 Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. My name is Jessica Colligan, and it's my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of Fairfield's Alumni Relations Office. With me as always in these virtual spirituality events is Father Jerry Bloschek, who is our alumni chaplain and special assistant to the president. And he and I are both so thrilled to welcome our special guest this evening, Father Joseph O'Keeffe. Father O'Keeffe is the provincial of the USA East province of the Society of Jesus. And we'll go into good detail about what that role entails, but he is largely responsible for the formation and the well-being of the priests and the brothers in his province. So I know you're all so excited to hear from him and I don't wanna delay that any longer. So I'll just go quickly over a couple of housekeeping items and then we will get started. First, I ask that you please keep your microphones muted throughout the conversation, just to make sure that you are not providing any background noise or distracting. And second, I recommend that you use speaker view rather than gallery view in Zoom, just to keep the focus of your screen on our speakers. And finally, if you have any questions that come up during the discussion, we encourage you to submit them using the chat feature in Zoom. And if time permits at the end, we'll do our best to get to some of them as we are able. And now I will turn things over to Father Jerry to get us started. Thank you so much, Jess. And thank you, Father Joseph O'Keeffe for being so gracious as he'll explain in a minute. He's been busy all day. He's been listening to people and paying attention to people and that we would prevail on him to give us his free evening to be able to speak with us. Well, it bespeaks his kindness and his generosity with his time. Every year, a Jesuit provincial visits the local communities of his province. And that visitation of the province is not surveillance, it's to do what Father O'Keeffe, I think, arguably does best and most importantly, what we Jesuits call spiritual governance. That means as he has to plan with the Jesuits in our province, which extends from Maine, Georgia, and includes 578 Jesuits. Father O'Keeffe may say more about the works we do, but Father O'Keeffe, in the institutions, which I should say do include 11 colleges or universities, 22 high schools, eight middle schools, 19 parishes, and four retreat centers. He may give us more details about those. So Father O'Keeffe both visits the institutions and our colleagues and friends and associates who are keeping those institutions active and creative and fruitful. He will always visit the local bishop, but his key and most important challenge and responsibility is to speak to the likes of me and other Jesuits, to encourage us in our own vocations, to encourage us in the quality of our religious and community lives, and to know us individually and to invite us into the sort of conversations that allow him to be a good superior and plan with our associates and with the bishops. And with the Father General, we'll have a lot to say about that in the course of our time, of how centralized we are. Parenthetically, we did not elect this man. Not that we wouldn't. I think we wouldn't if we had a referendum now, we'd say stay on Joe, but it's the general of the society who appoints the provincial, the regional superior, the society is divided up into provinces. Maybe, Joe, a way to have people understand what you do when you visit us is to say, what did you do today? Okay, sure. So I think the most privileged and the best sense of the word thing I do is to really listen to my brothers and to understand their joys and their challenges, their ministries, what they're thinking about in their current life, what is they look ahead, what they foresee, what are they, and hearing from their superior, what do they seem to be really good at? What are they not as good at? And that then becomes, so knowing the men, and now I'm in my fourth year, right? So this is the fourth meeting. Now, I knew a number of these men beforehand, but to know them in this new way, and a number I didn't know. So when I think about, here are the needs that we have in the province, and here are the men, where's the match of what's happening inside the man and his prayer and where he finds life, and how can that fit the needs that we have? And so my conversations, yeah, pastoral, in many ways, I'm the pastor for Jesuits in the province, but also it's mission-focused, and it helps me determine allocation of human resources in the best possible way. So you saw some Jesuits today, and then I think you visited Bishop Cagiano, correct? That was yesterday, yep. Well, that was yesterday. All right, so that is something that a provincial will always do, right? Absolutely, and President Nemeck, and today the Board Chair, so I always visit with Board Chairs, that was by Zoom. Okay. Board Chair, President, well, the presidents also are what we call directors of the work, because they're directors of a Jesuit work. So meeting with Christian Cashman and meeting with Mark Nemeck. And again, it's meeting with them each time I come and getting a sense of their perspective, not only on the individual Jesuits who are working here, but also on the Jesuit identity, that they are responsible to flurry, to maintain and to grow. And it's a very important point that the provincial speaks to our two lay presidents and asks them, what