Winter 2008-2009

LMS COLLEG E E WINTER 2008-2009

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“So that all may be one.”

A mosaic representing the mission of Elms College, based on the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph

Our Catholic Identity: In this Christmas season of reflection just past, I found myself thinking a great deal about what it means for us to be a Catholic college, what separates Elms College from secular colleges and universities, what constitutes our own Catholic identity, and what it means to educate principled learners. After all, our brand — our promise to our students — is to educate them as reflective, principled, and creative learners.

As we all face the uncertainty of these most difficult economic times, and the circumstances that have placed us here, shouldn’t we all be doing a gut check on what values we believe must be preserved at all costs in our society? And shouldn’t we then be asking ourselves what moral principles we should use to guide us in making these decisions?

Isn’t it our responsibility to challenge our students to address these fundamental questions?

What Does it

Mean?

Pope John Paul II repeatedly stated the goal of Catholic education as one that is value-centered. He said: “The goals of Catholic education go beyond education for production, professional competence, technological and scientific competence: they aim at the ultimate destiny of the human person, at full justice and holiness born of truth.”

He stated that a Catholic education must have three goals: first, it must make a contribution to the Church and to society through the quality of its academic programs, together with a concern to show the full meaning and value of the human person; second, it must educate people to make a synthesis between their faith and their life and culture, to assume tasks in the service of others, and to bear witness to Christ in the world; and lastly, it must set up among its faculty and staff a real community which bears witness to a living and operative Christianity.

Pope Benedict XVI took it a step further in his address on Catholic education on April 17, 2008. He emphasized that an institution’s Catholic identity is “a question of conviction … Are we ready to commit our entire self — intellect and will, mind and heart — to God?” Both John Paul and Benedict present to all of us involved in Catholic education a clear statement of identity, and at the same time a challenge to review our concepts of Catholic education, and put our philosophy and objectives into action in our daily lives.

As a Catholic college community, all of us - faculty, administrators, and staff members - must contribute to an atmosphere that engages students in the great moral issues of our time. In doing so, we will create a value-centered environment that benefits both society and the individual. As Albert Einstein said, “It is essential that the student acquire an understanding and appreciation for values. The individual must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and morally good.”

The Catholic identity of the college has to be a lived one. This is the task of each member of the college community; to live by certain ideals, traditions, and standards.

The American Bishops in a pastoral letter on Catholic higher education called for Catholic campuses to become learning centers of faith, and communities of faith. “No greater ideal can be sought,” they said, “than to build a community which encourages intellectual growth and which calls all to and supports a personal religious commitment.”

John Stuart Mill, a philosopher, economist, civil servant, and influential liberal thinker of the 19th century, captured the importance of the principled learner when he said: “people are people before they are lawyers, physicians, or manufacturers, and if you make them capable and sensible people, they will be capable and sensible lawyers, physicians, and manufacturers.”

This is what we are doing at the College of Our Lady of the Elms. We are working at implementing the vision of the moral universe we have inherited. In this issue you’ll read about students and alumni who are implementing that vision, whose lives have been changed by Catholic education, and who are changing others’ lives thanks in small part to that Catholic education.

John M. Guimond Director of Institutional Marketing

Background image is a detail of the “Departure of the Volunteers,” one of the reliefs on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

CONTENTS ON THE COVER

“So that all may be one.”

More than 1,400 images from the Elms archives have been compiled to create this photo mosaic of the campus showing the statue of Mary in front of Berchmans Hall.

Like the college itself, it is made up of hundreds of diverse elements which, when joined together, are stronger and more beautiful than any one standing alone.

ELMS COLLEGE MAGAZINE

F E AT U R E S

John Guimond Director, Institutional Marketing

2 ...........Service

Annie Emanuelli Writer/Editor Katherine Cardinale, Cardinale Design Creative Director Don Forest, Cardinale Design Art Director Contributing Writers · Alan Gelb · Reed Ide · Robert S. Perkins · Russell S. Powell · Joe Vickless Contributing Photographers · Michael Dialessi · John Guimond · Kyla Korytoski · Russell Powell · Joe Vickless

One of the values that defines Elms College is a commitment to the service of others, a service that seeks just solutions to the many problems of today’s world. Read about a number of our current students and alumni who live this commitment, serving their neighbors in the community and throughout the world.

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28 .........Social Work Social work is the third most popular undergraduate major at Elms College. Read about our unique department and students, their focus on social justice and politics, and how the program reflects the mission of the college.

NEWS 13 • From alumni events to academic offerings.

Magazine Advisory Committee Peggy Clark ‘65 Director, Alumni Relations

PROFILES

Deborah Baker Senior Director, Institutional Advancement

42 • Shirley Kane ’49

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29 • Social work professor Mary Brainerd 44 • Sr. Eleanor Spring ’63

Judy Riordan ‘60 President, Alumni Association Sr. Jane Morrissey ‘62 Karen Gadbois ‘90 Jason Ostrander ‘04

29 42 44 IN EVERY ISSUE

Elms College

26 • Faculty and Staff News

291 Springfield Street

36 • Alumni Association

Chicopee MA 01013

37 • Calendar

The editors invite your comments and questions at 413-265-2366.

38 • Class Notes 46 • In Memoriam

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Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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Service

Their Mission: Service to Others

By Robert Perkins

Katherine “Katie” Clark LaCarrubba ’78 remembers vividly the moment when the true import of service became clear to her. In the early 1990s when she was director of the Passionist Volunteers, she was conducting a one-week program for students from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont. The students were helping to supplement the staff at St. Elizabeth’s House, which serves the homeless in Hartford, Connecticut.

Although she had been working with the Passionist Volunteers periodically since her college days and had been director since 1990, “I still hadn’t totally processed the whole experience,” she says.

One evening during that week she was helping clear tables after a meal when a homeless man, also helping with cleanup, came up to her, took her hand in his, held it to his breast and said, “Thank you for doing this for my people.”

“The charism of the Passionist Fathers speaks of the crucified Christ of today,” she says. “To me, this man personified that. He represented all that the Passionists speak about. I felt as if I had just touched the hand of God.” Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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For another Elms graduate, Sr. Mary Magdalene Ward ’62, service took the form of more than four decades of teaching. “Teaching is never a ‘now’ thing,” she says. “It casts ripples in a pond that will have an impact for generations to come.”

Never did she find that more starkly true than during six years in Africa – three in Kenya helping to start a teacher’s college, and three in Tanzania helping to start a Catholic secondary school for girls.

Sitting in an armchair in her small, comfortable living room in West Springfield, on an overcast day, Sister Mary Magdalene lifts both hands in a movement meant to encompass the room and the house as she sums up what those six years in Africa taught her.

“I learned all of this is unnecessary,” she says, referring to the amenities that most Americans are used to. Running water, indoor plumbing, and electricity, she says, cannot compete with the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that she found in teaching students in Kenya and Tanzania. Their hunger for education is still imprinted on her more than a decade after she left Africa for the last time.

Katie LaCarruba ‘78: Social justice begins at home Katie LaCarrubba’s devotion to social justice began at home. Her father was the type of man who would do anything for anybody – not in an organized way – but simply lending a helping hand. And he never judged the people he helped.

Katie started college at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth as a political science major. However, after a year, she decided she would “rather be involved on the other side.” And so she came to Elms College.

“Elms was an incredible place to spread my wings,” she says.

She first volunteered with the Passionists in 1977 while still at the Elms. That summer she went to Huttonsville, West Virginia, where she dug ditches, chopped wood, put in septic systems, and ran a children’s camp. She admits she had no experience with most of these things, but the work needed to be done.

She returned the following summer, and then in September 1978 she was hired by the Passionists to coordinate the volunteer program among other work in their Union City, New Jersey headquarters.

She left after a year.

“I had this naïve idea that I had to get ‘a real job,’” she said.

Over the next decade, she worked for the American Red Cross, the Catholic Home Bureau, Junior Achievement of New York, and the Fort Hamilton Education Department in Brooklyn, New York.

But when her son was four and her daughter two, the family moved to East Brunswick, New Jersey. She learned that the Passionists had moved their headquarters to an adjacent town,

Katie LaCarrubba (back row center, blue shirt), surrounded by young Passionist Volunteers.

South River, and she went to visit some of the priests she had worked with in the past.

She ended up being offered the job of director of the Passionist Volunteers. She took it.

The director position was supposed to be a part-time job, but as the program expanded to additional locations, so did the work. And so did her commitment. It became a 24-hour-aday, seven-day-a-week job.

“I’m almost embarrassed to say this – volunteering became very selfish because it was so fulfilling,” she says.

She recalls that when the West Virginia project was begun anew after a hiatus, she received calls from three families who wanted to volunteer. One was a hog farmer from Kansas, the second was a lawyer and an EMT from New York, and the third was a teacher and head of an agency from Washington, D.C. Seventeen years after they first volunteered, those three families return to West Virginia every year with their children, “along with hundreds of others,” she says.

She finds it hard to sum up the immensity of the poverty she saw in West Virginia. So she cites a single instance.

She came across a family with a couple of small children living in a lean-to made of branches in the woods. The husband had been injured in a coal mining accident and lost his job, but he was

still trying to build the family a house.

The family, like so many she met with the Passionist Volunteers, was embarrassed by how little they had, but they were trying to make it on their own.

“We never put ourselves on people,” she says.

“We had to be invited in.” In this case, the volunteers were able to help with the building of the house.

Far on the other side of the spectrum, she remembers back home she was referred to a doctor when her primary care physician was not available. During the visit, he asked about her job and she explained the work of the Passionist Volunteers.

He berated her for her work. “How dare I help these people? They have to learn to take care of themselves,” was his attitude, she said.

When she explained the economic circumstances that poor people faced in Appalachia, he said that if there were no jobs they should leave the area. When she said they didn’t have money to leave – that they couldn’t even afford cars, he replied they should leave on foot.

Telling the story now, many years after it happened, she still finds herself astonished by his attitude – placing the blame on the individual for poverty created by social or economic conditions.

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And she also finds herself astonished that the level of poverty she first saw in West Virginia 30 years ago continues unabated today.

In working with volunteers, she sought to have their time with the Passionists’ program be more than just an experience. She sought to have them integrate service into their lives, rather than have their time with the Passionists be just an experience. There was a “new and good” reflection session each night after the day’s work was done: volunteers were asked to think about what new thing they had learned that day, and what good thing had happened, “even if it was just getting through the day,” she says with a smile.

She says volunteering can engender very contradictory emotions at the same time, such as joy and guilt. She remembers thinking, “Why do I feel this great joy when things are so difficult for the people I am trying to help?”

She was able to resolve that in her own mind when she read somewhere that rather than the “G word” being guilt for volunteers, it should be gratitude for being given the opportunity to be of service.

After 10 years in the post and being away from her family for long stretches of time, it came time to leave. It was an extraordinarily difficult thing to do.

“I loved what I did. It was not just a job. It was a calling. It was my life.”

But her son was entering high school, and she did not want to miss that time with him.

What made the leave-taking possible were the values she had seen in the people of Appalachia. They had very little in the way of

material goods, but family was very important to them.

They made it okay to leave, she says.

In 2001 she resigned her post to become a preschool teacher at Tots & Blocks Nursery School in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

She quotes the last line of the Passionist Volunteer goal statement: “in all endings are seeds of new beginnings.”

At first, it was hard for her to get adjusted to the culture at home. When she saw people get impatient in a grocery store line when the cashier was a little slow, or grumble because the person in front of them had food stamps, it was all she could do not to say to them, “you have no idea of the real problems that people face.”

She brings her ideals of social justice to the preschool classroom. When there is a food drive, she tells the tots that food gives them energy, but there are some children who do not have food. She explains to her students that if they bring in food to donate, those other children can have energy too.

“I love to see the excitement of the children as they bring in bags of food,” she says.

Sr. Mary Magdalene Ward ‘62: Called to Africa

After graduating from St. Joseph’s in 1946, she got a job at the former Agricultural National Bank in Pittsfield and took courses at the former Berkshire Business College.

But after nearly four years, she decided that if she was ever going to actually become a nun, the time had come, and so in February 1950, she entered the postulate of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Mont Marie in Holyoke. And in August of that year, she took the habit and the name Mary Magdalene.

If being a religious was her calling, education was to become its expression for more than four decades. In September 1952, 10 years before she was to get her bachelor’s degree in education from the Elms, she began teaching business arithmetic, English, and religion at the old Cathedral High School in Springfield.

Although she did not have the degrees and certifications required to teach today, she feels she had something just as good. She lived in the since-demolished Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph with 45 to 50 other nuns who were also teachers and committed to education. They were her colleagues and her tutors, and she never went to bed until her class plan was completed for the next day.

Africa had appeared on Sr. Mary Magdalene’s radar very early in life. She traces it to the time when she was a pupil at St. Joseph’s parochial school in Pittsfield and each year during Lent the children were asked to bring in a penny to help feed poor children in Africa.

After taking courses at the Elms for seven years, she received her bachelor’s degree in 1962. And by taking classes during the summer and at night, she received her master’s in education in 1970 from Westfield State College.

She and her two brothers, Joseph and Donald, were living in Pittsfield with her father’s sister and her husband, Mary and Charles O’Neil, because her parents had both died not long after she was born Dolors Philomena Ward in County Leitrim, Ireland.

She was principal of Holy Trinity Elementary School in Greenfield in 1984 when she heard from a colleague already in Africa that Bishop Tiberius Charles Mugendi of the Diocese of Kisii in Kenya was looking for teachers to help start a teachers’ college. She received permission from her order to go.

In March 1931, when she was just three years old, she and her brothers sailed on the German steamship M.S. Milwaukee from County Cork to Ellis Island in New York – the major disembarkation point for immigrants to America. And from there it was on to Pittsfield – a small mill city in Berkshire County, which she recalls as being dominated by the vast General Electric plants at the time.

Sr. Mary Magdalene War d spent six years teachin g in Africa.

she was five or six, although she admits wryly that she was distracted for a while “when boys came along.”

It was her educational career that led her to Africa.

Of all the cultural differences she encountered in Kenya – and there were many – what still impresses her the most was her students’ hunger for education.

“The respect for teachers and the desire to learn were extraordinary,” she says. This was in contrast to her experience in the United States, where many, but not all, students took education for granted. “Education was a privilege in Africa and not a requirement,” she says, and the difference with which it was regarded was clearly visible.

The people she was teaching in Kenya were not teenagers. They were often strapping men in their 30s, former field hands.

Her uncle was a toolmaker at GE, and the people in Pittsfield who didn’t work for GE provided services for the people who did.

She taught domestic science, sewing, cooking, home management, childcare, and first aid to people who would themselves become teachers of these subjects.

Her desire to become a religious came early. She remembers wanting to be a nun by the time

She remembers with a smile the little house she lived in during her three years in Kisii. It had a tin roof, and when the long rains came, it was impossible to make oneself heard.

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One youth, Dennis, would rake her lawn with a branch from a tree. He would use the money he earned to pay fees at the local grammar school.

Back to the U.S., but not for long After three years in Kenya, she returned to the United States in 1987, becoming principal of St. Agnes School in Dalton, a small mill town in the Berkshires where Crane Paper Co. manufactures paper used for United States currency.

Africa came calling again in 1991 when she learned in a letter from the Sisters of St. Joseph that the Maryknoll Brothers were looking for teachers to help establish a secondary boarding school for women in Tanzania. She volunteered, and in her early 60s she was off for another three-year stint in Africa – this time to the small village of Kowak, part of Musoma Parish on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania and not far from the Kenyan border to the north.

There she helped found the Kowak Girls Secondary School, the equivalent of a high school in America, on the site of a school that had been closed for 20 years.

While education for girls was not unheard of in Tanzania, there was a vast inequity between that and education for boys.

And once again, Sr. Mary Magdalene was struck by the tremendous thirst the Africans had for education. She remembers one man slaughtering his cow, a great part of his wealth, in order to pay the tuition for his granddaughter. She learned that he had been educated in the school that had previously been located on the site.

Along with two other Sisters of St. Joseph, she spent three years teaching at the school, which graduated its first class in 1995.

By then, she had completed her three-year commitment and returned to the United States. But she didn’t return to teaching.

She had been in education for 43 years, and after six years of experiencing the reverence for education in Africa, returning to the American educational atmosphere didn’t appeal to her.

So in February of 1994, she became the receptionist for the cloistered Dominican Nuns in West Springfield. In addition to answering the phone there, she takes orders for the greetings cards the nuns make, runs errands, takes nuns to doctors’ appointments, and in general does whatever is needed.

But though she was done with education, education wasn’t done with her. In December when she was 80 years old and readying for a trip to Ireland, she learned about a twoweek teaching gig in Haiti run by the Church Outreach to Youth Project in North Adams.

And so, as her friends and family say, “Maggie turned 80 and went off to Haiti” along with 10 or 12 college students to teach English as a second language to Haitian youths who were taking part in a work exchange program in the Berkshires.

What she found when she arrived in Haiti was poverty even worse than she had seen in Africa. In the village where she taught, tucked in the mountains of Haiti’s central plateau, there was no running water and no electricity.

She lived in a dormitory with the college students and ate meals of rice and beans.

But what she also found was that same enthusiasm for learning. Frustrated that she only had seven days during the two weeks for actual teaching, she nevertheless found it “a wonderful, wonderful experience.”

Back now in West Springfield, she doesn’t have specific plans for the future.

“I never quite knew what was next for me,” she says. “It just came along.”

Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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Service

Lauren Mahler ’08:

Planting the Seeds of Service

by Annie Emanuelli

Compared to Sr. Mary Magdalene Ward ’62 and Katie LaCarrubba ’78, Lauren Mahler ’08 is a relative newcomer to service.

She graduated from the Elms last May, and had already lined up a job as a nurse in the ICU at Burlington, Vermont Medical Center and had rented an apartment when she learned she had been accepted by the Passionist Volunteers for a one-year program in Honduras.

She had worked with the Passionists before.

Each year she attended Elms she would go to West Virginia the week that fell between final exams and Christmas. The poverty she encountered shocked her, but she found the people very welcoming and strong in their faith. It made a powerful impression on her.

“There is this very peaceful feeling I have” working with the people, she said.

So when she had to choose between the hospital job and the year in Honduras, she chose Honduras.

“I really wanted to do this, and I knew I may never have an opportunity again,” Lauren said. “Nursing jobs will be here when I come home. And I know I’ll come home from Honduras a better person, and a better nurse.”

Lauren said she expected to do a wide variety of things during the year, “depending on what needs to be done.”

“It’s the Passionists’ concept of service, to be there with the people and be responsive to their needs,” she said. “We might do anything from reading to children, visiting rural villages and playing cards with elderly shut-ins, helping build houses, teaching CCD classes, or visiting patients in an AIDS hospice.”

Lauren said she traces her passion for service to her childhood. “My mom’s a nurse, and in my family, everyone always helps each other,” she said. “I volunteered a little in high school, and I was attracted to the Elms in part because of the emphasis on service.”

As a first year student, Lauren got a work study job in campus ministry, working with Sister Maureen Kervick, and said it “opened up a whole world of volunteering” to her.

Her last two years at the Elms, Lauren made trips to Greece with the social work faculty, and to Jamaica, again to work with the Passionists.

“That first December, I went with Sr. Maureen to West Virginia to work with the Passionists,” Lauren said. “We sided a house; we worked at a food bank; we visited people; we put on a Christmas party, and brought toys for the children. That was a turning point for me. It made me see service a little differently, and it put things in perspective for me.”

“The living conditions there were horrible.

Families with six kids lived in one-room shacks with mattresses on the dirt floors, and yet they were joyful and affectionate.”

Lauren said she realized how fortunate she was, and how, even though the people there were poor, they were generous. “We visited a family who lived in a broken-down trailer – they had nothing, really. But they offered me a cup of coffee. I found that very touching.

They were amazing people.”

“I learned a lot of things about living in the present, and doing things with all my heart,” she said.

Lauren said she was not always comfortable – physically or mentally – but that she felt peaceful and happy doing something she felt was important.

Inspired action That first trip inspired her to take on more service projects, and the following year she made another trip to West Virginia in December, and then went to Ecuador with the nursing faculty during spring break.

At the end of her sophomore year, she helped organize 20 students to go to New Orleans to work with Habitat for Humanity, rebuilding homes that had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina eight months before. “I saw how fast things can be taken from people, and how devastating it was,” she said. “They were really grateful for our help.”

At the beginning of her junior year, Lauren worked with Sr. Maureen on the Dorothy Day service program for first year students, acting as a mentor for the new students as they volunteered at Homework House.

“It was important to me to do something locally,” she said. “And it was great to work with the younger students. I felt like I was planting seeds, the seeds of service.”

It was in Jamaica that Lauren met and got to know the young people who were spending a year in service with the Passionists. Again, seeds were planted.

“I got to know them, and picked their brains,” she said. “They were very inspirational. I thought, I could do that.”

Lauren realized how much she had changed during her four years at Elms College. “I matured as a person, and was able to see things differently. I became more comfortable as a person, and knew what I wanted to do: work that was more than busywork, work with a purpose, work that actually impacts people.”

So when she had the opportunity to spend the year in service with the Passionists, she knew it was the right thing to do. “When my family asked me if I was sure about the decision, I said ‘Yes, yes, yes times 100!’” she said.

Lauren said she is grateful to Elms College for providing her with the opportunities to travel and participate in the service trips that have helped define her life. And she’s grateful for her association with Sr. Maureen Kervick.

“Sr. Maureen has been the biggest catalyst of all,” she said. “She is a master in teaching life lessons. She asks the right questions; she’s very patient. I can honestly say that without her, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

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Life in Honduras:

“It’s about love for one another. It’s about support for those that need it. It’s about strength.

It’s about being rich in all of the things that money can’t buy.”

