Mission: Boston College

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Boston College

Contact: Rev. John T. Butler, S.J., Vice President for University Mission & Ministry
Phone: (617-552-1603)
E-mail: john.butler@bc.edu

Mission Statement

The University's Mission Statement reads in part: "(Boston College) seeks both to advance its place among the nation's finest universities and to bring to the company of its distinguished peers and to contemporary society the richness of the Catholic ideal of a mutually illuminating relationship between religious faith and free intellectual inquiry.

“Boston College draws inspiration for its academic and societal mission from its distinctive religious tradition. As a Catholic and Jesuit university, it is rooted in a world view that encounters God in all creation and through all human activity, especially in the search for truth in every discipline, in the desire to learn, and in the call to live justly together. In this spirit, the University regards the contribution of different religious traditions and value systems as essential to the fullness of its intellectual life and to the continuous development of its distinctive intellectual heritage.”

Structure of Mission & Identity Activities

Vice President for University Mission and Ministry

Reports to the President
Liaison to Board of Trustees Committee on Mission and Character
No formal relationship to Jesuit Community

The following offices report to the VP for UMM:

Center for Ignatian Spirituality
Ignatian Colleagues Program
Office of Campus Ministry
Intersections Office – A program that works with faculty and administrators around personal and student formation. It is rooted in the principles of Jesuit education. It originated in a grant from the Lilly Endowment.
Center for Student Formation – An office which works in conjunction with other offices in the university while maintaining its own programs. Its focus is to highlight student formation issues and concerns while engaging students directly in formation based on the Jesuit Catholic ideal of formation.
Office of First Year Experience – This office deals with the process of enculturation and transition of our freshmen students as they enter BC. It’s the beginning of the formational process.
Faculty Outreach and Program Assessment – The office works directly with deans and faculty around areas of research and promoting research along Jesuit and Catholic interests. This office also helps in assessing the effectiveness of both the division and faculty endeavors as it concerns the Jesuit Catholic agenda.
The Montserrat Coalition – An office which does outreach work to low income students to help both with their needs and integration into the larger university community.
The Messina Program – an Ignatian program working directly with students around areas of Ignatian leadership within the student community.
Channel 46 - Closed-circuit BC cable television channel, which programs feature films, documentaries, lectures, and original productions dealing broadly with mission-related topics.
Faith/Justice Coordinator – a PT faculty person, organizes various programs for faculty and staff around justice issues, functions as liaison between BC and regional and national bodies on this topic.

Mission-related activities not reporting to VP/UMM:

Jesuit Institute – Sponsors research, visiting fellows, conferences, and lectures on issues that emerge at the intersection of faith and culture. (Academic Vice President)
Consultant on Ignatian Spirituality – A FT Jesuit in the Department of Human Resources; organizes a range of programs to foster professional development of employees. (Human Resources)
Assistant Director, Resident Student Formation – This person, who collaborates closely with Campus Ministry staff, is responsible for programs in the residence halls which support the spiritual formation of students. He directs the Peer Minister Program, which involves graduate student campus ministers who live in first-year residence halls as advisors and pastoral counselors. (Residential Life, Campus Ministry)
Institute for Administrators of Catholic Higher Education – A one-week summer program, offered annually in conjunction with ACCU. (Center for Catholic Education)
Church in the 21st Century Center – the permanent home of the project begun in 2002 as a response to the sexual-abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church. The Center seeks to be a catalyst and resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the United States by engaging critical issues facing the Catholic community. Drawing from both the Boston College community and others, its activities currently are focused on four challenges: handing on and sharing the Catholic faith, especially with younger Catholics; fostering relationships built on mutual trust and support among lay men and women, vowed religious, deacons, priests, and bishops; developing an approach to sexuality mindful of human experience and reflective of Catholic tradition; and advancing contemporary reflection on the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Orientation Programs for Newcomers to BC

New Trustee Orientation – Usually a 2-3 hour program at the beginning of the academic year.
New Faculty Orientation – A one-day program in August. Follow-up overnight programs are offered during the first year through the Provost’s office.
New Staff Orientation – An on-line orientation program for all new employees, with recurring programs throughout the year
Student Orientation – A three-day program offered seven times during the summer before freshman year.

Ongoing Educational Programs for Faculty and Staff

A one-week workshop on Boston College’s Mission as a Catholic and Jesuit University—for senior administrators, offered during the summer (Office of University Mission and Ministry)
The Ignatian Dimension of BC’s Mission – Programs of varying length, for faculty and administrative staff, tailored to the needs of participating departments and offices. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
Intersections Introductory Seminars – These were initiated under a grant from Lilly Endowment to foster student vocational discernment. 10 faculty members and 10 administrative staff participate in each seminar. Seminars (10 three-hour sessions) are offered in the fall and spring semesters and during the summer. They focus on the faculty/staff role in student formation as seen through the lens of Ignatian spirituality. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
Intersections Advanced Seminars – These seminars build on the features of the original Intersections seminars—mixed groups of faculty and staff from across the university speaking about their own experience—but they are focused on specific topics in student formation and are intended to generate proposals for pilot projects that enhance the goals of student formation in particular areas of the university. $5000 grants are available for launching the most promising student-life programs, curriculum innovations, and research projects that emerge from the seminars. (Intersections Project)
Ignatian Reading Group – Four luncheon discussions during the summer for faculty and staff interested in deepening their acquaintance with Ignatius and Jesuit education. This is a pilot version of a larger project of offering luncheon discussions for faculty and staff around topics associated with the Catholic and Jesuit dimensions of the university’s mission (Intersections and Human Resources)
The Loyola Experience – A ten-day pilgrimage to the Ignatian sites in Spain and Rome, for members of the BC community. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
Shared Vision Programs – Based on the three St. Louis University videos, these half-day conversations are offered several times a year to all employees. (Human Resources)

