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Author: Arrupe Initiatives (page 3 of 4)

October 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

It’s Alive! Arrupe Initiative’s launches its I-LEAD Program, a first of its kind.

The I-LEAD Program (which stands for Ignatian Leaders Engaging in Action and Discernment),  launched on October 28th, with the first cohort of 20 students from 10 higher education Jesuit institutions across 6 countries.

The I-LEAD program is the first of its kind, hosted by the University Ministry at the University of San Francisco and offered to undergraduate students through the Global Jesuit Network, it’s mission is to form conscious, critical, competent, compassionate, and committed leaders, based on Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy, staying true to USF commitment of engaging in mutual and respectful collaboration with our international partners.

During their first meeting, the I-LEADers introduced themselves and explored their preoccupations and passions providing a broad perspective and creativity needed for the creation of a more humane and just world. The topics of interest of these young leaders varied from gender and equality to housing dignity and citizenship apathy, which they will continue to explore throughout the program.

The I-LEAD wouldn’t be possible without the long history of collaboration that the Arrupe Initiatives office (before the Arrupe Immersions) has with Jesuit institutions around the world, fostering meaningful partnerships that encourage the international engagement of faculty, librarians, staff, students, and alumni.

October 28, 2020 / 2 Comments

Finding Community During Times of Self-Isolation.

by Lesly Mazariegos

Towards the end of the Arrupe Immersion trip in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, we received the news that all USF students were to return back to campus due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It was also announced that the rest of the semester would be remote. At that moment, I did not know how to feel, what to expect for the rest of the semester, or how the pandemic will affect us all. Because it was Spring break, I was able to slow down, process everything, and stay updated with emails from the school and other programs. 

After the trip, as a group, we continued to follow-up with one another. We created a meaningful and trusting relationship that we carry on today. Social media was one way we kept in touch with each other but also communicated through WhatsApp. We participated in small fill-in sheets about our interests, how we are coping with the pandemic, and how we are able to stay active. We shared this with one another and learned more about each other. The transition from normalcy to remote learning was difficult but the support from one another created an easier shift.   

Every program had to find a way to transition to an effective method of remote learning and interaction. As a lead tutor from the UM tutoring program, we brainstormed how to continue building community. The first step was to check in with tutors and update them on the next steps for the program. Throughout the semester, as tutors, we created small projects that could support the learning of the tutees. In addition, the UM tutor program created an Instagram account with the goal of showcasing USF tutors’ interests, activities, and how they are staying active during the pandemic. Tutees from the program are able to view this account and stay connected with one another. This creates a network of students where we can all feel part of a community. Now, more than ever, it has been important to find ways to feel connected in times of social distancing.  

We continue to build community through the UM tutoring program. Before tutoring sessions, I initiated a small informal check-in with USF tutors. Monthly tutor training sessions also serve as a space where we all connect, share how we are doing, how online tutoring has been so far, and how we can better serve the tutees through remote learning. Through my experience with the UM tutoring program, I found it important to help create a space where we can all feel comfortable sharing what’s on our minds which in turn helps us all feel more connected with one another.  

I am finding community this semester by continuing the relationships made through the Arrupe Immersion program and by creating a space where USF tutors and tutees can feel comfortable talking about their day, their well-being, or anything else on their mind. Especially during this heavy political climate, pandemic, and virtual interactions, it is important to find and build a space where we can feel connected and comfortably talk about our well-being. 

 

October 12, 2020 / 0 Comments

Community from Afar: Checking in with our partners in Puebla

by Kathleen Shrader

In March, just as Covid-19 was being declared a global pandemic, USF students had the privilege to travel to Puebla, Mexico, and spend time learning about immigration. Students were hosted by Universidad Ibero Puebla, a Jesuit University in Puebla.  Today, we checked in with our partners in Puebla and Ibero to see how they are doing through the pandemic and learn more about their experience, as well as to show our solidarity and show of community from afar. We wish the best for all of our global and local partners – and staying connected through the pandemic reminds us of our common ground and shared passion for making the world a more just place. 

Here’s what Ibero had to say regarding campus classes and programs – including the social services department which plans USF’s immersion:

Since mid-March, Ibero Puebla campus closed its doors to prevent infections from COVID-19. Five months later, courses have shifted to online sessions and all the scheduled events transferred to webinars and other virtual presentations. Coping and adjusting to this new normality as it is called, took a few months and so far, the pandemic has stoked stress on many levels.

