Spiritus est qui vivificat
Since, as the motto of Duquesne University proclaims, “It is the Spirit which giveth life,” this Statement of Mission and Goals should be understood in its entirety in the spirit of its aspiration and in the hopefulness of its motivation, which sustain both the life of the mind and the life of the spirit that ultimately constitute a university.

Mission
Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost is a Catholic University, founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, the Spiritans, and sustained through a partnership of laity and religious. Duquesne serves God by serving students--through commitment to excellence in liberal and professional education, through profound concern for moral and spiritual values, through the maintenance of an ecumenical atmosphere open to diversity, and through service to the Church, the community, the nation, and the world.

Goals
As a consequence of its mission, Duquesne University sets for itself the following specific objectives and general goals.

Academic Excellence
Duquesne emphasizes excellence in both undergraduate and graduate education and recognizes the strong interdependence between the two. It is committed to providing its undergraduate students with a curriculum based on goodness, beauty, and wisdom, on the dignity of the person, and on the order of nature. It is equally committed to providing education of the highest quality in liberal and professional disciplines to prepare both undergraduate and graduate students for the responsibilities of leadership as experts and specialists. As a consequence, Duquesne encourages, supports and rewards a faculty distinguished by excellent teaching, by significant scholarship and research, by artistic creativity, by University service, and by professional and community activities. It strives to maintain a free and mutually supportive community characterized by respect and concern for students as individuals, by acknowledgment of the value of a faculty, administration, and student body of diverse background, interests and accomplishment, and by orientation toward the betterment of each other and of the larger communities which the University serves.
Therefore, a basic goal of Duquesne University is to support a community dedicated to the discovery, enhancement, and communication of knowledge and to the free and diligent pursuit of truth, in order to provide society with men and women able and willing to act as wise, creative and responsible leaders.

Moral and Spiritual Values
It is Duquesne University’s special trust to seek truth and to disseminate knowledge within a moral and spiritual framework. As a Catholic University, Duquesne is dedicated to fostering an environment that invites, but does not conscript, participation in its spiritual life. As a private University, Duquesne manifests its liberty to foster in all its disciplines the wise and diligent exploration of values, and to challenge its students to examine the moral and ethical foundations of their thought and action, and to develop their personal values and ethical commitment. As a University of Spiritan heritage, Duquesne is dedicated to inspiring in its students and alumni, in its faculty and administration, the willingness to transcend all frontiers in order to promote the liberation of humanity from everything that offends against human dignity and freedom. Therefore, a basic goal of Duquesne University is a commitment to the preparation of leaders distinguished not only by their academic and professional expertise but also by their ethics, and guided by consciences sensitive to the needs of society.

An Ecumenical Atmosphere
Openness has been the hallmark of Duquesne’s intellectual tradition. The University will continue to seek truth through various means, to receive insights from diverse schools of thought, and to provide an ecumenical community for the dialogue of students and teachers of all beliefs. Therefore, a basic goal of Duquesne University is to provide an environment open to ecumenism in its most profound and meaningful forms.

The Spirit of Service
Service has been one of the purposes of the University since its beginning. Besides seeking to instill the spirit of service in its students, Duquesne, as an institution, reaffirms its responsibility to provide educational opportunities for students with special financial, educational and physical needs. Therefore, a basic goal of Duquesne University is to extend educational opportunities to students with special needs.

World Concerns
Duquesne strives to cultivate in its students the understanding that their destiny is related to that of their community, their nation and their world, and works to build an attitude of service rather than one that is self-serving. As a consequence, Duquesne supports academic programs concerned both with the preservation of cultural traditions and with the contemporary realities of global needs and international responsibilities for peace, justice, and freedom. Therefore, a basic goal of Duquesne University is to promote world community through the development of an international and intercultural academic vision.

Approved by Academic Council, May 1, 1989 for use in all schools of Duquesne University