Karen Ivantic-Doucette
Partners in Mission: Many Gifts, One Community
Comments by Karen Ivantic-Doucette
Heartland Delta IV Conference
Marquette University
May 25, 2005
I'd like to start by saying how honored I am for the opportunity to address such an inspiring group of colleagues and many of the mentors that shaped not only who I have become but also what I believe is my own mission in life. My own mission mirrors that of Jesuit institutions grounded in Ignatian spirituality, namely that we are called to use what we have, our gifts and talents, in a way that praises, honors and serves our God. For my talk today I would add the component and "does justice".
Much of my own story, both personally and professionally has been influenced by working with and being in relationship with people in Africa. As a result of that I have rediscovered the importance of storytelling to convey concepts. If you permit me I'd like to share a local story with you at this time.
Some of you are aware that in Milwaukee we have an internationally renown piece of architecture that houses our art museum (it's a must visit if you have the time while in Milwaukee). It's stunning, it's beautiful and there's a story of two architects who were visiting the museum. One said to the other, "They just don't make buildings like this anymore!" The second one replied, "You're right, I think it's because people simply have too many opinions on what can be done and to build something as inspiring as this you need not just opinions but convictions. The first architect asked what the difference was between the two. The second architect explained the difference between opinion and conviction is that of personal investment"
For me the message is that all things are possible if we move beyond opinion and discussion into action that is inspired by our convictions, in my case, grounded in Ignatian Spirituality and driven by a personal investment to do God's work.
In reflecting on my task and charge today I believe the most critical message I would like you to hear, ponder and hopefully take to heart is that we as partners in Jesuit mission have an urgent call to do justice on the margins of society right now. I believe we are called to the kind of action related to justice that has a measurable impact at each of our schools, within our community and perhaps reaching nationally and internationally.
I have to be honest though, that as a member of the Jesuit family I am haunted by the question of whether we are underperforming when it comes to social justice results.
One way to measure whether we are underperforming is to compare what we are capable of to what we are actually doing. There is no question that we are proficient at putting justice materials in front of our students, creating opportunities for students to experience the lifestyles of those who are marginalized in society and offering opportunities for students to reflect on what all this means in their own life. In short, we seem content to plant the seeds in students that may, or may not, blossom into a lifestyle that is committed to justice for the long haul. If what we desire is that Jesuit institutions form Christian leaders who are activists in the best sense of the word then it means our institutions need to stand side by side with students modeling the leadership and action that leads to personal transformation and social change and nurturing ongoing transformation.
For me here's a quick reality check. Where do we as professionals put the majority of our time and energy? Do we spend time with marginalized people? Do we empower them? Do we let them inform us in what can be done? Do we do the same things we've always done? Is there an overemphasis on direct service instead of advocacy? Do we send students into service or on trips without providing a network for them to continue the learning and work of justice when they return and even after they graduate?
Do we use our considerable resources and influence to advocate for necessary social change in our communities? Do we act as conveners to bring divergent groups together to solve complex social issues? If we have conviction I would argue any of this work is doable in the near future.
We as educators, more than most, will struggle with the reality that social justice work is imperfect. It is messy. It's unpredictable and can make us feel uncomfortable. But given this time in history there could be no more important work to do with our students than to help them act in the midst of struggle and uncertainty.
Our students are internet savvy, globally aware and in my experience are overwhelmed with the all the problems and polarization around the world, and the many opinions on how to react. As institutions we need to be personally invested in creating responses that are tied to our convictions and will make a real difference in people's lives.
My own expertise is in health care and HIV and AIDS. I'd like to use my story, now Marquette's story, as an example of how our institution is leading the way in responding to a specific social justice challenge in our midst.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) predicted that by the year 2050 there would be 12 billion people in the world. Some environmentalists believe the world's resources can only support 8-10 billion and we are currently at 6. Last year the UNPF revised their figures downward predicting that due to death from AIDS that the global population in 2050 would only reach 8 billion, but with more than half living in extreme poverty and destitution. At the same time the US population would decline, with fewer people holding the bulk of global wealth.
Secretary Colin Powell, elevated HIV and AIDS to a National Security threat in 2002, commenting that the roots of terrorism are not from Iraq and Al Queda but from the roaming bands or orphans, youth abandoned by AIDS and destitute. When you are hungry and poor, access to food, shelter and clothing even as a child soldier is better than death.
