This past weekend, four-time mentor Doshie Piper received the 2025 Collegium Visionary Award at a special luncheon gathering with her colleagues at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio Texas, several of whom were Collegium alums. Doshie accepted this award to rousing applause and a strong sense of solidarity with the entire community. Among the reasons for Doshie’s selection, her dean noted the numerous ways she has brought Collegium home to her institution, including drawing upon the prophetic and sacramental imaginations to help re-vitalize the Core Curriculum at UIWTX by highlighting vital connections among the humanities, social sciences and professional schools. Her citation highlights the creative ways she has drawn upon lessons learned at Collegium to create a vibrant partnership with the Nehemiah Community Re-Entry Project.
Doshie will use the $1000 honorarium that accompanies the Visionary Award to further this important work, which connects her students in the UIWTX Criminal Justice Program to individuals in the justice system who are navigating re-entry. Doshie, her students and colleagues from the university and the community develop sustainable interventions related to accessible health care, continuing education and lasting well-being. Doshie notes that she strives to move her students from charity to solidarity, and from transactional social service providers to people with true vocational callings to live out the prophet Micah’s exhortation to “act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.”
The Collegium Visionary Award is given annually to an alum who has translated the lessons learned at the colloquy into actions tailored imaginatively to their own campus community. Nominations are accepted throughout the year; they should be received by September 15. The form to suggest a deserving candidate is located here.