ABOVE For Senior Day on May 1, Andres Donovan ’20 and his
classmates drove through campus to pick up personalized
graduation yard signs and lunch to go
BELOW Principal Barry Neuburger was among the faculty and
staff who greeted the seniors on Senior Day
JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • SPRING 2020 17
THE VIRTUAL SPRING AT JESUIT
When the seniors arrived
on campus the morning
of Friday, May 1, it had
been exactly eight weeks since that
nearly two months since they had
been on campus.
This was Senior Day, a day for
celebration amidst continued social
distancing regulations caused by a
global pandemic. Driving their cars,
the seniors rode through campus,
across the front of Gonzmart Hall
and down Loyola Lane, stopping
to pick up their custom graduation
yard signs which were lined
up 200 strong. Administrators,
teachers, and coaches fanned out
along the sidewalk, showering the
seniors with greetings and well
wishes. They ended in the senior
parking lot, where the gloved Tiger
mascot handed them lunch before
departing.
The seniors also received a series
of special videos throughout
the day, including the traditional
farewell address of the student
the announcement of Senior
Notables, and a heartfelt message
from Alumnus of the Year Mark
It was a shining highlight of what
has been a most challenging time, a
time when everyone at Jesuit High
A breakthrough medical device that Dr. Bill Federspiel ’74
designed 13 years ago made national news in late April when
it received federal approval for emergency use in the fight
against coronavirus.
The Hemolung Respiratory Assist System removes carbon
dioxide from the bloodstream of patients with acute
respiratory failure to outside the body. It can be used in
conjunction with or instead of a mechanical ventilator, or
with non-invasive ventilation treatments such as oxygenation
by nasal catheter.
Hemolung’s approval could help patients suffering with
COVID-19. There has been a high mortality rate for patients
who require ventilators, possibly because ventilators often
increase inflammation in the lungs while forcing them to
breathe.
“Because (the Hemolung is) less invasive, it can be
brought in earlier,” Federspiel said to the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette. “The hope would be that there would be some
patients that would be kept off the ventilator altogether.”
The University of Pittsburgh-based Federspiel has had a
distinguished medical career. He is a William Kepler Whiteford
Professor of Bioengineering, Chemical
Engineering, and Critical Care Medicine; head
of the Scientific Advisory Board; and Director
of the Medical Devices Laboratory at the
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
The Hemolung is in a pair of clinical trials in
36 hospitals in the U.S., the Post-Gazette said,
and physicians at the trial hospitals have begun
using the Hemolung to treat patients who
have been infected with coronavirus. ALung
Technologies, which produces the Hemolung,
had been making eight to 10 machines per
month but is ramping up manufacturing.
“Related to outcomes, I can tell you the
physicians using the device are providing very
positive feedback,” Peter DeComo, CEO of
ALung, said to the Post-Gazette. “One told us
recently that the only reason a patient is alive is
because of the Hemolung.”
thousands far and wide, stayed close
to home this year, choosing Feeding
times, Jesuit’s students responded.
In a span of eight days in late April
while sheltered at home, they met
the ambitious goal of $10,000 set by
director of community service Andy
, raising $10,585. It was a
remarkable display completed entirely
via online donations.
A semblance of normalcy, and of
the unique Jesuit experience, was
maintained by twice weekly video
Ministry, plus a weekly video comprised
of announcements by student body
president and a
message from Father Hermes. The
messages kept the students connected
to the school and compelled them to
overcome their circumstances.
In the weekly video message in late
April, Father Hermes delivered the fully
expected but still deeply saddening
news to the student body that, after
weeks of hoping to return, the campus
would be closed for the remainder of
the school year. In his message, Father
harkened back inspirational words from
Winston Churchill to the British people
during the German bombing of London
“Better days, even the best days, still
lay ahead,” Father Hermes said. “Stand