Category: Service in Action

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A Reflective Review of 2024: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going

This week’s post is a reflective Examen about 2024. 

Since Mission in Motion began nearly five years ago, the blog has posted a year-end Examen that reflects on the most mission-significant occurrences of the past year. My intention, like a classic Examen practice, is to take stock of the experiences of greatest meaning in our collective life as a university and reflect on how these events have shaped us as members of the SCS community. Such a review brings up moments of both consolation and desolation, inviting each of us to reflect on how we have been transformed by our shared experiences and how we desire to journey into the year ahead. This practice is an opportunity to name gratitude for the multitude of ways that students, faculty, and staff live out Georgetown’s mission and values. A look back at 2024 can be especially helpful as SCS prepares in 2025 to move from its current location at 640 Massachusetts Avenue to its new 111 Massachusetts Avenue home on the Capitol Campus.

2024 featured some standard Mission and Ministry programming that brought together students, faculty, and staff to experience the resources of Georgetown’s Jesuit and multi-religious heritage. A newly designed oversight retreat in March 2024, “Journeying the Good life,” encouraged students to more deeply consider what daily practices help them flourish and live out their deeper purpose in life (see “SCS Retreat Invites Students into Reflection on the Meaning and Practices of the Good Life”).  Staff benefited from a new workshop about managing conflict through effective dialogue skills and greater emotional awareness (see “Becoming Spiritually Grounded Strategic Thinkers and Discerning Leaders”). Some of the learning from this new staff-focused program was incorporated into the inaugural “Strategic Thinking & Leadership Academy” offered by SCS as a non-degree certificate. 

This was a year in which SCS helped contribute to national events. In July, the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities (AJCU) held its tri-annual assembly on faith, justice, and reconciliation at Loyola University Chicago. SCS work on Ignatian pedagogical strategy for online course development that resonates with adult learners was featured in a national AJCU commission dedicated to Ignatian Pedagogy (see “AJCU Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation Assembly Brings Together University Colleagues at a Critical Time”). The presidential election provided another opportunity for mission resources to help the university community pause and process a mix of emotions (see “Civic Examen Helps Georgetown Community Reflect on the Emotions of Election Season”). 

2024 was another year when the blog featured the diverse voices of SCS students, faculty, and staff as presented in a range of interviews. Dion Thompson-Davoli, a May 2024 graduate of the Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning, reflected on his historic achievement: running down every single street in Washington, D.C. (see “Recent SCS Graduate Accomplishes Major Feat, Running Down Every Street of Washington, D.C., and Discovering More About Himself and the City Along the Way”). Another graduating student, Mary Delaney Fox, won the Spirit of Georgetown award at the SCS Tropaia ceremony and shared about her transformative efforts to promote organ donation (see “2024 SCS Spirit of Georgetown Winner Reflects on Gifts of Life, Family, and Georgetown”). And Haroot Hakopian, SCS assistant dean of student affairs, was highlighted in a Georgetown Faces profile about the many ways he brings a spirit of belonging and inclusion to the work of the summer programs (see “Shining a Storytelling a Spotlight on a Key Member of the SCS Summer Team”). 

More attention was paid on this platform to the evolution of a Capitol Campus and the initial plans for developing a more coherent culture and community among the different units and schools, including SCS, that will bring this campus to life. A dedicated overnight retreat in Fall 2024 for graduate, professional, and law students, with a special focus on students on the Capitol Campus, previewed more efforts to create reflective spaces for this mix of students (see “Fall 2024 Graduate, Law, and Professional Student Retreat Emphasizes Listening to the Voice Within”). Two new spirituality programs for the Capitol Campus brought together students, staff, and faculty to experience this new university reality through the lens of Ignatian spirituality (see “Walking Examen of the Capitol Campus Contributes to Jesuit Heritage Month”) and multi-faith dialogue (see “New Mission and Ministry Program on the Capitol Campus Explores ‘Practicing Pluralism’”). Also, the inaugural Mass of the Holy Spirit for the entire Capitol Campus, which is always celebrated on the Hilltop campus, established a solid foundation for the future of communal worship in this area of the city (see “Capitol Campus Mass of the Holy Spirit Encourages Openness to the New (and Old)”). 

