$1 Million Humanitarian Award to be Given at Marquette University Opus Prize will be awarded on Nov. 7 Released: Oct. 31, 2005 The $1 million Opus Prize, an international humanitarian award given to people or organizations that are committed to changing deeply rooted problems such as poverty, hunger, illiteracy or disease, will be awarded at Marquette University's Alumni Memorial Union Ballroom on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. Marquette University was chosen by the Opus Foundation, which funds the Opus Prize, to administer this year's award. WHAT: $1 million Opus Prize Award Dinner WHEN: Monday, Nov. 7 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHO: Human rights leaders from across the country, Marquette faculty, staff and students, Opus Prize jurors and others will be in attendance as the $1 million Opus Prize is conferred.  Two additional prizes of $100,000 each will also be conferred. WHERE: Alumni Memorial Union, Ballroom, Marquette University campus 1442 W. Wisconson Ave. Media are encouraged to attend the dinner on Nov. 7. All three winners will be in Milwaukee from Nov. 3 through Nov. 12 and are available for interviews. Please contact Anne Broeker at (414) 288-0286 or Brigid O'Brien Miller at (414) 288-7445 to set up interviews or for more information.   Reach Education Action Programme (REAP), founded by Rev. Trevor Miranda, S.J., in Mumbai, India, is the second recipient of the annual prize. The million-dollar cash award will be used to further REAP's mission of “empowering the underprivileged through literacy for a new world of freedom, justice, dignity and self-respect.” Under Rev. Miranda's leadership, in just six years REAP has opened more than 450 literacy centers to bring books and teachers to the desperately poor. Wherever the children may be – on the streets, in the hills, on the highways or in tribal areas – REAP's mission is to reach them, and to set them on a more hopeful path in the mainstream of society. REAP has also launched an adult literacy program that focuses on giving women the education, training and skills they need to take on dignified jobs and escape from the streets. Two other endeavors will also be recognized at the Nov. 7 award ceremony. Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (“Our Little Brothers and Sisters”), a charitable organization serving orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America and the Caribbean founded by Rev. William Wasson, will receive a $100,000 prize. Dr. Juliana Akinyi Otieno will also receive $100,000 for her service as a pediatrician in eastern Kenya, where two in every ten children still die before the age of five. Until recently, she was the only pediatrician serving a community of 300,000 people. All three winners will be in attendance to accept their awards. Father Miranda will also receive an honorary degree from Marquette. The award recipients will also participate in a week-long series of events on campus dedicated to the cause of human rights around the world. About the prize selection The winners were selected by a jury appointed by Marquette University. The jurors were Chris Abele of the Argosy Foundation, R.W. Apple, Jr. of the New York Times , William Burleigh of E.W. Scripps Company, the Honorable Janine Geske of Marquette University, Erica John of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Supporting Fund, Kerry Kennedy of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Sheldon Lubar of Lubar & Company, Roy Reiman of Reiman Publications, the Honorable Tommy Thompson , former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and former Governor of Wisconsin, and Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J. of Marquette University. The Opus Foundation sent a group to the site of the finalists selected by the panel of jurists. Marquette's contingent in the group included three current students, who are actively involved in community service projects in the Milwaukee area and around the world. Senior Nikki Hertel traveled to Mexico to see two of the NPH orphanages. Junior Conor Sweeney and Senior Lisa Hench went to India and Africa. The three students will introduce the winners at the awards dinner and share their experiences from the trips. The nondenominational Opus Prize honors faith in action, singling out the good works, fidelity, and exemplary character of recipients. The Opus Prize Foundation is a philanthropy established by the Opus Corporation, a Minnesota company providing architectural, construction and real estate development services in 40 markets nationwide. Marquette's participation in administering the Opus Prize has been a catalyst to exploring issues of human dignity and human rights and the response of individuals and institutions to such issues. As part of the year-long “Human Dignity, Human Rights: A Call to Service,” the university will present faculty lectures across academic disciplines, a film series, performing arts productions, and presentations by university guests on issues of human rights in the context of Marquette's Catholic, Jesuit mission. For more information on the Opus Prize, the 2005 winners, or the selection process, please visit www.opusprize.com. Office of Marketing and Communication Contacts Brigid O'Brien Miller Director of University Communication Phone: (414) 288-7445 Send e-mail Anne Broeker Sr. Media Relations Specialist Phone: (414) 288-0286 Send e-mail