DePaul University Division of Mission and Ministry > Education > Just DePaul

Just DePaul

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​Restore the humanity​

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DePaul's mission statement states, "Through education and research, the university addresses the great questions of our day, promoting peaceful, just, and equitable solutions to social and environmental challenges." The Division of Mission and Ministry (DMM) was charged with writing a foundational document about DePaul's understanding of sustainability and social and environmental justice which can be found in the "Just DePaul" document below. The DMM Vice President chaired the new President's Sustainability Committee beginning in 2021, DMM established a central sustainability website​, and Mission and Ministry established a "Just DePaul" office to help coordinate and lead institution-wide sustainability efforts through 2025. In 2026 institutional sustainability efforts were re-centered in a center led by DePaul faculty in partnership with many areas including Mission and Ministry, which continues to partner closely with sustainability efforts at the university.​

​​Fou​​ndational Document & Just DePaul Principles​


The Division of Mission and Ministry was charged with writing a foundational document about DePaul University's approach to sustainability/environmental justice. The division entitled this approach "Just DePaul". Just DePaul is our collective commitment to advance the agenda of social and environmental justice in each one of us (the personal level), at DePaul University (the institutional level), and in the many communities, we serve and partner with locally and globally (the societal level). It is designed to be read by students, staff, and faculty alike.  

Foundational Document - PDF

Just DePaul upholds the following principles as core to the work of Social and Environmental Justice:

1. Human Dignity: Basic Equity
2. Personalism, Compassion, and Relationship
3. Solidarity: Search for the Common Good
4. Participation: Systemic Change
5. Sustainability and Care for our ‘Common Home’
6. Transformation and Non-Violence
7. Knowledge and Experience

Download the PDF below to learn more. 

Just DePaul Principles - PDF

One approach to building communities to support social and environmental justice is through Network Weaving. We have provided the document below to be shared as a resource to initiate conversation around the issues we would like to tackle. This paper investigates building sustainable communities through improving their connectivity – internally and externally – using network ties to create...opportunities. Improved connectivity is created through an iterative process of knowing the network and knitting the network. 

Building Networks - PDF 

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