CNN’s person of the year, Liz McCartney, urged Loyola students to make a difference in light of World Peace Week.
McCartney, founder of the St. Bernard Project, rallied students in Satchmo’s on March 23 to make the world a better place.
As a self-proclaimed “slacker” in college, McCartney grew up wanting to be a teacher, but after one visit in Feb. 2006 to St. Bernard Parish, her plans soon changed.
With tears welling up in her eyes and a shivering voice, McCartney recalled her first time in St. Bernard Parish.
“I saw people living in tents and cars and I thought how can this be possible,” she said. “How could this be the United States?”
“I saw middle class families homeless, and cops and 80-year-old men living in cars,” McCartney said.
“There is no reason why people should live in disgusting toxic FEMA trailers and we knew we could fix this,” she said. “It’s not a black or white problem or a New Orleans problem, it is an American problem and a solvable problem.”
Since that day in 2006, McCartney, along with her St. Bernard team, has helped 200 families move back into their homes and raised over four and one half million dollars for the organization.
“It takes us eight weeks to get families in their homes and $12,000,” she said.
While McCartney’s accomplishments may look unreachable, she said she was just like any ordinary college student.
“If you would have told me when I was 21 that I’ll be running a non-profit organization, I would have told you that you were nuts,” McCartney said.
“A part of being young is you don’t know your path in life and you don’t know what you’re good at,” she said.
“Just care for what you do and work with a group that you get and gets you,” she said.
According to McCartney, Loyola students have been “given an extraordinary gift of having access to higher education and everybody is hoping that they use those gifts to make the world a better place.”
As for World Peace Week, McCartney enlightened students on peace.
“Peace does not mean internal peace but peace for the world,” she said. “People can help others without being at peace with themselves.”
“Sometimes you have to take yourself out of the equation; it’s a constant give and take,” said McCartney.
She urged students to “make some path in life” and “do something for the greater good.”
“You can choose a career with money, but do civil service on your own time,” she said.
Many Loyola students have teamed up with McCartney to help rebuild the parish.
“I immediately felt like (the St. Bernard Project) had a purpose and a goal, which drew LUCAP in and we wanted to be apart of that,” said political science senior Jennifer Rudolph, associate chairperson of Loyola University Community Action Program.
“The experience of how it makes you feel draws you to come back,” said Rudolph. “To see a wall where there wasn’t a wall before makes it more concrete and makes you want to help.
Kieu Tran can be reached at [email protected].
