Mission & Identity

The Characteristics of Jesuit Education was written in 1986 to help identify and articulate the fundamental characteristics of contemporary Jesuit education. Very Reverend Peter Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, the 29th Superior General of the Society of Jesus, amplified the content of that document in his description of the goal of Jesuit education:

The pursuit of each student's intellectual development to the full measure of God-given talents rightly remains a prominent goal of Jesuit education. Its aim, however, has never been simply to amass a store of information or preparation for a profession, though these are important in themselves and useful to emerging Christian leaders. The ultimate aim of Jesuit education is, rather, that full growth of the person which leads to action - action, especially, that is suffused with the spirit and presence of Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Man-for-Others. This goal of action, based on sound understanding and enlivened by contemplation, urges students to self-discipline and initiative, to integrity and accuracy. At the same time, it judges slip-shod or superficial ways of thinking unworthy of the individual and, more important, dangerous to the word he or she is called to serve.

In one sense, the graduate is a threshold person: he or she is on the threshold of adulthood. The world of childhood has been left behind. The movement from childhood toward adulthood has involved physical, emotional and mental development which has brought out strengths, abilities, and characteristics which adults and peers began to appreciate. The adolescent during those four or five years prior to graduation began to realize that he or she could do some things well and some things very well. There have also been failures and disappointments. Even these, however, have helped the student to move toward maturity.

For descriptors, we chose those qualities which seem most desirable not only for this threshold period, but those which seem most desirable for adult life. These six general categories sum up the many areas of life most in accord with a full adult living of the Christ life. These characteristics are:

• Open to Growth
• Intellectually Competent
• Religious
• Loving
• Committed to Doing Justice
• Physically Fit

All of the characteristics described are in dynamic interaction. The division into the six categories simply provides a helpful way to analyze and describe the graduate.