Marianist Educational Associates
Reprinted from the University of Dayton Campus News

Catholic and Marianist universities are faced with the challenge of retaining their distinct heritage and traditions at a time when the number of vowed religious on campus is declining, and the number of lay faculty and administrators is increasing.

"When there are fewer vowed religious, how do you stay a Marianist institution?" asked Father Paul Marshall, S.M., director of UD's new Marianist Educational Associates program designed by the Association of Marianist Universities to address this concern.

"There can't just be someone in leadership saying that we're Marianist. A lot of people need to be committed to that vision," he said.

Last June, 10 UD faculty, staff and administrators committed themselves to that vision, along with representatives from St. Mary's University and Chaminade University, by participating in the intense four-day Marianist Educational Associates pilot formation program held on UD's campus.

"The religious have committed themselves to a way of life-here are lay people saying that [they] will make the same commitment," Marshall said.

As the associates learned during their training, lay leadership has always been an important part of the Marianist tradition.

"The foundation of the Marianists didn't start with priests or religious," Marshall said. "It started with lay people making the commitment to Christianize France when the Church was oppressed during the French Revolution. That's the Marianist spirit and the MEAs make the commitment to live and promote the Marianist way of life."

Jessica Gonzalez, assistant director of admission, completed the Marianist Educational Associates training.

"This was a great way to officially bring my commitment to the Marianist tradition and history of the university to a higher level," she said. "This is a wonderful opportunity for lay people to almost be in partnership with the order in maintaining the values, identity and mission of UD as a Catholic and Marianist university."

The program didn't end with the end of training. The associates meet together every five to six weeks to discuss common readings about Catholic higher education and to ask themselves hard questions about the future of the University.

"We're all busy people and finding time is difficult, but we've been very good," Marshall said. "If you are Marianist that means you are going to be a community and that means you've got to get together."

Though busy, Paul Benson, associate dean for integrated learning and curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Marianist Educational Associate, is glad to take the time to meet together.

"Thinking about the special challenges in higher education and Catholic and Marianist universities is a valuable thing to do, and we don't usually have the time," he said. "We challenge each other to think critically about where UD is headed and should be headed. The sessions are very honest and very probing."

The challenge now facing the associates, as a group and individually, is what their role should be on campus.

"We've got the big picture figured out," Marshall said. "The question is how do you assert yourself. The other universities are figuring this out as well."

Individually, Gonzalez has found ways to apply her training. She encourages her staff to attend Marianist events on campus and arranges informal staff lunches with Marianist brothers. In the recruiting cycle, she has strengthened the University's already existing ties to Marianist high schools.

"I see [these activities] as reminding us that in our day-to-day work, let's remember we're working in a Marianist institution and be inspired by the tradition," she said.

As executive director of the Association of Marianist Universities, Brother Raymond Fitz, S.M., develops the content for the formation program and works with the directors of the three universities' programs to facilitate dialogue and share ideas.

For Benson this dialogue among the Marianist universities was the highlight of the training.

"The single most valuable element [of the program] is a better appreciation for what holds Marianist universities together and appreciation for the interesting ways we are different," he said.

The training allowed the associates from all three universities to form relationships, and Benson hopes that the original group will have the chance to meet again.

"We serve very different sorts of students, but we were able to think about our common values and where we're all headed in an intense setting -that's really powerful," he said.

Benson's participation in the program as a non-Catholic represents another important change facing Marianist universities -the increasing religious diversity of the faculty and staff.

"The question for the Catholic and Marianist identity of UD, as faculty becomes increasingly diverse in religious background, is how do you maintain a clear sense of the university's mission in a way that includes everyone and appreciates their contributions?" he asked. "I'm grateful to think about these things with people who are willing to listen to me though I'm not a Catholic myself."

Benson's fellow associate Amy Lopez, director of Kennedy Union, finds that it is helpful to have non-Catholics in the group, she said.

"The variety of the people involved make it so interesting," she added. "We always seem to come up with more questions about what's next for us as a group and individuals."

UD's Marianist Educational Associates, including Lopez, Gonzalez and Benson, are Tom Burkhardt II, vice president for finance and administrative services; Daniel J. Curran, University president; Father Gene Contadino, S.M., director of Marianist outreach; Dick Ferguson, executive director of the Fitz Center; Mary Morton, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Fred Pestello, provost; Joan McGuinness Wagner, director of Marianist strategies; and Shirley Wright, associate professor of biology.

They were nominated last year by Marianists, administrators and members of the rector's council. Each was asked to apply, and 10 were chosen from approximately 70 applications. This year's associates will be selected from the remaining applicants to attend the formation program at Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii. Reflecting on the program's success so far, Fitz is pleased.

"It's going very well. With any kind of new enterprise, it's easy to put it down on paper and much more difficult to make it happen," he said. "It is important to continue on the track that we have. We will be refining next year what we did in the first year."

It still hasn't been decided what the relationship between the new associates and this year's associates will be but Gonzalez, Benson and Lopez are sure that they want to stay involved with the program.

"For as long as I'm here I don't want this to end," Gonzalez said.