Outreach and impact
Creighton has a tremendous track record in global outreach and education. And since the launch of the Creighton Global Initiative, we've only expanded our reach. Dozens of programs offer service, research and internship and volunteer opportunities abroad.
As one of the first priorities of the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson's presidency, the Creighton Global Initiative seeks to enrich and embrace a global focus for the University community, building upon current academic and institutional efforts while creatively envisioning new ones.
In 2021, Creighton established the Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program, which seeks to educate and mentor medical students interested in pursuing careers in global health. That program has since expanded to include the Soto Nursing Scholars, with licensed Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates receiving full scholarships to earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and certificate in global health at Creighton.
When you make a gift to this fund, you will be supporting life-changing efforts across the University and around the world!
Creighton Global Initiative
CGI celebrates and creatively extends the University’s presence on the global stage. With increased resources, Creighton will strengthen the ideals of global citizenship by forming international relationships, engaging worldly crises and building a better world.
Existing international programs
- International experiential learning in the Dominican Republic includes the semester-long Encuentro Dominicano.
- The Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC), an Ignatian-inspired collaborative healthcare and educational organization, began in 1975.
- The Arrupe Global Scholars and Partnerships Program sends medical students to sites throughout the world to work alongside community partners and healthcare providers. An anonymous foundation made a $25 million gift in 2021 to help launch the program.
- The Soto Nursing Scholars will support multiple cohorts of five licensed Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates to pursue their Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and certificate in global health. A gift from alumna Kathy Keough Soto, BSN’75, her family, and the Donald and Marilyn Keough Foundation made the program possible.
- The donor-funded Creighton Innovation Grants program supports startup businesses in African refugee camps. Grant recipients are students or graduates of Jesuit Worldwide Learning. Fr. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, led a Creighton delegation to Africa in 2024 to see the program’s impact.
- Faculty-led Programs Abroad (FLPA) offer summer courses all around the world.
- East meets West at the on-campus Asian World Center, which has hosted more than 100 leading Asia scholars.
- Project CURA provides healthcare information to low-income individuals and families in greater Omaha and eastern Nebraska year-round and dispatches Creighton medical students to serve in Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Romania and Ghana.
- Scholar and student exchanges with China focus on enhancing rehabilitation care in that country and deepening global learning for students in the health sciences.
- Collaborations with the government and educational institutions of Saudi Arabia bring students to practice emergency medical services in Omaha, and projects are unfolding in medicine and pharmacy.
- Honors programs in China and Scotland permit Creighton’s top students to engage in extraordinary learning opportunities.
Transforming dental care in the Dominican Republic
For decades, Creighton dental students and faculty serving in the Dominican Republic have relied on little more than their educated intuitions and experience to diagnose patients—until now. Thanks to a generous gift from Jim Bongers, DDS’80, portable X-ray machines and other diagnostic equipment will transform how these future dentists provide care in the DR.
