Sister Jean | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jean Dolores Schmidt August 21, 1919 |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Residence | Chicago, Illinois |
| Alma mater | Mount St. Mary's College (B.A.) Loyola University of Los Angeles (M.A.) |
Sister Jean, BVM (born Jean Dolores Schmidt, [1] August 21, 1919), is an American religious sister of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and chaplain for the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team of Loyola University Chicago. [2] [3] [4]
Jean Dolores Schmidt was born on August 21, 1919, in San Francisco, California, and raised in the Eureka Valley neighborhood. [5] [6] [7] [8] She first considered becoming a nun while she was in third grade. [9] As a student at St. Paul's High School, she played on the girls basketball team. After graduating from high school in 1937, she entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary convent in Iowa. In 1941, by then a sister, she returned to teach in California. [6] Sister Jean completed her B.A. at Mount St. Mary's College (now Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles) in 1949 and M.A. at Loyola University of Los Angeles (now Loyola Marymount University) in 1961. [5]
Sister Jean began teaching at St. Bernard School in Glassell Park, California and then in 1946 taught at St. Charles Borromeo School in North Hollywood, California. [10] Several students from her teaching days at St. Charles later entered religious life, including Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Fr. Thomas Rausch, S.J. and Sister Mary Milligan, RSHM. [10] Sister Jean moved from California to teach at Mundelein College in Chicago in 1961. [11] During the mid-1960s, she was active in the civil rights movement. [12] She was hired by Loyola in 1991 when Mundelein was merged into Loyola. [9] She has worked as the team chaplain for the Ramblers men's basketball team since 1994. [13] In 2016, she was presented with an honorary doctorate from Loyola. [14] Providing a mix of spiritual and scouting support, Schmidt inspired her own bobblehead doll in 2011 and was honored with a "Sister Jean Day" on December 1, 2012. [9]
Sister Jean gained overnight publicity beyond the Loyola community after the Ramblers' upset of Miami in the 2018 NCAA tournament. Her fame continued to grow after the team upset Tennessee in the round of 32, sending Loyola to their first Sweet 16 appearance in 33 years. [15] [16] The then-98-year-old nun quickly became a star in the tournament; [15] her bobblehead sold for more than $300 on eBay. [17] Loyola ultimately advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1963, [18] but they were defeated by Michigan in the semifinal game.
Sister Jean again drew national attention when Loyola appeared in the 2021 tournament. After reaching the round of 32 as an 8-seed, she incorporated a scouting report into her opening prayer for the game against the top-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini, a team she was reluctant to play against because she did not want to root against another team from the same home state. The Ramblers went on to upset the Illini, 71–58. She had initially been barred from appearing at the tournament but was later cleared after she received a COVID-19 vaccine. [19]
Sister Jean turned 100 on August 21, 2019. She maintains an office in the student center on campus. [6] As of 2020, she was living at The Clare, [20] a senior living residence in downtown Chicago that describes itself as "reinventing the luxury retirement community." [21] [22] She made an appearance at the 2022 tournament after Loyola qualified for the tournament, with USA Today noting she was still in good health. [23] On August 21, 2022, the plaza outside the Loyola CTA station was dedicated to Sister Jean in commemoration of her 103rd birthday. [24]
Mundelein College was a private, independent, Roman Catholic women's college in Chicago, Illinois. Located on the edge of the Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods on the far north side of the city, Mundelein College was founded and administered by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1991, Mundelein became an affiliated college of Loyola University Chicago. It has since become completely incorporated.
The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known by its initials BVM, is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in the United States by Mother Mary Frances Clarke. Its founders were Irish Catholics. The BVM currently works in twenty-five U.S. states and three foreign countries.
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The Trouble with Angels is a 1966 American comedy film about the adventures of two girls in an all-girls Catholic school run by nuns. The film was the final theatrical feature to be directed by Ida Lupino and stars Hayley Mills, Rosalind Russell, and June Harding.
Leslie Henry Hunter was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA). Hunter played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers and was the starting center on their NCAA championship team in 1963. He was a two-time ABA All-Star.
Loyola is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, served by the Red Line. It is located at 1200 West Loyola Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station has high ridership by students from the nearby Lakeshore Campus of Loyola University Chicago. The Red Line right-of-way runs directly through the southwest corner of the campus. Purple Line weekday rush hour express service use the outside tracks but do not stop at this station.
