Never Learned How To Say Good-Bye

By Mark Piper

There are a lot of ways of saying “this is the end.” Porky Pig, at the end of Looney Tune Cartoons would say “that’s all folks,” the VonTrapp children in the Sound of Music made a seven minute song just to say farewell, and Jesus Christ said fairly succinctly, “it is finished.” However, he died shortly thereafter so I think perhaps I’ll venture my own way of saying this is the end, as I have no intention of becoming a pig, traversing the Swiss countryside to avoid Nazis or be nailed to a cross at this particular time.

I couldn’t really think of my own however. But I did remember a little song by Bob Hope that turned out to be the trademark of his career titled “Thanks For The Memories.” And I think that is the sentiment that I am left with, and that is how I’d like to say au revoir, thanks for the memories.

You know, memory translates to French as souvenir. Funny thing. Any time we go somewhere, whether it is a family vacation, a weekend a way or maybe four years as an undergrad, we always want to take back souvenirs with us. Well I suppose in the truest form of the French word souvenir, I’ll do just that. For if souvenirs are memories, by gosh I have a slew of ‘em.
Overall, those souvenirs or memories are positive.

Now, I am not going to get too nostalgic, but by gum four years flew by faster than anything I could have ever imagined. And now just as quick as I’m saying good-bye, I’m forced to say hello to the “adult world.” A world in which student loan payments come due, a world where I must find a job with 9 percent unemployment, a world that gets more complicated, convoluted and discombobulated on an hourly basis. I will not be too far away next year; I’ll be doing a year of volunteer service for Amate House here in Chicago. But I’m still having trouble believing it is time to take my memories with me and part ways with Saint X.

And so I’ve come to the end. Coincidentally, the end of this blog, and the end of my Saint Xavier career. I’d say tune in next time, but it won’t be the same bat time, same bat channel ever again. All the best.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Honors Conference on Sat., April 24

By Mark Piper

If I can survive everything up to and including Saturday, April 24, I think I can finally say I’ll make it out of Saint Xavier alive!

This is because the last real push or assignment I have before I can relax and enjoy the waning days of my college career is the Annual Saint Xavier University Undergraduate Honors Conference.

The Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on April 24 in S-113, S-101 and N-104 in the Warde Academic Center, with a banquet and awards ceremony to follow in the Butler reception room. A key note address will be delivered by Matthew Costello, Ph.D., of the Department of History and Political Science.

Though I may have joined the honors program late, I sure made up for lost time this past year with countless hours of sifting through and collecting research and data for my own project which I present on Saturday. My honors capstone project, (my thesis, if you will) is entitled “Examining the Missing Link: Is social consciousness the link between higher education and political participation?”

I examine the link or correlation between higher education and political participation which I quantify as voting. I posit that the plethora of literature on this topic misses a possible connective mechanism, what I call social consciousness.
My hypotheses were simple; college students here at Saint Xavier University that were female were more likely to vote or have voted than their male peers, Catholic students at this Catholic institution were more likely to vote or have voted than non-Catholic students; white or Caucasian students were more likely to have voted than other races of students, and all of these would give attribution to Saint Xavier having influenced their decision to vote. Those hypotheses were largely based on the literature and past polling research. I also had one other hypothesis, that Saint Xavier was an institution that impressed social consciences on its students and therefore students would attribute the social consciousness of Saint Xavier or its ethos as a large influence in their decision to vote.

For my project I used my own survey instrument, which was administered with the approval of the Intuitional Review Board (IRB) and the National Student Engagement Survey (NSSE) results for Saint Xavier from 2006. It was, by undergrad standards, an in-depth study. It was time-consuming and there were times where I just wanted to throw in the towel, especially given my quantifiable results (which if you’d like to know you can come to N-114 on Saturday and find out)!

It will be good to present my years worth of work; perhaps it will be better to have brought it to a successful conclusion. Either way I’m looking to the presentation and my slightly less stressful life thereafter.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

The First Pitch of the Bottom of the 9th

By Mark Piper

For many of us, this is our favorite season. Let me clarify; I‘m not talking about spring, I’m talking of course about baseball season.

With last week’s opening day, all of Chicago has one more thing to get excited about (before imminent disappointment in the form of the 102nd Cubs choke or Ozzie loseing his temper one too many times).

