Seattle University has had a connection to the UCA for over 20 years, and we formalized an official partnership in 2014. Our partnership is characterized by student and faculty exchanges, joint research, and a variety of collaborative projects. In this challenging time for them as an institution, and in light of our partnership, UCA has asked SU to extend their request for student scholarship support in the extended Jesuit university and Ignatian family in the United States.
For many years, the Jesuits Central and Southern Province has been in a “twinning relationship” with the Central American Province, and the UCA is one of three Jesuit universities within the Central American Province. As part of their twining relationship, Jesuits Central and Southern Province already has developed and used a secure mechanism to transfer any funds intended for the UCA from donors in the United States. This mechanism is the most secure way to assure the delivery of funds to the UCA.
Your donation is indeed tax-deductible, and you will receive an acknowledgement from the staff of the Jesuits Central and Southern Province. The UCA will use all donated funds as scholarship monies for their students in financial need.. This will allow these students to continue in their studies in this challenging time.
Please feel free to share this information with friends and colleagues who may have an inclination or desire to help UCA university students in Nicaragua at this time! The best way to do this is to forward the email you receive, so that all the hyperlinks (including the donation link) remain active. Thank you for spreading the word!
Please follow the FaceBook page of Seattle University Central America Initiative where we regularly upload a range of articles and opinions about what is currently going on in Nicaragua.
If you have specific questions, please feel free to email our Faculty Coordinator for the Central America Initiative:
Serena Cosgrove, Ph.D.
cosgrovs@seattleu.edu
As an expression of its commitment to global engagement in the Jesuit educational tradition, Seattle University formed a successful partnership with the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua. This developed into Seattle University's Nicaragua Initiative, the first building block that would become the greater Central America Initiative.
Formally begun in 2014 with a signed memorandum of understanding, this partnership is built upon many years of collaborative activities impacting students, faculty, staff, and administrative leaders. An initial series of student service experiences in the late 1990’s developed into annual SU faculty/staff immersions starting in 2001, and these engagements between SU and UCA led to multiple joint initiatives culminating with the hosting of an UCA delegation on the SU campus in 2013. Mutual campus visits since then by the SU and UCA presidents—Fr. Steve Sundborg and Fr. Chepe Idiaquez—led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding. The agreement between SU and UCA provides the foundation, and this strategic framework offers the broad outlines of the partnership for an initial three-year period from 2014-2017. There are three main areas of engagement: (1) Student Engagement, (2) Faculty Engagement, and (3) Institutional Engagement.
Since the success of the relationship with Nicaragua, Seattle University has worked to expand its outreach to the rest of the region. The Central America Initiative has since expanded to include outreach, programs, and research throughout Central America, including Nicaragua, Belize, and other countries.
Learn more about the areas of engagement and Learning and Action Themes.
Learn more about the Nicaragua Initiative Activities 2013-15.
