Vision
We, the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, are called by God to live and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a church and world suffering from the sin of racism.
As an anti-racist institution we are accountable to people of color in mutual relationships based on respect, equality and Justice.
Together we examine and redefine all aspects of our life, mission and ministry to incorporate and witness anti-racism.
We commit, as a publicly identified anti-racist congregation, to work toward an inclusive and anti-racist church and world.
Antiracism News
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Together we reimagine our service as a seed in holy ground
This Jubilee Year is an important time for our […]
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True Justice: honoring and restoring human dignity
Springfield Dominican Sisters were among those present at the […]
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International Dominican commission issues statement on Iran
A global commission of Dominican sisters, friars, and laity […]
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The mission is God’s, the work is ours
It was an iconic moment. August 28, 1963 in […]
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Sister Anita Cleary to accompany deported women in Central America
Photo: Sister Anita Cleary, far right, with Sisters Judith […]
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Daphne Skretvedt honored for work with United Nations
Daphne Skretvedt , a Dominican Associate since 2002, was […]
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“Stand for Justice, Stand for Dignity” campaign roots civic engagement in Catholic Social Teaching
Sisters will hold weekly vigil on Monroe Street property, […]
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Taking in the news: Dominican Sisters respond to the election of first U.S. Pope, Chicagoan Robert Prevost, OSA
About the photo: Chicagoan Sister Marie Michelle Hackett, OP, […]
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Education, advocacy, public witness: Illinois religious stand with immigrants
Among the congregations of Catholic sisters and brothers in […]
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Dominican Sisters support students seeking Indigenous People’s Day proclamation
Springfield, Ill.-Students at the Springfield Learning Academy sought support […]
Meet the team
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
After hearing passionate support of SDART’s mission and work from Sisters Sara Koch and Teresa Marron, how could I say no?!
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Both/and—reaching in and reaching out to live the gospel more fully.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Our Associate Anti-Racism Committee and the books, articles, videos, prayers and discussions together.
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I had already worked with Native Americans and I knew racism was still active and I wanted to know ways to learn, and help make changes for all.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
My work with Native Americans is a daily learning.
Years on SDART:
Since Fall 2024
Why did you join the team?
For over thirty years, I have lived and worked in central city neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I take suggestions from friends whose experiences and commitments broaden my understanding, face me with alternative ways of knowing, and companion my seeking.
Years on SDART:
Since 2017
Why did you join the team?
From my first association with the Dominican Sisters, I was attracted to and admired their antiracism stance and work.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I try to live out my antiracism commitment in my involvement with the JPIC and Associate Antiracism Committees as well as SDART. Antiracism is a stance for me in my faith community, the broader communities I encounter, and in my own introspective work.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson – both the book and the movie based on the book.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
I had been on the Justice Committee for several years and always had an interest in the work of SDART. When an opportunity to be part of the Associate Anti-racism team presented itself, I joined.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I hope to move the cause of justice forward in the lives of my children, grandchildren and the mini great grandchildren.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
A favorite story is "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins, the story of immigrant struggle to get to even get this country.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
Sister Clare told me about it and I thought I would like to help; Sister Marcelline allowed me to join.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I volunteer and contribute as much as I can to organizations that help victims of racism, or that support anti-racism.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Escape from Sobibor by Richard Rashke (video of the same name but the book is better)
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
Racism is a grievous offense against our sisters and brothers, and the gospel calls/compels me to be involved in working to dismantle it.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Because our SDART effort calls for a transformed society, I volunteer with the Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism to do the work in the larger Springfield community.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
Scene on Radio from the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. They ask big, hard questions about who we are and how we got this way. I first connected to it with the Season 2 series, Seeing White.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
SDART gives me an opportunity to live out the values of social justice through an anti-racism lens
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Through witnessing to my students and people I encounter.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
The reason I joined the team because it was the right thing to do.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I live out my antiracism commitment through my work in my church and my Masonic organization.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
A long walk.
Years on SDART:
Since 2013
Why did you join the team?
I believe in our corporate mission to become an antiracist institution and to influence the thought of the institutions and civic communities where our sisters serve.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Whenever I can, I try to talk with others about the United States’ “original sin”—racism—and to encourage others to learn more and begin to dismantle racist structures in their spheres of influence.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
The White Catholic’s Guide to White Supremacy by Dan Horan
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
Because I saw racism treat my dad differently as I grew up and now understood there was more to it than individual change.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Each day I do my best not to allow anyone to be invisible to me.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
“To Live in the Borderlands” by Gloria Anzaldúa 1987
Years on SDART:
Since 2019
Why did you join the team?
