One hundred twenty-four University of Notre Dame graduating seniors embarking on a year or more of service in this country and abroad were honored during the University’s annual Service Send-Off ceremony on May 16 (Saturday) in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Leighton Concert Hall.

, president of the University of Notre Dame, commended the seniors for their commitment to service and for living out what is at the core of the University’s mission: “… to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice.”

Some of the graduates will mentor orphans in Latin America and Africa, while more than a quarter will join the or programs that share its model to serve as educators in the nation’s Catholic schools. Some will serve in Alumni Service Corps, City Year, Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers, the Peace Corps and Teach for America. Others will live and work side by side with people with disabilities, mentor children worldwide, work to break the cycle of abuse or repair substandard housing in Appalachia. Still others will work with the rural poor and suffering in Jamaica and Haiti, foster spiritual formation in the nation’s parishes or provide a host of other services that match the mission of Notre Dame.

Katherine Eva Maich, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, offered a reflection for the gathered students on her own postgrad service and the questions it raised that continue to shape her life. Maich’s postgraduate experience included work through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Camden, New Jersey, with Fair Share Housing’s Ethel Lawrence Homes, an organization devoted to economically and racially diversifying New Jersey’s highly segregated urban/suburban divide.

Maich, who was an major with a minor in at Notre Dame, said, “I didn’t quite know what was ahead for me after graduation. My minor in Catholic Social Teaching … had enabled me to develop an informed analysis of social justice, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, and rights of workers and the marginalized. I knew I wanted to put those politics into practice in a meaningful way, as I had in working with the , on a during the most physically demanding four hours of my life when I picked tomatoes in Immokalee, Florida, and as I had during three in South Bend, Raleigh and Durham, and Boston. But what I didn’t know was how much I would be affected by the questions Camden raised, and by the chance it offered me to show me the need to create community throughout my life.”

Maich went on to say that she learned to see herself differently through the moments of encounter lived out while in Camden and “that has affected my research practice, my teaching at Berkeley and the sense of how my work takes on questions of social justice, marginality and the rights of workers that I first seriously thought about at Notre Dame.”

Miranda Madrid, who will serve with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, introduced Father Jenkins. Micah Burbanks-Ivey introduced Maich, and Jaclyn Paul, who will also serve with Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, introduced , executive director of the .

In introducing Maich, Burbanks-Ivey recalled the summer of 2012 when he participated in a Summer Service Learning Program through the Center for Social Concerns with St. Peter Claver Church in the community of Treme, New Orleans. “When I stepped into St Peter Claver Church, I thought I was there to help a community (still suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina), I did not realize I was there to join one. The Center for Social Concerns and the community of St. Peter Claver taught me one of my greatest life lessons, that I was not there to help, but I was there to serve.”

Many of the attending graduates became involved in service and social action through the programs and courses of the Center for Social Concerns. They join a community of many thousands of Notre Dame alumni who have chosen postgraduate volunteer service since the Center for Social Concerns was founded in 1983.

Contact: John Guimond, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-3209, John.Guimond.2@nd.edu

Rev. Greg Boyle, S.J., founder of , will deliver the Annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C. Lecture entitled “Joy & Hope in the Hood” at 7 p.m. Sept. 9 (Tues.) in Room 101, DeBartolo Hall on the University of Notre Dame campus. is the theme for the for the 2014–15 academic year in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vatican II document, , regarded as one of the most significant documents of Catholic social teaching in the twentieth century. This event is free and open to the public.

Homeboy Industries traces its roots to “Jobs for the Future” (JFF), a program created in 1988 by Father Greg at Dolores Mission parish in Los Angeles, California. In an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Father Greg and the community developed positive alternatives, including establishing an elementary school, a day care program and finding legitimate employment for young people. JFF’s success demonstrated the model followed today that many gang members are eager to leave the dangerous and destructive life on the streets.

In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Father Greg launched Homeboy Bakery, the first business with a mission to create an environment that provided training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The success of the Bakery created the groundwork for additional businesses, thus prompting JFF to become an independent non-profit organization, Homeboy Industries, in 2001. Today Homeboy Industries’ nonprofit economic development enterprises include Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, and Homegirl Café.

The Annual was created by the Center for Social Concerns in 2009 in order to highlight the issues and themes within the Catholic social tradition, and to inspire students to live out Father Bernie’s message of promoting social justice.

The Center for Social Concerns (CSC) provides community-based learning courses, community-based research and service opportunities for students and faculty and lies at the heart of the University. It is a place where faith and action, service and learning, research and resolve intersect. Over the past 32 years, the Center has offered educational experiences in social concerns inspired by Gospel values and the Catholic social tradition so that students and faculty may better understand and respond to poverty and injustice.

Contact: John M. Guimond, Associate Director, Communications and Development, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-3209.

One hundred fifty-two University of Notre Dame graduating seniors embarking on a year or more of service in this country and abroad were honored during the University’s annual Service Send-Off ceremony on May 17 (Saturday) in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Leighton Concert Hall.

, president of the University of Notre Dame, commended the seniors for their commitment to service. Nearly a third of the graduates will join the or programs that share its model to serve as educators in the nation’s Catholic schools. Some will serve in City Year, the Peace Corps and Teach for America. Others will mentor orphans in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean; work to break the cycle of child abuse; or repair substandard housing in Appalachia. Still others will advocate for the rights of workers in the Southwest, foster spiritual formation in the nation’s parishes or provide a host of other services that match the mission of Notre Dame.

