Jersey City, N.J. – On Saturday, March 6, 2010, Saint Peter’s College Professor and Chair of the Social Justice Department, Anna J. Brown, Ph.D., will be honored with the Dorothy Day Peacemaker of the Year Award at the 2010 Pax Christi New Jersey Annual Assembly. Taking place on the College’s Jersey City campus from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., the assembly will address the devastation in Haiti due to the recent earthquake as the main topic.
The award is named for American journalist, social activist, and devout Catholic convert, Dorothy Day, who was a revered figure within the U.S. Catholic community. In the 1930’s, Day co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement, a nonviolent, pacifist association that continues to provide direct aid for the poor and homeless.
Marie Dennis, who is the director of global concerns for Maryknoll, an organization of the U.S. Catholic Church that focuses on overseas mission activity, and co-president of Pax Christi International, will serve as the event’s keynote speaker. Ms. Dennis has traveled widely among marginalized communities in Latin America, and has served as an election observer for Mexico and Haiti. An expert on economics and just war, she has lectured at universities, conferences, workshops, parishes and high schools over the past 30 years on topics including Catholic social teaching, globalization, peacemaking, and economic justice. Ms. Dennis serves on the board of directors for several human rights organizations and is also a Pax Christi USA ambassador of peace.
Colleen Kelly will serve as the featured speaker at the assembly. Ms. Kelly is a founding member of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization created by family members of those killed on 9/11 who have united to turn grief into action for peace, by developing and advocating nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice. She currently serves as the organization’s New York coordinator. Additionally, she is the co-founder of a free medical clinic in East Harlem. Ms. Kelly recently returned from a mission trip to Haiti.
The speakers will focus on the importance of international support to rebuild Haiti, the international community’s influence on poverty in Haiti, and solutions and programs that will empower Haitian’s to move forward successfully.
Pax Christi USA strives to create a world that reflects the Peace of Christ by exploring, articulating and witnessing to the call of Christian nonviolence. This work begins in personal life and extends to communities of reflection and action to transform structures of society. It advocates primacy of conscience, economic and social justice, and respect for creation.
Saint Peter’s College, founded in 1872, is a Jesuit, Catholic college in the liberal arts tradition located in the heart of Jersey City, N.J., with a branch campus in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and course offerings on the Jersey City Waterfront and at various corporate sites throughout New Jersey. Educating over 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 50 programs, Saint Peter’s College is committed to academic excellence and individual attention, preparing students for a lifetime of learning, leadership and service in a diverse and global society.