2024 was a momentous year for Georgetown SCS for all of these reasons and more. As we journey into the next year, I invite everyone to take some time to reflect. What are the moments that stand out the most from this year? What experiences brought you the most joy and closest to your truest self? What led to the opposite, draining you of energy and your deeper purpose? How are you being called to renewal and recommitment in the coming year? 

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English Language Center Hosts Annual Panel About Thanksgiving Traditions

This week’s post is about the annual Thanksgiving panel and potluck organized by the English Language Center. 

The Thanksgiving holiday presents an invaluable opportunity to reflect on the diversity of the Georgetown community. The annual Thanksgiving panel hosted by the English Language Center (ELC) is one of the ways this diversity is honored and celebrated. Each year, ELC invites SCS faculty and staff as panelists to reflect for the ELC students about the meanings of the holiday. This conversation elicits laughter, cheers, and curiosity as students, most of whom are newcomers to American life and culture, learn about some differences and similarities in how Thanksgiving is observed in the United States. The panel is followed by a potluck in the atrium, with staff and faculty contributing home-cooked delicacies that give students a real-world taste of Thanksgiving customs. Embodying the themes of the panel discussion, the active hospitality of a Thanksgiving meal brings life to the authentic experience of the holiday. 

Mission in Motion has written before about how Thanksgiving observance has obvious resonance with the Ignatian spiritual emphasis on gratitude, which is primarily expressed and practiced through the Examen. This daily practice invites honest and realistic awareness of one’s inner movements of emotions, feelings, thoughts, sensations, etc., both the consoling and the desolating, for the sake of discerning how one is being moved to make choices. The focus of awareness in the Examen is intentionally about small details, the kind of things that often escape our notice when we are moving too quickly through our days and weeks. Savoring the small stuff of our experience can increase the likelihood that we notice more opportunities to give thanks. The data of the day, both the big details and the smaller ones, invite us to ponder with curiosity how we are being moved to act more generously in the world. An attitude of gratitude can lead to the disposition of loving kindness. 

This year’s panelists affirmed the centrality of gratitude in their experiences of the holiday by pointing to both the small details and larger significance of their observance of the holiday. I heard Thanksgiving gratitude expressed on the panel in many ways, including: much-needed rest from work and school at a busy time in the semester; the annual occasion of being with family and friends often dispersed around the country; and the longed-for opportunity to be in a safe space with trusted people who can disagree (sometimes vigorously) while maintaining the bonds of affection. Others named gratitude about the opportunity to shape the holiday in ways that reflect particular cultural identities and expressions. For example, Frances Bajet, SCS Senior Director of Communications and Events, reflected: 

“It was wonderful participating in ELC’s Thanksgiving event because it was an opportunity to share a few of my Filipino family’s holiday traditions. For instance, we always have some type of pancit, i.e. a Filipino noodle dish in addition to turkey! Although Thanksgiving is known as a very American holiday, my favorite aspect is how we’re able to tailor it to our own family’s traditions and culture.”

I believe the students walked away with a clear impression that there is no single way to live out Thanksgiving and this diversity adds to the holiday’s richness as a cultural ritual. As we contemplate how we desire to enter into the upcoming holiday season, I hope this Thanksgiving helps us grow our awareness for the gifts (small and large) of our lives.

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New Mission and Ministry Program on the Capitol Campus Explores “Practicing Pluralism”

Rabbi Rachel Gartner, seen here at last year’s SCS Student Retreat, helped co-facilitate a new staff series offered this fall by Mission and Ministry on the Capitol Campus, entitled “Practicing Pluralism”

Recently, Mission and Motion has devoted increased attention to the evolution and growth of Georgetown’s Capitol Campus, a unified anchor of academic programs seeking to leverage the experiential learning opportunities of proximity to the U.S. Capitol. Over the next years, the consolidation of different Georgetown schools and units on the campus will mean increased opportunities for collaboration and coordination. 

