A New Springtime

Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D., Takes Helm as UD’s 10th President.

By Clare Venegas

St. John Paul II, in Ex corde Ecclesiae, observes that the university has historically served as a center of “creativity and dissemination of knowledge for the good of humanity.” St. John Paul’s view of the purpose of the university — an earnest pursuit of truth through rigorous thinking in order to live righteously — resonates deeply with Jonathan J. Sanford, who took the helm as the University of Dallas’ 10th president in March and will be formally inaugurated on Oct. 1.

A product of the JPII generation, it should be no surprise that Sanford, 46, is inspired by the life and work of the late pontiff and great saint. Perhaps you have read some of Sanford’s published works or heard some of his speeches; this interview aims to reveal some facets of the man himself. Here, Sanford shares his thoughts on the purpose of higher education, his optimism for UD’s future, and how his family life, and in particular his wife, Rebecca, have helped him embrace this providential time in the life of UD.

You were raised in the Midwest. What were some of the important lessons or values from your childhood that you still carry with you?

Both Rebecca and I grew up in South Bend, Indiana. I have four siblings, and we had two foster children and a cousin who lived with us, so it always felt like a full house.

Certainly, a strong work ethic was implanted in us. I had my first job when I wasn’t technically old enough to hold one, subbing for my brother and his friends on their paper routes before eventually getting my own. My dad had, and still has, a small law practice, and our family put a high premium on dinner table discussion; we had plenty of practice in the art of rational disagreement. My mom was a teacher and writer with a strong attachment to the Catholic charismatic renewal movement, and the life of faith was foundational for our family.

I learned some important principles through childhood, like looking for ways to serve others, mowing lawns or fixing roofs for sick or elderly neighbors. We’d never leave a gathering without cleaning up; simple principles like that became ingrained.

My parents also put a premium on independence. I rode my bike or took the bus everywhere. My father made it clear that we always needed to have jobs and would be financially independent by the end of high school; this clarity in expectations provided a definite focus.

How did your family view education?

My mom taught at my 7-12 school, Trinity School at Greenlawn, an ecumenical Christian school and one of the first classical education schools in the country. Performing well in school was always valued, but education in our household was also valued for its own sake.

My parents were both first-generation college students. They wanted us to read and think for ourselves but didn’t necessarily look at education as the only way to be successful. The trades were just as valuable as professions in their eyes; their outlook was much more about having a strong work ethic and finding your vocation.

How did attending a classical school influence your path in life?

One of my eighth-grade teachers, Dr. Rollin Lassetter, actually taught at UD after leaving Trinity, and he was very influential on me. He gave me a vision for how to be an intellectual, and I began to imagine becoming one. I became deeply interested in the life of the mind. I was particularly drawn to the humane letters sequence of history, philosophy, literature and theology read and discussed in seminar style every school day for four years. Although I was less naturally attracted to math and science, the dedicated teachers helped me appreciate the beauty of those disciplines, while the fine arts cultivated a deeper desire for excellence. The school emphasized developing the arts of liberty. An orientation toward doing all things excellently, in pursuit of the true, good and beautiful, seeped into my soul.

It was a great honor when I was invited to give Trinity’s commencement address in 2015, the same year my mom retired.

Outside of school, what was life like?

I grew up playing lots of sports — baseball, basketball, soccer — probably more basketball than anything else. I met Rebecca in seventh grade, which marked the beginning of the most important relationship of my life, but I also developed many other deep friendships that endure to this day. Around 15, I started working as a house painter during the summers, a job I held through high school and college. After my first year, I was promoted to foreman, which was a good experience because it provided the opportunity to work with college students and adults from all backgrounds while bearing the responsibility to make sure we got the jobs done well.

Your journey to college and into philosophy began at Xavier. What was life like there?

