“A Sense of Worship” ft. Saint Joseph’s University’s Cheryl A. McConnell I Saturdays at Seven – Season Two, Episode Forty

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In the fortieth episode of the second season of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Cheryl A. McConnell, President of Saint Joseph’s University. McConnell begins by discussing how ethical leadership emerged for her as an area of interest and eventually even became an area of expertise. Part of that emergence has to do with her background as a practitioner and as a scholar in accounting, a discipline which often asks for moral decisions to be made for which no preset battery of answers exist. As a result, moral formation must continue incrementally as one grows as a leader in the profession, allowing for ethical decision making to be reflexive or habitual. McConnell discusses the transition she made from serving as an accounting practitioner to an accounting scholar and how that process of discernment was set into motion when the firm for which she worked asked her to lead training seminars for junior colleagues. The transition she made from being a dean to a provost and now to a president was rooted in a discernment process that existed at the intersection of an institution’s leadership needs and the intrinsic joy she derived from the work. The one limitation McConnell shares that she set was that her willingness to serve where needed was limited to Jesuit colleges and universities due to her abiding belief in the missions of those institutions and the charisms that animate them. As provost and then as president of Saint Joseph’s University, McConnell explores how she and her colleagues fostered relationships with institutions in Philadelphia that would allow the university to expand its service in the health sciences. She then closes by discussing how the Jesuit institutions in Philadelphia work together to provide orientation for new board members along with ongoing formation.

Todd Ream: Welcome to Saturdays at Seven, Christian Scholar’s Review’s conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. My name is Todd Ream. I have the privilege of serving as the publisher for Christian Scholar’s Review and as the host for Saturdays at Seven. I also have the privilege of serving on the faculty and the administration at Indiana Wesleyan University.

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Our guest is Cheryl A. McConnell, President of St. Joseph’s University. Thank you for joining us.

Cheryl McConnell: My pleasure to be here.

Todd Ream: As you advanced in your career, the need for ethical leadership has emerged as one of the issues most important to you. I want to start by asking, why is that the case and how do you recognize ethical leadership in the age in which we live?

Cheryl McConnell: So it’s interesting when you think about ethical development of an individual and it often goes back to family roots, disciplinary roots, or something happened in an individual’s development where they grew this sense where ethics was really important to them.

To me, it has a disciplinary base. My discipline in college is my undergraduate degree and my master’s degree is accounting. And in accounting there is a strong code of ethics and there is a strong need to have accountability, honesty, integrity in what you do. You know, I think, I think it’s a real formative time in college, which is one of the reasons why I think it’s so great about what we do as, as Catholic universities is to instill that sense of ethics in individuals, whether they’re of the Catholic faith or no faith is that sense of ethics and importance. And so for me, that’s where it developed.

And so I have carried that with me throughout my career even, it was about three years working as a CPA, and then I translated into higher education. But it’s been important to me in higher education as well. And I think we’re all leading and we’re all leading all the time. And so people are watching us.

And so, you know, behaving ethically, being honest, taking accountability for when you’re right and for when you’re wrong is a real important thing for me as an individual and I think that it’s served me well throughout my entire career.

Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you. Would you be willing to share a story or two that highlight the difference that ethical leadership can make and does make in higher education?

Cheryl McConnell: A story back when I was a junior faculty member, and for those of you that may not know what a junior faculty member is, it’s an untenured faculty member. So you’re on a tenure track, but you’re not yet tenured. And most of the time people that are untenured but on a tenure track are very careful about what they do and what they say. Because it’s difficult, right? It’s, I mean, you can get crosswise with people.

I remember a particular case where I was in the business school and you know, we were meeting and we were talking with an individual about their performance. And so all the faculty members were talking and they were having an open discussion with the individual there in the room about challenges in this individual’s performance. And as I was sitting there listening to this, I thought, wow, this is all kinds of wrong.

This is all kinds of wrong and why are my colleagues not, why are my tenured colleagues not saying anything and why is no one else standing up to this? And it went on until I could not take it anymore. And I said, time out. I mean, this is wrong. This is absolutely wrong. What we’re doing here, this conversation that we’re having is wrong.

