As the 2025-26 school year comes to a close, St. Louis U. High pens the final sentences of another chapter in its history and begins to turn the page in anticipation of what is to come. An integral part of the recent plot has been the figure of Alan Carruthers, who came on the scene eight years ago when he first ascended the stairs to the third floor of the Anna F. Backer Memorial on 4970 Oakland Avenue to become its 17th president.

Carruthers’ own saga in education, however, began years before he was brought in to lead SLUH. After his days of coaching lacrosse, wrestling, football, and rugby, as well as managing drama productions and teaching history, Carruthers began to climb the ranks of administrative experience, first as assistant principal at St. Paul’s Jesuit in Canada and then as principal of the boys division of Regis Jesuit in Colorado, in a path that ultimately led him to SLUH.

“I was going to be a lawyer, but I switched midway through the process and decided to become an educator,” said Carruthers. “I had no deep desire to be an administrator — that's not something you're thinking about when you're in your 20s. But as it all turned out, I ended up in administration quite young.” 

“I hadn't really thought about leaving that community (at Regis), but then I received a call from SLUH asking me to consider applying,” said Carruthers. “And after that happened, it took a bit to discern with my family whether that was the right time. Before that, we had come from St. Paul’s Jesuit in Canada where I had been assistant principal, so another big move was not something we were excited about. But SLUH brought us out, showed us the city, and helped us engage with the broader community of the school and learn more about its history. And after that, (my family and I) said, ‘Let's be open to serve if that's something that the school and the Society of Jesus would want.’ So I applied, and I was selected!” 

On Oakland Ave., he quickly began learning from the best.

“At the time, I was following Mr. David Laughlin who'd been here for a good long run as president,” remembered Carruthers. “Everybody told me I had big shoes to fill. And it was intimidating, but if someone finds themselves in a big leadership role and doesn't have some self-doubt, that’s worrisome because self-doubt often leads you to reflection and working harder.”

Despite his concerns, the community welcomed him, and right away, Carruthers passionately set the school on a pathway of improvement as he took over the reins of the Go Forth campaign. A major component of that campaign was the renovation of antiquated parts of the campus, like the Chapel of the Beloved Disciple and the HVAC system of the J-Wing, in addition to the construction of entirely new areas such as the Dill Center and several department offices.

“The goals were daunting,” reflected Carruthers. “The beautiful thing about SLUH is that we've always prioritized access for all qualified boys over everything else, so we as a school have spent decades putting most of our money toward need-based scholarships. The challenge with that was that we underspent by about 50 to 70 percent annually on deferred maintenance. That catches up with you over a century.”

Carruthers, seeing this dilapidation-in-progress of the campus, became determined to bring it into the 21st century.

“Right when I got there, I walked into Alan’s office, and after introducing himself, he took out his pencil and stabbed a hole in the wall,” then-Chair of the Board of Trustees Daryl Jones ’73 told the Prep News in January. “He said to me, ‘This building is crumbling,’ and that’s when I first got to see the real Alan Carruthers at play.”

To do all this renovation and construction, Carruthers needed the funds. As seen throughout his tenure, Carruthers had no problem overcoming this obstacle.

“We had a good chunk of debt we were still paying off, and debt and CapEx spending doesn't necessarily go together,” joked Carruthers. “And so we began to work hard at raising money and re-envisioning how we raise money.”

While the actual cost of the construction of these renovations and additions exceeded the original budget, under Carruthers’ management, the school raised $5 million over its goal, funding these projects as well as the school’s need-based scholarship endowment fund. The result was a near-tripling of the monetary assets at the schools’ disposal, an undeniable feat for an executive at any level.

“St. Louis U. High has adapted, grown, and improved so much in the years Mr. Carruthers has served us as President,” noted former Assistant Principal for Faculty Formation Jim Linhares in his speech to the school during this year’s faculty farewell assembly. “That includes remarkable work managing our financial resources. I hope all of you are aware of how seriously we take the mission to form and educate young men here based on their ability to succeed rather than their families’ ability to pay. Every student, every program, every faculty/staff position and our whole campus facility depend upon this work.”

