Marquette Matters Feb. 2013

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MARQUETTE The World is our Home

Mission Week 2013 honors Opus Prize recipients By Christopher Jenkins

Through a tireless combination of faith, commitment and ingenuity, 10 men and women have been recognized for making a profound impact on global social issues. In many respects, they reflect the spirit of tenacity and giving ­associated with Mother Teresa in their own home countries. This February, they’re coming to campus from around the world to share their knowledge and inspiration with the Marquette community. The 2013 celebration of Marquette’s Mission Week will bring together recipients of the $1 million Opus Prize, an annual award ­recognizing faith-based social entrepreneurs who work to solve seemingly intractable issues around the world. A series of events will be held on campus Feb. 4–8. “They are people who didn’t set out to be million-dollar Opus Prize recipients,” says Dr. Stephanie Russell, Marquette’s vice president for mission and ministry. “They set out to be in solidarity with the poorest of the poor and the marginalized, and they have addressed human needs in incredibly creative ways.” Each year, Marquette takes a week to explore its Catholic and Jesuit mission through a series of academic, spiritual and social events. The theme for this year’s Mission Week, The World is our Home, is one Russell hopes will resonate with students. “We’re trying to equip students not just to be global citizens, which is important, but also to feel that no matter where they go or with whom they find themselves — and most profoundly with the poor — they can recognize the face of God,” Russell says. Russell is encouraging faculty to incorporate the Opus Prize winners and Mission Week events into course work. “I hope this will give faculty members opportunities to link what they’re already teaching in the classroom with role models who are inviting

The late Lyn Lusi and her husband, Dr. Jo Lusi, founded the HEAL Africa Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to repair the shattered lives of victims of the war that has plagued the country since 1996.

to students,” Russell says. “And I hope that it will give rise for them to some new possibilities for research, or deepen the research that they’re already doing.” Seven of the 10 Opus Prize recipients are scheduled to attend Mission Week. Two past recipients, Lyn Lusi and Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann, are deceased and will be represented by family members who work tirelessly in the nonprofits they founded. Sister Beatrice Chipeta, RS, of Malawi’s Lusubilo Orphan Care Project will be represented by the organization’s deputy director, Peter Daino. Coming from all over the world, it will be the first time most of the recipients have met one other.

“They’re humble, they’re charismatic and they are not cut from the same cloth,” Russell says. “Each one has his or her own personality — which to me is consoling, that it’s not just one kind of person who can have this impact on the world.” Don Neureuther, special assistant to the vice president in University Advancement and co-chair of the Mission Week steering committee, says honoring the Opus Prize recipients fits Marquette’s mission. “Many Marquette students and faculty are involved in service, either domestically or internationally,” says Neureuther, who also serves as executive director of the Opus Prize Foundation. “But what is so intriguing about the recipients of the Opus Prize is these are people who are

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CAM PU S H A P P E N I N GS Père Marquette Lecture and Aquinas Lectures being held in February The Department of Theology will host the annual Père Marquette Lecture Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m., in the Weasler Auditorium. Jean-Luc Marion, professor of the Philosophy of Religions and Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School, will speak on “Givenness and Hermeneutics.” The Department of Philosophy will host the annual Aquinas Lecture Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m., in Raynor Memorial Libraries’ Beaumier Suites. Dr. Linda Zagzebski, Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at the University of Oklahoma, will present “Omnisubjectivity: A Defense of a Divine Attribute.” A reception will follow the lecture.

President’s Strategic Planning Workshop is Jan. 30 President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., will forego the typical, annual Presidential Address this year and use the date to invite campus to participate in a u ­ niversitywide President’s Strategic Planning Workshop, which will bring together faculty, staff and students in interdisciplinary, roundtable discussions aimed at generating ideas for university-wide goals. The President’s Strategic Planning Workshop will be held Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the AMU, Monaghan Ballroom. Faculty and staff who wish to attend should RSVP to universityspecialevents@marquette.edu by Friday, Jan. 25, with their name, designation as faculty or staff, and department, office or college. This will assist in ensuring the roundtable discussions are interdisciplinary in nature.

Editor’s Note: An article in the December 2012/January 2013 issue of Marquette Matters incorrectly referred to the Educational Opportunity Program. Marquette Matters regrets the error and apologizes for the mistake.


