THE MAGAZINE OF REGIS COLLEGE Spring 2015
THE SUNSHINE BAND
Warm-weather students take Regis athletics by storm
photo: Kathleen Dooher
Miriam Finn Sherman ’98 Vice President, Institutional Advancement miriam.sherman@regiscollege.edu Peter Kent Director of Communications | Editor peter.kent@regiscollege.edu Kristen L. Walsh Managing Editor | kristen.write@comcast.net Alexis Baum Associate Director, Advancement Communications and Alumni Relations Contributing Editor | alexis.baum@regiscollege.edu
Regis College Board of Trustees 2015 Chair Joan C. Shea, MBA Members
Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN
Carole F. Barrett ’63, JD
Lee Hogan, CSJ, ’61, PhD (Vice Chair)
Ernest Bartell, CSC, PhD (Emeritus)
Ruth Sanderson Kingsbury ’57
Marian Batho, CSJ, ’70
Peter Langenus, JD
Beverly W. Boorstein, JD Anita Brennan ’77
Bryan Geary Communications Associate | Assistant Editor bryan.geary@regiscollege.edu
Rosemary Brennan, CSJ, ’70, MEd, MDiv
Lilly Pereira Designer | www.lillypereira.com
Hans Christensen, MBA
Regis Today is published twice a year. © 2015, Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Regis Today are those of the authors and not necessarily of Regis College.
Maureen Doherty, CSJ, ’68, MEd
Please send address changes to: Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations, Regis College, 235 Wellesley Street, Weston, MA 02493-1571 or call 781-768-7220 or online at regiscollege.edu
Meyer Chambers, MLM Kathleen Dawley ’79 Mary Anne Doyle, CSJ, ’67, PhD Clyde H. Evans, PhD Camille Ferazzi ’69 Rev. Msgr. Paul V. Garrity, MA, MDiv Michael J. Halloran, MBA
Kate Korzendorfer Mary Ann Walsh Lewis ’74 Kathy McCluskey, CSJ, ’71, PhD Peter Minihane, MS, CPA Glenn Morris, AIA, IIDA Donna M. Norris, MD Kathleen O’Hare ’69 Thomas P. O’Neill III, MPA Joseph H. Petrowski Jane Cronin Tedder ’66, EdD John Tegan Jr., MEd Richard W. Young, PhD (Emeritus)
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Sunshine! THE
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[ pg 22 ]
On the cover Regis student-athletes Evan Stone ’16, Crystina Lathrop ’18, and Josh Bazail ’18 brave the harsh New England winter. Photo by Kathleen Dooher.
Features
12 The Eyes Have It
Acclaimed scientist Patricia D’Amore ’73 is on the front lines of the battle against eye disease.
16 Writing A Life
Professor and author Anthony D’Aries draws from his writing experiences to help students uncover their own passion for words.
22 The Sunshine Band A record-breaking New England winter hasn’t stopped warm-weather studentathletes from scoring big at Regis.
Departments
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Dear Neighbor Physical expansion and teaching innovation come together to open up a world of possibilities.
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Tower Views Nearly 700 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students cross the stage at the 85th Commencement exercises; new program targets the growing field of counseling psychology.
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In My Own Words The faithful support of Regis and its alumni community inspires the family of the late Lorraine DeStefano Tegan ’63 to generously give back.
Alumni Together Gatherings and events keep alumni connected.
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Class Notes News of the classes.
Hearts & Minds Carla Prophete ’15 arrived at Regis with a passion to serve. An inside look at how her journey has progressed, and where it is taking her.
dear
neighbor Expanding Boundaries
REGIS TODAY
Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN PRESIDENT
photo (left): Brian Smith. photo (right): Christopher Barroso
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For a decade we’ve been discussing—and realizing— growth at Regis. This spring, with a new walkway across the Great Lawn, an upper campus with a transformed quadrangle and library entrance, and a new addition to Maria Hall, I find myself thinking about expanding boundaries, evolving accountabilities, and hitherto unseen possibilities. Our learning community strikes a deliberate and vital balance of continuity and innovation. Experienced employees welcome new staff and their energy to bolster that balance; veteran trustees welcome new board members and their insight to enrich institutional governance. Graduate students present the demands of a changing marketplace; undergraduates show their seriousness of purpose throughout February’s endless snowstorms by “meeting” class schedules and professors’ expectations online. Faculty members old and new, as always, steadfastly bring talents, ideas, and solutions to meet those demands and purposes through current and new academic programs. Our venerable institution itself strikes a balance: Our name says “College,” yet Regis is in reality a university. Two doctoral programs and 20 distinct master’s programs make us that by Massachusetts standards. Administratively, in the fourth year of my presidency and our five-year strategic plan, we are turning a big corner, working on the next iteration of our strategic plan— the next five years—with a draft going very soon to trustees for review and reflection. By 2027, when Regis turns 100, who knows what we will see? In the far distance, of course, the skyscrapers of Boston. In our immediate surroundings, Morrison House, the Norman Tower, and the Corinthian columns of College Hall will be there shining, as they are today. But what else will join the athletic fields that were not there in 2008, the stunning quadrangle and residence wing that were not there in 2014? How shall this new physical intensity affect our learning community? I think what it will “say” is that boundaries expand and shrink and change on the interior social and personal scale, and on the exterior as well. Our growth will symbolize expanding boundaries and evolving accountabilities, and a new dimension of community with— as always—inclusiveness for all.
3 SPRING 2015
Roll Pride!
It was a great winter for Regis basketball, as the men’s team captured its first New England Collegiate Conference title, while the women’s team won the NECC crown for the third straight year. Both teams moved on to the NCAA Division III tournament, with the men dropping a close one to No. 10 Dickinson College and the women falling to perennial powerhouse Montclair State University. And speaking of winter, find out how our warm-weather student-athletes are adapting to the cold realities of New England on page 22.
Children’s Hospital CEO delivers Commencement Address
4 REGIS TODAY
Sandra L. Fenwick, chief executive officer of Boston Children’s Hospital, was the featured speaker at Commencement exercises on May 9. An honorary doctoral degree was presented to her during the ceremony. Fenwick joined Boston Children’s Hospital in 1999, was promoted to chief operating officer later that year, and became president in 2008. She was named CEO in 2013—the first woman to lead Boston Children’s Hospital. Previously, Fenwick worked for 20 years in healthcare administration and strategic planning at Beth Israel Hospital and CareGroup, Inc. “Sandi Fenwick is a wonderful professional role model not only for our women students but for our men, too, at a time when administration generally, whether in hospitals, higher education, or industry, is rapidly changing,” says Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. Regis also awarded honorary doctorates to communications consultant and Emmy Award-winning journalist Marjorie Arons-Barron, and to alumna and social justice champion Karen LaFrazia ’82. Arons-Barron, president of Barron Associates Worldwide, is the former longtime editorial director and producer/host at WCVB-TV, Channel 5. LaFrazia is executive director of St. Francis House in Boston, the largest day shelter in New England supporting more than 800 poor and homeless men and women each day. In 2008, LaFrazia received the Unsung Heroine Award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Approximately 700 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students received degrees at the 85th Commencement exercises, held for the third year under the tent on the Great Lawn.
