Back to the Future

75years

JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009

Back to the Future:

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Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley JESUIT SCHOOL Affiliates with SantaOF THEOLOGY Clara University years 1934-2009

Rev. Rob McChesney, S.J. Editor

Spring 2009

“Well, it finally happened……about 8:00 last night when all the signature papers had finally been exchanged and duly recorded by the various attorneys……..the [ Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley-Santa Clara University] JST-SCU integration agreement is finally completed and official. Lift a glass with me in a virtual toast!” In an electronic message to the Executive Team of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley ( JSTB) dated April 18, 2009 at 10:42 A.M Pacific Time, Acting President Kevin F. Burke, S.J. could barely contain his excitement. “.……I am notifying our Board members of this and I’ll send out an email to all our faculty and staff after I have finished this one.”

Minutes later Fr. Burke wrote to all JSTB faculty and staff of his pleasure at the “virtual signing” of official papers conducted electronically by himself for JSTB, Michael Engh, S.J. as President of Santa Clara University (SCU), and Thomas Smolich, S.J. as President of the U.S. Jesuit Conference (ex officio Vice-Chancellor of JSTB).

“Tom Smolich is on his way to Rome today and he will deliver the Integration Agreement and all the supporting documents to the Jesuit Curia early next week. I expect the agreement to make its way to the Congregation for Catholic Education very quickly……..we have the go-ahead to close the agreement as planned on June 30, 2009……..Please join me in offering a prayer of thanks.”

For approximately the last three years the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, led by former President Joseph P. Daoust, S.J. and Santa Clara University, led by former President Paul L. Locatelli, S.J., were engaged in deliberations regarding a proposed affiliation between the two Jesuit institutions. The respective boards of trustees and representatives from both schools participated in the complex series of conversations. As noted above, last spring a formal integration agreement was signed, bringing JSTB under the leadership of Santa Clara University as one of its professional schools.

Recognizing this historic occasion, as well as the 75th anniversary of the founding of JST as Alma College in 1934, the Bridge presents this overview of key institutional developments during those years.

What follows is not meant as a thorough history but simply as an overview of the “three incarnations” of the one institution.

The integration agreement was publicly announced in an official press release jointly issued by JSTB and SCU on May 4, 2009. “Under the new arrangement, JST will remain in Berkeley and become a school of Santa Clara University known as the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. Degrees granted by JST eventually will bear that name……School officials say that many prized facets of JST and SCU will remain unchanged after the integration. For instance, JST will remain a member of the nine-school ecumenical Graduate Theological Union, which operates a worldclass theological library and the largest doctoral program of theology in the United States….Both schools will retain the academic freedoms they currently enjoy. The Vatican Congregation of Catholic Education in Rome will continue to set standards for the granting of JST ecclesiastical degrees.”

On June 25, 2009, Fr. Burke again wrote to all JST faculty and staff with “good news to share”, alluding to working approval of the new Statutes approved by the Vatican’s Congregation of Catholic Education in Rome.

“Mike Engh and I received word from Tom Smolich that the integration agreement between our school and Santa Clara has been approved........The surprising thing is that we received this approval so quickly (we only submitted the paperwork in late April).”

Five days later, on June 30, 2009, Fr. Burke announced electronically to all JSTB faculty and staff, copied to Joseph P. Daoust, S.J., former president of JSTB: “I just got off the conference call with Mike Engh, Tom …continued on page 19 BRIDGE FALL 2009

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Community

&

ree ivinity Deg Master of D ments Require ourse Work ution for C ib tr is D it d

Cre

its total) rses (24 un

Year One

ry Cou • Introducto ) • Bible (6 Ethics (6) d Christian • Society an ics (6) • Systemat ) • History (6 Immersion eminar and S y tr is in •M s) (4 1/2 unit Years T

wo and

Three

• Bible (9) ics (9) • Systemat (3) and Society • Religion ) (9 • Electives

ired to take:

be requ dination will didates for or

Can

Other students will be required

to take:

Curriculum

• Canon Law (3) • Preaching or Lay Presidi ng (3) • Pastoral Counseling or Spi ritual Direction (3) • A pastoral elective (3) • Field Education (4 1/2 unit s) • Inter-religious dialogue / Ecumenism (3 units) • Third Year Integration Sem inar (3 units)

Ministerial Formation

Year One Integration Sem inar: Ministerial Identity Year Two Integration Sem inar: Pastoral Internships Year Three Integration Sem inar: Theology and Ministry

Comprehensive Examinatio n Spiritual Preparation

For more information, please see our website: http://scu.ed jst/academics/degreeprograms/ u/ divinity.cfm

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jesuit school of theology

Hanh Pham, S.J.

