Q30 Television held an exclusive sit-down interview with Quinnipiac University President Judy Olian for the second time this year. Olian will be retiring from the University at the end of the 2024-25 academic school year.
In this conversation, Olian comments on her op-ed piece in the Times and expresses her emotions on the departure as University President.
Below is a portion of the interview.
Julia Barcello, Q30 Television News Director (JB): When we last spoke you said you aren’t thinking of this as your last year, how are you feeling nearing the end?
Judy Olian, Quinnipiac University President (JO): Well first of all you use the word retirement, and I can’t say I use that, I think about it as stepping down and going to the next phase. I’ll still be somewhat involved with the University, and supporting Marie Hardin, the new president, the new fantastic president. You know I’m not thinking about this as my last last, I feel like we’re going strong towards the finish line. I feel we’ve got a lot to close as we get my hand off. And it really is a handoff, there’s nothing that is ending, to Maire, to Dr. Hardin, who I think will take the baton and run even faster and further with it.
JB: Some students expressed confusion on your op-ed considering the cost of attending QU, what can you tell them?
JO: What I didn’t want people to forget, is the long term payoffs in so many different ways, the long term returns from going to college. Because first of all your lifetime earnings are appreciably higher by 75%, relative to somebody who finishes high school. And please understand, the decision to go to college or not is first of all a short term costly one, and secondly, people who are professionals in fields that do not require a college education are doing God’s work too, because society really needs them. But the fact is that there are positive returns that keep on giving, over an individuals lifetime… your somewhat more secure, in fact, the unemployment rate for those who go to college during downturns in the economy is on average 3.7% versus 6.7% for those who have a highschool education. So, I appreciate the fact that it sounds a bit harsh to say you can’t afford not to go to college given the cost but, the decision should be one that factors in not just the four years or even the first job, but the next 10, 20, 40, 60 years which is when the payoffs occur.
JB: What do you think is the most impactful thing you accomplished?
JO: Fortunately over the last seven-years we’ve had quite a few milestones and those milestones have included some great new academic programs, some student life initiatives that have led to many more clubs and leadership opportunities. We’ve gone from I think about four athletic non-varsity clubs to 23 today… We’ve built buildings… And they enable all new forms of learning and collaboration, and living and leadership and well-being… And of course, the National Championship, that was a pretty special moment and I think we all reveled in it. Obviously Quinnipiac became that much more visible nationally, but what a high.
You can watch the full 15-minute interview above or on our YouTube channel.
