What is ASC?
ASC – it is more than just an acronym for Alum Service Corps. ASC is the program that is all about giving back while moving ahead. Volunteers give back to the Jesuit education that formed who they are today while also being given an opportunity to jump start their future by volunteering in one of our Jesuit educational institutions.
The Alum Service Corps (ASC) is a post-college volunteer program for alums of Jesuit secondary and higher education institutions. ASC volunteers serve for a year as volunteer faculty members in Jesuit middle and high schools throughout Denver, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Members of ASC live in community, commit to growth in the Ignatian tradition, and serve their students out of gratitude for their Jesuit education.
Typically, ASC volunteers teach two or three sections in an area of competence and immerse themselves throughout the life of the school: coaching, tutoring, club moderating, service programs, campus ministry. ASC volunteers support students from a unique position and offer them a model of the Graduate at Graduation.
Video filming & editing by Ryan Doyle, Digital Media Specialist, SLUH Student Media (moderator), ASC 25
Over 300 men and women have served in Alum Service Corps since 1991.
HISTORY
The program was founded in 1991 as a collaborative endeavor between the Jesuits of the Missouri Province (as of July 31, 2014 the Jesuits of the USA Central and Southern Province) and the then stateside high schools within the province (De Smet Jesuit High School, Regis Jesuit High School – Boys Division, Rockhurst High School, and St. Louis University High School). Since that time, the Province opened Loyola Academy of St. Louis middle school, a Girls Division within Regis Jesuit High School, and Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver. It has also since merged with the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province and acquired additional high schools – Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory, Jesuit College Preparatory of Dallas, Jesuit High School of Tampa, Jesuit High School of New Orleans, St. John’s College High School in Belize, and Colegio San Ignacio in Puerto Rico. ASC volunteers currently serve in six of the Province schools.
Which six Jesuit schools? Find out here.
SPIRITUALITY
ASC volunteers are regarded as members of the faculty at the schools where they are sent. You might say that ASC volunteers are “in the school but not of the school.” ASC volunteers provide a witness of generosity in which they wish to share and grow through their integration of Ignatian service and spirituality. This takes on a number of different forms, but the most significant are the weekly community nights (Mass and dinner) with the Jesuits and the three weekend retreats spread through the academic year. On these retreats ASC volunteers from all the schools gather together to reflect on their experiences, share stories, and seek to notice God at work through their Ignatian service.
COMMUNITY
ASC volunteers live in an intentional community at a residence provided by their respective schools. Each community consists of three to seven volunteers — each individual with a full and unique set of responsibilities at the school and schedules that vary from person to person. All school activities are set aside for the weekly community night with the Jesuits. Beyond that Jesuit community night, the ASC volunteers will discern a common understanding for what they will intentionally do to cultivate community with their fellow ASC volunteers, e.g. common meals, prayer, outings, etc.
Interested in joining ASC?
alumservicecorps.com 