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.