Building Community One Encounter at a Time
Happy New Year to our Ignatian Center friends and supporters!
As we head into the new year, it is easy to get discouraged by the familiarity of restrictions caused by the pandemic. Working from home and teaching online are becoming second nature. And yet, the fall quarter gave us a glimpse of returning to “normal” and how much we have craved community - just being with one another. Perhaps the greatest example of this return to normalcy occurred over winter break as we hosted our first in-person immersion after 15 months of virtual events. Eight students traveled to San Diego, on the US - Mexico border, to work with Via International, an organization dedicated to serving people seeking to immigrate. The relationships they formed - with each other, with the host organization, and with the people served - are a testament to the transformative impact of community-based programming. This is what gives us hope and assures us that we need each other to become fully human.
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St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursuline order, once advised her sisters to "build community wherever you go.” For the Ignatian Center these are more than words of advice: they are our purpose. Whether we are hosting gatherings here on the SCU campus, pairing students with nonprofit organizations to serve the local community, or sending students far and wide on week-long immersion trips, we are building community one encounter at a time, one life at a time - here, there, and everywhere. |
Alison Benders
Executive Director, Ignatian Center
Vice President, Mission & Ministry
Over the 2021 Winter Break we sent 8 students on an Immersion trip to the San Diego/Mexico border, where they learned first-hand about the challenges faced by families, local farmers, businesses, and the large Chicano Community.
READ THEIR REFLECTIONS HERE
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The Renewal of Catholic Labor Justice Advocacy under Pope Francis
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The Continuum of Violence in the Lives of Central American Women Asylum Seekers
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Your support changes lives and impacts the world for the better.
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