ACROSS THE BOARD NEW-LOOK REGIS WEBSITE FEATURES NEW REGIS BLOG
Check out the Regis blog “Across the Board,” launched in fall 2014 to coincide with a new-look Regis website. Featuring contributions and musings from Regis administrators, faculty, and guest writers, the blog covers an array of topics: Catholicism and religion today, poetry and creative writing, college enrollment and affordability, curriculum design and assessment, constructing an iBook and lifelong learning, international and domestic travel, and plenty of other subjects “Across the Board.” The blog is curated by M.J. Doherty, PhD, special assistant to the president. Find it at: regiscollege.edu
New Hires Jane (Hingston) Peck ’79 is the new director of the Regis Library. Previously, she was assistant director of the Framingham Public Library, the fifth busiest public library in Massachusetts. She has also worked at the Wellesley College library, the Needham Public Library, and the technical/business library at NOVA Biomedical in Waltham. Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Regis, and an MLS degree from Simmons College. Rebecca Putnam was named director of the Regis Children’s Center in August 2014. Previously, she was director/marketing manager at the Goddard School in Auburn, Mass., where she worked since 2001. She also teaches at the collegiate level, with Becker College and Dean College on her résumé. She holds an MEd in child development and early childhood education from Wheelock College and a BS in elementary education from York College. Kelly Treseler, the new director of residence life and housing, oversees Regis’s five residence halls, which house more than 700 undergraduate and graduate students. She also plays an integral role in Regis’s Title IX response process and other crisis management procedures. Previously, she was assistant director of residence life at Stonehill College. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Boston College. Patrick Woods, the new director of leadership giving in the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations, is working with Regis alumni, volunteers, and friends to build meaningful financial support for Regis’s mission and academic priorities. He brings more than 15 years of fund-raising experience at organizations including the University of Connecticut, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Ocean Alliance, and the Museum of Science, Boston. He holds a BA in English from Hobart College.
New Trustees Camille Ferazzi ’69 is very active in the commercial real estate market and serves as tenant relations manager at New City Corporation in Boston, working with commercial tenants in various holdings throughout Suffolk County. She is also property manager at 125 Broad Street in Boston, and owner/manager of The Studio & The Studio Marina in Falmouth, Mass. A committed philanthropist, she owns and operates Cassie’s Place in Falmouth, a sober house for women, has spent many years as philanthropic coordinator at The Rack in Boston, was a founding member of the University of Miami’s Parents Council, and serves on the Humane Society of Broward County in Florida. She was a member of the Class of 1969 Reunion Committee and serves on Regis’s Institutional Advancement Committee. Previously, she taught foreign languages in the Arlington Public Schools.
photo: Aaron Spagnolo
New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian kicked off the Liberal Arts Lecture Series this spring with a discussion of “The Writing Life.” Also on the schedule for the inaugural season were Gene Bell-Villada (“On the Ayn Rand Cult and the Slow, Steady Rise of Libertarianism”) and James Lang (“Can Teaching Innovation Revitalize the Liberal Arts?”).
Two hot majors, one cool week Rising high school juniors and seniors seeking to sample college-level academics and campus life, while getting a jump on their admission essays, are encouraged to check out the 2015 Regis Summer Scholars program. Last July’s two-week pilot version of Summer Scholars drew high-schoolers from around the region and overseas, and provided Regis administrators with a solid basis for program evaluation and modification. Summer Scholars 2015 will run for one week—July 12 to 17— with a substantially reduced tuition rate of $695 for five days of classes, room and board, a loaner iPad for each student, and an array of recreational and social activities on and off campus. Participants also receive a Regis tuition voucher for future use. The college-level courses for 2015 center on two red-hot majors and career fields—healthcare and communications—and are led by Regis faculty members. In addition to classes, students will work on college essays while also learning how to navigate the college admission and financial aid process. For details, call 781-768-7162 or visit regiscollege.edu/hsprogram.
Mary Ann Walsh Lewis ’74, incoming president and the government liaison of SAVE International, the professional society for Value Enhancing Methodologies, spent her career promoting value-improving practices and construction management. Prior to retiring in 2014, she managed Black & Veatch’s Water Program & Construction Management Practice. She co-founded Lewis & Zimmerman Associates (1982), the Construction Dynamics Group (1983), and CDG International (1991, in the United Kingdom), which were sold in 2004 to ARCADIS. She worked for two U.S. congressmen early in her career. She is a trustee and former chair and director of the nonprofit Lawrence D. Miles Value Foundation. Joseph H. Petrowski is founder and managing director of Mercantor Partners, a private equity group focused on downstream energy distribution and retail convenience. He is past CEO of the combined Cumberland Farms-Gulf Oil Group, the 34th largest private company on the Forbes 500 list. He is a member of the Henry Kravis Institute for Leadership Development, a trustee of Boston College High School, and a former board member of the Financial Economic Institute of Claremont McKenna College. An expert on energy and public policy, regulation, and market development, he has been a contributing editor for The Wall Street Journal, is a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg Radio, and has testified before Congress and several regulatory agencies on energy and international trade issues.
SPRING 2015
LIBERAL ARTS LECTURE SERIES
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An Apple Distinguished School REGIS AMONG A SELECT GROUP OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES RECOGNIZED BY APPLE
6 REGIS TODAY The pioneering iPad initiative, launched by Regis in 2011, has placed the school among a select group of colleges and universities recognized by Apple for institution-wide programs that exemplify innovation, leadership, educational excellence, and a clear vision of exemplary learning environments. Apple executives came to campus on March 17 to formally present the Apple Distinguished School for 2014–2016 recognition to President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. The event included presentations of iPad-enhanced and integrated education across the curriculum, offered by faculty members from the departments of Religious Studies and Philosophy, History, Nursing, and Public Health. “I am thrilled that Regis is one of an elite number of colleges and universities—about 20 in the whole country—to receive the Apple Distinguished School designation,” said President Hays, “and I continue
to credit our forward-looking faculty, staff—and our always innovative students—who won this recognition for us.” Commented junior Andrew Essington, a Nursing major: “The iPad adds another dimension of understanding to the classes I’m taking. It’s one thing to see a diagram of the heart on the whiteboard, but being able to manipulate a 3D model while seeing the blood flow from chamber to chamber is a completely different experience.” “Regis has always had a learning environment with a personal touch,” said Regis Chief Information Officer Marla Botelho. She and Karin Plumadore, special assistant to Academic Affairs Vice President Malcolm Asadoorian, PhD, traveled to Cupertino, Calif., this winter to huddle with representatives from other ADS institutions around the country. “I was very proud to share with other universities what we’ve done and to show how our technological rollout in the last four years has enhanced our commitment to teach and to learn.”
photo: Kathleen Dooher
“The iPad adds another dimension of understanding to the classes I’m taking.”