 But this money, beyond funding the construction of physical changes to the campus, also helped fund many of the school’s recently-added programs that have helped it flourish as it enters its third century.

“If you take a look at our enrollment prior to my arrival, it had declined quite rapidly in a short period of time,” said Carruthers. “So we added shadow visits and increased our program investments in college counseling, global education, and STEM. And all that has meant that admissions numbers have reversed (toward the positive direction). Also, when I got here, we had some real challenges with the outcomes of our athletics. So we added staff and changed how we handled the capital components of them, and now our athletic department is incredibly successful and probably the best overall athletic department in the MCC.”

Recently, the school has seen several unprecedented donations under Carruthers that have helped it advance its mission like never before. In preparation and celebration of the Backer Memorial’s centennial, two generous benefactors donated a combined $26 million within two academic years to establish the Conrad Scholars program in STEM education and the Sciuto Institute for Teaching Excellence (SITE).

“I think Mr. Carruthers’ legacy will be one of deeply securing our school's financial footprint,” said Principal and President-Elect Matt Stewart, SJ. “That's not really a dazzling kind of thing, but man it’s important because, without our financial resources, it's hard to be the school we want to be. And I think the inauguration of the Conrad Scholars and SITE will be fixtures of that legacy.”

One enduring quality of Carruthers that will undoubtedly become a part of his great legacy is that, despite all of these achievements, he maintains sincere humility in his service to the school. Even in his interview for this article, he refused to take credit for the aforementioned accomplishments, instead highlighting the importance of group effort.

“Because of a lot of hard work by many people and their investments of time, treasure, and talent, we've been able to come out the other side,” said Carruthers. “And now, we're in a very good place! And SLUH is an iconic institution. There aren’t many things in the United States that have been around for over 207 years.”

In addition to all of these improvements, Carruthers also faced several significant challenges during his time as president, perhaps the most challenging of which was the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want dog-year credit for COVID,” joked Carruthers. “It was a time in history where you worked twice as hard to do half as much.”

Among other major issues the pandemic caused for the school, it upended a year of planning of the annual Cashbah fundraiser only weeks before it was to take place. Despite the hardship, Carruthers was a man on a mission and not one to be deterred.

“One of his finest moments occurred when COVID happened and we had three weeks to take a whole year of planning for Cashbah and figure out how to make it a virtual endeavor,” said Vice President of Advancement Sean Agniel ’96. “There was no roadmap, so everyone was just making it up on the spot. But it all happened and it was remarkably successful.”

Carruthers also turned the unfortunate event of the pandemic into the start of a series of changes for the better, bringing good from a difficult situation.

“Coming out of COVID, we really saw a renewal of the life of the school,” said Agniel. “And that was because the way that SLUH approached COVID was to not just get through those hard times, but to take advantage of how it can make us a stronger community and a better school. SLUH is a different place today than it was before the pandemic, and I think his presidency will always be attributed with those improvements and radical changes happening.”

Another of the challenges Carruthers faced was the racial tension following the slew of protests that broke out in the St. Louis area after the murder of George Floyd. Under his careful leadership, the school crafted a truly Ignatian response of recommitting to choosing love in the face of hate.

“The murder of George Floyd and the subsequent events personally and deeply affected many members of the SLUH community,” said Agniel. “And I think that he led by his compassion in helping the school develop responses that gave preferential weight to people in communities that were vulnerable and needed extra support and resources. And I am so happy and grateful that Mr. Carruthers really set SLUH on a course that ensured that, as we continue to wrestle with complex social challenges, we're going to do it from the mainstream perspective of the Church's best thinking.”

For Carruthers though, it was not some grandiose conversion that guided him but an idea he had always believed was the foundation of humanity.