MARQUETTE MATTERS

Mission Week

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Mission Week 2013 event highlights MONDAY, FEB. 4

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Reception for Dr. Jo Lusi and Nadine Lusi Visit with the husband and daughter of the late Lyn Lusi, the 2011 Opus Prize recipient who co-founded HEAL Africa. AMU, Monaghan Ballroom, 5 p.m. Registration is required.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5 World Café session: When passion meets practical realities What are the skills, perspectives and talents needed to drive humanitarian efforts when passion alone is not enough? A discussion featuring several Opus Prize recipients and representatives. AMU, Monaghan Ballroom, 3:30 p.m. Registration is required.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 Leading from the Spirit lunch: Thank you, Sisters! Peter Daino, representative for 2010 Opus Prize co-­recipient Sister Beatrice Chipeta, RS, will join a panel of women religious in discussing their ministries. AMU, Monaghan Ballroom, 11:45 p.m. Registration is required. Mission Week Mass: The World is our Home President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., will preside at this special celebration of the Mission Week 2013 theme, and 2005 Opus Prize recipient Rev. Trevor Miranda, S.J., will deliver the homily. Opus Prize recipients will attend the liturgy, with a reception in the Lower Church afterward. Church of the Gesu, 4 p.m.

committed to faith, committed to service — and are very ­effective business people — because they have found models that work and that could be ­replicated in other parts of the world.” Though the Opus Prize recipients can inspire with their passion for service, it’s their ability to combine that passion with an understanding of what it takes to build an effective organization from scratch that sets them apart — and makes their ­presence on campus an especially valuable resource to the Marquette community. “In almost every instance, they’re looking at large-scale responses to some of the great social issues without the benefit of an MBA,” Neureuther says. “It’s on instinct, it’s on tenacity, it’s on listening very closely to the people in the country where they’re working. And so I think there’s a lot to be learned about what the effective approaches to dealing with some of the great social issues of our time are.”

THURSDAY, FEB. 7 Keynote event: The World is our Home All Opus Prize guests will be interviewed together for the first time, facilitated by Ambassador Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Varsity Theatre, 4 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are required and are available in the AMU, Brooks Lounge. One ticket per MUID will be issued. Public reception with Opus recipients Meet the Opus Prize recipients, who will be scattered among various “salons” for individual and small-group conversations. AMU, second floor, 5:15 p.m. For a complete schedule and registration information, visit:

marquette.edu/missionweek-2013

Melamed returned to Germany as a Fulbright scholar of American Studies How do German and United States multiculturalisms differ? How do the c­ ontemporary “Islamophobia” and new Right-wing movements in Germany compare with similar movements in the U.S.? Those are among the questions Dr. Jodi Melamed, associate professor of English and Africana Studies, has pondered while teaching in Germany as a Fulbright senior scholar during the winter semester of 2012–2013. Melamed is teaching two graduate-level courses, Revolutionizing American Studies and Race and Ethnicity in U.S. Literature and Culture, as part of the Department of English and American Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. “I was excited to help internationalize the field of American Studies by introducing graduate students in Berlin to some of the most groundbreaking and innovative new work in the field,” she says. Germany is familiar territory for Melamed, who studied in Berlin for a summer shortly after the Berlin Wall went down and was one of the first American undergraduates to conduct research at the Bertolt Brecht Archive in the old East section of the city. “Being in Berlin at that time made me think carefully about projections of U.S. power abroad, about the role of race and ethnicity in contests over inclusion and exclusion, and about the importance of culture in the work of reconciliation,” she says.

“It was exciting to return to the city as a more seasoned scholar.” Melamed’s most recent book, Represent and Destroy: Rationalizing Violence in the New Racial Capitalism, “looks at the co-production of anti-racist ideologies after World War II and the knowledge architecture of global capitalism.” “In the new racial capitalism, conventional racial categories no longer play the same role they once did, but ­knowledge production for ­capitalism continues to find ways to make the unequal relationships ­capitalism requires appear fair by stigmatizing some forms of humanity as less worthy than others,” she explains. “For me, personally, being in Berlin has been enormously energizing for the next stage of my career,” she says.

Photo courtesy of Jodi Melamed

By Nicole Sweeney Etter


Faculty and staff encouraged to review reaffirmation of accreditation self-study draft By Andy Brodzeller

A critical step in Marquette’s reaffirmation of accreditation process is the production of a self-study report. During the past year, more than 200 faculty, staff and students have helped prepare a draft of the report. From Monday, Jan. 28 through Friday, Feb. 22, the draft will be available online at marquette.edu/accreditation, and the campus community is encouraged to provide feedback through online forms and at feedback sessions in February (see sidebar). Meant to articulate the work of the university and to reflect on areas where attention or changes may be made, President Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., encourages all members to review the draft. “It’s important that the accreditation process be inclusive and help us take stock of where the university is,” he said. “This will also assist in helping to imagine where we want to move forward as we continue to develop a universitywide ­strategic plan.” The campus community is being asked to review the introduction and the five criteria of the self-study, which revolve around mission, ethical conduct, teaching and learning, and resources and planning. “The self-study helps articulate how the university works and what the role and mission of Marquette is,” said Dr. Gary Meyer, vice provost for undergraduate programs and teaching, who leads the steering committee in charge of the accreditation process with the assistance of Dr. Toby Peters, senior associate vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President.

