Holy Cross President's Report - 2015: "A Defining Moment"

aDefining Moment

BY JACK O’CONNELL ’81

THE VISION IS BOLD. THE INITIATIVES ARE AMBITIOUS. THE MISSION IS ESSENTIAL. AND THE TIME IS NOW.

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In the 1920s, the College’s leaders dedicated themselves to ensuring Holy Cross stepped boldly into a new era. Our community finds itself at that moment again.

More than ever before,

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the world needs Holy Cross.

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I believe that passionately.

Richard “Dick” Simitis, D.M.D. ’68

Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.

F R OM LEFT Local dignitaries at the formal opening of St. Joseph Memorial Chapel on May 7, 1924, included architect W.I. Phillips; Monsignor Cernard Conray; architect Charles Maginnis; Holy Cross President Rev. James Carlin, S.J.; Bishop Thomas O’Leary; Bishop John Murray, Class of 1897; Justice Carrol; Rev. James Howard of St. Peter’s in Worcester and Joseph Guinor, the mayor of Providence.

Barry Loffredo, D.D.S., ’68 and Rory Ogden, D.D.S., ’08

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he year 1919 was an eventful one: The Senate passed the Women’s Suffrage Bill. The League of Nations was founded. The Radio Corporation of America was created. And atop a hill in the bustling mill city of Worcester, in central Massachusetts, a Jesuit priest was beginning to formulate a vision of what the small college over which he presided might one day become.

Rev. James Carlin, S.J., the 17th president of Holy Cross, had great ambitions for his College. As the weeks went by that year, Fr. Carlin began to develop those ambitions into detailed plans by which the College might begin a long and steep ascent into the loftiest of perches in the realm of American higher education. Those outsized plans were transcribed in a letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Fr. Carlin expressed a momentous dream of renewal, expansion and modernization.

There was an urgent need, he argued, for first-rate higher education among Catholic youth.

And his little college, with a volatile financial history, he insisted, should be the answer to that need.

What Fr. Carlin proposed was the construction of three new buildings: a dormitory, a dining hall and a majestic memorial chapel.

Given the College’s history and the enormity of Fr. Carlin’s dream, it is not inappropriate to call the president’s proposal audacious.

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(left) Senator David Ignatius Walsh, Class of 1893, (left) and President Rev. James Carlin, S.J., led Holy Cross through the same kind of visionary progress the College is embarking on now. (above left) Loyola Hall shortly after it was built. It was later renamed Carlin Hall as a tribute to Fr. Carlin after he died in 1930. (above right) Today’s view toward Carlin Hall from Alumni Hall with Kimball to the right.

Dinand, S.J., wrote a letter to alumni that included the following appeal:

And yet, in autumn 1920, Fr. Carlin received word that both Pope Benedict XV and the Very Rev. Wlodimir Ledóchowski, S.J., the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, agreed with and supported his expansive vision. With that support, he seized the moment and launched what became known as “The Million Dollar Drive.” The passion of those involved in the campaign was obvious.

Former College President, Rev. Joseph

“I personally, with all the love in my heart for Holy Cross and her interests, call on your love for Holy Cross to come to her aid now. … Before God, I tell you this is the hour in which Holy Cross stands or falls!”

The fundraising materials sent to alumni and other friends of the College included a bold quote from President Theodore Roosevelt, who was the Commencement Speaker in 1905. “It is eminently characteristic of our nation that we should have an institution of

learning like Holy Cross,” Roosevelt said, “in which the effort is consistently made to train not merely the body and mind, but the soul of a man, that he should be made a good American and a good citizen of our country.”

In the end, Fr. Carlin’s vision carried the day. Under the chairmanship of Senator David Walsh, Class of 1893, the College achieved a goal that many thought impossible. By June of 1921, one million dollars had been raised. And soon thereafter, ground was broken for construction of the flagship buildings we know today as Carlin Hall, Kimball Hall and St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. More

(above) In West Boylston, Mass., a short drive from the College, President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., led the commemorative groundbreaking for the Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center (one of the Become More campaign’s capital projects). The Center is named in honor of the late Mr. Joyce, a member of the Holy Cross board of trustees, civic leader and father of six Holy Cross graduates. The Joyce family is a lead donor to the project, and special guests at the groundbreaking included Claire and Tom ’82 Joyce (standing on Fr. Boroughs’ right).

importantly, Holy Cross was now poised to become a leader in Catholic higher education. A dream that had seemed at the outset a vast overreach had become, through the dedication and tenacity of the College community, a vibrant reality.

reality—was far from guaranteed. And yet, this visionary Jesuit could not be deterred. He would imagine no other future than one in which his College prospered, expanded and helped to construct a model of excellence.

