FR. MORRISON AT THE END OF A MISSION Page 14

Exploring the 10 Commandments Page 22

The Millennium in Western Society Page 30 WINTER 1999

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

AT THE END OF A MISSION: The Rev. 14 Michael G. Morrison, S.J., tells writer Bob Reilly that life as Creighton’s 22nd president has been more than a job — it’s been a mission. Fr. Morrison has announced he will step down as the University’s chief executive on or before June 30, 2000. Now in his 19th year, Creighton’s longest-serving president will leave behind a legacy of accomplishments.

ABOUT THE COVER... Six hundred unique images and 2,400 total images of Creighton University — its people, places and stories — were used to make up the front-cover photo illustration of Father Morrison for this issue. The magazine’s editors extend a special thank you to College of Business Administration junior Jay Langhurst for use of his digital pictures of campus. Other pictures were culled from previous WINDOW magazines and other sources. The original picture of Father Morrison was taken by Monte Kruse, BA’83.

2 WINTER 1999 INSIDE

4 • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

5 • LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

6 • UNIVERSITY NEWS

8 • INTERCHURCH MARRIAGES: A Creighton study finds that sharing religious activities and managing religious differences play a vital role in marital success.

EXPLORING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: 12 • THE SOUND OF MOONLIGHT: 22 Are the Ten Commandments “etched in Creighton’s Lied Education Center for the stone?” Biblical scholar Leonard Greenspoon, Arts is home to a 71-piece Javanese gamelan. Ph.D., Creighton’s Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, provides insights into how changes in 36 • PROFILE cultural, social and historical circumstances have 36 • HOOP DREAMS: The NBA’s Charlotte shaped one of the most recognizable of Old Hornets name Creighton alumnus Paul Silas, Testament doctrines. BSBA’64, as the franchise’s fifth head coach.

40 • ALUMNI NEWS

41 • ORGAN DONORS: Creighton alumnus Robert Metzger, MD’64, serves on two national committees within the transplant field.

46 • A VOICE FOR THE HILLS: CU alumna Janice Marcantonio, BSN’83, works to preserve a unique land formation shaped by the runoff from ancient glaciers.

50 • DEVELOPMENT NEWS

51 • THE LAST WORD

51 • THE OTHER SIDE OF HENRY JAMES: Usually depicted as an ultra-proper, uptight, reclusive and elitist writer, renowned American author Henry James reveals a warm, tender, informal side in his personal letters.

CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE’S PURPOSE Creighton University Magazine, like the University itself, is committed to THE MILLENNIUM IN WESTERN excellence and dedicated to the pursuit of truth in all its forms. The maga- 30 SOCIETY: History professor Eileen zine will be comprehensive in nature. It will support the University’s mis- sion of education through thoughtful and compelling feature articles on a Dugan, Ph.D., investigates how people have variety of topics. It will feature the brightest, the most stimulating, the most viewed the millennium and the end of time. She inspirational thinking that Creighton offers. The magazine also will promote Creighton, and its Jesuit Catholic identity, to a broad public and serve as a writes that while millennialism has its roots in vital link between the University and its constituents. The magazine will be the Judeo-Christian anticipation of a Messiah, guided by the core values of Creighton: the inalienable worth of each indi- vidual, respect for all of God’s creation, a special concern for the poor, and it has evolved over time to a more secular the promotion of justice. celebration.

WINTER 1999 3 LETTERS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR is growing, more money is lent in, providing a temporary sur- plus. Some of that is used to pay off interest on previous debt. As RELIGION NOT DEAD long as we increase the money supply, there is no need for huge I hope you received a lot of letters regarding Brian Hill’s amounts of bankruptcy as a means of disappearing debt. “Dead Hand of Religion” letter (Fall ‘99). It should be said that Continued growth is important to our economy. But what David Hume’s primary method of tossing out a logical proof of happens when we no longer want growth? Economists should God, the denial of causality, effectively would dispose of the sci- create a virtual reality situation and explore our options. It’s not entific method as well. And Kant, while asserting that the exis- too soon to start. tence of God could not be ascertained through “Pure Reason,” Ward R. Anthony, MD’54 posited God’s existence in his Critique of Practical Reason. Boulder, Colo. Mr. Hill cites various “disaster” phenomena as evidence against order in creation. In fact, it takes a very unique and INSULIN DEBATE orderly set of physical events to create a hurricane or tornado. I have read only one article in the fall issue, but since it con- What Mr. Hill’s letter boils down to is that he has chosen to place tains an unfortunate error, I feel the need to inform you of it his faith in, not the scientific method, but the icon of science. I immediately. Banting and Best did not isolate insulin. The Nobel feel he ought to admit that and refrain from ridiculing believers Prize was given jointly to Banting and Macleod, but both who, with the same evidence but perhaps a different perspective Banting’s paranoia and Canadian chauvinism conspired to have — and trusting in the testimony of Jesus Christ — choose to go Macleod treated as a fraud and a cheat. This was probably the with God. most acrimonious feud ever encountered in physiology. Macleod I abandoned my faith, with the best intentions, while in college divided his share of the prize with Collip, a biochemist who and was blessed to have it find me again 11 years later in Las more than anyone else made the isolation possible. Banting Vegas. (That alone should prove God exists, and that He has a divided his with Best, a medical student at the time. The whole sense of humor.) I found that pride lies behind disbelief, where sorry episode has been described by Michael Bliss, a University ignorance is absent. It is a bitter path to follow. of Toronto historian, who had access to the long-ignored Another note: I hope Creighton’s administration supports Ex archives. Corde Ecclesiae. It is imperative that the faith be taught for what it D.F. Magee, M.D., Ph.D. is, the truth, at what few Catholic universities there are! Professor of Physiology, Emeritus Bob Henchal Jr., BA’75 New Brighton, Minn. Editor’s note: Writer Lori Elliott-Bartle did not credit Banting and Best with isolating insulin in her article, “Peptides: Messengers Between the Cells.” She said, MORE ON BANKRUPTCY “Peptides have been used therapeutically since Dr. Frederick I found your discussion on the issue of bankruptcy (Spring Banting and Charles Best ... discovered that insulin ... could ‘99) interesting. But there is a salient underlying consideration be extracted from animal tissue and injected into humans to that needs to be discussed. control diabetes.” As with most research, this clinical When our Federal Reserve lends money into the economy, it advance was part of a team effort described vividly in only lends in principal. Due in return is principal and interest. Michael Bliss’ book The Discovery of Insulin. Dr. Magee is The money lent is basically created from nothing. When it is paid right to point out that Dr. James Bertram (Bert) Collip isolat- back, it disappears into nothing. Since interest due on this princi- ed insulin. Dr. John James Rickard (J.J.R.) Macleod, an expert pal is not lent in, we will always be short. How do we deal with on carbohydrate metabolism, directed portions of the this shortage? One way is through bankruptcy. Money lost via research, and Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel bankruptcy disappears, returns whence it came. If the economy Prize in 1923.

Publisher: Creighton University; Rev. Michael G. Morrison, S.J., President; Michael E. Leighton, Vice President for University Relations. Creighton University Magazine staff: Stephen T. Kline, Executive Editor; Rick Davis, Editor; Sheila Swanson, Associate Editor; Pamela A. Vaughn, Associate Editor. Editorial Advisors: Charles Dougherty, Ph.D.; M. Roy Wilson, M.D.; Mark Huber, and Diane Dougherty.

Creighton University Magazine (USPS728-070) is published quarterly in February, May, August and November by Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178-0001. Periodicals postage paid at Omaha, Nebraska, and additional entry points. Address all mail to Public Relations and Information, Omaha, NE 68178. Postmaster: Send change of address to Creighton University Magazine, P.O. Box 3266, Omaha, NE 68103-0078.

RECYCLED COPYRIGHT © 1999 BY CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY AND RECYCLABLE

4 WINTER 1999 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

A Century of Service and Growth

This is my final Creighton University Magazine column A dramatic change in the struc- before the year 2000. It seems an appropriate time to ture of the University occurred in look back on a century of service and growth at the 1968 when the board of directors, University. which consisted of five members In the 1890s, the Rev. William F. Rigge, S.J., wrote in of the Society of Jesus, voted to his memoirs that Creighton seemed “doomed to extinc- expand and restructure itself to tion.” Fewer than 200 undergraduate students were include lay persons. enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences, which was In 1982, the School of Pharmacy founded in 1878. expanded to become the School of Under CU President the Rev. Michael P. Dowling, S.J., Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. In 1983, the School of Law (1904) and the Schools of Dentistry University College opened to make credit courses and Pharmacy (1905) joined the School of Medicine and degree opportunities available to non-traditional (1892) as Creighton’s professional schools. students. World War I cast a shadow over the early part of the The “Creighton 2000” strategic vision was developed 20th Century. By Armistice in the late 1980s, providing Day, Nov. 11, 1918, the foundation for the Creighton counted 1,377 Creighton 2000 Campaign, war casualties among its which by 1998 raised $127 faculty, alumni and stu- million. It was the most dents. Nearly 30 gave successful campaign in the their lives. University’s history. The College of Creighton’s burgeoning Commerce, Accounts campus is a testament to the and Finance (now the University’s success: The College of Business Cardiac Center, the Beirne Administration) was Research Tower, the Lied established in 1920. The Education Center for the decade saw the end of one Arts and the renovated Creighton University’s Administration Building at the of the visions of the found- dawn of the 20th Century. Klutznick Law Library are ing family. Economic reali- among the bricks-and-mor- ty required that tuition be charged for the College of tar symbols of success. New scholarships have been Arts and Sciences starting in 1924. funded. Creighton’s health sciences clinics continue to The Graduate School was founded in 1926. Two years expand their reach into the community. later, a bachelor of science degree in nursing was set up. Creighton enters the Year 2000 as the No. 1 ranked The Graduate School conferred its first doctorate in Midwestern regional university in U.S. News & World 1971, the same year a free-standing College of Nursing Report magazine’s annual “Best Colleges” issue. (now the School of Nursing) was established. Creighton is among the top 100 best values among pri- By the end of World War II, 2,000 Creighton students, vate universities, according to Kiplinger’s Personal faculty or alumni were in uniform. One hundred died. Finance Magazine, and Money Magazine ranks Creighton One, Ensign John J. Parle, BSC’42, was awarded the as one of the nation’s best educational values. Medal of Honor posthumously. One hundred years after Fr. Rigge’s gloomy assess- The Rev. Carl M. Reinert, S.J., became Creighton’s ment, Creighton University is stronger than ever. president in 1950 and the University experienced a boom under his leadership.

WINTER 1999 5 UNIVERSITY NEWS

BARRETT FIRST CREIGHTON GOVERNOR

Creighton University of Wyoming. stipulates that 90 percent honorary Doctor of Laws Magazine erroneously He was elected four of mineral revenues from degree in 1958. identified Nebraska Gov. times as a Republican to that oil-rich state stay in “When I read of some of Michael O. Johanns as the U.S. House, where he Alaska, Judge Barrett said. the things that are happen- “Creighton’s first gover- served from 1943 to 1950. As governor, one of his ing today, I can’t help but nor” in the August 1999 He was elected governor of significant accomplish- reflect on how he was issue. Wyoming in 1950, serving ments was the “town-to- completely honest, how his That distinction belongs from January 1951 until county” road system that sole purpose was to serve. to the Honorable Frank A. Jan. 2, 1953, when he improved transportation in He was completely moral Barrett, BA‘13, LLB‘16, … he was an absolutely who served as governor of decent person,” Judge Wyoming from 1951 to Barrett said. 1953. Barrett is the only Frank A. Barrett died of person in Wyoming histo- leukemia at age 69 on May ry elected to the U.S. 30, 1962, in Cheyenne. His House, the Senate and the two sons and his daughter governorship, said his son, went on to distinguished Judge James E. Barrett of careers. The late Dr. Francis Cheyenne, Wyo., a senior Barrett, Arts‘42, practiced judge on the 10th U.S. medicine in Cheyenne and Circuit Court of Appeals. served in the Wyoming “He was a shining State Senate. (Dr. Barrett example for me of indus- left $25,000 for the estab- try, dedication and love of lishment of the Francis A. his fellow man,” Judge Barrett and Harriet Barrett Barrett said. Scholarship at Creighton.) Frank A. Barrett Judge James E. Barrett was born in Omaha served as Wyoming’s attor- on Nov. 10, 1892. After ney general prior to his receiving his degrees from appointment to the 10th Creighton, he served as a U.S. Circuit Court of sergeant in the U.S. Army Appeals. Frank A. Barrett’s Balloon Corps during daughter, Marialyce Barrett World War I. He was Tobin, has practiced law in admitted to the bar in 1919 Casper, Wyo., for many and opened a practice in resigned because of his rural Wyoming, Judge years. Lusk, Wyo., where he set- election to the U.S. Senate. Barrett said. Dr. Barrett’s son, James tled with his wife, Alice, Frank Barrett champi- Barrett lost his Senate H. Barrett, JD ‘72, of also an Omaha native. oned legislation that affect- re-election bid in 1958. He Cheyenne, is Wyoming’s Barrett was Niobrara ed public lands, mining served as general counsel chief assistant federal County, Wyo., county and livestock. He worked to the U.S. Department public defender. attorney from 1923 to 1932. to ensure that Wyoming of Agriculture, and he Frank A. Barrett’s broth- He was a member of the and similar mineral-rich served as a member of er, the late John C. Barrett, Wyoming State Senate states got their fair share of the board of directors of Law‘13, and his nephew, from 1933 to 1935, and a revenues. A Barrett- the Commodity Credit James E. Barrett, LLB‘48, member of the board of proposed amendment to Corp. in 1959 and 1960. of Reston, Va., also are trustees of the University the Alaska Statehood Act Creighton gave him an Creighton alums.

