Vision Through Mission: Rockhurst President Reflects on Leadership in Jesuit, Catholic Higher Education
Tags: Catholic Church, Jesuiteducated, Higher Education, Kansas City, Rockhurst

Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J. (photo by Rockhurst University)

Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J. is the 14th president of Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO. He recently reflected on his role as a leader of a Jesuit, Catholic institution in an interview with Judith Mbuya for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU). This interview has been condensed and re-published here with permission from ACCU.

Q. Though you’ve been a priest for 30 years, you are fairly new to the Jesuit order. What attracted you to it and how do you translate the philosophy of Jesuit higher education to your leadership?

A. I have been trained in both the Salesian and the Ignatian traditions. The Salesian tradition is rooted in Saint Francis DeSales. Francis DeSales did the Spiritual Exercises and he maintained a Jesuit spiritual director all his life. The Salesian spirituality grew out of Ignatian spirituality. … Through my Jesuit education and my Salesian education, I received the best of both worlds. Having been educated in Jesuit schools and then working in them, I thought I clearly understood that a vocation is dynamic, that one continues to respond to God over the course of a lifetime. Yet, when the call to be a member of this society came back again and again, I realized I had not thoroughly addressed this concept.

To gain a deeper understanding, I went on a retreat and during that 30-day retreat, I raised a question to God: “Do you, or do you not, want me to be a member of the Society of Jesus?” The answer came back saying, “What I want of you is a deeper relationship.” I said, “No. The question I asked you, God is, ‘Do you, or do you not, want me to be a member of the Society?’” The answer came back, “I want a deeper relationship.” At which point I thought, “You’re not listening to me. I asked, ‘Do you, or do you not?’” The answer came back a third time saying, “No. You’re the one not listening. I want a deeper relationship. Listen to what I’m saying.”

The next message I received from God was, “I don’t call you to be a Salesian or a Jesuit. I call you to a deeper relationship. Those are means, and if this deepens that relationship, I’d bless it, but I call you to a deeper relationship.” That brought me to a place of great freedom. It was in that freedom that I pursued full entrance into the Society of Jesus. I was already in final vows when I knelt before the Superior General of the Society of Saint Francis DeSales. I was asked, “Why is it that you seek entrance into the Society of Jesus?” My answer was simple: “For the salvation of my soul.” It was a means. It’s a means that I continue to try to incorporate in the way I live.

In Jesuit parlance, we speak about a way of proceeding. This process continues to deepen my response to God. One does not need to be a Jesuit to be working at a Jesuit school. Being a Jesuit and being the leader of a school gives me an opportunity to demonstrate and commit to that process and to be authentic. I hope my leadership reflects, more than anything, an authenticity of who I am. Francis DeSales says, “Be who you are and be it well.” That was the platform for me to take final vows to become a member of the Society of Jesus.

My identity as a Jesuit is a means to deepening my relationship with God. My work at Rockhurst is a means to deepening that relationship, because ultimately all of us are called into leadership. While we’re called because of our skillset and perhaps our abilities — and there may be an alignment of the two — there’s a difference between being recruited and being called. Recruitment is about those skill sets. The call is being invited to internal transformation.

My work at Rockhurst is a means to deepening that relationship [with God], because ultimately all of us are called into leadership.

On a personal level, what forms your faith and how do you instill Ignatian values in your students?

The heart of it is a call to personal transformation. It’s a call to allow God, in the person of Jesus Christ, to accompany you and you to accompany God. In the accompaniment and the companionship, you then extend that invitation to others. In the Ignatian tradition, it’s the experience of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. You’re invited into that community and you fully embrace it by inviting others into that relationship, as well. For Ignatius, it’s all about companionship, the companionship of Jesus or, as I like to say on campus, we are all companions.

From your vantage point as both a religious and an executive, what do you consider to be the most pressing challenge for the future of Catholic higher education?

The most pressing challenge for Catholic higher education today is being faithful to the mission. The crises come, and the crises will pass. I like to call it, the crisis du jour. Today, it’s enrollment; tomorrow, it’s finances. The next day, it’s personnel. You just move from crisis to crisis. All you’re really doing is managing. At the heart of this — whether it’s enrollment or finances or personnel — is, how does the mission inform? How does the mission animate you? How does the mission invite you to that intentionality? … That mission will provide a vision of where it is you want to go.

Schools don’t close because of a lack of money or lack of students. Schools close because there was a lack of vision. The articulation of the mission and the pursuit of that mission comes about because you’ve been attentive and faithful to your mission.

