VN_SPR SUM_06 covers FINAL.indd - Villanova University

FAREWELL TO FATHER DOBBIN“They gave me a good idea of what students were thinking, andthey fostered the spirit of Villanova in a truly wonderful way,”he recalled.In fact, it was a student housing issue that prompted FatherDobbin to make one of his first commitments as president,based on a need that his student contacts had brought to hisattention. It was a need also mentioned, he admitted ruefully,by the University’s neighbors. Early in his presidency, somestudents living off campus tended to engage in particularlynoisy high jinks. This produced a flurry of heated mail from thelocal homeowners. “It was just a matter of kids making noiseand letting off steam,” Father Dobbin recalled. “However, itwas my first real concrete realization that we had a housingproblem, and that these students were living in the townsbecause there was no room for them on campus.”The University’s response to that need came with the constructionof the West Campus apartments, which beginning in1994 would provide housing on campus for 1,200 additionalstudents. The fieldstone-clad complex reflected the style ofVillanova’s Collegiate Gothic buildings and offered a lowprofile—below tree-top level—so that it did not interfere withthe vistas of homeowners in the area.At the same time, the University committed to “rightsizing,”meaning lowering the student population to asize that was more manageable for both their living andlearning environments.ON VILLANOVA’SAUGUSTINIAN LEGACY:“I hope I have been able to makeVillanovans and others more awareof our distinctiveness.”—Father DobbinTransformation with sensitivityFather Dobbin, the trustees and members of the administrationhad set about to modernize Villanova’s physical andeducational facilities to make them 21st-century-ready. Yethe himself credited the University community as well for itssupport and for engaging in its own transformative actions.He also passed along the credit for the beautiful appearanceof the grounds. In the early 1990s, under the guidance ofgrounds supervisor Kevin O’Donnell, the landscaping wasupgraded, and trees and shrubs appropriate to the area wereidentified and planted. As a result, Villanova is now an28 Villanova Magazine