Grads Remembered

IONA COLLEGE, June 1 — The Irish Christian Brothers' college in New Rochelle, N.Y., raised nearly $750,000 to provide full scholarships to the children of the 15 alumni killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

The funds represented the total proceeds of the college's annual fund-raising dinner at Manhattan's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Prompted by a video tribute to the fallen graduates that was shown at the dinner, Iona alumnus Bob LaPenta contributed an additional $500,000 toward the $12 million needed for a new student union building. The building already had been scheduled to be named for LaPenta.

He asked that the new structure include a memorial to those lost on Sept. 11.

Back to Teaching

ST. ANSELM COLLEGE, May 25 — After 25 years as academic dean at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Benedictine Father Peter Guerin will return to teaching theology full time. He was awarded an honorary degree for his devotion to Catholic higher education and monastic life at the college's recent commencement. Father Augustine Kelly, also a Benedictine, has been named the new academic dean.

Alternative Education

ACCURACY IN ACADEMIA,

June 4 — The organization, which exists to help check what it considers the leftist tilt of the faculties of most American colleges and universities, will hold a conference at the Jesuits' Georgetown University in Washington July 18-21. Scholars such as Dinesh D'Souza will offer free market and more traditional perspectives on history, philosophy, law, foreign policy, feminism, government and economics.

More information is available at www.academia.org.

Reporting Failure

CHRONICLE.COM, June 4 — St. Mary's College of South Bend, Ind., violated some federal regulations for reporting campus crime, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Education, said the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education. The department also noted that the college's campus-safety efforts were “impressive.”

Conducted in response to complaints by two St. Mary's students, the investigation found that the college had incorrectly reported some crime statistics because it was calculating its statistics based on the academic year instead of the calendar year.

The report also found that St. Mary's had declined to include some incidents that were anonymously reported, which is required under the federal law that governs college crime statistics. The college, run by Sisters of the Holy Cross, has promised full compliance.

Home School Growth

TOWNHALL.COM, June 4 — In a column for the Web site, Phyllis Schlafly reported on a recent convention of Florida home schoolers in Orlando. Sponsored by the Florida Parent-Educators Association, it attracted 10,000 participants, a far cry from the handful that organized the association 15 years before.

The three-day convention included 100 workshops, 131 booths selling curricula and software, high school graduation ceremonies and the announcement of a college scholarship to Harvard.

The Florida Department of Education reported that the number of Florida children registered in home-education programs has grown from 5,313 in 1990-91 to 41,128 in 2000-01.