LETTERS
The last run of the Sacramento Northern Railway was in 1957. We think this picture was taken sometime before then, and that the young man reaching up is, indeed, DeWitt James Robbeloth ’58, shown in his senior yearbook picture.
THE OLD SAINT MARY’S TRAIN STATION I was just reading the fall 2013 Saint Mary’s magazine and was taken by the photograph on page 2. It seems as though you are suggesting that the photograph is of Lionel Holmes ’41, but the photo looks much too familiar to me, although I could be mistaken. I think it may have been taken in the 1950s and that the student shaking the hand of the locomotive engineer is DeWitt James Robbeloth ’58. The train at that time no longer carried passengers, but it still ran by the campus but ended just about when those of us in the class of 1958 were about to end our time at SMC. DeWitt and I were both on The Collegian under the editorship of Alf Collins, and when I saw that photograph many memories came flooding back.
Saint Mary’s magazine is about voices. Add yours to the mix. Do you have a Viewpoint, a Recollection, a burning question for Roundtable? Write to us at magazine@stmarys-ca.edu.
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Please check the files of The Collegian and see when that photo was actually taken, who took it, and who the student is. Thanks, MICHAEL MASE ’58, Portland, Ore.
WOW, HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED You’ve all made this “voice” of SMC into a most interesting publication. The article “WOW! Beginning With a Bang” in the fall Saint Mary’s magazine made me think back to my campus arrival as a freshman in 1951. I was from Ferndale—270 miles north of Moraga— but when I was accepted to attend, I put my faith in the Christian Brothers that indeed the college existed, for I had never seen it. In those days, campus visitations by high schoolers were pretty much limited to campuses close by, or perhaps colleges near relations that you might visit on holidays. I originally planned to attend Humboldt State College, 20 miles from Ferndale. But Joseph Bertain ’51, a senior from nearby Scotia—as convincing a Gael as ever I would meet—changed my mind. (A scholarship helped). Long after being accepted at Saint Mary’s, I took a July trip to the Bay Area to look over what I had chosen for my next four years.
A bus took me from the San Francisco YMCA, where I stayed, to Orinda. I then walked from Orinda to the campus in the heat of a July day that parched my throat and feet. I recall meeting the then Dean of Students, Brother Cassian, and must have been given food and drink. A return trip by foot to Orinda had no appeal, and for the first time in my life, I hitchhiked. “WOW!” described today’s almost herculean task of moving freshmen, with their many boxes containing the necessities of life, into their new Gael “digs.” It took me back to an August day in 1951, when my friend Hugh Bower, a junior Gael from Rio Dell in Humboldt County and my “chauffeur” (juniors and seniors could have cars), pulled up to the back of Augustine Hall, then housing both freshmen and sophomores of the 250 male student campus. He opened the trunk, and I pulled out my one suitcase and headed into the spartan quarters where not even a radio was allowed. Telephones? One on each floor in a central booth. Television? One set in the lounge of De La Salle Hall, the dorm for juniors and seniors. But the education? It couldn’t have been better. I went from SMC to UCLA for graduate studies, gaining the chemistry doctorate in 1959. Always wanting to be a teacher, I found an opening in the “enemy camp,” with the Jesuits at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J., where I worked for 20 years. First I taught chemistry and later became academic dean, the first non-Jesuit in that role at the college. In 1981, I went to Western Connecticut State University in Danbury as dean of arts and sciences for six years, then acquired a library degree and remained at WCSU as a librarian until retirement in 1999. I am now deep into those retirement years, what Italians call la terza vita. It’s been good so far. Thanks very much. JAMES PEGOLOTTI ’55 Bluffton, S.C.
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FEATURES
CONTENTS
STAFF PUBLISHER Hernan Bucheli
DEPARTMENTS 4 NATURAL
A Home in Sleepy Hollow
6 ARCADE
19
Liberal Arts and Technology The liberal arts have a unique role to play in a digital world focused on jobs.
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Technology and the Human App
COVER ILLUSTRATION: CLARK MILLER; ABOVE: TOBY BURDITT
It may be time to get a grip on the effect digital technology has on our lives.
The De-Evolution of Wellness
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An Opera Great • Inspired by Service • Events • Happiness and Poetry • New Rec Center Takes Shape • New Beginnings • West Coast Premiere Shines • The Best Ever Season • Making Saint Mary’s History in Tennis • Maybe It Is Personal • 75 Years of Giving • Triumph and Challenges • Who Is Jerry Brown? • Distinguished Professor Award • Honoring Those Who Served • Beer Culture • Service With DIRT • New MFA in Dance • Power to the Pink
7 SEMINAR
Multiplicity: Nuance in Antigone(s)
12 COMMENTARY iPhobias
14 TASTINGS Beer Culture
16 ROUNDTABLE 36 QUAD
Dine with Alums: Magic! • Art for the Ruggers • Welcome New Board Members • New Leadership for Alumni Board • Everyman, Labor Leader • Adventure in Her Blood • Living the Mission
With all the information on health and fitness, are we any better off?
