Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B. became the 23rd Headmaster of St. Benedict’s Prep in 1972. He graduated from St. Benedict’s Prep in 1963. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from Seton Hall University in 1968 and a Master’s in Divinity with distinction in 1975 from the Woodstock College at Union Theological Seminary, New York. In 1966 he took his first vows as a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Newark and was ordained to the priesthood in 1972. Fr. Edwin began his work at St. Benedict’s Prep in 1967, teaching biology and religion and assisting with the wrestling and football teams. Following the decision by the then-larger community of monks to suspend the operation of St. Benedict’s (effectively close) in 1972, Fr. Edwin, then 26, was chosen by the remaining stalwart group of monks, interested parents, alumni and friends to lead the reopening of the school as soon as was feasible. Under his direction, the School opened its doors again in 1973 with 89 students and 14 faculty members, including thirteen monks who re-committed themselves to the school’s mission of serving young men from largely low-income families in Newark.
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Fr. Edwin’s focus on leading his brother monks in their renewed service to Newark gradually drew more students from inner-city Newark and beyond and won over skeptical alumni to join new friends, including major New Jersey foundations, in supporting the school. By 1980, the School was serving over 200 students.
At the same time, with firm backing of a strong new board of advisors and alumni donors, he was able to plan a major redevelopment effort of the school’s facilities, a dramatic statement that “St. Benedict’s was back” and determined to continue serving the students and families of Newark for another century.
In 2020, Fr. Edwin responded to the call of young women seeking to continue their education in the Benedictine tradition when their schools closed; and he welcomed their efforts to establish a Girls Prep Division at St. Benedict’s with the admission of 86 girls.
Today, St. Benedict’s operates a co-ed K-6 Elementary Division, a co-ed Middle Division for 7th and 8th grades, a grades 9-12 Boys Prep Division and a grades 9-12 Girls Prep Division. More than 900 students, most from African heritage and Hispanic backgrounds, are served by 70 faculty members. The School boasts nearly 6,000 alumni who have gone on to become not only leaders in their respective careers, but good fathers, husbands, and citizens. Nearly 100% of the School’s recent graduates go on to college, including Bates, Bowdoin, Boston College, Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Notre Dame, NYU, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Swarthmore, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
In 1988, the School completed its first major redevelopment with a $9 million academic-athletic center. That was followed by a $10 million campaign for a new library and the school’s first endowment funds for scholarships and teacher support.
A Field House and a 60-student residence, named Leahy House, were added in 2000, as part of a $50 million+ campaign, completed in 2007, to renovate its oldest buildings and increase endowments for scholarships and teacher support. Today, St. Benedict’s is in the midst of a $100 million comprehensive campaign, Forever Benedict’s, to grow the School’s annual fund and bolster its endowment.
Fr. Edwin’s practice of working directly with students and marshalling an ever broader community to support his approach to educating young men and women, especially young people of color, has gained increasing attention in recent years. He has been invited to speak to other religious communities such as Catalyst, Liberty University’s Convocation, and the Children’s Miracle Network. In March 2016, 60 Minutes featured Fr. Edwin in its Resurrection of St. Benedict’s segment about the school’s successful impact on education that has inspired educators, philanthropists and volunteers near and far. A 2014 documentary about St. Benedict’s Prep, The Rule, What Inner City Schools Need to Finally Succeed, has enjoyed wide release and much favorable attention from educators and community leaders. In recognition of his efforts, among other awards, Fr. Edwin received the first Robert F. Kennedy Award for Urban school Leadership from the National Schools that Can organization in 2014.
In 2006-07, he was a Gustav Heningburg Civic Fellow with the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience at Rutgers-Newark. Fr. Edwin was awarded honorary “Doctor of Humane Letters” degrees by Rutgers University, Saint Peter’s University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. In 2010, he received an honorary “Doctor of Laws” degree from St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN. In 2021, Fr. Edwin received an honorary Fr. Edwin currently serves as President of the Board of the Essex County Schools of Technology.