Acting Boldly in Times of Change

It is humbling to stand before you today following the twelve presidents who have served Avila so well in the past- standing in the presence of two of them, Sr. Olive Louise Dallavis, Avila's tenth president and an icon among Kansas City leaders, and the Honorable Thomas Gordon, another storied leader in the Kansas City community now serving as a federal administrative law judge with the United States Department of Interior.  

I am honored to speak before such distinguished leaders, representatives of the Church, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, our Kansas City community, and the higher education community.    A university is an institution engaged with and aspiring to make a difference in its community -- especially through the contributions of its students.   We could not accomplish this task, without the support of all of you offering learning opportunities, wisdom, and advice to our students, as well as to me.   I am grateful for your presence here today, and by your presence, your affirmation of this important mission.

I am pleased that so many of my family, that is the Slepitza and Zuercher families, could be with me today.   Your support means so much to me.   I want to extend a special wishes to my mother-in-law, Isabelle Zuercher who is celebrating her 88 th birthday today and to my father, Al Slepitza, who instilled in me a love of learning.   Most importantly, I want to acknowledge my wife, Suzanne, my partner and soul mate for these past 24 years.   It is because of her love and often wise counsel, I stand before you today.   And I want to acknowledge our children, Molly and Andrew, for their support of this important moment in the life of our family.   

To my colleagues, mentors, and friends who have come here to celebrate with me, I want to gratefully thank them for the guidance they have provided me. And so to Dick Stimpson, Denny Roberts, and Michael Graham, while I may not have always acted fully on all that you wished to convey, I hope I heard and took to heart the essential wisdom you offered. Your willingness to give of yourself by teaching me the lessons of leadership is a debt I can never fully repay, except perhaps to do the same for others.

And lastly, a word of thanks to the Inaugural committee who worked so hard to make all of the moments of this event so perfect; you represent the Avila spirit.    I am grateful to all of you and especially your chair, Dr. Charlene Gould for assuming this daunting task.

I have titled my remarks, Acting Boldly in Times of Change because I believe we are called at this moment to do exactly this-- to recognize and respond to the changing needs and characteristics of our students, to serve them better and to prepare them to be successful in their lives while recognizing that their world, our world, is changing almost by the moment.  

We live in a world of instant access.   Conversations occur, friendships form, goods are purchased, and services exchanged in the blink of an eye and often without face to face contact.

Our world has become much smaller, time and space crossed instantly, electronically.    Vast stores of information are available at the click of a mouse and accessed through powerful search engines that can sort through libraries of information in moments.   Accessing the information is trivial, making sense of it, understanding it and being able to apply it is what matters most.  

Our students are called to make meaning in this complex, rapidly changing world; called to do so in collaboration with many others, working together to solve the complex problems we face.   And so how must Avila engage our students to best prepare them to live, serve, and lead in such a world?

For the past three months since coming to Avila, I have sought to understand this question as I have listened to the people of Avila, its faculty, staff, students, alumni, Board members, and community leaders.   I have sought to understand our university, our students and our role in serving them.    I have tried to make sense of the hundreds of voices and the countless stories to discern what sets Avila apart, makes us special, and helps us contribute so well to the growth and development of our students.

As I have done so, I have learned that what we do well today, we have done well for a long, long time.   I have also realized that much of what we do especially well is not well known by many .   I have realized that recognition of our strengths and successes occurs infrequently, not because it is lacking, but simply because we have been too humble in the telling of our story.   Our faculty and staff have diligently labored serving students, caring deeply for their success, and preparing them with often cutting edge methods and techniques that serve them well.   They have done these great things; more often too quietly and without proper notoriety.   In turn, our alumni valued in the workplace for their competence, work ethic, professionalism, and integrity often humbly follow the example of their mentors.

Now make no mistake, humility is a good thing, a wonderful Christian virtue and certainly foundational to what we are as an institution sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. But, when humility prevents others from seeing the great things that are happening here; when humility shields others from the great service, the great teaching, and the exemplary care then it is time for humility to humbly recede to allow the proper telling of our story.   The time is ripe for that telling.   There are so many good things happening today that we should shout them out for others to take notice .  

For the past ninety years, Avila has prepared students, most often women, to take their place in their communities, to assume responsibility, to solve problems, and to act boldly to make a difference in that world.   

Grounded in our heritage as an institution founded by and focused on the values of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Avila has broadly educated students, taught them to think, to communicate well, to understand their world, and prepared them to work with others who were most in need of their service.   They learned to live their values and act on their faith.   By the labor of these sisters, Avila has prepared students to be professionally competent, thoughtful, ethical individuals with a passion for serving others.  

Today, in a world whose boundaries are shrinking serving the dear neighbor means serving the world community, respecting the dignity and understanding the perspective of all people, and helping us all to live together, in a loving way.   It is not being blind to differences, but it does mean not letting our differences get in the way of understanding, finding common ground, and serving from the context of loving regard for neighbor.

This is a tall order when there is so much that seems to separate and divide us.  

Preparing students to serve in a world community first requires us to give them real experience of that world.   The laboratory in which much of this learning occurs is in our community of the greater Kansas City area.  

From its very beginnings, Avila has been a good neighbor adding to the richness of knowledge, talents, ideas, and service in the community.  

