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Mastering justice
Three-year-old master of justice program at Marygrove changing society, one student at a time

Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Back to School, A Special Supplement Published August 24, 2007

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Anita Covington, a graduate of Marygrove’s master of social justice program, is involved in various activities, including

Detroit — Two years ago, William Brawner had a passion -- to help young people with HIV. A social worker, he had spent time counseling at a camp for HIV-positive children, and he had seen the great need.

So, he locked his sights on starting a program for the HIV-positive.

And if someone wanted to focus on another good cause to help society, such as alleviating poverty or helping the mentally disabled?

They didn’t exactly have Brawner’s ear.

“I used to hate other issues,” he said. “When you have your own issue, you don’t want to know about other people’s.”

That’s when he found out about Marygrove College’s master of social justice program. Now, two years and a master’s degree later, he’s closer to realizing his vision — and he says he has a better perspective on the culture’s needs.

“It made me realize there were issues in the world other than HIV,” says Brawner, who just attained 501(c)3 non-profit status for his Haven Youth Center, a program to help HIV-positive children. “Everybody has their own walk, their own fight — and you realize that everybody has their own struggle, and we’re all connected.”

Brawner’s story is an apt illustration of what Marygrove’s program is meant to do. Established in 2004, the master of social justice program strives to raise awareness of the spectrum of social justice issues in society, all while equipping a student to better pursue his own cause.

“Ours is a focus on what it means to be a global citizen,” says Brenda Bryant, PhD., who serves as dean of the program. “We try to connect all these pieces, and how they happen in our everyday life.”

The master’s program was the first of its kind in the United States. Since, similar programs have cropped up at Loyola University in Chicago and University of Massachusetts.

Program for the times

Bryant says the program was conceived following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as the United States explored its options on how to retaliate. At that point, Bryant says, the college community got behind the idea of promoting Catholic social teachings, and wanted a comprehensive approach.

“We started because of the state of the world after 9/11,” Bryant says. “We are much too insular.”

In Detroit, especially, she says the community was interested in solution to the jobs situation, poverty and safety. In fact, to gauge the host of social justice issues in the local area, those at Marygrove and in the surrounding community were asked for their take on what the master’s program should address.

“People said overwhelmingly that it would be a good idea,” Bryant said. “We drafted courses, content, etc., and then invited the community in to give input and criticism.”

What resulted was a hands-on course. The master’s program takes two years to complete, and instead of the bevy of class work most master’s programs require, students spend one intense weekend of learning per month — often lead by community activists.

In between the weekends, they have homework that often includes group projects and work in the community.

Praise from students

Marylynn G. Hewitt, SFO | The Michigan Catholic Marygrove college’s Brenda Bryant, PhD., serves as dean of the master of social justice program.

Like Brawner, many students have an idea of what they want to do when they go into the program. What they get from the courses is motivation and direction.

Dana Parker, for instance, entered the master’s program with a vision of helping those who were mentally ill, yet high-functioning, complete college education or vocational training. Parker herself had been recovering from Schizo-effective disorder, a disorder much like schizophrenia that makes it difficult to focus.

“One intensive weekend out of the month seemed doable to me,” Parker said. “And my treatment team was willing to let me try it.”

When she brought her vision to Bryant, she was met with an enthusiastic response.

“She reviewed it and said it was a fabulous idea,” Parker says. “It had to be structured — but it could really be done using the program as a frame.”

Not only did Parker learn the nuts and bolts of what it takes to start such a program — like invaluable grant writing skills — she actually started a nonprofit while in class.

“When I finished the program, I actually had a working model, which I actually implemented as a project here in Detroit,” says Parker, who runs the Dig My Roots foundation, through which she helps people with diagnosed mental illnesses complete college education and vocational training.

Her foundation serves people through Wayne State University, Lincoln Behavioral Services and New Center Community Mental Health Agency.

Passion for justice

Master of Social Justice degree Started: At Marygrove College in Detroit in 2004. Purpose: The program is for those interested in learning about and promoting social justice and change in society. It provides information and analysis on the social structures that shape life, and provides organizational skills on how to affect change. Dean: Brenda Bryant, PhD. Program: Consists of 36 credit hours, divided into five semesters.

Marygrove’s master’s program tends to draw people who have a background in serving others or community involvement. Bryant says the classes, of about 15 students each, have included teachers, nurses, police officers, child care workers, and those who have worked at or managed nonprofit institutions.

And for those who thirst for knowledge on social justice, the master’s program is like a long, cool drink of water. That’s how it seems when you talk to Anita Covington, a recent graduate of the program.

Before attending Marygrove, Covington had been a mentor, a Girl Scout leader, and an advocate for fair wages and international social justice issues.

“With this degree, it just opened the person inside me that had been dying, for lack of a better word, to come out and express herself,” Covington said. “It opened up a world of information. It brought the world to me because of the research we had to do, the papers that we had to write.”

Now, Covington is helping tackle two prominent issues in the Detroit area — illiteracy and race relations. Through a literacy program called Second Chance, headquartered in Southfield, Covington and her sister Iona Locke are helping prepare people to acquire their GEDs and learn basic computer skills to get better jobs.

She also has started an organization called Finding Common Ground, which is meant to open up dialogue between the African American, Latino and Hispanic community.

“The social justice program did inspire me,” Covington says. “I came out, and I wanted to do so many things.”

Indeed, she’s also hoping to start a transitional house to help young women break out of prostitution and find a safe environment.

At Marygrove, she said she received the big picture of how issues such as illiteracy, poverty and prostitution are intimately connected. It also showed her the connectedness between domestic issues and those in other parts of the world.

“I had known the surface of a few issues, but (in the program), I learned more in depth of humanity and the social issues,” she says. “It’s global. It took me from my minute little world, and put me out there in a global setting.”

Giving students that broader-based knowledge of social justice issues, Bryant says, helps tap the passion the students have to change the world for the better.

“It’s not just a head thing,” Bryant says. “It’s a heart thing.”

Plus, she adds, getting in-depth with social issues that are found each day in mass media gives the students a better opportunity to learn and understand Catholic social teachings.

“Catholic social teaching ties into these things beautifully,” Bryant says. “And it helps us toe be critical thinkers — to start to see things.”

Indeed, Bryant and other members of Marygrove’s faculty are happy to see the high marks students have been giving the master’s program since its inception in 2004. And the students are seeing their own rewards, too.

“It was finding the pieces of the puzzle that I was trying to put together for eons,” Covington says. “I had a passion, and taking this course fulfilled that for me.”