Saint Louis University Receives Grant to Fund Ignatian Colleagues Network

Saint Louis University Receives Grant to Fund Ignatian Colleagues Network

Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education Program Development Grant Expands ICP Work

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University has received a $100,000 grant to support an ongoing formation program. The Ignatian Colleagues Network will build on the Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) launched in 2023 and provide a next step for those who have completed the intensive two-year mission formation program.

The two-year NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education) Program Development Grant is from the Council for Independent Colleges.

"We are now recruiting our fifth cohort for the Ignatian Colleagues Program, which will bring us to 200 participants in the program," said Virginia Herbers, director of mission formation in the Division of Mission and Identity. "It's been a magnificent success and we've had the great problem of those who have gone through the program wanting more."

The funding will support sustained personal and professional vocational discernment of faculty, staff, and administrators through facilitated small group dialogue, annual keynotes and Ignatian retreats, and encounters throughout the semester with community partners in Jesuit mission.

Through this regular engagement, a mission-centered community of faculty and staff will be equipped to accompany undergraduates in the discernment of their future vocational paths.

Herbers said the program will allow greater application and deeper immersion into Ignatian mission.

"We have faculty who are incorporating this work into their curriculum and staff who are working this into their divisions," she said. "That requires ongoing updates and connections to remain relevant."

Learn More about the Ignatian Colleagues Program and Network

Ignatian programming includes retreats, keynote speakers and regular meetings.

"This program offers a unique avenue to break down silos and build community around the University," Herbers said.

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.