37 POEM
Jane Purinton
40 GLIMPSES
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The wife of Saint Mary's new president describes the enlightening journey her life has taken.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR J. Elizabeth Smith EDITOR Jo Shroyer CREATIVE DIRECTOR Karen Kemp POETRY EDITOR Brenda Hillman CONTRIBUTORS Joel Bahr Teresa Castle Greg Clarke Judy Jacobs Josephine Kirk ’14 Alex Kummert ’15 J.G. Preston Ginny Prior Michelle Smith The Saint Mary’s College of California experience inspires learning that lasts a lifetime. The College’s rigorous education engages intellect and spirit while awakening the desire to transform society. We are all learners here—together, working to understand and shape the world. For more information, see stmarys-ca.edu. Saint Mary’s magazine is published three times a year. Please send comments to magazine@ stmarys-ca.edu or call (925) 631-4278. Please submit name and address changes to info4smc@ stmarys-ca.edu or write Saint Mary’s College, 1928 St. Mary’s Rd., PMB 4300, Moraga, CA 94575-4300.
39 IN MEMORIAM
44 VIEWPOINT
Keeping death away from the heart SPRING 2014 3
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Learn more about the beam signing and progress on the new recreation center: stmarys-ca.edu/beamsigning.
NEW STUDENT REC CENTER TAKES SHAPE
On a gloriously sunny day in January, the Saint Mary’s Board of Trustees hosted a Gael Beam Ceremony to acknowledge and thank the generous benefactors who are making the new Joseph L. Alioto Recreation Center possible. The new state-ofthe-art student fitness facility is scheduled to open in the spring of 2015.
West Coast Premiere Shines NEW BEGINNINGS
President James A. Donahue with best friend and grad school roommate, Peter Schmidt, at the dinner following inauguration on October 11. The evening included toasts from Jim Wood, president of the Board of Regents, J. P. Musgrove, chair of the Alumni Board, Brother Dominic Berardelli, among others.
Laura Jacqmin is a Chicago-based playwright who has won numerous awards, including the 2008 Wasserstein Prize given to recognize an emerging female playwright.
The paradox of intelligence is that as we mature mentally, we ask more questions, only to find fewer answers. Playwright Laura Jacqmin—who came to Saint Mary’s in November for Performing Arts’ West Coast premiere of And when we awoke there was light and light—populates her play with such tough questions and complicated characters. The play, set in Evanston, Ill., centers on the relationship between Katie, an ambitious high school senior, and David, a Ugandan citizen on the run and running out of time. After forming an online friendship with David—because it’s the right thing to do and also because it might give her an edge on her college applications—Katie learns that he had been a child soldier. This revelation calls everything into question and threatens their friendship. Katie, played by Kentaley McCurdy ’16, is forced to make decisions with people pulling her in different directions. Whether it’s her mom and dad, played by Hayley Leitman ’14 and Joseph Klink ’14, or the lighthearted complexity of her English teacher, played by Oliver Reyes ’15, all the characters find themselves and their own decisions impacted by the choices that Katie makes. This chain reaction all begins with a character shrouded in mystery and distance, David, played by Paul Nnaoji ’14. Jacqmin doesn’t make it easy for the characters or for the audience. “Its about the surprising, but inevitable,” she said. “I love to create work that lives in that place. I refuse to tie a neat bow. I don’t think our own narratives are as clean as that, and that’s what I want to convey. Art is when it’s not always black and white, but lives in that gray space in between.” —Alex Kummert ’15 SPRING 2014 9
COMMENTARY
BY GREG CLARK
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BY JO SHROYER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOBY BURDITT
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Let’s get this out of the way first. What you’re reading is not a rallying screed for Luddites.* We’re cool with technology and everything it does to improve our lives. But we’re not alone in thinking it’s time to get a grip on how digital technology is affecting the human app. The human app? That’s how educator Abbe Blum refers to the conscious biological entity known as the human being. She taught a Saint Mary’s Jan Term course called The Human App: Transforming Communication in a Post-Human World. The title, which she chose only partly in jest, refers to the work of Duke University Professor N. Katherine Hayles, whose specialty is the relationship between science, literature and technology. Hayles describes the post-human era as a time in which there is no essential difference between our old familiar corporeal existence and a computer simulation, between the human organism and cybernetic mechanisms, or between robot teleology and human planning. Whoa! Are we there yet?
