Rev. Anthony McGinn, S.J., the longest tenured president in the storied history of Jesuit High School, announced Tuesday that he will leave his alma mater in the summer of 2010 for a new, and as yet, undetermined assignment with the Society of Jesus.
Father McGinn is widely credited with leading an extraordinary effort to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, enabling Jesuit to reopen its Mid-City campus only 60 days after the storm, while simultaneously launching and operating two satellite schools for displaced Blue Jays to continue uninterrupted their Jesuit education.
Joining Father McGinn in his announcement to the Jesuit community was the Board of Directors of Jesuit High School and the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit community consists of alumni, parents, parents of alumni, faculty, staff, and students. Father McGinn also Tuesday afternoon informed the President’s Advisory Council, a group of alumni and parents who meet regularly to discuss and advise the president about important issues confronting the school.
“We are grateful that Father McGinn will be with us to continue his ministry during the 2009-2010 school year,” said Arthur S. Mann III, chairman of Jesuit’s Board of Directors. “Father McGinn will have served as president of Jesuit for 18 years by the time of his departure, during which time he has placed his indelible mark on literally every aspect of what has been, and continues to be, an exceptional institution for the education of young men. His commitments to the mission of the school, the needs of its constituents, and the best interests of its students have been his enduring hallmarks. All in the Jesuit community are most grateful for what he has given his alma mater.”
Rev. Anthony McGinn, S.J.
President of Jesuit High School
1992-2010
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Father McGinn said he and Father Mark Lewis, S.J., who is the provincial superior of the Jesuits in the South, mutually have agreed that the time has come for someone else to take up the responsibilities of operating Jesuit High School.
“For a long time I have believed that institutions need periodic change so that new leadership can bring different skills to enhance the mission,” said Father McGinn. “I deeply appreciate all of the ways in which the community of Jesuit High School, its students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni, have allowed me to share with them the work and responsibility of developing Jesuit as an instrument of God’s plan.”
Jesuit High School’s Board of Directors has formed a search committee and has already begun the process of finding his replacement.
“I am very confident that this process will produce a new president with the requisite skills and commitment to advance effectively the mission of the school,” Mann said. “The Jesuit Province, Father McGinn, the school administration, faculty, staff, and the Board will be working together to ensure a smooth transition with the continued success of our students as our primary goal.
“With the extraordinary tradition of excellence that has existed at Jesuit High School since its founding in 1847,” added Mann, “I am confident that we will have well qualified candidates from which to choose. As we plan the future, it is gratifying to know that we can continue to rely on the commitment and support from our loyal Jesuit High School community.”
Father McGinn was born and raised in New Orleans and graduated from Jesuit High School in 1966. He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University in 1971 and continued his studies at the University of Texas in Austin, earning a masters degree in history in 1975. He also earned a degree in theology from the University of London in 1979 and was ordained a Jesuit priest that same year.
He first returned to his alma mater in 1982 when he began a three-year term as principal under then-president Father Harry Tompson, S.J. Later he served as principal of Jesuit High School in Tampa from 1988-1992. He was named president of Jesuit High School in 1992, succeeding Father Philip Postell, S.J., who at the time was appointed president of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas.
Father McGinn is the 14th president of Jesuit High School since 1919, when the school, known then as the College of the Immaculate Conception, was situated downtown on Baronne Street just off Canal Street. Jesuit moved to its present Mid-City location of Carrollton and Banks in 1926.
The mission of Jesuit High School as a Catholic, college preparatory school is to develop in its students the competence, conscience, and compassion that will enable them to be men of faith and men for others.
