Esse Non Videri Non-Violence Award Presented to Martha Hennessy

March 27, 2015

Patchogue, N.Y. – March 27, 2015 –  The Office of Campus Ministry and the Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life at St. Joseph’s College (SJC) are pleased to announce that Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, is this year’s recipient of the College’s Esse Non Videri Non-Violence Award. Hennessy will accept the award at the annual luncheon on April 30 at 12:40 p.m. in the McGann Conference Center at the College’s Long Island Campus.

“Dorothy Day was one of the great peacemakers of our time, and her life bore witness to her messages of charity and peace,” said Thomas Petriano, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at SJC. “The Catholic Worker Movement continues to live out its mission through its members and Catholic worker houses across the country. Martha Hennessey is this year’s honoree in recognition of the ongoing work of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement.”

Day was a devout Catholic convert who supported social change and justice during the Great Depression. Day started the Catholic Worker Movement and created houses of hospitality and farming communities which offered food, clothing and shelter to individuals in need. Like her grandmother, Hennessy is a peace activist who dedicates her life to helping others. She will be receiving this year’s award almost 80 years to the day after her grandmother founded the Catholic Worker Movement.

Named after the College’s motto, Esse Non Videri: “To be, not to seem,” the Non-Violence Award is presented annually to individuals who exemplify compassion, social engagement and spirituality in the pursuit of social justice and peace. Recipients are chosen for their commitment to a nonviolent way of life and efforts toward bringing about peace, perhaps in an individual or personal situation, or to the wider community or world. 

This event is free and open to students, faculty and staff.  RSVP is required. Contact Susan Belonzi at 631.687.4576 or [email protected]. 

ABOUT ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE
St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility and service. With campuses located in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Long Island, the College offers degrees in more than 35 majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs.