February, 1977 - CROSSROADS Page Two
EOPLE IN THE NEW
Briscione gets
aid down the
backstretch
Paul Briscione, a senior
Biology major at Belmont
Abbey College, has been
selected by the Quiet Winter
Scholarship Fund as one of the
first recipients to receive the
award.
The Fund is sponsored by the
Race Track Chaplaincy of
America to help needy
backstretch personnel to fur
ther their education.
He is employed during the
summer at the Monmouth Park
Race Track.
The award was presented on
October 17, 1976 at the Hilton
Inn in Eatontown, New Jersey.
Paul, the son of Mr. and Mrs.
John Briscione, hails from
Oceanport, New Jersey.
At the Abbey Paul is an
exemplary student. He is a
member of Phi Kappa Theta
F'raternity where he has served
as president. He is President of
Jhe Interfraternity Council on
campus and is very active in
intramural athletics. A dean’s
list student, Paul hopes to use
the $1,500 scholarship at Cornell
University next fall studying,
veterinary medicine.
Soussi named
All-South
Belgassam Soussi of Belmont
* Abbey College’s soccer team,
made the All South Soccer
Team for the 1976 season. It
was the third honor given to the
All American candidate for his
performance over the past
season.
Soussi was the Crusaders’
leading scorer for the season
with 39 goals and 36 assists. He
was also the National NAIA
leading scorer.
“It will be a long time before
we have another player of
Belgassam’s caliber,’’ said
Abbey head soccer coach Stan
Dudko. “He has been a real
pleasure to work with and I am
going to miss him next season.
He was a leader as well as a
player.”
Soussi, a leading candidate
for the NAM’S All American
team, was voted the Most
Valuable Player in District 26
and to the All District team. It
.was the fourth time he had
made the All District team.
He also has 123 career goals.
That total makes him the all-
time leading Abbey soccer
scorer.
Judkin^s will
present Black
Lung paper to
Symposium
Dr. Bennett M. Judkins will
give a presentation at the Fifth
Vanderbilt Symposium on
Frontiers in Sociology. His talk
will be oti "The Black Lung**
Movemetit: ..Social Movement
Organization and Their En
vironment."
The general topic of the
conference is the Dynamics of
Social Movements. It will be
held at Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, Tennessee on March
17-18, 1977, and is under the
direction of Mayer N. Zald from
Vanderbilt and John D. Mc
Carthy of Catholic University,
Washington, D. C.
The symposium is being
made possible through grants
from the National Science'
Foundation, Shell Foundation
and the Vanderbilt University
Research Council.
In his first year at Belmont
Abbey as chairman of the
Department of Sociology, Dr.
Judkins’ brief presentation is a
related topic to his doctoral
thesis.
Before coming to the Abbey,
Dr. Judkins was assistant
professor at North Carolina A &
T, U.N.C.-Greensboro, and Ohio
University. His other research
includes work on a H.E.W.
project studying nursing homes
in West Virginia.
Am A
Women
Theologian*^
Dr. Lauree Meyer, instructor
in the Theology Department at
Belmont Abbey College, will
participate in a seminary
course and discussion in March
and April at Bethany
Theological Seminar near
Chicago.
March 13 and 14, April 1-2,
and 14-15, she will conduct a
course on Augustine at the
seminary, operated by the
Church of the Brethren. / She
will lecture and lead a
discussion March 31 at a
meeting of the women’s group
of the Chicago Cluster of
Theological Schools at the
seminary. Topics for discussion
will be “I Am A Theologian”
versus “I Am A Woman
’Theologian.”
She will lecture on Galatians
at the annual conference of the
Church of the Brethren to be
held June 22-25 in Richmond
Va.
Dr. Meyer teaches Drama of
Christian Dogma at B.A.C.
Creemers named
public relations
director
Harry t*. Creemers has been
named Public Relations and
Alumni Affairs Director at
Belmont Abbey College here.
A 1974 graduate of B.A.C., he;
most recently has been Com
munications Director for the
Diocese of Charlotte. Prior to
that, he was Business Editor of
‘"The News,” a morning daily
newspaper in Lynchburg, Va.
While a student at Belmont
Abbey College, he was named to
the Dean’s List and the 1974
edition of Who’s Who Among
Students in American
Universities and Colleges; was
president of the Student
Government Association, and
was a resident assistant in a
dormitory.
In his position at the college,
Creemers will be in charge of
media relations; write press
releases and college brochures;
promote the college in the
Mecklenburg-Gaston area, and
coordinate alumni activities,
including Homecoming and the
alumni newspaper,
“Crossroads.”
Creemers and his wife,
Martha Groblewski, live at 432
Sinclair Street, Gastonia.
