“Now is the time to kindle the Sacred Heart Spirit”

   The University of the Sacred Heart has maintained its commitment towards a Liberal Arts education since it was founded six decades ago. Having a small student community, our curriculum is designed to give the students the freedom not only to study their major in depth but to also study across other multiple departments. The current changes in society, along with the surge of unpredictable events in which people are required to survive the times by supporting one another, calls for an urgent need to educate the people to broaden their scope to be more flexible in making responsible decisions, which is what a Liberal Arts education is set to offer. The strength of such a curriculum will be an asset for the students not simply in their professional careers but the very source of power to lead a full life.

   To realize our founding educational principles, our policy is for the new students to choose which undergraduate department they wish to enter in the second semester of their first year. The students are given time to carefully select which major they would truly like to pursue from the nine programs: English Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, History, Human Relations, International Studies, Philosophy, Education, Elementary Education, and Psychology, offered by our five departments in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

   Humanity has had to confront some basic questions since the tragic events following the March 11, 2011 earthquake. It is as if we are being told to re-examine those assumed values and systems that we had greatly depended upon. We hope that our currently enrolled students and those who will newly join the student community at such challenging times, will seek and find their answers in their course of study at our university.

   The educational principles of the University of the Sacred Heart is based on the vision held by Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat who founded the Society of the Sacred Heart more than 200 years ago. We can perhaps compare the age of confusion following the French Revolution that she overcame to our current situation in Japan and throughout the world. Based on a strong Christian educational philosophy that each individual is recognized as a unique child of God, Mother Barat’s vision was to offer young women an opportunity to further their education, so that they could expand their perspective, and become independent decision-makers who would put their ideas into practice in order to meet the needs of the times.

   Our tradition has been to dedicate our services using our heads and hearts, so that we are equipped with a keen awareness of the needs of others for the betterment of society - this traditional energy is what we call the Sacred Heart Spirit.

   In the years that you spend at the University of the Sacred Heart, we hope that as you pursue your studies, you will also equip yourself with this Sacred Heart Spirit, for it will bring happiness to you and to those around you.

   For those considering to enroll, we sincerely welcome you to visit our Open Campus and Campus Walks. We strongly encourage you to interact with our current students and to experience campus life at the University of the Sacred Heart for yourself.

OKAZAKI, Yoshiko   
President