Today, the very title—“The Million Dollar Drive”—may strike the reader as quaint.

And perhaps the campaign’s success seems to the contemporary Crusader a foregone conclusion. But in its time, Fr. Carlin’s vision of a new era of excellence and influence for Holy Cross—and the capital required to bring that vision into

FAST FORWARD

Barry Loffredo, D.D.S., ’68

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lmost a century after The Million Dollar Drive, the College arrives, once again, at a moment of transformation. Just as Fr.

Carlin’s vision enabled the College to become a leader in Catholic higher education, a new comprehensive campaign is about to transform Mount St. James.

This campaign, titled “Become More: Campaign for the Future of Holy Cross,” imagines what Holy Cross will be in the decades to come. It will also be the largest fundraising effort in the history of the College, with an announced goal of $400 million over the next several years.

“This is the most ambitious project Holy Cross has ever attempted,” says College President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J. “And it has the potential to strengthen every single dimension of the institution.

This is a terrifically exciting moment in our history and for our community.”

Senior Vice President of the College Frank Vellaccio agrees.

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(left) Rev. Francis Hart, S.J., longtime director of intramural sports, speaking at the Men’s Basketball game vs. Lehigh on Jan., 17, 1976, a day after the opening of the Hart Center.

For months, the dialogue continued across the various constituencies of the College community. Grounded in the question of the best way to enact its mission, the conversation considered all manner of future scenarios for Holy Cross—including the possibility of regression and missed opportunities.

“With a presidential transition, the hiring of a new vice president for advancement, a new athletic director and a new vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, the planning process continued,” Fr. Boroughs continues, “and with Board encouragement, the scope of the campaign began to take shape.”

“Growing support for the Holy Cross Fund is also crucial. Current-use, unrestricted funds are essential to our future and critical to these big undertakings. And I am confident in this area. It’s no secret that the College has a stunningly supportive alumni body. More than 50 percent of our alumni give to the College every year.”

Tracy Barlok

DIALOGUES AND DREAMS

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT

“This initiative is the product of a long and thorough planning process,” Vellaccio says. “We have been engaged in an extensive study of strategic possibilities, analyzing and discussing every aspect of Holy Cross. We took our time to wrestle with the biggest questions: What do we do well? What could we do better? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?”

The strategic planning for the College’s future was complex, inclusive and took place over several years because of leadership changes and a variety of challenges facing higher education.

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“Become More is bold and ambitious on the same level as Fr. Carlin’s Million Dollar Drive,” says Tracy Barlok, vice president for advancement. “And like that campaign that happened a hundred years ago, it is both exhilarating and a bit daunting. But just as Fr. Carlin had a vision of the future, and the passion to take Holy Cross to the next level of excellence and recognition, we, too, have grand plans. We are truly speaking about transforming Holy Cross and positioning the College at the pinnacle of higher education.”

“Our strategic planning process began under Fr. McFarland’s leadership when I was a new member of the Board of Trustees,” explains Fr. Boroughs. “These were long and serious conversations. We started at square one and re-examined our mission and its relevance to the contemporary world. And the one thing that everyone could agree on was that more than ever before, the world needs Holy Cross. I believe that passionately.

This College thoughtfully and creatively engages many of our global community’s most difficult and urgent problems.”

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s the Become More campaign’s name suggests, following years of discussion and planning, and with strong Board encouragement, consensus regarding a vision for the future of the College emerged.

“In the end,” says Fr. Boroughs, “after we had assessed our history and envisioned possible futures, we understood that we were in a unique position at a crucial time in the landscape of higher education in America. That is why we are embarking on this great undertaking.

As an exclusively undergraduate liberal

New Hart Center and Field House THE SITE Hart Center and land to the east (expanding toward Figge Hall), and the Field House THE DESIGN FIRM Sasaki Associates, Inc. HART CENTER FEATURES 64,000 square feet of indoor practice space (with 100 yards of turf for use by all field sports), 9,500 square feet of new space for strength and conditioning

training, 3,000 square feet of new space for sports medicine services, auxiliary gymnasium for basketball team practice and volleyball practice/competition, new ERG (a rowing simulation machine) room for rowing teams, locker rooms for all varsity teams, offices for all programs and new meeting rooms/ recruiting space, offices for all athletic administrators and athletic support services

FIELD HOUSE FEATURES Basketball courts, exercise studios, weight training rooms, new shower and locker space and centers for health, wellness and fitness programming for all members of the Holy Cross community THE WOW FACTOR There are a lot of features in the plan that warrant a “wow,” including a new exterior plaza for events at the Hart Center. ■

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Frank Vellaccio SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE

arts college in the Jesuit tradition, we feel that we offer a hopeful antidote to many of the problems and challenges which plague our world: fragmentation and fanaticism, apathy and meaninglessness, runaway technology and mindless acquisitiveness. Through our academic rigor and religious values, careful discernment and strategic service, we offer alternative ways of thinking and being in the world. What we now need to do is significantly develop our resources so that we can become even more authentically and effectively who we are, but at a much higher level.

