I recently returned from a retreat with the Ignatian Colleagues Program, a national program designed to educate and form administrators more deeply in the Jesuit tradition of higher education, along with representatives from all of the Jesuit universities in the United States. It’s interesting that this retreat coincided with the conclusion of my first year here at Loyola—it gave me a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the year, how I ended up in this place at this time, and what it means for the future. I come from a corporate background. Even after becoming an academic, I’ve had a number of very interesting opportunities to return to the corporate world. Some have been tempting, but I have always believed that educating our next generation is a higher purpose. Since coming to Loyola, I now realize it’s much more than educating our youth. We have the opportunity, the calling if you will, to educate the next generation of leaders in traditions established by the Jesuits some 450 years ago, and established here at Loyola 157 years ago. The Jesuits have a commitment to excellence and intellectual rigor. St. Ignatius said that the purpose of Jesuit schools is to educate leaders in significant numbers with the capacity to participate in a society and leave it for the good. We have an obligation to educate students of character, students with the highest standards of personal integrity, professional ethics, and a deep concern for social justice. We have an obligation to educate students of action. At the Sellinger School, we have an obligation to the vision, values, skills and leadership to engage the School in the forefront of global debates—and of global action. Over the course of this next year, and well into the future, Sellinger will strive to define, and redefine, what it means to educate leaders; not just as a Jesuit institution but at this Jesuit institution. If ever in our history a Jesuit education is of value to business leaders, this is that time. I know there was a reason for me to come to the Sellinger School. This is exactly the right place for me. Thank you for a wonderful first year of discovery. I look forward to working with each of you as together we lead the Sellinger School into the future. With warm regards, Karyl B. Leggio, Ph.D., Dean
Sellinger School of Business and Management
Loyola University in Maryland "Meet the Dean" archive:
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