Spring 2011
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connectionS Nazareth College
The Faces of Nazareth’s Endowment
Real People. Real Stories.
Real Benefits
Garth Fagan Dance
Rochester City Ballet
FuturPointe Dance
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Photo credits: Garth Fagan Dance: Greg Barrett, Rochester City Ballet: Tim Leverett, FuturPointe Dance: Alex Shukoff, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company: Russell Jenkins.
experience what moves you.
July 8–16, 2011 go.naz.edu/dancefest
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Nazareth College
ConneCtionS I Volume 23, Number 2 SPRING 2011
Editor Robyn A. Rime Assistant Director, Publications and Creative Services Regular Contributors Julie Long Alicia Nestle Joe Seil Sofia Tokar Michelle Wright ’05, ’10G
ConneCtionS Nazareth College
Volume 23, Number 2
The Classes Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G Photographer Alex Shukoff
Design Boehm Marketing Communications Printing Cohber Press Director of Alumni Relations Kerry Gotham ’98
ABOUT OUR COVER Photograph by James Schnepf
Nazareth’s endowment supports scholarships for students like Jigme Sherpa ’11. Read about the personal side of the College’s endowment on pages 28-35.
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News and Views
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Sports News
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Interfaith Ideas
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Beyond Self
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Nazareth in the World
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Life of the Mind
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Cover Story: The Endowment Gets Personal
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Alumni News
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Class Notes
Vice President, Institutional Advancement Kelly E. Gagan Nazareth College President Daan Braveman, J.D. We welcome comments from our readers, articles and essays, and class notes. All mail should be directed to one of the offices below, and sent to: Nazareth College 4245 East Ave. Rochester, NY 14618-3790 Comments/story suggestions: Marketing and Communications—Publications e-mail: rrime7@naz.edu 585-389-5098 Name/address corrections: Office of Development e-mail: pwagner6@naz.edu 585-389-2415 Class notes or comments: Office of Alumni Relations e-mail: kvanmal4@naz.edu 585-389-2472 Please note that Connections is produced approximately four months in advance of when it is received by readers. Letters and class notes received after production has begun will be included in the next issue of the magazine. All accepted text is subject to editing. Main College switchboard: 585-389-2525 www.naz.edu www.naz.edu
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TA B LE O F CON T E N T S
Additional Contributors Robin L. Flanigan Alan Gelb Kimberly McGann Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G Amy Wong
Contributing Photographers Kurt Brownell Walter Colley Oscar Durand Greg Francis Jamie Germanow James Schnepf Holger Thoss Roger Williams
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The latest news from the Nazareth campus. Lacrosse alumni coaches; athletic round-up. Center for Spirituality Director Lynne Staropoli Boucher serves as chaplain to men’s basketball. The Nazareth campus puts out the welcome mat for the LGBT community. The March: Bearing Witness to Hope brings lasting change to the lives of participants. Professor Kimberly McGann’s research on online dating. Nazareth’s endowment supports scholarships, faculty research, and a host of other campus priorities. Connections goes behind the scenes to examine the endowment’s impact on individual students and professors. Alumni profile of Alan Pascuzzi ’91; interview with Duncan Crawford ’85; alumni contest winner Maggie Mullin ’09.
Copyright © 2011 by Nazareth College. Photographs and artwork copyright by their respective creators or by Nazareth College. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reused or republished in any form without express written permission. Nazareth College Mission and Vision Statements The mission of Nazareth College is to provide a learning community that educates students in the liberal arts, sciences visual and performing arts, and professional fields, fostering commitment to a life informed by intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and aesthetic values; to develop skills necessary for the pursuit of meaningful careers; and to inspire dedication to the ideal of service to their communities. Nazareth seeks students who want to make a difference in their own world and the world around them, and encourages them to develop the understanding, commitment, and confidence to lead fully informed and actively engaged lives.
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The vision of Nazareth College is to be nationally and internationally recognized as a comprehensive educational institution which provides its students with transformational experiences and integrates liberal arts, sciences, visual and performing arts, and professional education at the undergraduate and graduate levels and which places special value on student success, diversity, inclusion, civic engagement, and making a difference in local and global communities. Statement on Respect and Diversity We, the Nazareth community, embrace both respect for the person and freedom of speech. The College promotes civility and denounces acts of hatred or intolerance. The free exchange of ideas is possible only when concepts, values, and viewpoints can be expressed and challenged in a manner that is neither threatening nor demeaning. It is the policy of Nazareth College, in keeping with its efforts to foster a community in which the diversity of all members is respected, not to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, marital or veteran status, disability, carrier status, genetic predisposition, or any other protected status. Respect for the dignity of all peoples is an essential part of the College’s tradition and mission, and its vision for the future.
