Saint Vincent names its 18th president
The executive vice president of the Latrobe college will move into the top post
A Saint Vincent College official credited with increasing both the school’s fundraising and its minority enrollment will now lead the Latrobe school.
The college’s executive vice president, the Rev. Paul Taylor, will serve as its 18th president, the college announced to donors, alumni and students at a ceremony Friday at Heinz Field.
Father Taylor has been executive vice president of the Catholic liberal arts institution for the past seven years during which he led the school’s largest capital campaign. He has been a Benedictine monk at Saint Vincent for 30 years, previously working as a residence hall director for the college, managing its gristmill and serving as the Catholic chaplain for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
J. Christopher Donahue, the chairman of the college’s board of directors, commended Father Taylor’s ability to recruit students during his time as a residence hall director, calling him “single-handedly responsible” for increasing the college’s African-American enrollment from five or six students in decades past to around 200 of its total 1,850 students today.
Father Taylor said he plans to prioritize financial aid and career preparation for students when he takes leadership of the college.
“These are critical times for colleges and universities,” Father Taylor said. “We face ever-changing needs for our students and alumni. Making higher education affordable and preparing graduates for successful careers and meaningful lives — those top the list.”
Mr. Donahue also lauded Father Taylor’s accomplishments as the school’s head of institutional advancement, calling him the “linking verb” between faculty and donors.
Father Taylor takes the helm at Saint Vincent during the final stretch of its multimillion-dollar capital campaign. College administrators originally set a $100 million goal for the campaign when it was announced in 2017, with $40 million earmarked for construction projects and $20 million to be placed toward strengthening the college’s academic services, student life resources, and athletics, recreation and wellness programs. The remaining funds will be funneled into the school’s endowment.
Mr. Donahue announced Friday that the school has extended its fundraising goal to $110 million.
Steelers president and coowner Art Rooney II expressed confidence in Father Taylor’s ability to steward the ongoing campaign. Mr. Rooney is a member of the board of directors at Saint Vincent, which has been the site of the Steelers training camp for the past 52 years.
“As you may remember, the theme of the capital campaign is ‘Forward, Always Forward,’” Mr. Rooney said. “We try to teach our running backs that idea all the time. But there’s one thing I know about our new president — that he believes very strongly in that same motto.”
The college’s current president, Brother Norman Hipps, is set to retire June 30, ending a nine-year tenure. In April, he announced his departure and the formation of an ad hoc committee to conduct the presidential search.
In May, the college’s board of directors received a report from the search committee. The executive committee of the board interviewed Father Taylor, who was proposed as a candidate for the position by Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, the school chancellor. The executive committee voted unanimously to approve him for the job Thursday.