By Deanna I. Howes, Director of Communications, AJCU
When we chose the Connections topics for the 2016-17 academic year, we were hopeful that the timing of General Congregation 36 (a worldwide meeting of Jesuits in Rome to elect a new Superior General, also known as GC36) would coincide with the publication of the December issue. Thankfully, it reached its conclusion just over a month ago allowing ample time for our contributors to write meaningful articles about the impact that GC36 made on them, their institutions and the Society of Jesus.
The articles pay tribute to the newly-elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J. (the first Latin-American to be elected to the position), as well as his predecessors. Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J. served as Superior General from 2008 to 2016, succeeding Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., who served from 1983 to 2008. Just last month, Fr. Kolvenbach passed away at the age of 87. His legacy, and that of those who served before him, have impacted our schools in many ways, notably through the landmark Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education conference held at Santa Clara University in October 2000 (for more information on the Justice Conference, please click here).
With this being the last issue of Connections before Christmas (don’t worry: we’ll be back in January!), we know that some of our readers may still be in need of gifts to give to that special Jesuit-educated person (or Jesuit fan!) in their lives. Please check out the AJCU Christmas Gift Guide featuring everything from new books by faculty at Jesuit institutions to charitable organizations to which you can make donations in honor of your loved ones. We will continue to update this list throughout the Christmas season! Please send your gift suggestions to dhowes@ajcunet.edu.
From all of us at AJCU, we wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!
All the best,
Deanna