|
Post by durenduren on May 21, 2013 23:23:39 GMT -5
I think we're lucky in the sense that I don't expect Brother Mike to be problematic during the search for a new president. I think he'll keep a big enough distance to allow for honest discussion versus guarded words. But on the other side, I'm hopeful this situation won't put a freeze on the forward momentum the university has, pausing the visions and plans if they were crafted in Brother Mike's office in favor of staying pat to accommodate new plans that could be enacted by whomever follows. Moving forward, the university is likely to contract out an agency to assist in the search. Generally speaking, there's two models that are followed when conducting these expansive searches: Corporate or educational outlooks. We all know which way La Salle has leaned, and I don't think it's a push to say that's why La Salle has the character and charm that it does. At the same time, however, were the many voices pushing for a more corporate push. Prior to the Sweet 16 run, before all the success, were the voices calling for someone to run La Salle in the image of a a competitive corporation, marketing the basketball team like the money maker and attention grabber it could be. A lot of those voices quieted down after La Salle started whooping ass, but the talk of leaving the tradition of having a Christian Brother president definitely rehashes it. I personally think if there was ever a time to leave that tradition behind, this might be it. At the same time, the need to preserve the tradition of La Salle exists. But what part of that tradition comes from having a Christian Brother president? I don't have that answer, and I'm glad I'm not making the call. I'd wager to say that someone like Dr. Mshomba might give you the best of both worlds, or someone similar. Keep this in mind though - The amount of colleges and universities searching for a president at any one time is absolutely mind boggling. Brother Mike was also the absolute lowest paid private college president in Pennsylvania. That's almost certain to change if they go any direction other than a Christian Brother. For the lazy, he was pocketing a mere $27,600. HERE is a neat link with private Pennsylvanian college president salaries, but keep in mind it's a little outdated. HERE is a neat article about the search process and inclusion of contracted out agencies. Nonetheless, it's going to be interesting.
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 22, 2013 7:55:42 GMT -5
Congrats to Brother Mike for his 15 years at the helm. I don't think we can appreciate all that must cross his desk. He is leaving La Salle after making it a much better place.
As for his successor, generally wouldn't the Provost be high on the list? I would still like to see a Christian Brother as President but might Bro. Mike be the last one?
Durenduren brings up interesting point about Bro. Mike's salary. If a layperson becomes President would that person make more than G? Would think so.
|
|
|
Post by coqui900 on May 22, 2013 8:52:40 GMT -5
I really love La Salle's homegrown culture. So many professors went there as undergraduates (as the first from their family to do so) and get it.
If they do go outside of the Christian Brothers, I really want it to be a homegrown person. They might not have the executive/business experience but colleges aren't supposed to be businesses. There are a lot of business decisions that are made but I don't want someone who just considers the bottom line. The whole point of a liberal arts education is to teach that there's more to life than just profit margin and keeping expenses down.
In terms of moving forward, what this could mean:
A new president will want to make a dent onto the campus. That's the nature of any executive change. This person couldn't be coming in at a better time. There's almost nothing else major that needs to be done in terms of campus construction once the new business schools gets completed. Didn't someone on here mention there's talk of the school purchasing the armory, or already did so, for parking purposes? That's not a major project on the face of it.
I don't think there's any doubt about what the Sweet 16 run has meant for the school in terms of renewed alumni interest. I think the arena is clearly on the table now.
However, here's hoping the new president and Dr. G hit it off famously. A personality clash in terms of that would not be a good thing since some big names might have already started making inquiries his way.
|
|
|
Post by stlexplorer on May 22, 2013 9:43:56 GMT -5
Brother Ed's name will inevitably come up, but he'd never take the job. I don't blame him since it'd really be a demotion. He IS La Salle, which is bigger than merely being president of La Salle. Several years ago I had a discussion with Brother Ed about this very topic and he said no way. He said he would never take the position out of respect to what it would entail. He was very happy teaching and being on the sideline with the basketball team and I think he's closer to retirement than taking a more demanding position within the University.
|
|
|
Post by 1stflooredwards on May 22, 2013 9:52:56 GMT -5
stlexplorer, you are right on. Brother Ed would never take the job. He's a teacher, not an administrator.
