A Mission Affirmed, Celebrated, and Ever Deepening

“I confidently reaffirm the Catholic and Jesuit mission of Santa Clara University.” So wrote Fr. General Arturo Sosa, S.J., the worldwide head of the Jesuits, in a letter we received this summer. His words marked the culmination of the past year’s Mission Priority Examen (MPE), through which our University carefully reflected on and evaluated how we live our distinctive mission as the Jesuit university in Silicon Valley.

Celebrating the way that we live our “Jesuit values not just as markers of differentiation in the market but as doors into a deeper tradition,” Fr. Sosa went on to say “the Mission Priority Examen made clear that Santa Clara University is living its mission very well.” Woven through our curriculum and pedagogy, our community engagement and spiritual reflection, our friendships and culture, our programs and centers and institutional choices, our Ignatian values and our Santa Clara spirit of creativity shine forth in a myriad of ways. We have much to be proud of!

And in good Jesuit fashion, we take this reaffirmation not as a moment to rest on our laurels, but as an invitation to go even deeper and even further. Indeed, our expansive Ignatian imagination “constantly invites us to discover, redefine, and reach out in the spirit of the magis” (General Congregation 34). In that spirit, as we start the new academic year in Mission and Ministry, we feel especially drawn to explore the profound longings, hopes, and spiritual questions that murmur in our hearts. And we feel called in ever-new ways to engage our world, as Fr. Kolvenbach said when he visited Santa Clara in 2000, in all its “gritty reality” and all its beauty and possibility.

The lead story in this newsletter highlights one of the most innovative new initiatives we are undertaking this Fall: the creation of the Center for Spirituality and Faith. It is a response to the needs and hungers our students are increasingly expressing – for meaning, for purpose, for belonging – and it draws on the wisdom of age-old practices from our faith traditions to accompany their journey. We have hired a new, transformative set of leaders to head the Center, including its Director, Dr. Kathleen Quiazon, and its Director of Catholic Life, Fr. Andrew Laguna, S.J.. Our student interns have been hard at work preparing opportunities for reflection, prayer, conversation, community engagement, and so much more for their incoming classmates.

In addition, we feature a moving story about the experience of two of our students working in our Thriving Neighbors iPad program, “Abriendo Puertas.” Their encounters and friendships with students in our local community are characterized by what Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., has called an “exquisite mutuality,” a sense of connection and belonging in which the one serving and the one being served blur completely and all are transformed. 

Finally, Professor Sarah Cabral, from the Leavey School of Business, describes the important, distinctive work carried out across the network of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools. Santa Clara faculty played an impactful role in the IAJBS’ recent gathering in Los Angeles, helping show how creative pedagogy and educational practices can leverage today’s disruptions across our lives and globe for the common good.

MISSION EXEMPLIFIED | Stories of Impact

Center for Spirituality and Faith |  Reimagined Campus Ministry

As a university based in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition, it has always been a priority at Santa Clara University to accompany students in forming their faith identity—whether they hail from Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh or any of the many religious traditions—or if they have no formal faith tradition at all.

For more than 50 years, the primary department at Santa Clara serving students on their faith journeys has been called Campus Ministry. Starting this year, the office has a new name: the Center for Spirituality and Faith.

For Santa Clara, the change is about far more than semantics. It’s about meeting students where they are today.

Learn more about the new center

Friendship, Memories, and a Deeper Understanding of Community

There is something that happens when you walk into a room full of elementary students who are genuinely excited to see you. For a few hours, what matters most is being present. For Rocio Garcia and Beleny Quiroz, 2026 graduating seniors and tutors in SCU’s iPad Program “Abriendo Puertas,” that feeling has sustained them the past four years. The program partners Santa Clara University students with children in transitional kindergarten through second grade at a local elementary school, creating opportunities for academic support, mentorship, and relationship building. What began as a volunteer commitment quickly became something much deeper. 

Read about their experience and what they will take with them

Disruption as a Catalyst for the Common Good

This summer, approximately 150 faculty, administrators, Jesuits, and other partners from around the world gathered for the 31st Annual International Association of Jesuit Business Schools World Forum and 2026 Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education Annual Meeting. SCU’s Mission and Ministry, Leavey School of Business, and Sustainable Business Institute partnered to support a strong SCU presence, providing five SCU faculty members with an opportunity to contribute to—and learn from—a global conversation about what it means to educate business leaders in the Jesuit tradition today.

Read about the conference here

MISSION ENGAGEMENT | Join Us for Mission & Ministry Events

MISSION IN ACTION | A Collection of Mission & Ministry Happenings

JUNE
The inaugural cohort of 10 AMDG Fellows wrapped up their 2025-26 fellowship with the Camino Ignaciano, a 398-mile pilgrimage route in Spain that retraces the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, from his birthplace in Loyola to the cave in Manresa where he experienced profound spiritual enlightenment.

17 Jean Donovan Fellows set out to fulfill their commitment to deepen their understanding of social justice issues through a summer community-based learning experience of 6 weeks or longer. Three of those fellows completed the Jean Donovan Fellowship Intensive, working in Santiago, Chile.

The Ignatian Center hosted 18 students on early Summer Immersions: nine in New York City engaging with Thrive for Life to support formerly incarcerated individuals, and nine in Half Moon Bay learning directly from the farmworkers who sustain our local food system.

JULY
The Center for Spirituality and Faith (CSF) – formerly known as Campus Ministry – was launched, welcoming Kathleen Quiazon, who will serve as Director of the new Center, and Andrew Laguna, SJ, who will serve as Director of Catholic Life. 

We hosted 165 attendees for the Feast of St. Ignatius Mass and a light reception for the community on July 31.

AUGUST
The Center for Spirituality and Faith accompanied SCU students to the InterFaith America Leadership Summit in Chicago Illinois. With this year’s theme “A Road Forward,” we are inspired to build bridges across campus and foster interfaith dialogue at SCU!

We accompanied 15 new AMDG Fellows to Boston Colloge for Ever Excel, a conference focused on Jesuit spirituality and friendship, where participants will discover their gifts, deepen their faith experience and build a community of friends and mentors.

We hosted 92 attendees for the Feast of St. Clare Mass and a light reception for the community On August 11.

The Ignatian Center hosted 22 students on late Summer Immersions: 12 traveled to Chile to explore human rights in partnership with Universidad Alberto Hurtado, while 10 joined our inaugural Mexico City immersion to study environmental justice alongside Universidad Iberoamericana.

The Ignatian Center continued it's annual Faculty Staff Immersion, accompanying 11 SCU faculty and staff on the Solidarity with Migrants: An Ignatian Immersion to the US Mexico border, partnering with Kino Border Initiatives

SEPTEMBER
The Ignatian Center accompanied seven incoming Broncos on the First Year Immersion, a local immersion to learn about Bay Area social justice issues, meet new classmates, and deepen their understanding of SCU’s Jesuit tradition of holistic community-engaged education.

We hosted 260+ new students and family members for the Welcome Weekend Liturgy.

LOOKING AHEAD
October 8 - 12, we will accompany 16 students on the Pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City as they learn from faculty and local experts about the Virgin of Guadalupe’s role in Mexican history, art, and contemporary life.

October 15 - November 20, we will offer a variety of ways for the entire SCU community to take part in Jesuit Heritage Month!