Spiritual Needs
- Alumni Chaplain
- St. Ignatius Chapel and Ecumenical Chapel
- Magis: Alumni Committed for Mission
- Japanese American Remembrance Garden
Alumni Chaplain
The university's Alumni Chaplain, Fr. Patrick O'Leary, S.J., attends to the spiritual needs of the SU alumni community. In addition to celebrating life events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, Fr. O'Leary conducts spiritual retreats and provides individual support. For more information, contact Alumni Relations or the Alumni Chaplain's Office at (206) 296-5315.
St. Ignatius Chapel and Ecumenical Chapel
All alumni are welcome to visit St. Ignatius Chapel for reflection or prayer. Daily Mass is held at 12:05 p.m. and Sunday Mass is offered at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. If you're considering the chapel for your wedding or other religious service, please contact Kathy Collins at kathyc@seattleu.edu.
All alumni are welcome to visit SU’s Multifaith Prayer Room and Ecumenical Chapel in Campion Tower. Created to honor our students, faculty and staff of other faiths, our Ecumenical Chapel offers a quiet place for Christians and non-Christian denominations to reflect and pray. The Multifaith Room provides a place for Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and students of other major religiousfaith traditions to gather for private individual and for small group prayer.
Magis: Alumni Committed for Mission
Established in 2006, Magis: Alumni Committed for Mission is committed to providing alumni with spiritual, service, and leadership opportunities as part of fulfilling the Jesuit mission. Through programs, events, seminars and a network of collaborative partnerships, Magis fosters a sense of connectedness and community among SU alumni while engaging them in habits of formation, lifelong learning, leadership and service. For more information, call (206) 296-2637 or email magis@seattleu.edu
Japanese American Remembrance Garden
The Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry in partnership with Seattle’s Japanese American Community developed a Japanese American Remembrance Garden located on the grounds of the new School of Theology and Ministry Building. The goal of completing the garden to serve the entire community was met in 2004.
Why a Japanese American Remembrance Garden
A portion of Seattle University’s current campus, acquired in the late 1950’s and 1960’s was once a thriving Japanese American neighborhood and community. All Japanese Americans in this neighborhood were incarcerated at Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho and other camps for approximately three or more years during World War II. They were denied civil liberties without committing a crime and without due process of law.
This project serves as a remembrance to the 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese resident aliens who experienced the forced banishment and incarceration during World War II. Despite being imprisoned by the Federal Government, many Japanese Americans volunteered to serve in the United States military, such as the 442 Regimental Combat Team which was the most decorated unit of its size in American military history. Many others proved their loyalty by challenging the injustice in the U.S. courts, becoming conscious objectors, and providing agricultural labor during wartime. For each person, the incarceration was a life defining experience. Collectively, the curfew, evacuation and incarceration are historically significant events that generated landmark legal precedence based on the Supreme Court challenges and rulings.
Our country’s safety and our democratic values are undermined when we deny innocent citizens their civil liberties based on racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and fallible leadership. The garden will serve as a fitting remembrance of heroic families and a solemn reminder for tolerance, acceptance, and mutual respect based on understanding and our common humanity that binds all racial, ethnic and religious groups together. It also will celebrate the legacy of Fujitaro Kubota who created nine gardens on campus.
School of Theology and Ministry (STM) Vision and Mission through the Remembrance Garden
Gardens are universal and part of every culture. They bind us together in their tranquility, respect for nature, beauty, solitude and reflection. The cyclical and seasonal changes underscore the beauty of nature and how words and thoughts can take on new meanings through the silence that flows from the setting. The Remembrance Garden serves as a symbol of the STM mission and values which prepare leaders for the Christian community to serve and heal communities in a manner that embraces justice.
The garden will serve as a focal point and venue to encourage educational support for STM students to carry on the STM mission of faith that embraces justice.
