Reverend Canon Hugh Page Named Inaugural Vice President for Institutional Transformation and Advisor to the President | News | Notre Dame News

Reverend Canon Hugh R. Page Jr.

The Rev. Canon Hugh R. Page Jr., vice president and associate provost at the University of Notre Dame, will become the university’s first vice president for institutional transformation and adviser to the president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC, Notre Dame’s president, announced today.

In his new role, Page will serve as a strategic leader working closely with the president and university leadership to create and coordinate an integrated diversity, equity and inclusion strategy centrally and across divisions, colleges and schools.

“While we have made great strides in recent years, the Board’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force has called on us to renew our focus on long-term sustainable change and leverage the tremendous dedication, imagination, and innovation of the Notre Dame community to enhance the experience of our students from underrepresented groups, to increase the diversity of our faculty and staff, and to deepen the conversations and understanding about race, equality and justice,” Fr. Jenkins said. “Hugh will be a critical leader for us in this regard.

“Hugh is a wise and trusted colleague whose communication skills and strategic insight, along with his in-depth knowledge of Notre Dame and its distinctive mission, will help make the University a better version of itself. I look forward to working closely with him on these key priorities.

Page will report to Father Jenkins and help formulate and lead the implementation of a broad strategy around diversity and inclusion, monitor the progress of this plan, convene diversity leaders, anticipate challenges and work with the units to catalyze structural and cultural change that will serve the University. ideals around diversity and inclusion. He will advise the President and University leadership and serve as the University’s public representative to constituencies outside of the immediate campus community.

“This is an exciting step in the University’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and I am honored to be the first person selected for this new role,” said Page. “We must be intentional and creative in investing our energies and resources if we are to more fully become an inclusive and welcoming community – one where a commitment to justice and love drives all transformational efforts. J look forward to working with Father Jenkins, university leaders, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other partners to achieve our goals.

Page, a professor of theology and African studies, was named vice president and associate provost for institutional transformation and leadership development in 2021. His primary responsibilities include administrative oversight of the Center for Social Concerns, Notre Dame Scholars’ Program , Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program, AnBryce Scholars Initiative, Transformational Leaders Program, TRiO Programs, Academic Community Engagement, Notre Dame Learning, and National Gateways.

Page served as Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for undergraduate affairs from 2013 to 2021 and served as the university’s freshman dean for 14 years. During this time, he helped create the University’s Moreau First Year Experience course sequence. He was also Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters and Director of the African and African American Studies program. He was instrumental in the development of the latter in the Department of African Studies, which he subsequently chaired from 2012 to 2015, and has been involved in numerous diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

An Episcopal priest, Page is an honorary canon of St. James Cathedral, Diocese of Northern Indiana. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Hampton University, two master’s degrees from General Theological Seminary in New York, a doctorate in ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation, and a master’s and doctorate in languages. and Near Eastern Civilizations from Harvard University. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1992, and in 2001 he received a Presidential Award for Distinguished Service to the University.

An award-winning teacher, Page is a leading Hebrew Bible scholar and philologist who works in the fields of ancient Hebrew poetry, Ugaritic language and literature, African biblical interpretation, and esotericism in Africa and the African Diaspora. He is a member of the Council of the Society of Biblical Literature and was recently appointed associate editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature.

Page is the author, editor or co-editor of seven books, including “Exploring New Paradigms in Biblical and Cognate Studies”, “The Myth of Cosmic Rebellion: A Study of its Reflexes in Ugaritic & Biblical Literature”, ” Exodus: A Bible Commentary for Every Day”, “The African Bible: Reading the Scriptures of Israel from Africa and the African Diaspora”, “Poetry of Israel’s Resistance: African Perspectives on Early Hebrew Verse”, ” There Is a Mystery”: Esotericism in African-American Religious Experience” and “The Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and the Apocrypha”.

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