The Torch | Fall/Winter 2021

DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Get to Know Nicola Pitchford,

Dominican’s 10th President

page 13

FALL/WINTER 2021

News and features about and for the Dominican community

PhD

Pennafort Patio, circa 1960

The Torch

The Torch is a publication presenting the news, people and progress of Dominican University of California. The symbol of the flaming torch, representing truth, is rooted in the history of St. Dominic. The University’s motto is “Truth is a flaming torch.” The torch is carried by one of the “hounds of the Lord,” or, in Latin, “Domini canes.”

President

Nicola Pitchford, PhD

Lead Editor

Jessica Jordan

Art Direction/ Production

Margaret Wylie

Editors

Sarah Gardner

Victoria Grajeda

Marly A. Norris

Writers

Dave Albee

Sarah Gardner

Victoria Grajeda

Jessica Jordan

Jenn Krengel

Tricia Lacy

Jaime Libby

Marly A. Norris

Nicola Pitchford

Holly Werly

Dave Albee

Jonathan Chapman

Martin Klimek

Dia Rao

Dear Friends,

The halls of Guzman are echoing with the voices of students again! Fall colors are emerging on campus, and my faculty and staff colleagues are enjoying each other’s in-person company at long last. So it is with a big (masked) smile that I welcome you to this issue of The Torch.

As I write this letter, it is just five weeks since we resumed in-person classes and were joined by a new cohort of first-year, transfer, and graduate students. I have served as president for just shy of three months. In that time, my gratitude to this community has deepened. Our campus response to the pandemic was swift and effective. As a result, I am pleased to report that the campus has suffered remarkably few COVID-19 cases and is largely strong and healthy. Students are making the most of their return to campus with a bevy of outdoor activities — like a carnival and a pop-up block party — organized by our stellar Student Life team.

Perhaps more than anything, I am grateful to President Emerita Mary B. Marcy for her decade of exceptional leadership. She guided Dominican in articulating and advancing a clear, singular objective: to see our students thrive. Truly, it is a privilege to call her my friend, mentor and colleague, and I am honored to carry forward her vision for an evidence-based, equitable education for all students.

Now we undertake the focused, mission-driven work of building on that vision, to cultivate a flourishing campus community with meaningful partnerships; to respond together to the climate and natural resource crises, racial inequity, and economic disparity that face our globe and our nation; and to position Dominican for financial health and adaptability that will see it through another 130 years and more.

We inherit from the care of the Dominican Sisters a compelling, 800-year-old model of education that insists on study intertwined with reflection, community and service. Those values, and their contemporary expression in the Dominican Experience, continue to serve as our North Stars. Our alumni contribute their essential wisdom, engagement and financial support to this precious work.

In the coming months, I hope to see you on campus for Christmas, Reunion, and everything in between. Thank you for your partnership and continuing commitment to Dominican.

Warm regards,

Nicola Pitchford President

Civic Action Fellowship Program Draws First-Year Students

This fall, 17 students are working with community partners throughout Marin County as Dominican University of California begins the second year of the Civic Action Fellowship (CAF) program. The CAF program builds students’ capacity to understand social issues that create barriers to equity in California while they cultivate community engagement skills, build relationships with local organizations, develop professional networks and gain experience in public service. Each fellow is awarded a Dominican scholarship and a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award.

Developed in partnership with California Volunteers (Office of the Governor) and AmeriCorps, CAF integrates service and academic work with a focus on career preparation and community engagement. Through Dominican’s Service-Learning program and Center for Community Engagement, CAF students are engaged in service projects that help develop their skills for careers, graduate school and a life of civic engagement.

Central to the CAF program is a California for All class that brings the cohort together to gain knowledge and context regarding the social issues they are engaging with, plus a 10-unit service internship with a community partner, focused on education, economic opportunity or healthy futures.

Meet some students from Marin County high schools who have come to Dominican to study as Civic Action Fellows:

Kaith Monterroso ’25, Nursing

Marin Catholic High School

Kaith knew she wanted to study nursing early in her high school career after gaining first-hand insight into the profession through placements with MarinHealth Medical Network and Kaiser Permanente. Subsequent internships with two Marin-based nonprofit agencies — 10,000 Degrees and E3: Education, Excellence, and Equity — nurtured Kaith’s interest in community service.

As a senior, Kaith organized a fundraiser through her school’s Multicultural Club to help provide fellow residents in the Canal district with essentials during the pandemic.

“Growing up in the Canal where I received support from my neighbors has inspired me to give back to help the community overcome certain obstacles,” Kaith said.

Dominican has been long recognized for excellence in nursing education. However, it was the CAF program that led Kaith to the University to expand her understanding of how to contribute to issues of social justice and combine this with her future career in health care.

Sizi Rios ‘25, Global Public Health

San Rafael High School

For Sizi, CAF is a way to gain better access to valuable information that could benefit the health and well-being of her fellow residents in the Canal district.

“The fellowship is about giving and helping the community, and that’s what I want to do. In my career, that’s what I see myself doing a few years from now,” Sizi said. “This is a great way for me to begin that journey and begin exploring and to begin giving as much help and hope as I can.”

The fellowship is about giving and helping the community and that’s what I want to do.

Sizi Rios

Sizi aims to combine her interest in technology with her desire to be a health administrator or consultant who can provide a better way for low-income and underrepresented communities to better understand accessible and affordable health care.

In high school, Sizi participated in Girls Who Code, a seven-week summer program located at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, where she learned how to code different programming languages. At Dominican, she is considering adding coding and software design as a minor.

Growing up in the Canal where I received support from my neighbors has inspired me to give back to help the community overcome certain obstacles.

— Kaith Monterroso

Barowsky School of Business Poised for Growth Following AACSB Accreditation

Dominican University of California’s Barowsky School of Business (BSB) has joined the elite network of business schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). AACSB accreditation recognizes demonstrated excellence in faculty research, curriculum development, innovative instruction, student learning, and impact.

Less than 6 percent of the world’s business schools are accredited by AACSB, the agency which has been setting the gold standard for business education since 1916. Accreditation ensures continuous improvement, as all AACSB-accredited schools must pass a multi-year rigorous review process conducted by peers from business academia.

“AACSB accreditation will increase BSB’s national and global visibility while allowing the school to develop partnerships with companies providing tuition support for employees,” noted Dr. Yung-Jae Lee, dean of BSB. “Because the AACSB accreditation is synonymous with a high-quality business education through innovation, engagement and impact, accreditation will help BSB attract outstanding students to the undergraduate and graduate programs.”

Not only that, he added, “Accreditation will particularly help BSB recruit more international students, as these students often only consider schools holding AACSB accreditation. U.S. companies providing tuition support to their employees prefer to work with accredited business schools, and we look forward to developing additional partnerships with Bay Area companies and organizations now that we are accredited.”

BSB is Marin County’s largest and oldest business school. Its location in one of the country’s most entrepreneurial and socially-conscious areas — six young Marin County companies were recently named among the fastest-growing in the nation — attracts students from across California, the United States, and overseas.

The undergraduate Business Administration program weaves ethics and social responsibility into the curriculum. Flexibility allows business students to double major or add minors in a wide range of academic disciplines, including coding and software design, biochemistry, communication, literature, cognitive and experimental science, psychology, environmental sciences, and global public health.

Graduate programs include a tailored one-year MBA that emphasizes strategic management, global business, leadership, negotiation, networking, team-building, and effective communication skills. A 12-month Master of Science in business analytics offers coursework in data visualization, programming, data security, machine learning, and cloud computing.

The BSB’s new 12-month Master of Science in accounting features a deep dive into the growing field of accounting analytics. Small classes allow for personalized instruction as graduates prepare for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, with many courses integrating components of the CPA exam into the curriculum.

AACSB accreditation will increase BSB’s national and global visibility while allowing the school to develop partnerships with companies providing tuition support for employees.

BSB is home to the Institute for Leadership Studies, the Françoise O. Lepage Center for Global Innovation, the Marin Small Business Development Center, and the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Each year, several thousand people attend the popular Leadership Lecture Series, while intimate Business Edge Briefings led by industry experts offer outstanding in-person networking opportunities for students and professionals.

BSB’s hands-on approach extends to its career and internship services, which focus on professional development while providing students with opportunities to network with Bay Area corporate, educational and public sector leaders, as well as with the school’s extensive network of alumni working in finance, technology, healthcare, hospitality, and nonprofits. In recent years, undergraduate students seeking careers have earned a 100 percent placement rate with a variety of companies, from small Bay Area businesses to large Fortune 500 companies to start-ups in tech and social entrepreneurship.

— Dr. Yung-Jae Lee

Dominican Welcomes New, Continuing Applied Computer Science Students

Dominican University of California announced July 16 that it will assume direct delivery of the Applied Computer Science program offered by Make School, the San Francisco-based software and coding school that was operating under Dominican's auspices. Continuing and newly admitted Make School students will complete their studies at Dominican.

“Dominican and Make School embarked on this partnership to design a career-friendly computer science education, aligned with our shared educational model and accessible to a demographic of students consistent with Dominican’s diverse student body,” said President Nicola Pitchford. “We will be able to do that by delivering the program at Dominican.”

In 2018, Dominican and Make School received approval from the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) to enter a unique “incubation” partnership as Make School worked toward becoming independently accredited — a process expected to take between three and five years.

In 2019, Make School launched its bachelor’s degree in applied computer science under Dominican’s auspices as an accredited institution, while Dominican was able to draw on Make School’s expertise to offer a new minor in coding and software design.

The partnership fit with Dominican’s recent focus on strategically adding new programs that respond to workforce demand and build on institutional strengths. Like many smaller colleges, Dominican did not offer a computer science concentration but was seeing increased demand from students to integrate technology into the curriculum in many disciplines. The Make School partnership gave Dominican access to deep subject mat -

ter expertise and industry experience, while enabling the University’s faculty to increase their knowledge by working closely with Make School’s team of educators and practitioners.

In spring 2021, Make School informed Dominican that the Make School financial model was in jeopardy. The School was carrying substantial leases for both underutilized student residential space and for unused teaching space in San Francisco. The sudden halt in international student movement and delays to full approval for access to some federal funding programs presented further difficulties. At that time, Dominican developed terms for a potential absorption of the Make School Applied Computer Science program and designed a transition framework.

Make School nevertheless continued to move ahead with its accelerated accreditation goal. However, on July 12, WSCUC informed Make School that candidacy would not be approved in 2021, with an invitation to reapply at a later date. On July 13, Dr. Anne Spalding, Make School’s interim president, let Dominican know that Make School would cease offering the Applied Computer Science program. It was officially handed over to Dominican on July 30.

“When we entered into our partnership with Make School, we were determined that the degree programs would enable our students to tap the insight and expertise of practitioners at the world’s leading tech firms without sacrificing the holistic student engagement that is a hallmark of a great liberal arts education, and indeed the hallmark of the Dominican Experience,” President Pitchford said. “This remains true today and will help guide our work moving forward.”

Dominican’s Alpha-Delta-Omicron Earns Best Chapter Award

Dominican’s Alpha-Delta-Omicron chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has received a Best Chapter Award for 2020-2021.

The award recognizes local chapters that are particularly active in their institutions and communities and embody the society’s mission to stimulate scholarship and intellectual interest in political science. Alison Howard, political science professor and chair of Dominican’s Division of Public Affairs, serves as faculty advisor to the chapter and has been recognized for her extraordinary dedication to students who are members of the chapter.

Dominican’s Alpha-Delta-Omicron chapter will receive the award along with two other chapters from institutions similar in size out of approximately 850 Pi Sigma Alpha chapters nationwide. The executive council of Pi Sigma Alpha commended Dominican’s achievements in promoting civic engagement among the student body last year, especially given the significant challenges faculty and students around the world continue to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award includes a cash prize of $500 for the chapter, as well as an additional $200 to the advisor for their service. Winners will be featured across digital platforms and in the American Political Science Association’s magazine Political Science Today.