, rector for Walsh Hall, whose postgraduate experience included work through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps at Alternatives for Girls in Detroit, and ‘04, rector in Duncan Hall, whose post-graduate experiences included teaching in Uganda through the Overseas Lay Ministry Program, offered the gathered students a joint reflection on how their postgrad service transformed their lives, and, if open to it, how it will transform the students’ lives.

Selak said, “We may approach service to experience new things, to earn a master’s degree or to give to others. And while all these may happen, they really are just the filler in the margins. The real point of engaging in service is transformation. We enter into service to encounter others. And if we truly allow others into our lives … we will naturally be transformed.”

Fitzgibbons reminded the students, “This service send-off is a very nice occasion, where we should definitely celebrate. However, every day in your placements and hopefully every day afterward, there will be smaller justice send-offs. Justice, which asks the questions of why there is a need for service in the first place. Not just attending to the man on the side of the road, like the Good Samaritan did, but as Martin Luther King would say, fixing the whole Jericho road.”

Jonathan Schommer ’14, who will participate in Notre Dame’s ESTEEM () program, introduced Father Jenkins; Jiyeon Ahn ’14, who will serve with Farm of the Child in Honduras, introduced Selak and Fitzgibbons. Yuko Gruber ’14, who will serve with the L’Arche in Washington, D.C., introduced , executive director of the .

In introducing Father Jenkins, Schommer offered that the words of Dorothy Day, “‘You love God as much as you love the one you love the least,’ have been this pestering voice of conscience as I’ve tried to build genuine relationships. As much as I can look at my experience as one of being present to the joys in my life, I think it would also be true to say that my time at Notre Dame has been an experience of finding the things I love the least.”

In introducing Fitzgibbons and Selak, Ahn recalled an experience in Kolkata working with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity as part of an that transformed the way she understood service. “You. Did. It. To. Me. Shortened from a passage of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25, the ‘five-finger gospel’ gives meaning to the work — to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked and visit the imprisoned. It meant that the patients I served in the home for the destitute and dying, the children I danced with in the classroom every morning, the slum children who taught me Bengali — they were all Jesus.”

In introducing Father Kollman, Gruber spoke of how blessed she has been to participate in programs offered through the Center for Social Concerns and at the University. “Learning to recognize the fruits of life in community is one of the greatest blessings I have received through my experiences in the Center for Social Concerns.”

Many of the graduates became involved in service and social action through the programs and courses of the Center for Social Concerns. They join a community of many thousands of Notre Dame alumni who have chosen postgraduate volunteer service since the Center for Social Concerns was founded in 1983.

Contact: Mike Hebbeler, director, Senior Transitions Programs, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-5779, Hebbeler.2@nd.edu

, Frank Freimann Collegiate Associate Professor in the and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Network Science and Applications (iCeNSA) at the University of Notre Dame, is the recipient of the 2014 , which is given annually by the Notre Dame .

Nitesh Chawla

The award, in the amount of $5,000, honors a Notre Dame faculty member whose research has made a contribution in collaboration with local community organizations. Chawla’s passion since arriving at Notre Dame in 2007 has been leveraging big data for the common good. His research in network and data science in personalized health and wellness is translating into solutions for real problems within the community.

Chawla, who refers to himself as a dataologist, said that Americans’ health and wellness would improve if more attention were paid to the circumstances of people’s daily lives, such as access to grocery stores, recreational facilities and schools, in addition to whether they smoke or have allergies. In partnership with their doctors, people could then identify trends between their personal habits and certain diseases. Chawla said that tracking personal data on a large scale — big data — can help move people from insufficient health care to abundant health. “The health and wellness problem,” he said, is actually “outside of the setting of health care.”

Chawla said, “How can we leverage data about our lifestyles, environment, socio-economic conditions to develop an actionable and personalized health and wellness plan?” Just as Amazon and Netflix can give suggestions about the types of books and movies one might enjoy, Chawla hopes for a similar system to guide people to better health choices. “What if … all our data could be leveraged?” he asked. “If diseases are driven by lifestyle, shared experiences, similarities, behaviors and habits, we have an opportunity of doing that.”

For instance, regarding diabetes, it would be possible to explore “who are the non-diabetic, what do they look like, what are they doing, how are they similar to (you or me).” In this way people could become, Chawla said, “empowered to take the right action … That’s the power in collective data.”

Chawla said, “Practical data-driven innovations in personalized health and wellness will be transformative in our health care system. It can improve patient-centered outcomes, reduce costs and help eliminate disparities in health care. It is about leveraging population health data to drive personalized health outcomes.”

According to iCeNSA community health program manager and (CHE) program liaison , “Nitesh has a real special interest in the improvement of personalized health and health care and using data to streamline that process.”

In a recently completed local pilot project, Chawla, with his graduate student , collaborated with CHE program staff at Memorial Hospital in South Bend within its program at Heritage Place at LaSalle Square. Heritage Place is an independent living facility in South Bend.

The project was to develop a tool to improve the residents’ ability to manage their prescription medications. With the use of digital tablets, the residents tested the personalized health and wellness application developed by Chawla’s group, which provided them with personalized observations of daily living, such as reminders of when to take their medications.

According to Patty Willaert, manager of community outreach at Memorial, “The residents didn’t fully grasp that this was going to be the first use of the tool. There was a lot of frustration initially. Now, the residents have come to see that they are a part of the process and are giving valuable feedback.” They have become more active agents in their own care.

Margo DeMont, executive director of Community Health Enhancement at Memorial Hospital, said, “I feel our seniors crossed that bridge to technology and feel comfortable using technology. Nitesh opened it all up for us. He is a very dedicated, humane person.”