“The goals of the Become More campaign are reflective of the Jesuit principle of the magis—that is, how our lives and our commitments can increasingly reflect God’s love in the world,” Fr.

Boroughs continues. “From an Ignatian perspective, we respond to God’s unconditional love for us by living ever more generously and wholeheartedly in service to the world.”

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Margaret Freije, echoes this theme in speaking about the ambitions behind the campaign and its initiatives. “What I would want to convey to the Holy Cross community,” Freije says, “is the notion that this is a coordinated effort to transform the entire College, to raise every aspect of the Holy Cross experience to a level we have never before attempted.

This is not simply a ‘bricks & mortar’ undertaking. We’re talking here about a comprehensive evolution in which we take our rightful place in the higher education firmament.”

FUNDAMENTAL PRIORITIES

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y focusing on four fundamental aspects of the undergraduate experience—mind, body, spirit and community—this evolution, in many ways, appeals to the strongest aspects of our Jesuit identity.

“Jesuit education is committed to an integrative formation of the individual,” says Fr. Boroughs. “This is the core of our work. It is holistic and derived from St. Ignatius’ gift of ‘finding God in all things.’ Consequently, educating the individual leads not only to personal transformation, but has social consequences as the individual joins a community of others in striving to make a difference in the world. This, then, is the impact of the magis.”

To tackle an initiative of this size, the College has identified six campaign priorities, outlined in the pages that follow.

Fenwick and O’Kane halls, 1902

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INSPIRING CREATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

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his campaign initiative will give faculty and students additional resources and opportunities to become immersed in the essence of the liberal arts experience.

“Our goal for the future,” says Dean Freije, “is to expand and enhance every aspect of intellectual life and academic programming at the College.

We know that, in the years to come, we will need to continue to attract the best faculty and students to the College—and to support the work they do individually and collectively.

We will need to creatively explore new areas of the curriculum and the cocurriculum in order to ensure that a Holy Cross education will continue to provide a strong foundation for the challenges and opportunities our students will encounter. This will require additional funds for faculty scholarship, funds for new faculty lines, funds for visiting artists and scholars, funds for new curricular initiatives, funds to both compensate

faculty and support student initiative in independent learning opportunities— opportunities to allow our students to integrate and apply their learning in new contexts, opportunities that make visible to our students the ways they might use their education in the world.”

As part of the College’s push to expand and deepen its students’ liberal arts experience, the Become More campaign will also embrace all facets of the arts—the performance and study of the arts as well as the ways the arts might infuse creativity throughout the curriculum. That has always been the belief of Cornelius B. Prior, Jr., ’56, whose lifelong interest in the arts was first ignited at Holy Cross. In his first year on the Hill, Prior took a Fine Arts course with Rev. J. Gerard Mears, S.J., and the experience had a profound and lasting effect. Over the years to come, Prior would fund and foster interest in all manner of arts programs around the world. But a recurring dream was to establish a center devoted to the arts

(above, from left) As part of the Arts Transcending Borders initiaive last year, professors Osvaldo Golijov (music), Leah Hager Cohen (English), Edward Isser (theatre), Michael Beatty (visual arts), Lynn Kremer (theatre), David Chu (economics), Mark Freeman (psychology) and Renee Beard (sociology and anthropology) co-taught a course called CreateLab in “The Pit” (below), a teaching space in the basement of O’Kane Hall. The Prior Center for the Arts will present new and exciting opportunities for the next group of professors teaching this course, which breaks from the traditional parameters of the typical classroom.

on Mount St. James, where students might incorporate the arts into the essence of their everyday lives—and find the inherent connections between study and performance. Toward that goal, Prior has pledged $25 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art complex that will provide performance, exhibit, studio, gallery and study space for students to explore the worlds of music and theater—as well as multimedia components for creativity and design.

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“Sustaining our need-blind and full-need policies, as well as increasing financial aid, will allow access to a larger pool of exceptional students across a wider cultural, geographic and economic spectrum.”

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“The students on our campus today will be part of the global community of the next four decades.

Our goal is to help them begin thinking about that fact now.”

Margaret Freije VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND DEAN OF THE COLLEGE

“Neil’s generous gift is a consequence of his experience and his values,” says Fr. Boroughs. “He was powerfully enriched by his almost accidental exposure to the arts when he was a student at Holy Cross. For him, learning turned particularly joyful and creative as he studied music. Many years later, listening to the priorities of the faculty which emphasized the performing arts in the strategic planning process, Neil wanted to ensure that subsequent generations of Holy Cross students would be enlivened as he was by the arts.”