SPRING 2014 25
The Pew Research Internet Project found that 91 percent of American adults have a mobile phone, 55 percent own a smart phone, and 44 percent of all cell users have slept with their phone so they don’t miss a message.
*Luddites were early
19th-century groups of English craftsmen who destroyed textile machinery that threatened to replace but rather, how and when we use Anyone watching news them, and what we are sacrificing from the Consumer Electronthem. Today, we use in the process. ics Show in Las Vegas in Anthropology Professor Dana January might have thought the word to describe Herrera ’97 teaches an undergradso, with all the buzz about uate course in the Anthropology wearable devices that hint at anyone opposed to of Digital Cultures, part of the the human/cyber alloy science new digital literacy minor at Saint fiction writers predict: smart technical change. Mary’s. Her students last semester socks that map how a runner’s focused on what technology is foot strikes the road, chipdoing to human relationships. implanted clothing that scans “Everything from day-to-day interactions with brain waves and heart rate, and ear buds that track people, to how we craft our personas online, what your every move. It’s probably too soon to count it means to be female or male, and how age impacts on humans embracing these often-clunky devices, because they can peg you as something less than hip. how we benefit from and engage with technology.” Herrera’s students also had heated debates over Besides, we have enough problems with the whether it’s OK to break up with someone by technology we carry around with us today, Blum texting. “We just don’t have an accepted social norm said. “Mobile devices, in particular, present a for doing this,” said Herrera. Remember the Dear distraction and a fire hose of information that can John letter? We haven’t figured out how to do the get in the way of our being compassionate listeners, tough stuff—humanely delivering bad news, for skillful communicators and mindful participants in example—much less how to incorporate new techthe world,” she explained. nology into every aspect of life, Herrera observed. Look around. People are increasingly navigating a Blum devised her Jan Term course to specifically crowded world with their eyes “glued” to a mobile challenge students to think deeply about how to device, according to a study by Flurry Analytics, balance the exigencies of modern life with some which has been measuring our use of such devices pretty important, timeless needs—paying sustained since way back in 2008, when the iPhone was a attention, listening carefully and being heard. precocious one-year-old. They found that Americans “That’s always been a difficult art, and I think it’s spend more than two and a half hours a day lookmore difficult with the technology we have today.” ing at their smart phones or tablets. Advertising Age So much so, said Professor Linda Saulsby, that reported recently that American adults now spend it’s difficult to separate ourselves from our devices more time per day using digital media than watching traditional television, averaging some five hours with “and just take quiet, contemplative time to think,” she said. So, Saulsby and James Wood ’70, a former their various devices. The fact that more people are litigation attorney and the president of the Board of watching television programs on their devices than Regents, created a Jan Term course in which they on TVs may qualify that statistic, but never mind. The important issue may not be what we watch or and their students would do the unthinkable— disconnect, power off and unplug completely for how much time we spend glued to mobile devices, SPRING 2014 27
an entire month. Through journaling and contemplative outings, they dug deep into that scary unconnected world of the self. If they caught themselves “using,” a term Wood suggested, the students understood they had to journal about it and share with the class their thoughts on the experience. And was it difficult? “Absolutely,” Saulsby said. “But it went amazingly well. We saw 17 students develop into people who will now question the balance in their lives between technology and humanism.” She and Wood hope this exercise will have a long-term effect on their students’ appreciation for and cultivation of solitude, something we all need to consider, Saulsby said. “We’re just too caught up with the screens in front of us.” We’ve all seen it. People together in a crowd, but alone with their devices—at a restaurant, in class or in a living room full of relatives. “We put ourselves into emotional silos,” Wood said. “Doing everything we can to fill our time with distractions and, in the process, mess up the idea of intimacy.” In fact, a University of Essex study published by The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that the very presence of mobile phones, not even in use at the moment, could inhibit the development of interpersonal closeness, trust, empathy and understanding, particularly when the conversation is personal and meaningful. Other studies point to the extremely close relationships people form with their devices, an idea played out in the recent Spike Jonze movie Her, about the heart- and hard drive– felt relationship that develops between a lonely man and an advanced, intuitive