Nationally known religious leader kicks off Detroit Mercy’s “Founders Week”
Nationally renowned religious leader, activist and speaker Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, is helping kickoff “Founders Week” at University of Detroit Mercy Sept. 21.
Sr. Simone will address the topic of “Sacred Listening” at 7 p.m. in Room 114 of the Chemistry building on Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus. The event is free to the first 100 people who register.
Sr. Simone has served as executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice from 2004-21 and is also an attorney, poet and activist for many issues.
In 2012, she helped organize the first “Nuns on the Bus” tour to oppose the “Ryan Budget” approved by the United States House of Representatives. The budget would decimate programs meant to help people in need and the tour received national attention from religious communities, elected officials and media. She has led six cross-country trips focused on tax justice, healthcare, voter turnout, bridging the divides in politics and society, among other issues.
In 2020, Sister Simone led a virtual “Nuns on the Bus” tour, completing 63 virtual events in the days and weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election. She has been featured in the national and international media, including 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
In 1978, Sr. Simone founded and served as the lead attorney for the Community Law Center in Oakland, Calif. for 18 years. She served the family law and probate needs of the working poor in her county. She is also an author and has published several books.
“Founders Week” runs Sept. 20-27 with several events that lift up the values of the University’s founders.
Founders Week events
• Mercy Doing Justice: A View from Honduras (Zoom event), Monday, Sept. 20, 6:45-8 p.m.
• Red Mass at the Law School (SS Peter and Paul Jesuit Church), Tuesday, Sept. 21, Noon
• Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, “Sacred Listening” (CHEM 114), Tuesday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m.
• Mass for World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Most Holy Trinity Church), Wednesday, Sept. 22, 6 p.m.
• Ministry Day of Service with T.E.N.N. (Shiple Hall), Friday, Sept. 24, 10:15 a.m.
• Mass with Mercy Reflection (St. Ignatius Chapel), Sunday, Sept. 26, 9 p.m.
• Mass with Reflections on “Celebrating the Ignatian Year” (St. Ignatius Chapel), Monday, Sept. 27, Noon