Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun: “When I make decisions, I begin with the notion of students first.”

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Photo by Tom Jenz

Kimo Ah Yun - Marquette University's 25th President

Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun

“My dad laid carpet and linoleum tile for a living, and I worked for him part time as a kid,” Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun told me in his office overlooking Church of the Gesu on Wisconsin Avenue. “By the time my dad was 40, he had blown out his knees and his back. He told me he would teach me floor laying, or he’d work me so hard that I’d want to go to college.”

Young Kimo got up off the floor and chose the college route. He earned his bachelor’s degree in communication studies from California State University, Sacramento, his master’s degree in speech from Kansas State University, and his doctorate in communication from Michigan State University. Ah Yun is a Black American whose parents are of Chinese, Hawaiian, and Portuguese descent. He is a native of Compton, California, but he grew up in Sacramento. In November 2024, he took the president’s job and became the first Marquette President of color. He is a lifelong Catholic.

You call your personal history an “underdog story.” Tell me about your history, your parents, neighborhoods, schools, and your path to a higher education career in California. 

I’m a first-generation college student. Neither of my parents graduated from high school. I was the only one of my family to go to college. I was born in Compton, California, then my parents moved to Sacramento where I attended public schools. I went to Cal State Sacramento for undergrad college, later got my master’s at Kansas State and my Ph.D. at Michigan State. All of my degrees are in communication. My first teaching job was back at Cal State Sacramento, taught there for 20 years. I taught research design courses and also communication courses. 

What were your parents like?

Neither of my parents had a high school degree. They were hardworking people with high integrity. You showed up and did your job. Our family medical plan was a bag of cash they had saved, which was stored under my parents’ mattress. If one of us kids got sick, my parents took the bag out and hoped there was enough money to cover the medical expenses. My dad was a carpet and tile layer, and I worked for him part time. By the time he was 40, he had blown out his knees and his back. He told me he would teach me floor laying as a career, or he’d work me so hard that I’d want to go to college. My mom was a house cleaner and a cook in a bar/restaurant, and she worked in the tomato fields. Our family lived in primarily rented homes. But we always had enough food, and we scraped to keep our used cars running. My dad knew how to fix them. 

You have worked for Marquette for nine years in various administrative jobs. What drew you here in the first place from California?

It’s the Marquette mission, having religion and prayer at the center of our work life for both me and my wife. We were both teaching at big public universities in California. And I was impressed with Mike Lovell, who was Marquette’s president at the time. I knew I could work for him.

You are now the 25th President of Marquette University. What are your responsibilities as the President?

I am the caretaker of the direction and vision of the university. Our board of trustees just passed our next strategic plan, and I work with the university to execute that strategic plan. There are three parts. One, that our students thrive and our retention and graduation rates are high, and also that we have good teachers and teaching spaces. Two, that we have a healthy campus. Three, how we maintain an affordable university. Tuition is high. In our last fundraising campaign, we raised over $800 million, and over $300 million was allocated for student scholarships. I also try to find ways we can be a good partner to the Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin area, and I speak at alumni gatherings.   

What do you see as Marquette’s mission?

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Photo via Visit Milwaukee - visitmilwaukee.org

Marquette Hall at Marquette University

Marquette Hall at Marquette University

We are called to serve God, and we do that by serving our students and contributing to the knowledge of the world. There are three pieces to that: One, help students to find their moral and ethical compass. Two, foster a care for others so that students have a sense that there are people in need. Three, for students to engage in action, do something to help others and act on that caring part of their lives. Then, there is the research our faculty does to make the world better, for instance, our neurorecovery clinic that helps debilitated people walk again. We also have faculty doing research on early detection of cancer. Other research involves faculty and students working with children who have autism and providing tools for their families to help those children at home.

Marquette is a Catholic Jesuit college. Who are the Jesuits and how does Marquette differ from a traditional Catholic College?

The Jesuits is an order of the Catholic Church. The Jesuits are very much academic. They go through lengthy educations. They talk about caring for the whole person or the whole organization. Getting people to be mindful of the world, helping them be reflective and then actively doing something. You might say they walk with the excluded and meet people where they’re at. 

