Artificial Intelligence / Fostering a “Culture of Encounter” in Jesuit Education
Ecological Citizenship / Campus Mental & Spiritual Well-Being
This Commission will explore the ways in which educators are responding to the call to be co-laborers across Jesuit colleges and universities. (Charter PDF)
Co-Chair: Jim McCartin, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Theology at Fordham University, where he also spearheads faculty formation for mission. From 2020-2026, he served as chair of the National Seminar on Jesuit Higher Education, which publishes Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education. Jim has served in various leadership roles in academic affairs at Fordham, and previously directed the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. He is a historian of U.S. Catholicism and is currently completing a book manuscript called “Pelvic Catholicism: An Unexpected History of Sex and American Catholics.”
Co-Chair: Virginia Herbers serves as Director of Mission Formation at Saint Louis University (SLU), where she works with faculty, staff, and trustees to provide programming for their personal and professional growth in the Jesuit, Catholic mission and identity of the University. In this role, Virginia has co-chaired SLU’s 2024 Mission Priority Examen, launched a local Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP@SLU), co-designed a communal discernment process for the University’s strategic plan, and secured a NetVUE grant to continue ongoing formation for those who have finished ICP@SLU. Virginia has spent the entirety of her life as an educator. She is a native St. Louisan who also serves as an Ignatian retreat director, spiritual director, and author of Christian spirituality.
Commission Members & Materials (TBD)
- Ana Karen Barragan, Director of Mission Engagement, Santa Clara University
- Daniel Cosacchi, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, The University of Scranton
- Rev. Ryan Duns, S.J., Associate Professor of Theology, Marquette University
- Annie Phoenix, Executive Director, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University New Orleans
- Lauren Schwer, Director of Ignatian Spirituality, Loyola University Chicago
- John Sebastian, Senior Vice President for Mission, Loyola Marymount University
- Sonja St. Martin, Professor and Associate Dean, School of Management, University of San Francisco
- Jason Taylor, Professor of Philosophy, Regis University
- Madeline Vitek Memenza, Director for Mission Engagement, Georgetown University
- Kyle Wooley, Director of Mission Engagement, College of the Holy Cross