The Pam Rector Center for Service and Action and a student-led committee brought Special Games back to the bluff this past spring for its 46th year. This beloved program, started in 1977, brought together the Loyola Marymount University and L.A. communities for two days of non-competitive games and fun activities on Sunken Garden, and friendship to persons with intellectual and physical disabilities.
After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no students on the committee or staff from the CSA who had seen or participated in Special Games; those who had been part of the games in the past had either left the university or had graduated. The planning team relied on historical records kept in three-ring binders and word-of-mouth accounts of past Special Games to pull off this extraordinary event. Students across campus actively supported this program and learned through fun activities and friendships that were formed. Student co-directors Christina Cesnik ’23, a double major in psychology and Spanish and member of the Gryphon Circle service organization, and Aidan Pidgeon ’24, a political science major and member of the Crimson Circle service organization, and CSA staff members Jenny Fukunaga, assistant director, community and academic engagement, and Daveon Swan, associate director, community and academic engagement, worked to resurrect this year’s Special Games.
This year’s event brought together over 200 students, alumni, staff, and community volunteers to support 88 athletes in this outer space themed event held over two Saturdays in March, including one practice day and the other, commonly called the Big Day, where students helped plan and fundraise to put this on. The theme helped to highlight a transcendent experience that elevates participants to strive beyond limited possibilities. Students were able to engage and interact with these athletes in ways that they never had before.
These face-to-face encounters can be eye-opening experiences as the LMU students discover their assigned athletes’ personalities, and the students are always amazed at the humor, love, and affection they meet. For athletes, Special Games offers an opportunity to honor them as valued individuals, and for families of athletes, this provides a warm and welcoming way to come and experience a small piece of what LMU is all about with a community that would otherwise rarely visit campus or experience the warmth of welcome that the LMU community extends.
Michael Engh, S.J., LMU chancellor, has fond memories of the Special Games through the eyes of Robert Engh, his youngest brother, who was a participant for many years. “Like so many of his fellow athletes, he looked forward every year to Practice Day and Big Day,” recalled Engh. “One year, he was even selected to be the Olympic torchbearer, an event he long remembered. Each year he hung his newest medal with those he had saved since the first time he participated.”
The games offer a special community for many participants, friends, and family, which was true for Engh’s family. Upon Robert’s passing in 2006, Engh’s parents established a memorial endowment in his name to support Special Games and to keep Robert’s memory alive. They also kept all those medals Robert collected until the family home was sold this year. Engh presented those medals to the team in the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action, where they now hang in a frame.
Competing athletes in the games delight in the attention that honors them as valued individuals. The families of athletes find a welcoming setting for their daughters and sons that is often rare in our culture, which is so often focused so much on physical beauty and accomplishment. LMU opens its doors to people from across the community who would otherwise rarely visit this campus or experience the compassionate welcome that our students extend. It is a special day for athletes and their families, as well as for our students and staff – and even our visitors,
Engh’s sister, Kate Engh Walsh ’75, was able to join him this year, when he participated in both, the Practice Day and the Big Day, by being the torch bearer for the games and walking in the opening parade with the athletes. Engh also had the chance to connect with Barbara Balfour, a long-time Special Games athlete and family acquaintance. For decades, Balfour has participated in Special Games, and on Big Day this year, she was excited to attend on her birthday. During the event, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to her to celebrate making it a special day for her.
“Being part of the parade allowed me to see LMU students lining both sides of the route and hear them cheering on the athletes,” said Engh. “On Big Day, we gathered at the flagpoles and walked the length of Alumni Mall, and when I asked the Olympic torchbearer if the torch was getting heavy, the athlete pointed to his biceps and replied, ‘I got the guns’ and marched on proudly with his student coach to the stage on Regents Terrace. I also watched as high school students and their parents on campus tour watched as the parade marched by and joined the LMU students in cheering and clapping for the athletes. The infectious spirit showed a vital dimension of what LMU is about.”
Engh also offered the opening prayer after the parade, followed by a welcome from Kawanna Leggett, senior vice president for Student Affairs. To conclude her welcome, Leggett proclaimed, “Let the Games begin!” everyone cheered that this community event was back on the bluff.
For Engh, Special Games offers a unique opportunity for students to serve people in need and, at the same time, learn from those they are serving. “St. Ignatius of Loyola famously noted that love is better expressed in actions than words,” said Engh. “And Special Games elicit levels of generosity and sympathy that mold hearts to being more human and understanding of others.”
Interesting in supporting next year’s Special Games? Save the date for the Practice Day on March 9, 2024, and the Big Day on March 16, 2024.
