In an effort to help reinforce the bridge between faith and community involvement in higher education, DePaul University will host its first-ever conference on the subject, “Strengthening Civic Engagement and Spirituality in Higher Education,” at 8 a.m. Sept. 22 on the third floor of the Lincoln Park Campus Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave.

The event, co-sponsored by DePaul and Illinois Campus Compact, will bring together faculty, staff, administrators, community partners and students to expand the research, teaching, learning, and practice of spirituality and civic engagement in higher education. More than 150 people from nearly 50 different educational institutions are expected to attend.

“This conference is significant in its focus on what is emerging as a critical issue for society: how the integration of faith and civic engagement can contribute to the common good,” said Karl Nass, project manager for DePaul’s Faith and Civic Engagement Project.

Sessions will examine such topics as the relationship between religious attitudes and political engagement, campus efforts to promote moral and spiritual growth, service learning methods and techniques, cultural activism, social change and leadership development programs, the role of spirituality in social work practice, Catholic social tradition and interfaith youth outreach.

“DePaul’s president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, has demonstrated his leadership by using an Illinois Campus Compact McCormick Presidential Fellowship to begin a regional conversation about faith and civic engagement that will, in turn, inform a national dialogue on this area of civic responsibility,” said Elizabeth Hollander, executive director of Illinois Campus Compact.

Registration for the event is now closed, but media are welcome to attend.

With a total enrollment of 23,148 students on two city and four suburban campuses, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university in the nation and the tenth-largest private, not-for-profit university in the United States. DePaul is an innovative and diverse university offering pragmatic educational programs that instill values, including a commitment to community service, and was recently honored by Princeton Review as the No. 1 university in the nation for student diversity.