 Jesuit Foundation Money Supports Diverse Range of University Programs
Thanks in part to Jesuit Foundation grants, members of USF’s custodial and food service staff are able to take English classes at the university they help sustain, law students were able to go to the South for the summer to work on behalf of death row inmates, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient will visit the University next month. These programs are among 10 that received grants of up to $5,000 from the foundation in the spring. An awards dinner was held Sept. 5 to honor the recipients.
The foundation was established with a $2 million gift from USF’s Jesuit community. The mission of the grant program is to support projects that integrate faith and promote justice. Money is awarded in four categories: Ignatian spirituality, pedagogy, research, and community-in-conversation grants.
The recipients of the spring awards (pictured above) are as follows:
June Madsen Clausen, psychology, received a grant to support research in evaluating the Youth Education Scholarship Program in Santa Clara County. The program aims to enhance the lives of young people in foster care by offering college scholarships.
Mike Duffy, University Ministry, received a grant to support the Justice Lecture Series. On Oct. 8-9, Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980, will visit USF and give a public lecture on human rights.
Robert Elias, politics, received a grant to support the quarterly journal, Peace Review, which he edits. Issues this year will focus on such themes as the death penalty and human rights in Latin America.
Johnnie Johnson Hafernik, ESL, received a grant to help the university’s custodial and food service staff improve their English. The program, which began last year, offers ESL classes four days a week free of charge to participants.
Ange-Marie Hancock, politics, received a grant to bring the Most Rev. Macram Max Gassis, bishop of the Diocese of El Obeid, Sudan, to USF this year. Bishop Gassis is an internationally known human rights figure.
B.J. Johnson, dean-Academic Services, received a grant to support the Foreword Summer 2001 Bridge Program. The program aims to give potentially at-risk freshmen a head start on making the transition to college. Participants came to USF for one week in the summer and will continue to meet throughout the fall semester. It is designed for students who are admitted conditionally or transitionally, and students of color from under-represented populations.
Miguel Lopez, School of Education, received a grant for his research into understanding religious and cultural values in children’s multicultural literature. His research explores such issues as how literature with cultural and religious values can be used to develop traditional educational skills and maintain a sense of family and culture among generations.
Steven C. Runyon, KUSF, received a grant to use the KUSF program “Podium” to publicize and promote the projects funded by the Jesuit Foundation grants.
Steven Shatz, School of Law, received a grant to finance the Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project. Six law students traveled to the South for the summer to work on behalf of death row inmates. In the South, where death penalty cases can take just three days from jury selection to verdict, offices working on death row cases can be underserved, Shatz said. USF students worked with defense attorneys on research, document cataloging, and interviewing to try to reverse specious convictions.
Patty Yancey, School of Education, received a grant to support the “Vona” writing workshops. The grant provided scholarships for local teen-age students of color to attend two-week writing workshops and stay on campus during the summer.
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