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Baking entrepreneur. Prep News editor. Voices of SLUH speaker. Ignatian Family Teach-In advocate. These are some of the many roles Max Marnatti has played during his time at St. Louis U. High, a period where he’s found himself rooted in his values and beliefs and emboldened by injustice and concern for the marginalized. Next weekend, Marnatti will be bestowed the Martin Luther King Jr. Model of Justice Award by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, along with students from each of the other Catholic high schools in the region. Marnatti was selected as SLUH’s recipient for his undeniable passion, commitment to service, and multi-faceted leadership.

The award “recognizes a senior who has demonstrated, through his attitude and his work, a commitment to serving humanity in the broader community. This student has made justice a central part of his life and has committed himself to the noble struggle for equal rights.” Selection is left to each school to conduct independently, and SLUH has distributed the award yearly since 2009.

“First we asked all the moderators of the various affinity groups and campus ministers if they wanted to nominate any seniors and provide a rationale for why they nominated. Then we went back to those same people and asked them to vote for the students who were nominated. It's through that process that Max was the winner,” said Director of Campus Ministry Brian Gilmore ’02.

In their consensus, the faculty voters emphasized Marnatti’s involvement with the Kino Border Initiative, Ignatian Teach-In for Justice, Voices of SLUH, and his philanthropic cookie business. The time and passion he poured into these activities aligned with the criteria for the award.

“It recognizes students who have a demonstrated commitment to justice-related efforts and serving our fellow humans, both in and outside of this SLUH community,” said Gilmore.

During his sophomore year, Marnatti attended SLUH’s spring break trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in support of the Kino Border Initiative. His initial decision to attend the trip was based on his interest in improving his Spanish, but he came away with a fiery desire for changemaking.

“My first time going to Kino was the launching point for any interest I had in social justice,” said Marnatti. “We learned a lot about the immigration system, and I was getting fired up on the trip about injustices that are in our country. Meeting people who have been affected by these injustices, talking to them face to face, playing with their kids, holding their hands, and watching them cry struck me on a deeper level and inspired me to look for more injustices in our societies that need to be paid attention to.”

The next fall, Marnatti headed to Washington, D.C. with a group of SLUH students for the annual Ignatian Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ). The experience of speaking with Senate and House of Representatives staffers and meeting Jesuit students from across the country connected him to like-minded people seeking to make a difference.

“I was interested in talking to my Congressional representatives of Missouri about immigration and the legislation behind it,” said Marnatti. “I saw a larger community of people who are interested in social justice reform. It's not just me who wants to create change in society.”

Quickly, these experiences shaped his life back in St. Louis. Since eighth grade, Marnatti has baked cookies in his home kitchen and sold them to customers for parties, holidays, and special occasions. After going to the border, Marnatti decided to donate all his profits to Kino.

“It was more than just donating money. With a small cookie business, you can't generate that much money; it's more about teaching people about what is happening at our borders. Whenever someone orders cookies, they ask me what the Kino Border Initiative is,” said Marnatti. “That's how we create social change. It can't just be one person. It has to be a whole group of people.”

Marnatti worked throughout the fall with Voices of SLUH Director Kate Toussaint and a small group of students to decide the theme and structure of the assembly. Feeling that his opinion piece in the Prep News had sufficed, Marnatti didn’t nominate himself to speak to the school about his experience as an LGBTQ+ student. But when Toussaint called on him to speak, Marnatti stepped up and delivered his touching story of struggles and success finding community and self-acceptance at SLUH.

“My goal was to touch at least one person's heart in the thousand-plus audience of students and show them that being your authentic self creates so much community and important diversity,” said Marnatti.

While his SLUH journey may be close to finished, Marnatti’s time as a servant leader and advocate has just begun. But he won’t forget what he holds at the core: people.

“I want to be a doctor in the future. That goal is going to come in around eight or nine years, so I have a lot of time to do other things. Right now, I’m just scratching the surface of what social justice can be. I can have such a greater impact,” said Marnatti. “But I hope that throughout all of my life I remember and stay rooted in the fact that all of this work is for the individual people, and that I remember all of the faces and names of the people who have inspired me and my desire to create change.”