2024 Power 100: Greg Weiner
Photo | Courtesy of Assumption University
Greg Weiner, president of Assumption University
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When three leaders of the country’s top universities were castigated for failing to call out antisemitism during a Congressional hearing, Greg Weiner, the nation’s first Jewish president of a Catholic college, felt compelled to comment.
In a column in the The Wall Street Journal in December, Weiner suggested the administrators were less at fault than the institutions, many of which have abandoned their mission to educate students to think critically and engage thoughtfully. The nation’s elite schools focus more on prestige, he said, than on dispassionate teaching.
An alternative for American Jews might be found in Catholic universities, he wrote.
For Weiner, Assumption University provides the well-rounded liberal arts education cherished by Jews and Catholics. Founded in 1904, the school served the children of immigrants not welcome at other institutions and reflects the belief of the Assumptionists, whose founder, Father Emmanuel d'Alzon, thought ideas were what changed the world.
Weiner, who holds a Ph.D. in government, joined Assumption in 2011 and was appointed provost and vice president of academic affairs in 2019. He became Assumption’s 17th president in 2022.
In a short time, Weiner has worked on reforming the school’s core curriculum, winning the support of the faculty to create a Foundations Program. He collaborated with faculty, staff, and students to create Assumption’s first 10-year strategic plan.
“A key theme of the plan is that everyone who seeks Catholic liberal education and is academically qualified to succeed deserves access to it,” he said.
While college enrollment has been declining nationally, Assumption has seen a rapid growth. The 2023 fall class was up 29% from the previous year, and applications for 2024 are up more than 20%.
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