Open mind, open blinds

By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

See related story: College no longer 'an ivory tower'

MIAMI GARDENS | There's a private doorway to Msgr. Franklyn M. Casale's office at St. Thomas University. He shuns it for the more public entrance.

He could eat out, but he prefers the student lunchroom.

The university boardroom has blinds. He keeps them open during meetings.

Even though he's the university president, he never sits at the head of the table. He sits on a side, facing a stairwell, to be visible to those outside.

"I've always kept an open-door policy," said Msgr. Casale, who will retire this spring, right around his 77th birthday. "I want the students to see we're working for them."

And he does that work with a genial, gregarious manner that puts others at ease, said his younger sister, Gail Casale.

"His biggest strength is his dedication to the students," said Gail, former director of the campus art gallery. "None of them shy away. They always say, 'Hi, Monsignor!' "

As the monsignor winds down after nearly a quarter-century at the helm of the archdiocesan university, advances of STU during his tenure are likewise evident.

Bioethics, cybersecurity

He presides over a 144-acre campus and a student body of 5,000, including high schoolers with dual enrollment, and an annual budget of $70 million. The university's activities have included:

• Groundbreaking for a new home for the school of business.
• A new bioethics program for laypeople.
• Programs in bioethics and cybersecurity.
• Initiatives against terrorism and human trafficking.
• Hosting young hurricane victims from the Caribbean as students.

But asked his proudest achievement, Msgr. Casale didn’t mention buildings or money or even academics. Instead, "I'm proudest of our graduates — that STU can turn out someone whose life is better because we fulfilled the need for higher education."

Catholic faith has clearly enriched his own life, going back to his childhood in Newark. His family was religious but not rigid, according to the fall issue of Contact, STU's quarterly magazine. He was an altar server at his parish, St. Francis Xavier. But he also enjoyed basketball, baseball and football on city streets and empty lots.

He planned to become a lawyer, fulfilling a dream his father couldn't follow because of the Great Depression, according to the Contact article. But as he went through Seton Hall Preparatory School, he grew more interested in ordained life.

"It was a gradual understanding," Msgr. Casale recalled. "The influence of my priest was very strong. I admired him. And priests were leaders of the community."

Gift of theology

His new vocational track led him through Seton Hall University, then Catholic University of America and Immaculate Conception University in Darlington, N.J. 

"To me, the study of theology has been a great gift," Msgr. Casale said. "It opened my mind more than if I'd been a lawyer. When you're trying to solve the problem of God, you get pretty good at solving other problems."

After seminary, he served as secretary, chancellor and vicar general for the Archdiocese of Newark. He picked up the presidential reins at STU on April 19, 1994.

He looks perhaps a decade younger than his actual age — he'll turn 77 on March 28 — a fact for which he credits his grandparents, whom he describes as healthy and young-looking. But he also swims about four or five miles a week at various pools and clubs, including one at the condo where he lives.

"I've had a hard time convincing people I'm past retirement age," he said with a smile.

He prays the Divine Office every day. For his mental and spiritual health, he also does centering prayer for 20 minutes a day at St. Anthony Chapel on campus.

As focused as he seems at STU, Msgr. Casale dials back and relaxes during visits to sister Gail and other relatives in New York. He has dinner with her four children and plays with her eight grandchildren. They go to museums and the theater, dramas and musicals alike. They recently took in "Kinky Boots," a Broadway musical by Cyndi Lauper.

Gail and her husband, architect John Priber, also travel with Msgr. Casale. Destinations have included Cuba, Spain and Italy.

Many likes, few dislikes

"He likes American, Italian and French food," she said. "He has a broad range of likes and very little dislikes. He'll be happy to be retired. He'll be busy, but at his own pace."

In private conversation, Msgr. Casale may talk art or politics, and he can laugh at a joke on himself, sister Gail said. But, she added, he reserves many of his thoughts and feelings for those who are closest to him.

"He won't let you in that easily," she said. "I think that has to do with him being a priest. When he was ordained, it was a lot more stringent.  Yet he's still open and available. That's an art, I think."

His successor at St. Thomas University will be chosen via a search committee chaired by a member of the university board. The goal is to identify the next president in the spring, then talk about how to hand over the reins. Until then, Msgr. Casale will still fill the top chair at St. Thomas.

Not that he's leaving campus altogether — he still has interests to pursue there. A special interest is the Human Trafficking Academy, a project of the law school through its Program in Intercultural Human Rights. The project collects data on the international slave trade and other forms of involuntary servitude. Then it shares its findings with law officers in a weeklong seminar each year.

"It's part of my DNA to appreciate a terrible problem," said Msgr. Casale, who has testified before Congress in support of renewing the Human Trafficking Act. "It's the second or third largest illegal enterprise, after guns and drugs. And it's a single-focus issue that I can give my attention to."

He also plans to help out by celebrating Mass at area parishes. "One of the things about being a priest is that you never stop," he said. "I enjoy preaching and the sacraments."

In fact, he adds, he's enjoyed pretty much everything he's done.

"And I'm going to enjoy everything in the future," he added. "And I'll have more time to enjoy things and to get involved."