Chawla’s collaboration with the CHE program and Heritage Place at LaSalle Square residents will continue toward a comprehensive understanding of the impact of smart health technology in forming health and wellness. Future projects are already in discussion to model and study how to appropriately structure the incentives for the residents of aging-in-place communities in the region.

Chawla works not only in his own discipline, but also across disciplines, encouraging projects with graduate and undergraduate students from Notre Dame in collaboration with a variety of partners in the South Bend area. In addition, according to Mikels-Carrasco, Chawla “has made himself and iCeNSA available to aspiring local high school students interested in exploring the study of network and data science and is also launching two new funded pilots with a middle school and a diabetic population."

Chawla received his Ph.D. in computer science and engineering from the University of South Florida in 2002. His research interests are broadly in the areas of big data: data mining, machine learning, network science and their applications social networks, health care informatics/analytics and climate data science. He directs the iCeNSA and the at Notre Dame. Chawla’s multiple awards include outstanding teacher awards, outstanding dissertation award, Michiana 40 Under 40, National Academy of Engineers New Faculty Fellowship and a number of best paper awards and nominations. He received the IBM Watson Faculty Award in 2012 and the IBM Big Data and Analytics Faculty Award in 2013. He serves as a principal investigator or co-PI on more than $11.5 million of external research funding since 2007.

The Ganey Award is funded by local entrepreneur and philanthropist Rodney F. Ganey, Ph.D., and awarded by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns. The center facilitates community-based learning, research and service for Notre Dame undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. Since 1983, more than 15,000 students and hundreds of faculty have been engaged in its courses, research and programs.

For more information about the Ganey Award, visit .

Contact: Mary Beckman, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-4172, mbeckman@nd.edu

Senior Peter Woo, Class of 2014, a and a finance and philosophy major with a minor in Chinese at the University of Notre Dame, has been named the recipient of the (ICC) 2014 . The annual award recognizes the efforts of students from an Indiana college or university for the impact they have in their communities and on the citizens of Indiana.

This marks the third year in a row that a University of Notre Dame student has received the Wood Award. Jon Schommer, Class of ’14, received the 2013 award and , Class of ’13, received the 2012 award.

Woo grew up with missionary parents in Thailand and was able to see firsthand how much service means to both the recipient and the people who serve. When he came to Notre Dame, Woo grew steadily along a continuum of service from curious college student to founder of the microlending institution (JIFFI).

The summer after his freshman year, he traveled to India as part of an through the (CSC), where he worked in a nonprofit community agency, tasked with researching money-lending practices. When he came back to campus that fall, he researched predatory lending in the United States, and specifically South Bend. In final preparation for launching JIFFI, Woo spent the summer of 2012 at a microfinance organization through a from the CSC and to gain additional microlending experience.

Woo said, “I had to act, especially as a business student, and follow my philosophy of service.” He gathered a team of 12 students and together they laid the groundwork for the student-run microlending organization as an alternative to predatory lending in South Bend. JIFFI now has eight active borrowers after opening the doors last February. The staff of 12 has grown to 30, JIFFI has formed partnerships to expand its client base and the operation has an office downtown South Bend.

In recommending Woo for the award, Bonnie Bazata, executive director of , said, “Peter approached us and asked to understand how poverty works in our community and what he could do about it. He wanted to connect this effort to his growing expertise in business and finances, and he found his niche when he learned about the trap of payday lenders who can charge up to 390 percent on loans to low-income people who lack access to fair credit and face financial crises regularly. With an estimated 7,000 payday loan borrowers in St. Joseph County, JIFFI is anticipating to save the county roughly $3.5 million annually by bringing everyone out of the trap of payday loans. Now that is a lasting contribution that few students are able to make to the community where they learn and grow for four of the most important years of their lives.”

His focus is now on sustaining the business. Woo said, “When I founded JIFFI, I wanted to build an organization that would offer my peers, now and in the future, an opportunity to engage with South Bend on a deeper level than ever before. My intent for JIFFI does not end with providing tools for financial independence; I also wanted to share my philosophy of service by shaping JIFFI as a nexus at which students’ interests, passions and vocations intersect in concrete action to address real problems in the community. I am encouraged because my understanding of service as relating to others with what we have as a fellow human being is really just an attitude, a way to be human.”

Woo was recognized at a luncheon and awards program as part of the Indiana Campus Compact Service Engagement Summit on Thursday (March 27) in Indianapolis. He is one of four Service Engagement Award winners who were honored for their work at the summit. Along with the public recognition, the award winners receive a cash gift to donate to the community partner of their choice in order to further its service to the community.

Read Woo’s essay, “With What We Have,” that was part of the nomination process for the award.

Indiana Campus Compact supports higher education’s efforts to develop students into well-informed, engaged citizens. By providing programs, services and resources, ICC serves as a catalyst for campuses and communities to improve people’s lives through service-learning and civic engagement initiatives. For information, visit .

“Let us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: May she help us to find peace; all of us are her children! Help us, Mary, to overcome this most difficult moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building in every situation an authentic culture of encounter and peace. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!” — Pope Francis, Angelus address on Sept. 1 (Sunday)

The University of Notre Dame community of faith will join Pope Francis and people of faith around the world for a on Saturday (Sept. 7). Notre Dame’s , , Student Government Association, , and other student organizations have planned a series of events and liturgies to mark the day of fasting and prayer, and they welcome participation in person or in spirit.

, executive director for the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, said, “It is only fitting that this community of faith here at our Lady’s University stand in solidarity with Pope Francis and Catholics around the world in a day of fasting and prayer on the afternoon of Sept. 7, the vigil of a holy day honoring the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace.”

