Keefe: UD has unique core message but needs help sharing it
Heather Nelson
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: News
Presidential candidate Thomas Keefe met with representatives from Student Government, the Braniff Graduate Student Association and the University News on Nov. 13.
Keefe started with a warning. "I have a tendency to tell long stories as explanations, so if you get bored, nod off," he said, before describing his undergraduate education at Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal arts college. "It was like Dorothy opened the door to Oz. I traveled to Europe with the men's chorus and sang, I was on the rugby team, I was on the football team, I was in every school play we had. I had a wonderful time in college. I majored in history. I took every history course they offered," he said.
Keefe then went to law school, which he didn't like because it was a trade school. He practiced law for a while and then worked as a marketing executive at West Publishing Co. He quit his job at West to work for Drake University as a gift officer.
"Higher education is our unique gift to the world … and I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to make sure that other people could be part of that as well," Keefe said.
"I know this sounds … a little bit exaggerated, but 20 years ago … my goal was to be president of a small liberal arts, Catholic college. I wanted to go back and lead a school like St. Benedict's. I've been working towards that goal ever since," Keefe said.
"I also believe that we can raise a lot more money than you're raising here. I think we can generate more students, and I think we can get more revenue for the school. And more revenue will serve to make this even a better academic enterprise," Keefe said.
"Every Catholic school in this country suffers from one disease, except for you all, and they're all Notre Dame wannabes. You have a distinction and identity that's unique," Keefe said, citing UD's Core Curriculum and its focus on Western civilization through primary source material.
"You all have something that everyone else is looking for, you have a clear, precise identity. You just haven't done a very good job sharing it with the outside world. You need someone who has the professional expertise and who has the passion and the energy to share it with the outside constituents, and I think I can do that," Keefe said.
Keefe started with a warning. "I have a tendency to tell long stories as explanations, so if you get bored, nod off," he said, before describing his undergraduate education at Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal arts college. "It was like Dorothy opened the door to Oz. I traveled to Europe with the men's chorus and sang, I was on the rugby team, I was on the football team, I was in every school play we had. I had a wonderful time in college. I majored in history. I took every history course they offered," he said.
Keefe then went to law school, which he didn't like because it was a trade school. He practiced law for a while and then worked as a marketing executive at West Publishing Co. He quit his job at West to work for Drake University as a gift officer.
"Higher education is our unique gift to the world … and I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to make sure that other people could be part of that as well," Keefe said.
"I know this sounds … a little bit exaggerated, but 20 years ago … my goal was to be president of a small liberal arts, Catholic college. I wanted to go back and lead a school like St. Benedict's. I've been working towards that goal ever since," Keefe said.
"I also believe that we can raise a lot more money than you're raising here. I think we can generate more students, and I think we can get more revenue for the school. And more revenue will serve to make this even a better academic enterprise," Keefe said.
"Every Catholic school in this country suffers from one disease, except for you all, and they're all Notre Dame wannabes. You have a distinction and identity that's unique," Keefe said, citing UD's Core Curriculum and its focus on Western civilization through primary source material.
"You all have something that everyone else is looking for, you have a clear, precise identity. You just haven't done a very good job sharing it with the outside world. You need someone who has the professional expertise and who has the passion and the energy to share it with the outside constituents, and I think I can do that," Keefe said.
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