Keep the Faith: A Tribute to Frank Fischer

A group of alumni recently gathered with Frank Fischer at City Hall.

Keep the Faith A Tribute to Frank Fischer As a young Jesuit scholastic, Frank Fischer attended the March on Washington in 1963, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He still recalls the experience vividly and was instantly inspired by King’s words. “I took a bus from Woodstock College and was among a group of seminarians and Jesuits, but I soon separated myself from the group and went up to the front of the crowd,” said Fischer. “I listened to King speak and there was something so beautiful in his words, and seeing the enormous crowd of people hanging on his every word made a big impression on me. I came away with this feeling that I had to do something.”

Fischer was raised in Endicott, NY. His mother was a homemaker and his father worked in a shoe manufacturing plant. “I came from a very small town and there was only one African-American student at our high school,” said Fischer. “When I got to Loyola a few years later, I felt like I could do something to change the dynamic of the school in a way that would benefit everyone.”

when I was in grade school,” said Moore. “Bill Jackson ’71 and I were cleaning the chapel floors at St. Pius V and Frank came in to pray.”

Moore was among the first students who Fischer recruited and before he knew it, he was taking a competitive exam for the Carroll Scholarship Fund, one of the initial funding opportunities that Fischer helped to bring to Loyola. Funds were devoted to gifted students of diversity. “I remember him letting me know I would be getting a scholarship, but it wasn’t official just yet,” said Moore. “A few weeks later, we got a telephone call at home from Frank and he delivered the “Frank Fischer was God’s good news to my mother, telling her to Go Tell It on the Mountain!” response to my humble prayer Thanks to Fischer’s continued for deliverance as a 10-year-old efforts to explore funding opportunities and recruit quality young seeking a better life. Because of men, it would be the first of many Frank’s example, I now strive to joyous phone calls.

mirror his loving and obedient servitude to God.”

Fischer knew that further integration of Loyola would have its chal– Ron Richardson ’71 lenges, but he did everything in his power to ensure that students Fischer’s first step was to learn were transitioning with the proper amount of support in more about how to implement a plan to further integrate place. “Frank coordinated our transportation, made sure the school. He spent time in the New York Province and guys had counseling if they needed it, took us to movies, eventually returned to Loyola to introduce the Higher lectures and just generally cared for us,” said Moore. “Just Achievement Program during the summer of 1966. “It getting to campus each day was its own adventure since started as a Saturday program and we bused in around most of us took three buses. At the time, you would have 50 boys,” said Fischer. “From that group, 10 would enroll thought we were traveling to the moon!” at Loyola the following year, the largest group of African-American boys to enter the school at once.”

In his own words, the meaning of his work was simple: it was always about education. “We didn’t just set out Even before the Higher Achievement Program’s success, to recruit African-American men to come to Loyola so Fischer was busy recruiting throughout the city and Ralph that they could simply attend a better school; it was so Moore ’70 was one of the young men Fischer met along that students from diverse backgrounds could all come the way. “I still remember meeting Frank for the first time

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together and realize that, during an era where this was not always thought to be true, the black kids from the inner city were just as bright as the white kids from the county,” said Fischer. “You might assume we were bringing kids out of the city to learn from the boys in the suburbs, but it was equally, if not more, important that the boys at Loyola encounter their black peers.” Having been a part of the transition in the 1960s, Moore notes that was indeed the case. “What Frank was doing was education at its finest,” said Moore. “He was teaching us all how to get along with our fellow human beings whether you looked alike or not, or came from a different neighborhood.”

Frank Fischer’s legacy at Loyola is not simply defined by the amount of dollars he was able to find to help fund scholarships for bright young men, nor the number of

students he recruited out of the city and into a world that seemed foreign from their own. It is defined by the success of those men and the lives they have lived since graduating. One thing is certain: they have not forgotten what Frank has meant to them. “His favorite saying is ‘Keep the Faith’ and we’ve tried to pay him back by doing just that,” said Moore.

Frank Fischer spent additional years teaching at Loyola and the Ralph Young School in East Baltimore before leaving the Jesuit order in the mid-1970s. He married Jeanne Bur and worked for the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center until his retirement. He currently resides in Baltimore and still keeps in touch with many of the young men with whom he formed relationships during his time at Loyola.

“To the extent that I have had any success professionally, I owe the majority of that success to Frank Fischer. My first contact with then-Father Fischer occurred when he recruited me and a number of young men from the inner city of Baltimore to participate in a summer enrichment program at Loyola. One year later, in 1967, the largest group of African-American students entered Loyola, all through the efforts of Frank Fischer. He encouraged and supported me throughout my four years at Loyola.

Throughout my college years at Brown University and even my years at Harvard Law School, he was always a source of strength and encouragement.”

Group photo of Higher Achievement Program participants, student volunteers and moderators.

– The Honorable William M. Jackson ’71

“Frank and his merry band of tutors not only came to my elementary school of Saint Francis Xavier to help with literature and math, but also brought a cross-cultural experience. I remember hearing Bob Newhart and Smothers Brothers albums for the first time. The tutors heard and loved the best of Motown! Honest friendships and awakenings happened and I knew that leaving the inner city to attend school would not be such a great leap.”

– Councilman Carl Stokes ‘68

“I greatly appreciate Frank Fischer and others for all they did to provide me (and other AfricanAmerican students) an opportunity to attend Loyola. It was a challenging and enjoyable experience academically and socially. The experience prepared me to pursue and obtain a degree in electrical engineering and to have a professional career as an electrical engineer.”

– Bobbie Walker ’72

“Frank Fischer has had a major impact on my personal and professional life. He told me back in 1965 when I met him that he believed in me. That statement has been my rock all these years. His sense of fairness and love for his fellow man have not changed. He continues to lead by example to love each as God loves us.”

– Reggie Boyce ’69 11