are you and what are your institutions doing to make sure that these institutions founded and sponsored by the Jesuits are remaining Jesuit? I have to imagine that's a big part of your conversation with them, Joe. It certainly is and also getting a sense of which Jesuits are particularly helpful and are there any issues that they've noticed that I should be attentive to to help the man? And then what do they, how can the province help them? And of course, they always say, send lots more very competent Jesuits. It's like, okay, but there aren't that many horses in the stable anymore. But it's always a cordial conversation. And in the case of both Mark and Christian at university and prep, it's very cordial. Bishop Kajiana is extraordinarily gracious. Of course, an alum of Regis High School. So he is an alum of a Jesuit school himself and did his seminary work and graduate work at the Gregorian. So Jesuit educated. Not only that, but he has a real sense of the importance of the role of Fairfield in his diocese. I know, Joe, he's always talking to me and to us about education, but especially, but also the role of Ignatian spirituality, retreats, confessors, helping laypeople, religious and the priests to have a deep spiritual life. I'm imagining that probably came up with him today too. Absolutely. And I mean, it happens that Jesuits do that kind of work with people in diocese all over the place. I think here especially, thank God to the Murphy Center, which is a deliberate part of the university to foster that kind of ministry of the Jesuits. And both within the university here, but also outside the university. And the impact that that Murphy Center has and has had is tremendous. And certainly the local Bishop, clearly Bishop Cagiano clearly sees that and understands that. Joe, in your travels, did you have a chance to get over to our Bellarmine campus yet? I did, you know, I said to Kevin O'Brien, I said, Kevin, you know, if you tried to describe this physical plant to me, I would not have been able to imagine it. I mean, it's so creative and beautifully done, but more significantly, of course, of the students who are there. And, you know, the creation of educational opportunities for students who, you know, from Bridgeport and other places, but from, you know, recent immigrants. I mean, that's been so much part of our Jesuit history in the East Coast is first-generation students and immigrants and ethnically diverse people. And to see that alive at Bellarmine, it's an extraordinary commitment on the part of the university. And it's a commitment to, you know, where Fairfield has a very broad catchment area in terms of students and a broad impact, but it's especially important to see the local impact of the university too. And Bellarmine is a classic example of that. And I'm sure, and I know already, it is a model for other Jesuit universities. So I think the replication of Bellarmine will be an important gift to the society. Another role that Joe has as provincial is really being our bridge to our universal governance with Father General or Superior General in Rome. And I think anybody who's followed these conversations seriously in the last few years has heard us talk about the universal apostolic preferences that Father General, after extensive consultation, articulated for all institutions sponsored and connected to the Jesuits. And certainly Father Keefe has a major responsibility to make sure that those preferences in fact are shaping all of our institutions. And Joe, right off the bat, we have two of those preferences, right? With Bellarmine and with the Murphy son. Well, yeah, and I think those preferences, I mean, the first, I think many a more contemporary articulation of something that has been at the heart of the society since its foundation in 1540 is the spiritual exercises and that spiritual vision of Ignatius accompanying people as they discern and search for Christ and search for meaning in their lives. So that clearly is there. The working with the marginal and the excluded. And in many ways, I think that's an articulation of something that started in Vatican II, a faith that does justice. And again, being with those on the margins of society, being with people who come from backgrounds of poverty, who educational opportunity is what's going to give them a full and productive life. And then the third, which is giving young people a hope filled future. I mean, our first educational institution in Messina 1548, so this is a long standing. And I often think each generation has had its challenges, but given all that's happening in the world today, the challenge of giving young people a hope filled future. And that's very much part of the educational enterprise. So I think, and of course the fourth and part of that hope filled future is having an earth that is sustainable, air debris, water to drink, the whole climate issue. Looking at the name- And it was by the way, a mandate from the Holy Father. It was a mandate from the Pope to the society saying these are the preferences. And then it is for each of us, provincials in our own place. What does that mean in our time and place? And given the worldwide society, the over 14,000 judgments across the world and 3,700 different educational institutions, each place has its own political, economic, religious, ethnic culture. So they're broad preferences that need to take on flesh in a particular circumstance, if you will. Thank you, Joe. Look, we