Peter Hanycz likes to think he knows his wife, Colleen, pretty well. But the second she shared something about herself he’d never heard—just the two of them, in a parking lot, on a freezing winter day in London, Ontario—he knew exactly what he had to do.
The couple was visiting London, about two hours away from their home base of Toronto, on what seemed like a professional lark. Peter was working as an executive for State Farm; Colleen, an attorney, was just settling into an assistant dean’s position at Osgoode Hall Law School, the York University institution where she’d earned her master’s degree and doctorate. Their kids were thriving in great schools. They’d just purchased their dream home, put in a new pool, and settled into a wonderful neighborhood. But a contact had persuaded Colleen to do her due diligence: She agreed to interview for the position of Principal (the Canadian equivalent of President) at Brescia University College, a small Catholic school for women founded by the Ursuline Sisters in 1919.
Hanycz’s father was the youngest of eight children, and they were very poor immigrants who had to grapple with challenges like learning to speak English when they arrived in Canada from Denmark. By the time he was 14, her father had left home permanently, and there was never any discussion of higher education. “But that lack of access served to create a burning ambition in him that his children would be well-educated,” Hanycz said. “My mother, also the youngest of eight, came from a family where education was prized and supported, so between them, my siblings and I always knew that college was a when, rather than an if.”
No way we’re moving, but it can’t hurt to check it out, went the logic.
As Peter helped his wife prep a few last-minute talking points, Colleen presented a new one. “I should let you know,” she said, “I’ve never been turned down for a role when I’ve reached the interview stage. Ever.”
Peter wished her luck, pulled out of the lot and immediately began exploring snow-covered London by car. He had a few hours to kill and figured they’d be best spent orienting himself to his new city.
That was in 2008, and Hanycz (Han-ich), who would go on to accept the Brescia position, has kept the uncanny streak alive. This July, she officially began her term as the 29th President of La Salle—the first layperson, and woman, to permanently hold the office in the University’s 152- year history. A highly seasoned straight talker with a knack for negotiation, Hanycz has one big goal in mind as she begins her tenure in Philadelphia: to inject new energy, perspective, and ambition into the La Salle community in a manner that both honors and deepens the University’s commitment to the Christian Brothers’ mission.
The eldest of three children, Hanycz grew up in Toronto, the daughter of Kelly Olesen, an Irish-Catholic nurse, and Erik Olesen, a Danish-Canadian convert to the Church who founded a chain of camera supply shops. Growing up, Hanycz attended Senator O’Connor, a Catholic high school that was operated by the Christian Brothers during her time there. This experience provided her with a formative understanding of Lasallian principles—which her family already had her practicing, whether she realized it or not.
Growing up in Toronto, Hanycz, and her siblings, Philip and Erin, worked in their father Erik’s camera shop, Queen Street Camera. Though they all lived together, he refused to drive them, insisting that his children find their own way into work. “He’d say, ‘Every other employee I have is taking the bus or taking the subway,’” said her sister, Erin, who would bicycle in. “He wanted to teach us to be self-sufficient.”
“What I grew up in was a very Christian home,” Hanycz said. “My parents were always doing things quietly to improve the lives of people around them.” She remembers working out of the back of a truck to help her father unload upward of 100 turkeys he’d purchase for a local food bank around Canadian Thanksgiving, which takes place about six weeks before the American version. Erik, who had grown up very poor, had built a successful life for himself, which made it imperative for him and his family to give back, especially when no one was watching.
“It was constant,” said Erin Olesen-Schinke, the younger of Hanycz’s two siblings. “It was what we did. It wasn’t something that we shouted from the rooftops. It was a quiet but strong faith.”
The family’s close relationship with God also meant heavy involvement in parish activities, which remained steadfast through the natural malaise that often occurs in adolescents of church-going families. “A number of my friends had suddenly been given this practice option: ‘You’re 16 now, we’re not going to force you (to attend Mass) any longer,’” Hanycz recalled. “But we didn’t really question it in our family.” If you were in the Olesen home, you were going to participate in the Catholic lifestyle, and looking back on it, Hanycz appreciates that her parents stuck to this plan.
“Colleen, from a very early age, was very, very committed. I would say remarkably so,” said Hanycz’s mother, Kelly, who is now retired. But the Church wasn’t the only place that would benefit from her involvement. Though she jokes that it’s simply a byproduct of her natural bossiness, Hanycz always displayed an innate aptitude for leadership, even in these early days. It would come out in small ways—her ability to remember the names of distant relatives at huge family reunions, or the results she was able to produce as a student council official.
“I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t leading something,” Olesen-Schinke said. “She’s just that type of person.”
After graduating from the Lasallian- led O’Connor, Hanycz enrolled in St. Michael’s College, a Basilian Catholic school where she earned her bachelor’s degree in history in 1989. Next up was the first of her three law degrees, an LL.B. (J.D.) from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, earned in 1994.
Hanycz’s decision to break into the legal profession created some distinct challenges for the committed Catholic early in her career.
