www.nj.com/opinion/2024/09/new-spu-president-looks-to-open-many-doors-faith-matters.html?outputType=ampnj.com
New SPU president looks to open many doors | Faith Matters
Updated: Sep. 08, 2024, 8:05 a.m.|Published: Sep. 08, 2024, 8:00 a.m.
Dr. Hubert Benitez
Dr. Hubert Benitez, pictured next to portraits of his predecessors, is the new president of St. Peter's University in Jersey City. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
By Rev. Alexander Santora/For the Jersey Journal
When I was a student at then-St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, we could enter any classroom building day or night. The day I went to interview Dr. Hubert Benitez, the new president of now-St. Peter’s University, last month, I went to a security kiosk and the guard called Benitez’s office. She left her booth and opened the outer door to McDermott Hall and then unlocked the first-floor corridor door. Asking me my name again, she opened the president’s suite of offices, announced me, and then I entered. And I was in clerical attire!
Urban living today requires security. But opening symbolic doors is a goal for the second lay and first minority president of this Jesuit university. And that characteristic is crucial to Benitez’s mission: “Jesuit values are holistic and critical to social mobility and an academic portfolio,” he told me.
To that end, Benitez appointed a Jesuit priest, the Rev. James A. Miracky, as vice president for mission integration and ministry. He stressed that the word “integration” has been added to the title and “is important to our focus moving forward.” Typically, the person in this post oversees campus ministry and relationships with the Society of Jesus, which sponsors the school. Benitez wants Miracky, though, to infuse these values in all areas of academics, like the Theology Department, athletics and extracurriculars.
Benitez also appointed Dr. Jennifer Gonzalez as the new diversity coordinator with a call “to integrate with the body of science hiring practices and recruitment.” She is tasked with ensuring that admissions reaches all demographics of the student pool and that faculty and staff look like them.
Benitez is well aware that St. Peter’s already draws students who reflect the diverse urban area where it is located and has to “open a door to students of all faiths.”
Born in Colombia and a first-generation college graduate, Benitez said, “I have spent many years working with and assisting students from diverse backgrounds pursue and fulfill their academic dreams by creating models that facilitate their transition into education.” He knows that a support network is needed for these students to succeed.
For Benitez, “It is very personal to me.”
Kenneth Moore, chairman of the university trustees, who led the presidential search, said Benitez’s biggest challenge will be “dealing with the industry-wide landscape that private independent universities are facing concerning the declining number of men and women wo want to attend college.”
That trend is not expected to pick up until 2037. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that in the past 10 years, 500 private, not-for-profit colleges have closed nationwide.
“I worry every single day about finances and remaining in business,” admitted Benitez.
Two weeks after he assumed the presidency on July 1, Benitez met with the interim president of New Jersey City University, Andrés Acebo, a son of Cuban immigrants who is tasked with finding an institutional partner to move NJCU forward.
Benitez believes that the two schools can collaborate better than compete against each other since they are drawing from the same demographic population. Perhaps they can stake out certain programs for each school instead of duplication? He acknowledged, though, that NJCU’s merger would be with another public institution.
All summer, Benitez listened to what he called “our university’s internal and external communities to understand their perceptions and expectations.” He said they began addressing key priorities like recruitment and fund-raising to advance the university.
“I believe in a collaborative approach, and rather than setting a strategic plan unilaterally, I am committed to working together with our community to shape a shared vision for the university’s future,” he said.
He hasn’t moved yet into Guarini House, the president’s residence on the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Montgomery Street as the former doctor’s house is getting refreshed. He hasn’t yet seen much of Jersey City as his days into nights on campus are long and he commutes temporarily from a local hotel.
Still, “I have quickly learned what a phenomenal place it is,” Benitez said, adding that he expects to attend St. Aedan’s Church up the street from his office.
One particular focus for the coming year is “to expand upon Saint Peter’s presence in the community as well as outreach and integration with events that are taking place at Saint Peter’s and in the wider community,” he said. He would like more local residents to come on campus for special programs and presentations.
Benitez has dedicated the last two decades of his career in higher education as an administrator and faculty member and had previously spent 15 years as a dentist. A chance encounter with an academic, who became a mentor to him, changed his career path as he saw Benitez’ promise to branch out into university administration. Since then, Benitez has worked at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit school Kansas City, and as president and chief executive officer for St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences also in Kansas City. Before coming to SPU, he was president of American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Benitez has a five-year contract at SPU, Moore said.
“I would add the board, the staff and students have been impressed with Hubert’s energy, passion and understanding of what it takes to lead our university,” Moore said.
Benitez’s presidential playbook is simple: “Let’s look at everything from a different and fresh perspective.” In other words, he’s going to unlock lots of doors at the university.
The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; X: @padrehoboken.
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