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Forum on
the Working Poor
By Michael Nataro '06
The Office for Mission Effectiveness sponsored an event the evening of Oct. 25 titled
Forum on the Working Poor” held in the Villanova Room of the Connelly Center. The
purpose of this event was to increase awareness and establish dialogue in the Villanova
community on the working poor. Co-sponsored by the Augustinian Office of Justice and
Peace, the Center for Peace and Justice Education, the department of sociology and the
AFL-CIO national office, working poor were brought to Villanova as featured speakers
from a diverse pool of labor industries including health care, agriculture, and fast food
and the hotel/service industry.
The forum, suggested by the Rev. John Deegan, O.S.A., former Prior Provincial of the
Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and now the director of the Augustinian Office for
Justice and Peace, had about 200 in attendance, most were students. Several University
faculty members attended the event and are involved in developing an Institute on
Poverty to promote understanding with the Villanova community about the state of
poverty.
“[This forum] fits in with Villanova’s mission as a Catholic Augustinian institution
concerned about the human dignity of all peoples, especially the poor which is so much a
part of Catholic social teaching and the legacy of St. Thomas of Villanova,” said Dr.
Barbara Wall, special assistant to the president for Mission Effectiveness. “Our students
have little or no contact with poor people and we all have stereotypes of the ‘undeserving
poor’ in our myths about poverty.”
Three speakers were in attendance who did not come from privilege. The women: Crystal
Justice, Chrissi Dickerson and Maureen Franklin all shared their personal stories of trying
to raise children, work full time and go to school to earn a degree and get ahead. The
women indicated that they wanted to be role models for their children in terms of hard
work and getting an education. Each woman indicated how difficult it is to work for $8 per
hour with no medical insurance and just hope that your child does not get sick. One woman
said she was still paying for a hospital visit for her child from some time ago.
Wall related this forum to the work the Villanova community already does with the
poor and the marginalized. She said, “Many of our students work in after-school
programs as tutors and they see some aspects of living in an economically depressed
school district. Our students, who go on Campus Ministry break trips, also encounter
poor families who enrich their lives by their courage and hard work. “How can we, as a
University, be part of building a better world and work for the common good if we are
removed from the lives of those most affected by poverty, unemployment and poor
schools, ?”
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