May 23, 2006
Audio file
JOYCE BENDER: And welcome to the show. I hope everyone is off to a great spring. We had a little bit of cold weather here on the east coast, but it seems we're finally warming up and having a beautiful spring, soon summer on our way. I hope all of you are enjoying it. I want to thank all of you for your support and for your just tremendous e-mail and really most importantly telling other people about this show.
There are 54 million Americans with disabilities in this country and hundreds of millions throughout the world. As a matter of fact, next week our guest Dr. Tapan Banerjee who is the executive director for the United States International Council on Disability will be our guest talking about what's going on throughout the world.
Today, we're going to talk about what's going on right in our country. I'm so proud and very honored to have as our guest today, Dr. Mary Hines, the new president of Carlow University who I may tell you I'm very honored to work with and to have right here in Pittsburgh, Pa, such a wonderful leader. It's surely a blessing and such an honor that she would join us today. Dr. Hines, welcome.
MARY HINES: Thank you, Joyce. It's my honor to be with you.
JOYCE BENDER: The feelings are mutual. I want to tell you when I first met Dr. Hines we were all so excited in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when she joined as our new President she is that example of a leader who serves, how many times have I met people who move into positions of power and prominence and forget who they are. And I can truly tell you, she is not like that. And that's why I know she's going to take Carlow to an absolutely new level.
So maybe we can start, Dr. Hines, if you would not mind telling our listeners first of all a little bit about you and how you have enjoyed your first year. It is one year now that you've been at Carlow University, so happy anniversary. You've done a great job. How have you enjoyed it during your first year?
MARY HINES: Thank you, Joyce. It has been a wonderful first year. I guess August 1st we celebrate the first anniversary, but we're close. It is the end of the first academic year so we can say my first year is behind me. But I considered it very much my freshman year, and as all freshmen do when they come into a new institution, I used the time to learn, to listen, and to appreciate Carlow. I learned that I inherited a great institution. Carlow is a very special place. It is a Catholic liberal arts university. It has a wonderful mission and everyone is very committed to that mission. We have very dedicated faculty and staff. We have outstanding students, and we have a very committed board of trustees that guides us into our future. So it's been a very fine first year at Carlow.
JOYCE BENDER: I'll tell you we're just so delighted to have you for your first year. It just seems like I was at your dinner the other evening, time goes so quickly. But I know you came to Carlow from Penn State University, Wilkes-Barre campus and served as a chancellor and the campus executive officer. I was wondering how difficult of a transition it was for you to move to Pittsburgh.
MARY HINES: There were really three transitions I guess. One was certainly from Wilkes-Barre to Pittsburgh as you have identified, and that was a very easy transition. My husband Ken and I found many amenities here in Pittsburgh that had attracted us originally to Wilkes-Barre. It's a beautiful town and a beautiful area, and very welcoming and hard-working people, very much of a small city feel. We both grew up in Brooklyn, New York and there's a lot of feel of Brooklyn in Pittsburgh. So that transition was wonderful but easy.
The other transition was from Penn State to Carlow and Penn State is, as you know, a very large public institution, and Carlow is a small, private liberal arts university that educates predominantly women. So that transition was a much bigger transition for us to make. However, my whole education has been in private Catholic institutions while my career has been in large public institutions so in many ways coming to Carlow was like coming home for us. I certainly espouse the values of Carlow and definitely women's education and so the transition, while it was a major one, was a beautiful one for us.
And in the last transition was to the specific community and recognizing the community needs here in Pittsburgh. It was very comparable to the kind of community needs that I was involved in, in Wilkes-Barre, so that was a welcome an easy transition for us to make.
JOYCE BENDER: Now you are officially a Pittsburgher. And in time for the Super Bowl champions.
MARY HINES: Well, Mayor O'Connor told me he felt it was very possible that my arrival closed the Super Bowl chances.
JOYCE BENDER: Let me tell you what if we get enough Pittsburghers that hear that, you will be elevated to being nominated to the White House. Let me tell you that, Mary. We have brought her to town and we have won the Super bowl. So everyone listening to the show you better pass that news around. That's why we all going to have to support Carlow, we don't want Mary to leave. Well, Mary I actually have a question for you, e-mailed from a listener, Linda, who is writing to you from Kansas saying: "President Hines, as a leader of a university known for teaching young women, how important do you believe that is today for our young children who seem to have lost their way when it comes to having a strong sense of character and integrity, certainly not all children, but many seem lost?"
