Free Republic

Ken Sears, an All-America basketball player for Santa Clara in the 1950s who later played eight seasons in the NBA, died Sunday in his hometown of Watsonville, the university announced Monday. He was 83. Mr. Sears played from 1951 through ’55 for the Broncos under head coach Bob Feerick and started as a freshman on their Final Four team of 1952. He was twice named the WCC Player of the Year, beating out USF’s Bill Russell for the honor in 1955.

The student senate at Santa Clara University rejected a petition to form a campus chapter of Turning Points USA, a conservative activism group, because opponents of the group complained that its presence would make them feel “unsafe” — and because of the “mood” on campus since Donald Trump was elected president.A full-time school employee also primed Santa Clara student senators with a lengthy PowerPoint presentation associating Turning Points USA with vile, fringe white supremacist groups.The rejection occurred on Thursday night during a meeting of the Associated Student Government at the Jesuit bastion in the thick of Silicon Valley.

An official from the Jesuit-run Santa Clara University in California told Catholic News Agency that hosting a two-day long conference, on how to promote opportunities for gays and lesbians at Catholic colleges is “the Catholic” way to act as opposed to highlighting the intrinsic immorality of homosexual acts. As the Vatican prepares a document reiterating its stance, particularly against homosexuality in seminaries, the aim of the conference entitled “Out There” was to highlight scholarships and student affairs being created to cater specifically to gays and lesbians at Catholic institutions. The conference brought together representatives from the Universities of Georgetown, Loyola...