jumped immediately into your role as provincial, but you weren't born provincial. As I understand it, you were born a simple child of Irish and a Franco-American parents in Salem, Massachusetts, where I'm proud to say I served my first years as a young priest, as a baby priest in a parish not too far from yours. I was in St. Mary's, Italian parish, where I ate very well and tried to be a good priest. Yeah, yeah. But Joe, how did you, yeah, so you were born in Salem, right? Right. And where did you go to high school? I went to a Zavarian Brothers High School, St. John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts. Much, my, a great school, still a major rival of a BC, isn't it? Absolutely, a BC high, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then how did you meet this society? How did you meet this society, Joe? So in my family background, my grandfather was class of 1916 at Holy Cross. 1916? Yeah, he went to BC high in 1912, 1916 at Holy Cross. And then my father and my uncle Bob, when they returned from the war in the Pacific, my dad is sailor, my uncle Bob, a marine, my grandfather said, well, let me take you to Holy Cross and because you've got to go to college. And they're like lights out at 10 o'clock, all these strict rules at Holy Cross. They're like, no way, we have just been, you know, again, they were older, obviously, having been in the war. So my uncle Bob is class of 49 at Boston College and my dad was class of 50. But my uncle Ed was class of 51 at Holy Cross because he was younger, he was not in the war. And then when it came time for me to go to college, I was like a little rebellious, like, you know, this family Jesuit tradition thing, Jesuit education. I was thinking of Middlebury and Bowdoin and these New England liberal arts colleges and a classmate of mine at Holy Cross at St. John's Prep said, you know, we can get a day off of school as a senior year. If we go to a college and I have an appointment at Holy Cross and I have my father's car, so let's go, great, with no intention. Well, I was totally won by the people I met there. And I remember coming back home at dinner, at the table saying, well, I know I'm going to Holy Cross and they were like, what? And the rest is history, right? Well, what was it? What are those people who had this magical influence on you, on this contentious, you know, young man who was, you know, who wanted to do anything to what his parents wanted? How did they win you over? Well, you know, I mean, Jesuits, it's been really amazing too, now that I'm the, for those still alive, now that I'm the provincial for these men who met me when I was 17 years old and a freshman. Wow. The impact of the Jesuits there. Now, some were curmudgeons. We know certainly not. Now, none of you, by the way, none of our, just to be clear, Joe, none of our, none of our participants have ever met. Oh, but I've ever encountered that, no, no, nothing like that, no. But you know. Please go on. These were men who were learned, who really took seriously the world as it was. They were very much imbued with the Vatican, Spirit of Vatican II. This is 1972, I started. And a real passion for learning and a brotherhood among them that they really cared for one another and they would tease each other and they would share their life with each other and it was just a very appealing and very attractive thing for me. Now, it was both from family background and I'll get your bachelor's degree and then let's look at this again, which is of course what happened. So I did graduate in 1976 from Holy Cross. But you were almost from the beginning thinking about a Jesuit vocation and emulation. I was thinking about a priestly vocation. Priestly vocation. And part of it too, God love him, my dad died after my freshman year at Holy Cross. Anna felt responsible for my mother and sister and thought, you know, maybe I could be a diocesan priest in the Boston Archdiocese. And I knew priests too, because I had done a lot of work as an orderly in hospitals to kind of take my way through college. And then when my mother, God love her, met a man and decided to remarry, all of a sudden it's like, I can be a Jesuit. She's gonna be a Jesuit. So kind of God cleared the way for me to enter the society. So I graduated in May of 76 and I entered the Jesuits in August of 1976. And what was your novitiate like? What were the salient moments of your, you've heard, I mean, all your hearers have heard, most of them have heard other Jesuit stories. So the terminology of things like novitiate are not utterly new to most of our participants. You were like the first two years of our Jesuit formation. Where did you do those, Joe? And what was it like? What were the salient points? Right, a Newbury Street in Boston. And... You're not in Shadowbrook anymore. No, no, they've moved maybe five years previous out of Shadowbrook. Because most of the people we've interviewed, you know, people like Charlie Allen or my... Sure, they would have been in Shadowbrook, yeah. Yeah. And, you know, the high point of it, obviously in my first year was the 30-day retreat. I had been to Gloucester as a high school kid for a day of recollection. And then a version of the exercises when I was at Holy Cross for five days. It was kind of fun, I was at a reunion of Holy Cross last week, the 50th anniversary of co-education. And we were laughing with some of my colleagues, women, especially, saying, remember trying to keep silent during that