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President’s | letter
Dear Nazareth Friends,
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fter many years of hard work, the faculty recently adopted a new core curriculum for undergraduate students, replacing the core that was adopted in 1988 and scheduled for implementation by 2013. The new core requirements reflect the vision of the College to offer our students a transformational experience that integrates the liberal arts and sciences with the professional disciplines, and that focuses on student success, diversity, inclusion, civic engagement, and making a difference in local and global communities.
The faculty discussions that led to the new requirements took place within the context of an ongoing
national discussion about the fundamental purposes of a liberal arts education. There are some in the public who question the value of a general liberal arts education. In my view, such an educational foundation is more important than ever. We live in a world that is changing almost too quickly to comprehend. A YouTube video
prepared for the executive committee of the SONY Corporation board contained some startling information,
confirming that the world is changing at an exponential rate. It pointed out the following: • In 2006, there were 2.7 billion Google searches every month. Three years later, there were 30 billion each month. • The first text message was sent in 1992. In 2009, the number of text messages sent each day exceeded the total population of the planet. • It took 38 years for the radio to be marketed to 50 million people, 13 years for television to reach that many, three years for the iPod, and Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months. The video concluded that we are preparing students for jobs that do not exist, using technologies that have not been
invented, to solve problems that we do not even know are problems. I have learned not to trust everything that is said on YouTube and I cannot confirm the factual assertions in this video. But the underlying point is indisputable. We are living in a rapidly changing and truly global environment. In my view this fact underscores the importance of a liberal arts foundation. Such an education focuses on the knowledge, skills, and values that are valuable in preparing students for their life and for whatever careers they might pursue. The knowledge is broad based and the skills are transferable. A liberal arts education also focuses on values. As we say in our mission statement, we strive to provide a learning environment that fosters commitment to a life informed by intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and aesthetic values. Finally, a liberal arts education inspires dedication to the ideal of service to communities. In short, a liberal arts foundation prepares students for making a life and making a living, especially in the ever-changing world that lies ahead. The new Nazareth core curriculum is a significant achievement that will prepare our students for living in that world.
Sincerely,
Daan Braveman Read more from the perspective of President Braveman on his blog at http://naz.typepad.com/braveman.
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www.naz.edu
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Faculty Activities Feminist Politics in the Performance Art of Lady Gaga” at the American Studies Association of Turkey 34th International American Studies Conference in Alanya, Turkey, last November. Muhammad Shafiq (Religious Studies/CISD) presented at the program “Radicalization and the Media: A Training Workshop for Indonesian Professors of Islam” in Jakarta, Indonesia, last fall. He also presented his paper “The Art of Intra- and Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Building: A Muslim PerWILLIAM DURAND ON THEat CLERGY THEIRand VESTMENTS spective” theAND Islam Peace A New Translation of Books 2-3 of the Conference in Lund, Sweden, last Rationale divinorum officiorum September. Jane Shebert (Chemistry) received an award from the Rochester Section of the American Chemical Society for her work with High School Awards Night. Linda Shriber (Occupational Therapy) co-authored “A Visual Haptic System for Children with Learning Disabilities: Design Considerations” in The Journal of Interactive Learning Research in October. Her article “Autism: A Neurological and Sensory Based Perspective” was published in August in the online International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. Shirley Sommers (Social & Psychological Foundations of Education) presented her paper “Chasing a Mirage: Narratives of Teachers in South Africa and U.S.A.” at the American Educational Studies Association Conference in Denver in October. David W. Steitz (Psychology/ Gerontology) was elected treasurer of the State Society on Aging of New York. He also offered a workshop on intergenerational service-learning at The Southern Tier Center on Aging conference. Nancy Strelau (Music) conducted the Montana All-State Orchestra in October. Translated and with an Introduction by Timothy M. Thibodeau
William Durand (1230 – 1296) wrote his Rationale divinorum officiorum while he was bishop of Mende, France. It became one of the most influential works of Medieval Christianity. His substantive and comprehensive explication of rituals, symbolism, architecture, and the roles of the different religious participants, remains to this day one of the most important works ever written on medieval worship. Timothy Thibodeau’s clear and careful translation is superlative. Likewise, Thibodeau’s introductory essay is an excellent elucidation of medieval liturgical exposition. Medievalists, Church historians, and theologians will want this volume for their libraries. With the widespread revival of interest in liturgical reform and liturgical history among Catholic scholars in many fields, Thibodeau’s translation will be a welcome resource.