MARY HINES: Well, certainly a college or university that's dedicated to predominantly teaching women, tries especially hard to instill in the students that we have a sense of self-worth, self identity, a recognition of their abilities and the challenges that they are going to face in the world. We do inherit the students from the elementary and secondary schools, and so when they do come to Carlow as traditional aged students, we want to certainly make sure that their heads and hearts are in the right place as they learn materials from their discipline but they also have to learn who they are and what they need to do in order to make their way in the world.
We also attract to Carlow a very large number of adult learners who have a pretty good sense of who they are and where they want to go, and Carlow meets the needs that they have to develop their knowledge skills and abilities to advance in their own careers.
JOYCE BENDER: Yes. That's right. And I don't know, one of the questions some asked me when I became a board member, and I really didn't know the answer. Is there a large number of Catholic universities in the United States, Mary?
MARY HINES: There is a significant number of Catholic universities. There are more public universities than there are Catholic universities, but if you put together all of the religiously affiliated universities, not just Catholic, you have a very substantial number of institutions that espouse values of spirituality and faith.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, we all need that. That's for sure. We all need that. Now, we had one question asked about 20 times in our e-mails and I would have to say that the majority of all of these questions came from Pittsburgh, Pa, and I bet you won't be surprised when I asked you, Dr. Hines, as President of Carlow University, could you comment on how you feel about Bishop Wuerl leaving Pittsburgh from Tony in Pittsburgh.
MARY HINES: Well Tony I have to tell you that Washington's gain is Pittsburgh's loss. But I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Bishop Wuerl and he will do many wonderful things for the Church in America by assuming this new responsibility as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. I studied in Washington, D.C. At Catholic University when I did my masters and my doctoral program so I know the Washington area very, very well. I do believe that Bishop Wuerl is the right man at the right time in that role as the archbishop of that very important diocese within the Catholic Church in America, but I think that we in higher education, especially in Catholic higher education here in Pittsburgh, will miss his leadership and his understanding of the challenges that we face.
JOYCE BENDER: We certainly will. And we do not know when the next bishop will be appointed, is that correct, Dr. Hines?
MARY HINES: We don't know when. We do know when. Bishop Wuerl leaves which is June 22nd. That's when he'll be installed in Washington and so until then no formal public search will be going on because he still is the bishop of Pittsburgh.
JOYCE BENDER: And is this conducted from the Vatican? How was that done?
MARY HINES: I believe there is a process whereby the bishops within the United States and probably all over the world can send recommendations to the Vatican of people they believe will meet the needs of Pittsburgh specifically. Bishop Wuerl himself will have the opportunity to make some nominations of people he believes would be good as successors to him. But then the final decision comes from Rome.
JOYCE BENDER: It is a loss for Pittsburgh, but the one gain for Pittsburgh is what a great honor that he is from Pittsburgh, to move into that position and I know that he will serve this country very well, especially being right in our nation's capital. But one thing that really surprised me, if I'm correct, don't we have more Catholic parishes here in Pittsburgh than there are in Washington D.C?
MARY HINES: Yes, Pittsburgh is a larger diocese than the diocese that Bishop Wuerl is going to. We have in Pittsburgh 800,000 Catholics and about 215 parishes. In Washington, it's more like 650,000 Catholics and about 185 parishes. However, the size of the diocese is one thing; the influence of the diocese is another. The diocese does include the capital and the White House and therefore you can see how influential the Bishop Wuerl can be.
JOYCE BENDER: Isn't that great. He is a great man for the position and I know he will do an outstanding job. That is an honor for him, that's for sure. I'm sure that we will get another leader here, but he is someone that we will miss. Someone we will miss, but will not be that far away from. Okay?
We have a caller on the line.
CARRIE SMITH: This is Carrie smith. I'm a student at Carlow. Dr. Hines, I was just wondering how have you introduced yourself especially to the students at Carlow, and how you plan to continue involvement with them in working with them?
MARY HINES: Thank you for your question, Carrie. The way we've been basically introducing myself and my administration to the students has been to be around the campus, attended some meetings, have opportunities to informally as well as formally gather with the students. We have been following very carefully the new dean of students and her role here at Carlow and the changes she's been making with the student body. We also have just recently decided that the dean of students, in order for me to have a clearer access to the voice of the students, is going to become a vice president of student affairs and serve on my administrative council. That would give me a direct line of access to the student body here at Carlow.
