EMMITSBURG – Talk to Dr. Gerard “Jerry” J. Joyce and it won’t take long to get the impression that he’s enthused about his new job.
“This is the happiest I’ve been starting a new job,” said the 27th president of Mount St. Mary’s University, who started his “new job” July 1.
Joyce is a veteran of 32 years of work in higher education, but in just a few weeks, he has an unmatched feeling about the 215-year-old university in Emmitsburg he’s tasked with leading.
“Every time I go into work, I go in with gratitude that everything that was sold to me during the hiring process has come true,” Joyce said. “From day one everyone I’ve encountered on campus is just excited to be here, and that’s so refreshing.”
Joyce previously served as executive vice president of DeSales University, a private Catholic college in Center Valley, Pa. His new house isn’t finished yet in Maryland so his family is still back in Pennsylvania.
“I think my wife Erin has to be a little taken aback because every night I call home and I tell her, ‘This is the best job ever!’ I already know this a great community and one that I want to be a part of for the long term.”
Joyce said his immediate goals are to get to know the Mount’s students, faculty and alumni so that he can better understand what he calls a “special place.”
He described arriving by himself for his first week of work on a Sunday afternoon and visiting the campus’ National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes.
“This is a very special place,” he said. “There’s something about the mountain and the grotto that just grabs you. I thought it would take a while for me to get a feel, but in just two weeks, I can tell this place is the real deal. I come in every morning and I’m just happy to be here.”
Joyce said it didn’t hurt that he arrived in such a good position in large part to what he says were his predecessor and the leadership team at the Mount. He said retired President Dr. Timothy E. Trainor went out of his way to invite Joyce to events that helped him get the lay of the land and get comfortable with the way the Mount operates.
He also helped spearhead the Mount’s successful re-accreditation by the Middle State Commission on Higher Education.
“I have such great respect for Dr. Trainor,” Joyce said. “He has no ego. He wanted to make sure I was comfortable, and he and the leadership team went out of their way to make it happen.”
Joyce succeeds Trainor, who retired after serving as president of Mount St. Mary’s since 2016. Joyce’s appointment followed a national search that began in March 2023.
Joyce said it helps that Mount St. Mary’s is bucking national trends by getting ready to welcome one of its biggest classes when more than 575 students are scheduled to arrive for the fall semester.
“The recruitment business really is an art and a science,” he said. “We had a goal for 535 students and more than 575 is a really good sign in this environment. I’m grateful that I’m starting on such good footing.”
He said Mount St. Mary’s enrollment strength is due to it being able to strike the right balance between its strong established programs, such as business and education, along with its new health care offerings.
“It’s a balancing act, and we’ve been able to strike the right balance,” he said. “It’s not just about the degree here. It’s about educating the whole person – morally, physically and academically.”
He said his short-term goal is to “get in front of some alums. Not just to say ‘hello,’ but to learn their stories.” He also wants to meet with as many students and faculty as possible “so I can learn the culture as we develop a new strategic plan.”
He noted that with every staff and faculty member he encounters, he starts by asking how long they have been at the Mount.
“Rarely does anyone say less than 10 years,” he said. “That’s how long everyone stays here because they love the place so much.”
For the long term, Joyce said he wants to shore up the school’s recruitment process, especially with a forecasted dip in the number of students in the Northeast in 2026.
He said a big part of attracting new students is bringing back alumni to share their successes.
“I want the alums to be in engaged with their time and treasure,” Joyce said.
He also said he wants to make sure the campus respects its tradition as America’s oldest independent Catholic university.
“We need to make sure we are taking care of a 215-year-old campus, but we also have to modernize the campus to meet our students’ needs,” said Joyce, who has been touring the “nooks and crannies” of the campus, “going in basements and opening every door.”
He said getting to know the history of the Mount, reading all of the plaques and historical signs, has been a little overwhelming.
One thing that hasn’t been overwhelming is the vibe he gets from his first few days on the job, one that he is eager to share with his wife and five children.
“There’s something special here,” he said. “When you arrive here, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, you feel the peacefulness and joy. If I could bottle the feeling, I’d be a millionaire.”
Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org
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