I had the wonderful occasion to chat in the last month with two members of our esteemed English department. Kate Adams, the chair of the department, has graciously provided me with some highlights; many are included below.

I met John Biguenet through our mutual friend Mat Grau (Mat, a gem of a person, is a fixture at Jesuit High School here in town, where he currently runs their alumni program). John is a nationally renowned playwright, novelist, and recent recipient of the Big Easy Award for Theatre Person of the Year. Kate and John are members of a truly outstanding team that bring an energy and an engagement to their teaching that is increasingly rare in the pantheon of American higher education.

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It’s been a wonderful semester here at Loyola. There is a distinct energy on the campus, in the classroom, and in the faces and souls of the members of our community. Combine that with our relationship to our city, our ideal location, our prodigious creativity, our Catholic Jesuit values and mission–and this place is unlike any other in the world.

I’m honored to be here.

And, I’m excited to have had the chance to share with you some of our stories over the last few months. Many more to come.

I’ve learned that there is great diversity of people who read my entries–prospective students, their parents, current students, their parents, staff, faculty, alumni, my friends, my dad.

To all of you: I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and joyous New Year.

Saint Ignatius Loyola teaches us to do and then reflect, do-reflect, do-reflect. Our actions are strengthened by contemplation, and our discernment is augmented by experience. I hope that you will have the time over the next few days to reflect on your 2008. Filled with history, I hope that all of us will be able to apply our best selves to problems and opportunities in the new year.

See you in 2009!

Sal

As I have mentioned in this space before, I like football. A lot.

The best football teams are complete. They have strong offenses and defenses, and special teams. They perform the fundamentals very well and can be flashy when they need to. They have speed and strength, are well-coached, can compete in any environment against anyone. And, they are good year after year, having honed a strong foundation into an artistic machine.

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I thought you might enjoying hearing from Dario Martinez, who is a Loyola graduate and a member of our admissions team.

Dario is a native of Honduras and he brings the experience of having been an international student to his work. So, he provides some great knowledge to all students. Here is our Q and A session:

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