Descripción general
In 1973, the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey reopened St. Benedict’s Preparatory School with 89 students, a renewed commitment to the City of Newark and a vow to serve youth of all races and cultures who are most in need. Five decades later, St. Benedict’s has expanded to more than 1,000 students from all socio-economic and faith backgrounds in grades K-12, gaining a national reputation for building community and bridging divides.
Anthony DePalma (author and former New York Times correspondent) will lead a conversation with Father Edwin Leahy (headmaster of St. Benedict’s for the last 53 years) and St. Benedict’s alumnus and parent Mark Comesañas, (executive director of My Brother’s Keeper Newark) about the history and challenges of the school’s engagement with the city and its youth over the last five decades.
Copies of DePalma’s new book about St. Benedict’s, On This Ground: Hardship and Hope at the Toughest Prep School in America (HarperCollins Publishers, 2026), will be available for purchase.
RSVP
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Sponsored by Newark History Society, NJPAC and Newark Public Library