Santa Clara University

Communication and Collaboration Task Force

In a recent President’s Staff meeting, Terri Griffith, Chair of the Communication and Collaboration Task Force and professor of management, reported on the progress of the task force’s work. Formed this fall, they were broadly charged with identifying campus needs for communication and collaboration services, identifying categories of tools that will meet those needs, and evaluating and recommending specific tools and vendors within each category. To do so, the Task Force has been gathering examples of work situations where communication & collaboration could be improved through new tools & practices. With the work examples compiled from the task force’s university-wide town hall meeting, from comments posted on the task force blog, and from departmental and personal interviews, the group is now investigating possible technology solutions.

The next step will be to prepare a “Request for Proposal” for vendor solicitation and, in winter quarter, to make recommendations to the campus community about tools, processes and staffing. I encourage faculty and staff to participate in the conversation about communication and collaboration on campus and look forward to hearing more of the task force’s findings. To stay current with the work of the task force or to post comments of technology needs at Santa Clara, visit the task force blog at http://www.scu.edu/is/communication/index.cfm.

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Today, November 16, we commemorate the six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter who were killed at the University of Central America (UCA) in El Salvador on this day in 1989. We join with the Ignatian family around the world to recall their deaths as martyrs and to honor their lives.  They spoke truth to power in service to the tormented and oppressed people of El Salvador. With the ”crucified people,” they struggled for justice and they died true to that mission.  The white crosses with their names stand in their memory in front of the Mission Church.

One of their companions, Jon Sobrino, S.J., received the St. Clare Medal in their honor in 2009 and reminded us: “The martyrs, more than anyone else, show us the way to go.  They’re the ones who push us the hardest to follow Jesus.” Fr. Sobrino challenged us, as a university, to live up to the legacy of these eight committed people, to “help free people from every kind of oppression—that is, to take the crucified people down from their crosses. If the university doesn’t make this its priority, it can be a center of knowledge, along with others, and more or less competent and competitive, but it won’t be a university of Christian inspiration.”

This anniversary is especially poignant with the recent death of Dean Brackley, S.J., who volunteered in 1990 to go to El Salvador to continue the work of the UCA martyrs. Dean welcomed SCU faculty, staff, and students who traveled to El Salvador on immersion delegations.  He also taught SCU students at our Casa de la Solidaridad in San Salvador.

Today we honor the martyrs for the depth of their sacrifice – a sacrifice they made to help bring forth a world freed from injustice and redeemed with compassion and mercy. As a community, let us keep their memory alive in our thoughts, prayers and actions. May they rest in peace.

Michael E. Engh, S.J.
President

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Our national tradition of giving thanks at this time each November is an occasion that our nation proudly celebrates. The Thanksgiving holiday gives us a short respite to reflect on our many blessings and voice our gratitude – for our family, friends and colleagues who have shaped and inspired us, for the simple graces in our everyday lives that give us peace and joy, and even for those circumstances that challenge us as we strive to fulfill our potential as co-creators in God’s work.

In the Santa Clara University community, our blessings are abundant, and we have much for which we can be grateful. We are a community filled with a special spirit of generosity and commitment to a mission that seeks the betterment of students and of the common good, in heart, mind, and soul. I count among my many blessings the opportunity to be a part of this community, to engage, debate, and reflect with you as we strive to be better as individuals and as an institution. I am grateful for all you do to make Santa Clara the special place it is, focused on developing students who are grounded in faith, formed in ethics, and engaged in the intellectual life.

This Thanksgiving, my prayer for you is that you find time to recall your blessings.  May you celebrate them with those you love, and give thanks for them in ways fitting to your spiritual traditions.  If gratitude is the memory of the heart, I pray your memories are plentiful and your heart is full. I shall remember all of you and your families with gratitude in my Mass and prayers on Thanksgiving Day. 

With best wishes,

Michael E. Engh, S.J.
President
 

From Campus Ministry:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

During the month of November, we join Christian churches throughout the world to pray for all who have passed through death into the eternal embrace of God.  On Tuesday, November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, we will celebrate a special Mass of Remembrance at 12:05 PM in the Mission Church. At this liturgy, we will pray for and celebrate the lives of loved ones, especially those who have died during the past year. We will also have a Mass at 5:00 PM and a Misa en Español at 8:00 PM in the Mission Church.

Throughout the month of November, all are invited to inscribe the names of deceased loved ones into the Book of Names, which will be located in the Mission Church.

In addition, we will again prepare an "Altar of Remembrance" under the direction of Sr. Ana Maria Pineda, R.S.M., of the Religious Studies Department. The preparation of such altars is a custom in many Latin American countries as a way to reverence the memories of loved ones who have passed away.  You are welcome to share in this celebration by bringing photos or other reminders of your loved ones who are deceased and placing them at this altar during November.  It will be located at the side Chapel of the Holy Family. Photos or objects placed at the altar should be labeled with your name. We ask that you retrieve them at the end of the month. Please do not leave items of value.  

For more information or questions, please call the Campus Ministry Office at x4372.

With warm wishes,

Jack Treacy,S.J.

Director of Campus Ministry