What's in a Name?

THE GAZETTE (Mar yland), June 10 — It's official: Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., has a new name — Mount St. Mary's University.

The school's board of trustees approved the change unanimously June 7. The change takes effect immediately.

Officials said they wanted the world to view the school differently, hoping to recruit students internationally, the Gazette newspaper reported. It also wanted a name that would unite the campus as one.

The designation will also help the school stay competitive, officials noted, citing a report that said more students said they prefer to attend a university rather than a college.

New Prez for St. Francis

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 10 — St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa., has named an alumnus and former professor at the school as its new president.

Father Gabriel Zeis, currently a chaplain at the College of New Jersey and a 1975 St. Francis grad, will replace Father Christian Oravec, who left to lead the Sacred Heart Province of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. He had been president of St. Francis since 1977, the Associated Press reported.

Father Zeis graduated with a history degree from St. Francis and twice taught there, once teaching Hebrew and Greek and later teaching in the religious-studies department.

Another New Leader

THE HARTFORD COURANT, June 12 — St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Conn., also has a new president.

Evelyn Lynch, currently provost and vice president of East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pa., will become head of the Sisters of Mercy-run women's college Aug. 2.

Lynch has a background in early childhood and special education, serving as professor and coordinator of early childhood special education at Moorhead State University in Minnesota from 1978 to 1994, the Hart-ford Courant reported.

Lynch succeeds Winifred Coleman, who is retiring after 12 years.

Serving Deaf People

THE BUFFALO NEWS (New York), June 5 — Since 1853, St. Mary's School for the Deaf in Buffalo, N.Y., says it has always done what's best for deaf children.

The school, which recently finished celebrating its 150th year in existence, is one of nine state-supported schools for deaf in New York, the Buffalo News reported. Four nuns currently work there.

St. Mary's partners with nearby Jesuit-run Canisius College, which offers a graduate degree in deaf education, training teachers to teach deaf students.

Father Thomas Coughlin, the first deaf-born priest in the country, attended high school at St. Mary's and is now pastor of a church in California with mostly a deaf congregation.

Catholics Lead the Way

THE CAPITAL TIMES (Madison, Wis.), June 9 — Positive results from students who attend single-sex Catholic schools are leading public school districts to call for all-boys or all-girls schools.

A Wisconsin legislator plans to introduce legislation that would allow the state's public school districts to create single-sex schools, the Capital Times reported.

One proponent cited a University of Michigan study that found graduates of Catholic single-sex high schools scored better on tests than graduates of Catholic coeducational schools.