The Family Summit

In 1980, economist Thomas Sowell and others organized a special conference focused on alternative perspectives on issues prevalent in Black communities and on solutions to promote upward mobility. This became known as the Fairmont Conference and later led to the publication of the Fairmont Papers. The conference was centered on outcomes rather than rhetoric about the intentions behind legislation and policies that claim to help the disadvantaged. Sowell and others in attendance contended that expanded government intervention and noble intentions would not liberate our inner-city communities, but rather that personal agency and community initiatives would.

Inspired by the Fairmont Conference, the Center for Human Flourishing hosts The Family Summit, a gathering of Benedictine College alumni focused on alternative approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty, crime, and violence in the black community. Most initiatives aimed at upward mobility for the disadvantaged adopt a deficit approach, focusing on abstract systems. The Family Summit takes an anti-deficit approach. The summit centers on family, faith, and freedom and focuses on replicating successes and the habits that lead to a flourishing life, even in the face of adversity.