Dominican club members include Allison Kustic ’21, Katya Palacios ’21, Dylan Finley ’21, Christina Pathoumthong ’22, Julia Reinhard ’22, and Ayanna Berg ’22.

“Students who are members of the honors society are also active in other department clubs and have done lots of things to promote civic engagement,” Howard said. “They have a strong interest in politics and public policy, which is the mission and goal of Pi Sigma Alpha.”

Dominican Ranked Again Among Top Schools in Western Region

The 2022 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges guidebook has once again ranked Dominican as one of the top regional universities in the West.

The guide ranked Dominican No. 23 in the western region, which includes California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Alaska. Regional universities provide a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs.

U.S. News incorporates criteria such as peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving.

Other accolades include:

College Raptor, a leading college planning platform, named Dominican to its 2022 Best Colleges in the United States rankings and its 2022 Hidden Gem list. The University ranks in the top 25 among best colleges in the categories of Most Ethnic Diversity and Healthcare Major.

Dominican was named as a 2021-2022 College of Distinction by the Colleges of Distinction guide, which assesses colleges and universities in several categories, including engaged students, great teaching, vibrant community, and successful outcomes. Dominican also received specialized recognition for innovation in four areas:

- Business College of Distinction (Barowsky School of Business)

- Education College of Distinction

- Nursing College of Distinction

- Career Development College of Distinction

Dominican also ranked in the top third of colleges and universities nationally in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking 2021. The ranking focuses on a university’s ability to deliver valuable outcomes and quality education. Dominican was ranked 243 out of approximately 800 institutions.

Latine Unidos: Celebrating Latine Culture All Year Long

Dominican’s Latine Unidos (LU) club is reinventing itself this year to offer support, education and community to its fast-growing membership.

Brittany Santos ’22, the club’s media manager, says finding community was what drew her to the club last year as a junior transfer student from Santa Rosa Junior College. Brittany joined LU in spring 2020, only a few weeks before the Dominican campus shifted to remote teaching due to the pandemic. The group of about 10 students was determined to remain connected.

docs to share information and develop a calendar of events under the leadership of Sofia Esteva ’23, club president.

LU held its first in-person meeting of the year just a few days into the fall 2021 semester. Membership had grown from 10 to 25 students.

“We were not expecting that a lot of people would come to this meeting, but we noticed right away that our group had grown,” Brittany said. “Right after the meeting, we had a board discussion, and we all agreed we needed a much bigger space.”

During the summer planning sessions, the LU board decided it wanted to move away from primarily offering social events to advocating for members and tackling the issues that students face today.

These issues include ICE raids, support for LGBTQI members, and ways to break down stereotypes about Latine households and communities. Upcoming events also include a discussion about feminist movements around Latin America, a watercolor painting and mental health night, and an event titled “What’s Cooking?” at which the members will plan an LU cookbook.

“It was nice to have met everyone and have that opportunity to connect in person,” Brittany recalled. “Zoom helped us keep in touch, and we did our best to keep a club feel during our meetings with virtual games and an online carnival.”

The group remained connected throughout the summer, meeting virtually to plan the coming year, relying on Google

When planning events to celebrate Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month, the club agreed to connect LU with the greater community. “I feel it is important that our club members get to know people around campus with similar interests,” Brittany said, “and also get to know people in our community that they can identify with.”

To see what’s happening at LU, follow their Instagram at @latine_unidos.

I feel it is important that our club members get to know people around campus with similar interests, and also get to know people in our community that they can identify with.

— Brittany Santos ’22

Meet the New Members of the Penguin Team

Dominican Athletics is excited to welcome nine new coaches to the roster and celebrate promotions for two loyal Penguins.

HIRE DATE: July 2021

HIRE DATE: July 2021

HIRE DATE: Aug. 2021

STEVE DEHART HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER

Originally from North Hollywood, California, DeHart was the head athletic trainer for Novato High School and founding athletic trainer for the Sutter Health Hospital Outreach program. He gained experience at the NCAA Division I level as the director of athletic training at Sacramento State from 2007-10. There he oversaw 19 teams, including the Hornets football team.

JUSTIN ARGENAL HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH

Originally from Lafayette, California, Argenal was head coach for De La Salle High School, and was a point guard at De La Salle High before moving on to a college career at UC Riverside and Chico State. He left the Wildcats as program and conference’s all-time career leader in assists and steals, earning All-CCAA Second Team honors.

HIRE DATE: Aug. 2021

RICARDO MARTIN ASSISTANT MEN’S SOCCER COACH

Originally from Rodeo, California, Martin coached for College of Marin, Merritt Junior College, Cal North Olympic Development Program, and Marin Football Club. He played collegiately for San Jose State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a Masters of Art in kinesiology and sports management in 2021.

LUKAS BAILDON MEN’S LACROSSE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/ STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

Originally from Berlin, Germany, Baildon was a graduate assistant coach at Concordia University Irvine and assistant coach at Northwood High School. Baildon brings international and box lacrosse experience. He was a starter on the 2012 U19 German Men’s National team, 2015 U19 Box National Team, and 2016 Men’s National Field lacrosse.

HIRE DATE: Aug. 2021

MATTHEW OKADA ASSOCIATE MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH

Originally from Harbor City, CA, Okada came to the Penguins with eight years of coaching experience, and five years of scouting, player development, and management experience. Okada was the assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona, helping the Broncos to two conference championships and five NCAA Regional appearances.

HIRE DATE: July 2021

HIRE DATE: July 2021

HIRE DATE: July 2021

BOBBY GROVE MEN’S LACROSSE DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Originally from Gainesville, Florida, Grove was head coach at Tulane University before working as the goalie coach/defensive assistant for the LSA champion LSU Tigers. He is also currently the defensive coordinator for the Russian Men’s National Team.

HIRE DATE: Sept. 2021

GREG RAHN ASSOCIATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH

Originally from Napa, CA, Rahn was assistant coach for the Pacific Union College Men’s Basketball program, and head coach, lead trainer, and founder of the Bay Valley Generals. He is a Certified Ganon Baker Elite Basketball Skills Trainer and also runs his own skill development company, Greg Rahn Basketball.

TESSA LEA’EA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL ASSISTANT COACH

Originally from Stockton, California, Lea’ea attended the University of Nevada, Reno as an all-conference middle blocker (with 1,412 points, she was among the program’s top five highest-scoring players). Following Lea’ea’s college career, she played professionally in Bar, Montenegro, and Alcobendas, Spain. She has coaching experience at the club, high school and collegiate levels.

JOSEPH MANNA HEAD WOMEN’S LACROSSE COACH

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Manna was NCAA Division I assistant coach for Furman Men’s Lacrosse, and assistant at the University of Detroit Mercy Men’s Lacrosse team. Manna started his coaching career at his alma mater serving three years as a volunteer assistant at SUNY Delhi. He was then named the head coach for East Carolina men’s lacrosse of the MCLA in 2018.

DAVID FRANK

ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

(PROMOTED), HEAD MEN’S SOCCER COACH

Originally from Phoenix, AZ, Frank has played a significant role in reigniting the Dominican men’s soccer program. Under his leadership, the team finished fourth (out of 12) in the 2019 Pacific Western Conference — the highest-ever finish for Penguin soccer.

SAMUEL VOGELSEIDENBERG

ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR (PROMOTED), HEAD MEN’S LACROSSE COACH

Originally from Westlake Village, CA, Vogel-Seidenberg has been coaching lacrosse at Dominican for seven very rewarding years. He loves working with the team and this great group of players. He is extremely grateful for the experience and is excited to make a run for the championship this year.

Thank You, Dr. Françoise Lepage

Marly A. Norris, vice president for advancement and public affairs, talks with Dr. Lepage on the occasion of her retirement from Dominican.

Some things never change. When you sit across from Dr. Françoise Lepage and meet her clear-eyed gaze, you see the intelligence, curiosity and humor in those eyes — and her complete focus on you. When Lepage announced her retirement in June 2021 after 45 years at Dominican, I immediately thought of the hundreds and thousands of students who have benefitted from that focus. When I sat down with her to talk about her career, students were foremost on Dr. Lepage’s mind.

Dominican was not her first teaching job. She launched her career in 1967, teaching at Marymount College in Virginia amid the political and social turmoil of that era. “After that,” she said with a laugh, “nothing could shock me.” We talked about the evolving trends in society and specifically in education — after all, Lepage has taught baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, millennials, and Gen Z students — and none of that mattered. Her teaching method has never changed, and she’s proud of that. “I work with students one-on-one,” she said. “I meet them where they

are, understand their specific goals and challenges, and go from there.”

That method has been successful, and she’s got the devoted alumni to prove it.

“Dr. Lepage is more than a charismatic professor, she is an engaging educator who motivates her students to be the best versions of themselves,” said Emily Beach ’15, MBA ‘20. “Through her trusted mentorship, she has taught me the importance of humility and compassion while exemplifying life as a global citizen.”

When asked what achievements at Dominican have meant the most to her, Lepage does not hesitate. “The Pacific Basin Studies program. When we founded that in 1988, it was one of the first graduate programs in that area of study in the country, and Dominican’s first international program,” she said. Students came from across Asia and the world, and Lepage persuaded then-president Joe Fink to let them stay in the campus dorms for free. Some students arrived with so little in terms of clothes and household goods that Lepage convinced her own family to send clothes, sheets and towels. One student,

who had brought her husband and children with her, accepted a gift of sheets. Lepage smiled as she remembered that at a party later, the student arrived with her family — all dressed in clothes made from those sheets.

Lepage was ahead of her time. Long before Tom Friedman decreed that the world was flat, she understood globalization. She was a constant traveler from her earliest years, especially to Asia. She tells the story of disembarking from a boat in South Korea and being questioned by the authorities about the many books on communism (the subject of her doctorate) contained in her luggage. “I told them I was a professor of anti-communist studies,” she said with a grin. All that travel and networking helped her develop strong relationships abroad that Lepage used to build and strengthen programs at Dominican.

1993; selected by the Commonwealth Club of Northern California to participate in its Distinguished Professor Lecture Series in 1998; the Sarlo Distinguished Professor of the Year Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998; named to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007; and the Joseph Fink Faculty Achievement Award in 2021. At Dominican, Lepage has been a professor, a program director, an academic department chair, the founding dean of business and international studies, and a special advisor for two of the University’s presidents.

Another achievement was the California Management Institute, which came to Dominican in 1993, along with its founder, Dr. Denise Lucy. Together Lepage and Lucy built a strong relationship with a Taiwanese education partner and created one of the first hybrid programs for the university. Students started one semester at a university in Taiwan, and then attended Dominican for 18 months to achieve their Masters of Public Administration or Master of Arts in management.

“Of the over 300 Taiwanese graduate students from these programs,” Dr. Lucy said, “there is a whole generation of public officials in Taiwan who all were educated by Françoise.” At the parties that celebrated the completion of the program, the students would sing and recite poems. “We felt like a family,” Lepage said, smiling.

Lepage’s focus with her students was always to ground them in the realities of the times they were about to enter rather than simply covering standard text-book material, noted Shams Vaziri ’81. “She started the conversation about Russia and China — their history and potential evolutionary trajectory into the worldwide political and economic scene in the late `70s — years before many started to pay attention in any meaningful way.”

Lepage’s achievements and great ideas go beyond the international. She understood the importance of sustainability early on, and was a pioneer in launching programs (and finding funders) that led the charge in seeking sustainability in business.

