In Celebration of Community
Inaugural Address by Nancy H. Blattner, Ph.D.
Saturday November 7, 2009 - Caldwell College

Good morning, Prioress Arlene Antczak and the Sisters of St. Dominic; chairperson Alex Giaquinto, vice chairperson Helen Westervelt and members of the Board of Trustees; Mayor Susan Gartland and members of the Caldwell community; other members of the platform party; members of the Caldwell alumni, faculty, staff, administration and student bodies; those attending from Southeast Missouri State University, from Longwood University, and from Fontbonne University, including my special friends who are Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet; those representing other universities and colleges; family, friends and guests.

This past summer as I prepared to move to New Jersey and assume the presidency of Caldwell College, I read From Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future: A Short History of Caldwell College 1939-1989 written by Sr. Rita Margaret Chambers, OP, Ph.D., a publication marking the occasion of the institution's fiftieth anniversary. A brief description of the 'special spirit' that pervaded the college more than fifty years ago was attributed by the author to many factors: "the size of the student body which necessitated participation and responsibility; the faculty-student ratio which fostered individual assistance and a friendly rapport; and students who valued the kind of education they were receiving at Caldwell." This passage resonated with me, I believe, because that 'special spirit,' that atmosphere of community which encompassed the entirety of Caldwell College then, is still alive today, still evident on our campus, in our classrooms, at our school events, on our athletic fields, in our residence halls. In my remarks this morning, entitled "In Celebration of Community," I would like to comment on the presence of community and its many facets that I have witnessed during my relatively brief time here as your president.

As one of the four pillars of Dominican life, community-along with prayer, study and ministry-is a focus of all that we do and who we are at Caldwell College. A visitor to campus recently told me that all colleges and universities today brag about 'being a community.' Maybe that is so; maybe those words have lost their meaning in some settings, but I am proud as the president of Caldwell College to say that they are more than just a marketing slogan here. They are the very foundation of who we are as an educational institution, one that embodies a proud 800-year tradition.

As one of our ministry publications proclaims, "[w]e do not learn to walk alone, we do not learn to pray alone, and we cannot fully know the mystery of God in isolation….A community challenges us with interdependence and diversity." The questions raised at the end of these statements remind us that Dominican life calls us to contemplate: "What is the common good? How do we make room for others and their needs?" Basically, how and with whom do we form community?

Since my arrival at the college, three members of the Caldwell community have directly addressed these questions as they spoke and wrote to other members of the campus. Throughout the remainder of my talk, I will, with their permission, interweave their comments. In her welcome to the first-year students at Convocation at the beginning of the current academic year, Sr. Kathleen Tuite, OP, the special assistant to the president for mission and ministry, characterized 'community' in this way: "When Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, he called his followers to live together in order to support and sustain each other in their mission. That call continues today as you [the first-year students] begin your mission here at Caldwell College. We don't exist alone or in a vacuum; we need each other! Relationship is at the heart of everything in our lives and in all of God's creation. Interconnectedness prevails; we cannot live life without each other!!!! It's community that unites us by caring for, supporting and serving each other. You [the students] are called to become fully involved in the life of this campus and sometimes let go of … individual preferences to further the good of all members of the Caldwell College Community." While Sr. Kathleen's remarks were directed to the first-year students, her comments could just as easily have been applied to all of us who are members of the college community: not only first- year students, but all students, as well as all alumni, all faculty, all staff, and all administrators. Each of us is called to be part of this community that values interconnectedness, that builds relationships, that sees 'the other' as part of oneself, the self that reflects the life of the divine.

Michel Cote, OP, in his essay, 'Community and Dialogue,' comments, "Ontologically, humans are both limited and sociable, and so need others to fulfill their destiny….[E]ach person needs to converse with an 'other' so as to discover that which suits his or her being best. Each person internalizes the 'gift' of the other, and validates themselves by the gift that they are for the other. Anyone who refuses this journey will simply wither." For those of us who are Christians, we are called to 'be one with the other' as part of the Gospel message. As Cote states, "If we are to be one-at a time we all know ourselves to be different-then we must open ourselves up to the discoveries and the challenges of otherness."

Timothy Radcliffe, OP, the 85th Master of the Order of Preachers from 1993-2001, also writes of this human need to engage others, especially those who are different than we are, and emphasizes the role that the institution of higher education can play in this engagement. He states, "I wish to suggest the university [or college] should be one of those places in which we learn to talk to those who are different. The meeting of 'the other' is a fearful moment, but it can become a moment of recognition, of understanding. Thinking can open my eyes to see the stranger and build the common human home."

