A group of 14 people gathered in Skutt 105 for the Jesuit Values Seminar in the early afternoon of last Friday.
Roger Bergman, Creighton director of Justice and Peace Studies, began the seminar by requiring each person to state his or her name and a short summary about their place in the Creighton community. Within minutes the small seminar shifted to an environment for people to reflect upon the immediate and challenging questions concerning a Catholic university such as Creighton and its place in the community.
After the introduction of the diverse people assembled at this seminar, Bergman played a video by former Arts and Sciences student, Nico Sandi. “Faith that does justice” is a 20-minute reflection on the problems facing El Salvador’s current state. Written by Thomas Kelly, professor of systematic theology, and filmed and edited by Sandi on Creighton’s campus, the video focuses on the struggle of the six Jesuit martyrs in El Salvador, and how their journey affects everyone involved with a Jesuit University.
“You can’t see those pictures of six Jesuits lying facedown in the rose garden, having been shot in the head for being professors, and not have a pretty strong response, stunned if nothing else,” Bergman said in an interview after the seminar. “That doesn’t happen (in Omaha), how did it happen there? Different social context, but still relevant.”
Bergman said that the goal of the seminar is to create an intimate environment in which people feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and concerns about the Creighton community.
“(The video) raises the issue in a straightforward way,” Bergman said. “It tells the story and leads to pretty good discussion. When you know the people (in the video), or at least see them around, it makes the video easier to relate to.”
Bergman asked the group assembled to share their thoughts about the video and how they believe the video can impact their life.
“I was grateful for the explanation of the difference between charity and justice,” said Carol Krajicek, executive assistant in the office of the vice provost.
Bergman said the video does a good job of representing how charity and justice must go further to”address the bigger problems.”
“The famous statement from one of the archbishops from Brazil that was very influential in Vatican II, ‘When I feed the poor they call me a saint, when I ask why they are poor they call me a communist,’” Bergman said. “It points us back to why when you align yourself with the poor and social change, you invite resistance.”
Bergman noted that Omaha has traditionally had issues with childhood poverty in its African-American population. In addition, a recent headline form the Omaha World-Herald said that young black men are at greater risk of murder in North Omaha than the rest of the country, Bergman said.
“That’s a few blocks from here,” Bergman added. “I have a very good friend, a Creighton grad, who teaches third grade in North Omaha. The stories these third graders tell.. They come to grade school already traumatized, and she is supposed to teach them to read.”
Bob Sigler, assistant professor of law, asked Bergman how faculty could become more invested in these social issues.
“In Arts and Sciences, I think there is a general consensus that these issues have to be part of the curriculum,” Bergman said in response to Sigler’s question. “We completely revised the core curriculum, it’s called the Magis Core Curriculum, over all three undergraduate schools. The basic ingredients are the same but each school fine tunes for their own purposes. The claim is that the Arts and Sciences, the new Magis Core Curriculum, is the most Ignatian inspired of all 28 Jesuit schools.”
Bergman made a point that there are still steps Creighton needs to take in its approach to make the community surrounding Creighton’s Omaha campus an integral part of academic life for students.
“We are one of the only Jesuit schools that does not have an office or director of service learning,” Bergman said. “So if you want to take your students out into the community you have to basically do that yourself, which prevents many faculty from doing so because it is labor intensive. Our students need that experience.”
“A Jesuit University in a Broken World” is one of a Mission Formation series of seven being offered this fall.