Editor’s Note: Lauren Mahler arrived in Honduras in July 2008 to begin her yearlong volunteer commitment with Passionist Volunteers International. She is sharing her thoughts through a blog at http:// laurenmahler.blogspot.com. Here are some excerpts about her first couple of months there.

July 27, 2008 Life has been great as of yet, except for the whole missing-everyone-like-crazy thing.

Every day I wake up to an adventure, whether that means just putting sentences together in Spanish, or trying not to fall out of the back of the pickup on the way to one of the rural villages. I think it makes life interesting to have daily battles to conquer; it just makes you learn more. Anything worth doing will be hard, right?

July 28 Part of the problem with this particular aldea (village) is that during the rainy season, it is rarely accessible by car because of the treacherous roads that are destroyed by mountain runoff, and it is roughly a five-hour walk from town. There is little land available to grow crops because of its placement on the side of a mountain, and no land for livestock, and poor accessibility, so it means that often there is just no food. The kids have stick-thin arms and legs, the mothers roughly the same.

It’s hard for me to fathom.

July 29 My favorite part of mass is the sign of peace, or la paz, because of the abundance of love you receive. Children from all parts of the church, whether they know you or not, come running to give you big hugs and kisses. It may be the most rewarding two minutes of the day for me; the ultimate reward of all, a simple, free-for-all type of love that you receive just by being present, which after all, is what we are here to do.

July 31 …We were ushered to the back of the house, where there was a courtyard, and Isabel had us sit down and visit with the women there. One

of the men had recently had a stroke, and was in bed in a room just off the courtyard, and there were even more people there, praying, visiting, crying. It really showed me what Honduras, and Hondurans, are really about. It’s about love for one another. It’s about support for those that need it. It’s about strength.

It’s about being rich in all of the things that money can’t buy.

August 11 It’s funny to think that you have to learn to just visit, something so simple, but it’s a foreign concept to me. The kids were very welcoming, and we ended up playing with them for hours.

We sang and danced and just played, without toys, or Nintendos, or any other props than our voices and our bodies. It was an incredible feeling to be able to have such a good time with literally nothing. I love it.

August 15 Just a sigh of relief here. Last night we went into Tegucigalpa for the night. We stayed at a hotel – a real-life hotel with running water, a TV, and a pool. About four minutes after check-in, I was completely submerged in the pool. After that, time for a shower. We don’t have running water, which means cold bucket showers, which consist of taking water from the pila (a basin outside) and bringing it into what looks like a standard shower, then taking a bowl and pouring it over your body, lather up, rinse, and repeat. So last night I took a real live warm shower. I feel like a new woman! It was very refreshing to sleep in a nice big bed without the sounds of geckos, roosters, and dogs all night, and without a mosquito net over my bed! Sweet relief! I am very grateful for this break in the action, although I know better than to get used to it.

August 20 Although there have been many touching moments and experiences, interactions and exchanges, I think this day sums up what I came here to do. I walked out to the aldea, just like the people here do. We shared our time and energy, what is important to the people, solely by being present in their lives.

It was a beautiful day.

August 25 I am glad that I took an ethics class in college before coming here. We go up to aldeas to visit people that are so welcoming and accepting.

They bring us into the simple homes, give us whatever food they have, and just visit with us. They have relatively no education, no trade or skills, no transportation to get anywhere, and there are really no jobs to be had in this town. Many people live without electricity, and simply go to bed when it’s dark and wake up when it’s light. At what point is it beautiful, and at what point is it sad?

August 26 There is a group of about six or seven kids we lovingly refer to as the ‘street kids.’ They come here to play most days, sometimes more than once a day, and we play, color, just visit with them. They are kids, and are wonderfully universal, but at the same time it is hard to have them here. It’s our house, and our only territory where we can shut off our brains for a bit, relax, put on grubby gym shirts and old boxers and read, or play cards or whatnot.

Some days, I want to tell them to just go home. I want to tell them that I am tired and sick of hearing Spanish, and honestly don’t want to play anymore today. Where is the line with accompanying, and trying to protect these kids, and looking out for your own peace of mind?

October 10 Unfortunately, for good or bad, little is shocking me anymore. There are people everywhere here that simply don’t have food, and don’t know what to do about it.

October 18 Well, that’s life around here. We keep on hacking with the language and hope it’s getting better little by little. We keep visiting, participating in church groups, going to meetings, going to the AIDS hospice, and being inspired – every day.

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“As for ourselves, yes, we must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment. We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go a second mile.”

—Dorothy Day

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Going the Second Mile: Elms’ Dorothy Day Program Three years ago, when campus minister Maureen Kervick, SSJ, founded the Dorothy Day Program, she knew exactly what she wanted to achieve. She was going to plant a seed in young students that would grow slowly, helping them become adults whose lives were complimented by their commitment to community service — and it was going to start right here on Elms’ campus.

The program was originally designed exclusively for incoming freshmen. Participants would arrive on campus a week early and do volunteer work side-by-side with one another and the Sisters of Saint Joseph on community projects around the area. The first year of the program, six students participated.

“Our intention was to instill in these young men and women from their first day at the Elms that there is a much larger world out there than the one they see, and that they can have a positive impact and really change it for the better,” said Sister Maureen.

But why name the program after Dorothy Day? Sister Maureen explained, “Dorothy Day is one of the most real, most human Catholic figures I can think of, and she lived what she taught.

I think our students can really relate to her.

Dorothy Day’s life work and the values that she embodies — serving the underprivileged, cooperation with your neighbor for the betterment of the community, direct faithbased service — are exactly what our students should be modeling themselves after.”

In just three years, the Dorothy Day Program has more than doubled in size, prompting Sister Maureen to rework the program so that some of the students who participated the first year could stay on to work as student leaders and serve as seasoned mentors for the incoming class.

Margaret Weiss ’10 is one of those student leaders. Her outlook is a testament to the effectiveness of the Dorothy Day Program.

“My transition from high school to college wouldn’t have gone nearly as smoothly without the Dorothy Day Program,” said Margaret. “I am still participating in the program in hopes that incoming volunteers find it as rewarding as I did my freshman year and will want to continue their community service.”

Margaret and the rest of the first generation of participants in the Dorothy Day Program will be graduating next year. She says that her experience will continually remind her of the importance of helping others.

Sister Maureen is confident that the work of her program will branch out into the world along with these new Elms alums.

“These are special students. They have gotten involved, and they continue to be involved.

They have made conscious decisions to leave the world a better place than they found it. I know these students; they’ll do it.”

Dorothy Day would be proud.

One of the most popular sites to volunteer is Homework House, which provides free afterschool tutoring and mentoring for children in Holyoke who are at-risk for failing and dropping out of school. Student volunteers do not just help tutor the students, though, to keep them in the classroom. They serve as positive role models who have made a recognizable commitment to the children they tutor, and that goes farther with the Homework House children than the volunteers may realize.

Dorothy Day: Pacifist, altruist, saint in the making Dorothy Day (1897–1980) was an American journalist turned anarchist, social activist, and ultimately a devout Catholic. She became known for her social justice campaigns in defense of the poor, forsaken, hungry, and homeless. She and Peter Maurin founded the Catholic Worker movement in 1933, espousing nonviolence, and hospitality for the impoverished and downtrodden.

The Catholic Worker movement started with the Catholic Worker newspaper, created to promote Catholic social teaching and stake out a neutral pacifist position in the war-torn 1930s. This grew into a “house of hospitality” in the slums of New York City, and then a series of farms for the poor to live together communally.

The movement quickly spread to other cities in the United States, and to Canada and the United Kingdom; more than 30 independent but affiliated CW communities had been founded by 1941. Well over 100 communities exist today, including several in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden.

In 1971, Dorothy Day was awarded the Pacem in Terris Award. It was named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. Pacem in Terris is Latin for “Peace on Earth.” Day was accorded many other honors in her last decade, including the 1972 Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, the oldest and most prestigious award for American Catholics.

Publisher, pacifist, civil disobedient, altruist for her work with the poor, and founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Day was proposed for sainthood by the Claretian Missionaries in 1983 and awarded the Courage of Conscience award in 1992. Pope John Paul II granted the Archdiocese of New York permission to open Day’s “cause” in 2000, naming her a Servant of God.

Jeremy Davidson works on the porch floor at Homework House.

(taken from Wikipedia)

IMAGES:

Sr. Jane Morrissey, cofounder of Homework House, gave the students a tour of Holyoke so that they could see where the students at Homework House were from.

David Peters and Sarah Donovan work on the floors of Homework House.

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Joanine Carey ’09

Elms,” he says. “My friends at other colleges are just taking classes; my peers at other institutions are not getting these chances.”

He signed up for the service trips “to put myself in situations where I am meeting people from different economic backgrounds. I want to learn what life is all about. Seeing poverty only on television is not the real thing.”

All in the family

Giving Large Elms Students Reflect on Why They Volunteer First-year student David Peters ’12 has played the bagpipe competitively for several years now, including the past three World Pipe Band championships in Glasgow, Scotland. But an experience at the 2008 championships last August changed his attitude about competition, and crystallized his motivation to help others.

As his band was playing near the center of the Glasgow Green, a woman tapped him on the shoulder, and told him that the group of children behind her were deaf and mute. How, then, could they enjoy the music? David asked her.

“They can feel it by watching you play,” she answered.

The idea of “providing something for someone that they couldn’t get without me” was a powerful motivator, David says. “These were kids who looked like me but couldn’t speak or hear, and to have a connection with them from playing my bagpipes was special.”

Like many Elms students, David is not new to volunteering. But at Elms, students can take their desire to help others to a new level.

Through the Dorothy Day program, service trips to Honduras, Jamaica, New Orleans, and West Virginia, and tutoring at sites like Homework House in Holyoke, Elms students have many opportunities to develop their altruistic qualities and put them to work.

Last fall, buildings around campus were abuzz with posters and drop-off boxes for a host of drives for food, clothing, books, and toys. One first-year seminar class was selling bricks for a solar fountain; another made a sculpture of tin cans to draw attention to the need to reduce waste and recycle (both groups presented their work with other projects from the first-year seminars at an environmental fair in November 2008).

That same month, students in the RN-toBS program made poster presentations on “Making a Difference,” a wide range of healthcare projects in communities throughout western Massachusetts. Fundraisers were organized by students for numerous causes, from the deaf and hard of hearing to breast cancer victims.

Community service is built into the Elms core curriculum — students are required to complete at least 30 hours of volunteer work before they graduate. But many Elms students fulfill this requirement by the end of their first semester and go on to exceed it many times over.

After returning from Glasgow, David Peters, who plans to major in English and philosophy, volunteered for the Dorothy Day program, helping to clean and furnish a new section of Homework House (he served as a tutor there during the fall semester).

He went on the West Virginia trip before Christmas and plans to travel to Honduras over spring break.

The opportunity to volunteer is “really what I like most at

Many of the most active students trace their passion for volunteering to their families. “My parents are very giving people,” says Olivia Morin ’10, a nursing major from Springfield, Vermont. At Elms, she has been a tutor at Homework House, is active in campus ministry, and volunteered at a soup kitchen.

Joanine Carey ’09, a social work major from Easthampton, says that both of her parents volunteered at homeless shelters. Joanine has been a tutor at Homework House and the Valley Opportunity Council in Holyoke, and went on service trips to Jamaica and Honduras. She will travel to Honduras again this spring, and has applied for a year of post-graduate service there with Passionists International.

Volunteering, Joanine says, “is a good way to keep yourself balanced. As a student, it seems you’re either working and studying, or playing and partying. Volunteering adds another dimension, and helps keep me focused.”

Tracy Petersante ’09, a nursing student from Westfield, says “My family has always taught me to help others.” She has gone on service trips to New Orleans and West Virginia, and sees volunteering as “a way of doing what I love to do.”

A commuter, she didn’t know anyone at Elms at first, but as a result of the service trips, “I’ve met people with similar values, and they have become some of my closest friends.”

Tracy and others say that it is also about what they get back, rather than what they give, that motivates them to volunteer. “I never thought I would see the level of poverty I saw in West Virginia. It changed my experience; what I have is so much more than some people have.”

During one home visit, “a woman gave us so much — even a mug from her kitchen, even though they had very little. It is amazing what people in need will give to others.”

Adds Rachel Guidi ’09, a social work major from Holyoke who has gone on service trips to Jamaica, West Virginia, and New Orleans, “what I saw in West Virginia Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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Jennifer Allard ’10

was shocking. I didn’t think there was so much need in America. Yet often we don’t even know what’s in our own town. Meeting the West Virginia people and seeing how grateful they were — that you sat with them and gave them your time, even though you couldn’t get them the running water or whatever else they needed — was very humbling.”

Rachel sees volunteering as “an obligation.

People need to help their fellow brothers and sisters. If I know someone needs help, I feel it is my responsibility to help them.”

Rachel’s sister Linnea, ’11, agrees. “I think people are here to help each other. Selfless living is the way to live.” She cites her parents as role models, and her older brother, Elms graduate Matthew ’04, now a seminary student.

In addition to volunteer work through her church, Linnea traveled to West Virginia last year, and was in charge of fundraising for this year’s trip.

Linnea, who is studying accounting and business law, says that even her choice of major is linked to her desire to help others.

“One of the most important things you can help people with is their finances,” she says.

Learning by volunteering The rewards of volunteering are educational for some. Charline Pysher ’12 a nursing student from West Springfield, went on her first service trip to West Virginia in December, and will travel to Honduras over spring break. She volunteers at Noble Hospital, assisting nurses by keeping patients company in the emergency room. “You can make a big difference with a small amount of time. I’ve learned a lot from the experience.”

Sarah Okseniak ’11, a nursing student from Belchertown, worked with incarcerated women as a first-year student. “We learned from each other,” she says.

“Just being out of my comfort zone” is valuable to Jennifer Allard ’10 a special education major from Springfield. “When I come back from volunteering, I have more of a focus on what is important.”

Jennifer’s older sister Carrie ’08 graduated from Elms’s nursing program and now works at Baystate Medical Center. The sisters volunteered as servers in a soup kitchen in junior high, and in high school Jennifer was

a companion to elderly residents at St. Luke’s Home in Springfield, and traveled to North Carolina to work for Habitat for Humanity and Mexico to work with children and their families. “That really got me hooked,” she says. “It’s something you think about every day.”

For some students, volunteering is more visceral. “Volunteering is my passion,” says Veronica Colon ’09, a social work major from Holyoke. “It is what I like to do.” In December, she went on the service trip to West Virginia — for the third time. She’s done a little of everything, volunteering at Gray House, a human service agency in Springfield, tutoring an adult from Senegal, and helping organize the annual service day on campus, when the Elms community undertakes a variety of volunteer projects.

“I enjoy the feeling of knowing that what I’m doing helps others,” says Jenna Robitaille ’11, a nursing major from South Windsor, Connecticut, who is active in campus ministry, “even in a small way.”

“Volunteering is my passion, it is what I

Veronica Colon ‘09 and Meg Donnelly ’10

like to do.”

Rachel Guidi ’09 and Linnea Guidi ’11

Carrie Allard ’08

Charline Pysher ’12

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Cate Avery ’08: Committed to Peace, Working for PeaceJam Americorps*VISTA position enables her to spend time on campus Cate Avery ’08 did a little of everything at Elms. The religion major minored in English.

She played lacrosse in her first year, sang in the chorus as a sophomore. She was a member of several student organizations, including the gay-straight alliance and students against genocide. She was a tutor to students at Holy Name Elementary School in Chicopee. She was a member of the Elms College Sacred Dancers all four years. She became involved in the college’s Theater for Social Justice.

But her volunteer work with PeaceJam as a junior and senior led to a job after graduation.

The nonprofit PeaceJam Foundation offers a series of K-12 education programs based on the lives and works of Nobel Peace Prize winners who share their experiences with youth around the world. For the past two years, Elms College has been host to PeaceJam Northeast’s annual Youth Conference.

Cate was a student mentor at PeaceJam Northeast’s 2007 Conference, when 1976 Nobel Laureate Betty Williams visited Elms to speak and meet with 200-plus high school students, and again last April, as more than 300 high school students came to campus to meet 1997 Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. Cate has returned to the Elms campus several times as

an Americorps*VISTA worker, helping plan the 2009 PeaceJam Northeast’s Youth Conference, which will feature 1992 Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum. When Cate learned last summer that PeaceJam had an opening for an Americorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) position, she applied and was hired. AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty, and has played a central role in the fight against poverty in America for more than four decades. VISTA members commit to serve full-time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency, working to address illiteracy, improve health services, create new businesses, and strengthen communities.

While she eventually wants to go to graduate school, Cate is happy spending the year working for PeaceJam Northeast as a program coordinator, planning the conference, doing community outreach and training teachers on how to use the PeaceJam curriculum.

“PeaceJam likes to say that it is youth-driven and adult-supported,” Cate says about why the job appeals to her. “Many of us go through elementary and secondary school being told what to think. PeaceJam encourages students to decide for themselves what to think and what they want to do, and helps them to take action.”

Cate, a native of Turners Falls, Massachusetts, now lives in Hamden, Connecticut, and commutes to her job in New Haven when she is not traveling to the Elms. She says she always knew she wanted to go to Elms College; her mother, Virginia, attended Elms for two years before she began a 30-year career as a teacher, and Cate’s father, Robert, was a high school guidance counselor for 40 years. Between the two, Cate became familiar with the campus at an early age.

“Elms was a good choice for me,” she says, “and I miss it.” Through her job with PeaceJam, she is getting to stay closely connected for at least another year.

Cate Avery (top right corner), a student mentor at PeaceJam 2007, poses with Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams, and the high school participants.

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At the Elms College Christmas party on December 10, 2008, service awards were presented to 27 employees who have worked at the college for a total of 320 years. A special honoree was Sr. Mary Lou Wright, a biology professor, who has taught at the Elms for 50 years.

Employees

320 Years of

Combined Service 50 years

30 years

Sr. Mary Lou Wright accepted an award for 50 years of service to Elms College.

Sr. Betty Sullivan, a library reference assistant, has worked at Elms College for 30 years.

20 years Receiving 20 year awards from President Breau were (left to right): Eileen Kirk, co-director of special programs; Suzanne Balicki, bursar; and Sr. Ann Daly, director of the academic resource center. Not pictured: James Gallant, English professor; Kristine Gregory, gift processor; and Anne Harrison, education professor.

15 years Not pictured: Kathleen Szczur, telephone operator.

5 years

10 years Dr. Breau presented 10 year awards to Roberta Gordenstein, foreign language professor; Geri Brunnell, art professor; and Kathryn James, chair of the CSD Division.

Five year awards went to (left to right): Beth Young, education professor; Janet Moore, nursing professor; Kyla Korytoski, graphic designer; Kathleen Scoble, chair, Nursing Division; Eileen Pooler, web manager; Alison Lonczak, Maguire Center front desk; Marlene Czepiel, housekeeper; Dee Ward, co-director, special programs; Barbara Burgos, health center nurse; and Charleen Diggins, nursing professor.

Not pictured are April Arcouette, assistant director, financial aid; Ann Marie Clark, administrative assistant, athletics; Jenkin Gould, athletics operations manager; Kathleen Curry, collections representative in student accounts; and Christine O’Connell, aerobics instructor, Maguire Center.

As part of the observance of Christmas, employees donated more than $1,000 worth of gift cards, which were given to needy local families identified by the nursing and social work professors, and the Step Forward program directors.

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Tidbits

Men’s Basketball Team Earns National Ranking Last season, point guard Aswad Thomas (#3) ranked second nationally in Division III in steals per game (3.6) and 17th in assists per game (5.6).

Red Balloon Project Launched

The men’s basketball team was ranked 12th nationally among Division III teams, according to the D3hoops Top 25 poll announced December 16, 2008. As of that date, the Blazers were one of only two Division III teams nationally that had a record of 9-0. It is the college’s first-ever national ranking.

Rays of Hope A team from Elms College participated in the 15th annual Rays of Hope Walk Towards the Cure for Breast Cancer on October 26, 2008.

The event, which raised more than $739,000, set a participation record with 15,000 walkers representing 420 teams. The Elms team of 13 walkers raised $500.

A total of 188 balloons were placed in the grassy area of the quad in front of O’Leary Hall on November 13, 2008 to draw attention to the 188 million deaths in the last century resulting from genocide, famine, and military and civilian deaths during war.

Called the Red Balloon Project, it was sponsored by the college’s International Club. Each balloon represented a million deaths; red balloons represented genocide, green represented famine, yellow represented civilian deaths, and black represented military.

“We want peace but do we do anything about it? Do we know how much damage war causes?” said senior Kathy Newman, co-president of the International Club and one of the organizers of the event. “If we can get one person to think twice before being violent toward another person, we have achieved something far greater than we ever could imagine.”

The International Club is a student organization that promotes awareness of other cultures and global issues.

The Elms College Rays of Hope Team.

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Open Forums With Three Presidential Finalists

Coming soon to a computer near you:

The new and improved Elms College website!

The Elms College Presidential Search Committee has selected three finalists for consideration as the college’s 10th President. The selection was made following interviews with several semifinalists in December 2008.

The finalists will be visiting the campus on January 21, 26, and 28 so that they may meet in open forums with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The Open Forums will be held from 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. in Veritas Auditorium. Each candidate will be allowed to make opening remarks, followed by questions and answers from the campus community.

Following the campus visits, the Search Committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. It is hoped that a new president will be announced in February.

The Deanery Scholars: Strengthening ties between Elms and local parishes To strengthen the ties between Elms College and local parishes, and to foster a community of student leaders, the college offers a halftuition scholarship to a select group of local in-coming students who have displayed outstanding commitment to their education and communities through their local parishes.

Called the Deanery Scholars, these students are nominated each spring by pastors or parents, and reviewed by a number of Elms College faculty and staff.