operating system named Samantha. Hold the phone! It appears that societal anxiety over digital absorption is ramping up, bringing much needed attention to choices we all need to consider, said Blum. “I think we are at a thoughtful point where we can still figure out what we need to do to manage our lives.” We can start by carving out a little time, “even five minutes,” Saulsby said, “to put everything aside and just be still, be quiet. Or call a friend or a family member; say hello to someone you don’t even know. This stuff seems really simple,” she said. “But it’s hard to do if you’re always looking down at your phone or wearing earphones.” From an anthropological standpoint, humans rely on a deeply rooted face-to-face template that is still in effect, Herrera said. “It serves cooperation, social cohesion, bonding with each other and strengthen-
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ing those bonds.” Over the years, every technological innovation—from transportation to telephones, airconditioning and television—has threatened to take us away from our template, she said. People don’t like change, and technology has a particular ability to tweak us, which might explain some of the angst we feel about our digital environment, said Herrera. She would rather take a more holistic view of cultural change. People want to jump at the easy answer, the latest boogeyman, to explain social dissonance or violence, she said, when it’s really combinations of multiple factors that create societal reality. So, is all this the fault of the iPhone and its imitators? Probably not. “Blaming everything on devices doesn’t relieve us of our responsibility to take control of our own lives and Blaming everything make intelligent choices about the things to which on devices doesn’t we give our conscious attention,” Herrera said. relieve us of our And while it’s too late to turn back—technical responsibility to progress doesn’t work that way, and why would we take control of our want to, with so much to be gained—it is up to us own lives and make to figure out how to bring balance to the relationship intelligent choices between technology and the human app, Blum said. about the things to It begins with deciding who is leading whom, said which we give our Kirthi Nath, a filmmaker, artist and entrepreneur conscious attention, who also taught a Jan Term class with a related – Dana Herrera ’97 theme. Professor of anthropology “Are you on autopilot or are you part of the navigation?” she asked. Balance is of particular interest to Nath. She looks at technology as a welcome tool for creative work, but recognizes both its promise and its limitations. The ability of technology to connect people across miles and cultural differences is particularly valuable, she said. “For those of us who are do-gooders, humanitarians, change agents, artists—technology can be a beautiful canvas for making the world a better and brighter place.” However, it’s too easy to get caught up in the
A survey by Educause found that 58 percent of today’s college students, who grew up with digital technologies, owned at least three Internetcapable devices.
idea that technology starts revolutions, Nath said. “It’s just a tool. We are the force that brings change, that energizes and opens perspective.” Her course—Creative Presence: Cultivating Creativity in the Age of Information—focused on storytelling techniques through various media, combined with mind-body tools—like meditation, visualization and movement—that support creative practice. Nath finds creative inspiration in social media, in text message exchanges with friends, and incorporates it into her art. And she views as a positive the ability of artists to share their work with others, unhampered by traditional gatekeepers. However, our tendency to make ourselves constantly available because of smart phones doesn’t serve us, our creative work or the people around us particularly well, Nath observed. James Wood pointed out that all great art, all great inventions, begin in solitude. “Not a state of being lonely, but being present with yourself, your thoughts and your ideas. Daring to take the risk of
solitude creates the opportunity to make something significant,” he said. Nath credits her awareness practice with keeping balance in her life and her work, but acknowledges that it can sometimes feel challenging. She pointed to “the juicy conversations” going on at Wisdom 2.0—a series of conferences, workshops and meetups that address what the organization calls the great challenge of our age: “to not only live connected to one another through technology, but to do so in ways that are beneficial to our own well-being, effective in our work, and useful to the world.” Wisdom 2.0 brings together a who’s who list of technical leaders, capitalists and entrepreneurs with experts in meditation and yoga to discuss how to live with greater wisdom, purpose, and meaning, while also using technology to build a healthy society. “Technology is neither good nor bad,” Nath said. “It’s how we use it to nourish and support us in our lives, and how we understand when it’s healthy to disengage.”
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PROFILE
BY JO SHROYER / PHOTOS BY STEPHAN BABULJAK
Opposite page: Purinton holding her granddaughter Gracie Jane, with son Nick looking on.
