President. Priest. Man.

An interview with Fr. Michael Graham, S.J.,

By Meghan Berneking

Photo courtesy of Gregory Rust

Graham celebrate comencement with a new Xavier graduate. “Do I know [students] as well as I’d like—no,” Graham said, “But do I know people a lot better than other presidents do—yes.”

We all know President Fr. Michael Graham, S.J., as the man who greets us at Manresa, hands us our diploma when we graduate and says 10 p.m. Mass once a month (which may or may not include a post-communion drink at Dana’s). But what really goes on in the life of Fr. Graham? I recently had the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss how he fulfills his multiple roles as president, priest and man.

Background

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (whose football team he still follows dutifully) and the oldest of seven children, he embarked on his scholarly journey at Cornell College, a small, liberal arts school in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. He continued with his graduate studies at the University of Michigan, where he started leaning toward the Jesuits through an individual he met there, who he now identifies as his best friend (and fellow college president). He entered the Society of Jesus in 1978, midway through graduate school. Graham completed his doctoral work in American studies, focusing on religion and identity in early America. His interests later shifted to the early national period in the “so-called Age of Jackson,” an era of rapid socio-economic change.

“My take was that religion becomes a way of making sense of the world, and so it offers you the big picture hypotheses that explains the world to you, locates your place in it and gives you some sense of purpose and meaning. When you look at times of social, economic and political change, then you are going to see rapid religious change as well trying to catch up to it, make sense of it and help people navigate it,” he said.

After a stint at Georgetown University while completing his dissertation, he came to Xavier in 1984. After a year and a half at Xavier, he attended seminary in Cambridge, Mass. from 1985-1989. He was ordained in June 1988 and came back to Xavier in the summer of 1989 as assistant professor of history. He served as the development vice-president for almost four years before becoming president in 2001.

President

As president of Xavier, Graham sees his main responsibility as, “to lead the university in strategic planning, to come up with a strategic plan and execute it.”

“I’m kind of like the chief officer of everything. My job is to oversee the whole and see how it all integrates,” he said.

Aside from his private life, Graham said he does everything as the president of the university. “I am, in the public eye, Xavier University,” he said.

As such, he works on a number of non-profit boards in Cincinnati, most notably United Way, for which he serves as the chair. He also serves on the board of the Cincinnati Publics Partnering Center (CPPC). “It was founded in the wake of the riots of 2001 as a way of brokering the relationships between the community and the police force,” he said. CPPC also overseees a program known as the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), which aims to reduce gang-related homicide rates.

Graham named the best part of being university president without skipping a beat, “The people you get to meet. I have the privilege of working with and meeting incredible people [students, staff and board members, as well as people in the community].”

“Without a doubt, the most frustrating thing in my life is my calendar. There’s not even a second place,” he said. Booking out months in advance, his schedule is rigid, meaning he savors his few nights off.

Travel

Though he did not mention how many frequent flier miles he has amassed over the years, it’s likely enough for a few decent first-class perks since he travels, on average, about once a week.

Although the majority of these excursions are business rather than pleasure-oriented, one of his annual, non-work-related trips is a long weekend in October with the presidents of some other Jesuit universities at a house near the beach owned by one of the priest’s parents in North Wildwood, N.J.

“It’s wonderful. We get together and have casual talks throughout the course of the day, watch football, go out for walks, and we always get together at the end of the day for dinner, sit on the front porch, smoke cigars and tell stories. They’re the only people who completely understand my life and I can be completely open with them about it. So we talk business, but on the other hand we can talk on a very personal level,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Rust

From left to right: Adrian Schiess, Charles Gallagher, Fr. Michael Graham and John Johns sit in Graham’s office to discuss Xavier’s Pacesetter program.

Priest

In addition to celebrating Mass at Bellarmine Chapel, Graham carries out his role as priest by performing a number of wedding ceremonies both in Cincinnati and elsewhere, as well as celebrating Mass at Good Shepherd Parish in Cincinnati since 1991.

“It’s just really nice to get outside the Xavier universe. It’s good for them, it’s good for me and it’s good for the university to have the president be involved in the ordinary operations of the archdiocese,” he said.

Graham’s Jesuit experience impacts his life as president in both big and small ways, citing himself to some degree as the spiritual leader of the campus (ranging from Baccalaureate Mass to the Spirit Celebration).

“If my being a Jesuit doesn’t change the way I’m a president, then there’s no point to having the president be a priest. Part of being a priest and Xavier being a Jesuit Catholic school means we can have a sort of moral voice in the community, which influences where I get involved,” he said.

Connections with students

Although Graham no longer teaches a class (citing time restraints preventing him from keeping up in the field as his main reason for foregoing it), remaining in touch with students is an important part of his role as president, he said.

“It unfortunately has to be rather formalized or ritualized and built into my schedule, just because I don’t have hang out, free time. But living in the Commons kind of puts me there. It’s amazing the kind of conversations you have while waiting for an elevator,” he said.

He has never been annoyed with noise students have made in the Commons and has even had students knock on his door and ask him to turn his music down. “So do I know people as well as I would like—no. But do I know people a lot better than other presidents do—yes.”

Besides the deep concerns typical of college-aged students (“Who am I really?” “What’s my purpose?”), the main concern students have regarding their life at the university is whether or not the university will fulfill its promises, ranging from attention from faculty to uneasiness over finances.

“But I don’t see one over-arching big issue…the one exception being finances. [Most issues are] kind of like a mile deep and an inch wide,” he said.

Free times

Although there’s no such thing as a typical day in the life of Graham, he said a typical week would involve off-campus meetings, a breakfast and/or lunch or two, multiple dinner obligations, staff meetings, a trip out of town, time for paperwork, raising money, etc.

The little free time he does enjoy is spent with friends, gardening or watching sports, particularly college basketball and Iowa Hawkeye football (8-0 this year). “It’s a huge deal back home. When the Hawkeyes are playing, Eastern Iowa stops.”

Although classical music dominates his stereo time, he and a friend share the pastime of previewing and exchanging quality rock CDs. Among his favorites: Bob Dylan, Iron and Wine, Green Day and the Avett Brothers.

“There’s lots of stuff out there now that’s very interesting—younger groups trying to sound older. When people my age say there’s no good music out there, it means they’re not paying attention,” he said, mentioning that Green Day’s“American Idiot” is one of the best albums in the past five years.

Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask

He can’t bench press as much as he used to and claims the best he did was tripling 350 pounds when he was in his late thirties. “Now because of multiple injuries with my back…I can only work out in ways I used to make fun of,” he said.

The one question that created a long pause in our conversation was when I asked him to name the one book all Xavier students should read before graduating.

Here were the top four: “Seven Story Mountain” by Thomas Merton, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Idea of the University” by John Henry Newman and “Habits of the Heart” by Robert Bellah.

Graham gave some final words of wisdom for students: “This is the only time you ever get to be in college. Don’t blow it. Live on the edge and do things you wouldn’t normally do, but academics always come first.

“You are never in your life going to have the opportunity to read books and talk about them with people who are experts in them, so take that very seriously. But do everything else as well; meet the friends who will be your friends for the rest of your life; give them the time that they need and you need,” he said.

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