St. Edward's University is leading efforts to establish a Holy Cross Institute , which will serve Holy Cross schools and programs in 14 states. Brother Stephen Walsh, CSC, '62, assistant provincial of the South-West Province of Holy Cross Brothers and former St. Edward's University president, has been appointed executive director.

The institute will offer leadership and programming about what it means to be a Holy Cross educational institution. It will help guide and energize Holy Cross educators — both lay and religious — by providing ongoing leadership training and fostering spiritual development, research, scholarship and transformative educational opportunities for students. The institute will also reinforce the spiritual center of St. Edward's and establish a national anchor of training, research and worship in the Holy Cross tradition.

"From the start, we have envisioned the Holy Cross Institute as a collaborative venture between lay and religious leaders. Through research and reflection, the institute will inspire synergistic efforts that translate zeal for the Holy Cross educational mission into local action that strengthens Holy Cross secondary schools, colleges and universities in the United States," said Brother Stephen, who is also leading the Alumni Association's pilgrimage to London in October in honor of the 1,000th birthday of St. Edward, the university's patron saint.

A governing board of Holy Cross Brothers and leaders from around the nation has already begun to define how the institute will provide mission-based research opportunities and training for the laity who serve as administrators and educators at Holy Cross schools. These initiatives will incorporate many of the local outreach and spiritual exploration programs provided by Campus Ministry.

"The Holy Cross Institute will provide learning opportunities for faculty, administrators and students about how the Holy Cross traditions apply to our everyday work," said university president George E. Martin. "It will help us to define the Holy Cross mission in more visible, tangible ways. Most of all, it will be a living institute in which we all play a part."

Last year, the university's Board of Trustees passed a resolution formally establishing the Holy Cross Institute and initiating fundraising efforts for the institute's planned $10 million endowment. Offices for the institute will be housed in the university's new $5 million chapel, along with offices for Campus Ministry and a 400-person sanctuary.

The new chapel will be designed by internationally acclaimed and award-winning architect Rick Joy of Rick Joy Architects based in Tucson, Ariz. Joy, winner of the 2004 National Design Award in Architecture from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, was chosen after a yearlong selection process that had been narrowed to a field of three prominent American architecture firms.