NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (CWNews.com) - The man who turned a small Catholic college in Ohio around from one of the nation's top 10 party schools to a university known worldwide for its orthodoxy announced his impending retirement this week.

      Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, will retire as president of Franciscan University of Steubenville in June and will become the school's first chancellor, according to a statement from the board of trustees. Father Scanlan became president of the then-College of Steubenville in 1974 and initiated a series of reforms that radically altered student life to become more Christ-centered, attracting students from all 50 states and around the world.

      "It has been my great privilege to serve Franciscan University as president for 25 years," he said in a statement. "I am very pleased that I can continue to support the mission of the University through my preaching, writing, and networking in the new position of chancellor." The trustees are expected to vote on a successor in April, and the current front-runner for position appears to be current executive vice president Father Thomas Bourque, TOR, who took the position in August 1997.