By Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J., Jesuit Superior General, 2008-16, often mused aloud that there is so much potential in the array of Jesuit higher learning institutions. “If we could only find a way to harness and direct that potential,” he would say, “we would be truly impactful and make a great contribution.” So in Mexico City, in 2010, at a gathering of presidents of the 200 Jesuit universities, he suggested that an international organization could be such a vehicle. Eight years later, the president of each of the six regional associations of Jesuit universities signed a charter creating the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU). The charter and the organization’s six-point strategic plan were approved in a ceremony presided over by Nicolás’ successor, Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., who charged the representatives gathered in Azpetia, Spain, to make of their institutions “places that are wellsprings of life, deeply committed to reconciliation.”
Representatives from nearly 200 Jesuit Institutions of higher education across the world gathered in Bilbao, Spain for the launch of International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) in 2018. Photo courtesy of Ignacio Garrido Cruz.
An international network, closely linked by our common mission and identity, was not difficult for the academic leaders of Jesuit institutions to grasp. Knowledge creation, in addition to being a collaborative endeavor, is a global activity. Joint initiatives enhance the academic experience of students as well as faculty. And cultures, like academic disciplines and political or social systems, are continuously impacted by developments around the globe. Thus, in the association’s inaugural year, a number of Jesuit institutions and faculty have advanced the agenda of the new IAJU and U.S. Jesuit institutions are already taking a leadership position in new collaborative projects.
A New Organization for Advancing Collaboration
The IAJU board, composed of two representatives from each of the six regional associations (North America, Europe, Africa-Madagascar, S. Asia, Asia Pacific and Latin America), has already approved several joint projects and will take up a number of newly planned initiatives for approval at its March 2020 winter meeting in Rome.
The IAJU priority issues have inspired study groups and conferences, as well as led to interest in creating affinity groups of scholars among colleagues in other Jesuit institutions. The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) is sponsoring one such affinity group of researchers interested in migration studies. The IAJU website hosts these planning and affinity groups.
One such collaborative endeavor involves a group of 10 business school deans representing each of the regions and led by Fordham’s Dean Donna Rappacioli, to create a “new paradigm for business education.” The deans envision a model based squarely on the Laudato Si’ encyclical and its call for a new economic reality to replace an “economy of exclusion.”
The rectors (presidents) of the Comillas in Madrid and the Universidad de Javierana in Bogota’ are planning an international symposium for July, 2020, to showcase best practices in fostering reconciliation with God, with our fellow human beings, and with creation through multiple disciplines.
Georgetown and Arrupe College, Zimbabwe, have formed a study group to look at the challenge raised by Fr. General Sosa concerning the preparation of future civic and political leaders. This working group on global citizenship will examine ways Jesuit education can re-commit itself to forming civic and political leaders equipped to deal with environmental and economic injustice and the challenges to liberal democracy.
Nearly a dozen institutional directors of international programs are preparing a proposal for student exchanges that would offer an opportunity to apply for internships and study abroad at another Jesuit institution to learn more about mission-focused programs at the host institution. The program, called MAGIS-Exchange, will be open to any institution willing to host and to send two students to another Jesuit university located on another continent. Representatives from Creighton, Loyola Andalucia, Sophia, Cote d’Ivoire, University of San Francisco, ITESO in Puebla, Mexico, and others have led this project.
The call by Pope Francis to integral human development has attracted considerable attention at Jesuit institutions. Consequently, a group of faculty who focus on the local implications of climate change and environmental degradation and are led by scientists and ethicists from Santa Clara and Loyola University Chicago, is planning a Climate Conference for March 2020 for an in-depth look at community-based research involving students.
Hoping to assist efforts begun in 2005 to bring educational opportunities to refugees, migrants and those in isolated and poor communities, IAJU has chosen to support Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) and its expansion efforts. JWL is now in more than 16 communities in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The pioneering work done by Gonzaga, Regis and Creighton has created a series of diploma and certificate pro grams reaching several thousand. IAJU is helping to expand JWL’s online and tutoring programs.
Finally, in August of 2021, delegates from all the Jesuit universities will assemble at Boston College to review and advance these priority issues.
The New Apostolic Preferences and the Role of Universities
This past spring, the Society of Jesus announced four new Universal Apostolic Preferences, which will guide the Society’s future deliberations and initiatives, as well as IAJU and AJCU priority agenda.
For the first preference, the Society asks that all its institutions be more deliberate in applying the tools of Ignatian discernment, namely the Spiritual Exercises and Rules of Discernment, to its review and selection of important activities.
The second of these, “journeying with youth,” asks how we might invite young people to share their hopes and concerns with us. How do we assist them in finding their calling today?
The third is “care for our common home.” Jesuit institutions all over the world have taken up this call to grapple with the issues of the environment in its many manifestations.
And, the fourth asks us to more intently accompany the excluded, the marginalized, and the poor through direct service and study of the conditions that contribute to their marginalization. Although all of IAJU’s priority initiatives contribute to the advancement of these four preferences, we’ll be looking for more opportunity to advance and deepen our commitment to these universal themes.
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., president emeritus of Loyola University Chicago, is Secretary for Higher Education of the Society of Jesus, chair of the board of directors of the International Association of Jesuit Universities, and, incoming president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
Click here for more information on the Universal Apostolic Preferences.
The featured covered photo (above) is courtesy of the Society of Jesus.