Here at SXU we have a great baseball legacy. In fact, there is a home game this Friday – if you’re around you should check out our superior team. Other than Cougar baseball fans, I know some North Side Cubbie lovers have sneaked down to the Sox side and there are a few Brew Crew transplants like me from Wisconsin. But despite our different allegiances, everyone here seems to enjoy America’s Pastime.

Despite the fact that many of us just saw this year’s first pitch – perhaps even the one high and to the left that President Obama threw at the National’s game (with his Sox hat),- we also are in the home-stretch, the final innings of the academic season.

You know it’s the bottom of the 9th when the celebrations begin – and on campus they are. This afternoon is the University Awards Ceremony honoring outstanding students and faculty members. Next Tuesday, April 20, is the ACE Awards or All Campus Excellence Awards honoring student organizations, student leaders and the dedication to the campus scene by students in general. Next Wednesday, April 21, is the College of Arts and Sciences Award Ceremony, and in the next few weeks there are retirement parties, celebrating the contributions of staff and faculty to this great institution.

This academic year was not a “perfect game” for me (I’m Mark Piper, not Mark Buehrle), but it was pretty darn good: I wasn’t as bad as the Cubs but not quite the Yankees. Either way, as we begin to celebrate the end of our academic season and the beginning of baseball season, let’s finish strong and not strike out!

Also – to all the students reading this entry full of baseball puns and imagery, do not forget that the Quad RA Staff and Student Activities Board are hosting the yearly BASEBALL COUGAR COOKOUT this Friday, April 16, at Ferrell Field. Cheer on the baseball team while playing volleyball, visiting with Champ the Cougar or chowin’ down on a free hot dog! See ya’ there.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

SGA ELECTIONS!

By Mark Piper

Ever heard the phrase, ‘vote early, vote often’? If you haven’t, congratulations on living in Cook County and not succumbing to political tactics of the Windy City. By the way, that nickname isn’t about the gusts of wind off Lake Michigan. Speaking of voting, why not vote in the SGA Elections?

That’s right, online voting for next year’s Student Government Association executive cabinet is taking place now, online, 24/7 until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 7. So, in this season of spring elections, cast your ballot for your future at SXU and vote for SGA.

SGA in the last two years has been reformed, rejuvenated and stronger than ever. The Student Government Association has helped you – now it needs YOUR help. SO VOTE!

1. Type in www.sxu.edu
2. Click “MYSXU”
3. Login with your net ID and password
4. Type “SGA” into the mysxu search tab
5. Click on the “SGA ELECTIONS” Link and vote!Click Submit
   

Just a little reminder that it was SGA that commandeered a bus to take SXU students down to Springfield in October to protest the cuts in MAP grants to over 40% of SXU students. The SXU SGA, along with other Illinois student governments, helped reinstate the MAP grant.

It has been SGA in the diner every day for the year ready to listen to your concerns and complaints – and taking action to correct them as well. SGA holds conversations with the president; open forums (the next one is next Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Café Atrium) and we take your suggestions seriously. This is evident in the emergency phone that is now in place at the 10140 S. Pulaski apartment building.

You want SXU to be the best college experience in the entire nation? There’s really only two things that YOU have to do to make that happen. First, you’ve got to go to class, listen the professor and then take that education outside the classroom. Second, you’ve got to, you absolutely have to be involved. And voting today in the SGA election – well, that’s a darn good way to get involved.

PLEASE VOTE!

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

In like a lamb, out like a lion

By Mark Piper

Today is the last day of March. As the farm adage goes, March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Well if you remember back to March 1, it was a 35 degree cloudy day with a few snowflakes. A quiet start to March, by most accounts. Today, we’re looking at a high in the low 70’s some wind, and sun. Looks like we lucked out this month, meteorologically speaking.

But scholastically speaking, we entered like lambs and it seems as though the lions are lining up and waiting for us. Today also begins another lamb analogy – our Easter Break. But Easter Break, while much-needed reprieve from class, is nothing more than the eye of the storm. I can say with certainty that this final leg of the semester is going to be a lion. And I’d like nothing more than to be on the lam from my final papers.

I will enjoy this break – I can say this honestly even before driving back to Wisconsin because it will be the first time in months I will get eight hours of sleep a night! But I know when we return on Sunday evening we will have four weeks of tests, studying, and preparations for final presentations and examinations.

