Each human person is known and loved by God both uniquely and as one with all of creation in Christ. All knowledge, therefore, is at the same time self-knowledge. And so by helping students discern God s word in their lives, a Jesuit university guides them to a discovery of their solidarity with all humankind, and so to a greater love and service of the neighbor, especially the poor, the oppressed, and those in need of special care. And it did so in order that Jesuit graduates might communicate to society around them both a greater knowledge and love of God and the principles of right living to attain to full union with God. In this way, then, the traditional Jesuit curriculum accomplished the goals of excellence, faith, leadership and service as outlined above.
All human knowledge exists only in verbal expression.
The principles behind the ancient ideal of eloquentia perfecta embodied in traditional Jesuit education, that is, clear thinking and expression in both written and spoken form, remain indispensable for Jesuit education today. Great art and literature raise perennial questions about human existence and celebrate universal human values as embodied in persons of different cultures, historical periods, social status, gender, and age. Development of one s aesthetic perception also enhances the possibility of discovering God present in humanity and the world at large as the ultimate Source of all beauty and goodness. The present world can be understood only in the light of its past. Furthermore, the records of past cultures and societies exemplify historical causality and the role of tradition, thereby freeing students from false theories of determinism or fatalism, and giving them both an appreciation of their interdependence and connectedness to the whole human race, past and future, and also in conjunction with their theological studies a sense of their transcendent dignity as responsible agents within God s single salvation history in Christ.