Experience and Encounter: The Catalyst of Jesuit Education
If there were any doubts that students had returned to Santa Clara over the next-to-last weekend of September, the 250 students waiting excitedly in line at 9:30am (early by student standards!) outside the Ignatian Center would have quickly dispelled it. They had come to sign up for Arrupe placements, their opportunity to take part in community-engaged student learning in local communities. Mentoring, listening, accompanying – this transformative experience is not just an add-on at Santa Clara; it is an essential part of our curriculum and our community.
The genius of Ignatian education is that it is experiential. St. Ignatius Loyola recognized how direct contact with peoples and realities opens up questions – about both them and about us – and leads us to discover together the spark of the sacred in our midst. This can happen as close by as down the corridor in the residence hall, down the street in a nearby community, or as far away as across the globe.
Some of our students started this early. The Ignatian Center First Year Immersion – about which you can read more in this newsletter – plunged students into our local community in downtown San Jose. Exploring the themes of Civic Engagement for Mental Health and Housing Equity, they came to know the diverse realities that characterize our neighbor, the 12th largest city in the United States. By coming to know the challenges and celebrating the successes of that vibrant metropolis, on their very first days as Broncos, they began to acquire a roadmap for their entire Santa Clara experience. In the Ignatian Center, we look forward to accompanying them throughout the journey of experience, discernment, and action that lies ahead - here, there, and everywhere.
This month we hosted a group of students from the incoming class of 2028 on the First Year Immersion. The First Year Immersion is designed to help new students connect with the local community while getting to know fellow Broncos. With a focus on civic engagement, the group spent one of the days in downtown San Jose, visiting with individuals at the Recovery Cafe and with officials from the City of San Jose.
Read about their experience here