“The Deanery Scholarship was half the reason I chose to come to Elms College,” said Katie Wright ’12. “The scholarship is a huge help financially, and it keeps me motivated to be active in the community and in my home parish.”

The Deanery Scholars become a close-knit group of dedicated, caring individuals who flourish personally and as a group of leaders at Elms College.

ght ’12

Deanery Scholar Katie Wri

Deanery Scholar Cara Martin ’12

Deanery Scholars can maintain the scholarship for all four years of college attendance if they meet five criteria, which involve scholarship, service, and theological reflection. · Course work – Deanery scholars are expected to delve deeper into their exploration of world religions and their own values by completing six credits more than usually required in religious studies. · Seminars - Deanery scholars are expected to attend two seminars focused on lay ministry, youth ministry, pastoral ministry, or parish leadership. · Retreats – Deanery scholars attend at least two retreats exposing participants to the aspects of Ignacian spirituality offered by campus ministry and the religious studies department. · Service Learning – Deanery scholars have the opportunity to fulfill at least part of their service learning requirement in their home parish, and are encouraged to take part in

projects sponsored by the Office of Campus Ministry. · Theological Reflection – Deanery scholars participate in three theological reflection sessions each semester, which allow them to discuss their progress in the Deanery Scholarship and Leadership Program with campus ministry staff, religious studies faculty, and one another.

“At first I was intimidated by the process and requirements, but it has not been overwhelming at all,” said Cara Martin ’12.

“Now that I’ve been participating for a while, I’m more motivated than ever.”

To learn more about the scholarship program or how to nominate a student, please contact Father Mark Stelzer, S.T.D., at stelzerm@elms. edu, 413-265-2590.

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Interest Grows in Accounting Program

The Elms College accounting program has realized dramatic gains during the past several years. Nearly 50 students enrolled in Intermediate Accounting in fall 2008, and there are 22 accounting majors in the class of 2010 — nearly double the 12 accounting students Elms will graduate in 2009, and more than three times the number Elms graduated in 2007. About 70 Elms students in all are majoring in accounting this year.

This year, a student accounting club was formed, and it has more than 50 members.

The club’s executive committee members are president Patrick Kayego ’09, a native of Senegal now living in West Springfield; vice president for external relations Victoria Tetreault ’10, of Adams; vice president for internal relations Halli Harrington ’10, of Pittsfield; treasurer Logan Brown ’10, a junior from Granby; Student Government Association representatives Nick Bamford ’10, of Ludlow, and Daniel Ingraham ’10 of Granby; and secretary Larry Graham ’11, of Springfield.

They meet monthly.

Club president Patrick Kayego was drawn to accounting, he says, because of the opportunities for employment, good salaries, and opportunities for advancement and growth.

All Elms accounting majors are required to do internships, and Patrick has completed two with the financial services company Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as an auditor.

He is the Elms representative to the National Association of Black Accountants, and is in his second year at a resident assistant in Rose William Hall. He played soccer at Elms until this year.

Patrick and fellow student Victoria Tetreault credit William Donovan, chair of the Elms College Division of Business and Law, and associate professor of accounting, and Kerry Calnan, assistant professor of accounting and finance, as well as interim president Walter C. Breau for the growth of the accounting program.

Meeting Challenges, Accomplishing Goals

“They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the program,” says Victoria, “and they have been very supportive of our efforts.”

Rebecca “Becky” Connolly ’06 did not enter Elms College as an accounting major.

“But when I took the Introduction to Accounting class, I knew that accounting was my career,” she said. “My professors encouraged me to grow, and to aspire to more.

And the courses I took provided me with the knowledge and skills I needed to step into an entry-level position at Moriarty & Primack P.C. as soon as I graduated.”

Becky said that she is grateful to – and stays in contact with – the accounting faculty, and participates in activities such as the recent Stock Market Challenge.

“My Elms College classes prepared me for this career, and allowed me to achieve my goals by doing a job I love,” she said. “I enjoy working at Moriarty & Primack because the firm operates on the same values that I found at Elms College: respect, integrity, and an uncompromising commitment to the highest standards of quality and professionalism.

Becky Connolly ’06

As a working accountant, I am confident that the Elms College accounting program is doing a great job of preparing students for good careers,” she said.

Victoria Tetreault and Halli Harrington organized a dinner in October for students and alumni of the accounting department, featuring keynote speaker Richard D. Bourgeois, senior vice president of corporate financial operations at MassMutual. Bourgeois shared his background and experiences and how he sees accounting in the future. The event attracted more than 80 people, including about 25 Elms alumni.

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Stock Market Challenge Elms accounting students place second; beat out financial professionals A team of accounting students from Elms College placed second in a Stock Market Challenge fundraiser November 13, 2008 sponsored by Junior Achievement. The students competed against more than 160 finance and accounting professionals on 34 other teams, including seasoned bankers, investment managers, accountants, and other professionals, and one other college, to claim a place in the top five for the third year in a row.

The Stock Market Challenge is an advanced, high-tech stock market simulation through which teams compete in a virtual world to see who will amass the highest net worth by the end of the investing period.

The event is fast-paced, with teams competing through 60 trading days in one hour—a new trading day every minute.

Teams begin the game with $500,000 trading dollars, which they can invest in fictitious stock. Teams make their decisions based on simulated stock information created by specially designed software.

To add even more realism and fun to the event, teams can buy or sell stock by attracting the attention of a floor trader, just as they would do on Wall Street. The team with the largest portfolio after the “60 days” of trading wins.

The second place team from Elms College turned their $500,000 into $3,578,351.

“It’s an incredible moment for us,” said team member Nick Bamford, a junior from Ludlow. “As college students up against the pros, we had to fight some pretty tough odds, really pay close attention to what was happening in the market, and stick to our strategy, even if things didn’t look so good right away.”

Members of the team, in addition to Nick, were team captain Victoria Tetreault, a junior from Adams, junior Halli Harrington of Pittsfield, junior Melissa Pava of West Springfield, and 2006 Elms graduate Rebecca Connolly of Springfield, who works for the accounting firm Moriarty and Primack.

“These students are proud of their school, because Elms’s accounting program continually offers students big experiences within our small college environment,” said Kerry Calnan, assistant professor of accounting and finance. “This was an opportunity for our students to shine and show everyone what Elms can do.”

Halli ge is (left to right) Melissa Pava ‘10, The second place team from Elms Colle Bamford ‘10.

Nick and ‘10, ault Tetre ria Victo Harrington ‘10, Becky Connolly ‘06,

Two other teams represented Elms College, and both finished in the top 20. Wolf and Co. sponsored junior Valerie Crowther, junior Nicole Denette, senior Patrick Kayego, senior Katherine Newman, and 2008 Elms graduate Jami Lynn Plasse’s team. Florence Savings Bank sponsored a team comprising junior Logan Brown, sophomore Linnea Guidi, junior Dan Ingraham, and sophomore Frank Sousa.

Service in Appalachia Fourteen students spent six days in West Virginia before the Christmas break working with people in one of the poorest communities in America. They hosted a Christmas party, provided presents, worked in food banks, and helped with home repairs.

Left to right: Sister Carol Allan, Sarah Donovan, Annie Dunnack, Veronica Colon, Meg Donnelly, and Joanne Kellogg in West Virginia in December 2008.

Students Veronica Colon, Sarah Donovan, Annie Dunnack, and Meg Donnelly played Christmas elves at a Christmas party they hosted for poor residents of West Virginia.

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Passages

By Dr Dr. John Lam Dr. mbdiin, n cha hair, i So Socia ciall Scie cia ience ncess Divi Divv sio s n

“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”

—Joyce Kilmer

Editor’s Note: In August, the Elms College campus lost one of its oldest and most beautiful features, the huge tulip tree on the lawn in front of Berchmans Hall. Struck by lightning in 2005, the tree had been severely damaged, and experts determined it was not salvageable.

Many in the college community were saddened by its loss, including Dr. John Lambdin, who wrote the following tribute.

In August, the majestic American tulip tree that has graced our front lawn for the entire history of Elms College was cut down. Indeed, by my count of the annual rings, our tree was 108 years old (margin of error: plus or minus three years). Thus it was already 24 years old when the college was a newborn in 1928. For 80 years, every visitor to this college could have seen that tree.

Among all the losses we have suffered in recent years, none has received less public notice.

While I have never actually hugged a tree, except to climb them when I was a child, I have always loved them, and paid close attention to their presence in our lives. Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to the tree that has witnessed our entire history.

We have lost some trees to make room for our growing population of students. Such losses are inevitable, and we are grateful for the growth that makes them necessary. Still, I am reminded of the immortal words of that famous American philosopher, Joni Mitchell:

Our American tulip tree was struck by lightning in 2005. Three quarters of the trunk was girdled, and the tree was unable to recover.

They took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em.

Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.

They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.

I remember having a conversation with then-academic vice president Walter Breau about our concerns over the tulip tree. Walter gave me a copy of “A Guide To Campus Trees” with drawings and design done by Theresa Smith-Crammer ’91 under the watchful eye of her faculty advisor, Sister Margaret James McGrath. I was delighted to know that others had taken such pride and pleasure in our trees! I set out to find all that were listed in the booklet. Alas, others too had disappeared; some by accident, some by disease, and some for progress.

(1970 “Big Yellow Taxi” Ladies of the Canyon.)

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In the spring of 2007, I noticed that the tulip tree was failing. About three-quarters of the tree was unable to produce mature leaves, and there were no blooms except on the one-quarter of the tree that was unaffected.

I suggested to Walter that perhaps there was a way to save at least part of the tree. Walter brought in Steve Schwartz, our director of operations, who got a professional opinion that the tree was not salvageable and should be taken down before it became unstable and dangerous.

In August of 2008, the tulip tree was taken down. It left hardly a trace.

I planted seeds from the tulip tree in my front yard in 2006, in the hope of having one of my own, and it seems to be thriving. It is the only progeny I know of, although such a prolific seed bearer must surely have other daughters.

There are several large American tulip trees within a two- or three-block radius of the college, which may or may not be relatives.

Losing this grand old tree was a little like losing a friend. We are reminded again of the fragility of life. In our remembering, I hope we become a little more mindful of what we do have before it’s gone.

The Tulip Tree: Its Life and Times To get some appreciation for the life and times of our American tulip tree, I did some Googling to see what else happened in 1904, when our tree was born. Also born that year were B. F. Skinner, Cary Grant, Graham Green, Joan Crawford, Dr. Seuss, Johnny Weissmuller, and Vladimir Horowitz. Obviously at 104 years of age, the tulip tree outlived them all.

Anton Chekov died in 1904. The Visiting Nurses Association of South Connecticut was founded in 1904. Boston suffered a million dollar fire on July 6, 1904. The ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis during the Louisiana Purchase convention in 1904.

Our tree was born: · 2 years after the first Ford rolled off the assembly line in 1902; · 1 year after the first World Series began in 1903 (the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates!); · 2 years before Las Vegas was founded; · 23 years before the first Academy Awards; · 24 years before the first TV was sold to the public; · 24 years before the College of Our Lady of the Elms got its charter and admitted its first class.

Liriodendron Tulipifera · In many areas of the country, the American tulip tree is known as a yellow poplar, tulip poplar, or just as a poplar. But in fact, it is not a poplar at all, but a member of the Magnolia family. · Some say it was named for the tulip-like yellow, orange, and green flowers it produces in the spring. Others say it was named for its large leaves that are shaped like the profile of a tulip flower. · It is native to eastern North America from southern Ontario and Illinois eastward across southern New England and south to central Florida and Louisiana. · One of the largest of the native trees of the eastern United States, its ordinary height is 70 to 100 feet. It has been known to reach the height of 190 feet, with a trunk 10 feet in diameter. · Liriodendron tulipifera produces a large amount of seed, which is dispersed by wind.

The seeds typically travel a distance equal to four to five times the height of the tree, and remain viable for four to seven years.

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Outings

You Never Know Who’ll Show Up at Elms Alumni Association Events … … like Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts from the ABC morning news program Good Morning America! The news team, who was working on a story about campaign trains, showed up in Lenox where a group of Elms alumni were boarding the Berkshire Scenic Railway on September 14, 2008.

We can’t promise there will always be celebrities, but we can guarantee a good time at the events sponsored by the local chapters of the Alumni Association. Summer 2008 was busy with 10 events and excursions, from trips to a Red Sox game, Saratoga Racetrack, and Tanglewood, to gatherings in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and on Cape Cod. Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts help Ann McTiernan McLaughlin ’66 display the Elms banner.

Join the Fun With Friends, Old and New Alumni Association events are a great opportunity to reconnect with classmates and form new friendships with other alumni. For more information on upcoming events, check the calendar in this magazine, contact any of the chapter chairs listed below, or call Peggy Clark in the Alumni Association Office at 413-265-2227. · Pioneer Valley Chapter: Peggy Dwyer Clark ’65, 413-265-2227 · Cape Cod Chapter: Susan Watkins Simon ’65, 508-398-1510 · Rhode Island Chapter: Rae Holland-Long ’65, 401-885-1182 · Connecticut Chapter: Linda Kaczmarczyk ’71, 860-635-1387 · Berkshire Chapter: Lorita Calderella Decorie ’57, 413-499-0134, and Judi DiSantis King ’93, 413-442-5445 Saratoga Race Track, August 9.

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Humanities

Shaughness Chair Tom Cerasulo Gets Creative With Writing Imagine the characters of Vicki Lester, the aspiring actress in the 1954 movie A Star is Born, would-be starlet Faye Greener of the 1939 novel The Day of the Locust, and Norma Desmond, the aging, delusional silent-film star of 1950’s Sunset Boulevard, meeting in a crowded café inside the Museum of Modern Art. What might they say to each other?

That’s the kind of scenario assistant professor of English Tom Cerasulo, Ph.D., is looking for from the students in his “Hollywood Novel” course, as a way to evaluate how well they understand the films, the novels on which they were based, and the American movie industry.

The students, says Tom, are expected to “get the characters engaged in some shoptalk that compares and contrasts their personalities and experiences. The speakers should interact with each other. They can ask questions, interrupt or disagree, but they must say things they would say and do things they would do.”

Tom is the new holder of the Shaughness Family Chair for the Study of the Humanities for his efforts to promote literature and writing at Elms. In what he calls “hybrid” courses like “Hollywood Novel,” Tom prepares assignments that integrate creative writing techniques rather than standard essay questions. The goal is to develop in his students a deeper appreciation of the act of writing, and to see literature as a living thing.

“They are a little cowed by the assignments at the beginning,” he says, “but then they begin to enjoy them.”

A distinctive view of creative writing Tom, who has taught at Elms since 2005, knows that many of his students will eventually become teachers, and this approach gives them a distinctive way to think about and teach writing. He believes creative writing can be especially effective with middle and high school students, “when kids are trying to figure out who they are.”

Tom earned his bachelor’s degree in creative writing at New York University, and his master’s degree at Stony Brook University. His Ph.D. in English and certificate in film studies is from the City University of New York. Prior to Elms, he taught at Lehman College in New York. He has published stories and poems in several literary journals, and his story, “The Loss of Calcium,” won honorable mention in the 2002 Zoetrope Short Fiction Contest.

Tom’s plans for the Shaughness Chair include reviving the college’s literary magazine (formerly named Bloom), as both a print and online publication, and launching a yearlong reading series that brings distinguished writers to Elms. The series began with Elms graduate M. P. Barker ’81, who came to campus in October 2008 to meet with students and discuss her novel A Difficult Boy. Poets Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar spoke on December 5, 2008 about their book, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond.

Looking ahead to year two of the chair (it can be held for up to three years), Tom will explore the possibility of a writers conference on campus aimed at students from Elms and area high schools, as well as English teachers who want to employ creative writing techniques into their pedagogy.

While the demand for college classes in literature has declined since the 1970s, the demand for classes in creative writing has increased, says Tom. Creative writing — learning about prose and poetry by attempting to write them — can offer students a look at literature “from the inside out,” he says.

“Very few students in a writing workshop or literature class with a creative component will become published writers, and even fewer will become English professors; but all can leave with a greater appreciation for the work and craft that goes into writing, and all can leave as more careful, more thoughtful readers.”

L. Stella Shaughness ’35

From Stella’s 1935 yearbook: “We won’t forget Stella. We will remember her stories, her singing, and herself. The prophet of your future will have to dip her pen in smiles.”

Shaughness Chair Supports Literature and Language The Shaughness Family Chair for the Study of the Humanities was established in 1997, thanks to a generous gift to the Elms made by L. Stella Shaughness ’35. The purpose of the chair is to further the academic excellence of the college through an increase in the study of English literature and language.

Ms. Shaughness, who majored in English at Elms, served as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and later became a teacher in New York City. She dedicated her life to education, and was especially passionate about reading skills, convinced of the importance of young people being able to read and express themselves well.

The Shaughness Chair grants an Elms faculty member in the humanities a reduction of course load equivalent to halftime per semester for up to three years to coordinate activities related to their project. The chairholder has a budget to underwrite project expenses, which may include honoraria for outside lecturers, symposia, or other costs related to research and curricular development.

The Shaughness Chair previously has been held

by Robert King, Ph.D., professor of English, for research on rhetoric and ethics; James Gallant, Ph.D., professor of English, for a project examining social justice themes in theater; and Jasmine Hall, Ph.D., associate professor of English, for an Internet webpage that provides links to biographical information and critical analysis of a wide range of authors.

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Elms’ Past Comes to Life at Homecoming

From Kathleen Mungiven O’Connell’s yearbook, 1935:

By Joe Vickless

Elms College’s Homecoming and Family Weekend, held October 24-26, 2008, took visiting alumni back in time: not to any specific date, but to places and moments in which they forged life-long friendships, laughed, cried, prayed, sang, danced, created mischief, paid for that mischief, and grew up. They also celebrated the evolution of the school into the institution it is today and intently inquired about the future of their beloved alma mater.

Some of the visiting alumni graduated just a few years ago; others graduated decades ago; and one alumna in particular graduated 73 years ago, in 1935. Their stories are unique, but the commonality of the Elms experience weaves them all into one vibrant history.

There are countless stories from every class that has come through Elms College, and new memories are being made every day. These moments shape Elms students just as much as the education they receive, and it is these moments that bring Elms College to life.

The school, like everything else, is always changing, but many things about Elms are frozen in time.

They are snapshots in the minds of Elms alumni, and at Homecoming we all get to have a glimpse into the living past.

“From the very beginning, this talented you ng lady showed her tru e worth for she esta blished herself at the outset of ou r college life so well that she was elected ou r first class president. And truly she was a first-class president. Her interpretation of “Lea h” in Pilate’s Da ughter made college history.”

Returning to Campus After 73 Years: “It Felt Like Home” Kathleen Mungiven O’Connell ’35 made the trip to Homecoming at Elms College from Rhode Island this year because she thinks that it is important to be an active alumna.

“Elms College built a solid foundation for me and it was where I started my adult life. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the school. All of us alumni do, so I am always encouraging others to stay involved,” said Kathleen.

Being able to make this most recent trip back at the age of 93 is a bit of a surprise for her, though.

“The last time I was back on campus was about five years ago. I asked Rae Holland-Long ’65 — an alumna also from Rhode Island — to slow down so I could take what I thought would be one last look at the college. Well, I guess I’m blessed with the chance to take another last look.

“During that visit, I was asked to do a reading at the large mass that was being held in the auditorium. When I got on that stage I felt like I was home. So many memories came flooding back and I felt so comfortable.

I remember when we performed “Pilate’s

Daughter” during Lent. It went over so well that the local newspapers wanted to see it, so the college asked us to do it again when we got back from Easter break. It was funny doing a Lenten play after Easter, but it was such a good time.”

Kathleen easily recalled events that happened while she was a student more than seven decades ago.

“I had made friends with Bishop O’Leary over the years. My senior year, I asked him to take it easy on me in my theology oral exam, and he promised he would. Well,” she said laughing, “he asked me to prove the existence of God.” At that moment, you could hear the 20-yearold girl spring back into Kathleen’s voice.

Kathleen, who had been driven to Homecoming by her grandson Ken Prockner, left after lunch to return home to Rhode Island. During the ride, she couldn’t stop talking about how much she enjoyed being back at the Elms. So Ken turned the car around, and they returned to campus for the afternoon activities. “I’m not sure I’ll get back here again, so I wanted to enjoy every minute,” Kathleen said.

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Vivid Memories, Lasting Friendships Mary Long Franz ’54 and Rosemarie “Mike” Flannigan Cronin ’54 made telephone calls in the weeks leading up to Homecoming Weekend to recruit alumnae from their class to come back to campus. During that time, there was just as much reminiscing as there was dialing, but both women are serious about keeping their classmates connected.

“One reason I’m coming back for Homecoming is to help make plans for our class’ 55th reunion,” said Mary. “But that’s certainly not the only reason. My memories are so vivid, my friendships are still strong, and I can’t wait to see everyone and talk about our time here.”

“Not only that,” said Mike, “but also getting to see the college at a time when it is so alive and beautiful. It’s the fall semester and new students mingle with alumni and we all get to talk and learn things about Elms. In fact, the first field hockey game I ever saw was at an Elms Homecoming. I don’t know how those girls do it!”

Mary and Mike are in agreement that it is important to maintain the relationships they share with their classmates and their families.

The Right Place At the Right Time Ashley Burnier Reale ’06 came back to the Elms for Homecoming Weekend for the first time since she graduated. For her, Homecoming was not just about reconnecting with classmates and professors, but it was also a second chance to realize her dreams.

“As a high school senior I was doing the typical college search, but as soon as I heard about the Japan trips through the Elms, my search was over! When I was a student here, I went on Elms’ exchange trip to Kochi, Japan, and I fell in love with it there. I want to go back to Japan to live and work for a while.

