By Danielle Pajek, Katie Gaughan, Luke Luedy, and Roger Healy

La Roche University has a new president.

After the passing of Sister Candace Introcaso last May, the university enacted a national search for a new president. Sixty candidates submitted applications, with the search committee eventually narrowing that down to 11.

Dr. Christina Clark earned the position after the search committee deemed her to be highly qualified for the role. She will officially become La Roche’s eighth president on July 1, 2024.

Dr. Christina A. Clark has worked at Catholic universities for over twenty years. The Georgetown University grad later pursued and earned master’s and doctorate degrees from Wisconsin-Madison.

Before serving under the titles of dean, provost, and president, however, Dr. Clark pursued a career in the arts.  

The Redhawk Post interviewed La Roche University’s new president on April 18th.

Background

The Redhawk Post first asked Dr. Clark questions in relationship to her background. This included topics like childhood and prior work experience.

Q: When you were growing up, what did you want to be? 

A: “The first thing was, when I was six, maybe wanting to be a nurse. Although I’m sure I didn’t know what a nurse really was. And then, when we were in the Philippines, my dad was stationed there after his service in Vietnam, I started looking at my parents’ National Geographic magazines and got really interested in archaeology so then I wanted to be an archeologist. 

“And then we moved back to the States, and I began dancing and taking ballet classes. And then I decided I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer. And I was. At a certain time, my senior year in high school, some things happened that made me decide, to my parents’ surprise, that I wanted to go to college after all. And so, that set me off on going to college and eventually deciding to go into academia.” 

Q: You were a provost at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the state. Why did you pursue La Roche? 

A: “I was very interested in La Roche for its mission and core values and the way in which it really struck me, La Roche very authentically lived those with actions. With programs. I’ve spent the majority of my academic life at Catholic comprehensive universities for a reason, because my values align with the values of these institutions and orders, but La Roche seemed really distinctive among the Catholic universities. La Roche is a very special place and I’m very excited to be starting here.”

Q: How has your extensive and impressive resume prepared you for taking on the La Roche community and its values? 

A: “Once I decided to serve, in terms of taking on a chair position, then going for dean, and provost, and now president, you’re acquiring experience over different aspects of the university and going from your specific program and trying to have academic excellence there, to higher and higher levels where you can work with your team across the entire university and with the community to ensure that students have the best experience they can. That they are equipped with the knowledge and the skills that they need to survive, and that they have been formed, as we say in Catholic higher education, to be men for others. To be people for others.”

Q: The University has placed an emphasis on professional programs like Nursing. You have a background in the humanities. What is the humanities’ future here? 

A: “It is very bright. The humanities teach us how to be human, it is the core of a liberal arts education. Right now, we’re in this industrial revolution where AI is, even as we speak, vastly transforming the world that you all will have your careers in. What can we do that AI cannot?

“Empathy. Creativity. Entrepreneurialism. Systems thinking. Understanding other human beings and relating to them.

“In liberal arts with the humanities, sciences and social sciences, you’re cross training your brains. You’re learning to use different modes of inquiry and in doing that, you’re a flexible learner. So, you can be thrown into a new environment with new jobs that you are pioneering and thrive because you know how to do that. You’ve been trained to do that.

“I think that La Roche has an excellent liberal arts background. We will make it stronger. These majors will be supported, but we must have professional programs in areas like healthcare. There are healthcare deserts in this country, so we must do that.”

Q: Would you describe for us what you expect to be your typical day on campus? 

A: “I will be on campus a good bit of time but also off campus quite frequently. On campus, I will be meeting with people, and that’s pretty much what a president does. Connecting with people, doing high-level strategy meetings, making sure, for example, the strategic plan is moving along, and going out into the community.  

“I’m really looking forward to getting to know our friends, our alumni, our donors, finding out from them what they think is so special about La Roche, what I can do to ensure that continues, new areas that we have to expand in to connect with them over our shared values, and get them excited about our strategic plan about the things that we want to do that will benefit our students, the community, and help us all thrive in this really exciting but fraught time.”

