Damen Legacy Fellows
The Damen Legacy Fellows program is an 18-month cohort-based formation program at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) that invites those committed to the work of Jesuit education to a deeper understanding of what that entails through a variety of means. Modeled after AJCU’s Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP), Damen Legacy Fellows provides a localized version that extends into areas throughout the University. The program includes nine group meetings (intellectual engagement with readings, topics, and speakers with depth and discussion); a spirituality component (spiritual direction, a silent retreat, or the 19th annotation of the Spiritual Exercises); a local immersion in Chicago; and a pilgrimage to Spain and Rome.
As a result of Damen Legacy Fellowship participation and completion, participants will:
1. Develop relationships with colleagues from areas of the University outside of one’s department/school/unit.
2. Describe the historical and contextual development of Loyola University Chicago’s mission as a Jesuit, Catholic university and articulate with depth key components of the Ignatian spiritual and pedagogical traditions.
3. Identify alignment between Ignatian values and one’s personal, professional, and religious/spiritual values, leading one to design and implement an action plan that puts fellowship learning into tangible practice in one’s professional context and work.
Top lessons:
1. Being in-person is immensely helpful.
2. Depending on how the group develops, be prepared to provide additional room for discussion and sharing beyond what you expect.
3. Trust the spiritual practices that our tradition offers. It is extraordinary to hear how folks are transformed.
“This program helped me understand my work and life as part of something larger than myself – this helps with my retention.”
“I now understand how the Catholic Intellectual Tradition is one of the gifts and legacies of our institution.
“We have a role to play and a stake in our Jesuit heritage regardless of our own religious affiliation/identification and this is deeply welcoming!”
We are midway through our second cohort and about to recruit our third. As such, we continue to adapt and shift small programmatic elements to match each specific cohort’s needs.