Media Release

For Immediate Release

May 27, 2005

Saint Mary’s Launches New Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace

Saint Mary’s University will officially open its new Centre for Spirituality and the
Workplace on June 23, 2005 with an international conference.

This will be the first academic-based centre for work and spirituality in Canada.

The focus of the Centre will be to positively and strategically influence the conversations and accomplishments about spirituality and the workplace globally. A large number of people from across Canada and around the world will be attending the opening of this first of its kind centre in Canada.

From 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, The Scotiabank Conference Theatre in the Sobey Building will be the venue for the launch of the conference where a number of world renowned speakers from both business and academia who are active in the area of spirituality and work will present.

“Through relationships with universities in the region, Canada and the United States the Centre will make Atlantic Canada a global leader in this field,” says Dr. Cathy Driscoll, a management professor in the Sobey School of Business who also serves as the Executive Director of the Centre.

“The Centre will develop courses and programs, publish, conduct research and hold conferences about the importance of spirituality in the workplace,” she says.

The Chair of the International Board of Directors of the Centre is Martin Rutte, co-author of The New York Times Business Bestseller Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work and President of Livelihood Inc, which is located in Santa Fe, NM (USA).

“Over the past several years there have been dramatic changes in what work is.
Downsizing, outsourcing, and technology replacing people, have all contributed to a
loss of spirit at work,” he says.

As a result, people are looking for something deeper, something of significance, for purpose. Many want to turn to the spiritual but are afraid of dogma, or have childhood hurts about religion.”

The result, Rutte says, is “fertile ground” for a search for greater meaning at work and for
a new perspective on spirituality. He says companies would be wise to support the kind of
spiritual inquiry that many of their workers are currently seeking.

“The benefits can be quite astounding,” he says. “Aside from offering people a sense of
authenticity, so that they can truly be themselves at work, a more spiritual workplace also
gives people a sense of community, joy, and authenticity. They are more innovative and
are more energized.”

“It remains important that spirituality initiatives remain voluntary and non-threatening,” he says. “As a result, for any initiatives, which include the ‘religious’ there is no proselytizing, no trying in any way to force something on people. We want people to want to engage in this topic out of a free and natural choice, out of a desire to be more spiritual at work.”

This field is quickly growing. Spirituality in the workplace is a major trend in North America as nearly 200 books have been published on the subject.

Speakers on June 23 include:

• David Miller
Executive Director of the Yale University Centre for Faith and Culture and Associate Director of the Ethics and Spirituality in the Workplace Program at Yale University in New Haven, CT

• Sister Maureen McGuire
Senior Vice President, Mission Integration at Ascension Health, St. Louis, MO

• Andre Delbecq
Executive Director, Institute for Spirituality and Organizational Leadership, Santa Clara University, CA

• Michael Stephen
former Chair, Aetna International Inc., Author of Spirituality Business: The Hidden Success Factor,Toronto, ON

• Mayann Francis
CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission,Halifax, NS

• Sabine Bredemeyer, founder, Bredemeyer and Friends, leader in European
spirituality and business, Dusseldorf, Germany.

• Martin Rutte
President, Livelihood, Santa Fe, NM & Chair of the Board, The Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace

• Cathy Driscoll
Executive Director, The Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace

For more information, please contact Dr. Cathy Driscoll at (902) 420-5282 or email
cathy.driscoll@smu.ca.

Saint Mary's University is known for its community outreach projects, both in Canada and around the world. Saint Mary's, founded in 1802, is home to one of Canada's leading business schools, a Science Faculty widely known for its cutting-edge research, a comprehensive and innovative Arts Faculty and a new Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.

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For More Information:

Paul Fitzgerald
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: paul.fitzgerald@smu.ca
www.smu.ca