The Provincial of the Central-Southern Province, Fr. Tom Greene, S.J. visited St. Louis U. High last Thursday to meet with the administrators and talk to the Jesuits who live in the residence on campus.

Every year, the Provincial pays a visit to all of the Jesuit communities within his province to check in on the Jesuits stationed there, and ensure that the Jesuit mission is being carried out in the schools and organizations.

Greene was designated as provincial of the Central-Southern Province about a year ago. 

“His first official school visit was actually our Mass of the Holy Spirit way back in August, which seems like years ago,” said principal Fr. Ian Gibbons, S.J. “So he knows our campus pretty well, and so this  was a more limited visit.” 

Before coming to the school, Greene received a preliminary report from the Provincial’s Assistant for Secondary Education providing a brief analysis and summary of the school.

“The summary is a three page document with the SWOT analysis for our school: its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats,” explained Gibbons. “And that's one of the discussion points, and just how SLUH is doing during the meetings with the provincial.” 

Throughout the day, the provincial sat down individually with President Alan Carruthers, Gibbons, the Board Chair, and the Assistant Principal for Mission and Identity. During these meetings, they discussed how SLUH has been doing this past year, difficulties that may have arisen, and any problems that need to be addressed within the near future.

“I think when he decided who he wanted to see, he actually didn't have time to do a full visit as he probably would’ve,” said Linhares. “The next time he comes, he’ll see more people. But he wanted to get a conversation with me I think from that mission and identity basis.” 

Some topics for discussion were SLUH’s success with the Imagine 18 and Go Forth efforts and the response to Covid-19. 

“I was giving him my view of the strategic overview of where the school was coming out of all of this planning and where it seemed to be aimed for the future, and that led us to actually a good lengthy discussion of me summarizing what I thought were some of the strengths and advantages at this point in our history,” said Linhares. “We just talked through a bunch of opportunities and challenges and strengths and obstacles, that kind of thing.” 

Being that we are in a global pandemic, the Provincial was impressed to hear about SLUH’s low Covid transmission rates. 

“He was really, really pretty pleased. I think he knows that nothing is perfect in this situation and that part of what you had to do to be successful with pandemic is get over how things weren't going to be ideal,” said Linahres. “Having said that, I think he knows we did a super job.”

They also looked forward to the future of SLUH. Whether it be discussions about changing demographics in the St. Louis area or SLUH’s curriculum evaluations, much was discussed. 

“I can tell you, it really was enjoyable,” said Linhares. “He's a very good listener. And we had a lot in common. I really felt like at the end of the conversation. I learned a lot and he learned a lot and we did enjoy the exchange.”