Campus Ministry collaborates with various campus groups, offering service and social justice opportunities in the Ignatian tradition, as we form “Men and Women for Others.” Social justice programs at Wheeling Jesuit look beyond mere charity work, focusing on systemic social change for peace and economic justice.

Arrupe Service Award
The Arrupe Service Award honors Father Pedro Arrupe, the 28th General of the Society of Jesus, who challenged the Jesuits to educate men and women for others. An award of $4,000, over a period of four years, is offered entering freshmen who have a distinguished record of community service as Christian leaders. Recipients must continue active service involvement in a campus-based community service organization, and maintain a grade point average of 2.5. For more information, contact Erin McDonald at the Service for Social Action Center, x8728, or emcdonald@wju.edu.

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness
Each semester, Campus Ministry sponsors various activities to raise awareness of the problem of hunger and homelessness, both on local and global levels. Such activities have included the annual “Night Without A Home,” 24-Hour Fasts, the Urban Plunge, among other activities and opportunities. We work closely with Wheeling’s Catholic Neighborhood Center and their ministry to the Wheeling community. Events are generally held during Hunger Awareness Week each November and throughout the liturgical season of Lent.

Service Floors
Groups of students commit to service work in the Wheeling community and to community living on the same floor in a residence hall. Service Floor participants gather weekly for a meal and reflection about the service they provide the community. For more information, please contact, Residence Life, x2301.

Student Service Clubs
Many other student clubs at Wheeling Jesuit are oriented toward service, including Students In Union (S.I.U.), EXCEL (Excellence in Christian Service, Education, and Leadership), Circle K, PEERS, and Civitan. See Student Life Clubs for more information about clubs and organizations.

Mother Jones House
The Mother Jones House is an intentional Christian community of WJU students, under the direction of a house mentor, who work in the neighborhood of East Wheeling. Each student devotes ten hours each week to service with the Laughlin Chapel and our community partners. WJU students who live in the Mother Jones House work at the Laughlin Chapel in the after-school and evening programs and at the Catholic Neighborhood Center where they assist with the prison ministry, visiting shut-ins, and preparing meals. Some are assigned to Catholic Elementary School, Lincoln Detention Center, Habitat for Humanity, and Wheeling Health Right (free clinic). For more information, please contact Residence Life, 304.243.2301.

Ignatian Teach-In & School of the Americas (WHISC) Protest
At the anniversary of the six Salvadoran Jesuit martyrs in November, representatives from the 28 Jesuit college and universities gather in Columbus, Georgia, encouraging solidarity with our Ignatian brothers and sisters around the country as students who strive to put the Jesuit ideal of faith seeking justice into practice on their campuses and throughout the world. The Teach-In places particular focus on the harmful aspects and effects of United States foreign policy, especially in Latin America, and concludes with participation in the annual SOA/WHISC Protest at Ft. Benning. The Teach-In provides an opportunity for Jesuit students to reflect, to raise their voices for the voiceless, and to make vital connections between their faith and action for justice and hope in the world.

JAPOT (Justice And Peace in Our Times)
JAPOT is a group dedicated to raising awareness of social injustice and to fighting injustice through concrete systemic change on local and global levels. Issues JAPOT has worked on in the past have included anti-war activities, conscientious objection education, sweatshops and workers’ rights, the Middle East conflict, fair trade coffee, and the School of the Americas. JAPOT was instrumental in working with WJU administration concerning the choice of our food service provider, and has been named WJU “Club of the Year.”

Appalachian Experience Club (A.E.C.)
The A.E.C. provides the Wheeling Jesuit University community an opportunity to enter more fully into the Appalachian culture, with periodic work experiences in southern West Virginia. These trips to southern West Virginia are usually over Fall, Spring, and Easter breaks. The club emphasizes the values of community, simple lifestyle, and the call for justice in a region often referred to as a domestic Third World. The Club's philosophy is in keeping with the ideals of service and concern for others, which characterize the educational philosophy of Wheeling Jesuit University. For more information, contact Rev. James O’Brien, S.J.

Wheeling Jesuit Students for LIFE Club
The LIFE Club encourages Wheeling Jesuit University students, faculty, and administrators to become involved in protecting and respecting the sanctity of life. We work to recognize and share the intrinsic value of life, which comes from being created in the image and likeness of God. This goal ;maintains the ideals of Christian belief, concern for others, and the protection of all human life. The organization promotes Right to Life March, educational presentations, conventions, and social events related to respecting human life. For more information, contact Jamey Brogan, x2385, or jbrogan@wju.edu.