Xavier offered me a scholarship for a wonderful program, built on the old-school Jesuit model of the ratio studiorum, that required four years of reading literature in Greek and Latin, as well as courses in history, science, math, literature, philosophy and theology. I was initially also an English major, but I found that much of my interest in literature was philosophical. Also, my philosophy professors liked when I disagreed with them — not so much my English professors!

Rebecca and I married after sophomore year. Through our marriage preparation, we began thinking more concretely about what we wanted our family identity to be. More than anything, we wanted to build our marriage on Christ.

About two months after we married, we were expecting our first child. I completed my last season as the captain of our rowing team and started picking up extra work: tutoring, mowing lawns, driving a university shuttle and working almost full time while maintaining a full course load. Rebecca finished her RN before our first son, Isaac, was born, and went on to finish her BSN with high honors. But even with generous scholarships and multiple jobs, things were financially precarious.

Both Rebecca and I were involved in the Students for Life club. Eventually, I became president. Other student groups attempted to shut down our funding and strip us of our status as a club, so that was an awakening to the highly politicized currents in American Catholicism. But even then, my reaction was not to become politicized on the other side, but to recognize the deeper truth of the matter — that when you focus your life on Christ, your ultimate identity is as a son or daughter of God, and therein one finds true confidence.

What led you to pursue graduate school?

I was initially interested in law school, and I did really well on the LSAT. Some universities reached out after receiving my scores, some even promising scholarships, but I just could not bring myself to apply.

I remember one night just sitting in a chair thinking and praying about this dilemma, unsure of what direction I should take. By the morning I realized I was going to give graduate school and university teaching a shot. I felt this was the best way to express my gratitude for the gifts I had received from my own teachers. I scrambled to complete the GRE and applications in time and was fortunate to have some options, eventually going to the State University of New York in Buffalo on the advice of one of my professors because of their strengths in the history of philosophy, classics and phenomenology.

How has your family been a source of support during this time of transition?

There is no way I could do what I do without my family. I want to be clear: I am a husband, and then a father, before I am the president of UD. My family does not always see as much of me as either they or I would like, but we have found many ways to stay deeply connected even in especially busy times. Rebecca is truly remarkable — adventurous, idealistic, rooted in her faith, and my greatest cheerleader.

We, like most parents, are amazed at how different each of our children are from one another, and we have worked hard to find ways to encourage each of them to cultivate their unique gifts and talents. Like their parents, our children live busy lives. Our older children are excellent mentors for the younger ones, and one of the reasons I have been able to dedicate so much time to UD is that I can confidently rely on our older children — and Rebecca’s excellent coordination of it all, of course!

The Sanford family, pictured from top left: Joseph (22); his fiancée, Franziska; Elijah (17); Benjamin (20), a junior at UD; Jonathan (15); Mary (12). From bottom left: Anna (7); President Sanford with Jacob (2) on his lap; David (10); Rebecca.

The Sanfords’ oldest son, Isaac (25), his wife, Rachel, and their granddaughter, Felicity (2).

You were at Steubenville for 13 years. How did UD come into the picture?

I delighted in teaching and researching, but I kept taking on leadership positions, eventually becoming associate vice president of academic affairs. In that role I was able to help complete some important work, such as strengthening the core curriculum. I was not applying for jobs elsewhere, but I received an invitation to apply for the Constantin College dean position. I initially said no but ultimately decided to explore it.

After having conversations with and giving an address to faculty (and fielding some really excellent questions), I just felt like, “These are my people.” The way that UD integrates faith and reason and is dedicated to inquiry in a robust fashion — the ethos of the place was pretty much in my own DNA. We had a lot to consider with relocating eight kids. Our oldest had just finished his first year at Franciscan; Rebecca was very involved in ministry, and her nursing career was taking off.

But a good friend, a Jesuit priest, gave us some good advice on opening ourselves more fully to the possibility that God may be calling us to this move, and after careful discernment, we felt like we were indeed being called to UD. After six years here, we really do feel that this is our home. Not just UD, but Irving and Dallas/Fort Worth. Rebecca actually loves Texas summers. I love the entrepreneurialism, ethnic diversity and patriotism of Texas, and the people are so friendly.