The Holy Father called the world’s Catholics to the day of fasting and prayer for peace during the Angelus address on Sunday, in which he decried war and the use of chemical weapons and emphatically appealed for peace and access for humanitarian workers helping to alleviate the suffering of so many people impacted by the civil war. (Read the of the address by Pope Francis, and view a short of his words.)

The complete series of events to be held on the campus of Notre Dame can be found .

Friday (Sept. 6)

• 11:30 a.m., Basilica of the Sacred Heart: Mass including special intention for Syria and day of prayer and fasting on Saturday with , presiding.
• noon-5 p.m.: Lady Chapel, Basilica of the Sacred Heart: Eucharistic Adoration.
• 5:15 p.m., Basilica of the Sacred Heart: Mass with special prayer intention for peace with Father John Santone, C.S.C., presiding.

Saturday (Sept. 7)

• 10 a.m., in front of the Main Building (rain location Geddes Hall Chapel): Peace Fellowship and student-led morning prayer; fasting during the day.
• 11 a.m.-noon, Morrissey Hall Chapel: Vigil.
• noon-1 p.m., Sorin Hall Chapel: Adoration organized by Militia of the Immaculata.
• 4:30 p.m., Grotto: Prayer to break the fast.
• 5 p.m., Basilica of the Sacred Heart: Vigil Mass with special intention for peace with Father Scheidler presiding.

Students will break their fast by eating together in the dining halls. On Sunday (Sept. 8), campus residence halls will offer evening hall Masses with special prayer intention for peace.

Contact: John M. Guimond, director of communications, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-3209, John.Guimond.2@nd.edu

One hundred sixty-nine University of Notre Dame graduating seniors embarking on a year or more of service in this country and abroad were honored during the University’s annual Service Send-Off ceremony on May 18 (Saturday) in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Leighton Concert Hall.

, president of the University of Notre Dame, commended the seniors for their commitment to service. Nearly a quarter of the graduates will join the (ACE) or programs that share its model to serve as educators in the nation’s Catholic schools. Others will serve in the Peace Corps and Teach for America. Still others will mentor AIDS orphans in South Africa, cultivate sustainable agriculture in the South Pacific islands, foster spiritual formation in the nation’s parishes, or provide a host of other services that match the mission of Notre Dame.

Elizabeth Moriarty, Class of 2000 and 2007, whose postgraduate experiences included work in an addiction recovery program, in the Catholic Worker program offering hospitality to homeless families, and as a jail chaplain, offered the gathered students: “You and I are called to go out from here … to practice the works of mercy. This is not service. This is sharing life. What I mean is that these are not to be reduced to things we do for a year or two and then get back on track with the real plan. These are the first steps of the rest of your life. This is a path for meeting and loving Jesus. These choices will define who you are now and who you will become as teachers, mothers, fathers, priests, nuns, business people, community organizers, artists or doctors. It is not a retreat or a chance to take a step back for a year off from the real world. It’s a year on."

Graduating senior Gabriela Hernandez, who is undecided on her postgraduate service experience, introduced Father Jenkins. Graduating senior Carl David Jones II, who will serve with ACE in Jacksonville, Fla., introduced Moriarty, and graduating senior Abigail McCrary, who will serve with the Dominican Volunteer Corps in New York, introduced , executive director of the (CSC).

In introducing Father Kollman, McCrary spoke of how blessed she has been as a student at the CSC and at the University. “Father , a Notre Dame professor of theology, writes, ‘The crossing over and coming back are the greatest spiritual adventures of our time.’ Service allows individuals the opportunity to engage with others in a new context and gain insight and perspective. I have been immensely blessed in my four years at Notre Dame to have the opportunity to cross over multiple times — from South Bend elementary schools to Westville Prison to India to Uganda — and these experiences have come to define me and my time at this university.”

Father Kollman, in addressing the graduates, said, “You are embarking on something that shows your openness to learn and grow, give and receive. You enter a new university, which L’Arche founder Jean Vanier calls ‘the university of the poor.’ You embrace an internship of sorts, an internship in vulnerability. And you will continue to grow, of that we can be sure. Whether you head to Tanzania or Toronto, into a classroom or a boardroom, whether you teach or learn or pray or listen or fold laundry, or all of these things, you will grow. Lonely or rich in companions, you will grow. Happy or sad, sick or well, you will grow.”

Among the service programs in which this year’s Notre Dame graduates will participate are ACE, which provides teachers for understaffed parochial schools in dioceses across the United States; Notre Dame’s , which trains and provides religious educators for Catholic parishes; the Peace Corps; AmeriCorps; Nuestro Pequenos Hermanos, which cares for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America and the Caribbean; Jesuit Volunteer Corps; and Teach For America.

Many of the graduates became involved in service and social action through the programs and courses of the Center for Social Concerns. They join a community of more than 4,000 Notre Dame alumni who have chosen postgraduate volunteer service since the Center was founded in 1983.

Contact: Mike Hebbeler, director, senior transitions programs, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-5779, Hebbeler.2@nd.edu

The University of Notre Dame’s (CSC), founded in 1983, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an open house on Monday (April 29) from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Geddes Hall Coffee House. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m.

The CSC is Notre Dame’s community-based learning, research and service center, a place where faith and action, service and learning, research and resolve intersect. Over the past 30 years, the CSC has grown to offer hundreds of community-based courses, community-based research, and service opportunities that allow students and faculty to better understand—and respond to—poverty and injustice grounded in the 2,000 year-old Catholic social tradition. A recent study conducted by the Center showed that nearly 70 percent of Notre Dame’s undergraduate alumni are engaged in some form of service 10 years after graduation, a testament to the lasting influence of the Center’s programs, which also can be seen in numbers.