6 WINTER 1999 UNIVERSITY NEWS

LAW DEAN STUDIED PHYSICS Patrick Borchers, the new dean of Creighton’s School of (now Supreme Court Justice) Anthony Kennedy and then Law, can comfortably discuss international law or the laws of practiced law in Sacramento, Calif., for three years. physics, although he may be a bit rusty with the latter. Encouraged by his wife, Judy, Borchers pursued a career in Borchers was a physics major at the University of Notre academics and, in 1990, became an assistant professor at Dame and is the son of Robert R. Albany (N.Y.) Law School, where he Borchers, an internationally recog- eventually was named an associate dean. nized physicist and former academi- He learned of the Creighton opening cian now working as a director at the through his professional association with prestigious National Science Creighton law faculty Ralph Whitten Foundation. and Larry Teply. “I followed my father into physics,” “Being a part of a Jesuit school was Borchers said. “I liked physics, and I very appealing,” Borchers said. “And did well. But then I wanted to do Creighton has always been known as a something different.” place that really, really cares about the Borchers, a member of the student education of its students.” senate at Notre Dame, decided to pur- Borchers said since arriving on cam- sue his growing interest in politics. pus, he has been impressed with the After graduating cum laude in physics quality of Creighton’s faculty, staff and from Notre Dame in 1983, Borchers students. One of his goals is to heighten enrolled in law school at the the law school’s presence nationally. Photo by Monte Kruse, BA’83 University of California, Davis. “We need to push the envelope on the His subsequent political work was brief and limited. national scene,” Borchers said. “Many of our faculty have a While living in Livermore, Calif., he helped organize a national presence, but we have to do even more. And that’s successful, pro-environmental ballot initiative to limit not going to happen overnight.” hillside development in the city. Borchers and his wife have four children, ages 20, 19, 13 In 1986, Borchers clerked for then 9th U.S. Circuit Judge and 8, and are expecting another this month.

CREIGHTON RANKED NO. 1, BEST VALUE AGAIN For the fourth year in a row, All of the rankings are at the This was the first review by University, agreed with Creighton University was U.S. News Web site: Kiplinger’s of private universi- Kiplinger’s magazine’s editors ranked as the No. 1 Midwest- www.usnews.com. ties, which were ranked that rankings are not the decid- ern regional university in U.S. Creighton University according to quality and ing factor in choosing a college. News & World Report maga- also was affordability. While there are “While I’m pleased Creighton zine’s annual “Best Colleges” named 1,600 private universities in University was ranked among guidebook. The rankings in- among the the country, to arrive the top 100 best values and No. clude more than 1,400 schools. top 100 at the 1 for the fourth year in a row According to the U.S. News “Values Top 100 by U.S. News & World Report, I criteria, regional universities in Private Values believe that rankings are a provide a full range of under- Colleges” in Private starting point for parents and graduate and master’s level in the Colleges their children to look at when programs, but they offer few September rankings, considering a college or uni- doctoral programs. edition of Kiplinger’s versity. U.S. News bases the rankings Kiplinger’s Personal started with “We believe Creighton is an on academic reputation, gradu- Finance Magazine. 400 schools excellent value, but we encour- ation and retention rates, Creighton, which was rated most good age students to visit our cam- faculty resources, student at 79, was among the top students would consider. pus and find out firsthand selectivity, financial resources Catholic universities listed in Fr. Michael G. Morrison, S.J., what Creighton has to offer,” and alumni giving. the rankings. president of Creighton Fr. Morrison said.

WINTER 1999 7 UNIVERSITY NEWS

CREIGHTON STUDY SHEDS LIGHT ON INTERCHURCH MARRIAGES Married couples who pray together, stay together — even if “It’s useful to note that fewer interchurch couples reported they happen to be of different Christian denominations. That’s having had marriage preparation, of any kind,” Lawler said. one of the key messages of a new study by Creighton’s Center “And of those who had, many reported that they didn’t find it for Marriage and Family. as helpful because it didn’t deal with their religious differ- The national study was the first of its kind to report on ences to the extent it should.” interchurch marriages, unions in which each spouse belongs Lawler said Creighton’s Center for Marriage and Family is to a different Christian denomination or church. developing a marriage preparation instrument called BRIDGE The study found the divorce rate — Building Religious Interaction Decision Making and for interchurch respondents to be 20 Enrichment. The booklet, which will include a section for percent, slightly above same-church interchurch couples, will feature questions, exercises and respondents (14 percent) but well strategies to facilitate discussion among engaged couples. below the national divorce rate of 40 “This BRIDGE will make another contribution to building to 60 percent. religious interaction,” Lawler said. “If you look at it another way, 80 percent of interchurch marriages remain Interchurch marriages and children stable. That’s a huge number,” said “What are interchurch couples doing about their chil- Michael G. Lawler, Ph.D., director of the dren?” said Michael Lawler, Ph.D., director of Creighton’s Center and The Amelia B. and Emil G. Center for Marriage and Family. “Answer: Seventy-seven Graff Faculty Chair in Catholic percent are raising their children in one church, but, Theological Studies at Creighton. importantly, 12 percent of them are raising their children Photo by Monte Kruse, BA’83 Lawler said the two most significant in both churches.” Dr. Lawler predictors of marital stability are the A chapter in the Center’s new book, Ministry to sharing of joint religious activities and the managing of Interchurch Marriages: A National Study, addresses inter- religious differences. church marriages and children. The book compiles the Fashioning a joint religious life can include attending results of the Center’s recent study and is designed to aid church together, praying together, discussing each other’s interchurch couples. To order a copy, visit the Web site religious views and participating in church-related social or (http://www.creighton.edu/MarriageandFamily/) or service projects together, Lawler said. write to the Center for Marriage and Family, Creighton With interchurch marriages accounting for one-third of all University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, Neb., 68178. The of today’s unions, the study has important implications for cost of the book is $10. churches. Lawler said the number of interchurch couples raising Lawler said churches need to redesign marriage prepara- children in two churches may come as a surprise to some, tion courses to meet the needs of interchurch couples. More and raises important issues for today’s churches. “Twelve attention must be placed on their discussing religious com- percent is a figure you have to deal with,” Lawler said. monalities and differences, he said.

CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY RECEIVES $1.3 MILLION GRANT Creighton has received a minorities in place for more Students will enter the Seven students will be selec- three-year $1.3 million “Health than 20 years, from the early pipeline in the seventh grade ted for the post-baccalaureate Career Opportunities Pro- 1970s to the mid-1990s. with health careers exploration program, which will include gram” grant from the U.S. The new grant expands clubs. High school and college counseling, mentoring, rigor- Department of Health and Hu- upon former efforts by students will attend a six-week ous academic work, informa- man Services to create a pro- enhancing cooperation with summer program. After com- tion about financial aid and gram that will encourage more community groups to reach pleting the college program, participation in primary care under-represented minorities students at younger ages. students will be prepared to activities. Scholarships to to enter health professions. The new program also will enter a health professions Creighton’s medical school Creighton had a post- provide more intensive pro- school or the Creighton post- will be offered to those suc- baccalaureate program for gramming. baccalaureate program. cessfully completing programs.

8 WINTER 1999 UNIVERSITY NEWS

CREIGHTON BOARD ELECTS NEW CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, MEMBERS Creighton University’s board of directors began the new academic year with a new chair — William Fitzgerald, chair and chief executive offi- cer of Commercial Federal Bruce Bank, and vice chair — Fitzgerald Rohde Sokol Davidson Stinson Huber Rohde, chair and chief execu- tive officer of ConAgra, Inc. in 1971 and a juris doctorate corporation. Davidson began Under his leadership, the divi- They will serve four-year degree cum laude from the his railroad career in 1960 as a sion enjoyed a period of sub- terms. Creighton School of Law brakeman/conductor with the stantial growth and record Fitzgerald holds a bachelor’s in 1973. He has served on Missouri Pacific, where he held profits. Stinson holds an engi- in business administration Creighton’s board since 1989. various positions in the operat- neering degree from Notre with a major in finance from New board members have ing department. He joined Dame and a master’s in con- Creighton. After graduating been elected to four-year Union Pacific in 1982 when it struction management from in 1959, he served in the terms. They are: merged with Missouri Pacific. Stanford University. He com- Army Finance Corps, having David Sokol, chair and He was promoted to executive manded a Navy Seabees com- received his lieutenancy CEO, MidAmerican Energy vice president-operations in pany that built bridges and through ROTC at Creighton. Holdings Co. — Sokol has 1989, and president and CEO airfields in Vietnam. Stinson Following his service, been CEO of MidAmerican, in 1991. He then was named joined Kiewit in 1969. Fitzgerald began full-time formerly CalEnergy Co. Inc., chair and CEO of the railroad, Mark D. Huber, chair and employment with Commercial since 1993. He has held execu- positions he still holds in addi- chief executive officer of Federal Bank and has served tive positions with JWP, Inc., tion to being head of the corpo- the Blackstone Insurance as its president and, subse- Kiewit Energy Co. and Ogden ration. Davidson served a term Group and president and quently, chair of the board Projects, Inc. on Creighton’s board from chief executive officer of and chief executive officer. Richard Davidson, chair 1991 to 1995. PayFlex Systems USA, Inc. He has been on Creighton’s and CEO, Union Pacific Ken Stinson, chair and — Huber serves on the board board since 1973. Corp. — Davidson became CEO, Peter Kiewit Sons’ as president of Creighton’s Incoming vice chair Bruce chair and CEO of Union Inc. — Stinson has been in his National Alumni Board. He Rohde received a bachelor of Pacific Corp. in 1997. He previ- current post since 1998. For the earned a bachelor’s in business science degree in business ously served as president and previous six years, he headed administration and a law administration from Creighton chief operating officer of the Kiewit Construction Group. degree from Creighton.

SCHOOL OF NURSING RECEIVES GRANT, OFFERS NEW MASTER’S DEGREE Creighton’s School of Administration. students to complete two full An on-site exercise testing Nursing will offer a new mas- Creighton will use the grant majors with fewer credit hours and training laboratory for ter’s degree thanks to a to offer a new master’s pro- than if the majors were earned nurses to learn how to create $817,000 federal grant. The gram that will provide gradu- separately. appropriate exercise regimes degree will be the first of its ate students in nursing with the Jean DeMartinis, Ph.D., for clients is an essential and kind in the nation. opportunity to apply for dual assistant professor of nursing, innovative component of this The three-year Advanced certification as a clinical nurse is the program director for the program, according to Nurse Education Program specialist in cardiac rehabilita- grant. DeMartinis said, “The DeMartinis. Grant is funded by the U.S. tion nursing plus certification program, which started this Graduates of the program Department of Health and as an adult nurse practitioner. semester, focuses on recruiting will meet the qualifications Human Services, Division of It is the only dual-track cardiac and preparing nurse practition- required by the American Nursing, and the U.S. Bureau health/nurse practitioner pro- ers who are specializing in car- Nurses Credentialing Center of Health Professions, Health gram in the country. This diac health, wellness and and the American Academy Resources and Service blended program allows rehabilitation.” of Nurse Practitioners.

WINTER 1999 9 UNIVERSITY NEWS

ALUMS HONORED WITH ALUMNI MERIT AWARDS School of Nursing recently completed her doctor- bachelor’s in chemistry at New African-American patients. He Dr. Cynthia Remington al degree. King has conducted Mexico State College. He was the first African-American King, BSN’83, received the a series of research projects earned two degrees from surgeon on staff at Chicago’s School of Nursing’s Alumni focusing on quality of life and Creighton: an M.D. in 1951 and Mercy Hospital. In 1976, Merit Award on Sept. 24. King bone marrow transplantation a master of science in medicine Williams became the first earned a bachelor of science issues. She has published in 1956. Prior to African-American physician degree in biology and psychol- numerous articles and receiving his appointed by the governor to ogy from Trinity College in abstracts in the area of oncolo- education, the Medical Disciplinary Board Hartford, Conn. gy nursing, and delivered a Williams was for the State of Illinois where In 1983, she variety of presentations nation- drafted in 1942 he served until 1984. He graduated cum ally and internationally. King and later trained served on Creighton’s Medical laude with a received the 1998 Quality of in Air Corps Alumni Advisory Board from bachelor of sci- Life Award given by the Williams engineering. He 1976-82. ence in nursing Oncology Nursing Society and served as a 1st degree from Pharmacia-Upjohn. This award Lieutenant with the Tuskegee School of Pharmacy and King Creighton is the highest honor given by Airmen at Freeman Field in Allied Health Professions University. In the 26,000-member Oncology Indiana. Williams and his two James J. Giesler, 1987, King graduated with a Nursing Society. brothers, Jasper, who graduat- BSPha’60, was the recipient master of science in nursing ed from Creighton’s School of of the School of Pharmacy and degree from the University of School of Medicine Medicine in 1953, and Charles, Allied Health Professions’ Nebraska at Omaha. She com- The School of Medicine another physician, formed a Alumni Merit pleted an Acute Care Nurse presented its Alumni Merit medical clinic in Chicago. The Award on Oct. Practitioner program at the Award to James B. Williams, Williams Clinic became the 8. Giesler earned University of Rochester in New MD’51, MS’56, on Oct. 1. country’s largest clinic owned his bachelor of York in 1994 where she also Williams completed a by African-Americans serving science in phar- macy in 1960. With his partner CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS Giesler Luke Coniglio, BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW BUILDING Giesler built A groundbreaking ceremony for the new building will include Center faculty and Omaha’s chain of Central Park Center for Health Policy and Ethics staff offices. Construction will be financed Pharmacies. He was president Building took place Sept. 3 on the building with a $700,000 grant from the Health of the Omaha Pharmaceutical site at 2616 Burt St. Future Foundation. Association and the Nebraska Designed to serve as a convening center “We hope to create a center in which vis- Prescription Service, the orga- with seminar and conference rooms, the iting scholars and persons interested in nization which established the ethics inquiry can gather and discuss rules and regulations govern- ideas,” said Ruth Purtilo, Ph.D., director of ing third-party payments from the Center for Health Policy and Ethics. insurance companies to phar- The Center, currently housed in the Criss macies. Giesler has served on II building, was established in 1988 to con- the School’s Alumni Advisory duct multidisciplinary ethics studies in Board and as a member of health care and health policy while sup- the Omaha Alumni Council. porting and fostering excellence in teaching He has twice participated ethics to students in Creighton’s four health in the ILAC program in professional schools. Center faculty mem- the Dominican Republic. bers are well-respected scholars, evidenced Giesler served as chair of the Photo by Kent Sievers Creighton 2000 Campaign Dr. Ruth Purtilo, director of the Center for by the publication last spring of five Health Policy and Ethics, spoke at the Sept. 3 new books they wrote for use in teaching for the School. He also is the groundbreaking ceremony. and service. co-sponsor of a pharmacy endowed scholarship.

