I Did Not Think You Had To Leave New Orleans City Limits To Find Enough Work For A Hundred Years

Loyola and Jesuit partnership to address poverty, racism and migration
(New Orleans)—Loyola University New Orleans and the Jesuits have joined forces to create a new initiative aimed at improving social and economic conditions in the southern United States and select Gulf/Caribbean area countries. On Wednesday, November 28, The Rev. Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D., president of Loyola University New Orleans, and the Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J., provincial of the New Orleans Province, Society of Jesus, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, formally establishing the Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) as a joint undertaking of Loyola University New Orleans and the Jesuit Province. The JSRI, headquartered on Loyola University’s campus in New Orleans, will operate within a network of Jesuit social centers in the U.S., partnering countries, and other universities. With the creation of the JSRI, Loyola and the New Orleans Province hope to be able to aid those in need through research, education, and advocacy based in Jesuit theological and intellectual traditions and Catholic social teaching. “While a vision for the Jesuit Social Research Institute preceded the hurricanes and flooding which devastated the Gulf Coast region, the need for the institute has become increasingly apparent over the past two years,” said the Rev. Ted Dziak, S.J., director of Mission and Ministry at Loyola University, and board member of the JSRI. The signing of the memorandum signals the symbolic launch of the institute. After several months of consultation, a focused agenda of pilot projects will be established early in 2008. In the future, the institute will invite faculty and student collaboration in research, social analysis, and theological reflection. There will be a particular focus on academic research, education, and social action dealing with issues of migration, racism, and poverty. The JRSI, housed in Mercy Hall on Loyola University’s main campus, is a department in Loyola’s College of Social Sciences. The initial fellows of the institute are the Rev. Edward B. Arroyo, S.J., the Rev. Thomas Greene, S.J., the Rev. Michael Bouzigard, S.J., Shera Maiden, and Mary Baudouin.

For more information, please contact the

Rev. Ted Arroyo, S.J., at (504) 864-7746,

earroyo@loyno.edu, or visit http://www.loyno.edu/jsri

Link (here)