retreat? There was a... So doing it for 30 days, I did learn how to keep silent. And again, growing up just down the North Shore from Gloucester, a beautiful place for me, an important place. Then with three other Jesuits sent on, what we call experiments, as you know, which is a way of testing vocation in different settings. So I was sent to India with three other New England Jesuits. Wow, well, you were a novice. Six months as a novice, yeah. This was a big, this was very important in a Jesuit way of formation. Very different from the monastic or seminaries. Well, there weren't seminaries early on to train priests for parishes, but the monastic communities trained people by keeping them in the monasteries. But with Ignatius, since he envisioned us to be on the road as our primary way of being and to be available to be sent to any culture, any area of the world. So Ignatius prescribes in our constitutions that the novices have this experiment of being on pilgrimage. Are they capable? Is somebody who wants to be a Jesuit, are they capable of exhibiting the capacity to relate to new cultures, leave their own securities behind and meet God in the unexpected? So that's just a little commercial about why experiments are such a big deal for Jesuits. And so we were at Mission Stations in central India and then in Calcutta with the sisters of charity. Wow. They home for the dying, they hospice there in the morning and then in the afternoon in the orphanage. So end of life, beginning of life and experience being with those people. Six months. And interesting. Actually, one of the mornings working in Calcutta went to very early morning mass and I was right next to Mother Teresa. And Mother Teresa actually was a classmate of mine. She got an honorary doctorate when I got my bachelor's degree from Holy Cross. Oh my goodness. There I was like seven months later sitting next to her. And so that was an extraordinary multicultural experience and being with the Indian novices too. And understanding that it's one society of Jesus across the world. And just a brief anecdote that when I was at, I was delegated to 36th General Congregation and a delegate from the Patna Province, Susai Raj. And a couple of days into the congregation, I said, Susai, do you remember the New England novices who came and he said, I do. Later that day, he sent me a JPEG of a picture of the New England novices and the Indian novices. Both he and I were there. It's like, who would have thought we'd be at a General Congregation all these decades? So it's amazing how things happen. So, and then in my second year, again, back in Boston, learning about the society, doing pastor, I did a lot of work with a group called Samaritans. It's a hotline for people who were suicidal. And then I went to Fall River, Massachusetts and taught French full time in the house. And now so much of it gave my, wedded my appetite to be an educator. Great. You know, when Father Akif mentioned being sent to India, he averted to the fact that Jesuits from the very beginning of their orientation, their formation are, I think, imbued, if we do it well, with the notion that there's one society and it's a global society, and the Northeast, US Northeast province may be your port of entry into the society, but that you are, you enter a worldwide society and you are available in principle. And for most of us, there's been some moment when in reality, we're asked to be available, to be of service way beyond our geographical moorings and to be available wherever the church needs us. And this goes all the way back. The reason, Joe, by the way, I'm doing this is because this is under the aegis of Ignatian spirituality and introducing people to Jesuit stuff. So this is an opportunity I couldn't miss. From the beginning, Ignatius understood the society of Jesus was not instituted to serve a particular geographical or cultural or linguistic area, but he presented himself to the Holy Father and said, we are available to you wherever there is the greatest. And that's not a platitude. Joe, you can, having been in Rome and being in your position, you understand that it does indeed happen that bishops and the Holy Father and the congregations in Rome, turn to the Jesuits and say, you know what? We need one of our young Jesuits, well, no longer young, that I worked extensively with is now the apostolic, the apostolic delegate or not, I'm sorry, whatever, an apostolic administrator of Kyrgyzstan because at one stage Holy Father said, okay, you Jesuits, I need you to help refound and help sustain the church in Kyrgyzstan, one of those former Soviet republics on the Silk Road. Anyway, Joe, you mentioned French, French language, French culture and French education was a real trajectory that you followed throughout your whole Jesuit formation, right? Yeah, I was a philosophy major Holy Cross of the minor in French. Part of it might have been too, my kind of ethnic heritage on my mother's side. But then when I finished here, took vows and then we go to philosophy studies or what we call first studies. And the fact that I had had a major in philosophy, I did some philosophy courses and took the comprehensive exam at Fordham for that, the day university exam as it's called in Jesuit world. And then I did an MA in French literature. At Fordham. At Fordham. And of course, you know, I had studied sat as a philosopher and now I study sat as an author. So I studied Descartes for his philosophical stuff. Now I studied