Seelos Grantees Attend IFTJ

For four Alpha Sigma Nu student members, the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice will be an important and defining moment in thier college careers.  Ignatian Solidarity Network describes the Teach-In, which took place November 3-5, 2018, in Washington, DC, in this article.  The piece describes the event this way, "Attendees were invited to travel the “crisscrossed roads” of family life, education, institutional Church, and local and global community life. These themes were transposed with the lived realities of injustices related to immigration, the U.S. criminal justice system, race, gender, sexuality, environmental degradation, and gun violence."  Thanks to the Seelos Grant, Alpha Sigma Nu student members Isabel Wallace-Green (Fordham `18), Kathleen Hannick (Seattle U `18), Jordan Henderson (Loyola Chicago `17), and Lucia Presencio Ortiz (Loyola Andalucia `17) all had the opportunity to hear the speakers in person, experience the energy of so many Jesuit-educated students and alumni gathering for Justice, advocate on Capitol Hill, and return to their campuses and ASN chapters inspired by this energy.  To experience a little of the transformational energy they encountered, watch videos of the IFTJ speakers here. 

Grantees returned to campus inspired:

I want to share with my chapter that all leaders have a responsibility to fight for social justice in our world. Every leader should challenge him or herself as an individual to question structures of power and evaluate whether these systems were built upon, or still endorse, inequality or discrimination. This is not an easy task. But I believe an effective leader should constantly strive for a more just society, even if justice requires critique, conflict, and/or breaking structures down before building them back up again. As someone who guides others, a leader will impact his or her following by ensuring each individual is valued and respected in the community through this approach.   - Isabel Wallace-Green

During the conference, I attended many breakout sessions and heard from many speakers about issues of race and racism in our country, world, and church. The conference gave me time, space, and community to confront my own whiteness and the racism within the systems that I am complicit in. I think journeying to do anti-racism work is a lifelong commitment and the conference helped me by teaching me more about how racism plays out and how I can do my part to help combat it.   - Kathleen Hannick

Photo from ignatiansolidarity.net