Jesuit and Catholic
We believe that students have to be invited to wrestle with the great ethical issues of their time. We want them to be bothered by the realization that they don’t know everything and bothered by injustice.
- Joseph M. McShane, S.J., President Emeritus of Fordham UniversityAs both Catholic and Jesuit in identity, Fordham University draws a great deal of its inspiration from both of these rich and lively traditions. Fostered by this dual heritage, Fordham gives special attention to the tradition of Catholicism, but also provides a place where all religious traditions can interact with one another. These interactions add dimensions to one’s understanding of faith and the conviction of their beliefs.
At Fordham, one experiences the same Jesuit approach to education that has endured since the founding of the Society of Jesus by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534. This approach begins with a deep respect for the individual and his or her potential, a principle the Jesuits call cura personalis. Because students are revered and respected as individuals, our faculty challenges them to strive for ever-greater personal excellence in all aspects of life -- intellectual, emotional, moral, and physical. That principle, called magis, accounts for the rigor of the intellectual exchange and the varied challenges one will experience in New York City and in the world beyond.
Visit the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU).