faculty PROFILE: Rafael Vega You
are the product of a Jesuit education, as a proud
Loyola High School and Georgetown University. How did the Jesuits impact your life? Did you always feel compelled to teach at a Catholic institution? alumnus of
"Back in the day" pretty much all the teachers at Loyola were Jesuits. They were very influential in the education and formation of the students. They were terrific teachers and great role models. They seemed to be omnipresent at school activities on and off campus. I was always impressed by their commitment to scholarship and their dedication to their students. They introduced me to good liturgy and a systematic prayer life, along with the importance of service in the community. In my memory, they had a special love for works of justice and compassion. One especially formative Jesuit was a visiting teacher from New Orleans who opened my eyes to the injustice of segregation and racism in our country. (It was the 1950's.) Early on I heard the call to be a teacher in the style of my own teachers. Though I began my career as a social studies teacher, religion in all of its dimensions was never absent from my classroom. Because of that, I never thought of teaching in any but Catholic schools. Since you’ve been an educator at Catholic institutions for nearly 50 years, how do you see Catholic education evolving? First, Catholic schools are no longer staffed primarily by priests, religious sisters or brothers. Lay people now staff and administer our schools. Our challenge is to keep our tradition of faith-based education alive and thriving. We must be constantly on the lookout for women and men who want to take up this challenge, no matter their individual field of study. We must work to create a faithconscious community made up of Catholics and otherthan-Catholic concerned educators.
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Second, Catholic schools have to continue to seek to educate students who come from families of all income levels, and from a multiplicity of faith and ethnic traditions. We must effectively pass on our own faith tradition while welcoming and respecting families from other traditions.
r. Rafael Vega began his tenure with Providence High School in September of 1968. Though he left Providence for four years, during which time he taught at Mayfield Upper School and Salesian High School, for more than forty years he has made Providence his home. He plans to retire at the end of this school year and will be greatly missed.
Third, as education moves far beyond simply teachers and books, and focuses more and more on students and the ever changing technological world in which they live, our challenge will continue to be how to prepare our teachers Pioneer Connections
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