Alpha Sigma Nu
| Alpha Sigma Nu | |
|---|---|
| ΑΣΝ | |
 Alpha Sigma Nu Logo | |
| Founded |
June 4, 1915 Marquette University |
| Type | Honor society |
| Emphasis | Scholarship, Loyalty, Service |
| Scope | Jesuit Colleges & Universities |
| Mission statement | Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit institutions of higher education, recognizes those students who distinguish themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service. The only honor society permitted to bear the name Jesuit, ΑΣΝ encourages its members to a lifetime pursuit of intellectual development, deepening Ignatian spirituality, service to others, and a commitment to the core principles of Jesuit education. |
| Object | The purpose of the Society shall be to honor students of Jesuit institutions of higher education who distinguish themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service; to honor persons who may or may not be Alumni of Jesuit institutions of higher education who have distinguished themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service in their intellectual, civic, religious, or professional pursuits; to band together and to encourage those so honored to understand, to appreciate and to promote the ideals of Jesuit education; to encourage the establishment and proper functioning of Chapters in accredited Jesuit institutions of higher education; and to encourage the establishment and proper functioning of Alumni Clubs. |
| Motto |
Αδελφοτης Σχολαστικων Νικηφορων |
| Colors | Maroon Gold |
| Symbol | The key of the society bears the three Greek letters (ΑΣΝ) together with the eye of wisdom. |
| Publication | ΑΣΝ Newsletters, ΑΣΝ Faculty Advisers Bulletin |
| Chartered | June 4, 1915 at Marquette University |
| Chapters | 32 |
| Members | ~80,000 lifetime |
| Headquarters |
Alpha Sigma Nu 707 N. 11th Street #330 P.O. Box 1881 Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA |
| Homepage | AlphaSigmaNu.org |
Alpha Sigma Nu (ΑΣΝ) was founded at Marquette University in 1915 by John Danihy, S.J., Dean of Journalism. In his travels and reading, Father Danihy had encountered and admired honor societies. In the first half of the 20th century, administrators of Catholic institutions of higher education found that their students were being systematically locked out of other honor societies, especially Phi Beta Kappa. The society, known as Alpha Sigma Tau until 1930, spread in its first decade of existence from Marquette to Creighton University, to St. Louis University and to the University of Detroit. By 1924, Gamma Pi Epsilon was founded to honor outstanding women. Alpha Sigma Nu and Gamma Pi Epsilon pursued separate but similar paths for almost 50 years, expanding nationally and cooperating on campuses where they existed together. The society born of their merger in 1973 is open to men and women at the 28 Jesuit institutions of higher education in the United States, two in Canada and one in South Korea. Alpha Sigma Nu, in seeking the best of Jesuit education, requires that its now 70,000 members emulate St. Ignatius through excellence in scholarship, loyalty, and service. Some 2,000 members are inducted each year.[1] [2]
Purpose
The purpose of the Society is:[3]
- to honor students of Jesuit institutions of higher education who distinguish themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service,
- to honor persons who may or may not be alumni of Jesuit institutions of higher education who have distinguished themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service in their intellectual, civic, religious, professional or commercial pursuits,
- to band together and to encourage those so honored to understand, appreciate and promote the ideals of Jesuit education,
- to encourage the establishment and proper functioning of Chapters in accredited Jesuit institutions of higher education, and
- to encourage the establishment and proper functioning of alumni clubs.
