University of St. Michael’s College President David Sylvester has been elected to the International Federation of Catholic Universities’ (IFCU) Board of Administration. The global organization of Catholic academic institutions has a mandate to work collegially to facilitate research, partnership and exchange programs between Catholic universities and colleges.
President Sylvester was elected by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Canada (ACCUC) as Canada’s representative to succeed Dr. Gerry Turcotte, president and principal, St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College in Vancouver. He will serve as one of seven regional representatives on IFCU’s Board.
“IFCU is the only global organisation of Catholic universities present on every continent. It brings together more than 240 universities and, according to the World Bank, represents a student body of more than seven million students worldwide,” explains IFCU Secretary General Dr. Francois Mabille. “Present in many international institutions, it collaborates with several bodies of the Holy See, notably the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Representatives of the IFCU are regularly received by the Pope.”
President Sylvester recently attended IFCU’s triennial General Assembly in Guadalajara, Mexico where the federation renewed the membership of its Board and elected its new president, Rev. Francisco Ramirez Yáñez.
“The ACCUC’s proposal to appoint David Sylvester as its representative on the (IFCU’s) Board was welcomed,” says Prof. Mabille, adding that the first Administrative Council meeting will be held in early November in Rome.
The idea for such a federation dates back more than a century, with its creation occurring in 1948 by papal decree. Its headquarters are now at l’Institut Catholic de Paris. IFCU’s mandate is to facilitate research, partnership and exchange programs between Catholic universities, bringing representatives of Catholic higher education together to discuss the mission of universities and to encourage active participation while contributing to the development of a Catholic approach to higher education.
As well as working with the Vatican, IFCU has advisory status with a variety of organizations, including the United Nations in New York, the Human Rights Commission in Geneva and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. IFCU also has permanent representation in the International Association of Universities.
“I am honoured to serve alongside fellow presidents from around the world dedicated to the universal mission and purpose of Catholic post-secondary education. St. Michael’s has always had a global footprint and reputation through its graduates, and I look forward to offering a Canadian perspective to the board and to bringing home some of the lessons I will learn from my IFCU experience,” he says. President Sylvester, who has previously chaired the ACCUC and served on the board of the Washington-based ACCU, has been appointed to the international body for a three-year term and will travel this November to Rome for the meetings of the IFCU board.