Fall 2025 Newsletter
Fall 2025 Newsletter
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Featured Stories
Featured Stories
Holy Cross College Gives Witness to Holy Cross Charism on the World Stage
Holy Cross College Gives Witness to Holy Cross Charism on the World Stage
By Logan Edwards
Graduate Assistant for Higher Education Mission Integration
Office of Apostolic Mission and Charism
U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Leaders in Catholic higher education from Mexico and Uruguay, to Kenya, and the Philippines, recently gathered in Rome for the Conference on the Purpose of the University, hosted by the Pontifical University of Santa Croce. This initiative, born out of Santa Croce’s ten-year “University and Catholic Identity Project,” convenes educators every two years to examine a central theme in Catholic university life. Among the experts invited speak on this important topic: President Marco Clark of Holy Cross College in South Bend, IN.
In anticipation of this worldwide gathering, Santa Croce sought North American voices to help shape the conference’s expert panel. With the help of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, a delegation of faculty from Santa Croce visited South Bend to interview various faculty members and administrators from numerous colleges and universities from across the country to select a North American representative. Because of encounters with collaborators like President Clark, Provost Mike Griffin, and Vice President for Mission and Ministry Dianne Barlas, the delegation ultimately selected Holy Cross College.
“To have the opportunity to share Holy Cross's story was really quite an honor,” President Clark reflects. “I think it's no surprise that among the 225 Catholic colleges and universities in this country, they selected a Holy Cross college or university to represent on this expert panel. The way we approach education as the integration of the Catholic intellectual tradition, Catholic social teaching, and our Holy Cross mission is something to really behold.”
President Clark shared that the Conference explored three main facets of Catholic education, namely teaching, research, and the third mission. The third mission refers to how a college or university integrates its Catholic identity into its teaching and research, for the sake of community impact around its campus and world. When I asked about the “third mission,” Clark passionately commented, “For a Catholic college, the third mission is the mission. This is the first and most important, maybe the only mission of a Catholic college.”
President Marco Clark of Holy Cross College makes a contribution on an expert panel at the "Conference on the Purpose of the University"
at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome.
What made Holy Cross College stand out to Conference organizers was the way its “Integrated Curriculum,” both formed students interiorly and enacted the third mission. For Clark, the effectiveness of this curriculum can be attributed to the Holy Cross charism.
Every Holy Cross student participates in a four-year seminar sequence—Mind and Heart, the Driscoll College Seminar, the Common Good Seminar, and the Moreau Seminar. These courses, inspired by the Holy Cross charism, cultivate deep interiority, philosophical grounding, spiritual awareness, and habits of reflection. A fascinating statistic that Clark had just been made aware of prior to our meeting was that every first-year student has been recorded making at least 100 discrete contributions to their seminar class this semester. This, Clark stated, embodies a “synodal university,” where, as soon as a student arrives, they are empowered to know that their voice matters and that they can make an impact on their community. Then, throughout their future seminar experiences, students are mentored in a way that encourages them to use their education for the sake of building up the greater community.
Clark illustrated this with a story about a group of chemistry students collaborating with a professor. Together, they are testing lead used to hold stained glass panels together at churches in the South Bend area and studying ways to mitigate the health risks inherent to it. This work is on track to be published in a major chemistry journal, with students as co-authors. This, says Clark, is an example of students “not only having an amazing intellectual research experience,” but also “doing something that's good for the community.” For Clark, this is that third mission in action. They are truly developing the competence to see and the courage to act.
“We've got the language in the [Holy Cross] Constitutions. We've got the language in [Moreau's] Christian Education. We've got the language in our charism that helps us to live out what the purpose of a Catholic university is,” Clark reiterated, “and so that's what I was so excited to share [at this conference].”
Clark returned from this experience affirmed in his role as a Holy Cross collaborator. “[Holy Cross educators] are doing the right thing. We're going in the right direction, and we're meeting the needs of the world,” he reflected. “This has never been about education or formation. It's been about education and formation… We're trying to produce Catholic intellectual scholars and courageous citizens for this world and for heaven and virtuous leaders. Then [we] send our graduates out into the world as hopeful and passionate disciples.”
