Manhattan College Welcomes
Dr. Brennan O’Donnell as its 19th President
On July 1, Manhattan College welcomed Dr. Brennan O’Donnell as its 19th President. A Mass in the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers and a reception marked the occasion. In his initial address to the incoming class of 2013 at Orientation, Dr. O’Donnell spoke about why he had chosen to come to Manhattan. The following are excerpts from that address:
“Among the first things that struck me when I started to think seriously about coming to Manhattan was its sense of community. This really is, as its publications and mission statement phrases it, a “caring campus community.” The school is large enough to be robustly diverse and to support a wide range of academic, extra-curricular, and support programs (not to mention magnificent facilities like our gorgeous chapel, the O’Malley library, Leo Engineering, Hayden Hall, and our great residence halls). The five schools that make up the College—arts, business, education, engineering, and science—offer, individually, extraordinarily rich curricula as well as ample opportunity for students in each school to take advantage of the resources of the others. At the same time, Manhattan College is small enough and compact enough for people to form a genuine sense of shared identity: you will get to know each other very well; your professors will know you by name (for better or worse!); the Brothers community will welcome you with open arms and will extend its amazing hospitality to you in many ways; you will form deep and lasting relationships with people with whom you share this lovely campus.
“While I’m on the subject of this jewel of a campus, let’s not overlook another huge—and obvious—reason why we’re all fortunate to have chosen Manhattan College: It’s not just that you have at your doorstep the world’s financial and cultural capital in all its diversity and richness and challenge; it’s that you are able to experience all that and still have this campus to return to—this quiet, contemplative haven in the midst of all that energy and activity. . . . The campus is your doorway, your staging ground, or your retreat—whatever you need it to be, allowing you to immerse yourself in the city, to grasp its riches, without being overwhelmed by it . . . There is simply nothing like being a student in New York City. And there’s no way to quantify the added benefits of living and learning here.
“I also value how deeply connected Manhattan’s sense of community is to the school’s –and the city’s--rich history. Manhattan is both a great, modern, New York school—a fast-paced place where you’ll be immersed in cutting edge learning across the disciplines and a school that for over 150 years has played a vital role in the history of New York and of the country, producing alums who been leaders in business, the arts, education, government and politics, law, the church, and (of course) engineering. An alumnus who spoke with me during my interview process was not stretching the truth by much when he said “New York was built by Manhattan College engineers.” Yes, and its been governed, educated, protected, financed, informed, entertained, and inspired by generations of Manhattan alums, too.
“Beneath its rich New York history lies its connection with scores of institutions around the world that share the legacy of St. John Baptist De La Salle. The Lasallian legacy stands for more than three centuries of excellence in education, emphasizing the dignity of the human person and calling each of us to use his or her unique gifts in the service of our fellow human beings, especially those among us who are most vulnerable. You will hear a great deal today and in the weeks and months to come about St. John Baptist de La Salle, whom many of you know is the patron saint of teachers. John Baptist was someone who could have lived a very comfortable life among the cultivated, clever and rich in his native France. He himself was an exquisitely educated priest on his way to a brilliant career in the church when he chose (or was called) to pour out his talents and his life living among and establishing schools for people who would today be called “underrepresented groups”—the children of less well-off parents who in that place and time would have otherwise been denied an education. Among the many outgrowths of the legacy of De La Salle today is another characteristic of Manhattan College that I found extremely attractive in making my own choice to come here: that is, a commitment to combining liberal learning with a very practical sense of things. Manhattan graduates are people who are both broadly well-educated across the range of disciplines and problem solvers, the kind of people who are not content just to know things but who are always asking “how can this knowledge be put to good use”? How can things be made better by our knowing this? How can we use our gifts of intelligence and imagination and skill to make the world a better place—more just, more fair and equitable, more sustainable, more accessible, more beautiful, more peaceful?
“The educational tradition you are part of here at Manhattan College will challenge you not just to know how the ancient philosophers and religious thinkers defined goodness or justice, but to put those definitions into practice in becoming good and just yourself. Whether you’re an English major or an Engineer, this is a place that is going to stretch you to be both broadly and deeply educated. It is a place that is going to challenge you to think of yourself as someone called to serve your fellow human beings. It is a place that will not let you become complaisant about who you are, what you know, and what you are meant to do with your life.”
