Eric Platt, PhD, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, will present “The History of Jesuit Education in New Orleans” at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is part of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans. It is free of charge and is open to the public.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540 whose members are called Jesuits. Jesuits believe that scholarly excellence plays a role in helping men and women achieve moral excellence. It was with this focus that the Jesuits first arrived among the first settlers in New Orleans and Louisiana, eventually establishing Loyola University and continuing the Jesuit tradition of creating centers of education.

Dr. Platt earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership and Research with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from Louisiana State University in 2011. His dissertation title was “Sacrifice and Survival: The Historiographic Role of Identity and Mission in Jesuit Higher Education of the New Orleans Province” which he later turned into a book. Dr. Platt also earned a Master of Education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2006 with a concentration in Adult Education.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

The Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans was established in 1960 to foster an interest in family research and to encourage preservation of genealogical records in New Orleans, and in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast south. Since January, 1962 the Society has published a quarterly, New Orleans Genesis, which is available to its members. The society welcomes new members and encourages their participation at its lecture meetings held in the months of March, April, May, September, October and November.