10 WINTER 1999 UNIVERSITY NEWS

BRODER SPEAKS AT GOVERNOR’S LECTURE Photo by Kent Sievers Photo by Barbara DuMetz 1997 David Broder participated on a panel which discussed his remarks made during the Governor’s Lecture on the press and politics. At left is Frank Partsch, editorial page editor for the Omaha World-Herald. JOURNALIST CAMPBELL David Broder, Washington Post political correspondent, spoke at the 1999 Governor’s VISITS CAMPUS Lecture held at the Joslyn Art Museum on Sept. 23. The Nebraska Humanities Council and Creighton’s John C. Kenefick Endowed Chair in the Humanities sponsored the event. Broder Journalist Bebe spoke on “The Press, Politics and Citizenship.” Broder also participated in a panel discussion Moore Campbell pre- on Sept. 24 in the Skutt Student Center. sented “Fatherhood is a Social Issue” at AROUND CREIGHTON Creighton on Oct. 25. Creighton Hosts (26 percent) came from foun- Foundation for Pancreatic The Washington Post Economic Roundtable dations and associations, and Cancer Research, Drs. Thomas has called Campbell Economists and business $5.6 million (22 percent) from Adrian and Xianzhong Ding of “one of the most impor- leaders from the six-state Great industry and corporations. the Department of Biomedical tant African-American Plains region (Iowa, Kansas, More than 70 percent of the Sciences will investigate writers of this century.” Minnesota, Nebraska, North money ($17.8 million) went whether they can kill and pre- She has written for The Dakota and South Dakota) directly toward research. vent cancer by blocking the New York Times, The were in Omaha Sept. 16-17 for Another $1.1 million was activity of particular enzymes, Washington Post, The Los the 1999 Great Plains directed toward equipment, called LOX enzymes. They Angeles Times, Essence, Economic Roundtable which training and instruction. The also will investigate the mech- Ebony, Black Enterprise was presented by Creighton School of Medicine topped the anism by which the enzyme as well as many other University and the Center for list of Creighton’s grant recipi- inhibitors cause death of publications. She is a the New West. ents — receiving 573 awards cancer cells. regular commentator Creighton Receives for a total of $18.7 million. The Lustgarten Foundation for National Public $25.7 Million in Grants Researchers Receive Grant funded seven grants in its Radio’s “Morning Creighton received $25.7 to Study Pancreatic Cancer most recent round of awards Edition.” million in externally sponsored Researchers at Creighton from 40 applications received. She also has written grants for research, instruction University have received a The foundation’s establish- two New York Times and training efforts in fiscal two-year $250,000 grant to ment was inspired by Marc year 1998-99 — a 15 percent develop agents that they hope Lustgarten, vice chair of best sellers: Brothers and increase from last year. Nearly will be used to treat and pre- Cablevision and chair of Sisters and the more $11 million (or 43 percent) of vent one of the deadliest forms Madison Square Garden, who recent Singing in the the funding came from federal of cancer — pancreatic cancer. died in August of pancreatic Comeback Choir. sources. Another $6.7 million Funded by the Lustgarten cancer.

WINTER 1999 11 UNIVERSITY NEWS

Gamelan: The Sound of Moonlight

Gamelan music is comparable to only two things: moonlight and flowing water. It is pure and mysterious like moonlight and always changing like flowing water. Its origin is in the Southeast Asian country of Indonesia.

By Sheila L. Swanson

When you listen to music recognized as played by a gamelan orches- one of the tra, there is an intricate com- world’s most Photo by Elaine Witt plexity filled with a rich sophisticated Members of Creighton’s gamelan orchestra are, from left to right: Mark Eichten, tapestry of patterns that musical arts. James Borchers, Kate Smyth, Jonathan Clasemann, Penny Gold, Cory Clasemann, gives the music an almost You might Shirley Abbott Clark, Steve Jordon, Jan Michael and Dave Gartlan. Seated is Dr. mystic sound. These subtle be asking Marilyn Kielniarz. Not pictured: Steve Michael and Charles Jurgensmeier, S.J. and rich blends of medita- yourself, what tive, harmonious sounds exactly is a gamelan (pro- derives from gamel, an old bronze and iron. The instru- have fascinated the West nounced gah-meh-lahn)? The Javanese word for handle or ments themselves are pieces since 1893 when a Javanese term gamelan refers to the hammer. This is appropriate of art, some with decorative ensemble performed at the musical instruments com- since most of the instruments carvings that highlight the Paris International prising an orchestra which is in the orchestra are percus- natural woodwork. Exhibition. Today it is known by the same name. It sion based. Instruments in a Kielniarz became interest- gamelan orchestra consist of ed in gamelan music while gongs, kettle-drums, a college student at cymbals, xylophones, zither, Northwestern University. flute, string instruments rem- She has spent three summers iniscent of a cello or viola, in Indonesia, studying the and drums. musical art form. Thanks to the interest of “I originally received Marilyn Kielniarz, D.M., instruction on the gamelan professor and chair of in the United States. After a Creighton’s Department of certain point, I felt inclined Fine and Performing Arts, a to go to where the music 71-piece Javanese gamelan originated to continue my sits in Room 210 of studies,” Kielniarz said. Creighton’s Lied Education While in Indonesia during Center for the Arts. The the summer of 1997, she was

Photo by Marilyn Kielniarz gamelan arrived on campus able to select the type of in October 1998 from gamelan Creighton would Creighton’s gamelan at the workshop in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia where it was receive. There are many Indonesia, in June 1998. It arrived on campus in October 1998. handcrafted out of teak, different types of gamelan.

12 WINTER 1999 UNIVERSITY NEWS

‘SON OF THE ABOUT MARILYN KIELNIARZ GOOD EARTH’ All gamelan have given Marilyn Kielniarz, D.M., associate profes- harpsichordist. She also plays organ and names. Some are in English sor and chair of the Department of Fine and auxiliary keyboards for the Symphony and some in Indonesian. Performing Arts, has been a full-time faculty on an as-needed basis. Kielniarz has per- Creighton’s gamelan is member at Creighton since 1993. She was a formed with the Nebraska Choral Arts named “Son of the Good part-time faculty member from 1987 to 1993 Society, the Omaha Symphonic Chorus and Earth.” The name was cho- when she directed the University Chorus. the Lincoln Symphony. She has been very sen for two reasons. First, it Kielniarz became chair of the department in active with the American Guild of English recognizes the contribution May 1998. Handbell Ringers as chair of the Nebraska Kielniarz received her bachelor of music organization, chair of the area organization (1979), master of music (1980) and doctor of (Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and music (1984) from Northwestern University Iowa) and as a member of the national board in Evanston, Ill. She also has a certificate of of directors. Dalcroze Eurythmics (a unique approach to Kielniarz has completed a chapter for the music learning developed by Swiss compos- much anticipated Liszt Companion, edited by er Emile Jaques-Dalcroze) from Carnegie Ben Arnold, Ph.D., from Emory University in Mellon University. Atlanta. This book, scheduled for release In addition to teaching and chairing the next summer by Greenwood Press, offers department, Kielniarz is involved with many Kielniarz the opportunity to present one of Photo by Eric Francis This photo was taken in local and national organizations. She is a the first scholarly reviews of the organ works October 1998 when the governing board member for the Omaha produced by Hungarian composer Franz gamelan arrived at Symphony for which she is this season’s Liszt (1811-86). Creighton. Dr. Marilyn Kielniarz performs a traditional washing of the gamelan’s largest gong. Creighton’s is known as a community members. large instrument museum. Central Javanese Court “It’s really a diverse group The museum has recently that Fr. Michael Proterra, Gamelan, styled in the tradi- that includes an editor from contracted to have its own S.J., former dean of the tion of Surakarta, a royal the Omaha World-Herald, a gamelan made. They have College of Arts and court city in Central Java. local dentist and his wife who invited us to share our game- Sciences, made in helping “The style really became is a behavioral specialist at lan with that community,” to purchase the instru- solidified during the Colonial the Fremont (Neb.) Public Kielniarz said. ments. “Good Earth” is the period when the Dutch were Schools,” Kielniarz said. Sharing the music of the translation of Proterra’s occupying the island. The group made its debut gamelan is one of the reasons Italian name. The second “During this time, the roy- performance last winter. Kielniarz was interested in reason was that the name al families were no longer in Concerts will be given on acquiring the set of instru- reflects the sense of the charge of governing. So they campus at least once a ments for Creighton. Omaha community being a turned to the arts and devel- semester. The group also has ”Being able to bring people part of the soil and how oped an incredibly rich cul- received numerous invita- to campus or taking the that agricultural emphasis ture of gamelan, dance, song tions to perform off campus music on the road is a won- has always been important and theatrical performance,” throughout the next academic derful way to show the to this part of the country. Kielniarz said. year. emphasis Creighton places on Creighton’s gamelan is Since the gamelan arrived “This year, we will be per- diversity, cultural and artis- the only one in Nebraska. on campus last fall, Kielniarz forming as a featured group tic, and that we are a member There are fewer than 200 has assembled a group of 15 at the Nebraska Music of the world community,” nationally. The closest are to perform on the instru- Educators Conference. Next Kielniarz said. “I can’t think located in Boulder, Colo., ments. The group is made up spring, we will travel to the of a more appropriate institu- Minneapolis, and at of students — past and cur- University of South Dakota at tion than one like Creighton Grinnell College in rent — faculty members and Vermillion where there is a to do this.” Grinnell, Iowa.

WINTER 1999 13 COVER STORY

By Bob Reilly

n the fourth week of the long Ignatian Retreat, the When he quietly exits his second-floor office in the Jesuit confronts the essence of his vocational commit- Administration Building, his legacy will include a num- Iment, placing honors and reputation in perspective, ber of achievements that can be statistically verified, while focusing on a personal relationship with God. starting with his record-setting tenure as chief executive. You sense that the Rev. Michael G. Morrison, S.J., He’s surpassed the two-term total of the Rev. Michael P. embraced this final stage, the “third degree of humility,” Dowling, S.J., (1885-89 and 1898-1908) and the dozen well before his announcement that this would be his last years that the Rev. Carl M. Reinert, S.J., spent at the year as Creighton University’s 22nd president. He con- helm (1950-62). Four out of every 10 diplomas awarded fessed that he was tired, that he coveted more time for during Creighton’s 121 years bear Morrison’s signature. spiritual growth, and that a fresh approach might be a During his watch, the University’s endowment grew good thing for the University. For 18 years, he has given tenfold, reaching $200 million. More than half a dozen himself fully to a demanding vocation. new buildings grace the downtown campus. And “This isn’t just a job,” he said. “The Society sent me Creighton’s academic excellence has been consistently here. I’ve been ‘missioned’ in the same way Creighton recognized by national media and collegiate rating has been assigned its mission.” services.

14 WINTER 1999 COVER STORY

Below: The Morrison family ... sisters Ora (left) and Mary Ann (middle); father, Gordon; Michael; and mother, Gertrude. At right, Morrison during his early days at Creighton, when he was vice president for Academic Affairs.

Morrison’s high school Above: Morrison with his graduation photo in father, Gordon. The younger 1955. Morrison was at the hospi- tal bedside when his father died. At left: Morrison with his two sisters, Ora (front) and Mary Ann, in 1954.

