Reflection Series: What It Means to Be a Preeminent Catholic Jesuit Research University
03/11/2024
鈥淲hat does it mean to be a preeminent Jesuit research university?鈥� For this reflection piece, I was asked to focus on the meaning of 鈥淛esuit鈥� in that question. 鈥淛esuit,鈥� however, entails 鈥淐atholic,鈥� so my reflections will focus on that word, as well. Ultimately, 鈥淐atholic鈥� is more important than 鈥淛esuit.鈥� 91女神 could stop being a Jesuit university and remain a Catholic one; it could not do the opposite.
The push to make 91女神 a preeminent Jesuit research university requires a consideration of how 91女神鈥檚 Catholic, Jesuit mission relates to its research mission. That relation, I would suggest, includes two key obligations: to be an authentically Catholic, Jesuit university, 91女神 must be a research university, but to be a research university requires that researchers attend to 91女神鈥檚 Catholic, Jesuit mission.
That latter claim may seem inimical to academic freedom, but it is, in fact, the commitment to research that has propelled the academic mission of Catholic colleges and universities (CCUs). Throughout the first part of the 20th century, CCUs were generally seen as inferior to their secular counterparts. American intellectuals, including many Catholics, regularly complained about CCUs鈥� lack of scholarly achievement. In 1967, however, leaders in Catholic higher education 鈥� including 91女神鈥檚 then-president Paul C. Reinert, S.J., along with 91女神鈥檚 board chair and its dean of Arts and Sciences 鈥� charted a new course for CCUs, outlined in , more popularly known as the 鈥淟and o鈥� Lakes Statement," for the Wisconsin town where it was written. The Land o鈥� Lakes Statement committed Catholic universities to the same level of academic freedom and scholarly achievement as their secular counterparts. This commitment entailed a robust program of research, though a program undertaken within a larger horizon:
The Catholic university will, of course, maintain and support broad programs of research. It will promote basic research in all university fields but, in addition, it will be prepared to undertake by preference, though not exclusively, such research as will deal with problems of greater human urgency or of greater Christian concern.
- From The Idea of the Catholic University, aka The Land 'o Lakes Statement
This statement asserts the independence of research, which cannot be limited in advance to any purpose or outcome. Yet this independence is asserted within a Catholic, Jesuit framework.
As described by former Jesuit superior general Adolfo Nicol谩s, S.J., these twin commitments entail seeing the university as a , a social project aimed at the common good. Nicol谩s borrows the phrase proyecto social from his fellow Jesuit Ignacio Ellacur铆a, S.J., who had been president of the University of Central America until his 1989 assassination by a U.S.-trained death squad. (Other victims included five of his Jesuit companions, along with their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter.) In 1982, Ellacur铆a traveled to Santa Clara University in which he outlined his vision for the Catholic university. That vision included a transformation of society, propelled by intellectuals doing what intellectuals do: analyzing causes, imagining remedies, and communicating new possibilities, all in the service of the Gospel鈥檚 call to serve the poor.
This does not mean that only the poor will study at the university; it does not mean that the university should abdicate its mission of academic excellence 鈥� excellence which is needed in order to solve complex social issues of our time. What it does mean is that the university should be present intellectually where it is needed: to provide science for those without science; to provide skills for those without skills; to be a voice for those without voices; to give intellectual support for those who do not possess the academic qualifications to make their rights legitimate.
- Ignacio Ellacur铆a Beascoechea, S. J.
To be present intellectually should be the mission of the preeminent Catholic, Jesuit university. It is also another way to understand the informal Jesuit motto of 鈥渕en and women for and with others.鈥� How are we with others? How are we present to them? Intellectually 鈥� through the rigor and aspiration of our research. But that is also the way we are for others; our academic excellence is what empowers us to unlock the wisdom necessary to 鈥�transform society in the spirit of the Gospels.鈥�
Paul Lynch, Ph.D.
Paul Lynch, Ph.D., is an associate professor of English whose research interests include the rhetoric of religion, rhetorical theory, and writing pedagogy.