Legacies

March 30, 2023

I never knew Fr. Vincent Horrigan, S.J. (left) or Fr. Henry Kenney, S.J. (right). In fact, I had never even heard their names until their Xavier legacies came to my attention recently.

While teaching at Xavier in the 1950s and 1960s, these two professors contributed to the Xavier community in different ways.

Fr. Horrigan (d. 1980) taught classical languages and co-authored a textbook on Homeric Greek that — astonishingly — remains in print.

During his decade at Xavier, Fr. Kenney (d. 2011) served as chair of the Philosophy Department and gave a talk about John Dewey at the West Virginia Philosophical Society.

Together they also shaped the intellectual life of a Xavier student who graduated in 1959 from the business school before enjoying a successful career in accountancy.

Fr. Horrigan and Fr. Kenney introduced this student to the liberal arts, as his will explained — and so he set aside a six-figure portion of his estate to support the College of Arts and Sciences. That gift will make a meaningful difference to our students and faculty in the months and years ahead.

I'd love to know exactly how these two professors changed this person's life through their Core Curriculum classes. But it's easy enough for me to imagine. Why? Because I've heard the stories that so many other graduates tell about their Xavier professors, past and present.

Some of those professors, our colleagues, have recently or will soon retire after a collective 335 years of service! I invite you all to join me on Monday to honor their legacies as part of the CAS College Meeting:

• Jerry Cline-Bailey
• Janice Walker
• Paul Colella
• Mike Weissbuch
• Barbara Hopkins
• Tyrone Williams
• David Reid
• Carol Winkelmann
• Kandi Stinson

I also invite you to reflect on the legacies that you too are building. Your students will long remember what they are learning from you. What you say in and out of class, what you write in an op-ed or an article, how you challenge and support them and your colleagues: all that contributes to your legacy.

Over the past week I've witnessed again how you embody our community's mission and values. You walk together with young people, both inside and outside the classroom, to build a hope-filled future; you advocate for justice and the marginalized; you speak bravely from your expertise, experience, and conviction, making sure that I and others hear what needs to be said.

It's the stuff of legacies.

David Mengel