The College of the Holy Cross renamed the science buildings on its campus in Worcester, Massachusetts, in honor of one of its most famous alumni, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
The college announced Monday that its science complex will be officially known as the Anthony C. Fauci Integrated Science Complex, beginning June 11, a date that coincides with Dr. Fauci’s 60th grade gathering weekend.
Holy Cross confirmed Monday that Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, will be on campus for the gathering. The National Institutes of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We are excited to celebrate Dr. Fauci in such a public and enduring way,” Holy Cross President Vincent D. Rouge said in a statement. It is appropriate for Dr. Fauci’s name to adorn a complex designed to promote integrated learning in many academic disciplines – the kind of broad, collaborative and holistic thinking needed to manage health crises such as HIV / AIDS, Ebola and Zika, or the current Covid19 pandemic. . “
Dr. Fauci graduated from the Holy Cross in 1962 with a degree in classical medicine. He spoke to Holy Cross Magazine in 2021 about how Jesuit school education has influenced its presidents as career counselors.
“One of the things I learned the first time I informed the president, President Ronald Reagan, is that you have to make a decision when you’re telling the truth to the authorities, that you don’t have to worry about wanting to be liked,” he said. “Because once you start putting that into your equation, you can subconsciously slip into a situation where you’re telling someone what you think they want to hear. And this is not true. So basic adherence to true principles – that you study with a Jesuit education – really strengthens you.
Dr. Fauci delivered a virtual address during the opening ceremony of the Holy Cross in 2020, where he again mentioned his Jesuit education.
“Penetrating the whole experience was the Jesuit spirit of intellectual rigor,” he said. “The precision of thought and the economy of expression are principles that have remained my touchstones to this day.”