Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview SPRING 17 | Page 8

Recap
Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice
and changed in the subsequent 27 years. Originally set in
Fort Benning, Georgia, this gathering moved to
Washington, DC in 2009. The Teach-In now consists of
prayer, keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions,
time to socialize with other members of the Ignatian
family, a concluding Mass and advocacy meetings with
members of Congress and their staffers.
This year’s theme, “Mercy in Action,” led the Fordham Prep
delegation to discuss and reflect on racial justice,
environmentalism, immigration reform, being agents of
mercy and how to share what we learned in Washington,
DC with the rest of the Prep community.
More than 1,600 people from the United States, Canada,
Puerto Rico, Mexico and El Salvador gathered in
Washington, DC recently. We traveled 242 miles from Rose
Hill to the Crystal Gateway Marriott. Dozens of speakers
and workshops; nine Fordham Prep students; three
Fordham Prep teachers; two congressional staffers; one
Ignatian family.
Our weekend concluded with joining the delegations from
Regis High School, Manhattan College, Sacred Heart
Academy and the Loyola School to meet two of U.S.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s staffers. During this meeting,
students from each school shared their views on the
importance of environmental protection and the pressing
need for comprehensive reform of our nation’s
immigration policies.
The Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice is an annual
gathering of people from Jesuit schools, parishes and
social ministry centers, as well as other schools and
parishes that draw inspiration from St. Ignatius Loyola and
subsequent generations of Jesuits. Initially started in
response to the 1989 assassination of six Jesuits, their
housekeeper and her daughter in San Salvador during the
U.S.-funded Salvadoran Civil War, the Teach-In has grown Upon our return to New York, many people asked me, “So
how was the Teach-In?” My answer was and is, “We’ll see.”
If all of us who were there use the time, ideas and
conversations we shared to commit ourselves more
deeply to a faith that does justice, it will have been a great
success indeed.
Diversity Summit Urban Hunger
27 students participated in the Diversity Summit at the
Marist Brothers Retreat House in Esopus, NY in November.
They were joined by 22 students from Sacred Heart
Academy in Greenwich and 10 students from The Ursuline
School. The students engaged in a variety of learning and
leadership experiences to better understand stereotyping,
racial profiling, gender roles, LGBTQ+ concerns, social
action and more. Thank you to Mrs. Piñeiro for organizing
and all of the teachers who participated. Paul Brusco ’18, Owen Lombardi ’17 and Emiliano
O’Connor ’17 recently participated in a weeklong program
on urban hunger sponsored by The Centro Altagracia de
Fe y Justicia, a not-for-profit organization formed by the
Jesuits to respond to the social justice and spiritual needs
of the Northern Manhattan community.
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Mr. Daniel Gustafson, SJ