Passion for peace and justice inspires gift

University of Sioux Falls students learn about peace and justice each year thanks to a gift from former longtime employees LeRoy and Bette Day.

The Days established the LeRoy and Bette Day Peace and Justice Lecture Series in the early 1990s through an endowed gift. Both were 20-year employees of what was then Sioux Falls College until their retirement in 1985.

Marilyn Day says her parents, who are both deceased, had always had an interest in peace and justice.

“I think that their reason for establishing this lecture series was to continue their ministry in teaching others methods of peace and looking at areas of concern for justice,” says Marilyn, a 1979 SFC graduate.

LeRoy Day was a professor emeritus and taught in the sociology department at the college, and he was instrumental in starting the school’s social work program. Bette was an acquisitions librarian at the school’s Norman B. Mears Library.

Marilyn notes that her parents saw the lecture series as a “prime opportunity to teach peace and justice among those who have a long life ahead of them and can use the knowledge and skills offered.

“It’s one thing to preach to the choir,” Marilyn says. “It’s another thing to find fresh minds and hearts.”

USF Dean of Chapel Dennis Thum, who brings in the speakers for the lecture series, said the gift is an annual reminder to address peace and justice. “If we didn’t have the gift, it would be real easy for this important part of education to get put on the backburner,” Thum says. “Really it has been a gift that keeps on giving.”

Planned gifts or unrestricted gifts to the University of Sioux Falls continue to impact students’ lives by providing valuable education opportunities. Call us at (800) 888-1047 or give online at www.usiouxfalls.edu.