To foster more cross-unit community building, Mission and Ministry offered a staff-focused program this fall, entitled “Practicing Pluralism.” Co-facilitated by myself and Rabbi Rachel Gartner, SCS Senior Advisor for Spiritual Care and Co-Director of the In Your Shoes™ Research and Practice Center, the four-part series was organized to address these questions: 

  • How can I maintain my authenticity as a person and the values that matter most to me while serving others whose viewpoints and perspectives conflict with mine?
  • What does it actually mean to realize a Community in Diversity?
  • How to acknowledge our real differences while striving for meaningful unity that respects our identities?
  • How can I remain centered and focused when I hear things that are very difficult for me to hear, particularly when leading others through hard conversation? 

The series, offered for staff on the Capitol Campus, was an intentional effort to more deeply explore the meanings and applications of being a “Community in Diversity,” one of the core values of The Spirit of Georgetown. It was also presented as an opportunity to build more relationships between staff members from across the campus, such as from the McCourt School of Public Policy and SCS, to name a few 

With a particular emphasis on the Ignatian and Jewish traditions, “Practicing Pluralism” began with the foundational commitments in religious traditions that affirm the case for pluralism. The Jewish tradition of reading texts in pairs and engaging in critical interpretative engagement with Torah affirm the need for pluralistic perspectives and views on the same source material and shared traditions. The Ignatian tradition, animated by the Post-Vatican II spirit of the Catholic Church, has made pluralism a guiding principle of Jesuit institutions. At a 2022 conference, organized by Georgetown’s Berkley Center, Jesuit Superior General Arturo Sosa affirmed the modern Jesuit embrace of pluralism when he said: “I prefer to speak of cultures in the plural in order to highlight one of humanity’s greatest riches: cultural diversity. Cultural diversity offers one of the most wonderful ways to participate in the creation is born in God and his Word.” The series invited participants to consider these foundations but also to assess their own trusted sources for positively engaging with pluralism. 

“Practicing Pluralism” was deliberately designed not as a seminar with a large reading load, but as a space for discussion and practice. All involved were invited to consider what is both energizing and challenging about a commitment to embodying pluralism in our work. Some skills introduced include practicing receptivity by resetting the table and asking questions that follow the meaning. Other practice-oriented suggestions included ways to create safety in situations of conflict by reinstating good intentions (this is a skill emphasized in “Crucial Conversations,” a book that this Mission and Ministry has used to help units in SCS work constructively through difficult conversations). 

This inaugural offering presents much promise for the future of the series’ stated goal to help build community on the Capitol Campus. All of us at Georgetown are encouraged to reflect individually and collectively about the gifts and talents we bring to realizing a true Community in Diversity. 

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SCS Open House Creates Opportunity for Hospitality and Reflection on Georgetown’s Mission

This week’s Mission in Motion reflects on mission-oriented new degree programs at SCS tackling pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. 

As the nation’s attention turned this week to the devastating impact of another high-powered weather disaster (if you’d like to support disaster relief efforts, the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service has identified organizations serving the affected regions), I was reflective about recent curricular news at SCS. The School has launched a new “Executive Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management” program as part of its portfolio of market-focused and social impact-oriented degrees. You can read more about this new opportunity, “SCS Launches Exec. Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management.” This new program follows another recent curricular addition by SCS in the creation of a Master of Professional Studies in Artificial Intelligence Management. You can read more about this new program, “Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies Launches Master’s in Artificial Intelligence Management.” 

I had both of these new offerings on my mind as the School opened its doors this week for one of its regular prospective student open houses. Regular readers of Mission in Motion will know that this blog pays some attention to the open house event. These open houses are more than occasions for the transaction of information and specific details about the admission process. I believe that the open house format, complete with nourishing and appetizing food as well as a full presence of spirited and committed faculty and staff on hand, is a reflection of the University’s commitment to a long-standing tradition of hospitality. I relish in observing the spontaneous conversations that arise during this event, watching at a slight distance as inquiring adults learn more about the many SCS offerings available. I also notice what happens when staff and faculty from across different programs convene in a shared space and pause for a moment of reflection in between providing resources to inquirers.

