SPUD celebrates 40 years
On April 6, more than 150 current members of the group, Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD)—plus SPUD alumni, community partners and various SPUD supporters—gathered in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom to celebrate the past, present and future of the organization. In remarks on the popular campus institution, Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of the College, traced the Jesuit tradition of service to the founding of the religious order in the 1500s. He said that there are three elements that are essential to the educational experience students receive by working as SPUD volunteers. The first is primary contact with the marginalized, which allows the poor and powerless to know that somebody cares. The second element is the strong role students take in the growth of SPUD. And, finally, the importance of reflection and the constant need to think about the larger picture and to ask tough questions. “Why do we have working poor who work three or four jobs a day? Why are women left out in the street? Why are children abandoned? Why isn’t there widespread opportunity for these people?” Fr. McFarland asked. Also in attendance was Annette Rafferty, founder of Abby’s House, an emergency shelter for women and children in Worcester, which Holy Cross students have served since its founding in 1976. Rafferty said that the work SPUD students have done is a major accomplishment, and that “the city has truly grown better because of our partnership.” Pat Clancy ’68, who helped to found SPUD, was honored for his vision of creating the organization which has transformed lives. He encouraged students and the College to continue to promote social justice. “As we commemorate this occasion,” Clancy said, “I want to look back at the last speech that Martin Luther King Jr. gave the day before he died in which he spoke about spiritual apathy. The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’—‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’—That’s the question.” Looking toward the future, Marybeth Kearns-Barrett ’84, associate chaplain and director of service and social justice programs at the College, encouraged students to think about the organization’s role as delivering direct service (e.g., serving food at a pantry) and being a catalyst for social change (e.g., engaging in discussion with the mayor about steps everyone can take to eradicate hunger). An article detailing the history of SPUD appeared in the spring issue of Holy Cross Magazine—and can be found online at:
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