President Robert L. Niehoff, SJ criss-crossed the country this summer, but his most important destinations were a town in New York too small for most maps and a
Canadian shrine. After Commencement, hosting a conference of Jesuit colleges and a week of meetings to set a summer agenda
and goals for the school year, Fr. Niehoff went west to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination into the Society of Jesus.
(John Carroll will celebrate Fr. Niehoff’s 25th anniversary with a Mass in Saint Francis Chapel on October 9th at 5:15 p.m.)

A member of the Province of Oregon, he attended a province meeting in Portland, then celebrated his jubilee with family in Tacoma and at a ceremony in Spokane. The next stop was Aspen, Colo., for a meeting of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges with new university
directors’ chairman Allyn Adams ’64.

Then it was back to John Carroll for Reunion Weekend, June 22-24, before leaving for Baltimore to officiate at the wedding of a friend and to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to review ROTC training. Auriesville, New York, 40 miles west of Albany, was next. It’s home to the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs, a tribute to the Jesuit “black robes” who were martyred by Native
Americans in the mid-17th century. It’s also the site of the cemetery
for the New York Province of the Society of Jesus.

The same Jesuits are honored at the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ontario, where Father Niehoff spent five days praying and reflecting on the example of the missionaries who braved deprivation, torture and death to bring Christianity to the Native Americans.” They are really
an inspiration,” he said. “It’s what the service is about and what the message is about – and that is the Kingdom.”

Tethered by Blackberry and cell phone, Father Niehoff was never out of touch with the university, but he kept communications limited. The time he spent at the Martyrs’ Shrine gave him time to think and renew himself. “For me, I need a change of location,” he said. “I find I get both the psychological rest I need and I think differently.”

Father Niehoff, who worked in San Francisco and in Montana, was happy to exchange bland Midwestern scenery for something more dramatic.
“When I can get out and I can see an open horizon . . . mountains, trees, the ocean . . . that becomes very important to me. I miss those kind of venues.” Renewed and back on campus in mid-July, Father Niehoff continued his tradition of visiting residence halls to greet students as they moved in.

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