Clark is convinced that Holy Cross colleges and universities are poised to be leaders in higher education after his time in Rome. Furthermore, he believes that our institutions’ continued witness will propel Blessed Basil Moreau’s cause for canonization until he, like recently declared Doctor of the Church St. John Henry Newman, is declared a co-patron of education. He quoted Blessed Basil Moreau, stating “How we educate the mind will change with the times; how we cultivate the heart is and will remain timeless.” And so Clark believes that, “because the charism is timeless, it is just what the world needs; restoring the church and society, and preparing it for better times. This is what we're called to, and this is what we live every day at Holy Cross institutions.”
The recognizable doors of the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at the University of Portland
The Power and Purpose of Shared Values at UP
The Power and Purpose of Shared Values at UP
By Fr. John Donato, C.S.C,
Special Assistant to President for Mission, University of Portland
What makes UP distinctive? Asked by prospective students and their families, employees interviewing and many others, the answer can be elusive. In hiring I have heard many attempts, searching for hallmarks that capture our esprit de corps and describe the Catholic, Holy Cross endeavor that is the University of Portland. In 2022, during the beginning of our first lay president’s tenure, Dr. Robert Kelly pressed his leadership team to articulate our distinctiveness. He wondered aloud if we had developed a list of values, a window into the most important elements of our Catholic, Holy Cross educational mission in the great Northwest. In response, I began a discernment process to answer this question. Three years later, the result has sharpened our mission focus and is providing renewed insight for our quasquicentennial anniversary. The way UP transforms lives within a community which educates minds and forms hearts now celebrates specific hallmarks. This essay introduces the reader to our efforts and the process for developing our University Values.
Without a formal list of shared values, initial discussions took to storytelling, how in the founding of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a particular vision and spirituality fashioned the first Holy Cross religious and subsequently later ones and local ecclesial leaders as Holy Cross became known as educators in the faith. Whether some of our stories are factual or touched by musing, the recapping of the trail that led from Le Mans to South Bend to Portland in Oregon celebrates community and hope. The founding of the University of Portland bears the influence of then Archbishop of Portland, Alexander Christie, and the US Provincial, John Zahm, CSC, both visionaries and seasoned administrators. Along with a cadre of clergy and religious, multitudes of lay colleagues, indispensable partners and collaborators over the years, there arose from our story the foundation of what we now understand as the legacy and vision of UP’s Catholic, Holy Cross education named in our University Values.
After initial discussions about what a University Values Statement might be, Fr. Peter Walsh, CSC, drafted a brief document that described the founding stories of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the University of Portland. As a Holy Cross religious and newcomer to campus, his crucial connections he articulated rooted our history and our current culture together and patterns appeared. From the themes, slowly, our values came into focus.
Input from intentional conversations with faculty, staff, student leaders, local Holy Cross religious, and our board of regents, gave further depth to the document. Yet it only grew in length that second year. Our objective was to listen for the espoused and operative values, shared by all in our community. As a subgroup of mission-minded faculty and staff, we honed in on the top values at play. Our input culminated in a university-wide survey listing the top values without elaboration, but with open-ended prompts for additional feedback. The survey displayed a strong sense of resonance among the faculty and staff and reinforced that our listening and time discerning proved fruitful. Some feedback suggested a change in a couple of values, resulting in one significant change in our values from “service” to “engagement.” The value of “community” received the highest affirmation. The final task would be consensus again among the President’s Leadership Cabinet, firming up on the final six values listed. A last touch in wording and framing came as I selected Latin words that would evoke the direction and meaning of the many conversations we had. Leaders also embraced this movement.
In its final form, the six values (Dignity, Community, Inquiry, Ethics, Engagement, and Hope) were displayed through a decorative University Values card (pictured below). We anchored the values in favorite inspirational passages of the writings of Blessed Basil Moreau, CSC, and the Constitutions of the Congregation Holy Cross. To see the references and gain more information, see UP’s Mission & Values webpage. (There is also a link to the launch video there.)
Today colleagues seek to develop ongoing training and orientation sessions for our employees and faculty want to bring the University Values into lessons for their classes. Student leaders ask for more UP Values cards to share with their friends. The integration of our University Values into our culture is now well underway at the University of Portland.
