SCHOOL OF LAW NEWS
ICON OF ST. JOSEPHINE BAKHITA ADDED TO THE LAW SCHOOL An icon of St. Josephine Bakhita by artist Nicholas Markell ‘84 B.A. has been hung outside the Chapel of St. Thomas More. The piece was commissioned by the Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy as a gift to the law school. Bakhita, who was born in Sudan around 1869, was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a young girl. Throughout her life in captivity, she was treated cruelly, enduring abuse and torture. Bakhita was brought to Italy in the late 1800s and eventually placed with the Canossian Sisters in Venice. While there she gained her legal freedom, chose to become a Christian and, soon after, a nun. When asked about her captors and former owners, Bakhita spoke about forgiveness. “If I was to meet those slave traders that abducted me and those who tortured me, I’d kneel down to them to kiss their hands,” she said. “Because, if it had not have been for them, I would not have become a Christian and religious woman.” St. Josephine Bakhita died in 1947 and was canonized in 2000. She is the patron saint of human trafficking victims and Sudan. Artist credit: Nicholas Markell, markellstudios.com
ALUMNA RECEIVES MISSION AWARD
At this year’s virtual Mission Awards ceremony in April, Kristin Giant ‘14 J.D. received a Living the Mission award for her work as the founder of Hyper Local Impact, a legal and consulting firm dedicated to helping the people of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Together with community partners last year, Giant set a goal of raising $1 million in grassroots funding for businesses and nonprofits in southeast Fort Wayne owned by people of color. By March, the fund had already raised more than half a million dollars and allocated 15 grants. “Kristin works creatively and tirelessly to lift up her community,” Director of Alumni Engagement and Student Life GloriaMyre ‘07 J.D. said. “She’s an inspiring advocate for positive change who has always tried to better herself, and those around her.”
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