The Intercultural Center for Reflection and Social Action (CIRAS in Spanish) transformed much of the work that takes place in this department. Many of the projects require in the field activities, one-on-one sessions, and many collective dynamics. By now, the social service practicum has converted into online projects and follow-up through different virtual resources. Unfortunately, not many of the regular nonprofit organizations can approach this type of collaboration and are now in the middle of making tough decisions regarding the continuity of their own projects. But on the other hand, the confinement provided resilience for many and allowed many new ideas to the surface – creating collaboration through new projects, and thinking ahead on community needs regarding preventive health and economic impact that will endure for the foreseeable future during the pandemic.

Definitely, we are all learning to adjust, but also we are hoping to provide new skills to our organizations but mostly to our students as they are facing new challenges through the unexpected, it takes time but also the courage to continue through a path that could strengthen us as a community.

September 28, 2020 / 1 Comment

Community Perspectives: Collective Conscience in Decision Making

by Luis Enrique Bazan

Recently, a group of USF graduate students, members of the Arrupe team, got together to reflect on the signs of the times in order to figure out the needs of our USF community and our possible contribution. 

 With a kind heart, we wanted to be as honest as possible about the anxiety, anger, fear, and instability that we are witnessing within our own community, and we held on to the USF mission as the platform to advance this conversation. 

 USF is not new in its commitment to social justice. We have a lot of institutionalized programs that are evidence of this commitment to local and global communities, but if we are not new to this conversation, why are some members of our community feeling sidelined? Is this current global crisis showing the cracks of the implementation of a mission that we are so proud of? We have good examples of care within our campus, but we also have some signs of desolation. 

 The most important asset at USF is its people. Each person brings experiences that nurture the heart and knowledge of the institution. The institution that we are working together to create is constantly being challenged by factors that are not necessarily under our control, and in order to mitigate those external factors, there are decisions that are being made based on professional analysis. It is of public knowledge that analysis could help us be better prepared to face the future, but here is where our reflection led us to see that tension is being built when confronted with the mission. 

 The current COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of something about analytical planning: it can’t predict the future. Even though we know that analysis is not perfect, we still need it. The problem is when analysis doesn’t understand its limitations and trumps the other historical narratives that have built the USF legacy. 

 Each person synthesizes, through their own experience, the mission of the university, and because of that, we have an idea of where we should be. The tension that hides the rich experience of each member of the community is that, due to the current state of affairs, people are not being asked to give their opinions regarding decisions that affect them. Numbers are prevailing in providing us with information that condition our own paths of action, and not the conscience of our community. Therefore, we need a way of thinking that is capable of going beyond what the analytical and numeric projections tell us where we should be going. 

 Catholic Social Thought teaches us that we can’t separate our analytic constructions from our conscience. Our USF experience teaches us that approaching crises as an issue of categories of analysis doesn’t give the concrete experiences of a very diverse community the priority that it deserves. 

Participating in the construction of a more humane world is not only an analytical construction but the common effort of people who care. Analytical decisions that incorporate the conscience of a community become meaningful decisions, and a number of meaningful decisions together is what has built USF.  

We already have some schools and offices on campus that are incorporating the voices of their students, faculty, and staff in their decisions, but not everyone is there yet, so we, the Arrupe team, ended our meeting with the following questions: How do we build channels of meaningful communication during times of social distancing? How do we make sure that everyone from the USF community feels valued? Could we make sure that everyone is represented in decisions that matter the most to them? Could collective conscience ever become a priority at USF or other Jesuit institutions? 

We don’t have the answers, but we hope that other offices and schools are asking similar questions so we can find meaningful ways to move forward. 

This text launches our Community Perspectives project, if you wish to share your perspective, please visit: myusf.usfca.edu/arrupe/perspective

Clarence Jones
September 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

Conversations about Race, Jesuit universities collaborate on racial justice talks talks

Racism is a global issue. The protests around the world that the killing of George Floyd ignited has made universities from the Jesuit network share resources and collaborate to meet the demands of their communities.