(3) • Canon Law ) (3 g in h • Preac ) onal Style (3 g (3) • Celebrati lin se n ou C nal • Confessio

Clockwise from top left: Alma College Jesuit Community 1934; Alma College Curriculum 1936–1937 in Latin; JST Jesuit Community 2009 — for the first time in history, the majority of the members were born abroad; 2009 Master of Divinity Curriculum.

75years

JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009 Smolich and the attorneys. The closing of the integration agreement has been finalized and will take place legally at 11:59 pm this evening.

John Ottoboni (SCU General Counsel) is filing the paperwork with the State of California as I write. …..My resignation as ‘Acting President’ takes effect this evening as well and, as of tomorrow, Mike Engh will be signing a number of JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY support documents in the name of the ‘Jesuit School of Theology’. It’s finally official.”

1934-2009 And so, as of July 1, 2009 and in its 75th anniversary year, the Jesuit School of Theology has officially begun its third incarnation.

75years

Alma College

Originally founded as Alma College in the Santa Cruz Mountains on property purchased from the Estate of Dr. Harry L. Tevis in 1934, the name was taken from the nearby village of “Alma”, located in the valley below the Tevis property. Alma served the lumber trade, which flourished in the mountains during that period, and was a train stop for the railroad over the mountains to Santa Cruz. The property comprised 950 acres, and held four artificial lakes and 27 miles of road.

The price was $85,000. From April to September 1934, Jesuit Fathers William E. Donnelly as Vice-Rector and William L. Rice as Minister directed the work of remodeling. The Tevis home was converted into the faculty building and his library became the chapel. They supervised the construction of a library and a dormitory building with 52 rooms for Jesuit scholastics. Donnelly began begging for faculty from other Jesuit provinces.

Eventually New York-Maryland sent two men, and New England “loaned” one. Alma College opened as a theologate (seminary) for Jesuits of the Oregon and California Provinces in September 1934.

By 1937, there were 98 men in the Jesuit Community.

Alma College became a pontifical faculty in 1945.

The academic program was standardized for all Jesuit theologates around the world. Emphasis was on Dogmatic Theology taught in the thesis method. All courses were taught in Latin. Exams were oral and in Latin.

Interestingly, in 1958, the theologate was affiliated with Santa Clara University as its School of Theology.

In 1959, the Jesuit Community of Alma numbered 135 Jesuits from seven Provinces. School records from that year list 680 alumni from 31 Provinces.

In the early 1960s, both the church and school were in ferment. The Second Vatican Council was on the eve of its third session in 1964 when the Alma faculty asked permission to join the Graduate Theological Union …continued next page

Top to bottom: Two of the key players in the decision to establish a theologate: Most Rev. Wladimir Ledochowski, S.J., Superior General; Most Rev. Zacheus Maher, S.J., California Provincial, with dog; Directions to Alma College for the 1934 Dedication; In 1964, Alma College Dean Rev. Harry Cor­coran, S.J. contacted Graduate Theological Union (GTU) Dean John Dillinberger and Jane Dillinberger to discuss joining the GTU.

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(GTU), an ecumenical consortium of theological schools located in Berkeley. By January of 1966, the Vatican Council had ended and Alma College had become a member of the GTU, but the school remained in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The province was divided over its location.

Most faculty and students wanted to move to Berkeley; some Jesuits wanted it relocated at the University of San Francisco (USF) which had a fine department of theology; and the California Provincial, John F.X. Connolly, S.J., preferred that Alma go to USF or remain where it was. The wooden buildings at Alma, constructed in the 1930’s, were in need of a major capital investment.

The matter remained at an impasse until Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, S.J. intervened and appointed SCU President, Father Patrick Donohue, S.J. as the new provincial. In April 1969, he announced to the Alma Community that the school would relocate to Berkeley in the summer. A grand celebration ensued that evening. Thirty-five years after its founding in the Santa Cruz Mountains and 40 years ago, the institution was headed to the East Bay and its second incarnation.

There was no time to lose, just five months prior to the opening of a new semester.

Jesuit Dining

Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Happily, many properties were available on the north side of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Between April and August, David McDonald, S.J., the Community Minister, purchased Alma (part of the current Academic Center), Claver, Shalom, the LeConte Street apartment house (today’s Hagemann), and the two Virginia Street apartment houses (today’s O’Hanlon and Arrupe) at prices that would be unheard of today. When, in September 1969, Jesuit leaders opened the academic year in Berkeley, the school officially became the Jesuit School of Theology of Berkeley, a member of the GTU. Being a member of the GTU opened up cross-registration and ecumenical opportunities, an advantage that continues to this day.