Who has inspired you personally and in your career?

My major inspiration has long been St. John Paul II. Although I was quite young, I remember when he was elected. My dad’s half-Polish, so there was a cultural connection. But really it was his role in the struggle with communism that was most inspiring. St. John Paul II was and is a hero in that fight — that made a huge impression on me.

As I read and came to understand his writings and encyclicals, I was inspired by them. When "Fides et Ratio" came out, I was just electrified by it as well as by "Crossing the Threshold of Hope." "Love and Responsibility" was deeply influential. I found it philosophically rich and took it as guidance for how to live my life.

An orientation toward doing all things excellently, in pursuit of the true, good and beautiful, seeped into my soul.

You’ve been president for a few short months. What do you see in UD’s future?

I see so many opportunities. In too many places there’s been a drift away from the true purpose of universities, which is to educate. At UD, we think seriously about our mission, what it means to educate and to be educated, and work to maintain that focus.

What we should be known for — and what our university has always emphasized — is our commitment to the virtues of liberal education, which enables us to flourish personally and professionally. Fundamentally, genuine education is a matter of building culture, and we are dedicated to reclaiming our culture for the good. We need to do that even more intentionally, effectively and proactively.

Last year, the board adopted a new strategic plan. How does that inform your view of our future?

The strategic plan represents the expression of our commitment to excellence in education, excellence in the formation of the human person and recognition of the human person as an integrated whole.

We are an institution that takes seriously the founding principles of this country — the principles that undergird the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially in the Catholic Church. We want those “first principles” to be deeply instilled in our students and in each other, doing so in a way that enables us to practice well the art of rational disagreement in our quest for the truth.

How does UD stand out from the crowd?

UD is deeply Catholic, which amongst other things entails a welcome embrace of those who are not. We are confident in our Catholicism and neither smug nor sanctimonious, humbly striving to be courageously, joyfully Catholic. From this deep Catholicism springs a rich understanding of the essence and purpose of liberal education, one that sees how professional training is best nurtured from a liberal arts foundation.

Another thing that sets us apart is our commitment to shared knowledge in the undergraduate Core — imparting the best of the Western intellectual tradition over those first two years and building outstanding majors on that foundation. We similarly have core curricula in all our graduate programs, and the combination of traditional liberal arts formation with professional education is profoundly powerful.

Our students learn to think, write and express themselves well, and I cannot count how many graduate schools and corporations have remarked on how much our students stand out for their clear, creative and rigorous thinking. It is notable that we have higher medical school and law school placements than nearly every other school, including the Ivies. Those and other practical fruits of our education occur not despite but because of the attention we give to learning things for their own sakes. Through it all, the friendships our students share with each other mark them and prepare them for enriching friendship with others throughout their lives.

Though surrounded by religious communities, the fact that no religious order controls us enables our intellectual vision to be the unifying force of the University of Dallas, and at the heart of that intellectual vision is the integration of faith and reason.

What role can UD and our alumni play in renewing our culture?

I want our graduates to invest in their local communities and to be really outstanding professionals. I don’t want them to ever be content with saying, "I had a good education and am a practicing Catholic, so I’m doing well." No — we’re called to excellence.

I want our graduates to have an orientation toward greatness — to be the most trusted doctors and lawyers, the most creative entrepreneurs, the most effective politicians, the most principled managers, the most nurturing mothers and fathers, the holiest of priests and sisters, the best in whatever walk of life they’re called to.

I want to find additional ways to foster this, because that is how culture will be renewed — with truly virtuous people exercising their great gifts in promotion of the common good, a culture marked by a constant commitment to the true, good and beautiful, a culture of love and justice. With its distinctive approach to education, the University of Dallas is playing a key role in forming the excellent leaders our culture needs.