Such examples of those collaborations happened last month, between the Jesuit Alberto Hurtado University (UAH) in Chile and the University of San Francisco through USF’s Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice and the Arrupe Initiatives, the event “In defense of Human Rights: An Interview with Clarence Jones was organized

In a conversation after the event, Constanza Bauer, the deputy director of international cooperation of UAH, mentioned that international collaboration between the University of San Francisco and the University in Chile has set up in motion other collaborations with USF and other Jesuit Universities. Kique Bazan, the Director of Arrupe Initiatives is also optimistic about international collaborations between Jesuit universities “we are seeing that, even if we can’t travel, the world is getting smaller”

woman in front of image of the 43
September 25, 2020 / 0 Comments

Ayotzinapa: 6 Years Seeking Truth and Justice

Six years after the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa in Mexico, the Arrupe Human Rights Observatory joins the demand for justice and truth.

The Arrupe Observatory recognizes the struggle of families, civil society organizations, and specific government agencies for the clarification of truth and the pursuit of justice. Also, the Observatory joins the call of many organizations asking the competent authorities to maintain a constant dialogue and listening to the victims and to provide effective justice.

It also invites our Jesuit university community to join the cause by providing financial support to the Centre ProDH, the Jesuit Human Rights Centre in Mexico, to continue providing legal advice and promoting human rights issues in Mexico.

Donate here.

The following is a description of ProDh Center of the events of Ayotzinapa 6 years ago.

On the night of September 26, 2014, a group of students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos de Ayotzinapa, between 17 and 25 years old, went to the city of Iguala, Guerrero, (Mexico) with the aim of “taking” the buses they needed to participate in the commemoration of October 2, which every year keeps alive in Mexico the memory of that repression against students that took place in 1968. Although the retention and temporary use of buses by students to carry out their activities had been common in Guerrero and even had the tacit approval of companies and authorities, on September 26 the response of the authorities was not the usual one: Municipal Police of Iguala opened fire on the students to prevent them from leaving the city with the buses. Helped by other corporations and civilians, the police managed to close the road to five buses – three that were traveling on a central street and two that were traveling on a peripheral street. In these two scenarios, 43 students were detained and were supposed to be disappeared. Later that night, attacks against the students and the general population continued, not only by state agents but also by civilians who, as was later demonstrated, were part of the structure of a criminal organization strongly linked to the state agencies present in that area of Guerrero, called Guerreros Unidos.

The outcome of the bloody night in Iguala was brutal: 43 young students are still missing; 6 people were executed, among them 3 students, including the case of a young man whose body was found the next day in an uninhabited area with clear signs of torture; at least 40 people were injured, including two students who were seriously and permanently affected by their health. In total, more than 180 people were direct victims of human rights violations that night and about 700 people were indirect victims, considering the relatives of the victims.

In spite of the process of searching for truth and justice initiated by the families of the disappeared and the victims of execution, the obstruction of the investigation by the authorities has prevented the truth of the events that occurred to the normalistas of Ayotzinapa on September 26 and 27, 2014 from being known by the families and by all of society; and therefore, not all of those responsible for these events have been investigated, processed, or sanctioned.

(Find the original version in Spanish)

Beautiful rendering of a heart shaped earth, perfectly usable for a wide range of topics related to environmental conservation, sustainable resources or peace in general.

September 21, 2020 / 0 Comments

International Jesuit Collaboration for a Message of Peace

Arrupe Initiatives participates in a video from the Universidad Ruiz de Montoya celebrating the International Day of Peace. These alliances strengthen the international spirit in our Jesuit network, based on the search for justice, peace, and reconciliation for our most vulnerable societies, a call from the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus and our Universal Apostolic Preferences.
We thank the Universidad Ruiz de Montoya for this invitation and invite everyone to watch the video!
September 14, 2020 / 0 Comments

Apply for the I-LEAD Program

Register for the Info Sessions:

Over the past few years, we have witnessed a global crisis in leadership and the current COVID-19 pandemic reveals the lack of vision and skills of those in power to create a just society for all. The urgent need to form citizens who look beyond the limits of their privileges, through inclusivity and solidarity, that become “magis” students, that is to say, those who seek “the most and the best” for the common good of our societies and Common Home, especially those who have been systematically violated. As Fr. Luis Ugalde, S.J., said “we do not want to form successful professionals for failed societies”.

Whit this in mind we are excited to present the I-LEAD program! I-LEAD stands for the Ignatian Leaders Engaging in Action and Discernment. It is a USF created leadership program based on the Ignatian Pedagogy (context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation) for undergraduate students at USF, but also students from other Jesuit universities in the world.