Descartes for his stylistic work. So and with that in hand, after that experience and I went back to Fordham many, many years later to be the superior of young Jesuits studying at Fordham's scholastics. So it was a big circle back to the Bronx. And then with that degree in French, I went to Shevers High School in Portland, Maine and taught full-time for three years. Those of you who are familiar with Jesuit, you know that what Father O'Keefe is referring to the pattern of formation from the vision and initially two years of orientation and experiments and then philosophy studies and then always a period of apostolic work where in a certain sense, you once again live out what is an anticipation of what your Jesuit life is going to be like. And it's a confirmation. Is this the grace that God is giving me? And was it for you, Joe? Apparently it was. It certainly was. You know, I loved my time. And again, you know, when I was a novice, I taught also. And so high school teaching was a real passion of mine and education in the educational process. And that continued and was, you know. What you like so much about high school teaching? They look pretty pesky to me and problematic. All those hormones and all that. Oh, well, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, it's actually so many of them I keep up with. Some of the biggest bandits ended up being the most loyal alumni. And you're with them. And there's a great sense of joy in that. And the other aspect of it too, when I was in Regency, wonderful lay women and men who worked hard. And while they were lay people and I was a Jesuit, but we were in this together. And I think that's a crucial part of that Regency experience. And now I see it with our young guys who do Regency experiences and who become such wonderful colleagues and friends of our lay teachers. Certainly the story that we keep hearing from Fairfield Prep. Previous to you last year, it was at the year before, Jessica, we had Brendan Coffey, a young Jesuit regent. That's our terminology for these kinds of interns who are doing full-time work in a Jesuit sponsored ministry. And Brendan whom some of you have met was at Fairfield Prep. And his impact on not only his students and their families but his impact just by the nature of his warmth and generosity and competence and openness to his colleagues at Fairfield Prep was legendary. So I'm not surprised that the same would have happened for you. And I had the great privilege and joy of being Brendan's superior when he was studying at Fordham. Uh-huh. At Chisler Hall. So I was his rector for two years. All right, so, you know, so you were a regent or you were a scholastic or a regent or a young Jesuit in formation. And then where did you do your theology studies? At what was then the Western Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Which is now a division of Boston College. Okay, okay. I emptied there. I was ordained in 1986, 1985 to the deacadent, 1986 to the priesthood. And then I did a second theology degree called the Licentia. And that was under the tutelage of John O'Malley. Those of you who know that name, the great Jesuit historian, great all-time Jesuit John O'Malley. So I had this passion for history and especially passion for French. And so under John's direction, took some courses in Cambridge, but then also went to France. To do research about Jesuit schools in the late 16th, early 17th century. And was that one of those rare moments when we were allowed to exist in France? That's absolutely. Yes, it was early on. And this was actually in Lorraine is the places that I was looking at was its own separate, there was a Duke of Lorraine who invited us. But working under John O'Malley and having had him in classes, I had a big impact on him. In what way, Joe? Well, he was so erudite and thoughtful and humble and a very regular person. He didn't put on airs. And yet he had all the goods. I mean, an eminent historian with all kinds of awards So, yeah, he was certainly one of the greats and a great mentor of mine. All of his books, as far as I remember, all published by Harvard Press, where you ended up? That's true. You ended up going back to Harvard. Well, I came back after my licentiate and I thought, you know, I'm really interested in how educational institutions form people, the culture of educational institutions and the role of schools, not only in terms of transmitting knowledge and skills, but also a formation of people and thought, you know, I've looked at that in France in the 16th and 17th centuries. I'd like to look at it in the U.S. in the 20th century. Wow. And so that's why I petitioned and was given permission to do a doctorate in education. I did that at Harvard. And work was with a woman named Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot, one of the first African American fully-tenured professors, endowed professorship at Harvard. And I was very interested in how Jesuit schools, Jesuit high schools in particular, looking back to the time of John Lafarge and others, became desegregated and welcomed more diverse populations of over-income people and African-Americans and Latinos and immigrants in Metro New York. So it was a wonderful opportunity to study Jesuit schools again, but in a way that's not history, but it's present and looking to the future. And so when I think about my work in education, you know, that was enormously helpful. And of course the people I met and the resources at Harvard are