Merrifield speaks of LMU s
goals, minority policies, future
by Jerry Weaker
Donald MeiTifield, S.J., LMU
president, addressed a crowd of
faculty, staff and administrators
last Tuesday in St. Robert’s
Audiorium. His speech concen¬
trated on the future of LMU and
served to clarify further the
recently formed position of ex¬
ecutive vice-president, currently
held by Dr. James Foxworthy.
Merrifield also stressed his
commitment to a “multicultural
campus.
“The ability of LMU to attract
significant numbers of
minorities is hot as great as it
should be, but it is increasing.
We are proud to be the private
institution of the west with the
largest pecentage of
minorities,” Merrifield said.
Merrifield reported on the
University’s fund-raising efforts.
By establishing the position of
executive vice-president, Mer¬
rifield can now devote a large
portion of his time to gathering
funds.
Curently, LMU has reached
the midpoint of its $24 million
fund-raising goal.
“There are many jDOSitive
signs, but also negative ones
coming in so far in fund-raising
effort,” Merrifield said. “Among
the negative is that we may have
already tapped the large donors,
but I tend to dismiss that. The in¬
crease in other large gifts
proves the validity of having an
executive vice-president.
“Since Christmas, we have
collected $4 million. These gifts
have come from pedple long
assoiciated with the University
and are due largely to the efforts
of Fr. Cassassa, LMU
Chancellor.”
The majority of the funds will
be applied to the construction of
the Fine Arts complex. A selec¬
tion committee is in the process
of evaluating architects for the
job. Merrifield said he is con¬
sidering having the same ar¬
chitectural firm design the
Business and Psychology
building also, in an effort to save
time and costs.
Merrifield outlined the
priorities in the University’s five-
year macro-budget. Among the
major priorities are faculty and
staff salaries, human services,
upgrading the library collection
and an expanded sports pro¬
gram, particularly womens’
sports.
A visit to the Washington,
D.C. area recently reconfirmed
Merrifield’s belief in the success
of LMU’s undergraduate educa¬
tion. “In terms of academic suc¬
cess we are evaluated by our
graduates. Currently we have 17
graduates in the medical and
dental schools of Georgetown
and 7 to 8 students at a time in
Georgetown Law School/.’ Many
(Continued on page 2)
Jeff Thomas, half of LMU's top debate team, was victorious at the
University of Arizona tournament held last weekend. Arizona marked the
seventh consecutive tournament at which Thomas and partner Doug Cot¬
ton have placed fourth or better. (Loyolan photo by Jerry Wenker)
Fr. Donald Merrifield: “the ability of the campus to attract significant numbers of minorities is not as great as it
should be, but it is increasing. We are proud to be the private institution of the west with the largest percentage of
minorities/' (Loyolan photo by Bob Eljiott)
Debaters take first
at Arizona tourney
Doug Cotton and Jeff
Thomas, LMU’s top debate
team, continued their suc¬
cessful season by capturing
first place at the University of
Arizona National Debate Tour¬
nament held last weekend in
Tuscon* Arizona.
This was Cotton and Thomas’
second victory of the year, hav¬
ing won the University of Utah
National Invitational Tourna¬
ment in January.
Forty-eight colleges and
universities participated in the
Arizona tournament. Cotton and
Thomas were undefeated, win¬
ning all 10 of their debates— six
during the preliminary competi¬
tion and four during elimination
rounds.
Only one of the seventeen
critics judging the LMU
sophomores voted against
them. The quarter-final, semi¬
final, and final rounds were
unanimous decisions for Cotton
and Thomas.
During the preliminary
rounds, they defeated the
University of Arizona, the Univer¬
sity of Wyoming and the Univer¬
sity of Northern Colorado.
The top debate teams from
Southern Utah State University,
U.S.C. and the University of Utah
were outmatched by LMU’s best
in elimination competition.
This represents the seventh
consecutive tournament in
which Cotton and Thomas have
placed fourth or higher.
Concerning the victory, Jeff
Thomas said, “It’s a great feel¬
ing to be successful as- an in¬
dividual team, but it’s important
to realize that our victories are
victories for the entire squad.
Debate is not a two-man effort.
Without the contributions of our
fellow squad members and
those of Jay Busse, our coach,
our success would be much
( more limited.”