But clearly the joys of his administration come, not answers, they were taught questions.” from his fame as a builder, but from his human contacts. He’s reluctant to criticize this generation for their “Fund raising is not a natural instinct for me,” he often-publicized flaws, like their reputed cynicism or admitted. “I had to psych myself into it.” lack of commitment. His interaction with students, however, does seem “They’re products of their environment. So don’t instinctive. Habitually perched on the wall near St. blame them, blame us. It’s the rare person who is reflec- John’s campus church, Morrison is a familiar and tive enough to counteract the trends. I find today to approachable counselor, confidante or friend. He may have a lot of similarities with the ‘20s, but the pendulum spend an hour a day or more in this manner. will swing again.” “I get high on kids,” he explained. “They exhibit a Morrison characterizes his own home life as “almost deep concern for others; they want to do what’s right. ideal,” with “loving, close parents.” He thinks that’s They’re searching.” where he developed his own balanced views. To help in this quest, Creighton increased its theology Born in Green Bay, Wis., in 1937, Morrison’s roots requirements by a third, to nine hours. stretch back to Scotland, where the clan’s appellation “Even kids who are Catholic come here theologically was “The Manly Morrisons” and the translation of their illiterate,” Morrison said. “Where we were taught Gaelic name became “Son of the Servant of Mary.” This

WINTER 1999 15 COVER STORY

At left: Fr. Morrison receives Creighton Uni- versity’s Presidential Medallion during his 1982 installation as Creighton’s 22nd presi- dent. Presenting the medallion is John C. Kenefick, who, at the time, was chairman of Creighton’s board of directors and president of Union Pacific Railroad.

At right: Fr. Morrison presides over the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit this fall.

Above and left: With the Jesuit Gardens as a back- drop, Fr. Morrison presides over a Baccalaureate Mass.

Above: Fr. Morrison and Fr. James W. Sauve, S.J., greet Pope John Paul II during a 1985 meeting in Rome of Jesuit college and university presidents from around the world.

blend of the pious and practical seems almost prophetic. graduation, he was torn between the priesthood and a When Morrison’s father, a former superintendent of Navy career. An Annapolis appointment seemed to power plants, died at age 89, his son was by his hospital make the decision for him. bed. His sister, Mary Ann, retired a few years ago from “He believed that, if he was accepted for the Naval her physical therapy teaching post at Marquette Univer- Academy,” said his mother, “it was God’s way of telling sity, and Ora works for the Internal Revenue Service. him he didn’t have a religious vocation.” At age 90, Morrison’s mother, Gertrude, remembers As it happened, Michael failed the physical, betrayed him as a good student, active in sports and in church, by high blood pressure he attributed to his penchant for and involved with both the Boy Scouts and theater. sucking cubes of salt. Again, he saw this turnaround as “Michael had problems with stuttering,” she said, a sign, and, in 1955, he entered the Jesuits, surprising “but it never stopped him. When he had the lead in both his folks and a confused girlfriend. his high school play, my heart was in my mouth. But “He received a lot of mail from the Jesuits,” he did fine.” explained Gertrude. The nun who taught Michael’s eighth-grade class Ordained in 1968, he ultimately acquired five urged him to enter the religious life, but his pastor degrees, including a Ph.D. in history, and he taught at advised him to wait four more years. After high school St. Louis University, Marquette, The University of

16 WINTER 1999 COVER STORY

Right: Gertrude Left: A lifelong Morrison gives Green Bay her son a hug Packers fan, Fr. during a sur- Morrison was prise visit to presented with Creighton’s a “cheese head” campus in during a roast December 1991 in 1997. to celebrate Fr. Morrison’s 10th anniversary as Creighton’s president. Left: Father gets a hug after a Mass of the Holy Spirit.

Above: Father cheers on the Bluejays at the 1991 College World Series. At left: He holds the MVC championship trophy at a campus rally honoring the 1989 men’s basketball team.

Wisconsin, and both Creighton Prep and Creighton disciplines. I like his management style. He listens, and University. he never backs away from a tough decision.” After stints on the Hilltop as vice president for Acad- Commercial Federal Bank president William Fitzger- emic Affairs and acting president, Morrison was chosen ald, the current board chairman, agrees with these posi- by the board of directors in 1981 to head the University. tive assessments. If presidents were issued report cards, Morrison’s “He lives his job, brings a lot of strength to it. I find would be one to make his mother proud. him warm, perhaps a little shy. But he’s worked hard to Said John C. Kenefick, former CEO of Union Pacific overcome any social hesitation, and he’s reluctant to and chairman of the board that appointed Morrison, take credit for accomplishments or to abuse the perks of “He’s good at his job, an outstanding person, with his presidency.” integrity, and with solid communication skills.” Morrison’s counterpart at the University of Nebraska Another board member, investments executive at Omaha, former chancellor Del Weber, sums him up Charles F. Heider, echoes these sentiments, remarking this way: “He’s never showy. He just gets things done.” on the president’s total dedication. The Rev. Thomas N. Schloemer, S.J., entered the Jesuit “He typifies what a Jesuit is. He’s a great educator seminary in Oshkosh, Wis., with Morrison some 44 who handles challenging responsibilities in a variety of years ago. They remain close friends, talking often,

WINTER 1999 17 COVER STORY

Smaller pictures at left: Top, Fr. Morrison cuts the giant ribbon opening the Skutt Student Center in 1987. Below, Father speaks at an awards luncheon. At left: Fr. Morrison looks over construction of the Lied Educa- tion Center for the Arts with the architect (far left), Vice President for University Rela- tions Michael Leighton and benefactor Christina Hixson.

At top: Morrison helps break ground on The Rev. Richard D. McGloin, S.J., Residence Hall in 1997. At right: A friend- ly chat on the campus mall.

taking occasional business trips together, like to South voracious reader, even though his busy schedule usually Dakota, where Morrison is on the Red Cloud Indian forces him to divide the reading of his Divine Office Mission board of directors. between early morning and late evening. “Despite his earlier assignments,” said Schloemer, “History works are my favorites,” said Morrison. “basically, his career has been here. One thing about him “Right now I’m reading Stephen Ambrose’s Citizen I find fascinating is that he had no financial training. Soldiers. But when I’m traveling, I favor detective He’s self-taught. He mastered this skill, and he knows stories, spy stories.” where the money is.” Often, his reading and his work are accompanied The two old friends chat often — about history (“I’m by classical music as background, relying on public interested, but not in his league.”), the Green Bay Pack- radio stations. ers (“Did you know his mother was secretary to ‘Curly’ On television, he normally opts for sports, especially Lambeau?”), other sports (“He took up golf and may football, but he hasn’t been to a movie since the year he play half a dozen rounds a year.”) and Morrison’s love was installed as president. of gadgets, especially in his car (“He taught himself When he can get away, Morrison, like the Heming- on the computer.”). way he superficially resembles, heads for Key West, Fla. Schloemer characterizes his former classmate as a “I’ve been there a dozen times. Just to kick back and

18 WINTER 1999 COVER STORY

Creighton’s chief administrator attended numerous meetings, such as the ones pictured at top and bot- tom right, but he also found time to relax and talk with students near the steps of St. John’s Church.

At left: Fr. Morrison presents the Hon. Michael R. Murphy, BA’69, a judge on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with the University’s Alumni Achievement Citation during May 1997 Commence- ment. Presenting the award with Fr. Morrison is Maureen Shanahan Crouchley, BA’73, MSGuid’75, then president of Creighton’s National Alumni Board.

relax. I liked it better before all the new roads were built ice. It’s usually because he is anxious for answers, and it became so crowded.” because he expects the same dedication from others that Whether on the beach or at his desk, Creighton’s 22nd he demands of himself. Budget times are the most president maintains his practiced balance. Always the stressful.” realist, he can impartially dissect his own personality. Komrofske likes the variety in her daily duties. “I suppose my strengths are my ability to take things “Each day is different, challenging. This is a small in stride, to never lose any sleep over decisions made. office, with only three people, and it’s a challenge to Mental health is a Number One consideration for me. remain organized. Father doesn’t like to put off people It’s a grace.” who need help. He wants problems to be handled As for weaknesses, he quickly mentions impatience. quickly, so we’re usually pretty busy. Little things like “I want things to happen yesterday.” ordering supplies sometimes get neglected.” Does this mean he has a temper? Besides the occasional demonstration of impatience, “Better ask my secretary.” Morrison also has his pet peeves. “He can get angry,” acknowledges Sally Komrofske, “I get mad when people drive vehicles on our cam- who has managed the President’s Office since 1986, “but pus mall. I call security. And I dislike those people who it’s always short-lived. Then he smiles and breaks the act like there is no one else in the world, or those

WINTER 1999 19 COVER STORY

At right: Fr. Morrison gets some help decorat- ing a cake at a 1995 community event held at one of Omaha’s shopping malls.

Above: Father sits outside and, at near left, enjoys some friendly company.

Above: Is that real? Patrick Nolan gives a tug on Fr. Morrison’s beard at the opening of the new Creighton Child Development Center in 1997. At right: Father also was on hand to watch the children break ground on the center.

ex-smokers who are on a crusade.” he’s going to be away, he alerts me.” Morrison quit smoking three and a half years ago, Soon, of course, he will be telephoning from a new “because it was socially unacceptable.” destination. He approaches that subject casually. But he can still enjoy a social drink. “I’m looking forward to the openness of the future, “I love scotch. I never met a scotch I didn’t like. John- the lack of structure. Later, who knows? I’ll have a sab- ny Walker, Chivas. It should always be taken neat.” batical year to think about it. Retreat work has appeal This adopted Nebraskan, who has come to love Oma- for me. Maybe teaching, although it will be hard to re- ha, has no hesitation in naming his favorite food. tool for the classroom.” “Steak! I hate chicken. It’s served so often when I’m on One thing he won’t do is hang around the Hilltop, the road. Even in salads they stick chunks of chicken.” declaring that would be unfair and uncomfortable for He also has his local heroes. His predecessors, his successor. the Rev. Carl Reinert, S.J., and the Rev. Henry Linn, In an article written in 1997 for WINDOW, Morrison S.J., along with his former boss at Marquette, Academic wrestled with the reconciling of his mundane responsi- Vice President Ed Simmons. And, of course, his parents. bilities with his spiritual commitment. He concluded He still telephones his mother every Sunday. that, because he helped educate people in the Jesuit tra- “Right at 4:45 p.m.,” said Gertrude Morrison. “If dition, he was, in his way, building the Kingdom of

20 WINTER 1999 COVER STORY

At right: A young, clean shaven Morrison was ordained a priest in 1968. He eventually became the first Creighton president to ever sport a beard. Below: Fr. Morrison visits with students. “I get high on the kids,” Morrison said.

Above and left: Fr. Morrison sits on the concrete wall outside St. John’s Church. It became a favorite spot of the Creighton presi- dent, who donned a hat during cooler weather.

God. Still, even though he’s had a minimum of isolation, Like morning songs His living apart from his office locale in a high rise voice.” Creighton residence hall at 21st and Davenport, he obvi- Some of Fr. Michael Morri- ously craves fewer distractions. son’s friends and co-workers “I’d like to be able to really concentrate on my have suggested memorials to prayers for long, uninterrupted periods of time.” the man, perhaps even a special That sort of contemplative ease will be a radical fund drive, a building named departure from days charged with duties and decisions, after him. but, in that relative silence, Morrison hopes to divine Given the reticent nature of the answers to some of the deeper queries shelved this very successful Creighton by activity. CEO, an appropriate memento might be a small plaque One of his Scottish ancestors, the 19th century on that well-worn concrete wall, reading, “FATHER Gaelic poet, John Morrison, wrote: MIKE WAS HERE.” “Our hearts, if God we seek to know, — About the author: Bob Reilly is a freelance writer Shall know Him and rejoice; in Omaha and a former director of public relations at His coming like the morn shall be, Creighton.

WINTER 1999 21 ETCHED IN STONE? Two tablets, 10 Commandments, a multitude of meanings

By Leonard Greenspoon, Ph.D. Editor’s Note: With recent Congres- Such terminology might be commandments in this text (for sional debate over posting the Ten Com- viewed as relativizing the conduct this, see Exodus 34:28). Moses, at mandments in schools and other public promoted by the Ten Command- God’s command, leads the buildings, Creighton University ments, but I understand it to mean Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. Magazine asked biblical scholar and that these commands constitute the After several months of wandering Creighton’s Klutznick Chair in Jewish foundation (but not the entire struc- in the wilderness, he establishes a Civilization, Leonard Greenspoon, ture) on which each generation is to camp at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Ph.D., to provide his insights into one build an ethical society composed According to the Bible, God sum- of the most recognizable of Old of individuals constantly striving to moned Moses to the very top of Testament doctrines — the Ten promote ethical practice accompa- this mountain. It is from here that Commandments. nied by faith and beliefs. God “spoke all these words.” (Exodus 20:1) he receiving of the Ten Com- Biblical Context Modern biblical scholars mandments is among the The Ten Commandments first describe these commands as apo- Tmost dramatic episodes in the appear in chapter 20 of the book of dictic — meaning direct impera- Old Testament. Most of us are Exodus, although the words are not tives, admitting no “ifs, ands or familiar with some version of the referred to by number or even as buts.” The assembled people are Ten Commandments, spoken to as a group — which include declara- in a sense, these com- tions acknowledging one mands form the Pro- God, commands to keep logue to Israel’s holy the Sabbath and hon- constitution — but each or your parents, and pro- Israelite also is ad- hibitions against murder dressed as an individ- (or killing), adultery, ual; “you” and “your” stealing, taking the Lord’s are second-person sin- name in vain (or swearing gular throughout. falsely by His name), These statements or bearing false witness commands reappear and coveting. near the end of Israel’s I suggest that these 40 years of wilderness principles, although of wanderings in chapter universal and timeless sig- 5 of the book of nificance, nonetheless Deuteronomy, but not lend themselves to a vari- with exactly the same ety of applications and wording. emphases given changes In Exodus, the Sab- in cultural, social and his- bath commandment torical circumstances. This begins with the impera- variety, found within the tive “remember” and Hebrew Bible itself and relates this day of rest within early Jewish and to creation: “Remember Christian communities, the Sabbath day, to allows for what I call flu- keep it holy.” In idity of expression and Deuteronomy, the elasticity of application. people are told to Photo by Monte Kruse, BA’83 “observe” the Sabbath, At left, Charlton Heston played Moses in the Greenspoon, wearing a traditional Jewish prayer shawl called a day here connected 1956 film The Ten a tallit, sits in front of a tapestry of the Ten Commandments at with the Exodus. Commandments. Omaha’s Beth El Synagogue.