tremendous. And, you know, not only the faculty that were there, but the students who were attracted and the rich variety of backgrounds. And it was an eye-opening experience for me. You know, with the dearth of clergy, with the vocation crisis, with so few priests and Jesuits are being available to education, why do you think the society even now should put so much effort into education? And why do you see, you know, what is so specific or can you talk about something that is so specific to what, how would you characterize the Ignatian, Jesuit, Charism vis-a-vis education? And I'm again, you're talking to folks, many of whom have been recipients and participants in this mission. So how, with your study, with your own, your personal experience, your family history, your wonderful academic formation and continued experience, because to jump ahead, Joe, was how many years at BC, at BC's point of view? 25 years on the faculty at BC, yeah. Right, and then Dean for how many years? I was Associate Dean for Academic to the School of Ed for two years and then Dean for six. All right, so with that background in mind, what's the big deal about Jesuit education? Well, you know, increasingly, when I look at the world the way it is now, I think back to a previous, a general father, Adolfo Nikolas. And in 2010, he gave an address at the Jesuit University in Mexico City. It was for Jesuits and higher ed from around the world. I was one of the BC representatives. And he talked about the danger of what he called the globalization of superficiality. You know, sound bites, lack of analysis, polarization, demonizing those who think differently. I mean, we're just seeing so much of that has come to light. And he said, Jesuit education is Jesuit education for depth. For depth. Depth of thought, depth of imagination, depth of values. And I think given the superficiality that is so much around us, that graduates of Fairfield and other places, how do we help them do the hard work of depth of analysis and imagination? And also commitment to the greater good. And that can be no matter what field you're in. So talking to folks here about, well, there's Bellamon, right? But like the new nursing school, for example, in Austin and the wonderful nursing school here. What does it like to be a nurse who's prepared for that career in a Jesuit school in terms of care of the person, in terms of passion for access to healthcare, no matter what your income level is. Those kinds of, when I look at the number of students here and the business school, right? Ethical business practices, corporate responsibility, how businesses care about the communities in which they're located. How do they build them up? So in an array of professions, no matter what, I think arguably it's never been as important been as important to have a Jesuit education as it is in our day and time. Thank you, Joe. Of course, when I say that, but that's what I believe. And that's how I spend my life dedicated to that reality. And you do, and you do. I'm already, I'm a wee, I'm alert to the fact that the clock is moving and I can't restrain myself from asking, what's it like to be provincial? What are the joys? What are the sorrows? What are the lights? What are the shadows? I mean, I don't want, I warned you that I might ask you this, but be as personal or not as you like, but if you could tell us what that's like, because you're talking about 578 Jesuits at a time of, well, I mean, I'll let you describe it. What's it been like for you? Well, I think it's now year four, which is likely to be six years as the normal tenure. One of the things I think it's important to mention is the vastness of this. So when I became provincial on July 31st, 2020 it was the first day of the East Coast province. So people would know, especially if they're from Connecticut, back in 2014, New York and New England came together. The wedding of the Yankees and the Red Sox, which is miraculous, huh? But we survived and did well. Not without some challenges, but go ahead. There were some challenges. That's a Northeast province. And then on July 31st, 2020 became the East Coast province. So I mean, you mentioned the number of institutions, the number of Jesuits, so it's huge, it's big. So how to keep on top of everything. I have to say the most consoling part of it is being with Jesuits, as you mentioned in that manifestation of the account of conscience. Someone described it to me, it's like having a front row seat to watch God at work in someone's life. And that's a great, it's humbling, it's a privilege, it's consoling. So I think being a pastor to my brothers is important. Being a pastor to the elders, so many elderly Jesuits that I've met who say, you know, my prayer is really all about gratitude. And for some of them, life was not always a bowl of cherries, right? So at age 69, I say to my no to self, grow old gracefully. So with my elder brother. You know, what is it like for a young man to be with all the distractions and noise in the world, to be able to hear a call to religious life and to have the courage to respond to that? And so I am in such awe of young men in this day and age who were saying, yes. And so when I accept young men into the society and into the novitiate and when I receive their first vows and when I present them to the Bishop for ordination, that's an enormous joy. The other aspect of it is I have come to realize how much our lay colleagues, not only by our mission, but care