In a down-to-earth and sometimes self-deprecating way, Marquette University\u2019s new president, the Rev. Scott Pilarz, S.J., offered a vision Monday of a university that simultaneously strengthens the quality of\u00a0its academic programs and its research while becoming more involved with addressing Milwaukee\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
Speaking during an \u201cOn the Issues\u201d session with Mike Gousha, distinguished fellow in law and public policy, in the Law School’s Eckstein Hall, Pilarz described Marquette as one of the nation\u2019s great universities. He said great universities successfully walk a tightrope in which student education and research are complementary, not competitive, interests.<\/p>\n
Asked by Gousha what other universities he felt Marquette was competing with, he said, \u201cI think we\u2019re competing with Marquette to be the best Marquette we can be.\u201d He said university leaders shouldn\u2019t \u00a0spend a lot of time looking over their shoulders. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re a major national university,\u201d Pilarz said. The focus should simply be, \u201cHow do we improve Marquette?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilarz took office as president on Aug. 1. Ceremonies to inaugurate him officially are scheduled for Thursday and Friday. <\/p>\n
Gousha asked what the new president does best. \u00a0Pilarz answered, \u201cListening. Listening. And admitting what you don\u2019t know. That\u2019s really important.\u201d He said it was important to listen to \u201cnot just the likely\u00a0 suspects\u201d and to not only the good news. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important for me to say, from time to time, ‘I\u00a0don\u2019t know. I need to learn that.\u2019 And in order to learn, I need to listen to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, as president, Pilarz said, \u201cI think you have to be the great story teller for the institution. . . . Let the world know what great things are happening at Marquette and why this is such an important and\u00a0exciting place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilarz downplayed his own qualifications to tackle Milwaukee\u2019s problems \u00a0(\u201cIf Milwaukee has a 16th <\/sup>Century poetry problem, I\u2019m your guy\u201d), but talked up the role Marquette can, should, and already is playing. His role, he said, is help that occur.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a responsibility as a Jesuit university to promote justice, and a big part of promoting justice is to attend to economic issues,\u201d Pilarz told the audience of about 200.<\/p>\n He said other local college presidents look to Marquette for leadership on community engagement and respect Marquette\u2019s faculty resources. \u201cThink of the brain power we\u2019ve got on this campus and the ways we can harness all that great intellectual power\u201d in dealing with Milwaukee\u2019s issues, Pilarz said. \u201cI would love to see us move more in those directions.\u201d He said Marquette students are doing \u201csome amazing things\u201d in community service.<\/p>\n In other matters, Pilarz said he had sent Marquette students\u00a0 a firm message that the university has zero tolerance for sexual misbehavior; that student safety is his “baseline”\u00a0concern when it comes to the future of the campus and that Marquette is \u201cdoing great\u201d overall on that front; and that the university needs to do all it can to be affordable, especially for students who are the first in their families to go to a university.<\/p>\n Amid news about major changes in the membership of the Big East basketball conference, Pilarz said he was determined to keep Marquette competing at the highest level of college competition and that he is working with other Big East presidents on the issue. \u00a0Amid speculation that a basketball conference of Catholic universities might emerge, Pilarz said, \u201cI don\u2019t think we want to limit ourselves along sectarian lines\u00a0when it comes to college athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n