Loyola to celebrate Jesuit heritage and longstanding Maryland Day tradition during third annual Mission Week

The Maryland Day Convocation, scheduled for March 20, 2020, is canceled. All Mission Week events are canceled.

Loyola University Maryland will host Mission Week, a series of events and activities related to Loyola’s mission, to celebrate the University’s Jesuit and Maryland heritage from March 15 – 22.

Loyola will celebrate Maryland Day on March 20, honoring staff and administrators who have achieved key milestones at the institution. The Maryland Day Convocation will serve as the cornerstone of events and activities taking place during Mission Week.

The Maryland Day Convocation brings together members of the Loyola community, as well as the local community, for a celebration of awards and a speaker who can inspire and challenge the campus community.

This year's Convocation will feature the Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, the James and Nancy Buckman professor of theology and social ethics at Fordham University. The Maryland Day Convocation be held on Friday, March 20, at 1:30 p.m. in McGuire Hall. Fr. Massingale, who is also the Senior Ethics Fellow in Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education, will receive the University’s Ignatian Citizenship Award.

Fr. Massingale is a leader in the field of theological ethics. He is a past Convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Christian Ethics and serves on the editorial board of Theological Studies, one of the premier Catholic journals of theology. Fr. Massingale is the recipient of four honorary doctorates and has held the Bernard J. Hanley Chair at Santa Clara University.

A scholar-activist, Fr. Massingale is a noted authority on issues of social and racial justice, having addressed numerous national Catholic conferences and lectured at colleges and universities across the nation.

Also on Maryland Day, Java & Juice with the Jesuits will be held from 11 a.m.-noon at the Ignatius House, and the Maryland Day Mass will be held at 12:10 p.m. at the Alumni Memorial Chapel.

Other Mission Week events that are free and open to the public include:

• An Interfaith Panel Discussion: Finding Common Ground Towards Cultivating Beloved Community will be held on Tuesday, March 17, from noon-1 p.m. During the panel discussion, Heather Miller Rubens, Ph.D., and Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., scholars from the Institute for Islamic, Christina, and Jewish Studies, will discuss the importance of creating interfaith spaces of dialogue and collaboration.

• “Festival Sing!”, an opportunity to hear the Belles, Chimes, Greysounds, Chapel Choir, Gospel Choir, Repertory Choir, and Loyola Singers will be held on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Chapel.

• Sarah Smarsh, author of Messina’s 2019-2020 Common Text, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, will discuss topics from her New York Times bestseller, including issues of socioeconomic class on Thursday, March 19, from 7-8:30 p.m. in McGuire Hall.

• The Center for Community Service and Justice will host a York Road Community Day on Saturday, March 21, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The event will focus on a morning of community building and care for our common community. To register, contact communitydays@loyola.edu.

• Mission Week will wrap up on Sunday, March 22, in Alumni Memorial Chapel with a 6 p.m. Mass celebrated by Rev. Patrick C. Nolan, S.J., ’01, athletics chaplain and assistant director of enrollment management at Boston College High School.

For more information and additional events that will held during Mission Week, go to www.loyola.edu/missionweek.