about us. And I communicate that to our my brothers. They want us to live in vibrant communities. They want us to be full and grounded human beings. And the legacy that gets carried on by our lay women and lay men, you know, and we're at their side. So that's been a wonderful part of this. And I think there is a future for us and for the society. I've often I've been reflecting on the sisters of charity of New York who did such wonderful work as educators and as nurses and, you know, St. Vincent's Hospital during the AIDS crisis, how they respond. And they've said, we're going into what they call completion, that they're not accepting any new members and they haven't had new members for years and that religious community will no longer exist. That's not the case with us, you know. We have fewer numbers and we look at the age distribution. We only have 44 men in formation. 44 wonderful men, but 44 men in formation out of 578 Jesuits, right? So we can't continue to be every place and do everything we've always done, but there is a future and it's in good hands. Wow. What do you think, Jess, should we? Do you have any questions? Do you have any lists of questions yet? No, I think one thing, and we talked about this briefly, the three of us before we came on here is, you know, Father, you just mentioned there is a future, there are fewer, but what does that mean in your eyes specifically for a school like Fairfield when there are dwindling numbers of Jesuits? What does that mean going forward? And I know, as you said, the lay supporters and the lay followers are certainly, I'm sure, going to be an integral part in that, but could you speak a little bit more to what will continue to make Fairfield be a Jesuit school even given the state of the dwindling numbers? Great question, Jess. Great question. Yeah, so every higher ed institution goes through something called the Mission Priority Examine. Parallel on the school level is the sponsorship review. And the Mission Priority Examine consists of a self-study on the campus. And well, first of all, does the institution want to remain Jesuit and Catholic? If it does, how does that become something other than just a brand label? Where is that realized in specific ways? And then getting people to buy into that. So it's a very broad-based consultation that leads to a report that is submitted to the province and then a team of qualified educators from other places comes to see is this report, in fact, what we're experiencing in our business. So I've been on, before I became provincial, for Regis University in Denver for Santa Clara, University of Santa Clara and for Loyola Marymount. And actually I was reflecting back Nancy Delavale from the Fairfield faculty. She chaired the Loyola Marymount visit that I was on. So that along with the self-study becomes a report, sent to me as provincial and with accompanying materials, all of that goes to Father General. And my recommendation, as I did, recommend that Fairfield continue to be sponsored by the society. It's the desire of the university that this happened from trustees to president administration and faculty. And it is by that that Father General approved the continuing sponsorship, if you will, of Fairfield by the society. And by that, then the decastry of culture and education that oversees Catholic education worldwide affirms the Catholic character. And all of that gets communicated to the local bishop. In this case, Bishop Kajiana. And, you know, along at Fairfield, things like continuing efforts for access for people who can't pay full freight of tuition. Certainly Bellarmine College is seen as a crucial piece of it. The very positive relationship with the local communities and the local diocese. And the efforts made both in the undergraduate core and in professional programs make them distinctive because of the Catholic and Jesuit, the Catholic intellectual tradition and the focus on a faith that does justice. So, yeah, Fairfield has been reaffirmed and it's Catholic and Jesuit character. So that's kind of the official piece. And then, otherwise, it's, you know, working with people, but also Jesuits on campus, right? And I think that the way to be effective is for Jesuits to have a strong corporate identity and to work together as opposed to individuals who just happen to be in different departments. The impact has to be a collective impact. And that happens here. And that happens here. So, yeah, and of course, if you have Jesuits who are productive and happy and engaged, nothing attracts vocations like that. It's interesting, Joe, you talk about a corporate identity and that identity of the body extends even to people who are no longer here. I feel like Charlie Allen is still alive with us and that I still travel on the coattails of Charlie Allen and the work they do, you know, whether it was him or, you know, Jesuits have been here over the years. Oh, God, yes. We continue their work. We continue, you know, to capitalize on the goodwill and the good effects of their work. One aspect of your provincial, takes you beyond frosty New England to the tropics of the far Pacific. And this is something that I know means a great deal to you, especially in, you know, affirming the values of Jesuit education. And that's the presence or the existence of Micronesia as part of, where in the hell is Micronesia? And what did you see when you were there? Okay, so it's 8,000 miles away in the middle of the Pacific. And the Pope