Student Affairs, Jesuit Higher Education, and the Founding of JASPA: 1936-1959

Abstract

Utilizing primary sources, including newly available archival material, this article discusses the emergence of student affairs as a distinct profession within Jesuit higher education during the first half of the twentieth century. Four events illustrate how Jesuit deans adapted, interpreted, and ultimately integrated their traditional understanding of Jesuit higher education and the emerging student affairs profession. The four events are: (1) the first discussion of the role of student affairs at a 1936 meeting of Jesuit deans; (2) the Jesuit Guidance Institute held in 1949; (3) the participation of Jesuit deans in the National Federation of Catholic College Students (NFCCS) and the National Student Association (NSA) in the 1940s and 1950s; and (4) the creation in 1954 of the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators (JASPA).