Mission Statement
The Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) was launched in 2006 by Fairfield, Fordham and Georgetown Universities as a way to raise awareness on Jesuit campuses of the meaning of humanitarian response and its implications for the Jesuit ideology of “men and women for others,” as well as to jointly address the humanitarian needs of those who are suffering. Since its founding, the network has grown to include Jesuit institutions from across the 27 schools in the United States and internationally, including the Philippines, Qatar and Beirut.
In 2010, former Jesuit Superior General, Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, S.J., said, “If each university, working by itself as a proyecto social [social project], is able to accomplish so much good in society, how much more can we increase the scope of our service to the world if all the Jesuit institutions of higher education become, as it were, a single global proyecto social?”
Driven by this belief that Jesuit academic institutions can be more effective when working together rather than independently, the Network seeks to advance both undergraduate humanitarian education and the professional field of humanitarian action by:
- Bringing students into the professional field at an early stage in their education;
- Forming an educated citizenry; for those students that are not pursuing careers in humanitarian action, providing exposure to knowledge and skills needed to become engaged citizens;
- Developing an educational program that places emphasis on the ethical dimensions of humanitarian action.
On Jesuit campuses, the JUHAN project involves:
- Student leadership teams charged with raising awareness and responding to humanitarian crises;
- Academic courses that focus on humanitarian issues from various disciplines;
- A national student skill-building and leadership conference for students from Jesuit academic institutions.
Leadership
Contact: Julie Mughal, Fairfield University
E-mail: jmughal@fairfield.edu
Next Meeting
Location: TBD
Dates: TBD