Fall 2016 Wendt Lecture: Fearless Integrity
Oct 24, 2016 | Nicky Story
The University of Dubuque’s Wendt Center for Character Education hosted the Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, S.J., founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries, who presented “Fearless Integrity” as part of the Michael Lester Wendt Lecture Series. The lecture took place at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, in Heritage Center’s John and Alice Butler Hall on the UD campus.
The event can be viewed by going to this link: CLICK HERE
Father Boyle has dedicated his life to helping Los Angeles’ most marginalized individuals find a place in society through Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. The man known as “Father G” on the streets received the 2016 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the James Beard Foundation, the national culinary-arts organization.
From 1986 to 1992, Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church, then the poorest Catholic parish in the city, located between two large public housing projects with the highest concentration of gang activity in L.A. By 1988, he and parish and community members started what would become Homeboy Industries after burying a growing number of young people killed in gang violence. Homeboy Industries employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to 15,000 people who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.
Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. He is the subject of Academy Award-winner Freida Lee Mock’s 2012 documentary, G-Dog. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, the White House named Father Boyle a Champion of Change.
Father Boyle holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Divinity degree from the Weston School of Theology, and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.
