University President delivers commencement address

On the occasion of his first commencement exercises as president of Fairfield University, Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. offered the graduates of the Class of 2005 his hopes that they have increased their self-knowledge, developed value systems, and learned how to make good decisions for themselves. Fr. von Arx delivered the commencement address to the 55th graduating class at the University on Sunday, May 22.

"It is my hope and conviction that the kind of integrated education and education in values that we have offered you here at Fairfield has given you the ability to make decisions that you know to be the right ones, within the limits of our human fallibility," Fr. von Arx said.

Fr. von Arx noted that during their four years at the University, graduates have gained more than technical ability in their fields of study.

"Competence and skills, certainly, are an important part of what you, your parents and employers and others expect a quality education to provide," Fr. von Arx said. "But Jesuit education has its own particular and indeed peculiar set of standards for success which are not always measurable by the normal expectations of outcomes assessment, and sometimes cut across conventional ideas of success. A commitment to the common good and, more particularly, an engagement on behalf of those who have no one else to be their advocates, should be characteristics of you, our graduates, and the litmus test of whether the integrated education, formation in values and discernment of vocation that we advertised have achieved their desired outcome."

Timothy W. Eberle of Woodland Hills, Calif., delivered the University's valedictory address, reflecting on the fruits of a liberal arts education and urging fellow graduates to follow their passions and keep asking questions.

"We graduate with the understanding that rarely in life are the answers as powerful as the questions, and it is the questions themselves which inspire greatness and change," Eberle said. "It is the joy and frustration born of this incessant questioning that makes life something to be lived, something we can always experience freshly with new eyes."

The University awarded 1,185 degrees to the Class of 2005, including 844 bachelor's degrees, 303 master's degrees, 26 certificates of advanced study and 12 associate's degrees. The University also conferred honorary degrees on four Connecticut residents whose lives have been marked by service to others.

Born in Elmsford, N.Y., Monsignor John Sanders of Stamford was a jazz musician-trombonist and a regular in the Duke Ellington band during the 1950s who left an established career in the entertainment industry to enter the Holy Apostles Seminary in 1965. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1973, becoming the first African-American priest in Connecticut. He was named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1988. He continues to hold the office of Diocesan Director of the Apostolate to African-Americans. Msgr. Sanders was one of 15 musicians interviewed by Ken Burns for his 2000 film, "Jazz." He received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

Maryann Furlong of Ansonia, director of the Thomas Merton Center in Bridgeport, was presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree. As director, Mrs. Furlong oversees a program that provides 250 warm meals each day, a food pantry that supports 600 families, and medical care and family support services, prayer groups and literacy volunteers for people in need in the Bridgeport region. Mrs. Furlong is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's in nursing and a Certificate of Professional Studies in substance abuse. She also holds a master's in counseling from St. Joseph College in West Hartford. She has been an associate of the Sisters of Mercy for 17 years and a lay minister in the Archdiocese of Hartford since 1985.

Arthur C. Laske, Jr. of Trumbull also received an honorary doctor of laws degree. A business major in Fairfield University's first graduating class, he is a long-time member of the board of the St. Vincent's Medical Center Foundation, where he now serves as chairman. He is vice president and director of the William T. Morris Foundation and a director of the Somir Petroleum Foundation. An active volunteer at Fairfield University since his 1951 graduation, Mr. Laske is a member of the President's Circle, and has served on the Alumni Board of Directors for 16 years. He received the University's Alumni Association Service Award in 2003.

Mr. Laske retired in 2000 from O'Keefe Controls, where he was sales and marketing manager. Before that he was president of A. C. Laske Associates, Inc.

A third honorary doctor of laws degree was presented to Florence Schorske Wald of Branford, founder of the U.S. hospice movement and former dean of the Yale University School of Nursing. Florence Schorske Wald had been dean of Nursing at Yale University for ten years when she resigned in 1968 to study the British approach to care for the terminally ill. Prof. Wald joined with two pediatricians and the Yale Medical Center chaplain to create, in 1971, the first U.S. hospice facility, in Branford, Conn. She has published countless articles and book chapters on hospice care and on the training of nurses. Among her many awards are induction into the American Nurses Association's Hall of Fame and The National Women's Hall of Fame.

The Saint Ignatius Loyola Medal for outstanding university service was awarded to Meghan Marie Flanagan of Lebanon, N.H. Angela Griffin Schuster, of Rockville, Md., received the Bellarmine Medal, which is given to the student with the highest four-year academic average.

An historian by discipline, Fr. von Arx began his academic career at Georgetown University, where he taught in the History Department from 1982 to 1998 and was chair from 1991 to 1997. He served as Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill from 1998 until his selection as president by the Fairfield University Board of Trustees in 2004. A graduate of Princeton University, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1969 and subsequently earned an M.A. and M.Phil. in history at Yale University, and completed his Ph.D. there in 1980. A year later, Fr. von Arx received an M.Div. from the Weston School of Theology and was ordained a priest. Fr. von Arx has served or is currently on the boards of trustees of Boston College, Canisius College, Loyola Marymount University, and Xavier University. He was appointed to the Fairfield Board in 2002 and as president, continues to serve as a trustee.

Posted On: 05-22-2005 10:05 AM

Volume: 37 Number: 273