The addition of new programs that are tackling pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges from the perspective of skilled and ethical professional practitioners reminds us that a Georgetown education at SCS is about more than career advancement. The spirit in the space at open house also suggests, however implicitly, that everyone engaged in conversation is aware of this deeper purpose. New visitors to the building find visible indicators of the Spirit of Georgetown and the University’s Jesuit heritage and mission. They also experience this mission presence in the way that programs market degree outcomes in how alumni engage in service to the common good and the ways that staff and faculty speak with pride about how SCS prepares students to lead professional lives in service of others. 

There is much discourse about the changing nature of the higher education landscape. So many factors have affected what content, skills, and values are being offered to prospective students around the world. Technological innovations have greatly impacted how programs are delivered and in what formats. Global challenges, like the advent of artificial intelligence and the persisting reality of natural disasters requiring coordinated emergency response, make such professionally oriented, practice-centric programs so important. But what makes the Georgetown value proposition distinctive is the University’s mission. I hope that everyone partaking in the student lifecycle, from prospective students all the way through alumni, can take some time to appreciate this dimension of the Georgetown experience. 

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Staff Appreciation Day Builds Community, Highlights the Diverse Talents of Georgetown’s Workforce

This week’s post reflects on Staff Appreciation Day at Georgetown, an occasion to grow in gratitude for how our staff members animate Georgetown’s mission and realize a “Community in Diversity.” 

Mission in Motion has regularly highlighted the many ways that staff members contribute to realizing Georgetown’s mission. Previous interviews on the blog have explored the unique talents of our staff community and how these gifts are brought to bear in support of our shared educational endeavors. I hope that readers come away with a clear sense about how such a complex global organization like Georgetown needs a talented and diverse team of employees in order for the university to flourish. 

This year’s Staff Appreciation Day hosted on the Hilltop Campus (a Capitol Campus event will take place in the spring) was an experience of gratitude for the committed members of our community who make Georgetown run. As the largest private employer in Washington, D.C., Georgetown has an enormous influence on the economic fortunes of this region. I was especially struck this year by the turnout, impressed by the size of our workforce, and amazed about how these essential roles, however diverse in their functions and locations across the university, come together to form a coherent whole. In the language of Georgetown’s mission and values, Staff Appreciation Day really puts a finer point on our being a “Community in Diversity.” 

This rich diversity was evident in so many ways. Different offices and sub-communities among the staff, like the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), had tables and offered resources and impromptu conversations. The spread of food was nutritious and delicious and helped spark fellowship and camaraderie. There was music and even dancing! Despite the threat of rain, the mood was friendly and celebratory. I walked away with a gift from the raffle (a nice Georgetown mug!) and some lasting memories about connecting with both new and old colleagues. I was delighted by the number of conversations that led to a commitment to set up a meeting to find more time to meet and connect. 

I hope that this annual occasion helps the larger university community grow in awareness and gratitude about how staff members working in front and behind the scenes help animate Georgetown’s mission and values. I also hope that this festive gathering encourages staff members to continue seeking out the spontaneous sparks of affection that are possible when we come together as one.

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Reflecting on Georgetown’s Composition of Place in the Downtown

graphic of the buildings around the capitol campus
This week’s post is an invitation to consider the geospatial reality of Georgetown’s downtown location. What meaning can we gain by entering more fully into the physical context of our campus and its surroundings?

St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and patron of Jesuit schools around the world like Georgetown, possessed an impressive awareness of spatial dynamics. What do I mean by this? The Jesuit founder thought carefully about how the physical location of things influences our spiritual lives and how we go about realizing the mission of our work. In this way, the 16th Century saint was ahead of his time in his geospatial consciousness. The Jesuits were unique among religious orders of the period, for example, because of Ignatius’ insistence that locating Jesuit institutions in urban cores would bring about more mission advancement. Serving the needs of the human (people) and physical (places and spaces) city has been a hallmark of Jesuits for the last five centuries. This is one of the many reasons that most Jesuit schools around the globe are located within cities. 

