"The musical traditions he created during his tenure at the Mount and throughout the region were renowned.
A fond memory exists in the hearts and minds of many for the rich legacy of Christmas Candlelight Concerts, the delightful spring concerts, and all the other festive events, not to mention the annual tours to all corners of the Western World. Father Shaum's College Singers sang at a Papal Audience in St. Peter's Basilica before Pope John Paul II and a crowd of six thousand in 1990. The College Singers also sang a Liturgy at the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in Northern Italy.

The articles authored, the recordings that have been cut, the compositions, the expertise on the role of music in Catholic higher education, the recognition in the Congressional Record, and countless other achievements mark Rev. Dr. David W. Shaum as a remarkable man.   We have lost a giant of Mount St. Mary's."