Join the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (OIDE) for a pivotal event featuring Maureen O'Connell, author of "Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness."

This in-person event is a call to explore and address the critical issues of equity, inclusion, and anti-blackness within the Catholic tradition. We are honored to have Maureen O’Connell, whose influential work offers deep insights into these challenges, and lead a significant in-person discussion.

Our gathering is more than just a conversation; it is an opportunity to engage in a synodal process—a journey of listening and communal reflection—to discern practical steps toward a more inclusive community at DePaul and beyond.

Key Details:

Date: Monday, May 6, 2024

Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Lunch will be provided following the event)

Location: Lincoln Park Student Center, Room 120, DePaul University

Special Notes:

• Engage in the dialogue. Be part of the change.
• RSVP by Friday, May 3, 2024, to ensure your participation.

• This event is made possible through the generous support of the Vincentian Endowment Fund.

• In a collaborative spirit, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (OIDE) at DePaul University is joining forces with the Division of Mission & Ministry (DMM). Their team will play a vital role in guiding the synodal process, ensuring a deeply engaging and fruitful discourse.

  Furthermore, OIDE is honored to partner with leaders from Loyola University Chicago—Dr. Keith Champaign, Vice President of Student Development, and Cory Barnes, Director of The Center for Black Excellence. Their valuable insights will enhance the dialogue and contribute to the overarching goal of fostering a community that thrives on inclusivity and excellence.

Post-Event Networking:
We invite attendees to join us for lunch after the discussion. It’s a great opportunity to network, reflect on the session, and exchange ideas on moving forward.

Organizer:
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity

This event is open to the DePaul community.

About The Speaker and Author

Maureen H. O’Connell is an Associate Professor of Christian Ethics in the Department of Religion and Theology at La Salle University. She holds a BA in History from Saint Joseph’s University and a PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College. She authored Compassion: Loving Our Neighbor in an Age of Globalization (Orbis Books, 2009) and If These Walls Could Talk: Community Muralism and the Beauty of Justice (The Liturgical Press, 2012), which won the College Theology Book of the Year Award in 2012 and the Catholic Press Association’s first place for books in theology in 2012. Her next book, Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness, is due out in December 2021 with Beacon Press and explores the interplay of her Catholic and racial identities across her family’s history in the City of Philadelphia. She received the Distinguished Lasallian Educator award in 2017 from both La Salle University and from the District of North Eastern North America, one of the provinces of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. She is a member of the national Lasallian Education Council, where she chairs a national ad hoc committee on advocacy. She is a member of POWER (Philadelphians Organizing to Witness, Empower, and Rebuild), an interfaith coalition of more than 50 congregations committed to making Philadelphia the city of “just love” through community organizing. She serves the Board for the Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies and Cranaleith Spiritual Center, a ministry of the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Northeast Philadelphia. She is also a member of the President’s Commission on the Legacy of Slavery at Rosemont College.