By MICHAEL RICHARDSON
On BYU entering the conference:
“I think it’s a big step forward for the WCC and for BYU. I think this is a win-win deal. You guys have a terrific record in athletics; you’re a faith-based institution. You have a clear focus in undergrad education. I think there is a lot of commonality among the schools in the WCC. We want to keep that. We are a little fussy on who we let in. It isn’t just anybody. We deliberated very thoughtfully over a relatively short period of time.”
On faith and reason at USF:
“The one thing that oftentimes doesn’t happen is that faith doesn’t talk to reason. They pass like two ships in the night. You have scientists talking to scientists or theologians talking to theologians. What the university tries to do is be the place where science talks to theology, where faith and reason engage.”
On dialogue and understanding:
“We think that conversation is the way that you affect culture. You don’t affect culture if you simply say we are only going to talk to people that believe what we believe. You change culture when you say that we are going to engage respectfully the people that don’t agree with us, and see if we can come to understand them better, and they can come to understand us better.”
On USF’s relationship with San Francisco:
“We want to be the city’s first university, not just in the historical sense, but in terms of the importance, significance and service to the city.”
On engagement between BYU and USF:
“I think the extent to which our students are able to engage with your students can be a really rich exchange. I would suspect that most of us are relatively ignorant in regards to Mormonism. I see lots of opportunities. Whether or not our competition in the league will lead to other cooperative ventures I think remains to be seen, but I think there are some opportunities here beyond just athletics, that we may or may not be able to capitalize on.”
On education:
“Education is a means to an end. The end of education is not simply the successful careers of students, but it’s society generally, it’s what students do for the community at large. There is a double standard of success. That students are able to support their families, lead a satisfying life, and contribute to the well-being of the community, particularly the underserved members of the community, the poor, vulnerable, etc. That’s always been the guiding light of Jesuit education. And that’s why we are in the business.”
