Loyola Marymount's Special Games Bring Champions Together

Each spring Loyola Marymount University hosts a Special Games, which offers activities and entertainment for disabled athletes. These olympics have been a part of LMU since 1977, and more than 400 athletes and 700 volunteers – students, staff, faculty, and alumni – participate, making it one of the largest philanthropic events at the university.

The games let hundreds of mentally and physically challenged athletes participate in Olympic- style sports such as basketball, bowling, golf, and field hockey. At the closing ceremony, all athletes receive medals and certificates for their accomplishments.

Loyola University Student in Jeopardy

Pam Mueller, a junior psych major at Loyola University Chicago, received $50,000 and a Volvo when she won the Jeopardy! College Championship; Loyola receives a $25,000 scholarship.

Mueller, an honor student who intends to pursue a law degree, knew she would win when she thought about what to wager for the last question. "I didn't have to wager anything," said Mueller, who must have been relieved when the final question came from "College Sports History," her worst category.

New Presidents

Dr. John DeGioia will succeed Fr. Leo J. O'Donovan, SJ, as the president of Georgetown University this summer. DeGioia, currently senior vice president of Georgetown and faculty member in the philosophy department, began working for the university after graduating in 1979.

Dr. DeGioia will become Georgetown's 48th president and the first layman to head a Jesuit university in the United States.

Fr. Michael J. Garanzini, SJ, professor of psychology and special assistant to the president at Georgetown University, has been elected president of Loyola University Chicago. He was an associate professor of counseling and academic vice president at Saint Louis University and member of the board of trustees at Rockhurst University and Loyola University New Orleans. He succeeds Fr. John Piderit, SJ, Loyola's president for the past eight years.

New Provincials

Fr. Robert J. Scullin, SJ, will be the next provincial of the Detroit Province, succeeding Fr. John F. Libens, SJ. Fr. Scullin has a doctorate in theology and spirituality from the Catholic Theological Union. He has also worked as a campus minister and a pastor.

Fr. James E. Grummer, SJ, is the newly appointed provincial of the Wisconsin Province. He entered the Society in 1972 and has been socius under the current provincial, Fr. D. Edward Mathie, SJ. Fr. Grummer's position becomes official summer 2001.

Loyola Academy Student Creates Easter Seal

Colleen Kawaters, a sophomore at Loyola Academy in Wilmetté, Ill., had her lily painting chosen as one of the 2001 Easter Seals. She is one of six people nationwide to have a lily selected; Easter Seals were distributed to 15 million homes nationwide in February.

Her pineapple lily, rendered in acrylic and watercolor, will be displayed on the Easter Seals website at www.easterseals.org and at their headquarters in Chicago.

Native Alaskan Language Dictionary Published

The Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary, a ethnographic dictionary of the native Alaskan language, has been published by the University of Alaska.

Fr. Jules Jetté, SJ, (carrying hat and briefcase) began research for the dictionary in 1898. Dr. Eliza Jones (right), a Koyukon language expert, was instrumental in completing the work.

Fr. Jetté (1864 - 1927), from Montreal, spent almost all of his 26 years as an Alaskan missionary ministering to the Koyukon Athabaskan people living in villages on the Yukon.

The dictionary contains more than 8,800 vocabulary items, 17,500 example sentences, 120 illustrations, figures, maps, and thousands of descriptive comments by Fr. Jetté, Dr. Jones, and other contributors. For more information go to the Alaska Native Language Center at www.uaf.edu/anlc/ or write to Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, PO Box 757680, Fairbanks, AK, 99775. – Contributed by Fr. Louis Renner, SJ

Catholic Bible for African-Americans Displays Jesuit's Artwork

The first edition of a Catholic Bible for African-Americans, subtitled "God's Family Album," was published recently as a joint project of the Josephites, a religious order dedicated to serving African-Americans, and the American Bible Society.

Its cover, which portrays Jesus and St. Joseph as Africans, was based on an original work by Fr. Fernando Arizti, SJ, born in Mexico. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he asked to go to the United States to become part of the civil rights movement. Currently associate pastor of St. Brigid Parish in Los Angeles, Fr. Arizti ministers in the African-American and Latino communities.

A supplement to the Bible includes material about the African-American heritage in the Catholic Church as well as information on church teachings, the sacraments, a glossary, and maps of biblical sites. Call the Josephite Pastoral Center in Washington, D.C., for information (202) 526-9270.