“The Prior Arts Center has the potential of being a transformative force on campus,” says Barlok. “While our many talented students and faculty already provide us with a rich artistic environment, the new Arts Center will provide us with a space that better integrates that environment into the everyday academic and social life of the entire College community. Our Hill will truly be alive with the look, the sound and the joy of music, theater and art.”

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(left) Rev. Joseph J. LaBran ’38, S.J., leading Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius at Our Lady of Peace Spiritual Life Center in Narragansett, R.I.

2. The creation of new programs that promote leadership, service, and social justice—both across the globe and in our local community. 3. In addition, the expansion of the many existing versatile outreach programs. 4. And support global Catholicism, in both a scholarly and a participatory manner, finding the common ground between theological investigation and all manner of service to others.

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LIVING OUR FAITH

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ne of the primary goals of the comprehensive campaign is to enhance the Catholic and Jesuit nature and identity central to the mission of Holy Cross.

Toward this end, four priorities have been established: 1. The establishment of ministers in residence, Jesuits and lay people who will be available in the residence halls, making the discernment and reflection process a perpetual aspect of our students’ lives.

The largest initiative in this category is the construction of a new Contemplative Center. The Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center will be a new facility for spiritual retreats.

Situated on a stunning 52-acre hilltop site, located about 20 minutes from campus in West Boylston, Mass., the Center will allow the College to expand programming opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The 33,800-square-foot complex— with a target opening date in Fall 2016—will be specifically designed with the College’s well-established retreat programs in mind. The main building will include a chapel, meeting rooms and dining rooms. Adjoining the main building will be living quarters with bedrooms and shared baths for all retreatants.

“The Joyce Center really is a dream come true,” according to Marybeth Kearns-Barrett ’84, director of the Office of College Chaplains. “Retreats— such as the Spiritual Exercises—have always been popular at Holy Cross and the demand for additional contemplative programming is only growing.”

“The Center will fit all of our many requirements,” Kearns-Barrett continues, “It is nearby, but it’s also removed from the bustle of campus life.

It will be beautiful, tranquil and serene— overlooking a pristine reservoir. And it is the right size and cost for our proposed

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The Prior Arts Center THE SITE Behind Healy Hall THE DESIGN FIRM: Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the firm responsible for the design of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and New York’s High Line Park.

FEATURES A 400-seat concert hall and theater; 200-seat performance space; multimedia center for recording, editing, design; multipurpose rehearsal spaces; lobby and café

THE WOW FACTOR A highly visible “beehive” space with flexible workspaces, sophisticated technological resources and moveable furniture will allow students from all academic areas to collaborate on a wide variety of creative projects. ■

(from left) Charles Renfro, Neil Prior ’56, Ricardo Scofidio, Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., and Ben Gilmartin at the Architect Naming event for the Prior Arts Center, held in the Integrated Science Complex in January. Holy Cross selected Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an internationally acclaimed design firm known for its vibrant, interdisciplinary approach.

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Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J. COLLEGE PRESIDENT

MARK SELIGER

EMPOWERING ATHLETICS, HEALTH AND WELLNESS

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t honestly feels like the beginning of a new era,” says Athletics Director Nathan Pine. “This is monumental. The initiatives on which we’re just getting started will have an impact on Holy Cross Athletics for the next 20 years.”

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The Center has been named by the Joyce family in honor of their father.

“One of the things that Holy Cross has always done well is produce leaders.

That’s another function of our unique commitment to the liberal arts—the integration of critical thinking and ethical decision-making in our students. We train minds to think critically, across the spectrum of disciplines and within the complexity of ever-changing situations.”

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“The new Hart Center will give Holy Cross student-athletes the tools they need

(left) The football team celebrates over a 2719 win over Monmouth on Sept. 5. (above) The original gymnasium in O’Kane Hall, 1895. (opposite, top) Adrienne Randall ’15 analyzing data with Professor Leon Claessens in his chemistry laboratory as part of the Summer Research program at Holy Cross.

to become champions in the years ahead and for decades to come,” says Pine.

In conjunction with the renovation and expansion of the Hart Center, the Field House will be entirely revamped. The plan is to upgrade the existing building and create a top-flight recreation complex for the entire campus community, featuring basketball courts, multiple exercise studios, weight training rooms, new shower and locker space and centers for a wide assortment of health, wellness and fitness programming.

