ANNOUNCER: Tonight on Showcase with Barbara Kellar President of Xavier University, Colleen Hanycz.

Stay tuned.

Showcase starts right now.

[music] KELLAR: Colleen, thank you for coming.

This is so exciting to have you here.

I thought you were new in town, but you're not.

You're two years here at Xavier.

Tell us about being the president of a university.

HANYCZ: Barbara, I am thrilled to be here.

Thank you so much for having me.

And yes, as I think about it, I am almost two full years, but 15 years as a president, so it has been quite a while.

Two years in Cincinnati and it has been just an amazing two years, as you would know better than I do, Xavier is just a core piece of this Cincinnati community, a Cincinnati family.

It has been such a warm welcome.

So Father Michael Graham, of course, was my predecessor and somebody that really laid a great foundation for me.

KELLAR: He was very well known and very loved.

HANYCZ: He is and just beloved in this community.

So I've met so many people who really got to know him very, very well, and therefore opened a lot of doors for me.

So it's been great.

KELLAR: You mentioned you've been a president.

Were you a president before you came here?

HANYCZ: I was.

KELLAR: Well tell us about that.

HANYCZ: Six years at LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

And then, I'm Canadian, so if you listen, you'll hear it in my voice.

And my first presidency was outside of Toronto in London, Ontario.

I was seven years at Brescia University College.

KELLAR: Yeah.

So, you're not the new kid on the block.

HANYCZ: Not so much.

Still pretty new here.

It feels new lots of times here, but have done the work for a long time.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Is Xavier larger than those schools?

HANYCZ: It is.

It's the largest so far, all of them are Catholic.

So that piece is very familiar.

But this is the first Jesuit Catholic school.

KELLAR: Yeah, well, Xavier has some new things in the offing.

HANYCZ: It does.

KELLAR: Tell us about that.

HANYCZ: We just finished our strategic plan this year.

It's something that the whole community was engaged in over the last year and a bit.

And of course, the big announcement that came out of this first year was our College of Osteopathic Medicine.

So we will be working very hard over the next several years.

We will welcome our first class of medical students the fall of 2027, and they will graduate the spring of 2031, which is our 200th anniversary.

So it'll be quite a celebration.

So osteopathic medical students will lead to doctors of osteopathic medicine or DOs.

They are largely and most of them will end up being primary care physicians.

And so many of them will stay in this area and really help a growing need for primary care physicians in this region.

So we're pretty proud to be part of that.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Explain exactly what an osteopathic doctor is.

HANYCZ: Sure.

So many, many of our viewers will have had DOs in their lives.

As I said, they are often primary care docs.

It is these are doctors and medical students that will write the exact same exams as MDs.

They will have to go through all of the same processes for full credentialing, but they just study an extra 200 hours during their medical education of osteopathic medicine.

And what that is, is really a holistic approach to medicine.

And rather than thinking of the arm as a separate part, it actually thinks of the arm as part of the system of the body.

So it is a slightly different approach to medicine.

But as I said, there's a real focus on primary care.

Now, DOs often end up in the specialties as well.

So you can have Dos who end up as orthopedic surgeon or cardiologists or gynecologists.

KELLAR: Do they go back to school for that?

HANYCZ: Oh, they do.

They will.

They do residency like MDs as well.

But you will most commonly see them in your family practice in primary care.

KELLAR: Are there any other schools of osteopathic medicine?

HANYCZ: There are.

So in Ohio closest to home, you will see Ohio University.

And then if you move over, for example, into Indiana, you'll see Marion University outside of Indianapolis or Duquesne University has a school of osteopathic medicine.

So there are 38 of them in the United States.

KELLAR: Wow.

Okay.

HANYCZ: And we will be number 39.

KELLAR: Yeah.

And when does that start?

HANYCZ: Fall of 2027, so it takes -- KELLAR: Oh, it doesn't start till then.

HANYCZ: We can't get it stood up any quicker than that.

KELLAR: What is required to -- a new building?

HANYCZ: A new building.

So stay tuned.

KELLAR: We will.

Is it?

HANYCZ: Oh, yes.

It will be a very significant undertaking.

So we are now in the process of hiring our inaugural dean.

And that Dean will come and we will hire faculty and staff and build the curriculum and build a very significant new building.

And all of this.

KELLAR: First comes the fundraising.

HANYCZ: Yes.

Don't you think the Barbara Kellar College of Osteopathic Medicine would perfect.

KELLAR: It would be good.

It would be perfect.

HANYCZ: It would just be beautiful in lights and signs.