“I used to teach theology,” said Carruthers, “and what always struck me as really important for any Jesuit institution was what we see in Genesis: We are all made in the image and likeness of God, and the dignity of all humanity is rooted in God’s love for us. I'm also a historian, and so I know history matters. St. Louis has a fascinating, dynamic, and long history, but parts of that are some really tough moments when it was not always respectful to the dignity of people. But, I think that our history becomes most important and most valuable when we embrace it and allow it to teach us things.

And in the context of our faith, the response should always be one of ‘Where do I find love? Where do I find reconciliation?’ because we are a faith of second chances. We are a faith that hopefully inspired us to not ignore our sin history, but to embrace and grow from it. Denying is not the best way to grow, and I think that that was the approach that I hoped we as a community would take so that everyone can see themselves as a success and loved by God when they step into these walls.”

The most personal of the challenges that Carruthers faced during his tenure as president, though, was undoubtedly his encounter with prostate cancer. But even through that, Carruthers continued his service to the school.

“Mr. Carruthers never brought his battle with cancer to the foreground; he did not make it a part of the day-to-day life of SLUH,” said Agniel. “Even so, it was a great opportunity for those of us who work closely with him to emulate his compassion and to, especially when he was going through surgery and treatment, to be more supportive than we had in the past because he's such a strong figure and hadn't needed a whole lot of personal support prior to that. It's important to appreciate that he has had to carry heavy burdens like that while keeping his leadership and responsibilities at SLUH in the foreground, and he's done that with a lot of grace and given all of us a model for compassion and courage.”

Following his encounter with cancer, Carruthers experienced a small metanoia that led him to announce his departure at the end of this academic year.

“Here's the deal,” said Carruthers. “I just spent the last two years fighting stage four cancer. So let me tell you, there are some clarifying moments in life, and that was one of them. I'm blessed with the fact that I'm born in a period in history where we have such incredible medical advances and that I can be sitting here right now. But I also have a very high chance of reoccurrence of cancer, and I recognize that. I've been working with Jesuit schools and Jesuit high school leadership for 32 years, and I felt like it was time for the school and for me.”

The next steps in Carruthers’ story arc have yet to be written, but he looks forward to taking time to reflect and indulge his hobbies.

“I hope to take a sabbatical from July through September,” said Carruthers. “We are staying here in St. Louis, but we downsized into a house in the Shrewsbury community that I love. Right now I'm looking for a job that I will both enjoy but will also give me the space in my life to spend more time with my wife and do the things I like to do: hunt, fish, read, walk with my dogs, and spend time outdoors. I'm in a place where I'm not going to retire yet, but I'm on the road towards retirement. I want to enjoy some of the fruits of the hard work that I've done, and if I can continue to serve the Society of Jesus and the church, I would love to do that!”

In a verse that U.S. President George Washington commonly referenced, Scripture says, “Everyone shall sit under his own vine and fig tree” (Micah 4:4a NKJV). Indeed, Carruthers now heads off to enjoy the fruit of his years of sweat, laughter, and tears, but he leaves behind him a legacy that will continue to blossom and grow long after, not only in the aspects of improving the school that he oversaw but in the way he lived out his time at the school.

“He has described himself as being like a linebacker in football in how he approaches things, and I think that really encapsulates his determination, resilience, perseverance,” said Stewart. “He didn't grow up in wealth, and I think that taught him to fend for the little guy. He also has a very deep faith that helps anchor him. He is always praying for benefactors who are in need and other people that the school has a relationship with, and service is a key element of who he is. He's a guy that cuts other people's lawns. He's a man of the Church and a good husband. And I think all of that is Christian vocation speaking; it’s not a show.”

“He is a man of great compassion,” said Agniel. “He was quick to launch the Francis Scholars Program and ensure that the institution was supporting the members of our community who are most in need of resources, and his family has always opened their home on Thanksgiving to any faculty and staff who don't have family to spend the holiday with. I think those are great signs of who he is as a person; he's moved by the vulnerable and suffering and earnestly wants to be helpful to them with a lot of grace in a way that gives all of us a model for compassion and courage.”