L
О
S A N G E L E
LOYOLAN
VOL. 70 • NO. 24
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
April 14, 1993
Fisher Chosen to Speak at Commencement
First Black Auxiliary Bishop to Address Students;
Salamunovich to Receive Honorary Degree
By Ray Watts
Editor-in-Chief
Bishop Carl Anthony Fisher, the
first African American Catholic
Bishop in the history of the Western
United States, will serve as speaker
at the 1 993 Commencement exer¬
cises on Saturday, May 8, in Sunken
Gardens.
Fisher has served as Pastor at
St. Francis Xavier, the oldest Black
parish in Baltimore, Maryland; In
this post, he was an innovator in
evangelization, and was noted na¬
tionally as a dynamic and spirit-
filled leader of an energetic com¬
munity.
He has also served as the Asso¬
ciate Pastor of St. Veronica’s
Church in the Cherry Hill section of
Baltimore City, Maryland. He has
also served as the National Direc¬
tor of Vocations for f he Society of
St. Joseph.
Bishop Fisher has also previ¬
ously served as an Associate Pas¬
tor of the Church of the Incarnation
in Washington, D.C., where he was
nationally noted as an outstanding
preacher and pulpit orator.
Mary Beth Padberg, senior, was
on the planning committee. She
said, “Bishop Fisher is a strong,
dedicated leader of the church. I
was really touched by his personal
motto, ‘Do the best you can, and
leave the rest to God.’”
Senior Camille Mosley was also
on the committee. She said, “The
first African American Bishop has
shown exemplary service to the
Los Angeles community. His ongo¬
ing work with parishioners on the
East and West Coasts has been
tremendous.”
In his role as Auxiliary Bishop,
Fisher is responsible for the San
Pedro Pastoral region, which in¬
cludes the South Bay, Avalon, and
extends out to Pico Rivera and
Whittier.
Fisher serves as one of f ive assis¬
tants to Archbishop Roger Mahony.
He has been recognized for bring¬
ing “Southern evangelism,” to the
Los Angeles area.
According to an article in the Los
Angeles Times magazine at the time
of his appointment as Bishop, Fisher
said, “Doctrinally, I am conserva¬
tive. But when it comes to the imple¬
mentation of that doctrine, I tend to
be a liberal, if there is such a crea¬
ture.”
He served in numerous other ca¬
pacities before his appointment as
Auxiliary. Bishop. These included
Procurator- Advocate of the Court of
First Instance of the Archdiocese of
Baltimore and of the Court of Ap¬
peals of the Interdiocesan Tribunal
of the Baltimore Metropolitan Prov¬
ince.
Fisher underwent cancer surgery
in April of 1 991 , and an article in the
Catholic newspaper Tidings told of
his battle with the disease.
“People always listened to me
before. Blit I think they are listening
to me even more now. Whenever I
mention the word ‘death or ‘cancer’
or lerminal disease’ I can just pause
and every — every! — face is glued to
me. So I see it as an opportunity to
really bring the gospel message even
closer to home.”
He added, “Often times we go
through life and we take things for
granted. We don’t take things as
seriously as we should. I’m trying to
bring about that greater sense of
seriousness to people in their rela¬
tionship with God.”
In addition to Fisher’s address,
the May 8 ceremony wilt be a home-
coming for former LMU Choral Di¬
rector Paul Salamunovich, who will
be returning to Westchester to re¬
ceive an honorary degree from the
Photo courtesy of Public. Relations
Salamunovich will receive an honorary degree at Commencement.
Photo courtesy of Public Relations
Commencement speaker Bishop Carl Fisher , S.S.J. , is the first Black
Auxiliary Bishop in the archdiocese and the 1 2th Black in the history
of the church to reach that rank in the United States.
University where, he served for
twenty-seven years.
Salamunovich left the school af¬
ter the 1990-1991 school year to
take over the controls of the Los
Angeles Master Chorale, a group
which was formed by his mentor,
the late Roger Wagner.
