First and Only Endowed Scholarship for Sociology Students Created in Honor of Longtime Professor
The 52-year marriage of Loretta and Richard Morris began with a chance encounter at JFK airport. Loretta said it was “love at first sight,” although Richard claims it took him “a few days to fall in love.” After teaching stints and several years living abroad, Loretta decided it was time to move back to North America. She soon had two offers, one at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and one at Loyola University in Los Angeles. Loretta asked Richard, “Sunshine or snow?”
It wasn’t long before Richard also was offered a teaching position at what was then Loyola University and the two began their collective 70 years of teaching and service to the university. The LMU campus quickly became their community, and the faculty and staff, their family. When Loretta Morris, Ph.D., passed away in April 2020, Richard honored her and their time on the bluff by establishing a scholarship in her name to support a student studying sociology, Loretta’s field.
“This is a contribution to the department that enabled Loretta to do what she most enjoyed, teaching,” said Richard. “An endowed scholarship is part of the university’s life. It’s Loretta walking hand-in-hand with generations of students and opening a door to their future.”
As the first and only endowed scholarship specifically for sociology students, the Loretta Morris Endowed Scholarship will be awarded based on academic merit, although financial need and community service activity may be considered. Anna Muraco, Ph.D., chair of the Sociology Department said the department will likely consider both academic excellence and need.
“I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had a student come to me and ask if there are any sources of scholarship available in the department because they didn’t have enough money to pay the rest of the semester,” Muraco said. “It’s nice to know that our department can support a student who has worked really hard academically and can reduce some of the loans they may be acquiring in order to complete their education.”
Contributors to the scholarship have come from far and wide, notably, from the LMU community that the Morrises loved so much. One donor, Carol Chung ’96, M.A. ’04, is not a former student, rather she reported to Professor Morris as the student manager of the faculty lounge.
“I could talk to Dr. Morris about anything,” Chung said. “It felt like she was my advisor. She gave me advice on job searches, she wanted to know what was going on in my life. When I graduated, she gave me a black pearl necklace, which I still have to this day. Pearls have always been big in my family; I don’t know how she knew that, but it was such a sweet gesture.”
In his eulogy, Richard captured his wife’s teaching philosophy with a poem by Susan McCormick titled, “The Teacher.” It reads:
“She ploughs paths
For others to follow.
She leads her students
To the door of opportunity,
Shows them where the handle is,
And then teaches them
How to open the door
For themselves.”
Thanks to the Loretta Morris Endowed Scholarship, sociology students will be led to the door of opportunity for generations, in perpetuity.
To contribute to the Loretta Morris Endowed Scholarship or the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts scholarship, visit here. To learn more about endowing a scholarship to honor a loved one, contact Melissa Watkins, executive director of development, at 310.338.3795 or Melissa.Watkins@lmu.edu.