Putting a Stop to Human Trafficking
REGIS LAUNCHES A NEW DEGREE PROGRAM Regis is launching a new Master of Arts degree program designed to develop highly qualified healthcare professionals and leaders in the rapidly expanding field of counseling psychology. The MA in Counseling Psychology offers two tracks: A 60-credit program to qualify students to sit for the exam for licensure as a mental health counselor; and a 48-credit program for students who do not plan to pursue mental health licensure and/or who plan to enter doctoral study after completion of the MA degree. Program graduates will join a growing group of master’s-level, public-serviceoriented mental health practitioners. There are now over Learn more about 4,500 licensed mental the program at health counselors in http://tinyurl.com/ RegisNewMA Massachusetts alone, according to program director Shelby Ortega, PhD, with employment opportunities nationally expected to increase by 29 percent by 2022. “Our MA program will provide rigorous scholarship and extensive supervised field education while emphasizing the core values of multiculturalism and social justice through the lens of public health and wellness,” says Ortega.
FULBRIGHT FIRST In the fall 2014 issue of Regis Today, we misidentified Regis’s first Fulbright Scholar. Ida (Catignani) Andreani ’49 was the first Fulbright, returning to her Italian roots to study at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy. While at Regis, she was active in the Mission Unit and served as editor of Mount Regis. Before graduation, she was accepted into the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Honor Society. Her Fulbright experience clearly had a lasting impact, as she continues to make annual pilgrimages to Italy.
A Nursing Simulation Lab in College Hall was recently outfitted with new equipment through a gift of $24,230 from the estate of the late Mary A. Hefron ’55, an active Regis alumna and long-time registrar at Suffolk University. Regis administrators, faculty, and members of the Hefron family attended a January dedication ceremony marking the gift.
7 SPRING 2015
MA in Counseling Psychology
As founding executive director of the nonprofit Multicultural Village, Michelle Cromwell, PhD, has a goal: to build community through experiential dialogues. The program’s 2015 resolution solution service-learning retreat, hosted at Regis in January, focused on raising awareness of human trafficking and how the global crime affects a range of local communities. “Human trafficking is a lot more widespread than we realize or even want to admit,” says Cromwell, associate professor of politics and social justice and Honors Program advisor. “The retreat was very powerful, and one participant was also a survivor of human trafficking, which made it real for others.” The day-long program also included a service project and a dialogue with retreat participants and community members. It was supported by Sister Marilyn McGoldrick, CSJ, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, as it aligns with their mission to collaborate to fight human trafficking. Local Natick businesses placed decals in shop windows with the national hotline number to raise awareness about the prevelance of human trafficking in suburban communities. Cromwell founded the Natick-based Multicultural Village in 2008. “We are expanding our focus and educating people about racial injustice and inclusion through meaningful dialogues, which can provide ways to transform difficult issues—and ultimately communities.”
+ Focus on Health In Brief
8 REGIS TODAY
CARE DIMENSIONS AND REGIS TO DEVELOP ONLINE AND RESIDENCY HEALTHCARE TRAINING Regis will team up with Care Dimensions (formerly Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston) to develop two training initiatives: a nurse residency program, and online learning modules for clinical staff. Both projects are aimed at enhancing healthcare staff engagement and retention, and ultimately improving patient care. The program is made possible by a $249,000 Massachusetts Healthcare Workforce Transformation Fund Training Grant awarded to Care Dimensions. “As educators of the healthcare workforce of tomorrow, we find this is an exciting opportunity to use today’s interactive teaching tools to reach current healthcare providers, and for our team to adapt curriculum to meet the needs of the healthcare industry, including sustaining quality care,” says Penelope Glynn, PhD, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions at Regis. The initiative will help fill a gap in the recruitment of hospice providers, as it will provide mentoring and online training tools. JOHN W. ALDEN TRUST GRANT TO SUPPORT PA RENT TRAINING A $13,000 grant from the John W. Alden Trust will support the project “Evaluation of a Parent Training Program via Written Instructions With and Without Video Modeling.” Lauren Beaulieu, PhD, BCBA-D, will assess the effects of 10 empirically validated tactics combined into one parenting program—a combination that has not been evaluated. Beaulieu, director of
the Applied Behavior Analysis master’s program, aims to enrich the lives of children diagnosed with various disabilities, as well as children who exhibit behavioral problems and are at risk for delinquency. “This work advances the Trust’s focus on issues affecting children with disabilities, and we very much look forward to hearing the results,” says Susan Monahan, trustee and grants coordinator for the John W. Alden Trust. The project also provides training for graduate students enrolled in Regis’s Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis program. The grant complements a Virginia Pyne Kaneb Faculty Scholars Grant. FEDERAL FUNDING SUPPORTS DNP CANDIDATES Regis received an award from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program. Students enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program are eligible for a low-interest federal loan that offers partial loan forgiveness if they graduate and serve as full-time nursing faculty in an accredited school of nursing for a specific period of time. This is the sixth year that Regis has received funding. “The goal of the NFLP at Regis is to support the nursing profession in responding to the continued substantial shortage of doctoral-prepared nursing faculty, thereby enabling access to nursing education to qualified applicants,” says Karen Crowley, DNP, associate professor and director of the of the total DNP program. program budget The federal fundwill be funded ing provides 90 percent ($87,583) of the total $97,314 program budget, with the remaining amount coming from Regis’s Institutional Capital Contribution.
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JONI BESHANSKY DIRECTS RCRM PROGRAM Joni Beshansky is an associate professor and the new director of the Regulatory and Clinical Research Management (RCRM) graduate program at Regis. She is recognized nationally as an accomplished scientist and clinical operations leader with extensive experience in developing, designing, and executing complex strategies for major healthcare research initiatives and clinical trials. Prior to joining Regis in 2014, she was associate director of the Center for Cardiovascular Health Services Research in the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center, and an associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, a faculty position she continues to hold. She was co-founder and associate director of a master’s and PhD program in clinical translational science at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University, and mentored numerous pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows and faculty. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Lesley University, an MPH from Boston University, and is completing her doctoral degree in law and policy at Northeastern University. Regis offers a master’s degree and graduate certificates in RCRM to help students navigate the increasingly complex areas of drug, device, and biologics regulatory affairs, health economics and reimbursement, health policy and development, and clinical trial management. The program is designed to fit the schedules of working professionals through evening, weekend, and virtual class options.
