Spring 2023

A Message from the President

Rev. Jospeh G. Marina, wearing priest clothing in office with brown background.Dear Friends:

Each year, countless rich traditions continue here at Scranton and they unite us as Royals. A few moments in time, though – marked by decades and even centuries -- offer deeper opportunities for reflection and renewal.

In 2022, those included a conclusion and a beginning. In July, we joined Jesuit colleges and universities across the world to mark the close of “The Ignatian Year,” a celebration of the 500th anniversary of the transformation of St. Ignatius. A few months later in October, we commenced a year of events recognizing the 50th anniversary of coeducation on our Scranton campus.

This issue of The Scranton Journal discusses both of these observances, and in the process, shines a light on generations of women and their contributions to the University. We meet inspirational alumnae, community advocate Belinda Juran, Esq. ’81, officer in the Senior National Intelligence Service Alexandra Abboud Miller ’00, and public historian Jennifer Janofsky ’95, Ph.D.

At the halfway point of “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story,” we hear from community partners about our roles as citizens in a democracy and our place in U.S. history. For example, Curtis Zunigha, Enrolled Member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians (Oklahoma) and co-founder/co-director of the Lenape Center in New York, visited campus in November to discuss the forced removal of the Lenape people from the Scranton area, and to advocate for their greater inclusion in the present and future of the region.

We move forward, bolstered in the knowledge that our Class of 2026 is the most diverse in the school’s history. And we look to the future through an optimistic lens, creating new pathways to innovation through in-demand advanced degrees.

Our magazine arrives in spring, the season of reawakening, which reminds us that monumental shifts can occur only when our minds and hearts are open and receptive. So consider the prayer of St. Ignatius, “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own.”

Please keep the University in your prayers and be assured of mine in return.

Yours Faithfully,
Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J.
President

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