“Right after graduation I moved to Japan to teach English, but I guess I just wasn’t ready for the whole experience, so I came home. Now I’m at a point where I know I’m ready and I can’t wait to get back. I’m hoping some of my old professors and Joyce Hampton (director of international programs) can offer some advice to help me.”

Once again, Ashley is hoping that Elms College will get her to where she wants to be.

Current Student Shares Elms Connections With Alumna Grandmother Current student Will Dziura ’11 could not wait for Homecoming to get here. Not only was he playing in the soccer game, his grandmother, Rosemary Tower Maloney ’47 would be in the stands watching him.

“She couldn’t wait to get back to campus.

When we talk, it always starts out with talk about Elms. It’s a connection we share. It’s common ground. And she loves telling me about her time here just as much as she loves hearing about my experiences here now.

“I was really excited to have my family on campus. To be here with her is a special time that we are fortunate enough to get to enjoy.

All the alumni bring their stories with them, and it gives current students a whole new perspective on our school.”

Editor’s note: As we went to press, we received word that Rosemary Tower Maloney ‘47 passed away on January 19. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Will, and the rest of their family.

Homecoming Featured Hall of Fame Induction

“As we get older and the reunions get smaller, we all realize that we should enjoy each other as long as we have time to enjoy each other,” said Mary, and Mike nodded in agreement.

Coming in Spring 2009: Uncommon Trust in God: The Recent History of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield

By Sister Kathleen Keating, SSJ Cost: $20.00, plus $4.00 shipping For information or to place prepaid orders, contact: Sr. Kathleen Keating Mont Marie 34 Lower Westfield Road Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 536-0853 ext. 408 kkeating@ssjspringfield.com

One feature of Homecoming and Family Weekend was the induction of three new members of the Elms College Athletic Hall of Fame. The inductees were: Damien Bradley ’02, a four-year member of the men’s basketball program and our first-ever male inductee; Tenielle Hill Langevin ’03, the women’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,612 points; and Tanya St. Germain Leja ’92, a member of both the field hockey and softball programs.

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Mary Dooley Lecture Series

Interdenominational Perspectives on St. Paul Promising a season of “stellar voices addressing important issues in contemporary theology,” Dr. Martin Pion, director of the Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies (ITPS) at Elms College, introduced the first event of the 22nd annual Mary Dooley Lecture Series on October 6, 2008.

“Therese turned to Paul for answers about life’s mysteries, and found them in Romans 9:14-16 when God said ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ What did Paul mean for Therese? As St. Augustine said, “one living spirit sets another on fire.”

An interactive panel discussion called “Perspectives on the life, thought, and writings of St. Paul,” the event featured views from Catholic, Episcopal, and Greek Orthodox clergy.

intention of persecuting the Christians there, but on the way, he had a life-changing vision of Jesus. With great zeal in his newfound faith in Christ, he became one of the two main contributors (with the apostle Peter) in the spreading of Christianity. Because of his work, Paul is recognized worldwide for his message of the ‘Good News,’ which was later partially encapsulated in the New Testament. He met his death (A.D.67) while a captive in Rome as a direct result of his message.

Featured speakers were Fr. Christopher Stamas, pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Springfield; Rev. James Munroe, Episcopal dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Springfield; and Dr. Elizabeth Carr, Roman Catholic chaplain at Smith and Amherst Colleges.

Fr. Christopher Stamas called the Orthodox Christian perspective on St. Paul “unique.”

“Greek Americans appreciate St. Paul as an example of the desire to fulfill the will of God. Self discipline and obedience are fundamental for Christians.”

“The gift here is the opportunity to reflect on the significance of St. Paul to different people,” Marty said. “New perspectives open up new doors and windows all over the place.”

The theme of St. Paul was chosen for the lecture series to tie in with The Pauline Year, being celebrated June 29, 2008 to June 29, 2009, as proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI in preparation for the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle’s birth.

Rev. James Munroe talked about Paul’s messages about grace and sin in Romans 7:1524: “For I do not understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate….Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Paul was born of Jewish descent in the early first century A.D. His family moved to the city of Jerusalem when he was a boy, and as he grew into a young man, he joined in violent attacks against the newly emerging Christian faith. According to the New Testament, he made a journey to Damascus with the

“When I read Paul, I find he tells the truth about my life,” Rev. Munroe said. “In Paul’s understanding of grace, I find finally a reason to get out of bed. Paul allows me to take the risk of being who I know myself to be.”

All three speakers agreed that the highlight of having this named the Pauline year was to promote interdenominational bible study, friendships, and learning.

Note: There will be another event in the Mary Dooley lecture series regarding Paul on March 18, 2009. Called “Reflections on St. Paul and the accomplishments of the Pauline year,” it will be delivered by Rev. Dr. Karl Donfried, professor emeritus at Smith College, and an ecumenical delegate to the Committee on Pauline Studies of the Vatican.

Dr. Elizabeth Carr talked about the influence of Paul on St. Therese Of Liseux.

Left to right: Rev. James Munroe, Dr. Elizabeth Carr, and Fr. Christopher Stamas at the Mary Dooley lecture. ©Xenophon A. Beake.

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Remembering Kristallnacht “It was 1938 in Cologne, Germany on a night to be known as Kristallnacht — the night of broken glass. Margot Roesberg was 15 years old and living a sheltered, cushioned life as the only daughter of loving parents in a community of extended family in a thriving and culturally rich city … and then Kristallnacht and the chaos that followed. The borders were closed and Margot never saw her parents again,” read Dr. Susan Goldman, chair of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, as she told Margot’s tragic story.

Dr. Goldman’s retelling of Margot’s story opened Elms College’s 70th Anniversary commemoration of Kristallnacht, the second installment in the 2008-2009 Mary Dooley Lecture Series held November 10, 2008.

Literally “Night off Crystal,” Kristallnacht Krista istallnacht is named for the sshards shattered hards of shatter ttered glass that lined German erman streets from m windows of synagogues, ogues, homes and Jewish-owned businesses sinesses plundered r and destroyed during ring the violence e of November 9 and 10, 0, 1938. Over the course of this one night, ight, 91 Jews we were murdered, and between tween 25 25,000 and 30,000 more were arrested ested and

sent to concentration camps as the world descended into its darkest hours.

Dr. Henry Knight, director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene College, was the evening’s guest speaker.

In his moving remarks, he asked his audience to consider before whom we stand as we reflected on human events such as Kristallnacht.

He reminded us that we — Christians and Jews alike — have been taught that when we stand in the presence of another person, we are, in essence, standing in the presence of God. Dr. Knight concluded by saying, “On this 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, we gather in mixed company – Jews and Christians, secular persons Chri Ch hrist stia ian n , se ns, ns secu cula lar ar pe pers rson onss an and d religious, gious, people o of prayer, people ople of conscience, conscienc ci people eople committed to shared-responsibility hared-responsibility lit for one another anot err and to t the he communities ties tthat bind ind them m to life. li As you look lo ok around oun at your neighbors, neigh rs, and a see the light in

their eyes, I invite you to ponder what is at stake in this night. What does it mean, really, to face your neighbor, to face the other before you? Know before whom you stand.”

Dr. Knight and Dr. Goldman were joined in leading this interfaith commemoration event by Rabbi Robert Sternberg, executive director of Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center in Springfield; Rabbi Micah BeckerKlein, spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavas Achim in Keene, New Hampshire; Cantor Morton Shames of Temple Beth El in Springfield; Imam Rasul Seifullah, leader of the al-Baqi Islamic Center in Springfield; Rev. Msgr. Chris Connelly, from the Diocese of Springfield; Sr. Claire Carter, a Buddhist nun from the Leverett Peace Pagoda; and Martin Pion, director Dr. Ma Dr M Mart rtin in P Pio ion n, d dir ireector of the Institute Studies at Elms of Theology T and Pastoral Stu College.

Co attendees at the After the closing prayer, att event perused a display of aauthentic World War II memorabilia.

Dr. Henry Knight and Dr. Susan Goldman Elms College Magazine Winter ter | 2008-2009

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Faculty and Staff News Patricia Moran Bombardier ’67, M.L.S., associate professor and director of the Alumnae Library, has been elected president of C/W MARS (Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing Network) for 2008-2009. This is a consortium of more than 140 multi-type libraries that circulate more than nine million items annually to over one million registered borrowers. She will be actively involved in advocating for the network at legislative events both locally and on the state level. The library has been a member of C/W MARS since 1984.

Katherine A. Currier, J.D., professor and director of paralegal and legal studies, has published the fourth edition of her acclaimed textbook, Introduction to Law for Paralegals.

Enhancements in the fourth edition include new or expanded coverage of contemporary issues such as domain names, email, and same-sex unions; and discussion of recently decided, high-profile cases on issues such as the use of racial criteria in school assignments, police use of excessive force, and habeas corpus in terrorism cases.

Christine Fay, Ph.D., associate professor of business management, presented a paper at the annual conference of the Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management in Orlando, Florida in October 2008. Based on research Christine conducted at four nonprofit organizations in 2005 for her dissertation, it showed that the organization’s social context had powerful effects on employees’ job satisfaction and on their feelings about the annual performance appraisal process.

Debra J. Gomes, M.S.L.S., M.S.C.I.M., associate librarian/ head of serials and systems, received a master’s degree in communications and information management from Bay Path College in May 2008. She also earned an M.S. in library science from Simmons College in 1991.

Joyce Hampton, M.Ed., director of ELL/international programs, made a presentation about our first year seminars at the ACCESS Coalition conference at Mount Ida College May 21, 2008.

Joyce also made a presentation entitled “Promoting Equity in Higher Education” on her doctoral research in Latino persistence issues in higher education at UMass School of Education’s Centennial Celebration June 14, 2008.

Efrosini “Efi” Kokaliari, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work, published an article in the September issue of NASW Focus, the publication of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, entitled “Understanding Non-suicidal Self-Injury.”

Efi also published an article entitled “Nonsuicidal self-injury among non-clinical college women” in Affilia: Journal of Women in Social Work, by Sage Publications in 2008.

Russell Powell, B.A., assistant director of public relations, kicked off “On Message,” the Chronicle of Higher Education’s new column on career issues in academic public relations.

The column, which appeared in the October 31, 2008 edition, was titled, “Training Your President to Meet the Press.” Russell will be an occasional contributor to “On Message.”

Cheryl Sheils, R.N., M.S., assistant professor of nursing, presented at UMassAmherst School of Education’s Centennial Celebration June 14, 2008 entitled “Promoting Equity in Higher Education.” The title of her presentation was “Latinos in the Pipeline to Baccalaureate Prepared Nursing: Challenges and Supports to Degree and Professional Licensure,” which is the area of research for her doctoral dissertation.

New Employees Carol A. Allan, SSJ has joined the college as campus minister.

Sr. Carol, who has been an adjunct faculty member at the Elms since 2003, had been program director of Rutledge House and Tranquility House for Open Pantry Community Services, Inc. in Springfield since 2004. Before that, she worked for the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office as a victim witness advocate in Holyoke District Court, and was community prosecution coordinator for the Hampden County Restorative Justice Program.

She earned a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in human development with emphasis on learning disabilities from Salve Regina University, and an M.A. in theology of justice and peace at Maryknoll School of Theology.

Karen Anti has been hired as director of the career center. Karen was formerly a career development specialist at Springfield College for six years, and worked at American International College for three years before that as a career counselor and assistant to the dean of students. She earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Trinity College in Hartford, and a master’s in education and student affairs administration from the University of Connecticut.

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Michelle Fernandes has been hired as an admissions counselor.

Michelle Fitzback has been hired as controller in the Business Office. Previously, Michelle had been the controller at Anna Maria College. She holds a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Anna Maria College.

Elizabeth Fogarty has joined the college as assistant director of residence life at Elms College.

She comes to us from Bay Path College, where she worked for the Office of Residence Life for three years.

A native of South Windsor, Connecticut, she graduated from Bay Path in May 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

Sheila Gisbrecht has been named interim head coach of the volleyball program. Coach Gisbrecht served as the assistant coach of Ohio Wesleyan University’s women’s volleyball program for the past 11 seasons. During her collegiate playing career, she was a four-year letter winner at Ohio Wesleyan, a three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection, and NCAC Player of the Year in 1994. She earned her bachelor’s degree with a teaching certification from Ohio Wesleyan in 1995.

Coach Gisbrecht later continued her volleyballplaying career in the Midwest Professional Volleyball Association. Also a four-year track and field letter winner, she was inducted into Ohio Wesleyan’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

Teresa Kosakowski has been hired as a housekeeper in Berchmans Hall. She worked as a personal care attendant and housekeeper for Homestaff in West Springfield for three years, and previous to that as a housekeeper at the Holyoke Mall. Teresa earned an associate’s degree from Greenfield Community College.

Janice Mahon has been hired as the accounts payable coordinator. For the past three years, Janice was the executive administrative assistant to the vice president of marketing and sales at C&S Wholesale Grocers in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Previously she worked for four years as an accounting clerk at U.S. Foodservice in South Windsor. Janice earned a business management certificate from Western New England College.

Ray Marcotte is the new head of reference at the Alumnae Library. He has worked since 2001 in circulation and reference in the library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and spent this past spring as the reference and instruction librarian in the Mason Library at Keene State College in New Hampshire.

He earned a master’s degree in library and information studies at the University of Rhode Island, and also holds a master’s in teaching secondary English from the University of New Hampshire. A certified Kripalu yoga instructor, Ray has begun teaching Hatha Yoga at the Maguire Center.

Kevin McDonnell has been hired as a safety officer.

Melva McLaurin has been hired as the administrative assistant in the Alumni Office.

She has worked in higher education for more than 30 years. She retired from UMass in 1999 after 20 years of service as statewide coordinator in UMass Extension directing a program that served low-income families with young children. Since her retirement, she has worked part-time at several area colleges.

Melva holds a B.S. in human services from New Hampshire College in Manchester, and an M.Ed. in administration/management from Cambridge College in Northampton.

Carol Mulcahy has been hired as the academic assistant for the Business and Law Division. She was previously a sales representative at the Music and Arts Center, and has worked as a summer camp counselor and coordinator for Marblehead Park and Recreation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in writing, communications, and rhetoric from UMassDartmouth.

Andrea Neill has been hired as a human resources generalist. For the past eight years, she has been the benefits administrator at Balise Motor Sales, and for seven years before that was a human resources consultant at Kaiser Permanente/CHP in Holyoke.

She earned a B.S. in business administration and an M.B.A. from American International College. Andrea is an associate member of the Human Resources Management Association of Western New England.

Danielle L. Rex has been hired as a safety officer. She earned a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice this year from Westfield State College. In 2007, she worked as a correctional officer in the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, and in 2006 she was a police cadet at UMass Amherst. She is a graduate of the western Massachusetts basic reserve intermittent police academy training.

Danielle also has coached youth basketball and soccer.

Liz M. Rivera has been hired as a financial aid assistant. She previously worked as an office associate for Habit Opco, Inc. in Springfield, and as an assistant and medical records coordinator at the MVA Center for rehabilitation at Mercy Hospital in Springfield.

Liz earned an associate’s degree in secretarial science at Humacao Community College in Puerto Rico.

Joe Vickless has joined the college as a marketing communications specialist. Joe has been a communications associate for Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C. for the past two years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a double minor in psychology and classical studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Promotions and Job Changes Jessica Gruszkos is the new mail and document services assistant. Jess has worked at Elms College for the past eight years as a safety officer.

Trudy Laramee is the new office assistant in Student Services. For the past year, Trudy was the administrative assistant to the president and institutional marketing, and for three years before that, she was the college’s accounts receivable clerk.

Dianna Pisano has been promoted to manager of mail and document services. Dianna has been with the Elms since 2002, most recently as document services consultant, and formerly as purchasing coordinator and switchboard operator.

Russell Powell has begun a new position as assistant director of public relations in the Institutional Marketing Department, and as assistant coach of the cross country teams.

Russell had been the college’s marketing communications specialist since February.

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Social Work: A Focus on Justice, Caring, and Compassion 1982. It is the oldest accredited undergraduate social work program in western Massachusetts, and is widely known and respected for training excellent social workers.

Social Workers: committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the enhancement of the quality of life, and to the development of the full potential of each individual.

Social work is the third most popular undergraduate major at Elms College, a fact that is no surprise to the faculty in that department.

“Social work is an incredibly rewarding profession focused on human rights and social justice,” said professor Efrosini Kokaliari, Ph.D. “Our department has grown incredibly over the last few years, which is an indicator of how young people are attuned to the problems our society faces, and also how much social workers are needed.”

Social workers are employed in settings such as hospitals, courts, mental health agencies, child welfare and correctional settings, for political offices, and international settings, such as the United Nations. There is a growing need for professionals in the field, according to department director, Mary Brainerd, Ph.D. “We currently have about 100 students in our program, and they are eligible to sit for the Licensed Social Worker (LSW) exam immediately upon graduation with a bachelor’s degree,” she said. “We’ve seen about 85 percent of our graduates employed in the field within months of graduation, and about 40 percent go on to grad school part or full time.”

Our social work program has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since

Social Work Program Mission The social work program, as does the college, exists for the pursuit of truth; the accurate transmission of knowledge; the general wellbeing of society; and the personal, spiritual, and intellectual development of its students. Students will be educated to work for a humane, just, multicultural society and world community, while upholding the traditions, values, and ethics of the social work profession.

The social work program is unique for four main reasons, Mary said: a commitment to diversity, an international focus, a strong orientation to the political arena, and research opportunities for students.

“Many of our students have done international placements in Ireland, and we have the potential for placements in Greece and Poland, and all three of our faculty members have taught internationally,” she said.

In terms of politics, “we make sure our students understand policy development, and are able to use the political process to work for socially and economically just policy,” she said.

Diversity issues are incorporated into every course, and several courses are offered in subjects such as human oppression and cultural understanding.

Professor Kokaliari is very involved in social work research, Mary said, and often includes her students in her research projects. “She and her students have made very impressive presentations on their research findings in the areas of self injury and suicide in high school students,” she said. “Students learn to evaluate research studies, apply research findings to practice, and evaluate their own practice interventions and program effectiveness.”

Double Major Besides the bachelor’s degree in social work, the department offers a double major in Spanish and social work in conjunction with the Humanities Division.

“Our double major in Spanish and social work will prepare students for social work practice serving Latino populations – an area that is underserved – by developing their language skills and deepening their cultural understanding,” Mary said.

Because the profession of social work gives high priority to practitioners who speak Spanish and have an understanding of Hispanic culture, this degree offers the student many opportunities for employment, she said.

Also offered is a 27-credit early childhood concentration within the social work major.

“This option improves the social worker’s skills in working with children,” Mary said.

“It’s wonderful how well social work and our program meshes with the values of the college,” Mary said. “As an institution and as a profession, our focus is on justice, caring, and compassion.”

Social Work Faculty Mary Brainerd, social work program director and professor of social work M.S.W., Smith College Ph.D., Boston College Mary Brainerd has been teaching at Elms College for 18 years. Her social work practice experience is in the areas of mental health and developmental disabilities, and she works with individuals, couples, families, and groups. Dr. Brainerd has a strong interest in international social work and has participated in a faculty exchange in Northern Ireland.

Scott Hartblay, associate professor of social work B.A., Boston University M.S.W., West Virginia University Professor Hartblay’s experience includes work in community and program planning, public welfare, community centers, mental health centers, psychiatric hospitals, and school social work. His interests include social work history, issues of oppression and discrimination, civil rights, social justice issues, government and public policy, and the development of values and ethics in social work students. He is interested in international social work, and has taught in Poland, Lithuania, and Northern Ireland.

Efrosini Kokaliari, field director, assistant professor of social work B.A., Technological University of Patras (Greece) B.A., University of Hertsfordshire (U.K.) M.S.W., University of Portsmouth (U.K.)/ Hogeschoolf Utrecht-Holland M.A., Tavistock Clinic (London) Ph.D., Smith College School of Social Work Dr. Kokaliari grew up and studied in Greece. In 2001, she moved to the United States to earn a doctorate in clinical social work from Smith College. Dr. Kokaliari specialized in clinical social work with a focus on psychodynamic, psychoanalytic theory. She has worked in several mental health settings in Greece, England, and the United States.

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A Seamless Life

Social Work Professor Mary Brainerd Lives Her Values

By Russell Powell

Teacher, social worker, gardener, baker, grandmother, colleague. Mary Brainerd is all of these, and brings to each role energy and a deep sense of compassion born of personal experience.

Take her sugar cookies. Growing up in York, Pennsylvania, Mary’s family — which included nine younger brothers and sisters — was so poor that once or twice a month they couldn’t afford enough food. So her mother would bake sugar cookies, and Mary and her younger brother went downtown and sold them, six for a quarter.

Today Mary, an Elms professor of social work for the past 18 years, continues the tradition of baking sugar cookies, and enters them annually at the fair in Blandford, where she lives with her husband Donald, maintains a huge garden, and takes care of her four grandchildren.

“Her interest in baking, like her gardening, is symbolic,” says Sr. Kathleen Reagan, professor of sociology. “It’s a life-giving activity, not just a hobby. Nourishing life is part of who she is, accepting the beauty and diversity of creation.

“There’s a consistency in her faith and how she leads her life, and Elms benefits from that.”

Mary’s interest in social work and teaching, like her baking, is a natural outgrowth of her upbringing. “As the oldest of 10 children,” she says, “teaching was my role in the family.”

Her parents were foster parents for Catholic Charities, “so we were always having foster kids and social workers in our house.”

From social worker to professor Mary helped start the psychiatric unit at Noble Hospital in Westfield, one of the first of its kind in the region, and worked there for 10 years prior to joining Elms. Her transition from social worker to professor was a gradual process.

Mary Brainerd and her husband Donald accompanied student Rachel Guidi ‘09 and alumna Carmela Isabella ‘04 on a service trip to West Virginia.