Q: You and your husband have extensive resumes including teaching experience. Where have you enjoyed living most and what do you both look forward to regarding your move to Pittsburgh from Virginia in the near future?  

A: “I’d say that some of the most vivid experiences for us were teaching in Rome for two years at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome. It’s like the best classic study abroad program for American students and it’s transformative for the students. We were teaching the history of Rome through topography and so you go, and you visit those sites where Caesar was assassinated or you know all these things happen and introducing the students to Italian culture which, has a very different orientation than American culture. It was wonderful.  

“Also, our daughter went to kindergarten in Italy, and she was fluent in Italian within three months and with the perfect Roman accent. We would be in the grocery store, and she be chattering away as five-year-olds do, and the old ladies would be very charmed and talking to her and then I would say something in Italian, and they’d say, ‘Oh you’re an American.’ So that was very vivid and transformational. We never thought we’d be in Omaha, Nebraska for 15 years.  

“Our daughter is a Midwesterner, and we’re coastal people. But it had its wonderful parts about it too. I love the D.C. area, so I was very happy at Marymount. As a result of growing up in a military family you have to find the good things about where you are and really explore them and enjoy them. 

“We’re really looking forward to exploring Pittsburgh. My best friend teaches at Kent State, and I can’t wait to visit her. My brother-in-law is a Pittsburgh native. He spent his adult life in Philadelphia but we’re hoping to get him back to show me around.” 

Religious Identity

The Redhawk Post asked Dr. Clark questions pertaining to Catholicism, her Catholic experiences, and Catholicism’s role in the larger world.

Q. Did you grow up Catholic? Tell me about your Catholic experience.

A. Dr. Clark said that both of her parents were Catholic. Dr. Clark’s grandparents, on her father’s side, both worked in state mental hospitals. She said that her grandfather was not only a butcher, but “an early organizer” for the hospital’s union, during a time without modern decencies for patients.

“Their [grandparents’] Catholic faith,” she said, “was something that motivated them to work for, in essence, human rights.”

Q. Did you go to Catholic school growing up? How many years?

A. Dr. Clark said that she did not go to Catholic school, due to growing up in a military family. She said she did, however, attend Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD).

Dr. Clark claimed that her Catholic faith was not as passionate as her family’s, until she took mandatory theology courses at Georgetown University. Due to the engaging and fascinating content of these classes, Dr. Clark even minored in theology, without intending to do so beforehand.

Q. Do you plan on attending Mass held by La Roche?

A. “I will certainly attend Mass,” Dr. Clark stated. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be there every time,” she continued, “but I think that’s part of the job.” She then said that she thinks it’s important to maintain the university’s Catholic roots as a “touchstone for our values, for our community.”

“I look forward to meeting people, to getting involved, and to attending Mass when I can,” she said.

Q. Do you have a favorite saint? If so, which one, and why?

A. “I do not have a favorite saint,” Dr. Clark said. She added, however, that she feels a strong connection to St. Genevieve. Her daughter chose the saint for an assignment on researching a selected saint. Through her daughter’s research, Dr. Clark learned various things about St. Genevieve, and her life in the fifth century.

One such piece of information was how the saint saved Paris from the Huns, a group of paganistic tribesmen, by praying nonstop. This ensured that the Catholic influence in the later-to-be French nation would not be erased.

And while Dr. Clark did not mention this during the interview, St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris, against plagues and disasters, and the Women’s Army Corps.

Q. Do you plan to incorporate your faith into your role as president? If so, how?

A. Dr. Clark said she believes she does this by “living the heart of the faith, which is…Catholic social teaching.” She also stressed the importance of ensuring that La Roche’s “policies and procedures recognize equally everyone’s inherent dignity.”