And so that’s, that’s an example of how important it is to call that out and to, to stand up for what’s right, even when it can put you at risk. So that’s a, that’s an example of, of when I would have done it and I was very thankful that then other people, it emboldened other people to, to stand up and say, yeah, you’re right, this is wrong and we need to do this a different way and let’s, you know, let’s terminate this right now. And boy, I mean the poor woman was in tears going through all of that. It was just wrong.

Todd Ream: Yeah. Ethical leadership is often most readily recognized in moments when there’s sort of a point, an acute point that sort of comes to the surface, someone’s feelings, you know, or perceptions of their value in the vocation might be called into question in terms of what you’re just talking about. How do we then also benefit from ethical leadership when it’s exercised by our colleagues in even mundane circumstances and circumstances that may not get noticed or may not register at least immediately?

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah, I think, I think when you think broadly, I think we, we often look at national leaders or world leaders and say, wow, this is when they exhibited something that really was important. And I think that’s what you’re talking about.

I think in organizations though, I think those moments are rare. And I think what is far more common is individuals that are doing things on an ethical basis that need to be recognized in the moment and every day. I encourage all of my cabinet members to do that on an ongoing basis. When I see it, call it out. And it is that everyday leadership that is the most important thing to do.

So I’m sitting here on beautiful Hawk Hill campus in Philadelphia and right outside my window, tours are going by all the time, and I see faculty members that are going to class but pause and have a great conversation with a potential student. And they don’t have to do that, right? They don’t have to engage with them. They could have their nose down, but really the mission of the university and the importance of the development of the individual is every day for them.

So they’re doing it and then the next time I see them, I will say, you know what? I noticed you took the time to do that. Thank you for taking the time to do that. So it’s recognizing it when you see it and recognizing it at every moment, whether that is walking across the quad and picking up trash as you see it and not, not just letting it go for someone else. We’re all leading and we’re leading all the time.

Todd Ream: Yeah. How can we then attune ourselves to more readily express our appreciation for these forms of ethical leadership that are exercised in these small moments that, you know, may otherwise, you know, I’ll admit, escape me you know, in terms of how I go through the paces of my day?

Cheryl McConnell: So Jesuits have a process and, and probably other faiths do as well about an examen. And that is a daily examen and I do it absolutely daily whether it’s first thing in the morning or whether it’s before I go to bed at night. And it is essentially saying, when was I at my best? You know, what, when was I at my best today and, and what led me to be at my best and recognizing that within the context of everything that happens during the day and what am I grateful for, what do I have the opportunity for?

And then, then when was I not at my best? And then how do I put my mindset, right? How do I put my being right for the following day so that doesn’t happen again. So how do we do this and express that kind of gratitude and recognition? You put it in those daily reflections. And so for me, it’s like when I, when I do my examen at night or in the morning, help me see the goodness, help me see and recognize the goodness in people throughout the day, and then bring that up in the conversations, whether it’s with my vice presidents or whether it’s with my, with my team that I see at walking around is inserting that throughout the day. So it becomes a practice and that practice is the most important part.

Todd Ream: Yeah, are there other practices when we think about the moral formation of the next generation of leaders in higher education that you would also seek to include or that you would also encourage?

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah, when we think about the development and, and here I’m going to talk about the development of traditional students from the ages, like 18 to 22 because quite a, quite a moral formation time right there, even though we do development for shorter term and we do graduate work and all that, I’m gonna, I’m gonna concentrate on that, that 18 to to 22.

Jesuit pedagogy has an, it is called Ignatian pedagogy has a practice where an individual, as a faculty member goes into a situation, and they say, I am going to first of all understand the context of what I’m walking into. And then I’m going to engage with the difficulty of the situation, reflect on it, and then purposefully turn to action and that’s an Ignatian pedagogy cycle.

Let me give you a story. When I was a faculty member, first time, I was in faculty orientation first-year, and I was at a Jesuit university in Kansas City. And of course I come in as an accountant and we’re going around the room introducing ourselves and one of the questions was, what do you hope for for your students? Well, my response was, I want to have the highest CPA exam pass rate in the state, right? I’m a very competitive person, you know, really all in and quality in the rigor.

At the break, one of the Jesuits pulled me aside and he said, Cheryl, is that all you hope for, for your students? And I was like, okay, I think I need to listen to this. This is good, this is a good lesson. Of course, it’s not all that I hope for for my students, but that, you know, coming from a corporation and coming from, from a, you know, a business standpoint, that’s what I valued the most.