KELLAR: Do you have some candidates?

HANYCZ: We do.

We're actively involved in the fund raising.

And of course it does.

We have been working with our major health systems in this region.

There's a tremendous amount of excitement.

Xavier has great partners in the region already.

So what the message that is loud and clear is we need more physicians in this area and we're going to be part of that solution.

KELLAR: Everybody knows that because when you try to get an appointment, six months.

HANYCZ: It's crazy.

It is.

And not only that, when we look at the age of our physicians, they are aging.

And by 2030, we are going to have a huge need.

We're going to need 700 more primary care doctors in the state of Ohio than we have right now.

So we're going to need to educate more doctors.

KELLAR: Yeah, I think everybody knows.

I had to change my dental appointment just last week and they told me I couldn't get another appointment until the end of August.

HANYCZ: Think about that.

KELLAR: Just for a dentist.

HANYCZ: I mean think about that.

But think about some of the areas in Ohio that are outside of the major cities.

You know, you have underserved areas.

We need to have access to health care.

I mean, there are economic reasons and social reasons.

And as this state jumps forward and tries to achieve what we all need to be the best we can be, that's an important part of it.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Were you part of the genesis of this idea?

HANYCZ: Sure.

And it's an idea that really, as Xavier positions itself for our next chapter, this is something that many people were part of.

But certainly I've been doing this work for a long time.

And as I came to a new community with all of the ideas of my 15 years as a president, this seemed a really obvious next step.

KELLAR: Yeah, I know the campus very well.

Is there space?

Would you put it closer to the corner with Reading Road?

HANYCZ: We're not sure yet.

We're engaging right now in a campus master plan.

So that work has just begun.

And so the whole community will come together and think about where the best position for this is.

But we're looking at that right now.

KELLAR: Yeah, well, that's the probably the biggest item on your agenda.

What -- you don't have a law school?

No, but you do have a musical theater.

HANYCZ: We have a musical theater program.

We have a great business school.

We have an historic College of Arts and sciences.

We have a pre-med program that is one of the main reasons why this medical school -- we have 100 year old pre-med program.

In fact, our students are admitted to medical school at twice the national average.

This is a very great pre-medical program.

So we have an incredible nursing program.

I mean, Xavier has just got just excellent programs.

And so this is the next major step.

KELLAR: Right.

Well, the one I know the best is run by one of my very, very best friends, Polina Bespalko.

HANYCZ: Oh, yes.

KELLAR: She is incredible.

She's fabulous.

She's been on Showcase quite a few times.

HANYCZ: I didn't know that.

KELLAR: Oh, yes, you can watch the shows on CET Connect.

HANYCZ: I certainly will.

KELLAR: Yeah.

She's just fantastic.

And she runs the Xavier Series, jazz series and brings in all kinds of people from all over the world.

Yeah, she knows -- she's Russian, so she knows people all over the world.

HANYCZ: From everywhere, yeah.

KELLAR: And she's brought in some incredible people.

As a matter of fact, when I was a teenager, our favorite group was The Four Freshmen, which you probably -- HANYCZ: I've heard.

Yes.

KELLAR: Of course, they're all the originals, I'm sure are all dead by now.

But she -- The Four Freshmen, she was bringing in The Four Freshmen.

And I said, "Oh, my gosh, The Four Freshmen.

I know all the songs.

I could --" She said, "Well, I'll let you sing with them."

And I laughed.

Well, they were about to come, and she said, "You have to come for a rehearsal."

I said, "What are you talking?"

She said, "Yeah, we're going to let you sing with them once a song."

So sure enough, I got -- I went there, we rehearsed.

Yeah.

And then the day came and I got to sing with The Four Freshmen.

So my high school friends are very, very envious.

HANYCZ: Very impressive, yes.

KELLAR: And my husband, of course, taped it on his phone.

So when things get dull, he asks people if they want to -- HANYCZ: See you singing with The Four Freshmen.

KELLAR: With The Four Freshmen at Gallagher Auditorium.

HANYCZ: That is terrific.

What a great story.

KELLAR: Yeah, I know she's looking for different venues because people want to, I guess, branch out and go to performances in different areas.

HANYCZ: We have terrific art performances on campus and sometimes they're in Gallagher, as you say, sometimes they're in the Bellarmine Chapel.

I mean, we just have terrific campus spaces and groups and musical groups, musical theater.

I had the opportunity to see a couple of just terrific plays last year that our students put on and musical performances.

We have some great work on campus.

KELLAR: Well, tell us about you have some pretty good sports teams.