Mission
Alpha Sigma Nu recognizes those students who distinguish themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service. The only honor society permitted to bear the name Jesuit, Alpha Sigma Nu encourages its members to a lifetime pursuit of intellectual development, deepening Ignatian spirituality, service to others, and a commitment to the core principles of Jesuit education. Selection to Alpha Sigma Nu is the highest honor awarded on a Jesuit campus.[4]
The Standards of Alpha Sigma Nu
Alpha Sigma Nu honors students who have distinguished themselves in Scholarship, Loyalty, and Service. [5]
Scholarship
Alpha Sigma Nu celebrates rigorous scholarship that is firmly rooted in the Catholic tradition and is embedded within and relevant to the local community. As one humbly apprentices oneself to the knowledge and wisdom that discovers God in all things, one is transformed, and is enabled to transform the inheritance received, responding to the signs of the times. Ignatian scholarship is lived according to a pattern that begins in experience and moves through reflection to bear fruit in action. It is a passion for the truth marked by depth of comprehension and breadth of knowledge. Such faith seeking understanding is encounter with God: as I seek God in all things, God finds me. [6]
Loyalty
In scholarship we discover God’s faithfulness to us in all things; because God is faithful to us, we are empowered to be faithful to God and to others. Loyalty, then, is a desire to live out a life oriented to God’s greater service and praise. Loyalty in Alpha Sigma Nu means loyalty to the Ignatian educational vision, the formation of the whole person. This certainly involves an intellectual appreciation of Jesuit ideals of higher education; but it goes further, speaking of a lived commitment to these ideals on all levels – intellectual, moral, social and religious. To be loyal to these ideals means developing a sense of conscience, responsible to the truth – truth spoken in love and lived in a faith that does justice. This may involve embracing unpopular positions, either occasionally or in an ongoing counter-cultural witness. It will always mean a prophetic commitment to a way of living that reflects the integrity of our relatedness to God and one another. It includes an abiding effort to advance the common good and the well-being of all people, especially the most powerless. [7]
Service
When the Jesuit theologians who had been summoned to assist the Council of Trent with its work left Rome, they carried with them instructions from Saint Ignatius that during their stay in the city they were to find work in hospitals and in teaching catechism to children and the unlettered. Ignatius believed that for their learning to be of genuine service to the Church, it had to be grounded in ministry to the poor and broken. Ignatian service is most itself when it consists of humble practices of leadership from below, and when it is expressed in learned ministry that is attentive to the whole person and the whole context. It is always open to new actions that transform the present situation into a truer reflection of the Reign of God. [8]
Chapters
Alpha Sigma Nu has 32 chapters: At the 28 Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States, 2 Colleges in Canada, 1 in South Korea, and 1 in Spain.[9][10]
- Boston College, chartered 1939
- Campion College (Canada), chartered 2005
- Canisius College, chartered 1955
- College of the Holy Cross, chartered 1940
- Creighton University, chartered 1921
- Fairfield University, chartered 1961
- Fordham University, chartered 1982
- Georgetown University, chartered 1950
- Gonzaga University, chartered 1939
- John Carroll University, chartered 1939
- Le Moyne College, chartered 1951
- Loyola University Andalusia (Spain), chartered 2015
- Loyola University Maryland, chartered 1942
- Loyola Marymount University, chartered 1939
- Loyola University Chicago, chartered 1938
- Loyola University New Orleans, chartered 1936
- Marquette University, chartered 1915
- Regis College (Canada), chartered 2000
- Regis University, chartered 1966
- Rockhurst University, chartered 1953
- Saint Joseph's University, chartered 1939
- Saint Louis University, chartered 1923
- Saint Peter's University, chartered 1967
- Santa Clara University, chartered 1942
- Seattle University, chartered 1940
- Sogang University (South Korea), chartered 1975
- Spring Hill College, chartered 1937
- University of Detroit Mercy, chartered 1924
- University of San Francisco, chartered 1941
- University of Scranton, chartered 1943
- Wheeling Jesuit University, chartered 1959
- Xavier University, chartered 1939
References
- ↑ History of Alpha Sigma Nu at Marquette University
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Welcome Brochure
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - About Us
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - About Us
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Induction Ceremony Ideas
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Induction Ceremony Ideas
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Induction Ceremony Ideas
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Induction Ceremony Ideas
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - Chapters and Resources
- ↑ Alpha Sigma Nu - List of member institutions