Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: William Hathaway Pictured above Father Linnane stands with Ralph E. Moore Jr. Moore was one of the recipients of the Andrew White Medal.

Even though the weather was slightly chilly and overcast on Friday, the inside of the alumni memorial chapel was packed almost to its full capacity as members of the college community and honored guests filed in to celebrate the annual Maryland Day convocation.

Each year, the celebration of Maryland Day commemorates the founding of the colony. In 1634, Father Andrew White, S.J, came to Maryland with the settlers as one of the first Jesuits in the colony and went on to initiate the first Mass on March 25th. Loyola College has remembered this day each year by celebrating the lives of those individuals who most embrace the annual theme. This year, the theme was "Lives of Service."

After Student Government President, Dylan O'Shea, led the College's Presidential party inside the chapel, the ceremony began with a welcome address from Vice President for Administration, Terrence Sawyer. After giving a brief introduction on Maryland Day, the audience rose with fervor to join the Belles and the Chimes, Loyola's a capella groups, to sing the delightful tune, "Maryland, my Maryland."

After Father Brian McDermott, S.J, gave an invocation speech describing the theme of this year's Maryland Day in depth, Sawyer acted as the master of ceremonies to present a number of awards to both Loyola College community members and Maryland residents who have exemplified the theme of "Lives of Service."

First, the Bene Merenti Award was presented to faculty members who have served Loyola College for 25 years of service, by Sawyer, who forgot he had to read the recipient's names. It was only brief, however, as he recognized his stumble and initiated some laughs, saying "That's why I'm the Vice President and not the President." The four recipients, associate history professor Dr. Katherine Brennan, management professor Dr. Harsha Desai, economics professor Dr. Frederick Derrick and associate engineering science professor Glenn Kohne, M.E.S, graciously accepted their awards and posed for pictures with Father Linnane, President of Loyola. Sawyer then asked the community to recognize members of the staff who have served milestones in their careers at Loyola, whose names were printed in the program. Earlier in the day, the individual employees were invited to a breakfast with Fr. Linnane to thank them for all their years of service.

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