I believe in our corporate mission to become an antiracist institution and to influence the thought of the institutions and civic communities where our sisters serve.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Whenever I can, I try to talk with others about the United States’ “original sin”—racism—and to encourage others to learn more and begin to dismantle racist structures in their spheres of influence.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
The White Catholic’s Guide to White Supremacy by Dan Horan
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I joined the team because I felt hopeful that working with a group of white partners would allow us to accomplish meaningful work in Antiracism.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment:
Through continuing study with Sisters and Associates and through the application of an antiracist stance to current events.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
I mediate daily with resources from the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I had worked with Crossroads as part of the Catholic Schools Office Team and wanted to help with the congregational effort.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I am coordinating efforts with the high schools to bring consistency to their efforts there.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
After hearing passionate support of SDART’s mission and work from Sisters Sara Koch and Teresa Marron, how could I say no?!
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Both/and—reaching in and reaching out to live the gospel more fully.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Our Associate Anti-Racism Committee and the books, articles, videos, prayers and discussions together.
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I had already worked with Native Americans and I knew racism was still active and I wanted to know ways to learn, and help make changes for all.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
My work with Native Americans is a daily learning.
Years on SDART:
Since Fall 2024
Why did you join the team?
For over thirty years, I have lived and worked in central city neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I take suggestions from friends whose experiences and commitments broaden my understanding, face me with alternative ways of knowing, and companion my seeking.
Years on SDART:
Since 2017
Why did you join the team?
From my first association with the Dominican Sisters, I was attracted to and admired their antiracism stance and work.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I try to live out my antiracism commitment in my involvement with the JPIC and Associate Antiracism Committees as well as SDART. Antiracism is a stance for me in my faith community, the broader communities I encounter, and in my own introspective work.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson – both the book and the movie based on the book.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
I had been on the Justice Committee for several years and always had an interest in the work of SDART. When an opportunity to be part of the Associate Anti-racism team presented itself, I joined.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I hope to move the cause of justice forward in the lives of my children, grandchildren and the mini great grandchildren.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
A favorite story is "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins, the story of immigrant struggle to get to even get this country.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
Sister Clare told me about it and I thought I would like to help; Sister Marcelline allowed me to join.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I volunteer and contribute as much as I can to organizations that help victims of racism, or that support anti-racism.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
Escape from Sobibor by Richard Rashke (video of the same name but the book is better)
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
Racism is a grievous offense against our sisters and brothers, and the gospel calls/compels me to be involved in working to dismantle it.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Because our SDART effort calls for a transformed society, I volunteer with the Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism to do the work in the larger Springfield community.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
Scene on Radio from the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. They ask big, hard questions about who we are and how we got this way. I first connected to it with the Season 2 series, Seeing White.
Years on SDART:
Since 2022
Why did you join the team?
SDART gives me an opportunity to live out the values of social justice through an anti-racism lens
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Through witnessing to my students and people I encounter.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
The reason I joined the team because it was the right thing to do.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I live out my antiracism commitment through my work in my church and my Masonic organization.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation:
A long walk.
Years on SDART:
Since 2013
Why did you join the team?
I believe in our corporate mission to become an antiracist institution and to influence the thought of the institutions and civic communities where our sisters serve.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Whenever I can, I try to talk with others about the United States’ “original sin”—racism—and to encourage others to learn more and begin to dismantle racist structures in their spheres of influence.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
The White Catholic’s Guide to White Supremacy by Dan Horan
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
Because I saw racism treat my dad differently as I grew up and now understood there was more to it than individual change.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Each day I do my best not to allow anyone to be invisible to me.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
“To Live in the Borderlands” by Gloria Anzaldúa 1987
Years on SDART:
Since 2019
Why did you join the team?
I believe in our corporate mission to become an antiracist institution and to influence the thought of the institutions and civic communities where our sisters serve.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
Whenever I can, I try to talk with others about the United States’ “original sin”—racism—and to encourage others to learn more and begin to dismantle racist structures in their spheres of influence.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation
The White Catholic’s Guide to White Supremacy by Dan Horan
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I joined the team because I felt hopeful that working with a group of white partners would allow us to accomplish meaningful work in Antiracism.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment:
Through continuing study with Sisters and Associates and through the application of an antiracist stance to current events.
One favorite resource for study or contemplation?
I mediate daily with resources from the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Years on SDART:
Since 2004
Why did you join the team?
I had worked with Crossroads as part of the Catholic Schools Office Team and wanted to help with the congregational effort.
