“One of the great achievements of JWL has been to refuse false choices. It has refused the choice between quality and access, between global standards and local relevance, between technology and human relationship, between individual advancement and community transformation,” said Dr Richard Brosse, Head of Vital Catholic Thought, Porticus, speaking at Jesuit Worldwide Learning’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland (28 September).

This September, Jesuit Worldwide Learning celebrated 10 years since its establishment in Geneva, welcoming university and international partners, students, friends and supporters who have been part of this journey, as an opportunity to reflect on collective achievements.

In his Laudatio, Dr Brosse, who accompanied and supported JWL from its very beginnings, recalled how university-level learning in fragile contexts once seemed like "a beautiful but impractical dream." Over the past ten years, JWL made the dream of higher education a reality for over 50,000 learners (post-secondary English and tertiary programmes) in 50 countries across the globe.

In a world marred by conflict, inequalities, and ecological vulnerability, he highlighted that “JWL’s work is not becoming less relevant. It is becoming more urgent,” and in line with Pope Leo XIV’s invitation to draw new maps of hope.

"If the last ten years have demonstrated that higher education at the margins is possible, the next ten years must show that it is central to the future of higher education itself, " he added. “The future of universities will be judged not only by what happens in elite institutions, but by whether we can create meaningful learning for those whose lives are marked by fragility, mobility, exclusion, and resilience – and by whether higher education contributes to peace, ecological responsibility, democratic participation, intercultural understanding, and human dignity."

Looking to the future, JWL and its university partners are working to establish a JWL-University Consortium of Higher Education at the Margins, which would bring together mission-aligned universities willing to explore and share their academic strengths and experiences, working multilaterally to further expand and guarantee access to high-quality, recognised higher education for students in marginalised communities.

On 28 September, the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Germany), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali (Colombia), Saint Louis University (USA), and JWL signed a Letter of Intent, forming the initial JWL-UCHEM Working Group, to jointly work towards the development of the Consortium's statutes, ahead of its formal establishment in June 2027.

JWL and Members of the Working Group welcome the interest and joining of mission-aligned universities in this process. To find out more, please contact Fr Dr Evaristus Ekwueme, SJ, JWL Academic Director for Africa and Madagascar and Global IT Officer ([email protected]).