If the next pres is not going to be a Brother (as I said earlier, the recruiting pool is very shallow), one person I would like to see get consideration is Joe Ugras. He has a business background and is a big hoops fan and an all around good guy.
p.s. If you don't think college is a business, think again.
|
|
MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,527
Likes: 6,407
|
Post by MisterD on May 22, 2013 12:24:12 GMT -5
They might not have the executive/business experience but colleges aren't supposed to be businesses. There are a lot of business decisions that are made but I don't want someone who just considers the bottom line. The whole point of a liberal arts education is to teach that there's more to life than just profit margin and keeping expenses down. You're one of my favorite posters here so I hate to flatly disagree ... but I flatly disagree. Ideally the entire country wouldn't view things through the lens of profit (and the even more horrible Walmart culture of more, more, more and cheaper must be better, but that's another rant), but that's how things work. You're putting yourself at a tremendous disadvantage, both locally and nationally, if you don't have a businessman making the business decisions.
|
|
|
Post by coqui900 on May 22, 2013 13:01:13 GMT -5
They might not have the executive/business experience but colleges aren't supposed to be businesses. There are a lot of business decisions that are made but I don't want someone who just considers the bottom line. The whole point of a liberal arts education is to teach that there's more to life than just profit margin and keeping expenses down. You're one of my favorite posters here so I hate to flatly disagree ... but I flatly disagree. Ideally the entire country wouldn't view things through the lens of profit (and the even more horrible Walmart culture of more, more, more and cheaper must be better, but that's another rant), but that's how things work. You're putting yourself at a tremendous disadvantage, both locally and nationally, if you don't have a businessman making the business decisions. Oh, I get colleges are a business and one of the most competitive ones at that. But the overemphasis of the business end has been really detrimental to academia. College and universities lose their souls. There will always be schools like the Ivy's or Bucknell or the like that have legacy students and well-known professors and the like. But having an identity for a college for a school of our size, location and academic reputation is becoming a rarity. I think this season was such a great reminder of what La Salle is about and what being La Sallian means. My brother and a bunch of my friends went to Rutgers. They all had varying experiences (my brother hated his and regrets not going to La Salle to this day but a lot of my friends loved it) but none of them have the sort of connection my friends and I have to La Salle. My wife went to American. It's a really great school and they wouldn't have even smelled my application coming out of high school. But she just throws out the alumni magazine whenever it comes. Our friends who she went to school with are the same. They went to college there and moved on. My joke to those people is "I had more fun in one weekend than you did in four years." It's actually not that big of a stretch. There's nothing wrong with that but my experience is so completely different. There are so many people from La Salle that I consider myself extremely close with and always will. Several of them I met within my first week of freshman year. I still e-mail with a decent amount of professors I consider friends on top of mentors. That's why I want someone who understands what being La Sallian means because it means something. I don't want someone who will be here for a few years before angling for a more prestigious college. I want someone who has great business sense (because it's absolutely needed, don't get me wrong) but also understands that a college is a lot more than US News & World Report rankings.
|
|
|
Post by a10champion15 on May 22, 2013 13:22:23 GMT -5
I believe La Salle bought the armory and is planning on building a new business school either where the preexisting tennis courts are or college hall and the admin building. Where the armory is will be a grand entrance to the school. Also i heard there will either be a new adminstration building or dorms down there.
