Community

“God created us out of love and for love.”
--- Adrian Dominican Sisters

Given the Order of Preachers' mendicant lifestyle, community could not just be a place. It had to be a state-of-being (a matter of the heart). That state-of-being is one that all individuals can experience through faith. It results in a particular lifestyle—one that creates community, making a matter of the heart a social reality. It might the community of the priory, the university, a pre-school, or a Forbes 500 Company.

The Heart. The Dominican communal way of life stems from faith. It is part of the on-going process through which you can recognize all human beings as equal and valued. It is a process through which you recognize God's love, and you are called to love God and other human beings in return.

It is the ground from which the Barry community draws its respect and love for the individual. It is the sense of ease the newcomer feels when he/she first visits Barry's campus. It is the sense of family that develops in the Barry student. It is the commitment to social justice and community service that is acted upon by the Barry Dominicans as well as the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who feel the call to help their neighbors, be they in Immokalee, Michigan, South Dade, Mexico, China, or Haiti.

Community Building.

Barry's Intercultural Center 's luncheons often highlight a specific culture; one student will discuss his/her cultural of origin, food from that region is typically shared, and all present share in knowledge and understanding. The same can be said for the Festival of Nations, held annually on Barry's campus.

Faith sharing offered through campus ministry also gives you unique insight into various faith and ethical belief systems. Religion is key in world affairs today, and you will have the opportunity to learn about many religious differences and similarities first-hand.

Community is also built literally by the Dominicans and by Barry Community. The Adrian Dominicans have built and supported schools and hospitals in the Unites States, Haiti, and elsewhere. They have supported the Barry Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, as members participated in communal building projects and completed construction on the first university co-sponsored habitat house in South Florida.

Organization and Communication. Early Dominican life gave the members of the Order a heritage of democratic organization. All things were held in common and all major decisions were made in common. The prior or prioress were and are elected for specific periods of time. For its time period, the organization was radical!

Given this democratic organization, communication skills were and still are paramount. This means that things get discussed, in a chapter meeting, in a classroom, in the cafeteria, on a walkway, in a parking lot, and in the residence halls.

Communication skills are practiced in the Dominican priories and houses. They are also practiced by Barry students through our leadership programs and in our classrooms. You can be assured some real stretching experiences and the kind of in-depth discussion that are necessary to build community!

Faith as Community.  The Adrian Dominicans, note that their lifestyle and path is " one path toward fullness of life." There can be others; we all should God's call, "choosing that the lifestyle where we find the fullness of … love.” If this search is done in earnest, we will choose different, but correct paths.

In an ecumenism that embraces truth, the Barry Vision statement reflects these sentiments. While not requiring students to become Dominican or expecting them to be Catholic, it does hope “to instill in students St. Dominic's vision of a world that celebrates God's dwelling within us and among us, where life is reverenced and nurtured, where hatred and injustice are eradicated and where the intellectual life is promoted and supported… In so doing, Barry University is committed to forming students who understand the value of seeking a personal response to the presence of God in their lives.”

If you, through your faith and the assistance of others, find that personal response to the presence of God, you will be able to truly live in community during your University years and thereafter. This profound understanding of community is one of the gifts a Barry University Education can offer.