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This is What Mission Looks Likes Logo

 

So many members of the SCU community live according to our Jesuit and Catholic values, and actually build the "more humane, just, and sustainable world" that is our mission. However, frequently, we don't connect the lived mission with the words of our university commitments. One priority of the Division of Mission and Ministry is to highlight how we at Santa Clara University live as people with and for others - people in community.

Santa Clara University's Vision, Mission, and Values

 

Holding on Together by Yesi Magdaleno-Solis Square
Navigate here to Our Vision

Santa Clara University will educate citizens and leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion and cultivate knowledge and faith to build a more humane, just, and sustainable world. 

Square Hands by Isabella Ilk-Greenhill
Navigate here to Our Mission

To create an academic community that educates the whole person within the Jesuit, Catholic tradition, making students learning our central focus, ... and serving the communities of which we are a part in Silicon Valley and around the world.

Unity Painting
Navigate here to Our Core Jesuit Values
  • Discernment and Reflection
  • Solidarity and Kinship
  • Cura Personalis
  • Finding Love in All Things
  • Service Rooted in Justice

This is what MISSION looks like at SCU

Faith That Does Justice
Mission Looks Like Student Hydeia Wysinger
Navigate here to STUDENT | Hydeia Wysinger '25

Psychology & Public Heath Major

As an active participant in Campus Ministry and the Inclusive Excellence Division, Hydeia Wysinger '25 understands what it means to be a person of faith who is committed to personal growth. Through her work with community partners and students of varying religious backgrounds, Hydeia strives to ensure that SCU is a place of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all.

Discernment & Reflection
Mission Looks Like Faculty David Feldman
Navigate here to FACULTY | David Feldman

Professor, Counseling Psychology

In today's world, we are given many messages that our spiritual and professional lives should be kept separate - preferably with a thick wall between them. Luckily for SCU, David Feldman and his colleagues work hard to help faculty scale this wall by tapping into the rich resources of the University's Ignatian roots through the Ignatian Center's Ignatian Faculty Forum.

Solidarity & Kinship
Ricardo Cortez This is what Mission looks like
Navigate here to STAFF | Ricardo Cortez '03

Creative Ambassador, City of San Jose

When Ricardo Cortez 03 started college, he thought he'd be an engineer. But his heart called him to express himself and his culture in art instead. In addition to his work in marketing, this Studio Arts major was recently been named one of six new 2022 Creative Ambassadors by the City of San Jose's Department of Cultural Affairs.


Cura Personalis
Mission Looks Like Alumni Judith Martinez
Navigate here to ALUMNI | Judith Martinez '14

Entrepreneur & Founder, InHerShoes

When Judith Martinez 14 was asked to join Selena Gomez's new beauty brand committed to breaking down unrealistic standards of perfection, she quickly recognized a natural intersection between Gomez's mission at Rare Beauty, and Martinez's own nonprofit, InHerShoes. Founded in 2014, InHerShoes works to empower women to redefine their futures and live authentic lives.

Solidarity & Kinship
College of Arts and Sciences and Brett Solomon
Navigate here to COLLEGE | Arts & Sciences

Why Social Justice Should be Taught in the Classroom

Recognizing that social justice and SCU's Jesuit values are intertwined, the College of Arts and Sciences added the latest installment of their Explored video series, Why Social Justice Should be Taught in the Classroom. In today's world, it's critical that students have the space to embody the experiences of others, discern and unpack what they’ve learned, and possess the will to act in order to be a positive force in the world.

Discernment & Reflection
Claire Alford '25
Navigate here to STUDENT | Claire Alford '25

Member, Native American Coalition for Change

In an era where many institutions are working toward acceptance and reconciliation, SCU has made strides to mend those wounds. Much work remains to be done, and students like Alford are helping the University move forward by strengthening its relationship with Native students and local tribes.



Solidarity & Kinship
Chris Bacon
Navigate here to FACULTY | Chris Bacon

Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

Led by Professor Chris Bacon, faculty, students, and staff are collaborating to address student food insecurity and envision a more sustainable and just food system at Santa Clara University. The research team evaluated the severity of food insecurity at the University and recommends realistic and effective strategies for minimizing the impact of food security on students within the SCU community.

Finding God in All Things
Sustainable SCU Team Leaders Benders, Kalkbrenner, and Raphael
Navigate here to STAFF | Sustainable SCU Team

Alison Benders | Lindsey Kalkbrenner | Chad Raphael

More than 130 universities and colleges around the world have pledged to embark on a seven-year journey to promote integral ecology in all they do, including SCU which has embarked on a year-long strategic planning process to develop a Sustainability Action Plan that takes us through 2030, inspired by the Pope's encyclical Laudato Si’.

Service Rooted in Justice
Alumni Alexis Takagi '22
Navigate here to ALUMNI | Alexis Takagi '22

Commissioner, California Student Aid Commission

Representing the college students of California, Alexis Takagi ’22, Ed.D. ’25 has been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom ’89 to the California Student Aid Commission to provide key insight on student financial needs and issues.





"The real measure of our Jesuit universities lies in who our students become. Tomorrow's 'whole person' cannot be whole without a well-educated solidarity. We must therefore raise our Jesuit educational standard to educate the whole person in solidarity for the real world."

-Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, speaking at Santa Clara University in October 2000