September 2025 Newsletter

In this edition:

• President's Message
• Five-Year Institute: Newspaper Article
• JASPA Summer Internship Initiative
• Save the Date
   

President's Message

Dear JASPA Colleagues,

Welcoming students back to campus after summer months of quiet is my version of a Super Bowl! I load up the office with plenty of snacks, favorite caffeinated beverages, and new school spirit gear. I love watching new students -- in all their anticipation and anxiety, -- meeting their roommate for the first time, saying goodbye to family, attending first night programming, cheering on athletes at a home soccer game, and going to the first day of classes. I love watching returning students hug their roommate in the parking lot whom they missed, share with the staff what they learned at their summer internship, and high five our President across the quad walking to class. The joy of those first few days of school reminds us of the importance of community. And if there was ever a time that our world and each of us individually needed community, it is in this moment! 

In a world of divided times, our campuses may serve as a model of community. During his time at Manresa, St. Ignatius could have simply stopped faith development in the deeply personal and silent reflection the spiritual exercises offer. However, he did not. His spiritual journey continued with companions (his own small community) to Messina (the first Jesuit community) to ultimately form what we now know as Jesuit colleges and universities world-wide (our larger community). Communities, when strong, offer compassion to our neighbors, skilled competence to solve today’s problems and a collective conscious to bring us closer to what God calls us to be. 

I hope that you see JASPA as your professional community. When you might be struggling, please know that your JASPA community will offer you compassion through our functional area networks, will provide opportunities to grow through our professional development programming, and will reflect on our collective conscious guided by our mission to serve students for the greater glory of God. Lean into your JASPA community: we need each other!

Peace,

Deb Cady Melzer
JASPA President
Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students
Loyola University Maryland
 

First Day of Classes Photo
Iggy with our Student Body President and a Resident Advisor!

Five-Year Institute: Newspaper Article

In the previous edition of the JASPA newsletter, we featured several reflections by attendees and partners from the Five-Year Institute hosted by Loyola University New Orleans in late June. Here is a newspaper article from the Patch news site titled "Loyola University New Orleans and Sodexo Partner to Host 2025 JASPA 5-Year Institute" highlighting the wonderful experience.
 

JASPA Summer Internship Initiative

One new initiative coming out of the JASPA Five-Year Institute is the formation of a cohesive summer internship program for students in student affairs preparation programs or interested in working at AJCU institutions. The goal of this initiative is to create a more connected experience that will allow for those completing internships to deepen their learning and commitment to Jesuit student affairs preparation.

We hope to be able to promote many summer internships at AJCU institutions. If you or your colleagues are planning to hire an intern for the summer or would like more information about this initiative, please reach out to Molly Dugan (duganm@xavier.edu) or Doug McAcy (douglasmcacy@creighton.edu) from JASPA's Pipeline Stewardship Committee.
 

Save the Date