Daniel Geiter was a struggling community college student and a convicted felon when Sister Susan Sanders helped him get the support he needed to stay in school—and eventually earn a doctorate. Today, Geiter is repaying that gift as the founder of the Susan M. Sanders Teaching and Learning Center, a Pilsen-based nonprofit that helps other former inmates pursue a college education.  Geiter and Sister Sanders will talk about their experience on March 1 during Mercy-ing: Repaying the Gift of Redemption, this year’s Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Lecture at Elmhurst College.

Geiter holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from Benedictine University. He is president of the Elijah Glenn Ward Family Foundation in Chicago and leads the development teams for Ward Institute of Technology and for Ward College.

Susan Sanders, RSM, is a Sister of Mercy and was elected to the Community Leadership Team of the West Midwest Community in 2013. Before that, she served at St. Xavier University in several vice presidential and academic leadership positions, and founded the Center for Religion and Public Discourse.