Greg Boyle is an American Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention rehabilitation and reentry program in the world. During his time as a pastor, Boyle served at Dolores Mission Church, which was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles and had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the “decade of death” (1980-1992). In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he and parish community members started what eventually became Homeboy Industries.
Boyle’s experiences are reflected in three beloved and bestselling books: Tattoos on the Heart, Barking to the Choir and The Whole Language, and his efforts to help rehabilitate former gang members have resulted in several recognitions. Boyle is the recipient of the California Peace Prize and the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. President Barack Obama named Boyle a Champion of Change in 2014.
Boyle holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and English from Gonzaga University and graduate degrees from Loyola Marymount University, the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, MA and the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA.
Founded with a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation and continued through the Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professorship Program, the Contemporary Writers Series is generously supported today by the Hassett, Scoma and Lowery Endowments and with the cooperation of The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Just Buffalo Literary Center, the Center for Urban Education and Talking Leaves Books.
For more information or to watch a livestream of the event, contact Mick Cochrane, professor of English and coordinator of the Contemporary Writers Series, at 716.888.2662 or @email.
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