The five criteria in the self-study are broken down into 21 core components and 71 subcomponents. Brief descriptions of these sections are available on the accreditation website, allowing campus members to identify areas of the self-study they might choose to review. Links within the selfstudy itself allow reviewers to comment on particular sections, making it easier to review those sections of the self-study. The feedback sessions in February, hosted by Meyer and Peters, provide an additional opportunity for the campus community to share feedback on the draft. Each session will focus on one ­criterion of the self-study.

Self-study draft available online marquette.edu/accreditation Provide feedback online Jan. 28 – Feb. 22 Attend an in-person feedback session Feb. 11– 21

On the Side

John Sweeney – Recreational sports referee

Though reaffirmation of accreditation and strategic planning are two separate processes, the two are connected. Meyer noted that strategic planning is one area reviewed by the Higher Learning Commission, Marquette’s accrediting agency. In addition, the strengths, opportunities and challenges identified by the self-study, along with additional research conducted by the Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee, will help inform the s­ trategic planning process. With more than 200 people contributing to the self-study and more than 1,200 pieces of evidence collected, a lot of hard work and thoughtful reflection has gone into the self-study, Meyer noted. “The next step, to make sure this reflects Marquette, is for the campus community to review and validate the document,” he said. The online feedback forms provide a series of questions for the campus community to consider while reviewing the self-study. “Because the self-study cannot list every possible example or detail every process, the questions focus on the accuracy and relevancy of the evidence provided as well as the conclusions drawn from that evidence” Peters said. The feedback will be incorporated into a final version of the self-study, which will be submitted to the Higher Learning Commission this summer, before the site visit that is scheduled for Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. An executive summary of the self-study document will be distributed campuswide before the site visit.

TAKE

By Alexa Porter

John Sweeney is a sports fanatic; there’s no other way to put it. In ­addition to being the director of Recreational Sports at Marquette, Sweeney coaches and referees youth basketball and soccer teams in the Milwaukee area, and has been involved with the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club for more than 30 years and the Notre Dame/Don Bosco Catholic Grade School Basketball Program for more than 15 years. Sweeney referees at the youth, high school and college club levels throughout the city. He also volunteers at St. Jude the Apostle School in Wauwatosa, Wis., where he is a parish member, scheduling the timers and scorekeepers for the Catholic grade school and high school basketball leagues and tournaments. “I referee by the spirit of the law, not by the letter of the law,” Sweeney says. In an average year, Sweeney ­typically referees 150-plus basketball and soccer games. Sweeney was recently inducted into the Kickers Hall of Fame for serving the club as a player, coach, referee, manager and administrator for more than three decades. He currently serves on the Tosa Kickers Board and coaches his daughter’s U10 Sparks soccer team. He also manages the Milwaukee Kickers’ adult majors and reserve teams, which his three sons play on. “Being involved in youth sports is a vocation,” Sweeney says. “For me, it’s about giving back to the sports that have given so much to my family and me.”

The top five (+1) most common employee birthdays are: 1. 3. 4.

April 11 – 17 employees (tie) November 4 – 17 employees (tie) December 11 – 16 employees May 13 – 15 employees (three-way tie) May 16 – 15 employees (three-way tie) June 1 – 15 employees (three-way tie)

“Take Five” is a brief list about an interesting aspect of Marquette life. Email your list suggestions to marquettematters@marquette.edu. Marquette Matters is published monthly during the academic year, except for a combined issue in December/January, for Marquette University’s faculty and staff. Submit information to: Marquette Matters – Zilber Hall, 235; Phone: 8-7448; Fax: 8-7197 Email: marquettematters@marquette.edu

Photo by Dan Johnson

Editor: Lynn Sheka Graphic design: Nick Schroeder

“On the Side” offers a glimpse of faculty and staff interests outside of Marquette. Email your story suggestions to ­marquettematters@marquette.edu.

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MARQUETTE MATTERS

Stories from under-covered Milwaukee neighborhoods

Photo by Dan Johnson

By Nicole Sweeney Etter

Editor-in-Chief Sharon McGowan (fourth from left) discusses story ideas with (clockwise from bottom) Kenya Evans, Dwayne Burtin and Susan Borges Vliet, while other staff members, (left to right) Edgar Mendez, Adam Carr, LouRawls Burnett, Amalia Oulahan and Brendan O’Brien, work on articles for the award-winning Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, located in Johnston Hall.

