After 14 years, first woman to head a Jesuit university plans to leave

Published: 2003-11-20

DETROIT (CNS) -- To be the first non-Jesuit president of a Jesuit university, and to be a woman to boot, one would almost have to be a Dominican. At least that was the reaction of Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, superior general of the Jesuits. When they met, recounted Dominican Sister Maureen Fay, one of Father Kolvenbach's first comments was: "How fitting. A Dominican." Sitting in her office at the University of Detroit Mercy, Sister Fay laughed in the retelling but recalled the "total silence" that greeted her the first time she walked into a meeting with the presidents of the 27 other U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities. The year was 1990, when the University of Detroit combined with Mercy College, where she was the first president who was not a Sister of Mercy. Now in her 14th year in that post, she is the third longest serving president of a U.S. Jesuit university. "They're a fun group. Challenging, but fun," said Sister Fay, a member of the Adrian (Mich.) Dominican Sisters. After more than 20 years as a college and university president in Detroit, the 67-year-old Chicago native plans to leave her post when the school year ends next spring.

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