Jane Purinton: Always Learning, Always Teaching The wife of Saint Mary’s new president describes the enlightening and unpredictable journey her life, career and passions have taken It’s a lot easier to plot your life story if you know who you are. At least that’s what Jane Purinton’s journey seems to demonstrate. Married to Jim Donahue, Saint Mary’s new president, Purinton says she has had the opportunity to reinvent herself multiple times as the couple moved from west to east and back again in pursuit of ways to serve in higher education. But at the core of these
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transformations lies a solid sense of self. We met for coffee at Cafe Louis, where she seemed completely at home. Saint Mary’s reminds Purinton, who grew up in Maryland, of her early years at Stephens College in Columbia, Mo. “That’s where I was really given permission and encouragement to seek and expand,” she said. “College opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about the world. That’s what I
love about Saint Mary’s.” NYU, where Purinton transferred as a junior during the waning years of the Vietnam War, was another eye-opener. “A wild and wacky place,” as she put it. “Kind of a rude awakening in those tender years.” For example, they didn’t have fire drills in their building, Purinton recalled, with a wry smile. “We had bomb scares. One night after three bomb scares in a row, everybody, in their pajamas, just went around the corner to a bar. There wasn’t going to be any more sleeping that night!” What remained the same for her at both schools, though, was the influence of teachers and mentors who made a profound difference in her life. “They didn’t penalize me for my naïveté,” she said. “They thought enough of me to just be supportive and encouraging. Having those adults in my world made all the difference.” It’s obvious that the role of teachers and mentors—including her parents— occupies a big space in Purinton’s heart, and the progress of her life and career illustrates that. It was a mentor in the small but intimate Religious Studies Department at NYU, where Purinton double majored in religious studies and English, who influenced her to apply someday to the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Mutual friends at GTU would later introduce Purinton and Donahue. Purinton isn’t shy about describing a rough patch in her life in which she found herself suddenly a single mother of a two-year-old, without a job or means of support. She decided to go back to school, studying computer science and math at Merritt College in Oakland. There, she met a cadre of other women students returning to school and careers whose inspiring stories and friendship have stayed with her to this day, and where she met another influential mentor. “If it hadn’t been for Mr. Olson, I don’t know how any of us would have made it through,” Purinton said. Olson took time with his students, who stood in line outside his office door “with stacks of code,” Purinton said. “We
re-entry women adored him, and kept up with him for the rest of his life.” Her computer training eventually led to a position at the Town School for Boys in San Francisco, where she did database work but after two years became the director of development at the school. By 1984, she had met and married Jim Donahue, who was teaching at Santa Clara University. When Donahue got a position at Georgetown University, the family moved cross-country and stayed there for 15 years. Purinton worked at Georgetown doing alumni relations and fundraising, participating in a major capital campaign, and—something she is particularly proud of—she worked on the Alumni College program, taking faculty on the road to offer seminars for alumni. After three years at Georgetown, a job opening at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., attracted Purinton. In addition to all her other experience, she had been a weaver, working in a studio and managing a textile store in Berkeley. “It was almost as if the ad said, ‘Jane, this is for you.’ And it was. I spent 11 happy years there with a boss who, again, was a really great mentor.” Purinton also volunteered at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress and served as a mentor to Georgetown political science students in a bitter dispute with neighborhood residents over voting rights. She has enjoyed watching those student activists go on to build successful political careers. Another passion for Purinton has been politics and justice. When Donahue was named president of GTU, the family returned to the Bay
Area. Purinton was looking for something to do, when one of the women she had met at Merritt asked her to teach technical education classes at the College of Alameda. “My work there for 10 years was the most rewarding of my life,” Purinton said. Her students were people who had seen some difficulty in their lives, and Purinton hoped she could be helpful. “Because I’d been a single mom, I could relate to some of their struggles,” she said. “And I knew that an extra five minutes, just looking a student in the eye and saying, ‘This is really good, I can tell that you tried,’—and something as simple as a smile, could really mean something.” Purinton considers those students her mentors, too. Her passion for teaching, mentoring and justice has informed the interesting, winding road that has been her career path, a journey that she says she wouldn’t change if she could. “The world is a very complex organism, changing all the time, and there are a lot of ways in which we can help each other get through that complexity. I’ve been in a position to fill a need when I see it, making sure, of course, that it’s a need that wants to be filled, and that I do it in the right way, without imposing on someone my own ideas about what’s right.” These days, Jane Purinton works one day a week as a writing coach for ninth graders at El Cerrito High School. She’s weaving again, and she travels often to Maryland to visit her mother and to Washington, D.C., to see her two sons. Luke, the eldest, and his wife recently had a baby. “I’m trying now to focus on being a good daughter and grandmother.”
“College opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about the world.”
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IN MEMORIAM ALUMNI
McArthur was the coauthor of A Proposal for the Fullfillment of Catholic Liberal Education, editor of The Aquinas Review and recipient of the Salvatori Award and the Pro Deo et Patria Medal.