"Anyone interested in liturgy and Church history will be eager to read Timothy M. Thibodeau’s translation of William Durand’s work, for he has rendered into readable English one of the most important commentaries ever written on Christian worship." —Robert Shaffern, professor of history, University of Scranton , author of The Penitents’ Treasury: Indulgences in Latin Christendom, 1175-1375
Timothy M. Thibodeau is professor of history at Nazareth College, Rochester , NY .
Shawgi Tell (Social & Psychological Foundations of Education) presented the paper “Battle for Control of the Rochester City School District” at the American Educational Studies Association conference in Denver in October. Timothy Thibodeau (History) published William Durand, on the Clergy and Their Vestments: A New Translation of Books 2–3 of the Rationale divinorum officiorum (University of Scranton Press, 2010).
Thibodeau
www.naz.edu
Nicole Juersivich (Mathematics) presented “Create Interactive Applets in Excel—Yes, Excel!” at the Eastern Regional Conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Jed Metzger (Social Work) presented “You Bet I Told: Using Service Learning to Teach Community Macro Practice” at the New York State Social Work Education Association Conference Proceedings. Cathy Quenin ’84G (Communication Sciences & Disorders) presented workshops on using cued speech in speech/language therapy at the Gavras Center in Auburn, NY, and for the Upper Peninsula Speech & Hearing Association in Marquette, MI. She and Paula Brown (Communication Sciences & Disorders) co-authored “Nazareth College: Specialty Preparation for Speech-Language Pathologists to Work with Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing” for The Volta Review, 110:2, Summer 2010, 297-304. Merideth Rao (Communication Sciences & Disorders) co-presented “Wounds from Combat: Similarities and Differences in Treating PTDS and TBI” at the 28th Annual Brain Injury Association of New York State Convention in June. Rao also presented “Co-treatment Approach to Aphasia with Music and Speech Therapy” at the 2010 American Music Therapy Association Conference in Cleveland. Sheila Brady Root (Biology/ Chemistry) received an award from the Rochester Area Colleges— Center for Excellence in Math and Science for her 40+ years of service to the math/science education community around Rochester. Yamuna Sangarasivam (Sociology/Anthropology) presented the paper “Bitter Jelly and Bad Romance: The Language of Radical
WILLIAM DURAND ON THE CLERGY AND THEIR VESTMENTS
Paula Brown (Communication Sciences & Disorders) presented “Assessing Cohesion of Spoken Narratives of Young Adults Who Are Deaf” and co-presented “Prosody and Spoken Language Intelligibility in Young Adult Cochlear Implant Users” at the International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Vancouver last summer. Hilda Chacón (Foreign Languages and Literature) published “Between Villa and a Naked Woman by Sabina Berman: Are We All That Manly?” in Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea (RLMC), 2010 Year XIVI, Number 45, vol. 15. Lisa Durant-Jones (Communication Sciences & Disorders) co-wrote “The Lived Experiences of Adolescents with Disabilities and Their Parents in Transition Planning,” Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Journal, 25(3) 163-172. Shannon Elliott (Art Education) was chosen the 2010 New York State Art Teacher’s Association (NYSATA) Educator of the Year for Region Two. Diane Enerson (Center for Teaching Excellence/Psychology), Rich Hartmann (Chemistry), Kim McGann (Sociology), and Heidi Northwood (Philosophy) presented the poster session “Mapping Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice Across the Disciplines” at the Association of American Colleges and Universities Working Conference in Durham, North Carolina, in November. Bryan Hunter (Creative Arts Therapy) co-authored “Music Therapy as an Adjunctive Treatment in the Management of Stress for Patients Being Weaned from Mechanical Ventilation” in the Journal of Music Therapy, 47, 198-219.
University of Scranton Press A Member of the Association of Jesuit University Presses
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WILLIAM DURAND ON THE CLERGY AND THEIR VESTMENTS
A NEW TRANSLATION BOOKS 2-3 OF THE Rationale divinorum officiorum
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Translated and with an Introduction by Timothy M. Thibodeau
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Cover by Grapevine-Design.
Monica Weis ’65, S.S.J. (English/MALS) presented “Levels of Healing in Hewett’s A White Heron” at the New York College English Association Conference and presented the keynote address “Turning Toward the Planet: Thomas Merton’s Ecological Conversion” for a conference on Thomas Merton and ecology at Bellarmine University. Ida Giampietro Wilder (Foreign Languages & Literature) presented and organized the workshop “Successful Strategies for Checkpoint C” at the annual state conference for the NY State Association for Foreign Language Teachers in Rochester in October.