So what did that teach me? It taught me that this kind of formation is so much more important and not that, not that professional success isn’t important. That’s table stakes. Of course, we need to do that. But the moral formation, the service to others, the development of the individual on a holistic basis to be able to serve the world is more important.

And quite frankly, Todd, I feel, I feel like that’s a sense of worship for me. It’s the way that I’m serving God and the way that I’m worshiping God is by being true to this, being true to the mission and being true to reflecting the way that we develop individuals holistically.

Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. I want to transition now to asking you about some biographical details. So we’re gonna go back to that time, even before you were a junior faculty member there. But you earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Wichita State University, and then a doctoral degree in higher education from St. Louis University. And as you’ve mentioned, you’re a certified public accountant, but you haven’t mentioned yet, you’re also a fraud examiner too. So some of us might be a little nervous now going through this conversation as a result in terms of what you know or what you can learn to know, but at what point did you discern accounting would prove to be an important component in your vocation?

Cheryl McConnell: So you go back and I have these conversations with potential students all the time, what are you interested in? Where do you see yourself going? When I went to college, I did not see myself becoming an accountant. In fact, I was pre-med. I was pre-med until my first anatomy course. It is not surprising that after that first anatomy course I went running to my academic advisor’s office and said, okay, what? Get me out of here. What are some other options here?

And so I went into business and I found that the accounting courses were as, as natural to me as breathing. One of the challenges though, is that people often think of accounting as black and white. They think of accounting as only the financial reporting aspect of it, and accounting is actually quite rich. And it’s rich in that there’s areas of financial reporting, but there’s also areas of fraud examination. There’s areas of managerial accounting, which means how to help organizations make really good decisions, not based on financial reports, but based on costs and cost analysis.

So all of those were really important and I found that as I entered higher education, it was mostly important for me to help students understand how to use financial information to make really good decisions, decisions that helped organizations meet their mission move forward. And it is not black and white. In fact, so many shades of gray that I think that’s again where that ethical point came for me is to be able to educate students within that context and then, then also really help organizations succeed.

Todd Ream: And perhaps the answer or an answer to this question in terms of in what ways does accounting contribute to the common good?

Cheryl McConnell: So I think, I remember when I was interviewing for president and provost here at St. Joe’s University, there is a natural hesitance for individuals when they know that I have accounting degrees, that I’m going to look at things through a financial lens. And that’s the only lens from which I would approach problems or approach, approach things. And there’s no question that, that, again, data and economics model of higher education, natural to me as breathing.

But I haven’t been a practicing accountant for 35 years, right? I’ve been a higher education professional for 35 years. And that’s the lens from which I make decisions now, but that’s based on that, that foundation of what accounting and economics comes to bring to a culture. An organization cannot be successful. And you’ve heard the phrases so many times. You know no margin, no mission. You can’t be a sustainable organization without being a stable organization.

And so accounting is one way to help individuals know how to make those decisions, to help it be financially sustainable, whether it’s a nonprofit or whether it’s a, it’s a for-profit. The really important thing for me was always to educate individuals for making those ethical decisions and for building those decision making processes that put the financial questions within a context.

The thing that makes the most financial or profitable sense may not be the right decision. And you need to understand the fullness and richness of that. That’s where I think accounting done right, really contributes to society.

Todd Ream: Thank you. You mentioned you’ve been in higher education now 35 years. That point in time when you made the transition from practicing accounting to higher education, can you explain a little bit more about the discernment process that led you to make that transition?

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah I worked for one of the largest accounting firms in the world and they had a training center in Chicago. And at one point when I was two or three years, two years I think into my CPA work, they asked me to come down and train new staff.

And so when I went to the training center in Chicago, they did some really great work. They, you know, they videotaped individuals. They helped you understand how to train new staff and how to facilitate discussions. And I remember going through that process and thinking, wow, this brings me joy.

This brings me more satisfaction than doing the actual work. And so I knew at that time, this is something A, that I’m good at. And, and B, really feeds my soul and really could make a difference. So it was at that time that I thought, okay, you know what, I’m going to be open to opportunities now for teaching and education. And so that’s when I started pursuing a different path for myself and started out in becoming an accounting professor.

Todd Ream: So one of the major accounting firms then, that also had a training center in Chicago, it sounds like Arthur Anderson, uh.

