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EST. 1921
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VOLUME 94 I ISSUE 21
LMU honors Philippine President
Caroline Burt | Loyolan
[From left to right] Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, President of the Philippines Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and LMU President Tim Snyder participate in a
ceremony to award Aquino an honorary degree in the presence of the LMU community.
Family Weekend
unites Lions
LMU honors a current head of
state for the first time.
AN Swenson
Senior Editor
@LALoyolan
President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino
III received an honorary doctorate in humane
letters degree from LMU in an invitation-only
ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Students, staff, faculty, Board of Trustees
members, community members and elected
officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric
Garcetti and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters,
attended the event, which took place in the Life
Sciences Building auditorium at noon.
Aquino, who is the Philippines’ 15th
president and the son of former President
Corazon Aquino and Sen. Benigno Aquino
)r., came to LMU on the heels of a two -day
summit with President Barack Obama and
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in
Palm Springs. He was honored with a degree,
according to University President Timothy
Law Snyder, because he embodies the spirit of
LMU “glowingly and successfully.”
“ He has spent his life protecting the integrity
of the individual, pursuing the common good,
he has produced meaningful social change
in his country and he role models the values,
character and purpose of what we life here at
LMU as a Jesuit and Marymount Institution,”
said Snyder.
In Aquino’s keynote address, he spoke about
his own Jesuit education — he graduated
from Ateneo de Manila University in Manila,
Philippines in 1981.
“The be-all and end-all of our existence
here is how does it lead to the bettering of the
condition of the other?” he said. “The greatest
commandment is to love one another.”
Aquino also spoke about the morality of
right and wrong.
“Perhaps I can use the words of a colleague
of mine in Congress when he said our difficulty
is always being able to say that we can, by
default, choose the difficult right over the easy
wrong,” he said.
He highlighted his efforts toward educating
people in the Philippines, assisting millions of
families to keep their children in school. While
listing his accomplishments, Aquino was
grateful rather than boastful.
“I can go on and on with the list of things
that I keep saying we have done,” he said.
“I have not done all of these things. It is the
people who elected me to office . It is the people
who write me ... all of the vested interests ... it
is the people who continuously express their
support.”
In welcoming Aquino to Los Angeles,
Garcetti discussed his own connection to the
Philippines. His grandfather, an immigrant
to the United States, earned his citizenship
fightingin the Philippines during World War II .
Waters emphasized the size and strength of
the Filipino community in Los Angeles, and
particularly in her congressional district , which
ishome to over 21,000 Filipino-Americans.
“These Filipino-Americans are a significant
part of the multicultural fabric that makes the
Los Angeles area a great place to live ” she said.
After words of welcome and a citation from
Board of Trustees Chair Kathleen Harmon
Aikenhead, Snyder bestowed the degree upon
Aquino. Edward James Asuncion, a senior
accounting major and president of Isang Bansa,
presented Aquino with cords representing the
colors of the Philippine flag.
“It was a great honor to just be up there as a
student,” Asuncion said. “I think a majority of
what he said really relates to Filipino people.”
The ceremony was co-sponsored by the
School of Education’s Teachfor the Philippines
Program and the World PoUcy Institute at LMU .
A video recording of the event can be viewed at
www.lmu . edu/r es ourc es /lives t rea m .
A variety of activities
greeted LMU families this
week.
Gillian Boss
Staff Writer
@LALoyolan
The LMU community grew this past
weekend as hundreds of parents, siblings and
grandparents came together for the annual
Family Weekend.
Whitney DeBruin, a Parent Programs and
Parent Giving associate, discussed how the
weekend provides families of all class years
the opportunity to personally experience the
academic, service and social aspects at LMU
that their Lions experience every day.
“Family Weekend is an opportunity
for current students to invite their family
members back to LMU's campus, so everybody
from parents, to aunts, uncles, cousins,
siblings, etc. are able to see what it is like for
an LMU student,” DeBruin said. “This year in
particular what we decided to do was break up
the weekend. ... So on Friday we focused the
events aroundthe encouragement of learning.”
The weekend began with a Welcome Lunch
at Lawton Plaza on Friday, Feb. 19 as well as
campus toms of the Life Sciences building,
Harmon Library, Sacred Heart Chapel and
even the Ballona Discovery Park.
Academic Deans’ Sessions took place for all
colleges , giving parents an opportunity to learn
more about their student’s college and their
respective deans. Following the Academic
Deans’ individual sessions, parents had the
opportunity to join the deans and faculty
from all schools and colleges at an Academic
Reception.
In addition to meeting with the deans and
hearing from President Snyder, one of the
highlights for Family Weekend was the special
Shabbat dinner where Jewish families gathered
for a festive Kosher meal. This event allowed
Jewish families and students to connect with
each other and Jewish faculty and staff, as well
as provide an opportunity to hear about Jewish
life at LMU.
Parents of graduating seniors were invited
to join Brian Slaught (’09) for a tasting tour
of “Beer in America” that gave seniors the
opportunity to toast to their parents. Many
other students attended the Delta Desserts
for Family Weekend, as the women of LMU’s
Delta Delta Delta sorority hosted a night of
all- you- can- eat desserts for their bi-annual
philanthropy event .
“We’re trying to touch more groups and
clubs and organizations on campus and invite
them to be a part of family weekend, so Tri
Delta reached out to us and wanted to be a part
of Family Weekend, so we were able to work
with them on that DeBruin explained.
Another new event for Family Weekend
included LMU’s Best Dance Crew. Kuumba
Beatz, IB Modem and Radix performed while
parents and students watched the student
performers battle it out for the title of LMU’s
Best Dance Crew.
Freshman studio arts major with a
multimedia emphasis Bridget Lewis attended
the dance competition with her parents and
younger brother.
Lewis stated, “For me, personally, my
See Family | Page 3
