Values Added
By Kevin Knight
Illustration by Justin Renteria
You don’t find that everywhere. LMU is a special place. I think, for example, about how our Parents Fund gift helped support the 2011 Bellarmine Forum, which honored the school’s centennial by posing questions such as, “What kind of university will Loyola Marymount University be?” and “What will be the emphasis and the direction of the institution in the future?”
This type of introspection and inquiry is one of the consistent and remarkable factors that drive the quality of the LMU experience. This is the Jesuit method of going deep into a subject, learning as much as possible about it, looking at it from different directions and perspectives, and having all of that inform your point of view.
An LMU education bestows on its students intangible values that last a lifetime. And yet all of us need to redouble our efforts to increase the very tangible career benefit of possessing an LMU degree. This means helping students find their first job and providing alumni with improved ways to stay networked, involved and committed to assisting one another.
Each of us who cares about the institution also needs to ensure that LMU continues to be able to attract the same high quality of students, faculty and staff, and to develop the same facilities and initiatives that have defined the school for 100 years.
President David W. Burcham is well aware of the need to place a brake on the escalating cost of higher education. This is an issue at most, if not all, campuses in the nation. President Burcham has made it clear — and I strongly agree — that to help in this fight, LMU’s scholarship endowment must and will increase.
The scholarship that my family is funding will be awarded annually by the members of the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon, in honor of William Fulco, S.J. He is another great example of why the LMU experience is so extraordinary. Jackson was a SigEp fraternity brother; Father Fulco attended every one of the organization’s Sunday night meetings and added a crucial spiritual presence.
LMU has always been home to a special group of people who see a bigger purpose for their lives. The value of an LMU education is incomparable, and all of us must do everything we can to help the university provide teaching and guidance to the extraordinary men and women we are proud to welcome and call Lions.