Message from the President: March 28, 2022

In this Update:

• Rev. Robert Hagan, OSA
• Middle States Accreditation
• Immigration Week: March 28 to April 1

Dear Members of the Villanova Community,

It was an exciting weekend for the University, as Villanovans on campus and in San Antonio came together to cheer our Men’s Basketball team to victory. Congratulations to Coach Wright, his staff and the team on advancing to the Final Four. We will be rooting for you this weekend in New Orleans!

With less than two months left in the spring semester, I am pleased to share the following updates with our University community:

Rev. Robert Hagan, OSA
On behalf of the entire Villanova community, I would like to offer my congratulations to the Rev. Robert Hagan, OSA, who was elected Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. Fr. Rob will be installed as Provincial this June at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. As Provincial, Fr. Rob will oversee the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, which serves parishes, schools and other ministries in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, as well as missions in Peru and Japan. In this role, Fr. Rob will also be a member of the Villanova University Board of Trustees, who provide critical oversight and guidance for the University.

Fr. Rob has been an integral member of the Villanova University community since his ordination in 2003. After graduating from Villanova in 1987, Fr. Rob came back to the University in 2003 as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and was promoted to his current position of Senior Associate Athletic Director and team chaplain for the Villanova football and men’s basketball programs in 2004. He also presides at Villanova University campus Masses, and on weekends at St. Paul’s Parish in South Philadelphia and the State Correctional Institution in Chester, PA. Though his role will change, Fr. Rob will look for concrete ways to maintain ongoing work and support to the University and Athletics department.

Please join me in wishing Fr. Rob the best in his new leadership role.

Middle States Accreditation

I am pleased to announce that at their meeting on March 10, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaffirmed Villanova’s accreditation with our next evaluation visit scheduled for 2028-2029. This is a tremendous accomplishment for Villanova, and I am grateful to the 25-member Self-Study Steering Committee for their leadership of this process and for the contributions of nearly 200 Villanovans who worked for more than two and a half years to make this outstanding outcome possible.

I am proud of the candid, diligent and steadfast way in which Villanova used the Self-Study process to identify and highlight our institutional strengths while acknowledging areas where we can improve. We learned a great deal about ourselves through this effort and the peer evaluation team that visited with us in September shared valuable insights and advice with us. In turn, while the reaffirmation of the accreditation process has come to a close, I assure you that we will use what we gleaned from this process to inform our ongoing improvement efforts, as we strive, in the words of Saint Augustine, “to become what we are not yet.”

Immigration Week: March 28 to April 1
Amnesty International and No Lost Generation Villanova present Immigration Week from today, March 28, to Friday, April 1. The goal of the weeklong celebration is to raise awareness within the Villanova community about migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as to provide various ways to take action and ignite change. I hope your schedule allows you to participate in one or more of these events. Thank you again to everyone involved in bringing these important events, conversations and celebrations to the Villanova community. For a full listing of the events, please use this link.  

Sincerely,