Lopez

I want to express sincere thanks to the Marianists, the Rector’s Council, Father Paul, and Dr. Curran for this honor. Thank you as well to the members of the Rector’s staff for their superb work in making this wonderful evening a reality.

I also want to extend warmest congratulations to Kathy Harmon, who is most deserving of this honor. Kathy, it is a privilege to share the podium with you this evening.

In the tradition of the Lackner dinner, I would like to introduce the members of our family who are present. We are delighted to have our son Chris, his wife Sara, our grandson Jonah, and our son Matt with us this evening. Our son Tom and his wife Katie and our grandchildren Libby and Will are living in Paris, and unable to join us. They are, however, here in spirit, as are my parents, Frank and Betty. We are very pleased to welcome my aunt Anna Mary Feeney, my brother Dan and his wife Laurie, and my sister Barb Murdock and her husband Bob. We are also very happy that Judy’s parents, Earl and Betty Knasel, her sister Sue Brandner and Sue’s husband Phil, her brother Larry and his wife Jill, and Judy’s brother David have joined us. Most importantly, I want to acknowledge my love, my best friend, and my biggest supporter who very rightfully shares this honor, my wonderful wife Judy. Your presence makes a marvelous evening even more significant, and I thank you all for being here.

My remarks tonight are organized around three topics. First, I want to describe my journey with the Marianists to acknowledge their influence on my life and express my deep gratitude. Second, I want to discuss some aspects of our UD culture that are expressions of our Marianist charism and that uniquely enable our efforts as an academic institution. Finally, I want to offer some thoughts about how our Marianist culture can empower and support us in addressing future challenges and opportunities.

The Lackner award is particularly meaningful to me because I owe so much to the Marianists. My journey with the Marianists began almost fifty years ago at Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. Covington Catholic had many wonderful Marianist faculty members, a number of whom became important mentors and role models for me. You will recognize the names of many of them, such as Fathers Bill Berringer and George Cerniglia, as well as Brothers George Deinlein, Don Fahrig, Jerry O’Neil, and Ken Thompson. We are delighted that Brother Don has joined us this evening.

I came to UD in 1963 as an undergraduate supported by a Marianist scholarship. I was again blessed with great teachers who educated in the Marianist tradition, a number of whom are previous recipients of the Lackner award, including Rocco Donatelli, Gertrude Shay, George Nolan, and Ken Kuntz.

I returned to UD as a faculty member in 1986 through the efforts of Dave Biers and Ken Kuntz of the Department of Psychology and Dale Whitford of UDRI. At that time, the Department of Psychology was housed in Sherman Hall which, during those pre-renovation days, reflected its many years of service. My sons were assisting me by bringing books to my new office using the main elevator that bore signs of extensive use. No doubt reacting to the less than pristine condition of the elevator and as only a son can do, one of them asked me with some concern: “Dad, are you sure that you made the right decision in coming here?” Even though I was confident at the time, I can affirm tonight that not only was it the right decision, it was one of the best of my life.

At UD, we are committed to the Marianist tradition of educating the whole person in a community that both supports and challenges its members. For over 21 years, I have worked with wonderful colleagues who have supported my development as a faculty member and administrator as well as my continued growth as a person of faith. As is the case with many of you, UD has become much more than a job for me. This university and its mission have become so integral to me that I would simply not want to be anywhere else.

As is also true of many of you, the impact of UD has extended to my entire family, all of whom have been deeply touched in many ways by the UD community. Judy is a Teacher in Residence here and is a 1991 graduate of the University. Permit me to clarify that Judy received her master’s degree in 1991, not her baccalaureate degree. While it is true that I married a younger woman and although she does look 24 years younger than me, it is simply not the case! All of our sons and Chris’ wife Sara are UD graduates, and not only received an excellent education, but were strongly influenced outside the classroom by the Marianists. Chris and Matt also benefited immensely from transformative international service opportunities with Marianist communities in India and Kenya. Father Jim Heft reached out to our family early on, and his influence on each of us cannot be overstated. He been a wonderful pastor and mentor for over 20 years, and our family is privileged to call him a close personal friend. Judy and I are lay Marianists, and our Family of Mary group has been extremely fortunate to have Sister Mary Louise Foley as an inspiration and mainstay throughout the group’s history. Our group has been blessed by the presence of additional Marianists, including Fathers Gene Contadino, Richard Knuge, and Pat Tonry. Many other Marianists on campus have befriended us and have given to us in countless ways, and we are extremely grateful for their presence, friendship, and ministry.