WINTER 1999 23 The prohibition against coveting we believe they originated in the For example, we know that the in Exodus includes the wife as time of Moses or later. But I attach Israelites were not the first to have a merely one among a neighbor’s more significance to these as exam- code of laws or to believe that their possessions. Translated in the King ples that the principles can vary in legal system was of divine origin. James Bible it reads: emphasis depending on context. (A And while the Ten Command- “Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- further observation about coveting: ments form an essential part of bour’s house, thou shalt not covet The injunction would seem to be Israel’s covenant with God, this they neighbour’s wife, nor his different from others, in that it sacred agreement is formulated manservant, nor his maidservant, appears to prohibit a feeling — with parallels to other Ancient Near nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any “strong desire” — rather than Eastern treaties between groups of thing that is thy neighbour’s.” an action. Investigation of the people and their (earthly) ruler. For (Exodus 20:17) Hebrew term, however, leads to example, God’s self-description as The corresponding pronounce- the conclusion that this verse the liberator of His people finds ment in Deuteronomy presents the entails not simply the illicit desire parallels in the preambles of treaties woman as someone other than and for someone/something, but also where a king recounts what he has distinct from just another item devious plotting and even carrying done on behalf of his people. owned by a man: out of actions to acquire the object It also was the practice in the “Neither shalt thou desire thy of one’s obsession.) Ancient Near East to provide for neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou periodic readings, reaffirmations covet thy neighbour’s house, his Historical Context and possibly revisions of treaties. field, or his manservant, or his The Israelites did not live in a In this light, we can understand the maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or cultural or historical vacuum. Over events of Deuteronomy 5 and later any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” the past two centuries, archaeolo- covenant renewal ceremonies in the (Deuteronomy 5:21) gists have unearthed literally thou- Land of Israel itself, such as the one Such differences lead many to sands of artifacts that illustrate the described in Joshua 24, in which conclude that we are simply unable lives of Israel’s neighbors and Joshua gathers the tribes of Israel to recover the original wording of provide parallels to Israelite beliefs and makes “a covenant with the the commandments, whether or not and practices. people.” From this perspective, it is clear that each generation must choose for itself whether it will remain in the unique relationship with God agreed to by its ancestors. Early Jewish Context There are relatively few writings from the fourth century BCE (Before Common Era) to the second century CE to provide us with data concern- ing how the Ten Commandments were transmitted and understood by Jews during this period. But the picture we are able to discern is fascinating. As documented by some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the first-century CE historian The rugged mountain ranges of the Sinai Peninsula in northeast Egypt are Josephus, many Jews were familiar renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history. According to the Hebrew Bible, it is here, at Mt. Sinai, that God summoned Moses and with the Commandments in their revealed to him the Ten Commandments. “biblical” order.

24 WINTER 1999 Christian leaders, we also find variation in ordering and wording. There is little, if any, specific mention of the first commandments, on graven images and idolatry. On the other hand, teachers and preachers felt free to incorporate other moral injunctions (against pederasty and abortion, for example) that were especially relevant for their com- munities. Such modifi-

Photo by AP Wide World Photos World Photo by AP Wide cation of the original As tradition prescribes, a pointer is used to follow the Hebrew written in the Torah. The biblical commands majority of Jewish commentators picture the first five commandments as inscribed on one was in keeping with tablet, with the remaining five on the other. the fluidity found But other Jews, especially (so it Testament were Jewish, so it is not already in the Hebrew Bible itself seems) those who lived outside of surprising to find some parallel and with the elasticity evident Palestine, knew a different order. developments between early Chris- among contemporary Jews. The most significant alteration is the tians and their Jewish contempo- It also was during this period moving of the prohibition against raries. Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark, that the term Decalogue, coming “adultery” so that it directly follows enumerates the “commandments” from the Greek meaning “10 the injunction to honor one’s par- in this order: murder, adultery, words,” was first applied to the ents. This change is found in the ear- stealing, bearing false witness, hon- Commandments. This was the liest Jewish translation of the Bible oring your parents. In addition, he achievement of Clement of (known as the Septuagint) and in the inserts another command, against Alexandria (in Egypt) around Jewish philosopher Philo. It reflects defrauding, after bearing false wit- the year 200 CE. an understanding of adultery as a ness. The Gospel of Matthew fol- serious offense that disrupts the bal- lows the same order (without the Classical Jewish Context ance of family life, in the same way injunction against fraud), but adds With few exceptions Jews have as dishonoring parents. (perhaps as summation), “You shall historically counted Exodus 20:2 Within the context of the Hebrew love your neighbor as yourself.” A (and the corresponding verse in Bible itself, adultery had the more different order appears in Luke, Deuteronomy 5) — “I am the Lord restricted sense of illicit relations where the prohibition against adul- your God...” — as the first com- between a man (married or not) and tery heads the list. In recording mandment, even though it does not a married woman, and seemed Jesus’ teachings, the Gospel writers technically command anything. more concerned with the violation felt free to change details of word- Most of the oldest Hebrew manu- of the marriage contract than with ing and ordering, so as to conform scripts of the Bible include four pro- the feelings of those involved. to the overall emphases of their nar- hibitions (against murder, adultery, ratives. Clearly, then, the particulars stealing and bearing false witness) New Testament, Early of the Ten Commandments were in a single verse. Christian Context not, as it were, “etched in stone.” Recognizing the differences in Jesus, his disciples and the Elsewhere in the New Testament wording between Exodus 20 and authors of most of the New and in the writings of early Deuteronomy 5, several interpreters

WINTER 1999-2000 25 Jewish Tradition

First Tablet who love Me and keep My and female slave may rest as you I the Lord am your God who commandments. do. Remember that you were a 1 brought you out of the land of slave in the land of Egypt and the Egypt, the house of bondage. You shall not swear falsely by Lord your God freed you from there 3 the name of the Lord your with a mighty hand and an out- You shall have no other gods God; for the Lord will not clear one stretched arm; therefore the Lord 2 beside Me. You shall not make who swears falsely by His name. your God has commanded you to yourself a sculptured image, any observe the sabbath day. likeness of what is in the heavens Observe the sabbath day and above, or on the earth below, or in 4 keep it holy, as the Lord your Honor your father and your the waters below the earth. You God has commanded you. Six days 5 mother, as the Lord your God shall not bow down to them or you shall labor and do all your has commanded you, that you may serve them. For I the Lord your God work, but the seventh day is a sab- long endure, and that you may fare am an impassioned God, visiting bath of the Lord your God; you well, in the land that the Lord your the guilt of the parents upon the shall not do any work — you, your God is assigning to you. children, upon the third and upon son or your daughter, your male or the fourth generations of those who female slave, your ox or your ass, or reject Me, but showing kindness to any of your cattle, or the stranger in Second Tablet the thousandth generation to those your settlements, so that your male 6 You shall not murder.

You shall not 7 commit adultery.

8 You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness 9 against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your 10 neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male or female slaves, or his ox, or his ass, or any- thing that is your neighbor’s.

Source: Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh

26 WINTER 1999 Catholic Tradition

First Tablet as you do. For remember that you You shall not I, the Lord, am your God, who too were once slaves in Egypt, and 6 commit adultery. 1 brought you out of the land of the Lord, your God, brought you Egypt, that place of slavery. You from there with his strong hand and shall not have other gods besides outstretched arm. That is why the 7 You shall not steal. me. You shall not carve idols for Lord, your God, has commanded yourselves in the shape of anything you to observe the sabbath day. You shall not bear dishonest in the sky above or on the earth 8 witness against your neighbor. below or in the waters beneath the Second Tablet earth; you shall not bow down Honor your father and your You shall not covet before them or worship them. For I, 4 mother, as the Lord, your God, 9 your neighbor’s wife. the Lord, your God, am a jealous has commanded you, that you may God, inflicting punishments for have a long life and prosperity in You shall not desire your their fathers’ wickedness on the the land which the Lord, your God, 10 neighbor’s house or field, children of those who hate me, is giving you. nor his male or female slave, nor his down to the third and fourth gener- ox or ass, nor anything that belongs ation but bestowing mercy, down to to him. the thousandth generation, on the 5 You shall not kill. children of those who love me and Source: New American Bible keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of 2 the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpun- ished him who takes his name in vain.

Take care to keep holy the sab- 3 bath day as the Lord, your God, commanded you. Six days you may labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God. No work may be done then, whether by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or ass or any of your beasts, or the alien who lives with you. Your male and female slave should rest

WINTER 1999 27 state that God delivered both for- commandments are not inherently separate commands. mulations simultaneously. How more important or sacred than any As we mentioned before, in then did the Israelites make sense of other biblical laws. Deuteronomy “coveting” the wife all this? The people, so we learn, of another was separated from the directly heard only the first two Catholic Context desire one felt for the things a commandments — “I am the Lord Almost all Christians share with neighbor possessed. Augustine your God” and “You shall have no Jews the number “10” for the com- interpreted these two instances as other gods besides Me” — the mandments and the view that the separate commands. In this way, wording of which is identical in original listing of these commands Catholics, along with most Luther- Exodus and Deuteronomy. The oth- spilled over onto two tablets. But ans and Anglicans, maintain the er eight were mediated by Moses. there are significant differences in number “10.” For these Christians, The majority of Jewish commen- the details. the first three commandments relate tators picture the first five com- Early in the fifth century CE, to proper belief and practice with mandments as inscribed on one respect to God, while the remaining tablet, with the remaining five on the other. The balance thus achieved reflects our comple- mentary obligations to act properly in our dealings with God (Commandments 1-5) and with our fellow humans (Commandments 6-10). It may seem peculiar to place the fifth commandment, to honor our parents, on the first tablet, but Jewish tradition considers the honor due our parents as a manifestation of our devotion to God. (See “Ten Command- ments: Jewish Tradition,” Page 26.) Among the individual commandments, none is more important or distinc- tive to Judaism than observ- ing/remembering the Sabbath day. There has been an explosion of Bible translations among That being the case, rabbinic Jews, Catholics and especially authorities enumerated 39 acts as Protestants. While many get across “work” prohibited on the Sabbath, the same message in a more colloquial thereby freeing the day for worship style, there are important theological points at stake in translating the commandments of God. from the original Hebrew. Although Jewish ritual and belief naturally accords a central place to Augustine, one of the most impor- seven define the relationship God the Ten Commandments (for exam- tant of all Christian thinkers, com- has enjoined among humans. (See ple, in most synagogues the congre- bined verses 2-6 as the first “Ten Commandments: Catholic Tra- gation rises on the three occasions commandment (“I, the Lord, am dition,” Page 27.) during the year when they are your God ... You shall not have oth- Catholic theologians understand read), there is alongside such honor er gods besides Me”); in the Jewish the Ten Commandments as an the recognition that these tradition, these verses comprise two enduring expression of natural law.

28 WINTER 1999 As with all doctrines inherited from designating Saturday as their Sab- them the correct English. This also the Old Testament, they achieve bath and by adopting a series of is true with “jealous” God, as in fullness only when interpreted in work restrictions that have parallels verse 5 of Exodus: “I am the Lord light of the life and teachings of with those enjoined by the rabbis. thy God, mighty, jealous... .” Some Jesus. translators prefer “impassioned” as Translations Context more appropriate in connection Protestant Context Over the past four decades there with the Lord. The taking of the Protestants naturally share with has been an explosion of English- Lord’s name “in vain” in Exodus Catholics many of the same under- language versions of the Bible 20:7 provides another example. Sev- standings of the Ten Command- among Jews, Catholics and especial- eral translations substitute “making ments in the life and liturgy of their ly Protestants. Although the Bible wrongful use” or “misuse.” respective churches. Nonetheless, does not show up on conventional historically, Protestants (other than best-seller lists, tens of millions are Cultural and Anglicans and Lutherans) have sold every year for home, school Ethical Contexts supported a different enumeration and church/synagogue use. In addition to its being a pro- of the commandments. For these Some English translations retain foundly religious document, the Christians, verses 2 and 3 of the language and structure of the Hebrew Bible also is an integral Exodus 20 (“I am the venerable King James Version. “You part of our cultural life. For exam- Lord...you shall have shall not steal,” for example, repre- ple, prohibitions against “bearing no other gods...”) con- sents only a modest updating of false witness” and “coveting” are stitute the first com- King James’ “Thou shalt not....” Oth- meaningful in many social and lit- mandment, with verses ers, with the direct “Do not steal,” erary contexts that have little to do 4-6 (condemning the wor- manage to get across the same mes- directly with the Bible. ship of false gods) as the sec- sage in a more colloquial style. It is the opinion of some that, by ond. In common with Jews, But there also are important the- and large, the Ten Commandments the last or 10th commandment ological points at stake in rendering embody practices that define indi- encompasses all instances of the Ten Commandments from the viduals (or, collectively, society) as “coveting.” A difference in original Hebrew into another lan- “good” without regard to specific distribution also goes with guage. Some translations have beliefs. In their opinion, it is not these variations in enumeration. retained the King James Version of necessary to believe in God to rec- For Protestants, the first four com- the sixth commandment: “You shall ognize the value and validity of mands relate to God; the last six to not kill.” The use of the verb “mur- most of the Commandments; their humans. der” in others is a more accurate ethical standards derive from uni- The earliest Christians observed reflection of the Hebrew. What this versally accepted norms of “right” the Sabbath biblically on the day of command prohibits is the unlawful and “wrong.” the week equivalent to our Satur- taking of human life, and in con- In response, it is worth noting day. By the early fourth century, temporary English usage “murder” that the Hebrew Bible defines the Sunday became the official day of conveys this idea with greater force undesirable, if not immoral nature worship for Christians, but only in and precision. of certain actions within a specific later periods did the injunction to The literal rendering of Exodus framework. These commands flow “rest” become a prominent part of 20:3 is: “You shall have no other naturally from God’s revelation to this day’s observance. Under the gods before my face/presence.” Is His people within the context of influence primarily of Puritans, this monotheism (the belief that history. How one deals with other “blue laws” were adopted to only one God exists) or a concession humans is thus inextricably bound strengthen the biblical prohibition that there may be other deities, but up with how we as humans relate against laboring on the “Sabbath.” Israel is to worship the Lord God to God. A few groups among Protestant exclusively? Translators need to — About the author: Dr. Greenspoon Christians have returned, as it were, interpret such Hebrew phrases can be reached via e-mail at to their Old Testament roots by before they can choose what is for [email protected].

