Fr. Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries

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Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., is founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. What began in 1992 at Dolores Mission Church as a small job-training effort grew into a comprehensive reentry and support organization for people leaving gangs and incarceration. Homeboy Industries provides mental-health counseling, case management, legal assistance, job training, and additional services to help its clients. Its social-enterprise businesses such as Homeboy Bakery offer paid transitional employment. The organization now serves thousands each year and has influenced similar programs nationally and internationally through the Global Homeboy Network.

His awards include Humanitarian of the Year from the James Beard Foundation, the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In his most recent book, Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times, Boyle calls for a community ethos that prioritizes tenderness, shared dignity, and the healing power of unconditional connection.

See also:

• “Healing Trauma: Beyond Gangs and Prisons” video documentary — Brave New Films
• “Father Greg Boyle: Unshakable Goodness” — Everything Happens with Kate Boler
• “How Greg Boyle, S.J., preaches Easter joy to incarcerated people” — America, The Jesuit Review
• “Love on the Streets of LA” podcast with Mark Bauerlein — First Things

About the Sterling M. McMurrin Lectures on Religion and Culture

Named for the renowned Utah-born teacher, scholar, administrator, and advisor to major corporations, foundations, and federal agencies—the Sterling M. McMurrin Lectures on Religion and Culture advance academic inquiry into the role of religion in people’s lives. It was founded in 1992 by McMurrin, Lowell M. Durham Jr. (Director of the Tanner Humanities Center from 1992–1997), and friends Richard Smoot, Peter Appleby, Jack Newell, Brigham Madsen, and Boyer Jarvis. McMurrin (1914–1996) was a prolific lecturer and writer on the history and philosophy of religion.

McMurrin’s career at the University of Utah was wide-ranging: he taught in the Departments of Philosophy, History, and Educational Administration, and he went on to serve as Dean of the College of Letters and Science, Academic Vice President, Provost, Dean of the Graduate School, and a founding member of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values. He was also the University’s first Distinguished Professor and the first recipient of the prestigious Rosenblatt Prize.

Views expressed in Tanner Humanities Center events do not represent the official position of the Center or the University of Utah.

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