She provided in-service training to nurses on topics like stress management, problemsolving, and communication skills at Noble, and served as an advisor to graduate students completing internships from schools like Boston College and the University of Connecticut. When she learned of an opening for an adjunct position at Elms, she applied, and combined teaching with a private psychotherapy practice she started in Westfield. When a full-time position opened up, she was hired, and has been at Elms ever since.

Mary’s main goal is to help students think critically and become more self-aware of who they are, “and what they bring to the learning process.” She loves to see the transformations that are common in her Elms experience.

“When I compare students in their first year taking ‘Introduction to Social Work’ and then ‘Survey of Social Work Issues’ as seniors, I observe that those who appear the weakest at first often become the strongest.”

The Elms social work program is popular among undergraduates — currently there are close to 100 social work majors on campus.

But Mary is also excited by the growth of the Elms Weekend College program in social work.

“Many social workers with associate degrees, often bilingual and bicultural, are stuck in their professions, and underpaid,” Mary says.

“By coming to Elms to earn a bachelor’s degree, they are better positioned to earn a socially just wage.”

These students, she says, who are already working in the field, quickly pick up on Elms’s commitment to social justice. “Our emphasis on social justice issues is definitely unusual for social work programs,” Mary says. Many undergraduate social work students come to appreciate this commitment over the course of their Elms career, but Mary also often meets parents at admission open houses who are looking for a social justice component in the colleges they are considering with their son or daughter.

A tireless advocate “Mary is like the baseball player who hits the winning home run and then says, ‘the team played great,’” says John Lambdin, professor of psychology and chair of the Division of Social Sciences.

Counseling and social work professionals are trained to listen, says John, “but as teachers you have to make judgments. Mary listens to her students patiently so that they feel as if they have been completely heard, but she makes the tough decisions that have to be made, and delivers them in a sensitive and persuasive way.”

Scott Hartblay, associate professor of social work, who has worked with Mary longer than any of her social work colleagues, agrees.

“She really wants to train social workers.

Beneath that nice exterior she doesn’t pull any punches. She listens to students, but tells them what they need to hear.”

There is a seamlessness to Mary’s life that extends beyond the classroom or kitchen or garden; just as a number of her students are following in the footsteps of their social worker parents, social work — and teaching — run through Mary’s personal as well as professional life. Her son, Larry, and daughterin-law, Lisa, are both social workers for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (her other child, Terra, is a massage therapist). Mary’s husband, Donald, who earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Elms in 2003, recently retired from Cathedral High School, where he taught health and chemistry.

To her colleagues, the interconnectedness of Mary’s life makes sense, and is anchored by her values. “She tries to embody what she talks about,” says John Lambdin. “There’s no pretense. But it is the opportunity to help people really begin to grow and change that draws her to the professions of teaching and social work.”

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In the Field

Social Work Students Find West Virginia Internship An Eye-Opener

By Alan Gelb

Spending a semester working with the rural poor of West Virginia proved to be both a challenge and a life-changer for Elms seniors Rachel Guidi, Alicia Duffy, and Laura Personette. These three students, each pursuing a degree in social work, used fall semester 2008 to fulfill their department’s 400-hour internship requirement. However, the commitment that was involved and the growth that resulted from this experience goes far beyond hours clocked, as these young women encountered a culture whose strengths and needs were eye-opening.

Both Rachel and Laura had previously visited West Virginia on Elms service trips. “Our students have been going to the state for the past six years at Christmas time, working with the Passionist Volunteers,” says Sister Maureen Kervick, interim vice president for student affairs, who serves on the Passionists’ board of directors.

Elms students also work with Passionist Volunteers Alicia Duffy works in the St. Vincent de Paul Society food pantry alongside another volunteer.

International (PVI), spending spring break in Jamaica and Honduras, where they tutor and help with construction projects. “Community service is a requirement at Elms,” explains Sister Maureen. “Our nursing students do community outreach. A number of business students are out there helping the elderly with their taxes. Our education students are tutoring. That is the Elms way.”

Empathy instead of sympathy In preparation for their semester in West Virginia, Rachel, Alicia, and Laura worked closely with their field advisor, social work professor Efrosini (Efi) Kokaliari. “We had to do a project videotaping ourselves interviewing people,” says Laura, “so we would be sure that whoever we worked with would be able to understand what we were trying to do.

Professor Kokaliari talked to us about having empathy instead of sympathy, and stressed the importance of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.”

For Rachel, a key part of the preparation was looking at the trip in the overall context of the social work code of ethics. “It’s all about valuing people and treating them with respect,” she says.

The three young women further benefited from the fact that Dr. Mary Brainerd, director of Elms’ social work program, had also been on service trips with the Passionists over the years and could help the students understand the Passionists’ prevailing message. “The Passionists believe it is always more important to focus on being present for people, to really listen to them and hear what they have to say, than to focus only on the work itself,” says Mary.

Arriving in West Virginia, Rachel, Alicia, and Laura encountered daunting economic conditions. “This is the heart of Appalachia,” says the students’ supervisor, Arnie Simonse, a faculty member at Mountain State University and director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Pineville, West Virginia. “There is a 40 percent poverty rate here. We’ve lost almost half our population and virtually the entire middle class. This area is spectacularly beautiful and the people are kind and friendly.

It would be lovely if there were jobs. But coal mining is highly mechanized these days and to get a good job, you have to be skilled. There are no more pick and shovel miners.”

A collaborative spirit The Elms students worked in a number of capacities. Joining into the collaborative spirit of the social service agencies of the area, Laura, Alicia, and Rachel lived in the Passionist Volunteer House, but interned under the aegis of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

They worked with the Society’s Food Pantry, which is a mainstay of the community, feeding some 350 to 400 households a month and providing housewares and clothing as well.

On behalf of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the students made home visits, during which they assessed specific needs. “A person might say that he or she needs a couch,” Alicia reports, “but while we were there we’d check to see if there was enough food or if the person needed dental or health care.” These visits became opportunities to listen and hear.

“Things are slower paced here and much more personal,” says Arnie, who first came to the area from Washington, D.C. as a full-time Passionist volunteer. “When you go out to meet a family, you don’t just talk about the sinking bathroom floor, but about the person’s children or whatever else they want you to know about them.”

Rachel, Laura, and Alicia also visited schools and helped organize food drives, working with a Vista volunteer.

They helped to launch a furniture drive, which they promoted with radio spots.

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They also researched foundations and other agencies that can help fund the food pantry, as the number of families needing provisions is increasing while government support is on the wane.

Keeping up with classes online All through the semester, Rachel, Alicia, and Laura were able to continue their social work studies, participating online in classes at Elms.

“We gave them a camera and microphone so they could join in our weekly three-hour advanced practice class,” says Efi. They also kept journals and collaborated on a research project relating to their work.

The experience, which concluded in December, influenced the way the three students are thinking about their future. “I now see how important policy-making is,” says Alicia.

Laura too is interested in the policy end of social work, as well as doing play therapy with children.

For Rachel, her experiences in West Virginia have altered the way she sees our nation.

“I find it personally shocking to live in the United States and learn that there are people without running water,” she says.

Arnie Simonse, director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Pineville and the students’ supervisor, with his interns from the Elms, Laura Personette, Alicia Duffy, and Rachel Guidi.

But what is perhaps most significant to these students is recognizing how this experience pulls together all the elements of their learning. “The mission of Elms College and the mission of social work are so similar,” Mary Brainerd points out.

Both the college and the social work code of ethics attempt to instill in students an appreciation of the beauty, integrity, and potential of all human beings, and their time in West Virginia offered Rachel, Laura, and Alicia an invaluable opportunity to learn these lessons.

Rachel Guidi and Kathy Simonse, wife of the students’ supervisor, work in the food pantry.

Alicia Duffy, Laura Personette, and Rachel Guidi arrive in West Virginia for their semester of social work internships.

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The Politics of Social Work For Carmela Isabella ’04 and Jason Ostrander ’04, politics are central to a social work agenda One is from New York City, the other from rural western Massachusetts. But Carmela Isabella ’04 and Jason Ostrander ’04 are hardly worlds apart. The two social work majors, both transfer students, became political activists together at the Elms. Their study of social work culminated in internships for Carmela with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Jason, with Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.).

Since graduating, Carmela and Jason have gone on to work for Clinton and Olver, respectively, and worked on several presidential campaigns together.

The seeds for Jason’s interest in social work come from his childhood in Great Barrington.

His single mother had to work as many as three jobs to keep the family afloat. Jason had to plan for his future with “no one helping me to do basic things, like take my SAT exams.”

He wanted to be someone who understood and could help people in circumstances like his own. After earning his associate’s degree in human services at Berkshire Community College, he transferred to Elms.

His goal was to become a psychotherapist.

But in his first year at Elms, he found himself paying close attention to politics, particularly “how policies affect the people I was hoping to serve.”

Like Jason, Carmela’s interest in social work is based in personal experience. After graduating from a business high school in New York in 1990, she went straight to work. “At that time,” Carmela says, “I didn’t need a college degree to get a job.” But she found herself taking time off from work to go on field trips with her church youth group and to volunteer on youth retreats at St. Gabriel’s Spiritual Center for Youth, on Shelter Island, New York. “That’s where I met Sr. Maureen Kervick (currently acting vice president of student affairs).”

In 1997 Carmela went to work at St. Gabriel’s, and spent two years living on the premises, conducting overnight retreats for high school students. During this time, Sr. Maureen introduced Carmela to Carla Oleska (then associate academic dean at Elms), who suggested that Carmela “stop working in the business world and go to college so I could get a job working with teenagers.”

Carla helped Carmela get over the fear of starting college at age 27, “and we agreed that social work would be the best fit for me.

The dropout rate among high school students in New York City was more than 50 percent — including my younger sister. A social work degree would help me deal with teenagers’

Carmela Isabella ‘04 with Senator Hilla ry Rodham Clinton

emotions and help them stay in school.”

After earning her associate degree at Nassau Community College, Carmela transferred to Elms. “I am forever grateful to Sr. Maureen and Carla for their guidance. I wouldn’t be where I am today, or have experienced what I have experienced without them.”

A transformative time During their time at the Elms, Jason and Carmela transformed the social work program.

“Carmela and I were part of a group of five

Politics as Community It’s not just social work majors who have found politics to be a powerful way to work with people and influence change. Brothers Paul “P.J.” (’03) and Ryan (’05) Cooney both majored in business management at the Elms, and both have been involved in politics since they graduated. But their political expression is more about their interest in community than vocation.

P.J. Cooney

P.J. and Ryan come from a political family.

Their uncle, Kevin O’Sullivan, was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1986 to 1994. Another uncle, Timothy J. Cooney, Jr., was mayor of Worcester in 1987.

P.J. has been engaged in every community in which he has lived. He worked on the successful campaign of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in 2006, and was “very active” in the Barack Obama presidential campaign this fall, doing door-to-door canvassing, engaging people around the candidate and issues.

A mutual fund wholesaler for John Hancock, he recently moved to Cleveland, Ohio, from South Boston. Though he is “passionate” about politics, P.J. says, “what I thought would be a career has become more of a hobby. I’m more civic-minded these days.

“I’ve gotten so much out of my volunteering — there’s nothing else like the friendships and camaraderie that come from working on a campaign. For people who have played sports, it’s like being on a team.”

A political sociology course at Elms he took with Sr. Kay Reagan, professor of sociology,

galvanized P.J.’s political and civic interests, and he considers the Elms “a special place — nurturing, warm, a welcoming community.”

The lifeblood of the school, he says, is its faculty and staff. “Without them, the heart doesn’t beat, so to speak.”

Since graduating, Ryan, too, has worked on several political campaigns, including Timothy P. Murray’s successful run for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 2006. In 2008, he spent several months working for Sen. John Kerry’s reelection campaign.

“I enjoy talking with and meeting new people, and campaign events,” says Ryan, who still lives in Worcester, where he and P.J. grew up. In addition to canvassing and setting up events, he has also worked on fundraising and compliance issues. “Political campaigns are a great way to be involved and build community,” he says.

The Cooneys’ interest in the Elms can be traced to their grandmother, Elms alumna Marjorie Smith Burns ’44, who, coincidentally, was roommates with the Dooley sisters, Eleanor and Mary, the former Elms president for whom the college center is named.

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social work students who re-activated the Student Social Work Organization,” says Jason.

“We organized bake sales, had Columbus Day renamed because of his destruction of native peoples, organized to have classes banned from ‘taking over’ computer labs because it prevented commuter and other students from having access, and worked with other groups to organize a peace rally after September 11.”

They both served on the social work advisory board and took part in the social work program’s accreditation process.

director. In 2006, she went to George Mason University to earn her master of social work degree. She joined Clinton’s presidential campaign in September 2007, and spent 10 months traveling to Iowa, Nevada, New York, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

As seniors, Carmela and Jason decided they wanted to do internships with politicians. All social work majors are required to complete internships, but the idea of doing one with a politician was unprecedented. Nevertheless, the Elms magic kicked in for Jason: of the more than 10 letters of support sent to Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) on his behalf, half came from people at Elms College — unsolicited. He got the internship.

“The election was personal for many people.

My social work training allowed me to develop professional relationships with voters and train my staff to provide answers that wouldn’t have occurred to us otherwise. In addition to describing Hillary’s stance on an issue, my volunteers and I were able to offer voters concrete resolutions — places to go and things to do to get help.”

Carmela decided to intern in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Washington, D.C., office.

“She is my senator in New York,” Carmela says, “and that’s where I wanted to work with innercity teenagers. I figured this would be where I could learn about the system.”

Carmela says it was difficult for her to be away from her family and friends for such a long time, but “Hillary took care of that, whether it was hosting a Mother’s Day call for our moms, making sure we were taken care of for the holidays, or having a party at her home in D.C. after the campaign.”

She will never forget their first encounter.

“She was coming out of an elevator as a coworker and I were about to enter it. Hillary was talking on her cell phone, surrounded by staffers and Secret Service. But as she passed us, she put her cell phone on hold to acknowledge and thank us for the work we were doing.”

Still involved in politics, Carmela works for a not-for-profit organization in Washington, D.C., where she currently resides. She wants to move more into the community, working with an elected official, perhaps. There are a lot of options in social work, she says.

“Whatever I do, I want to be more involved with people.”

Her internship taught Carmela that government — federal, state, and local — is more involved in the social work profession than she had imagined. She decided that in addition to practicing social work, she wanted to educate social workers about the importance of politics and their profession.

“Many social workers work in systems and agencies legislated and funded by the government, and human services have been underfunded in recent years. Every social worker in every field of practice needs to know basic information about politics and the political process. We need to know the issues, and instead of getting frustrated, get involved.”

Thanks to Professor Brainerd Jason and Carmela credit social work professor Mary Brainerd with helping them to add a political perspective to the social work program.

“Mary Brainerd was the reason why Jason and I were able to accomplish what we did,” says Carmela. “We made our case on why social workers need to be involved in politics with Mary and the advisory board; she literally changed the curricula so we could do our placement in a political office as well as get our social work credits.”

After graduating from the Elms, Carmela worked in Clinton’s senate office in New York City, assisting the constituent services

“Working on this campaign was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Carmela says.

“I met people from all walks of life, was in contact with voters on a daily basis, and spent a lot of time with Senator Clinton.

Jason does not know where his career will go next, but he sees himself staying in politics, possibly running for elective office one day.

Carmela and Jason remain good friends.

“We make a point to email, call, or visit each other when in Massachusetts, D.C., or New York,” says Jason. Over the years, they have campaigned together for Democratic presidential hopefuls Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton in Iowa, New York, and Ohio. They return to the Elms campus to speak to the “Introduction to Social Work” class each year.

“We both have a political, social work, and political social work itch inside of us,” says Carmela.

“Our friendship started at Elms and together we took a political path,” says Jason. “We may be heading through different doors, but our education at Elms enabled us to succeed.”

Economic development Jason is now a member of Olver’s staff. He began as a caseworker and now is an economic development specialist in the congressman’s Pittsfield office. He works with politicians and municipal officials, governmental organizations, localities, nonprofits and corporations, evaluating their project proposals to determine which ones are worthy.

He loves that he is “out and about in the communities and learning about projects,” such as the much-needed revitalization of downtown Pittsfield. “Making the connections between things like the structure of roads and economic development is fascinating,” he says.

“Done well, something as seemingly innocuous as the landscaping along a sidewalk can help attract visitors and create a better climate for business.”

Jason Ostrander ‘04 with Massachusetts Representative John Olver.

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Following in Their Footsteps

By Russell Powell

Brittany McNeill ’11 was inspired by both of her parents - Richard McNeill ’06, who earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing at the Elms and now works as a nurse at the Northampton Veterans Administration Medical Center, and her mother, Marie, who has a master’s of social work degree and works as a case manager for registered sex offenders for the state Department of Mental Health.

Juan Galdon ’11 and his mother Millie Santana, who works in Springfield determining eligibility for and distributing food stamps.

Some students arrive at Elms knowing exactly what they want to study, while others need a year or two of coursework to see their academic and career interests develop. A number of social work majors are simply following in their parents’ footsteps, inspired by their examples.

Juan Galdon ’11 “She’s my hero,” says Juan Galdon ’11 about his mother, Millie Santana. Millie, who lives in Holyoke, works in Springfield determining eligibility for and distributing food stamps.

“She is always helping people out, working with people,” says Juan.

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Daniel Fallon ’11 and his mother, Mary Quirk Fallon, who is a supervisor for the family resource unit at the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) office in Holyoke.

Juan loves the social work program at Elms.

He was especially moved by an adoption party he attended this fall at the Boys and Girls Club in Westfield. Juan and other volunteers served as big brothers to the foster children in attendance. “It was really sad,” Juan says.

“The older children know what they are there for. It makes me want to work harder to change people’s lives.”

Like her mother, Brittany wants to get her master’s degree and go into counseling. She is interested in mental health issues, and has worked at Riverside Industries in Easthampton, providing direct care to patients as part of the agency’s relief staff. “I work well with people with disabilities,” she says.

Brittany McNeill ’11

Caytlin Woodtke ’11, is from Vernon, Connecticut. Her mother, Margaret Woodtke, is a clinical social worker with a private practice, specializing in eating disorders. Before she started her own practice, she was a social worker at Vernon Center Middle School in Vernon, Connecticut.

Margaret Woodtke earned her bachelor’s degree at Eastern Connecticut State University and her master’s degree at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. “She is a dedicated and amazing woman who I look up to every day of my life. I hope someday to take over her practice,” said Caytlin.

Brittany McNeill ’11, of Southampton, got to know Elms College when her father, Richard McNeill ’06, was studying for his bachelor of science degree in nursing. She came to events on campus and fell in love with the college. Her dad now works as a nurse at the Northampton Veterans Administration Medical Center, while Brittany’s mother, Marie, works as a case manager for registered sex offenders for the state Department of Mental Health. Marie McNeill has a master’s of social work degree, and previously worked in the psychiatric ward at Holyoke Hospital and as a counselor for ServiceNet, the largest human service and mental health agency in western Massachusetts.

Her parents have always put their work first, Brittany says, and they care a lot about what they do. “My mom has done quite a lot. I give her a lot of credit for it,” she adds. Brittany has known for some time that she wanted to go into human services, because “there are so many directions I can take in social work. It’s a good field for me.”

Caytlin Woodtke ’11

Caytlin’s interest in social work was strengthened by a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico, with her church. “I decided that I wanted to be able to help people and

give them the tools and strength to know how to better their own lives.”

She wants to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and then work at the Hartford Children’s Hospital as a social worker for families of children with fatal diseases.

Daniel Fallon ’11 Daniel Fallon’s ’11 mother, Mary Quirk Fallon, is a supervisor for the family resource unit at the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) office in Holyoke. The DCF is the Massachusetts state agency charged with the responsibility of protecting children from child abuse and neglect.

She has worked for the DCF for 24 years. When Daniel enrolled at Elms, he was an education and history double major. “But I love social work,” he says of his decision to change majors. “My mom encouraged me and felt I would make a strong social worker,” he says.

He was involved in several community service projects in high school, including a backpack drive held each year for students who couldn’t afford them. The backpacks — 300 or 400 a year — were then stuffed with books.

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Alumni Association The Importance of Our Alumni Dear Fellow Alumni, In the last issue of Elms Magazine, I noted a variety of outreach methods to alumni this year. You – we – are important to Elms College. They have asked for us to share our views and voices, and I hope you will remain or become engaged with Elms this year.

Thank you to those who took part in last summer’s alumni activities, to those of you who responded with nominations for the Via Veritatis Medal and Distinguished Alumni Award, as well as those of you who indicated interest in serving on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Please continue to submit nominations. It is important for us to have a deep pool of candidates to select the individual who best meets the award criteria and to have the eight decades of Elms alumni represented on the Board.

I hope many of you will also respond in support of the priorities of Elms Five Funds for Excellence. I know each of us has particular interests and reasons that encourage us to give back to Elms, which has given us so much.

Throughout this edition of Elms Magazine, you’ll read articles about alumni; see the groups of alumni (and some parents) who gathered at nine events through out the summer; gain a sense of the growth of Elms when reading about program s, faculty, and students on campus. I hope that seeing the Homecoming and Family Weekend photos and stories will inspire you to reach out to classmates, especially those of you in a reunion year. Reunion in May is primarily for Elms classes ending in 5s and 9s, but all alumni are welcome.

I hope many of you will plan to participate in Career Day in March 18.

It is important for our students to realize the careers and paths Elms graduates have taken, inspiring them to pursue their hopes and dreams. Your contact with students now will help them realize the opportunities – and responsibilities – of the alumni they will become in the next one to four years.

