tvc.dsj.org | April 2, 2019
COMMUNITY
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Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J. Named President of Santa Clara University
By Liz Sullivan
In the end, the result of a national
search, the candidate was found just
40 miles north.
On March 19, Santa Clara University
named Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J., its
29 th president, effective on July 1, 2019,
replacing Father Michael Engh, S.J.
O’Brien has served as Dean of Santa
Clara University’s Jesuit School of The-
ology in Berkeley since 2016.
“We are delighted to have chosen
Father O’Brien from a rich field of Jesuit
leaders to guide Santa Clara Univer-
sity as it embarks on a new phase of
growth, educational excellence and
accessibility, and innovation,” said
Board of Trustee Chair John M. Sobrato,
who co-chaired the search committee,
which conducted a deliberate, inclusive
and thorough process. “Father O’Brien
is charismatic, articulate and engag-
ing, natural at building meaningful
relationships, and collaborative and
transparent–with an inherent grit and
decisiveness. These are all qualities that
are critical to leading this University.”
Engh announced in June 2018 that
he was concluding his presidency at
the end of this academic year after 10
years in that role.
“It is a great privilege to share in the
dream of Santa Clara University,” said
Engh during the announcement held at
the Locatelli Center on the University’s
campus. “I am pleased to pass the baton
on to a qualified Jesuit.”
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Father
O’Brien, 52, became a naturalized
American citizen at age 22, just after
graduating from Georgetown Univer-
sity in 1988 with a degree in govern-
ment. He then returned to Florida, to
which his family had moved when
he was four, to attend law school at
the University of Florida, serving as
an editor on the Florida Law Review.
O’Brien practiced corporate litigation
for two years, after which he had a
mini-epiphany that led him to leave
his law practice and begin teaching
social studies at Cardinal Newman
High School in West Palm Beach, Fla.
After years of discernment, he
joined the Society of Jesus in 1996 and
was ordained to the priesthood in 2006.
During the course of his 10-year forma-
tion as a Jesuit, Father O’Brien earned
a master’s degree in philosophy from
Fordham University and a Master of
Divinity and a Licentiate in Sacred The-
ology from the Weston Jesuit School of
Theology, now part of Boston College.
He has taught philosophy and ethics
at Saint Joseph’s University in Phila-
delphia and business law at Le Moyne
College in Syracuse, NY.
Before becoming dean in Berkeley,
Father O’Brien spent eight years at
Georgetown University, the last five
as vice president for mission and
ministry. In that role, he oversaw the
largest inter-faith campus ministry in
the country and cultivated the Catholic
and Jesuit mission of higher educa-
tion and Ignatian spirituality among
faculty, staff, students, parents, and
alumni. While at Georgetown, he also
served on the President’s Cabinet.
“The challenges are great,” said
Father Kevin O’Brien S.J.
O’Brien, “and the opportunities are
many. It is not just the care of a cam-
pus, but of a community. What we are
measured most by are the lives we
have impacted and the change we have
affected.”
As the next President of Santa Clara
University, Father O’Brien brings a
deep knowledge of the requirements
of higher-education leadership, having
spent significant time at both George-
town and Santa Clara managing di-
verse operational and academic teams;
working to ensure alignment between
mission and the day-to-day realities of
university management; collaborating
with board members, external part-
ners and donors; and working with
faculty and staff to champion academic
excellence. Moreover, he is a widely
recognized Jesuit leader nationally,
having served on the boards of three
Jesuit universities–Seattle University,
Marquette University, and Boston Col-
lege–and on the faculty of the Jesuit
Leadership Seminar, which helps form
Jesuit university leaders from around
the country.
In addition, Father O’Brien is a
widely sought commentator about the
Church in national media and writes
in the field of Jesuit higher educa-
tion and spirituality. O’Brien is also a
popular educator, having been chosen
by Georgetown students in 2016 to
receive the Dorothy Brown Award for
Excellence in Teaching.
