Since 1916
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Volume 98, Number 9
Few specific details given after Pilarz’s resignation
www.marquettetribune.org
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Naus: ‘I love you all very much’
By Joe Kaiser
joseph.kaiser@marquette.edu
University President the Rev. Scott Pilarz’s resignation announcement Friday came as a surprise to students and faculty, and the university has not readdressed the issue in the days following. Pilarz’s announcement came just more than two years after he was inaugurated as the 23rd president of Marquette. Pilarz canceled his lone class, Playing God: Divinity and Plays, Monday and has not yet talked to the media, including the Tribune, about his decision to leave. Some faculty members declined to comment on the news, while others gave well-wishes to the outgoing president. “Father Pilarz’s commitment to Catholic, Jesuit education is both steadfast and inspiring, and that has been an important part of his work here at Marquette the past couple of years,” said the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President, in an emailed statement. “As brother Jesuits, as well as members together on the Board of Trustees at another Jesuit institution (Boston College) and in his administration, I have learned much from him. I also respect his decision to move to new apostolic opportunities in December, but I hope after ten years of presidential work that he gets the rest he deserves.” According to Friday’s emailed statement, Pilarz told the Board of Trustees, “I believe the time has come to consider other apostolic opportunities for me as a Jesuit priest. I have made this decision after much prayer, discernment and conversation with religious superiors, my spiritual director and others whose counsel I have sought over the past three years.” He made the announcement to the board while they were meeting in Washington D.C. for the Les Aspin 25th Anniversary Celebration, which also marked the first ever full Board of Trustees meeting outside of Milwaukee. Despite being in D.C. during the anniversary and making the announcement to the board, multiple event attendees confirmed that Pilarz did not attend the 25th anniversary ceremony. Pilarz will remain university president until Dec. 14, the end of the semester, but the university is beginning the search process for a new, permanent president immediately. Charles Swoboda, chair of the Board of Trustees, is leading the search for a new president. Swoboda, a 1989 alumnus of the College of Engineering, is also CEO of North Carolinabased Cree Inc., a manufacturer of LED devices and materials. See Pilarz, Page 2
Tribune File Photo
The Rev. John Naus was known for his celebration of the Tuesday night mass at St. Joan of Arc Chapel, his comedic spirit and his love for Marquette.
Jesuit legend dies at 89 after half-century serving university By Caroline Roers
caroline.roers@marquette.edu
When eating lunch at Marquette Place in 2011, it was not uncommon to see an older man in windbreaker pants and a motorized scooter talking to a group of students. Nor was it uncommon to see this same man giving a sermon at Tuesday night Mass in St.
lasting impression on thousands of students, including Pirics, who hasn’t forgotten the day she first met Naus. “I met Father Naus one of the very first days of my freshman year at Marquette,” she said. “I was eating in the union with friends, and he came up to our table and just started talking to us. He sat with us for about an hour telling us stories about Marquette from way back when and asking us about our families.” Naus loved talking with students and bringing smiles to their faces, sharing words of wisdom and doing what he could to bring
joy to their lives. “Father Naus’ love for life definitely rubbed off on me and taught me to always see the good in every person and situation,” Pirics said. “Thank you, Father Naus.” Naus was born on Aug. 28, 1924 and graduated from Marquette University High School in 1942. He was ordained as a priest in 1955 at the Church of the Gesu on the Marquette campus and holds degrees from Saint Louis University and the Gregorian University in Rome. See Naus, page 4
Gesu church construction falls behind Exterior renovations to be completed by November of 2014 By Kelly Meyerhofer
kelly.meyerhofer@marquette.edu
Those hoping to enjoy the beauty of Gesu Church’s exterior will continue to see scaffolding instead as Parish Administrator John O’Brien predicts construction will last until November 2014. “We’re behind,” O’Brien said about the five-year construction project that the church is undertaking. “We ran into more structural problems with the
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Joan of Arc Chapel. From a professor to a jokester, the Rev. John Naus was considered the epitome of a Jesuit by many of his colleagues and students. “He lived and breathed Marquette, and I don’t think the university will be the same without him,” said Meghan Pirics, a law student. Naus died Sunday, Sept. 22, at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee after recently suffering a stroke, his second in 10 years. He was 89 years old. He was placed in palliative care Wednesday. Though gone, Naus made a
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envelope than we anticipated.” Scaffolding for the front of the church will be disassembled this November according to O’Brien’s tentative plan. Scaffolding will return to the sides and back of the church in late spring. O’Brien said that the most time-consuming part of the construction process is tuck pointing, where joints between two structural elements are ground out and re-mortared. The variety of materials Gesu is comprised of makes this process much more difficult for the construction workers. Previous renovations to the church doubled its gutter system capacity, replaced the crosses on both of its steeples,
and replaced the windows with a more durable glass. A new policy will be implemented requiring an inspection to occur at least once every five years to ensure the church won’t get as bad as it was in 2010 when construction first began. O’Brien said the deterioration of the crosses on the steeples were causing safety concerns. “Something had to be done,” he said. Approximately $1.5 million was spent on construction this year alone, which was funded by parish fundraising and capital reserves. Marquette, which has a shared service agreement with the church, has not provided any funding for the project, according to Andrew
Brodzeller, associate director of university communication. Only when the exterior is completed at the end of 2014 will workers begin work on the interior of the 120-year-old church, O’Brien said. Church attendance has not suffered during the renovation process, though O’Brien said he worries this issue may become more problematic as construction moves to the interior. The Rev. John Schlegel, associate pastor at Gesu, said construction poses a challenge to its parishioners. “People view construction as a deterrent,” Schlegel said. “It was a problem during the
MARQUEE
VIEWPOINTS
SPORTS
Q&A: R.J. Mitte
Editorial: Resignation
Leary
An exclusive interview with ‘Breaking Bad’s’ Walt Jr. PAGE 6
MU students deserve to be addressed by Fr. Pilarz.
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See Gesu, Page 3
Charley Gargano deserves no pity for assaulting a DPS officer. PAGE 11