WINTER 1999 29 Photo by Monte Kruse, BA’83

By Eileen Dugan, Ph.D. Department of History

hen I was in the fourth But instead of mysterious monoliths changed over the last 2,000 years, grade, my class attended and space stations twirling to evolving from a religious doctrine Wa morning matinee of Strauss waltzes, we are witnessing to a secular celebration to a com- Stanley Kubrick’s epic 2001: A Space something much more terrestrial: mercial bonanza. “Millennial” Odyssey. Afterward, as I puzzled the millennium mania. Some people notions, though, are not limited to meaning of the Star Child, I also cal- foresee widespread social and eco- the turning of millennia: The fever culated how old I would be in 2001. nomic calamity, others some form can take hold at any time, given the (Never mind the answer.) And I of apocalypse, and some are just right environment. wondered: What’s it going to be plain nervous. And we wonder: like to begin not only a new centu- What’s going to happen? How did “Messianism” Becomes ry, but a new millennium? people handle it the last time the “Millennialism” Now that the new millennium is millennium turned? Millennial enthusiasm has its upon us: the year 2000 — or 2001, if It is interesting to note how the roots in the Judeo-Christian antici- you prefer (see sidebar, page 34). concepts of a millennium have pation of a Messiah. Several Old

30 WINTER 1999 Background: The Four Riders of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) Testament books, including the were enthralled with millennial devotees came primarily from those Books of Daniel, Ezra and Baruch, doctrines. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons groups — artisans, day laborers, describe an age of oppression, fol- in the late second century, pub- landless peasants — most affected lowed by a tremendous battle lished a compilation of messianic by socioeconomic pressures. In the between good and evil, the final prophecies, while the third-century course of the Middle Ages, these defeat of the wicked, and the com- Tertullian described visions herald- groups became increasingly mili- ing of a Messiah who would usher ing the dawn of a new age. On the tant: Rather than wait passively for in an age of joy. The earliest Chris- other hand, in the third century, heaven’s army to smite the ungodly, tians, of course, believed that the Origen discounted a communal mil- these millenarians took matters into Messiah had come in the form of lennium, maintaining that any reve- their own hands, taking up arms Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Mark lations and judgments would take against the rich, the Jews and any- (13:24-26), Christ tells of a great place within the individual soul. one else labeled as “unholy” by conflagration preceding His return. Even St. Augustine was cautious. their “messiahs.” His followers believed that this Although he did make reference to Scholars still debate whether mil- return would be soon, very soon, a millennium beginning in the time lennium mania swept Europe prior and eagerly awaited the day. to the year 1000. One school of But the days turned into thought describes mass hyste- years, the years into decades, ria, prompted by famine, and, much to their distress, plague (both resulting in wide- Christ did not come. spread cannibalism), a host of Near the end of the first preachers forecasting the Last century A.D., a new messianic Times, and a 989 appearance of prophecy, the Book of Revela- Halley’s Comet. Of all of these, tion, emerged. Filled with only the comet can be verified, cryptic references and terrify- and this would have been ing imagery, Revelation not alarming indeed. From time only suggested a more distant immemorial, people have inter- Apocalypse, but also one Photos World Photo by AP Wide preted comets as portents of Marshall Applewhite and 39 of his followers in the which would progress in Heaven’s Gate cult believed they would depart disaster. Remember the Heav- stages of 1,000 years — in Earth on a UFO when the Hale-Bopp Comet flashed en’s Gate cult and the Hale- millennia. across the sky in 1997. They committed mass suicide Bopp Comet? So Halley’s Thus Christian messianic that March. Comet undoubtedly worried prophecy became “millennial,” as it of Christ, he, like official Church medieval folk; however, it has yet to created the notion that something doctrine after him, chose not to be proven that such anxiety was, in spectacular would occur over 1,000 place too much emphasis upon any way, linked to the millennium years. Just when that millennium millennial ideas. 11 years away. would commence was unclear. Other scholars view the year But it would — someday. Medieval 1000 as a nonevent. Noting the min- “The millennium” was a Millennium Mania? imal references to millennial fears in uniquely Christian concept, deeply Given the early Church’s defini- chronicles and Church pronounce- religious, anxiously awaited, and tion of the millennium, it is not sur- ments, these authors argue that noncalendrical, that is, not bound to prising that, even before the year very, very few people made the con- begin on any fixed date. The 1,000 1000, various wandering preachers nection between the new calendri- years could begin just as easily in emerged proclaiming themselves cal millennium and the millennium mid-March of 451 as in late Septem- messiahs. In each case that is of the Apocalypse. They further ber of 687 — or on Jan. 1, 1000. known, these men drew large, albeit note that the calendar of the Roman Exact dates were not the issue; what brief, followings. Their emergence Church was still not yet standard mattered was the millennium itself. coincided with periods of economic throughout Europe at the time, so Not all medieval theologians crisis or overpopulation, and their not all were in agreement as to

WINTER 1999 31 when Jan. 1, 1000, actually was. this period is the chronicle of the ment. Although Joachim did not Besides, they maintain, medieval French monk Raoul Glaber, com- affix a specific time span to each common folk were not as concerned pleted in 1044. Glaber, who claimed age, he did assert that the world with dates and years as we are that he had once seen Satan stand- would enter into the third age by today, and therefore might not have ing next to his pillow, feared that 1260. Clearly, it did not. even realized that a new millenni- in 1000 Satan would “soon be Over the centuries, various mil- um was upon them. unleashed because the thousand lennial movements arose, all claim- Perhaps the truth lies in years have been completed.” But ing to have knowledge of when between. There was not, it is safe to when it became clear that no Apoc- the prophesized millennium would say, mass hysteria on the eve of the alypse had begun in 1000, Glaber begin, and, of course, to be the ones second millennium, which spans altered his prediction, shifting the whom God would consider His years 1000 to 1999. (We are entering fateful date from 1,000 years after elect. As previously noted, each the third millennium.) That the- movement occurred in an age of ory’s dramatic elements make acute uncertainty, and especially for good copy, and it may make attracted the lower classes. A few us feel superior to those poor examples: benighted peasants, but it sim- • In 1349, in the wake of ply doesn’t seem to be true. famine and plague throughout There are not enough contem- central Europe, countless bands porary sources to substantiate of flagellants wandered from such claims. And the hysteria town to town. These men prom- school’s argument that there are ised that their self-mortification so few references because would atone for the community’s Church and state conspired to sins and help usher in the millen- suppress record panic to pre- nium. Many flagellant bands vent further panic is not con- were unabashed in their denun- vincing at all. ciations of the “rich and sinful” However, the other position, Jan van Leyden, a 16th century self-proclaimed clergy and of the Jews, prompt- Messiah of the Last Days, ruled over Münster, that medieval people were free Germany, with an iron fist. ing locals into murderous ram- of any Y1K concerns whatsoev- pages against the flagellants’ er, is weak as well. True, terror was Christ’s birth to 1,000 years after enemies. not rampant in this era, but there His death. Thus Glaber, and other At first, the Church had been were some documented, albeit religious, attached millennial cautiously supportive of the peni- short-lived, flashes of millennial importance to the year 1033. tents, but the slaughter of church- activity. A rumor had long circulat- men and the obliteration of one ed in Lorraine (in modern-day east- When Will It Happen? Jewish community after another ern France) that the world would The world having failed to end quickly altered the official stance. end in the year in which the Feast of in 1000, or in 1033 for that matter, In October 1349, the Pope issued a the Annunciation fell on Good Fri- people sought other means of reck- decree condemning the flagellants day. That occurred, coincidentally, oning the beginning of the Last for their anticlerical and anti-Jewish in the year 1000. Here and there, Days. Of great influence in apoca- acts; Church and state now happily bishops and wandering unordained lyptic thought was Joachim of Fiore cooperated to stamp out the move- preachers did warn their listeners of (1145-1202). Joachim envisioned his- ment, executing great numbers of the Apocalypse which would tory as comprising three ages: that penitents. By 1357 the flagellant accompany the new millennium. of the Father, ruled by the Law; that movement collapsed. And the reported sighting of anoth- of the Son, ruled by the Gospel and • Sixteenth-century Germany er comet in 1000 filled some hearts filled with faith; and that of the witnessed not only the Reforma- with dread as well. Holy Spirit, in which all would live tion, but popular unrest as well, cli- One intriguing document from in love and joy until the Last Judg- maxing in the 1525 Peasants’ War.

32 WINTER 1999 Within this charged atmosphere harsher than that of his predecessor, • Militant millennial fervor next appeared two Dutchmen, Jan blithely ordering the beheading of burst forth within 17th-century Matthys and Jan van Leyden, at the adulterers, female bigamists and English Puritanism. Despite the head of a militant Anabaptist sect. those who dared to criticize the efforts of the Stuart kings to thwart (Anabaptism was a Protestant Messiah of the Last Days. All this, its growth, the Puritan movement movement emphasizing Jan van Leyden proclaimed, gained considerable size and politi- adult baptism.) The was necessary to purge cal power. Clashes between the two Jans preached of the New Jerusalem of “Saints” and abusive, absolutist- the impending mil- its sinful elements, for minded kings led to civil war in the lennium, which only then would the 1640s, which the Puritans won. could come about long-awaited millen- After beheading King Charles I and only by the sword, nium begin. abolishing the monarchy, the Puri- and declared the The militancy of tans, now guided by Oliver German city of the Münster Anabap- Cromwell, tried to establish a socie- Münster to be the tists was alarming ty of Saints to purify the land in New Jerusalem. In enough for Catholics February 1534, the and Lutherans to join The executed bodies of the militant Anabaptists stormed forces against them. The van Leyden and two of his deputies were suspended in cages Münster. Wealthy combined armies launched Puritan Oliver inside this church Lutherans fled the city; Cromwell sought a a series of attacks on the in Münster, Germany. of the Lutherans remain- society of Saints. city throughout 1534, cul- Van Leyden and his Anabaptist ing, those who did not minating in a blockade in predecessor, embrace Anabaptism were either January 1535. Cut off from all food Jan Matthys, had expelled or executed. Münster supplies, the city soon found proclaimed became a theocracy, with Matthys famine setting in among the Münster to be the New as its dictator. Anabaptists. During the spring, it Jerusalem Jan Matthys abolished private became so desperate that the inhab- and stormed ownership, made money obsolete itants resorted to eating old shoes, the city in 1534. and ordered that food and posses- the whitewash from buildings, pan- sions be held in common. Mean- fried rats, and, finally, each other. while, he strengthened his hold on Jan van Leyden retained his follow- Photo by Corbis Images the populace through intimidation: ers’ obedience through millennial On more than one occasion, prophecies and even more senseless Matthys executed “sinners” as a executions. warning to others to lead a right- Finally, in June 1535, Münster eous life. fell. Despite the promise of safe con- Less than two months after tak- duct, the surviving Anabaptists ing Münster, Jan Matthys died in were slaughtered by their con- battle outside the city walls. His querors. Jan van Leyden was tem- right-hand man, Jan van Leyden, porarily spared, led in chains from then assumed control, replacing town to town and put on display Matthys’ dictatorship with an for some six months before his unabashed monarchy. He took execution. His body and those of Matthys’ widow as his queen, and, two of his deputies were placed claiming an Old Testament prece- in cages suspended from a dent, instituted polygamy in the Münster church tower. city. Jan van Leyden himself came The cages have remained to have 15 wives, all under the age there for more than of 20. His regime proved to be even four centuries. anticipation of the millennium. “Purifying” measures came to include laws against drinking, dancing, theatrical performances and even going for a Sunday walk. In time all this “godliness” proved to be too much for the Eng- lish public, which was overjoyed when the Puritan government top- pled in 1660 and the monarchy was restored. Despite the political defeat of the Puritans, millennial ideas continued to circulate. Now the focal point was the year 1666, which combined the dreaded number 666 In 1830s America, William Miller preached of the Second Coming of Christ, of Revelation with the millennium. which he declared would take place in 1843 or 1844. Anxiety reached fever pitch in 1665, as plague swept through the land. The Millennium over faith, the secular over the reli- In 1666, the Great Fire destroyed as a Secular Event gious. Even though Enlightenment most of London. But however hard At the same time that the Puri- thinkers tried to make religion the Puritans tried to see the advent tans were trying to bring about the “rational,” their idea of progress of the Last Days in 1666, it did not millennium, a new intellectual smacked of old-fashioned millennial happen. In time the plague died movement was sweeping Europe: thought. They replaced the messian- down, London was rebuilt and the the Enlightenment. Known as the ic millennium with a secular state of world, with all its saints and sin- “Age of Reason,” the Enlightenment perfection, which man could ners, continued. stressed science over dogma, reason achieve through his own efforts, through reason. It would be a socie- ty of peace, joy, harmony, equality, 2000 or 2001? justice and prosperity — not too far A major bone of contention about the new millennium is just from Joachite dreams of the Third when it begins. Does it begin on Jan. 1, 2000, or Jan. 1, 2001? The Age, but for the absence of faith. source of this confusion is the sixth-century monk Dionysius Thus in one important segment Exiguus (a.k.a. Dennis the Short). Pope John I entrusted Dionysius of Western society, millennial ideals with the daunting task of constructing a chronology of the Christian became secularized. Soon, too, did era. Dionysius, after much labor, produced his chronology, making festivities marking the turns of the year before Christ’s birth 1 B.C. and the year of Christ’s birth centuries. By 1700, the popular A.D. 1 — Anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord” 1. (For more on the appeal of papal jubilee years, like development of the calendar, see Fr. John Scott’s article in the fall that of 1300, gave way to more 1999 issue of Creighton University Magazine.) community-oriented celebrations. But wait! Where’s Year 0? Dionysius apparently overlooked this By this time as well, people began little complication. Thus, according to his calculations, centuries to use the ushering in of a new and millennia turn on years ending in ’01. This position is staunchly century as a period of reflection maintained by a host of academics and numerical nitpickers. on what had been and what was Popular opinion, however, seems to have won the day (or rather, yet to come. “year”). Drawn to what author Stephen Jay Gould calls the odome- Had westerners completely giv- ter-like rolling over to a neat bunch of zeros, the public and the en up the notion of an apocalyptic popular press have embraced 2000 as their millennium, drowning millennium? Hardly. In 1830s out the protestations of those who point to poor Dionysius. America, William Miller preached of the Second Coming of Christ,