“Law is evidence-based—nothing exists unless you can prove it,” she said. “That’s how you win court cases.” When it comes to faith, mean- while: “It isn’t always something you can touch or prove. Law forced me to challenge everything I believed in. My faith life was strengthened and enriched by it.”
This dichotomy, between the tangible and intangible, was also the source of endless dinner table debate between Hanycz and her dad, who would deliberately goad his daughter by establishing contrarian positions on complicated topics. “He used to egg her on to get her to argue—take the other side of any argument,” Peter said. It might not have been quite so clear at the time, but the discussions were a measured effort on Hanycz’s father’s part. “He wanted to see her improve her skills to make sure she was always able to argue her case.”
Hanycz was able to put those sparring skills to immediate use as an associate at Heenan Blaikie, a large Toronto-based firm where she worked in securities and employment litigation. She would eventually enroll at Osgoode to begin her graduate and doctoral studies. It was during this period that Hanycz first met Peter at an industry event. “We both felt that there was a connection immediately,” he said.
The fact that they were both practicing Catholics only contributed to the expediency of the courtship—on their second date, they attended Mass together.
The couple was soon engaged, and in the midst of planning their wedding, when an unthinkable loss befell the Olesen family. Erik was diagnosed with a rapidly advancing cancer, succumbing to it only a matter of weeks after first hearing the news—and only days before his daughter’s scheduled nuptials. He was only 53 years old. Peter and Colleen made the decision to postpone the celebration to mourn Erik’s passing.
The YMCA of Western Ontario presented Hanycz with its Women of Excellence Award in May 2015 for her significant achievements in cultivating women’s leadership through education at Brescia and for outstanding community service.
If you ask her family, this tragedy brought out the strongest side of Hanycz’s personality. “She never once mentioned the wedding,” Olesen- Schinke recalled. “Everything got put on hold—yet she was trying to be there for everybody else.” (The couple would be married several months later.)
“That’s Colleen,” Peter said. “She makes sure that others are more important than she is.” Just don’t misinterpret such selfless traits as symptoms of a pushover. “When I met her, you could describe her as a dreamer,” her husband added. “But once you get to know her, it’s not dreaming so much as it is setting goals that she’s capable of achieving.”
At Osgoode, Hanycz made moves to begin rejiggering the thrust of her career, from the corporate/financial feel of Toronto’s Bay Street to the more abstract but academically stimulating field of conflict resolution. Inspired by her experiences at Heenan Blaikie, working to cultivate resolutions for at-odds parties, Hanycz hoped to analyze the ins and outs of the mediation process, with a particular focus on whether or not impartial mediators can truly be impartial. (Her conclusion on this issue, about which she wrote her doctoral dissertation: No, they can’t.)
She’d earn her master’s in 1999 and her Ph.D. in 2003, adding son Erik, named in honor of her late father, and daughter Emily to her family along the way. Though she had just completed her doctorate, Hanycz interviewed for and earned a tenure-track faculty position at Osgoode, as well. She also became a new mom again, with her third and youngest child, Claire.
Hanycz is the most recent past Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities of Canada.
As a teacher, she took an extremely energetic approach to interacting with students. “I’m not a lecturer— this was not the ‘sage on the stage’ model,” said Hanycz of her hands-on approach. Osgoode’s powers-that-be soon realized her potential, tapping her for the assistant dean position within her first year. This is when Hanycz’s unconventional approach to leadership first started to register on an academic scale.
London North Centre Member of Provincial Parliament Deb Matthews with contest winner Natasha Raval and Principal Colleen Hanycz, Ph.D., at Brescia’s 2nd Annual Take the Lead Public Speaking Competition in April 2010.
Asked to work specifically with ensuring the success of Osgoode’s first-years, Hanycz launched a Dean’s Fellows Program, which rewarded competitive, hard-working, and academically inclined students with relevant opportunities to work with students coming behind them. Hanycz is still connected with a number of those early Dean’s Fellows who have gone on to complete graduate work and enter academic positions. “Everything was just humming along,” she said. Then Brescia came calling.
The only all-women’s university in Canada, Brescia found itself in a period of flux at the time of Hanycz’s arrival to the Principal position. There were fewer than 1,000 enrolled students in 2008, a figure Hanycz chalked up to an academic identity crisis. “The Ursulines were very modest women who had never spoken loudly about what Brescia offered,” she said. “They modeled a quiet confidence but were not good at singing their own praises.”
As Principal, Hanycz began by helping the school direct its analysis inward, by identifying, in cogent terms, what Brescia’s brand actually was. The resultant “Brescia Bold” campaign, celebrating women who choose to pursue leadership roles, was a success. Pursuits like these, as well as elaborate community outreach and the construction of a brand-new modern residence hall, led to a nearly 50 percent increase in enrollment as of the upcoming 2015–16 school year.
Colleen Hanycz, Ph.D., (left) with Brescia Board Chair Elizabeth Hewitt and Assistant Professor Marlene Janzen Le Ber, Ph.D., at the opening of Brescia’s brand-new Clare Hall residence and Mercato dining pavilion complex in 2013.
