Carmelite Very Reverend Leo McCarthy Dies

(November 19, 2009; Darien, IL) The Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, Order of Carmelites, mourns the death of the Very Reverend Leo McCarthy, O.Carm., who died at the age of 75 on November 18, 2009, in Sarasota, Florida. Read more...

Alumni-Student Mentoring Program:

There has been a tremendous response to this program which pairs current students with alumni who are working in the student’s desired ministry. Dr. Kathy Brown, Dean of Students was encouraged that both ordination tract and lay students requested mentors, as did many of the D.Min students. If you would like to participate in this program, but have not notified Dr. Brown, please email her right away: brown@wtu.edu. We are in the process of pairing alumni and current students and will let you know when we have compiled our lists!

Strategic Planning Committee Forming:

Under the direction of President Fred Tillotson, O.Carm., the Union is undertaking its first significant strategic planning effort since the creation of its last 5-year long-range plan developed in 2002. A series of focus groups are beginning to be conducted with various constituencies of the Union community – including students and alumni – with the intent to solicit people’s perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of the institution as well as desired future directions and initiatives.

Fr. Fred will be forming a Strategic Planning Committee with selected representatives from the Union community to help review and refine the feedback from the focus groups. If you are a student or alum living in the Washington, DC area who would be interested in and available to serve on the Strategic Planning Committee, please contact Lisa Marie Drover, CSSF, Executive Assistant to the President, at (202) 541-5228 or drover@wtu.edu to express your interest.

Jerry Hall Scholarship Fund Still Growing!

In March of this year, the Union very unexpectedly lost one of its full-time faculty, Assistant Professor of Word and Worship Jerry Hall, S.J., who passed away following a brief illness. This wise and unassuming scholar of liturgy was also an accomplished singer whose gentle and compassionate demeanor made him a wonderful colleague, mentor, and friend to so many. In a desire to celebrate Jerry’s life and to honor our community’s memory of him, the Rev. Jerome Hall, S.J. Memorial Scholarship fund was established.

To date, 31 alumni, faculty, and staff have made donations to the scholarship fund totaling $4,480. The Union continues to encourage donations to the fund, which must grow to a minimum of $250,000 before it can be endowed, and before it will be possible to draw income to award the first student scholarship. If you wish to make an online donation to this fund, please use the online donation form.