A continually decreasing number of Jesuit priests could affect the experience that students receive at Fairfield, University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx said Thursday.
“The number of Jesuits continues to decline,” he told a student news conference. “[The Board of Trustees] might have to deal with the fact that I may well be the last Jesuit president of the University,” he said.
Still, von Arx was less concerned with Jesuits being in charge of the University as opposed to Jesuits being a part of the University. According to him, one of the most valuable elements that Fairfield was able to offer its scholars was the opportunity to know a Jesuit.
“I fear that this is not the case [anymore],” he observed. “I feel bad about that in a certain sense, in fact.”
The ebbing quantities of Jesuits at Fairfield fall in line with a nationwide trend.
Von Arx spoke about other Jesuit universities across the United States that are facing similar shortages.
“There’s not even enough to go around,” he said.
Still, von Arx said he was not overly concerned that an absence of Jesuits could translate into an absence of the Jesuit mission or identity. In fact, he was able to assert his confidence in the school’s leadership structure.
“My sense is that the Board [of Trustees] is deeply committed to continuing the identity of Fairfield as a Jesuit University,” he said.
On that note, von Arx elaborated that Fairfield would not be the first Jesuit institute of higher education without a Jesuit at the helm. Georgetown University has already gone down that road and come out all the wiser, he said.
“The model’s out there,” he insisted.
In addition, von Arx affirmed that there is already a great number of Catholic lay already in academic positions who can be, and in some cases already are, “more Jesuit than the Jesuits.”
While he did not endorse the idea of a university devoid of the Society of Jesus, von Arx did maintain that Fairfield could exist as one.
According to him, the school could continue to operate on its current principles so long as the University’s leadership structure is sustained and supported by others.
Ultimately, the decision would be up to the Board of Trustees.
“They have the shared responsibility to maintain the refined character and identity of the institution,” he said.
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