EVERYMAN: COURTNEY LOHMANN; ADVENTURE: AUGUST ALLEN ’13; BRILLIANT: THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE
A Brilliant, Charismatic Man The life of Ronald McArthur ’49 serves as a testament to faith, philosophy and the furtherance of knowledge. A former Saint Mary’s professor and founder of Thomas Aquinas College, he left his mark not only on generations of students but on the landscape of Catholic higher education. A monumental man, McArthur stood six-foot-sixinches tall, had a booming voice that could be heard several classrooms away and was a profound thinker with a zany sense of humor. “He was a very charismatic character,” said Jack McClenahan ’66, a former student of McArthur’s who became director of college relations at Thomas Aquinas College. “He was a man on a mission, and an unusual mission—the preservation of the perennial philosophies and the intellectual traditions of the Catholic Church.” McArthur accomplished his mission through the creation of Thomas Aquinas College, a Catholic liberal arts college of 350 students near Santa Paula, Calif. With a curriculum based on the Great Books and Seminar, the college has been heavily influenced by Saint Mary’s. Its three presidents and several other key administrators and faculty were Saint Mary’s graduates.
Establishing a college can be a nearly impossible endeavor, and Thomas Aquinas was no exception. After accepting its first freshman class of 33 students in 1971, with McArthur as its founding president, it struggled to survive both physically and financially in the early years. But survive it did and not only became a successful school in its own right, but has inspired a host of other small Catholic liberal arts colleges such as Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., and Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo. These colleges, along with Thomas Aquinas College, owe their existence to the determination of McArthur, a man held in awe by many, including Dennis Koller ’66. Koller lived in the McArthur household while attending Saint Mary’s and served as vice president of development at the College and director of admissions and financial aid at Thomas Aquinas College. “Dr. McArthur loved teaching. He loved students,” Koller said. “He was by far the smartest guy I ever met, and I’ve been around education my entire life. He was a brilliant man, a holy man. He was a saint.” —Judy Jacobs
Charles H. Andrus, Jr. ’43 Thomas J. Austin M.B.A. ’80 Stephen C. Bellicini M.B.A. ’79 Mindy M. Birkett ’92 Sharon Anne (Allan) Borre ’75, sister of Professor James M. Allan Henry P. Buckingham ’48, parent of Andrew Buckingham ’84 Richard J. Davies ’54, parent of Gerald Davies ’79 Mary Elena Dochterman William M. Gallagher ’43 Patricia H. Hartman MA ’92, parent of Amy Souza, EMA, ECR Philip S. Kenny Milo W. MacKin ’43 Warren J. MacLellan ’55 Francis J. Mahoney ’44, parent of Joan Mahoney ’87 Antoinette C. Moran MA ’95 Donna I. Preckshot ’85 George S. Runyan ’52 Stephen L. Story ’64, ECR '85 Joseph L. Waltner ’52 Alfred C. Williams, Sr. ’52, parent of Robert Williams August E. Zipse ’43, parent of Mark Zipse ’77, Michele Zipse ’80
FRIENDS
Guido Addiego, parent of Susanna Brooks ’92, Frank Addiego ’98 Marjorie Banducci, parent of Janet Amador ’85, E ’93 Mrs. Angelo Boschetto, parent of Michael Boschetto ’80, Paul Boschetto ’76 Aldo P. Guidotti, parent of Joanna Jensen ’74 Carol J. Ozanich, parent of James Ozanich ’83 Anna M. Siler, parent of Joseph Siler ’62. John Siler ’63, Kenneth Siler ’64 Louis S. Solari, parent of Robert Solari ’88
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Degree Key ECR Education Credential EdD Doctor of Education EE Extended Education EMBA Executive MBA HON Honorary MBA Graduate Business MC Counseling ME Graduate Education MFA Fine Arts ML Leadership MLS Liberal Studies MS Science N Nursing P Paralegal Certificate
GLIMPSES
1966
To celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary, Bob and Joan Cone walked El Camino de Santiago. The 509-mile trail took them from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in Spain in 30 days. They also attended the 50th anniversary March on Washington, commemorating the event in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Bob was at the Aug. 28, 1963, march and remembered the spirit of that day.
1970 1 Michael
Tucevich is approaching retirement from his career as a federal administrative law judge. He lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his 18-year-old daughter, Morgan (pictured). The two traveled to Thailand this past summer and spent three weeks there.
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1971 2 Dennis
Patrick Wood (pictured onboard USS Nimitz) has been a clinical psychologist for the past 35 years, consulting with the Virtual Reality Medical Center in San Diego since 2006. He is also affiliated with the Crownview Medical Group in Coronado. Most recently, he has worked with U.S. Marines and sailors diagnosed with combatrelated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using a form of exposure therapy that employs virtual reality, computer technology, meditation and biofeedback. Dennis retired from the U.S. Naval Reserves in April 2005. He and Joan still live in San Diego.