Today, while we are sitting here, enjoying our time together, 18,000 people will become infected with HIV. 14,000 will die. 7000 of the new infections will be among women in their childbearing years with no other risk factors than monogamous relations with their husbands.
There are over 24 million AIDS orphans, most living in poverty in Africa. Five countries in Africa are now reporting the average age of person left alive is less than 15 years old. China and India have escalating infections and economists predict that in less than 5 years if either country does not contain their infections that the economic chaos with shatter the global security.
In our own country the face of AIDS has shifted to women and our youth and we are on the second wave of the infection. 2 adolescents hourly are being infected. 1 in 35 college students are predicted to now be infected or in the process of becoming infected. Hundreds are on waiting lists to receive life saving medications and the health care system, already fragile, is being further challenged by growing numbers of infected.
A little over 2 years ago, Superior General Fr. Kolvenbach and the congregation of the Society of Jesus prioritized the focus for all Jesuit ministries, including our academic institutions, to focus on two priority areas for the next 10 years, AIDS in Africa and China. As Jesuit ministries we are compelled to refocus and realign our strategies and energies, not merely in a few projects, but to embrace the mission and expand the circle of influence that Jesuit schools command through the reach of their students and alumni.
What I've presented is a great example of an overwhelming international, complex issue that screams for social justice in many different ways. At Marquette, our own response to this issue was not a product of strategic planning but rather a few leaders making themselves available to first consider a response and then using their own personal convictions to organize enough support to begin that response.
In 1996, then Dean of the College of Nursing, Dr. Madeline Wake, now MU's first Provost, received a letter from a Kenyan nurse and Sister begging for education in how she could take care of her people who were dying of AIDS. Madeline was compelled by the urgency and the responsibility of her own Ignatian spirituality to use the resources at her disposal to respond. She recruited me, recently home form Africa, to set up a program for this individual nurse. One request, one response.
After a year of mentoring at Marquette, touching students, faculty and so many others, the sister, Sr. Genovefa Maashao returned home setting up the St. Joseph Shelter of Hope in Voi, the only HIV trained health worker in a community of over 300,000 where 40-60 % of the population may be infected with HIV.
But the work didn't stop there. Recognizing that nurses provide over 70% of all HIV care internationally, and in Africa, closer to 90% but are underresourced, the College of Nursing moved forward to create a program to empower African nurses. Four years later and excessive investment in knocking down barriers to funding, the College of Nursing received a USAID agreement to model a unique train the trainer program. The first 12 nurses come to Marquette, touched the lives of students and faculty. They returned home to in their first year train over 3500 other health workers and improve the care to over 25,000 persons with AIDS. One request, one response.
The College of Nursing continues on fire. Our new Dean, Dr. Lea Acord, has assumed action leadership and is pushing us to do more. We are beginning a second USAID project aimed at nutrition and clean drinking water for persons impacted by AIDS in Kenya. But we are also acting locally, trying to keep the AIDS Clinic down the street open and functioning for the over 450 patients it currently serves. The private hospital, trying to change it's image has determined that AIDS patients will scare away those other paying patients.
But this is not without cost. The Deans have invested personally and as an institution in making this a success. They have invited others to be involved.
Why am I on fire and so convinced that more is possible as Jesuit schools? The answer is because it's my own story and experience as well.
When I reflect on how I got to where I am there is a clear pattern of Jesuit and Ignatian impact on my formation that serves me in thinking how Jesuit education and influence can impact, and perhaps if fired up could influence the future dramatically.
As a young nursing undergraduate, unbeknownst to me, seeds of ethics, responsibility to others, especially the poor, and to use my gifts and talents in the service of others were planted. Words like "vocation" instead of "career" infiltrated my thinking.
Relationships and conversations with Jesuits entered and re-entered my life, shaping my thoughts before I knew where I was headed. Simply playing tennis with Fr. Joe Bracken from Xavier (then at Marquette) would lead me to think of inter-religious dialogues, or different ways of thinking. Jogging with Fr. George Winzenburg, would shape how I viewed my responsibility to care for others. Be careful of Jesuits, they can plant some pretty effective subliminal messages in a young mind.