Cheryl McConnell: Todd, you notice how I didn’t mention that name right away?

Todd Ream: Well, at one time that was what it was, you know, perhaps most well known for was the professional training that they would offer to their employees and encourage them, use as a means of encouragement for them.

Cheryl McConnell: It was also a highly ethical firm at one time.

Todd Ream: Yeah, yeah.

Cheryl McConnell: The reason why I don’t mention the name now is because of course they went out of business for doing something unethical.

Todd Ream: Yeah.

Cheryl McConnell: I wish that I could tell you that I foresaw that coming, looking back it now, I could see seeds. I could see seeds of a relentless pursuit of profit at the risk of some decision making. But all in all, I mean, the roots of my work there, the roots of my education there and development there was, was highly good and, and, and highly ethical. I think it’s a great story about how organizations can lose their way. 

Todd Ream: Yeah, yeah, very much so. Thank you. Would you describe then in addition to that experience you had at the Arthur Anderson Training Center, you know what sort of intrinsic joy you derive from working, say in an educational setting and in particular, in a Jesuit educational setting?

Cheryl McConnell: So when I looked for positions, when I knew it was time to leave my former institution, I had been there 30 years. I knew I only wanted to go look at Jesuit universities because I believe in, in how they do, the way that we do education and how important that was.

But the intrinsic joy in doing this kind of work is to see the transformation of an individual and see the differences that you can make in an individual’s life trajectory, even if it doesn’t go into accounting. I mean, that’s not the be all and end all. It is taking an individual and helping them achieve their full potential. And that’s why I talk about how, to me it’s a form of worship because if you don’t take that perspective, you are diminishing God’s good world by that individual not becoming the most of what he or she can be.

So that’s the joy of being part of that journey, that everlasting spiral toward goodness and, and toward making the world what it can be and what it’s called to be.

Todd Ream: So over the course of that career then you’ve had in higher education, you mentioned the other institution that was Rockhurst University in the Kansas City area. And then you came all, well, halfway across the country, depending on one’s perspective, all the way across the country, maybe from Kansas as if California is not out there, but yes middle way to Philadelphia then. Would you talk a little bit about mentors that poured into you as you made the discernment process in terms of a faculty member, but then also as an educational administrator and leader?

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah, the strongest mentor, I learned how to lead by watching other leaders, right? And one of the best leaders that I ever saw, and, and he’s still, he’s on my board of trustees now, is Father Tom Curran. He was president of Rockhurst University when I was there. And what I saw in him was an incredible dedication to the mission.

And that he would do several things. He would engage with students. He would lead by example. And he always said, judge me and my success by the foundational elements of the university and the consistency with mission. So he had that voice and carried that voice of the mission every moment. And that’s how I learned to speak about that as the leader of the institution. That is my job is to carry that voice and to carry the mission. So I would see him do that all the time. He’s just an incredible, incredible man.

Another mentor of mine was Anita Salem. And she was a dean at the time, and then she was a Carnegie Scholar and we had an initiative about the Carnegie Foundation, about scholarship of teaching and learning. And I remember talking with her many times about that as I was involved in the leadership of that and talking about the challenges that I had as an untenured faculty member or then a tenured faculty member that was taking on additional responsibilities— program director, department chair, and all of that.

And then, you know, keeping that research vibrant and keeping those, those investigations vibrant and, and I remember to this day, and I tell it to people to this day, she looked at me and she said, Cheryl, when you decide it’s important enough to do, you will find the time to do it. And when you, and she said, when you write is when you learn. And so I have said that over and over and over again to people when they have come into my office about, wow, I’m really struggling with this. I don’t have time to do this. When it becomes important enough to you, you will have, you will find time.

I have a colleague here and, and she’s, she’s lovely. Her name is Aimee Terosky. She has a conversation with herself every year about what priorities do I want to set and what do I have to break up with? And I love that concept, right, because you can’t do it all. And, and so you have to say, well, what are my priorities and how do I do this? And if this is a priority now, how do I fit it in and how do I make it important enough to me so that I do it? So that was great mentoring advice that I received through the years.

Todd Ream: Yeah. Are there any authors then who have proved more formative to you than perhaps some others in terms of how you’ve come to understand your sense of vocation?

