Creighton President the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, S.J., recently held two listening sessions in the Skutt Student Center in order to facilitate a dialogue with the students of Creighton about issues concerning the University.
A group of about 20 students gathered near the Skutt fireplace to participate in the first listening session.
“How do you think Creighton is strong?” Hendrickson asked the question, then personally handed the microphone to a student with her hand up in one the back rows.
This is the first of a few questions Hendrickson asked in both sessions. Hendrickson sought to encourage discussion with the questions but also opened up the floor to hear any concerns the students had on their minds.
“We tried to pick listening sessions at different times of the day and different times of the week,” Hendrickson said in an interview after the first session. “If someone couldn’t be here because of outside commitments or extracurricular activities, whatever the case, I wanted them to still have a voice in the process.”
Hendrickson established an anonymous online forum in order to accommodate people who could not personally attend the two sessions.
“Facilitating conversions directly with the president and the students creates a better sense of transparency about what the president wants to do,” Heider College of Business sophomore Aditi Dinakar said. “Our president is approachable and willing to listen to students about what they want to change and what they love about the university.”
Hendrickson was aware of the lack of widespread participation of the student body.
“I wished for more people, but (tonight’s session) was successful and it accomplished a lot of good content,” Hendrickson said after the first session.
Despite Hendrickson’s desire for more students to attend the listening sessions, the second session had fewer attendees than the first.
“I feel like Fr. Hendrickson, regardless of the turnout, will take what people say to heart and he is going to use the session to formulate his own plan,” said CSU vice president Zach Pierce.
Hendrickson will address the faculty and staff in February concerning how he intends to implement the themes of the listening sessions into his plans for the university.
“There are definitely themes and trends in the questions (at the sessions), and that’s something I will speak to in February,” Hendrickson said. “I want these sessions to be objective and fresh and different.”
Hendrickson did say the sessions are indicative of many great aspects of the Creighton community.
“What’s sticking out to me is the passion of the Creighton community for Creighton,” Hendrickson said. “People like being here; they love this place. Faculty and staff have dedicated their lives to this place. They love the Jesuit character of the institution and that can mean a lot of different things, but that’s certainly very prevalent in the conversations. People celebrate the mission.”