Celebrate the Vincentian Founding – Mass & Lunch Wednesday, April 16 at 12:00 p.m. | St. Louise de Marillac Chapel
The DePaul community is invited to a special Mass and lunch in honor of the 400th Anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission—the Vincentian religious order that founded DePaul. Mass will be held in the St. Louise de Marillac Chapel (LPSC 1st floor), followed by lunch in LPSC 325.
Please RSVP HERE to let us know you will be attending the lunch. All are welcome as we gather in prayer and fellowship.
Faculty and Staff are Invited…
DePaul faculty and staff, you are invited to Lunch with Vincent where our distinguished presenters will be Professor Ken Butigan, from the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution Program and Fr Stan Chu IIo from the Catholic Studies Department. Together they will share stories of peace and justice from around the world inspired by their faith and enriched by our Vincentian spirit. Please join us for meaningful conversation, warm community and a tasty meal!
Written By: Gabriella Bucci, Associate Professor of Economics
Image by Marija Zaric.
Sustainability was core to the work of Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. Saint Vincent understood that charitable donations of food and clothing, while providing temporary relief, are not long-term solutions for the deprived, war-torn, and impoverished. He wanted to provide seeds for farmers and “to enable all the other poor people who have no land—men as well as women—to earn their own living by giving the men some tools for working and the girls and women spinning wheels and flax or linen for spinning.” [1] He worked with villagers and taught them to create self-sustaining food banks. He created partnerships with the wealthy to fund and sustain orphanages and hospitals. [2] All this he did during times in which the wealthy avoided contact with the poor and in which bishops felt threatened about losing power in their villages and missions. [3] We continue to face societal challenges today and are called to meet these challenges sustainably, as Saint Vincent did.
At DePaul we build sustainability into our actions, courses, and programs throughout the university. Interested students can get involved in environmentally conscious student organizations such as ECO Depaul, DePaul Urban Gardeners, the Student Sustainability Committee and Net Impact. In our classrooms, we teach best practices in sustainability in environmental science, the arts, the humanities, geography, urban development, public policy, and many other corners of the university. Students and faculty have been involved, and continue to be active, in Life Cycle Assessments of products such as sports equipment, textiles, jewelry, and toys to determine the products’ impacts on the environment through their life cycle. Students, faculty, and staff are part of the Sustainable Urban Food Systems Initiative through the Steans Center. The President’s Sustainability Committee strives to make lasting environmental changes at DePaul and in the community. Those who care about climate change and environmental activism have an array of opportunities to find meaning and involvement throughout the university.
Students may be surprised to learn that environmental sustainability also has a home in DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. We tend to think of climate advocacy as something that is the purview of individuals, nonprofits, and governments. However, students can also learn about the role of corporations in advancing environmental sustainability and even pursue careers that focus on corporate sustainability. In fact, in 2024, 82% of C-suite leaders say they believe the significance of environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) in corporate performance will continue to grow. [4] Businesses impact sustainability through decisions they make about sourcing, logistics, and care for the environment.
We are preparing a new generation of business leaders who advocate for businesses to interact responsibly with the environment. Any undergraduate DePaul student can take the course Business 103: Business for Social Good where students learn about the ways businesses reduce their environmental impact and advocate for change. The new Business for Social Good student organization, B4SG, already has hundreds of student members!
And there’s more to come. In fall 2025, we are launching the Master of Science in Sustainability in Business degree. This STEM-designated degree prepares students to take on roles as corporate sustainability leaders. The program combines sustainability frameworks with data analysis and strategy for business decision-making and management. We seek to develop business leaders who carefully consider the full impacts of business practices on people and the environment.
By creating new business programs in sustainability, we recognize that business practices are a key to the future of environmental sustainability. We have more to do, more to learn, more to teach, more partnerships to build, more business relationships to foster, more service to complete. Let’s learn and work together.
Reflection Questions:
Saint Vincent de Paul focused on long-term solutions over short-term aid. How can you apply this mindset to environmental sustainability on campus, at home, and in your communities?
Sustainability challenges require input from many fields, including science, business, and the arts. How can we foster interdisciplinary work to develop innovative solutions for a more sustainable world?
