Siena University’s ninth president, the Rev. Kevin Mackin, died Saturday at age 87. Members of the Saints community remember Mackin, who led Siena from 1996 to 2007, as a person of the people.
Jason Rich, Siena’s vice president for strategy, communication and outreach, first met Mackin as a student in 1996.
They met in the dining hall days after Mackin began his tenure as president.
“He just stopped and wanted to know my story. I think what is amazing about Father Kevin is that a month later, it was family weekend and I saw him for the second time. My parents were there and he came up and said, ‘Oh, Jason.’ And I was just so amazed that in a community of 3,000 people he would remember my name — and he did all the way through commencement,” Rich said.
Rich said Mackin had an uncanny ability to remember people’s names and stories.
“I think that speaks to the Franciscan tradition — the sense of community that we talk about so vibrantly here — that really manifested itself in his time here,” Rich said.
It was a community Mackin is remembered for helping to build — quite literally. The J. Spencer and Patricia Standish Library, the Gene and Mary Sarazen Student Union, the Morell Science Center and the Padua Residence Hall opened under his leadership.
In addition, Mackin implemented a $3.6 million Academic Excellence Plan and oversaw the establishment of the Sister Thea Bowman Center for Women, the Franciscan Center for Catholic Studies, and the Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy.
The Rev. Kevin Mullen, guardian of Siena’s friary, first met Mackin as a teenager in 1967.
“I thought he was a fun guy to be with. He joked with us, he was not very stern, he wasn’t a disciplinarian,” Mullen said.
Mullen also knew Mackin as a teacher while pursuing an education at Siena from 1971 to 1975. They later worked together at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York, in the 1980s.
Mullen succeeded Mackin as Siena’s president in 2007.
Mullen, 72, said Mackin was a phenomenal leader.
“He certainly did a great job as president of Siena and guided the college in a lot of challenging times, and added programs and helped develop the school and raised a good bit of money. He did all the things a president would want to do — and he did them very well,” Mullen said.
Mullen remembers Mackin not only as Siena’s president but as “a person with very deep faith.”
But he said faith wasn’t something Mackin wore on his sleeve.
“He wasn’t showy, but I can tell you his deep faith was truly manifested these last few months as he faced different illnesses in his life,” Mullen said.
Mullen said Mackin was facing several terminal illnesses that required decisions about medications and life-sustaining treatment.
Through it all, he said, Mackin displayed courage.
“When it came time that death was approaching and it was somewhat inevitable, this is where the courage came in. In his faith he said basically, ‘God’s will be done. I’m in the Lord’s hands as I always am.’ He never gave up the zest for life — he loved to live — but he was prepared also to die, and he did it with great courage,” Mullen said.