Cheryl McConnell: There are three. One is Kevin O’Brien. Two of them are Jesuits, Kevin O’Brien and Jim Martin, Father James Martin. Both of those are wonderful. They guide my spiritual life. They are helpful in the habits of reflection, so both of them are ones and over my right shoulder here is the one I’m currently using for meditation. It’s Father Kevin O’Brien’s.

Another author though is David [Joseph] Badarracco. Check me on that last name. We can find that he wrote a book and it’s quite dated now, probably 20, 25 years old. And it’s called Defining Moments, and it’s about the challenges between two competing rights. So it’s not right versus wrong, it’s when the challenges are really difficult. I wish I could tell you that the ethical analysis was pretty profound. And it’s not that I didn’t find the ethical analysis particularly profound, but what I found really profound in, in his work on that Defining Moments is he went through three examples.

One with a, was a personal ethical dilemma. Number two was an individual organizational dilemma, where an individual had had competing rights for an individual at work, and then the work itself. And we often call that the difference between Cura Apostolica and Cura Personalis. I mean dealing with those competing rights. I have a responsibility to the individual and I have a responsibility to the organization. And so that was his second example.

The third example was someone in a position of leadership that had a responsibility to a greater good or a greater society. I’ve always reflected on that in that, particularly now that I’m president of the university, that I have those dilemmas of number two and number three and growingly those dilemmas of the number three is that the work that I do really contributes larger to the world than just from St. Joseph’s University.

Todd Ream: Yeah, yeah. Thank you very much. I want to ask you then about the portion of time you spent at Rockhurst and how your sense of vocation developed there, faculty member, department chair, dean, those years when maybe you were, you know, trying to do even more as a junior faculty member. How did that shape, how that shaped sense of vocation and how it was shaped take place in particular as you made the transition from full-time faculty member to faculty member and administrator?

Cheryl McConnell: So I have the traditional background of starting out as a faculty member and then taking on those additional administrative roles. And that often happens with female faculty members. But it can happen with all genders. So again, program director department chair, associate dean equivalent, and then stepping in as dean.

But in almost all of those cases, I didn’t pursue the path for myself. I was asked to do so. I was asked to become a department chair. I was asked to become a program director. I was asked to become faculty chair that evaluated faculty members in the universities. And I was asked to step in as interim dean, when a particular dean left at the university.

I wouldn’t call myself a reluctant leader, but I didn’t pursue the leadership positions. What I found is that after six months or so, I was waking up happier. I was challenged by, intellectually challenged and emotionally challenged by the problems that were being presented. And I always then at the point of I can’t imagine anybody else stepping in this position and doing the work. And that’s when I would throw my hat into the ring.

And I did that for, when I went from interim dean to the full dean of the business school dean. And I remember my conversation with Father Tom Curran and I said, you know, I think I want to apply for this job. He said, great, do it. And you have to earn it. So you throw your hat in the ring, but you’re gonna go through the same rigorous process.

And that was important, right? I mean, you know that from being at a university. The individual that is selected has to go through that rigorous process to know that they are the right person to do that. So that is how I transitioned to the dean at the business school.

And then I kept on intellectually wanting additional challenges. So I would, I would go to my provost and say, well, what kind of special project, you know, how much more can I contribute? What more can I do? And so I became an associate provost and while I was in the dean position, I think the thing that killed me was when there was a turnover in the dean of another school and I was dean of two schools at the same time. Yeah, so my philosophy is say yes when you’re presented with opportunities. That was one that actually is for me to have said yes, because I’m not sure I’d be sitting right here without having said yes there. But that was a challenge for sure.

Todd Ream: There may be a cautionary tale in that. Because I was thinking when you were talking in particular about going to the provost and asking that person for additional, you know, is there any ways you could be of greater service to the institution, what provost would say no to that? And then come back and say, I have two deanships.

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah. Yeah.

Todd Ream: Yeah. 

Cheryl McConnell: But, you know, that kind of putting yourself, volunteering for that work is what gives you the experiences that allows you then to be successful when you’re ready to take that next step. And that for me was when my provost came to me, he said, Cheryl, you’re ready to be provost. I’m not going anywhere. So let’s, you know, let’s find a good place for you because this is, this is what you’re good at and this is where you should, this is where you should go.

Todd Ream: Wow. And even, even though that person meant that it was going to mean losing you

Cheryl McConnell: Correct.

