Living Out the Mission

After two years of hard work on Seattle University’s Mission Priority Examen (MPE) by a team of colleagues, General Arturo Sosa, S.J., in the Jesuit Curia in Rome, has reaffirmed Seattle University as a Jesuit and Catholic university.

Every university in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) conducts a MPE every five to seven years as a way of encouraging institutions to reflect on how they are putting their mission into practice today and in the future, using prayerful consideration to determine where a university’s mission is being realized and where there is room for growth. The final report goes to Father Sosa, who oversees all Jesuit works around the globe. SU last conducted a MPE in 2017.

“The mission priorities elected at the conclusion of the examen are truly inspiring—to strengthen understanding and commitment to Seattle University’s Jesuit and Catholic educational mission,” says Fr. Sosa, “to promote inclusive excellence as a Jesuit and Catholic value and to continue to advance care for our common home.”

The MPE Steering Committee, led by Vice President Catherine Punsalan Manlimos, spent months gathering input through listening sessions and an online survey that invited the campus community to reflect on their experience of living out Seattle University’s mission.

Getting to this point required the participation of many across campus, including students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, regents and trustees. The committee crafted a self-study that was praised by the AJCU and the U.S. Jesuits West Province. It led to wonderful engagement with a Peer Visit Team whose report noted, “the Seattle University community has worked hard to preserve its core mission. It has done so with a particularly Jesuit way of proceeding, with discernment, innovation and ambition.”

What was particularly notable about the report was that it was completely aligned with the Reignited Strategic Directions. That level of complete alignment is unusual in a MPE report and was praised by report evaluators.

“The Jesuit educational tradition is a treasure we have received from those who came before us and that we are stewarding for current and future generations,” says SU President Eduardo Peñalver. “It is what makes us different from every other university in our region. I am grateful to Fr. (Sean) Carroll, the Jesuit Provincial, and Fr. Sosa for the confidence they have shown in Seattle University in reaffirming our Jesuit character. I congratulate Catherine and the entire MPE Committee for their tremendous effort in guiding Seattle University through this process.”

In his letter, Fr. Sosa notes that “Jesuits are eager to partner in the work of a university” that has as the foundation of its strategic plan “remaining anchored in our Jesuit and Catholic character.” He went on to note Seattle University’s mission priorities “are truly inspiring.”

Learn more about the Mission Priority Examen.