March 23, 2001

3 Roman Catholic Colleges Hire Lay Presidents; Harvard Lures a Top Law Scholar Away from Columbia

By BETH MCMURTRIE and KATHERINE S. MANGAN

BREAKING THE HABIT: In the past month, three Roman Catholic institutions hired their first lay presidents: John J. DeGioia at Georgetown University, Jack Calareso at Ohio Dominican College, and James E. Bundschuh at Marymount University, in Virginia. Is this a sign that priests, nuns, and brothers will soon be vacating the front offices of the country's 230 Catholic colleges?

"Religious life's participation in higher education is going to get smaller and smaller every year," says the