the school\u2019s newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix<\/a> reported on Sept. 9.\n<\/p>\n “While Sister Jean is no longer able to be physically present on campus, she remains a beloved friend, trusted advisor, and loyal Rambler \u2013 cheering for our teams and praying for us all daily,” Loyola-Chicago President Mark C. Reed said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
Sister Jean, who has been with the school since 1991, achieved mainstream notoriety during the team\u2019s Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2018.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Three years later, she won over even more fans with her appearance at the tournament when the school advanced to the Sweet 16.\n<\/p>\n
Last month, the beloved chaplain penned a message to students and administrators at the Chicago school, and explained that she would not be able to make her annual birthday celebration.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it is my 106th birthday,\u201d Schmidt wrote. \u201cBirthdays are special days, and this one is also very special. In fact, I am unable to be there because I have a bad summer cold and other health issues so it has been decided that I should not go to Lake Shore Campus to be with you on my birthday. That makes me very sad, but you can still celebrate.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Often seen on campus greeting students and cheering on teams from the stands or delivering a prayer in the huddle before a game began, Sister Jean was a staple at the school.\n<\/p>\n
In his statement, Reed thanked the chaplain for \u201cthe many blessings\u201d she brought the Loyola community.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Sister Jean.<\/p>\n
Michael Reaves\/Getty<\/p>\n
For Schmidt, the feeling is mutual.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been wonderful for me to be with you these years and to watch you grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially, and to see the friends you\u2019ve made,\u201d the chaplain wrote in her letter to students. \u201cAnd to see the progress you\u2019ve made in your academic life. I\u2019ve always been happy to share my time with you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
She concluded, \u201cLet your dreams become reality. Don\u2019t let anybody stop you. You are the future leaders of our churches, our schools, our country and our world.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt has retired from her post The March Madness icon had been…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":251895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-251894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115261121828561167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}