St. °µÍř˝űÇř’s “Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?: A History of Housing Inequality in Ramsey County,” project has been selected as one of two North American first-prize winners of the 2024 by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU).
The award, which recognizes exceptional service-learning opportunities at Catholic higher education institutions, was conferred by a panel of judges after a rigorous, multi-step application process. Awarded every other year, it celebrates the global impact of service-learning opportunities like “Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?”
Launched in 2017, is a partnership between St. Kate’s and , an interdisciplinary team from the University of Minnesota Libraries. The project investigates the histories and impacts of housing discrimination, segregation, and racism in the Twin Cities and has been a highly collaborative effort involving faculty, staff, , and over 1,600 students over the past seven years.
The team at St. Kate’s includes the Office of Scholarly Engagement, spearheaded by D'Ann Urbaniak Lesch, assistant vice president for engaged learning. Sophie Hunt, PhD, director of Community Work and Learning, has facilitated the integration of this effort into community-engaged learning (CEL) courses, and this project is utilized in many sections of The Reflective Woman.
The faculty team includes Kristine West, PhD, professor of economics; Rachel Neiwert, PhD, associate professor of history; and Liz Allen, PhD, associate professor of public health. The faculty team, along with student co-authors Ava LaPlante ’23, Anchee Nitschke Durben ’24, and Victoria Delgado-Palma ’23, has an article forthcoming in the Journal of Urban Health ("Lasting Legacy: The enduring relationship between racially restrictive housing covenants and health and wellbeing").
Student involvement across disciplines has been an essential part of “Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?” from the beginning. LaPlante and Delgado-Palma presented an early version of the paper in 2022 at the Association for Public Policy and Management conference, and dozens of other students have contributed to research through the Summer Scholars and Assistant Mentoring programs. Some of these research teams have partnered with community organizations, including Como District 10, Mac Grove Council, and St. Paul Public Library, to collect oral histories and offer public presentations to community members.
“That [collaborative work] speaks to the way we do things at St. Kate’s,” said Urbaniak Lesch. “This work really was motivated and continued by students, from all degrees and disciplines. Whether a student was interested in it because they’re studying health or economics or history or sociology or English — people found their way into the project. It spoke to them in ways that were profound.”
“Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?” encompasses values at the heart of St. Kate’s, entwining scholarly inquiry and collaborative, interdisciplinary research with the same commitment to community and social justice championed by the University’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
“That’s why this award is so exciting — because it recognizes more than a half decade of work we’ve done around racial injustice in housing, and what St. Kate’s has committed to as an institution: to care for the dear neighbor without distinction,” said Urbaniak Lesch.
The Uniservitate Award recognizes winners in seven different global regions. As a part of the award, recipients receive a cash prize and the opportunity to participate in the Uniservitate Global Symposium in Rome, Italy in November 2024. Urbaniak Lesch, along with Delgado-Palma ’23, economics and international studies alumna, will travel to Rome to represent St. Kate’s and “Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?” at the symposium.
Read more about “Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?”:
New data “just the beginning” to unpacking Ramsey County stories
Welcoming the Dear Neighbor? collaborates with History Theatre