JOYCE BENDER: Carrie, how do you feel about that?
CARRIE SMITH: I think that's great.
JOYCE BENDER: And what year are you in?
CARRIE SMITH: I'm actually a graduate student in grad school. I'll begin my second year this fall.
JOYCE BENDER: That is wonderful. What has Carlow meant to you?
CARRIE SMITH: I did my undergrad there as well. So I'm glad to come back because the people are amazing and from what I've seen just this past year working with Dr. Hines, I've seen a lot of good things happen and I'm excited for what is to come.
MARY HINES: Great. One of the things I've enjoyed this year Carrie, was being invited by faculty to give guest lectures in their classes. That has been a great treat to me.
JOYCE BENDER: Carrie, another great young woman going off to help lead this country. Thank you for calling in, Carrie. Right now, we're going to break and we'll be right back with the new President of Carlow University, Dr. Mary Hines, a great leader in education for this country. You're listening to Joyce Bender, America's voice on VoiceAmerica.Com. We'll be right back.
JOYCE BENDER: And welcome back and if you just joined us, we have a great guest today, Dr. Mary Hines, President of Carlow University, a wonderful leader for all of us and especially for all those students at Carlow. And I think we have a caller on the line. Do we have you on the line?
Sister Margaret Hannon.
JOYCE BENDER: Sister Margaret Hannon. Thank you for calling in. You have a question?
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: Yes, I do.
JOYCE BENDER: Go right ahead.
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: Dr. Hines and I are good friends and I am one of her number one cheerleaders.
JOYCE BENDER: That's good. You're going to have to compete with me so I'll be the number two cheerleader.
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: I'm definitely number one.
JOYCE BENDER: I will never argue with you sister. I'm number two.
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: The question I have for Dr. Hines is Mary and I share the same campus and my office is also on the campus of Carlow. I'd like Mary to share with us some of the things that Carlow does to accommodate students with special needs.
MARY HINES: Well, I'd be happy to talk about that. I'm your number one fan, too. That's mutual. Well there are so many things we do. This spring, we had 29 students on campus that had one disability or another, and in the fall, we had 33. It spans the whole range of challenges that people have. So we have a coordinator of disability services who does a marvelous job of preparing the students for the transition, especially if they are traditional age students, and so the transition from high school to college, there are services that are provided and their expectations are quite different when students do come to college. She works very hard with them. She works with the faculty to ensure the appropriate accommodations when we have documented disabilities, and the university has been extremely responsive to those students.
I'm very proud of our faculty for the way that they help those students to be successful.
We also have special equipment. We have special arrangements to relocate classes in order to make sure the students can access those classes. We've been working on various handicapped accommodations each year trying to add a few more to the campus.
We have some specialized services and helps that are available to the students with hearing impairment. We do have signers. For students who are blind, we do have books on tape. We see here at Carlow the whole range of disabilities and our services are provided to the students to help them to be successful.
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: Thank you.
JOYCE BENDER: I also want to add to that, sister, that Dr. Hines has been very supportive of all of the initiatives that I have introduced where we will be working with student affairs to have seminars and classes, and our goal is to get more women and more young men with disabilities to come to Carlow University because we believe in education for all. So I really appreciate you calling in with that question.
MARY HINES: I want to add one other thing. We spoke on the focus with students with disabilities. But what we do with our students to understand and appreciate the disabilities that the students in the world at large have. One thing we do is we do bring students onto campus from St. Anthony's program run by Gary Isman in Pittsburgh. And they work in the mail room and other places and these are younger people, and our students adopt them and take them to lunch and interact with them and I think that's one thing that I think it's a very important thing for us to know.
Also, we had just begun a new student organization and its Carlow University's disability awareness Association. So it's a student club and it's called TREAT, and it stands for Total Respect Equality and Awareness Through education and the club is made up of the students with disabilities and students that do not have those specific challenges.
We're trying to sensitize our students to the reality of a life in the world if you are a person with disabilities. And I think that's going to send our students out into the world with a much better understanding and sensitivity to the brothers and sisters who have these challenges.
SISTER MARGARET HANNON: Wonderful. That I wasn't aware of that. Thank you.
