Crossroads

THE SENTINEL, Jan. 23 — The growth and popularity of religious colleges poses a particular challenge for Catholic colleges that have experienced a secularizing trend since the 1960s, says Roger Miller, a freelance writer and reviewer.

“Those at Notre Dame (University), for instance, believe they are at a crossroads: Will it retain its ‘pervading sense of Catholicism,’ or become more secular, as happened with so many formerly religiously oriented schools?” asks Miller.

“Who remembers, they ask themselves, that the University of Chicago was once Baptist?”

President Mourned

BALTIMORE SUN, Jan.20 — Jesuit Father Harold “Hap” Ridley, president of Loyola College in Baltimore during a decade of historic growth, died Jan. 19. He had been president since 1994.

Father Ridley regularly celebrated Mass in the Loyola chapel and at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mount Washington and took an active interest in students’ pastoral problems, including the eradication of binge drinking.

Father Ridley was highly regarded for his “compassion for others and his spirituality,” said his Jesuit superior in a statement.

New Archabbot

ST. MEINRAD ARCHABBEY, Jan. 16 — The monks of the archabbey have elected Benedictine Father Justin DuVall as their ninth abbot and sixth archabbot. St. Meinrad, which in 2004 celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding, operates a major seminary as its primary apostolate.

He succeeds Archabbot Lambert Reilly, 71, who resigned Dec. 15 in order to pursue full-time retreat work.

Archabbot DuVall, 53, was associate dean of St. Meinrad School of Theology from 1995-96 and provost and vice rector of the school from 1996 until his election as archabbot.

Blue-Collar Catholic

MERCURY NEWS, Jan. 24 — In a rare honor for a state college, West Valley Community College in California has named its newest building for Mike E. Fox Sr., “a Silicon Valley philanthropic giant … who has raised millions for charity,” reported the San Jose daily.

Growing up in a Catholic, blue-collar family and attending Catholic schools through the University of Notre Dame helped to fuel Fox’s philanthropy, said his son, Mike Fox Jr., one of his six children.

“Mike Fox (Sr.) always drives hard to make things happen that advance the common good,” said a good friend, Jesuit Father Paul Locatelli, president of Santa Clara University. “He is an incredibly generous person.”

Avalanche Victims

THE SEATTLE TIMES, Jan. 18 — An overflow crowd filled the chapel of Jesuit-run Gonzaga University in Spokane to mourn the deaths of two students, Brian Brett and Pete Tripp, who were killed in one of the recent avalanches in Idaho.

Brett’s father, Dean Brett, said his son and Tripp were experienced backcountry skiers who were practicing avalanche-preparedness skills when the snow slab fell.

A third Gonzaga student survived the avalanche.

College Prep Up

CNN.COM, Jan. 25 — In every state and the District of Columbia, more students are passing at least one Advanced Placement test, a sign of progress in a nation eager to improve college preparation, the College Board reported Tuesday.

Across the country, 13.2% of the high school class of 2004 demonstrated mastery of at least one AP course, up from 10.2% from the 2000 class. Mastery means gaining a score of at least 3 on a 5-point test scale.