Le Moyne Mourns the Passing of Former President Charles J. Beirne, S.J.
Following a lengthy illness, Charles J. Beirne, S.J., president of Le Moyne College from 2000 to 2007, died on Wednesday, July 14 at Murray-Weigel Hall at Fordham University in New York City. He was 71.
A native of New Jersey, Father Beirne came to Le Moyne from Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala, where he served as academic vice president and professor of education from 1996 to 2000. During his seven-year tenure at Le Moyne, he spearheaded a comprehensive five-year strategic plan, new mission statement and worked toward the development of an architectural master plan for the campus.
“The Le Moyne community is deeply saddened by the passing of Father Beirne,” said Le Moyne President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. “He led and served Le Moyne in many important ways. Fr. Beirne’s passion for issues of social justice and service to the most marginalized members of society exemplify values that are at the core of a Le Moyne education and the Jesuit tradition.”
In what was a very courageous act, Father Beirne went to Universidad Centroamericana in San Salvador following the brutal assassination of six Jesuits there, along with their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989 by members of the Salvadoran army. He served as academic vice president there from 1989 to 1993.
His other administrative and teaching positions included academic vice president at Santa Clara University in California (1987-90); associate dean at Georgetown University Business School (1984-87); headmaster at Regis High School in New York City (1978-83); and principal of Colegio San Ignacio in Puerto Rico (1972-77).
Father Beirne served on the boards of directors for Syracuse 20/20, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Development Association, the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Independent College Fund of New York, and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. In addition, he served on the executive committee of the board of trustees for the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu) and as president of the Rafael Landivar University Foundation. He was the author of three books: Jesuit Education and Social Change in El Salvador, Libros de Texto en El Salvador, and The Problem of Americanization in the Catholic Schools of Puerto Rico.
Father Beirne held a doctorate in education from the University of Chicago; bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fordham University; and master’s and licentiate degrees from Woodstock College in Maryland. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969.
He is survived by two sisters, Maureen of Massachusetts and Eileen of Kentucky, a brother, Thomas, of New Jersey, and one niece.
At this time, arrangements for calling hours and a funeral Mass are incomplete. A memorial service is being planned at Le Moyne College this fall.
In Memoriam - Rev. Paul J. Locatelli, S.J.
The Rev. Paul Locatelli, a revered Jesuit priest whose impact on Santa Clara University spanned more than a half century, from his days as a student through his two-decade presidency, died July 12 of pancreatic cancer.
More than 800 friends and family gathered at Mission Santa Clara church to remember the man known for his commitment to social justice and for transforming a once-insular school into a university that is integrated into Silicon Valley and connected to the world.
News of his death turned what was supposed to be a prayer service into an impromptu memorial, where university President Michael Engh, who succeeded Locatelli two years ago, gave thanks "to a man who was so good and did so much."
Locatelli's friends as well as many in the Silicon Valley community had been praying for a miracle. If anyone deserved one, they said, he did.
"What Paul told you was always the truth. He didn't play games. You knew that what he said was what he believed," said CIA Director Leon Panetta, one of Locatelli's oldest friends who graduated from Santa Clara with him in 1960. "I don't think there is any question he will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents in Santa Clara history."
He led the university during decades of dramatic change, from the construction or major renovation of 19 buildings and sports centers — affecting a full two-thirds of the campus — to the controversial eliminations of the football program in 1993 and the phasing out of fraternity and sorority houses.
Locatelli's commitment to educating students about poverty and injustice extended from the streets of east San Jose to the jungles of El Salvador to Rome, where he spent most of the past two years as Secretary for Jesuit Higher Education coordinating the Jesuits 150 universities worldwide.
Locatelli, who held the title of chancellor after retiring as president, had been instrumental in rerouting The Alameda, which cut through the middle of campus, and constructed a grand palm-tree lined entrance to the heart of the university — the historic Santa Clara mission. Planted in front are eight white crosses, erected after the killings of six outspoken Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter by the army in El Salvador.
"Those stand as both a memorial to Jesuits and in some sense to Paul's pursuit of global justice," said the Rev. Steve Privett, president of the University of San Francisco and former provost at Santa Clara who has been friends with Locatelli since their days in the seminary.
Not only did Locatelli give refuge at the university to the one surviving Jesuit from El Salvador who was out of the country during the massacre, but he committed to a program in El Salvador to help students understand poverty by working in urban schools and women's centers.
"What that does is change their heart," Locatelli said upon his retirement. "And it's easier for the heart to change the mind, than the mind to change the heart."
In Memoriam - Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J.
Alpha Sigma Nu mourns the loss of Rev. William C. McInnes, S.J.
Father McInnes, a beloved and highly-respected Jesuit priest and educator who served as president of Fairfield University, the University of San Francisco and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, as well as faculty member, academic dean and alumni chaplain at Boston College, died at Campion Center in Weston on Dec. 8 after a long illness.
Fr. McInnes was 86, and had been a Jesuit priest for 52 years. He was the recipient of the 2009 Alpha Sigma Nu Panlener Award for lifetime achievement in October, 2009. Father McInnes served the honor society as Faculty Adviser, Board member, Book Awards founder, and Alumni Club supporter.
Fr. McInnes had already enjoyed a long, distinguished career in academia when he returned to Boston College — where he had started nearly four decades before — in 1998. In his second stint at BC, he was an adjunct professor in the Carroll School of Management, faculty advisor to the
Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, and a popular chaplain to members of the University’s growing Alumni Association. During a decade in this position, Fr. McInnes attended scores of Boston College events and befriended and counseled countless BC students and graduates.
