Scranton Honors Staff Who Serve the Jesuit Mission

Rev. Herbert B. Keller, S.J., interim president at The University of Scranton, delivered the State of the University address and honored staff members with Sursum Corda Awards at the Spring Convocation, which took place in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center on Feb. 1. New staff members who joined the University between Feb. 17, 2017 and Feb. 1, 2018, were also recognized at the convocation.

Sursum Corda (Lift Up Your Hearts) Awards recognize members of the University’s professional/paraprofessional staff, clerical/technical staff and maintenance/public safety staff who have made outstanding contributions to the life and mission of the University. This year’s recipients were: Tim Barrett, supervisor of electrician and mechanics trades; Margaret Hynosky, associate director of financial aid; Catherine Mascelli, assistant director of the Center for Health Education and Wellness; and Jennifer Pennington, administrative assistant for the Office of Equity and Diversity.

Father Keller thanked the recipients for the “significant contribution” each has made and continues to make “to the life of this Jesuit University.” He also said in his remarks that it was a “privilege” to work with faculty and staff of the University and noted many examples he observed of “both the big things and the little things” they do to “make the University the special place that it is.”

Father Keller said that with just 6.7 percent of the world’s population being able to obtain a college education, the work being done at the University is both “a blessing and a responsibility.”

Drawing from a recent Boston College publication, Father Keller said “those who are Jesuit educated are called to participate in the transformation of the world. A person cannot be considered whole without an educated solidarity with other human beings, in their fears and hopes and especially in their needs.”

Discussing the meaning of Jesuit education at “the deepest level,” Father Keller said “Jesuit education seems to inspire students to want more and to seek to live with enthusiasm. And, because we believe the world in infused with the grandeur of God, one will want to transcend oneself and get to our ultimate meaning and it’s there that one will find God. That is why this Jesuit University is here and, as servants of this mission, that is why we are here.”