We’d need this entire magazine to list all of her achievements, but a few include: a Japan Foundation Visit Fellowship in 1991; a Doctor of Humane Letters from her alma mater, Marymount University as a “distinguished alumna and educator” in 1993; Distinguished Citizens Award from the Marin Cultural Center in

She started the conversation about Russia and China — their history and potential evolutionary trajectory into the worldwide political and economic scene in the late `70s — years before many started to pay attention in any meaningful way.

One of the loveliest things that has come from Lepage’s time at Dominican is the creation of a lifetime partnership. Together for many years and married in 2008, Lepage and Dr. Lucy have used their collective intelligence and energy to advocate for the very best for Dominican students, and shown the rest of us what the true marriage of hearts and minds looks like.

In wrapping up the interview, I asked Lepage to talk about her own Dominican Experience, and if there was a single word to describe it. She sat quietly for a long time before she responded. “Welcoming. And I mean the people in our Dominican campus community, though the place itself is beautiful. It’s a small school, where individuals can have a big impact. It’s everyone on our campus being kind and generous to one another.” She looked me in the eye, making sure I understood, and I thought again of the many students who have benefitted from her teaching, who know and love her. “Our campus,” she concluded with satisfaction, turning away and smiling to herself.

Dr. Lepage is more than a charismatic professor, she is an engaging educator who motivates her students to be the best versions of themselves.

— Emily Beach ’15, MBA ’20

— Shams Vaziri ’81

Fran and author Nien Cheng - 1988

I Will Survive:

The Legacy of John Kennedy

The Dominican University of California community came together on Sept. 18 for a memorial mass to celebrate the life of John Kennedy, who served as vice president for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Dominican for nearly 30 years. Fr. Paul Warren from John’s parish, St. Teresa’s in San Francisco, celebrated mass and Sr. Carla Kovack ’69 gave the eulogy. More than 50 alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends gathered on campus with John’s partner and husband of 42 years, William Baird, to share memories, tell stories, and — in a befitting celebration of John — enjoy ice cream sundaes with all the fixings.

John joined the Dominican community in 1984 as the vice president of Student Life and Dean of Students. Following a short stint working in banking and finance, he returned to his passion for working in higher education and serving students. During his job interview, then-President Barbara Bundy asked how long he would stay at Dominican if offered the position. “About three years,” John answered.

29 years later, he retired after forever changing Dominican for the better.

“John lived his work,” said Paul Raccanello ’96, vice president for Student Affairs and Dean of Students. “His warm and

welcoming demeanor, coupled with his attention and presence, made everyone he engaged with feel as if they were the only thing that mattered in that moment. John helped students to see their own self-worth and potential. He would challenge students to be and do better, while also ensuring they had the support needed to do so. Through his daily actions and interactions, John showed the campus community that the well-being of our students was paramount to all else. This Dominican community that he established and fostered, as well as the students he so ably served are, perhaps, his greatest legacy.”

He was a mentor to thousands of students and a generous colleague and friend. John combined a clear, strong sense of purpose with a gentle approach and a delightful sense of humor. He was among the first to welcome families to Dominican on move-in day and one of the last to bid farewell to graduates — usually with a big hug — at commencement.

Famous for singing “I Will Survive” at every holiday party (and memorably, together with the entire tent at his final commencement), for his love of sweets and commitment to Ice Cream Fridays, and for his deep compassion, John leaves a lasting legacy at Dominican through the lives that he touched and the community he nourished.

Here are stories of the quintessential John Kennedy:

After a discussion one day with John about not having a clue what career path I would take after graduating — one I’m sure he had with other students countless times — on his own initiative, he offered to conduct a one-on-one independent study course with me that would help identify potential career paths and interviewing strategies. He had me research different careers, and then we would meet to discuss them. This helped tremendously with identifying what life after Dominican and subsequent transition into the real world would look like. That’s just the kind of person John was.

As an Art Major at DU I had the opportunity to fundraise by selling pottery to faculty and staff. John enjoyed supporting the Holiday art sales but just missed getting |to a bowl I had made. I offered to make him another bowl and he asked if I could make him wine goblets instead. Years later, my wife and I had dinner at John’s home. He presented the goblets, poured wine I had made into them and we toasted to our enduring friendship.

— Scott Lindstrom-Dake ’96

There was a student many years ago who was having some challenges his first year on campus. John took this student under his wing because he believed they could be better. The two of them met regularly and always checked in with one another. Because of John, that student found success at Dominican and started to thrive. The student was a very talented art major and created an incredible mixed media display based on the movement of water for their senior project. There were something like 15 panels that comprised this massive display. Separately, each panel was a nice piece of art, but collectively it was stunning. When the student graduated, he took the center panel — the most beautiful piece of the display — and gave it to John as a thank-you for all of his support and guidance. The piece would forever be incomplete, but the student felt it was important that John have it. Maybe because without John, he would not have made it. John treasured that piece of art.

— Paul Raccanello ’96, MA ’01

Irememberbeing with John, walking down a path, and when a new face on campus would approach, he would stop, hold out his hand and say, “Hello, welcome to campus. I am John Kennedy.” He would inquire of the student’s name, hometown and favorite class. I observed time and time again that another young adult had an experience of being seen just for who they were in that moment. He did this hundreds of times each year with thousands of students over the years. John was open and curious about each one of us. The transparency he possessed allowed us to see him. Friendship with John was mutual.

— Sr. Carla Kovack ’69

John’s legacy of kindness lives on in all who crossed paths with him. He planted the seeds of kindness and gratitude in all of us.

— Mel Atkins ’06

— Ben Stricker ’95

Get to Know Nicola Pitchford PhD, Dominican’s 10th President

On July 1, 2021, Nicola Pitchford, PhD, took office as Dominican University of California’s 10th president, following the decade-long tenure of President Emerita Mary B. Marcy. Pitchford first joined Dominican in 2011, serving as dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (now the School of Liberal Arts and Education). From 2014-2021, she served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. She was one of the original architects of the Dominican Experience, the University’s signature, equity-based educational model for student success.

Pitchford graduated cum laude from Pomona College with a BA in English and creative writing. She then earned both an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin in English, with an emphasis on modern and contemporary U.S. and British literature.

Before joining Dominican, Pitchford served as associate vice president for academic affairs and associate chief academic officer at Fordham University, from 2009-2011. She joined the faculty at Fordham in 1995 as an assistant professor of English and received tenure in 2001. At Fordham, she also served as director of graduate studies in the department of English, co-director of the Literary Studies Program, and chair of the department of English, where she oversaw 59 full-time faculty on two campuses.

As a leader, President Pitchford is forthright, transparent and compassionate. She is committed to social justice and equity. She’s a champion of the liberal arts and a fierce advocate for students. President Pitchford is widely published on such topics as the British novel, Black British writing, nature writing, the liberal arts, and the global engagement of faculty, and she is author of the book “Tactical Readings: Feminist Postmodernism in the Novels of Kathy Acker and Angela Carter” (Bucknell UP, 2002).

Pitchford has appeared on C-SPAN, Lifetime, and National Public Radio. She was part of the Claremont, Calif., music scene of the 1980s, playing bass and flute in an experimental rock band and DJing for college radio station KSPC. She loves dogs. She has a fondness for Doc Martens and floral suits. And, she’s one of the friendliest, wittiest people you’ll ever meet.

On a Thursday morning in early September, Jaime Libby ’11 MA ’16 and Jessica Jordan sat down to ask Dominican’s new president the questions on the minds of readers of The Torch. Jaime worked with Pitchford in Academic Affairs from 20142021 and currently serves as special assistant to the president. Jessica is the assistant vice president in Advancement and Alumni Engagement and lead editor of The Torch.

Pitchford’s second-floor Guzman office is a vibrant reflection of her interests and personality. A pair of two foot-high beanbag penguins wearing winter scarves act as office doorstops. Framed posters cover every wall — diverse portraits with text overlaid. We the future will not be banned. We the future are writers of our own liberation. We the future keep our families together. We the future build communities. We the future are unapologetically queer. We the future are building disability justice.

From Pitchford’s windows, Anne Hathaway Lawn can be seen stretching to the north, and the roof of Meadowlands Hall is just visible through the trees, to the east. Deer, squirrels, and the occasional jackrabbit are easy to spot on clear mornings. Pitchford agrees it’s a terrific view, one that inspires meditating on all that is beautiful about Dominican.

The office’s built-in bookcases are half-full of family photos and texts on higher education and social justice, British fiction, women’s literature, poetry, and landscape writing. Before the interview begins, Pitchford tells Jaime and Jessica that she and her spouse are engaged in an ongoing deliberation about which of their beloved books belong at the president’s residence and which can be allowed to relocate to the office. This is precious cargo.

Pitchford invites Jaime and Jessica to join her at a round conference table in the center of the room, and Jessica presses play on her dictaphone. In her own words, here is President Pitchford’s story and her vision for Dominican.

Paint a picture for us of your childhood. How were your values and your sense of purpose nurtured?

I was born in the United Kingdom, and for the first half of my childhood I lived in, around, and between England and Scotland due to my father’s work. This was always in rural areas, so I was a true child of the countryside. Both my parents were scientists, engineers who met working on the Concorde supersonic aircraft.

My father was of the first generation in his family to go to college, but both he and my mother earned graduate degrees. Our house was always full of books and music. My parents nurtured in my older brother and me a love of landscape and open country. We grew up valuing the arts — my mother was a gifted pianist —as well as the sciences, and all this has stayed with me.

In my teens, we followed my father’s work and emigrated, moving to Southern California. Initially, upon moving to the States, I didn’t identify as an immigrant. My first impulse was to assimilate as quickly as possible, which was made relatively easy by my race, language, and family’s financial privilege. When the national conversation about immigrants became less positive in the 1980s and 90s, I began to feel that being an immigrant was actually a key part of my identity.

My father had by this time gone from commercial engineering into nonprofit, nongovernmental development work in SubSaharan Africa, particularly on clean water projects. I wish

President Pitchford greets students during Fall 2021 Orientation.

I could have gone with him, especially to Kenya. He was a devout Christian, and those values were hugely influential to me. He had the experience of working in environments of extreme poverty for months at a time and then coming home to our very comfortable lives. Hearing him reflect on that experience helped me develop an awareness of my own privilege and the responsibilities that come with that privilege.

After college, I thought I might want to do social work, and my first job was for a community-organizing anti-nuclear organization. We engaged in election organizing, getting the vote out, things of that sort. I was spectacularly bad at it. I took it very personally that people weren’t interested in the cause. I started to think that I wanted to help people imagine differently. And that aligned so nicely with my desire to write and my love of books, which had helped me imagine different worlds and empathize with people who are not like myself. I thought maybe I could go to grad school and teach literature. Fortunately, I received a scholarship to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Wisconsin.

What drew you to Dominican and what keeps you here?

Nicola

What was your time like as a student at Pomona College? How did you come to study literature and develop a passion for social justice and equity?

I had a fabulous undergraduate experience at Pomona. Small classes, dedicated faculty, peers who had an appetite for learning. It was, however, the mid-1980s. Money was everything in mainstream U.S. culture. Wars in Central America were a source of widespread protest, in which I participated. I didn’t feel entirely at home in the privilege at Pomona. I made lifelong friends, for sure; on the other hand, the student body was not diverse at that time. Since then, I know Pomona has made an effort to be more diverse and inclusive. That said, I really benefited from the amazing model of liberal arts education.

I love math and started thinking I would be a math major, but I didn’t connect with any mentors at the time who could help me see how math could change the world, nor did I see many women in math. Meanwhile, I had fabulous mentors in my English classes, and I loved reading and writing. And I could clearly see how words could change the world.

As an undergraduate, I took a life-changing class on the history of nonviolent direct action. We read Tolstoy, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Barbara Deming. At the same time, I was looking for a bit of a spiritual home. My father’s evangelical Christianity was not for me, but I began exploring Quakerism. I went to Quaker meetings and eventually became a Quaker. Through that community, I got involved in anti-nuclear activism, peace activism and general feminist organizing like Take Back the Night.

