By William Coffman, Local & National News Editor
Xavier and Harvard Business School alumnus, Paul Darwish, has returned to Xavier as Associate Vice President for Continuing Education and Corporate Relations.
Darwish’s new role encompasses many different responsibilities, from expanding opportunities for students to strengthening Xavier’s relationships with the corporate world in Cincinnati and beyond.
Looking back at the different stages of life that have brought him into this role, Darwish discussed his time as an undergrad and how Xavier helped launch him into the workforce.
“Xavier was very instrumental in launching my career. I ran for student government president my junior year and got elected. And as part of that work, I got to meet several board members, including John Pepper, who was not yet president, if I recall correctly, but he became a wonderful mentor to me and encouraged me to apply to Procter and Gamble and brand management,” Darwish said.
That connection with Pepper helped Darwish land a role at Procter and Gamble after graduation. Darwish’s connections with the corporate world were just getting started.
“I loved that experience. But I was a 22-year-old English major sitting next to 32-year-old Duke MBAs and Harvard MBAs, and so it was pretty intimidating. I had a lot to learn, and so I left Proctor to work for a small family run business, which was also a wonderful experience to see the transition of business from the father to the son,” Darwish said.
These different stages of business strengthened Darwish’s passion for entrepreneurship and management. Still, Darwish was looking to build upon his work and return to school, which led him to apply to Harvard Business School in pursuit of an MBA.
Paul Darwish, an alumus of Xavier and Harvard Business school, returns to campus as Associate Vice President for Continuing Education and Corporate Relations. Pictured above is a Harvard Business School Class.
“Why Harvard? Because of the focus on leadership, it was the only business school I applied to. So, when I applied, I was like, ‘well, if I get in, maybe I’ll go, I’m not sure’ but the minute I got the yes, there was no question. I was going to Harvard. So, it was a wonderful experience,” Darwish said.
Darwish now looks to bring his experience and expertise back to his alma mater and help the institution navigate the challenges facing higher education.
“I created a deck for the interview committee called the Six Days of Disruption in Higher Ed. So, you have things like the demographic cliff, you’ve got student debt at an all-time high. You’ve got a general distrust of universities for all sorts of reasons. You’ve got the democratization of knowledge via AI, right? I mean, you can learn so much via AI. And so, there’s a lot of headwinds facing universities, and it’s really right in the eye of the hurricane in terms of disruption,” Darwish said.
It is clear higher education is facing many different stressors, but Darwish is confident the university can weather the challenges it faces. Darwish spoke of some initiatives his office is looking into, such as more emphasis on internships and outside the classroom experiences. He also spoke on the importance of providing students with a good foundation to help build their strengths in things like soft skills.
“So as part of the interview process, I reached out to 10 local CEOs. There’s probably seven CEOs and maybe three senior HR people, and the question I posed to them was, ‘in the areas of professional development and continuing education for your employees, what are the things that you think are most critical for them to develop?’ I spent the last year of my coaching practice really focused on AI, and so I fully expected their response to be, they got to upskill on AI, they got to be more technically savvy. And 10 out of 10, without exception, said to me, it’s the soft skills, it’s the leadership skills,” Darwish said.
There’s a clear theme of Darwish’s role with the school: preparing students. Darwish shared some advice he hopes students will take with them as they begin to prepare for the workforce and life after college.
“So, for students, I think it’s exploring. Take this time to explore different things so you know what you like and know what you don’t like. And then once you find something that really resonates, dive head first and leverage all of the resources at your disposal, be they faculty, staff, fellow students, all the wonderful resources we have at the university to really develop those gifts as you get ready to go out into the world,” Darwish said.