{"id":34106,"date":"2017-07-19T10:04:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T14:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=34106"},"modified":"2017-07-25T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T19:54:09","slug":"soujourners-honors-daca-advocate-isabel-castillo-07-ma-17-exceptional-efforts-towards-equity-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/soujourners-honors-daca-advocate-isabel-castillo-07-ma-17-exceptional-efforts-towards-equity-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Sojourners honors DACA advocate Isabel Castillo ’07, MA ’17, for ‘exceptional efforts’ towards equity and peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) graduate Isabel Castillo was recognized as a \u201cMovement Honoree\u201d by Sojourners at its June 2017 Healing and Resistance Summit<\/a> at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., she called on advocates to raise up voices like her own \u2014 one that is typically marginalized.<\/p>\n

Castillo, who was brought into the United States from Mexico when she was six, has spoken publicly about her own undocumented status since she was a student at Turner Ashby High School. Her advocacy for immigration-law reform has been nationally recognized.<\/p>\n

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Isabel Castillo with Adam Taylor, chair of the Sojourners Board of Directors. (J.P. Keenan\/Sojourners)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Castillo graduated with a social work degree<\/a> from EMU in 2007, and in 2017, earned a master\u2019s degree in conflict transformation<\/a> from EMU\u2019s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 300 \u201cleaders committed to changing the world through faith and justice\u201d attended the Summit organized annually since 2014 by Sojourners. A leading voice of progressive Christianity, Sojourners promotes \u201cthe biblical call to social justice\u201d through its magazine and digital forum.<\/p>\n

Adam Taylor, chair of the Sojourners Board of Directors, presented Castillo with one of four Movement Honoree<\/a> awards granted for \u201cexceptional efforts\u201d that \u201chelp to sustain our collective desire for a more equitable and peaceful world,\u201d notably organizing a march on Washington and staging a sit-in at former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid\u2019s office. Since 2013, she has worked for Virginia Organizing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In her acceptance speech, Castillo said that \u201cJesus hung out with the \u2018marginalized,\u2019 the \u2018least of these.\u2019 He heard directly from them. And it seems like few decision makers hear the truth directly from those who are directly impacted by the many injustices we face in our nation, in our world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates, she said, should \u201cbe space-holders, walk alongside or behind those directly impacted by the many systems of oppression and allow them to share their stories and their truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castillo has addressed oppression by sharing her own story. Her daring exchange about the DREAM Act at a 2010 Harrisonburg town hall meeting<\/a> with then-governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell was detailed in a New York Times<\/a> article. She has also been featured in The Atlantic<\/a> and on Public Radio International\u2019s Bob Edwards Weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Supporting Isabel Castillo (far right) and helping to promote the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at the Sojourners Summit are (from left) Fabrice Guerrier MA ’15, Julian Turner MA ’17, CJP Practice Coordinator Amy Knorr MA ’09, Professor Johonna Turner, graduate student Jennifer Chi Lee, Center for Interfaith Engagement Director Trina Nussbaum MA ’17 and graduate student Hannah Kim. (Courtesy of Trina Nussbaum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2011, the University of San Francisco awarded her an honorary doctorate<\/a> \u201cfor her selfless courage in advancing the cause of undocumented college students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve followed and admired Isabel\u2019s witness and work since she confronted Governor McDonnell on his opposition to the DREAM Act several years ago,\u201d said Michael Mershon, director of communications for Sojourners. \u201cThere\u2019s a level of strength and courage in what she brings to the movement for social justice that\u2019s impossible to ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n

EMU and Sojourners enjoy substantial connection with each other, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have staff who are alums of EMU and we have a long and strong relationship with the university and the broader Mennonite community,\u201d Mershon said, \u201cso we always welcome the opportunity to lift up the stories of people shaped by that experience. Technically, we honored Isabel at our Summit, but in truth the honor was all ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also recognized at the Summit were four \u201cFeatured Elders\u201d and three additional Movement Honorees:<\/p>\n