2026 Summit on Human Dignity

Addiction: Anchored or Adrift?

Feb. 24 - March 5, 2026

SUMMIT MISSION STATEMENT

Addiction is an often misunderstood yet pervasive issue in our community as well as communities around us. Addiction isn't limited to harmful substances–such as drugs and alcohol–but can also include unhealthy behaviors like excessive social media use and sports betting. The effects of addiction, which can seem inconsequential or distant from ourselves, can negatively affect our friends, family, and ourselves in ways which we may not realize. Yet the nature of addiction is often stigmatized and misconstrued, making it more difficult for those in need to seek help.

Guided by our Jesuit identity and our Catholic faith, this Summit aims to: engage the Brophy community in healthy discussions about our own unhealthy attachments; develop a more nuanced understanding of addictive behaviors and their effects; recognize the ways that addiction and addictive products can disproportionately impact vulnerable individuals and communities; and empower us to seek and offer support to sow hope for those who may be struggling.

2026 SUMMIT INFORMATION

List of 2 items.

> What is the Summit on Human Dignity?

We are so fortunate every spring to engage in the Brophy Summit on Human Dignity, an event far more likely to exist on a college campus than at a high school. The range of topics we have examined in the past seventeen years is impressive – the death penalty, immigration, war, globalization, the environment, food, income inequality, masculinity, race, restorative justice, violence, democracy, the commodification of the human person, health, water, racism, disinformation, debt, and artificial intelligence – all through the lens of human dignity.

It takes months of planning and many hands to create this event. We invite you to approach it with an open heart, a curious mind, and a desire to discern how God’s will for justice and the fullness of human life calls you to future action, and to critically examine the actions you already engage in on a daily basis. This year’s summit will address four important questions related to the premise of Addiction: Anchored or Adrift?
> Four Guiding Questions
- What behaviors, actions, or substances might I have an unhealthy attachment to?
- How can we, as individuals and as a community, find empathy and offer support for those struggling with addiction?
- How do addictive behaviors uniquely harm us, teenagers, and our friends?
- How do addictions impact those who are feeling vulnerable or who are on the margins of society?