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The Jesuit, Catholic Mission of U.S. Jesuit Colleges & Universities

The following statement offers a consensus reflection of the twenty-eight presidents of U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities on the Jesuit, Catholic identity shared by these institutions. It was developed through several drafts in preparation for a dialogue between presidents and the U.S. provincials of the Society of Jesus in October 2010.

The consensus statement has been written in such a way that it can stand on its own and can be used, independently of the dialogue with the provincials, in other conversations, e.g. with our boards or university colleagues, Jesuit communities, etc.

The statement describes how the presidents understand the apostolate of Jesuit higher education within the framework of the overall national Jesuit apostolic strategy, and addresses key relationships and important issues as seen by the presidents. We see this statement as part of an ongoing dialogue and welcome feedback from our colleagues and friends.

This statement was approved by the presidents of U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities in January 2010.

Please click here to download a copy of the consensus statement.

If you are interested in ordering hard copies of the consensus statement, please write to or call Deanna Howes, AJCU Manager of Information Services (dhowes@ajcunet.edu or 202-862-9893).