Holy Cross Insititute Continues to Teach and Train Mission
Holy Cross Insititute Continues to Teach and Train Mission
By Richard J. Bautch, Ph D
Executive Director of the Holy Cross Institute
St. Edward's University
Since its inception, the Holy Cross Institute (HCI) has been dedicated to providing essential resources, training, and professional development to those serving in Holy Cross schools, colleges, and universities globally. Through the Institute’s focused support, these educators are empowered to become increasingly effective agents of the Holy Cross mission.
The higher-education sector has always been of special importance. As the HCI's founding Executive Director, Br. Stephen Walsh, C.S.C., indicated in his keynote at the first Convocation in 2006, this focus was foundational. Subsequently, the HCI's Strategic Plans, including the most recent one approved in 2021, have consistently listed service to the eight Holy Cross colleges and universities in the United States as a mission priority. As the HCI prepares its next Strategic Plan, the role of higher education is poised to become even more significant and expansive.
The HCI currently extends its services to all eight Holy Cross colleges and universities in the United States. This engagement results in the formation of new partnerships with faculty, staff, and administrators across these college campuses. This work is coordinated through designated HCI representatives at each institution. These relationships are not merely transactional; rather, they are fostering a robust C.S.C. ecosystem in higher education, with the HCI serving as both a national convener and a thought partner to all participants.
This emerging collaborative space is highly visible at Convocation, the annual gathering of Holy Cross educators hosted by the HCI on the campus of St. Edward’s University in Austin. Since 2023, the higher education sector has demonstrated "perfect attendance," with teams from all eight Holy Cross colleges and universities present. Many individuals from these institutions have been featured on the program, presenting workshops or keynote addresses, including: Karen Eifler and Eric Anctil, the University of Portland; Fr. Tom Looney, C.S.C., and Michelle Landon, King's College; Nicole Labadie, Saint Mary’s College; Hugh Page, the University of Notre Dame; Stanton McNeely, the University of Holy Cross; Colleen Ford, Stonehill College.
Numerous Holy Cross Higher Education collaborators and leaders gather at St. Edward's University each year for Holy Cross Convocation to reflect on their shared charism and how they can integrate it into their work.
Highlights from the upcoming Convocation 2026 program, all with a focus on Holy Cross higher education, include: Kevin Baxter and Mary Ann Remick, the University of Notre Dame (The Power of Community: Forming Educators and Leaders in a Time of Change); Dianne Barlas, Holy Cross College (Educators in the Faith: Prophets of Hope); Karen L. Anderson, Stonehill College (Can you teach HOPE?); Fr. John Donato, C.S.C., and Fr. Peter Walsh, C.S.C., University of Portland (The Value of Institutional Values); Kathleen Wilburn, St. Edward’s University (Living the Holy Cross Mission: Supporting Students in Need); Jenna Morgan, University of Portland (Playing with Purpose: Using Games to Build Teams and Reflect Mission).
Convocation 2026 will also feature a newly designed day for cohorts and affinity groups to meet in extended, post-conference sessions, allowing for focused discussions. In a significant initiative, higher education leaders will lead the way, as high-level academic officers from the Holy Cross colleges and universities plan to meet together with a special focus during this portion of Convocation 2026.
In recent years, among the HCI’s most valued initiatives have been its joint endeavors with the U.S. Province of Priests and Brothers. For example, higher education leaders from the eight Holy Cross colleges and universities have been gathering for dinner and an evening of conversation, hosted by both the U.S. Province and the HCI. These meetings, which take place in Washington D.C., have fostered many new relationships, leading to opportunities for collaboration and innovation. Now, with the creation of the Holy Cross Higher Education Network, the synergy between the province and the HCI is certain to grow.
The HCI’s increasing commitment to its higher education partners is generating a vibrant, interconnected community dedicated to the Holy Cross charism. From the full participation seen at Convocation to the focused leadership meetings, the Institute is serving as a hub for collaboration, shared learning, and mission vitality across all eight U.S. colleges and universities. This momentum affirms the belief that by working together, Holy Cross institutions are better positioned to fulfill their promise of educating hearts and minds for the next generation.
Note: Holy Cross Convocation will take place from February 23-25, 2026 at St. Edward's University. Register at the link below:
https://www.convocation2026.com
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