Steve Stoute, new president-elect of Canisius College, is the first person of color and the youngest selected to lead the 150-year-old institution.
Stoute, 41, comes to the area from Chicago’s DePaul University, where he’s been chief of staff since 2018 and vice president for strategic innovation since June 2020.
Q: What makes you want to move to Buffalo?
A: There is so much that excites me about Buffalo. The people are welcoming, generous and passionate — particularly about the things that matter: sports and food.
Buffalo has arts and culture, history, outdoor activities and great food and sports. Buffalo provides opportunities for me to engage deeply with the business and civic community in service of Canisius, the city and our region.
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Buffalo is a city with character, and I love that! My family and I are very excited to call Buffalo our home.
Q: How will you try to boost enrollment at Canisius?
A: We will develop meaningful relationships with prospective students and their families by understanding how Canisius can serve them in attaining their goals.
Once we understand the goals and aspirations of prospective students and their families, we have to connect them to the people — faculty, staff, alumni, current parents, current students — who can articulate why Canisius is right for them.
Q: What inspires you to invest your skills and future in Catholic education?
A: I spent my formative years attending Catholic institutions — high school in Trinidad followed by college at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Besides my time as an administrator at DePaul, I served as a regent at Seton Hall and I am a trustee at Catholic Theological Union.
I have learned that Catholic education is holistic because it emphasizes the mind, heart and spirit. It’s transformative because it is grounded in a tradition of love for others and care for creation.
I believe in Catholic higher education’s role in creating a more just and equitable society.