But Ignatian emphasis on the mission opportunities in the city is about more than administration. In the Spiritual Exercises, the guided, developmental retreat that the Jesuit founder created, Ignatius insists that prayer experiences need to be rooted in a “composition of place.” Here is the original text from the Exercises: “It should be noted here that for contemplation of meditation about visible things … the ‘composition’ will consist in seeing through the gaze of the imagination the material place where the object I want to contemplate is situated…” (Spiritual Exercises, 47). Here we see that Ignatius is inviting the one engaged in prayer and meditation to get concrete and material about the details of their imagination. This prioritization of real description of actual objects of contemplation suggests that fruitful prayer and meditation is not a flight into fantasy but a deep engagement with the reality of one’s experiences. A very basic way of putting this is that context matters. 

Context is intentionally the first stage of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (described here by Mission in Motion) because of this Ignatian composition of place. The idea is that any meaningful learning activity must first be situated within the material place of learning and the persons and things that comprise that place. In this way and inspired by St. Ignatius, I invite us to journey into this semester of learning at SCS by coming to better understand the composition of place for our campus. What does it mean that our study and work are based in the physical place of downtown Washington, D.C.? How can the urban context and environment of our learning inspire the ways that we engage with the tasks of education this semester? 

All of these questions about context are especially appropriate for us at Georgetown as the movement toward a unified Capitol Campus continues. In a year’s time, the SCS campus at 640 Massachusetts Avenue will migrate to 111 Massachusetts Avenue and become co-located with other schools and units that comprise a comprehensive Georgetown anchor of graduate and professional education in the downtown. The meaning and implications of our geo-location will take on more importance as SCS shifts locations in the neighborhood and additional consideration is given to the School’s urban surroundings. 

For the time being, I invite the SCS community to continue to take seriously the place-based reality of the current campus situation at 640. One way to engage deeply with this embeddedness is by understanding the place. You might consider learning about this neighborhood through reported data about the composition of place via the U.S. Census. You might also consider spending time getting to know the people and places that comprise our neighborhood. Are there opportunities this semester to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing the persons, places, and spaces of this particular neighborhood? How can our learning pursuits serve these needs? 

In all things at Georgetown, we are encouraged to seek out the resources of our Jesuit heritage and traditions in ways that inspire our present endeavors. As we continue our SCS operations in the downtown and contemplate our future operations in a more coherent Capitol Campus, I invite all of us to more deeply reflect on the significance of our spatial reality.

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Mass of the Holy Spirit on the Hilltop Invites Community to Rediscover Our Shared Purpose as Academic Year Begins

May be an image of 3 people, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and text
This year’s Mass of the Holy Spirit, an annual tradition at Jesuit institutions that dates back five centuries, emphasized the spiritual gifts needed to flourish as an academic community. 

The annual tradition of the Mass of the Holy Spirit, a practice celebrated across the global network of Jesuit institutions since the religious order first founded schools five centuries ago, presents a welcome opportunity to consider the meaning of a Georgetown education. Each year, the Mass presents both the same and new reflections at the dawning of a new academic year. The readings from Scripture all point to the need for greater reliance on the Holy Spirit as a giver of spiritual gifts that we most need to realize our mission. Of special importance at an institution of higher learning are the gifts related to knowledge, inquiry, communication, and discernment. While a traditional Catholic religious ritual, I think emphasizing the universe of spiritual gifts needed to sustain the academic enterprise of Georgetown can resonate with people of all faith traditions and those with no tradition at all. 

The homilist for this year, Fr. Bill Campbell, S.J., the new Superior of Georgetown’s Jesuit Community, focused his reflections on the historical analogy between the founding of the Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) by college students attending the University of Paris in the 16th Century and our contemporary experience at Georgetown. The similarities in these situations are striking: Both Paris and Washington, D.C., have prominent rivers that their prominent universities abut; both the founding Jesuits and today’s Georgetown students come from homes around the world; and both of these student populations knew how to have a good time after working hard in their courses. 

The urban experience of these educations presented many opportunities for both reverie and reverence, a reminder to us today that our experience at Georgetown is enlivened by our embeddedness in a global capital city. 

But Fr. Campbell’s main point was not just about the urban similarities in this comparison. He ended his reflection about the early Jesuits by noting that we still remember the names of the seven early companions (Faber, Xavier, Laynez, Ignatius, Rodriguez, Salmeron, and Bobadilla) because they wrote history with their lives. By professing in faith their vows to a new religious order, at a time of great challenge and resistance to such a formation, these Jesuits chose to use their higher education in the service of a noble purpose that still benefits the world today. 