Q. La Roche University states that its Catholic mission is the following: “fosters global citizenship and creates a community of scholars from the region, the nation and around the world.” How do you plan on advancing this?

A. “You have to have our Catholic mission, our Catholic intellectual tradition is…pursuing truth in all of its forms,” Dr. Clark said. “And that’s what we do in our majors, in our academic programs.”

She added that she strives to create a sense of belonging and respect within the university’s community, regardless of their backgrounds.

Dr. Clark then said that the global aspect of La Roche’s Catholic mission was something that attracted her to the university. “I think my own experience growing up in a foreign country for a few years,” she said, “and travelling around the world and getting to know people” strongly influenced that attraction.

“If you don’t encounter people who are different than you are,” she said, “you don’t understand that they’re just the same as you are.”

Dr. Clark then mentioned that she would like to do this by bolstering La Roche’s study abroad program, and to bring back the Pacem in Terris program. Fundraising and enrollment, she said, were vital in bringing those changes about.

Q. What place, in your opinion, does Catholicism have in an increasingly secular society? Little? Large? Not at all?

A. “I think Catholicism has a great opportunity of reaching out to accompany, to understand,” she said, “rather than from a place of judgement.”

This would allow far greater numbers to hear and listen to the Catholic message, she added.

Dr. Clark then proceeded to praise Pope Francis’ Synod of Synodality, as it has allowed for more diverse and underrepresented voices to be heard.

“People need to find,” she said, “what works for them, what calls for them, how is God speaking to them,” no matter what manner or religion that entails.

Dr. Clark concluded by stating that Catholicism can bring people together, instead of dividing or polarizing them.

Student Issues

The Redhawk Post asked Dr. Clark questions about student engagement, student issues, and her intended level of involvement with students. The Post inquired about her knowledge of La Roche student concerns and asked about her plan to address them.

Q. There are times where members of the student body, through the student government, have attempted to coordinate a meeting with college administration and they either ignored us or refused to meet with us. Will you make time for student concerns? How would you handle a similar situation to that?

A. “I will definitely make time for student concerns. I would think that we will be meeting regularly. Of course, a presidential schedule gets packed, but I will hold times in my schedule open that are for me to have time to think and strategize and get myself together. But those will also be times where I will tell Cheryl that if something comes up, I am free for emergency meetings or when stuff comes up. So, yes. I have always worked closely with students at every level of my job.”

Q. Following that question. Previous administration at your level has made little effort to interact with students. How will you build student interaction (meaning responding to crisis issues but also regular contact) into your role? How important is building a relationship with the students to you?

A.“It’s vital.

“I assume that the student government president will be meeting with me regularly. I met regularly with the student rep. to academic affairs as provost every month.

“I’m going to be attending events. I hope you’ll invite me to things. I love to attend student events. I’ll be going to games. I’ll be going to academic events. So, anything you would like me to attend just ask.

“You are why we’re here, so I want to know what’s on your mind. That’s not to say we’ll always agree, but we will talk and speak respectfully and if I don’t agree I will explain exactly why. It’s got to be a dialogue and a respectful dialogue. You know, I would hope that I would see you all frequently.”

Q. Today, you’ve made time to meet with student journalists and answer our questions. When you officially begin your role here at La Roche on July 1, do you have a plan to meet with students in any capacity to hear their concerns and desires for the university?

A. “Well I would hope that the SGA would invite me to meetings. To come for whatever amount of time they want. To talk about anything specific. Again, I did that as a provost.

“How would you like me to involve you?”

Q. I like the idea you said involving student government because currently we don’t have a lot of contact with Dr. Ishiyama who is the provost. And we know he is busy after stepping into the role, but I think that would be an excellent option. People will be really interested in that.

A. “Yes, that would be great, and I want to be respectful of everyone’s time and I would want regular meetings with SGA reps, whoever you feel would be most appropriate.

