Jesuit Educational Association

Educational organization.

In 1930, Society of Jesus Superior General Wlodimir Ledochowski, SJ named an Inter-Province Commission on Higher Studies to review the state of Jesuit high school and college education within the American Assistancy. Following the Commission's report in August 1932, Ledochowski outlined the path forward for Jesuti higher education, Instructio de ordinandis Universitatibus, Collegiis ac Scholis Altis et de praeparandis eorundem Magistris (1934), that led to the creation of the Jesuit Educational Association (JEA). Ledochowski appointed Daniel M. O’Connell, SJ as Commissioner of Education to lead reform through the JEA and formed an Executive Committee composed of the Province Directors of Education. The JEA was tasked with reconciling Jesuit standards in education with those of national and regional accreditation organizations, coordinating policies and standards across schools and colleges, and promoting the visibility of Jesuit educational activities.

O’Connell led the JEA in conducting surveys and extensive campus visits in the mid-1930s. In 1937, the Executive Committee recommended the permanent organization of the JEA, and Ledochowski appointed Edward B. Rooney, SJ National Secretary for Education. The first constitution, drafted by committee in 1938, structured the JEA further, with a Board of Regents composed of the Provincial Superiors, an Executive Director (Rooney), and the Executive Committee. Work was initially divided between two Departments, of Higher Education and Secondary Education, as well as Eastern, Central, and Western Units with their own Departments of Higher and Secondary Education. By 1948, the JEA had significantly altered its constitution and printed it alongside a revised Instructio, the Instructio Pro Assistentia Americae, issued by Superior General John B. Janssens, SJ. Both documents were informed by the work of the first fourteen years of the JEA. The new structure retained the Board, now named the Board of Governors, the Executive Director, and Executive Committee, but replaced the Departments with five permanent Commissions: Secondary Schools, Liberal Arts Colleges, Professional Schools, Seminaries, and Graduate Schools. These Commissions held the power to appoint Special Committees to assist them.

Over the years, the JEA appointed additional Commissions (Schools and Departments of Business Administration in 1950; Theologates, Philosophaes, and Juniorates in 1958) and gave the Executive Committee powers to establish sub-committes as well. The Association conducted conferences and workshops to address virtually every aspect of teaching and administration. Through its standing bodies and conferences, the JEA helped member institutions navigate significant changes in Jesuit education in the late 1960s, such as separate incoroporation of colleges from their Provinces, and the shift to greater numbers of lay faculty and administrators at Jesuit schools. JEA also collaborated extensively with other Catholic and national educational organizations.

Three presidents led JEA during its 36 years: Daniel M. O’Connell, SJ (1934-1937); Edward B. Rooney, SJ (1937-1966); and Paul C. Reinert, SJ (1966-1970). While Rooney led for the longest period, Reinert presided over the final years of the JEA and oversaw the amendment of its constitution to provide for two successor organizations: the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) and the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA). The Jesuit Education Association dissolved in 1970.