Century of Service

Loyola School celebrates heritage of forming 'men and women for others'

By JOHN BURGER

For Nancy Fernandez, the small student body at Loyola School in Manhattan means that she won't ever be "just another number."

"Everybody knows you," said Nancy, a junior from Manhattan's West Side who plays on the varsity basketball squad and is a member of the Loyola Singers.

"There's a big emphasis on getting everybody to know each other," added Mary Kate Burke, a senior from Manhattan and editor of the school newspaper, The Blazer. "You get acclimated right away."

Calvin Bonas, a senior from the Bronx, explained that a peer leadership program, in which he and other selected seniors mentor small groups of freshmen, encourages younger students to get involved in extracurricular activities and "have a social life." The groups meet biweekly to see how new students are making the transition to high school.

But the camaraderie, important as it is to the 204 students of the high school, isn't everything. The academic curriculum is designed to be both Christian and humanistic. With a strong core curriculum and honors courses available in English, languages, math and science, students are well-prepared for college, and many go to Ivy League schools and Jesuit universities.

Loyola, at 83rd Street and Park Avenue, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. New York Auxiliary Bishop William J. McCormack, national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, who attended Loyola, celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Ignatius Loyola Church Oct. 3 to open the centennial celebration.

A renovated commons area, including a cafeteria, locker area and faculty offices, was blessed and dedicated two days earlier. The $2.8 million renovation also involved new lighting and air conditioning in the gym. The centennial year will conclude next spring with a pilgrimage to sites in Europe associated with St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.

The school, encouraging students to put religion into action, has introduced a Christian service program. Freshmen are introduced to Christian service through a number of small projects such as preparing Thanksgiving dinners for the less fortunate and taking the elderly for a walk in the park. Sophomores cook for and interact with residents of the homeless shelter which St. Ignatius parish conducts in the church basement next door. And juniors must complete 20 hours of service--and seniors 40--at a site of their choice.

"We felt that as a Catholic Jesuit school we were committed to working with students on their faith and spiritual growth development," said Father Joseph J. Papaj, S.J., president and headmaster since 1995. "One ideal we hold out to students is to become men and women for others. Christian service helps foster that."

Father Papaj was headmaster of Xavier High School in Manhattan in the early 1980s.

Loyola was founded for sons of well-to-do Catholics by Father Neil Norbert McKinnon, S.J., pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola parish. It was under Father McKinnon that the present St. Ignatius Church was built in 1898. The school was opened Oct. 1, 1900, but classes were held at first in the parlor of the priests residence because strikes in 1899 delayed the shipments of iron and steel needed for construction.

The school almost closed a few times over the years because of financial problems. Father Robert I. Gannon, S.J., president of Fordham University from 1936 to 1949, was appointed president of Loyola School in 1952 and given instructions to gradually close it. Instead, Father Gannon, an alumnus himself, doubled enrollment and oversaw the building of a gymnasium, library and cafeteria. He served at Loyola until 1958.

In 1973 the school became independent and financially separate from the Society of Jesus, although retaining a strong Jesuit affiliation. In 1981, the school also became independent of the parish, and the president was no longer the pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola parish.

Enrollment was opened to girls in 1973, and Loyola is the only co-ed Jesuit high school in the metropolitan area. Girls make up about half the student body. One of the first girls was Mary Gabriel Murphy, who went on to Yale and then attended Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.

Father James F. Fox, S.J., who was president from 1981 to 1995, is credited with getting the school through another rough financial period and attracting high-quality teachers with competitive salaries. Under his leadership, the first computers were brought in. Loyola was named a School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education in 1988.

The school is proud of its alumni, who include New York Giants owner Wellington Mara; "High Infidelity" playwright John Dooley; Fred Gretsch of Gretsch Guitars; Peter Mullen, former president and chairman of the law firm Skadden Arps, and pro-life attorney Lawrence Washburn.

Kristina Chan, who graduated in June, was awarded a New York Times College Scholarship worth $12,000 annually for four years, and paired with a mentor, already has had byline articles in the Times. She is studying at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

"It's a fascinating student body in terms of talent," said Father Eugene J. Prior, S.J., assistant headmaster for student affairs, who started teaching at Loyola as a Jesuit scholastic in 1949.

Father Prior is in charge of JUG--detention. The origin of the term, known only to students at Jesuit schools, is thought to be from the Latin jugum, meaning yoke or burden--but students say it is an acronym for "Justice under God." There is a picture of a chopping block and ax on the bulletin board outside Father Prior's office with a quotation from Scripture: "Whom the Lord loves, he disciplines." With an emphasis on productivity, JUG often includes cleaning the cafeteria, straightening up the athletic area or helping with mailings.

Father Prior is well-loved and trusted by students, and the school has created an award in his name, the Prior Medal, for parents, alumni or faculty demonstrating the same kind of love he has for students.

Loyola's faculty of 38 and staff includes five Jesuits. Fathers Anthony Aracich, S.J., and Michael E. Sehler, S.J., are foreign language teachers. On sabbatical is Father James J. Curry, S.J., theology teacher.

Former presidents include Father William T. Wood, S.J., 1960 to 1966, and Father John W. Kelly, S.J., 1975 to 1981. Michael J. Guerra, headmaster from 1968 to 1982, is the only layman to have held the position. Father Robert J. Haskins, S.J., was headmaster from 1960 to 1968.

Students come from all five boroughs and from Westchester County, Long Island and New Jersey. Student-to-teacher ratio is about 15-1. Tuition is $14,000 a year, but the school offers more than $400,000 in financial assistance to deserving students. About 36 percent receive financial aid.

The centennial year at Loyola has been a good one for sports, with Independent Schools Athletic League championships for the boys varsity basketball team--The Knights--for the third straight year and the boys varsity cross country team. The boys varsity baseball team captured its first regular season championship in more than 30 years, and boys varsity soccer secured the championship for the first time in 10 years.

The school is halfway through a $10 million capital campaign, with the view of using the funds to attract high quality faculty and beginning a "volunteer immersion" program which would enable students to take long-term volunteer opportunities in Appalachia or for the building program Habitat for Humanity.

Students have a retreat each year. It begins with a day of recollection in freshman year and works up to a four-day senior retreat called "Kairos," which is peerand faculty-directed. Father Thomas Prout, S.J., school chaplain and theology teacher, directs the retreats. "They help students fulfill the principle of finding God in all things and helps them see God's presence and closeness in their life," he told CNY. "I'm just amazed at the goodness of God and the openness and generosity of students. It's a real joy to be involved in it."