AFCU: Formative Education
Catholic in the Franciscan Tradition: Formation, Integration and Assessment
More than 300 people involved in Catholic Franciscan higher education gathered on campus on June 3 for the three-day 2014 Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities (AFCU) Symposium. Approximately 180 representatives of colleges from Iowa and Wisconsin to Louisiana and New York were joined by 120 administrators and faculty from Neumann to make this year’s conference the largest to date. The symposium began with a keynote address by Sister Angela Ann Zukowski, director of the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives and professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton. Sister Angela spoke of the Pilgrim’s Rule, an ancient rule for pilgrims adopted by St. Ignatius: A person accompanying a pilgrim must walk at the same pace as the pilgrim, not ahead and not lagging behind. She characterized the Pilgrim’s Rule as a metaphor for Catholic educators in a digital culture. The pilgrimage is a symbol of life, and the Church (and its educators) must walk with the women and men who make up its ranks. The rule is especially true with educators in a world of social media and digital communication. “We are bombarded with so much information that we do not have time for silence,” she explained. “We are immersed in a culture of distraction” in which adults and students alike suffer from vibration reflex syndrome — the irresistible urge to respond to a smart phone’s vibration regardless of what we are doing. The Pilgrim’s Rule calls upon Catholic educators to embrace and understand the digital culture. The pilgrim does not stand still, she advised, but goes “into new territory.”
Embrace the Challenge Brother F. Edward Coughlin kicked off the second day of AFCU 2014 with a call to “embrace the challenge of formative education.” In a keynote address entitled “that in all . . . character may be formed,” Brother Ed urged representatives of almost two dozen Catholic Franciscan colleges to redefine and expand their understanding of education. “You’re called to form the imagination of your students,” he told the crowd.
Featured speakers Brother F. Edward Coughlin, Sister Angela Ann Zukowski, and Brother William Short are joined by Sr. Patricia Hutchison, OSF ’70, who led Neumann’s yearlong planning process to prepare for AFCU 2014. 12 Accent Magazine