Loyola High School Students
By Nora Dabrowski
High school boys are often told to “quiet down.” But some young men need help finding their voices during those high school years.
Young men at Loyola High School in Detroit are finding, and using, their voices to convey their passion, their intellect, and their dreams.
Loyola’s young men are raising their voices in victory as champion artists and orators in the Pistons Black History Month Scholarship event, including top prizes in art and poetry slam/spoken word.
Loyola High School students have a tradition of earning scholarships and opportunities because of their many talents and unique voices.
This year, Loyola High School has launched a new opportunity for orators—the Loyola Frederick Douglass North Star Scholarship Program. The scholarship is named after the former slave who went on to become a great author, editor, orator, and abolitionist hero and the newspaper he founded, The North Star. This scholarship will close the gap in supporting a Loyola High School student, and it has the potential to make all the difference in a young man’s future.
Frederick Douglass Scholars will be recommended by Loyola faculty in their sophomore year.
Candidates must reflect the zeal of Frederick Douglass in his lifelong fight for the abolition of slavery, his dedication to the betterment of all American citizens, and his skill as an author and orator. Scholars will complete a special course of study on the life
IT IS EASIER TO BUILD STRONG CHILDREN THAN TO REPAIR BROKEN MEN.
– Frederick Douglass
of Frederick Douglass and his causes in their junior year. As a senior, each student will research and write a speech to be delivered to the Loyola Black Business Leader Advisory Group Breakfast on February 14, Frederick Douglass Day.
The cost per student at Loyola High School Detroit is $20,000 annually, but students pay no more than $4,300 annually. Loyola families pay what they can afford, which averages to about $1,200 per student.
The Frederick Douglass North Star Scholarship program has been launched by a donation from a dedicated history buff who included with the financial gift an artifact of Frederick Douglass’s—a signed land contract. Loyola High School is honored and inspired by the young men who raise their voices.
The Bridge
to Make a
Difference
By Maura Graham
The Society of Jesus has been renowned in education for centuries, with the first Jesuit schools opening in the late 1540s. But education doesn’t come without its expenses. Who supports this endeavor? Advancement teams help make Jesuit education accessible to all by building networks with donors.
For many, institutional advancement is more than a job, but rather a lifetime calling. Ed Evert, a graduate of Chicago’s Saint Ignatius College Prep, returned to Ignatius to serve in advancement for over 23 years. Days before his passing this January, Evert was still meeting with constituents and friends of the school. His last meeting was with fellow alum Al Bartkus. They did not know each other during their time at Ignatius, but met at a golf fundraiser and began a decades-long friendship. During their final meeting, Bartkus says that Evert was “as passionate and lively an advocate for their alma mater as ever.”
Shannon Watry
Alumni often choose to give back, and many donors to Jesuit works hope to honor the people who made sacrifices on their behalf. Tony Schad, senior director of advancement at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, has countless stories of these alumni. He says, “We’ve got an alum in Louisville, whose father passed when he was here. He was going to have to transfer because his mom couldn’t afford to send him to St. X. And the president at the time went to him and said ‘No, we’re going to make sure you’ll graduate.’”
“Years down the line, he has the wherewithal to come back and say, ‘I want to pay you for what the Jesuits did for me back then, by giving back the full year’s tuition for some young man.’ When he graduated the Jesuits probably had to cover like $400. Now our tuition is more than $16,000. And he wrote us a check for $16,000. Because of how important it was to him to stay at St. X, what it did for him down the road.”
Not every school can rely on a large base of generous alumni, though. In recent decades, Jesuits have opened schools serving students from families of modest economic means, which offer a quality education while charging little to no tuition. Bill McGrail, director of development at Detroit’s Loyola High School, explains that he must find people like himself, who are “in the mission for the mission.”
Shannon Watry, senior director of advancement at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Milwaukee, finds that different parts of the mission inspire their partners, ranging from the corporate work study program to the holistic approach of Jesuit education. “They come to us from all different walks of life, but all our partners are committed to engaging with our future.”
“[Advancement] really is the link between our larger community and achieving their goals through the next generation of students. Whether that’s through their emphasis or passion for work, for faith, for service for those in need. My job is really the bridge between individuals who want to make a difference in the world, and how to make that difference.”
IN THIS ISSUE
Photo: Steve Donisch