Education Magazine 2014

S TA R T I N G B E L L IT’S HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE THAT I’M IN MY TENTH YEAR AS DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AT MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY. DURING THE PAST DECADE, IT HAS BEEN A GENUINE PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO SERVE IN THIS ESTEEMED ROLE AT AN INSTITUTION I CHERISH SO DEEPLY. MAKE THAT A BLESSING. My love affair — or rather my deep sense of reverence — began when I first interviewed here, and it continues to deepen to this day. From the outset, I knew there was something very special about Marquette. I couldn’t find words for it back then, but I knew its essence resided in the extremely intelligent, skilled and dedicated faculty, students, administrators, staff and alumni I encountered initially and then along the way.

Early on in my time here, I shared my elusive sense of Marquette’s uniqueness and my struggle to label it with an administrative colleague. Her response brought me a welcome degree of closure, and I remember it, with gratitude, like it was only yesterday: “It’s actually simple, Bill. Marquette has a soul.”

One word. Four letters. Infinitely meaningful.

That depiction amounted to an epiphany for me. In the period since, I’ve witnessed Marquette’s “soulfulness” play out repeatedly — in our academic programs, our scholarship and our outreach. Excellence, faith, leadership and service are not mere buzz words here. Neither are cura personalis, magis, men and women for others or finding God in all things. Most important, our university and college communities pull together for a higher purpose, a calling if you will, and, frankly, it shows.

Clearly we are mission-centric, and this issue of Education showcases several examples of important social justice work being done by our extended College of Education family. I invite you to read about undergraduate teacher preparation in the college and how our student personnel and administration program exemplifies a Jesuit grounding. You can also learn about an alumnus with a distinguished career in Catholic schooling, an exceptional urban educator who has joined our faculty ranks, how we embody hope through counseling and what it means to be a Marquette educator. The coverage of this last topic, in particular, highlights some remarkable attributes of this college — such as the 97 percent of our students who report being satisfied or very satisfied with their undergraduate education or the eloquence and sincerity of graduate after graduate in describing how the college enlarged their world view and helped them understand students from diverse backgrounds.

If you accept my invitation along with my assurance that far more examples of our community engagement exist than these pages could accommodate, then you’ll understand why I take such pride in our college and its people. We’ve got soul after all.

Sincerely, Bill Henk Dean of the College of Education