In the CSC’s first 30 years:

• More than 18,050 students have taken a one credit seminar;
• 4,800 students participated in the ;
• 6,892 students took the ;
• 7,841 students completed an ;
• 534 students participated in the ;
• More than 4,200 graduates have entered full-time post-graduate service; and
• Millions of hours of service have been contributed to communities worldwide.

Beyond its own courses and programs, the Center also reaches out to faculty across disciplines to assist in community-based learning courses and community-based research. Last year, the Center facilitated 172 community-based courses and saw 240 students and 27 faculty engaged in community-based research.

All three executive directors of the CSC, founding executive director Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C.; , and , will attend the open house.

Contact: John M. Guimond, director of communications, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-3209, John.Guimond.2@nd.edu

“‘People believe that God used to be able to turn sinners into saints. He could save Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus, but it’s like they don’t seem to think He can do that anymore. Like today’s criminals are just so bad that even God can’t touch them. It’s sad.’* If we still believe that even Saul on the road to Damascus could turn his life around, if we believe that we can be forgiven and redeemed for our transgressions, then we have to believe that all people can turn their lives around and be redeemed. And this belief that a person’s life is never beyond reclamation is powerful, because it calls us to act like we believe no one is a lost cause.”

David Willcutts, senior biology major, outside student

In spring 2012, the University of Notre Dame’s added a new course, “,” as part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, a national program based in Philadelphia that creates a dynamic partnership between an institution of higher learning and a correctional facility.

Susan Sharpe, adviser on Restorative Justice, and Ed Kelly, adjunct faculty in the , created the course in collaboration with administrators at Westville Correctional Facility.

Many Inside-Out practitioners see the program as a creative link between two of the largest and most highly funded institutional and social structures in our country: universities and prisons, structures oriented respectively toward the most privileged and underprivileged people in our society. Through their classes, they attempt to deepen the conversation about those structures and transform student thought and attitude regarding crime and justice issues. Adds Kelly, “Our course aims to bridge the gap between two disparate groups of people. We hope that by studying and working together, students will recognize their common humanity and develop the respect and affection that can lead them to effect positive personal and societal change.”

The Inside-Out program was established in 1997 by Lori Pompa, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University, to bring college students and incarcerated men and women together to explore and learn about issues of crime and justice from behind prison walls. It was founded on the simple hypothesis that incarcerated men and women and college students might mutually benefit from studying together as peers.

The three-credit Notre Dame course, which was held again this past fall, meets once per week for the semester with 15 students from campus — outside students — and the same number of incarcerated people — inside students — attending class together inside the Westville Correctional Facility. As part of the class, all participants read a variety of texts, write several papers and discuss issues in small and large groups. In the final weeks of the semester, inside and outside students work together in small groups on class projects.

“Our goal was to offer Notre Dame students the opportunity to go behind prison walls and reconsider what they have been assuming or believing about crime and our criminal justice system,” said Sharpe. “At the same time those inside the prison — inside students — have a chance to place their life experiences in a larger framework.”

Kendrick, an inside student, said the course has given him the courage to speak out with his friends and family on the outside against senseless violence and crime and to begin to serve as a positive role model. “I got little brothers too. So they look up to me. I’m their role model and I’m just thankful that they haven’t followed in my footsteps. So, I just want to go back out there and just be productive. And this class is teaching me some pointers on how to do that. I feel proud that I can tell my son I took a class with Notre Dame students. When I talk to him about going to college, maybe I can inspire him to go and just do it.”

“Both inside and outside of this institution,” observed David Willcutts, “every person seeking to change is deserving of our help should they need it; every person is worthy of our human kindness as we can give it. Let’s remember we’re all in this together, a community of mankind, and no life is worth leaving behind.”

“Rethinking Crime and Justice: Explorations from the Inside Out” will be offered again in fall 2013.

*Shadd Maruna’s “The Rituals of Redemption”

Contact: John Guimond, Center for Social Concerns, guimond.2@nd.edu

The University of Notre Dame’s will host leading international scholars in the on campus March 21-23 (Thursday-Saturday) for a conference titled “.’” The conference will kick off with a viewing of the film “Monseñor: The Last Journey of Oscar Romero” at 7 p.m. March 20.

The conference will explore the thematic peace and justice issues that have been addressed by modern Catholic social thought, especially those within Pope John XXIII’s encyclical “Pacem In Terris” including human rights, political structures, ecumenism and environmentalism. Speakers from around the world, who represent the international and interfaith approach to peacemaking and promotion of human rights that has profoundly affected Catholic teaching and practice, will address the weaknesses or gaps that exist within “Pacem In Terris” as well as how the Church of today can move forward in the promotion of peace and justice in our pluralistic world.

“Fifty years after its release, Pope John XXIII’s encyclical ‘Pacem in Terris’ remains a profound and meaningful document,” said , executive director of the Center for Social Concerns. “This conference rightfully places the University and the Center at the heart of thoughtful and reflective conversations by church and academic leaders on peace and justice issues raised in ‘Pacem in Terris’ that continue to challenge the church and our world today.”

, chair of the Archbishop Romero Trust in England and former director of CAFOD, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, has been invited to offer the annual Romero Lecture titled “Oscar Romero: The Martyrdom of an Apostle for Peace and a Vatican II Champion.” It will also serve as the conference keynote address and will take place at 8 p.m. March 22 (Friday) in the McKenna Hall Auditorium.

, associate director for Catholic Social Tradition at the Center and convener of the conference, stated: “We are excited to be at the heart of a dialogue between leaders in higher education, the nonprofit sector and the Church as they seek to develop practices, grounded in our Catholic social tradition, that address the most pressing issues of our time.”

