Michael Scanlan
| Michael Scanlan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 1, 1931 Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2017 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic Priest Academic administrator |
Vincent Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. (December 1, 1931 – January 7, 2017), was a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Third Order Regular. He was responsible for the revival of the College of Steubenville, now known as Franciscan University of Steubenville. Scanlan served the university for 26 years as president and then 11 years as chancellor, before retiring in 2011. He resided at the Sacred Heart Province motherhouse in Loretto, Pennsylvania prior to his death on January 7, 2017.
Scanlan was born on December 1, 1931, in Cedarhurst, a small village on the South Shore of Long Island, New York., to Margaret O'Keefe Scanlan and Vincent Scanlan. When he was three, his parents separated. His father moved to Mexico, while his mother remarried and moved to New York City. Scanlan remained with his mother in New York and was heavily affected by the social and cultural dispositions of New York City. The community that Scanlan was raised in was predominantly lower-class Irish families; because of this, he grew to despise the rich. However, his parents and his stepfather were all concerned with success, especially monetary success, and they tried to force this mentality upon Scanlan. He adopted this disposition and began seeking perfection in his academics, athletics, and social life. This attitude did not last long; Scanlan’s restless nature never allowed him to do the same thing for too long. In his autobiographical work, Let the Fire Fall, Scanlan stated: “I decided that I could do anything, but not everything. I could live with lower grades if my goal for the semester was to become captain of the tennis team, as I did in prep school, or to become socially popular, as I strived to do in college. If a course bored me, I would settle for a ‘B’.”
Young Scanlan’s restlessness allowed him to compromise in some areas of his life, but he was always a man of devout Roman Catholic faith. Although his mother had left the Roman Catholic Church after her separation, she brought him up in the faith and encouraged him to be faithful to the Church, even though she was not. Scanlan’s stepfather, though, hated the Church and took every opportunity to denounce it.
Scanlan’s faith deepened as he grew older, despite the religious turmoil at home. At Coindre Hall Boarding School in Long Island, Scanlan was able to deepen his faith under the instruction of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who ran the school. He credits one particular brother, Brother Bertin Ryan, S.C., as being vital in his faith formation. In his autobiography, Scanlan states: “Brother Bertin combined the highest standards for personal conduct and academic performance with an irresistible loving nature.” It was this kind of attitude that left a lasting impression upon Scanlan; he quickly took his faith as a metaphor for his life. This paradigm change caused Scanlan to conquer his restless attitude and quickly reach the top of his class.
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