How do you live out your antiracism commitment?
I am coordinating efforts with the high schools to bring consistency to their efforts there.
Explore and Learn
What SDART members are reading, listening to, and thinking about.
Caste: The Origin of our Discontent. Isabelle Wilerson.
A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America. Trymaine Lee.
Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates
White Rage. The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Carol Anderson. New York: Bloomsbury. 2016.
The Central Park Five. The Untold Story behind one of New York City’s Most Infamous Crimes. Sarah Burns, New York: Random House. 2011.
Illusion of Justice: Inside Making a Murderer and America's Broken System. Jerome F. Buting. New York: HarperCollins. 2017.
Interrupting white privilege. Catholic Theologians Break the Silence. Lauren M. Cassidy and Alex Mikulich, ed. Maryknoll, NY.: Orbis Books. 2007.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Robin DiAngelo. Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson.
The Sin of White Supremacy. Christianity, Racism, & Religious Diversity in America. Jeannine Hill Fletcher. Maryknoll, NY.: Orbis Books. 2017.
A White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege. Dan Horan, OFM. Notre Dame, Ind.: Orbis Books. 2021.
Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem. Amanda Gorman. Illustrated by Loren Long. New York: Viking. 2021.
Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. 4th Edition. Paul Kivel. British Columbia: New Society Publisher. 2017:
Sulwe. Lupita Nyong’o. Illustrated by Vashti Harrison. New York: Simon & Schuster 2019.
Killers of the Dream. Lillian E. Smith. United Kingdom: Norton. 1994.
Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect us and What We Can Do. Claude M Steele. New York: Norton. 2010.
Just Mercy. A Story of Justice and Redemption. Bryan Stevenson. New York: Penguin Random House. 2019.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. 20th Anniversary Edition. Beverly Daniel Tatum. New York: Hachette Book Group. 2017.
The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States. Walter Johnson. New York: Basic Books. 2021.
How to Be an Antiracist. Ibram X. Kendi. New York: Penguin Random House. 2019.
Stringing Rosaries: The History, the Unforgivable, and the Healing of Northern Plains American Indian Boarding School Survivors. Denise K. Lajimodiere. North Dakota State University Press. 2021.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The epic story of America’s Great Migration. Isabel Wilkerson. New York: Penguin Random House. 2010.
To Live in the Borderlands by Gloria Anzaldúa 1987
What America Lost When It Lost Mother Fletcher. Caleb Gayle. The Atlantic. January 2026
To Live in the Borderlands by Gloria Anzaldúa 1987
“Racism is not the same thing as race prejudice,” says Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, co-chair of the Springfield Dominican Antiracism Team (SDART). “Racism is a combination of the abuse of institutional power and race prejudice, so that, even if someone has worked to rid herself of personal prejudice against people of certain ethnic groups, she is still caught in the web of racism, which is supported by institutional structures that are designed to privilege the group with social power and disenfranchise those without it.”
Institutional systems that keep racism in place in the United States are deeply rooted in United States history. Actively working to dismantle them is a life-long commitment rooted in Jesus’ teachings of inclusivity and right relationship. Learn how you can participate!
Our local partner, Springfield Coalition on Dismantling Racism, offers training sessions to help churches, organizations, and municipalities learn about and work to heal racism. They are a regional partner with Crossroads Antiracism Organizing. Contact SCoDR to get involved in central Illinois or Crossroads to learn about how to dismantle racism wherever you are in the United States.
Financial contributions of the Springfield Dismantling Racism Fund at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln is another great way to support efforts to dismantle racism in Central Illinois.
We knew from the moment we began the journey toward dismantling racism that we couldn’t proceed without the company of woman and men who are people of color. Our antiracism team includes about twenty Springfield Dominican Sisters, and about twenty partners who labor beside us in this sacred and challengin work. Any success we have we owe to their faithfulness and commitment. Watch this brief video to hear from some of our partners.
“The work undertaken by the Dominican Sisters and other groups could have a profound effect on Springfield and the state at large. Although the work is only beginning, the trust being created between African-American leaders and this city’s institutions is a welcome change that paves the way for meaningful reforms toward equality.
“Sometimes when I read the news or watch YouTube or Congress, I can feel hopeless or defeated,” she said. “But then I go to Springfield and see all the work happening in Illinois, I really feel like I’ve helped the world change a little bit today. Maybe I’ve helped save some lives and helped save someone’s dignity. It’s really gratifying.”
Robette Dias
Executive director, Crossroads Antiracism Organizing
Excerpted from Rooting out systemic racism, Illinois Times, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. Read the article.
