Favorite Teacher

ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE, Sept. 13 —Brian Lacey, a 1972 graduate of the Colchester, Vt., college, has honored the teacher who most influenced his life with a $1.1 million pledge to endow the St. Michael's Henry G. Fairbanks chair for the humanities.

Lacey, an American studies major who was St. Michael's first Rhodes Scholar nominee, is a television producer and marketer.

Fairbanks, who founded the St. Michael's humanities program, was a popular professor at the college, where he taught from 1946 to 1981.

Abbey President

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, Sept. 15 — William Thierfelder, a spor ts psychologist, businessman and father of eight, has taken up his new duties as the 20th president of Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, N.C.

A licensed psychologist, he was founder and president of ProSportDoc Inc., a company that helps professional athletes enhance their physical and mental abilities to better train and compete.

He also founded the sportsperformance training program at the Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., and taught at Penn State University's college of medicine.

No Explanation Needed

THE OBSERVER, Sept. 19 — Holy Cross Father Edward Malloy, Notre Dame's president, told the university's student newspaper that he is among those waiting for an explanation from the U.S. government for why Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan's visa was revoked, preventing him from teaching this fall at the campus of the Fighting Irish.

Because Ramadan has not been given a chance to hear and address whatever concerns led to the State Department's action, “it seems to me the law's not being fulfilled,” Father Malloy told the newspaper.

The action, requested by the Department of Homeland Security, can be carried out without any formal proceedings or notification of any kind.

Distance University

CDU.EDU, Sept. 20 — The Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, Va., is offering 10 online courses for its graduate programs leading to master's degrees in theology or religious studies, the university announced on its website.

The school offers “advanced training in the faith that is loyal to the magisterium,” said Robert Royal, the university's graduate dean, in such areas as Church history, the sacraments and martyrs of the 20th century.

Information is available at www.cdu.edu or by calling (888) 254-4CDU, ext. 703.

The Good Fight

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, Sept. 19 — In an opinion piece on how conser vative college students in Nor th Carolina are bucking rigid secularism and political correctness on campuses throughout the state, Duke University student John Plecnik praises a “Catholic congressman,” U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, for coming to the aid of students.

“When a Christian student was lambasted for his beliefs, Jones took it up with the university chancellor,” says Plecnik, writing in an independent newspaper of the Duke University law school. “Now that Alpha Iota Omega, a Christian fraternity, has been denied official recognition, (Jones) has returned.”

He calls Jones “a shining example of how politicians ought to represent their constituents — and UNC is not even in his district.”