The conference is being convened by the Center for Social Concerns, the , , the Henkels Lecture Series of Notre Dame’s , as well as 14 other sponsors to foster dialogue between scholars, Church leaders and practitioners in the church and nonprofit sector. The lectures are free and open to all students, faculty and the public.

The Center for Social Concerns facilitates community-based learning, research and service, informed by the Catholic Social Tradition.

The University of Notre Dame has been named with distinction to the 2013 in recognition of its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

Notre Dame is one of four Indiana colleges and universities to be selected with distinction. The releases the Community Service Honor Roll annually.

“Notre Dame students and employees play a vital role in solving community problems and achieving meaningful, measurable outcomes in communities around the world,” said , Notre Dame’s president. “Community service is an integral component of our mission to educate the heart and the mind, which we see borne out in our record of placing students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.”

Community service and community engagement efforts at Notre Dame range across University units and are integral to the academy. Last year, the University offered 172 community-based learning courses and had 240 undergraduate students engaged in community-based research. Community service and engagement efforts include mentoring by student-athletes; teacher professional development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; tutoring and arts programming at the ; and service through student clubs and organizations.

Last year alone, Notre Dame’s (CSC) estimates that some 3,500 Notre Dame students gave more than 150,000 hours of service at local community agencies, and nearly 3,800 students participated in courses that had a community-based learning component.

Nationally, 1,139 students took part in service-learning courses at more than 331 sites as part of the CSC or the . All of these efforts would not be possible without the insight, expertise and commitment of community partners locally and nationally.

The award was inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled across the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Launched in 2006, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll annually recognizes institutions of higher education for their commitment to and achievement in community service. The President’s Honor Roll increases the public’s awareness of the contributions that colleges and their students make to local communities and the nation as a whole.

Contact: Jay Caponigro, director of community engagement, 574-631-9423, caponigro.2@nd.edu

For the 13th year in a row, the University of Notre Dame has earned a spot on Peace Corps’ annual list of the across the country. With 23 alumni currently serving overseas as Peace Corps volunteers, the University ranks No. 18 and remains a solid source of individuals committed to making a difference at home and abroad. Since the agency was created in 1961, 865 Notre Dame alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers. Notre Dame is the only Indiana school to make the Peace Corps’ rankings this year.

“Every year, graduates of colleges and universities across the United States are making a difference in communities overseas through Peace Corps service,” says Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Peace Corps volunteer, Western Samoa, 1981-83), who visited Notre Dame in 2011. “As a result of the top-notch education they receive, these graduates are well-prepared for the challenge of international service. They become leaders in their host communities and carry the spirit of service and leadership back with them when they return home.”

Peace Corps volunteer Lisa Floran, of Valparaiso, Ind., graduated from Notre Dame’s in 2009. As a health volunteer in Senegal since 2011, she has helped develop a life skills curriculum that has reached more than 5,000 young people across the country and is being replicated by other organizations. She says her experience at Notre Dame prepared her well for international service.

“Notre Dame follows the Catholic social teaching tradition, emphasizing service through compassion, love, respect and intellectual curiosity, and I think those ideals align well with the Peace Corps’ approach,” Floran says. “It’s important to strive toward making a difference, but a willingness to learn from others is even more important here.”

, director of student leadership and senior transitions for the at Notre Dame, says, “When students graduate from Notre Dame and enter the Peace Corps, then learning really does become service to justice. We are extremely grateful for our continued partnership with the Peace Corps.”

In 2010, Notre Dame introduced a Peace Corps in the area of nonprofit administration within the . This unique graduate program offers Peace Corps volunteers who have completed their service the opportunity to attend Notre Dame to earn a degree, with financial assistance and the chance to use their knowledge and skills in community internships as part of the program’s requirements.

Peace Corps recruiter Rok Teasley, a returned volunteer who served in Moldova, advises and interviews Notre Dame candidates and can be reached at rteasley@peacecorps.gov. He is working with the Center for Social Concerns to plan a special panel presentation and volunteer Skype event in March.

Graduating college students are encouraged to apply by Feb. 28 (Thursday) for remaining assignment openings for 2013, and the chance to be considered for programs in early 2014.

Approximately 121 Indiana residents are currently serving in the . Overall, 3,121 Indiana residents have served since the agency was created by President John F. Kennedy by executive order on March 1, 1961, with more than 210,000 Americans serving in 139 host countries. Today, 8,073 volunteers are working with local communities in 76 host countries in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth in development. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment, and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries. Read about the work and experiences of currently serving Midwestern volunteers at .

Peace Corps service makes a difference not only to the communities served, but also to the volunteers themselves, who return home as global citizens with cross-cultural, leadership, language, teaching and community development skills that position them for advanced education and professional opportunities in today’s global job market. Ninety percent of volunteer positions require a bachelor’s degree. Volunteers receive paid living expenses and full health and dental coverage while overseas, and upon completing their 27-month service they are eligible for graduate school programs and federal hiring benefits.

, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Notre Dame, is the recipient of the 2012 , which is given annually by the University of Notre Dame .

Schmiedeler has an extensive record of research and scholarship in several fields including robotic-assisted rehabilitation and the dynamics of bipedal walking motion. The award, in the amount of $5,000, honors a Notre Dame faculty member whose research has made a contribution in collaboration with a local community organization.

