2022 McElroy Lecture on Law & Religion

The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. The annual McElroy Lecture is made possible through a bequest from Detroit Mercy Law alumnus Philip J. McElroy.

This year’s lecture, titled “Global Migration, Citizenship and Catholic Social Teaching,” will be presented by Vincent D. Rougeau, President of College of the Holy Cross. Rougeau will present the role of Catholic social teaching based on the questions of global migration and citizenship. He will declare that Catholic social teachings with an emphasis on the dignity of the human person maintain values essential to democratic societies like the United States.

IN PERSON ATTENDANCE: ROOM 226 at Detroit Mercy Law

LIVESTREAM: Available on Detroit Mercy Law's Homepage

Reception immediately following lecture in the atrium.

PARKING: Available in the LAZ Garage located at 589 Congress Street. See map below. Limited street parking may also be available on Jefferson Ave., Larned St., St. Antoine St., and Congress St.

About Vincent D. Rougeau:

Vincent D. Rougeau, a nationally respected expert in legal education and Catholic social thought, became the 33rd president of the College of the Holy Cross in July 2021. Rougeau previously served as dean of the Boston College Law School and the inaugural director of the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America. Prior to his role at Boston College, Rougeau was a tenured professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, and served as their associate dean for Academic Affairs from 1999-2002.

Vince’s early focus at Holy Cross has been on preparing for campus capital improvements; supporting the College’s workforce and strengthening its organizational structure; and launching, in collaboration with the Board of Trustees and the Speaker of the Faculty, a review of shared governance. In addition, the College is continuing strategic planning efforts that began with the identification of strategic themes and are now taking shape in future-focused strategies.

Vince has written extensively on law and religion with a particular focus on Catholic social teaching and the law. His book “Christians in the American Empire: Faith and Citizenship in the New World Order” was released by Oxford University Press in 2008. His research considers the relationships among religious identity, citizenship, and membership in highly mobile and increasingly multicultural democratic societies. He served as senior fellow at the Centre for Theology and Community (CTC) in London, where he researched broad-based community organizing, immigration, and citizenship in the UK as part of the Just Communities Project. He is past president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and previously served on the Council of the Boston Bar Association. He currently serves on the boards of Newton-Wellesley Hospital and the Boston Lyric Opera.

Vince received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1985, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988, where he served as articles editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. He and his wife, Robin Kornegay-Rougeau, M.D., have three sons, Christian, Alexander and Vincent (V.J.).