Ann Marie and Bill Teuber ’73

ADVANCING LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY

O Pine is referring to the announcement made this summer that the College had received the largest gift in its history, a $32.5 million pledge by John Luth ’74, and his wife, Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D., toward the renovation and expansion of the Hart Center (see story, Page 44). When completed, the new and improved Hart Center will be beautifully versatile. The new Hart will include indoor practice fields for all field sports, an additional practice court for basketball and volleyball teams, expanded sports medicine and strength and conditioning areas and equipment to service 750 student-athletes—as well as locker rooms, team meeting rooms and office space for all varsity sports teams.

The Value of Quiet Contemplation J O H N G I L L O O LY

vision. This will be a sanctuary for Holy Cross, a sacred place for renewal—both individually and as a community. We might think of the Center as a fine metaphor for the work we do on the Hill, instilling the continuous growth of the interior life and that growth’s attendant self-knowledge.”

ne of the things that Holy Cross has always done well,” says Fr. Boroughs, “is produce leaders. That’s another function of our unique commitment to the liberal arts—the integration of critical thinking and ethical decisionmaking in our students. We train minds to think critically, across the spectrum of disciplines and within the complexity of ever-changing situations.”

In the coming years, the College will begin to create and broaden a series of “discernment initiatives” that will help students develop leadership skills and a sense of responsible global citizenship.

Discernment is a central dimension of Ignatian spirituality which assists the individual in identifying one’s calling or way of making a difference in the world, which then frames one’s decisions and actions.

“The students on our campus today,” says Freije, “will be part of the global community of the next four decades.

Our goal is to help them begin thinking about that fact now. To begin

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he process of spiritual discernment has always been important to Bill Teuber ’73. In his undergraduate days, he volunteered as a teacher of religious education in a Worcester parish. Over 40 years later, Teuber, along with his wife (a fellow religious ed volunteer) Ann Marie, is as passionate as ever about the need for meditative retreat—especially in our fast-paced world of ongoing technological revolution. That’s why he and Ann Marie were the first donors toward the construction of the Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center.

Their $3 million commitment inspired others to participate in insuring that the Contemplative Center would be an integral part of the spiritual life at Holy Cross.

benefits that the new Contemplative Center will bring to the College.

“The retreats and the spiritual direction are part of what makes Holy Cross unique,” says Teuber.

“And our students’ desire for these opportunities is on the rise.”

Teuber is the Vice Chairman at EMC Corporation, a global leader in technology infrastructure and security. Bill and Ann Marie live in West Newton, Mass., and are the parents of Christine ’02, Elizabeth, and Rachel. ■

Teuber well understands the

“You can get an excellent education at a lot of colleges,” says Teuber, “but going to Holy Cross will change your life. Having a contemplative center will advance that mission for countless students of future generations. Ann Marie and I are so pleased to be part of that initiative.”

“It’s a testament to the Holy Cross experience,” says College President Fr. Philip L. Boroughs, “that people such as Bill and Ann Marie Teuber and the Joyce family see the importance, the value, of the Contemplative Center. They view the Center as a manifestation of our mission itself.”

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In addition to new discernment programs, there will be an additional emphasis in academic programming on experiential learning.

“Project-based learning, community-based learning and internships are becoming increasingly valuable and important,” notes Freije. “We need to increase opportunities for our students to integrate all that they’re learning in the classroom and apply this learning to the complex challenges of the world. We also want to increase student research experiences—to give them more opportunities to work with their professors on cutting-edge projects. And we will be encouraging students to design their own projects and opportunities based on their specific interests and talents.”

“We know that, in the years to come, we will need to continue to attract the best faculty and students. We will need to creatively explore new areas of the curriculum and the cocurriculum to ensure that a Holy Cross education will continue to provide a strong foundation for the challenges our students will encounter.”

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understanding how the world around them is changing and how they might best steer and serve that world in a meaningful way.”

ENABLING ACCESS, DIVERSITY AND AFFORDABILITY

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his particular initiative is a hot button in the higher education community.

Holy Cross is a “needblind” institution. In addition, the College meets the full demonstrated need of its students.

5 bold policies, which have traditionally been regarded as cornerstones of the College’s mission. In a similar vein, part of the capital raised by the campaign will be devoted to financial aid. Currently, 60 percent of Holy Cross students receive needbased financial aid.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND DEAN OF THE COLLEGE

“I’m not sure everyone in our community understands the significance and impact of combining these two principles,” says Vellaccio. “Few institutions both admit students blind of need and then meet the full demonstrated need of all admitted students. This means that our applicants for admission are judged solely on their merits, regardless of their ability to afford tuition costs. Our dedication to admitting students this way rises out of our history as a Catholic and Jesuit college. We view this position as a crucial part of our mission—as a defining characteristic of who we are and of how we think about our work. But it gets harder every year to fund this part of our mission.”

The success of the Become More campaign will help ensure that Holy Cross can maintain both of these

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(above) The Class of 2019 Odyssey students on the steps of Dinand Library gather for a group photo.