The influence of the Marianists on our family has been quite profound, and we feel tremendous gratitude for all that has been given to us. I ask all vowed religious to stand and accept the deep thanks of my family and all here present.

A centerpiece of my experience at UD has been our community and its culture that are indelibly marked by the Marianist charism. Occasions such as this afford the opportunity not only to celebrate our heritage, but also to contemplate both its role in our work today and the direction that it provides for our future. Jim Heft has observed that the culture of a university is similar to the atmosphere in that both are “all around us, affecting us constantly, but rarely the object of our direct attention.”[2] I think that there is great truth in Jim’s analysis, and therefore want to consider some aspects of our UD culture that although familiar to us all, warrant our attention as we reflect about the present and renew our commitment to the future.

Our strength as a Marianist university derives not only from what we do, such as educating for adaptation and change, but also from our Marianist culture that informs the way in which we do it. The way we do it, which we often characterize as educating with a sense of family spirit, is of clear importance to the positive environment that exists on our campus. Tonight, however, I want to emphasize the critical importance of our Marianist culture in enabling us to carry out our distinctive educational mission.

The culture of our university community is rich, complex, and multifaceted. This evening, I will focus on two central elements of that culture that are manifestations of our Marianist charism: (1) our spirit of inclusivity, and (2) the sense of equality among community members on our campus.

Inclusivity and equality are deeply rooted within the Marianist tradition. The first groups of Marianists included individuals from diverse walks of life who came together in community to achieve a common mission. Indeed, UD was founded by a priest, a teacher, a cook, and a gardener. The inclusion of vowed religious congregations of both men and women as well as communities of lay persons within the Marianist Family also reflects this tradition. Marianist tradition not only inspires diverse communities, it also informs us that community members are to be treated with equality. The brothers and priests of the Society of Mary practice the discipleship of equals in which they share equivalent status within their communities. This equality is distinctive among religious orders and also extends to all members of the Marianist Family.

Inclusivity and equality affect the Marianist understanding of community by articulating a vision of community membership and by informing the culture that guides how the community functions. These aspects of the Marianist charism are expressed at UD in a manner that reflects our mission and identity as an academic institution.

At UD, we understand that a diverse community which embraces multiple talents and perspectives is necessary to accomplish our mission of providing a transformative education. We value equally the contributions of all community members to mission, regardless of stature and whether the person is faculty, staff, student, or even a hapless administrator! Because we value the contributions of each member to mission, we are not only called to support one another, but also challenged to place high demands on both ourselves and our colleagues.

Likewise, inclusivity and equality inform important elements related to the culture of how our community functions, such as hospitality, collegiality, collaboration, the nature of the dialogue in which we engage, and styles of leadership. All are of clear substance and importance to our work as a university community. Tonight, I will limit my remarks to the distinctive collaboration that characterizes our efforts and will offer two examples.

First, the unique collaboration of vowed religious and lay persons that has been a hallmark of the Marianist tradition from the beginning continues today at UD. The Lackner Award itself reflects the fact that lay members of the community are invited to full partnership with vowed religious in the work of the university. The nature and strength of this collaboration is succinctly captured in one of our sayings on campus which observes that “One works with Marianists rather than for them.”[3]

A second example is the distinctive collaborative nature of the work between the different units on our campus. As dean of the Graduate School, I have firsthand experience with the unique spirit of collaboration that exists and its impact on our efforts to enhance graduate education. In working on behalf of our graduate students and programs, the Graduate School has collaborated over the past several years with each of the professional schools, the College, the Office of Enrollment Management, the Roesch Library, the Fitz Center, the Center for International Programs, Campus Ministry, the Women’s Center, the Learning Teaching Center, the Office of Advancement, Continuing Education, Career Services, and UDRI. Our campus-wide predisposition to genuine collaboration stands in contrast to what can be found in other academic institutions that are characterized by relatively independent silos that are defined by disciplinary or other boundaries and that are in competition with one another. At UD, we do strive to act in the best interests of our individual units. However, our efforts are carried out with a dedication to “staying at the table” to find the common ground that reflects a deep commitment to serving the common good.

