Campus Notebook: US women's hockey team full of Boston College players; Faggioli honored

According to a report in the Arlington Catholic Herald, defender Emily Pfalzer and forward Haley Skarupa are both graduates of the university, while defenders Cayla Barnes, Kali Flanagan and Megan Keller are all current students on leave for the games.

The team's win on Feb. 21 was the first time the U.S. women's hockey team took home the gold medal since the event's debut in 1998. Boston College also had an alumus on the men's team, which fell to the Czech team in the quarter finals, in former NHL player Brian Gionta.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Sacred Heart University has bestowed an honorary doctorate of theology degree upon Villanova University professor of theology and religious studies and Commonweal contributing editor Massimo Faggioli, according to a Feb. 16 press release.

Faggioli, originally from Italy, said that the honor, received Feb. 7, was his first American degree. A well-known church historian and expert on the Second Vatican Council, he presented a talk entitled "Pope Francis and the USA: Theology, Politics and Diplomacy" that evening, in which he said the pope experiences more tension with the U.S. than his predecessors, and that his ultimate goal is "to make the Catholic Church look more like Jesus Christ and less like the Roman Empire."

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Marian University has announced a new agreement with Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana's community college system, according to a Feb. 20 press release.

The new reverse transfer agreement allows Marian students who transferred from Ivy Tech but did not get a degree there to be awarded an associate's degree from Ivy Tech if they complete the requisite work at Marian. If students completed at least 15 credit hours at Ivy Tech, they will be notified of the option when they become eligible until they opt in or opt out.

"Ivy Tech is proud of this new partnership with Marian University to help Indianapolis students earn their associate degree," Russ Baker, vice president for academic affairs at Ivy Tech, said in the press release. "This will provide them the opportunity to have a credential while advancing their undergraduate degree."

LODI, N.J. — Felician University will hold a poetry reading celebrating African-American poets Feb. 26, the university said on its events page.

After a welcome by English professor Sherida Yoder, several students and faculty will take turns presenting their favorites poems by African-American writers including Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Wanda Coleman, and many others.

[James Dearie is an NCR Bertelsen intern. Contact him at jdearie@ncronline.org.]