Margaret Freije

“There is no way around the truth that we must increase financial aid,” says Fr. Boroughs. “It’s the only way that we can keep a Holy Cross education within the reach of all the exceptional students who earn admission. Aside from increases in tuition, our only source of increased revenue for aid is the increased giving of our dedicated and generous donors.”

Vellaccio concurs. “This is also where our commitment to academic excellence and diversity intersect,” says Vellaccio. “Sustaining our need-blind and full-need policies, as well as increasing financial aid will allow access to a larger pool of exceptional students across a wider cultural, geographic and socioeconomic spectrum.”

The Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center THE SITE A 52-acre parcel of land in West Boylston, Mass., adjacent to a conservation area THE DESIGN FIRM Lamoureux Pagano & Associates, the Worcester-based firm that also designed the Brooks Concert Hall and Seelos Theater for Holy Cross

FEATURES A facility designed specifically to fit the pastoral location will accommodate the College’s retreat programs (including the Spiritual Exercises and Manresa program), and feature a chapel, meeting rooms and dining room, with bedrooms and bath facilities for 60 individuals.

This Center will serve students, faculty, staff and alumni who are seeking contemplative spaces and experiences

to balance the intensity of their highly committed lives.

THE WOW FACTOR Situated in a beautiful, cloister-like setting, the Center will be constructed within the Wachusett Reservoir watershed and will overlook the reservoir. ■

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ROB CARLIN

SUSTAINING OUR FUTURE, OUR VISION, OUR MISSION

generations to come.” (Anne Schiffmann Fink ’85, P17 and William Phelan ’73, P04, 01, 99 are the Campaign’s other co-chairs.)

“Growing support for the Holy Cross Fund is also crucial,” says Barlok.

“Current-use, unrestricted funds are essential to our future and critical to these big undertakings. And I am confident in this area. It’s no secret that the College has a stunningly supportive alumni body. More than 50 percent of our alumni give to the College every year.”

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erhaps the most important initiative in Become More is the focus on the long-term health and sustainability of the College.

“We need to keep endowment growth robust,” says campaign co-chair Richard Patterson ’80. “We have to be perpetually vigilant on this front. This is about the continued viability of Holy Cross. I’m looking for the day when we have a billion dollar endowment. That would keep us solid and secure for

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“With the efforts we are now undertaking, like those of Fr. Carlin almost 100 years ago, the success of our mission will be assured, with the help of God.”

“I can’t emphasize enough how important the Fund is,” says Barlok.

“It enriches every aspect of our academic enterprise and of the campus environment. It supports every student, faculty member, and department on campus. The Fund provides flexibility for responding to evolving circumstances and allows the College to take advantage of emerging opportunities quickly and effectively.”

“When I think about the future of Holy Cross,” Fr. Boroughs says, “it makes me optimistic about the future in general. I believe the Become More campaign will enable us to transform our College into a paragon of how the liberal arts, in the Jesuit tradition, should be cultivated, taught and embraced, as a lifelong value, in the 21st century.”

In making such statements, Fr. Boroughs sounds more than a little like his predecessor, Fr. Carlin.

Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.

(above) Fr. Boroughs, shown here chatting with history professors Stephanie Yuhl, Noel Cary and Gwenn Miller, notes that the bold ambitions of Fr. Carlin (left) were “spot on,” and that the College finds itself in a position to make bold moves once again, to secure the future of Holy Cross and its mission.

“With the benefit of hindsight, we can look back and see that Fr. Carlin’s ambitious vision and bold initiatives were spot on,” says Fr. Boroughs. “From our vantage, it seems clear that he launched Holy Cross onto a trajectory that eventually brought us to the prominence we enjoy today.

“I believe we are in a similar moment right now,” says Fr. Boroughs. “I think our vision has to be bold and our resolve must be unwavering.

And I feel that if we truly commit to this vision and this course of action, Holy Cross will not only be secure for decades to come, but the College will grow and thrive. We are forging an increasingly powerful and transformative educational experience on this campus, which has in the past, and will in the future, consistently make a disproportionate difference in our world. That is what makes Mount St. James sacred ground. And with the efforts we are now undertaking, like those of Fr. Carlin almost 100 years ago, the success of our mission will be assured, with the help of God.” ■

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT Become More: Campaign for the Future of Holy Cross, please visit www.holycross.edu/becomemore

The Christ the King statue has one of the most beautiful views on campus: the front of Fenwick Hall.

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n July, Holy Cross received a recordbreaking commitment—$32.5 million— from alumnus John E. Luth ’74 and his wife, Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D. Their extraordinary gift represents the single largest donation in the College’s history—and it will be used to dramatically expand and enhance the College’s indoor athletics and recreational facilities.

