November 2024 Newsletter

In this edition:

• President's Message
• Student Affairs Summer Graduate Internships at JASPA Institutions
• JASPA 2025 5-Year Institute: Call for Programs
• Save the Dates
   

President's Message

Dear JASPA Colleagues,

I sincerely hope this message finds you well, although I'm quite aware that "well" is a rather relative term in these post-election days. As a former student shared with me, wrapping her mind around the election results has been quite a bit like wrapping her mind around the world shutting down for the pandemic: recognition that regardless of how anyone voted, we are entering into uncharted waters and feeling unsettled by not knowing what the future will bring. What an astute observation.

The world as we have known it is likely to look different during a second Trump administration. JASPA will work hard to help all of us stay informed while continuing to ground ourselves in our shared Jesuit mission and values. In the coming months and years look for webinar opportunities through our Online Enrichment arm to understand policy shifts and help one another think through changes. We will also offer networking opportunities to share ideas and provide collegial support to one another. Of course, we also have the opportunity to be and think together in June at our JASPA 5-Year Institute at Loyola New Orleans.

Regardless of how each of us voted, we all have students and colleagues who chose differently. And, each of them still deserves the best of what we can offer. Our brand of education focuses on the whole person. It's grounded in the mystery of God's love. It's full of hope for a future we are called to build together.

Hope features prominently in Ignatian spirituality and in one of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus: to accompany young people toward a hope-filled future.

And yet, hope may be difficult for some people to access right now. Admittedly, I'm struggling. Until I can get there, I'm relying heavily on gratitude. I invite you to do the same.

Like hope, gratitude is a cornerstone of Ignatian spirituality. Five-hundred years ago, St. Ignatius grounded the Examen in gratitude as a way of noticing God's presence in our daily lives. For him, gratitude was the precursor of joy, and it set the foundation for hope. More recently, research in positive psychology bears this out: a regular practice of gratitude lifts the spirits, sustains, and helps us feel more connected to those around us and to the natural world.

If you -- like me -- are struggling to access hope, start with gratitude. And then remember that we are to *accompany* young people toward a hope-filled future. We do not need answers, just a willingness to join with them on the journey. Gratitude can help us put one foot in front of the other in a steady forward motion. Then may we soon be able to act with joy and safely harbor hope for a future worthy of our values and ideals.

In solidarity,

Michele C. Murray, Ph.D.

President, JASPA
Senior Vice President for Student Development and Mission
College of the Holy Cross
 

Student Affairs Summer Graduate Internships at JASPA Institutions

The Pipeline Stewardship Committee seeks postings for summer internships available through JASPA and AJCU institutions to share with current graduate students at our campuses. Submit information about your institution’s summer internship opportunities here to be featured in upcoming communications. 

Here is the link for the summer internship form: Student Affairs Internships at JAPSA Institutions

* Please enter one position per submission form. At the end of the form, you can cut and paste an internship description if you have one prepared.

Questions? Contact Erin Swezey (JASPA Vice President for Pipeline Stewardship, Seattle University) at swezey@seattleu.edu.
 

Save the Dates