“Father O’Brien knows how trans-
formative education can be,” said
Father Scott Santarosa, S.J., Provincial
of Jesuits West Province. “He brings
practical experience in his time spent
at the School of Theology. He also said,
“Here, I am Lord, I am ready to do your
will. Father O’Brien is a fine Jesuit.”
Father O’Brien comes to Santa
Clara University at a pivotal time,
as the Silicon Valley-based private
University recently went public with
a $1 billion comprehensive fundrais-
ing campaign, Innovating with a Mis-
sion: The Campaign for Santa Clara
University. The University is seeking
to expand scholarships and endowed
professorships, to create a centralized
campus for interdisciplinary STEM
education that benefits students of all
majors, to increase the diversity of its
student body and faculty, and to fortify
its athletic program.
“God has blessed me with a life as a
Jesuit beyond imagining,” said O’Brien.
“In the spirit of Saint Ignatius (founder
of the Society of Jesus) I accept this
honor as a way of giving back. I am
deeply humbled to be asked to take the
helm of Santa Clara University and to
build upon all that Father Engh and
his team have accomplished over the
last decade.”
Kinsale Management Group Summary of Work - March 30, 2019
The additional names on the Dio-
cese’s Clergy Abuse Disclosure List
are the result of an independent review
of clergy files that was undertaken by
Kinsale Management Consulting be-
ginning in November 2018.
Overview and Process: Our firm
was recently asked by the Bishop of
the Roman Catholic Diocese of San
Jose (Diocese) to review their person-
nel and related conduct files of living
and deceased priests and deacons of
the Diocese, all well as the personnel
and conduct information pertaining
to other priests and deacons who are
known to have ever conducted minis-
try in the Diocese.
The Diocese of San Jose was estab-
lished in 1981 when it was separated
from the Archdiocese of San Fran-
cisco. Our review, therefore, included
the records of all men incardinated
into the Diocese of San Jose in 1981 or
later, and of those men formerly of the
Archdiocese of San Francisco who were
incardinated in the Diocese of San Jose
in 1981 or later. The latest records we
reviewed were dated January 2019. In
conducting this work, we had complete
access to available records.
One of the key objectives of our
work was to identify clerics who had
ever been accused of sexually abus-
ing minors or vulnerable adults as
indicated in the existing documents.
We also conducted a limited review
of publicly-available information on
those clerics.
In reviewing the ways in which the
Diocese of San Jose has responded to
allegations of abuse since its incep-
tion, we found information in some,
but not all, of the files that reflected
a variety of actions consistent with
the most common actions of other
dioceses in the United States relative
to alleged offenders during that time
period, i.e., referrals for psychological
evaluation; arranging for psychological
treatment; reprimands/administrative
action; and/or return to ministry. It
is important to note that the Diocese
of San Jose has had a policy against
sexual abuse of minors since 1984,
with consequences for any such acts.
The documentation with regard to
how cases were addressed since the
creation of the Diocese’s Office for the
Protection of Children and Vulnerable
Adults was timely and thorough. At ap-
propriate times, the Bishop of San Jose
utilized the expertise of the Diocese’s
independent review board to evaluate
allegations of sexual abuse of minors
or vulnerable adults.
Details:
• Total Number of Files Reviewed: 1230 1
• Total Number of Reviewers: 10
• Total Hours of Review: 762 hours
Background of Reviewers: The
Review was directed by Kathleen
McChesney, Ph.D. – former Executive
Director, USCCB Office of Child
Protection, FBI Executive and sex-
crimes detective. All reviewers had
extensive careers as investigators
either on the local, state or federal
level and included a former FBI
criminal profiler, state police major
crimes investigator, head of a state
police forensic laboratory, a specialist
in victim assistance programs, a
federal financial crimes investigator.
Numbe r of f iles re vie wed is
approximate. For alleged offenders, in
particular, there were multiple files
reviewed. We also reviewed, but did not
necessarily summarize, generic files, or
files pertaining to specific reporters of
abuse whose information was also found
in alleged offender files.
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