St. Thomas president raised St. Paul university's national profile

Calling Julie Sullivan a trailblazer seems an understatement.

Sullivan, the first lay president and first female president at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, leaves June 1 to achieve the same firsts at Santa Clara University in California. But it's her efforts to raise the profile of Minnesota's largest private university to that of nationally known schools like Marquette and Villanova that may cement her legacy.

Record enrollment. A prolific building program. Making the unprecedented leap from NCAA Div. III athletics to Div. I — all done, she said, to give St. Thomas a national identity.

It is what she may be most proud of during her nine years leading the school at the western end of Summit Avenue, she said in a recent interview with Eye On St. Paul.

This interview was edited for length.

Q: It's been a whirlwind of change for you in these last few years, hasn't it?

A: Yes it is. This is my ninth year at St. Thomas and it has been one of the most rewarding and exciting times of my life. I have loved every moment of it, but I think God is opening a new chapter for me right now.

Q: You are blazing a similar trail at Santa Clara that you did at St. Thomas, aren't you?

A: That's true. I will be their first layperson — and first woman — serving as president.

Q: Was being close to family a factor in your decision? Are you from California?

A: Yes. And no. I am originally from Florida. But I moved to California [University of San Diego] in 2003 and I was there for 10 years, when I came to the Twin Cities. When I moved in 2003, my two children who had grown up in Chapel Hill [N.C.] moved to California too and they never left.

Q: What have been the biggest things to happen at St. Thomas during your tenure?

A: I think that St. Thomas has changed who they think of themselves as. The Board of Trustees had a bold vision when they hired me. They recognized that for many people, St. Thomas was one of 17 good private universities in Minnesota. But it didn't have that unique identity. It's not only the largest private, comprehensive university in Minnesota. They saw [it] as the flagship private university, standing alongside our flagship public institutions. And they wanted to change the image.

And I wanted the community at St. Thomas to realize how good they were, that they could go toe-to-toe with any of the national Catholic universities in the country. That they are as good as or better on many measurements as Marquette, or Villanova or Santa Clara, maybe universities that are more well-known across the country. But we are just as good or better on many dimensions.

That's what the board wanted. That's what they wanted me to do and that's probably what I'm most proud of.

Q: Is the move to Div. I athletics part of that?

A: One of the things I want to stress is the move to Div. I is consistent with the academic excellence of St. Thomas. It's consistent with being among a national set of peer universities like the ones I mentioned.

If you want to establish a level of excellence, you want to meet that level of excellence in academics and athletics. Athletics develop entrepreneurial skills. Resilience. Collaboration, communication, grittiness and the ability to face adversity.

You want to be at the highest level because that's where your students are going to learn those lessons the most.

Q: St. Thomas has had sometimes-strained relations with its neighbors over the years because of its growth. What is your view of that?

A: Our relationship with our neighbors has never been stronger than it is today. Part of that is because we built two new dorms and we require freshmen and sophomores to live on campus. Our neighbors love that.

We have really changed that relationship dramatically and that is due to the efforts of several key staff — Amy McDonough is our chief of staff and Amy Gage is our full-time neighborhood liaison. We've really worked hard to get to know one another better.

Q: Your campus doesn't have much room for new facilities. What are your efforts there?

A: The first new facilities we built were two new dorms and the Iversen Center for Faith — to provide a gathering place for the community. Now, a new Center for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math will focus on human-centered science. Human-centered technology.

The next facility after [the STEAM center] will likely be a hockey arena [St. Thomas is looking at the former Ford site; it is no longer exploring the nearby Town & Country Club] and maybe baseball and softball. And then, we may have to do something as our nursing program grows and our College of Health grows.

Q: Are there things you wish you'd done better?

A: Well, I'm sure there are lots of things [laughs]. I think the community has worked together really well. When I first came we put together a strategic plan [St. Thomas 2020] and we met those goals and the community kept that plan front and center. Now we're working on St. Thomas 2025, which extends a lot of that work. It's been really a collective effort. I tell people all the time that my dreams are only fantasies — unless other people share them.

Q: Any advice for the next president?

A: I'm going to tell a story because I followed a very successful president [The Rev. Dennis Dease]. And I asked him that. He said: "Stay humble." And he had another piece of advice: "Go to funerals. Because there are always people who came before us. And you need to know them."