Shared Mission: Catholic Higher Education in Partnership with Catholic NGOs

Abstract

As practitioners of Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic nongovernmental organizations are excellent resources for Catholic colleges and universities seeking to integrate social justice into educational programs and institutional practices. In this article, the partnership between Catholic Relief Services and Cabrini College is presented as a case study. This partnership has generated or enhanced a host of campus programs (in advocacy, technology, solidarity-study travel, narrative writing, and a new social justice-centered curriculum) that are catalyzing growth for students and faculty in understanding the causes of and responses to global humanitarian issues. This kind of collaboration exemplifies a new era in which Catholic higher education is called upon to cultivate competence and compassion, and to expand criteria for excellence in teaching, learning, and institutional life to include engagement with the vulnerable.