“But I am really open to ideas that you all have for what would be a good thing to do. Again, within the constraints of my schedule, but definitely there should be regular contact with students both undergrad and grad.

“I don’t know what the needs of students are here, so I rely on you all to let me know what they are, and we can move forward.”

Q. Dr. Clark, some administrators in student development have defined LRU as a suitcase campus. By this they mean, a school where a large majority of the student population either lives at home or goes home every weekend. Is this something you’ve encountered before and is this something you would want to change? If so, how might you engage these students?

A. “I think that I have certainly encountered that before. I mean, Creighton, where I was a faculty member for 15 years, that was not a suitcase campus. But at Marymount and Marywood the majority of students were commuters. That’s understandable if you live close and because of cost, so I think that the heart of that question really is student engagement and belonging. Because you want to have a lively campus with events that gather students together, but it is also hard when students may have to work a lot of the time, or they may have family member responsibilities that limit their ability to engage in the time they have.

“We want to have a vibrant campus, we want to have students involved, but a lot of that depends too on students’ willingness to work to create a vibrant campus together.

“Part of that is academic scheduling. When are courses being offered? Are they being offered from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.? Do they serve all different types of students? Is it a student focused scheduling or is it faculty focused scheduling?

“I don’t know these things about La Roche yet. That all effects that issue, but I think it’s an extremely important issue. I’m glad you asked a question about it. I don’t have the answer at this point, but it is vital to student happiness and student engagement.”

Q. Every campus has its issues. Every organization has its issues. Two key issues that have emerged here through Student Government are the minimal cafeteria hours and the Study Abroad Program. Going into this position, are you aware of these issues? If not, how do you plan to inform yourself of these issues? If so, what are you going to do about them?

A. “I am aware of both of those issues. It’s always a balance between budget and what you are able to do. Right now, unfortunately, the budget is constrained. Nationwide, every university and college is being affected by the FAFSA rollout by the Department of Education which has been plagued with glitches. And students have been having a harder time filing FAFSA for financial aid. That delays our ability to offer financial aid, which delays the ability of students to accept our offer and enroll in university.

“So, when you are balancing creating a budget, you’re working through that budget process, and you have these unknowns, intangibles, that directly affect the budget. It’s our responsibility to make sure that the university remains in strong financial position. Sometimes we need to make short term decisions that affect students like the reduced cafeteria hours or the reduction in the number of study abroad trips.

“I will commit, I’ve definitely, as you’ve heard me said, want to beef up that study abroad experience. That requires money.

“Again, it’s on me to bring in donor dollars to support such things. On all of us together, to bring in students to La Roche, so they can get that excellent education and also that we have the resources to continue to offer such programs.”

Veteran, Global, and Adult Student Concerns

To conclude the interview, the Redhawk Post asked Dr. Clark questions about veteran affairs, global issues, and adult student concerns. This section also discussed the upcoming presidential election.

This was the final portion of the interview.

Q: Adult students are a rapidly growing portion of the student body and need degree plans with manageable schedules, tuition rates, and options like that. That’s how they select their programs.

Do you have any strategy to better capture the market of adult students for the university? 

A: “Yes, that’s vital. I’m sure you’ve heard about the demographic cliff, and the shifts in America and many countries worldwide. Fewer numbers of high school seniors, the 18-year-olds and [a] much larger number of adults with some or no college who will be coming back to get their education. So, we really have to be able to serve all of those populations and serve them well. 

“I don’t have that nitty gritty knowledge of everything that La Roche has been doing to this point. I know that we are adding new graduate programs to appeal to certain adult populations; but for the degree-completer adults, we have to make sure that our infrastructure, which is originally set up to serve those traditional students, serves non-traditional students. 

