The University of Scranton Fall Lecture in the Humanities Set for Oct. 21 Father Columba Stewart, O.S.B., executive director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) at St. John’s University, will deliver The University of Scranton’s Fall Lecture in the Humanities on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center. He will present “Recovering the voices of our ancestors: preserving the world’s endangered manuscript heritage.” The University will bestow an honorary degree upon Father Stewart at the lecture, which is open to members of the University community and invited guests. “Through his drive and initiative, Father Columba has rescued, saved, digitally archived and shared with the world ancient religious texts that were in jeopardy of being lost forever,” said Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., president of The University of Scranton. “We are delighted to recognize his lifelong commitment both to the Church and to the preservation of the world’s religious history by bestowing upon him an honorary degree.” Father Stewart was named HMML’s sixth executive director in 2003. In that role, he travels extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and South Asia cultivating relationships with communities possessing manuscript collections from the early medieval to early modern periods. Although HMML’s original efforts targeted primarily Christian collections in various European locations, under Father Stewart’s leadership, HMML’s non-European manuscript preservation projects have increased from one project in Lebanon to projects located in more than a dozen countries. During this time, HMML has photographed tens of thousands of manuscripts in many of the world’s most dangerous and difficult-to-reach places and given priority to preserving the manuscript collections of persecuted or endangered minorities. “Father Columba believes it is important to preserve these early Christian and interreligious and intercultural documents, manuscript and artifacts from our past because they help us understand not only those specific societies and cultures, but also because they help us understand more fully our connectedness as human beings,” said Gretchen J. Van Dyke, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at The University of Scranton, who first met Father Stewart when she was a Resident Scholar at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in Collegeville, Minnesota, during the 2018-2019 academic year. Since 2003, Father Stewart has secured more than $11 million in funding from leading private foundations and government agencies, including the Arcadia Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. These funders have fueled HMML’s increased field operations and supported the creation and expansion of HMML’s online platform, the largest and most comprehensive digital collection of manuscripts ever created. The online collections are available to registered users to browse through tens of thousands of manuscripts at no cost. Under his leadership HMML also completed a record-setting capital campaign in 2017 that raised more than $20 million to support HMML’s digital manuscript preservation goals and renovate HMML’s facilities in Collegeville. Under his leadership, HMML was awarded the 2011 National Medal of Honor from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the highest award a library can receive in the United States. Father Stewart was named by the NEH as the 2019 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities, the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. Fr. Columba has been featured on many national and international media outlets, including the CBS News program 60 Minutes, BBC World News, PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly as well as in The Economist, Harvard Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, NEH’s Humanities Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In December 2019, he wrote a cover story for America specifically highlighting the long Benedictine determination to preserve ancient texts around the world. Father Stewart has published extensively in his research field of early Christian monasticism and is much in demand as a presenter and lecturer. He has received numerous grants and fellowships for his own scholarship, including being named a Guggenheim Fellow and a resident member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, among others. Father Stewart earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his master’s degree from Yale University. After further studies at Saint John’s University School of Theology, he earned his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, England. He professed vows as a Benedictine monk of Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, in 1982 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1990. In 1989, he joined the faculty of the graduate School of Theology and undergraduate Department of Theology at Saint John’s University. He also currently serves as the Benedictine in residence at the Collegeville Institute.
The University of Scranton Celebrates Inauguration of 29th President “A Fire That Kindles Other Fires,” the theme chosen for the Inauguration of Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., as the 29th president of The University of Scranton, was evident throughout the address given by the new president at the ceremony. In his Inaugural Address, Father Marina referred to remarks of former Scranton presidents, words of Jesuit superior generals, the life of St. Ignatius and the accomplishments of students, faculty, staff, alumni and others, to illustrate the influence one person can have on others. “In his first inaugural address, Father Pilarz referred to our University as a miracle in the mountains. And that’s exactly what it is. But it didn’t take long for me to notice that Scranton is also a vineyard in the valley, a place where hard work, dedication, and an authentic commitment to the ideals and characteristics of Catholic and Jesuit higher education converge for the benefit of the students we serve,” said Father Marina. “This vineyard produces sweet and abundant grapes and our harvest is a harvest to be envied. … The credit goes to our wonderful students, our amazing faculty and staff, loyal trustees, alumni and benefactors who, year after year, have cultivated the soil of this vineyard to make it rich and nurturing.” Father Marina said the term “a fire that kindles other fires,” from the second decree of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, “is a metaphor that every Jesuit work, and every member of that work, can take on in a personal and apostolic way. The University of Scranton is, without a doubt, a fire that kindles other fires – one that illuminates and warms rather than burns and destroys.” Father Marina referred to the University’s sense of community as its greatest asset. “The community that is Scranton is authentic, and you can feel it almost immediately when stepping onto our beautiful campus. We are a family,” said Father Marina. “Our community is not an insulated one. It is grounded in God’s love. Our university exists because of Jesus Christ. And our future will be stoked by the fire of the Holy Spirit for decades to come. This triune reality makes our community open to all, not despite their differences, but precisely because of them. We are made stronger by our diversity and by our love for one another.” Father Marina closed his remarks citing advice he received from Scranton’s 23rd president, Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., currently the president of Fordham University: “If you love The University of Scranton, if you truly love it, then marvelous things are bound to happen.” Father Marina said that is “exactly” what he intends to do, and asked others to “please join me as we carry our mission forward, or, more rightly, may I join you? So that, together, we can cultivate this wonderful vineyard in the valley and be that fire that kindles other fires.” The Inauguration occurred during the Ignatian Year, the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. Nearly 1,500 members of the University community and invited guests attended the Inauguration, including representatives from more than 45 colleges and universities; Rev. Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J., provincial of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus, who presented the Missioning of the President at the ceremony; Scranton’s Mayor Paige Cognetti, who provided greetings from the city; and Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, who provided the Invocation, among others. Recorded greetings were given by U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a Scranton native. The Inauguration also featured the performance of an original work composed for the Inauguration by David Lantz III, titled “To the Ends of the Earth.” A recording of the ceremony is available for viewing. Photos from the event can be seen on the University’s Inauguration Flickr album.
Marywood University Ranks as Best Value Among Northeast PA Colleges in Ranking Marywood University offers the “Best Value” among Northeast Pennsylvania Universities, according to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges ranking. Marywood was also the highest ranked of only two local institutions included in U.S. News “Best Colleges for Veterans” category and the highest-ranked local institution for the “Top Performers in Social Media” category. At #25 of the regional universities (North) ranked for “Best Value,” Marywood ranked the highest of the three local four-year private colleges included in this category. According to U.S. News, the “Best Value” ranking considers a school’s academic quality. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically. Marywood University, which ranked #44 overall on the “Best Regional Universities North” list, also was the highest-ranked local university in the “Top Performers in Social Media” category at #72. Additionally, at #39, Marywood was the highest ranked of only two local universities on the “Best Colleges for Veterans” (Regional Universities North). According to U.S. News, these are the top-ranked schools in the 2022 Best Colleges rankings that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees. For additional information about Marywood University, please visit www.marywood.edu, or call the Office of Admissions, at (570) 348-6234. For additional information about Marywood’s rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, please visit www.usnews.com/best-colleges/marywood-university-3296.
