Carnes, S.J., Matthew

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epublications@Marquette

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 40 Re-creating Jesuit Higher Education: TheGeneral's Challenge Article 289-1-2011Forum: Frontier Universities: Be Edgy, Be GutsyMatthew Carnes, S.J.Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationCarnes, S.J., Matthew (2011) "Forum: Frontier Universities: Be Edgy, Be Gutsy," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 40,Article 28.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol40/iss1/2854 ConversationsJesuits universities, like Jesuits themselves, are“sent to the frontiers.” They are at their best whenthey reach out beyond their walls, beyond exist-ing models of success and achievement. Theymake a unique contribution when they live onthe edge, pushing the envelope. How do Jesuituniversities live on the frontiers today? I offer two pro-posals for our shared discernment. 1. Schools that no one else should (or could) openPart VII, Chapter 2, of the Constitutions of the Societyof Jesus describes the criteria by which Jesuit missions areto be chosen. Ignatius stresses that “[w]hen other consider-ations are equal, that part of the vineyard ought to be cho-sen which has greater need, because of the lack of otherworkers” and the need of those whom it will serve (622).Today, a “greater need” cries out across the divide ofthose who have access to information, technology, andeducation, and those who do not. Indeed, there arewhole populations who live “on the frontiers,” for whomcollege is not even envisioned as a possibility. The Jesuitspirit sees this need as a chal-lenge we want to embrace – pre-cisely because no one else isdoing so.Make no mistake about it:this will be hard work. Thosewho are excluded often cannotafford to pay $50,000 tuition, donot have legal citizenship, or arenot prepared academically for atraditional four-year college. Our work with them mayforce us out of our comfort zone of bucolic green cam-puses, and into the world of understaffed, shoestring-budget junior colleges in the inner city. These efforts willlose money on some – maybe most – students, andrequire the constant work of fundraising just to breakeven. But the value-added through a Jesuit education forthese students will be unparalleled. If our universities are to make a difference in theworld, they will do it – at least in part – by serving peo-ple who would otherwise go unserved. This cannot bereduced to a small program or set of scholarships in theuniversity, but must be a focal point of each school’smission. I wonder if every school ought not to have atleast one “frontier” loss-making venture, designed specif-ically to serve the excluded. 2. The universities that live frontier values and create frontier leadersIgnatius continues in Chapter VII, “Considerationshould also be given to where the greater fruit will proba-Forum=of dollars in grant monies through the Department ofDefense, etc., are there to be serious discussions of thiscomplicity with the waging of war on our campuses? Is there an accounting for the weapons that ourresearch helps to develop? Are the costs of war in termsof human life and environmental degradation to beshown to our students on days when the military recruitson our campuses? Will we have anything creative andinnovative to offer the world for the making of peace?Will our students be able to think and write about therecent nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, forexample, with a solid sense of the principles of nonvio-lence, other examples of nonviolent political move-ments, etc.? Will we promote peace studies as a majorcourse of study on our campuses? Father General asks that we become a “voice for thevoiceless.” We would do well on Jesuit campuses, there-fore, to maintain our programs of service but also to buildour social justice programs so that they are proportionateto community service programs. In addition, Jesuit schoolswould do well to launch a major effort in the study andpractices of peacemaking and nonviolence. ■Anna J. Brown teaches in the department of politicalscience social justice program at Saint Peter’s College.abrown@spc.eduFrontier Universities:Be Edgy, Be GutsyMatthew Carnes, S.J.1Carnes, S.J.: Forum: Frontier Universities: Be Edgy, Be GutsyPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2011Conversations 55Forum=bly be reaped.” He particularly looks to universities asplaces “attended by numerous persons who by being aidedthemselves can become laborers for the help of others.”Jesuit universities can have a transformative, multi-plier effect if they live “frontier values” and create “fron-tier leaders.” Today, many of our students and colleaguesfind questions of faith to be on the edge of their experi-ence. They arrive without having heard the Gospel in anarticulate, persuasive, and inviting form, and they havenever known the experience of an intelligent, nurturingreligious community. Our classes and activities, retreatsand student life programs, ought to be edgy – pushingourselves and our students to engage the difficult ques-tions of belief and unbelief, meaning and purpose, jus-tice and dignity. We must find ways to deeply engagecontemporary culture and student experiences in waysthat make faith and the Church relevant, and that crossdisciplinary boundaries in the academy. The task is to make this edginess an integral part ofstudents’ experience, and not simply an opt-in opportu-nity for a lucky – or already convinced – few. I wonderif this might involve refocusing the curriculum on thedistinctly Jesuit task of “formation,” ensuring that everystudent gets a thorough grounding in the best of ourCatholic tradition of faith-filled service to the world. Ifwe do this well, our graduates will be leaven beyond theuniversity, laboring “for the help of others” in ways thatmultiply our efforts.In short, our schools today confront a higher educationmarket that excludes many, and a generation and a culturethat have never heard the Gospel in its richness. Ourresponse must be edgy and gutsy, embracing this work onthe frontiers with the “holy boldness” (General Congregation34) that is at the heart of our Ignatian identity. ■Matthew Carnes, S.J., is assistant professor, departmentof government, at Georgetown University.mec247@georgetown.edu2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 40, Iss. 1 [2011], Art. 28http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol40/iss1/28

Forum: Frontier Universities: Be Edgy, Be Gutsy

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Forum: Frontier Universities: Be Edgy, Be Gutsy

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