Loyola U. Paper Apologizes to Killer of Co-Ed For Labeling Him "Illegal"

Catholic Universities Have Lost Their Way And Not Just On Immigration

Lakefront memorial to Sheridan Gorman. Photo credit, Kayla Tonada.

The first account by the Loyola Phoenix, the student publication of Chicago’s Loyola University was straightforward Journalism 101: “First-year student Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed March 19 at the 1000 block of West Pratt Boulevard while walking with a group of her friends near the location of the incident, Chicago Police said.”

At this point, Gorman’s killer had yet to be apprehended. Once illegal alien Jose Medina was identified, however, the Phoenix descended quickly back into the ashes of misdirection and obfuscation. And immigration is not the only issue that has clipped the Phoenix’s wings.

The Phoenix was at pains to avoid offending Sheridan Gorman’s murderer

Lilli Malone, the editor-in-chief of the Phoenix, tried to set the record straight, but if you did not know better, you would think the Babylon Bee wrote the “editor’s note” attributed to Malone. No, checking the source, I can verify that this seeming parody is Malone’s handiwork.

Writes Malone, “On March 23, a post on The Phoenix’s Instagram page carried the following headline: ‘Immigrant Man Charged in Murder of Sheridan Gorman, DHS Involved.’ That headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members.”

Rogers Park resident, Jose Medina

Malone doesn’t specify what “important elements” went unreflected or what community members might be “affected.” A contrite Phoenix did, however, start promptly referring to Venezuelan Jose Medina as a “Rogers Park resident,” a detail that sheds no light on anything.

Malone continues, “Additionally, in the body of the original post, we described the man who was charged as an ‘illegal immigrant,’ using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper. No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that.”

The Associated Press, whose mandates apparently trump those of the DHS, had declared in a 2013 fiat, “‘Illegal immigrant’ no more.” The AP also rejected “undocumented” as a modifier of a person illegally in the country.

Instead of just saying “illegal immigrant,” writers would henceforth be required to describe the act rather than the person, e,g., “Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law.” Asks the AP rhetorically, “Will the new guidance make it harder for writers?” Admittedly, yes. Much easier to say “Rogers Park resident” and bury the lede.

One can imagine the Maoist struggle sessions that led to Malone’s act of public contrition: “No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that. We acknowledge the harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use. We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists and members of the Loyola, Rogers Park and Chicago communities.”

Lilli Malone, a beautiful Irish name lost to a truly stupid cause

Harm to whom? Illegal aliens? Malone and her fellow editor, Dana Prodoelh, are among those responsible for the harm done to Sheridan Gorman and her family. The two editors were involved in setting up Phoenix’s own “ICE tracker” back in October.

Wrote Prodoelh, “Loyola has the belief of communicating necessary information directly with the students who they think need it most regarding ICE presence — who is considered vulnerable and what has the school done to help them?”

Speaking of “vulnerable citizens,” Loyola University, like most Catholic universities, has lost its way on abortion as well. “No human’s existence is illegal,” Malone piously intones, but Jose Medina has more civil rights than the unborn babies that live precariously in the wombs, i suspect, of more than a few of her fellow students.

Photo credit, Sean Kennedy

The Phoenix editors want those babies gone. The most recent Phoenix article that addresses the issue—”Students for Reproductive Justice Joins Protestors Against Anti-abortion Clinics”—takes the side of the abortion advocates. The article highlights the missionary work of “members of Loyola’s Students for Reproductive Justice club,” a club best known for its ‘free condom Friday’ events.

Lacking any better targets in abortion-friendly Illinois, the Loyola students chose to protest a fund raising event for a group called “Aid for Women.” The Aid for Women clinics offer pregnancy testing, sonograms, and counseling, but protestors denounced the clinics as “fake’ because they don’t make referrals to abortion clinics. “Their general aim,” writes Lily Cashman, “is to prevent abortions in line with their religious ideology.” The “religious ideology” is better known as “Roman Catholicism,” the foundational bedrock of Cashman’s university.

To her humble credit, deep in this otherwise celebratory article, Cashman quotes Aid for Women’s executive editor Susan Barrett. “As a Catholic organization, [abortions and abortion referrals are] something we would never do, and that makes us no different than any other Catholic healthcare provider,” wrote Barrett. “We don’t call Loyola University Medical Center a ‘fake hospital,’ do we?”

The battle continues.