Xavier Prez Honored

THE LOUISIANA WEEKLY, Dec. 18 — Dr. Norman Francis, the president of Xavier University, has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The medal is America’s highest civil honor. Francis has served since 1968 as president of Xavier, the only historically black Catholic university in the United States. Along with his accomplishments in the field of education, Francis was honored for his service as chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the organization created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. 28 — The University of Missouri-Columbia has reversed its earlier opposition to the Beta Upsilon Chi fraternity, which restricts its membership to Christian students. The Missouri chapter of the fraternity was formed in April. On Dec. 7 a university administrator said the fraternity must comply with campus rules forbidding discrimination on the basis of religion, but the university dropped its objections after receiving a letter from the Christian Legal Society detailing legal precedents that protect religious student groups. Earlier in December, the University of Georgia exempted Beta Upsilon Chi from its campus nondiscrimination policy after the fraternity filed a civil rights lawsuit.

THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Dec. 21 — Jesuit Father Paul Locatelli, president of Santa Clara University, has been named secretary for higher education for the Society of Jesus. In his new capacity, Father Locatelli will provide the Jesuit order’s superior general with advice on higher education. He will also coordinate contacts among Jesuit universities around the world.