In the summer of 2008, an exciting development occurred at William Jewell College. With the help of a very generous and committed donor, we established the Center for Justice and Sustainability.  The major public announcement of the establishment of the Center will come in January 2009, but I wanted you to hear an early word about it.

Our College and our graduates have long engaged in the work of justice.  For many years, our students have provided support to the homeless and to the area’s hunger providers. We have sent teams to parts of the world that were in need. Jewell graduates have spent careers working around the world helping the less fortunate. This deeply held commitment to service is reflected in the more than 44,000 hours contributed by our students to the larger community during the 2007-08 school year alone.

Establishing the Center for Justice and Sustainability says to our entire campus community that there is a greater common good–greater than our own selves–that must be served.  Establishing the Center says to all of us that this common good has a central place in all our lives.

To achieve the goal of developing understanding and passion about these issues, the Center will approach justice by addressing social, economic and ecological issues.  The Center staff will stimulate programming on a personal level, a campus level, a community level and help to facilitate programming on a global level.

I am very excited about the component of this initiative that we are calling the Justice Summit.  We envision an annual gathering on campus to celebrate our graduates who have committed their careers to working in social, economic and ecological justice.  We hope this annual gathering will create an atmosphere in which those graduates will be celebrated, energized and refreshed for a weekend.  I hope the Justice Summit will become an influential event and a statement that Jewell graduates, regardless of their career choices, have a commitment to the common good. 

Unquestionably, the Center for Justice and Sustainability will become a powerful symbol for Jewell. It represents a clear commitment to our belief that Jewell is more than a college providing a rigorous and outstanding liberal arts education.  It reminds us that we are a community focused on providing students and graduates with exposure to the world’s most pressing issues, questions and problems.  The Center will enable our students to better consider their responsibility as global stewards and agents of change.  It will be a source for faculty and student collaboration, civic engagement and experiential learning.

The work of the Center is just getting started.  If you would like to know more about our plans for the Center, please contact Dr. Andy Pratt, executive director, at pratta@william.jewell.edu.  

And watch for the big announcement in January!