Schmiedeler and his Notre Dame colleagues in collaboration with the therapy staff at Memorial Hospital in South Bend have developed a technological innovation called “WeHab,” which uses the Nintendo Wii Fit platform to assist individuals who, as a result of strokes, accidents or illness, experience weakness, paralysis or impairments in balance and mobility. Already, more than 60 local individuals have benefited from this innovative, low-cost tool that provides biofeedback and data monitoring during balance therapy.

According to Schmiedeler, the WeHab system facilitates common rehab activities and measures patient performance in real time. In the clinic, it helps therapists improve rehab effectiveness and objectively assess patient progress without taking time away from rehab activities. Once patients go home, the low cost makes individual access affordable; the WeHab system can provide biofeedback during prescribed at-home activities and monitor patient compliance through progress reports.

The results of the work are currently in use in Memorial Hospital’s inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation setting. As development progresses, the product will become available for private use clients and on a commercial basis, so other health care facilities will be able to use the application at their sites.

“I think the ability of WeHab to take rehabilitation into the patient’s home is most exciting,” says Dr. Johan Kuitse, director of rehabilitation services at Memorial. "As therapy visits become more limited due to payor restrictions and cost concerns, the need for effective home programs becomes more important.”

According to Schmiedeler’s Notre Dame colleague and co-investigator , associate professor of psychology, “WeHab has the potential to revolutionize stroke therapy for patients, both in the clinic and at home … The utility of this technology may be extended to other rehabilitation domains involving orthopedic problems resulting from injuries, amputations or aging, applications that currently are being explored.”

Crowell notes, “Professor Schmiedeler’s groundbreaking work on WeHab has set the stage for a truly impactful and widespread rehabilitation service, not just for our local community, but also for communities all around the world.”

Schmiedeler received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2001. His current work focuses on biped robot locomotion, human recovery from stroke and spinal cord injury, robot-assisted rehabilitation, prosthetic devices, mechanical energy storage for vehicles and the design of shape-changing mechanisms.

The Ganey Award is funded by local entrepreneur and philanthropist Rodney F. Ganey, and awarded
by the Center for Social Concerns. The Center facilitates community-based learning, research and service for Notre Dame undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. Since 1983, more than 15,000 students and hundreds of faculty have been engaged in its courses, research and programs.

For more information about the Ganey Award, visit .

Contact: Mary Beckman, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-4172, mbeckman@nd.edu

The University of Notre Dame has been named with distinction to the 2012 in recognition of the role it plays in solving community problems; achieving meaningful, measurable outcomes in the communities it serves; and placing students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.

Notre Dame is one of four Indiana colleges and universities to be selected with distinction. The Corporation for National and Community Service releases the Community Service Honor Roll annually.

“At Notre Dame, we consider community service an integral component of our mission to educate the heart and the mind,” said , Notre Dame’s president. “I am always impressed by the numerous ways our students and employees choose to serve others both in the local community and across the world.”

Community service and community engagement efforts at Notre Dame range across University units and are integral to the academy. Last year, the University offered 119 community-based learning courses and had more than 200 undergraduate students engaged in community-based research. Community service and engagement efforts include mentoring by student-athletes; teacher professional development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; tutoring and arts programming at the Robinson Community Learning Center; and service through student clubs and organizations.

Last year alone, Notre Dame’s (CSC) estimates that 3,436 Notre Dame students gave more than 188,000 hours of service at 60 local community agencies, a 3 percent increase in the number of students from the previous year. Nationally, 1,139 students took part in service-learning courses at more than 331 sites as part of the CSC Summer Service Learning Program or the Social Concerns Seminars. All of these efforts would not be possible without the insight, expertise and commitment of community partners locally and nationally.

Launched in 2006, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll annually recognizes institutions of higher education for their commitment to and achievement in community service. The President’s Honor Roll increases the public’s awareness of the contributions that colleges and their students make to local communities and the nation as a whole.

Contact: Jay Brandenberger, director of research and assessment, Center for Social Concerns, 574-631-5293, jbranden@nd.edu

For the twelfth year in a row, the University of Notre Dame has placed on the Peace Corps’ list of top universities nationwide producing Peace Corps volunteers, and its rank is steadily rising.

This year, with 35 alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers, Notre Dame moves up to the No. 10 spot among medium-sized universities (with between 5,001 and 15,000 undergraduates), from last year’s No. 18 ranking with 25 volunteers in service. In 2011, Notre Dame from the 2010 No. 23 spot. Since Peace Corps was founded in 1961, 858 Notre Dame alumni have served in Peace Corps.

Michael Hebbeler, director of student leadership and senior transitions for Notre Dame’s , said, “We are extremely grateful for our continued partnership with the Peace Corps. This ranking reflects the formation of our undergraduate students as they learn and develop in a classroom that extends well into the community. These experiences often deepen their desire to serve the common good for justice, and the Peace Corps provides incredible opportunities for our students to live out the mission of our university beyond graduation and across the globe.”

This past fall, in commemoration of the Peace Corps’ , Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet visited campus to pay special tribute to Notre Dame and to University President Emeritus , for his significant role in Peace Corps history. Father Hesburgh worked closely with President John F. Kennedy, the Peace Corps’ first director Sargent Shriver and associate director Harris Wofford in its development and invited the first Peace Corps volunteers to train on campus before traveling to assignments in Chile. He continued to mentor and advise these early volunteers throughout their service.

In 2010, Notre Dame introduced a new Peace Corps Paul D. Coverdell Fellows graduate program in the area of nonprofit administration within the . This unique graduate program offers Peace Corps volunteers who have completed their service the opportunity to attend Notre Dame to earn an advanced degree (master of nonprofit administration), with financial assistance and the chance to use their knowledge and skills in community internships as part of the program’s requirements.

