On September 25, Cristo Rey student Lizbeth V. attended a national rally in Washington D.C. with a local youth contingent. This rally to End Gun Violence brought people across the country together to urge Congress to pass common sense gun safety laws. 

Lizbeth said, "Coming from Brighton Park, we travelled to Washington D.C. in order to demand common sense gun legislation from those in power, especially a ban on assault weapons. We have had too many mass shootings in our country and our politicians are not doing enough to save our lives. It’s so sad that now we need to prepare for shootings, like with school shooting drills, instead of avoiding them. Our government should be fighting for our lives not protecting guns!"

Lizbeth also attended a gun safety forum in Las Vegas in early October, which made headlines in the Chicago Tribune.

We love hearing from our alumni, especially when they let us know about their amazing accomplishments. Yajayra Juarez ('17) recently contacted our alumni office to tell us what she has been up to. 

"My name is Yajayra Juarez and I am a Cristo Rey alum who graduated in 2017. I just wanted to let you know that I recently graduated from Arrupe College. I got to be honored with Summa Cum Laude, which is the highest set of honors due to having a 3.95 GPA, as well as having PTK honors. I got my first college degree, my Associates from Arrupe College of Loyola University! Also, due to all my hard work and dedication I was able to get a full ride and paid scholarship to continue my studies and get my bachelor's at Loyola University in Chicago. Another great opportunity that I got due to being part of Arrupe College was a paid study abroad program in Spain, with a fellow alumnus, Aline Ramirez '17.  These past two years at Arrupe have been great, I loved it and I just wanted to let you know that I highly encourage many future students to go to Arrupe. They offer so many good opportunities, like the ones I was able to receive. I thought I'd let you know how well Arrupe has been to me and to other Cristo Rey alumni." 

If you're an alumnus of Cristo Rey and want to share your story with us, please contact Elizabeth Galka, Director of College Support and Alumni Relations.

On Monday, September 23, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School welcomed guest speaker Maria Castañón Moats of PwC – a U.S. Leadership Team member and Assurance Leader for the US and Mexico.  Ms. Moats related her inspiring personal story with our first-generation, Spanish speaking students and congratulated the school on receiving a $100,000 Reimagine grant from the PwC Charitable Foundation to accelerate our students’ digital learning. Thank you to our friends at PwC, the PwC Charitable Foundation, and Ms. Moats!  

Maria Castañón Moats, second from left, with Robert Keehan and Cristo Rey Leadership Advisory Council member Hugo Martinez from PwC, along with Cristo Rey students Melanie and Angie. Melanie is working her second year at PwC, and Angie is working her third year at PwC. Not pictured: Jim Kohler from PwC.