The mission of the I-LEAD program is to form conscious, critical, competent, compassionate, and committed leaders, based on Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy, with the aim of transforming the structures of society, through discernment, action, evaluation, and the use of practical tools.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

  • Learn the aspects that make up an Ignatian leader who looks to the common good of societies, through the integration of dialogue, participation of the actors involved, critical thinking, and committed action.
  • Gain a general knowledge of the Society of Jesus, Ignatian spirituality, and pedagogy.
  • Develop a critical awareness of the global and local context in which they are immersed, from the perspective of social justice and equity.
  • Learn methodologies for decision making through community dialogue, teamwork, and solidarity processes.
  • Develop professional skills for effective communication, advocacy skills, project management skills, from an ethical and collaborative perspective.
  • Evaluate the implementation of their knowledge, skills, and leadership, in order to promote team feedback and improvement in decision making.
  • Meet and work with students from Jesuit universities around the world.

HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
I-LEAD will consist of six monthly sessions, starting in October 2020. Meetings will happen synchronically online, with asynchronous activities, and resources. There will be international collaboration with foreign students and the participation of our local and international partners. The following contents will be addressed:

  • Ignatian Leadership & Pedagogy
  • Analysis of reality & Critical Thinking
  • Community Engagement
  • Digital activism
  • Art Activism
  • Fundraising & Project Advocacy
  • Ignatian Discernment & decision making
two girls in Peru teach a USF student how to play the drums
September 1, 2020

Arrupe Initiatives Celebrates its Launch

On Tuesday, September 1st, we formally launched our Arrupe Initiatives programs in a small virtual get together, where students, alumni, faculty, and staff joined in to celebrate the news and to share their excitement for a new semester.

It is no exaggeration to say this semester is unlike any other, and at Arrupe Initiatives we wanted to create a space to reflect on our “new reality”, on what it means for us, as an office, and as part of the USF collective, and most importantly to have a space to have a conversation with our community about our role to change the world from here.

“I feel like today we are seeing the world through a screen, and I am looking for ways to connect without technology, without a screen that makes it alienating in a way,” said Khundmeer, a Resident Minister, a sentiment that was echoed by many of the participants and who see in Arrupe Initiatives a way to engage in a meaningful way.

John Zarobell, Department Chair of International Studies at USFCA, reflected on the challenges of teaching in a virtual way, “there is a sense of loss of community, there are things you can replace with technology, but others that you can’t, and physical contact and community are one of them.” Arrupe Initiatives seek to create such a community, bridging the divide between the screens and the outside world, and bringing the world to USF.

“There is just so much that can be done, we tend to get trapped in a “me” mentality, but we have to realize that we are all in this together, we can adapt and remember that we share this experience” added Karli Williams, a returning sophomore and past immersion participant.

Arrupe Initiatives will carry on the work of engaging students with our global community partners, with Ignatian formation and Arrupe Immersion experiences as pillars of our work. In addition, the Arrupe Initiatives will offer new programs and opportunities for the USF community and Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education to engage in different ways: the Arrupe Human Rights Observatory, the Arrupe Fellowship, the Arrupe Talks, and finally, the Ignatian Leaders Engaging in Action and Discernment (I-LEAD) program.

 

August 28, 2020

Arrupe Observatory to Collect Testimonies for the Colombian Truth Commission

On Friday, August 28th, the Arrupe Human Rights Observatory officially joined the Colombian Truth Commission as collectors of testimonies from refugees and exiled Colombians by the armed conflict. Members of the Arrupe Observatory have initiated a series of training to be able to interview victims to add their testimonies to the final work to be presented by the Colombian Truth Commission.

“The work that is going to be done by the Arrupe Observatory, and by other volunteers, is precious and indispensable for the Commission and for the peace in Colombia,” said Michelle Harb, who is in charge of the international work of the Truth Commission “For the Commission, the important thing is to be able to collect the most complete account, listening to all voices. And one of the central voices is that of refugees or exiles. Exile is one of the most silenced things, which has been less visible in what is understood by the universe of victims that there have been in Colombia,” added Harb.

Besides helping with interviews and testimony collection, the Arrupe Observatory has played a crucial role in the promotion of the Commission’s work abroad, hosting events for the dissemination of news. The latest one, “Your Truth Matters”, was co-hosted with UC Berkeley and the University of Arizona, reaching thousands of Colombians in the United States.

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I-LEAD

Ignatian Leaders Engaging in Action and Discernment

Leadership program based on the Ignatian Pedagogy for undergraduate students from Jesuit Universities hosted at USF.

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