“I did a lot of work around this at both Marymount and Marywood. I had my deans do studies and give me the data by department, by program, of their course scheduling. And there were some departments who only held classes between 10:00 [a.m.] and 2:00 [p.m.], and I said ‘Sorry, that cannot continue. You must schedule between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m..’ And I, as a faculty member, have taught 8:00 a.m. classes when my daughter was in elementary school, and we had to do the drop-offs and the pickups. I taught evening classes, which I personally don’t like to do since I’m not at my best! But you do it because students need those classes.

“So, I think that I need to talk to Dr. Ishiyama and learn: What’s it like here at La Roche department by department? What are the needs? And how are we meeting student needs? Because you will not enroll and retain these nontraditional adult students if you don’t.”

Q: While you were Provost at Marywood, you talked about the Archways and Pathways program, that kind of educational structure, in a podcast. 

Do you think that same kind of framework would have application here at La Roche? And do you think that is a pertinent way to look at adult continuing education and transfer education? 

A: “That was the new core curriculum that Marywood was going to roll out this fall. It’s not yet in place. It was a way that students could choose to take sort of a pathway through core classes that focused on, say, social justice, another one is on health. And they could earn a minor along the way through those core classes. So, I think core curricula are very important. I don’t know much about the one here at La Roche. 

“I know one thing that I did as Provost and it is a sticky issue, it’s thorny, because it concerns curriculum, the faculty really have to lead on it. Because faculty, that is their purview is the curriculum. 

“The issue of a transfer core, you want students to get the full benefit of that core, which is where they’re cross-training their brain and developing their human skills. And also, the uniqueness of that particular university’s academic orientation. But you can’t have people coming in and then saying we’re not going to take half your credits and you’re going to have to stay another year [or] year-and-a-half and spend that money. That’s not workable and that’s not fair.  

“That’s one of the first things I want to do is find out about the core curriculum here and work with faculty on that. But it’s not my purview as president to force anything through.”

Q: Moving into veteran students and the Post-9/11 demographic: The average age of a Post-9/11 veteran is 37 years old and about 45% of them had some college, but had not completed college, and the disability rate is pretty high.

How can the university connect with Post-9/11 combat and service veterans? How can we make them a more active and engaged group?  

A: “That’s an important question, because certainly, we all owe veterans for their service. I think that as the daughter of a Vietnam and Korean Conflict veteran. So, part of that is making sure that they have access to education, they feel integrated on campus. At Marywood we had a house on campus that became sort of the vet center, which is a great idea. They could come, hang out between classes, have that support of community. But that’s also kind of a danger because they’re separated from the student body as a whole.

“So, they ended up, after I left, moving the Veterans Affairs into the Learning Commons, which was the major student hangout place. That’s a good decision. Because you want them to have that community because they’ve had that unique experience, to understand one another. But you want them integrated with the student population as well; because it’s mutually beneficial. 

“You’ve got to have a strong veterans office to help with making sure they’re getting the tuition and all of that, which can be delayed, and making sure they can register even if there’s a delay. You need to have a strong disability services to make sure they get the accommodations that they request, hook them in with mental health counseling if that’s something that they need, making sure they feel seen on campus, appreciated on campus, and integrated.

“They are part of our student body, just as everyone else is. I think that’s a lot of it. So again, I don’t know the particular issues here, I’m speaking from all of the interactions I had at Marywood.”

Q: On a more personal note, how did growing up as a military brat shape you and impact who you are today?

A: “It’s the core of who I am today. 

“My dad was an amazing person. Core skills that I learned: service, ethics. And moving every couple of years you learn how to engage with people, how to make connections, how to form friendships. I grew up in a diverse environment. I always had Black friends, Hispanic friends; and what mattered was not their ethnicity or color, but whether they were Enlisted kids or Officer’s kids; we had to behave in a certain way because your behavior reflected on your father and his rank, his position. 

“From the time I was three years old, learning how to answer the phone, ‘Colonel Clark’s quarters, Tina speaking, how may I help you sir or ma’am?’, how to interact with people.

“Living on Army bases— Fort Richardson, Alaska, was amazing. I was a really young child then.