JOYCE BENDER: Thank you, sister, for calling in.
Dr. Hines, I noticed when I have spent time talking to you and also just reading some of your speeches that you in your career, you have a real specialty in the area of ethics. In fact, you received the Ethics Award from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, as you mentioned prior. You were in Brooklyn, New York. You also graduated first in your class and then went on to receive your master's and Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Now, my question for you is what made you pursue ethics as one of your special interests?
MARY HINES: Well, the first step on that path was to major in philosophy, and so as an undergraduate, that was the focus of my degree. And it wasn't long before I realized that ethics really underpins everything that we understand as being human. And so there is an ethics component to human relationships, to religion, to social and political life, to cultural life. So ethics became not so much a specialty, but kind of a constant theme that ran through all of the course work that I took and then ultimately the courses that I taught.
The real emphasis in my academic programs were in a social and political philosophy and philosophy of religion. As I mentioned, there is the underpinning of ethics in all those fields.
JOYCE BENDER: And you know, I just recently was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book on ethics. And here's a man that showed up and World War two against what was going on with the Third Reich and the Nazi regime a was actually executed by the Nazis at a concentration camp and of course he, too, was a pastor and theologian and later had that book published, "ethics." But when you said it underpins everything, it really does because that's all about integrity whether you're in academia or are going into business or anything in your life, it's going to have an impact. Don't you think?
MARY HINES: I think absolutely. There is a common essence that human beings share that recognizes that the basic relationship among human beings is captured in “do unto others as you have them do unto you”. And from the earliest stages, I think children have that sense of that right or wrong in terms of how they treat other people. We continue to grow in how we understand how that plays out in our lives in every aspect of our life.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, that's actually a question I have for you because Bender Consulting Services, my company will later on next year or the end of this year, be releasing a program called “Paychecks not Pity” training elementary and high-school age and adults with disabilities about the world of work. I believe that training in any area has to begin at an early age. I'm wondering what you think about that in reference to some type of ethics training in schools today. When do you think this should start?
MARY HINES: I think it should start before they even get to school, and I think that's the role of the parents to be sure they can build on this innate sense of right and wrong. It's a traditional age old theory that the age of reason is seven, and young people don't begin to distinguish between right and wrong until they're at age of seven. I'm not sure if that's actually a factual reality.
It seems to me that even if you watch children at play at the earliest ages, they have a pretty good sense of what's right and what's wrong. I would say that the earlier you could start the better, but you certainly have to shape the message differently with young people at the early grades from the way you would shape it for the students who are in advanced grades.
JOYCE BENDER: May I ask you do you ever teach classes specifically on this yourself, or do you speak about this at the colleges or universities or conferences?
MARY HINES: The answer is yes to both. I've been teaching in college for a very, very long time. Many semesters I was teaching ethics classes. I'm not teaching right now in a classroom setting, but I do go in and give lectures as a guest instructor. Ethics is the topic that I'm asked frequently to speak about and I do give public presentations. I did recently speak to graduates of Pitt's Graduate School for Public Policy and it was on ethical leadership.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, isn't that what it's all about? As we move into talking about the quality of life for people with disabilities and all of our listeners today, you're going to see how we're going to tie this all together. When you come back and we're back from break, we'll hear more from Dr. Mary Hines, President of Carlow University. You're listening to Joyce Bender, America's voice. VoiceAmerica.Com. We'll be right back.
JOYCE BENDER: And welcome back. If you just joined us we have a great guest today, Dr. Mary Hines, President of Carlow University. And Dr. Hines, you did a great deal of community work. When I read about your background and when people told me about you with many, many groups. I'm only going to highlight the just a few because you work with so many. Children's Service Center Advisory Group, Step-by-Step and the YMCA. But, you also served on the Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Committee. I wonder if you could take a moment and tell our listeners about that work.
MARY HINES: The advocacy group of the arthritis foundation was a group of people who volunteered to learn as much as they could about arthritis and then to speak on behalf of people with arthritis, either as an educational initiative or as a fund-raising initiative for the foundation itself. And what surprised people the most about the information that we would share was how many children have arthritis. The myth that arthritis is an old people's disease, was dispelled and many of those sessions were made presentations on the state of arthritis in the country and how many young people suffer from it.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, of course, as my listeners know, that is a disability. And one thing I was excited about with your background is, of course, personally your volunteer work. You're very familiar with disability in the way people are treated and the way people are ignored and unfortunately, left behind. For example, many college students with disabilities do not find employment at the same rate as non disabled students. COSD published their survey that stated only 2% of non disabled students are unemployed. Again even if its work in a fast-food restaurant, any type of work they're including but 40% of college students with significant disabilities are unemployed. And I'm wondering, why you think that is, and what you think we can do at Carlow University to help.