CHANGEMAKER
photo: Stephen Sedman
CHERLIE MAGNY-NORMILUS HONORED
Partners In Health co-founders Paul Farmer, MD, and Ophelia Dahl joined President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN, and dozens of alumni and friends at an October 29 fund-raising event to support the Regis Haiti Project. The celebration was held at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Paul Farmer (left), chief strategist for PIH, was special guest speaker at the fundraiser. Ophelia Dahl (right), longtime executive director and now chair of the board of PIH, served as honorary co-chair of the event, along with Regis trustee and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Thomas P. O’Neill III, Read more about CEO of O’Neill & Associates. Event sponsors the fund-raiser and included Jim and Karen Ansara, Diane and Farmer’s remarks at http://tinyurl.com/ Al Kaneb, trustee John Tegan, Brigham and regispartnersforhaiti Women’s Hospital, John and Beverly Barry, Partners In Health, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and Tom and Shelley M. O’Neill. The Regis Haiti Project, launched in 2007, is a “teach-the-teachers” initiative led by Regis, PIH, the Haitian Ministry of Health, and public and private nursing school leaders in Haiti. The project provides master’s-level education and training for Haitian nurse educators who in turn help create a growing cadre of nursing professionals in the island nation.
9 SPRING 2015
Partners for Haiti … and Global Health
Cherlie Magny-Normilus, assistant professor of nursing and director of policy and advocacy for the Regis Haiti Project, was named a changemaker on The Haitian Roundtable 1804 List for 2015. The Haitian Roundtable 1804 List, named in honor of Haiti’s year of independence, recognizes Haitian-Americans in the United States who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and success in their profession, proven themselves to be forces for change in their communities, and helped to create a better understanding of Haiti and the Haitian community. “I am deeply gratified to be so recognized,” Magny-Normilus said at a March 21 gala in New York City. “I credit my parents, Haitian immigrants to the United States, for encouraging my siblings and me to be educated. Education is the fundamental path of human change and social justice.” Magny-Normilus is a clinical research nurse practitioner at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is involved in a number of community service projects, including Magny’s HIV/Aids Treatment and Prevention in Haiti, and The Health Ministry at Eagle Heights Church in Revere, Mass. She has also been honored with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Ujima Award (2011), the Regis Graduate Leadership Award (2011), and the Massachusetts Hospital Association Scholarship (2010). “Cherlie has been the heart and soul of our connection to Haitian nursing faculty who are gaining their master’s degrees and influencing countless other nurses in Haiti through education,” says President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN.
words
in my own
A Gift in Memory BY J OHN T E GA N
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Lorraine DeStefano Tegan ’63 and I were married on February 8, 1964, having only met in September 1963. We were recent first-generation college graduates and teachers at Revere Junior High. Most of our friends and family did not give us much of a chance to succeed because of our different personalities: Lorraine was a feminist, a confident woman influenced by the Sisters of St. Joseph who taught her that gender should never limit your success; I grew up in a tough neighborhood, a little rough around the edges— but Lorraine squared me away very rapidly! We proved friends and family wrong, as we were married for 48 years—with four children and 11 grandchildren—when Lorraine died of breast cancer in February 2012. Over time, the Regis community and faithful alums have always been present and supportive during our journey. After Lorraine’s death, our family wanted to plan a celebration of her life and did not want the venue to be a funeral home, which we felt could be cold and impersonal. I asked our children for suggestions and one of our daughters said, ‘Why not call President Hays at Regis?’ I did call and will never forget Dr. Hays’s response. After a brief pause, she said, “You would honor us by having Lorraine’s celebration of life here at Regis.” The Regis staff helped plan the event with our family. It was a great tribute to a faithful alumna who loved the school, and it tightened the bond between Lorraine’s family and the extended Regis family.
The Tegan family believes that Regis’s sense of community is more important than ever in our world today. The charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph permeates the university and is reflected by the students as you walk through the campus today, much like it was when Lorraine was an undergraduate at Regis (except now there are men as well as women!). Scores of firstgeneration college students still give a unique identity to the school, representing many different cultures and extending the Regis family into a global forum. One such nationally and internationally recognized project is in Haiti—the “teach-the-teachers” nursing education program has become a model for other parts of the world. [See related story, page 9.] Regis has been and always will be an important resource for women, and now for men as well. Its Catholic culture and values are instilled in every aspect of the institution—a rarity in today’s world. Lorraine spent many hours as a student, an alumna, and a trustee supporting important initiatives to enhance Regis’s academic programs, and to make that experience even more compelling to prospective students. She was surprised to find out that women’s colleges were so poorly supported. Starting with her own husband, she began efforts to involve more spouses in the school’s philanthropic programs. Our family’s gift to Regis is a result of Lorraine’s vision. We have always believed that “the Regis experience” deserves to be significantly supported. Lorraine would be extremely pleased that a gift from her family was given to launch the creation of a new “Learning Commons” in the heart of the Regis Library and continue this tradition of support. “To whom much is given much is expected.”
Lorraine DeStefano Tegan ’63 was a Regis trustee from 2006 to 2012. John Tegan was elected a trustee in 2013.
11 SPRING 2015 BUILDING REGIS TOGETHER The Lorraine DeStefano Tegan ’63 Learning Commons in the heart of the Regis Library honors a deeply committed alumna and trustee, whose family recently pledged a $1 million gift in her memory. The Tegan Learning Commons is a central piece of Phase I of the Regis campus development Master Plan. The first floor of the reimagined building features new spaces for study, areas for students and others to congregate with friends, a café, and an amphitheaterstyle exterior staircase leading to a new entryway. The exterior staircase ties into a brick plaza and walkway—part of the newly transformed quadrangle bordered by College Hall, St. Joseph Hall, the Student Union/Alumnae Hall, and the new 72-bed residence building connected to Maria Hall. Phase I completion is set for this summer, with a celebration scheduled for September 10 (see back cover).
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PATRICIA D’AMORE ’73 A N D HER VISION FOR F IG HT IN G EYE DISE ASE
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Try this job posting on for size: “Research Scientist, Administrator, and Educator wanted. Advanced degrees required. Managerial experience essential. Ongoing scramble for shrinking funds. Long hours. Salary not commensurate. Countless other responsibilities as assigned.” Not the most appealing opportunity in today’s career scene—and certainly not one envisioned by a young woman from Everett, Mass., who arrived on the Regis campus as a freshman in 1969 with no real sense of what she wanted to do with her life. But it has all come together very nicely for Patricia D’Amore ’73, and to the benefit of the ophthalmological community in its march against the calamitous effects of macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and other eye diseases. D’Amore is director of research and senior scientist at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, and director of the Howe Laboratory and associate chief of basic and translational research at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. They are part of Harvard University, where D’Amore also holds several titles within the Ophthalmology Department of Harvard Medical School, including Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology, professor of pathology, and vice-chair of basic research.
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he focus of her work is the human vasculature—which she describes as the plumbing system supplying blood from the heart to the rest of the body—and angiogenesis—the growth of new blood vessels and specifically capillaries. Last spring, D’Amore was part of a group presented with the Champalimaud Vision Award; in ophthalmology circles, it is akin to a Nobel. This spring, she will receive the Proctor Medal, the highest award from the Association for Vision and Ophthalmology.
