31 October 2009

  
To All the Members of the AJCU EAO:

Christ's Peace!

As was announced during our General Assembly in Sydney, the International Committee on Jesuit Higher Education (ICJHE) of Fr. General, chaired by Fr. Paul Locatelli, met at the Jesuit Curia in Rome last October 16-18, 2009.  While the meeting included a discussion of the Intellectual Apostolate which had recently been entrusted to ICJHE by Father General, the main focus of the meeting was the forthcoming International Conference on Jesuit Higher Education (Conference) to be held in Mexico City, Mexico at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) on April 22-24, 2010.

Please already block off these dates plus traveling time on your calendar.  You may already wish to be making travel arrangements for yourself and your companion.  

A mechanism for online registration will be provided to us once the dedicated website for the International Conference is up.  This will be very soon. Mr. Jay Salvosa, AJCU-EAO Secretary, will keep track of those coming from our region.  We will be in continuing contact with Fr. Locatelli and the Conference organizers in Mexico.

Fr. General will be the keynote speaker.  He will speak after listening to our regional concerns and our reflections on identity and mission.

Papers by experts will also be shared on three frontier areas:  (1) theology, science and culture; (2) markets, inequality and poverty; (3) ecology and sustainability.  Participants will be asked to choose one area in which to get involved during the Conference - and beyond it.  

We will try to learn how to collaborate better with each other globally through an exciting project call the Jesuit Commons.  

Expected to attend from each Jesuit Higher Educational Institution:  Yourself as President or CEO. One faculty member or lay partner of your choice who has a driving, leadership interest in one of the above frontier areas.  All things being equal, we would be happy if you would choose a woman in order to allow strong women's participation at the Conference.

With this letter, please open two attachments: (1) Fr. Locatelli's Memo of 29 October to Presidents/Rectors of Jesuit Higher Education Institutions;  (2) a schematic "Proposed Agenda" for the Conference.

Please refer to our webpage www.ajcu-eao.org for further information on the forthcoming Conference.  Let us know if you have questions, or if we can assist you in any way.  

Thank you.

                                 Sincerely in Our Lord,

                                        Fr. Joel E. Tabora, S.J.