Tim Collins, President of Walsh University, on the institution’s Faith-driven values.
Catholic Herald: Please give us a thumbnail sketch of the university.
Tim Collins: Sure. The university is going into its 63rd year. We were formed by a congregation of men, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, and they came about after the French Revolution, and are really closely associated with the De La Salle Brothers. We are about 2,300 students; we have about 1,000 students that live on campus and about 600 to 800 of them commute. Commuters have always been a big part of the education here at Walsh University in Ohio. I think it’s a mistake to say we’re preparing these students for a career. We’re preparing our students for that first destination in their life, but also their whole life’s purpose. Research shows this generation of student coming to school is going to change jobs 11 times before they retire, and we must ensure that we prepare them for that. Ultimately, we are committed to trying to understand and continue promoting the key ingredients of Catholic education.
CH: Let’s talk a bit about the Catholic character. Are their religious on campus at this point?
TC: In 2020, when the pandemic hit, the Brothers of Christian Instruction worldwide suffered about six or eight deaths within weeks, and they unfortunately had to pull back from what they were doing at Walsh. We are still the only Catholic college university in the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio. However, at the moment, the only religious I have on campus is a Dominican priest who we have here full-time as our university chaplain on a three-year commitment. The Dominican Order itself here in America is exploding. There are 82 men that are in formation in Washington, DC and many of them want a PhD. I have been trying to make the case that they should come here to Walsh, so hopefully there are more to come.
CH: Indeed, the Dominicans are a very hopeful and wonderful story in the present Church of America. Good for you guys.
TC: I think so. I have retired twice, and I actually tell people that this is my retirement gig. But if I ever actually stopped working, I would like to try and work on a theory I have that is that those religious orders that maintain a real tightness to the charism of their founders, I think are strong and will continue to be strong. All those that drift away from what their founder’s values were, I think end up falling apart. The Dominicans are so wrapped up around St Dominic and they’re just booming. I can’t prove that this is why, and it’s just a hypothesis, but I think staying true to your foundations can only ever be a good thing.
CH: What is the experience like for students on campus? How do they get imbued – or not – with Catholic culture and take that into the world?
TC: Our approach for Catholic education is that we are supposed to be creating men and women that are of character. I would be willing to bet that if you walk onto most university campuses, they are going to tell you that the student is the reason they are there, the student is their customer. I don’t think that’s true so much anymore. I think that the employer is our customer. We need to make sure our students are ready for the workforce. Academics are certainly a part of it, but I personally think academics are only 25 per cent of the college experience. It’s all the other wraparound stuff that we must do in terms of developing their character, developing their temperament, teaching them how to think instead of telling them what to think. These are all crucial. We are making sure that when our students walk out the door, their education is not just about their intellectual development or skill, as I would argue that this is only going to be used for that first job. Everything we do here at Walsh is give them the skills and knowledge that will help them throughout their lives.
CH: Can you talk about Walsh’s academic strengths?
TC: I think our greatest strength is preparing our students for their whole lives and not just that first job. I think we’re trying to get them ready for wherever life takes them and whatever their purpose is. We’re talking a lot in America right now about mental health and mental challenges, but I don’t hear anybody telling these kids that they have a purpose, they have a reason to be here and it’s unique. I tell people that I was a fighter pilot, and I was at Hopkins and now I am in this role as president. That’s hardly a straight line. We need to prove to them how unique they are. All I need them to do is look at their finger and ask themselves why they are the only person with that fingerprint.
No one else has ever had it and no one else will have it.
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