Dr. Peter Meehan
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Magazine UPDATEVOLUME 38 | 2020 SJU Welcomes 8th President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Peter Meehan ALSO IN THIS ISSUE A New Chapter in Library Service Back to Campus in a COVID-19 World Why do we need Catholic universities? Milestones – Updates about Alumni, Faculty, and Staff FEATURE STORIES IN THIS ISSUE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ..............................................................................................................2 Qs & As WITH OUR NEW PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR ...........................................4 A NEW CHAPTER IN LIBRARY SERVICE .....................................................................................8 Qs AND As WITH OUR NEW PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR 4 IN THE SPOTLIGHT - 2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS ................................................................... 12 WHY DO WE NEED CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES? ................................................................... 16 ON CAMPUS BACK TO CAMPUS IN A COVID-19 WORLD .................................................................. 18 STUDENTS’ UNION KEEPS COMMUNITY CONNECTED .............................................. 21 LAB REPORTS – FROM THE DRAGEN AND WELL-LINK LABS ..................................... 24 A NEW CHAPTER IN IN THE SPOTLIGHT ST. JEROME’S UNIVERSITY 8 LIBRARY SERVICE 12 MILESTONES UPDATE MAGAZINE Volume 38 | 2020 UPDATES ABOUT ALUMNI, FACULTY, AND STAFF ....................................................... 26 Published annually by the University’s President’s Office and distributed electronically FINANCIAL REPORT 2020 ....................................................................................................... 34 and in limited hard copy. UPDATE Please direct feedback and story Magazine suggestions to [email protected] THANK YOU DONORS ............................................................................................................. 35 290 Westmount Road North Waterloo, ON N2L 3G3 BUILDING TOGETHER ............................................................................................................ 519-884-8111 36 Facebook | stjeromesuniversity Instagram | @stjeromesuni BACK TO CAMPUS IN A MILESTONES – Twitter| @StJeromesUni 18 COVID-19 WORLD 26 UPDATES ABOUT ALUMNI, Front cover photo: Bryn Gladding Photography FACULTY, AND STAFF PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE It is my great pleasure to introduce the 2020 edition of Update alumni magazine, offering you some sense of the remarkable developments and life that continues here at St. Jerome’s University, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. For generations, St. Jerome’s has been an important place of leadership formation. It has played a vitally important role in shaping our students’ lives. Our graduates continue to reflect the values they learned here, serving their communities with compassion and care. There has never been a time when this work has been more important. In my first few months as President and Vice Chancellor, I have been so struck by this powerful sense of community at St. Jerome’s: clear even as I have related with individuals and groups here in mostly virtual ways. I think this extends from the way we understand the importance of our mission as a federated partner in the University of Waterloo (UW). This mission calls on us to be unique, through our courses and programs, through the use of our voice and our thought leadership, through our adherence to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, and our commitment to providing formative student experiences. We are also called to a complementary role with UW, by providing a hub for high quality teaching, learning, and research, and by preparing our students to complete UW degrees in an environment that attends to their unique, individual needs. Together, these roles make us an important aspect of the diversity of the broader University of Waterloo community. The imperatives of education, formation, and service demand that St. Jerome’s be more than a For working on campus to care for and serve our community. denominational presence on the campus of a large secular university. We must be understood as a place of inclusiveness and welcoming to students of all backgrounds at every stage of their journeys. Because we are a Christian university, we must do so with dynamism, joy, and hope. The theme of hopefulness is central to Pope Francis’ recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti,in which he looks forward to life after COVID: God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of “them” and “those”, but only “us”. If only this may prove not to be just another tragedy of history from which we learned nothing…If only this immense sorrow may not prove useless but enable us to take a step forward towards a new style of life. If only we might rediscover once for all that we need one another, and that in this way our human family can experience a rebirth, with all its faces, all its hands and all its voices, beyond the walls that we have erected. May this spirit of hopefulness help us to address the challenges still before us, and inspire us to still greater expressions of community, of service to others, and of love. Thank you for your important role in supporting us and this shared mission. Peter Meehan President and Vice Chancellor Administration |Facilities | Food Services Food | |Facilities |Residence| Cleaners Administration 2 | ST. JEROME’S UNIVERSITY UPDATE MAGAZINE VOLUME 38 | 3 Photo: Bryn Gladding Photography How has your experience working as a Do you think that Catholic institutions of higher Drs. Doug Letson and Michael Higgins were both prophetic president for another postsecondary education are different than others with secular roots? voices in its work on behalf of Catholic higher education. institution prepared you for your role Since becoming a president six years ago, I have been very at St. Jerome’s University? That’s an interesting question. I would say that they are if interested and involved in the work of the ACCUC. We they are rooted in and have a focused sense of mission and meet formally twice per year, normally in conjunction with I think that senior administrative roles, vision. That should shape their identity, which is an ongoing Universities Canada, and I have many more informal meetings particularly in education, allow the and evolving project. A secular institution can have this too, with my ACCUC colleagues throughout the year. individual to build experience that feeds depending on its leadership and the will of the university their sense of vision. Many of the university community they serve. Many of our institutions, particularly in Ontario, are the presidents I admire say that they didn’t A Catholic university is one rooted in the Catholic intellectual founding institutions for our partner public universities, and seek to become a president, but that they tradition, which is about questioning and exploring the world in we understand the importance of working with them and found themselves developing, often quite all of its complexity. A long time ago someone referred to it as the of engaging with the world in order to realize our Catholic unwittingly, into one. “2,000-year conversation between the Church and the world.” missions. Again, for these institutions to be both Catholic I like that. Its goal is the never-ending pursuit of knowledge and and catholic (meaning “universal”) I think we realize that our I have been fortunate to have had truth by emphasizing the unity of faith and reason. institutions have to offer more than tradition. ranging experiences – from teaching high school, undergrads and grad students, Catholic universities are confident that truth exists. For me, it I am an historian, so I am naturally drawn to the idea of and administrative experiences in both is “the way” that a Catholic university is catholic that matters. tradition, but we also need to be vital – by which I mean to be in Catholic and public institutions. As my regular dialogue with our students in order to understand their experiences began to shape my own Catholic universities understand education and formation challenges and frustrations and desires in this moment in time. philosophy of education and my sense together. They should be open to everyone, and emphasize of vision, I found myself presented with the needs of the “whole person” in their mind, body, and Pope Francis talks about the importance of creating cultures new opportunities to grow, including as spirit. They are not clubs or a sect, and one of their important of “encounter and dialogue.” I think that is very important. an academic dean and later, as President goals should be to make people feel included. Anything that Truth is unchanging, and my acceptance and belief in Christian of Corpus Christi/St. Mark’s College at the would encourage exclusiveness or a lack of inclusion would truth grounds me, but for our Catholic universities to be truly University of British Columbia (UBC). not be truly Christian. Read the Gospel accounts. Jesus is the present to our communities of students, faculty, and staff, we model. He is always including, always at the margins or the must be open to truly encountering them – meeting them What all of this has taught me is that, peripheries of his world. “where they are.” rooted in my commitment to Catholic higher education, my role here is to serve and to bring my sense of vision to the What has your role as the Vice Chair of the Association What do you see as the greatest challenge facing all community I am serving. I had many great of Catholic Colleges and Universities