The theme of the college as a 'home' for students where the type of growth advocated by Cote and Radcliffe is part of every student's journey was spoken of by our Student Government Association president when he addressed the first-year students during Convocation in August. Ryan Gleason challenged the entering students with these words: "Before you can become the leaders of tomorrow, you must learn to utilize the resources, tools, support, and love that Caldwell College has offered to generations of students. Our community is dedicated to providing you the best quality higher education in a caring, supportive, and individualized environment. Caldwell, in other words, is a home away from home. It is a place where you meet new and interesting people. It is where your life-long friendships are made. It is where you stimulate your mind in the classroom. It is where you push your body to its limits in athletics. It is where you deepen your faith through campus ministry. It is where you become the organizers of clubs, organizations, and events. It is where you build a foundation of general knowledge, so that, when you leave this campus as seniors, you feel like you are prepared for the challenges of life…."

This picture of Caldwell College, painted by our student government president, is reflected in one of our student publications where Caldwell College is described as "a community of people committed to respect for the individual while preserving a regard for the common good. As a community, Caldwell College reverences the differences we share in race, sex, religion and ethnicity. We are committed to the development of the whole person: mind, body and spirit." Never forgetting that our college's mission is one of academic excellence, we nonetheless realize that in order to achieve the goal of community, the entire individual must be cultivated: intellectually, aesthetically and spiritually, as expressed in our mission statement.

While the mission statement of the college has evolved over time, the vision of providing a quality post-secondary education within the context of the Dominican perspective of community has remained constant since the college's inception. Mother Joseph Dunn, OP, the foundress of Caldwell College, worked tirelessly for 15 years to implement her vision to provide a community of young women of simple means the opportunity for a college education. When permission to open the college was finally granted on August 1, 1939, Archbishop Walsh served as the first president in an ex officio capacity until 1945 at which time Mother Dunn became the recognized president of Caldwell College. In this role, Mother Dunn herself became the first member of yet another community: those Dominican Sisters who were chosen to lead Caldwell College for more than six decades of the institution's existence. Mother Dunn was succeeded by Sister Marguerite Coss, OP, who assumed the role of president in 1956; Sister Anne John O'Loughlin, OP, became the college's fourth president in 1969. Sister Edith Magdalen Visic, OP, became the fifth president of the college in 1979 and was succeeded by Sister Vivien Jennings, OP, in 1984. When Sister Patrice Werner, OP, retired in June of this year, she had served for 15 years as the seventh president of the college. This community of Dominican Sisters who had previously served as presidents of Caldwell College was expanded on March 12 of this year when I was appointed by the board to serve as the institution's first lay president.

Recognizing the need to carry forward the college's strong commitment to the Dominican heritage and tradition, I, along with my husband Tim, recently participated 'In the Footsteps of St. Dominic' tour which took us to those places in Spain and France-along with other presidents of Dominican colleges and universities--where St. Dominic spent the majority of his life, preaching and establishing the Order of Preachers, including the first women's community at Prouillhe. In part we undertook this historical, cultural and spiritual pilgrimage in order to more fully immerse ourselves in the community that is Caldwell College, a community that reverences the Dominican tradition and heritage, a community to which we now belong.

As we have discovered, Caldwell College does exude a common spirit and an atmosphere of inclusiveness. As an expression of that intangible spirit, tangible acts occur that demonstrate the institution's communal behavior. This morning, I want to share a sampling of these activities with you.

Communities celebrate special occasions, such as the arrival of the students back on campus, the state approval of the first doctoral program in Applied Behavior Analysis, and the accreditation of the business and education programs. Even personal events are festive campus occasions, such as the wedding of a well-loved staff member or the completion of a graduate degree by a long-serving staff colleague. The key celebration for many takes place when students, faculty and staff come together for the Eucharist, the occasion when all are truly called to be one, when each one is invited to embrace the other as part of the same body.

In addition to celebrating together, communities also learn together. Faculty, staff and students annually travel abroad to Fanjeaux, France, where they study and experience firsthand the history of the Dominican heritage. Here on campus, we are taught about the Catholic intellectual tradition by a guest lecturer, or we learn to develop team-building skills through the summer survivors' program. And it is obvious that in the hundreds of class offerings made available to our students and our staff, these learners-whether traditional or adult, undergraduate or graduate, commuter or resident, local or international-join their faculty members on an odyssey of discovery and lifelong exploration.

Communities also grow. They add new members: hundreds of new traditional and adult students each year, a new registrar, a new EOF recruiter, a new director of information technology, a new assistant in institutional research, new faculty members, even a new president. They also add new programs: a master's degree in literacy instruction or a partnership with an area community college or a nearby hospital. The growth can occur in many ways-from a new building on campus, such as Dominican Hall, to a new program, the Second Year Experience for our sophomore class-but communities are living entities, vibrant and alive.

Portions of the community's activities encompass fun; in other words, communities play together: The opening week block party featured staff members in the dunking booth and flag football games on the lawn; students, faculty and staff participate in Zumba classes; communications students, faculty and staff challenge each other weekly to a wiffleball game; students play croquet in the backyard at the president's home; residence hall students laugh while playing Twister; men and women athletes play 11 competitive sports.