Today, I believe we are called even more forcefully to act boldly in that community.   When we do so, the examples we take are no less than the examples of those who have gone before us.   They are examples of those who have taken risks, and dared to push the limits of service and education because they knew that in so doing, great things were possible.

Our history is resplendent with examples of women acting boldly to make changes in their world and in the circumstances that needed attention.    From the life of our university's namesake, St. Teresa of Avila it was said:

"She persuaded women to open their hearts and houses to her; she wrote cajoling letters to powerful men....She inspired criticisms for her brashness and admiration for her single-mindedness; but as far as Teresa was concerned, everything she did was for the glory of God.

And so she persevered when others would counsel her to act more prudently, to be more cautious, to remember her place.  

When the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet came to Kansas City, their boldness can be seen in the actions of Sister Francis Joseph as she began her mission in 1866.

Within weeks, she had acquired free railroad passes for the sisters and quickly raised funds for the convent/school.     She wrote.   "Our first possession was a cow - We got up an entertainment, and in one night cleared thirteen hundred dollars (which today would have been the equivalent of almost $400,000).   The sisters' school, St. Teresa's Academy, opened that fall with 150 pupils.

Sr. Francis Joseph quickly realized that what was most necessary in the service of her newly adopted community was the education of young women.   She also recognized that such education could not occur without the support and engagement of her neighbors.   And so, in the very spirit of boldness we most require--she proceeded to raise the money to establish the convent and begin the school, opening its doors to many.  

When the Sisters decided a college was needed for women...

Mother Evelyn O'Neill, the superior at St. Teresa's Academy, pushed to start college courses at the school.   In 1916, the junior college was established.   The diocesan's budget was already strained so the sisters had to finance almost the entire cost of creating and maintaining the institution.  

In addition, the sisters needed to acquire advanced degrees in an era where women did not routinely attend college, much less earn doctorate or masters degrees.   Taught to be humble and self-effacing, entering competitive graduate programs was a challenge to their way of life, but they did it, and the College of St. Teresa became Kansas City's premiere college for young women.  

That junior college evolved into a four year institution as the needs of young women for more advanced education evolved, and finally Avila college became Avila University as it is today.   Over the years, those individuals most needing service expanded to include men as well as women.   Through it all, St. Teresa's College, Avila College, and now Avila University has remained focused on serving first generation students and students who could not otherwise afford a college education.  

Avila has acted boldly in its past to address the needs of the dear neighbor.   Today, we have a responsibility to be equally bold as we move to the future.

Then as now , there are those who would urge caution.  

Then as now , there are those who would call us to humble obscurity.

Then as now , there are those would ask us to be patient.

But they would not be inspired by the likes of a St. Teresa, or a Sister Francis Joseph, or Sr. Evelyn O'Neill, or in our times, Sister Olive Louise Dallavis who assumed her place among the corporate leaders of Kansas City at a time when women were not nearly so visible.   Many of you in the audience remember times when Sister Olive came calling, her cause was worthy, her need great, her request humbly couched, but her resolve unwavering.   Sr. Olive was, and is , one few can refuse.

We are called today to act boldly as our predecessors have acted, to serve those students we have served so well, first generation students; students who are sandwiching their education amidst a busy life's schedule; and students who are seeking a new beginning.

We are called today to act boldly to offer new programs to prepare students for tomorrow's demands.   Yes, to serve well as we always have in areas like education, health care, communication arts, business, and theatre to name a few, but to recognize that these disciplines are much broader, and the service more complex, than ever before.   We must develop new academic programs, interdisciplinary in nature, that utilize advanced learning technologies and which anticipate the changing nature of the world.

We are called today to promote and strengthen our core curriculum which grounds our students in effective communication and problem solving skills, teaches them to understand issues from diverse perspectives, to work collaboratively and across disciplines, to be sensitive to the moral and ethical issues embedded in the situation.   It is a curriculum that prepares them well not simply for their first job, but for their life.

We called today to lead by our example of service to the dear neighbor--in how we open our doors, inviting those who have not been at our table to join us now and take advantage of the education we offer.    To make our campus a campus for the entire community a place where they meet, participate, and engage with us around the critical issues facing our society.   When our region needs help examining tough issues, we will work collaboratively on solutions, and engage in the dialogue of regionalism.   Avila will be there as a convener, contributor, and catalyst .  

Avila remains firmly rooted in being a welcoming and engaging community that prepares its students to lead as competent and compassionate scholars and professionals.   We have been a humble institution whose pride lies in the great things accomplished by our graduates.  

But now, it is time for Avila to act boldly, to serve boldly, to lead boldly, to care boldly, and thus to boldly reach out and make a difference.   

We are the Avila who will be known for the great accomplishments of our students by being more committed to who they become.

We are the Avila whose faculty and staff will engage its students in transformative learning and leadership.

We are the Avila who is not afraid to reach out and engage our community in new partnerships.

We are the Avila whose faculty and staff re-envisioning their work as vocation preparing them to be even more faithful to our Catholic character and our Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet sponsorship.

Think you know us , look again and then join with us as together we make this Avila a place of bold initiatives , great accomplishments , and deep and meaningful service.