2023-24 Ignatian Center Program Highlights
Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, the Ignatian Center has remained grounded in its mission to deliver formative opportunities for the next generation of leaders. From fellowships and immersion trips across the globe, to local community engagement opportunities, to thought-provoking lectures and Ignatian Spirituality teachings, the Ignatian Center provided students, faculty, staff, and the greater community with opportunities to embrace Jesuit wisdom by inspiring awareness, thought, reflection, discernment, and action - here, there, and everywhere.
ARRUPE ENGAGEMENT
| COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING | OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS | NEW PARTNERSHIPS |
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Arrupe Engagement partners with local community organizations whose members and clients become co-educators of SCU students. We provide learning opportunities that bring students to understand and experience commitment to the common good, the dignity of all people, justice, and kinship with people on the margins of society. |
Arrupe Engagement works with 49 community organizations covering a wide range of service areas:
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This past year Arrupe Engagement fostered relationships with 8 new community partners, including PATH, Mobile Showers with Our Lady of Refuge, and the Bill Wilson Center. These new partnerships allow us to expand the breadth of opportunities for students to engage with the San Jose community and step out of the "Santa Clara Bubble." |
"I had an incredible experience with the Arrupe Engagement program. It helped me move beyond my studies and life on campus to interact with a neighboring community."
- Student Participant
BANNAN FORUM
| 2023-24 BANNAN EVENTS | BANNAN GRANTS | EXPLORE JOURNAL |
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This academic year, the Bannan Forum hosted a variety of events, including:
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This year we awarded $30,000 for Bannan grants, covering topics ranging from Catholic social teaching and migration; sacred journeys as healing rituals, to support for projects related to the flourishing of marginalized communities, and supporting the evolution of Ignatian pedagogy across campus. |
Published in Winter of 2023, this edition of the journal highlights the insights of faculty participants in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Seminar on the purpose of Jesuit education and questions of economic justice. We continue to feature artwork created by SCU students and alumni. |
"Hearing from the wide range of participants was a joy at every level. Their personal experiences, perspectives disciplines, and student community context were all so invaluable."
- Seminar Participant
IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY
| FACULTY & STAFF PROGRAMS | CAMINO DE SANTA CLARA | IGNATIAN COMMUNAL DISCERNMENT |
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Pilgrims travel to Spain every year to retrace the footsteps of St. Ignatius, walking the same 325 miles he walked from his home in Loyola to Montserrat and Manresa. The Camino de Santa Clara is not 325 miles (it’s an easy eighth of a mile!), but it is designed to follow the spiritual footsteps of St. Ignatius—drawing from the content of the Spiritual Exercises and stopping at various sacred sites on the SCU campus. |
Over 75 faculty, staff, and administrators were trained this year on the practice of Ignatian Communal Discernment — a spiritual, mission centric way to make decisions as a group. The goal is to help faculty and staff recognize how they are responding to or resisting the Spirit, and to use this recognition to make good communal choices that lead to greater flourishing for the community. |
"I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to have authentic conversations with colleagues who were open to sharing their spiritual journeys."
- Retreat Participant
IMMERSIONS
IN STATE
East Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
DOMESTIC
Appalachia, WV
Flint, MI
Montgomery, AL
INTERNATIONAL
Chiapas, Mexico
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Lima, Peru
Nogales, Mexico
Quito, Ecuador
FIRST-YEAR IMMERSION | for new students
Each year, we offer incoming first-year students an immersion trip in downtown San Jose, to learn about social justice issues, meet with community leaders, get to know fellow classmates, deepen their understanding of SCU’s Jesuit tradition of holistic community-engaged education, and move in early!
KINO BORDER IMMERSION | for faculty & staff
Each year, the Ignatian Center’s offers a Faculty and Staff Immersion to the US-Mexico border in Nogales. Hosted by Kino Border Initiatives, participants learn about the realities of migration at the US Mexico border from those most impacted - migrants, border patrol, ranchers, and the medical examiner.
STUDENT COORDINATORS | for experienced students
Undergraduate students who have been on an Immersion are able to apply to be Immersion Coordinators. In this role, they develop leadership skills, and assist in planning and organizing all aspects of an immersion.
URBAN PLUNGE | for groups
Each quarter, the Ignatian Center’s Immersion program offers an intensive, 1-day immersion experience in the heart of downtown San Jose or San Francisco to an SCU group or organization. Participants delve into the issue of houselessness in one of the wealthiest cities in the world.
"Immersions take you out of your comfort zone and invite you into an environment you'd never think you'd be in. You learn directly from community members about the issues affecting them."
- Student Immersion Participant
MISSION INTEGRATION
| 2023-24 PROGRAMS | IGNATIAN 101 & 201 | PROGRAMS FOR UNITS |
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The Ignatian Center offers faculty, staff programs and resources to contribute to SCU's mission: EXPLORE Mission |
Engaging in four workshops, cohort members experience SCU's Jesuit, Catholic mission, Ignatian Spirituality, and learn about Jesuit values and Jesuit higher education. This year, 70 staff and faculty from across campus participated in Ignatian 101 & 201. Over 90% reported being better able to incorporate Jesuit values into their work; gaining a sense of community and desiring to continue to participate in Ignatian Center programs. |
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"Providing a sense of community and togetherness in the shared idea of spreading Jesuit values on campus through our work is huge for me. Having that space and freedom was truly an amazing experience ."
- Program Participant
STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS
The Ignatian Center Fellowships offer undergraduate students a community-based experience rooted in the Ignatian Center's mission of a Faith that does Justice. Fellows work with organizations in communities with little access to wealth, power and privilege. Fellows deepen their understanding of solidarity and vocation through pre-and post experience gatherings that engage students in reflective practices informed by Ignatian Spirituality.
| IGNATIAN FELLOWSHIP | JEAN DONOVAN FELLOWSHIP | JEAN DONOVAN FELLOWSHIP INTENSIVE |
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"This experience was highly significant in terms of personal reflection and in connection with what I have learned at SCU. Learning about issues in the community is one thing, but actively participating is entirely more significant."
- Ignatian Fellow
THRIVING NEIGHBORS
| OUR VISION & MISSION | DAN McCORMICK TECHNOLOGY FUND | PROGRAM PARTICIPATION |
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VISION MISSION |
In response to a critical urgent need, we transitioned to a sustainable model that promotes capacity development, learning opportunities, and a larger positive impact through community engagement and strategic partnerships. We offer over 10 programs and initiatives spanning the entire K-12 education pipeline and families. We've partnered with the Frugal Innovation Hub to develop apps for our three main programs. We significantly increased the quantity and quality of the opportunities for our students and community participants. |
We've formed new SCU and local partnerships that allow us to create opportunities benefiting a broader range of students and community members.
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