Todd Ream: In terms of service, gaining you as a colleague, as a provost of a sister institution.

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah.

Todd Ream: But losing you as a direct colleague at that institution, that’s, that’s quite a gift. 

Cheryl McConnell: I would love to be known for that here. And I think I do that here is developing my own leaders here at St. Joe’s. And then it’s a gift that I have if they choose to go, because I’m, I have developed that next generation. It’s all, again, it’s a part of the process. We’re developing students, we’re developing leaders. That’s our role for that.

Todd Ream: That role as provost then is what brought you, despite my inability to discern geography well, halfway across the country to Philadelphia and to St. Joseph’s University. Would you describe the process then that brought you there and how you went about assessing opportunities that were before you when you came to St. Joseph’s as a new leader, but also as a new colleague?

Cheryl McConnell: You know, there were several provost opportunities available and so I interviewed for several possibilities. What I liked about St. Joe’s is that it was a challenge, but also the commitment to the mission was really evidenced by how it engaged with the greater Philadelphia community on a large scale.

So, you know, we have centers and institutes here that do tremendous work with the autism environment, with centers for addiction and recovery education, the Arupe Center for Ethical Leadership. And I wanted to be at a place that lived the mission in a way that was demonstrable and that then made an impact on, on the region. Believe it or not, the Kansas to Philly thing didn’t bother me at all. Didn’t bother me at all.

Now, some of my colleagues said, oh my gosh, you are not going to like Philly. I like Philly a lot. I like Philly a lot. You know, in the Midwest, people are very, very kind and they’re giving. They are in Philly too. They’re just really clear about what they think. I like that.

Todd Ream: My experience was none of those people were on the Schuylkill Expressway the same time I was in Philadelphia. But I’m in town, sure.

Cheryl McConnell: So there is a distinction between Philly driving. I have to say that I was down, I was going to Center City today, and I, you know, you just have to get your toughness on when you’re, when you’re merging to the Schuylkill and, and hear the horns. It’s all there. It’s all there.

Todd Ream: No, and Philadelphia certainly has great neighborhoods and great restaurants and a long and distinguished culture there too, yeah.

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah, it’s a great place. I really love it.

Todd Ream: Partnerships then, as you saw them, or experiences that were taking place within Philadelphia that could be enhanced in greater ways by forging relationships with St. Joseph’s.

Cheryl McConnell: So I arrived to be Provost in June of 2019, and of course, doing the math, you know, that the world shut down in March of 2020. So led the institution through, you know, that really, that really difficult time.

But what also happened during that time is that the university had a strategic plan to look at partnerships, alliances, acquisitions that made sense. You know, St. Joe’s at the time had three schools, the Business College of Arts and Sciences, and a School of Education and Human Development. We have a large footprint in healthcare. And so we didn’t have nursing, we didn’t have occupational therapy, physical therapy. I was very familiar with those from my former institution.

So the university was doing the right thing by exploring those. And so even during the pandemic, we explored those kind of alliances or uh or strategic partnerships. And it turns out that within the last three years, we have completed two acquisitions of other universities. So St. Joe’s now is about 8,500 to 9,000 students, and before it was maybe 6,000 students. And we’ve added programs and locations in the programs in occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, physician assistant and nursing through the second acquisition.

What’s interesting in those acquisitions too, is that they were acquisitions of secular institutions. They were not Jesuit, they were not Christian, they were not affiliated with any religious order at all. So it was interesting even through the negotiation process and through the due diligence and vetting process, we were very clear about who we are and what kind of approach that we take to education.

And so at the highest levels with the board of trustees at those institutions and the presidents of those institutions really valued what it is and saw very little difference between their missions and our mission and how we exhibited that. So I can tell you that’s true from the leadership standpoint of both institutions. But that wasn’t necessarily true throughout both communities.

Particularly the acquisition of University of the Sciences, a lot of individual students and faculty members saw a distinct difference between faith and reason. The Catholic faith and science, yeah. And their whole name was University of the Sciences. There’s, there was such a misunderstanding between that, you know, within Catholic and Christian universities, we don’t make that distinction between faith and reason. Faith and reason can coexist and coexist all the time.

So it has been, it has been really interesting as we have gone through the integration process and finding that opportunity to have those open discussions and having that open mission integration so that we more fully understand and embrace what we have to share. 