1979
Paul Stich has been appointed CEO of Appthority, the leader in App Risk Management. Paul served as president and CEO of Dasient, an Internet security company that was acquired by Twitter in January 2012. Before that he was president and CEO of Counterpane Internet
Security, which was acquired by British Telecom in 2006. Paul has also held senior executive positions with IBM, KPMG and McAfee.
1983
Louis A. Lotorto, Jr., appeared in Don’t Dress For Dinner at the Sierra Repertory Theatre in Sonora from Sept. 6–29. October, Sean Mullen was promoted to the position of risk coordinator for Alameda County’s Risk Management Unit and is involved in all aspects of the county’s self-insured program. Prior to that, he worked as a senior management analyst with Santa Clara County’s Risk Management Department since 2005.
3 In
1989
Geoff Callan recently starred in Betas, an Amazon original series. He worked alongside Tyson Ritter, lead singer of The AllAmerican Rejects.
1993 4 Rich
Aguirre is getting ready for the upcoming Gael basketball season with nephews Austin Calos ’17 and Brandon Calos ’15, as well as Rich’s sons Kylan and Brydan (future Gaels).
1994 5 Jim
Prescott ECR graduated from the School of Education in ’94 with teaching credentials, after a 30-year career with AT&T. He taught in San Mateo for several years and in 2005 was elected to the San Bruno Park Elementary School District School Board, where he served for eight years. Calif. State Senator Jerry Hill (left), met with Jim (shown to right of Mrs. Kathy Prescott) on Nov. 20 and presented him with a state resolution honoring him for his years of public service in support of education, students and the community. It wouldn’t have happened without Saint Mary’s.
To see additional Glimpses photos, visit stmarys-ca.edu/glimpses.
1996
Phil Gomes and his wife, Leticia, welcomed their second child, Dom, into the world in August. Their daughter, Zara, was born in 2009. Phil works as a senior vice president at Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, where he focuses on digital media, online communities and crisis communications. The family lives in Chicago.
1998
After five years as galleries manager at the San Francisco Arts Commission, Aimee Le Duc has accepted the position of executive director of the Berkeley Art Center.
2001
AntosikParsons and her husband, Eoin Parsons, live in Dublin, Ireland with daughters, 5-year-old Olivia and 7-year-old Clodagh, and son, 14-monthold Conall. After graduating from Saint Mary’s, Kate went backpacking around Europe with Julie Cotter and Carolina Gonzales-Villar. Her
intention to work for a brief time in Ireland was radically altered when she met Eoin, and they married in 2004. Kate held her first solo exhibition, “Identity,” in 2003. She completed an MA in women’s studies (2006) and a PhD in art history (2012) at University College Dublin, where she currently lectures in art history and Irish studies. From 2010–2013 Kate was an editor of Artefact: The Journal of the Irish Association of Art Historians. Her poetry contribution to a migrant writers anthology led to an opportunity to take tea with the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, in December 2012. (kateap.com)
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After nine years at The Sentinel in Hanford, Calif., Jennifer Fawkes has taken a position with the Napa Valley Register in Napa. As the sales & marketing manager, she is responsible for the circulation and inside classified departments.
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2002
Mark Maffey ’03 and Erin (Manoukian) Maffey ’02, ECR ’03 were married in 2005 and reside in Las Vegas. They have twin boys, Peter and Nicholas, and two daughters,
Alessandra and Johanna. Mark works in the family’s construction business. After five years of teaching, Erin is happy to stay home with the children.
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G 2004 7 Megan
(Bartleson) and Daniel Quinn welcomed their first child, Cardon Henry Quinn, on April 25. They love being parents to their happy little boy.
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Michael Norberg of Santa Rosa, was among the 266 graduates awarded the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine at the school’s 122nd commencement. The ceremony was held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on June 2. Scott will continue his medical training in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.
2005
Ben Frey has written a screenplay titled Mexico or Bust, in which a college graduate travels along the West Coast, road tripping in an R.V. and picking up his alumni friends on the way to an extraordinary adventure in Mexico. If you would like to donate to help make this movie happen, please e-mail Ben at jaminjamesiii@gmail. com. Any donations are greatly appreciated. Go GAELS!!!
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SAINT MARY’S MAGAZINE
To see additional Glimpses photos, visit stmarys-ca.edu/glimpses.
Andrew Moreno has been a project manager at the Economic Vitality Corp. of San Luis Obispo County since 2012. He previously served as a grants manager at RM Associates, a specialized civil engineering and community development firm. Andrew was appointed by the governor to serve as a member of the California State Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians and has also been a member of the city of Fresno’s Personnel Board. Andrew holds a master’s degree in leadership studies and communication from Gonzaga University, as well as a master’s degree in environmental management and sustainability from Harvard University.