Upon joining the GTU, JSTB ended its affiliation with SCU and sought independent accreditation for the first time from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Association of Theological Schools.

JSTB’s first president, Fr. Richard Hill, S.J., called the visitations of teams from those two accrediting agencies the most important event of JSTB’s second school year.

In the 1970s, JSTB announced that it would open its enrollment to all qualified applicants. With an outstanding reputation for theological expertise, teaching and religious formation, there were many applications from Claretians, Salesians, Piarists and Oblates, as well as from lay men

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The faces of the students studying at JST has changed over the years from just American Jesuits to Jesuits, religious and lay persons from all continents. Clockwise from top left: First-year Jesuit theologians at Alma 1968; Lay Minister Sending Forth 2008; Graduation 2009; Instituto Hispano 2008.

S

Brian mcclister

75years

JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009

and women. Increased enrollment meant new faculty, both Jesuit and lay. The first woman on the faculty, Sr. Dorothy Donnelly, C.S.J., arrived in fall 1971. By 1988 there were 197 students, including 85 Jesuits and 55 women. In the 1990’s, significant numbers of Jesuits from abroad began to matriculate to take advantage of ecclesiastical degree JESUIT SCHOOL OFMany THEOLOGY programs. have returned Left to right: The Jesuit to home countries and provinces to 1934-2009 community dining in the staff local seminary programs, for refectory at Alma College. example at Hekima Jesuit School Waiters served all the meals of Theology in Nairobi, Kenya. (see them standing at right) When T. Howland Sanks, S.J. and a scholastic read aloud was asked to take the president’s job to the community from the in October 1995, the mandate from pulpit in the left rear; Jesuit the board was to lead the school scholastics grilling for Mass of through a strategic planning process. the Holy Spirit barbecue 2007.

He posed the following questions to the broader JSTB community: Sr. Dorothy “What kind of a school? For what Donnelly, C.S.J., kind of Church? For what kind of the first female world?” The result of over a year’s faculty member, discussion became the primary straarrived in 1971. tegic initiative: JSTB would become more intentionally an international center for the culturally contextualized study of theology and formation for ministry. For two more years, faculty then deliberated the practical implications of this strategic priority, resulting in significant curricular reform.

In fall of 2009, the Jesuit Community in Berkeley marked an historic watershed in a globalized church and Society of Jesus — for the first time more than one-half of the community members are foreign-born.

75years

Brian mcclister

Students

Students

Back to the Future

And now, in the wake of the July 1, 2009 affiliation agreement, the wheel has come full circle. As was the case with Alma in its later years, JST will again be affiliated with SCU. Back to the future: the third incarnation has begun. Fr. Engh is now the president of JST, and Fr. Burke serves as executive dean. As such he is a member of the Council of Deans of the broader SCU, which includes the deans of the Leavey School of Business, the Law School, the School of Engineering, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the School of Education and Counseling Psychology. Fr. Burke will represent JST on the GTU Council of Presidents and the GTU Board of Trustees. JSTB’s former Board of Trustees has been reorganized as the JST Board of Directors and continues to play a key constructive role in the ongoing process …continued next page BRIDGE FALL 2009

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of affiliation. SCU’s Board of Trustees’ purview now includes JST along with the other schools at SCU. On September 22, 2009, JST and SCU formally celebrated their integration in an Academic Convocation in the Gesù Chapel. The new Bishop of Oakland, the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, offered a greeting to the community as well as the Final Benediction. In his presidential address, Fr. Engh spoke “not only as president of Santa Clara but as an alumnus of JST, one whose priesthood was formed JST ‘a jewel in the crown and enriched here.”

Fr. Engh lauded the of Santa Clara University’ outstanding faculty that he studied under, including current JST faculty member Sr. MaryAnn Donovan, S.C., Professor of Historical Theology and Spirituality. He cited three faculty members from the GTU who had had a major personal formative impact, one at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, one at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and in particular, Eldon Ernst at the American Baptist Seminary of the West. In the courses of Professor Ernst, he noted, “I formulated the approach to American religious history that I later developed in my dissertation, my first book and various articles.” Present for the historic festivities, GTU President and Professor of Ethics, James A.

Donahue, and several presidents of individual GTU schools beamed.

Calling JST “a jewel in the crown of Santa Clara University”, Fr. Engh pointed out that the integration “will enable the university to work even more fruitfully with the local and universal church. We shall be better able to assist the church in the preparation of men and women from all over the world for ministry. We shall also continue a strong tradition of theological scholarship at the service of the church.”