HANYCZ: We do, and we just had a great year.

And some of our teams, we, of course, are in the Big East Conference, which is one of the conferences of the NCAA.

And, you know, basketball, of course, is what Xavier is best known for in this community.

I learned when I got here very early that I should never be ever seen wearing reds because I would, you know, that would be unforgivable in this town.

So that was made clear to me.

Of course, Doctor Pinto and I have had conversations and we don't buy into that.

No handshakes.

KELLAR: Oh, that's -- isn't that just silly?

He is.

He is a terrific, terrific guy.

But anyway, I learned often and early what it is to be a Xavier Musketeer.

And we take that pretty seriously.

So we really enjoyed this year.

Our men's basketball team went on a pretty great run to the Sweet 16 and I got to -- it was my first time for this Canadian kid to be involved in the NCAA tournament and got as far as Kansas City.

KELLAR: And you went to all the games.

HANYCZ: I did.

I did.

And my predecessor, Father Michael Graham, his piece that he would, when we were winning a game, he would sort of come forward and he was sort of famous for wearing these sweater vests and he would take his sweater vest off and do this.

All the students would cheer, you know, "Father Graham."

And I thought, well, when I got there, I thought, I just don't think that's going to work for me taking off, spinning.

And I thought, no, we're going to need something different.

So I go down and I hang out with our students in the student section and sort of jump up and down with them and really enjoy that.

So we had just a pretty historic year this year with a new coach.

Well, not a new coach, but obviously Coach Miller spent some time at Xavier in the past and now he's back and we're really, really enjoying that.

And now this year a new women's basketball coach.

So Coach Billy Chambers is back and is doing some great work with our women's program.

And many of our other programs, men's -- our baseball team got to the NCAA tournament this year and made some amazing noise after several years of not getting there.

So we're really proud of all of them.

These are just remarkable men and women who are good in the classroom, great in the community, and great in competition.

So very proud of them.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Well, Xavier certainly is known for enthusiastic supporters.

Because I've been to some of the games.

Yes, I have.

And they couldn't be more enthusiastic supporters, they are than for Xavier.

And I love basketball.

I like baseball too.

Football, not so much, but you don't have a football team.

HANYCZ: We do not.

Which we like to say we're undefeated since 1972.

KELLAR: Right.

HANYCZ: So that's the -- 1972 is the last time that we had a football team.

KELLAR: Oh, you did have one?

HANYCZ: We did.

I don't know a lot about it, but it was a long time ago.

But even if you're not an athlete yourself, our daughter just finished her sophomore year at Xavier.

And so I've learned a lot from her just about the enthusiasm that our students have for their colleagues who play sports.

And I love to watch.

We go to a lot of soccer games.

We go to a lot.

This is the first year of our women's lacrosse team.

They just played their first inaugural season.

And just seeing these young women play their hearts out for our school and for each other and for their coaches, it's just so inspiring.

KELLAR: It's fabulous.

HANYCZ: You know, just seeing that, the love that they have for one another, it gives you a lot of faith in the human race, frankly.

KELLAR: As a president, everything ends up at your desk.

And nowadays, what would you say are the biggest challenges?

HANYCZ: Well, what keeps me awake at night?

There is a national epidemic around student mental health right now.

I mean, we know that.

It is -- we have not got our arms wrapped around it at all.

It is a combination of, you know, some of what's going on in our country on a smaller scale on college campuses.

I think we have to do a better job of preparing our students for the world that they're entering into and help them to do a better job than the adults are doing, frankly, with how we deal with one another and deal with different views of opinion and be a little less polarized in all of our views.

KELLAR: Yeah.

HANYCZ: We're not doing a great job with that.

So that keeps me awake a lot.

You know how we deal with speech on our campus, that's something that I'm speaking a lot about and wanting our students to confront ideas that make them uncomfortable and yet making sure that they're not confronting ideas that are hateful.

And what is that fine line?

And we've spent a lot of time on that this year at Xavier and trying to get that balance right.

So that's something that I'm pretty passionate about.

And it goes back to my training as an attorney, I think.

But also just the experience that I've had on many different campuses trying to bring that to bear right now.

I don't think we're doing our students a favor if we allow them to be buffered from ideas that make them uncomfortable.

KELLAR: Thank you.

I agree with that totally.

There's a world out there that, right, beyond the campus walls, the classroom walls.

You have to learn to live with people who are very different.

HANYCZ: Right.

KELLAR: Most people do.

And how do you -- do you have seminars?

How do you -- what specific things do you do?