I studied abroad for a semester at Warwick University — it was, in part, a chance to spend some time with my mother, who was then living back in England. Warwick had a reputation for being an activist campus. It was 1984, a time of serious upheaval in the UK (with the miners’ strike) and a lot of protest.

The things that drew me to Dominican are, after 10 years, still the things that keep me here because they have proven themselves to be so deeply, clearly true. When I interviewed for the role of dean back in 2011, I was really taken with the idea that the kind of liberal arts education — the highly personal, high-touch experience — that I had been privileged to enjoy was being delivered to a student body that is far more inclusive, and truly as diverse as California. I also felt in my first visits to campus — and the feeling has never waned — that the faculty and staff were so devoted to the institution, and particularly to the students.

I was also captivated to discover that Dominican’s 800-yearold commitments to study, reflection, community and service have a striking alignment with the latest higher education research about how we must support underrepresented students — and really, all students. We have a chance here to make some bold progress that is both genuine to the institution’s values and heritage and also rises to meet the opportunities of a new, diverse college-bound generation. I can’t think of anything more exciting than that.

Finally, I am just totally drawn in by the physical beauty of this place. The campus, the hills, the wildland around Marin. I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with this landscape. After 10 years here, I have the kind of passion and affection for this place that I once thought I could only have for my native landscape. What’s so special about Marin, and what’s probably more similar to England than the rest of the U.S., is that there’s so much public access in this region. Marin has an admirable foresight and commitment to maintaining and caring for its open space.

What are your goals for yourself and for the university over the next few years? How do your goals build on those 800-year-old Dominican commitments?

The values of study, reflection, community and service still run deeply in the veins of the institution. You can see that clearly in the Dominican Experience, which expands on those ideals to blend the most impactful teaching and learning practices with comprehensive, responsive student services.

My goals for myself as president and for the university are grounded in the Dominican values and our mission, and they follow the work we have undertaken in designing and implementing the Dominican Experience. So, over the next few years I’d like to focus as much as possible on three interconnected

We have a chance here to make some bold progress that is both genuine to the institution’s values and heritage and also rises to meet the opportunities of a new, diverse college-bound generation. I can’t think of anything more exciting than that.

—

Pitchford

areas. The first is teaching for ethical action; that is, preparing students and our campus community to respond to the climate and natural resource crises, racial inequity, and economic disparity.

Also, I am committed to cultivating an open, joyful work culture that sees Dominican faculty and staff working collaboratively and creatively, uninhibited and enfranchised by reduced bureaucracy, and finding true fulfillment and community in their work.

Finally, and of course this is also a parallel effort, achieving longterm financial health. This means eliminating the institution’s structural operating deficits and investing wisely in compensation, among other priorities. The objective is to position Dominican for many more decades of thriving.

You have an enormous responsibility as a university president. How do you relax and maintain a healthy work/life balance?

Luckily, most of the time I have not only the Marin landscape but also a healthy, strong body, so hiking and running are crucial to my sense of happiness and mental health. I also tend to be an early riser, and I try to make time for reading first thing in the day, as well as getting outdoors. And my husband and I are both fans of cycling — for me, more watching than doing. I’m also fortunate to be digitally really close to family and dearest friends, who keep me grounded and feeling grateful always.

What’s your favorite spot on campus?

That garden behind Bertrand is pretty lovely. But I actually like sitting in the St. Francis garden at the corner of Olive and Palm. It’s very peaceful, and a nice spot to watch good dogs walking by.

What’s your favorite spot in Marin?

Loma Alta Preserve, between White Hill in Fairfax and Lucas Valley. I believe it’s one of the highest points in the county. It is wide open. You can see the city from the top, and yet I have hiked for hours on those trails and not run into a single person, so it’s an amazing best of both worlds.

What is your favorite film?

“A Canterbury Tale.” It’s a black-and-white film from the 1940s. Basically, it’s World War II propaganda, an independent British film about three contemporary pilgrims who during wartime rediscover rural Britain. It’s a deeply weird film, and there’s a vein of misogyny, but the one woman of the three central characters is really strong.

Favorite novel?

Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children.” It’s rich and wild and funny and magical and every bit an immigrant’s novel.

Favorite food?

Coffee. Chocolate. Cheese.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I hope my leadership style is collaborative and encouraging. For that to function, you have to listen, keep your ethics at the center. The most important thing is doing good for others, making space for those who have not been heard and who have not even been at the table. All of us are smarter than any of us.

But truly, alumni are our throughline; each of them is the living embodiment of how a Dominican education can support people in thriving, in enjoying happy, meaningful lives. We look to them for wisdom and insight, for accountability, for holding the precious story of this institution.

— Nicola Pitchford

What role do alumni play in the life of the university and how can we learn from them? How can alumni meaningfully support Dominican?

We have an exceptional record of welcoming students with very limited financial resources and seeing them achieve post-graduation real financial security and even prosperity. Certainly alumni can and do give back financially, helping current students and their families pay for college, through annual giving to the Close the Gap Scholarship, the Angel Fund, and the Dominican Fund.

But truly, alumni are our throughline; each of them is the living embodiment of how a Dominican education can support people in thriving, in enjoying happy, meaningful lives. We look to them for wisdom and insight, for accountability, for holding the precious story of this institution.

We all walk together, as a community, into Dominican’s next decade, and the next and the next.

Nicola Pitchford in Conversation with Sr. Marion Irvine

Until recently, I knew Sister Marion Irvine ’53, MS ’71 primarily by the reputation she has earned over a truly remarkable lifetime of accomplishments spanning more than 70 years as a Dominican sister. She was a record-setting runner (in 1984, at 54 years old, Sr. Marion became the then-oldest person to participate in the U.S. Olympic Trials in track and field), a teacher, activist and leader. I had long hoped to know her better, so when this issue of The Torch provided me an occasion to sit down and speak with her, I grabbed it.

I knew that Sr. Marion and I shared a few passions: I too have taken part in a number of protests for social justice, including at the same Nevada nuclear weapons test site where she was once arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience; and like Sr. Marion, I also discovered in my late 40s the intense joy of long-distance running (if we stretch “likeness” to its breaking point, to accommodate both her Olympic qualifying trials and my slow-but-obstinate persistence on the trails of Marin).

The first time I approached Sr. Marion about chatting for The Torch, I had just mailed a birthday gift to my mother that included a certificate for a tree planted in my mother’s honor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (UK). And there was Sr. Marion on her morning walk around campus, wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the logo of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It was meant to be.

We began by talking about our shared love of the hills of northern England, with Sr. Marion sharing one particularly amusing anecdote.

MI: To go from those little hamlets — to run from one to the other to the other — they’re all so dear and sweet. But I did make one error. I went to church for mass (not Catholic but Episcopal, Church of England) wearing shorts. I was in running gear; I never thought anything about it. I shocked the community!

NP: Going back to when you were an undergraduate at Dominican, do you have particularly treasured memories?

MI: I went to Dominican as a sister. I entered [the order] when I was 17, right out of high school. They wanted me to teach down at Saint Raphael's without a day of college. Fifty third-graders! So [by the time I went to Dominican,] I was behind my class. They would have gone to college in ’47.

At the time, we sisters went to school in a major they needed teachers in. It had nothing to do with your talent or what you would want to do. So I think I started in math.

NP: So did I!

MI: But I was soon in biology. Sister Anita and all the oldtimers just switched your program. We had nothing to say about it. I would have gone to graduate school in biology here, but there was only a biochemistry major at the time. So I switched to English. And then education. I taught in high school everything except foreign language and history.

Anyway, it was a very engaging experience. In biology, you have lab partners, and we socialized together, although that was forbidden. You went to school, and you came home, and you did your studies, and you did your housework. But because I had a lab partner, we had a lot of fun together. I enjoyed Dominican. I loved it.

NP: Did you always feel called to enter the order?

MI: Yes. My mother was a very devout Catholic; my dad had no religion whatsoever. Options in my day were pretty limited [for girls]; you could be a nurse, a teacher, a secretary, or a housewife. That was pretty much it. I started being a teacher when I was a very little kid; I set up a little classroom on our stoop, and taught the kids on our block mental math and religion [laughs]. You remember Necco Wafers? Those were Holy Communion.

By the time I was a junior in high school, I looked at those sisters, and they were good people. They were generous and loving. They seemed to have no worries whatsoever; they seemed happy. They loved kids. I liked them. I thought, I could be part of that family. And I knew I could be a good teacher. So I taught for a long time, 50 years.

NP: I’ve read a couple of interviews where you told the story of how you came to start running in your 40s, at 48. What was it about running that you found pleasurable?

MI: You must know about the first run. I went over to the old gym, and found a pair of men’s shorts in the lost-and-found, and I had a pair of red tennis shoes. I went down Grand Avenue one mile, so I was going to run there and back, two miles. I came home and in the shower — I can remember this so distinctly— I said to myself, “I bet I could do better tomorrow.” I got the bug. I don’t know how else to say it.

And then the competitive side started. And I started to realize I was gifted. People said that if I had started running in my 20s, I would have made the Olympic team, but I don’t know if that’s true. I’ve been very happy in religious life. And to find this other life was exciting as well.

NP: I know you didn’t formally take over the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael social justice leadership role until you were nearly retired in 1999, but had you been interested in social justice for a long time?

MI: I belonged to a little group of sisters — maybe we called ourselves Justice Sisters — but the only reason I joined was that they were all my friends. I was more interested in all of them than I was in whatever the justice issue was. But I guess that got into my blood in some way.

My great claim to fame is not that I went to the Olympic trials but that I’ve been arrested about 16 times. And I’ve kept all my arrest sheets on a bulletin board! I was arrested in Nevada only once, but I’ve been arrested at Livermore over and over and over, protesting for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

NP: I am committed to making sure Dominican is positioning itself to respond to the Earth crisis, the urgency of racial justice in this country, and the urgency of the growing gap between rich and poor. Are there things you would like to see the University doing?

MI: All three of those just grab me. Those are the issues of our time. We have the resources to do every one of those, but we do not have the political will. And it’s in your students and our graduates and our young people.

NP: I am so happy to be working with the next generation. So many of them seem to feel no compunction about agitating for change, and I’m delighted to be in a position to help strengthen their abilities to do that. Many of our students have to be most concerned about getting a good job when they graduate — but that doesn’t exclude their commitment to making the world better.

MI: One thing I’m very impressed with at the University is the diversity. And, walking around the campus [Sr. Marion covers 4 miles every day, with her walking frame], I greet students, and without exception, they greet me, they make room for my machine, and I’m very impressed with their friendliness. Of course, I’m in with the athletes; I already know all the members of the soccer team.

Dear Fellow Alumni,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this special issue of The Torch as we introduce and celebrate Nicola Pitchford PhD, the 10th president of Dominican University of California.

We are so fortunate to have someone with deep knowledge of and love for Dominican in this role. President Pitchford has been part of the DU family since 2011, first serving as dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (now the School of Liberal Arts and Education) and then as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

As President Pitchford says in her message to Torch readers, her leadership of Dominican will be guided by the Dominican mission and our values of study, reflection, community and service. As alumni, we know firsthand the difference a Dominican education, rooted in our founding ideals, makes in a person’s life. I am confident she will guide our alma mater to even greater heights in the next decade (and beyond!).

It may feel cliché at this point, but I want to reiterate that this has been an unprecedented 18 months. And yet, our community continued to stay connected and engaged with Dominican and each other. My sincerest thanks goes out to all of you for stepping up and seizing this opportunity to put yourself out there in new ways. We’ve learned a lot over this time, and I know we will carry these lessons forward to strengthen our alumni community in the years to come.