Concluding his essential animating presidential address, presence of theologians Fr. Engh emphasized the essential animating in the Catholic Church presence played by and university theologians in the Catholic Church and university. “For these reasons I welcome the Jesuit School of Theology to augment the fine work of the Department of Religious Studies on the Santa Clara campus. Together, this new school and this department energize the Catholic intellectual tradition that is Santa Clara’s proudest heritage.” …continued on page 25

Presidents:1969–Present Top row: left to right: Rev. Richard Hill, S.J. (1969–75, 1977–82); Rev. Joseph Tetlow, S.J. (1975–77); Rev. Lyndon Farwell, S.J. (1982–85); Rev. Thomas Gleeson, S.J. (1986–95). Bottom row: left to right: Rev. T. Howland “Hal” Sanks, S.J. (1996–97); Rev. Joseph Daoust, S.J. (1998–2008); Rev. Kevin Burke, S.J. (Acting President 2008–09, Executive Dean 2009–present); Rev. Michael Engh (2009–present). The school has had several acting presidents who are not captured here.

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75years

JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009

Visits by Fathers General

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JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009

Don Doll, S.J.

Clockwise from top left: Most Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. greeting scholastics at Alma College 1966; Rev. Richard Hill, S.J., JSTB president, Most Rev. Pat Donahoe, S.J., California Provincial, Bishop Floyd Begin of Oakland, Rev. Michael Buckley, S.J., rector, and Most Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. at JSTB 1971; Most Rev. Adolfo Nicolàs presiding at Mass at JSTB February 6, 2009; Santa Clara University President, Rev. Michael Engh, S.J. with Most Rev. Adolfo Nicolàs, S.J. and then-Acting President of JSTB, Rev. Kevin Burke, S.J. February 6, 2009; Most Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. at Alma College 1966; Most Rev. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J. (second from left) visiting JSTB October 9, 2000 with Board Chairman, John E. Kerrigan, Jr. on far right.

Don Doll, S.J.

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Dedications

Hanh Pham, S.J .

Beginning in 1973, the school offered sabbatical programs for those in ministry. Originally created as the Institute for Spirituality and Worship (ISW) with Rev. Don Gelpi, S.J. and Rev. Jake Empereur, S.J. as its first coordinators, it later evolved into the New Directions Sabbatical Program. Left to right: First ISW class 1973–1974 and most recent New Directions class on retreat, May 2008.

Sabbatical Programs 24

jesuit school of theology

Hanh Pham, S.J.

Hanh Pham, S.J.

Clockwise from top left: Archbishop Edward J. Hanna dedicating Alma College, October 20, 1934; Most Rev. Zaccheus Maher, S.J., California Provincial, Archbishop Hanna, and Most Rev. Walter Fitzgerald, S.J., Oregon Provincial at 1934 Dedication; Most Rev. Thomas Smolich, S.J., President of U.S. Jesuit Conference, Bishop Emeritus John Cummins, Rev. Joseph P. Daoust, S.J., then-President of JSTB concelebrate Mass at September 29, 2006 Dedication of Gesù Chapel and JSTB Academic Center; Choir leads congregation in song at 2006 Dedication; Bishop Emeritus John Cummins dedicating Gesù Chapel.

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JESUIT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY 1934-2009

Two weeks later, the celebration shifted south to the the South Bay to the East Bay: “God our Father, you main campus in Santa Clara for the traditional Mass taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending of the Holy Spirit inaugurating the new academic year. them the light of your Holy Spirit. In that Spirit we beg With Fr. Burke and Fr. Anthony Sholander, S.J., Rector you now to bless the efforts of the Santa Clara community of the JST Jesuit Community, alongside, Fr. Engh preto educate and sided over this centuries-old Eucharistic tradition in form leaders of “What kind of school?

Jesuit colleges and universities. The Mission Church at competence, For what kind of Church?

SCU overflowed with students, faculty, staff and friends. conscience and JESUIT OF as THEOLOGY Fr. Engh warmly welcomed the large contingent fromSCHOOL compassion we For what kind of world?”

Berkeley, and in his homily again addressed the theme begin our 159th 1934-2009 year. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, of the essential role of theology in a Catholic university. who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one Adapting the Opening Prayer from the Roman Sacramentary’s Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Engh God, forever and ever.” In its historic 75th anniversary year, let the JST family say “Amen”! led the congregation in worship. The prayer echoed from

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Ordinations Clockwise from top left: Priestly ordination at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco in 1930s or 1940s; Diaconate ordination 2006 at St. Augustine’s in Oakland; Diaconate ordination 2007; Diaconate ordination 1969.

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