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Jessica Mackinnon
jmack@dom.edu
(708) 524-6289

Austin Resident Receives Dominican University Exemplary Service Award

Father Maurizio Binaghi, a resident of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, received the Exemplary Service Award from Dominican University for his service to young people in Chicago’s Austin community and for his mentoring of Dominican student volunteers.

After working as a high school teacher, Binaghi joined the Comboni missionaries because of their service to the poorest and most marginalized. In 2001 he started the Peace Corner, a youth center that provides a safe haven for at-risk youth in Austin. “Through ongoing relationship building and positive activities, we hope to instill self-esteem and pride of accomplishment by endowing young people with responsibility and ‘ownership’ of the Peace Corner,” he says.

Binaghi has served the poor in Kenya and Italy, and has acted as associate pastor at St. Martin DePorres Parish. He holds a master of divinity degree and a master’s in mission-cross culture from the Catholic Theological Union.

In 2003, Binaghi began serving on Dominican University’s service learning advisory board. He has hosted many of the university’s service learning students at the Peace Corner, educating them about Austin’s cultural diversity and teaching the value of civic engagement and compassionate service. He has directed many of his young people to Dominican for on-going education.

Founded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Dominican offers 50 undergraduate academic programs in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences and 15 graduate programs through the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the Brennan School of Business, the School of Education, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the School of Leadership and Continuing Studies. In the 2008 issue of America’s Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report again ranked Dominican University in the top tier of Midwest master’s level universities and as a “best value” for the tenth consecutive year.



“As a student I wanted an intimate community. As an aspiring journalist I wanted a big city. Dominican gave me both—and so much more.”

Tracy Samantha
Schmidt
2005
TIME Magazine

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