Saint Louis University Student Speaks About Leadership and Disability at Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice
Maggie Rotermund
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ST. LOUIS - “My disability doesn't make me any less worthy of leadership, belonging or love. It has actually formed the way I lead and the way I see the world.”
Saint Louis University senior Grace LoPiccolo shared her personal leadership journey at the 2025 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. The event, held annually in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s largest Catholic social justice advocacy day.
LoPiccolo, president of SLU’s Student Government Association, gave a speech about living with chronic pain to student leaders from Catholic high schools and Jesuit colleges and universities.
LoPiccolo shared her health journey with the group, beginning with at diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease at age 9. CMT is group of inherited nerve disorders that damage peripheral nerves, causing progressive muscle weakness, atrophy (wasting), and sensory loss, along with fine motor skill challenges.
“At nine, hearing that my body was working against me, I decided to hate it,” she told the crowd. “Hate the pain, hate the limits, hate that I couldn't do what other kids' bodies could do. I hated my body.”
LoPiccolo told the crowd she realized she need not shrink herself to fit into a world that wasn't designed with her body in mind.
“I slowly realized the real problem was never my diagnosis, it was the way the world responded to it.”
This was LoPiccolo's second year attending the Teach-In. The Teach-In is held by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, which works in partnership with hundreds of Catholic universities, high schools, and parishes across the country, with a special affinity to Jesuit institutions, to provide social justice education grounded in Catholic Social Teaching.
The theme of the 2025 Ignatian Family Teach-In was Pressing On.
“I appreciate that we have this forum to talk about tough topics through a Catholic teaching lens,” she said. “You can get nervous thinking sometimes that it is just me feeling this way. It was affirming after my talk to have multiple conversations with people who are sharing their stories and working for change.”
LoPiccolo said she appreciated the advocacy work that is part of the Ignatian Teach-In.
“It is so important to understand how things work,” she said. “Events like this allow us to hear from wider perspectives. I've had the opportunity to meet and talk with people I really agree with and really disagree with, but we are having impactful conversations and that is something we need to do to make change in our communities.”
LoPiccolo is majoring in Catholic Studies and is in the process of applying to law school.
About Saint Louis University
Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.