Could I say that the Jesuits are more liberal and intellectual than traditional Catholics?

Yes, I’ve heard them described as the more liberal continuum.

Speaking of Jesuits, here is a quote from you, and I’m paraphrasing. “Jesuit education means changing fundamentally who you are as a person and how you interface with the world. It means making sure you have a moral compass that tells you what is right and what is wrong. It means growing to be someone who is engaged in helping others.” Can you expand on that? In a way, that is kind of an overview of your job.

Yes, that is what I try to do here at Marquette every day. The Jesuits talk about careful discernment. Your life pre-Marquette and your life post-Marquette. When I make a big decision, like hiring an athletic director or a provost, I get to a place where I have all the information I need to have by Friday. Then, I take the weekend to sit with it in silence. I do not need to rush the decision.

When I think about the Jesuits, I see them as reflective, as intellectual, as very learned.

Yes, learned, good word. A lot of schooling. Occasionally, I go to lunch with the Jesuits at their campus residence. I sometimes discuss what is on my mind. For instance, I told them that I wasn’t a Jesuit, but I was leading a Catholic Jesuit university, and I asked for their advice. They all said the same thing: Pray every day. If you pause and are prayerful, you will make the right decisions.

Let me read another quote from you. “When we make decisions, I begin with the notion of students first. We should always ask the question: How does every decision impact the ability for students to be transformed?” I find that statement quite profound. Can you comment further?

When I think about what our obligation is to our students, most are here for four years. One of our jobs is to prepare them for their entire life. They will go off and get jobs and change jobs. Many will get married and have families and be members of communities. I ask students, “What will you do with your life the rest of time, weekends, vacations, summers or retirements?” A Marquette education helps people to find fulfillment in all of life’s aspects, and that helps with inner happiness. My goal is to prepare students to live a fulfilled life and pass that on to future generations.  

On that subject, here is another quote from you. “How do you give people a vision that says, your job was one thing that you do in life, but the degree to which you’re a good parent, a good sibling, a good friend, a good community member—all of those things should be worked into our fabric.” What do you see as the Marquette fabric?

The fabric is what makes life exceptional. I love calling it the Marquette fabric. 

You recently said, “Of all the universities in America, Marquette has the highest percentage of students who are involved in public service.” How does Marquette promote public service to its students?

A student who comes to Marquette already has to have a heart open to serving others. We make it clear to applicants that students are called to serve other people. That is part of the Marquette culture. It’s easy for a student to get involved in helping others because they see so many fellow students giving time to others like feeding the homeless or donating time to a church or working with Big Brothers & Big Sisters.

Quoting you again, “I want to help the community heal.” Are you speaking of the Marquette community or of the national community? And how will you help with the healing?

I am speaking of all communities. There is a nonprofit group called Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee located on 27th and Wells. Our trained students volunteer there with physical therapy, and they help people who have trauma in their lives.

You know, I’ve done stories on many inner city residents who have experienced trauma. I can almost feel the trauma in some of their neighborhoods.

More and more research talks about trauma as generational. If you happen to be born with parents who experience trauma, you might carry that with you. Some of our students and faculty try to help those people you are talking about.

At Marquette University, the student body is predominantly white (67%), with Hispanic/Latino students making up 13%, followed by Asian students at 6.3% and Black or African American students at 4.8%. More women than men are enrolled at Marquette. Undergrad enrollment is down slightly over the last 10 years. Are those numbers satisfactory to you?

We’d love to continue to diversify, and we’ve made great strides in the last ten years. To create more diversity, we are including more classes and programs that deal with the subject. We are also creating more scholarships that take diversity into account. We know we are better when we are more diverse. As for enrollment figures, nationally, demographics are changing. There are fewer students in the pipeline. All colleges are feeling that change. However, this year, our applications for the fall of 2025 are higher than they have been in the last 15 years.

Not long ago at a gathering at Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center, Ah Yun said, “Marquette needs to stick to its core competencies. It’s not a university that aims to succeed by building online education. It’s an in-person university. We engage and transform people.”