Schools don’t close because of a lack of money or lack of students. Schools close because there was a lack of vision.

What core values distinguish a Jesuit-educated graduate from Rockhurst?

I like to say that our Jesuit-educated graduates have four C’s. First, they’re truly competent. They know their stuff. They’re not just good at what they do, they’re excellent and they exude competence.

Second, they are people of compassion. Though they may not be able to resolve an issue, they willingly enter the chaos of a situation. They enter the chaos of their own lives. They enter the chaos of others. They’re people of compassion.

Third, they’re people of conscience, so they’re ethical. They’re moral.

Fourth, they’re people of courage. They’re willing to be innovative. They’re willing to take risks. They’re willing to grow in, what Ignatius calls, holy indifference and recognize that they’re not called to be successful. They’re called to be faithful. Faithfulness consists in that authenticity of being competent, compassionate and courageous people of conscience.

Rockhurst is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition. Can you expound on what that means, in terms of your modes of inquiry?

Commitment to the liberal arts is commitment to an integrated, well-rounded person, someone who brings appreciation for the arts and beauty into the public square. We engage the world. We don’t see the world as evil or as dark. We see the world as good, but capable of being made better. Drawing upon the arts and the reflection and experience of that art in a demonstrable way is good citizenry.

You don’t shy away from publicly taking a stance on political issues. For example, you put out a statement regarding the situation in Nicaragua. When social justice issues are involved, is that a necessary role for leaders in Catholic higher education?

I don’t see myself as political. I see myself and our institution as being faithful to the mission. The mission means being faithful to the gospel message. The gospel message is one of adherence to and a promotion of human dignity and the common good. That’s the essence of Catholic Social Teaching. We’re all created in the image and likeness of God. It is in that likeness of God that we are called to bring about community, to foster the common good, and to encourage public virtue.

I don’t see myself as political. I see myself and our institution as being faithful to the mission.

What spiritual guidance did you offer your students during the clergy sex abuse crisis?

There are several things here. We needed to engage the issue, to speak to it honestly and authentically. We needed to apologize and ask for forgiveness and hope that forgiveness would be provided. Many have forgiven. Some are still processing. Others may not be able to forgive. I hope at some point we can experience that forgiveness.

What I never want people to do is forget. Nor should we forget who we are and what we’ve done. While I have not been accused or been involved with the abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, I am a priest and I am a leader in the church. Collectively, I need to stand with my brother priests and bishops and clerics and say that we’ve done wrong and not just sinned, in some cases we’ve committed crimes.

There’s a difference between sin and crime. We ask forgiveness for sins, but there also needs to be appropriate retribution and punishment for the crimes. I want to be sure opportunities are available to make that statement, to ask for that forgiveness, for people to know how and where to report abuses. There’s a whole variety of things that need to take place. It’s also an opportunity for us, as church leaders, to look at our whole construct and leadership. It is not just transparency, but greater oversight that is needed. Leadership must be engaged on all levels — most especially, women’s leadership in the Church must be addressed. These things are in dire need of serious discussion.

Rockhurst focuses on learning, leadership, and service. To that end, how does the university incorporate instruction of the intellect, training of the will, and formation of character into the curriculum?

It’s not just an intellectual exercise. Rockhurst is where leaders learn. You don’t come to Rockhurst to become a leader. You arrive at Rockhurst as a leader. Leadership is being intentional, and here that intention receives reflection. It’s taking what’s experienced at the school, in terms of intellectual formation, and integrating it with what’s happening in the heart. What is that doing to you in terms of the example that you will provide? It’s ongoing transformation. It’s vocational. A vocation is dynamic.

Among its accolades, Rockhurst earned a community engagement classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2010. Why is community partnership essential to your institution?

Rockhurst is an entity. It’s a person. Much like each person is called, in the Jesuit tradition, to be engaged in the world, so too does the person of Rockhurst need to be engaged in the world, locally and communally, regionally, worldwide. It’s just a natural outgrowth of who you say you are as a person — or in this case, an entity.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I like to see myself more as a prism, not the source of the light, but rather allowing the light to shine through me and being an instrument of God’s work. I’m led to think of this as not so much what I’ve done or what we have done, though I’m certainly grateful for what we have done collectively. But what’s most important to me is, have I throughout this process been authentic? Have I allowed myself to be God’s instrument that people might benefit from that? Again, back to accompaniment. This is not about Tom Curran, this is about me being an instrument in leading that.