Holy Cross names first lay president

WORCESTER - The College of the Holy Cross has named its first lay and first Black president in its 178-year history. Vincent D. Rougeau, dean of the Boston College Law School, has been chosen as college’s 33rd president, according to a press release from Holy Cross.
Mr. Rougeau was chosen after a nationwide search and approved unanimously by Holy Cross’ trustees on Tuesday. Richard Patterson, a 1980 graduate and chairman of the board of trustees, made the announcement.
Mr. Rougeau assumes his role on July 1, succeeding Jesuit Father Philip L. Boroughs, who announced in September that he would be leaving his post at the end of June, after serving as president for almost a decade.
Mr. Rougeau has been dean of the Boston College Law School since 2011. During his tenure, he has led a reorganization in leadership structure to support a more holistic approach to student services, expand the school’s national and international recruitment of a diverse student body, and enhance the school’s commitment to experiential learning and global engagement, the Holy Cross press release said.
He was recently named the inaugural director of the new Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America, a meeting place for listening, dialogue, and greater understanding about race and racism.
Mr. Rougeau is a national expert in Catholic social thought, the press release said. His book “Christians in the American Empire: Faith and Citizenship in the New World Order” was released by Oxford University Press in 2008. His current research and writing consider the relationships among religious identity, citizenship, and membership in highly mobile and increasingly multicultural democratic societies.
Prior to his role at Boston College, Mr. Rougeau was a tenured professor of law at Notre Dame Law School and served as their associate dean for academic affairs from 1999-2002.
“Vincent brings the strategic vision, deep experience as a faculty member and administrator, and commitment to liberal arts education that will allow him to lead Holy Cross in meeting the many challenges facing higher education today,” said Mr. Patterson.
Mr. Rougeau and his wife, Dr. Robin Kornegay-Rougeau, a pediatrician, have three sons.
He was recently named president-elect of the Association of American Law Schools and has served as a member of its executive committee and on the council of the Boston Bar Association. He has also served as chairman of the AALS Deans Steering Committee.
“We are thrilled to welcome Vincent to the Holy Cross community and look forward to his leadership in building on the college’s success of the past decade,” said Mr. Patterson.
“Vincent brings the strategic vision, deep experience as a faculty member and administrator, and commitment to liberal arts education that will allow him to lead Holy Cross in meeting the many challenges facing higher education today. Both his scholarship and his leadership demonstrate his profound dedication to Catholic social teaching and to educating students toward seeking justice and making a meaningful difference in our world.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the Holy Cross community as its new president,” Mr. Rougeau said. “I have long admired the college for its academic excellence, its talented students and accomplished alumni, its dedicated faculty and staff and its unique place as our nation’s only Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts college. Our current moment in history cries out for the mission-driven education that Holy Cross provides, and I am very excited about what this community can accomplish in the years ahead.”
Mr. Rougeau earned his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University and his doctorate from Harvard Law School, where he served as articles editor of the “Harvard Human Rights Journal.”
He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and currently serves on the American Law Institute Project on Sexual Misconduct and the Brigham Young University Law School Visitors Board. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Maryland Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar Association.