34 WINTER 1999 which he declared would take place it is going to be like at the turn of and cruise lines offer exorbitant in 1843 or 1844. After those years the millennium. At long last, we are packages promising people that passed without the foretold confla- here. What do we see? There are, to they can be the absolute first in the gration, the Millerites, more than be sure, those who do predict the world to experience the new millen- 10,000 strong, discussed their Second Coming in 2000, but now nium. (“We’re three inches from the millennial quandary. They came to they tend to face mockery as “reli- International Date Line! Book the conclusion that God had begun gious fanatics.” The preparations now!”) Among the travelers thence the process of the Last Judgment in for secular celebrations are in full are reportedly pregnant women 1843, but that Christ bent on Caesarian sections would not return to insti- to ensure the possession tute the millennium until a of the first baby born in time in the future as yet the new millennium — a undisclosed. Through virtual guarantee of their practices preparing advertising deals and themselves for the Last Pampers. “Y2K Compli- Days, the Millerites ant” is a standard product became known as the pitch for anything electri- Seventh-day Adventists. cal; Year 2000 champagne Still others have tried to flutes, jewelry, candles, determine the date of the clothing and trinkets apocalyptic millennium. abound. Even candy has The Anglican Archbishop gotten into the act: In a James Ussher, writing in parody of millennium 1650, declared that, as the mania, and playing upon world was created at noon the Roman numeral for on Oct. 23, 4004 B.C., and 2000, MM, M&Ms is the would endure 6,000 years, self-declared official can- it would end on Oct. 23, dy of the new millennium. 1996 (or 1997, if you Where will I be this remember that there was New Year’s Eve? If I had no Year 0). Supermarket my way, I would be atop a tabloids and other fans of mountain in the Swiss Nostradamus interpreted Alps, torch in hand, look- one typically cryptic pas- ing up at the stars, and lis-

sage as presaging a 1997 Photos World Photo by AP Wide tening to the church bells nuclear attack on New Thousands of people fill New York’s Times Square annually in the valleys below. Mil- York City, resulting in the to ring in the new year. These types of secular celebrations lennium mania? Well, will mark the turning of this millennium. world’s end. As we inch maybe just a good excuse closer to the calendrical millenni- swing, as each community vies to for a vacation. Most likely, I will um, potential apocalyptic dates are outdo the next in ringing in the mil- spend a quiet evening with family tossed about with greater urgency, lennium. (It will be hard, however, and friends, sipping champagne but, thank goodness, less accuracy. to beat Times Square’s extravagan- and thinking about the past and the Nineteen eighty-eight, 1989, 1992, za, which is to feature a descending future. There’s no need to go over- 1994, all have had their champions. ball of Waterford crystal.) board this Millennium Eve. After Some doomsayers have gone so far And then there is the commercial all, there’s always 2001 to ring in, or as to latch onto 2012 as a year of angle. At the end of this century, it 2012, or 2033 ... great significance, based upon the seems that little can transpire with- — About the author: Dr. Dugan Mayan calendar. out a price tag or corporate spon- can be reached via e-mail at We need no longer wonder what sorship. Thus South Pacific islands [email protected].

WINTER 1999 35 PROFILE !"#$%&'$% ('$)#*++, -.//"01

By Rick Davis

t this month’s opening of the NBA season, hope reigned at the Charlotte Coliseum, home to the Charlotte Hornets. 2 The Hornets’ near rags-to-riches season in 1998-99 and the return of the person many credit for the turnaround, coach and Creighton alumnus Paul Silas, BSBA’64, have this city buzzing. Photo courtesy of NBA Photos Silas was named the head coach of the NBA’s Ask Tom Apke, BA’65, a former Creighton teammate Charlotte Hornets in May. He was the team’s interim now host of a weekly sports talk radio show in coach last season. Charlotte. When the two met for lunch before the NBA draft, the restaurant politely refused payment. the team, and it was a fun way to play,” Silas said. “They said, ‘Oh, no. We’re glad you guys came here to The Hornets went an impressive 22-13 the rest of the eat,’” Apke said. “It certainly wasn’t because of me (that season under Silas and missed the playoffs by one game. the check was waived). It was Paul’s celebrity status.” With the turnaround, Silas was announced as the It seemed as if Silas was the one left holding the bill franchise’s fifth head coach in May, receiving a four- when he dropped his assistant title and became the year, $6 million contract that he called “more than fair” Hornets’ interim head coach last March. and “exactly what I’ve been looking for.” The team had lost 11 of its first 15 games. And the Silas had been searching for another head coaching Hornets’ popular head coach, Dave Cowens, who was job since coaching the woeful San Diego Clippers to a feuding with management, resigned after the dismal 78-168 record in three seasons from 1980-1983, immedi- start. Silas, who played with Cowens on two NBA ately following a legendary 16-year NBA career. Championship teams in Boston (1974, 1976), tried to talk After San Diego, Silas became one of the league’s his friend out of resigning. top assistants. He spent four seasons under Hall-of- “I argued with him,” Silas said. “Then he got this look Fame coach Chuck Daly in New Jersey, two years on his face, and I knew to back off. I really felt for him. under Pat Riley in New York, and two years in Phoenix He is such a good person.” before coming to Charlotte. His goal was to return to The team’s outlook was one of despair. head coaching. “The whole perception was that we were going to “When I was with New York, I interviewed with have a terrible season,” Silas said. “Somehow I had to Seattle and George Karl got that job,” Silas said. “I turn that around. I had to build that up.” interviewed in Cleveland, and, within the past year, Silas told his players that he had “unconditional confi- at Chicago, Seattle and Sacramento. It was really fru- dence” in them. He then asked them to score 100 points strating that I couldn’t get back in. You have to have a every game, which became the team’s motivation. lot of patience.” “It changed their outlook. It took all the pressure off Apke believes racism was involved. “There are any

36 WINTER 1999 PROFILE

number of white former athletic scholarships. coaches who got a second “Getting away from and third chance,” he said. Oakland was what I really “Not very many of the for- needed at that time,” Silas mer black head coaches in said. “We were living in the NBA get a second what I like to call the mid- chance.” dle class ghetto. I needed “I think there was a a change.” good-ol’-boy system,” Silas’ father, Leon Sr., Silas said, “and probably was a big influence still is.” in Paul’s coming to The situation is improv- Creighton. Leon had ing, though, he said. This been a porter on the rail- season, there are six black road, and had visited head coaches in the 29- Omaha during runs team NBA: Silas, Doc File Photo between Arkansas and Rivers (Orlando), Gar Left to right: Ed Hubbard, Jim Bakos and Paul Silas Chicago. Heard (Washington), Butch made up the Bluejays’ front line during the 1961-62 “He knew there wasn’t basketball season. Silas guided Creighton to Carter (Toronto), Alvin two NCAA tournaments. a whole heck of a lot to do Gentry (Detroit) and the legendary in Omaha and that I wouldn’t get Lenny Wilkens (Atlanta). into too much trouble,” Silas said. Silas was born on July 12, 1943, in “He persuaded me to go to Prescott, Ark., the youngest of three Creighton.” children to Leon and Clara Silas. The The 6-foot-7 Silas guided family moved to Oakland, Calif., Creighton to two NCAA tourna- when Silas was 7 or 8 years old. ments. In three varsity seasons, Silas They lived with Paul’s uncle and grabbed 1,751 rebounds (21.6 rpg) — aunt, Elton and Sarah Pointer, at the an NCAA record for rebounds in a corner of 18th and Adeline streets, three-year career — and scored near- while looking for a place of their own. ly 22 points per game. It was a crowded house. The Pointers “He was the most dominating had six children of their own (includ- player we’ve ever had here,” said ing four girls who went on to fame as John “Red” McManus, who coached The Pointer Sisters). Silas at Creighton. “He could control “It was a big family,” said Fritz the game. He was a leader; every- Pointer, BA’66, who later joined Silas body respected him.” at Creighton. “That’s the way we did After struggling academically his

it then. We helped each other out.” Photo courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos freshman year, Silas excelled in class. De Fremery Park — located across Silas played for five NBA teams, He was named to Alpha Sigma Nu, the street from the Pointers’ house — won three NBA Championships the Jesuit Honor Society, and became became a frequent hangout for Paul and was twice named an an Academic All-American. Silas and Fritz. Its courts and ballfields All-Star before retiring in 1980 was inducted into Creighton’s attracted some of the city’s best as one of the top rebounders Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974 and in NBA history. athletes. received the College of Business “We would watch guys like Bill Russell and K.C. Administration’s Alumni Merit Award in 1993. Jones play. We saw Frank Robinson and Curtis Flood After graduating from Creighton in 1964, Silas was play baseball there. We grew up watching those guys,” drafted by the St. Louis Hawks. He played for five NBA Pointer said. teams, won three NBA Championships and was twice Silas attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, named an All-Star before retiring in 1980 as one of the where he broke Russell’s scoring records and, in 1960, top rebounders in NBA history. was named the high school basketball Player of Year Silas and his wife of 33 years, Carolyn, live in in Northern California. western New York during the off season. They have Silas and his brother Leon (six years Paul’s three grown children: Donna, Paula and Stephen, a senior) came to Creighton in the fall of 1960 on scout for the Hornets.

WINTER 1999 37 PROFILE

CARING FOR THOSE IN NEED By Rick Davis

r. Theresa Townley, BA’87, admits she didn’t know much about Kosovo when she left for the Serbian province in June 1997 with Doctors Without Borders. DTownley had just completed her medical residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Ramsey (now Regents) Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. She had applied to Doctors Without Borders — the Nobel Peace Prize-winning, international medical relief organization — and, in May 1997, received word that physicians were needed in Kosovo. “At that point, nobody knew where Kosovo was, myself included,” Townley said. “That was quite different from when we returned (to the U.S.) in April of 1998.” Townley, who earned a philosophy degree from Creighton and her M.D. from the University of Minnesota, flew to Belgium and France for briefings and Photo by Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos then on to Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia. There, she push issues on public health.” joined three other Doctors Without Borders physicians Robert Townley, MD’55, who, along with his wife, on a flight to Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. Nancy, visited his daughter in the fall of 1997 said ten- “When I got there in June, I never thought there sions between the Serbs and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians would be fighting,” Townley said. “There was a tremen- were visible at that time. dous amount of tension between the Albanians and the “It was very clear that this was a tinder box waiting Serbs. But it seemed that, with good diplomacy, things to explode,” said Townley, professor of medicine and could be worked out.” director of Creighton’s Allergic Disease Center. “There The doctors were assigned to assist with three public was obvious intimidation on the part of the Serb police health projects: water sanitation (half of the province’s and Serb military. The number of tanks and military in 2 million people had no access to running water), vacci- Kosovo was pretty intensive.” nation and primary health care. Townley’s primary The conflict escalated in March 1998, when Serbian responsibility was improving the quality of care in police and paramilitary units attacked the village of the 40 clinics operated by the Mother Theresa Society. Prekaz, a stronghold of the separatist Kosovo Liberation “It was difficult to move forward on projects,” Army (KLA). Townley said. “Kosovo was basically a police state “They destroyed the whole village,” Theresa said. run by the Serbian government. It was very hard to “They killed a number of people, including pregnant

