View From Above: Fr. John Mullin, S.J.

Fr. John Mullin, S.J. • Faculty Member: 1972-present (2023)*

Also: former trustee, superior of Prep’s Jesuit community

*Includes some periods of non-Prep assignments

If you take a look at the 1972 Petrean, you will probably see a number of familiar faces (or at least names) among the faculty, administrators and staff: the Jesuits, including Fr. Frank Shalloe and Fr. John Browning; the outstanding lay teachers, including Charlie Rooney and Jack Casey, and the longtime librarian, Catherine Collins. The president of Prep was Fr. John Scully, and the principal was Fr. Earle Markey.

In addition to these two Jesuits at the helm, there were two other Jesuits in administration, plus the director of guidance, Fr. Frank McNamara, and 27 Jesuit teachers in the classroom, including one Jesuit Brother and six scholastics (those on their way to study theology after teaching for two or three years). I was one of those six.

In those days, the Faculty Dining Room was the Jesuit Dining Room; the Faculty Lounge in Shalloe Hall was the Jesuit Recreation Room; the Hammer Heritage Room was the Prep Chapel and the Jesuit Community Chapel; Shalloe Hall was the Jesuit Residence. We occupied the entire building, from the basement (which had a library and a laundry room) to the fifth floor (where the scholastics lived in the eaved rooms of the building).

The remarkable fact is that those 32 Jesuits worked alongside 33 lay colleagues. Five decades later, in the 2022 Petrean, you will see only three full-time Jesuits on staff: Fr. Robert O’Hare, who teaches math; Mr. Paul Phillipino, a scholastic who teaches history; and myself, a freshman guidance counselor. Fr. Tony Azzarto lives in the Bronx and works as Alumni Chaplain in a part-time role.

This year, there are only two of us, since our scholastic will be moving on to other pastoral work. As Prep’s lay faculty has grown in number over the years, the Jesuit numbers have dropped, but our situation is not unique. Most Jesuit high schools have one or two Jesuits on staff. The challenge, of course, is how to maintain the Jesuit identity of Prep.

Fortunately, The New York Province foresaw this day and put in place many programs that would ensure that the Jesuit foundation of education would remain strong. The Jesuit Educational Association (JSEA) was formed early on to foster this identity among all the U.S. Jesuit high schools. Recently, the JSEA was replaced by the JSN (Jesuit Schools Network), which includes our Christo Rey and Nativity Schools.

Significantly, a national colloquium is held every three years, during which Jesuits and lay colleagues meet for three days in June to share ideas, to network, and to celebrate the Jesuit spirit. In addition, week-long, three-day, or single-day retreats are encouraged for all of our faculty members. Seminars in Ignatian Leadership include four five-day sessions spread out over two years, with topics including Ignatian Pedagogy and Leadership Development. The Magis Program is offered by the Office of Ignatian Spirituality and is a commitment of 18 months, including seminars, private reading, and prayer, which explore St. Ignatius of Loyola’s legacies.

Every new faculty member completes a full year’s program of after-school meetings, once a week, to learn about Ignatius and Ignatian pedagogy. These programs were organized by Jane Bleasdale, Prep’s first director of faculty and Ignatian formation, and more recently by Boreta Singleton in that same role. The Board of Trustees has an initial formation session every year and includes “Ignatian moments” at Board meetings.

The list of initiatives and programs is extensive and ever-evolving. This is reason for great hope because Prep has supported these programs, and also because so many of our lay colleagues have invested their time and energy into pursuing Jesuit prayer and the Jesuit way of proceeding in our school, thus ensuring the strong and continued Jesuit identity at Grand and Warren.