On April 11, Delbarton freshmen spent the morning in the third and final Social Justice Workshop of the school year. The morning event was led by upperclassmen who discussed specific examples of U.S. global leadership and world conflicts, an especially timely concept given the current instability in global politics. The thematic question for this exercise was ‘To what extent and in what ways should the United States be involved in global conflicts?’

 In his introduction, faculty organizer Kevin Conn offered freshmen an overview of the Catholic Just War Theory which considers moral guidelines for situations when a war could be considered just. The theory teaches that armed conflict is a final option after all other roads to compromise and peace are exhausted.

After Conn’s remarks, 9^th graders were separated into rotating breakout groups that met in the FAC, Spada Commons, the Schola room, Hayes Room, and Old Main Gallery. In each space students were briefly educated by their older brothers in a variety of related topics including Uighur Genocide in China, the Taiwan versus China conflict, the Russo-Ukrainian war, drug cartels and Latin American regimes, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwandan conflict.

Breakout groups were adeptly guided by eleven peer leaders including Mike Aiello ’26, Alasdair Eck ’26, Sean Fialcowitz ’26, John Mermel ’27, Tommy Murphy ’26, Kelvin Pierre ’25, Evan Saik ’26, Hunter Terborg ’26, Neil VanKirk ’26, Drake Velez ’26 and Griffin Velez ’25. The Workshop leaders used a variety of tools including videos, PowerPoint presentations and Q&As to engage their younger brothers in lively discussions.

The final agenda item for the morning event was a Paideia discussion in the FAC during which the peer leaders discussed whether the US should involve itself directly in foreign conflicts and if not, why not. When used to promote civic engagement, the ancient Greek Paideia format of conversation and debate prepares people to participate actively in the political and social life of a city, state or country.  

All in all, this morning’s Workshop event was informative, thought-provoking, and an impressive demonstration of the intellectual rigor and global awareness of Delbarton student leaders.  This excellent example likely inspired some young 9^th graders to imagine themselves one day leading a future Freshman Social Justice breakout group.