Catholic University Of America Inaugurates 15th President

John Garvey, who has served as president of Catholic University since July, will be inaugurated as the university's 15th president on Tuesday.

Garvey teaches a class on constitutional law. Natalaya Siegal, a senior, chose the class because she heard Garvey had argued seven cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. And because she thought it would help her grades.

"I definitely will be studying more because it's his class!" Siegal says.

Garvey says he began his work as president wanting to focus on having a great faculty, building the Catholic faith and increasing the university's endowment.

But once he was on campus, he found he spent more and more time on student life.

Garvey says Catholic University originally only offered graduate studies.

"I think we need to think in the same thought about the importance of undergraduates. We need to devote the same kind of attention to student-life sorts of concerns as we devote to the issues of graduate student stipends or the design of courses for our graduate programs," he says.

Garvey is the university's third lay president.