Yours in Our Ladyy of the Elms,

Judith Riordan ’60

President, Alumni Association

Alumni Association Board of Directors, 2008-2009 ’69, Joyce Back row, left to right: Teri Marchese Sergentanis ’69, Suzanne Frennier Bonnie ’75, Walczak ki Zajchows Eileen ’57, Decorie Calderella Lorita ’55, Doyle ’68, Anne Monachelli Stevens ’74, Mena De Carvalho ’75, Toni Scibelli DiMichele lin ’66, Judith Di Santis King ’93, Patricia Devine ’83, Anne McTiernan McLaugh ’61, alumni relations director Peggy Dwyer Clark ’65, Mary Jane Cameron Sheehan ’68, Carol McKenna Burke ’60, Linda Kaczmarczyk ’71, Martha Noonan Murtaugh Kathi Carduff ’97, Terry Cachet Sawicki ’65, Carol Brodeur Bardzik ’62.

Hayes Middle row, left to right: Patricia Gorman Kuralowicz ’02, Mary O’Malley Broderick Rosemary ’65, Long Holland Rae ’03, Flynn Darcy ’50, Rita Rodden ’44, McGrath O’Connor ’60, Judy Riordan ’60, Barbara Gregory ’48, Sr. Margaret James Reagan.

Kathleen Sr. ’60, Perry Lussier ’44, Anita Front row, left to right: Donna Duval ’80, Patrick Carpenter ’02, Meg Benoit ’04, Beturne ’99, Carmela Isabella ’04, Kristin Irey Reardon ’03, Jason Ostrander ent. developm of director senior Baker, Patricia McGrath ’74, and Debbie ’02, Ellen Not pictured: Jean Brigham ’69, Maria Cardaropoli ’01, Martha Deusser ’09.

Wickman Julie ’68, Whitman Riley Baker Doyle ’51, Kathryn

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Alumni Calendar 2009 After Work Social

Alumni Association Governance Task Force Update Last year, the Alumni Association established a governance task force to develop a new constitution and bylaws for the organization, and they are making good progress. The group has met several times since the spring, and have accomplished several foundational steps, including: · Conducted four focus groups with local alumni · Identified seven benchmark institutions, and looked at their boards, bylaws, and programs · Studied articles on alumni associations provided through CASE · Met with alumni directors and board members from Western New England College, University of Hartford, Mount Holyoke College, Clark University, and Smith College Alumni Association board members will review a draft of the proposed new constitution and bylaws at the February board meeting. All alumni will be asked to vote on the bylaws and a new slate of directors and officers at the alumni annual meeting at Reunion in May.

February 19 (Thursday) Piccadilly Pub, West Springfield 4-6 p.m.

Elms College Family Hockey Night February 20 (Friday) Springfield Falcons v. Lowell 6 p.m. - Pregame reception at McCaffrey’s Pub, 1171 Main Street, Springfield 7:30 p.m. - game Cost: $28 For more information: 413-265-2227

Red Sox Spring Training Game in Florida March 1 (Sunday) Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers 11:30 a.m. – Pregame picnic at the stadium 1:05 p.m. – Red Sox game v. Minnesota Twins Cost: $32

Spring Break Service Trips March 9-15 (Monday through Sunday) Students and staff will travel to Jamaica, Honduras, and New Orleans to perform community service.

Alumni Career Mentoring Day March 18 (Wednesday)

Mary Dooley Lecture Series: “Reflections on St. Paul” March 18 (Wednesday) Rev. Dr. Karl Donfried Alumnae Library Theater 7:30 p.m.

President’s Reception for Accepted Students March 28 (Saturday)

Law Day: An Insider’s View of the Legal System

All alumni, spouses, and friends are welcome at all events.

For further information on any of these events, call Peggy Clark in the Alumni Office at 413-265-2227.

First Thursday Masses In memory of deceased alumni, members of the Elms College community, and their family members.

PLEASE NOTE: The masses will now be held on the first Thursday of the month, instead of the first Friday.

Our Lady’s Chapel, 12:15 p.m.

February 5 (Holy Name Chapel), March 5 (Holy Name Chapel), April 2, May 7

Monthly Luncheons for Alumni

April 17 (Friday) Invited high school and Elms College students have the rare opportunity to hear about a “real case” from the viewpoint of the police, prosecution, defense attorneys, and judges. A panel of legal experts will debate how a recent case should have been handled from the time the defendant was arrested until the case ultimately ended up in front of the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston.

Honors Convocation April 19 (Sunday)

Mary Dooley Lecture Series: “Care for God’s Creation” April 21 (Tuesday) Dr. Dan Misleh Alumnae Library Theater 7:30 p.m.

Munich Haus, Chicopee Center Wednesdays, 12 noon: February 4, March 4, April 1, May 6, June 3, July 1, August 5, September 2, October 7, November 4, December 2

Spring Open House for Prospective Students

Alumni Association Board Meetings

Berkshire Chapter Liturgy and Breakfast

February 15 (Sunday) April 5 (Sunday)

April 28 (Tuesday)

Alumni Basketball Games

May 1-3 (Friday-Sunday)

January 31 (Saturday) Maguire Center Men’s game: 9:30 a.m.

Women’s game: 10:30 a.m.

Luncheon: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Baccalaureate

Concert by Music Legend Richie Havens

Student Exchange Trip to Japan

February 7 (Saturday)

May 19-June 5 Students will visit Kyoto and Kochi for study and travel. For more information, contact Joyce Hampton at 413-265-2423 or Anne Harrison at 413-265-3578.

Winter Open House for Prospective Students February 7 (Saturday) (Snow date February 14)

April 25 (Saturday)

New York City Bus Trip April 25 (Saturday)

Reunion Weekend

May 16 (Saturday)

Commencement May 17 (Sunday)

Business and Law Division Trip to the European Union May 22-30 Students and faculty members will discover the origins and future of the EU, as they travel through Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France visiting major EU governing bodies such as the European Central Bank, the European Parliament, and the European Commission.

Social Work Department Trip to Greece May 24-June 4 Trip participants will visit the islands of Crete and Santorini, learn about Greek culture, and participate in a stress management seminar with therapist Elena Volpe. Students who register can receive three credits for the trip. The price is $3,100, which includes all transportation, airfare, accommodations, breakfasts, all dinners, and the stress management seminar. Space is limited. For more information, contact Dr. Efi Kokaliari at 413-265-2305.

Red Sox Game at Fenway Park July 25 (Saturday) Watch the Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles.

Irish Film Series Free and open to the public.

7:00 p.m., Alumnae Library Theater

Wednesday, January 28: Kings (drama, 2006, 89 minutes, rated R for language) Spoken in Irish Gaelic with English subtitles. Freshfaced and ambitious, a close-knit team of six young men sailed away from Ireland in 1977 with dreams of a better life. Thirty years later, they reunite at the wake after one of them suddenly dies. Hardened by years of disappointment and drink, they quickly realize that their bonds of friendship have weakened, provoking regret, jealousy, and tension. As they reveal their guilty feelings about their dead friend and their past, they are confronted with the bitter reality of their lives and the appalling truth of their friend’s death.

Wednesday, February 4: Absolutely Irish (music, 2008, 70 minutes) The brightest stars of the traditional Irish music scene came together for a concert at the Irish Arts Center in New York for this filming. Mick Moloney presents three generations of musical virtuosos performing jigs, reels and airs, and contemporary takes on favorite old tunes.

Guest appearances by 80-year-old flute player Mike Rafferty and 85-year-old Irish dancer Jo McNamara are highlights, as well as the performance by the entire ensemble of “Leaving Liverpool.”

Wednesday, February 11: The Informer (drama, 1935, 90 minutes) Victor McLaglen stars as Gypo Nolan in John Ford’s classic version of Liam O’Flaherty’s novel. Set in 1922 Dublin, Nolan has been exiled by his IRA cell for refusing an assignment to kill a man. When his prostitute girlfriend ridicules him for his poverty, he goes to the Black and Tans, reveals his friends’ location, and collects the 20-pound reward. He squanders the money and eventually suffers guilt feelings and retribution.

Wednesday, February 18: The Matchmaker (comedy, 1997, 100 minutes) When Senator John McGlory experiences problems with a re-election campaign, his chief of staff Nick sends his assistant Marcy to Ireland to trace McGlory’s relatives or ancestors. She arrives at the village of Ballinagra as it prepares for its annual Matchmaking Festival.

She quickly becomes the center of attention for two professional matchmakers, Dermot and Millie, as well as the bartender Sean.

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Everyone at Elms College shares great pride in the accomplishments of our alumni. We’d like to tell you about the good works, honors, lives, and achievements of some of our notable graduates.

Memories

We’d love to hear about your life and accomplishments, from career news and engagements to awards and retirements.

Please email your information and/or photos to emanuellia@elms.edu, or mail them to Marketing Editor, Elms College, 291 Springfield Street, Chicopee, MA 01013.

1930s Class Agent: · Gertrude Footit Britton ’39

1940s Class Agents: · Catherine Fitzgerald ’40 · Mary O’Donnell Roberts ’41 · Mary Manning ’42 · Elinor White O’Malley ’43 · Sr. Margaret James McGrath ’44 · Mary Sheehan Kelly ’45 · Mary Mahoney McCarthy ’45 · Theresa Amiot ’47 · Ann Martin Gibbons ’48 · Barbara E. Gregory ’48 · Elizabeth Aidicon ’49 · Clare Ryan ’49 Sister Mary Frances Honnen ’42 (Sister James Francis) was honored recently for her years of service within the community. Mary has been a Sister of St. Joseph for 69 years.

She presently serves on the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph’s creative membership committee. Sister Mary taught science at Cathedral High School for many years. As one of the four founders of HOPE (House of Peace and Education) in 1996 she has served as executive director and grant writer.

HOPE brings new life and energy to women and children and has built an interfaith community organization to a point of strength. As she talked about her life she stated, “It has been challenging, productive, enjoyable and fruitful. My life has been filled with people, and they have been a blessing!”

1950s Class Agents: · Jean Miner Cook ’50, jeanmcook@aol.com · Mary O’Malley Hayes ’50 · Joann Akey Rossi ’51 · Jean Baillargeon Egan ’52, jmegan319@comcast.net · Kathleen Keating, SSJ ’52, kkeating1@charter.net · Mary Kennedy Masuck ’52 · Constance J. McCarthy ’52

Joan McCarthy Ryan ’51

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Class Notes

Margaret Scanlon ’52, mrscan75@verizon.net Patricia Byrnes Alger ’53 Karen Boden Essex ’53 Rosemary Flanagan Cronin ’54, rosecronin@earthlink.net Mary Long Franz ’54 Joyce Doyle ’55 Patricia Hanifin Nelen ’55, FPNelen@comcast.net Carole Brissette Korkosz ’55, korky126@charter.net Barbara Conlin ’56 Noreen Moriarty ’56 Dorothy Tuttle ’56 Lorraine McMahon Dube ’57, rd121@wnec.edu Constance Corr Grippo ’57, meadownet@aol.com Lorita Calderella Decorie ’57, cl40q@aol.com Barbara Guardione Guerra ’58 Lois E. Lambert ’58 Barbara Collins O’Toole ’58 Kathleen Meenaghan ’58 Margaret McCarthy ’59, mrrcm@verizon.net Sr. Judith O’Connell ’59, sr.judith@diospringfield.org

Joan McCarthy Ryan ’51 was honored at the ninth annual St. Joseph dinner at Cathedral High School. She was recognized for her outstanding life as a Catholic woman and mother of 11 children who graduated from Cathedral, and also for her community service as a board member at Weston Center for Women, and at the Gray House, Soup Kitchen, Holy Name Church, and the College of Our Lady of the Elms.

Sister Judith Kappenman ’58 (Sister Kathleen Frederick) was honored as “Host of the Day” at the Big E in West Springfield for her volunteer work on the Irish Cultural Center booth in the Dingle Cottage in the Young Building. As director of the ICC for the past five years, she organizes volunteers at the fair who distribute information on both the Irish organization and Elms College, and also help the Dingle merchants when needed. Sr. Judy, who became a Sister of St. Joseph in 1953, became involved with the ICC as a volunteer when it was founded in 1999, after she retired from 42 years of teaching high school English. The ICC hosts events such as lectures, concerts, book readings, and films designed to keep the Irish arts alive.

1960s Class Agents: · Mary Ellen Mallory Aycock ’60, meb39@aol.com · Carolyn O’Connor Connelly ’60, cconnelly47@aol.com · Rosemary Broderick O’Connor ’60 · Judith Riordan ’60, riordanjude@msn.com · Mary Jane Cameron Sheehan ’61, mjsheehan128@yahoo.com · Kathleen Dwyer Joyal ’61 · Patricia Thompson Burden ’62 · Nancy O’Donnell Holland ’62, NHNOH@aol.com · Barbara Ciszek Jendrysik ’62, s.jendrysik@worldnet.att.net · Lois Lynch ’62, loilyn@msn.com · Mary Lou Luicci Smith ’62, litria65@yahoo.com

Members of the Class of 1953 enjoyed celebrating their 55th reunion in May 2008.

They are (left to right, back row): Laurie Stearns Pieterse, Kathleen Kennedy Mullins, Ruth Crowley Conway, and Elaine Vanasse Foley; (middle row): Joan McKenna Percy, Karen Boden Essex, Sally Gagnien Tuttle, and Jeanne Goulet Bartley; and (front row): Barbara Malone Kirby and Jane Healy.

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Sue Gelinas Agnew ’63

Paula Dejnak Jenkins ’76

· Patricia White Clark ’62 · Margaret Begley Anderson ’63 · Miriam Pratt Chaput ’63, mimsy567@netzero.com · Barbara Landers Hood ’63, barbhood52@netzero.com · Sr. Eleanor Spring, SSJ ’63 · Eileen Mazza Mendrek ’64, emendrek1@cox.net · Kathleen Engel Jackson ’64, kathyjax@charter.net · Rae Holland-Long ’65 · Theresa Cachat Sawicki ’65, tcs1143@aol.com · Kathy Moriarty ’66, kmorinat@aol.com · Ann Conroy Ernst ’66 · Barbara Britton Moran ’67, bmoran45@yahoo.com · Barbara Kane Taylor ’67, barbarataylor@comcast.net · Awilda Chaban-Colon ’68 · Antonietta Scibelli DiMichele ’68, a_dimichele@yahoo.com · Ellen Moriarty Ezold ’68, ballyellen@earthlink.net · Bunny Riley Whitman ’68 · Jean Brigham ’69, jbrigham_pps@yahoo.com · Suzanne Frennier ’69 · Elizabeth Bayon Parnell ’69, betsyparnell@comcast.net Sue Gelinas Agnew ’63 and her granddaughter Ashley were ambassadors for the Arthritis Foundation’s fourth annual Western Massachusetts Arthritis Walk on October 19, 2008 at Forest Park in Springfield. Sue and Ashley, who both have arthritis, have participated in the walk since 2006. Their team name is “Ashley’s Shamrocks,” and they have raised thousands of dollars for the Arthritis Foundation.

Christine Halloran ’86

1970s Class Agents: · Mary Rigazio Ghidoni ’70 · Linda Kaczmarczyk ’71 · Sheila O’Neill ’71, fenit111@comcast.net · Charlene Zagrodnik ’71, czagro@verizon.net · Marie Lococo ’72 · Mary Ann Kane Cleland ’72 · Donna LaBelle Cabot ’73, donnacabot@aol.com · Ellen Hurley ’74, e1002mh@yahoo.com · Margaret Lynch ’74 · Mary McNally ’74 · Cornelia O’Hare ’74, cgbohare0416@comcast.net · Bonnie Ann Monachelli Stevens ’74, bud_stevens2000@yahoo.com · Kathy Ennis Cassin ’75 · Mena deCarvalho ’75, menad1@comcast.net · Nancy Padykula Bianchi ’77, nancy.bianchi@uvm.edu · Barbara Egan-Cromwell ’77, ROCK1961@verizon.net · Diane Trela ’78, misstrela@yahoo.com · Lynn Anne Leone ’78, LynnAnneL@aol.com Sister Denise Granger ’72 (Sister Denise Albert) was honored at the ninth annual St. Joseph dinner at Cathedral High School for her mandate to work for justice and to serve others. Sr. Denise was the principal of Cathedral from 1992-2004.

Paula Dejnak Jenkins ’76 has been hired as principal of St. Joan of Arc-St. George School in Chicopee. For the last two years, she was principal at St. Michael’s School in Brattleboro, Vermont. Before that, she was a school counselor for the Gil-Montague School District for 14 years until she filled in as an interim

principal at Sheffield Elementary School for a year, and then became principal in an elementary school for the Athol-Royalston District.

1980s Class Agents: · Donna Duval ’80, magichands591@juno.com · Sandra Belanger ’81, sandrabelanger143@msn.com · Paula Signet Fitzgerald ’83 · Patricia Devine ’83 · Cynthia Porter McMahon ’84, cmc28@comcast.net · Karen Richards Gilboy ’85 · Cheryl Santagate-Sutton ’86 · Liz Woods ’86, Lizw@qcc.mass.edu · Teresa Benedetti-Ford ’86 · Lynn Daigle Korza ’88, lkorza@ssjspringfield.com · Roseanne Murphy Caracciolo ’89 · Mary Schmitz Welch ’89, thewelchsix@aol. com; schmitzee33@hotmail.com Christine Halloran ’86 recently spent three weeks in Japan learning about its culture, education system, and people as part of the 2008 Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund’s program for teachers. She had the opportunity to visit schools and stay with a family for a home stay.

She will be sharing her experiences with her fellow teachers at North Shore High School and the community in Glen Cove, New York, and plans to introduce some Japanese math methods to her students.

1990s Class Agents: · Kimberly St. John Ferris ’90,ferris@bigy.com · Kristin Hughes ’91

Jean Brigham ’69 (left) visited her college friend Sharon Brady Fowlston ’69 (right) on a recent trip to Pasadena, California. “We have been best friends since our days at the Elms,” Jean said. “We had an enjoyable 10-day visit, and spent most of our time talking and catching up on a lot of news. Even though we haven’t seen each other in nine years, it seemed like only yesterday.” Jean said the trip was memorable for many reasons, including an earthquake that hit on her last day there.

Sharon and her husband Jeff hope to come to Massachusetts in May 2009 so that Sharon can attend her 40th class reunion at Elms College.

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Debra Clark Picard ’93

· · · · · · · · · ·

Martha Deusser ’02

Sheri Jeserski-Knowlton ’91 Barbara Rock Hendrickson ’92 Suzanne Crowley Bunszel ’94, bunszel@aol.com Kathleen Moran ’94, katmo8@yahoo.com Rebecca Martin Lescarbeau ’95 Thea E. Katsounakis ’96, thea.e.katsounakis@bankofamerica.com Brigid Moran Roffe ’96, brigroffe@yahoo.com Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur ’96, pfmacarthur@comcast.net Lisa Hurley ’97 Maura Cleland Mahalski ’99, mauracleland@yahoo.com

Julia Reynolds ’92, president of the Ice Cream Man in Greenwich, New York, recently had her business featured on the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and said she was very surprised to be pitted against Bobby with ice cream sundaes. Julia is also the executive secretary for the Washington County Fair.

Debra Clark Picard ’93 of South Hadley has been appointed Emergency Department nurse manager at Holyoke Medical Center. Debra has been employed at Holyoke Medical Center since 1984, and was a former public health nurse for the town of South Hadley.

Carol Mitchell Baribeau ’97, regional director of public affairs for Verizon, was co-chair of the Springfield Rays of Hope Walk Toward the Cure of Breast Cancer. Held on October 26, 2008, the walk attracted 15,000 participants, including a team from the Elms that raised $2,655.

2000s Class Agents: · Celia Maldonado ’00 · Rebecca Hitt ’01, Rebecca.hitt@maine.edu · Tara Shea-Leandro ’02, cheerts@hotmail.com · Martha Deusser ’02 · Jessica Scott Allen ’03 · Carmela Isabella ’04, carmela_isabella@yahoo.com

Malgorzata Zdun ’02

· · · ·

Rachel Bradford ’05

Jason Ostrander ’04, jostrandersw@gmail.com Coral Perry Ruggiero ’06, soxnut726@yahoo.com Stephen Chenard ’06, smc080206@sbcglobal.net Kyla Martin Korytoski ’07, korytoskik@elms.edu

Martha Deusser ’02 was appointed head softball coach and recruiting coordinator at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Boston.

Martha previously taught English at Wareham Junior/Senior High School. Martha is engaged to David Zauner from Sandwich, and their wedding is planned for July 23, 2009 on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Malgorzata Zdun ’02 presently works as an accountant for Maples and Calder Law Firm in Dublin, Ireland. She is a member of the Institute of Bankers and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in Ireland. Malgorzata, who earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Elms, had previously earned a B.A. in marketing at the Warsaw Management Academy in Poland in 2000, and went on from the Elms to earn master’s degrees in international business and in international relations at Maquarie University in Sydney, Australia in 2004; and a bachelor’s in legal studies from the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland in 2008. Earlier this year she earned a specialist certificate in investment fund services at The Institute of Bankers in Ireland, and is currently taking an ACCA preparation course at Dublin Business School.

Rachel Bradford ’05 graduated from Western New England Law School in May 2008, and recently passed the Connecticut Bar exam.

Kristi Guzzo ’05

Kathleen A. Zebrowski ’07

Elms Inducts First Male Athlete into Hall of Fame This year’s Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony was a little different from any other Elms College has seen in years past. Damien Bradley ’02 was inducted into the Elms College Athletic Hall of Fame, making him the first male athlete in school history to receive this honor – an honor that he says he does not take lightly.

Damien’s electrifying career on the basketball court set the bar high for a program that continues to draw talented players and be a dominant competitor. He finished his career with 1,158 points and ranks among the top five Elms College players in points in a season (460) and career steals (149).

