Revisiting the Promise and Foundations of a Jesuit Education

Offering a Jesuit education requires much from the faculty and staff at a Jesuit university. While there is wide agreement with Jesuit Superior General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s observation that our particular education should be measured by who our students become, faculty and staff need a fundamental understanding of the roots and intentions of Jesuit education to truly begin to fulfill that promise of a Jesuit education.1 This article shares the reflective practice of five colleagues working in different roles at a Jesuit university, seeking to better re-examine their understanding of the foundations of Jesuit education, including special attention to the history, contextual meaning, and analysis of the six Catholic, Jesuit values that we uphold at Regis University: contemplatives in action, finding God in all things, men and women for and with others, the magis, cura personalis, and unity of heart and mind