There is no doubt that expressions of the Marianist charism in our campus culture have contributed substantially to the distinctive character of our university. It is clear that in the future, we must commit ourselves to fuller development of such expressions as we seek to enhance the Catholic and Marianist character of the university and provide an integral education that reflects both our identity and the signs of the times. Let me offer some examples.

First, I think that the extensive history of collaboration between vowed Marianist religious and lay persons is extremely important at this moment in time. Sadly, we know that the number of vowed religious on campus has declined, and there is concern about how to best preserve the Marianist character of the university. Blessed Chaminade maintained that new times call for new methods. In this tradition, the Marianists have responded to the current challenge with innovative approaches such as the Marianist Educational Associates program in which lay collaborators commit to working with the vowed religious to sustain the Marianist character of the university. It is also of fundamental importance that our tradition invites all members of the university community to become as fully engaged as they wish as partners with the Marianist religious. We must therefore continue to offer opportunities for interested faculty and staff members to more fully explore our Marianist charism and its implications for our work. Perhaps, for example, we should develop a document for use by faculty and staff that builds upon our statement of Characteristics of Marianist Universities to more fully articulate implications of our Marianist culture for our work together at the university. The tradition of working with Marianists is an extremely powerful element of our culture that we must continue to enhance and build upon for the future.

Second, we must also build upon our strong culture of collaboration as we continue to work across university units in key areas such as creating interdisciplinary academic programs and research opportunities to prepare students as effective change agents in today’s world of complex issues and problems. Recently, for example, the School of Engineering has been in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences to plan a bioengineering master’s degree program that will equip students with the cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills required in this area of emerging importance. An interdisciplinary perspective is certainly embodied within sacramental focus of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. However, the collaborative nature of our culture should enable us to be particularly effective in forging future programs that cross and integrate the disciplines.

Likewise, collaboration will be key to major current initiatives such as our efforts to define a common academic program involving each of our units that will support student learning outcomes derived from our Marianist charism, as well as our work to more fully integrate curricular and student development functions to enhance learning and living in community on our campus. The complexities and potential difficulties of such efforts are clear, but a Marianist approach to collaboration that includes the trait of “staying at the table” is essential in actualizing these types of initiatives.

In one of the collaborative efforts to enhance graduate education that I referenced previously, the Graduate School and the Fitz Center have been working to develop a Graduate Community Fellows program that will support students from across the university in service and curricular learning opportunities to educate them as community leaders in the Marianist tradition. I would like to request that the $5000 gift from the Marianists that accompanies this award go to the Fitz Center to support that effort.

Thank you for being here to celebrate the gift of our Marianist heritage and the culture that it has bestowed on us all. We stand on the shoulders of the priest, the teacher, the cook, and the gardener, Brother Elmer Lackner, and the many other Marianists who have served the university throughout its history. I believe that through continued efforts to practice and enhance the elements of the UD culture that reflect our Marianist charism, we will be uniquely empowered to advance the distinctive educational mission of the university and ensure that we continue to embody the heritage on which UD was built.

[1] I thank my wife Judy and sons Matt, Chris, and Tom as well as my colleagues Chris Duncan and Ed Mykytka for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this presentation.

[2] James L. Heft, S.M., The “Open Circle” The Culture of Marianist Universities, Address presented at the Marianist Universities Meeting, Chaminade University, Honolulu, Hawaii, June, 2003, p.1

[3] Statement on the Catholic and Marianist Identity of the University of Dayton, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, 1990, Paragraph 50.