Office of Mission

The Office of Mission was created in 2011 and serves as the chairperson for the College’s campus-wide Mission and Identity Committee, which develops programs for students, faculty and staff. The office oversees all mission-related initiatives and is in close collaboration with the Chaplains Office. Before the office was established, there was the College Committee on Mission and Identity.

Paul Harman, S.J. was named the first Vice President for Mission at the College in 2011. Harman entered the Jesuit order in 1955 and received his bachelor and master’s degree in philosophy from Boston College. He began working at Holy Cross in 1970 as a visiting lecturer while studying for his Ph.D at Columbia University. In 1971 he begam associate academic dean and in 1975 he was appointed executive vice president until 1984. He left Holy Cross to pursue work with the New England Province of the Jesuits and serve as the rector at Boston College. Returning to the College in 2009, Harman worked as President McFarland special assistant until being hired as Vice President for Mission. He served in this role until 2014.

William Campbell, S.J. became Vice President for Mission in 2015. He graduated from Holy Cross in 1987 with a degree in English and music. He then went on to study at St. Michael’s Institute (Gonzaga University) and received masters degrees in theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He was ordained in 1998 at Holy Cross’ St. Joseph Chapel. From 1998-2003 he worked as the executive director of the Nativity Prep School in Boston. He returned to Holy Cross again in 2003 to serve as assistant chaplain until 2005 (and again from 2007-2008). In 2008 he became the president of Cheverus, a Jesuit high school in Maine and served in that role until 2015, when he became Holy Cross’ Vice President for Mission. He remained in that role until 2019 when he was appointed director to the Gonzaga Eastern Retreat Center.

During the 2019 hiring process, the title of his position was changed to Vice President for Institutional Mission and Ministry. The hiring of this posiiton has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Michele Murray was named the Senior Vice President for Development and Mission/Dean of Students after a College reorganization. Rev. Timothy W. O’Brien, S.J. ‘06 was appointed the Associate Vice President for Mission. In this role, he coordinates programming for faculty, staff, and alumni that centers on the Jesuit and Catholic dimensions of the College’s mission.