It is truly a privilege to serve as your Alumni Association president.

Sincerely

Cady Marsh ’07, MBA ’09

2021-2022 Alumni Board of Directors

Sr. Patricia Dougherty O.P., ’67

Sr. Maureen McInerney O.P. ’68

Stewart McRae ’77

Jennifer Morrissey-Dallasta ’88

Jennifer Kelly ’98

Christian Lorentz ’02, MBA ’12

Natisa Dill ’02

Danny Ballesteros ’03

Anne Torok ’04

Brian Moore (President-Elect) ’05

Claudia Fromm, MS ’05

Gigi Gillard ’06, MBA ’07

Felicia Bell ’06

Sherri Bridgeforth ’06

Cady Marsh (President) ’07, MBA ’09

Lorel Geidt (Secretary) ’10, MS ’14

Chris O’Mara ’10, MS ’18

Matt Gaulding, MBA ’12

Cynthia Roldan-Frias, MBA ’14

Kim Harris ’15, MS ’16

Salvador Chavez ’16, MSOT ’17

Alexis Rauschkolb ’18

Robert Daley ’18, MS ’19

Alumni Authors

Dominican University of California counts many alumni authors among its ranks. They come from a wide variety of degree programs and walks of life. They write everything from historical fiction and fantasy to poetry and romance novels. But one thing they have in common is a rich college experience that planted the seeds to develop their ideas, skills and unique voices.

Tom Pareto, Rebecca Jones and Peter Adler attended Dominican in the late 1970s and remained connected after college — both in real life and on social media. As he was browsing Facebook, Tom noticed a post from Rebecca announcing that she was publishing a book of poetry. He scrolled further and saw a post from Peter, who had just released his latest book. Tom had recently published his first book as well.

“This piqued my curiosity,” Tom said. “I started looking for a common denominator, and I remembered we were all lucky enough to attend Dominican in the 1970s. We had been inspired to reach beyond our comfort zones and were given the support to do some amazing things for a group of young adults. After Dominican, we all went out into the world with the knowledge and confidence to be active members of society. After all, you can’t build anything without a solid foundation.”

offered Rebecca her first professional gig with her choir in the city. “She had a quiet power,” said Rebecca. “I have such gratitude for what she offered me.”

Soon after, Rebecca was cast in the Music Department’s production of Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land,” which provided the opera experience she built upon throughout her career. Rebecca was then given the opportunity to audition for the Nuremberg Conservatory Opera Company in 1975, in what was at that time West Germany.

My life became exciting and enriched. I was attending classes on a beautiful campus, surrounded by intelligent and creative people.

— Rebecca Olivia Jones ’77

Rebecca Olivia Jones ’77

In 1973, Rebecca had just returned to San Rafael after working in Hollywood. Inspired by her mentor, Gwen Curatilo, who taught singing in Dominican’s Music Department, Rebecca enrolled and took courses in Music Theory, Opera Workshop, Piano, and German 1. She studied vocal performance and developed a professional trio, Musica Frivola, with violinist Mark Jordan ’75 and pianist Patrick Loomis ’75.

“My life became exciting and enriched,” Rebecca recalled. “I was attending classes on a beautiful campus, surrounded by intelligent and creative people.”

One of those people was Winifred Baker, noted Marin conductor and founder of the Winifred Baker Chorale at Dominican. Baker

“Using my one year of elementary German and the training in opera and applied voice — and let’s face it, a lot of chutzpah — I took off for Europe,” Rebecca said. “I became enmeshed in the high culture of language and opera with singers of many nationalities and performed in the beautiful Baroque- style Fürth Opera House.”

Rebecca returned to Dominican in 1977 to complete her degree. After graduation, she went on to have a successful career as a singer, entertainer and teacher. She currently owns and directs the Rebecca Jones School of Vocal Arts in San Rafael. Rebecca also recently published “Beachsight,” which is part memoir, part photo album, and all poetry. The work illuminates the life of a woman full of love, longing, missteps, success, advocacy, seeking, singing, humor and family.

A Marin native, Peter came to Dominican in 1974 as a transfer student from College of Marin. Before college, he had formed several jazz and rock bands with his brother. They jammed with notable musicians, including Bert Truax, who played trumpet for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, as well as Chris Braun and Carol Tomlinson. By the time he got to Dominican, his dream was to be a concert pianist.

“From the first moment I walked onto campus, Dominican enchanted me,” Peter said. “Sitting as it does at the knees of the wooded San Rafael hills, Dominican’s majestic trees, spreading lawns, and ivy-draped halls brimming with history cast their spell. This was a place to explore, to discover, to expand.”

that later sprouted into his career as a psychologist. The concepts and ideas taught in an Eastern religion and philosophy course never left him and eventually found their way into his second novel, “The Stream.”

After Dominican, Peter went to graduate school. He has been a practicing clinical psychologist for 30 years. Under the pseudonym of A. R. Silverberry, he writes science fiction and fantasy for children, teens and adults. His novel, “Wyndano’s Cloak,” won multiple awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Award’s gold medal for juvenile/young adult fiction. He is a triple Royal Palm Literary Award winner, taking gold in two categories and first runner up for unpublished book of the year. He also published the short story collection “Cerberus, Tales of Magic and Malice,” as well as “The Fellowship of the Flame” and “The Tear of Tybaleth,” the first books of a new fantasy series.

And explore he did. Peter majored in music, first in piano, then switching to composition in his senior year. For some of the Dominican sisters, he was asked to perform a setting he composed of a poem by writer, artist and labor activist Ralph Chaplin. During his senior year, Peter played the piano for the drama department’s production of “In Circles,” a musical based on the writing of Gertrude Stein, and he taught the actors the songs. He took a psychology course that proved to be the seed

Tom Pareto

Tom was discharged from the Navy in May 1976, and by June, he was working with Mark Jordan ’75 to put together the Forest Meadows Music Festival. A scholarship offer from Dominican soon followed. Tom found himself one of the few students living in Angelico Hall and doing technical theater work for the music and drama departments.

“Living in Angelico was a lot of fun,” Tom said. “It was a little artsy community. I was told not to speak to the other student (Paul Smith, MA ‘77) who lived in the building, since he was a genius and I would disturb him. I snuck by his room one night so as to not disturb him. He offered me a beer, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

Peter Adler ’76

’01

From the first moment I walked onto campus, Dominican enchanted me... This was a place to explore, to discover, to expand.

— Peter Adler ’76

In his first year at Dominican, Tom worked on 24 music recitals, three dance shows, a Shakespearean play, an opera, a musical, several band concerts, two magic shows, a kids’ pageant, and a show with a touring French theater company.

worked as an accountant and then in real estate, at the peak of the market in the mid-2000s. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Tom said. “What people were doing. It was just horrible, so I wrote a book about it.”

“Trumped: The Art of the Con” is a political satire about selfimportant blowhard Donald Rump and his wife Lada, who had spent years blathering about how extraordinary they were, and the trouble that began when people started to believe them.

Living in Angelico was a lot of fun. It was a little artsy community.

— Tom Pareto ’01

Eventually, the demands of technical theater work and fulltime classes made it difficult for Tom to remain at Dominican. He left in 1978, but returned 22 years later to complete his degree in 2000 — this time in business administration. Tom

Tom credits those early days in Angelico with inspiring his dream to become a writer. “I remember reading the entire Hemingway canon and drinking red wine,” he said. That’s when I got inspired to write. In writing ‘Trumped,’ I was able to mix the artistic expression I learned from my first experience at Dominican with the financial knowledge I learned the second time around.”

Glimpses of life at Dominican in

the late 1970s:

Rebecca: The walls in Angelico were lined with radiators, and they would come on and start clanging in the middle of our concerts.

In the summer of 1977, I participated in a program with guest composer Ned Rorem. I sang his energetic “Pippa’s Song” in a workshop and asked the composer where he would like the singer to breathe. He replied, “Don’t.” Later in the day, Mr. Rorem and the attendees were lounging by the old pool behind the former Dominican sisters’ manse while he regaled us with his stories of working with singers in New York.

Peter: Before graduating from the Music Department, we were given a final oral exam, ranging from identifying arcane composers from the Middle Ages to transcribing music by ear. I was terrified of the ear-training test, but it never happened. When I arrived, Dr. Blair immediately asked me why my composition for my senior project had so many two-line textures. I said, “If it’s good enough for Bach, it’s good enough for me.” We spent so much time talking about it that I never got the test.

Tom: One of my jobs was to shut off the boilers for Thursday night recitals so they wouldn’t rattle and knock the phone from the phone booth off the hook so it wouldn’t ring. If I didn’t do that, I would be in trouble. We also had a running joke: There were always at least five nuns and a dog at every recital since Sister JoAnn and her dog Chulo were always in attendance. Chulo was a perfect gentleman.

Another time, one of my fellow students practiced the organ late at night, and the music crept through the wall, and the floors creaked. It was like living in a Lon Chaney movie.

I also recall being the host and server of the cheapest champagne ever made (think sweet fingernail polish remover) at the post-event receptions. As the party was drawing to a close, I would pop the corks on a few extra bottles for the after-party, and that was when the fun began. We would play “name that tune” as Paul Smith played music from TV shows of our youth on the piano or the “Star Trek” theme song on the pipe organ. There was always lots of laughter. The after-parties were the best.

As a department analyst for the County of Sonoma, Alister Greenfield’s global public health degree from the School of Health and Natural Sciences at Dominican University has been invaluable.

“I fell in love with global public health the minute I laid eyes on it,” said Alister, who graduated from Dominican in 2017. “ I was shadowing a fellow student who was super passionate about GPH, and I instantly connected with the professors and was enthralled by the coursework and involvement that the major has with the greater community.”

Alister, who grew up in Sebastopol, attended Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa. His high school experience taught him to be versatile and flexible.

“I was so lucky to attend a school that didn’t focus predominantly on scholastic excellence, but showed us life skills,” he noted. “I learned how to paint, to cook, to farm and garden, to dance. I made pots and bowls out of clay. I learned how to blacksmith and play instruments. I learned so many amazing things. I feel as if it allowed me to think creatively and to problem-solve using unconventional approaches.”

Alister was drawn to the focus on creative problem-solving in Dominican’s global public health program. The faculty nurtured his interest in the subject and pushed him as both an individual and a student.

“The professors saw my potential and conditioned me to think and perform analytically and precisely throughout my studies,” Alister said. “I owe them a lot of gratitude.”

The professors are proud of Alister’s achievements.

“Government jobs pay well and come with good benefits,” said Patti Culross, assistant professor and director of the GPH program. “More students should consider working for governments.”

Global Public Health Degree Leads to County Government Job

Alister’s Dominican experience featured an internship as an epidemiology data analyst with the County of Marin’s Health and Human Resources Department. He started working for the County of Sonoma as an account clerk shortly after graduating from Dominican. With hard work and dedication, he learned the mechanics of local government and was rewarded with a promotion to department analyst in the ACTTC (Auditor-Controller Treasurer-Tax Collector) Department.

The professors saw my potential and conditioned me to think and perform analytically and precisely throughout my studies. I owe them a lot of gratitude.

— Alister Greenfield ’17

“My position as a department analyst opens up a lot of doors and allows me to network with multiple departments and department heads,” Alister said.

That flexibility includes opportunities to involve himself in community health and prevention resources. He is engaged in a government job that pays well, has good benefits, and offers him a chance to utilize what he learned at Dominican.

“The biggest thing that I have taken from my global public health major is the policy aspect. My current position relies heavily on governmental and local policy, ordinances, and law,” Alister said. “My classes at Dominican enlightened me to the infrastructure that makes up county government.”

