Following a national search and upon the recommendation of the search committee and approval by the Board of Directors, Esteban del Río will take on the role of Executive Director of Collegium on July 1, 2027. Current Executive Director Karen Eifler will conclude her service at the June 2027 colloquy at College of the Holy Cross, handing over the reins to Esteban in the form of a well-worn DVD of “Babette’s Feast” at the closing dinner.
Esteban will add being Collegium Director to his work at University of San Diego as Professor of Communication and Director of the Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought & Culture. He has wholeheartedly served Collegium for many years as a mentor and two terms as Board Chair, receiving the 2022 Thomas M. Landy Award for distinguished service to Collegium, and he has an essay in the most recent edited volume of work by Collegium alums, Beneath the Roar and Tumult.
Upon his selection, Esteban offered these comments about his vision for the next chapter in Collegium history:
“Collegium resonates in its 4th decade as a serious, intellectually stimulating, relationship-based program that forms faculty at Catholic colleges and universities to engage their missions with possibility and hope. An energetic community sustains this resonance since Collegium’s founding: alumni, past and present board members, mentors, presenters, chaplains, campus liaisons and leaders, and executive directors past and present Tom Landy and Karen Eifler. My hope is to continue to join with this community to cultivate conversations about intellectual life and inner life for colleagues by way of an academic vocation in the U.S. and Canada - energized by the opportunities that sometimes hide behind the changes facing our campuses and classrooms.”
Congratulations to Esteban del Río and heartfelt thanks to search chair Marianne Lloyd and the rest of the committee: Donna Carroll, Karen Anderson, Dũng Trân, and Fr. Kevin Nadolski OSFS for their deft work over the past year.