The question to us in 2024 at Georgetown: How will we use our Georgetown experience in service of a larger, more noble purpose than our own personal aims or professional goals? To what do we owe our faith in the transformative possibilities of a university education rooted in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence?  

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Shining a Storytelling Spotlight on a Key Member of the SCS Summer Team

Stylized portrait of Haroot in a Georgetown shirt sitting in a chair
This week’s post is a promotion of the recent Georgetown Faces profile of Haroot Hakopian, SCS assistant dean for student affairs. 

Mission in Motion has regularly reflected on how Ignatian spirituality has a narrative or storytelling style. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and creator of the Spiritual Exercises, believed that entering deeply into prayer and meditation requires the full use of the imagination. In order to do this, one making a retreat or praying in an Ignatian way is invited to imagine the characters in particular Gospel stories and then to insert oneself into those scenes. The perspective of the characters is multi-dimensional as Ignatius considers how different observers—self, others, and God—might be viewing the same event or situation. This movement to consider multiple lenses of perspective is ultimately intended to increase the individual’s depth of gratitude for the dynamic diversity of all created things. Understanding our spiritual condition and where we are being drawn to greater interior freedom, love, and generosity means better understanding the stories we tell about ourselves, each other, and God. 

I am reminded of these imaginative principles of Ignatian spirituality when I appreciate Georgetown Faces, stories about the unsung heroes, beloved figures, and dedicated Hoyas who make Georgetown special. The entire purpose of this series is to tell the story about Georgetown through the stories of the people that make up this large and dynamic institution. We come to better understand what matters to this university by learning through interviews, photographs, and descriptive text what matters to the diverse faculty and staff that animate Georgetown’s mission and values. I think this is a really captivating way to realize one of St. Ignatius’ famous adages: Love is shown more in deeds than in words. 

The most recent Faces profile shines the light on Haroot Hakopian, SCS assistant dean of student affairs, who began his Georgetown career as the academic and curriculum director of the Summer College Immersion Program (SCIP), a deeply mission-aligned SCS program that this platform has reflected about many times. The profile on Haroot focuses on the ways that he brings to life the Spirit of Georgetown in his engagements with a large and diverse group of summer high school students. In particular, Haroot names how the Jesuit value of cura personalis (care of the whole person) is a key ingredient in helping SCIP students, who are first-generation college seekers, navigate their own stories of identity and how these stories relate to the process of college admissions. 

As we approach the end of the summer semester, I invite you to read Haroot’s story and reflect not only on his contribution but that of the entire summer team at SCS. 

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Olympics Bring Together SCS Community, Illustrate the Possibilities of Peace around World

This week’s post is a reflection on the possibilities for peace arising from the Olympic games. SCS staff and faculty gathered recently to enjoy a potluck and watch the exciting competition.

Pope Francis recently gave an address on the eve of the Summer 2024 Olympic games in Paris. In the global context of ongoing war, conflict, and crises of various kinds, the Pope offered sports as a sign of hope. According to Francis, the Olympics have always possessed the power of cultivating unity: 

“According to ancient tradition, may the Olympics be an opportunity to establish a truce in wars, demonstrating a sincere will for peace. … Sport also has a great social power, capable of peacefully uniting people from different cultures. … I hope that this event can be a sign of the inclusive world we want to build and that the athletes, with their sporting testimony, may be messengers of peace and valuable models for the young.” 

I had these ideas in mind this week as SCS staff and faculty gathered for a fun and informal lunch potluck organized around watching live coverage of the Olympics in the atrium. It was delightful to see the different food items that made up a deliciously diverse display of offerings. The wide array of tastes reflected the richness of the SCS community. And there was much rejoicing as we watched the events in real time. Conversations were sparked among staff about their own memories of the Olympics and how our individual experiences of watching the games bonded us together. 

The Olympic Games are both  enjoyable and the subject of study and discussion. Georgetown’s Sports Industry Management program contributes to this engaged study of global sports.  

