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Doerr Center for Social Justice Education and Research Celebrates 20 Years

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the School of Social Work in the College for Public Health and Social Justice held its annual Social Justice Night, sponsored by the Emmett J. and Mary Martha Doerr Center for Social Justice Education and Research.

Simone Campbell

Sister Simone Campbell addresses a crowd of approximately 375 people as the 2016 Social Justice Night keynote speaker. Campbell is the author of "A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community."

The evening was also a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Doerr Center. The Doerr Center was funded by a gift from the Doerrs, as well as other generous donors. William Hutchison, S.J., former dean of the Social of Social Work, conceived of the idea of a center for social justice and guided its initial development. The center formally began during the term of the next dean, Susan Tebb, Ph.D.

The program began with a reception for the donors and supporters of the Doerr Center that included highlights from its 20-year history and poster presentations on some of the collaborative faculty-student-community agency research projects the Center funds. Saint Louis University’s Center for Service and Community Engagement staffed a voter registration booth before and after the keynote speaker.

Don Linhorst, Ph.D., director of the School of Social Work, provided an overview of the Doerr Center’s history and introduced the keynote speaker for the evening, Sister Simone Campbell. Campbell is a religious leader, attorney and poet with extensive experience in public policy and advocacy for systemic change, who is currently the executive director of NETWORK. She is known for leading cross-country “Nuns on the Bus” trips, which are advocacy events focused on economic justice, comprehensive immigration reform, voter turnout, and most recently bridging divides in politics and society.

The title of Campbell's presentation was “Reweaving the Fabric of our Society: Seeds of Hope in Challenging Times.” The event was held in Busch Student Center and attended by approximately 375 people.

"Social justice is at the foundation of the social work profession,” Linhorst said. “Having an annual Social Justice Night helps to educate us on important social justice issues and inspires us to actively engage as professionals and personally to promote social justice."

The Doerr Center strives to promote social justice-related education and research by: