By Thomas M. Kelly
Educating “people for and with others” is the mission of Jesuit higher education, informing all that we do in our schools. Those who educate students at Jesuit colleges and universities should thus be credible models of the mission, which can take many forms across the disciplines. The impetus for a Jesuit commitment to social justice is faith, and when Jesuits refer to “faith” in their documents, it means “Jesus and his message of God’s Kingdom in a spirit of love to everyone” (Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., talk at Santa Clara University, Oct. 2000). However, understanding such a faith in college and university settings requires delicacy and nuance. It would be a mistake to think that only Catholics or Christians can embody this “faith.” Rather, in both Christian scripture and the Ignatian spirituality, “faith” and “love” are manifest more in actions than in words. There are many outside of any religious tradition “who love the God they do not see by loving the people they do see” (1 Jn. 4:20-21).
A faith that embodies a commitment to justice can become evident in a candidate through their understanding of collegiality; the purpose of teaching; the orientation of their research and scholarship; and how they view service to the university and its local, national, and global communities. The critical discernment in hiring decisions related to faith and justice is whether a person is oriented fundamentally toward others and the common good or toward themselves and their own individual good.
Collegiality
As a human community, the capacity for building healthy, reciprocal, and respectful relationships is vital for every task embodied by the university. Such capacity will largely determine a candidate’s relationship with colleagues, students, administrators, local communities, and scholarly associations. Entrance into a department comes with expectations that collegiality is important. Candidates need to understand the purpose of a department or college as a community of scholars, each responsible for the growth of others, regardless of rank or tenure. We welcome candidates into a community rather than a center of competition. How a candidate understands the quality of their professional relationships can reflect a faith that does justice. Cura personalis, that is, personal care that considers the whole of someone’s experience, applies to both students and colleagues.
Teaching
How a candidate views teaching is essential. Probing why teaching is important to them reveals their basic orientation toward students. Effective conversations with candidates make room for these topics, noting the quality of their personal aspirations with students and the guidance that involves. A “generous” teacher will have accessible office hours, spend time with students, and follow up with real concerns. Advising students about educational issues often intersects with discussions involving other dimensions of their lives, reflecting the unique Jesuit commitment to cura personalis and the mentoring we try to provide our students. At the same time, these student-teacher relationships always stay professional.
Another important gauge of a faith that does justice is the way a candidate understands their discipline as a mode of service to the community and world. Disciplines taught in a vacuum fail to engage the world and thus diminish the purpose of Jesuit universities to serve the common good. Competence and compassion are never contradictions for Jesuit education.
Research and Scholarship
Jesuit colleges and universities are “missions” of the Society of Jesus, which the Jesuits identify as the mission of Jesus. This means that directly and indirectly they contribute to the original purpose of Jesuit education – to educate rich and poor to serve the common good. Under a faith that does justice, research and scholarship will involve the best practices of each individual discipline, embrace human realities, make the world a better place to live, and be oriented toward populations that are victims of injustice and inequality.
The desire to instill competence in students is one purpose of a Jesuit education, and it is mirrored in the research and scholarship conducted by faculty. Candidates open to interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary inquiry are preferable because this demonstrates both an openness to collaboration with colleagues and a view of education that is both humble and interconnected.
Finally, research and scholarship at Jesuit institutions try to include the perspectives and needs of the world’s poor. From the Jesuit perspective, knowledge is not neutral – as it “always carries the bias of the values of and particular structure of human beings.” Research emerges from the innate tendencies and perceptions of the researcher. A candidate will express a commitment to serve those whom the world has forgotten. How candidates orient their own service to the university and wider community is very important.
Service
Faculty at Jesuit institutions contribute significant time and energy to service. This includes embracing the work of committees that determine rank and tenure, professional development, curriculum approval, and other essential tasks. For the good of the institution, candidates are sought who desire to serve because they are fundamentally oriented toward the good of others in the academic community as well as the wider local, national, and global communities. Faculty service in a Jesuit college or university takes many different forms and taps the diverse talents of unique human beings.
Just as Jesuit research and teaching do not exist in a vacuum, neither do Jesuit colleges and universities. Being in close contact with social reality outside the gates of our institutions is essential to fulfilling our Jesuit mission and identity. Faculty who serve local and global communities through their disciplinary engagement serve as competent and vital examples of a faith that does justice.
Thomas M. Kelly is professor of theology and the director of Academic Service-Learning at Creighton University.
The featured cover photo (above) is courtesy of Creighton University.