It is fitting that a member of that historic first co-ed class at Elms would also be the first man to receive recognition for a Hall of Fame-caliber athletic career. Damien sees it as something bigger, though.

“I have been associated with Elms for the past 10 years and have experienced a lot of firsts in that time. I see this induction as another step for the school as it grows and evolves. I think all of us from the class of 2002 watch with tremendous interest the progress being made at our alma mater knowing we played a part in ushering in a new era for the school,” said Damien.

Kristi Guzzo ’05 recently received her master’s degree in speech and language pathology from the University of Rhode Island. She is currently employed as a speech pathologist at Mercy Hospital’s Weldon Rehabilitation Hospital.

Mary Keator M.A.A.T. ’07 offered several sessions throughout November 2008 on the subject of Lectio Divini for seniors. According to Mary, Lectio Divina is an ancient monastic practice that helps to awaken and deepen an interest in the sacred scripture for personal study, reflection, prayer and the deepening of spiritual life; to develop the practice of listening to and hearing the voice of God in the sacred scriptures; to study and reflect on what the New Testament teaches about living as a disciple of Christ in the world today; and to develop and nourish a life of prayer.

Basketball coach Ed Silva congratulates Damien.

Kathleen A. Zebrowski ’07 has been named branch manager of the Sixteen Acres office of Peoples Bank of Holyoke. Kathleen, who has more than 20 years of banking experience, previously served as the assistant branch manager at the Elmwood Office in Holyoke.

She is a resident of Holyoke.

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Jessica L. Fitzgerald ’04

Coral Perry ’06 and Tony Ruggiero ’06

Weddings Jessica L. Fitzgerald ’04 married Matthew C. Cauchon on May 3, 2008 in the Elms College Chapel. A reception followed at the Garden House at Look Park in Northampton, and the couple spent their honeymoon in the Cayman Islands. Jessica is a registered nurse at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, and is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Connecticut. She and Matthew live in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Coral Perry ’06 and Tony Ruggiero ’06 were married on June 28, 2008 at St. Mary’s Church in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. A reception followed at La Renaissance Banquet Hall, and they honeymooned in Jamaica. Coral is teaching math at Elms College and working on her M.B.A. through Nichols College; Tony is a registered nurse in the emergency room at Hartford Hospital. They reside in Windsor Locks.

E. Sarah Rowe ’06 married Harley O’Brien on June 6, 2008 in a small ceremony in her grandparents’ backyard. She is presently working in sales for MEDITECH Healthcare.

The couple will divide their time between Waltham, Massachusetts and Lima, Peru.

Births Deb Shea-Kennedy ’93, M.A.T. ’94, and her husband Mark Kennedy, of North Granby, Connecticut welcomed their second son, Sean Patrick Kennedy on May 18, 2008. Sean, who weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 20.5 inches, joined a big brother, Thomas Liam, who is two years old.

Patrick ’02 and Kelly Pike ’01 Carpenter welcomed their first child, Travis Dean, on October 19, 2008. He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Pat works as the director of residence life at the Elms, and Kelly is a history teacher at Hampshire Regional High School.

Nicole Drapeau Gebo ’07 and her husband Ronald Gebo Jr. welcomed triplets New Year’s Eve 2007: identical girls Gabriella and Hayden, and a boy Julien. Nicole previously taught preschool and worked at Ludlow Pediatrics. She and Ronald were married in 2004.

Sean Patrick Kennedy

Travis Dean Carpenter

Gabriella, Julien, and Hayden Gebo

Seeking Nominations Distinguished Alumna/us Award We are always seeking recommendations from our alumni for candidates for the Distinguished Alumna/us Award, which is awarded in May during commencement activities.

Please send the name of the candidate you are recommending, and an essay substantiating why this person is deserving of the award. The award winner should have distinguished herself/himself in one or more of the following areas: F Professional or business life F Contribution to the Church F Intellectual pursuits F Personal, home, family life F Loyalty to Elms College The recipient must be present for the awarding.

Date: ______________________ I recommend _______________________________________________________ Class of___________ Recommended by: ___________________________________________________ Class of___________ Address:______________________________________________________________________________ Telephone: _____________________________________Email: ________________________________

Return nomination form to: Peggy D. Clark Alumni Office Elms College 291 Springfield Street Chicopee, MA 01013

Via Veritatis Medal We are seeking recommendations of possible candidates for the Via Veritatis Medal, which is awarded in May during commencement activities.

The Elms College Via Veritatis Medal is awarded to a Catholic woman who exemplifies Catholic womanhood and culture at their best, and who has made significant contributions to society. The medal is awarded to a person who is not a member of the college community at the time of the awarding, or an alumni. The recipient must be present for the awarding.

Please send the name of the candidate you are recommending and an essay substantiating why this person is deserving of the award, to: President, Elms College, 291 Springfield Street, Chicopee, MA 01013

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Friends, Family, and the Land

Shirley Kane and Pompositticut Farm

By Robert Perkins

When asked what she best remembers about her years at Elms College, Shirley Cummings Kane, Elms College class of 1949, immediately answers “Jake’s.”

Jake’s was a Mom and Pop store across the street from the college campus. It was a place for her and her friends to slip away to have a cigarette.

The escape was not easy. The Sisters of St. Joseph were vigilant. Sr. Mary Cornelius was the dorm’s “floor sergeant.” And Sr. Antonella “could hear your footsteps in the hall a hundred yards away if you weren’t where you were supposed to be.”

But still she and her friends managed.

One of those who shared the cigarette breaks with Shirley was Alice Kenney. She would later become Sr. Alice Kenney, principal of Springfield’s Cathedral High School.

The two were close enough that Shirley used her mother’s green Lincoln to drive Alice to the Mont Marie Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Holyoke the day Alice began her novitiate.

Nearly 60 years later, she and Sr. Alice, now retired from Cathedral and living at the Motherhouse, still remain friends. They stay in contact mostly by phone these days.

Sr. Alice is just one of the members of the class of 1949 with whom Shirley Kane still remains friends. There is Betty Aidicon of Orange, who was in Shirley’s wedding party.

And there are Elizabeth Flynn Shreenan of Pittsfield, Nancy Black Dooley of Falmouth, Mary Merrigan Gloster of North Adams, Eleanor Barron of upstate New York, and Betty Ann Carlisle of New Jersey, who was her dorm roommate for two years.

If those ongoing friendships made in the years not long after the end of World War II are one legacy of Shirley’s years at Elms, so too is a suggestion made by some of her classmates.

Shirley was majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry when the classmates suggested that she take an education course. She did so during her junior year and that decision indirectly led to her meeting the man who would become her husband.

She did practice teaching in biology, chemistry, and physics at Cathedral High School in Springfield. And then, after graduation, she took a job teaching second grade in North Adams.

She remained there for a year and a half, until a family disaster struck.

In January of 1951 her father broke his back in an auto accident. Shirley returned to Southborough to help on the family farm and she took a job teaching third grade in Marlborough.

A man named Francis Kane served on the Marlborough school committee for 36 years.

He was a rough-hewn man who once, during difficult fiscal times, brought a hatchet to the committee meeting and slammed it into the table – emphasizing his intentions to cut expenditures.

At a parent-teachers dinner meeting one night, he introduced the then-Shirley Cummings to his 25-year-old son Roger this way: “Roger, this is Shirley Cummings. She’s pretty smart, not bad looking, and can drive a truck too.”

Shirley still remains convinced that her future father-in-law thought that driving a truck was the most important of the three attributes.

Roger Kane and Shirley Cummings were married in 1955 and were to remain married for more than 45 years until Roger’s death in 2001.

For the first year of their marriage, they lived in an apartment. Then they moved to a home they built in front of the Redi-Mix Concrete plant that her husband owned in Hudson.

By 1963, Roger was busy running the concrete plant and developing a new industrial park adjacent to it. Shirley was busy managing a growing family and giving her husband a hand when she could.

She didn’t go into the office, but she would handle what she calls go-fer jobs, picking up papers from lawyers and courthouses – job where she could take the kids along.

One day Roger surprised her with the news that he had bought the family a new home in Hudson. When he took her to see it, her initial reaction was not positive.

“I could have killed him,” she says.

The new home turned out to be the 60-acre former Silas Jewell farm. The house dated back to 1803.

It wasn’t that Shirley was unfamiliar with farms. Her father had turned to farming in Southborough in 1932 after the woolen company where he was the controller had closed its doors and moved south. Around 1940, he came up with the idea of raising turkeys on racks, which was more sanitary than typical pens, and soon was supplying the birds to most of the big restaurants along Route 9.

But her father’s farm had been only a few acres. This was 60 acres with a 160-year-old farmhouse. And the place needed work.

The Kanes had their fourth child in 1963 and two more by 1966. Running the farm, a growing group of businesses and raising six

children was as fulltime as things can get. For the first 10 years the Kanes lived at the farm, the most recreation the family could squeeze in was an occasional trip to a nearby ice cream stand.

There were upsides, however. The family didn’t have to buy beef for 26 years because they raised their own Hereford cattle. They also raised Suffolk sheep, chickens, and harvested the apple orchard.

They decided the eight-room farmhouse with its eight fireplaces and wide yellow pine floors should be maintained in its original 1803 condition. The one exception was the kitchen, which was updated.

They also gave the farm a new name. It was the result of a day Roger and Shirley spent in Boston, having lunch and going though historical archives. They discovered that the farm had once been part of the tribal lands of the Nipmuc Indians. Pompositticut reportedly is the Nipmuc word for badlands.

So the old Silas Jewell Farm became Pompositticut Farm.

Today, the farm is a showpiece. The family no longer raises cattle and sheep and the apple orchard has petered out, but the verdant 60 acres serves as the home of the Pompositticut Farm Day Camp, run by Jacqueline Kane, 43, the fifth of the six Kane children. She began the camp in 1980 when she was still a student at Concord Academy.

Jacqueline raises Haflingers, a breed of small chestnut-colored horses that originated in Austria and Italy, which she uses in the camp riding programs. The youngsters learn not only how to ride the horses, but also how to groom and care for them.

The Haflingers are the reason for the newest addition to the farm – a state-of-the-art horse barn that includes marble counters in the tack room.

Jacqueline, like all of the Kane children, had learned about animals through the 4-H program. Each of them learned about the responsibility of feeding, grooming and caring for their animals. The program also required them to write journals about their efforts and keep appropriate records.

However, the part of the 4-H program that Shirley feels was most important to the children’s success in life was the Visual Presentation Program.

She says she can still remember her daughter, Marylou, at 8 years of age standing before her 4-H class wringing her hands as she had to make her first presentation.

Forty-two years later, Marylou Kane Woodford is Director of the Women’s Health Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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Shirley Kane ‘49 and her friend and classmate Sr. Alice Kenney ‘49.

Network and the Men’s Health Partnership at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston.

The 4-H visual presentation program made it possible for all six children to think and talk on their feet – to find the right words when they are needed in such a situation – something that Shirley Kane says she is not good at.

Another thing that Kane finds difficult is to talk about herself. She would rather talk about her children.

Roger K. Kane, the oldest at 51, owns a residential development company. David Kane, 49, designs and builds custom homes.

Kathleen Kane Adams, 45, is a chemical engineer and active in running the industrial park the family owns. Jacqueline, in addition to the Pompositticut Day Camp, also owns her own graphics arts business. James Kane, the youngest at 42, owns a self-storage facility and helps to manage a number of the family’s business interests.

Shirley says that she only became involved in 4-H when Marylou joined the program at age 8. She characterizes her role the same as the one she says she played in the Kane family businesses - a go-fer carting horses and children or “whatever needed to be done.”

However, a publication of the Massachusetts 4-H Foundation paints a different picture.

It says that the Kanes created a Kane Family Fund within the state 4-H Endowment Trust that has been used to support the statewide annual Visual Presentation Day since 1987.

It also says that Shirley Kane sat on the state 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees from 1984 until 2002 and that she was named an honorary trustee in 2004.

And in 1998, it points out, she received the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Chancellor’s Volunteer Recognition Award for her work with 4-H. Shirley did mention that she has run the annual 4-H golf fund-raising tournament each year since its inception in 2003, since her son Roger owned Stow Acres Country Club in Holden.

“He gave me a good price,” she said.

She said she cut back her involvement this year when she turned 81.

But she hastens to warn others of her generation, “It’s a big mistake to let your mind begin to falter.”

Coming full circle to her time at Elms six decades ago, she says, “It was a great experience.”

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Alumna Spotlight Working to Level the Playing Field:

Sister Eleanor Spring ’63 once thought her life would be happily lived as an eighth-grade teacher. Instead, life set out to teach her a few things, and none of them were about comfort zones or early adolescents.

church,” she says. “Social justice issues were at the forefront. The role of women was being reevaluated. Our hopes were high. I lived with nuns from all over the world. My horizons and worldview expanded.”

Sister Eleanor Spring ’63 and Weston Rehabilitation Center for Women

The result has been a rewarding and exciting journey spanning more than 40 years, one that continues to reveal itself in new ways and expanding challenges. It is a life of dedicated service to those in our midst who possess few material goods and who experience great suffering and despair. “Life doesn’t start with an even playing field,” she says. “I believe we are here to give back, to try to do what we can to level that field.”

After graduation, she returned to Mont Marie.

She taught psychology in the education program at Elms. She spent eight years serving on the order’s Council, the elected leadership body of the Congregation.

A year after graduating from Elms College, she joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Mont Marie in Holyoke. “Over several years, I had an increasing knowledge that this is where I was supposed to be,” she recalls, “and I was impressed by the Sisters’ care and competence.

It just felt right and, certainly, it has been the right life for me.”

From that time, every turn in her life produced encounters and experiences necessary to the development of the work Sr. Eleanor is involved with today. She was quickly swept away from eighth-grade teaching in rural Massachusetts, and returned to school at Fordham University in New York City where she earned a doctoral degree in psychology, and invaluable urban life experience. “The years I was at Fordham were an important time in the life of the church, and I had a truly wonderful, pivotal experience of the

A calling to prison ministry When the Catholic chaplain at Framingham State Prison sought help and hope for women anticipating release, Sr. Eleanor and another sister stepped forward with what she calls today “an honest desire to respond, and an incredible naiveté.” She went to work for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department in the female offender program. Twice a week, she traveled to Framingham State Prison to provide services to Hampden County women incarcerated there. She took their children for visits, and worked with the women when they were released and back in Springfield.

“I met women whose lives were unlike anything I had ever encountered,” she says.

“Incarcerated women are among the poorest of the poor. They are poor economically, educationally, and spiritually. They are poor physically and psychologically. They have lived through experiences too horrific to describe, and have developed behaviors equally destructive.”

By Reed Ide

Sister Shirley Campbell (left) and Sister Eleanor Spring (right) admire the silk screening done by program participant Lynn Rossmeisl.

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In 1992, armed with her education, experience, and determination, she took the leap of faith that initiated the ministry she effectively carries out today. “I didn’t do it alone,” she says. “My close friend Sr. Shirley Campbell was director of the rehabilitation department at Northampton State Hospital.

Combined, our skills and knowledge were just what we needed.”

Their plan was to establish a transitional rehabilitation program for women with a history of incarceration, inpatient substanceabuse treatment, or inpatient psychiatric treatment. The Weston Rehabilitation Center for Women was begun with a wing and a prayer — and no money. “We had one woman as a client, and one room to work in.”

The two nuns envisioned a program that would provide employment, job training, and rehab services for substance abuse to women newly released from institutions. “No one can live without money,” Sr. Eleanor says. “There had to be a place where these women could be employed.”

Starting small, but starting something The program began with assembly work — collating mailing materials, stuffing envelopes and packages. Sr. Shirley, through her work at the hospital, knew how to bring in contracts from area businesses and organizations. “It made sense to start where we could have some immediate success,” say the intrepid leaders.

The program grew. Silk screening was added, and the Weston women began producing custom T-shirts, team jackets, sweatshirts, and aprons. (Sr. Shirley has become expert in the idiosyncrasies of silk-screening machines.)

Dye-transfer products came next, adding cutting boards, clocks, mouse pads, and mugs to the program’s product line.

The products are the medium. The message, instilled through a structured work ethic and a variety of special educational and developmental classes, is one of commitment to recovery, development of self-worth and community values, and building essential life skills. The women work 32 hours a week starting at minimum wage. They are responsible for their own housing and transportation to and from the program. Each workday begins with a group meeting that includes reading from a women’s meditation and recovery book and a discussion of the reading. Time is also set aside each morning for reading and discussion of world news.

Program participants are on site for additional unpaid time, during which they participate in a relapse prevention group. They receive case management services, education, computer software instruction, and life-skills training.

Women are referred by caseworkers from other human services agencies, and from the Women’s Correctional Facility in nearby Chicopee. (Most participants come from this facility.) Today, at any given time, there are 14 women participating in the program,

Sister Eleanor in the Weston Rehab retail store.

insuring high levels of individual attention and support. “There is no set length of stay in the program,” says Sr. Eleanor. “We arrive at a mutual decision as to when it is time to leave.

The average stay is 18 months.”

It is rewarding work. But it can also be demanding, grueling, and emotionally draining. “Every woman who comes to our program has a history of addiction,” says Sister Eleanor. “They come distrusting the world. Anger often abounds. And we cannot freely trust them at the beginning. Trust has to be earned — sometimes in very small steps.” Occasionally a participant will relapse, necessitating an immediate removal from the program. The less-than-10 percent relapse rate attests to the effectiveness of the programs developed by Sisters Eleanor and Shirley.

A transformative journey “I have been transformed by this journey in so many ways,” says Sr. Eleanor. “I have learned the stereotypes surrounding drugaddicted incarcerated women do not hold. I have learned the incredible power of drugs.

I have enormous respect for people living in recovery. I have learned that people change themselves.”

Her knowledge and understanding run deeper.

She knows limits and boundaries are critical to successful human development. She knows that nurturing herself is a large part of what enables her to nurture others. She recognizes that she could not do the work if it lacked a spiritual base.

“We do what we can, but the results are really out of our hands,” she says. “God calls us as God will, and we are just along for the ride.

I believe that if we treat these women with respect and dignity, they can come in touch with their own giftedness and feel value and hope. And that is something possessed of a power we can never underestimate.”

Sister Eleanor believes that our experience and understanding gain breadth and depth when we challenge ourselves to live outside selfcreated boundaries. “Helping a woman with the basic cleaning supplies and furnishings for a first apartment is exciting and fun. It makes her feel good and makes me feel good. Coming to know her at the deepest level of her being disturbs my heart and soul.

“I have learned that I still have a lot to learn from our women.”

Rewarding Work Reaps Rewards Sister Eleanor’s work has not gone unrecognized. In April 2006 she received the Mary Killeen Bennett Award from the Elms College Social Work Advisory Board. It is presented to human service workers who demonstrate a commitment to social change and justice.

That same month she also received the “Dream, Believe, Achieve: Pathways to Success Award,” presented by Bill Cosby, “for helping women dream of their possibilities, believe in themselves, and achieve a bright future.” Cosby presented the award because he learned about the Weston Rehabilitation Program from a program graduate, who is the mother of one of the students Cosby helps attend college.

Additionally, Sister Eleanor serves as a member of the Elms College Board of Trustees, and is a member of the search committee for the vice president of student affairs.

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In Memoriam

Remembrance

Thanks to all who made gifts to Elms College in memory of their deceased loved ones.

Alumni: Catherine G. Flannery ’34 Sister Peter Maria Picknelly ’34 (Helen M.), beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield in her 75th year, died in Holyoke at Mont Marie Health Care Center on October 31, 2008. A native of Orange, New Jersey, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from Holy Name Parish in Springfield. She graduated from Our Lady of the Elms Academy in 1934, and earned B.A and M.A degrees from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. She also studied history at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and American International College in Springfield, and library science at the College of Our Lady of the Elms. Sister taught in the schools of the Springfield Diocese at St. Joseph, Pittsfield, and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart early in her career. For more than 20 years, she taught and was chair of the Social Studies Department at Cathedral High School in Springfield.

From 1979 to 1994, she served as librarian at St. Thomas Elementary School in West Springfield. She prepared a monthly meal for Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen from 1981 to 2007, and for several years she volunteered as a companion to Alzheimer’s patients at the Chicopee VNA. She retired in 1994. Sister Peter Maria was predeceased by her brother Peter, and her sisters Emilie Steere and Janet Collins.

In addition to her Sisters in Community, Sister is survived by her nephews Richard Steere, Peter and Paul Picknelly, niece Mary Jean Picknelly, and several grandnieces and grandnephews.

Marjorie H. Woodin ’38 Mary Elizabeth McCarthy ’44 died July 11, 2008 at Mont Marie Health Care Center at the age of 85. Born in Springfield, she was a graduate of Cathedral High School and Elms College, attended Middlebury Vermont Language School, and received her master’s degree from Springfield College. Mary began her career in Bristol, Connecticut teaching French and Spanish, and then spent five years teaching Spanish at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Returning to Springfield in 1954, she spent more than 30 years teaching Spanish at the High School of Commerce and at Classical High School, and retired in 1981. Mary was active at her parish of Holy Cross, Springfield and also volunteered at Gray House and Weston Rehabilitation Center. For the past several years she has resided at Providence Place. She was predeceased by her brother William and her nephew William III. Surviving are three nieces, Peggy Hayden and her husband Thomas of Silver Spring, Maryland; Maureen McCarthy of Deale, Maryland; and Carol McCarthy of Alexandria, Virginia; two nephews, Thomas McCarthy and his wife Terri of London, England; and Kevin J. McCarthy of New Market,

Maryland; and three cousins, Virginia Smith of Milton; Grace Beaudoin of Longmeadow; and Thomas D. O’Brien of Chicopee. She also leaves her grandnephews and nieces, Kevin Hayden; Kimberly Hayden Ross; and Matthew, Megan, Erica, and Mallory McCarthy. The family notes that donations may be made to Elms College, Holy Cross Church in Springfield, or to Weston Rehabilitation Associates in Holyoke.

