Seton Hall University celebrates investiture of 22nd president
The Seton Hall University community, together with local and government officials and representatives from colleges and universities across the nation, gathered on Nov. 4 for a Mass and ceremony to mark the investiture of Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., as the university’s 22nd president. Monsignor Reilly’s appointment marks the return of a priest-president to Seton Hall, which has been a hallmark of the University for 146 years of its 168-year history.
Photos and the recorded livestreams from the Investiture Ceremony and Mass can be accessed here.
“To say Monsignor Reilly understands our mission is an understatement. It is inseparable from who he is,” said Hank D’Alessandro, chairman of the Board of Regents, who presided over the investiture ceremony. “He continues the tradition of the priest-president, a role he will use to instill hope and advance success for our entire community.”
In his investiture address, Monsignor Reilly reflected on the many years he has spent at Seton Hall as both a student and priest, pointing out that “half of my life has been spent here.” He also lauded the university as an ideal institution for learning and personal growth.
“[Seton Hall] is a place of encounter, of education, of enrichment, of empathy, edification, and equity,” Monsignor Reilly said. “It was here, in this place, where I discovered the passion and purpose for my life as a priest. But it is not simply a place of three campuses. Seton Hall is a community of people, with fundamental beliefs about God, the human person, the world, and the values that underly all of those things that are founded in faith. This is what sustains each one of us in our lives here at Seton Hall.”
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, who is the chairman of Seton Hall’s Board of Trustees and president of its Board of Regents, served as celebrant and homilist at the investiture Mass. Addressing those gathered, Cardinal Tobin praised Monsignor Reilly as a highly capable president for the university.
“Monsignor Reilly’s selection as Seton Hall’s leader follows decades of devoted service to the university and its students, and through them, to the world,” Cardinal Tobin said. “I am confident his presidency will produce even more remarkable achievements.”
The ceremony culminated a week-long celebration of investiture-related events, including an academic symposium titled “The Story of Catholic Education: Renewing Our Universities,” a student leaders luncheon, and a gathering with alumni and families during Homecoming and Family Weekend.
The co-chairs of the investiture committee were Paul E. Fisher Jr., Seton Hall ‘s chief information officer, and Father Joseph R. Laracy, S.T.D., assistant professor of systematic theology within the university’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. In addition, two members of the university’s Board of Regents served as honorary chairs: Alisa Coren Norris, corporate director of CP Direct; lead independent director of Vitamix; and independent director of Standard Motor Products; and Stephen Loughrey, CEO of G&L Scientific, Inc.
A life of service
Monsignor Reilly began his tenure as the university’s 22nd president on July 1. According to university officials, he brings to the presidency a deep understanding of Seton Hall’s identity as a leading Catholic university and a robust vision to elevate its standing among the leading institutions in American higher education.
A Mountainside native, Monsignor Reilly attended Seton Hall Prep in West Orange and graduated from Seton Hall University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Newark in 1991 and then served as a parochial vicar at St. Paul Church in Ramsey and St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Bayonne.
In 1995, the monsignor joined the staff of Seton Hall Prep, where he served as a faculty member and chaplain. Seven years later, he returned to the university as rector of the College Seminary at St. Andrew’s Hall.
In 2012, Monsignor Reilly was named rector/dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, where he served until 2022. During this period, he helped strengthen the university’s Catholic foundation as a member of the Board of Trustees. After a year’s sabbatical, he undertook his most recent post as vice provost of academics and Catholic identity. In this role, the monsignor worked to integrate the university’s Catholic mission into academics — particularly local and international initiatives and academic programs that make Seton Hall a well-respected leader of Catholic higher education.
Monsignor Reilly has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, and Archdiocesan Vocations Board.
The monsignor also has been selected to serve in multiple pontificates. Pope St. John Paul II named him a chaplain to His Holiness in 2005 with the title of Reverend Monsignor, and Pope Francis appointed him a Missionary of Mercy in 2015.
In addition, he has served the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a member of the Faithful Citizenship Strategy Committee and the Catholic Social Teaching Task Force.
Monsignor Reilly holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum in Rome; and a Ph.D. in educational administration from Fordham University.
“My deep desire as I begin my service as a priest-president here at Seton Hall is that I would like to be able to, like Jesus Christ, make a gift of myself in service to the community,” Monsignor Reilly said.
Additional information about the investiture and related events is available here.
Featured image: From left to right: Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, and Hank D’Alessandro (Photo courtesy of Seton Hall University)
