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Sr. Beth Murphy, OP, “Collaboration Changes the World: Sisters’ Antiracism Work Honored by National Organization,” Dominican Sisters of Springfield,

LeadingAge Recognizes Sisters’ Anti-racism Efforts The Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, have been selected to receive the 2016 Hobart Jackson Cultural Diversity Award from LeadingAge, a national association representing 6,000 nonprofit aging-services organizations throughout the United States. The award recognizes the Dominican Sisters’ “Conscious, committed effort to dismantle racism wherever it exists,” according to the award letter. “Through education, organization, and numerous collaborations, the Dominican Sisters are engaging with city, public school and state agencies, as well as the sisters’ own sponsored organizations, to confront racial biases and embrace diversity in the congregation, the church and the world.”

“We are honored to be recognized by LeadingAge,” said Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, who along with Mr. Leroy Jordan co-chairs the congregation’s anti-racism team. “The real work of dismantling racism requires that we don’t rest on our laurels, though. There is much work to be done, for each of us individually and as a community.” The sisters’ anti-racism efforts are implemented in all of their sponsored institutions and ministries, including two that serve the aging population, Sacred Heart Convent in Springfield and St. Catherine’s Village, Madison, Miss. The Dominican Sisters will accept the award at the LeadingAge national conference in Indianapolis on Oct. 31, 2016. The Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Ill., whose congregation was established in 1873, carry out the preaching mission of the early Dominicans, formally known as the Order of Preachers, through their vowed commitment to a life of prayer, community, and service in solidarity with people who are marginalized in society or underserved. For more information about becoming a sister or an associate of the sisters call 217-787-0481 or email DomincanSisters@spdom.org.

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“Catching Fire with the Dominican Charism,” F.L.O.W., Feb. 26, 2026 https://flowcastlisten.org/episode/dym/

A growing international movement of young adults associating themselves with the Dominican charism is cause for hope! Today we hear from the leader of that movement in the US, Adrian Dominican Sister Katherine Frazier, about how the Dominican Youth Movement is shaping Dominican life in the United States and the world. 

Takeaways

• The Dominican Family is ready to meet you where you are. There is a place for you. 
• DYM is one way to assure a strong foundation for the Dominican life in the U.S. 
• St. Dominic had a vision for the Order of Preachers that included women and men, consecrated and lay, who would be “The Holy Preaching.” 

“Twenty years of SDART,” F.L.O.W.cast, March 27, 2025 https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-45v9i-18577a0

Carol Lanier taught history and biology for almost 30 years at the Springfield Dominican-sponsored Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois. She is a founding member of SDART whose passion for the mission of antiracism has never waned.  

Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, has facilitated justice efforts for the Dominican Sisters for more than 40 years. She currently serves on the Board of the Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism and recently was co-facilitator for one of their current projects, providing antiracism training to members of the workgroups of the Sonya Massey Commission, whose mission is to expand safe and equitable access to services by addressing systemic racism and mistrust in law enforcement and other helping professions in Sangamon County. 

Takeaways

• Racism is a systemic issue requiring collaborative efforts to dismantle it.
• Changing racist systems in institutions is challenging, and worth the effort. 
• Antiracism is a work that is best done in community. 

“The Transformative Effects of Antiracism,” F.L.O.W.cast, Sept. 21, 2022 https://flowcastlisten.org/episode/antiracism/.

Our favorite bits of wisdom from this week’s guests to share in social media.

• A framework for understanding institutionalized racism: race prejudice plus the abuse of power in systems and institutions. 
• “Anti-racism isn’t the liberal agenda, it’s the Gospel agenda.” —Sister Marcelline Koch 
• Antiracism in Springfield has benefitted from “the butterfly effect.” The initial work of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield has expanded to include SIU School of Medicine, and through them, all other colleges in the SIU system. [Wendi Wells El-Amin, MD, is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.]