At other times, members of communities forego time for themselves in order to serve together: Whether it is the alternative break experience at Nazareth Farm in West Virginia or the Christian Appalachian Project in eastern KY, the weekly service in the Newark soup kitchen or the student tutoring in various schools in the area, the New York City Midnight Run coordinated with Molloy College, or the collection of food for the Community Foodbank of New Jersey in Hillside earlier this week in conjunction with inaugural activities, students, faculty and staff join together to reach out to others in the surrounding communities, thus expanding their own community in service to others.

Communities also come together in times of sadness and loss: upon the occasion of the death of an international student or of a staff member's husband or daughter. It is at these times, perhaps most of all, when members of the Caldwell campus dig deep within themselves to demonstrate a sense of community to those who are mourning. This past summer, the campus received an email from Mary LaDany, one of its staff members, written in response to the campus outpouring of support upon the occasion of her daughter's untimely death: "It is my hope," she stated," that the Caldwell College Community can see itself for what it truly is: a community fully formed in faith, capable of generous acts of compassion and not afraid of the work that still needs to be done." This communication reminded all of us that membership in community calls us to be present to others, to be faithful and faith-filled, while not allowing us to settle for what has been accomplished but to strive for and to be more. This is a challenge worth our response as we look toward the future.

Before I close, please allow me a few personal remarks. In her Prelude to A Woman's Education, Jill Ker Conway, the first female president of Smith College, states, "If we're lucky, the…people that can give our lives an aura of magic potential enter our experience at the right moment to sustain our dreams. " I have been so very blessed during my past 32 years in higher education to work for and with such remarkable people-people who have challenged me to grow and give my best, people who have mentored me and taught me, people who have supported and encouraged me during the peaks and valleys that comprise every academic career. All of these people, some of whom are here in the audience today, have contributed to the journey that led me this past summer to Caldwell College.

I would like to ask those people with whom I have previously worked at Southeast Missouri State University, at Longwood University and at Fontbonne University to stand and be recognized. (Applause.) Please know that while I am here at Caldwell College, serving as its president, I carry with me the imprint that each of you has had on my life in a profound and meaningful way. And to the entire Caldwell College community-students, faculty, staff, alumni and board members--(please stand,) I thank you for providing me with a warm welcome and a receptive spirit that was open to the change of moving for the first time to a lay president, to someone who would naturally bring a different perspective and a new approach. Thank you for so graciously and completely accepting me into your community, a place where I already feel I have a home.

I also want to acknowledge my closest friends who are here today and who have shared my life's journey with me: Tammy and Henry, Martha and Carolyn, Sam and Nancy, Ellen, Bev, Susan and Dee, LaDonne and Tom, Mary Meade and Kathy, Laura and Mary Carol.

Especially I want to recognize our children: our daughter Kindal and her husband Jaysen, our sons Greg and Brandon, and our international 'children,' Takayoshi from Japan and Eliane from Switzerland, who have supported my geographic moves these past several years and who have encouraged me to strive for the next level, to 'go for it' as they would say, and who understood when I was always busy and sometimes distracted. Please know that my love for you is limitless and my pride in you is deep. Your presence here today honors me more than I can express.

I thank my parents in absentia for giving me invaluable gifts when I was growing up: They instilled in me a deep love of learning and encouraged me to study hard and achieve. They infused into me their strong work ethic when I was still a child, and that has served me well as an administrator these past 10 years. Most importantly, they modeled for me on a daily basis their strong Catholic faith. My only regret is that they are not here today to see the culmination of their sacrifice and efforts.

Finally, my deepest debt of gratitude goes to my life partner, my husband Tim. Without you, I cannot imagine undertaking the journey that has brought me to Caldwell, to this position. Dearest, your unwavering faith in and support of me after all these years still leave me in awe. You have cared for me when I was too busy to care for myself; you have encouraged me when the situation seemed overwhelming, and you have celebrated every success with me. The love you have given me is selfless and sustaining. I have become the person I am because of you.

In closing, I would like to leave us with a few words from the Foreword to At Home in Wisdom's Tent…Celebrating 800 Years of Preaching God's Word. Sister Lorraine Reaume, OP, writes of the first women who dedicated themselves as Dominicans:

800 years ago
Nine of you,
Drawn to a joyful, holy friar,
Not yet a saint,
Formed a community
To live in integrity
To support and to be the holy preaching.

As we go back to our busy lives, can we who are part of the Caldwell College community or who are members of other Dominican institutions become the 'holy preaching' that Reaume challenges us to become? It is my belief that our lives will become that witness, will be that 'holy preaching' when we fully realize our role as members of our communities-as citizens of our campuses, as citizens of our towns and as citizens of our world. This is a worthy calling. This is a worthy goal. Let us strive to empower each other to accept the challenge and to answer this call.