A Catholic Higher Education Collaborative: Focusing on New Ways of Supporting Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools

This article discusses highlights from the Catholic Higher Education Collaborative conference (CHEC) held at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in January 2009. The conference, a result of a 2007 dialogue on Catholic schooling hosted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, was the first of six to be held at Catholic colleges and universities throughout the country. The purpose of the conference was to seek new and creative ways for Catholic higher education to partner with the nation’s K-12 Catholic schools. The theme of the LMU conference was “Catholic Schools and The Immigrant Church: Lessons from the Past and a Bridge to the Future.” This article includes information about the development of CHEC, a brief review of the history of immigrants and Catholic schools, an overview of conference keynote talks, and concludes with future initiatives developed from the conference in support of Catholic schools