• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
"Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek and his wife, Jean, pose after receiving Fordham University's Founders' Award at a Jan. 7, 2020, reception at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. According to Fordham News, this was the first time the award, which is a statuette of Fordham founder Archbishop John Hughes, has been presented outside of New York City. (CNS photo/Kait McKay, Fordham University)

Trebek cites ‘power of prayer’ in accepting Fordham Founders’ Award

January 15, 2020
By Catholic News Service
Filed Under: News, World News

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek and his wife, Jean, received Fordham University’s Founders’ Award at a Jan. 7 reception in Los Angeles.

According to Tom Stoelker writing in Fordham News, this was the first time the award — which he described as “weighty statuette” of Fordham founder Archbishop John Hughes — has been presented outside of New York City.

Trebek, 79, has been at the helm of “Jeopardy” for 36 years. He has continued to host the classic game show even as he has undergone chemotherapy for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

A year ago, he was told he has the disease. He responded well to chemotherapy and at one point announced he was “near remission,” but in August he said he had to resume a course of chemo treatment.

“If there’s one thing I have discovered in the past year, it is (the) power of prayer,” he said in accepting the Fordham award. “I learned it from the Jesuits when I was a kid, I learned it from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate when I was in boarding school.”

In her remarks, Jean Trebek said, “We understand how education, and probably more importantly, higher education, is one of the linchpins of society.”

She referenced the scholarship she and her husband established at Fordham about five years ago, saying that seeing how a scholarship can change a life has been “awe-inspiring” for her and her husband.

“Once we are allowed to have the support that leads to an educated mind, that mind has the opportunity to be open and curious which allows for a fuller understanding and appreciation of our humanity both individually and collectively,” Jean Trebek said.

In 2015, the Trebeks established the Alex Trebek Endowed Scholarship with a $1 million for scholarship for students from the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. In 2019, they added another $1 million to the endowment to aid students from North Harlem and East Harlem.

Jesuit Father Joseph M. McShane, president of Fordham, said Alex Trebek, who was raised a Catholic, is “a brilliant man who is the nation’s schoolteacher.” If people think the “Jeopardy” host is a good man, “you don’t know the half of it,” the priest said. “He’s better than you think.” Father McShane called him a man of “quiet generosity.”

The Trebeks have two children, both of whom they sent to Jesuit schools. Daughter Emily is a 2015 graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Son Matthew graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 2013. Fordham College is the oldest of the university’s 11 schools.

On Jan. 8, during at the winter Television Critics Association press tour, Alex Trebek told TV writers that “some days are better than others” for him as he copes with cancer. He was scheduled to undergo a new round of tests in the days ahead, he said, and expected it would “maybe another week or so before I know where things stand.”

 

Copyright ©2020 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Gov. Moore’s budget cuts BOOST, proposes phase-out of scholarship program
  • Mercy delivers Magic show in ‘Classic’ victory over Maryvale
  • Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck acquitted of federal charges
  • Catholic schoolteachers describe what they love about their jobs
  • Former priest Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, faces sexual misconduct allegations

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese launches anti-racism program: ‘In God’s Image: A Racial Justice Journey for All’

Archbishop Lori tells conference to look at ‘root’ of violence, poverty

Mercy on the move with athletic advancements

| Latest World News |

Mosque suicide bombing targets police, dozens dead

Scholars, diplomats reflect on U.S. and church’s response to the Holocaust

Pope preaches peace, cooperation, resilience to a Congo ‘gasping for breath’

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Mosque suicide bombing targets police, dozens dead
  • Archdiocese launches anti-racism program: ‘In God’s Image: A Racial Justice Journey for All’
  • Scholars, diplomats reflect on U.S. and church’s response to the Holocaust
  • Pope preaches peace, cooperation, resilience to a Congo ‘gasping for breath’
  • Archbishop Lori tells conference to look at ‘root’ of violence, poverty
  • New translation tweaks to sacrament of penance take effect this Lent
  • Pope arrives in Congo after praying on flight for migrants
  • U.S.-born priest to lead Vatican body overseeing selection of world’s bishops
  • With national March for Life behind them, pro-life advocates plan for state marches, rallies

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED