Father Schlegel's letter

Dear Members of the Creighton Community:

Earlier today, I submitted my resignation as Creighton's 23rd president to William Fitzgerald, chairman of the Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2011. This was not a capricious or hurried decision. Bill and I have discussed presidential transition and succession for some time, as excellent management practice and simple prudence dictates we should. The only question we jointly had was timing. During my recent spiritual retreat, I concluded the right time is now. My head and heart are one in this determination.

Several considerations motivated my decision. First and foremost, Creighton and I have together reached an appropriate point at which to turn the page to our respective next chapters. I became president of Creighton at the dawn of a new century, determined that this University would continue to fulfill a leadership role far into the future.

Creighton has raised its national academic standing, concluded the most successful philanthropic effort in the University's history, and undertaken a Campus Master Plan that has remade our living and learning environment. I am proud that 24th and California Streets is a destination campus, a model for University-civic relations, and a partner in the renaissance of downtown Omaha. Within this physical space exists a flourishing academic enterprise, representative of the national demographic, where students, faculty and staff thrive and enjoy a national reputation for teaching, research and health care. Here, every student is valued, reflective of our mission statement: “Creighton exists for students and for learning.” And all of that is done proudly and faithfully as a Catholic university in the Jesuit tradition.

I told the Board in 1999 that I would serve seven years; I am beginning my eleventh year. I had previously been president of the University of San Francisco, serving there for ten years. That feels like the right tenure. As a Jesuit, I believe in magis, and thus, would always strive to do more, but I am comfortable knowing Creighton has a strong foundation in place for the future.

Given the rapid pace of changes in higher education and health care, as well as in the world, it is a good time for a new generation to write the next chapter of Creighton's history.
A final consideration is personal. I want a second career beyond the academy, having been in higher education administration over 30 years. So, what will I do, you ask? I will not retire. I am a very healthy 66 year old with high energy and a fondness for hard work.

Opportunities in pastoral care or campus ministry are abundant; working with Jesuit Refugee Services is appealing, as is working in Thailand, Australia or Iraq. After a sabbatical of travel and continuing education, I will focus prayerfully on my next ministry. I am, after all, a Jesuit and “the world is our home.”

For now, I will concentrate on ensuring that the University completes its work on Strategic Program Prioritization, as well as the fundraising priorities of student scholarships, faculty support and select capital projects. A University committee headed by Bill Fitzgerald will conduct a search for my successor; you can expect to hear more about these topics in the next few weeks.

Now, finally, we get to what I most want to say: Thank you to the Creighton community of students, faculty, staff, alumni and Omaha friends. Thank you for allowing me a decade to devote my energies to my passion and my love – Creighton University. I cut my academic teeth at Creighton in the 1970s and never forgot the quality and dedication of the faculty, the aspirations and friendships of my students and the kindnesses of all. If I returned but a modest percentage of what I was given in decades past, I will sleep well and consider these ten years a success.
Thank you to all of the Creighton family for making my years here so wonderful and fulfilling. To have worked and played and prayed with you, to have met the challenges of the shifting tide of the day, to have repositioned this fine institution, is truly an experience to be treasured. Thank you all for caring for this great University and the larger worlds it serves. Indeed, this has been a grace.

Let Tennyson end this note:
“I am a part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades forever and forever when I move.”

May God bless you and bless Creighton University well into the future.

John P. Schlegel, S.J.
President

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