Class of 2022 Pays Tribute to
Mr. Charles Donovan with Scholarship in His Memory
In June 2021, several members of the Class of 2022 took part in a weeklong service trip to Camden, New Jersey, titled The Urban Challenge Program. Through the experience, participants grow closer to the lives and stories of Camden’s citizens, while performing various acts of service in partnership with local organizations. As the trip progressed, the students reflected upon their experiences. They also challenged themselves to consider how they might act in the pursuit of justice going forward. A dominant theme that emerged from their discussions was an enhanced gratitude for their connection to the Loyola Blakefield community—a place each had come to call home and where they felt supported and nurtured by peers and adults. “Our time in Camden showed us how blessed we are to attend Loyola,” said Ty Hepting ’22. “Beyond the resources available to us and the beautiful campus, we came to fully understand what the community truly means to us. This sense of gratitude compelled us to work toward giving more kids the chance to have the opportunities we have had.” Upon reflecting on their time together in Camden, Colin McElroy ’22 recalls the experiences that helped ignite this collaborative effort. “Our service trip was the spark we needed to begin a project like this. Seeing the poverty and struggle with my own eyes created 16
the motivation to work hard toward seeking justice, and the shared experience we had as a group helped us come together and put forth a community-wide effort to not only create a meaningful scholarship, but to pay tribute to Mr. Donovan’s spirit of perseverance and generosity.” In addition to the economic disparities witnessed during their time in Camden, the group gained a clear sense of the lack of access to the type of educational experience they enjoyed at Loyola. If they couldn’t change that dynamic in Camden, they wanted to strive toward making an impact at home. “I saw harsh injustices and came to realize I had a bubble life a Loyola,” said Bennett DuVal ’22. “I understood that the daily struggles of some of the people we encountered in Camden were far from the reality we face. One of the primary struggles was the lack of access to adequate educational resources. This fueled our desire to create a scholarship at Loyola so that a future Don can share in the experiences we have. In many ways, it was about taking what we learned at Camden and bringing it back home.” As the remainder of the summer unfolded, the group went their separate ways before reconnecting at the start of the 2021 school year. They had also kept in close touch with President Anthony Day, who was one of two
