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Mission Statement

I believe in a strong value central livelihood of  knowledge, faith and personal growth. Growing in Jesuit spirituality and knowledge of justice and truth. 

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Expanding Horizons and Deepening Knowledge: The University is the steward of a long and deep tradition of learning and knowledge. It has a responsibility to this living tradition of which it is a part and whose continuing significance it fosters in ever-new ways. Students who come to Loyola can expect to be enriched and broadened by that tradition and, at the same time, be challenged by it to lead extraordinary lives that are relevant in new and different circumstances.

Self-Appropriation: Beginning with an appreciation of one's gifts and the progressive discerning of how best to use them in practical ways and diverse settings are both the starting place and the trajectory of an educational process that we call self-appropriation. When students arrive at the University, they often have not yet fully identified their gifts and vocation. It often happens that their thoughts, actions, and choices are being dictated by convention or by mimetic group pressure. A transformative pedagogy is one that helps students name their gifts, formulate their convictions, and ultimately take full ownership of their own lives. A transformative education, then, is one that transforms students in order that they might transform the world.

Moral Responsibility: There are clear moral dimensions to the economic, political, social, and environmental crises our world is currently facing. Many professionals—lawyers, bankers, accountants, politicians, academics, and the entire chain of intermediaries, including Church leaders—have failed to detect or deter the wrongdoing of our institutions; instead of exercising their moral duty, many chose the path of silence, convenience, and complicity. It is more important than ever that our students receive a strong foundation in moral discernment in order that they can act responsibly in all their relationships and pursue the common good.

Faith and Justice: The overriding purpose of the Society of Jesus, namely "the service of faith," or its communication and deepening, must also include the promotion of justice, a goal shared with many religious traditions. So central to the mission of the Society was this union of faith and justice that it has become the integrating factor of all that Jesuits and their institutions undertake. But it is not enough simply to juxtapose these two terms; it is essential to hold the two together. Because, in the end, injustice is rooted in a spiritual problem and its solution requires a change of heart. More than ever, we face a world that has an even greater need for the faith that does justice.




 

 

Author: Kaitlyn Titus
Last modified: 4/18/2012 11:03 AM (EDT)