When I met my husband, Rob Doucette, a Marquette High School grad returning home from 2 years in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, again Ignatian thinking entered my realm. Rob shared with me that the Jesuits opened a context for him in high school work among the marginalized and it is there he learned his social justice. He is and remains a inspiration and driver of social justice in my life. I could never have done many of the things I went on to do without the support of Rob and others, supporting, encouraging but ultimately pushing and challenging me. (I was prone to a little more comfort and less conflict).
Together we began to build a life focused on justice. While working at the Catholic Worker house I met Jesuit Father Bill Brennan who introduced me to the Berrigan brothers, only to find myself in a maximum security women's facility in Detroit for a month and participating in a week long jury trial for civil disobedience that used the Nuremburg trials as a basis to act as a matter of conscience. By the way, we were acquitted. I'm not sure my parents at the time were thankful of the Jesuit influence.
In 1985 AIDS had entered the City of Milwaukee where I was working as a home care nurse. Health care workers were running, refusing to care for patients. I was asked to care for one of the first AIDS patients but given an opportunity to opt out as I was nursing my second child. I fell back on the ethics I learned at Marquette, a little paper I wrote that said I wouldn't run if faced with such an issue. I went. Once you see the human face of AIDS, there is no going back. Within the year, I was caring for over 100 patients.
Early in the 1990's growing frustrated with my physician colleagues continual refusal to provide adequate care to my patients I decided to return to grad school to become a nurse practitioner. I returned to Marquette, and again those seeds germinated to the next level and began to flourish.
My husband and I later joined the Ignatian Associates, with Steph Russell then leading the charge, and were missioned with our three children (we now have 4) to Uganda on behalf of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus. There I ended up running an AIDS clinic for over 6000.
Then I was recruited to Marquette.
But I did not foresee my own ongoing development or that I would become part of 35 advisors to the White House on AIDS issues because of Fr. Wild sending an invitation for me to serve. What I am finding is that key architects in many departments in Washington have Jesuit training and influence. Imagine if we network and work together.
My story continues to unfold. I would never have predicted to be where I am today, and I have no idea where I will be tomorrow. It appears that when I have been at crossroads, given opportunities or choices, I selected toward the margin.
Steph Russell and my husband often reminded me, that a call to justice is a call to the edges, to the margins where it is messy and you are unsure. If you're too comfortable you're not there yet. Personally, the leap into justice has become easier for me. But as part of an institution that changes slowly and is hesitant to test the edge, the work can be difficult and frustrating.
The system likes visionaries; they inspire students and provide energy. They are also tiring over time, again institutions are prone to date the edges but marry the center.
But the students are touched. Inspired by one or more they want more. And what of those students that never encounter that "relationship" with a social justice seeder. With less Jesuits available to teach, mentor, play tennis or jog with a student, the new farmers of justice must be the lay.
Academic institutions do not embrace service in the path to tenure. A person like myself, on a "clinical" track, can never apply for tenure, remains segregated to annual contracts and 4/4 teaching loads. And unlike my single Jesuit brothers, I have a family to support.
I have a mission and I am thankful to be with others where I can work, inspire, advocate. And I choose to stay, work and advocate. But how many others can make that choice? And yet we desperately need to nurture the social justice seeders.
So, I would call on this group to think about ways to support and encourage more of our collective Ignatian family to work in social justice so we can mentor a few more seeds of growth in our students. Let's look for ways to build our networks, such as a call that will be going to the Jesuit Nursing Schools to assist the Marquette project. But we don't have the time or the luxury to let this happen gracefully over the next decades.
In closing, I thank you for your attention and perseverance to my storytelling. We are clearly at a crossroads, and all crossroads present opportunities. When faced with opportunities we need the conviction to make choices that serve justice and ultimately unite us more closely to our mission. Yes, by working more "on the margins" we will loose some members of our support network, but we will gain relationships with those who struggle, and they will help inform and inspire all of us (students, through alumni) to reinvigorate our mission. For those of you familiar with the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, the call to our core mission is the principle and foundation, it is doing what God created us to do, namely to praise, honor and serve God by serving others.
In these times, perhaps we can serve others best by standing with them on the margins and recommitting ourselves, both individually and institutionally, to the kind of justice work that makes us a little uncomfortable.