Fifty years ago, Pedro Arrupe, S.J., gave a historic address on Jesuit education and justice. Timothy Kesicki, S.J., past president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, will examine how LMU has respond to this summons at the Casassa Chair of Social Values lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 3 p.m. in Hilton 100. A reception will follow in the Jesuit Gardens.
“The talk Arrupe gave in 1973 was to address the group, world union of Jesuit alumni,” said Kesicki. “While he was giving the talk he asked the question, ‘Are we educating youth for justice?’ He said the answer is no. That created quite a stir. It launched a major shift in the Jesuit approach to education.” Kesicki said there is a lot of course work on justice and service learning as a result of the historic talk. “We started to think we have an obligation to care about the world beyond ourselves.”
Kesicki will look at how Jesuit education evolved in the past 50 years. Even how the terminology itself has shifted from “men for others” to “persons with and for others.” He believes the meaning of the core message has not changed, rooted in the example of Jesus Christ. Kesicki will also address how students today share many different faith traditions, or not faith at all, and how this creates a new model for education.
Arrupe saw there were blind spots in Jesuit education 50 years ago and Kesicki said we continue to have face them today. “If we look at the situation in the world today, with wars happening in multiple fronts, we should look at the question of race inequality in our country, the disparities of wealth and access to education, and the political polarization that is plaguing us.” Kesicki said Jesuit education has accomplished a lot in the past 50 years but also believes it needs to be infused in all aspects of education. “It has become a marketing tool, something we put on billboards, but it should be transforming not just an individual but also society.”
Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend this significant and engaging lecture.