Fr, Lawrence Willis
Adding Color to the Classroom
A recent visitor to the second floor of the Administration building
was startled to hear the sounds of a Wagnerian operatic aria erup
ting from classroom 210 which had been darkened for the latest
sound and light production of our budding cinematographer,
“Lorenzo il Magnifico,” alias Fr. Lawrence Willis, O.S.B. Students
have now become accustomed to the unpredictable in his creative
use of audio-visual media to enliven his lectures in Spanish and
Western civilization courses. Endowed with phenomenal powers of
memory and recall, Fr. Lawrence never ceases to astound his
classes with a dazzling array of colorful details and background
information to support the matter under study.
§|3CnJ6fi¥
By FR. JAMES 80LARI. O.8.B.
The story of Fr. Lawrence Willis began back in November of 1939.
Born under the sign of Saggitarius, he was given the name Roger. At
that time his parents were living in Greensboro but moved to Win
ston-Salem while he was still a boy. It was there that he grew up,
attended public schools, was a faithful member of Sunday School at
the Methodist Church which the family attended. While in high
school he became interested in Catholicism while reading the
biography of Mary Queen of Scots. He took instruction and was
received into the Catholic Church in 1955. Upon graduation from
Reynolds High in 1957, Roger applied for acceptance as a Freshman
at Belmont Abbey College. After completing two years of college, he
decided to try out his vocation to be a Benedictine monk and entered
the novitiate, taking the religious name of Lawrence. After
pronouncing his triennial vows he returned to his undergraduate
studies and was inducted into the Delta Epsilon Sigma honor society.
During these years he was a regular contributor to the college
newspaper, then known as the Contact. In 1962 he was awarded the
bachelor’s degree in history and enjoyed the distinction of finishing
at the head of his class.
As was customary, he then began his theological studies for the
priesthood in the Abbey seminary. During this year, 1962-1963, he
also taught in the now defunct Freshman Reading Program which
was designed to expose the newcomers to college to some of the more
important literary works. Singled out by Abbot Walter Coggin to
continue his theological curriculum in Rome, he set out in October
for the College of St. Anselm on the Aventine. The next four years
saw Lawrence becoming Italianized - he fell in love with all of the.
spectacular sights of the peninsula from the sun-drenched hills of
'Sicily to the romantic lagoons of Venice. He received ordination to-
the priesthood in Assisi in July of 1%6 and completed his licentiate in
theology the following year. During the summer vacation periods he
made trips to Spain and Germany in order to learn those languages
and to get to know theirhistory, art, and customs. Whether tramping
about within the crater of the dormant volcano Vesuvius, exploring
the interior of an Etruscan necropolis, or quaffing a Krug of
Bavarian dunkel, he was storing up the myriad details which he
revives to embellish his classroom lectures.
Returning to Belmont Abbey to join the faculty in 1967, he was
given teaching assignments in theology, Spanish, and history. He is
equally at home in these diverse subjects and claims to relish the
variety. In the summer of 1970 he was able to return to Europe for a
tour and among the various places he visited was Norway - the
homeland of his very favorite novelist, Sigrid Undset. While
revelling in the breathtaking scenery of the fjords, he managed also
to acquire copies of her works both in the original and in English
translation. "The summer of 1972 found him once again in his beloved
Italy thanks to a study grant. ’This time he was in Perugia at the
Italian Institute for Foreigners to study the Etruscan history and
pre-Roman antiquities.
His interest in Spanish language and literature has now blossomed
into graduate work toward a Master’s degree in this subject at the
Universidad Ibero-Americana in Mexico City. For the past several
summers he has been taking courses there while becoming familiar
with Mexican history and geography. This has afforded him the
occasion to explore some of the Mayan remains in the Yucatan
peninsula and in Guatamala. There is a persistent rumor - among
the students -- so far unsubstantiated - that he has discovered where
the Aztecs hid their gold!
He has been nicknamed “El Tigre” by some of his students who
delight in pulling practical jokes on him. His hobbies include a
passionate interest in classical music and opera. He takes time for a
daily exercise of swimming in the pool out in the Wheeler Center ~
but the effects are sometimes nullified by his delight in Italian and
Mexican cuisine.
The college is fortunate to count a “Renaissance” person in our
ranks and the students profit by the breadth of his learning in so
many fascinating areas of the humanities. To Fr. Lawrence Willis,
O.S.B., his colleagues and friends wish “Auguri,” - best wishes for a
long and distinguished teaching service.
FR. LAWRENCE, “Lorenzo the Magnificent,’’ adds color and
interest to his classes through the effective use of audio-visual aids.