Three Students to Become Common Home Corps Leaders
Three University of Scranton students were selected for national Common Home Corps program. From left: Thomas Elias ’24, a philosophy and theology and religious studies double major from Tunkhannock; Grace Lennox ’26, a political science and philosophy double major from Peckville; and Davida Padi ’25, a social media strategies major from Parsippany, New Jersey (photo insert).Three University of Scranton students were selected to join the national Common Home Corps program, offered by the Catholic Climate Covenant in collaboration with Loyola University Chicago and Creighton University. The students will attend a summer training program at Loyola Chicago to learn about Catholic social teaching, the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform, climate science and impacts, community organizing and climate advocacy, so that they can then become leaders for ecological conversations in their Catholic Diocesan communities. Participants will receive a stipend throughout the academic year in support of their work as Common Home Corps Leaders.
University of Scranton students selected for Common Home Corps program are: Thomas Elias ’24, a philosophy and theology and religious studies double major from Tunkhannock; Grace Lennox ’26, a political science and philosophy double major from Peckville; and Davida Padi ’25, a social media strategies major from Parsippany, New Jersey.
Elias is a member of the University’s Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program and a recipient of Scranton’s full-tuition Presidential Scholarship, who is completing his junior year at Scranton. He is pursuing a minor in Arabic and concentrations in Peace and Justice Studies and Catholic Studies. A dean’s list student at Scranton, he is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu (national Jesuit honor society), Sigma Tau (national honor society for English) and Theta Alpha Kappa (national theology and religious studies honor society). He received the University’s O’Hara Award for academic achievement for his freshman year.
Elias will serve as a resident assistant, as president of Students for Healing, Accountability, Reconciliation and Education (SHARE) Club, and as a Slattery Center Student Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year. He currently serves as a Royal Ambassador tour guide and as an intern for the Admissions Office at the University. He is a member of Christians for the Common Good and hosts a radio show on 99.5 WUSR, among other activities. Most recently, he was vice president of Student Government and a student representative to the University’s Board of Trustees. Last summer, he served as a teaching assistant for the Leadership and Civic Responsibilities course. He has also served as a youth ministry leader for the Diocese of Scranton.
Lennox is a member of the University’s Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program who is completing her first year at Scranton. A dean’s list student, she is pursuing a minor in history and a concentration in legal studies. She is a member of the University’s mock trial team, the political science club, college democrats and serves as secretary of the philosophy society. She also participated in Scranton’s varsity women’s tennis team and serves on the student athletic advisory committee.
Off-campus, Lennox served as a campaign fellow for Cartwright for Congress and helped to organize the Valley View Tennis Summer Camp.
Padi is on the pre-law track at Scranton and is completing her sophomore year. She is studying abroad this semester through the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) Global Scholars Open Campus program. This semester, she was in Rome, London and Madrid. A dean’s list student at Scranton, Padi has received the Teen Vogue 21 under 21 Award, Truth Initiative Impact Scholarship and the Bill Davis Scholarship. On campus, she is a member of the Advertising Club and Pre-Law Society, and participates in the online publication Her Campus.
Padi currently serves as consultant with MTV Youth Mental Health Action Forum and as a Rare Impact Ambassador for Rare Beauty. In addition, she has served as a communications intern for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation in Washington, D.C. and as a teaching assistant for the National Student Leadership Conference, also in Washington, D.C.
In April, The University of Scranton announced it has begun an extensive seven-year journey to become designated as a Laudato Si’ University by the Vatican. Inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” the University will join Catholic and non-Catholic colleges around the world who have committed to develop, implement and evaluate initiatives around seven goals to meet the Pope’s call for integral ecology, that is when science, ethics, spirituality and action are mutually respected and empowered.