2006 9 Marissa
(Nichols) Skog and Jon Skog ’05 welcomed their first child, Ethan Clark Skog, on May 12. George Rafal married Ashley (formerly McDannel) in an intimate ceremony at her family’s Lafayette home on Dec. 29, 2012. George is a senior paralegal at Minami Tamaki LLP in San Francisco and earning his MBA at UC Davis. Ashley is a senior therapist at Step-
ping Stones Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders and recently completed her MA in psychology with a dual concentration in counseling and industrial organizational psychology at Golden Gate University. They reside in Emeryville and share a commitment to providing advocacy for mentally disabled adults.
2007
May, Michael Murphy EE graduated with an MBA from Rice University. With the support of his wife, DeeAnn, and three kids, 15-yearold Katie, 12-year-old David and 11-yearold Jordan, this accomplishment was a team effort!
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2008
Linda Hua successfully defended her dissertation on the topic of team diversity, conflict and performance in October 2013, completing her PhD in organizational psychology at Alliant International University. She has recently been promoted to a full-time program associate, specializing in organizational development at Resource Development Associates in Oakland. In addition, she is a part-time leadership coach and management consultant. Hua
also recently became engaged to fellow alum, Zack Farmer, who proposed at their five-year class reunion in July 2013. 11 Sharon
Kehoe and Michael Tomasik were married in the SMC Chapel on Nov. 16. Presiding was Fr. Mike Russo. The wedding party included Stephanie Tews ’08, maid of honor; Jessica Parfitt ’07, ECR ’08, bridesmaid; Michael’s brother, Christopher Tomasik, best man; and Michael’s best friend, Jared Paris, groomsman. Sharon and Michael reside in Concord.
12 Lisa (Layton) married Jeff Berndt ’09 on Sept. 21 at Seascape Beach Resort in Aptos. Their bridal party included seven fellow SMC Alums: (left to right) Serena Lee, Alex Nadeau, Danielle Egan ‘05, Gina (Lenardon) Coughlin, Chris Dowdy, Ray Egan ’05 and Nick Gionfriddo. Lisa and Jeff honeymooned in Cancun and now live in Scotts Valley.
2009 13 Shana
(Dhillon) married Jaipal Nijjar in a Sikh ceremony at the San Jose Sikh Gurdwara on July 20. They met the year after graduation, and despite the fact that Jaipal is an SCU Bronco, they made it work. They are happily married and reside in Santa Clara with their Dalmatian, Marleau. 14 Vanessa
Snyder became engaged to Josh Bobbitt in May in Cambria. They met while teaching in Mississippi with Teach for America and married in July in San Jose, where they both work in education.
2010 15 Amanda
(Gourley) ’10, MA ’12, and Ivan Pantaleon ’07 were married on June 22 at Saint Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in their hometown of Ukiah, Calif. Ivan is an agent with Carol and Jerry Myer State Farm Agency, and Amanda is a marriage and family therapist intern with Tapestry Family Services. Their bridal party included multiple SMC alums: Lacey Olson ’10, Kaitlyn Glenn ’10, Whitney Wright ’10, Nicole Adler ’03, Anthony Butler ’07, Michael Herman ’07, Shane Keane ’07 and Randy Lopez ’11. Other SMC alums who
attended included: Argenis Rubio ’07 and, Nora Amaral ’07, Christina Hamilton ’07, Mark Gilson ’07, David Lenser ’07, Fabien Zadno ’11, Matt Hensley ’11, Alex Stillings ’08, Megan Colin ’12, Noemi Cocone ’12 and Jerry Myer EE ’98.
2011
Elias A. Chahin used the skills he learned at Saint Mary’s to take his family’s mattress business, Foam de Honduras, to the next level by forging an alliance with worldwide bedding giant Tempur Sealy. He and his company were featured in the September issue of BedTimes magazine. Read the article at: http://bedtimesmagazine.com/2013/09/ foam-de-honduraslaunches-sealy-collection.
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2003
Scott Smigielski and his wife, Kim, welcomed their second child, daughter Grier, in October.
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SPRING 2014 43
Reunion
come back home
July 18–20, 2014
Don’t miss the parties, picnics, live music, wine tasting, historic tours, dinner on the Chapel lawn and much more!
stmarys-ca.edu/reunion14
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Student Meets Lizard
Close encounters of the herpetological kind in Saint Mary’s Legacy Garden.
STEPHAN BABULJAK
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