I want to start out this week by once again congratulating the women’s basketball team on earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. They played well in a hard-fought battle against a tough Georgia Tech team. We are very proud of them and congratulate them on an outstanding season.

I was reminded earlier this week by an email from a proud parent that our fencing teams have also been having an exceptional season. Both the men and women’s fencing teams have been winners with the men going 10-0 and the women 10-2. Those records led to a tie with Brown for the Combined Conference Championship. This week, Megan Floyd from the women’s team and Stuart Holmes and Marty Williams from the men’s team are at the NCAA Fencing Championships at Ohio State. We wish them the best of luck. With only two members graduating from the fencing program, we can look forward to more success next year.

As for the email that I mentioned earlier, I always welcome comments, questions and feedback from readers of this blog.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love will be on campus on Sunday as part of the Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast for Fairfield County Educators. Her topic will be From Classroom to Community: How Educators Can Build a Better World. Dr. Cusimano Love is an associate professor of International Relations in the Politics Department of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The breakfast, which is sponsored by the Isabelle Farrington College of Education and Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP) of Fairfield County, is designed for educators from pre-K through grade 12 and in higher education.

I encourage you to consider supporting student scholarships by attending our Discovery Gala on April 14. It will be our inaugural event inside the new commons. The Gala traditionally honors distinguished members of the community, while raising critically needed scholarship funds for the University’s most deserving students. This year’s honoree is Teresa Ressel, former CFO of the United States Treasury. Following the Gala, attendees will move on to the Edgerton Center to enjoy a performance by the Midtown Men.

Sacred Heart University will mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the upcoming golden anniversary of the University’s founding with a two-day conference April 23-24. The event is co-sponsored by the Paulist Press and will feature several notable scholars and theologians from throughout the United States, including Sacred Heart’s own Rev. Anthony Ciorra, assistant vice president of Mission and Catholic Identity, and Dr. Michael W. Higgins, vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity. Entitled A Universal Call to Holiness, the conference will focus on a way forward for the Church and will pick up where the Second Vatican Council left off with the seven closing speeches given by the cardinals on the last day of the Council in 1965. Their topics – youth, church and politics, art and beauty, suffering, labor and immigration, religion and science and the role of women – remain relevant today. I expect this to be an exciting and intense two days filled with fascinating information and a valuable exchange of ideas. Members of the Sacred Heart community are invited to participate in part or all of the conference free of charge. It’s a tremendous opportunity, and you will want to take advantage of it.

If you get a chance, I recommend that you stop by the Gallery of Contemporary Art for the Annual Student Art Exhibit. There is an amazing amount of talent on display.

There will also be amazing talent on display this weekend with the SHU Choirs performing Saturday evening and the University Concert Band’s annual Spring Concert set for Sunday afternoon. In addition, entertainer Mickey Rooney will be here Saturday evening to discuss a career that has spanned nearly 90 years.