Not to hate on this school cause I have grown to really like it but this school needs a lot of work. The facilities are not good. Brother Mike has done a lot for this school no doubt about it between shoppes and Holyrod, Basils there great. While he handled a lot of issues on this campus there is still a lot to do. If say the above project is started sometime soon....the list is still long between a new arena, north dorms, wister, and olney it is a lot of work. This campus really needs it to. Also, there still security issues on campus they have to do a better job with. While I think the basketball team is great place to start by creating exposure and attracting students there are many things to be done. All in all though it is still a great school and I am enjoying it.
|
|
|
Post by explorerman on May 22, 2013 15:04:08 GMT -5
stlexplorer, you are right on. Brother Ed would never take the job. He's a teacher, not an administrator. If the next pres is not going to be a Brother (as I said earlier, the recruiting pool is very shallow), one person I would like to see get consideration is Joe Ugras. He has a business background and is a big hoops fan and an all around good guy. p.s. If you don't think college is a business, think again. Sadly, I agree Joe Ugras would absolutely make a great candidate; however, he was passed over for the school of Business dean position several years ago. The growth in continuing studies and the online program is a HUGE revenue for the university, Joe is a huge part of that. I thought should have been given a chance for the SOB especially given the remarkable turn around in the SOCS. They are going to go with someone with Presidental experience and the chances are pretty strong that the next president is a layman. As someone has mentioned before, the pool is extremely dry for CBs. Brother Mike turned around a sinking ship that his predecessor left. Led an overdue expansion of the campus, started making the campus less of a commuter school,
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 22, 2013 17:13:46 GMT -5
One name that was mentioned to me by a faculty member I'm friendly with as an ideal lay president: Dr. Richard Mshomba. A true academic and La Sallian in every sense of the word. The manner in which LaSalle University treats it's own is to be commended... One of the GREATEST influences in my life was Alonzo Lewis... I played 4 years for him in at Darby Township HS... At his memorial service at Chester High, the largest contingents were Darby Township Eagles and LaSalle Explorers... The mere fact that you guys place Dr. Richard Mshomba's name out there as a candidate says a lot about how you view your "own".... The fact that you guys are COMMITTED to giving Philly kids an opportunity to shine and play D1 ball at home say a LOT... #muchrespect La Salle had a tribute to Al Lewis during it's 150th Anniversary. The school had a Day in History. When La Salle went to play in New Orleans, African-Americans weren't allowed to play in the same game as whites. The entire La Salle team refused to play unless their teammate Al Lewis played. I wish I could find the link. Maybe this is why La Salle students and alums don't refer to their location was a "war zone" like some others? Respect for people. Last year, La Salle students contributed over 100K hours of community service and not one TV station was called to film them.
|
|
|
Post by theneumann64 on May 22, 2013 18:40:51 GMT -5
St. Joe's has a tribute to Al Lewis during every Men's basketball game.
|
|
|
Post by durenduren on May 22, 2013 18:51:27 GMT -5
You're one of my favorite posters here so I hate to flatly disagree ... but I flatly disagree. Ideally the entire country wouldn't view things through the lens of profit (and the even more horrible Walmart culture of more, more, more and cheaper must be better, but that's another rant), but that's how things work. You're putting yourself at a tremendous disadvantage, both locally and nationally, if you don't have a businessman making the business decisions. Oh, I get colleges are a business and one of the most competitive ones at that. But the overemphasis of the business end has been really detrimental to academia. College and universities lose their souls. There will always be schools like the Ivy's or Bucknell or the like that have legacy students and well-known professors and the like. But having an identity for a college for a school of our size, location and academic reputation is becoming a rarity. I think this season was such a great reminder of what La Salle is about and what being La Sallian means. My brother and a bunch of my friends went to Rutgers. They all had varying experiences (my brother hated his and regrets not going to La Salle to this day but a lot of my friends loved it) but none of them have the sort of connection my friends and I have to La Salle. There's nothing wrong with that but my experience is so completely different. There are so many people from La Salle that I consider myself extremely close with and always will. Several of them I met within my first week of freshman year. I still e-mail with a decent amount of professors I consider friends on top of mentors. That's why I want someone who understands what being La Sallian means because it means something. I don't want someone who will be here for a few years before angling for a more prestigious college. I want someone who has great business sense (because it's absolutely needed, don't get me wrong) but also understands that a college is a lot more than US News & World Report rankings. I get this. I think we're all on the same page, we just need to find the someone with the right balance between "getting La Salle" and being able to put the university in the best position moving forward. This is no slight to Brother Mike. Moving forward though, I don't think anyone can argue the perks of having a progressively minded business brain at the helm. Look at what Drexel did... They went and poached John Fry with some MAJOR cash from Franklin & Marshall after he made that school much of what it is today. F&M became one the best private schools in PA in Fry's hands, and now he's on a roll at Drexel. New construction everywhere, starting a multi-million dollar study about enclosing the train yard between 31st/32nd streets to 30th Street Station and 76... And the Drexel community is arguably more connected and unified than ever before, he's fostering new community initiatives almost daily. Prime example, free grants for employees that purchase housing in the immediate area. Apples to oranges, obviously. We're no Drexel, head to toe. But a progressive business mind can really drive a university to become what is arguably Philadelphia's most powerful higher education engines for neighborhood improvement and regional economic growth. I think La Salle could really mirror this image, in terms of cultural and community improvement, as they've been. And through this, a president with business roots kills two birds with one stone - La Salle does the thing's that we're all incredibly proud of, what makes La Salle unique, while becoming more competitive in the region.
