The New Brand of Jesuit Universities

Autumn Jones looks at The New Brand of Jesuit Universities for The Atlantic. It had the potential for an interesting article but, in my opinion, it falls flat. To be fair, though, maybe it is just the Jesuit institutions that they highlight that fall flat.

In the likeness of Martin and Colbert, Pope Francis uses modern media to address points of tension in the Catholic Church. Having held the institution’s highest office for nearly two years, the pope’s approach is quite different than that of his predecessors. His strategy is, in many ways, "rebranding" the Church for a new audience and providing an updated image for its most ardent constituents—the very same thing Jesuit universities are doing across the country.

What is left at stake for both Pope Francis and Jesuit universities is whether this rebranding attenuates the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church. As a branch of Catholic education, Jesuit universities are required to fall in line with the Church as a whole and with the requests of the local bishop. Yet, similar to secular colleges and universities, they are also places where young adults are encouraged to think critically and to explore variations in religious ideology. The balance of mission, identity, and modern times—and whether that balance negates the central principles of Jesuit and Catholic education—is what lies at the root of the tensions present for these schools.

Of the 251 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S., 28 are run by the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540 and is the largest male religious order of priests and brothers within the Catholic Church. Though St. Ignatius didn’t originally intend to establish schools for the broader public, the Jesuit order quickly became recognized throughout the world for its achievements in education, community service, and the sciences. From the get-go, the Jesuits started compiling a number of documents to outline the kind of education the order would provide. These documents would later become the foundation of what’s known as Ratio Studiorum, the official plan of Jesuit education, published in 1599.

I'm not going to go into everything, but Jesuit and Catholic universities and colleges confront myriad problems similar to other institutions of higher education (cost, increasing reliance on part-time work, board members disconnect from what it means to be a university, societal pressure for universities to provide their graduates with a near guaranteed job, and so on) and others that are more unique (maintaining religious identity among increasing secularism throughout the US - not just students but faculty and administrators, fewer clergy available on campus not just to teach but to manage large, complex institutions, relations with the local bishop and the Newman Society, and so on).

That's all fine in the article although I believe the author could have been clearer distinguishing between challenges to higher-ed at Jesuit institutions and higher-ed institutions in general.

In surveying the 28 Jesuit institutions, Jones narrows in on Regis, Rockhurst, St. Joseph's and Gonzaga. Other than Gonzaga, perhaps (at least that's my impression), let's just say that those are not the most competitive Jesuit Universities out there today. Here are the Jesuit universities that make the cut on the top 201 in the 2015 US News & World Report rankings

21. Georgetown University

31. Boston College

58. Fordham University

76. Marquette University

99. Saint Louis University

106. Loyola University Chicago

106. University of San Francisco

While Jesuit universities do confront similar problems in many ways, the rankings tell me that the article should more accurately reflect how weaker Jesuit and Catholic universities are confronting the 21st century.

Father Martin and Pope Francis are in some way "rebranding" the Church but they are more accurately doing what Jesuits have historically done by abiding by the principle to “meet people where they are." They are extending invitations to individuals to become closer to God. However, it is disappointing that the solutions posed by the individuals identified in the article do no such thing. "Rebranding" of their Jesuit universities entails hiding or removing their Jesuit and Catholic identities.

At a time when Jesuits are more popular than they have been in some time with Fr. Martin in the US and Pope Francis globally, Rockhurst University in Kansas City removed the word "Jesuit" from the university's tagline to hide its Jesuit tradition. At least they kept "Catholic" in some of their materials.

Regis University, on the other hand, wants to drop Catholic and play up Jesuit as if you can be Jesuit without being Catholic.

"We hide the word ‘Catholic’ from prospective students," said Traci McBee, who helps oversee fundraising efforts at Regis University. "We focus on the Jesuit piece rather than the Catholic piece. We’re able to transform a little quicker because we are not waiting for the archbishop to give us permission. We don’t have to ask the Pope when we want to make changes."

So in reaching out to donors that have already completed an education at Regis, they want to hide who they are from their alumni? I'm more with Gonzaga's McCulloh who says "the Jesuits are completely and wholly a part of the Church." You shouldn't run away from the need to convince people that you cannot be Jesuit without being Catholic. Hopefully, Regis' development office isn't spearheading this radical change.

What Regis and Rockhurst are doing seems completely at odds with what Fr. Martin and Pope Francis are doing. They are hiding their Jesuit and Catholic identities from prospective students (ethics in advertising?) and alumni (sorry, forget about your four years here) rather than embracing them.

I'm a little biased. I attended a Regis High School in New York City and Fairfield University in Connecticut. I now teach at the University of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania - all Jesuit institutions. In my opinion, universities can be successful not in spite of their Jesuit and Catholic identities but because of them.