SJCLA – NOVEMBER 21, 2002

FATHER NICHOLAS S. RASHFORD, S.J.

Jesuit: Priest, Visionary, University President, Ambassador,

Counselor, Activist, Leader

Father Nicholas S. Rashford, S.J., commenced his tenure as President in 1986 by reaching across almost three centuries to summon with emphasis the liaison and protection which the Philadelphia Quakers of the 1730’s afforded the Jesuits and their Willings Alley mission, for he insisted that the ceremony of his installation as President include a convocation at the Philadelphia Friends Meeting House at 4th and Arch Streets, where Quaker and Jesuit philosophers alike illuminated the mirror essence of the Quaker process of consensus and the Jesuit procedure of communal discernment.

It became evident soon thereafter that here was a leader who realized that the off-campus perception of a bright new era was as important as the reality of enhanced scholarship upon the campus.

A versatile artist who uses different styles for different subjects, his lively palette and bright brush portrayed the concept and enlivened the depiction of each new project. No one would see him as an impressionist, for his work relied upon the realism which attends all phases of academia, education, funding, construction, and, very importantly, moving from respectability to prominence.

He eschewed any tendency to be provisional, and suppressed any inclination to be tentative, for by nature he is decisive, moving always in a steady, straight line within confirmed circles of certainty both as to goal, and as to method, projecting all the while not simply tone but real presence – always, it would seem, with energy undiminished.

Traditionalist by vocation, modernist when compelled, his effort was never intermittent or uneven, but always purposeful and unflagging. While quick to address tensions along the way, he would not permit disagreement to distract his attention from the next item on his agenda, for while diplomacy is desirable, it must never delay, for commitment compels the course to be both stayed and pursued swiftly.

He blended charm with zeal to recruit to his Board those who, with wry smile for his ambition, shared his vision, matched his zeal, and marched to the cadence he set in achieving that vision. While reality did not anoint the hope of some that populist alums be named to the Board of Trustees to complement the cavalcade of corporate thought and culture he brought to the Board of Trustees, it may not be disputed that it was his vision and direction (1) that effected an enlightened and pragmatic revision of the curriculum, (2) that triggered a vast expansion of the campus and its buildings, and (3) that attracted a credentialed faculty and a vibrant scholarly student body – a synergy which has redefined Hawk Hill as a citadel of education which has bridged City Line and thereby forged a bond, nay a union, between city and suburb, a union celebrated by the pageantry of crimson and grey banners which effectively changed that course of City Line to University Way.

Thinkers get medals … doers get monuments. Father Rashford is ever so worthy of both, because it was he, this exceptional son of Ignatius, who has enabled St. Joe’s to soar into the 21st Century and to climb and to climb.

And so it is that the members of the SJCLA

rise in acclaim and snap to salute

in gratitude to

Father Nicholas S. Rashford of the Society of Jesus.

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