MARY HINES: Well, certainly, the work that you do, Joyce, in your organization and even through this program identifies some of the causes for that kind of discrepancy in employment. It seems to me that the main reasons why employers hesitate to hire people with significant disabilities are a lack of education. They don't understand the reality that these people are people with abilities, as you point out so well. And that they can be very well served by employing them.
There's also the possibility that the perception is that they're going to be viewed as substandard in their work. You have dispelled that with the people you have placed in the business community.
I think another reason is that employers would assume that people with disabilities may be more sickly, that they would therefore have attendance problems and health-related expenses thus driving up the insurance costs of the organization. But again, I think statistics show that people with disabilities are just as good or superior to their non disabled counterparts in terms of their attendance and of their job performance.
I guess to some that all up, it's education. I don't mean the formal type of education, but it's getting to know the facts. It's getting to understand what the reality is in terms of the benefit of employing people who have significant disabilities. We at Carlow are certainly trying to enlighten all of our students to the understanding that their colleagues students who do have disabilities are performing at the same or maybe even better in some cases level as they are in their classes. They will be good workers when they do take their place in the workforce.
JOYCE BENDER: And you know, I agree with you 100 percent. And why I think it's so important, people don't think about this, but what goes on at a university or college is so important because there are Ivy League colleges today where there are professors that endorse, you know, euthanasia of children with disabilities or that have an endorsement that really says in so many words that a person with a disability is inferior by saying that. And, you know, what people forget is that when you're teaching people and you're at a university or college, that individual will go on to have a leadership role in the business world. It's all connected. All of this is connected, and that's why I think what you're doing at Carlow University is so important because if we educate enough people, even at the college, I mean non disabled students, they will go on into leadership roles and if they get it, it's going to make a difference.
MARY HINES: We believe that. Here at Carlow we have several faculty and staff that have disabilities but who are well qualified and don't allow their disabilities prevent them from working hard and helping Carlow achieve its mission. We not only educate our students to the value of accepting people with disabilities in every walk of life, but we also put our money where our mouth is and actually hire people with disabilities.
JOYCE BENDER: And that's why I think it's so great what you're doing at Carlow University because that is -- anyone listening to the show no matter where you are, if you are a person with a disability, you're thinking of where to send your child to school or college, remember, there is a school that is walking the talk and also is a good college to make a donation to.
Now, while I'm on the subject of all the power we have here at Carlow University, anyone from Pittsburgh, Pa. -- and I have to remind all of our listeners through out the world, I just had to play the Super Bowl song on the radio when we were the Super Bowl champions about three shows. Because if you know you are a Pittsburgh person, we never forget. We always remember we are Super Bowl champions because that is because we have Cowher Power with Bill Cowher but, I noticed, Dr. Hines, that you brought us this is new term Carlow Power. Can you talk about that.
MARY HINES: Yes. It was funny because it was just around all of the hubbub about the Super Bowl and I was about six months into my work at Carlow and I was listening and seeing signs about Cowher power and in my mind I can translate that to Carlow, it begins with C, and spoke to that faculty and staff at my state of the university address that what we're going to talk about today is Carlow Power, that we have the power to change lives and help the people we serve become winners which could translate into successful leaders who will then take their place in the world.
What we're about is not a game and not about a ring and not about a victory, but its about changing lives for the future. And our mission drives us in that direction and we're all committed to that. Our faculty and staff are certainly committed to empowering people to not to just educate them, and get them through course work, but prepare them for life.