REGIS TODAY
GENESIS OF A SCIENCE CAREER Like many of her Regis classmates, D’Amore was a first-generation college student. Her parents knew the importance of higher education (and by Pat’s count, the six D’Amore children have 13 academic degrees among them), but aspects such as a major were not on the radar screen. “I was clueless, frankly,” she recalls. “I had no idea about a career path. I was just sort of going in whatever way.” But she was open to inspiration, and a pair of science classes taught by Sisters Cabrini Angelli, CSJ, and Cecilia Agnes Mulrennan, CSJ, piqued her interest. So, too, did a related field trip to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to learn about radiation, and a summer research experience at a field station in upper Michigan (“though I realized, ‘okay this is fun, but I definitely don’t want to collect bugs for a living’ ”). What really got her focused as an undergraduate, however, was a two-summer research fellowship at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, Mass., funded through a regional business and philanthropic organization. “There weren’t a lot of research opportunities for young women at the time, especially for those at small liberal arts schools,” she notes. At St. Elizabeth’s, D’Amore worked in the lab of a young
physician who specialized in hematology, which exposed her to both research and patient visits. “She got me very interested in aspects of the vasculature because of some of the pathology she used to see in her patients who were lacking platelets,” says D’Amore. “When I decided to go to graduate school, I looked for somebody working on the vasculature, which was new at that time.” It was a very compelling field, she adds. “There was a researcher at Boston University who was starting to tissue-culture these cells and I ended up going to his lab to do my PhD. So I had been basically doing the same general kind of research since I was at Regis.” THAT’S DEE-AMOR-AY The BA from Regis and the PhD from BU are in biology. D’Amore did a post-doctoral fellowship in biological chemistry and ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Medical School, followed by 18 years at Boston Children’s Hospital before joining Schepens in 1999. Along the way, she earned an MBA from Northeastern University, which prompts her to explain the pronunciation of her last name because in 2012 Northeastern’s business school was named in honor of her brother Richard, a very successful venture capitalist, and his friend and fellow alumnus and benefactor Alan McKim. “It’s DEE-amor-AY. Not DAHmore. I’m the only one in my family who pronounces it right,” she says with a laugh. “I can’t pronounce it wrong; it is such a nice name. The only people who have introduced me correctly when I give talks are people who are not native English speakers.” Such introductions—whether or not the pronunciation is accurate—are a common occurrence for D’Amore, given her prominence in ophthalmology research and education. She is particularly fond of the teaching and mentoring pieces, at Harvard Medical School
and occasionally during summers at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. “It keeps me connected to academics, to students. Otherwise I can sometimes feel isolated. It’s good work. I love it.” D’Amore’s role of teacher comes in handy for the nonscientific layperson interviewing her in her Schepens Institute office, which branches off a larger lab where her small team is busy at work. “Basically, my background is in blood vessels, capillaries, and the growth of small blood vessels, which is called angiogenesis,” she explains. “I became interested in how they grow or don’t grow—or grow at the wrong time. So I did some work on how they develop, but mostly I’ve always focused on ‘why do they grow when they’re not supposed to.’ ” Such growth is a key factor in several eye diseases, she says, and two in particular: diabetic retinopathy, and the wet form of macular degeneration (as opposed to the dry form, which is the most common form of macular degeneration). “If you’ve ever heard about people who’ve lost vision from diabetes, that’s a blood vessel problem,” she says. “In both forms of macular degeneration, the macula—the small part of the retina responsible for central vision—gets affected, but in the dry form it’s age-related and in the wet form there are blood vessels growing. The wet form is a relatively small percentage, probably about 10 percent, but it is so destructive and it causes about 90 percent of the associated vision loss.” CHALLENGES + REWARDS Like most anyone who pursues funded research, D’Amore extols the research aspect but bemoans the funding part. The need for support is never-ending and the cost of research ever-climbing, but grants from various sources— largely the federal government via the National Institutes of Health
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and other such agencies, and to a far lesser degree corporate and private entities—continue to shrink. It’s a far different scenario than a decade ago, let alone when she began her career. “It’s a hard time for researchers … and many are losing hope,” she says. “I’ve heard of people getting their first grant at age 40. I was 25 when I got my first grant. I worry that we’re losing a current generation and risking our next generation of basic scientists because they’re jumping ship and going to do different things.” But the personal and professional rewards of breakthrough research and treatment to prevent blindness are nearly indescribable, says D’Amore of the work that led to the Proctor Medal. “It’s been a very large group of people doing the work, and it’s nice to feel that you did something that was beneficial. That makes it all worth it.” She then returns to her arrival on the Regis campus in fall 1969, to her biology courses, to the Sisters of St. Joseph who taught them, to the opportunities—and offers the scientist’s perspective of her path to success. “You can trace it all back,” she says. “It is one of those cases where if I hadn’t gone to Regis, then I wouldn’t have done the summer fellowships, and I wouldn’t have met the mentors I had. And that’s really where and how I got interested in vascular stuff, and that’s why I’m here now.”
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It is one of those cases where if I hadn’t gone to Regis, then I wouldn’t have done the summer fellowships, and I wouldn’t have met the mentors I had. And that’s really where and how I got interested in vascular stuff, and that’s why I’m here now.”
ST O RY B Y N A O MI K O O K E R PHOTOS BY K AT H L E E N D O O H E R
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Writıng a Life
How a professor’s passion pushes students to improve —their schoolwork and life— with a click of a pen (or tap of the keys)
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Anthony D’Aries, 18 REGIS TODAY
assistant professor of English and the Writing Program director, cuts the lights in his classroom. The opening scene of “Apocalypse Now” appears on the screen—no sound. His students in EN-223 Rhetoric: Art & Written Communication sit in an eerie quiet as images of a fiery blaze engulf palm trees. The camera pans to an unkempt Martin Sheen (the students guess the actor correctly) dragging on a cigarette, vacantly staring upward as a helicopter rotor blade fades into a ceiling fan, a gun and glass of booze nearby. When the lights come up, D’Aries is all questions: “What are we introduced to first and how? Is it a character or a setting? Are we up close in the character’s face or is the camera far away? What are the first details we notice? What tone or mood is set right from the start?” When students respond, he keeps asking: “What else?” The students notice the alcohol, the cigarette, the gun, and Sheen’s spaciness as signs of posttraumatic stress syndrome. It’s all in the details and the way the camera delivers the visual narrative. D’Aries shows the clip again, this time with sound. The Doors’ downbeat anthem “The End” adds a somber psychedelic synchronicity to the images, and the scene takes on another dimension. Later in the semester, D’Aries will give examples of a written equivalent of a “zoomed in” shot versus a “zoomed out” shot—filmmaking terms he’s jotted on the whiteboard—and have students write about their favorite films from those two perspectives.