Frances M. Brown Ashodian ’45 passed away November 19, 2008 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at the age of 84.

A Springfield native, she graduated from Cathedral High School in 1941 and went on to earn a B.S. from the Elms. She was employed

by Massachusetts General Hospital from 1952 to1958, where she was in charge of the thyroid laboratory. Frances was predeceased by her husband, John J. Ashodian, who passed away in 2003, and a brother, Walter J. Brown. She is survived by a son, Richard A. Ashodian and his wife Sara of South Boston; a daughter, Regina A. Ashodian of Charlestown; and a brother, Richard P. Brown and his wife Louise of Springfield.

Clare L. Donlin Mannix ’47 of Harwich, Massachusetts and Jupiter, Florida, died on November 12, 2008. A native of Springfield, she received her B.S. from the College of Our Lady of the Elms, and her M.B.A. from American International College. She was predeceased by her husband, George E. Mannix, DDS. She is survived by her seven children, Carolyn Kelly of East Greenwich, Rhode Island; Edward Mannix of Jupiter, Florida; David Mannix of Marblehead; Julie Mannix of Harrison, Maine; Stephen Mannix of Providence, Rhode Island; Joseph Mannix of Longmeadow; and Ruth Curry of Sudbury, and her six cherished grandchildren, Ann and Douglas Kelly, James and George Curry, and Jacob and George Mannix. The family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Elms College Alumnae Fund or the Family Food Pantry in West Harwich.

June Johnson Wincek ’47 Angela “Angie” T. Boryczka ’48 died peacefully in her home in the hills of Berkeley, California on July 4, 2008 at the age of 82 following a short illness. Angie grew up in a lively household surrounded by her brothers and sisters: Sam, Victor, Stella, Mary, Genevieve, Sophie and younger brother Ted, and attended Springfield public schools. She graduated from Elms College in 1948 with a B.S. in biology, and landed a job in one of the prestigious cancer research laboratories of the Sloan Kettering Institute in New York City.

When her laboratory director changed jobs in 1952, Angie and several friends followed.

They hopped into a beat up Oldsmobile and embarked on a cross-country Californian adventure that continued for a lifetime.

Angie’s first California job was as a laboratory

technician at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, but in 1955 she was offered another job by a promising young scientist at the University of California Medical School at Berkeley. Angie thus became part of the research team of Dr. William F. Ganong - who was to become a renowned neurophysiologist and textbook author. She remained in that job until her retirement in 1982. Angie spent the final years of her life tending her impressively beautiful flowerbeds and doing other retirement projects, such as her family history notebook. She will be well remembered as a genuine and generous person who was always there for her friends and family. She is survived by her sister, Genevieve Gruszka of Wilbraham, 13 nieces and nephews, and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews; they have all lost a special piece of the world with the passing of their California girl.

Josette Maynard Dupuis ’48 died December 1, 2008 in Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth after a long illness at the age of 82. Born in Charlton, she lived in Southbridge for many years before moving to the Cape. After graduating from Elms College, she received her M.A. from American International College, and taught in the Southbridge school system for many years before she retired. She was a member of Notre Dame Church. Her husband, the late Jean Paul Dupuis, died in 1986. She was also predeceased by four brothers: Arthur, Laurier, Raymond, and Robert Maynard; and a sister, Simonne Carpentier. She is survived by a son, Marc and his wife Jill Dupuis of East Sandwich; and three granddaughters, Sara Dupuis of Brookline, and Amanda and Anna Dupuis of East Sandwich. She also leaves a brother, Paul and his wife Rita Maynard of Worcester; a sister, Marguerite and her husband Raymond St. Jean of Southbridge; and many nieces and nephews.

Mary Ellen Lynch Henderson ’48 passed away on October 30, 2008 at home surrounded by her loving family. Mary Ellen was a native of Springfield, and graduated from Sacred Heart High School and the College of Our Lady of the Elms. She was a teacher for 25 years for the Springfield Public Schools, and took leave for 17 years to raise her family. She taught at Jefferson Avenue, Indian Orchard, and Margaret C. Ells Elementary Schools, retiring in 1990. Mary Ellen was an active member in the Sacred Heart High School Alumni Association and a member of the Elms College Alumni Association. She enjoyed dancing, participating in events at the John Boyle O’Reilly Club in Springfield and at the Irish Village on Cape Cod, and her trips to Ireland and cruises to the Caribbean. She enjoyed many summers in Harwichport on Cape Cod, and 18 winters in Cocoa Beach and Vero Beach, Florida. Mary Ellen married James A. Henderson in 1950, and they had 58 wonderful years together. In addition to her husband, she Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

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is survived by six loving children: Maryellen Trenta and her husband Alexander of Sutton; Monica Smith and her husband James of Belgium, Wisconsin; Stephen Henderson and his wife Sue of Marlton, New Jersey; J. Martin Henderson; Julie Cole and her husband Wayne of Wilbraham; and Neil T. Henderson of East Longmeadow. She is also survived by her sister, Rita M. Hoar of St. Augustine, Florida, and her dearly loved grandchildren: Patrick, Christopher, and Katie Henderson; Kirk and Kellie Henderson; Molly and Cara Cole; and Nikki, Steffi, and Samantha Henderson. Mary Ellen was predeceased by two children, Martha in 1954 and Peter in 2002; a daughter-in-law, Carolene Rivet Henderson in 2005, and her brother, Dr. Peter Lynch in 2005.

Mary Lou Muller Kidney ’50 Marietta Shea McCormick ’50 of West Springfield, died October 6, 2008 in Life Care of Acton at the age of 80. Born in Springfield, she was a graduate of the former Springfield Classical High School and received her teaching degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. She received her master’s in education from American International College. She was a schoolteacher for the city of West Springfield for many years, retiring in 1992. She was a communicant of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, member and former treasurer for the Springfield Boys and Girls Club, the Tennis Club, and many bridge clubs in this area. Marietta was the loving wife of the late William F. McCormick, who died September 5, 2008; and the beloved mother of Marietta A. McInerney of Groton, Stephen G. McCormick of Bolton, and John M. McCormick of Westfield. She was the caring sister of Ann Neilson of Glendale Wisconsin, and the late Ruth Quinn; and the devoted grandmother of Devin, Connor, Ryan, Eben, Libby, Haley, and Kellan.

Barbara Bastien Rand ’50 Florence Nagle Flynn ’51 Dorothy Prendergast Goggins ’51 died at Berkshire Medical Center on July 21, 2008 at the age of 78. Born in Pittsfield, she was a graduate of Pittsfield High School and the College of Our Lady of the Elms. In the early 1950s, she was employed as a teacher at the former Bartlett School. She was a communicant of St. Teresa Church, where she was an active volunteer for many years, and a member of the Hillcrest Hospital Auxiliary. She enjoyed tennis, dominoes, and, most of all, her family and friends.

Her husband, James T. Goggins, whom she married in 1953, died in 2000. She leaves six children and their spouses, Mary Beth and Scott Eldridge of Pittsfield; Patricia and Edmund Dabrowski of Dallas, Texas; Catherine and Timothy Anderson of Farmington Hills, Michigan; James T. and Pamela Myers Goggins of Richmond, Virginia; Thomas W. and Ginny Vahle Goggins of Pittsfield; and William and Margaret Farrell Goggins of Newport News, Virginia. She also leaves 20 grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, and cousins;

and her sister-in-law, Ann T. Goggins. She was predeceased by two brothers, Richard Prendergast and Robert “Bees” Prendergast, and by two sisters, Alice Sullivan and Helen Brundage.

Sr. Margaret Edward Griffin ’52 (Ruth), beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield for 71 years, died on August 10 in Mont Marie Health Care Center in Holyoke.

Born in Holyoke, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from Blessed Sacrament Parish, Holyoke. She was graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Holyoke, and earned her A.B. and M.A. degrees from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. Among Sister’s teaching assignments were the following: Holy Trinity School, Greenfield; Holy Family School, Springfield; and Annunciation School, Florence. She was principal at St. Agnes School in Dalton, St. Lucy School in Middletown, Rhode Island, and St. Francis School in Hillsgrove, Rhode Island. From 1973-1998 she served first as teacher and then as librarian at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in Springfield. She retired at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in 1998, and in 2000 she became a resident of Mont Marie Retirement Residence in Holyoke.

Sr. Maureen Magdalen Nelligan OP ’52 of the Dominican Nuns in West Springfield died at the Holyoke Medical Center November 14, 2008 at the age of 77. Born in Holyoke, she was educated in Chicopee schools, and earned a B.A. from the Elms and a master’s in religious studies from Fairfield College in Connecticut.

She was a Sister of St. Joseph for 22 years, and taught at Holy Rosary School in Holyoke, Sacred Heart School in Gardner, Holy Trinity School in Greenfield, and St. Anne School in Worcester. After her departure from the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1970, she taught in the public schools of South Hadley. In 1987 she entered the Dominican Monastery of the Mother of God in West Springfield, where she served as sacristan, infirmarian, kitchen supervisor, guest mistress, and secretary to the chapter. She is predeceased by four brothers, Robert of Enfield, Connecticut; John, who was killed in action in 1944; James of Chicopee Falls; and Edward of Ludlow; and two sisters, Catherine of Chicopee and Margaret of South Hadley. She also leaves several nieces and nephews, and many devoted friends.

Doris A. Neal Ostroskey ’55 died November 21, 2008 at the age of 74 at Beaumont Skilled Nursing Center surrounded by her family. Born in Milford, she has lived in Uxbridge most of her life. Doris worked for many years at the Data Processing Center for the City of Worcester, Wrightline in Worcester, Baker Shoes, as well as working with her husband at Information Services Inc. in Whitinsville and Uxbridge. She spent the last seven years before her retirement in 1998 as the Uxbridge Town Clerk. She was a member of the Polish American Civil and Social Corp of Uxbridge, the Uxbridge Finance Committee, the Historical Cemetery Committee

and the Massachusetts Town Clerk Association.

Doris was a communicant and Eucharistic Minister at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Linwood and a former member of St. Mary’s Church in Uxbridge. She volunteered with her husband, bringing communion to the residents at St. Camillus Health Care Center for many years. She was a gifted artist, and enjoyed painting and ceramics, and also enjoyed polka dancing, camping, traveling, and researching her family’s genealogy. She is survived by her devoted husband of 52 years, Edward W. Ostroskey; her eight loving children, Stephen E. Ostroskey of Ashland; Kathleen A. Peloquin of Milford; Charles W. Ostroskey of Pittsfield; Peter J. Ostroskey of Uxbridge; Elaine M. Thomas of Clintondale, New York; Michael J. Ostroskey of Pittsfield; Karen E. Lennox of Auburn; and Jane E. Jones of Tulsa, Oklahoma; a brother, Edward Barry Neal of Salem, N.H.; a sister, Mary Jane Roy of Webster; 13 grandchildren; two nephews and three nieces. She was predeceased by her infant daughter, Marie Elaine Ostroskey in 1963, and her sister, Karen Neal.

Sister Helen Catherine Shine ‘55, (Eleanor), beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield in her 69th year, died in Holyoke on January 2, 2009. A native of Worcester, she graduated from St. Peter’s High School in Worcester and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from St. Peter Parish there.

Sister taught in the Springfield Diocese at St. Charles School and St. Joseph High School in Pittsfield, and was principal at Immaculate Conception School in West Springfield and Sacred Heart School. Since 1969 she has ministered in the Worcester Diocese and worked for Catholic Charities in Gardner, where she managed the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop. She was one of the four founders of the House of Peace and Education in Gardner. She retired to Mont Marie Health Care Center in 2007. She was predeceased by her brother, Fr. Daniel J. Shine, and her sister, Mary Dziejma.

Mary Scannell Signet ‘60 died January 2, 2009 at the age of 69 surrounded by her loving family at the Holyoke Medical Center. Born in Holyoke, she was educated in St. Jerome schools, and was a teacher in the Holyoke school system for more than 39 years. She was a member of the Holyoke school committee, and a communicant of St. Jerome Church. She leaves behind her husband of 48 years, Carl Signet; three daughters, Paula Fitzgerald and her husband Kevin of Holyoke; Pamela Harnois and her husband Robert of Holyoke; and Patricia Signet and her husband Philip Berry of Maynard; one brother, Jeremiah Scannell of Springfield; one sister, Kathleen Masai of Orrs Island, Maine; and five grandchildren, Nicholas and Kathleen Fitzgerald, Mary Ellen Harnois, and Maureen and Madison Berry. She was predeceased by a brother, John J. Scannell, and several nieces and nephews.

Patricia A. Dyer Courtemanche ’62 died on October 28, 2008 in Hadley at the age of 67.

She graduated from St. Michael’s High School in

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Northampton and received her bachelor’s degree in education from Elms College. She had been a resident of Turners Falls most of her life. Pat was a special needs teacher at the Greenfield Middle School for 10 years until 1997. Previously, she taught at Holy Trinity School for many years.

She was also a waitress at Bill’s Restaurant in Greenfield. She enjoyed working with special needs children at Camp Kee-wanee, and coached in the Greenfield Softball League. Pat was an avid Red Sox fan. Survivors include a son, Philip P. Courtemanche of Greenfield; two daughters, Kathleen “Katie” A. Lapachinski and her husband James of Turners Falls; and Jodi M. Emond and her husband Albert of Greenfield; and two grandsons, Eric Thayer and Joshua Lapachinski.

Sr. Kathleen Duffy ’62 (John Robert), 78, beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield for 58 years, died in Uxbridge on September 18, 2008. Born in Worcester, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from St. Stephen Parish in Worcester. Sister received her early education in the parochial schools of Worcester, and was graduated from St. Stephen High School in 1949. She received an A.B. degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms, and was certified as an elementary school administrator in 1970. She taught in the schools of the Springfield Diocese at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Holy Name, Springfield; St. Mary in Northampton; and Immaculate Conception in Easthampton. She served in the Diocese of Worcester as teacher at St. Mary in Southbridge and at St. Mary in Uxbridge, and as principal at Our Lady of the Valley in Uxbridge.

Maryalice Dignan Halloran ’63 passed away on November 7, 2008 at the age of 67 after living with Alzheimer’s disease for eight years.

A Springfield native, she graduated from Sacred Heart Grammar School and High School, Elms College, and earned a master’s degree and reading consultant certification from UConn.

She taught first grade and kindergarten at the William DeBerry School in Springfield, the Grammar School at Stony Hill in Wilbraham, and the Putnam High School in Springfield.

She is survived by her husband Philip Halloran of Worcester, who is a professor at Central Connecticut State University; their two daughters, Seana Halloran Kaushal and Kara Halloran Clark, their husbands Rajiv Kaushal and Douglas Clark; and four grandchildren: Maya and Nick Kaushal and Matthew and Ryan Clark; a brother, Jack Halloran; a brother-in-law, Francis; and several cousins, nieces, and friends. She was predeceased by her sister Angela in 2000.

Janet Oster Fahl ’68 of Leesburg, Florida, passed away on November 9, 2008 at Leesburg Regional Medical Center at the age of 71.

Janet was born in Worcester, and had been a nun, a teacher in Massachusetts, a member of the Moose, and a resident of California for 27 years. She enjoyed traveling across the United States three times in a motor home with her husband before settling in Florida. Janet leaves her husband of 30 years, Woflgang Walter Fahl; her stepson Kevin J. Fahl, from California; three sisters: Phyllis T. Sauriol and husband Paul of Millbury; Joan Benoit

and husband Jack of Paxton; and Sandra Rembieszewski of Millbury; and two brothers, Robert and Kenneth Oster, both of Worcester.

Sr. Elizabeth Anna Kane ’71, beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield in her 69th year, died in Mont Marie Health Care Center in Holyoke on July 7, 2008 at the age of 87. A native of Worcester, she entered the Congregation from St. Joseph Parish in Auburn. She was graduated from St. Peter High School in Worcester, and earned an A.B. degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms. Sister ministered in the Diocese of Springfield as a teacher at St. Joseph School in North Adams; St. Matthew School in Indian Orchard; and Sacred Heart School and Central Catholic School, both in Pittsfield.

She also taught in the Diocese of Worcester at Sacred Heart Academy in Worcester; St. Louis School in Webster; and St. Mary School in Southbridge. She served as parish minister at St. Bartholomew Parish in Bondsville and St. Paul Parish in Springfield. Sister was the secretary for the Holy Family League of Charity of Springfield for several years.

Maureen O’Neil Mooney ’88 of Westfield, passed away August 17, 2008 at the age of 65, at home surrounded by her loving family and friends. Born in Northampton and raised in Springfield, she was a lifelong area resident.

Maureen was a graduate of the former Sacred Heart High School and of the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. She received her bachelor’s in nursing from Elms College, and worked at Noble Hospital for 20 years as a nursing supervisor. She was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Springfield and an honor member of Sigma Theta-Tau. Her greatest loves in life were her family, her home, and especially her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly. She was predeceased by her husband, John Mooney, in 1989, and by her twin brother, Michael O’Neil.

She is survived by her two daughters, Anna M. English and her husband Patrick of Rutland, and Deirdre G. Bilodeau and her husband Robert of Westfield; her son, Sean M. Mooney of Westfield; her brother, Kevin D. O’Neil of Westfield; her sister, Grace A. O’Neil of Ludlow; and her three grandchildren, John and Meigan English and Gavin Bilodeau.

Grace A. O’Neil ’88 of Ludlow passed away November 7, 2008 at the age of 68 at Baystate Medical Center, surrounded by her loving family and friends. Born in Northampton and raised in Springfield, Grace was a graduate of the former Sacred Heart High School and of the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Elms College. Personally and professionally, Grace dedicated her life to helping others in her belief of simple comfort and simple love. As a nurse for almost 30 years, she achieved many milestones, including helping establish and manage the first Cardiac Surgery Unit and DayStay Surgery Center at Baystate Medical Center. She was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Springfield. Grace’s greatest loves in life were her family and friends.

She was predeceased by her former husband, Paul Doyle of Springfield; her brother, Michael O’Neil; and most recently by her sister, Maureen

M. Mooney in August 2008. Grace is survived by her brother Kevin D. O’Neil or Westfield; two nieces, Anna M. English and her husband Patrick of Rutland, and Deirdre G. Bilodeau and her husband Robert of Westfield; a nephew, Sean M. Mooney of Westfield; two grandnephews, John and Gavin; and one grandniece, Meigan.

Husband of: Catherine Kelly Salem ’42 Ann Ryan Foley ’57 Charlene Cabana Jajuga ‘66 (dec) Alice Gallagher McGrath ’66 Evelyn Stevens Karpells ’86 Francine Kingsley ’87 Mother of: Carol Acus Donovan ’65 Patricia Dunn Fitzgerald ’65 Susan Driscoll Plummer ’65 Alice Acus Zedonis ‘69 Lillian A. Battisti Sansalone ’70 Maria Santos Mazzei ‘71 Clare E. Lorenzotti ‘73 Nancy Padykula Bianchi ’77 Judy Chrobak-Mercier ’78 June Hickson Schladenhauffen ’78 Mary Griffin Edwards ’79 Jo-Ellen Yadach Eckel ’81 Paula Signet Fitzgerald ‘83 Rebecca Pitre ‘95 Reverend Mark Stelzer-faculty and Elms College Chaplain Janet Moore-faculty Father of: Katherine McKenna Chapdelaine ’69 Kathleen Burke Lavado ’69 Joan Keating Wheeler ’71 Mary Jean McKenna Reilly ’75 Sue Ostrout Stewart ’77 Maryann Ostrout ’82 Laura A. Fitzell ’83 Cori Estelle Nevers ‘87 Mary Schmitz-Welch ’89 Gail Joubert ’05 Nanci Costanzo-faculty Bill Tyler-swimming coach Son of: Catherine Durnin Palmer ’45 M. Edwina Karpells ‘84 Sister of: Kathleen Scannell Masi ‘64 Joyce Thielen-faculty Brother of: Rita Rodden ’44 Sr. Veronica Brown ’51 Sr. Gertrude Brown ’56 Honore Wynne Taylor ’56 Sr. Mary Lavelle ’58 Jean Kasuba Paddock ’60 Kathleen McLoughlin Riley ’73 Sharon Karpells-Eber ’83 Grandmother of: Kristin Irey Reardon ’03 Jordan Strickland ’12 Ed Silva–faculty/men’s basketball coach Faculty David Hildebrandt-volleyball coach

Elms College Magazine Winter | 2008-2009

48

The Sisters of St. Joseph answered our prayers when I was offered the Presidential Scholarship.

“They made my decision easy.

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been instrumental in my life. I was the first one in my family to go to a four-year college. My dad died when I was 11 and Mom always said she couldn’t afford to send me to college for four years. But she knew I would get there somehow.

The Sisters of St. Joseph answered our prayers when I was offered the Presidential Scholarship. They made my decision easy. I knew I made the right decision when my sister died unexpectedly my first year at the Elms. The entire college community—from administrators, to faculty, to other students—was there for me.

My Elms College experience not only prepared me academically, but I was able to hone leadership skills and give back to the community. After graduating with a degree in social work, I worked as the executive director of Gray House for four years and later, worked for the Development Office at the Elms. Currently, I have come full-circle as the grant writer for the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield. I am proud to help with the continuation of the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph and to be a supporter of the Elms College Founders’ Fund for Excellence.“ —Lynn Korza Daigle ‘88

ELMS

Five Funds for

Excellence

Your Y our gift to The Elms College Founders Fund for Excellence helps provide scholarships to ensure that an Elms College education is within reach to a wide spectrum of deserving students, including those who are the first in their families to attend college.

To make a gift, call 413-265-2214.

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