Last spring, following a declaration of financial exigency and a radical change in curriculum at Wheeling Jesuit University, the Maryland Province of Jesuits decided to withdraw the Society of Jesuit endorsement of the university effective at the end of the academic year. As noted in a press release from the Maryland Province, financial challenges, these changes and the subsequent mass layoffs of faculty signaled that the university no longer clearly adhered to Jesuit educational priorities:
Continued financial challenges at the University recently led the Board of Trustees to declare financial exigency. In response to that declaration, University leadership developed a reorganization plan that includes eliminating numerous academic programs, as well as faculty and staff positions. With nearly all Jesuit positions eliminated, and without sufficient lay Ignatian leadership and programming to support the Jesuit identity of the University, the Jesuit affiliation of the University will not be able to continue.
Because the Jesuits own the name “Jesuit,” the Board of Trustees re-branded the university as Wheeling University mid-last month. Wheeling University maintains its status as a Catholic university and is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
The photo is featured courtesy of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus .