An Education of the Heart
Recently our team participated in a Fair Trade Campaigns gathering in Philadelphia. Gathered together at the Friends Center were folks from Media, PA, the first Fair Trade Town, folks representing fair trade organizations like Ten Thousand Villages, consumer advocacy groups like Green America, and students and faculty.
The energy and enthusiasm in the room was palpable. I participated in a round table with representatives from colleges and universities that had recently obtained or were working toward Fair Trade University status. Students from Manhattan College, Cabrini College and Villanova University gave eloquent advice to other students and faculty pursing Fair Trade College status.
“Start with your mission statement,” suggested Atiya Raja as she eloquently rattled off the LaSallian Catholic principles that shape education at Manhattan College. “An education of the heart, engagement with the common good, a commitment to social justice…”
Currently 32 Catholic Colleges and Universities are involved in Fair Trade Campaigns and several of those have recently achieved Fair Trade University status, including St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia and St. Mary’s in California.
I walked away from the gathering feeling an incredible sense of pride that I too belong to this universal Catholic Church. The one that upholds the dignity of the human person and the rights of workers, the Church whose social teachings have shaped countless educational institutions around the globe, and the Church that has graduated students committed to and capable of changing the world for the better.
Thank you students and faculty for inspiring us, for working to educate others about fair trade and economic justice, for sourcing fair trade products at your schools, for passing procurement policies and resolutions at the highest levels of your institutions, and for believing that small efforts when done together and on behalf of our brothers and sisters really do change the world.
By Simone Blanchard, Economic Justice Program Manager ([email protected])
Thanks for coming Simone - Fair Trade Campaigns is grateful of the partnership with CRS!