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“When we take a look at TV shows, movies, or news, everything has a bias,” says Taylor Raucher, a senior in D’Aries’s rhetoric class. “Being able to critically look at a piece of visual media and analyze it rhetorically is something very useful; to apply that to real life is really valuable.” Talk to students who sit through a “Professor D” or “D’Aries” writing class and you’ll get a singular voice: They love him and his approach to teaching. Hate writing or are critical of your own writing? Take a Professor D class. Unsure of your major? Take a Professor D class, but be forewarned: You may end up an English major. “The lives of our students and our department as a whole have been truly enriched since Anthony took on the role of Writing Program director here at Regis,” says Julia Lisella, PhD, associate professor of English and author of several poetry books. “He brings his passion for writing into the classroom, he inspires the students he advises on Regis’s Hemetera literary journal, and he’s brought a level of seriousness to his students about what it means to be a writer.”
“Writing was
my quiet way of making noise, of being heard.” ANTHONY D’ARIES
D’Aries started teaching at Regis in the fall of 2013. His passion for writing—coupled with his own work as a writer—has lifted the craft to a new level at Regis and for anyone who’s participated in his classes. Whether he’s holding class, leading a faculty workshop, or engaged in his own work (he’s 50 pages into his first novel), D’Aries evangelizes that creative writing can build confidence in students, change perspectives, open doors, open minds and, ultimately, change a life—a tall order for the art and craft of putting thoughts on paper. At a glance, D’Aries, 32, passes for a grad student himself. Sporting a trimmed beard, jeans and a pullover sweater, his demeanor is laid back, friendly, and down-to-earth for a guy who’s earned bragging rights from his first book, “The Language of Men: A Memoir” (Hudson Whitman/ Excelsior College Press, 2012). The book explores gender roles and communication in a maledominated, working-class family— sparked by his father’s time in the Vietnam War. “He didn’t share combat stories,” says D’Aries, “but
rather candid depictions of his relationships with Vietnamese prostitutes. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between us that this was ‘just what guys did,’ and that I, as a man, wasn’t supposed to ask questions.” Ask questions, he did. “The female perspective on the Vietnam War served as the backdrop to my exploration of my own immediate family and the traditional gender roles I grew up with but did not question until I began to write.” The book received the PEN/ New England Discovery Prize in nonfiction, Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year (Gold/Autobiography), and other awards. Acclaimed author Andre Dubus III, whom D’Aries brought to campus last fall to speak with students and faculty, calls his friend a “major new talent.” The act of writing “Language” defies the stereotype that memoir, as a genre, belongs to women. “Somehow trying to make sense of your memories is perceived as feminine and, quote-un-quote, not real writing,” says D’Aries. Part of finding his voice in “Language” is what he espouses to his students. “I strive to nurture in emerging writers a curiosity for words, a healthy relationship with doubt, and a desire to communicate with the larger world,” he says. Reading is an integral part of the creative writing process. “I really admire the way Anthony brings that integrity of reading literature and understanding it to the project of writing,” says Lisella. “You can’t be a good writer without being a good reader, and that’s apparent in the way Anthony approaches teaching both creative and nonfiction writing. It’s a commitment to language in a very personal way.” In a faculty development workshop on how to create intensive
Leonard Paul III was a prelaw major until he realized that wasn’t his passion. “At the end of freshman year, I was undeclared and pretty unsure about what to do,” says the Regis sophomore. “Occasionally, I would stick around after class and talk to D’Aries about writing, books, or movies, and about how even though I loved writing and English studies, I didn’t want to get an English degree just to end up teaching. “D’Aries encouraged me to view writing and an English degree as a way of thinking and approaching life. English teaches us how to think critically, empathize, and create—attributes important to any career and life as a whole. I was pushed to pursue a major that involved my passion,” says Paul. “He’s a cool teacher.” The professor’s use of film, music, and photographs—the visual aids of pop culture—in his writing classes comes honestly. “Film and music were my first inspirations, not literature,” says D’Aries. “I only started to read seriously when I began writing more, say in middle school or high school.” A shy kid growing up in Northport on Long Island, D’Aries preferred being alone. “I think writing was my quiet way of making noise, of being heard,” he says. “I still feel that in a way. I’m more vocal now, of course—otherwise my students would be bored to death—but I think most writers understand the need for solitude.” His father ran the deli department at Walbaum’s supermarket; his mother cleaned houses. “You could go a few blocks in one direction and there were people worse off than us or you could go the other direction and stare at the mansions on the cliff overlooking our town,” D’Aries recalls. “I remember my mother
“Professor D
was the first teacher who made me love writing.”
SARA WEAVER ’17
driving up the hills to clean those houses. That stuck with me.” When he’s in his routine, D’Aries writes at least two hours every morning, juggling writing and teaching with being a husband to Vanessa, his wife with whom he traveled to Vietnam as part of the research for his memoir, and being a new father to their son, Otis. “I don’t think creativity can be taught,” says D’Aries, “but we can create an encouraging, welcoming space where new creative writers can explore different genres and try out new forms. “There has to be a foundation of curiosity and sometimes that foundation is so deeply buried or a student hasn’t been given a chance to dig down to it and he or she might think they’re ‘not creative enough’ or ‘not the creative type.’ But really, I think it’s just a matter of presenting the student with different ‘doors’ into a creative piece.” Back in EN-223, D’Aries stirs up questions about dialogue and sound. “Is anybody talking? Is it just two people talking, a cacophony of noise like a restaurant? Is it silent, loud conversation? Yelling?” The students respond. The answers come. And D’Aries keeps asking: “What else?”
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writing courses, D’Aries peppers his instruction with quotes: “We write to become the person who can finish the work.” “Pick the right verb, you never need an adverb.” “Writing tools as transferable skills.” With this last sentiment, he offers the template of creative writing. “I teach students to see the writing process as a transferable set of skills—development, drafting, revising, proofreading—that can be applied to any discipline, any writing assignment.” As a member of PEN/New England’s Freedom-to-Write Committee, D’Aries has taught workshops in prisons, shelters, and residential care facilities. He is helping to coordinate a “Writing About Trauma” conference scheduled for this fall in Boston. “The conference will feature panels and discussions on what trauma is, how traumatic memories are stored and accessed, and the role that writing and revising personal narratives can have in empowering survivors of traumatic events,” says D’Aries. In his classes he creates a safe environment for his students by listening, by honoring and respecting their opinions, and by leading them through discussions of literature that support and challenge those opinions. “The same approach I use for my undergraduate and graduate workshops.” His approach pays off. “Professor D was the first teacher who made me love writing, and my own writing,” says sophomore Sara Weaver, who took D’Aries’s Creative Writing Workshop this spring semester. “Before my freshman year, I was always very critical of my writing. I was always telling myself that I could have done better. But Professor D showed me that I am a really good writer, which is something I should be proud of.”
S TORY BY BRYAN GEARY P H OTOS BY KATH LEEN DO O HER
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Wƒrm-weƒther students tƒke Regis ƒthletics by storm
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First sign of spring! Snow starts to melt away on campus after a record 100-plus inches of snow this winter.
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ƒ record
100+ inches of snow.
