The community that Scanlan was raised in was predominantly lower-class Irish families; because of this, he grew to despise the rich.
I could live with lower grades if my goal for the semester was to become captain of the tennis team, as I did in prep school, or to become socially popular, as I strived to do in college.
"[4]: 12 Young Scanlan's restlessness allowed him to compromise in some areas of his life, but he was always a man of devout Roman Catholic faith.
In his autobiography, Scanlan states: "Brother Bertin combined the highest standards for personal conduct and academic performance with an irresistible loving nature.
"[4]: 11 It was this kind of attitude that left a lasting impression upon Scanlan; he quickly took his faith as a metaphor for his life.
This paradigm change caused Scanlan to conquer his restless attitude and quickly reach the top of his class.
[4]: 13 Scanlan performed well academically, but his Roman Catholic faith was shaken by the secular approach of his professors.
This experience redirected his entire life; Scanlan returned to the Roman Catholic faith with renewed effort.
Walking back to Harvard Law School from Mass one morning, Scanlan felt the presence of God once again.
[4]: 25 Scanlan graduated from Harvard Law School and immediately received job offers from legal and political circles.
In his search for an appealing order, Scanlan spent time with the Jesuits, Dominicans, and Franciscans and consulted with theologian Fr.
The majority of his seminary training was spent in philosophy, theology, and Latin courses, which helped him to confirm his vocation.
Theophane Scanlan, T.O.R.,[4]: 63 offering his first Mass, before family and friends, at St. Joseph's Church in Garden City, New York.
[4]: 96 In 1974, Scanlan left the St. Francis Seminary and returned to the College of Steubenville, this time to fill the position of president.
Scanlan took over the Sunday liturgy on the campus, incorporating charismatic praise and worship and passionate preaching into the Mass.
He instituted households, small groups of men and women devoted to personal and communal growth, and required students to join one.
Scanlan also created a renewal center on the campus, which organized retreats and seminars to further instruct students in the Roman Catholic faith.
Scanlan also oversaw the development of graduate programs in business and theology, which helped the college win the title of university in 1980.
By 2000, Scanlan's leadership and changes had helped the university to increase dramatically in size; there were more than 2,100 students, nearly double the amount in the early 1970s.
[7] Scanlan led the covenant community group Servants of Christ the King, until he was requested to step down in 1991 at the behest of Bishop Albert Ottenweller, following concerns that the group had been influenced by elements in the Word of God (community) and Sword of the Spirit organizations, where leadership was said to be "excessively controlling members lives, including their marital relations and finances".
[3] A revelation came about in late 2018 that a former chaplain at Franciscan of Steubenville, Father Sam Tiesi,[10] had engaged in years-long abuse of women at the university.
It has been reported by multiple victims that they made Father Scanlan aware but he did nothing or, in at least one case, verbally assaulted the accuser.
[11] [12] In 2020 a civil court case was brought in the State of New Jersey alleging repeated sexual abuse of a 9 year old boy by Scanlan.