“In the Philippines, after my dad came back from Vietnam, driving from the airport to our hotel, this was in the early ‘70s, there were these naked children by the side of the road by these tin-shack huts, and I’m like, ‘Why are these children naked?’ I mean, I was seven. And my parents had to explain about poverty, oligarchic corrupt systems; just learning about that.

“We went to the international school when the military school closed down. An hour-long drive on the bus, I was in the third grade at this point, and people would be throwing rocks and saying, ‘Go home Joe!’ And again, I’m going home to my parents saying, ‘Why would these adult people be throwing rocks at these kids in a bus?’ And he said ‘Oh! Well…’ and then they’re explaining post-colonialism to us. To their experience and to the Spanish, Japanese, Americans, all of that.

“That was so impactful! It developed our empathy, and then you’re the one who’s the minority. We were white on one hand with a privileged state, but you’re the minority there, and you’re the hated minority there. That was such an important thing for us to feel and to learn. That’s the really foundational things of who I am. 

“And there’s like the joking things, like my dad was Military Police. So, he’d come home from work when I was a small kid and he’d say, ‘Alright, police the area!’ because we’d have toys everywhere. And I thought that was like p-l-i-c-e. I didn’t realize that it was PO-lice the area. Then you grow up and you’re saying those things to your own kids, and they didn’t grow up military, and they’re like ‘What?!’

“So, it’s a bond that my sisters and I have, and it’s a very special kind of childhood. But it’s also a hard childhood. So that question just kind of hit me there.”

Q: Moving on, I’m sure you’ve noticed the state of political affairs and political opinion in the nation since, really, since the Bush-Gore race in 2000.

As political tensions rise during what will likely be another Trump-Biden standoff, how do we as an organization promote civil discourse among the students, faculty, and staff? How do we keep this peaceful?

A: “We must keep it peaceful. Even acknowledging the very high emotions that can be triggered instantly, and it doesn’t help that there’s so many issues affecting us. The conflicts in the Middle East and the rising tensions with Iran and… there are some very real dangers out there globally. 

“It’s our fundamental job as universities to see and to practice civil discourse. So we need to provide opportunities for that. And I think that’s something that the faculty really need to lead on. It can be within classes, it can be panels with different points of view, because the issues that are polarizing us are complex and we need to understand them with context, with nuance, with multiple perspectives. Because multiple perspectives can be valid, and we have to be able to take that deep breath and listen to people’s points of views and engage with them, ask questions. 

“I think at heart we cannot demonize one another. We have to be willing to listen to understand before we listen to respond. And that’s so hard now because everyone’s hyped up on social media which is that extremity.

“But I acknowledge, this is a really hard moment. But we have to do what we can to practice it, to model it, and to hear each other without falling into that trap of ‘you hate us, we hate you’ demonization. Because we can find things that are common ground as human beings, even if we disagree very much on political stances. 

“And I have in my own family and friend group, I have people all across the spectrum. And it can be difficult.”

Q: Final question, you already mentioned the Pacem in Terris program, stimulating that.

In the face of global tensions and conflict, is that practical? There’s a lot of risk involved. These kids are coming out of danger zones but there’s a lot of radicalism.

How possible is this? Is it a good thing to continue this program and try to strengthen it? Or do we need to be a little more cautious in how we approach it?

A: “I think it’s very important to continue it and to beef it up. But there needs to be a vetting process. You need to be very careful in how you do that.

“Again, I’m not very familiar with how exactly it has run. But I know that students originally came from Bosnia, and the next was Rwanda. I think that this is distinctive. Just hearing about the alumni from that program… so powerful in terms of its effect. 

“So, we need to bring back those alumni, we have to highlight their stories, how the program really helped them, what they’ve done with it. The world is a huge place and there are whole different areas you could draw from for that program.

“And maybe being very strategic in how you beef that program up. But I acknowledge the concern underlying your question.”