A whirlwind of papers and lectures have taken place this past month. But there have been many opportunities for students to escape from the harsh winds of classroom realities. This past month the SXU community was invited to take part in the Busy Persons’ Retreat, listen to guest lectures and students were encouraged to attend the Awakenings Retreat. All seemed to be successful, and beneficial to all who attended. But it only gets busier and faster from here.

So I hope everyone takes advantage of the weather, the break and the good fortune we’ve had to not suffer the wrath of the lion just yet. Drive, fly or somehow arrive at your Easter Break destination safely, and I’ll see you all in April, hopefully with more nice weather and fewer bad puns.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

And Justice For All

By Mark Piper

I attended the Undergraduate Honors Program’s 11th Annual Guest Lecture last night. This year’s address was given by Justice Anne M. Burke of the Illinois State Supreme Court.

The lecture was to begin at 6:30, but was delayed a few minutes because there was a need to get about two or three dozen more chairs in the Butler Reception Room. The room was packed. Not only were people shoulder to shoulder or seat to seat as an indication of the amount of interest in her talk, but the soon sweltering heat from all the bodies in Butler made it known that it was a full house.

I personally enjoyed the speech. Though I think one could easily deduce she had a legal background even without the introduction detailing her long and distinguished law career, simply because of how her speech or “argument” flowed; each point succinctly followed up by a reference fact, and it all lead back to the beginning when she finished.

Justice Burke’s speech, “Public Servant, Private Catholic,” was both intriguing and thought-provoking. Justice Burke seems to have had a career marked by her concern and care for children, and the most vulnerable among us. She founded the Special Olympics, served on child advocacy groups, moved up in the ranks of the judicial system and served on the Board of Review for the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal in the United States for two years. And she pulled no punches about her service to the Church in that specific role.

What I drew from her experience and her 50-some minute speech was (1) Thomas Aquinas, who coincidentally is the patron saint of students, has much to say about how to think and act, especially in respect to the law and our own conduct and (2) truth (small case t) is the future of the Catholic Church, despite the lack of truth in its hierarchy at the moment.

It was a great lecture. Justice Burke spoke to what I believe are the majority of Catholics in the US today – if not the type of Catholicism students practice. And that is Catholicism that is rooted in faith, not absolutes; faith that requires dialogue and not simple obedience; and a faith that upholds and attempts earnestly to seek truth, rather than skew it for some personal misuse.

As a side note, I was able to meet Justice Burke before her lecture at a reception in the Bishop Quarter Room. I would suggest that anyone curious about the conflict, congruence, or future of one’s personal faith and public politics ought to view this lecture, which should be available in the library soon.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

A Day to Celebrate

By Mark Piper

Today is March 17, better known as St. Patrick’s Day in these parts. Today is a day that many members of the SXU community celebrate, almost or more seriously than Christmas Day.

As the Irish and-want-to-be-Irish celebrate their luck, eyes that smile, and regale rebel songs with a pint or two, it seems there is another reason for the SXU community celebrate (Irish and non-Irish alike).

On Monday March 15, President-Designate Christine Wiseman, J.D., had a meet and greet with SXU students. The hour and-one-half long event began at 2:30 in the Butler Reception Room and was attended by more than 220 people, according to Campus Life.

Dozens of pizza’s were provided to attendees, and students from all walks of life, walked right in and engaged Saint Xavier’s next captain at the helm. The overall atmosphere was festive, positive and down-right celebratory.

Wiseman, began by asking students what’s important to them and what issues they’re having. She said she had to ask students because she wanted to know what issues there were, and what the culture is like at Saint Xavier. One student asked if Financial Aid and Advising could be moved back to Warde and out of O’Grady. Wiseman responded that she is looking into moving at least some offices back into Warde.

After about 45 minutes of milling around with other students, Vice-President John Pelrine was told to find me in the crowd of students by Wiseman because she wanted to talk to me. I got to her, as about two dozen students were circled around her listening to what she was saying when she told me that, “We (SGA) need to meet on a regular basis. I’m making you responsible for that. These issues cannot wait and we need to have better communication.” She continued on that there needs to be regular meetings with students and SGA so that large issues or problems in the student body, do not build up or fester and so that they could even be prevented. Most students looked on with a blank stare, as these were comments that most of us were not accustomed to for the last few years.