Reflection by: Gabriella Bucci, Associate Professor of Economics
Since the revision of DePaul University’s mission statement in 2021, our documented commitment to sustainability “guides our actions as we respond to current realities while looking to the future and remaining faithful to our core values.” Environmental sustainability emerged as a necessary focus for a Vincentian institution today, largely because of the impact of climate change on some of society’s most vulnerable populations around the world, as well as on the future well-being of all on our planet. In carrying forward the spirit and mission of Saint Vincent de Paul, sustainability is identified as a fundamental and emerging commitment for DePaul:
We consider sustainability a meaningful way to frame a broader set of institutional and societal challenges relevant to our work as a university in the twenty-first century. As a university community, we are strongly motivated to action by the looming crises caused by climate change. We must ensure that DePaul’s education, research, and operations contribute to a sustainable future for our city and planet. Our role as educators compels us to prepare future generations with the proper knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary. We recognize the interdependence of environmental, human, and economic systems required by people around the globe to enjoy a healthy and fulfilling quality of life both now and in future.
Given this, and as we move through Sustainability Month this October, we are pleased to share the following update on the continued work of our Just DePaul team related to social and environmental justice.
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2024 has brought a number of flourishing sustainability events to DePaul’s campuses. From the creation of The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) back in January, to the development of working groups in the President’s Sustainability Committee, to Earth Week events in April, and to our beginnings of developing a Climate Action Plan this fall, DePaul is engaging in sustainability in many ways. As always, through these actions we are seeking to answer the question, “What must be done?”
We at Just DePaul in the Division of Mission and Ministry dedicate our work to the advancement of sustainability as well as social and environmental justice initiatives across DePaul. We host quarterly network-weaving sessions that tackle various environmental and social justice questions like migration, food waste, housing access, and climate action plan development. In so doing, we want to recognize what Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ says, which is that “we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation.” [1]
Did you know that according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), October is Campus Sustainability Month? Just DePaul created an October Sustainability Month Calendar, with the goal of uniting as many departments and clubs as possible around sustainability and environmental justice. This calendar encapsulates events from various departments and organizations around the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses. It offers all of us at DePaul the opportunity to participate in different types of sustainability and environmental-related events through engaging in community, service, and education.
Among these events are Climate Action Plan listening sessions, which will take place October 17th, 2024, at 1:30 PM in the Loop Campus, and October 22nd at 1:30 PM online. Our DePaul community will be able to discuss physical plant improvements to create initiatives that reduce our campuses’ carbon footprint. This will be an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to engage in improvement and innovation.
There are myriad opportunities to dive into sustainability at our university, all of which challenge us to think of environmental contexts and help to knit the tapestry that is DePaul closer together. As a community we can drive meaningful change for our environment and future, together.
Over its 400-year history, the Vincentian Family has been no stranger to uncertain times. When Saint Vincent’s confrères—scattered, hiding, and hunted in Revolutionary France—faced the loss of their fellow priests, ministries, and motherhouse of Saint-Lazare, they leaned into uncertain and dangerous times, trusting in one another and in the Spirit. Today, we at DePaul University face uncertain times. The summer brought record heat, drought, wildfires, and rains across the globe. In the United States, as in many other parts of the world, economic disparities have left billions of people locked within dehumanizing poverty. The emergence of Artificial Intelligence portends seismic changes in higher education, numerous industries, and most aspects of our personal lives. What must be done?
Pope Francis addressing Congress September 2015. He called for an end to the death penalty and the arms trade, for compassion for immigrants and the poor and a global response to climate change. Photo credit: Susan Melkisethian
As we move forward with Designing DePaul, we have an opportunity to help shape the future during uncertain times by responding to Pope Francis’ call in Laudate Deum “… to accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world.”[1]
Our Vincentian Family is called to respond to these and other challenges with vision and a commitment to equity, sustainability, and nonviolence. And we at DePaul University are uniquely situated to respond. We are rooted in the global city of Chicago. Our faculty, students, and staff represent countries and cultures from across the globe. Our alumni and community partners, situated in places near and far, are engaged in perhaps every conceivable industry. We are a global community, gathered for the sake of the mission, alive in this moment of history to respond to the signs of the times.
As you move through today’s uncertainty, consider how your experiences and gifts can help to shape a more hopeful future. What personal commitments can you implement in your daily life? What institutional changes will you advocate for alongside colleagues? What societal shifts can DePaul University contribute to in solidarity with our global community?
Reflection by: Rubén Álvarez Silva, M.Ed. (He, Him, His), Director for Just DePaul, Division of Mission and Ministry
In this reflection, Scott Kelley, PhD, imagines a conversation with Vincent de Paul in which he explains to Vincent the earth’s current ecological, economic, and technological challenges to sustainability. As these were not within the imagining of Vincent in his day, Dr. Kelley describes the issues then imagines what Vincent would say in offering guidance. Reflecting on Vincent’s Christ the Evangelizer, especially as Evangelizer of the poor, Scott offers five ways that we can bring good news to the poor today.
From Seeds to STEM
