Justice Education Celebrates 30 Years with Two Lectures
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary’s College
(574) 284-4579
March 21, 2012 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—The Saint Mary's College Justice Education Program will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with two public lectures by internationally known advocates for social justice. Both speaking engagements will be held on campus next week (campus map).
Tuesday, March 27
Woodrow Wilson Fellow Barbara Gottschalk, co-founder of the international non-profit Seeds of Peace, will speak at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27 in Vander Vennet Theatre in the Student Center. Her lecture is titled “Beyond Ideas of Wrong-Doing and Right-Doing: Building New Visions of Peace.” Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has brought 4,300 young people from 26 countries together to explore and learn conflict-resolution tools and ideals, particularly involving youth from Africa and the Middle East. Gottschalk, a graduate of Earlham College and the University of Chicago, was awarded the Medal of Honor from Jordan’s King Hussein for her innovative peace building work around the world. Gottschalk will be in residence at the College the week of March 26-30, visiting classes and meeting students. Her visit is sponsored in cooperation with the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership at Saint Mary’s.
Wednesday, March 28
Saint Mary’s College and the University of Notre Dame will commemorate the life of slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero with the 2012 Romero Days, March 27-28. Events will be held on both campuses and include a lecture at Saint Mary’s by South African Bishop Kevin Dowling. Bishop Dowling’s address is titled “Archbishop Romero: An Icon for South Africa” at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28 in the Carroll Auditorium of Madeleva Hall. The talk will highlight the continuing legacy of Archbishop Romero and how it shapes the social ministry of the Catholic Church in Africa. Bishop Dowling has served the Rustenburg diocese in South Africa for 21 years.
Archbishop Romero, an outspoken advocate for human rights, was assassinated by a right-wing death squad while presiding at Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital in San Salvador. He was controversial for his denunciations of U.S. military aid to El Salvador, his call for Salvadoran military personnel to disobey immoral orders, and his insistence that the Church be inseparable from the poor. The Catholic Church in El Salvador has officially recommended Archbishop Romero for canonization. He is widely venerated as a martyr in his native country, throughout Latin America, and in the United States.
Romero Days is co-sponsored by Saint Mary’s College (Justice Education Program and Campus Ministry) and the University of Notre Dame (Latin American/North American Church Concerns in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and the Center for Social Concerns).
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2012 published by U.S.News and World Report. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.