The Catholic Franciscan tradition is Siena's founding tradition, and this tradition remains alive at Siena where it engages students, faculty, staff, and administrators of diverse backgrounds. The Franciscan tradition is the living legacy of the Saint Francis of Assisi. Friars, who have dedicated their lives to this legacy, are involved in many aspects of campus life, including administration, teaching, spirituality and service.
Franciscan education is affective learning. It occurs in the personal interactions of faculty, students, and student affairs staff; it prepares students to address real issues in our contemporary world, and to raise critical questions.
Siena's Franciscan identity requires us to be a student-centered community. Life is lived in, with, and for, other human beings. At the same time, it respects the irreplaceable dignity of the individual and the individual's freedom of conscience. Francis's vision of community was egalitarian and non-authoritarian, concerned with growth and freedom, but he insisted on holding members of the community accountable for their contributions to community life and for their individual behavior.
The Franciscan tradition also provides resources which contribute to our academic excellence. Francis called himself simple and unlearned, but he had a profound and coherent understanding of human identity, social life, and the physical world. This understanding began with careful attention to the real experience of being human, living in a community, being situated in a particular place, but then he put this experience in the context of a tradition. He could also listen to and learn from people formed by other traditions.
At Siena, education is understood as a transformative experience: personal interaction, introduction into the traditions of human social life, and assuming responsibility.
Adapted from "Franciscan Tradition Statement" April 28, 1998