Later on, I presented Wiseman with a welcome-bag on behalf of SGA and the student body. She received an SXU jacket, official homecoming shirt and the Eight Core Values inscribed on rocks. Students were certainly celebrating with her, and for her. It can be best summed up by one of the students who talked to Wiseman: “It’s a new day at Saint Xavier.”

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

A League to Remember

By Mark Piper
Looking to the future but honoring the past. A lot of what we as young adults and students seems to fit that simple and ubiquitous credo.

This Friday, March 12 at 2 p.m. in the Fourth Floor Board Room of the Warde Academic Center, there is a Squeaky Weal Lecture series that does just that: Look to the future, while honoring the past. The Lecture is titled, “A League to Remember: The Negro National League.”

Spearheaded by senior Communications student Melissa Doornbos, “A League to Remember,” has three authors with expertise and knowledge of the Negro National League, Jim Coates, Leslie Heaphy and Larry Lester.

The Saint Xavier community will commemorate the Negro National League’s 90th anniversary with a presentation from these award winning authors. The presentations include discussions about the league’s players and sportswriters, integration issues and Chicago’s influence on the league.
Additionally, the lecture will include memorabilia and photographs, time for questions and one-on-ones with the presenters and a raffle for free Chicago White Sox tickets for students.

This event, like all Squeaky Weal Lectures, is free and open to the public. As it turns out, Saint Xavier University’s Squeaky Weal Lecture Series, “provides occasions for thoughtful consideration of issues of public concern, with the focus on the religious, moral and/or ethical implications of such issues for the common good. In keeping with the mission of the Center for Religion and Public Discourse and the University’s core values of respect, diversity and learning for life, Squeaky Weal Lectures include opportunities for respectful discourse with the presenters, who are experts and leaders in their areas of professional endeavor.

So I hope you can join students, staff and faculty for this great opportunity (and possibility of winning Sox tickets) on Friday. This really will be an activity that centers on respect and diversity, allows us all to get ready for the greatest season of the year, baseball season, and always us to look forward as we discuss and honor those who did great things in the past.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Getting Ready to Hang on…

By Mark Piper

I just returned from a three-day comprehensive, exhausting and all-around draining grad school interview. At this point in my college career it seems I’m a little behind in putting my life together and moving on past SXU in the next few months.

February can be a downer month for many. This is especially true by anyone from students to staff who experiences Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. This disorder is causes feelings of depression this time of year brought by the still, cold, gloomy winter days. Luckily I don’t think I am suffering from SAD, as I am too busy to notice whether the sun is shining or not!

As I try to figure my life out in this SAD time, there are a great many things that can seem sad. From graduating and leaving many friends to entering the worst job market in roughly 80 years, to just not knowing what you’re going to do or where you’re going to do it.

As I drove to and from Ohio for my Sunday to Tuesday interview, I passed through the great state of Indiana. I’m proud to report that on the car radio, Indiana has both kinds of music; Country and Western. I realized what a sad time it could be while listening to some of the songs on my way back. When your dog dies, gun is stolen, no-good-cheatin’-wife leaves you for the son of a gun down the road, it’s hard to find solace in your Ford V-8 rust bucket pickup truck. This song actually reminded me that, yes, we’re in that time of the year where everything isn’t just sad, it’s SAD. But I digress.

For many seniors, I think it is hard to be affected by the weather because we really are trying to move a mile a minute and put our lives in order. Whether it is grad school apps, fees, interviews, resume making, cover letter writing, reference letter finding or anything in between it is just a whirlwind time. It is kind of fun though. I’m a guy who LOVES structure, but I’m trying to see what some call the “beauty” of not knowing, or having your life up in the air. Seems more chaotic and thus ugly to me, but I’m attempting to be more open minded.

So to any SXU student, I hope you’re not letting the sun’s hiatus sour your disposition into a SAD one. And to my friends who are near graduation, I hope you can try to see, like me, the beauty in this hodg-podge mess!