So that phrase sort of just caught on here at Carlow around the Super Bowl time. Right now, we aren't using it as frequently because it's not a hot phrase any longer. But we do have our current motto or marketing slogan which reflects the culture of this institution and says "At Carlow, I matter." That has grown out of student experiences and faculty and staff experiences about the way they're treated when they do and learn at Carlow. That's the play on words that we have used is the word Carlow emphasizing low, and we say that Carlow is a high care place. So it's the Carlow Power we talk about is about how we treat other people and how we make it possible for them to be successful when they go out into the world.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, you know, my great friend and the friend of so many people with disabilities is Yoshiko Dart who is the widow, as you all know, who has survived Justin Dart. She is the wife of the late, great Justin Dart who was just the general in America getting the ADA pushed through behind-the-scenes. You see pictures of him at the signing of the ADA. He was seated in his wheelchair with President Bush, and then later on with President Clinton, you would see him up front. You always see him, and unfortunately, he passed away a couple of years ago. But every time Yoshiko talks to anyone who is endorsing employment and the empowerment of people with disabilities, she says Bender power or Coelho Power or whoever she's talking to. She would be saying to you Hines power.
So I just thought that was so unbelievable you had that term because power is really empowerment, and that is really what that new program or initiative “I matter” is all about is a person being enpowered. And if they are empowered, they are also going to remember everyone needs to be empowered, including students with disabilities.
And I just love that. I've seen that in different advertisements, and I think that's great. How long have you been doing that?
MARY HINES: How long have we been caring about people? The “I matter” campaign was launched in the spring. There are billboards and advertisements around that say that, but really, the "I matter" feel, the culture has been around for a very long time. All we did was articulate it in our marketing campaign.
JOYCE BENDER: That's the truth, because for years I have known of Carlow, and known people at Carlow, even with the the Women of Spirit campaign it's always been about caring for other people, remembering your neighbor, and taking care of others. And that is what makes Carlow University so fantastic.
I wanted to ask you if someone was to make a contribution to Carlow how do they do that?
MARY HINES: They can do it online quite securely by going on to our web site www.Carlow.edu. And go into advancement or development page and they can donate that way. Or they can send a check to Dr. Patrick Joyce who is the vice president for advancement and he will acknowledge the gift.
JOYCE BENDER: And you know what? Remember, no matter who you are and no matter how much you have, it's the giving that counts. Everything adds up so don't ever think because you can't give hundreds and hundreds of dollars or thousands and thousands of dollars, you should still give. Everything counts. And it's helping us make a difference.
We're going to go to break and then we'll coming back to close the show with our great guest today Dr. Mary Hines, the President of Carlow University. You've been listening to America's voice, Joyce Bender, the voice of VoiceAmerica.Com. We'll be right back.
JOYCE BENDER: And welcome back. If you've been listening to the show today, you've been listening to Dr. Mary Hines, the President of Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And she and I were talking at break and you know what? I'm so ashamed, that even I did not realize that Carlow University is the only women centered University in all of Pennsylvania. I'm wondering, Dr. Hines, could you explain that?
MARY HINES: Yes, Joyce, I'd be happy to. We are not a women's college because we do admit a few good men. About ten percent of our student body are men. But our curriculum and our mission is all centered on empowering women to learn and to lead. And so even men who come here would have to take women's studies courses. They would be taught by faculty who use feminine pedagogy in terms of how they teach, how they run their classes. All of these are tied in to the concept of women centered education, and because we focus on that solely, not just on women, that women-centered education, we have not found another institution in Pennsylvania that is at the university level that takes that particular approach to its educational mission.
JOYCE BENDER: So even men would be taking those classes?
MARY HINES: That is correct.
JOYCE BENDER: That is really interesting, another great thing to know about Carlow University. You know, when you were talking about,earlier when you're talking about during the break about Sister Margaret who called in and how great Sisters of Mercy are, they are the group that sponsors you; is that correct?
MARY HINES: That is correct. We are sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, specifically the Pittsburgh community. But the Sisters of Mercy have 18 colleges and universities around the country and that is more colleges and universities than any other religious organization sponsor other than the Jesuits.
JOYCE BENDER: Is that right? And is this where your mission and your purpose all originally came from?
MARY HINES: Well, the whole mission of the Sisters of Mercy is to serve the underserved. And the Sisters of Mercy first came to the United States from Carlow, Ireland, via Dublin, and they started the first hospital west of the Allegheny Mountains here in Pittsburgh.
Then in 1929, they started Carlow University. So our mission is to serve the underserved and basically mainly women and a liberal arts tradition to make them lifelong learners and to render competent and compassionate service.