Peace Corps recruiter Rok Teasley, who served in Moldova, will participate in the Winter Career and Internship Fair on Wednesday (Feb. 1) from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Joyce Center Field House at Notre Dame, and will host a public Peace Corps Information Session on Thursday (Feb. 2) at 7 p.m. in the Don McNeill Library, of the Center for Social Concerns. Teasley will hold office hours for walk-ins on Feb. 2 between 9 and 11 a.m., and again from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Don McNeill Library.

Teasley can be reached at the Chicago Regional Peace Corps Office at 800-424-8580, Option 1, or rteasley@peacecorps.gov.

About the Peace Corps:
Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 host countries. Today, 9,095 volunteers are working with local communities in 75 host countries. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age, but there is no upper age limit to serve. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment, including three months of comprehensive culture, language, program, and safety and security training. The agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries. Visit www.peacecorps.gov for more information.

Contact: John M. Guimond, director, communications, Center for Social Concerns John.Guimond.2@nd.edu, 574-631-3209

University of Notre Dame alumni volunteers to the Peace Corps will be recognized for their service by Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet, who will participate in campus events commemorating the organization’s 50th Anniversary on campus this weekend.

Hessler-Radelet will pay special tribute to University President Emeritus for his significant role in Peace Corps history. She will also recognize Notre Dame as one of the top universities nationwide for alumni serving in the Peace Corps year after year.

In a 2 a.m. impromptu presidential campaign speech on Oct. 14, 1960, then-Senator John F. Kennedy challenged college students to contribute two years of their lives to help people in countries of the developing world. Within weeks of his inauguration, President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924, establishing the Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis. By June 22, 1961 the agency had received about 11,000 completed applications according to Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver.

Father Hesburgh, then president of Notre Dame, played a vital role in the development of the Peace Corps working closely with President Kennedy, Shriver and associate director Harris Wofford. Father Hesburgh invited the first Peace Corps volunteers to train on campus before traveling to assignments in Chile. He continued to mentor and advise these early volunteers throughout their service.

Fifty years later, Notre Dame remains a leader in the development of Peace Corps volunteers. The University has placed on the Peace Corps’ list of top universities producing Peace Corps volunteers nationwide for the past 11 years, since the agency began announcing a top schools ranking. Today, approximately 35 Notre Dame alums are serving as Peace Corps volunteers, and more than 835 alumni have served since 1961.

As part of the celebration, a networking session will be held on Friday (Oct. 7) from 1 to 3 p.m. 
in the ballroom of the LaFortune Student Center with retired Peace Corps volunteers and current students interested in incorporating their international interests into a career.

For the full schedule of Notre Dame events for the Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary, please click .

Contact: John Guimond, director of communications, , John.Guimond.2@nd.edu, 574-631-3209

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will deliver the 2011 McBride Lecture at the University of Notre Dame on Sept. 14 (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Hesburgh Library.

A leader and tireless advocate in the struggle for workers’ rights and economic justice, Trumka will speak on the AFL-CIO’s America Wants to Work campaign to address the jobs crisis and put people back to work.

Trumka was born into a coal mining family in southwestern Pennsylvania and worked in the coal mines for seven years while attending college and earning a law degree from Villanova University. In his years working underground, the hazards of mining exposed Trumka to life-changing lessons, experiences that shaped him far more than his academic or legal pursuits.

Trumka is committed to creating an economy that leaves no worker behind and a society that rewards hard work, and he has dedicated his life to actively fighting racism and prejudice in any form.

Prior to being elected president of the AFL-CIO in 2009, he served as secretary-treasurer of the organization from 1995 to 2009, and as president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995.

The Annual McBride Lecture was established in 1977 by the United Steelworkers (USW) “to better understand the principles of unionism and our economy.” It honors the USW’s fourth international president, Lloyd McBride, who served from 1977 to 1983.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the USW and the Higgins Labor 91��Ƶ Program of the .

This event is free and open to the public with free parking available in B2 lot, off Leahy Drive on the east side of campus.

Contact: Karen Manier, program coordinator, Higgins Labor 91��Ƶ Program, 574-631-6934, kmanier@nd.edu

Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., author and world-renowned advocate against the death penalty, will deliver the annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture and participate in a book signing beginning at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 (Monday) in the Andrews Auditorium of Geddes Hall at the University of Notre Dame.

Sister Prejean will present “Building Justice in the World: Confronting Evil,” speaking about her experiences of confronting evil with justice based in gospel values.

Sponsored by the Notre Dame’s , the event is free and open to the public.

A native of Baton Rouge, La., Sister Prejean joined the Congregation of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957, and traces her involvement in the issue of capital punishment to her realization that being on the side of poor people is an essential part of the Gospel.

In 1982, at the request of a friend, Sister Prejean began a correspondence with Elmo Patrick Sonnier, a 27-year-old death row resident convicted in the murder of a teen-age couple. As the date for Sonnier’s execution approached, she became his close friend and spiritual counselor, eventually witnessing his electrocution. Since then she has accompanied six men to their execution as a counselor and witnessed their deaths.

Sister Prejean related her experiences with Sonnier in “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States,” a book that was turned into an Academy Award-winning motion picture in 1996 and made her an internationally prominent opponent of capital punishment. She is also author of “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions” and is presently at work on another book, “River Of Fire: My Spiritual Journey.”

Among the many honors bestowed upon her, Sister Prejean received the Laetare Medal, Notre Dame’s highest honor, in 1996, and she has been a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Contact: Bill Purcell, associate director for Catholic social tradition and practice, Center for Social Concerns 574-631-9473, wpurcell@nd.edu