PEOPLE EDUCATED AT MARQUETTE are going to be well trained. They gain here the knowledge and the skills to contribute at a high degree of professionalism — whether in business, teaching, engineering, dentistry, communications or any other area. They will want to engage. And they will most likely bring a faith dimension and strong moral principles to their work. For them, it won’t just be about adding titles or getting more in a paycheck. They will approach their work and their whole life situation from the point of view of service to others. They will have an awareness of the poor and the marginalized in our world, because these are God’s people, too, and a very special part of God’s people. I am not saying that you can’t find this in graduates from other institutions, but I can tell you that the alumni and alumnae from a Jesuit school like Marquette do have something special about them.

When we convey the full force of an education based in academic excellence, faith and justice, you can see how it helps students make more sense of their lives and gives them greater direction. Sure, they’ll sometimes stumble and bumble around in adulthood, because we all do, but catch up with a Marquette alum and you’ll find someone who’s got real power.

Our alums, of course, want us to do well in academics. They want us to do well in basketball, in other sports, in everything. They want a school they can be proud of — that performs well, whatever its pursuits. But they also want a school that, regardless of how the campus changes over time, will enshrine those core values that helped them to form their lives. And they want those same values to provide purpose, meaning, direction and hope in the lives of current and future students. I take that mandate very seriously indeed.

And that’s our challenge for the future, isn’t it? We have to work in season and out to continue to build our academic quality by supporting our faculty in their work and strengthening further our research, our teaching, the whole array of academic resources. But we also — and our alums confirm this again and again — have to continue to be serious about our Catholic and Jesuit identity. We can’t just be saying nice things; we need to deliver on what we promise.

Next: Philanthropy