Todd Ream: Thank you, thank you very much. The discernment process then that led you to embrace being appointed as president of St. Joseph’s University how would you describe that? And then what are your sort of near term and long term goals for service in that role?

Cheryl McConnell: So similar to when I was dean at Rockhurst University, I was appointed interim president here at St. Joe’s. And I was appointed interim, almost three years ago. And true to form, I said, don’t want the position, not throwing my hat into the ring. And yet again, six months into the job while the search was underway, I kept on coming into the understanding that I really, I was, I was really enjoying it and I really could not see someone else leading the institution that I loved. And understanding the mission to the point that the institution could still make that incredible progress. And then really praying about whether I have the gifts to give.

So then I threw my head into the ring and went through the process to do that. So it’s, I’m in my third year now, and so I was appointed president then after, in that search committee, and I’m in my third year now from interim, and then two years now as president. As I said, those years have been full of acquisitions and mission integration.

And now as we sit here and talk, I know that this podcast will live on but now as we are alive and experiencing this moment, there’s chaos in higher education at the federal level and, and it’s coming from all sides. So I think about this in, and let me distinguish between the kind of leadership that was necessary during Covid and the kind of leadership that’s necessary now.

So as a provost, when Covid happened, you kind of have to have all the tools in your toolkit for leadership. When it starts, you have command and control. We had students all across the world, you’ve got to bring them home, you’ve gotta keep your community safe, you’ve gotta do all these things. And you had to take control of that. And then very quickly as, as we learned that the crisis was going to last a while, then you open it back up and you know that to be successful, you’ve got to be collaborative. You got to lean on the knowledge and expertise of others.

And so as a provost, I put together 11 different working groups that had executive sessions about how the institution was going to respond and the choices that we make that balance the safety of, of the individuals, but yet also continues the education of students and their mental health through this really, really tough time. So I often classify that as leading through crisis. So when you’re leading through crisis, crisis, one common enemy, you marshal all your resources for that.

Within the next couple of years, this is leadership during a time of chaos. And what’s happening now is that there is no one common enemy, that it is coming from all sides. When we think about the challenges that are there, you know, we’ve got challenges of immigration, the attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The attack on research and the nature of what higher education institutions do, an attack on curriculum and about what we teach and how we should teach. I mean, it’s coming from all sides.

And so my job now and for the foreseeable future, is to keep us focused, strong, and steady on what we do. So number one, you need to provide stability and you need to, you need to really communicate to your institution that you are mission-driven, here’s what you always believe in.

And then you have to give them the encouragement to stay focused on what it is that they do. We cannot achieve what we need to achieve if we’re distracted by all the chaos. Let me handle that. Let me give them confidence that I’m on it. I’m on it. Our cabinet’s on it. You keep doing the good work that you do, and I will, you know, I’ll communicate with you when, when I, when I can and when it’s appropriate. But I’m not gonna communicate with you every two weeks because it’s chaos. But what do I need to communicate? Strong and steady.

I have a phrase that will be the title of our next strategic plan, and it’s a phrase that I talk with my community about a lot, and it’s always forward, and it’s not always forward, period. It’s always, period. Forward, period. And so that’s the essence of really focusing on what are our foundational principles and mission that we will always, always, always do.

And for us it’s, you know, the Jesuit charisms. It’s the Jesuit mission. Being a Jesuit university and serving the Society of Jesus and its apostolic preferences, but then forward, forward thinking, forward moving.

When Jesuits go into a new community, they don’t come in and take it over, right? They don’t evangelize and say everything you’ve been doing is horrible. They accompany people through it. And so that’s always part of doing how we do the work, accompanying youth in a hope-filled future, and I’m using youth as anybody that’s going through a degree process or a certification process of any kind.

But then, all Jesuits are really clear-eyed about the current nature of the world. And so that’s the forward piece is that, that you can’t face the world that you wish it was. You have clear eyes about the world as it is, and then you lead your institution through this world that is.

Todd Ream: Thank you very much. Before we close our conversation then, I want to ask you about your understanding of the academic vocation in particular, what characteristics or qualities might define it, and in what ways also, too, do the Jesuit charisms bring a sort of unique understanding to bear in terms of how you understand the academic vocation?