38 WINTER 1999 PROFILE

women and children.” The controlled government. “And some people tried to Dr. Theresa Townley “beautiful” countryside in increase that distrust.” which Townley had hiked and “I also learned how much people in search of political travels the world as camped was now tainted with power can whip up hatred. That was disheartening to part of Doctors buried landmines. see. But on an individual level, I met tremendous people Without Borders — “It became dangerous to who would do anything for you.” the Nobel Peace go to some of the clinics,” Townley comes from a family immersed in health Townley said. The Serbian care and service. Her mother, a nurse, cared for migrant Prize-winning, inter- government “stopped allow- workers in Colorado. Three of her sisters are nurses: national medical ing bandages or surgical mate- Ellen Marie, BSN’83, works with AIDS patients at relief organization. rial into the clinics,” for fear Washington National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; that it may be used to aid Rose, BSN’90, worked with migrant workers in Oregon; injured rebel fighters. and Sarah, BA’95, BSN’98, works at the Indian Chicano This photo was taken “MSF (the French acronym Health Center in Omaha. Two brothers are Omaha doc- in 1998 when Dr. for Doctors Without Borders) Townley was in started doing mobile clinics,” “My family’s support has made it possible for Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Townley said. “Attempts to help people were blocked by me to do this work. Their acceptance of She returned to the the government and then this work, frequent letters to the field and Balkans this past by the KLA. interest in my stories when I return have been “I don’t think I was in any April to help crucial in my ability to continue.” Macedonia handle direct danger,” she said, but she feared for her Albanian the crush of Kosovar staff. Police armed with — Dr. Theresa Townley Albanian refugees automatic assault weapons who had fled toward manned Serbian checkpoints. tors: Peter, BS’81, MD’86, and Joseph, BA’85, MD’89. that country. Townley returned to the Three other siblings are Creighton graduates: Martin, United States and to work at a BA’90; Rachel Nordquist, BS’92, and Robert, BS’93. Twin Cities urgent care facility “My interest in this work comes from my father’s in April 1998. But within sense of adventure and rampant curiosity and my months, she was off again, providing medical relief mother’s firm beliefs in the rights of all human beings to in the famine-stricken Sudan. education and health care,” Townley said. “The example “My family’s support has made it possible for me to of their life, which is rooted in integrity and simplicity, do this work,” Townley explained. “Their acceptance has made it possible for many of their children to do of this work, frequent letters to the field and interest this kind of work.” in my stories when I return have been crucial in my Townley left for Liberia in August with Doctors ability to continue.” Without Borders. The Creighton graduate said she This past April, she returned to the Balkans to help finds herself turning to God when she’s packing for Macedonia handle the crush of Kosovar Albanian a relief mission. refugees who had fled toward that country. “I try not to panic about whether what I bring and “When I arrived, there were 30,000 refugees in the what I have will be enough — enough drugs to ward off camps and 60,000 in the community,” Townley said. malaria, enough activities to ward off loneliness, enough “Our goal was to release some of the pressure off the knowledge to be able to complete a project and enough (health care) system and improve the quality of confidence to trust in what I’ve done,” Townley said. pediatric care in Macedonia’s Tetovo area.” “I have to keep telling myself that what I have and Townley said her work in Kosovo taught her the what God has given me will be enough as long as I importance of a “medical system that is trusted and respect the sacredness of others and maintain a clear respected by the community.” She said many ethnic set of values.” Albanians, who composed 90 percent of Kosovo’s Townley said she has learned much during her volun- population prior to the fighting, were distrustful teer missions. “I feel like I’ve learned much more than of health programs administered by the Serbian- I’ve ever given.”

WINTER 1999 39 DEVELOPMENT NEWS

DONOR PROFILES

PHYSICIAN’S GIFT TO County Hospital and was medical director but to his love for the University, its LEAVE LASTING LEGACY of Emmetsburg Care Center. community of Jesuits, students, scholars AT CREIGHTON Operating by the Jesuit principle of men and healers. Physician and Creighton alumnus and women for others, Wieneke “was Gerald Wieneke, BS’70, MD’74, very involved in the community,” said BLOTCKY ENDOWMENT has passed on a lasting legacy to the Barb Beattie, a friend who worked with FUND CAPTURES University. Wieneke, who died at age 50 Wieneke at Palo Alto County Hospital. SPIRIT OF CREIGHTON last spring, made an estate gift of more “Elderly patients and children loved him.” Last winter, Wanda J. Blotcky of Omaha than $500,000 to endow one undergradu- Chuck Stillman, BA’69, MSEdu’76, who established the Alan J. Blotcky ate scholarship to benefit students from his roomed with Wieneke during his first Endowment Fund in memory of her home county of Palo Alto (Iowa) and stu- year in medical school, described how late husband, Alan J. Blotcky, MS’71. dents from North Central Iowa, one medi- Wieneke’s concern for the person behind Honoring her husband’s commitment to cal school scholarship and an equipment the patient took root and ripened at science and education, Mrs. Blotcky fund for the Success in Science Initiative. Creighton. “He went to Creighton to directed her gift to Creighton’s Physics After graduating from Creighton’s become a doctor, that was first and fore- Department. School of Medicine in 1974, Wieneke most,” said Stillman, now a fourth-grade Mr. Blotcky was the second person to put into practice the ethic of caring he teacher in nearby Algona, Iowa. Along the graduate with a master’s degree in physics acquired through his Jesuit education. way, Wieneke developed a special affinity from Creighton. He was the longtime He was an active partner with Medical for the University. “He always said that director of the Medical Research Nuclear Associates of Emmetsburg in Iowa from some of the best times of his life were his Reactor facility at Omaha’s VA Medical 1977 until his illness. He also served as years at Creighton.” Center. The facility — the only hospital- Palo Alto (Iowa) county coroner, was vice Wieneke’s gift to Creighton stands testi- based reactor in the world — was president of the medical staff of Palo Alto mony not only to his own generous spirit, dedicated in his name last July. Mr. Blotcky maintained a lifelong rela- tionship with the University and regularly GIFT ECHOES SPIRIT OF UNIVERSITY’S FOUNDERS hosted tours of the nuclear reactor for Creighton physics students. Creighton University lost a valued Division of the Army during World The Blotckys met while in college at the Ralph T. friend and alum when War II. According to his brother, Carnegie Institute of Technology where Friedman, BS’50, died last January. Friedman served in the same Division they both majored in the sciences. They Echoing the spirit of the University’s as former Kansas were married for 45 years. founders, Friedman made an unrestrict- Sen. Bob Dole. Mr. and Mrs. Blotcky regularly hosted ed estate gift of $330,000 to Creighton Friedman worked Creighton physics professor Fr. Clarence through his Charitable Remainder 35 years at the Wagener, S.J., for dinner and conversation. Trust. Enron Corporation Fr. Wagener said, “They were both most Since graduating from Creighton as an auditor and gracious. Our talks would last sometimes with a degree in accounting, Friedman accountant. He was until 2 in the morning and cover all topics maintained an active interest in the an enthusiastic … philosophy, theology and science.” University and was a generous support- champion of Warren According to Fr. Wagener, their discus- er of its students and educational pro- Buffett and his sions revealed the dynamic interchange grams. “Ralph loved Creighton,” Joseph investment method. “Ralph was always between science and religion, between the J. Friedman, brother and trustee of interested in the stock market,” his Jewish and Catholic communities. Their Ralph’s estate, said. “I always felt that brother said. friendship and philosophical discourse he received an excellent education, Friedman’s estate gift to Creighton speak to the Jesuit concept of cura person- which prepared him for a successful, represents both the legacy of his alis or education of the whole person. Far 35-year career at Enron Corporation. accomplishments as well as an invest- from seeing faith as antithetical to the pur- I’m very pleased that he remembered ment in Creighton’s future. Unrestricted suit of science, Jesuits believe that faith is Creighton University in his Charitable gifts breathe life into the University, enriched by learning, just as learning is Remainder Trust.” allowing the president to direct vital illuminated by faith. The Alan J. Blotcky Friedman grew up in Halbur, Iowa, resources to the areas of most Endowment Fund captures this spirit of and served in the 10th Mountain pressing need. cura personalis.

50 WINTER 1999 THE LAST WORD Letters Reveal the Other Side of Henry James By Greg W. Zacharias, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Henry James Studies at Creighton University

enry James (1843-1916), the most studied American enormous, especially for beer, which I drink largely,” he author of the recent past, son of Henry James the the- wrote to his sister Alice in 1869. There’s more in a letter to Hologian and philosopher and brother of the philoso- Oliver Wendell Holmes, written in 1868 when James was 25, pher William James, was the author of 25 novels, more than and written evidently as a reply to Holmes’ implicit question, 100 short stories, and thousands of pages of literary, dramatic “How are you doing?” James wrote: “There are woods; and art criticism and travel writing. He also wrote at least there are women. You put two and two together.” Not 10,500 letters to more than 1,000 correspondents. much formality there. James is traditionally depicted as an ultra-proper, uptight, James also loved to gossip. He chatted in very informal reclusive and elitist writer, who abandoned the democratic language with his friend Howard Sturgis on Feb. 1, 1910, United States in favor of aristocratic England, “married” his about fellow novelist, Edith Wharton, her bad marriage to art, and wanted little to do with those beneath his station. He Teddy Wharton, and Teddy’s embarrassing “quasi-demented is remembered as a writer of overly ver- excess of levity and gaiety which has bose and difficult novels, which are inac- translated itself into incongruous and cessible to the everyday reader. The extravagant forms and consequences.” words of Harold Frederic typify the tradi- James emphasized the confidential tional view of James as “an effeminate nature and thus the gossip value of the old donkey who lives with a herd of oth- information by adding, “Don’t know er donkeys around him and insists on this from me,” which he underlines being treated as if he were Pope.” But the heavily twice. traditional portrayal of James does not James’ criticism of the United States is square with evidence of his life now a keystone of the traditional view. His being uncovered. negativity is located in part in a passage The transcribing and editing of James’ from his critical biography of Nathaniel letters for The Complete Letters of Henry Hawthorne (1879), in which James James (forthcoming from the University laments the poverty of American culture of Nebraska Press) presents us with a during Hawthorne’s time, “No sover- new portrait of Henry James the human eign, no court, no personal loyalty, no being, rather than James the traditional aristocracy, no church, no clergy, no subject of high school and college cours- army, no diplomatic service, no country es. The Henry James of the letters is any- gentlemen, no palaces.” However, James

thing but elitist. He cares deeply for his Katherine McClellan Smith College Archives was equally critical of European culture. friends and family, goes out of his way to American writer Henry James, As he wrote to Charles Eliot Norton on 1843-1916 help those who need or want his help May 31, 1869, 10 years before the publica- and kindness, is as capable as anyone of using colloquial lan- tion of Hawthorne: “One feels rather sold, living in a Euro- guage, is especially attentive to events in the United States pean town which has so few distinctly European resources: and enjoys poking fun at himself. This “new” James thus no Antwerp spire, no Rubenses, no museum, churches, overturns the “traditional” portrayal. opera nor theatre.” A March 21, 1897, letter shows a warm, tender side to The letters project is valuable for more than the emerging James. Addressed to his 4-year-old cousin, George Grenville humanistic picture of James and for the bright light the Hunter, the letter finds James (then nearly 54) putting young 10,500 letters cast on 19th-century European and American Hunter at ease with kindness and consideration. “Look out culture. As the home of the largest literary letters project in the window at me when I come,” writes James, “for I am American history, Creighton’s Center for Henry James Stud- very shy when I keep a visit, and it makes me happy to think ies is, in part, responsible for the emergence of Nebraska as a there may be a very rare little boy to take me by the hand.” significant location in the world for James scholarship. James often balanced the parody of his own formality —For more information about the Center, contact Zacharias with a self-presentation that was as democratic as a weekend (402-280-5714, [email protected]) or see the Web site undergraduate party. For example, “my appetite is (http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/hjcenter.htm).

WINTER 1999 51 IN MEMORIUM

Klutznick Served the World

his fall, Creighton University lost a lifelong bringing students and the community the resources Tfriend. As a 1930 Creighton Law School gradu- of print and electronic media in a beautiful and ate, young Phil Klutznick chose a frightening time peaceful space. to enter public life. The Great Depression had He and his wife, Ethel, endowed the Philip M. flattened the economy, and Ethel Klutznick Chair in closed banks, ruined the Jewish Civilization, strength- stock market and reduced ening Creighton’s ties to peoples’ savings in minutes Omaha’s vibrant Jewish to pennies. community and to world- Years later, Philip wide scholarship in Judaica. Klutznick would retire from Among his richest gifts to public life as an interna- Creighton, however, was his tional luminary, having cherishing of the values of served seven presidents; learning, generosity, toler- revolutionized our concepts ance and peace. For Phil of housing and suburbia; Klutznick, these values knew sponsored the cause of no boundaries or limits. world peace through the He once wrote, “When I United Nations; worked plead that we try to under- tirelessly on behalf of the stand that not all of us in this world’s refugees, and Photo by Krantz Studios great world ... have grown fostered the establishment Philip M. Klutznick, JD’30 — 1907-1999 up alike, live alike or can of the state of Israel. be expected to agree, it is a hope of all established Yet, in spite of his globe-spanning career, Phil religion that we will recognize that we are all one Klutznick never forgot Creighton University. under God.” He served on both the university’s early board Thank you, Phil Klutznick, for the bright light of of regents and its first lay board of directors. your friendship and for illuminating some of the He established the Klutznick Law Library, troubled corners of our world.

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