Jesuit Community Gives $2 million to USF
The USF Jesuit Community has contributed $2 million to the university’s efforts to recruit more Jesuits and to offer scholarships to members of faith communities in developing countries.
Roughly $1.5 million of the gift will be used to endow “The Jesuit Scholars Fund at USF.” The fund’s purpose is to provide money to recruit Jesuits when there are no regular university-funded faculty positions open.
USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J., USF Board of Trustees Chairman Dominic Tarantino, and Jack Treacy, S.J., rector of the Jesuit community, shake hands after Fr. Treacy presented a $2 million gift to the University.
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“With fewer and fewer Jesuits, the chances that someone will emerge from doctorate studies with the particular specialty we’re looking for at a particular time is slim,” said Jack Treacy, S.J. rector of the Jesuit Community. “The Jesuit Scholars Fund will enable the university to recruit Jesuits when they are available, whether or not the particular department has an open position.”
Faculty recruited as part of The Jesuit Scholars Fund will typically receive three-year appointments. After three years, the hope is that the university will be able to offer the Jesuit a regular, full-time faculty position.
The remaining $500,000 of the gift will be used to establish the “Rev. Edwin J. McDermott, S.J. Scholars Fund.” Named for the founder of USF’s Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership, this scholarship will be awarded to Jesuits and members of other religious communities who have been admitted to a graduate program at USF. Students from economically disadvantaged regions of the world will be given priority.
“This scholarship speaks to the Jesuit Community’s commitment to assist the Church in other parts of the world by enabling students to study here,” Fr. Treacy said. “This is a concrete way in which we can assist the Church in need, especially in Africa.”
The $2 million gift was presented to the USF Board of Trustees at its Sept. 24 meeting.
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