272. A number that signifies great significance to the Georgetown University community since 2015, according to The Georgetown Voice’s article, Georgetown Explained: The GU272. The article details a timeline and the continued healing and reparative process of Georgetown University as it relates to the 272 men, women and children who were sold into slavery to keep the university open in 1838.

Since 2015, the university has worked with the descendants of the 272 (about 9,000 people), the student body, the governance of the school and many others about what should be done as a result of what happened in 1838. The university acknowledged the wrong of the past, has made a public apology and has been working over the last five years through dialogue and action (i.e. renaming some buildings, helping descendants identify their ancestors and offering the status of preferential admission to descendants, to name a few). The article identifies that this is an ongoing process, but there are some clear steps that have been taken since 2015: acknowledgement, apology, dialogue and action.

When incidents happen, I often wonder (and I imagine others may wonder the same thing), what do we do about this? I personally like to also follow up with this question: what do you want to happen regarding the situation? When thinking these questions, I am not thinking in terms of “cancel culture,” public shaming or vilifying the person who committed the wrongful act; I am thinking in terms of justice. Justice at its core relates to equity, balance, harmony, just behavior and the common good. In these situations where justice comes into question, I specifically wonder what type of justice is desired.

There are generally four types of justice: distributive (everyone gets their fair share of benefits and resources), procedural (processes and decisions in place allow for people to be treated fairly), retributive (someone receiving the punishment that fits the crime they committed) and restorative (rightness is restored in relationships). I think that if we take moments to acknowledge, apologize, dialogue and act, we can better see which forms of justice are needed so that healing can happen. I also keep in mind that justice and healing do not erase the wrong, but they do help us navigate the situation differently moving forward.

Let’s look at this hypothetical scenario. Say this is a regular season game of U12 players. The game is tied and a timeout is called. A player from one of the teams goes to a coach to share that a player from the opposing team has been taunting them — saying inappropriate things and hitting them with their stick while no one was looking throughout the entire game. The coaches meet with the officials and the players, and the player doing the taunting owns up to what was done. The player is removed from the remainder of the game by their coach (even though this is not a required action by their league’s rules). During the remainder of the game, the coach has the player who taunted the other reflect and write a letter of apology to be given at the end of the game. The player does this, is able to come to a better understanding of their behavior and commits to working on more positively contributing to their team moving forward. Additionally, both coaches begin to work with the league to put some policies and an action plan in place in the event something like that happens again.

In this hypothetical situation, there were moments of retributive (removing the player from the game), restorative (the player writing and delivering an apology letter) and procedural (the coaches working together on procedures and an action plan) justice once the wrong was acknowledged. The player who was taunted could maybe then heal better from the incident knowing that they received the apology and that the coaches were working together to put something in place to benefit all players. The dialogue that occurred on the field and afterwards allowed for action to take place in ways that made sense for that situation.

Even though that is a hypothetical scenario, I can imagine that you, the reader, have seen and/or heard some form of this from youth to high school to college to professional levels of play across sports. When I learn of incidents in the lacrosse community, it is challenging — whether the incident is based on race/ethnicity or not. However, I do get more hopeful as time progresses because people in the community are now more consistently acknowledging the wrongs that have occurred. I imagine and hope that the situations are followed by apologies, dialogue and action so that the necessary justice and healing can take place for each place. To do this takes a great deal of humility, ownership and patience.

Georgetown University with the legacy of the 272 does not have it all “figured out.” The lacrosse community does not have it all “figured out.” However, we are working to figure it out in ways that make sense for our respective situations and communities. Even though there are some standard things that can be done, each situation is different and requires different ways of navigating — especially if those involved are seeking to repair relationships through restorative justice practices (i.e. Georgetown working with the descendants of the 272).

It is also important to note that when an incident happens, people are never the same. Picture this: you have a piece of paper in your hand and ball it up. Carefully, you undo it and smooth it out as best as you can. However, the paper will never be smooth and flat like it was before. That’s how I view healing. Think about when you get a cut or a scrape. The body stops the bleeding, fights off potential infection, takes time to repair cells and you may have a scar left over. The cut or scrape may be healed, but there’s still a reminder that it was once there. Whether it’s a physical wound or one that is emotional, healing is necessary and does take time. We always remember the situations that required justice and healing in the first place, and we can move forward each time. But just like the paper, there will still be a fold or imprint that remains.

So, what now? I am hopeful that fewer incidents (race/ethnicity-based or otherwise) will occur moving forward. I am hopeful that justice will happen for the incidents that have already taken place and for the ones that have yet to occur. I am hopeful that healing will take place. Mostly, I hope that people take time to pause and ask themselves what type of justice is needed in a situation.

This way, we are better equipped to acknowledge, apologize, dialogue and take action moving forward.

Lauren Davenport is the manager of athlete development at US Lacrosse. She has coached lacrosse at the youth, high school and collegiate levels.