Contact: Bill Avington Director of Alumni and Public Relations 215-978-1962/
[email protected] ST. JOSEPH’S PREP NAMES REV. JOHN W. SWOPE, S.J. AS 32nd PRESIDENT PHILADELPHIA – The St. Joseph’s Prep Board of Trustees, under the leadership of Chairman Paul Geraghty, has named Rev. John W. Swope, S.J., as the school’s 32nd President. He succeeds Rev. George W. Bur, S.J., who will step down in June after seven years at the helm of his alma mater. Fr. Swope, a 1972 graduate of the Prep, was selected after an extensive national search, chaired by Board Vice Chair, Jim Mergiotti, President of Peirce College and a 1971 Prep graduate. After being approved by the Board, the appointment was confirmed by the Maryland Provincial of the Society of Jesus. Fr. Swope comes to the Prep having served as Founding President of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore since 2006. There, he helped establish the school, which brings high-quality Jesuit education to families who might not otherwise have the opportunity to send their children to private school. Indeed, the school has become a wonderful resource for families from Baltimore City’s most under-served neighborhoods, and as the school’s Founding President, Fr. Swope worked closely with benefactors, community leaders, corporations and foundations to help set the school on a firm footing. And it is – nearly all Cristo Rey Jesuit students become first generation college students, and 100% have been accepted into college. “I am very excited by the executive capabilities that Fr. Swope brings to the Prep,” says Geraghty.