Passion for Psychology Leads Alumna to New Position

Ashlyn Allan ’21, now the Intensive Outpatient Program coordinator at Bayside Marin Treatment Center, was interested in multiple courses and career paths after transferring to Dominican University of California from Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Novato High School grad initially had a challenging time picking a favorite interest.

“I wanted to do everything,” she says. “I wanted to date different majors before marrying one and making that commitment.”

The Psychology Department quickly won her over, thanks to its supportive faculty and hands-on focus.

“I was immediately engaged with the work and I finally began connecting with people,” she says. “I thought `This is it! This is what people go to school for. To find that passion.’ ”

Recognizing his student’s interest and commitment, Professor Ben Rosenberg invited Ashlyn to be a teacher’s assistant. Professor Ian Madfes served as a mentor while Ashlyn was writing her senior thesis – The Relationship Of Personality Traits and the Continued Use of Childhood Comfort Objects by College Students – which she presented at both the National Conferences for Undergraduate Research and the Western Psychological Association Conference.

Ashlyn also received valuable input on her digital portfolio from both Psychology Department chair LeeAnn Bartolini and Christina Mayes, Digital Portfolio Specialist and Integrative Coach in Dominican’s Student Success Center.

“I found the process of creating my digital portfolio really fun. It was very empowering. It forced me to look at all the things I had accomplished,” Ashlyn says. “It’s kind of like putting a mirror

in front of somebody and saying, `Hey, look. This is who you are and this is what you’ve done. You should feel accomplished.’ ”

That feeling of accomplishment followed Ashlyn to her placement at Bayside Marin, thanks to the encouragement of a Dominican classmate and fellow psychology graduate, Doug Lytz ’21. Ashlyn began as a clinical technician/behavioral health associate and was promoted to her current position within six months. Ashlyn works at Bayside Marin with another Dominican alumna Lorel Grande Geidt, Director of Outpatient Services, who earned her degree in psychology in 2010 and her master’s degree in counseling psychology in 2014.

I was immediately engaged with the work and I finally began connecting with people. I thought `This is it! This is what people go to school for. To find that passion.’

— Ashlyn Allan ’21

Ashlyn is grateful for all her mentors at Bayside, led by Program Director James Winder, who have helped her evolve quickly and efficiently into her new role. The journey from JC to DU to Bayside has been a joy.

“My most incredible privilege has been being able to take my time being a student and explore my every interest,” she says. “My degree isn’t what gives me my worth; it’s the process I went through to earn it.”

Grad Student Has Family Connection to Penguin Athletics

Before the pandemic, Juli was training for a marathon. Her focus changed when she wanted to make a more significant impact on her students in the classroom by enrolling in a masters’ program in early childhood special education.

“I realized after working in the field that as general education teachers, we get a lot of students who have special needs,” Juli said. “I wanted to figure out how to best support the kids who come to me who are in full inclusion and receiving special services.”

Juli decided to text her former cross country coach at Dominican, Teressa DiPerna, to see if she could give Juli a recommendation. DiPerna suggested she return to Dominican and the School of Liberal Arts and Education. “Do you want to run for us?” DiPerna asked.

Juli, who had two semesters of NCAA athletic eligibility remaining, was intrigued by the idea. She did some research and discovered Dominican’s MS in Education program offered what she was seeking – a master’s degree with an emphasis on special education.

The transition was almost seamless, and Juli felt like she was “back home.” She came to Dominican before she was even a teenager to watch her sister and brother play soccer for the Penguins. When it came time for Juli to choose a college, she already understood what Dominican is about.

Seeing that her older siblings Eleanna ’10 and David ’14 were standout student-athletes at Dominican University of California, the fact that Julianna Mendez ‘17, now a graduate student excelling in cross country, followed them to college has become a topic of conversation in the family.

“I think Dominican set all three of us up for success. The programs we studied gave us the skills we’re using now,” Juli said. “All three of our experiences were unique. I think each one of us would say we had the best Dominican experience.”

Juli’s sister, Eleanna, now an RN at Sutter Health in Santa Rosa and an NP at Santa Rosa Junior College, was an All-American NAIA soccer player for the Penguins in 2008. Her brother, David, who recently accepted a job with the executive team at Teach For America based in Washington, D.C., was All-Pacific West Conference in soccer in NCAA Division II in 2011.

Juli works full-time as a kindergarten teacher in Windsor and has done so for almost five years. She is back running cross country at Dominican while taking classes to earn a master’s degree in education, emphasizing special education. Since the start of this season, she has been named PacWest Cross Country Athlete of the Week three times. On October 23, she placed 17th overall in the PacWest Championships in Hawaii.

“Dominican has such an amazing community. You can’t really find that elsewhere,” Juli said. “With Campus Ministry and the whole service aspect, Dominican’s core values aligned with my core values. That’s what ultimately brought me here.”

And brought her back again. Juli is enrolled in two graduate courses as part of the Master of Science in Education program.

“Juli is passionate about working with children and demonstrates a commitment to understanding how best to support young learners,” said Katie Lewis, Director of the Multiple Subject Credential Program in the Department of Education.

“In her assessment course, she works closely with Dr. Zoe Bartholomew to understand how assessment guides a teacher’s instruction. In Research for Social Justice, Juli is studying how policies related to the quality of early childhood education are implemented and funded in California. These courses prepare her to design a thesis project, which serves as the culminating work for the Master of Science in Education program.”

That could happen in 2023. By then, Juli will have concluded her student-athlete experience.

“I love running, and I love to teach,” Juli said. “With my MS in Education, I will have more insight on how to best support my students and continue to enjoy my passion for running.”

Congratulations to the 2021 Alumni Award Recipients

This year, Dominican University of California recognized those who have made an impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked the Dominican community to nominate first responders, educators, healthcare professionals, or anyone else who has risked their personal safety to keep the economy in motion while keeping the rest of us safe. Thank you to all of our alumni who have stepped up in ordinary and extraordinary ways to help Dominican and the broader community during these challenging times.

Sister M. Patricia Lyons Distinguished Alumni Award

Established in 1982 in honor of Sister Patricia Lyons, O.P., who provided 33 years of outstanding service to Dominican as director of alumni relations, this award honors Alumni Association members who have distinguished themselves in the service of the University.

Mary Jane Burke ’74, MS ’76

Burke is a voice for equity and opportunity as the Marin County Superintendent of Schools. When the pandemic first started and schools closed to ensure the safety and well-being of students, staff, and community, she had the foresight to begin to plan the safe re-entry of students back into classrooms. Her drive to have students return in person was palpable. As an educator, she understands that students need to be around peers, off of their devices, and physically in school for their overall benefit. Under Burke’s leadership, Marin County has been the leader in the state when it comes to getting kids back into classrooms safely.

“I was lucky enough as an 18-year-old to get to come to San Rafael and what was then called Dominican College,” she said. “What I found there was a community of people willing to believe in me in ways that I would have never been able to believe in myself. I am so appreciative of that. Thank you, Dominican, for all you’ve done for so many years.”

Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award

Established in 1995, this award recognizes alumni who exemplify the Dominican values of study, community, reflection and service through significant contributions to their professional fields and consistent service to the University.

Kat Skiles ’07

Skiles is helping local, national and global communities truly understand the disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic through developing and filming a documentary series called “American Exceptionalism.” Her practice, Narrative Creative Agency, seeks to win the hearts and minds of voters by capturing the voices of the underserved and underrepresented.

“I’ve always had a passion for storytelling and filmmaking,” Skiles said. “When we’re talking about public policy and how it impacts the lives of others, it is really important to focus on people and what they’re going through. Video is a very compelling way to do that.”

She credits her time at Dominican for helping to find her path. “I couldn’t have asked more from those that guided me as a young person or through my undergraduate experience as a whole,” she added. “I am grateful to know that my alma mater is nurturing the hearts and minds of the change-makers-to-be, to empower the fight for good as though the future depends on it — because it does. Go Penguins!”

What I found there was a community of people willing to believe in me in ways that I would have never been able to believe in myself.

— Mary Jane Burke ’74

I am grateful to know that my alma mater is nurturing the hearts and minds of the change-makers-to-be, to empower the fight for good as though the future depends on it — because it does.

— Kat Skiles ’07

Sister M. Aquinas Nimitz, O.P. Distinguished Service Award

Established in 2006 in recognition of Sister M. Aquinas Nimitz’s 42 years of service to the University, this award honors those who have distinguished themselves through outstanding service, commitment and dedication to all members of the Dominican community.

Marly A. Norris

Norris is Dominican’s vice president for advancement and public affairs, and was appoint ed Campus COVID-19 Response Lead in July 2020. In this role, she oversaw health and safety updates to campus infrastruc ture, designed and rolled out a campus-wide testing program, and worked directly with county public health to plan Dominican’s strategic response to the pan demic. Norris worked tirelessly to realign staff responsibilities to avoid furloughs and layoffs, advocated for student-athletes so that they would be able to have a season, and, most importantly, created a safe, healthy, transparent environment for the Dominican community.

“In my work as COVID-19 lead, I’ve had so much help from so many people — too many to mention here,” she said. “Every single person I asked for help said yes, and I think that speaks to the extraordinary community we have here at Dominican. I thank all of them, and I thank the Alumni Association for this award.”

Outstanding Recent Graduate

This award recognizes Dominican alumni who have graduated within the last 10 years. Honorees exemplify our values of study, community, reflection and service through their work in their communities, professions and other endeavors.

Amiya Powell-Hodge ‘11

Powell-Hodge works as the assistant director of residence life at Loyola Marymount University, empowering her students as they discover their voices and unique talents while also caring deeply about underserved and marginalized communities. Her motivation to support Black Womxn learners and scholars set the stage for The Intention Co., a nonprofit that encourages others to set and achieve their goals. In addition to inspiring, motivating and healing, The Intention Co. provides scholarships to Black Womxn who are motivated to manifest their intentions through encouragement, recognition and financial support.

“It’s such an honor to be recognized by this institution that has given me so much,” Powell-Hodge said. “It’s amazing how much we continue to support each other and lift one another up. We’ve really cultivated a sense of community even outside of our experience at Dominican, and I’m forever grateful for that.”

In my work as COVID-19 lead, I’ve had so much help from so many people — too many to mention here. Every single person I asked for help said yes, and I think that speaks to the extraordinary community we have here at Dominican. I thank all of them, and I thank the Alumni Association for this award.

— Marly A. Norris

It’s amazing how much we continue to support each other and lift one another up. We’ve really cultivated a sense of community even outside of our experience at Dominican, and I’m forever grateful for that.

— Amiya Powell-Hodge

’11

1950s

MaryAnn Rogers-Cassell ’57 looks back over the last 85 years and feels so blessed. She was able to do what she loved most of all: teaching math from 1957 at Manual Arts High in Los Angeles until 1983 at Sierra Community College. She is still living on the property where she was raised (her dad started the 100-acre ranch in 1922). She now has 22-plus acres and four animals that eat apples from her hand, including one cow and three bulls. Her youngest son now lives with her and works for the Salvation Army, and her other son lives in the Ranch House (he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder) and works for California Highway Patrol.

1960s

Phyllis (McMullen) Duris ’60 and her fellow 1960s grad gals have been meeting up for a few days each September for many years — mainly since 2004, and especially over the past decade. (The first planned meetup was canceled due to 9/11 and gatherings were held via Zoom for the last two years due to pandemic restrictions, but a fun-filled friendship continues nevertheless). Participants include Louise Pitta Polsky from Los Angeles, CA; Phyllis McMullen Duris from Portland, OR.; Yvonne Pierre from Marysville, CA.; Betty Jo Charleton Barnes Ravitz from Los Angeles, CA; Judy Bridgewater

Hopcroft from Ithaca, N.Y.; Dee Arnold Sullivan from Cedar Rapids, IA; and Pat Maxwell Malmstrom from San Luis Obispo, CA.