“They made huge sacrifices,” says John E. Luth ’74 of his parents, the late Louis Henry Luth Jr. and Ann Luth. “While they made a reasonable living, they were never wealthy.

We never really had much: The pants I wore were the same ones my two older brothers wore. You make do with a large family.”

Luth’s father worked, for the better part of 30 years, at his wife’s family’s trucking company; his mother, now 91, stayed at home with Luth and his nine siblings.

“My father was an executive on the board, but he was, in truth, more of a blue-collar guy,” reflects Luth, who grew up in St. Charles, Mo. “He wore his overalls and got dirty every day.”

Following high school, like most of his classmates, Luth stayed close to home and enrolled at the University of Missouri (MU), where he planned to study engineering.

“Given my background, I was focused on getting a degree and getting a job.”

“This gift is a game-changer.

It will have an impact on all aspects of Crusader athletics—from recruiting talented players and coaches, to improving the student-athlete experience, to enhancing the game atmosphere—and it will improve the overall quality of life across campus.”

Nathan Pine

In the summer of 1970, Luth landed a job as a busboy at Noah’s Ark, a local restaurant co-owned by the late John M. Flavan ’53, then a St. Louis hotelier and restaurateur.

But his busboy career was brief: He outbused the entire crew and, by the end of his first day, was promoted to maître d’.

It was that initiative and work ethic that drew Flavan’s attention and began a decades-long mentorship and friendship between the two men.

BY R E B E C C A S M I T H ’ 9 9 A N D K I M B E R LY S TA L E Y ’ 9 9

John E. Luth ’74 and Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D., at their home in New Jersey.

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

A proud Holy Cross alumnus, Flavan became interested in Luth’s academic plans and, after seeing his first semester grades from MU (straight As), was convinced that he was looking at a future Crusader. From then on, Flavan encouraged Luth to transfer to Holy Cross with his financial support.

“He was subtle at first, but he got pushy over time,” recalls Luth with a laugh.

“Truthfully, I resisted. I was adamant about not taking help. It was a bit of my family heritage: You don’t take things from others.

You don’t live beyond your means,” he explains. However, Flavan’s persistence paid off, and Luth transferred to Holy Cross in the fall of 1971.

•••••

Despite his reservations, he was quickly won over by the beautiful campus, the sense of community … and the soccer team.

A captain of his high school soccer team, he joined the College’s then-fledging soccer program as a walk-on, after a chance encounter with practicing team members.

“It was a dream come true,” says Luth, who reveled in the camaraderie and competitiveness of the nascent soccer program, which he credits with preparing him for success in the business world.

“Being a student-athlete, first and foremost, teaches time management, which is a life skill that has paid dividends to me … ,” he begins. “Secondly, it taught me the need to work with others to accomplish a common purpose that isn’t a straight forward march down the field … Third, it taught me the need for endurance—that quick gains can easily be followed by setbacks—so that playing for the duration is as important as getting early wins.”

Off the soccer field, the economics major fully embraced his liberal arts classroom experience, describing it as “transformational.”

But plans have a way of changing.

•••••

“I was excited about going to Holy Cross, but I was [still] reluctant from a fiscal standpoint,” recalls Luth.

“My years at Holy Cross … prepared me to think independent of others, to consider my role and responsibilities within the great global community … and [to] further demand more of myself in every aspect of my life,” he reflects. “In particular, the Jesuits taught me to consider the development of the whole person, not just during my years on Mount St. James, but for a lifetime of development.”

••••• After graduating magna cum laude from the College, Luth went on to earn his M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1976.

Since then, he served in the Corporate Finance Division of Exxon Corporation’s

TODD PLITT

PL AYING IT FORWARD / A DEFINING MOMENT / 45

“At Holy Cross, you understand that you have a legacy to leave, a personal contribution to make. Anyone who is more active— because they have more energy, because they are more fit—is better able to contribute. It’s always about contribution, because that’s where the joy comes from.”

What the Coaches Say

Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D. Treasurer’s Department; held several executive positions with Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company; and served in several senior executive positions with Continental Airlines, from 1989 to 1995, including senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. In 1995, he founded Seabury Group LLC, a New York City-based global advisory and investment company, and currently serves as its founding partner, chairman and chief executive officer.

mutual acquaintance helped get them back together while Luth was organizing his class reunion. The rest, they say, is history … almost four decades of history, but “it was like we had just seen each other the week before,” says Luth. The couple married in September 2013, and they live in Chatham, N.J., parenting Hamilton (18), Edward Avery (12) and Martha (12), and caring for Dr. Chouinard-Luth’s 95-year-old mother.