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Lent at SXU

By Mark Piper

As we continue our march towards the middle of the semester – the time of the year when we’re too far from the beginning to look back and yet too far from the end to see light, the spring semester offers a few milestones. The first, Spring Break, is now only a week and a half away. The second, midterms, which for me are happening this and next week. The third milestone, as our sunless days seem to be getting slightly longer every day, is the season of Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Church’s liturgical season of Lent; a time of prayer, penance and fasting. Ashes are available at 8 a.m., noon and 4:30 p.m.in the Mercy Ministry Center. While I recognize that not all SXU students are Catholics (which seems appropriate given our core value of Diversity), this day and this season brings a manifestation of the Mission Statement for all SXU Students.

The Mission Statement reads “Saint Xavier University, a Catholic Institution, Inspired by the Heritage of the Sisters of Mercy, educates men and women to, search for truth, to think critically, to communicate effectively and to serve wisely and compassionately in support of human dignity and the common good.”

While we embrace diversity, we also concurrently uphold the “search for truth” for all students, no matter who they are. It is my understanding that the search for truth may be centered in academics and curriculum in the classroom, but it is also ubiquitous. I think the point of our education here is to always search for truths in our world.
Lent reminds me of some certain truths for college students:

1. I wish I would have taken the concept of fasting a little more seriously to help many of my friends and myself better avoid the freshman fifteen (or sophomore 20).
2. Perhaps it is appropriate to pray, not just in a feverish and begging-for-mercy fashion five minutes before an exam, but more often and more contemplatively to help slow down the ever-so-fast speed of college life.
3. Penance is an aspect of college life that I think can be practiced diversely and that would make college a lot easier for us all. We’re here to learn and strive for excellence, but we 18-22 year olds are prone to make mistakes, errors and bad decisions. I think that to help move on from these inevitable situations, and make them far more valuable and learning experiences we ought to practice a little more penance.
   

Whatever your background, or the rhyme or reason for this spring season, it seems a good time to evaluate where we are, who we are and where we’re going. So in this lens perhaps, Lent comes around at just the right time for us students.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

By Mark Piper

There is a lot going on at SXU, particularly outside the walls of the classrooms; from athletic success, events, guest lectures to concerts, to student activities serving the greater good such as collecting relief for Haiti. But now that we’re a full four weeks into the semester, there’s also a lot going on inside the walls of our classrooms too.
I’m not counting, but in exactly 95 days, I shall be walking across the stage at the Shannon Center, graduating from SXU. There is, however, this last little semester of class work to finish up. In my 3 ½ years here I have mostly taken 18 credit hour semesters, but this semester I have a lighter load and even a 101 class.

What reminded me that I have things to do inside the classroom was my first test of the semester (Catholic Social Teaching) on Monday. I have another exam coming up a week from Friday in my sociology class, an ever increasing work load from my honors senior paper, and another quiz for guitar coming up too.

This last semester is an interesting one. A friend of mine, who is also graduating in May, is in my Sociology class with me. It just so happens that it is Sociology 101, and we may very well be the only non-first year students in the room. It is interesting because I’ve never had a sociology class before, and thus far I particularly enjoy the material and can easily keep up with it (as should be expected since I’ve not had a 101 class in over 4 semesters). But it is insightful from time to time to hear the professor speak to the class about life because, well, you can tell he’s speaking to the younger students. But professorial soliloquies are part of student life.

Student Life, in my opinion, is comprised of 50% in the classroom education (how we actually get our degrees) and 50% everything we do as students outside the classroom. And so it is a busy time for student organizations, and event planning, going out, discovering Chicago, meeting new friends, dabbling in Campus Life et cetera. But as my first test of the semester reminded me on Monday, there’s a lot to be done with my text books too. So while you’re remembering to cheer on Cougar Basketball, or you’re on your way to a Squeaky Weal Lecture, orchestra concert or catching the shuttle to take you to the Orange Line, don’t forget that the Soc 101 textbook is calling for your attention too!

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Strange tales from SXU

By Mark Piper

Funny things happen in college. It is hoped that students learn, mature and develop into good people and citizens. And it’s ironic that as structured and institutional as college is, we students have such hap-hazard, ad hoc, strange, unplanned and funny learning experiences that are just as important to our student life as lectures in the classrooms.

Last week, about a dozen SXU students heard some of these amazing stories about former SXU students in the first of three Academy Seminars, “Strange Tales but True: A random sampling of interesting tales of SXU’s past.” Sr. Joy Clough, special assistant in the Office of Mission and Heritage, had a plethora of Information for students to devour. For example, did you know…

• The student government association created faculty evaluations which we still use today?

