{"id":8296,"date":"2024-04-23T10:48:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T14:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=8296"},"modified":"2024-04-23T10:48:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T14:48:09","slug":"donors-gift-designed-to-facilitate-community-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2024\/04\/23\/donors-gift-designed-to-facilitate-community-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Donor’s gift designed to facilitate community conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RobertBob Bruttell \u201901 has taught History of Social Ethics in University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Religious Studies department for 22 years as an adjunct faculty member. His classroom, he says, is a place for discussion of important issues on how people today can live together as human beings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a topic that has interested him for a long time and one he feels needs to be discussed in meaningful ways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A substantial gift to the University from Bruttell and his wife, Judy, will create the Robert A. and Judith A. Bruttell Religion & Social Ethics Expendable Program Fund, a gift that he hopes keeps those conversations going long into the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The funds will be used for an annual event series run by the Religious Studies department that will include lectures, workshops, panel discussion and opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the study of social ethics at conferences, field trips, seminars and tours of important sites.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is an idea that has been brewing for a long time, long before Bruttell came to know University of Detroit Mercy as a graduate student.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy career was 47 years owning and managing construction companies,\u201d he said. But in the late \u201980s he said he had a classic \u201cmidlife experience.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt I could go on successfully running construction companies, but that\u2019s not all of me,\u201d he said. A former seminary student, Bruttell felt a yearning to study theology. Detroit Mercy did not offer a theology degree, but they did offer a master\u2019s degree in Religious Studies, so he enrolled.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What he found was a place alive with the types of discussions he wanted to have, many of them led by Professor George Pickering. The two became good friends.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together they formed the Center for Religion and Community Values, a co-curricular program that brought in speakers, hosted ethical discussions and put out a yearly newsletter about these issues.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Bruttell earned his master\u2019s degree, Pickering asked whether he would like to teach at the University. Twenty-two years later, Bruttell still enjoys teaching.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Center faded away many years ago, but Bruttell never forgot it. This gift is a way of reviving that lively learning environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have an interest in social ethics and what people make of religious values and how we can live together as a society,\u201d Bruttell said. \u201cWe tell people they should be all that they can be, but the problem with that is that if you are only focused on yourself, you are not paying attention to what your role is in the bigger picture. You need a commitment to social values.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI care deeply about the world my grandchildren will grow up in. I care a lot about what the world will look like after I\u2019m gone. So, I thought that if I was going to do something to make a difference, this University is the place I believe could make some impact on social ethics and the community.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The center is also an extension of the work he does with the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, an organization that came together in the aftermath of 9\/11 <\/span>to nurture interfaith connection, conciliation and education. Bruttell has worked with the organization since its beginning, serving on its leadership team.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And this work is also close to the heart of Judy, his wife of 42 years. A ceramic and graphic artist (he used to be her art fair roadie), she works with younger students at Christ the King Catholic School in Detroit, teaching art and helping the school find funding.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is really concerned about younger students,\u201d Bruttell said. \u201cTogether we want to impact the world young people will come into, the ethical world in which they will thrive.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruttell hopes this center will help shape the conversation concerning ethics.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are at a critical crossroads that, for me, feels like the one we were at in the 1960s,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, we were fighting a war that hardly anyone would say was the right thing to be doing, we were struggling with Jim Crow laws and segregation. In many ways separating from one another is the default. What we need to do is to regain a sense that what is best in living together is listening to all voices. I hope to be the person who catalyzes this discussion the way George Pickering did for me. That\u2019s what I want other students to get \u2014 conversations about thinking and applying social values. It\u2019s critical to learning how to live together.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Bruttell \u201901 has taught History of Social Ethics in University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Religious Studies department for 22 years as an adjunct faculty member. His classroom, he says, is a place for discussion of important issues on how people today can live together as human beings.\u00a0 It is a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":8297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2024\/04\/bruttell.jpeg?fit=1920%2C1673&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-29O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8298,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296\/revisions\/8298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}