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Ignatian Colleagues Program Connects Faculty, Staff to Saint Louis University’s Mission

by Maggie Rotermund
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Maggie Rotermund
Senior Media Relations Specialist
maggie.rotermund@slu.edu
314-977-8018

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ST. LOUIS – “This is the kind of thing that can only happen at a place like Saint Louis University.”

Members of the ICP @ SLU pilot meet monthly on campus. Submitted photo. Launch SlideshowMembers of the ICP @ SLU pilot meet monthly on campus. Submitted photo.

Paul Lynch, Ph.D., the Georgia K. Johnston professor of English at SLU, said he found a connection to others at SLU as a part of the pilot class of the ICP @ SLU, a local version of the national Ignatian Colleagues Program.

“It’s the people and the purpose of a larger mission,” Lynch said. “This is the kind of place where these connections can happen. You don’t get that everywhere.”

SLU will launch full version of the ICP @ SLU in the 2023-24 academic year following a pilot project.

The Ignatian Colleagues Program at Saint Louis University (ICP @ SLU) is an immersive mission-formation experience open to SLU faculty and staff. Cohorts of six to eight members will form each fall and meet monthly over the course of the academic year to discuss Ignatian scholarship, experience Ignatian spirituality and engage in Ignatian service.

ICP @ SLU participants form a community of colleagues tethered by a common Ignatian heritage and Jesuit mission. 

Lynch said he was excited to join the pilot and deepen his knowledge of SLU’s Jesuit mission.

“It was great to be reminded of the Universal Apostolic Preferences and to get a comprehensive picture of how we all fit into the mission here at SLU,” he said.

Lynch, who teaches English rhetoric, said he was proud that SLU is a place where questions of spirituality and religion are open topics for discussion among the community.

“We can have those deep conversations here. Students and new hires are attracted to that,” he said. “SLU has a soul and I think people want to be a place with a sense of values where we are committed to something larger than ourselves.”

Peggy Dotson, interim assistant provost for academic advising, has been with SLU for 23 years and a staff mission liaison since 2018. She also joined the pilot to deepen her understanding of the mission. 

“Even though some of the information in the readings is familiar, the group discussion has added a new level of understanding and challenged some of my thinking,” she said. “I have definitely grown in some areas, somewhat to my surprise. 

“I’ve also really enjoyed getting to know the other members of the group and building community with people I normally would not see. We have people from a wide range of roles and responsibilities on campus, but we all wrestle with the same challenges and issues when it comes to working out the Mission in our jobs at SLU.” 

Tim Murphy, ITS assistant vice president end user services, joined the University in 2020 and had no experience with Mission and Identity prior to joining the Ignatian pilot.

“I was searching for leadership training opportunities and a way to connect more with the overall community,” Murphy said. “The combination of learning while helping to shape a program for the SLU Community was very appealing to me.”

Murphy said he was prepared to learn about SLU’s Jesuit mission through his participation in the program, but he was pleasantly surprised by the connections he’s gained from his involvement. 

“We have built strong relationships across multiple disciplines within the University,” he said. “I love being part of something bigger than myself, and the culture established within the cohort helped me to be part of a broader family at SLU.”

Robert Pampel, Ph.D., director of the University’s Honors Program, was a member of the 2020 national Ignatian Colleagues cohort before joining the pilot at SLU.

“I mourned a bit the loss of the opportunity to forge relationships nationally,” Pampel said. “I had open, pointed conversations without censure with my colleagues at other institutions. But we’ve been able to have open conversations here about specific circumstances at SLU and I think within that there is an opportunity to see change.”

Pampel said having the ICP @ SLU means that more people will come to their roles with an idea of what it means to be an Ignatian leader.

“Hopefully, this means when we come to the table to have the big talks, more and more decision makers are coming from a posture of mission and identity,” he said. “The goal should be to have a critical mass of people at SLU with a deep understanding of the University’s mission.”

The members of the pilot program said their work as members of the first cohorts helped them in their roles at the University.

“It can seem hard with all our responsibilities and priorities to take on one more thing,” Pampel said. “But it has been restorative and has enhanced my productivity. SLU is giving faculty and staff a space to explore themselves as discerning leaders. It is such a huge gift to be able to do that.”

Joining our Jesuit University Colleagues

SLU has been a part of the national ICP program through the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) since 2015. The national ICP “seeks to develop Ignatian partners in Jesuit higher education who are capable of and committed to assuming leadership within the Ignatian spiritual and educational heritage and who will sustain their school’s Jesuit Catholic character into the future. It also seeks to enhance local, regional, and national networks of Ignatian leaders who work collaboratively to enrich Jesuit higher education.”  

ICP @ SLU has been built within the same structure but is tailored to SLU’s local needs and unique service opportunities. It is open to participants from all backgrounds, cultures and faith traditions.

Cohorts will work together over a two-year period. During that time, the cohorts will explore the intellectual, spiritual, and service-oriented aspects of Ignatian thought. At the end of the program, each participant will present a capstone project showcasing how the ICP has informed their role at SLU.

For more information or to nominate a colleague for the program, visit the program page or contact Herbers at virginia.herbers@slu.edu or 314-977-5208.


Saint Louis University’s Office of Mission and Identity ensures that the principles and traditions of Catholic, Jesuit higher education, and the mission and core values of SLU are integrated into operations, structures, programs and practices, and the formation of its students, faculty, staff, administration and board members.