by Alina Rosenkranz |
It wasn’t unusual for Fr. Arthur Wheeler to stay in his office until 2:00 a.m. while he occupied the positions of Director for the Office of Studies Abroad, professor and priest.
Fr. Art decided to step down from his Studies Abroad position after 20 years, due to problems with his knees. He remains on campus to teach history and be a pastoral resident in Mehling Hall.
According to Fr. Art, UP’s study abroad programs not only offer students the chance to experience a different culture, but also give the opportunity to build closer relationships between faculty and students.
“I’ve done many marriages for students that have been overseas,” Fr. Art said. “And I’ve stayed in touch with a fair number of students for years after they would go overseas. And now I’m having the experience that my former students’ children are here now as students.”
Fr. Art grew up in New Jersey and earned a Bachelor of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University and a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. Following what Wheeler describes as an invitation from God, he decided to become a priest when he was 26. Fr. Art said he enjoys his work at UP and described it as very rewarding. He has not been on vacation since 1994.
“I usually worked about 65 to 70 hours per week,” Fr. Art said. “So one part of my life was the studies abroad and another part of my life was teaching and the third part of my life was being a priest.”
Senior Amber Turnidge, a global business and Spanish double major, has known Fr. Art since her freshman year at UP after pursuing study abroad programs in both Granada, Spain and London. Turnidge works as a student coordinator for the Office of Studies Abroad and worked with Fr. Art for a year.
“It’s a lot of mutual respect between the student coordinators and Fr. Art,” Turnidge said.
Turnidge described Fr. Art as protective of students to the point that he even scares them a little before they actually go abroad by sharing some anecdotes with them.
“There is one he always talks about,” Turnidge said. “Don’t go out past 2:00 a.m. Nothing good happens after 2:00 a.m. because this one girl was out getting money from an ATM, alone, at 2 o’clock in the morning and she probably had some drinks and then she got mugged.”
Mark Kennedy, associate dean of the School of Engineering, first worked with Fr. Art during a summer program in Salzburg, Austria in 2002. They also worked together on several engineering study abroad programs including Madrid, Spain and Salzburg.
Kennedy recalls informing Fr. Art about minor incidents, and receiving an email response reminding him to “lock the meat slicer away” and to make sure the students “weren’t jumping from balcony to balcony.”
“He imagines the absolute worst set of mixes of conditions that could possibly happen,” Kennedy said. “Which is good because then you are prepared for the worst. But it’s sort of amusing.”
Fr. Art continues to advise the new Director for the Office of Studies Abroad, Eduardo Contreras. He described Contreras as energetic and capable, especially because he was trained for this position, whereas Fr. Art taught himself everything he needed to know.
Alina Rosenkranz is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rosenkra17@up.edu.
