Resource for journalists reporting on immigration issues

Resource for journalists reporting on immigration issues

Image: Undocumented students conference As director of Fairfield University's Center for Faith and Public Life and professor of sociology, Rev. Richard Ryscavage, a Jesuit priest, oversees two grant funded initiatives that relate to different aspects of the pressing immigration debate. The " Immigrant Student National Position Paper " is a Ford Foundation-funded study released in 2013 that proposes a new model of leadership in higher education regarding access to education for the undocumented. "Strangers as Neighbors: Religious Language and the Response to Immigrants in the United States" is a project that involves Roman Catholic parishes on Long Island, New York helping to map out a constructive way to broach the conversation about immigration within a faith based context.

Before coming to Fairfield, Fr. Ryscavage was the national director of the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, a non-governmental organization operating in 50 countries. While executive director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Migration and Refugee Services, he ran one of the world's largest refugee resettlement agencies. In addition, he was president of CLINIC, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. He was also a tutor and researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre of Oxford University and, in 2006, served as official advisor to the delegation of the Holy See to the United Nations 61st General Assembly.

Fr. Ryscavage's other Fairfield University projects include "Impact India 2021: Elevating the Value of Women and Girls in Society," and the Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN), a global initiative preparing young people for true involvement in complex humanitarian crises.

He has been interviewed by CNN, WNPR, Fox News, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed, among other news organizations.

Image: Fr. Richard Ryscavage speaking at an event, "Immigration: Undocumented Students in Higher Education," held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., February, 2013.

Posted On: 07-16-2013 11:07 AM

Volume: 45 Number: 5