HANYCZ: Well, Xavier is amazing.

Long before I got there, they started a program called Take It On.

And this was started in their wisdom ahead of some very controversial elections that we've had in this country recently.

And the whole idea was to get our students engaged in dealing with difficult viewpoints and viewpoints that might be different from their own.

And we've sort of taken that and expanded it.

And so we've invited some speakers to campus and so on, that -- and giving students and faculty and staff, but the resources to talk about those speakers in the classroom before and after some of those speeches in a way that would help them to process some of what they heard.

And you know, colleagues will come to me and say, "There's going to be maybe a protest."

I said, "Protest is great.

Fine.

That's perfect."

KELLAR: Go for it.

HANYCZ: That's beautiful.

Protest is -- now not enough protests that you shout down a speaker.

KELLAR: No, no, no, no.

HANYCZ: That's not acceptable.

But protest is a form of speech.

It's a great form of speech, you know, and we need to give our faculty the tools that they need so that they can have these conversations in the classroom.

If a student -- to me, there is nothing better than a student coming away from a speech saying, "I hated those ideas."

Why did you hate them?

"Well, I just hated them."

That's not enough.

KELLAR: No.

HANYCZ: Why did you hate them?

"Well, they made me feel angry."

Why did they make you feel?

Well because he said this, this and this.

Well, I'm going to sit there and watch that brain expand and contract.

That's -- if I'm not doing that as an educator, I failed.

KELLAR: Yeah.

HANYCZ: So if we're not doing that as a university and creating this marketplace where those ideas will, you know, confront our students.

So I'm trying to do that.

But sometimes it sounds great in theory, but sometimes in execution you say -- you get to a certain position where a student will say, "Well, I'm feeling oppressed by that.

I'm feeling offended.

I'm -- that was hateful."

And you have to be really careful about that.

So that's what we're working with.

KELLAR: Yeah, I think it's so different from my world when I grew up.

HANYCZ: I agree, and mine too.

And so that's the other piece is the whole generational part to that.

You know, when I grew up, nobody worried about who felt oppressed or offended.

KELLAR: No, no one ever said, "How do you feel?"

HANYCZ: Nobody did, and maybe that wasn't right either, because maybe there were people that were being traumatized and I wasn't even aware of it.

But we also have to worry about going too far down a pathway because these young people, when they graduate and leave my campus and go into the workforce, there may not be that much concern.

KELLAR: There's not going to be that buffer, right.

HANYCZ: Yeah.

So I have to get them ready for that as well.

KELLAR: Yeah, I think the idea of shouting down a speaker and not allowing them to speak is one of the worst, and it happens all the time.

HANYCZ: On campuses.

KELLAR: On campuses, and they succumb to it.

The administration will get rid of that, whatever.

To me, that's absolutely deplorable.

HANYCZ: I agree with you 100%.

KELLAR: That you can't listen to someone else's opinion.

You know, I have several friends who try to educate me to their side of things.

And, you know, you have to be willing to listen, not only listen, but try to understand where they're coming from.

And it makes you feel bad.

Well, you know, maybe thinking about yourself is a little too much time spent thinking about how I feel.

How about how the other guy feels?

HANYCZ: And if at the end of that you can defeat those ideas, that's great.

Let's name four things that are wrong with those ideas, because now your brain is working hard.

But that's -- but you may find at the end that you're actually quite compelled by those ideas, that maybe you're thinking differently about than how you were thinking before the speaker.

That's why we are built to be in community, because we learn from each other and we grow from one another.

KELLAR: Yeah, I think that's one of the things PBS does is we give both sides, all sides, we try to.

HANYCZ: And learn from each other.

KELLAR: It's a great, great, great learning experience.

Well, aside from that, what would be the next worst challenge?

HANYCZ: What is the worst challenge?

KELLAR: Well, fundraising.

Do you spend a lot of time?

HANYCZ: I do, but I love that work.

I mean, that is -- KELLAR: Talking to people about something you love.

HANYCZ: Right.

It's not hard.

KELLAR: No.

HANYCZ: And think about it, I am raising money for this 200 year old institution that has changed lives every single day that its doors have been opened.

And we're not perfect.

And we've certainly made errors along the way and we make errors every day.

But it has changed lives.

This Jesuit Catholic school that has attracted the most remarkable men and women to our mission and as a result, has graduated the most remarkable young men and women who have gone on to change the world.

I can raise money about that all day long.

It's just --it's wonderful.

And we've had great success.

We have had some transformational gifts.

