John M. Breen, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and Lee J. Strang, Ohio State University, have posted Jesuit Identity in American Legal Education: An Historical Examen:
Georgetown University opened its law school in 1870. Today, fourteen universities in the US operate law schools under Jesuit auspices. Making use of St. Ignatius's examen, this article reviews the history of American Jesuit legal education. Most Jesuit schools were founded in the early twentieth century to provide professional opportunities for Catholic immigrants and their progeny. As law schools, these institutions have enjoyed great success in providing their students with the legal knowledge and skills necessary to serve as attorneys, largely mimicking their secular counterparts and satisfying the standards for accreditation. In this historical examen, we review how these schools have succeeded as Jesuit institutions, in the curricula offered, the pedagogies employed, the religious make-up of student bodies and law faculties, and the presence of Jesuits. Despite the contemporary rhetoric of "social justice, " our examen questions whether the intellectual culture and other features at these schools are consistent with a claimed Jesuit identity.
Georgetown Law Building, 1891-1971 (credit)
--Dan Ernst