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The coldest February in years. Blizzard-induced school closings. It was some kind of winter—the type that drives even the most seasoned New Englanders to the brink of packing up and moving south. Ask a bunch of warm-weather students who did just the opposite, however—they packed up and moved north to Regis—about the winter we just had and you’ll get a wide range of answers:
“The snow is AWESOME! And the snow days are even better!” —SHAY FABER ’18 (WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL; FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA.)
“Not many people can say the first winter they experienced was 100-plus inches of snow!” — MARCOS AGUIRRE ’18 (MEN’S VOLLEYBALL; NORWALK, CALIF.)
“During a practice one day in March my ears had the strangest feeling from the cold.” —TAIS SALLES ’18 (WOMEN’S SOCCER; FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA.)
“The weather is wonderful, but it’s also bizarre.” —MIKE MCCLOSKEY ’15 (MEN’S BASKETBALL; WINTER SPRINGS, FLA.)
Ft. Lauderdale" FLORIDƒ
GARVEN CHARLES ’18 BASKETBALL
This “bizarre” experience is becoming more familiar as Regis expands recruitment outside of New England. “The number of students from areas of the country where Regis has not typically recruited has nearly doubled since 2009,” says Paul Vaccaro, vice president for enrollment and marketing. “A majority of them are student-athletes.” The shift in focus comes in response to the fact that many areas around the country will face a decline in the number of high school graduates in the coming years. Vaccaro and the admission staff at Regis identified three states—Florida, Texas, and California—as ideal areas to expand their efforts. There are a number of factors that make these ideal markets, including projections that the number of high school graduates will actually increase in all three states. Vaccaro also notes that students are able to get a direct flight from those areas to either Boston
Sunshine" THE
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Houston"
Coral Springs"
EVAN STONE ’16 VOLLEYBALL
CRYSTINA LATHROP ’18 VOLLEYBALL
JAIWON MARTIN ’17 BASKETBALL
CƒLIFORNIƒ
cƒliforniƒ JACKIE SILVER ’15 VOLLEYBALL
texƒs
Miami"
Floridƒ
JOSH BAZAIL ’18 LACROSSE
REG IS PRID E / M E E T SO ME O F O U R PLƒY E R S
floridƒ
or Providence, a major factor when you consider travel distance. And how do Regis students adjust to this distance? Although it could be daunting while simultaneously adjusting to college life, you wouldn’t know it from talking to them. “When I got here, I really noticed just how friendly everyone was,” says Coral Springs, Fla., native Jaiwon Martin, a sophomore on the men’s basketball team. “It really feels like a family,” says Tais Salles ’18, a women’s soccer player who traveled from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “I feel okay being away from home.” “The community at Regis is extremely supportive of studentathletes,” adds women’s volleyball sophomore Kristina Del Ray, a Miami, Fla., native. “No matter how tough things may get, you always feel like you’re at home.” For Crystina Lathrop ’18, a Houston, Texas, native on the women’s volleyball team, the values of the Sisters of St. Joseph that define Regis have
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reputation visibility The
ƒND
ƒre things thƒt current student-ƒthletes believe in. Regis is ƒ greƒt plƒce to “be chƒllenged,” to “be pushed to your limits ƒs ƒn ƒthlete,” ƒnd to “grow ƒs ƒn individuƒl.”
“Our coaches are aggressively recruiting around the country to improve our overall athleticism,” says Riley. “We have great roots in the New England states and Massachusetts, but in our recent championship run we had studentathletes from 12 different states. Our national efforts are an important part of our success.” Vaccaro adds that Regis’s strong track record recruiting studentathletes has paved the way for the entire admission department. “It’s much easier for us to knock on doors given how many athletes have been successful at Regis coming from these states,” he says. The reputation and visibility are things that current studentathletes believe in; many say they would tell others in their hometowns that Regis is a great place to “be challenged,” to “be pushed to your limits as an athlete,” and to “grow as an individual.” Josh Bazail, a freshman lacrosse player from Miami, Fla., also stressed the “tremendous education” he knew he would receive if he chose Regis. Bazail had a glowing word-of-mouth endorsement from fellow men’s lacrosse player and Christopher Columbus High School graduate Nicky Rodrigo ’16. “After hearing all the great things about Regis from Nicky, when Coach [Josh] Blumenthal reached out to me I was very interested in joining the Pride family,” says Bazail. And if you have jitters about leaving home, “Don’t be afraid,” Martin says. “Regis is a microcosm of the real world that’s waiting for you once you graduate. I can’t believe how many connections I’ve made already. I’m expanding my network and I know it will be worth it.” Even in the midst of a brutal winter, students from all across the country are warming to the idea of life at Regis.
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only reinforced this strong family atmosphere. “It’s such a beautiful campus, and the fact that Regis believes in such strong and positive values makes it even more beautiful to me,” she says. And now that they feel at home, they’re beginning to branch out in new ways. Martin, for example, is an active Big Brother for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. “Coach [Nathan] Hager is always encouraging us to get out there and be involved,” he says. “The Regis career fair, community service, whatever it is—they want us to broaden our horizons and make connections.” Martin, who helped the men’s basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance this year, has some favorite Regis moments: marching in a Weston community parade and storming the field after Boston College beat the University of Southern California in football this past fall. “We were working concessions at the BC-USC game to help raise money for our team, and after the third quarter they let us stop and watch the game,” he says. “It was crazy.”
Another big factor for studentathletes coming to Regis is proximity to Boston. Salles, who was admitted directly into the Nursing program, says Regis really stood out to her in this regard. “The Regis shuttle bus and the MBTA make getting into Boston much easier than I thought it would be, honestly,” she says. “My friends and I take the train in almost every weekend.” Salles says her excursions have taken her ice skating at Frog Pond, shopping at Faneuil Hall, and to Wahlburgers in Hingham to sample gourmet burgers made famous by the Wahlberg family (including celebrity brothers Mark and Donnie). That’s the fun stuff; what she really loves is the number of hospitals nearby. “It was one of those situations where I didn’t fully realize how connected Regis is and what I could do here until I got here this past fall,” she says of her plans for a career in healthcare. “It’s really great.” Vaccaro and the admission staff at Regis agree that prospective students from California seem to have a particular attraction to New England— specifically Boston, “a mecca of higher education.” “I was very intrigued with New England, and Boston more specifically,” says Evan Stone ’16, a men’s volleyball player from Stockton, Calif. “I pushed very hard to be able to come to Regis. Being a ‘California boy’ doesn’t prep you for life here, but I’ve learned so much.” Director of Athletics Rob Riley notes the extremely successful run for Regis teams in recent years and, with a nod toward the championship banners hanging throughout the gymnasium, says a big part of that success has been recruiting players from beyond New England.
Sunshine' THE
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together alumni
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left to right: Ann McManus Joyce ’62, Barbara O’Neil Natale ’59, Catherine O’Connor Johnson ’59, Mary McCauley Higgins ’62. 03 Left to right: Trustee Maureen Doherty CSJ, ’68, Maud Duvilaire, President Antoinette M. Hays, and trustee Mary Ann Walsh Lewis ’74, gathered at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston for a Haiti Project fund-raiser in October.