asked the society to staff, really, those islands, the federated states of Micronesia and the Carolina Islands. And they were Spaniards. But remember, Spaniards were neutral in World War II. And the Americans, of course, you could, you know, took those islands from Japan and said, no, I think we need Jesuits here, but the American government said they should be American Jesuits. And so in 1945, we arrived in Micronesia. And it, you know, it's a way of living out these apostolic preferences, for example, the impact of climate change. And some of these islands will disappear with surprising ocean levels. And there are people who, so many of whom live in poverty and we provide, especially through our schools and through our pastoral ministry. Now it just so happens, and either coincidence or grace. So as I was listening, waiting for some of the Jesuits to come and speak to me, Father Mulraini, who had spent time in Micronesia is a mentor for a Fairfield sophomore and a Fairfield freshman, both of whom went to that Savior High School in Chuk, one of whom, and you saw the film that I showed for the community, he walked in, looked at me, he remembered my face from my- Wow. So here, and of course, you know, he's got this big, heavy coat on. Micronesia is tropical. It's like, well, welcome to New England. And, but the fact that he, the two of them are continuing the legacy of Fairfield University providing full scholarships. And these are the leaders of Micronesia. Yeah. You know, these will be the physicians and the political leaders and the attorneys. So, you know, it just brought Micronesia home to me in a wonderful way here at the Jesuit Community Center, seeing those two kids and what Fairfield is doing for them. It's remarkable. This is all part, and these young people are here part of the posse. What does it, Corey, call the Corey Eunice and Mark Nemekal at the Companion's Program? Right, the Companion's Program, yeah. Yeah. Now, parenthetically, some of the graduates of our high school, Xavier, high school at Chuuk, end up going to the Jesuit universities in the Philippines. Oh, yeah. Some end up going to the Jesuit universities in Indonesia, because Indonesia helps send young Jesuits to teach in our schools. And Sofia in Tokyo. And Sofia in Japan. So, I mean, this is the family that we belong to. Joe, we're reaching close to eight o'clock. I did want to offer anybody else the opportunity. Would you like to pose a question to Father O'Keeffe? Further clarification of something that he's already said or some issue that you'd like him to turn his attention to? I did receive one other question. It may be a larger topic than we want to get into with just a few minutes left, but questioning your opinion on other schools not necessarily Jesuit, suppressing speakers or tolerating animosity in the name of free speech, vis-a-vis the Middle East or LGBTQ plus rights. I don't know. That seems like maybe a longer conversation than a few minutes. Yeah, it's certainly a very involved conversation. Yeah. It would seem to me at least off the top of my head and please take it as that. This is not a well thought out argument, but it would seem to me that there is, back to that education depth of analysis, right? And that if there are different points of view, it's the context in which those points of view are presented and it's never one sided. Now, there are limits. Hate speech cannot be tolerated. Incitement to violence can never be tolerated, but the university should be within those limits, a place for dialogue. Always with the understanding that Fairfield and its sister Jesuit institutions are not value free institutions. That there is a way of looking at the world to the Catholic intellectual tradition and through the legacy of the society that doesn't make it value neutral. That doesn't mean we are afraid of differing points of view. Easier said than done. I get all that. I think when there are controversial issues that arise, it's very important to inform, for example, the local bishop and I am intent on that and so are the heads of schools. But I think a place where thoughtfully and carefully to present the Catholic perspective is crucial. I don't know if that's a good answer, but at least that off the top of my answer. Thank you. Joe very graciously expressed that even in this moment when the society is experiencing a demographic decline, he pointed out that God has been very good to us in the quality of the young men that we have and that they are a source of hope. I'm not just being polite, I'm being honest and faithful when I say that God is taking very good care of us, even in this time of fewer people available for services in the society to give us a period like Father Joseph O'Keeffe. So Joe, thank you for your service to us, to our institutions, to our alumni, our colleagues, our friends, and thank you for spending this time with us this evening. And thank you to all of you who have taken the time to learn about Joe, to learn about us and to learn about Joe this evening. Thank you very much. I wanna offer my thanks as well. And I apologize if we weren't able to get to your questions, but we do wanna be respectful of everyone's time. But thank you so much, Father O'Keeffe, for being with us. Thank you, Father Jerry, as always, for being my wonderful partner in this. And I hope you all have a wonderful night. Thank you all so much for being here. Hey, God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Joe.