Georgetown University’s former Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Philip Boroughs, S.J., was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the College of the Holy Cross Sept. 14.

Both Boroughs and Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia, who traveled to Worcester, Mass., Friday to speak at Boroughs’ inauguration ceremony, stressed the importance of establishing a sense of community within and among Jesuit universities.

“Something is realized, something happens when we come together in a place, shaped by a shared common purpose, a common vision of what brings us together,” DeGioia said. “The vision of a Catholic and Jesuit college is one where we come together.”

DeGioia also expressed confidence in Boroughs’ leadership ability.

“[Boroughs is] a large-souled man who has lived his vocation with integrity and fidelity, a selfless man who will bring out the best in you, the best in this community,” he said.

In his presidential address, Boroughs echoed DeGioia’s remarks about the importance of reviving the Jesuit ideals in the college community. He said Holy Cross’ Jesuit value of contemplation will provide a mechanism for dealing with contemporary issues.

“As a community of educators, we have an opportunity to define in our time what contemplation in action means at Holy Cross. We can choose to be reflective. … In these challenging times, we can choose to act with such integrity and ingenuity in making difficult decisions that others see in us ways of linking prayer, reflectivity and [can] discern choices that inspire and energize,” Boroughs said.

Boroughs served an eight-year tenure as Georgetown’s first vice president for mission and ministry — from 2003 to 2011 — and was the only Jesuit serving as a senior university administrator.

While at Georgetown, Boroughs also helped raise funds to develop the Calcagnini Contemplative Center, a religious retreat center that is currently under construction, to renovate the historic DahlgrenChapel and to endow positions and programs within the Office of Mission and Ministry.

Boroughs introduced the Ignatius Seminar, the Kenya Immersion Program and Jesuit Heritage Week, among other initiatives that served to emphasize the importance of social justice and community involvement on campus.