de Paul University – Vincentian University

“What began in 1898 as a neighbor-hood academy for the children of immigrants, DePaul University, has become the largest Catholic University in the United States, and the fastest growing university of its size and type. “Newsletter of the Midwest Province of the CM MAY 2001 v.37n.1

University President Jack Minogue, C.M. unveils a plaque commemorating the alliance between Barat College and DePaul. Ed Udovic, C.M. (left) led the proceedings.

“Education ends by transforming for the better not just an individual, but a community, a society, a church, and the world.” from the dedication of St. Vincent’s Circle on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus.

Strength in Service

More important than national recognition, however, DePaul’s growth is fueled by its firm commitment to expanding programs of direct service and systemic change on behalf of the poor.

St. Vincent DePaul believed that to assist the poor one must first meet the immediate needs and then address the unjust systems that create poverty. This two-pronged effort characterized Vincent’s charity and love for the poor. This same commitment to direct service and ending injustice characterizes the mission of the Vincentians at DePaul University. At present, eleven confreres serve in full-time assignments to the university and three have part-time assignments. Another eleven confreres directly contribute as members of the Board of Trustees and as Members of the Corporation.

Student enrollment is currently at 20,548, spread throughout its Loop and Lincoln Park Campuses, and its five suburban campus locations. This past spring, the university completed a merger with Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, giving the university its first residential suburban campus as well as its ninth college.

Growth with Integrity

Despite its unparalleled size–last year’s budget was $300 million–DePaul’s growth stems from its founding commitment to provide affordable educational opportunity to students from a broad range of backgrounds, particularly first-generation college students, non-traditional learners, and other underserved populations. Over sixty-five percent of undergraduate students receive some form of university-based financial aid. Nearly thirty percent of full-time freshmen are the first in their families to attend college. The 2000-2001 freshmen class has a thirty-three percent minority representation, the most diverse in the history of the university.

While DePaul’s commitment to service does influence the local, national, and global community, DePaul is dedicated to instilling the same attitude in faculty, staff and students. Its involvement is demonstrated by sponsorship of more than seventy public service programs. DePaul students are distinguished by their enthusiasm for, and participation in community-based service.

Vincentian Commitment

Confreres at DePaul will attest that not only they, but also the entire university community, take their Vincentian identity very seriously. Ed Udovic, C.M., Vice-President for Administration, comments: “This identity is understood, supported, and shared by all of its internal constituencies and guides its mission, vision and strategic decisions. Over the last decade an impressive number of Vincentian mission programs– many of them endowed by the local Vincentian communities–have provided new service programs.”

Three examples include: The Vincentian Endowment Fund that provides $75,000 annually for grants that enhance DePaul’s Vincentian and Catholic identities; the International Vincentian Scholarship program, which provides graduate education for confreres from countries outside the United States; and the Vincentian Community Service Fellowship program that provides graduate education and Vincentian formation opportunities for lay practitioners in not-for-profit social service and educational agencies. The headquarters of the Vincentian Studies Institute of the United States are located at DePaul, and, this past January, the provincial archives were relocated to the John T. Richardson Library on the Lincoln Park campus.

Advancing the Charism

More important, perhaps, than these facts and accomplishments is the recognition of where DePaul is headed. DePaul University recently received a $1 million grant to study and document the principles of “Vincentian Management Science” and then to share them with today’s leaders and managers. J.Patrick Murphy, C.M., Director of the Public Service Program, will direct the three-year research effort. Of the project goals, J.Patrick says: “This project initiates a long-term effort to extend responsibility for the Vincentian heritage beyond the clergy and religious who have carried it since Vincent’s time. Through our studies we will create new structures to sustain Vincentian organizational culture and values into the future.”

Catholic. Vincentian. Urban. This is how the DePaul University community and confreres identify themselves. Thanks to their commitment to the charism of St. Vincent the poor will continue to know the charity and love of Christ.

Vincentian is published bimonthly by the Midwest and Southern Provinces of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentian Priests and Brothers, to promote the apostolic works of its members and those of the larger Vincentian Family.

http://www.vincentian.org/newsletter/archive/0105/service.html

Congegration of the Mission, Vincentian
Attn: News Editor
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