• During Prohibition, not every SXU student abided by the law and knew where to find “the stuff” when they needed to?

• The University administered a passing grade of R for students who didn’t take final exams but had a passing grade beforehand so they could protest the Vietnam War?

This new seminar series was the brainchild of Sr. Joy and spearheaded by Amanda Modelski and myself. It was sponsored by the Office of Mission and Heritage.

We all really enjoyed the first seminar. Our second seminar, “If Walls Could Talk: A tale-telling tour of the Warde Academic Center,” will be held on Tues., Feb. 9. The seminars are for students only. Interested students meet in the Bishop Quarter Room by 4:30 p.m. before we leave for the tour. And you won’t believe what some classrooms used to be… and who used to live in them.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Sunday Night Lights

By Mark Piper

Sunday nights can be a drag at any campus. They hardly seem like a weekend, with Monday morning and classes looming only hours away and with all the catching up on reading and studying to make up for Friday and Saturday’s procastination.

Despite all that work that has to be done by Monday, many students still find the time to go to the weekly student mass at McDonough Chapel at 8 p.m. This past Sunday, the chapel was overflowing with students and community members as it was the blessing of the spring athletes.

As I near the end of my four years here at SXU, the student mass is one of the things that has changed the most.

The student choir has grown from a few singers to about a dozen students accompanied by drummers, trumpeters and violinists. The number of students who attend mass and participate in ministries has gone up, as has overall student satisfaction. And this past Sunday, for the first time, there was a blessing of the spring athletes for men’s and women’s basketball, track/cross-country, men’s volleyball, baseball, soccer, other athletes and coaches..

Some things have stayed the same too. SXU’s resident Padre-in-Chief (Father Bob Barry, O.P.) continues to give his well-rehearsed and well-intentioned homilies. Almost as important as the homily is the hospitality after mass, where dozens of students stay to eat some treats and catch up with people they probably won’t see until they take their exam on Wednesday, or go to practice on Thursday.

If you ever want to know what’s going on at Saint Xavier for the coming week, you’ll find most everything in the student announcements and in the bulletin. From student organizations to retreats to spiritual activities and a plethora of other goings-ons at SXU, you can just see how busy and involved people are that you see in the caf or library.

Despite last Sunday’s slightly-longer than usual mass, Sunday nights at 8 p.m. in McDonough Chapel serve a great need for the SXU student community; even if it is just as simple as taking a break from an evening of study, or praying that the Cougars may be victorious.

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

SXU's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration

By Mark Piper

Last night, SXU alumnus and President of Northern Trust Bank Darryl Jackson gave an emblematic lecture titled, “What happens to a dream deferred?” in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Mr. Jackson was welcomed by Student Activities Board Diversity Chair Danyah Zayed. SXU graduate student and hall minister Matt Stevenson gave an opening prayer and SXU alumna Grace Hobson ’09 sang the Black National Anthem.

Mr. Jackson shared his insights and opinions on MLK, his favorite quotes about achieving your own dreams and his assertion that Dr. King’s dream is not deferred but slowly being realized.

“I would not be here today. I would not be running a Fortune 500 Company if it was not for Martin Luther King,” he added.

Danyah Zayed, a junior biology major, agreed with Jackson’s principal point that the dream has not been deferred. Zayed was glad that the university held this event because it’s “easy to lose sight of the message of the admired MLK. He was a world civil rights leader, his message is to any person.” She continued, “this event is good because it highlights the [diversity] of the University. I was asked to give the intro from Erika McCall (Asst. Dir. Of Campus Life).”

After the lecture, the student-run AFC Choir sang “Ride on King Jesus,” and Assistant Director of Campus Life Erika McCall gave the closing remarks. Following the program’s conclusion, students were able to engage Mr. Jackson about his life experience and time at SXU.

With an audience of well over 50 people, most of whom were students, it seemed to be a successful event to highlight Saint Xavier’s core value of diversity as well as honor Dr. King’s legacy. It also seems in light of Mr. Jackson’s sentiment that the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy summed it up pretty well; “The cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dreams shall never die.”

Mark Piper is a senior political science major with a minor in pastoral ministry. He is from Stoughton, WI and is president of the Student Government Association. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.