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LOYOLAN
VOL.72-NO.ll LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY November 16, 1994
Men's Basketball!
Photo Courtesy of Sports Information
Senior forward Robin Kirksey, one of four starters returning for this
year's Mens' Basketball team, dribbles the ball upcourt.
CFA Reunion Draws over
600 Graduates to Campus
By Kent W. Jancarik
Assistant News Editor
On Sunday, November 13, over
six hundred LMU alumni from
the College of Communication and
Fine Arts (CFA), converged upon
LMU for a college-wide reunion.
LMU alumni back to 1942 partici¬
pated in the event, which was billed
as an opportunity for CFA alumni in
the entertainment industry to re¬
unite and network with fellow gradu¬
ates. The event was held from 5-9
p.m. at Studio
В
in the Communica¬
tion Arts Department building.
CFA Dean Thomas Kelly, who
organized the event in conjunction
with the alumni office, explained
the purpose of the reunion: “We
wanted everyone to see the tre¬
mendous accomplishments of
LMU-CFA alumni and recognize
how well they have done,” Kelly
Campus
| Life
Hop on The
Wienermobile
•page 10
Perspective
More Letters !
•page 17
Arts &
Entertainment
Interview with Local
I Band “Deluxe”
•page 21
Sports
Men’s Basketball
Preview
•pages 14-15
said.
Approximately 1 500 alumni have
graduated from the College of Fine
Arts in the past thirteen years.
Sunday’s event was viewed as an
opportunity to bring former alumni
back together and recognize the
accomplishments of their fellow
classmates.
Beyond recognizing past accom¬
plishments, the event enabled
classmates to reunite with former
professors and “get a sense of how
tremendously well people are do¬
ing in the entertainment business,”
according to Kelly.
The reunion, which was billed as
an opportunity forformer LMU-CFA
alumni to network with others in the
industry, included a number of LMU
alumni who work in the entertain¬
ment industry. Among the alumni
attending were Daniel J. Travanti,
star of Hill Street Blues, and David
Mirkin, Executive Producer of the
Simpsons. Not all of the alumni
present graduated from CFA, as
Kelly pointed out. Actor Daniel J.
Travanti, for example, graduated
from LMU with an English degree.
LMU alumni from a variety of
capacities in the entertainment in¬
dustry, including actors, produc¬
ers, directors, cinematographers,
and film editors, were well repre¬
sented at the reunion.
Kelly noted that the CFA alumni
reunion is seen as a continuing
effort by the college to mobilize
LMU alumni to create a network of
sources and contacts that will
be beneficial to future LMU
graduates. “We hope to set up
a network so that younger
people going into the enter¬
tainment industry have con¬
tacts which they can seek as¬
sistance from,” Kelly said.
All alumni attending the re¬
union were supplied with a 50-
page booklet which included
the names and addresses of
those present at the reunion.
CFA plans to follow up last
weekend’s reunion with simi¬
lar events in the future in the
hope of mobilizing LMU alumni
on an industry-wide basis.
“Many students and gradu¬
ates look for internships — we
want to create a system where
we find the very best intern¬
ships that are available based
upon what LMU students are
doing,” explained Kelly.
CFA is planning a number of
follow-up activities to last
weekend’s reunion, including
a CFA-industry mentor pro¬
gram, which would allow LMU
students to work as assistants
and gain invaluable experience
that would assist them in suc¬
cessfully competing for jobs in
the entertainment industry.
CFA also plans to have guest
speaker luncheons where stu¬
dents will be able to converse
with successful graduates
continued on page four
Beloved Teacher Hal Blair Passes Away
University Mourns Loss of
Voice Instructor and Musician
By James Keane
News Editor
Halbert Leo Blair ; Jr., a Loyola Mary mount voice instructor and beloved
friend and mentor to many, passed away on November 9.
Dr. Halbert Leo Blair, Jr., a voice
instructor in the Loyola
Marymount College of Communi-
and Fine Arts and beloved
friend and mentor to many, passed
away last Wednesday, November
9, at the age of 39. A Memorial
Service was held for Blair on Sun¬
day, November 1 3, at the First Pres¬
byterian Church of Hollywood.
Blair, who taught at Loyola
Marymount for the past six years,
died two weeks after entering the
hospital for the last time in his
struggle with the AIDS virus. He
taught throughout his illness, tak¬
ing time off only last fall. He was
instructing students this semester
up to the time he entered the hos¬
pital.
Even in his final days, noted
Cheryl Anne Roach, Blair’s fellow
teacher and close friend, he was
deeply involved in the lives of his
students. ‘The students were so
important to him,” Roach remem¬
bered. “Whenever I visited him in
the hospital, he always wanted to
know first how all of his students
were doing, what was going on in
their lives.
“Teaching was what kept him
going, what gave him purpose in
his life.’*
Blair had been in good health
after a miraculous recovery from
severe illness last spring. In Blair’s
final conducting performance be¬
fore he entered the hospital, he
performed his favorite musical
piece, “Greater Love Hath No Man,”
by John Ireland. The piece was
performed at his Memorial Service
last Sunday by the Cathedral Choir
at First Presbyterian. The song
included what Roach remembered
as Blair’s favorite inspirational lines:
“Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can the floods drown it.”
Blair is survived by his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Halbert L. Blair, Sr.,
brothers Gary and Dean Blair and
sister Deborah Pegg of Asheville
North Carolina; sister Jean Gibbs
of Shelby, North Carolina; and
continued on page three
