A Century And Counting

As Saint Vincent College prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fu Jen Catholic University’s founding by the Benedictines of Saint Vincent Archabbey, Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B., travelled to Taiwan and Korea to fortify international relationships and reanimate plans once curtailed by the COVID-19 Pandemic. With Brother Nicholas Koss, O.S.B., P’61, C’66, S 70, a monk of Wimmer Priory in Taiwan as his guide, Father Paul made the three stops fruitful with plans for future collaborations, demonstrating SVC’s commitment to enduring relationships with international institutions.

The first visit was to Wimmer Priory, where Father Paul met with the new president of Fu Jen Catholic University, Francis Lan. The two leaders discussed the further development of exchanges between the two schools. With the 100th anniversary approaching, both institutions are planning celebrations of the milestone to take place in 2025, Father Paul and President Lan arranging for representations from both parties at both parties, demonstrating the collaborative effort that made Fu Jen possible to begin with.

Another objective of this meeting and trip was to inform Fu Jen students of expanding opportunities at SVC. Beginning in 2024, the James and Margaret Tseng Loe Center for Chinese Studies at SVC is sponsoring the SVC Summer English Program for students from East Asia, and students from Fu Jen were encouraged to participate.

Similarly, before the Pandemic, six SVC students each year would study Chinese at the Language Center of Fu Jen Catholic University. This program will begin again in the summer of 2025. Prospects of a joint-degree program between Fu Jen Catholic University and Saint Vincent College and the exchange of professors are in the process of being established as well. The storied history of these two schools already spans a century and has chapters to be written yet.

The next stop was Waegwan Abbey near Daegu, South Korea, where Father Paul and Brother Nick visited administrators of the two high schools run by Waegwan Abbey to gauge and generate interest in graduates potentially attending SVC. Obstacles like cost and questions about what the contents of an SVC experience entail were discussed and plans to ameliorate doubt were shaped as Father Paul chatted with the schools’ administrators.

After Waegwan Abbey, Father Paul and Brother Nick took a train to Seoul, South Korea, and were given a tour of the city by Father Matthew Kim, O.S.B., head of one of the major Catholic publishing firms in South Korea, the Benedict Press. In Seoul, Father Paul met with the president of Sogang University, operated by the Jesuits and one of the leading universities in Korea. Sogang College was founded in 1960 by Jesuit Wisconsin province with the encouragement of Pope Pius XII; today, it has about 10,000 students, approximately 1,200 of whom are from abroad.

President of the university Father Luke Sim delineates his aim of creating a metaverse campus, or what he calls a “metaversity,” articulating the objective to “design various types of programs involving the exchange of students, building a platform on which they can improve their global competitiveness.” This mission is one emphatically aligned with that of SVC and that of this excursion. Among the possible partnerships between the two institutions explored at this meeting were collaborations among individual departments at the two schools, faculty and student exchanges, and the joint organization of conferences.

International relations are recovering post-Pandemic, and this trip Father Paul and Brother Nick took through Taiwan and South Korea have inspired even more. There is a strong and storied bond between Saint Vincent College and East Asia, and it appears to be only gaining momentum. As the 100th anniversary celebrations commence and more bridges are built, the preeminent inclusivity and opportunity at Saint Vincent College continue to expand.