Dr. Mary Breden, current Direc¬
tor of Choral Activities for the Uni¬
versity, and a student of
Salamunovich, said, “This award
will mean more to him than any¬
thing else he has ever received. I
think this honorary degree will re¬
ally seal the bond between Paul
and the Loyola and Loyola
Marymount community.”
Breden added, “This kind of
award is so impressive because it
recognizes the breadth of work that
a person undertakes. It not only
recognizes his ability to make mu¬
sic, but also his service to the Uni¬
versity community.”
"What the University is doing by
giving this award,” Breden said, "is
recognizing the fact that Paul
Salamunovich has touched so many
lives. He has made it possible for
so many people to go to places they
-never thought they could."
Loyola Marymount University Security Increased as
Precaution Before Rodney King Civil Rights Verdict
By Lynn Segas
News Editor
I n anticipation of the verdict of the
Rodney King Civil Rights case,
Loyola Marymount University has
taken many precautions to ensure
the safety of its students.
Each student has been sent a
form outlining emergency proce¬
dures should a majorcampus emer¬
gency occur.
As the bulletin states, “In the event
of a major emergency, the Univer¬
sity has established procedures to
provide emergency information to
all students. Emergency .informa¬
tion will be disseminated directly by
emergency teams, on flyers posted
in residential buildings, and in bulle¬
tins provided by KXLU 88.9 FM or
KLMU 1060 AM. The Emergency
information line (31 0) 338-7780 will
provde recorded messages con¬
cerning the status of the University,
emergency policies, academic
schedules, and numbers to call for
more information. Ail students
should make parents or other fam¬
ily members aware, of this emer¬
gency number. In addition, other
information sources will be estab¬
lished at the time of a major emer¬
gency.”
" Captain Ray Hilyar, Director of
Loyola Mary mount University Pub¬
lic Safety, said, “We have gone
through patrol procedures, crowd
control, and suspect control train¬
ing with the Los Angeles Police
Department. This extratraining has
focused on prevention.”
He explained, “I have also hired
extra staff, whose main function is
perimeter control because jf we do
experience a problem in the com¬
munity, our perimeter defense is
our best and safest defense. It will
be better to handle those types of
problems at the doorstep, instead of
in the room.”
He continued, “I do not believe
that LMU will experience any prob¬
lem, but I am prepared to handle any
incident which may occur. I even
have a direct link with LAPD for their
response to any situation which
might arise.”
“We ask that students cooperate
with Public Safety during this period.
For students who live on campus,
we request that they stay on-cam-
pus. For those that live off-campus,
we suggest they move on-campus
and live with a friend for a couple
days," he said.*
“However, if a student must leave
campus, there are three steps which
should be followed. The first is to
inform a roommate, friend, or R.A.
of where you are going, how you can
be reached, and when you intend to
return. The second step is to contact
the person you are going to ensure
they are home and safe. The third
is to contact your family members
to keep them informed of where
you are at all times,” elaborated
Hilyar.
“We also have a radio-dis¬
patched off icer at both Barcelona
and Westchester apartments, who
has direct contact with our off ice,”
Hilyar explained. “So Public Safety
will be able to repsond to any
•situation within a couple of min¬
utes.”
George Morten, Director, Black
Student Services, commented on
the steps thqt have been taken
within Student Development Ser¬
vices. “We approached this in two
different steps. The first step was
to meet with the Directors and
Secretaries of each SDS to look
at our emotional reactions, for we
realize that we, too, will be ef¬
fected by the verdict,” Morten ex¬
plained.
He continued, “The second step
we took was the planning, both pre-
and post-verdict. Before the ver¬
dict, we are designating the
Multicultural Resource Center as a
place to meet and contemplate with
other students regarding their feel¬
ings about the verdict.”
He explained, “However, prepa¬
rations for afterthe verdict is handed
down are slightly different. The me¬
dia has built up expectations that a
major event will occur. As a result,
people are anxious. Again, we will
be available to meet with students
to talk about their reaction.”
“We are all available to meet with
students to address their concerns.
We realize that the needs of stu¬
dent? are different and we are avail¬
able to inform students about the
various resources and facilities,
such as the Counseling Center,
which are available to assist the
students,” Morten concluded.