Georgetown has a lot to say about the 2024 games in Paris with two SCS alumnae competing and other Hoyas also joining in the competition. Students in the SCS Master’s in Sports Industry Management program are regularly studying and discussing this global event as part of their coursework and applied learning. In this way, Georgetown treats global sports not just as an activity to be enjoyed as spectators but as a subject matter to be seriously engaged and understood. It is with Pope Francis’ remarks that I believe this latter purpose of sports can be more deeply explored. 

In addition to the excitement and the fun of convening to watch intense competition, how do global sports potentially contribute to peace in a time of conflict? What about the occasion of global competition can interrupt patterns of conflict, invite a pause, and encourage a reset in situations of tense disharmony and fighting among peoples? I do not think it is naïve to believe that sports possess this possibility. 

As we continue to enjoy the storylines and triumphs coming out of Paris, I invite us to reflect on the communitarian meaning of sports and how global athletic competition can serve the cause of peace.

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AJCU Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation Assembly Brings Together University Colleagues at a Critical Time

The AJCU Assembly brought together delegations of faculty, staff, and administration from across the network, including a group from Georgetown. 

One of the lasting joys of working for Georgetown is the opportunity to connect with colleagues across a national and global network of Jesuit schools. The U.S. network of colleges and universities, organized by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), comes together in regular intervals to convene, network, reflect, and commit to action steps as a larger community of practice. It is important that individual schools, however unique and distinctive as single units, grow in awareness about the ways that all Jesuit institutions share a common mission. 

This week, Loyola University of Chicago hosted the Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation Assembly and welcomed delegations from the AJCU schools. This conference engages the areas of faith, justice, and reconciliation using the lens of the Jesuits’ Universal Apostolic Preferences, particularly the priority of creating a hope-filled future. A new feature of this year’s assembly, which typically takes place every three years, is that six thematic commissions presented their findings. These commissions, which included “The Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm: Responding to Students and their Hungers” on which I served, spent over a year responding to a charge issued by the AJCU. 

Each commission created some tangible outputs from their work, including position papers, online resources, and prompts for continuing reflection. Other commissions included Jesuit Prison Education, environmental sustainability and Pope Francis’ Laudato Si, Citizenship & Democracy, Student Spiritual Growth & Mental Health, and Justice & Reconciliation. Each commission was presented at the assembly along with plenary speakers and workshops and posters. The topics covered all reflect the big challenges facing higher education at a perilous moment in history. Declining faith in democratic institutions, a crisis of mental health, the persisting legacy of injustice as a result of enslavement by Jesuit schools and oppression of Indigenous peoples, a warming planet, and a need for a reimagined way of presenting a Jesuit style of teaching all speak to the urgency of this moment. 

Imam Yahya Hendi, Director for Muslim Life at Georgetown, leads the Assembly in morning prayer. Each day of the Assembly featured a prayer practice from a different religious tradition. 

A key message threaded throughout the week was that there is hope in our colleges and universities because of the depth of resources arising from the Ignatian traditions of education and spirituality. Jesuit institutions are challenged to present a hope-filled future as a realistic vision. Realizing this vision requires sharing Ignatian resources that can counter the temptation to despair. In particular, Ignatian discernment, healthy Ignatian detachment, and Ignatian moral, spiritual, and intellectual imagination all offer opportunities for hope and meaningful change.

At a time of growing social exclusion and rising fear of migrants and refugees, for example, Fr. Marcel Uwineza, S.J., President of Hekima University College in Nairobi, Kenya, invited the AJCU to consider hospitality and love as names for God. In another keynote, Anna Bonta Moreland, a theologian at Villanova University, paired the crises among young adult learners of choice paralysis, a lack of leisure, and the epidemic of loneliness with the Ignatian strategies of discernment, Cura Personalis, and detachment. Young adults, counseled Moreland, can resist the tendency toward self-rejection through practices of self-care that build up the whole person. 

There is no doubt that Jesuit higher education is being called upon to meet some of the most pressing challenges of the day. This week’s Assembly proved the strength of this larger network of colleges and universities and indeed offered hope for the future.