Cheryl McConnell: I think in my mind it’s changed over time and, and I think my understanding about the academic vocation 30-years ago is different from what I understand the academic vocation to be today. 30-years from ago, I would’ve said that my loyalty was to my discipline and to the advancement of my discipline and the sharing of my discipline. And, and you see this in the research for many faculty members. They have a higher degree of, of commitment to the discipline than they do unnecessarily to an institution.

That’s changed to me over time because I see that— and maybe that’s just a function of rising through an organization where you become a greater understanding about the holistic nature of what it is that you do but I’ve been trying to work with my own community about this too, is that for higher education to succeed, we cannot be tied or moored to one concept of how it used to run, whether it’s 10-years ago, 15-years ago, 20, 30-years ago.

There’s been more change in higher education in the last five years than there has been in the last 30-years put together. So, you know, my, my thoughts of the academic vocation now is to be an individual and be a leader that really has those clear eyes and can and can see where the institution needs to be and to see how higher education can be impactful for individuals now and in the future, not hearkening back to what is or becoming unsuccessfully moored in something that is, that is there.

I love my favorite course in my PhD study was the history of higher education. And when you think back a hundred years, there’s nothing much that’s the same about higher education now than it was a hundred years ago. You know, that’s, that’s, that’s our job is to look at the future and try to make sure that we’re relevant now and, and in the future while still having that always peace, which is that Jesuit part for us about care of the individual, the care of, you know, care of our common home.

For Jesuit universities, we are measured, as whether or not we are succeeding in supporting the Jesuit work and the apostolic preferences. For us, that’s called the Mission Priority Examen, and that’s how institutions retain their Jesuit sponsorship by the Society of Jesus. 

Todd Ream: Thank you. When seeking to exercise such an understanding of the academic vocation, then are there particular virtues that you believe are most important to cultivate? 

Cheryl McConnell: Honesty. And that goes back to the conversation we had at the first honesty. Humility, I think, is an important virtue, and I think that that’s the opposite of advice that can get individuals in higher education into trouble, which is pride, false pride or the lack of humility.

In higher education, we are some of the most educated individuals. We stumble when we think we’re the smartest people in the room— we’re the only smart people in the room. We don’t stumble when we open up our mind and our ears to additional perspectives and with the open heart of learning from others and, and experiences walking with them as companions. So to me that’s a real important virtue, is bringing that humility, bringing that accompaniment through that.

And then, you know, the opposite of that are the vices of pride and excess that can get higher education individuals and, and institutions into trouble.

Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you. As we close then, I want to ask, in what ways is the health of the academic vocation on a Church-related university campus such as St. Joseph’s, reflective of the health of the relationship that the university shares with the Church? 

Cheryl McConnell: Yeah. Just to my right down the street about two houses is our Jesuit residence. It’s our Jesuit community and Jesuits that live there that serve the university, that serve the Jesuit high school here in Philadelphia that serve the Jesuit K-8 school here in Philadelphia. And, you know, we are sponsored by the Society of Jesus and we do everything together. So one of the great things, for example, is that all three of our Jesuit apostolates here in Philadelphia do common board of trustee orientation training together.

And so we say, well, what is it about being part of the Society of Jesus as works of the Society of Jesus do we share in common? And so we have a really robust discussion, and you really understand the richness of Jesuit higher education and Jesuit high schools, and Jesuit, you know, sponsored elementary schools and what we’re all in this together about. And then we split into institution specific orientation. So it’s that collaboration.

It’s seamless in that you can’t think of a Jesuit institution without thinking of the work of the Society of Jesus and our four apostolic preferences. It’s integrated in everything we do from curriculum to experiences to hosting Mission Week, which is, you know, just I can’t even tell you how many hundreds of events there are during that time to really say how important it is in every single thing that we do.

It’s so seamless within everything. It’s hard for me to even imagine that we’re two separate institutions, the community and the Church, the community, and the university.

Todd Ream: Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. Our guest has been Cheryl A. McConnell, President of St. Joseph’s University. Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and your wisdom with us.

Cheryl McConnell: Thank you, Todd.

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Todd Ream: Thank you for joining us for Saturdays at Seven, Christian Scholar’s Review’s conversation series with thought leaders about the academic vocation and the relationship that vocation shares with the Church. We invite you to join us again next week for Saturdays at Seven.