Despite his busy schedule, Luth has always remained connected to the College. He served on the Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2013, and joined the Advisory Board in 2013. He was a member of the regional campaign committee of the College’s “Lift High the Cross” campaign, and, last year, he co-chaired the reunion gift effort for the Class of 1974.

Exceedingly grateful for the role Holy Cross has played in his life—and well aware of the critical need for renovating the College’s athletics facilities—Luth had been contemplating making a gift to Crusader athletics for some time. He was also looking for a way to pay forward the kindness of Flavan, who refused to be paid back for the money he gave to Luth more than 40 years ago.

But, for him, the best outcome of College fundraising was deeply personal: Reconnecting with the woman who first caught his eye during a Healy Hall mixer (at the then all-male campus) in the spring of 1971—his wife, Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D. An undergraduate at Newton College of the Sacred Heart at the time, Dr. ChouinardLuth, a dentist and nutritionist, attended a mixer that John had organized. The two became college sweethearts and made many fond memories at Holy Cross (The Allman Brothers concert in the Field House ranks high among those!).

But, they grew apart and lost touch, until a

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•••••

So when an anonymous donor committed $15 million toward the estimated $87 million Hart Center renovation—with the promise to give an additional $5 million if total donations reach $60 million by September 2015—the Luths seized the opportunity with an astounding $32.5 million gift. “[That challenge gift] drove it home for us: if not now, when? And why not now?,” explains Luth.

All 27 varsity athletics programs at Holy Cross will directly benefit from the Luths’ gift, which will extensively expand and renovate the Hart Center, helping studentathletes to compete at the highest levels of

The Become More campaign is about realizing our full potential as an institution.

Division 1 athletics. In addition, a portion of their gift, $7.5 million, will go toward converting the Field House into a state-ofthe-art recreation complex to promote the health and wellness of the entire campus community.

“This historic gift is an extraordinary vote of confidence as we embark on an exciting journey to ensure Holy Cross Athletics remain vibrant and relevant,” says Vice President of Advancement Tracy Barlok.

“The Luths’ generosity plays a vital role in cultivating the values of leadership, service, teamwork and integrity that are at the core of our athletics program.”

“This gift is a game-changer,” adds Director of Athletics Nathan Pine. “It will have an impact on all aspects of Crusader athletics—from recruiting talented players and coaches, to improving the studentathlete experience, to enhancing the game atmosphere—and it will improve the overall quality of life across campus.”

And the Luths agree.

“At Holy Cross, you understand that you have a legacy to leave, a personal contribution to make,” says Dr. Chouinard-Luth, who, in addition to her professional interest in fitness, nutrition and preventative medicine, is an avid social dancer. “Anyone who is more active—because they have more energy, because they are more fit—is better able to contribute.

“And for us, it’s always about contributing, because that’s where the joy comes from.” ■

BILL CARMODY (above left) Head Men’s Basketball Coach “We are very grateful to the Luths for their generous donation, which will benefit all of the student-athletes at Holy Cross. This will include a number of new upgrades for our program, including a practice court, locker room, offices and meeting rooms, which can help us have success for many years to come.”

BILL GIBBONS (above right) Head Women’s Basketball Coach “This unbelievably generous gift by the Luths is a testament to the pride and passion they have for Holy Cross athletics.

It will help us to develop and recruit top student-athletes for many years to come.

Our program is ecstatic and we cannot wait to thank the Luths in person for their generous gift that will help Holy Cross women’s basketball immensely!”

LINDSAY JACKSON Head Field Hockey Coach “In my short time here I have seen and experienced the pride that the alumni have in Holy Cross, and this gift from the Luths is an absolute testament to that excitement and pride behind the College

and athletics. Even more exciting for us in athletics, the vision that we all share in making this athletic department the best it can be in every way is moving forward in a very positive direction, and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

DARREN GALLAGHER Head Women’s Soccer Coach “This gift propels the Hart Center renovation, allowing our teams to be housed in one of the finest facilities in the Northeast. There is no doubt that the entire student-athlete experience will be upgraded with this facility. Having an indoor turf facility to train in inclement weather will be a fantastic boost to our soccer program and other fall and winter sports.”

JEFF OLIVER Head Strength & Conditioning Coach “The excitement level in athletics has been very high over the past year, and this gift has brought that excitement to a new level. The new strength and conditioning facility and field house will allow our student-athletes to train at more conductive times, in larger groups and with significantly higher energy.” ■

Past generations of students, faculty, alumni, staff, parents, friends and some of the most loyal and generous benefactors anywhere have placed the College in an enviable position.

But the challenges ahead, and the unyielding spirit of Holy Cross, call on us to do more.

Now is the time to seize this moment.

It is the time for Holy Cross to realize its full potential as one of the leading academic institutions of the 21st century. ■ For more information about the campaign, visit www.holycross.edu/ becomemore

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