$20,000 Bet

As both a priest and a psychologist, Father Raymond A. Roesch, 46, is a persuasive fellow. Last year he became president of the Roman Catholic Marist University of Dayton, which needs persuasion. Dayton is one of the biggest private colleges (6,296 students) in a state brimful of good ones, but its main products are piety and basketball. Some of its academic departments operate on budgets as low as $1,000 a year. Last week Father Roesch passed on some newly won presidential wisdom: U.S. foundations "bet on horses that have won before." Then he launched a real horse race: Any department that comes up with a decent educational idea this year will get an extra $20,000. "We want something lasting, something that will influence the university's thrust toward excellence, something worthy of national significance, something that will prove to the educational world that the University of Dayton is serious."

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