The Spire

Julianna Mariani ‘24 and Nathan Howard ‘25

Editors-in-Chief

On March 15th, The Spire spoke with President Rougeau for our monthly meeting. Our first question for the president concerned an event that was happening the night of the interview. With only about 70 days left until May 24th which will be the College’s 178th Commencement for the Class of 2024, the senior class would go on to celebrate less than 100 days until graduation at the 100 Days Ball. This was a bittersweet moment for the Class of 2024 as their final days on the Hill wane. We asked President Rougeau to talk a bit about senior spring and to offer any words to the senior class about how to make the most of this time left at Holy Cross.

He began by saying “This is the moment where I like to think about our students leaving campus really prepared to take everything that they’ve learned and bring it to the world; the critical thinking and their ability to take all the things that they’ve learned and apply it in whichever way they’ve decided.” Addressing the senior class directly he went on to say, “It’s a great moment when I think about what you all will be doing and accomplishing in the world based on this amazing Holy Cross experience and education you’ve had here. But the other thing I would say is don’t focus so much on the after, focus on the now. Really take a moment or take the time to enjoy these weeks and soak up everything you possibly can about your time at Holy Cross. Your relationships, people who matter to you, the special things about this place that you want to hold dear and keep in your heart as you move on. Because it goes quickly, as we were saying. And it’s sometimes hard to be really intentional when you’re busy. But if you take this pause and realize, ‘oh my gosh, there are only a few more weeks.’ [And ask yourself] ‘what will I do to really make each week special and to remember how important this time is?’”

The conversation then moved to the recent tuition increases at Holy Cross for the 2024-2025 academic year. In light of these increases, we asked President Rougeau if he could speak about some of the programs or initiatives the College has enacted in recent years to make a Holy Cross education more accessible as well as if there are any measures the College will take in the future to further increase accessibility? President Rougeau responded by stating that “I know how important it is to be thoughtful and really careful when it comes to increasing tuition. We take these decisions very seriously and think a lot about them before we make a decision about a tuition increase. And I think folks understand what’s happened recently in the economy is really, really unusual. And unfortunately we just have to respond to the rising costs that we’ve been faced with. But with that being said, and to your question, we are always thinking about accessibility and we’re really proud that we are one of maybe fewer than one hundred schools in the country that meet full need for all of the students that we admit. And we want to keep that at the top of our minds all the time.” President Rougeau continued by explaining that “One of the costs that we’re thinking about when we raise tuition is how do we also make sure that we can provide for students for whom that cost will be difficult to meet. We make sure that we’re always in touch through our financial aid offices with students who have financial aid packages and that they can get the kind of counseling and support that they need to make sure that they can pay for their education. And I think it’s just important to realize that it costs about $71,000 to educate a student at Holy Cross. And of that, the endowment, which we’re fortunate to have a pretty strong endowment, but the endowment only pays a small portion of that, about $16,000 of that is supported by the endowment. So we’re always looking at ways to cut costs as well. But we’re all also always facing a lot of demands for facilities and programs and things. So it’s a delicate balance and we work hard to do everything we can to spend responsibly, but students are always front of mind, and accessibility is always front of mind when we’re thinking about rising costs. President Rougeau closed by stating that “We always want to make sure that all kinds of students have access to a Holy Cross education.”

We explained to President Rougeau that coming back from spring break, students are well-rested for midterms and have the promise of warmer weather to keep their spirits high. With that said, spring fever is real and restlessness on campus is also likely to increase. Because of this, we asked him if he had any advice for students on how to be successful during this limbo period between spring break and Easter break as well as what strategies they should implement and what resources are available to them during times of high angst. President Rougeau responded by explaining that “The end of the semester is exciting and stressful, like you said. And one of the nice things about the end of the semester is that the weather gets better. You have a chance to take a pause and really take advantage of the fact that brighter days and warmer weather is one way to kind of deal with stress. I mean, you can get out outdoors, take breaks, and do things that for the winter haven’t been possible. So I think it’s really important for students to think about ways to break up what can be very busy days with moments for mental refreshments, physical exertion, whatever it is that works for people.” President Rougeau added that “It’s an opportunity to really engage with your classmates and make sure that none of them are struggling and if you see folks who are struggling, to help them find what they need or to speak to people who can help them. So it’s a good moment to remember that the Office of Academic Services is here for these stressful times to provide learning resources and other resources to help you all out. But yeah, managing stress is hard, but it’s also something that we have to work on throughout our lives. And so these are some moments where, you know, those skills have to be developed, but hopefully the nicer weather at certain times will make it a little bit easier.”

March marks Women’s History Month and with the College’s continued celebration of 50 Years of Co-Education. Because of this, we asked President Rougeau if he could talk about  the events occurring to honor Women’s History Month at Holy Cross. President Rougeau responded by stating that “The JEBI office is celebrating Women’s Herstory Month here, and they’ve got a number of events that they are offering, highlighting the experiences of women. There’ll be social events, discussion events, exhibits, and all of these things have been developed in collaboration with faculty, staff, and students. And I know the Director of Student Inclusion & Belonging, Jerrel A. Burgo, has details on those events. You probably also may know that we’re celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Co-Education on April 5th and 6th and so there’ll be a number of events around that as well over the weekend. So I think it’s a great moment for our community to reflect on this wonderful change that, you know, changed Holy Cross for the better. And I think for the students today, it is important to think about how momentous it was 50 years ago that women joined this community and to hear from some of those women who thankfully are able to join us and tell their stories.” While discussing the importance of Women’s History Month, we asked President Rougeau about some of the influential women in his life that he looks up to daily. He noted that “I come from a family of very strong women, which I’m proud to say. My wife’s a pediatrician and has developed an extraordinary career and I respect her so much and what she does as well as how she gives back to the community. And I really think it was a great opportunity for me, given the role I play here and the role she plays for us, to both lead in different ways but to be partners in a marriage where we’re both doing really important things in our professions. Of course my mom is a person that I look to also as someone who occupied different kinds of roles at a different time in history, but always was out there in the community, in the schools, in her own work. She’s been a great role model for me. And my sister who runs her own business out in California that’s been very successful. Lots of great people in my life give me wonderful examples of women doing their thing and doing it well.”

Our fifth and final question for President Rougeau concerned the upcoming Easter holiday. During this season of Lent, the campus community has had a lot to be thankful for, and with Easter right around the corner, we asked him to speak about something that he is particularly thankful for, either on or off campus. The president gave a thoughtful and reflective answer, saying, “I’d say sometimes when I’m out and about traveling, one of the things I love about Holy Cross is just the beauty of the campus. In the winter there’s a different kind of beauty when we have a lot of snow. But now the campus is waking up, the environment is waking up into spring, and it’s going to be really special to be on the Hill as the flowers come into bloom and the trees green up. I think there’s something to be thankful for as we approach Easter about the kind of reawakening we experience in spring. It’s a parallel to what we experience at Easter in a religious and spiritual sense with the promise of Christ. So I always like to pause in this time and be thankful for the gifts of nature and the gift of faith that we get at Easter time.”