If information is power, then the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is giving an electrifying jolt to Milwaukee’s central-city neighborhoods. “I feel like it fills that void that the mainstream media cannot fill or is not interested in filling,” says reporter Kenya Evans. “Especially with central-city neighborhoods that are considered poor neighborhoods — the only things you really hear about them are drug busts or robberies or shootings. But really there is so much more going on.” The multimedia news service, which is a partnership between the Diederich College of Communication and United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee, operates out of Johnston Hall and is partially funded by grants from the Zilber Family Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Knight Foundation. Since launching in March 2011, traffic to the website — milwaukeenns.org — has grown to more than 8,000 page views a month, with nearly 600 people following the online news service on Facebook and nearly 400 on Twitter. Last spring, NNS won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. “It is a tribute to the hard work of our staff, interns and volunteers, and to the people and organizations whose stories we tell,”

says Sharon McGowan, editor-in-chief, of the prestigious award. The staff, made up of six part-time professionals, interns from Marquette and volunteers, posts new stories every week on topics ranging from education to public safety to economic development. Community groups can also submit stories, photos and calendar events, and ­businesses and nonprofit organizations can post their information in NNS’s online directories. Some stories are quick news pieces, while others are more in-depth. Reporter Edgar Mendez wrote about non-native English learners in the Milwaukee Public School system, sifting through the data to reveal that they were outperforming native English speakers. One of his favorite stories was a profile of a Little League coach whose team became the first from the South Side to ever win the district championship. The news service plays an important role in the community, says Venice Williams, director of Alice’s Garden, a two-acre agricultural project in Johnsons Park that has been the subject of a few stories. “There’s no question that the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has very much contributed to neighborhood residents and people in the area learning about the garden,” Williams says. “It has also helped me to be better informed about the other neighborhood initiatives and even some of the other things

happening in the area. I’ve thought, ‘Hey, I didn’t know about that.’” Mendez hopes the news service finds an even wider audience. “I’d like to see it become as mainstream as the other news organizations,” he says. “I’d like people from outside of these neighborhoods not to look at them and say, ‘Oh, it’s crime-ridden, it’s poor.’ … I want them to see these neighborhoods for what they really are, full of hardworking people who want a better life for themselves and their children.” Evans adds that the site isn’t just dedicated to feel-good news. “We tell the hard stories and the challenges of the neighborhoods as well as the good things that are going on,” she says. “I think the work we’re doing is really important.”

Milwaukeenns.org is dedicated to covering 17 urban neighborhoods: Capitol Heights, Harambee, Lindsay Heights, Metcalfe Park, Sherman Park, Havenwoods, Thurston Woods, Clarke Square, Layton Boulevard West, Lincoln Village, Menomonee Valley, Walker’s Point, Amani, Concordia, Enderis Park, Martin Drive and Washington Park.

M A R Q U ET T E H AP P E NINGS Community Campaign nets $290,000

Theatre Arts to present A Doll’s House

More than 750 Marquette employees contributed nearly $290,000 in support of United Way, the United Performing Arts Fund and Marquette’s Annual Fund in this year’s Community Campaign. University Advancement thanks all employees who participated in this annual giving initiative.

The Theatre Arts Department will present a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s controversial classic, A Doll’s House, in which a doting wife’s illusions of a perfect life are shattered when she makes a sacrifice out of love that puts her husband’s reputation in danger. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. February 21–23 and February 27–March 2, and 2:30 p.m. on February 24 and March 3. Tickets are $16 each and are available at the Helfaer Theatre Box Office or online at http://theatretickets.marquette.edu.

Four new exhibitions open at Haggerty Museum of Art The Haggerty Museum of Art is featuring four new exhibitions that run through May 19. Dark Blue: The Water as Protagonist, utilizes water as an active element, showcasing water as a restorative element and as a destructive force formidable for its potential to threaten life. Images of the Virgin Mary is an exhibition of international works of art based on the life of the Virgin Mary, including paintings, prints and sculpture that illustrate the five major events of The Annunciation, The Nativity, The Flight into Egypt, The Pietà and The Assumption and Coronation. Read Between the Lines: Enrique Chagoya’s Codex Prints, is comprised of editioned, accordion-folded artist books and preparatory drawings and trial proofs created during their fabrication. Perimeter, by Kevin J. Miyazaki, features new photographs that capture a contemporary portrait of Lake Michigan through images of everyday people whose lives are closest to it.

Roundtable discussion on Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit is Feb. 21 In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved classic, The Hobbit, a roundtable discussion of Peter Jackson’s film, The Hobbit, will be held Thursday, Feb. 21, at 4:30 p.m. in Raynor Memorial Libraries, Beaumier Suites B/C. Tolkien scholars Dr. Robin Reid of Texas A&M University; Dr. Yvette Kisor of Ramapo College of New Jersey; Dr. Edward L. Risden of St. Norbert College; and Richard C. West of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will participate in a roundtable discussion on Jackson’s film adaptation.


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