Student Equity Speaker Series & Rising Scholars Present: 

An Evening of Hope with Fr. Greg Boyle
Topic: The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness

Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Time:  5:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: Sophia B. Clarke Theater (Bldg. 2T)

Audience: This is a free, public event. All students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members are welcome!

About the Student Equity Speaker Series:
The purpose of Student Equity Speaker Series is to bring diversity, equity, inclusion, social-justice, anti-racism, and accessibility (DEISAA) awareness to the Mt. San Antonio College campus and local community through culturally relevant speaking engagements with leaders from various industries spanning arts, media, education, business, politics, and more. Some examples of past Equity Speakers include: artists, authors, actors, television/film writers, directors, non-profit leaders, professors, researchers, and activists. Past equity speakers have included: Bettina Love, Reyna Grande, Nyle DiMarco, Rafael Agustin, Tazbah Chavez, Anthony Ocampo, Peggy Oki, and Chaz Bojorquez. 

About our Speaker: 
Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest, is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world.  

Born and raised in Los Angeles and Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Fr. Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights. Dolores Mission was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city.    

Fr. Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992.  In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.    

In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of individuals who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life. 

Fr. Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. Followed by Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship (2017) and The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness (2021). His most recent work is Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love in Divided Times (2024).   

About Rising Scholars and Second Chance Month:
The Rising Scholars Program at Mt. San Antonio College seeks to assist students directly impacted by the criminal justice system through education. For more information, visit www.mtsac.edu/rising-scholars/.  

April is Second Chance Month, which provides Mt. SAC the opportunity to highlight the importance of supporting individuals returning from incarceration and creating pathways for opportunity, dignity, and belonging. Learn more about Second Chance Month here.

Special thanks to Mt. SAC Professional and Organizational Development (POD) office for their sponsorship of our event. All guests will receive a free copy of Fr. Boyle’s book, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness.