Brother Martin High School Celebrates 2025 “Social Justice Liturgy”
On the morning of Thursday, February 20, 2025, Brother Martin High School celebrated a Social Justice Liturgy and afterward recognized this year’s Judy Stewart and Bro. Collin Dugas Justice Award recipients. We were pleased to welcome guests Mr. and Mrs. Ed d’Hemecourt, Mr. and Mrs. Enrique Monzon, members of the class of 1966, Mr. Michael Stewart and Ms. Kara Ortiz, son and daughter of Ms. Judy Stewart, and their family.
Director of Campus Ministry, Mr. Donnie Midkiff ’03, presented this year’s Judy Stewart and Bro. Collin Dugas Justice Awards:
“Our first award is named in honor of Ms. Judy Stewart, who passed away eleven years ago and worked in a Brothers of the Sacred Heart school for over thirty years. Having adopted two children with special needs, Ms. Stewart truly lived the call to embrace those in most need of support and love. The value of Ms. Stewart’s time with Brother Martin was measured by her love for all students who walked the halls of this community. As Campus Minister, she initiated the retreat and service hour programs and was a tireless advocate for social justice and the Church’s social teaching. She challenged students, faculty, and staff to see injustice and to respond to it. She always pointed to the saying attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words.” Ms. Stewart’s dedication to loving others unconditionally was truly an example we dare not hesitate to follow.
All Seniors, faculty, and staff members were invited to nominate individuals for these awards. The recipients are those who show great respect for all people. They work for peace, justice, and inclusion. They answer the call to serve others and they commit themselves to equality and fairness for all. They are, in the simplest of terms, ones who bring hope to the hopeless and bring the love of God to all they meet.
The initial recipient of the Judy Stewart Social Justice Award exemplifies a life of service and care for others. As one of his classmates said, “He strives to constantly look out for the little guy and never discriminates a classmate… He treats everyone around him with the utmost love.” While he is an avid student minister, his work extends far beyond our school community. Through his time spent with JPRD, Pauda House, and Covenant House, he promotes harmony and justice everywhere he goes. Without ever seeking attention for himself, he models a life of dedicated service, solidarity with those on the margins, and a passion for social justice that demonstrates a maturity beyond his years. In this, he is a powerful witness to Christian service and social justice and is overwhelmingly deserving of this honor. The first recipient of the Judy Stewart Social Justice Award is senior Liam Enger ’25.
Our next award recipient is an active partner in the protection of life. Through his work with the Crusaders for Life and Justice and the Student Ministry Team, this senior re-echos St. Francis’s call to preach the gospel. One classmate said, “He spends each day trying to act for what is right, and encourages classmates to do the same.” Another said, “He is a strong advocate for rights and always openly expresses his beliefs. From calling attention to injustice around the world, to protecting the unborn at the annual March for Life, he epitomizes advocacy for social justice.” The next recipient of the Judy Stewart Social Justice Award is senior Michael Meguerditchian ’25.
Our next award is named after Brother Collin Dugas, who joined the Brothers of the Sacred Heart when he was seventeen years old and remained a faithful servant until he passed away at the age of sixty-four. After twenty years as a dynamic teacher of math and English, he felt the call to serve the poor and began to work full-time at Hope House. While living in the St. Thomas Project in New Orleans he promoted social justice and racial harmony. Brother Collin was instrumental in leading the integration of Brother Martin High School, and he played a prophetic role in the Brothers of the Sacred Heart community by urging them to work for racial justice. He also educated the faculty as to what true integration meant.
This year’s recipient of the Brother Collin Dugas Social Justice Award has devoted much of their life to serving those in need, and more importantly, teaching our students to do the same. One coworker had the following to say, “This teacher is social justice to the core, taking part in numerous activities inside and outside of our school community.” By answering the call of social justice as a true vocation for years, this teacher has been living and breathing service, but, more than that, has been expressing a desire to share that passion with all students.
When speaking about the recipient, Brother Bernie said, “I am extremely grateful that we have someone like him in our school, attracting the hearts and imaginations of our students and pushing them to see the rightness and the priority of making a hopeful difference to their generation in economic and social justice. The recipient of this year’s Brother Collin Dugas Award is Mr. Christopher McCabe.“
We would like to congratulate and thank Liam, Michael, and Mr. McCabe for modeling the virtue of justice for all of the Brother Martin community.
Afterward, Mr. Christopher McCabe, Andrew Cooper ’25, and Liam Enger ’25, moderator and members of the Crusaders for Life and Justice, challenged our Crusaders to join in a Solidarity Sleep Out, which you can learn more about at sleepout.org.