I mean, for 200 years, we have had individuals and foundations and families who have said, "Absolutely, we want to support Xavier."

And this has been a record year in fundraising for us.

So.

that's been great.

KELLAR: Wow.

Yeah, I'm envisioning the campus and I can remember a time when there were other buildings all the way to -- HANYCZ: I've seen pictures and heard about it.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Actually, my father worked at one of those companies that was in the same -- in that same block.

But you've managed to get -- to make those spaces yours.

And so you have plenty of space to grow.

HANYCZ: We do, well, I mean, I am so grateful to the presidents that came before me, whether it was Father Graham or Father Hoff or the Jesuit -- It was all Jesuits before me.

And I'm grateful for their vision because they tried to enlarge the campus footprint knowing that someday there would -- and I will do -- I will do the same.

We'll, with the idea that someday, there's a Xavier president, she's sitting in seventh grade or fifth grade right now.

And someday she will be sitting in the chair that I'm sitting in today and she will say, "I want to build something."

And I want to make sure now that she has the space to do it.

So that will be my goal as well.

And I don't know what she's going to build.

It'll be something with AI or virtual technology or whatever, but I want to make sure she has what she needs then to do it.

KELLAR: And you're doing a fabulous job.

HANYCZ: Thank you.

KELLAR: And you've got a great basketball team.

HANYCZ: We have some great young people on that campus.

KELLAR: Really great stuff going for you.

Well, I'm over there when I go to Polina's shows.

HANYCZ: Of course.

KELLAR: And I think that theater is wonderful.

We enjoy being there, but I know that's going to change a little bit with different venues.

But I mean, Xavier is just a huge part of Cincinnati and whether you're a Xavier person or not, we're still very proud that it is a Cincinnati school and that we -- I'm sure you're the first female president.

HANYCZ: I am.

KELLAR: It's interesting to me that a lot a lot of schools now have female presidents.

HANYCZ: It's kind of gone that way.

And I'm quite lucky because I was also the first -- So I'm the first non Jesuit and the first female, and I was the exact same in Philadelphia at LaSalle.

I was the first non Christian brother, the first female.

And it's a big transition for the community to move in that direction.

And it brings a slightly different culture, but it's not bad and it's welcoming and it's just a little different perspective on leadership and so on, but it's great.

KELLAR: Do you ever get the feeling that the boys kind of -- It's harder to get on board.

HANYCZ: That's probably a conversation for another time, Barbara.

KELLAR: Okay.

Okay.

HANYCZ: No, I will tell you, the Jesuits have been incredibly welcoming of me.

But change is not easy for everyone.

But here it has been so smooth.

KELLAR: But sometimes boys have a different attitude and approach to a woman telling them what to do.

HANYCZ: There is always that.

Yeah, for sure.

For sure.

KELLAR: But I'm sure they learned to love you.

HANYCZ: Yes, I think you just -- you just have to be a little bit sometimes gentle about how you -- KELLAR: I know you have classes in graduate school because I took a couple when I was getting a master's.

HANYCZ: We do.

KELLAR: I took a couple of classes at Xavier.

HANYCZ: We do.

We have lots of graduate programs.

We have MBA.

We have a brand new dean of our business school arriving in just a couple of days.

And we have graduate schools in counseling and nursing and education, in occupational therapy, across the board, great, great graduate programs.

KELLAR: Yeah, you have a family, but your children are gone.

HANYCZ: They're grown.

Yes.

So our oldest son just graduated from law school and he begins his -- he has just started working as an adult, a full adult off the payroll, Barbara.

KELLAR: Oh, good.

HANYCZ: It's good times.

He is working as an associate lawyer here in town at Rendigs, so he started his practice.

And our youngest is, as I said, she will start her junior year at Xavier.

And so, yeah, they're all coming along.

KELLAR: Yeah.

Well, we wish you all the wonderful luck you -- that you deserve.

And Xavier is in good hands.

HANYCZ: Thank you.

KELLAR: So we'll all breathe easily.

HANYCZ: Thank you.

KELLAR: And I'm sure you'll meet those challenges and we'll hear only good things.

HANYCZ: Well, we're thrilled to be here.

As has been said to me by another leader in Cincinnati, when Xavier is stronger, Cincinnati is stronger.

KELLAR: Absolutely.

HANYCZ: And I'm very pleased to be part of that calculation.

So thanks, Barbara.

I'm glad to be here.

KELLAR: Thanks for coming.

ANNOUNCER: Join us next week for another episode of Showcase with Barbara Kellar right here on CET.

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