whether you intend or not)? Dig deep. No sugar coating and no focusing on the good you have done with your privilege. Remember: this isn’t about being self-congratulatory, it’s about pulling out white supremacy.”

“What have you learned about your white privilege that makes you uncomfortable?”

A disclaimer at the bottom of the test reads, “*Note: if you are a student of color, your responses will obviously be different. Focus on the privileges you have, please read the articles too. It is good to be reading these resources as a class. You can use the space provided to reflect in different ways if you can’t answer the questions that are there.”

A phone call placed to Loyola Academy High School was not returned by publication.

Loyola Academy High School, located at 1100 Laramie Avenue in Wilmette, is home to more than 2,000 students in grades 9-12. 

School demographics are mostly white at 80.4 percent followed by are Asian - 5.6 percent, Black - 5.2 percent and Hispanic - 4.8 percent. 

The male population is 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent female.

The school's average tuition is $17,500 per year.