Cornhusker State News

This is a story about a building. But more than that, it’s about what the building represents to Creighton’s past and its future.

“If you want to get symbolic,” says the Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ, director of the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality and a member of Creighton’s Jesuit community for more than 40 years, “the new Jérôme Nadal, SJ, Jesuit Residence will face out and face in. It faces out toward 24th Street, toward the busy world of trucks and buses and cars. It faces in toward the peace and serenity of the new Jesuit Gardens.”

What’s true of the building is true of the Creighton Jesuits themselves.

Jesuits live between action and reflection. Their spirituality charges head first into the everyday of a messy world … then reboots in the quiet contemplation of home.

“My definition of ‘home’ is a place that receives you, then sends you back out into the world, over and over, again and again,” Fr. Gillick says.  

What’s true of Creighton’s Jesuits is true of the whole Creighton community.

More than 30 Jesuits are now assigned to the campus community, yet they’ve touched the lives of tens of thousands. (Who have, in turn, touched the lives of many more.)

If you want to get symbolic in a different way ... imagine Creighton University as a river. If the Jesuits themselves are the main stream, then every graduate, student, professor and staff member is a potential distributary, feeding Creighton’s values to all corners of the world.

Where does the new Jesuit Residence fit in to the metaphor?

It’s the place where all streams meet.

Key Moment in Creighton History

Creighton University has seen a handful of key moments in its history. This is one of them, says Creighton President the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD.

“As it did in the 1960s, a lot has happened at Creighton in a very quick timeframe,” he says. “Creighton continues evolving and extending its mission creatively and concisely.”

He mentioned the 24th Street beautification, the reimagining of the Harper Center and Heider College of Business, the Heaney Bridge connecting campus to Omaha, as well as the in-development residence hall, CL Werner Center for Health Sciences Education, renovated laboratories and the Jesuit Residence.

These buildings and improvements are, of course, necessary (in addition to being aesthetically pleasing). But, along with non-facility advances, such as an impressive 11 new endowed faculty chairs, they also represent and showcase some of the core strengths Creighton is investing in. Such as the Jesuit presence on campus.

“The new residence will be a venue that will celebrate and support Creighton’s Jesuit legacy and presence, inviting colleagues and guests to share in our lives in myriad ways,” Fr. Hendrickson says. “It is a symbol of our deep commitment to sustaining and enhancing the Jesuit, Catholic character of Creighton for future generations of students, faculty and staff.

Students and campus visitors often tell me that Creighton University ‘feels like home.’ One of the main reasons they feel at home here is the Jesuit community at the heart of our campus and our mission.

— Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD

“We should think of this moment as the second founding of the Creighton Jesuits.”

When planning the new Jesuit Residence, Creighton identified three key themes for the building that embody the campus Jesuits themselves: visibility, access and hospitality.

While you can find the Jesuits in all corners of campus, their current living quarters — tucked into Creighton Hall and barred by a golden elevator — are anything but visible or accessible.

Most of the Jesuits we spoke with called their living situation in Creighton Hall “a fortress.”

“That changes with the new residence,” says the Rev. Nicholas Santos, SJ, PhD, a Creighton professor and rector of the Jesuit community in Omaha. “Every student, faculty and staff member will be welcome to access our chapel and gathering spaces. And we will be out there, facing 24th Street, for all of Omaha to see.”

The residence, he says, will be a true front door to Creighton.

A Long-Standing Presence

As Pope Francis, a Jesuit himself, says of the religious order: “The world is our home.”

Jesuits commit their lives to going where they’re asked to. Many don’t stay in the same place for long. One of the things that makes Creighton’s Jesuit community so unique is its many major exceptions to that rule.

The Revs. Gillick, Don Doll and Greg Carlson have lived and taught here for decades. Other Jesuits saw equally long tenures, like the recently retired Rev. Tom Shanahan or the Rev. Dick Hauser, who died in 2018 and more than lived up to his desired epitaph: “He helped us recognize God’s presence in our lives.”

“Creighton,” Fr. Hendrickson says, “has been truly blessed to have a group of Jesuits who have been building relationships and making inroads with our students, faculty and staff for many years.

“They were very prescient in the need to share Ignatian spirituality and formation with their colleagues. Due in large part to their efforts, our faculty and staff are fully engaged and empowered as owners of our collective mission.”

When Fr. Gillick arrived at Creighton, he says, the Jesuits and lay faculty and staff respected each other and worked together, but there was a bit of a divide.

Original source can be found here.