While his accomplishments at Fairfield were boundless, the lasting impression that Fr. Thomas Regan left on his contemporaries extended even further than his vast accolades.
“He reached people in a way a lot of teacher’s don’t,” said accounting professor Joan Van Hise, who recalled the decision to do away with the Fairfield ice hockey team.
Van Hise, who advised the business students on the team, spoke with Regan, who at the time was an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Though he was not required to, Van Hise remembered how Regan went out of his way to work with the students who were transferring as a result of the decision as well as students who had elected to stay.
“He would say, ‘Once you know, you can’t not know,'” Van Hise said.
To her, that typified the kind of person Regan was at Fairfield: a model for both students and the colleagues with whom he worked.
Regan, a graduate of Boston College, arrived at Fairfield in 1980 where he was an adjunct philosophy professor.
During the same time, he was worked toward obtaining a master’s degree and a doctorate of philosophy at Fordham University.
He was awarded Alpha Sigma Nu “Teacher of the Year” in 1984 but later left Fairfield to serve as a visiting instructor at his alma matter.
After a two-year stint at Boston College, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1987 and subsequently returned to Fairfield in 1988, where he remained until 2003.
Regan was the chair of the philosophy department and co-director of the Ignatian Residential College before being appointed the Provincial of the New England Jesuits.
“Fr. Regan was a true pastoral presence on campus, as well, living in student residence halls as the founding Director of the Ignation Residential College,” University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx said. “Fr. Regan probably holds two records: most weddings performed for former students and toughest Jesuit athlete.”
Barbara Amodio, an adjunct professor in the University College and a former colleague of Regan’s, recalled the passion he brought to his classes, the drive she said only an athlete possesses.
“He was never still,” she said. “He would move back and forth across the front of the room into the spaces between desks and chairs, creating a constant energy and enthusiasm that animated his room, spilled over into the hallways, and delighted my eye, ear and soul as I had the privilege to pass by and pick him up as a fast-moving object on my radar.”
“He moved philosophical concepts across the floor and into the air, minds and hearts of his classroom, which was everywhere, with the agility of a champion, never losing sight of the total puck, keeping everything integrated, focused and in play with an enthusiasm and excellence as infectious as it was from the heart,” she added. “Given his classroom energy, I remember once remarking to him that I could still see that he’d once been an athlete, in fact a rather accomplished ice hockey player, I believe. He just chuckled quietly.”
While he admits that he is getting older and his schedule as Provincial Superior of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus is not as conducive to exercise as it was during his time at Fairfield, he can still kick it when he gets the chance.
“In my current job, time for exercise is greatly diminished, but yes, I still find one or two days a month when I am able to engage some former Fairfield adversaries now living in the Boston area,” Regan said. “The fact that my partners and I are all getting a little older means that the games are not exactly as fast-paced as they used to be.”
Fairfield alumni also lauded Regan’s passion for teaching and student interaction.
“You could always see Fr. Tom walking around campus, smoking a cigar, always willing to have a conversation,” said former FUSA President Paul Duffy ’05, who took Regan’s introduction to philosophy class his sophomore year. “He is Fairfield.”
Chris Donis described the impression he felt Regan left on the students he encountered.
“If asked, most people can immediately remember one or two teachers that had the most impact on their education and their life,” Donis said. “I think it’s safe to assume that those who were lucky enough to find themselves in one of Fr. Regan’s classes during their time at Fairfield would mention him if posed with such a question.”
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