Mission Priority Examen

September 26, 2023

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

This fall, our University will be taking part in the Mission Priority Examen (MPE), a self-study and peer review process for Catholic and Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. The Examen invites us, as a community, to reflect on our Catholic and Jesuit identity and to pursue a deeper engagement with Jesuit values.

Georgetown last participated in the MPE process in 2017-2018 (new window) when our University community had the opportunity to affirm our commitment to key priorities related to Jesuit education: student formation, interreligious dialogue, Ignatian spirituality, inclusive community, mission-based professional education, and global engagement. Following this last review, we created a Mission Advisory Board within our Office of Mission and Ministry to support ongoing engagement with the themes of the MPE. 

Our 2023-2024 Examen will be led by co-chairs Jeanne Lord, J.D., Ed.D., Senior Advisor, Office of the President, and Stephen Sundborg, S.J., Special Assistant to the President, in close collaboration with Mark Bosco, S.J., Ph.D., Vice President for Mission & Ministry. These colleagues bring a deep understanding of our mission and the MPE process. Faculty and staff serve as members of the Committee (new window) and will help facilitate its activities this year, which seek to engage our entire community in reflection.

Over these next few months, the Committee will hold listening sessions for members of our community; they will author a self-study document; and in mid-January, we will host a Peer Review Team, comprised of colleagues from other Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) institutions, who will review the findings of the self-study and meet with campus leaders. All schools engaged in the MPE process study the Characteristics of Jesuit Higher Education (new window), and, this year, in our study, we will also be considering the perspectives offered by the Universal Apostolic Preferences (new window) of the Society of Jesus, a set of priorities identified through a process of discernment by the global Jesuit community that will guide the Society’s work over the next decade.

I invite you to learn more about the Committee’s work on our website (new window), and I wish to express my deep appreciation to our Mission Priority Examen Committee for their leadership in this important process of reflection for our University community.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia