Cesareo brings a new perspective to Assumption.

Byline: Albert B. SOUTHWICK

COLUMN: ALBERT B. SOUTHWICK

For the past seven years, Assumption College has been on a major growth parabola. Under President Thomas R. Plough the college opened a new science center, a new parking garage, new classrooms and student living quarters, a new recreation center and a large, multi-sports complex. When Mr. Plough retired recently, he could look with satisfaction on what had been accomplished. Assumption has one of the most impressive campuses to be found in New England.

This week a new era begins at Assumption, with the installation of Francesco Cesareo as president. Mr. Cesareo, a scholar of the Reformation- Counter/Reformation era, is primarily concerned with how liberal education can be combined with Catholic doctrine to produce well-rounded students with a holistic philosophy of life. That won't be an easy task.

Change does not come easily or automatically to college administrations and faculties. When Mr. Cesareo told Assumption Magazine that he plans to "reform the curriculum," he probably did not expect the faculty would fall into immediate lock-step. Faculties anywhere have many people with independent minds and their own ideas. He has many discussions ahead before his idea for integrating Catholic teaching into the curriculum bear fruit, he said. To some, the notion may seem revolutionary - or counter revolutionary.

In our interview, President Cesareo came across as a genial man with considerable personal warmth. But behind the geniality is a solid core of conviction and a first-class intellect. To some, his grounding in the 15th century may seem outdated and irrelevant when it comes to running a modern higher institute of learning. But I suspect that it would be a mistake to discount his approach. If he can draw on the vital ideas of the past to help illuminate the learning process in the liberal, secular world without getting snagged in the briar patch of dogma, he may accomplish something of great value. At the least, Assumption is in for some interesting times.

A minor item, but perhaps significant, was the recent "matriculation" ceremony, where incoming freshman students were each given crosses blessed by the Rev. Dennis Gallagher, vice president for mission. I asked Mr. Cesareo what that was supposed to mean to the hundreds of non-Catholics who are in the freshman class.

"For them it was a reminder that Assumption is a Catholic school with Catholic traditions," he replied. "It recognizes that there is a transcendent being over all." He was emphatic in insisting that it was not in any way designed to proselytize or to belittle other beliefs. He is impressed with the widespread ecumenical traditions in Worcester and enthusiastically endorses attempts to reach across religious boundaries.

"Whether people are Jewish, Protestant or Muslim, we want to reach out to them. A person's faith is important, and we want to have a dialogue with any and all. We respect them, and we want them to respect us," he said. As has been the case since 1953 when the tornado uprooted the old Assumption College on West Boylston Street, all will be welcome. The building of the new college campus on Salisbury Street became a community enterprise in the 1950s and Assumption remains committed to the community at large. For example, it provides classroom space and support for the phenomenally popular Worcester Institute for Senior Education (WISE) program. More than 400 senior citizens take WISE courses at Assumption in a wide variety of subjects.

"Education is - or ought to be - something more than job training," Mr. Cesario said. "We want to produce graduates who have had a life-defining experience here at Assumption."

His plans to do that are extensive - and may be controversial in some quarters. He wants to have academic requirements at Assumption more clearly defined. Assumption students now are required to take a course in the Bible, two courses in theology and one in philosophy. Mr. Cesario wants to expand that so that the core curriculum gives students elemental grounding in literature, economics, philosophy, sociology and economics. He admires the Great Books programs adopted at some colleges a generation ago. He also was impressed by a recent article in The Wall Street Journal by Peter Berkowitz. Mr. Berkowitz, who formerly taught at Harvard University, was sharply critical of Harvard's failure to establish minimum academic requirements for students. Mr. Cesario also envisages something new and radical - residential learning communities where selected groups of students will live together, study together, have mutual discussions and interaction and in general develop together under the tutelage of dedicated faculty. I don't know exactly how that would work, but it fits in with Mr. Cesareo's dream of producing well-rounded graduates ready to deal with the complexities of the world while making significant contributions to society.

I ventured into more sensitive areas. Would a more Catholic regime, I asked, put limits on the search for knowledge? Would students at the new Testa science building be allowed to engage in embryonic stem-cell research?

They could study embryonic stem-cell research and theory, he said, but would not be permitted to actually do such work in the lab, because it contravenes church doctrine.

I brought up the abortion issue and mentioned the Helen Bowditch case. Helen Bowditch was one of Worcester's most respected residents, a longtime member of the school committee and a community activist. When she was invited to join the Assumption board of trustees, it was widely seen by the Worcester community as an important ecumenical development. But when the college learned that she was a board member of Planned Parenthood, she was asked to leave. Mr. Cesareo was not familiar with the episode, but he said that it would be difficult for the Assumption board to have a member who was connected to an organization that provided abortion services. Yet he had no problem with the idea of a Unitarian pastor giving the commencement address at the college, as happened a few years ago.

Francesco Cesareo is no simple-minded dogmatist. He is a complex man and an intellectual who understands the special position of a Catholic liberal arts college in a secular world. His vision for Assumption is exciting and challenging. If he achieves only half of what he hopes to do, he will have left his mark on Worcester and the world of academia.

Albert B. Southwick's column appears regularly in the Sunday Telegram.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: On Aug. 27, Assumption College held its first-ever Matriculation Ceremony to welcome incoming freshmen and introduce them to the college's values. New Assumption President Francesco Cesareo welcomes back sophomore students Kristen Hartka of Wilmington, left, Alicia Pietrasiewicz of Charlton, center, and Maureen Toscano of Worcester, at the all-campus barbecue also held that day.

PHOTOG: FILE PHOTO