VIEW FROM THE QUAD Fr. Bob Koopmann ’68, OSB President
W INTER/ SPRIN G 2011 Editor Jean Scoon Editoria l T eam Rob Culligan ’82 Glenda Isaacs Burgeson Brendon Duffy Michael Hemmesch '97 Greg Hoye Jon McGee ’84 John Young ’83 STAFF C ontributors Rob Culligan ’82 Glenda Isaacs Burgeson Brendon Duffy Jennifer Mathews Emery Michael Halverson ’01 Michael Hemmesch ’97 Ryan Klinkner ’04 John Taylor ’58 Editorial Assistant Julie Scegura DESIGN AND Production Greg Becker, Karen Hoffbeck Editor E meritus Lee A. Hanley ’58 University Archivist Peggy Roske
is published in the fall and winter and CSB/SJU Magazine is published with the College of Saint Benedict in the spring. A ddress C hanges Saint John’s University P.O. Box 7222 Collegeville, MN 56321 rathmann@csbsju.edu Contact 320-363-2591 800-635-7303 www.csbsju.edu Letters jscoon@csbsju.edu or Saint John’s Magazine Jean Scoon P.O. Box 7222 Collegeville, MN 56321
One of the things I've learned from many years as a concert pianist is how to read an audience. This past November, I had the opportunity to be part of a very special audience when Chris Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, addressed a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni at Saint John’s about leadership. My read on this audience? It was enthusiastic, attentive and, most important—engaged. Like many great events, this particular evening was the result of several organic movements that had been on the horizon at SJU for months. My part in it began in 2009, when I met Chris Howard—also a new president of one of the four remaining U.S. colleges that educates all men. We discovered that we were both passionate about men’s engagement and about continuing to provide a holistic higher education experience that prepares male students to be leaders in our changing world. One of the ways we promote leadership development at Saint John's and Saint Benedict's is through the Inspiring Leaders Certificate Program (ILCP). The ILCP provides certification to students, training them in five core leadership practices and the Benedictine values that support them. Maribeth Overland, the director of student activities and leadership development, has worked to increase men's involvement in ILCP. Meanwhile, a group of 30 SJU student leaders came together to form RedGage, a group founded to boost men’s engagement and leadership on campus. Working with RedGage and supported by the ILCP, Chris Howard spoke to a high-powered group on Nov. 4. His speech was enlightening, but the table conversations afterward between current student leaders, faculty, staff and alumni were the highlight of the evening. The question at the heart of these conversations and of our men’s engagement conversations in general is: What does it mean to be a Johnnie? Our current students benefit greatly from the experience of alumni, and we often find that, while our hopes and challenges when we are students occur in different eras and in different contexts, they are, at their core, the same. Current Johnnies want many of the same things our alumni did when they were students. They want good role models who exercise leadership with integrity. They want to be part of viable, hospitable communities that have vision. They want to think critically about world issues and how they can respond to them—equipped with their Benedictine, liberal arts education. I encourage you to be this kind of a role model or mentor for someone, especially a current Johnnie or Bennie, if you can. And wherever your journey takes you, may you be engaged!
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Michael Becker
The Magazine of Saint John’s University