Marquette Univ. names Michael Lovell, UW-Milwaukee chancellor, as next president

Michael Lovell may not be a Jesuit. And he may not be a priest.

But the newly appointed president of Marquette University is a deeply spiritual Catholic whose faith will inform all he does as the first lay leader in the school's 133-year history, says a longtime friend and spiritual adviser, who counseled Lovell and his wife, Amy, regularly during the selection process.

"He's a very prayerful man. He asks God to guide him in anything he does," said Father Bryan Summers, a Pennsylvania parish priest who first met the Lovells when he served as chaplain at the University of Pittsburgh, where they were students.

"He's an extraordinary man who God gave many gifts. And I can't think of a better place for him to use those gifts than at a Catholic university."

Lovell, who has served as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2011, was announced as Marquette's new president Wednesday afternoon. Lovell said he initially declined to be considered for the post, but eventually felt called to accept after prayerful discussions with Summers and interim Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild.

"It became clear to me I was called to Milwaukee six years ago to be Marquette's president," said Lovell, who with his wife planned to attend a special Mass and dinner at Marquette's Jesuit residence on Wednesday.

"I really need to thank God for leading me to this day."
Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/michael-lovell-joins-several-other-lay-leaders-of-catholic-colleges-b99233959z1-252513621.html#ixzz2xGZBMOw7
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JS has much more coverage there.  Sounds like a solid guy, maybe it's best not to have a Jesuit priest leading MU?  Anybody in the know want to share?  

2 comments:

Cassandra said...

They wouldn't have picked him if they thought he was going to threaten the status quo.

You've been covering the Catholic scene how long?

JoeJoe said...

That's my fear as well. Remember, when the MSM depicts a Catholic as "devout" (or in this case, "deeply spiritual") they're just setting up a later sentence to show how their devoutness or deep spirituality leads them to reject some aspect of Catholic teaching and how it makes them soooooooooooooooooo sad that the Evil Heirarchy of Old White Male Virgins doesn't understand their unique take on Catholicism which comes from such a Deeply Spiritual place.