JOYCE BENDER: Well, that has stayed from the beginning. It is still like that at Carlow, and it's so wonderful to have the Sisters of Mercy as our sponsor at Carlow. I wanted to ask you, Dr. Hines, as the leader of Carlow, how do you want Carlow to be known or recognized nationally?
MARY HINES: I think you just captured it. I think an institution that is dedicated to predominately educating women to be leaders in this world, and we are an institution that delivers on its mission. That's the way I would like it to be recognized.
JOYCE BENDER: Which is so important because then you would have great women leaders in this country in business, government, or in education who also would remember, as you said, those people not as fortunate as they are. That is a great thing. That is really a wonderful thing.
Now, how about you, Dr. Hines? You already have, as I read your biography, have had so many accomplishments in your life and in your career in education, but I have asked every single guest on this show for the past two years first, what are you the proudest of at this time in your career?
MARY HINES: Well, the proudest of, I think the opportunity that I have had in a number of different institutions to implement a leadership philosophy of serving, engaging, and empowering others, and that has been a gradual evolution through different opportunities of leadership responsibilities, and I think at this point, being the president at Carlow, gives me a tremendous opportunity to positively affect the lives of others.
JOYCE BENDER: And also, I'm sorry I did not mention this earlier, and by the way, I agree with you. I think that you have the power as the leader just as a CEO of any company you have the power to endorse various initiatives or business ethics, whether you are in education or at a corporation. But at a university, think of the impact. You're teaching future leaders. You have such a great impact. I'm sorry I forgot to mention this earlier, when Dr. Hines moved here, she also brought her family with her. And I didn't ask you this earlier, how are they adjusting to Pittsburgh?
MARY HINES: They're doing great. My husband is going to soon be starting his return to teaching at La Roche College here in Pittsburgh, and he is also a philosopher and teaches ethics and world religions. He is an outstanding teacher so La Roche is blessed to be having him. We have four children who are adults and they are all doing very well. And one of our sons is 35 years old and has Down's syndrome so we are very familiar personally with the challenges of people with special needs.
JOYCE BENDER: And I've met him. I must tell you one of the first things that I thought, as a woman with epilepsy and a hearing loss, I thought well, this new leader we have is going to be someone who really gets it and you really do get it. And I'm happy that your family is adjusting well to Pittsburgh. As I said before, you came at a good time when you moved to Pittsburgh so I'm sure they have all enjoyed it. Also, good luck to your husband in his new position at La Roche College.
I want to ask you in closing, Dr. Hines, what message, as I have asked all our guests for the past three years, what message would you like to leave with our listeners today?
MARY HINES: Well, first of all, I think they should all know, and they probably do, that you are doing wonderful work in terms of being an advocate and a mover on issues related to people with disabilities. So I certainly want to tell the audience that I am very proud of the work that you are doing.
But in reference to my role at Carlow I would like to leave everyone with the message that education is the key. It's the key for everyone to advance in their own lives, but also to understand the lives that other people live and to be able to make a difference in those lives, especially by being sensitive to the people who are less fortunate.
JOYCE BENDER: Education is the key. And isn't that the truth? You know, Dr. Hines, even when I speak whatever the age of the students with disabilities when I go speaking about thinking more about themselves and investing in themselves, education is always the key for all of us. Before we go, one more time, if someone wants to make a donation to Carlow University, how do that again?
MARY HINES: They can go on the web site at www.Carlow.edu and go to the advancement page or the donation page sometimes called development page and they can donate online with a credit card or they can send a check to Dr. Patrick Joyce at Carlow University, Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
JOYCE BENDER: Let's remember what she said. Education, education is the key. Dr. Hines, we always end the show with a quote from a famous civil rights leader, a business leader or someone I believe is impacting the lives of people with disabilities. Today that quote is from the President of Carlow University, Dr. Mary Hines at the 2006 graduation luncheon at the University of Pittsburgh when she said, "Leadership is about others, and there is no leadership with out others to lead. Leaders emerge at all levels of society and organization, and need not have a high position to motivate others and to affect change." How true that is. You can affect that change today no matter who you are with people with disabilities.
Dr. Hines, thank you for being a guest on our show. I wish you only the best at Carlow.
MARY HINES: Thank you, Joyce. It's been a privilege.
JOYCE BENDER: And to all of you, have a wonderful Memorial Day holiday. You've been listening to Joyce Bender, America's voice. VoiceAmerica.Com. See you next week.
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