Karlene “Kay” (Lowe) Ryan ’61 has moved to her dream place in Carmel, Calif. She is involved with spiritual direction, creativity, and one-day retreats, and just published a new inspirational book through Halo Publishing: “Thank You, God: Themes of Gratitude.”

Dr. Gloria (Sun) Hom ’62 gets together with her Dominican classmates annually via Zoom, which has been a pleasure amidst all the tragedy and loss. She would like her fellow alumni to stay connected as there is a great deal of sharing to do since graduation. She is excited to report that her grandson is attending Dominican. Gloria just saw him move in a few weeks ago and was able to visit campus. She notes that the new dorm is beautiful, and the campus is as charming as always. He’s a senior this year, and Dominican has been such a treasure for his educational journey.

Helen Purcell ’64 principal of Living Wisdom School (an independent elementary school in Palo Alto), has a deep appreciation for the experience of community, learning, and spirituality she found at Dominican, and she tries to replicate it in her own school. Her appreciation for the friendships and the excitement about learning that she experienced as a student informed

her parenting and teaching, and then filtered through her two daughters and four grandchildren. Whenever she can, she touts the advantages of a liberal arts education to her students and alumni. The education she received at Dominican is one of her great treasures.

1970s

Kristi (Lynn Martin) Denham ’71 retired from ministry after 22 years and relocated to Novato, Calif., in November 2020. She loves being closer to her grandchildren and doing interfaith and justice work that inspires her. Her children are bi-racial, so racial justice is her passion. She would love to reconnect with old friends.

Susan M. (Maraccini) Moran ’71 left her full-time neuropsychological practice in Santa Rosa and her consulting position with Marin Brain Injury Network six years ago to semi-retire in Hermann, Mo. She currently lives on a 51-acre farm where she enjoys hunting and fishing. Susan has a part-time practice in Hermann, providing psychotherapy and neuropsychological/ cognitive testing. In addition, she is an affiliate of the Hermann hospital, serves on the boards of the Crusade Against Cancer and Historic Hermann, Inc., belongs to the Hermann Lions Club, and sings in the church and community choirs. She and her husband Tim are celebrating 46 years of loving marriage.

Dr. Gloria (Sun) Hom ’62

Phyllis (McMullen) Duris, Phyllis McMullen Duris,Yvonne Pierre, Betty Jo Charleton Barnes Ravitz, Judy Bridgewater Hopcroft, Dee Arnold Sullivan, Pat Maxwell Malmstrom (class of ’60)

Kristi (Lynn Martin) Denham ’71 Janice Lococo Holland ‘72

Janice Lococo Holland ‘72 was recently named a Top Travel Specialist for 2021, for Europe/Italy, by Conde’ Nast Traveler Magazine. She is a full-service travel consultant/advisor in affiliation with Travel Adventures Unlimited of Walnut Creek, Calif. Janice was a historical musicology major and Italian language minor while earning her bachelor’s degree at Dominican. She and her husband Michael reside in the Oakland Hills. They have a daughter, a son and two grandchildren. Janice sends her hellos to all her classmates.

Keven Seaver ’72 notes that it’s not often that a class stays as connected as the Class of ’72. With a core group of about 15 (affectionately called DC Dollies), they retreat annually, and again they join with their spouses for their annual Friendfest. Canceling retreats for the pandemic, they started Zooming twice a month to continue their connection. Their Dominican life and memories live on for them as they head into their 50th Reunion in 2022! They are truly blessed.

Mary (Gonyea) Lund ’77 witnessed her oldest daughter Theresa marry the love of her life, Mark Crockett, at a small, intimate family wedding in Tahoe during the pandemic. The photo shows Mary with Lars — her husband of almost 36 years — Theresa, Mark, her second child Kathleen, and Kevin, her youngest. All three children are truly amazing adults who

bring Mary great joy and are successful in their careers.

Rev. Deana Dudley ’79 is the assistant pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, Canada — a vibrant, inclusive, progressive congregation. She is also the judiciary manager for her global denomination. She is married to Janet, and their family includes three cats and a dog.

Dennie Mehocich ’79 is a 35-plus year member of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 6 (San Francisco/Northern California), and will soon be eligible to receive a pension for her years of service. She is a veteran of the Shorenstein-HaysNederlander Best of Broadway series in San Francisco, where she played in the orchestra for five years with Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Phantom of the Opera at the Curran Theater, as well as many other Broadway shows. Dennie was a graduate of the Marin Youth Orchestra, then became a member of Marin Symphony at age 18 under the direction of then-Dominican music faculty member Sandor Salgo. She watched the orchestra grow throughout her undergraduate years, and is currently called upon to serve as assistant principal second violin. She is a veteran teacher and coach of strings programs at local public and private schools, and received her Suzuki violin teacher training in 2014 and 2018.

Dennie passed the California state real estate salesperson license exam, and is a referral agent with the Coldwell Banker, San Rafael brokerage while getting agent training. She is becoming an ESL teacher and is eagerly looking forward to planning for the next stage of life.

1980s

Cammie (Morris) Clowdsley ’80 just retired in June and is on an extended road trip across the United States with her husband, which will last about a year.

Jeanne Remy ’80 attends all of her grandson Benjamin’s soccer games and is his biggest fan. She also delights her grandson Enzo with songs, poems and garden digs.

Mary Muir Atwater ’82 is currently living at a senior retirement home in Durham, N.H.. She will never forget the joy of classes with Sr. Nicholas teachingHomer and other English literature classics. Learning critical thinking at Dominican changed her life.

After graduating from Dominican, David Dale ’82 received his BFA, MFA, and MTh and is projected to receive his MSc in charity management in 2022. He also received a Graduate Diamonds degree from the GIA New York in 2009. David is currently a member of the Institute of

Mary (Gonyea) Lund ’77 Rev. Deana Dudley ’79 Jeanne Remy ’80

Keven Seaver ’72

Legacy Management and works in the world headquarters of Stella Maris (formerly Apostleship of the Sea in London) as an officer in charge of legacies and in memorandum gifts, as well as international development. He is an advocate for education about the signs of human trafficking and slavery around the world.

Natasha (Yim) Carter ’83 is a children’s author. She has published seven picture books, including the Junior Library Guild and Scholastic Book Club selection, “Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas.” Her latest picture book, “Luna’s Yum Yum Dim Sum,” was released by Charlesbridge Publishing in December 2020. She has two upcoming books with Disney/ Pixar, “Like Mother, Like Daughter,” based on Pixar’s movie “Turning Red” (Spring 2022), and a Little Golden Book based on Pixar’s upcoming release “Lightyear” (Summer 2022).

Carolyn (Blubaugh) Hagler ’85 is a professional cellist and educator living in Austin, Texas. Her years at Dominican laid the foundation for her career in music and teaching. She recently launched her website for beginning adult cello students (cellodiscovery.com) and is helping adults fulfill their dreams of becoming musicians later in life. Carolyn lives with her husband of 30-plus years and their dog Annie. She also raised her three wonderful sons in Austin.

Cassandra Ferrannini ’89 was recognized as a Top Lawyer in Employment & Labor Law by Sacramento Magazine. The 38 honorees were nominated and chosen by other licensed lawyers throughout the Sacramento region based on their competency and expertise in one or several areas of more than 50 legal disciplines. Attorneys who received the highest number of votes per discipline received Top Lawyer honors, and were featured in the magazine’s August issue.

1990s

Samantha Downing ’91 released her third novel, “For Your Own Good,” in July. It was an instant USA Today bestseller and has been optioned by Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti as a limited series for HBO Max.

Cynthia (Pace) Dorfmann ’93 earned her MA in television/film production from Emerson College after getting her BA at Dominican. Cindy worked at NBC News before landing in Hollywood. After producing nonfiction television for more than a decade, she moved to Europe and worked as a broadcast journalist in Paris. After returning to the U.S., Cindy and her husband Rob created Strong Island Films, a production company in Los Angeles. In 2021, they directed the award-winning true-crime documentary film “Making an Exoneree.”

After living in four countries and traveling to more than 37 countries, Cindy now lives happily with her husband and her two awesome step-kids in L.A.

Gregg de Haan ’98 went back into the building trades to become a carpenter after graduating from Dominican with a degree in international business. In 2006 he obtained his license as a “B” General Building Contractor. Since that time his business has evolved into an expert witness, waterproofing consulting, and construction defect litigation consulting firm. He just celebrated his eighth year as the founder of de Haan Associates Construction Consulting. He credits Fran Lepage and his entrepreneurship professor in the summer of 1997 for motivating him to start his corporation.

Ricia Maxie ’96 notes that Dominican had the best instructors who encouraged her to continue with a master’s degree at the University of San Francisco. She worked at the City of Santa Rosa as an organization development internal consultant until she took early retirement in 2005 and relocated her family to Georgia. She is continuing her work teaching intuitive and spiritual development, and has contributed chapters to four published books. Life is good and she continues to do her best to help others.

Natasha Yim ’83, MS ’86

Carolyn (Blubaugh) Hagler ’85

Cassandra Ferrannini ’89

Cynthia (Pace) Dorfmann ’93

Samantha Downing ’91

Michael Wornick ’96 lives in Sonoma and Hawaii with his wife Salma. He would like his fellow classmates from the MA Humanities program to please be in touch.

Elizabeth “Ann” (Hill) McFarland ’99 has taught in the Acalanes High School District since she graduated from Dominican 20-plus years ago. After graduation she married Dave McFarland. They started a commercial insurance brokerage and moved from the East Bay, to the Mt. Shasta area, to enjoy outdoor activities such as kayaking, swimming, boating and gardening. Their combined six children have grown up and now have careers and families of their own. Ann is grandmother to seven.

2000s

Juneko Robinson ’01 is an immigration attorney with an MA and PhD in philosophy. She is currently in private practice, focusing on appellate work in asylum. Her book chapter “The Fabric of Life: Technology, Ideology, and the Environmental Impact of Clothing,” appeared in “Environmental Philosophy, Politics, and Policy” (Lexington, 2021). Her article “The 45-rpm Dress Revolution: Competing Temporalities in 1960s Fashion” appeared online on the February 2021 Fashion, Style & Popular Culture Journal’s website. Her review of “International Politics and Film:

Space, Vision, Power” by Sean Carter & Klaus Dodds appeared in the Alphaville Journal of Film and Screen Media. In addition, a review for “Victim’s Stories and the Advancement of Human Rights” by Diana Tietjens Meyers appeared in Philosophy in Review, as well as a review for “The Moral and Political Philosophy of Immigration: Liberty, Security, Equality” by José Jorge Mendoza. In 2020, her artwork won Best in Show at Blue Girl Gallery. Most recently, her art has appeared on the cover of the Marin Poetry Foundation’s 2020 anthology and will again be featured on its 2021 cover. She is also a budding filmmaker, having made her first three film shorts in the last year.

After 16 months of weekly Zoom calls during the pandemic, which created new friendships and reconnected old classmates, this group of Dominican alumni was finally reunited in person at a barbecue near the Dominican campus in August 2021.

Front row: Megan (Caughey) Theriault ’06 , Kevin Ow ’05 , ’18 MBA , Kimberly Corbett ’07, Stacey Helguera ’02 . Back row: Gigi Gillard ’06 , MBA ’07, Rebecca (Merjil) Hyatt ’04 (on FaceTime), Mo De Nieva-Marsh ’07, MBA ’19, Shannon Dustin Bondoc ’02 , Elizabeth (Allison) Thurman ’06 , Christian Lorentz ’02 , MBA ’12 .

Roman Mitchell ’02 graduated from Rutgers University, taught there, and currently teaches at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. He created The Medgar Evers College Jazz Ensemble, which performs in the Tri-City area.