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01 Graduate student Ashley Castor ’13 (top left) visited with Roberta Macdonald ’35 (bottom left) at Youville Assisted Living in Cambridge, Mass., where Ashley and Roberta met and continue their friendship today. Joining them are Betty Ann Hynes Elliott ’49 and Christina Duggan, director of alumni relations and donor engagement. 02 Regis’s most generous alumni and donors enjoyed a cocktail hour and dinner for the President’s Associates and Circles event in October. From
04 Trustee Anita Brennan-Sarmiento ’77 hosted a reception in Puerto Rico in February. Left to right: Carmen Davila ’83, Teresa ShorterBenitez ’82, Sandra Pujals Ramirez ’78, Leany Godas de Martinez ’78, Yamila Rodriguez. 05 Alumnae enjoyed brunch in Brighton, Mass., at Devlin’s Restaurant in January. Clockwise from left: Kathryn Bloomquist ’05, Kelly Moran ’99, Carolyn Dandurand ’03, Jena Murphy ’93. 06 A group from the Class of 1983 had a reunion of their own. Clockwise from left: Donna Deangelis Ricciardelli, Laura Ditargiani Lamere, Susan Ryan-Tierney, Cathy Foley-Lewis. 07 Regis alumni and friends gathered in Naples for the annual
St. Patrick’s Day parade with President Antoinette M. Hays, Regis Chaplain Father Paul Kilroy, Vice President of Institutional Advancement Miriam Finn Sherman ’98, Director of Alumni Relations and Donor Engagement Christina Duggan, and trustee Carole Florine Barrett ’63. 08 Class of 1950 grads came together for the Golden Tower Luncheon, a tradition that was moved to September in 2014. 09 Nearly 40 alumni and friends attended the annual NYC reception at the Union League Club hosted by Eileen Langenus ’78 and her husband, Peter Langenus, a Regis trustee. 10 Class of 1965 members geared up for their 50th Reunion by meeting at the annual Hollyfest Luncheon on the Cape in December. 11 Members of the Alumni Board planned and attended the inaugural Merry Mingle, a more casual rendition of the annual Holly Tea. Left to right: Melinda Hanlon Powers ’85, Nancy MacKenzie Connelly ’70, Amelia Aubourg ’03, ’06, Donna Ribaudo Schow ’81, Joanne Lynch Schamberg ’81, Heather Wojcik ’99.
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Upcoming Alumni Events 2015-2016 Regis at the Red Sox July 7, 2015 Fenway Park
Alumni Trip to Ireland July 17 to 25, 2015
Cape Cod Luncheon August 6, 2015 Willowbend Country Club, Mashpee, Mass.
Ribbon Cutting Celebration September 10, 2015 Regis campus
President’s Associates and Circles Dinner
Golden Tower Luncheon
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September 25, 2015 Regis campus
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Memorial Liturgy and Brunch November 15, 2015 Regis campus
Hollyfest Luncheon
December 2, 2015 Dan’l Webster Inn, Sandwich, Mass.
NYC Christmas Reception December 11, 2015 Union League Club, New York, NY
Reunion Weekend 2016 May 13 to 15, 2016 Regis campus
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September 10, 2015 Regis campus
mınds hearts &
A Journey of Good Turns
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Listen to Carla Prophete ’15 talk about her service experiences, and you almost feel as if you’re there. Insulating Miss Ruby’s house to keep out drafts during an unusually cold Mississippi winter. Helping diagnose eyesight issues in a teenage girl who could barely make out the words in her school books. No matter the “who” or the “where,” service is one of the things that Prophete is “happiest doing.” “In high school we started studying the messages of the Sisters of St. Joseph, including service to the dear neighbor without distinction,” says the Biology major who attended St. Joseph Preparatory High School in Brighton, Mass. “Growing up, my church was always collecting canned goods, serving at soup kitchens, and donating clothes to the Red Cross.” That spirit became a part of who Prophete is. When she arrived at Regis as a transfer student her sophomore year, she headed to Campus Ministry and began volunteering locally at Bethany Hill School in Framingham to help students with reading and homework. Next was an alternative spring break trip to a struggling Mississippi community. The affection in Prophete’s voice is apparent when she talks about Miss Ruby, who was battling both illness and a drafty house. “I remember a particularly long day when we knocked down a wall to install insulation, and then put wallboard back up and plastered. Miss Ruby made all 18 of us a southern-style dinner. She didn’t have much to give, but she provided for all of us, including seconds. That was a big deal.” It was the annual Solidarity trip to the Peruvian village of Villa El Salvador, however, that presented the opportunity for Prophete to combine service with career plans to become a physician’s assistant. “I met Professor Nancy Bittner through the Peru trip and we really connected,” she recalls of the former Regis faculty member who is now a vice president at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford, Mass. Bittner later invited Prophete on an 18-day mission to Kenya to provide eye care for children with HIV.
The invitation was a tall order: preparing to apply the experience to academic research and an internship, training to perform eye exams, and working closely with her faculty advisor and professors on logistics. “I researched common diseases with the HIV population—cataracts, eye infections, and weak muscles—and learned diagnostic techniques like pupil dilation and testing for proper eye functioning.” Once there, it went beyond medical terminology and processes; the connections are what Prophete remembers most. “There was a teenage girl who was captain of the dance squad, on the debate team, leader of student council; but she was doing very poorly academically in school and no one knew why.” Until she came to the clinic for a vision screening— and failed. “As soon as she put on a pair of bifocals, the look on her face was like she was seeing for the first time. It blew my mind because her personality was like mine at 13, but the difference was that she didn’t have access to glasses and that’s why she was struggling academically. There are so many stories like that.” And she intends for more of those moments. “Once I finish PA school, I plan to join Doctors Without Borders and serve people around the world, specifically in the field of women’s health.” Prophete is known for naturally moving toward people with an open heart, says Sister Elizabeth Conway, CSJ, who presented her with a CSJ Spirit Award last fall. “She sees the power of connection and all that it makes possible, and when asked to lead, to serve, to sing, to pray, Carla always says ‘yes.’ ” And when you combine service with healthcare, it’s a prescription for great things—listening to heartbeats and touching hearts. “Making connections and helping people leaves me feeling like the world can be fixed and that there’s hope.”
photo: Kathleen Dooher
BY KR IS TE N WA L S H
“Making connections and helping people leaves me feeling like the world can be fixed and that there’s hope.”
WATCH A VIDEO featuring Carla Prophete and other successful undergraduate students at regiscollege. edu/admission/ undergraduate.cfm
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Save the Date Thursday, September 10, 2015
n o b Rib
g n i tt Cu
Join us on campus as we officially cut the ribbon to celebrate the completion of Phase I of the Master Plan. More information coming soon.