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 22, 2013 19:12:45 GMT -5
St. Joe's has a tribute to Al Lewis during every Men's basketball game. There is a place and time for that but not now.
|
|
|
Post by gymrat67 on May 22, 2013 21:07:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by durenduren on May 22, 2013 22:24:13 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by alwayslasalle1 on May 23, 2013 1:29:31 GMT -5
Damn!,! That may be the smarted idea ever posted on any La Salle message board. William Burns would be an exceptional choice. There are a number of College Presidents who have not come up through the academic ranks. Burns has a strong international reputation, he is probably around age 55 or 56. Well done gymrat67
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 23, 2013 7:50:39 GMT -5
www.rockhurst.edu/about/presidents-office/biography/Father Thomas Curran, the current President of Rockhurst University in Kansas City. Father went to La Salle but left after his JR because he had vocation. He became was ordained as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales (Salesianum, Judge, North) but is becoming a Jesuit. Father can raise money. If you are going to go up to the bell, ring it.
|
|
|
Post by lasallerules1978 on May 23, 2013 8:21:14 GMT -5
We should bring in Jack Rappaport. He has a great business sense and tremendous ethics. Just kidding about rappaport, but I do think its time to bring in a lay person who has a vision to grow the campus and raise our endowment.
Maybe LaSalle could bring in Angelo Cataldi or Gonzo those guys seem to have vision and a voice.
|
|
MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,527
Likes: 6,407
|
Post by MisterD on May 23, 2013 9:24:27 GMT -5
I'd love to see Rappaport carrying around the blueprints for a new arena in his shirt pocket.
|
|
|
Post by durenduren on May 23, 2013 9:58:34 GMT -5
We should bring in Jack Rappaport. He has a great business sense and tremendous ethics. Just kidding about rappaport, but I do think its time to bring in a lay person who has a vision to grow the campus and raise our endowment. Maybe LaSalle could bring in Angelo Cataldi or Gonzo those guys seem to have vision and a voice. There's too much to love about this.
|
|
|
Post by lasalle89 on May 23, 2013 19:23:10 GMT -5
This next president could make or break us. We need a charismatic progressive personality who can raise money. One that understands that he has an opportunity to build on the success of our tourny run and the national exposure we received. One that has a real plan on how he intends to move us forward. I hope he looks at how wrong we did it after the Lionel years and learns from it.
|
|
|
Post by coachd on Jun 6, 2013 16:14:04 GMT -5
We are going to capitalize on the Sweet 16 as the Atlantic 10 will continue to be a very strong conference. We are not jumping to a mid-western conference. We are not going to bring football back (again). We are going to build a new on-campus arena with ground-breaking within 5 years. Our coach is not going to do the "Communion Breakfast Tour" like Martelli did but rather G is going to continue recruiting top notch kids who are coachable and unselfish team players.
|
|
|
Post by durenduren on Jun 7, 2013 12:03:41 GMT -5
We are not going to bring football back (again). Glad that's out of the way.
|
|