Integration of Mission and Identity into Curriculum and Academic Programs

Pulse Program – Combines supervised social service or social advocacy field work with philosophy and theology courses that address the relationship of self and society, the nature of community, etc. (Theology and Philosophy Departments)
Perspectives – A four-year sequence of interdisciplinary courses, grounded in the major texts of Western culture, which organizes the material of each year according to areas of the core curriculum: philosophy and theology; literature and the arts; the social sciences; mathematics and the natural sciences.
Faith-Peace-Justice Program – An academic minor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Cornerstone courses – Introducing freshmen to college.
Capstone courses – For seniors: A variety of courses but each addresses the intersection of faith, work, relationships, and vocation.
Theology courses – Distinctive courses include: “St. Ignatius Loyola and His Legacy,” “Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Journey,” “The Challenge of Justice,” “Justice in Ancient Greece,” “Explorations in Service and Ethics in the Catholic University,” and “Ethics, Religion, and International Politics.”
Catholic Intellectual Tradition Project – A three-year series of lunches, seminars, lectures, and other events, intended to involve faculty from across the university in a conversation about the Catholic intellectual tradition and its significance for the academic mission of BC.(Church in the 21st Century Center and Provost’s Office)
Numerous other courses and programs in various areas of the university.

The Spiritual Exercises and Other Retreats

For faculty and staff:

Ignatian Retreat in Everyday Life – A 19th annotation retreat, in group format, offered annually from November to April for faculty, staff, and graduate students. (Jesuit Community)
Spiritual Exercises – A 19th annotation retreat offered to faculty and staff who have completed the Intersections seminars. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
New Year’s Retreat – A four-day retreat, off-campus, for faculty and staff. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
Weekend Retreats – offered twice a year for faculty and staff (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
Busy Staff Retreat – Offered during Advent and Lent. (Human Resources)
Weekend Retreat on Marriage as a Vocation - Offered for faculty and staff couples. (Intersections Program and Human Resources
Evenings of Reflection with St. Ignatius Loyola – For veterans of the Intersections Introductory Seminars, offered twice a semester. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)
The Loyola Experience – A ten-day pilgrimage to the Ignatian sites in Spain and Rome, for Vice Presidents, Deans, and Trustees. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality)

For students:

Kairos Retreats – Weekend retreats, structured on the main themes of the Spiritual Exercises. Offered seven times a year. (Office of Campus Ministry)
Five-Day Directed Retreat– Offered in January. (Office of Campus Ministry)
Busy Student Retreats – Offered in Lent and Advent. (Office of Campus Ministry)
Weekend Retreats for Students Participating in Service/Immersion Programs – Most service and immersion programs, domestic or international, require a weekend retreat for all participants as part of the preparation and in some cases follow-up process.
Weekend Retreats – Offered several times during the year. (Office of Campus Ministry)
In the Footsteps of Saint Ignatius – A ten-day pilgrimage to the Ignatian sites in Spain, for students, offered each summer. (Office of Campus Ministry)

Publications

The Catholic Intellectual Tradition: A Conversation at Boston College. (The Church in the 21st Century Center, 2010)

What Are We? An Introduction to Boston College and Its Jesuit and Catholic Tradition, aka The Red Book. Distributed to all students, staff, and faculty at BC. Available to alumni and parents. (Center for Ignatian Spirituality, 2000, reprinted 2002).

A Pocket Guide to Jesuit Education. A short introduction to Jesuit education, used in a variety of settings. (Office of University Mission and Ministry, 2003)

Three Key Questions. A thirty-minute video, introducing the topic of vocational discernment, with Fr. Michael Himes of the Theology Department. (Intersections Program)

The Journey Into Adulthood: Understanding Student Formation. A concept of student formation, rooted in Ignatian spirituality, intended to be the basis for conversations that will develop in the new Center for Student Formation. (Intersections Project, 2007).

Resources for Exploring the Jesuit and Catholic Dimensions of the University’s Mission. A web site with links to many useful articles: www.bc.edu/mission/exploring.

Miscellaneous

St. Ignatius Parish: A parish of the Archdiocese of Boston, staffed by Jesuits from the B.C. Jesuit Community and a large lay staff. The church is located on the edge of the campus, in close proximity to the largest group of student residences on campus and it is the largest space for liturgies and certain other kinds of events (lectures, concerts, dance performances) on or near the campus. In a variety of ways the church is hospitable to B.C. activities, and there are many forms of collaboration between the parish and the university. The pastor, Robert VerEecke, S.J., also directs the Boston Liturgical Dance Group, and is Artist in Residence and an instructor at B.C., providing further connections between parish and university.

Updated: 3/10/11