Before Hanycz’s input, “We were almost apologetic when we talked about who Brescia was,” said Marianne Simm, MBA, the university’s Vice President of Students. “The rebranding process really gave us the tools to be very strong and very proud.”
The Honorable Madam Justice Eileen Gillese of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Brescia’s Chancellor, with Colleen Hanycz, Ph.D., at the 2015 Brescia Baccalaureate Ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica Cathedral in London, Ontario.
Though she excelled in the boardroom setting, even earning the prestigious Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for her works inside and outside the Brescia orbit, the highly engaged leadership style Hanycz cultivated was still a priority. “Students are at the heart of what we do,” she said. One way she maintained this connection was with a “coffee with the Principal” series, casual sessions that allowed any student to approach Hanycz with questions, thoughts, and concerns.
In celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal was bestowed on a select group of Canadians for significant contributions and achievements in 2012. Hanycz earned the medal in recognition of her work in women’s education.
“We were looking for somebody who would inspire change, and Colleen does that,” Simm said. “There’s a sense of excitement when she interacts with individuals.”
Though Brescia and La Salle are different in many ways, both schools have encountered challenges that seem common among small, faith- based institutions. When Brother Michael McGinnis, F.S.C., Ph.D., ’70, La Salle’s President since 1999, announced his intention to step down from his position in 2014, multiple influencers within University leadership agreed that lay candidates should be considered to fill the position—moving the school in an exciting, if unprecedented, direction.
At Brescia, Hanycz was only the second lay President in the University’s history.
“People see a religious (person) in a leadership position, and there are lots of assumptions about that person’s comprehension of the Lasallian mission,” said La Salle Trustee Brother Dennis Malloy, F.S.C., ’74, M.A. ’83, the Provincial for the District of Eastern North America of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. “But our brothers and sisters who are not (clergy) are also equally competent. The only difference is how we’ve chosen to live our lives.”
Hanycz, who’d learned about the opportunity through an American academic colleague, visited Philadelphia for the first time in the fall of 2014, taking to the city and La Salle’s campus immediately. And her familiarity with the Christian Brothers’ mission—particularly the attention they pay to building authentic community—mattered.
“The time that I spent studying under the Christian Brothers had a formative influence on the person that I became,” she said. “It was the single biggest thing that caught my eye about the La Salle opportunity.” She also set the groundwork necessary to cultivate the same close relationship with La Salle’s student body that she’s enjoyed in previous positions, meeting with student leaders and listening to their concerns as part of the vetting process.
Members of the Presidential Search Committee, as well as the Board of Trustees, were as impressed with Hanycz’s poise and candor as they were with her résumé. “Colleen got unanimous support from the board,” said Board Chair Steve Zarrilli, ’83, who conducted multiple interviews with Hanycz prior to her hiring. “It wasn’t so much the answers as it was the directness of the answers. Colleen doesn’t shy away from a tough question. That struck me as a significant positive.”
Another point of emphasis for Hanycz during the interview process was her belief that La Salle needs to focus aggressively on what makes it unique, as opposed to attempting to be all things to all students. “To not only survive in the 21st century, but to thrive, we need to recognize that the environment of higher education is changing,” Zarrilli said. “You can’t be everything to everyone. We can’t take this supermarket approach. We have to be a boutique retailer, providing certain things really well.”
As far as what those specific things are—Hanycz is honest in saying she needs her chance in the driver’s seat before making such proclamations. Determining what spires of excellence drive La Salle is something that she will do in working with the entire La Salle community. But in the meantime, it’s safe to recognize that her hiring has changed the complexion of Lasallian leadership. “I don’t think we can underestimate the significance of a laywoman leading a Catholic institution and how significant that’s going to be for our students, 60 percent of whom are women,” said Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D., Chair of La Salle’s Department of Religion. “It’s very important for our students to be able to see themselves in the presence of the University.”
While Hanycz is the first layperson, and first woman, to permanently hold the office of President in the University’s history, she’s the fourth La Salle President to hail from Canada. She is, however, the first Torontonian—her Canadian-born predecessors all came from Quebec: Brother Noah Curran, F.S.C., 1872–75.; Brother Stephen of Jesus Gosselin, F.S.C., 1876–78., Brother Fabrician Pellerin, F.S.C., 1885–87.
Hanycz can understand why people are most curious about this aspect of her story—she’s the first-ever female in a position that’s been held by a successive string of Christian Brothers for more than 150 years. But, just like the interviews she never seems to have any trouble acing, she relishes the opportunity to prove there’s much more to her than what’s on the surface.
“It will be interesting for La Salle to have a woman leader, but in many ways I think it’s the least interesting part of who I am,” Hanycz said. “Rather, I hope to be known for my ability to cultivate community and to facilitate an exciting conversation about continuing La Salle’s enduring mission in a way that guarantees excellence and relevance for its next 150 years.”
Meet the President
La Salle’s new leader is excited to meet alumni, parents and families, and friends of the University throughout the country, and she may be coming to a city near you! Stay tuned for more details and a full list of dates for the President’s Inaugural tour in the coming months.