The Loyola Ramblers are the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago. Most teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, which the school joined in 2022 after leaving the Missouri Valley Conference. They previously played in the Horizon League. Notable athletes from Loyola have included middle-distance runner Tom O'Hara, volleyball player Thomas Jaeschke, and basketball players Mike Novak, Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, Wayne Sappleton, Alfredrick Hughes, LaRue Martin, and Blake Schilb. The nickname "Ramblers" was first used in 1926. The Loyola Ramblers departed from the Missouri Valley Conference and joined the Atlantic 10 Conference effective July 1, 2022.
The 1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. Champions of the 1963 NCAA tournament, the Ramblers were coached by George Ireland. They defeated top-ranked and two-time defending champion Cincinnati Bearcats in a 60–58 overtime contest. The 1962–63 Ramblers were one of the first NCAA men's basketball teams to have broken the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" among coaches in which no more than two black players would be on the floor at one time : the Ramblers would regularly have three or four black starters, paving the way for the 1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team who would finally put the "agreement" to rest and have an all-black starting five. They played in the Game of Change, in which a Mississippi State team defied segregationists to play against Loyola, breaking the unwritten law that Mississippi teams would not play against black players.
The Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represents Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Ramblers participate as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Ramblers had joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 2013, and stayed until 2022. Prior to 2013, the team had spent 34 seasons as a charter member of the Horizon League.
Loyola University Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola's professional schools include programs in medicine, nursing, and health sciences anchored by the Loyola University Medical Center. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Porter Andrew Moser is a college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball team. Moser spent 10 years (2011–2021) at Loyola University Chicago, helping lead the Ramblers to the Final Four in 2018.
The 2017–18 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by seventh-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago. They were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. With a win against Evansville on February 18, 2018, Loyola clinched at least a share of its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. With a win over Southern Illinois on February 21, the Ramblers clinched the outright MVC championship. The Ramblers defeated Northern Iowa, Bradley, and Illinois State to win the MVC tournament. As a result, the Ramblers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 11 seed in the South Region, they upset No. 6-seeded Miami (FL) on a last second three-pointer. In the Second Round, they defeated No. 3-seeded Tennessee to earn the school's first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since 1985. They then defeated Nevada in the Sweet Sixteen and Kansas State in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1963. Their Cinderella run ended with a loss to the eventual runner-up Michigan in the national semifinal.
Donte Ingram is an American basketball player for Al Bataeh Club of the UAE National Basketball League. He played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers. Before Loyola, he attended Simeon Career Academy and was teammates with NBA player Jabari Parker. Ingram drew national attention after helping the 2017–18 Ramblers reach the Final Four round of the 2018 NCAA tournament. He was named to the second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference as a senior.
Cameron Krutwig is an American professional basketball player for Força Lleida CE of the Spanish Liga Española de Baloncesto. He played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers. Krutwig drew national attention after helping the 2017–18 Ramblers reach the Final Four of the 2018 NCAA tournament.
The 2018–19 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by seventh-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois. They were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 20–14, 12–6 in MVC play to earn a share of the MVC regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament, they beat Valparaiso before losing to Bradley in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their tournament championship, the Ramblers received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 7 seed in the TCU bracket. There they lost in the first round to Creighton.
The Women and Leadership Archives is an archives in Chicago, Illinois. Located on the Campus of Loyola University Chicago. Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects and makes available permanently valuable records of women and women's organizations, which document women's lives, roles, and contributions. Organizationally, the WLA is part of both the Ann Ida Gannon, BVM, Center for Women and Leadership, and part of Loyola University Chicago's Library system.
The Game of Change was a college basketball game played between the Loyola Ramblers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 15, 1963, during the second round of the 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament, at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan. Taking place in the midst of the American civil rights movement, the game between the racially integrated Loyola team and the all-white Mississippi State team is remembered as a milestone in the desegregation of college basketball.
The 1961–62 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago. The head coach was George Ireland. The Ramblers went 23–4 and earned a third place finish in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
The 2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by 10th-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and Drake to win the MVC tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated No. 9-seeded Georgia Tech and upset No. 1-seeded Illinois to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State.
The 2021–22 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by first-year head coach Drew Valentine, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the regular season 25–7, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. As the No. 4 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Bradley, Northern Iowa, and Drake to win the MVC tournament for the second consecutive season. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed, where they lost in the first round to Ohio State.