Veronica Palustra ’02 is thankful for how the amazing BSN master’s program prepared her for the education she received. The pearls of wisdom from her professors are great treasures ingrained in her forever. She is an alumna of the University of San Francisco Doctor of Nursing Practice 2016, and a candidate for the Master of Jurisprudence Health Law at Loyola University in Fall 2021.

Robert F. “Bobby” Bradford ’03, MA ’06 is an adjunct professor of English and humanities at Dominican. In the literary magazine The Raven’s Perch, he had a creative nonfiction story published about a band gig at San Quentin.

Heather Steil ’03 joined the U.S. Department of State in 2005 after spotting a poster on campus advertising the Foreign Service exam. She is currently on loan to the Defense Department as a foreign policy advisor to the commander of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. She previously served overseas in Lithuania, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iraq, and Romania, and in Washington, D.C. as a program manager for counterterrorism communications.

Roman Mitchell ’02

Megan (Caughey) Theriault ’06, Kevin Ow ’05, ’18 MBA, Kimberly Corbett ’07, Stacey Helguera ’02, Gigi Gillard ’06, MBA ’07, Rebecca (Merjil) Hyatt ’04, Mo De Nieva-Marsh ’07, MBA ’19, Shannon Dustin Bondoc ’02, Elizabeth (Allison) Thurman ’06, Christian Lorentz ’02, MBA ’12

Juneko Robinson ’01

Veronica Palustra ’02

Robert F. “Bobby” Bradford ’03, MA ’06 Heather Steil ’03

Rebecca (Merjil) Hyatt ’04 received a promotion to the head wedding coordinator position at her church, St. Francis of Assisi in Bakersfield, Calif.

Olga Lucía McKenna Ardila ’04 graduated from the MBA program in global strategic management in 2004 and began working for a financial planner as the office manager/assistant, and as a banker. After her younger daughter was born, she began looking for a job that would have an impact on her community. While working for local government, she decided to learn more about how government and nonprofit organizations work, and enrolled in the government and nonprofit MPA program at Sonoma State University. Later, Olga became interested in meditation, as well as teaching Spanish and English as a second language. She has traveled to the BKWSU/Raj Yoga University in India with her meditation practice, and met other Raj yogis from all continents working on international initiatives and programs promoting peace and human rights. She also traveled with her Dominican friends, including fellow alumni and a former professor/neighbor who have become lifelong friends and family.

Kelly Bonbright ’05 lives in Long Beach, Calif., and works remotely as a script supervisor for Pixar. She’s excited to be temp voice acting for a number of Pixar “scratch” roles. Kelly recently completed the feature film “Luca” and is currently working on an animated short film and streaming series for Disney+.

Cady Marsh ’07 is moving back to the Bay Area. She relocated to Denver a few weeks before the pandemic, and is now heading back to California as her business continues to grow there. She’s looking forward to being closer to many of her college friends and reconnecting with other alumni who are still in the Bay Area.

Cameron Sawyer ’08 passed the NBHWC exam and is now a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. He is also a certified intrinsic coach working with clients to improve their health and wellness.

Lisa Wagenhurst ’09, MA ’17 continued working for Dominican after finishing her Bachelor of Psychology degree in 2009. In 2013 she enrolled in the Master of Humanities program, and she graduated in 2017 with an emphasis in English. In August 2020, Lisa celebrated 20 years of service to Dominican's Nursing Department. She is currently taking an 120-hour online TOEFL certificate course in order to teach English courses online.

2010s

Amanda (Hawkins) Prieto ’10 has started an exciting new position as marketing communications manager for Zonda Home.

It’s been 10 years since Marilyn Hurtado ’11 attended Dominican. In that time, she has married (she will be celebrating her 10th anniversary this

November) and has four wonderful children: Marilyn (8), Mailyn (7), Lazaro (5), and Marlet (2). She is currently working at a continuation high school as a counseling secretary/registrar and thinking deeply about returning to school for her master’s/credential in either teaching or school counseling.

Sydney Lewis ’13 recently accepted a position as director of policy and advocacy at the nonprofit Improve Your Tomorrow. IYT is an Americorps program that works to make sure young men of color attend and graduate colleges and universities.

Lauren (Emenaker) Mendez ’13 married Tony Mendez on August 28, 2021, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Monique Bennett ’17 recently graduated from Southern California College of Optometry with a Doctor of Optometry degree last May. She moved back to the Bay Area to serve her community in Vallejo, Calif.

Madeline Powelson ’17, a former member of the Dominican Women’s Volleyball team, has just completed her Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Madeline attended Midwestern University in Arizona for the last three years and has found a passion for working with patients in orthopedics. Because of Dominican’s strong academic program and supportive athletic staff, she felt prepared for the transition into graduate school.

Kelly Bonbright ’05

Cady Marsh ’07

Lauren (Emenaker) Mendez ’13

Monique Bennett ’17

Dave Seter ’18

Madeline Powelson ’17

Jessica Joyce Villegas ’18 is currently a nurse manager at a skilled nursing facility working with several disciplines (social worker, case management, dietician, and rehab) to ensure quality care.

Dave Seter ’18 has a collection of lyrical poetry called “Don’t Sing to Me of Electric Fences,” which has just been published by Cherry Grove Collections (ISBN 9781625493835). His poems seek to translate Earth’s unconditional lessons and give us the strength to tear down the barriers we have built. He earned his MAH degree at Dominican in 2018.

Lisa Krausz ’18 completed her Master’s of Science in education. This degree was helpful in better understanding the learning needs of not only her kids but of the many kids in her life. She is currently the PTSA president of her daughter’s high school. Her master’s degree serves her well in this position.

Aislinn Evans ’18 moved to New York City to pursue modeling and to perform. She began live-streaming on the app 17 LIVE and became the top streamer in the U.S. region. She was declared “The Face” of the app and sent to Taiwan to represent the entire U.S. side at the livestreaming red carpet and awards show, The Golden Feather Awards. She has since continued to livestream and model, walking in New York Fashion Week and working with many brands and designers. She has begun acting and continues to dance in her free time.

2020s

Olivia (Patania) Hibpshman ’20 joyfully married Amadeus Hibpshman on May 15, 2021, in San Luis Obispo, Calif., after being together for eight years. After a very small wedding, with only 16 people in attendance, Olivia and Amadeus moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Olivia works as a teacher.

Amanda “Mandy” Isaacs ’20 was grateful to get into Cal Poly’s history graduate program after graduating with a BA in history from Dominican. Specifically, she has a focus in archiving. She wishes the best of luck to her fellow history majors.

Therese “Carol” Aiono Tucker ’20 just completed (Summer 2021) the MSBA program, which began in Fall 2020. The program has extended her ability to transform data into useful/actionable information. She is grateful to the Barowsky School of Business for offering this quality program at Dominican. Carol has also transitioned to a new position from Education (as data and reporting manager for accreditation) to Academic Affairs as adjunct faculty and IRB coordinator beginning Fall 2021. She enjoys the transition and can continue to work with data, which she enjoys the most. Carol started a consulting business at the beginning of 2021, providing services to education accreditation in data management. The pandemic year was a year of opportunity for Carol.

Lyvin Reyes ’20 obtained a clinical lab position processing COVID tests at Color Genomics right after graduating from Dominican. Lyvin is now working at another biotech company called Personalis as a clinical lab associate, preparing different tissue types for genomic sequencing in order to detect cancer.

Nora Fey ’21 recently passed her NCLEX exam, became a Registered Nurse, and accepted a labor and delivery nurse position in San Jose.

Ellie Brewer ’21 has passed her National Board for Certification In Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam and is starting her first job as an occupational therapist at a facility called North Park Post Acute.

Since graduation, Katya Palacios ’21 has started her first full-time position as a business immigration analyst (assistant paralegal) with Fragomen in San Francisco.

Sandra Sunio ’21 will be starting her nursing career as a NICU RN at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, which is ranked nationally as a Top 10 Children’s Hospital and Top 3 in Neonatology. She was accepted into the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program Fall 2021 cohort. She is thrilled to have achieved her dream job and is excited to pursue her passion for caring for critically ill newborns and their families

Amanda “Mandy” Isaacs ’20 Nora Fey ’21

Ellie Brewer ’21 Sandra Sunio ’21

Olivia (Patania) Hibpshman ’20

Aislinn Evans ’18

In Sympathy

ALUMNI

Maureen Mantle Kolda ’45

Marie Pritchard Hughes ’51

Betty Patrick Horvath ’52

Janet Walker Nims ’52

Patricia Martinelli ’53

Palmyra Prato McKenna ’54

Diane Jelley Miller ’54

Sister M. Leona Marchand, OP ’55

Linda Antongiovanni McKenna ’59

Katherine Howard Loparco ’62

Katherine Diepenbrock Stillman ’62

Jane Van Lahr Smith ’63

Anabel Hill Barahal ’67

Cathy Iliff Kovarik ’67

Pamela J. Henning ‘68

Josephine Costa Bock ‘69

Dorothy A. Constanti ‘70

Linda Savage Hutchins ’70

Teri Rose Pollard ’70

Joanne Campion Dowd ‘71

Carol Wolf-Setka ‘72 MA ’73

Margaret Herzer-Buckley ‘77

Gwyneth J. Lister ‘81

Delia Brinton ‘94

Christy Orion ‘95

Lynne Doherty ‘96

Mark Persson ‘00

Sean A. Castle ‘05

Mining Vallance ‘07

Vivian Fernandez Roque ’17 MBA ’19

FACULTY AND STAFF

Dr. Luis María Ragasa Calingo

TRUSTEE

John L. Levinsohn

SYMPATHY TO

Virginia Leishman Good ’55 on the death of Robert Good, her husband

Anne Van Lahr Doud ‘60 and Mary Van Lahr Hester ‘62 on the passing of their sister Jane Van Lahr Smith ‘63

Jane Howard Goodfellow ’60 on the passing of her sister Katherine Howard Loparco ‘62.

Mary Bradley Horwitz ’63, Margaret Bradley Davison ’65, and Jane Bradley ’67 on the passing of Merle Horwitz, husband and brother-in-law

Judy Antongiovanni Walsh ’63 and Jane Antongiovanni Uhalt ’66 on the passing of their sister Linda Antongiovanni McKenna ‘59

Adrienne Hoke ‘75 and Marisa Hoke Fazi ‘87 MBA ’91 on the passing of husband and father Axel Hoke

Patricia Lazor ‘81 and Kathleen Lazor Woodcock ‘84 on the passing of husband and son-in-law Keith Woodcock

Mary Grogan ’88 on the passing of her parents Colonel Stanley Grogan, Jr. and Mary S. Grogan

Katherine Crawford ’19 on the passing of her sister Delia Brinton ’94

Your Gift to Dominican Changes Lives

Leydi Lopez Umana ’23 came to the United States from El Salvador when she was 4 years old. She is a third-year student studying global public health. During her time at Dominican, Leydi has been involved with the Service-Learning Department as an Education Dedicated to Justice and Equity Fellow, giving back to the community. After she graduates, she hopes to pursue her master’s degree in health education and continue giving back to her community by educating minorities and the underprivileged.

Susan Johann Gilardi ’68 established the Sandy Peeples Endowed Scholarship in 2007 to honor her dear friend Sandy Peeples, a college and financial aid advisor for Summer Search, who died of cancer in 2012. The scholarship supports female Summer Search graduates from the Bay Area. Recipients demonstrate both an ability to overcome adversity and a desire to use their education to make a positive difference through giving back and helping others. Since its inception, the scholarship has awarded more than $500,000 to 16 students.

“I am so grateful for the generosity of the Sandy Peeples Endowed Scholarship donors, who have contributed to my success in college. As a firstgeneration college student, I am one step closer to my academic and professional goals through your donations and contributions.”

— Leydi Lopez Umana ’23

Global public health major Recipient of the Sandy Peeples Endowed Scholarship

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