As director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Phelps challenged the Catholic Church to better understand itself through the voices and experiences of Black Catholics and those on the margins.
Dr. Owens is president emerita of Gwynedd Mercy University in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She led the university as president from 2002 to her retirement in 2017. Earlier in her higher education career, Dr. Owens served as vice president of academic affairs at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
Susan O'Hara was a long-time leader of the disability rights movement and the former director of the Disabled Students Residence Program at the University of California, Berkeley.