ACU has partnered with CitySquare to help eradicate poverty in Dallas.

Students, especially those a part of the Honors College, are joining with CitySquare to utilize their majors to help develop relationships with the people and community

Larry James, the director of CitySquare, was invited to speak in Chapel and explained the purpose of CitySquare on Tuesday.

“CitySquare is a faith based nonprofit human and community development corporation,” James said. “We’re here to stand with our neighbors to overcome poverty to strike at the root causes of poverty and to help folks move out of it.”

James emphasized CitySquare’s goal of creating relationships with and opportunities for the impoverished in a way that preserves their humanity and allows them to help others.

“There’s got to be something going back and forth in terms of resources, and in that mix everybody is changed,” James said. “It’s all about building community. It’s all about recognizing the importance of individualism but understanding the way to really achieve individualism is to be connected to a community you really value.”

Dr. Stephen Johnson, dean of the Honors College, expressed his excitement about the partnership in a video produced by the honors college.

“As I began to learn more and more about CitySquare and all the different systemic way they’re approaching poverty, it occurred to me, as it did to many of my colleagues, that this represented departments in which we were teaching and degrees that we offered,” Johnson. “Almost any degree we offer, you can find an expression there. Students can step into a place where their learning meets life and meets God’s love and desire to mend the world.”