An Inspiring Legacy

WHEN YOU ARRIVED AT ASSUMPTION, WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS AND WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH DURING YOUR TIME HERE?

The first goal, per the Board of Trustees, was to enhance the academic programs and strengthen the academic profile, particularly the liberal arts focus. That meant shepherding the process of a new Core Curriculum that was more reflective of our mission and the centrality of the liberal arts, integrating the liberal arts within our professional programs, and ensuring that we encouraged faculty to increase their scholarly productivity. In having faculty publish regularly, their teaching and classroom experience is enhanced; faculty who are active scholars and researchers bring into the classroom the latest information and body of knowledge, from which our students benefit, and the academic experience is strengthened. It was always my belief that a university cannot distinguish itself if its faculty do not publish and contribute to the scholarship in their discipline.

Adding new academic programs that would meet market needs that were also mission driven would offer students greater opportunities. The articulation agreements we entered

2008

2012 DECEMBER into with leading national universities, such as the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, and Washington University, and law schools also allow students access to academic programs while accelerating dual degree completion. These agreements strengthened us as an academic institution, thereby allowing us to attract academically stronger students.

The second goal of the Trustees at the time was to strengthen our mission and identity as a Catholic and Assumptionist institution. First and foremost, this meant following more explicitly the vision for Catholic universities as articulated by Pope St. John Paul II in Ex corde Ecclesiae, the apostolic constitution for Catholic universities. For me this meant ensuring that Catholicism was visibly present and operative in all aspects of the life of the University and faithful to the Magisterium. Secondly, it was important to integrate the Catholic intellectual tradition into the curriculum, offering course development and research grants to either develop new courses or revise others that would reflect the dialogue between Catholicism and culture in the search for truth.

The revision of the Core Curriculum was also guided by our Catholic and Assumptionist mission, especially highlighting the relationship between faith and reason. The development of the SOPHIA program was mission driven, focusing on guiding students in discerning what would give meaning and purpose to their life as they discovered their vocation. An important element in strengthening our commitment to the mission was a more robust hiring process that would be more attentive to the alignment of candidates with the mission and their willingness to nurture and contribute to the mission. Beyond the University itself, we also enhanced our mission by increased engagement with the Diocese of Worcester through our relationships with the local Catholic schools, the education of seminarians, the establishment of the Holy Name of Jesus Institute on campus, the education of religious from other parts of the world, and ongoing professional development opportunities for clergy on campus. We really made sure we contributed to the life of the local and universal Church as part of our mission and living out the responsibility of a Catholic university.

National Review Board

Dr. Cesareo is appointed chairman of the National Review Board, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by Cardinal Dolan. 2013

Dr. Cesareo receives Catholic Campus Ministry Association Award for Outstanding Support of Catholic Campus Ministry.

Some of my personal goals, one of which I didn’t articulate when I arrived, was that we would become a university someday. It was something I really hoped we would achieve. It was an aspiration I had, and I waited for the right moment to explore that possibility.

Another goal was to increase the endowment. When I arrived, it was about $65 million, and I had a goal of breaking the $100 million mark because I knew it would be beneficial for the institution. Through the tireless work of many, we achieved that goal, providing a strong financial foundation from which to continue Assumption’s growth.

I also wanted to enhance our study abroad program, which was not very robust when I arrived. I noticed early on that our students were hesitant to study abroad because they enjoyed the comfort of being on campus. That was the genesis for starting the Rome Campus. My thinking was that if we established our own program with our own faculty, students would have a sense of comfort and connection to the institution, studying with their peers while opening a new world to them. We hoped that after the Rome Campus experience, they would feel adventurous enough to then study abroad at a non-Assumption-sponsored program, and we did find that happened.

Finally, I aimed to increase the diversity of the student body. In 2007, the entering class was about 7 percent underrepresented students; now the entering class is about 24 percent. That was important to me because I really believe the institution must reflect the world in which our students will be living, and if we don’t provide a campus that reflects that, then we haven’t prepared them for the world.

DID YOU PLAN TO STAY FOR 15 YEARS?

I planned to stay for at least 10 because it takes about a decade to see the impact you can have on an institution. It takes time for initiatives and ideas to take root and develop. As I got beyond the 10 years, we started to talk about a nursing program, university status, and things of that nature, and as we got into a capital campaign, I wanted to see all of this through to completion. I needed to stay through the end of the campaign to ensure we were successful. Which we were, especially in terms of amount raised, significantly exceeding our goal.

WHAT IS THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF WHICH YOU ARE MOST PROUD?

The Rome Campus comes to mind because the setup and goals of the program are unique. I am also proud of achieving university status. It reflects an important manifestation of who we’ve become as an institution and signals a level of maturity the institution has achieved. The school structure has been beneficial from a philanthropic angle, but it also created undergraduate and graduate academic opportunities and faculty collaboration that provide students with options they didn’t have before.

Also, I am proud of the architectural changes I oversaw on campus. The new buildings introduced a different architectural beauty to the campus, giving it a collegiate look that has been transformative. The piazza is a focal point for what is now the heart of campus, and the commissioned sculptures – Fr. d’Alzon, St. Augustine, and the new Christ the Healer –help reflect our Catholic identity and remind us of the essence of our education.