AJCU Mission Priority Examen

Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU)

One of the hallmarks of Jesuit colleges and universities is a holy restlessness that fuels the search for knowledge, meaning, and the reality of God. That restlessness, paired with the world-affirming spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola, drives Jesuit schools toward big questions about their purpose, relationships, and responsibility in the world. Reflecting deeply and regularly on the mission can be challenging, amid the pace and pressures of higher education. Thus the Mission Priority Examen provides space and structure for each Jesuit college and university to undertake serious discussions about how they understand their school’s authentic mission, establish goals for the future, and set forth new or renewed means of realizing those goals in the years to come.

Among the recurring questions that animated the MPE were:

• What, specifically, makes a college or university Jesuit and/or Ignatian?
• What does Jesuit sponsorship of a college or university mean today?
• How will the 27 Jesuit schools in the U.S. live their Jesuit and Catholic mission – as colleges and universities – in even more authentic ways, going forward?

In response, a five-year, experimental process was developed to (a) affirm the mission integration already evident and growing in Jesuit schools, (b) set clear mission goals for the next few years, (c) stimulate intra- and inter-campus discussions on deepening the Jesuit, Catholic mission, and (d) foster healthy and collaborative relationships between the universities and the Society of Jesus. 

Marquette participated in the Mission Priority Examen process during 2019-20 and received a positive evaluation from Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J., the superior general of the Society of Jesus.