A Lifelong Musketeer

Jul 13, 2023

 

After more than half a century as a Musketeer, Tom Hayes’ devotion to Xavier University cannot be questioned.

Having just capped off more than seven years as dean of the University’s Williams College of Business (WCB), Hayes has been at Xavier since 1972, when he enrolled as a psychology student at Xavier. In the next four years, he earned his bachelor’s degree and his MBA, started his Ph.D., and he joined Xavier’s faculty in 1976 as an instructor.

But you could make the case — as Hayes does — that he’s been a Musketeer for even longer.

“I’ve been here … my entire life because of my dad,” Hayes said. “My dad came to Xavier in 1958, which means that's the year I came to Xavier.”

J. Kaney Hayes (pictured left of Tom Hayes), a longtime economics professor who rose to the level of WCB Associate Dean, worked for a much different version of Xavier than what we see today, particularly in terms of scale.

Despite those differences, Tom Hayes said he still takes the same approach to work as his father did: get to know your colleagues on a deep level, contribute to a positive work environment, and bring “a servant’s heart” to work every day.

“I still hear from alumni who tell me how my father, or one of his colleagues, went above and beyond to help them,” Hayes said. “It has laid the foundation of how I should come to this job. I hope 20 years from now, someone says the same thing about me.”

While Hayes is stepping down as dean — a role that San Jose State University’s Marco Pagani assumed — he will continue making an impact at Xavier.

Hayes rejoins Xavier’s Marketing Department faculty and resumes his lifelong passion of teaching in the fall.

“The reason I’m here is because of the students, and I’m really stoked about being back in the classroom,” Hayes said. “(Marketing) is an amazing department, and they will motivate me and support me to do my best.”

As he eyes the 50-year mark of employment with the University, Hayes took time to revisit his student days, his early years as a professor, and his seven years as a dean, sharing his top takeaways from his many years as a Musketeer.

Tom Hayes, the college student

Many look back on the fun and frivolity of college life — but Hayes described his experience as “laser-focused” when reminiscing on his undergraduate days.

His typical week, he said, involved 20 hours working, 18 credit hours of courses (including during the summer), and competing on the wrestling team.

That did not leave much time for fun. His sights, he said, were set on earning his MBA within four years, getting married, and having children.

While that laser focus helped Hayes meet all his goals, he said he doesn’t suggest today’s students take the same approach.

“I did (everything I aimed to do), but I paid for it in experiences,” Hayes said. “I tell students all the time, ‘Enjoy these four years. Take your time. Other things will come around when you need them to come around.’”

From Undergrad to Dean

Throughout his journey, Hayes had a first-hand experience of watching the school transform from a commuter school to a national university.

“It’s a night-and-day difference,” Hayes said.

To demonstrate that transformation, when he shows Xavier’s Kennedy Auditorium to prospective students during campus tours, Hayes will go to the corner of the auditorium and note that he’s standing where his first marital home once stood.

He also enjoys giving tours to alumni who haven’t seen the campus in years, sometimes decades. For those individuals, the campus is often unrecognizable.

                               

That evolution, Hayes said, came as the result of a strong shared vision from the University’s leaders, specifically noting former University presidents Fr. James E. Hoff, S.J., and Fr. Michael Graham, S.J.

“It’s fun to give people tours that haven’t been on campus for a while,” Hayes said. “I always tell people it’s what happens when you have the same shared vision for 30 years.”

But as the University’s look has changed, the type of people that make it run have not.

Hayes said Xavier’s culture of care is no mistake. Applying a popular principle in services marketing to the work of faculty, he said the University has maintained a consistent focus on hiring people that fit the culture over the decades, and it’s led to an environment of collegiality and strong community.

“There's a classic article that says the customer comes second and that the most important thing in a service environment — which education is a service business — is that if your people are happy, they love their job and they do a better job” he said. “If you love your job and you love coming to work, you're going to do that much better job with the students and you're going to be that much more committed.”

That collegiality, Hayes said, is what has kept him around so long, and it’s why you regularly see colleagues surpassing the 20-, 30-, and even 40-year marks at Xavier.

Looking back on seven years as WCB dean

Though Hayes said listing his most proud accomplishments as Xavier’s business dean is “almost impossible” because he credits his colleagues for anything he’s done at the University, he hopes his most lasting impact will be his role in sustaining the culture that makes Xavier so special.

“I try to create an environment of collegiality and innovation, because we have had so many things done, made better, and made bigger because the faculty and staff feel empowered,” Hayes said.

Sometimes, collegiality means filling in as the Blue Blob — Xavier's secondary mascot — to pose in wedding pictures, which turned out to be Hayes' "first act as dean." Hayes donned the costume to help out Brian Maley, then executive director of alumni relations, whose son's wedding happened to coincide with Hayes' first week as head of WCB.

In terms of specific endeavors, Hayes said he hopes to see the continued growth of the Center for Women in Business and Leadership, created in 2020. In short, the center’s efforts support women from the classroom to the boardroom.

“That’s something I really, truly believe in,” said Hayes, who will join the center’s board of directors after he steps down from his dean position.

Hayes also noted his efforts to build Xavier’s connections to the Cincinnati business community as one of his primary strategic initiatives over the years.

He referred to Xavier’s roughly 13,000 undergraduate business alumni and 18,000 MBA alumni and said that, with numbers like that, there is an abundance of graduates willing to help and engage WCB.

“One of the things we thrive on is (building) those connections,” Hayes said. “Part of my strategic initiatives is integration into the business community, because if you have that, you can do everything else.”

The attributes of a great teacher

Slated to rejoin Xavier’s faculty, Hayes shared what he views as the keys to becoming a great teacher.

First, he said a professor should strive to help their students succeed not only in the classroom, but in life. He believes Xavier exceeds in this regard due in large part to its Jesuit tradition, in particular the emphasis on cura personalis, or “care for the whole person” with an all-encompassing focus on mind, body, and spirit.

Next, he said a great teacher finds a way to make coursework “come alive,” which he tied to Xavier’s focus on experiential learning. In the College of Business, that could mean anything from collaborating on projects with real companies to work-study opportunities to global travel.

His third key for succeeding as a teacher is to set solid expectations for students, hold them to it, and just treat them like the adults they are becoming.

“You can be a great teacher and still have a lot of rigor in the sense that you hold (students) accountable,” Hayes said. “They can have a great time in class, they still have to have that project, and they still have to have that report; they still have to do the things they have to do.”

And when it comes to his mantra, Hayes said he has one that he reminds himself of at least a couple of times each day:

“Everybody has hopes and dreams,” Hayes said. “I think my job is to facilitate those hopes and dreams.”