Registration is now open for the third annual McLaughlin Social Justice Institute of Lasallian Practice (MSJI), which will take place June 16-29, 2024, at Christian Brothers University (CBU) in Memphis, Tennessee. MSJI is a two-week intensive academic, community and field experience program where college students and rising high school seniors learn how their own social identities affect their engagement with others.
Through classroom instruction, talks from experts in law and medicine, and trips throughout Memphis, students engage with issues such as food scarcity, immigration, homelessness, health care, racism, ecology, and how other religious denominations view social justice.
Participants earn three college credits through a class in Catholic social teaching based on papal encyclicals and pastoral letters from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The three credits are transferable to their respective colleges or universities.
MSJI director Brother Patrick Conway, FSC, said, “The transformative influence of the McLaughlin Social Justice Institute on students is remarkable. Many experience a profound awakening as they witness the breadth and depth of social justice principles outlined in the Gospels, papal encyclicals, and bishop’s pastoral letters, addressing pressing global challenges for the first time.”
A participant from the 2022 MSJI cohort recently told Brother Pat: “I’m attending the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and I am studying computer engineering. It’s been really awesome and a lot of fun, but I continue to miss Memphis to this day. (MSJI) was a really amazing experience for me and one I’m sure I won’t forget.”