JSEA History

CONTEXT

The social, political and religious upheaval of the 1960’s led some members of the Society of Jesus to question the effectiveness, role and future of the institutional apostolates of the Jesuits, particularly those of education, as a means of meeting the Society’s commitment to the biblical mission of faith and justice. In 1964, “The Fitcher Study” was conducted to determine how effective Jesuit high schools had been in the Christian formation of its students. Finding the more typical student “the one who hopes to be useful to society and helpful to others (p.188)” the study helped reaffirm the connection of the Jesuit educational enterprise with Ignatius Loyola’s first desire to help souls.

The findings of “The Fichter Study” gave impetus to the creation of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA). Established in 1970, JSEA (separate from a similar organization for Jesuit colleges and universities) would provide services that assist the Jesuit high schools in further identifying and strengthening the Jesuit character of their educational efforts. The Preamble to the Constitutions of JSEA, drawn up in response to the context in which Jesuit educators found themselves, set forth a challenging vision and sent out a powerful call to action which ultimately would inspire those working in the secondary education apostolate to a dynamic sense of mission and purpose, deeply rooted in Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit tradition.

FOUNDING AND HISTORY

The Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA) was founded in 1970 upon the dissolution of the Jesuit Educational Association (JEA) in order to care for the particular needs of the Jesuit secondary school apostolate in the United States. At the same time the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) came into existence to serve the particular needs of Jesuit higher education.

In its early years JSEA functioned with a President and a Board of Directors which represented the ten Jesuit provinces and the different functions within the schools (i.e., president, principal, and teacher). In addition, the Association addressed strategic issues and developed programs and workshops through its Commissions:

• CORE - religious education
• CORD - staff development and curriculum improvement
• COPAD - strategic planning and development
• CAPE - Jesuit governance in Jesuit secondary education

The Commissions of JSEA were composed of men and women from the schools, with the exception of CAPE whose membership consisted of the ten Jesuit provincial delegates for education. In 1976, CORD was restructured to include a full-time staff with offices in the Graduate School of Education of Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City. As a result of an educational project initiated by the Jesuit provincials, who constitute the board of the Jesuit Conference of the United States, CORD was given a mandate to provide training for potential presidents and principals of Jesuit high schools, to assist schools in developing curriculum consistent with the ideals of the JSEA Preamble and the principles of the Society’s 31st and 32nd General Congregations, and to conduct research as well as to offer consultation services as appropriate. All of the Commissions continued with minor modifications until JSEA reorganized its structures in 1995.

Since 1970 JSEA has sponsored national and regional workshops, conferences, seminars and symposia on various issues. In addition to books it has published over the years, JSEA has produced a series of monographs and documents which were compiled and published in 1994 in a single volume entitled Foundations. That compendium provides a comprehensive background for understanding the context in which the Association operated from its inception to 1994.

Six Jesuits have led the Association as its President since 1970: Frs. Edwin J. McDermott, S.J., Vincent J. Duminuco, S.J., Charles P. Costello, S.J., Carl E. Meirose, S.J., Joseph F. O’Connell, S.J. and Ralph E. Metts, S.J. Each president naturally nurtured the Association within the historical context of his time in office and with his particular talents and interests. The JSEA Board of Directors, like other boards of not-for-profit organizations, has undergone development over the years. It was frequently the initiator of programs more than policy, often in response to needs which it identified in Catholic and Jesuit education.

In anticipation of its 25^th anniversary during the 1995-96 academic year, JSEA initiated a self-evaluation process in 1993 that would examine JSEA structures, programs and services to member schools. At the request of the Board, CAPE members engaged the member schools in the evaluation during the fall of 1993. In spring 1994 CAPE presented the findings to the JSEA Board. In 1995 the JSEA Board finalized decisions concerning JSEA’s future direction, staffing and organizational structure. Revised Bylaws went into effect on July 1, 1995. Meanwhile, in December 1994, JSEA had been fully incorporated in the District of Columbia as a not-for-profit corporation.

As a result of the extensive evaluation process, the JSEA Board:

• eliminated the Commission structure
• mandated a central staff in Washington, DC
• modified the representational nature of the Board
• defined itself as a policy making body with all programming delegated to the staff
• established as the overarching goal of the Association “to promote the Ignatian vision of education in interactive partnership with and among the member schools.”

The Board agreed that the context in which the goal, focus and programs of JSEA would be carried out should always be one of consciously modeling collaboration, networking among people and institutions, integration of Ignatian spirituality, effective use of technological resources, and a faith-justice commitment that emphasizes the Church’s and the Society of Jesus’ option for youth and the poor. The Board gave to JSEA staff the responsibility to develop programming and services relating to the implementation of the Ignatian vision in Jesuit education for the following four areas:

• leadership formation and support,
• teacher formation and support,
• school planning and curriculum development, and
• research in Ignatian education.

After extensive consultation with the membership during the 1997-1998 academic year, JSEA’s Board of Directors adopted a five-year plan (1999-2004) with the ultimate aim of helping member schools deepen their Ignatian culture with specific objectives in four goal areas:

• resource development,
• leadership development,
• network development, and
• research development.

Upon completion of the first five year plan (1999-2004), the JSEA Board of Directors implemented a new set of JSEA Strategic Priorities (2005-2010).