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Arts Center Names New Director Susan Chekow Lusignan ’10G has been named the new director of the Nazareth College Arts Center. Lusignan, of Brighton, most recently managed an 800-member subscription-based arts organization at Rochester Arts and Lectures. In her new position, she is responsible for overseeing the activities and staff at the Arts Center while managing budget, quality performances, and the growth and direction of the Center and its place in the College and Rochester community. “The Nazareth College Arts Center is going to be in good hands under the direction of Susan Lusignan,” said Nazareth President Daan Braveman. “She has a solid background in bringing successful artistic programming to Rochester, along with her experience in fiscal management and marketing. Nazareth looks forward to seeing the new places she will take the Arts Center.” Lusignan earned her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University and her master’s degree from Nazareth College. Before her position as president and producer of Rochester Arts and Lectures, she worked in the marketing and communications field at Monroe Community College, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Borders Books and Music. Visit the Arts Center at http://artscenter.naz.edu/.
Gagan Earns Fundraising Award
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azareth College’s Kelly Gagan, vice president for institutional advancement, earned top honors from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Genesee Valley Chapter last fall as she was named the Robert A. Clinger Outstanding Professional Fundraiser. She received the award during the AFP Genesee Valley Chapter National Philanthropy Day Award Luncheon. Since coming to Nazareth College in 2000 after working at the Carter Center, the Atlanta-based humanitarian organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, Gagan has launched a successful major gifts program at the College. She played a key role in the $20 million campaign that doubled the size of the campus in 2004. Gagan, of Pittsford, also established a new capital campaign office that has brought in more than $15 million in commitments for further expansion, the endowment, and annual operating goals. She has led her team to develop a campaign for fundraising and enrollment, with efforts including the redesign of naz.edu and multimedia advertising campaigns.
New Education Faculty The School of Education welcomed two new faculty members during the 2010–11 school year. Shirley Sommers, assistant professor/ director of the Frontier Center for Urban Education, Social and Psychological Foundations of Education Sommers has a Ph.D. in theoretical and social foundations of education from the University of Toledo and an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Bowling Green State Univeristy in Ohio. Since 2007, she has taught courses at Nazareth and served as the College’s director of GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs).
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Rasheeda Ahmad, assistant professor, Inclusive Childhood Education Ahmad has an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction and an M.Ed. in special education/learning disabilities, both from West Virginia University. Prior to joining the Nazareth faculty, she served as an assistant professor of education at both Shepherd University and Le Moyne College and spent eight years as a special education teacher in the Monongalia County Schools in West Virginia.
www.naz.edu
College Crooners
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by Alicia Nestle
f you’re a fan of staff involvement. shows like Glee That means the group and The Singchooses and arranges Off, you don’t its own songs, runs have to wait for new rehearsals, and books episodes to get your a its own paying gigs. cappella fix. Nazareth The group’s members College is the home perform 10 to 12 conof its own glee club certs per semester, but (Note to Self), a codespite their full scheded a cappella group ule of performances, (Fermata Thin Air), they still find time to and an all-female a do community service. cappella group, Call“We’ve performed 4Backup. for free at events like Call4Backup is last year’s Haiti relief made up of 15 female concert, Take Back the singers ranging from Night, and the national freshmen to seniors, Interfaith Understandand the group holds ing Conference. It’s auditions for new important to us to give members every fall. back and volunteer “When we decide whenever we can,” who is going to be in says Stevens. the group, we really Last fall’s audition Nazareth’s a capella group Call4Backup performs onstage. look at personality had about 20 aspiring and how well that members try out— person will mesh one of the largest with us,” says Jessica pools the group has Stevens ’11, co-leader of Call4Backup. “We’re not necessarily looking had to choose from. Stevens thinks the popularity of shows like Glee for the next pop star.” and American Idol have inspired students to give a cappella singing Daniela Albano ’13 remembers what it was like to audition for a shot. “Before such shows, a cappella wasn’t commercial. The most Call4Backup in her freshman year. “The girls in the group were all really well-known group was maybe Boys II Men. But now it’s definitely more nice and what I loved about the audition was that the members sang popular and that’s good for us.” for us. It was a great way to hear what they sounded like and got me Albano agrees. “I think Call4Backup is only going to grow. Nazareth excited about auditioning.” is really proud of the group and that feels good. Whenever we perStarted in 1998, Call4Backup is the oldest a cappella singing group form, we definitely feel the love from the students.” on Nazareth’s campus. Its all-male counterparts—One Big Hat and Malefunction—are now defunct. Fermata Thin Air, a co-ed a cappella Check out a video of a Call4Backup performance at www.naz.edu/ group that was started in 2009, is just getting started and holds its features/college-crooners auditions in the fall and spring semesters, as needed. Call4Backup is not considered a typical student club, but rather an Alicia Nestle is the assistant director for new media in Nazareth’s organization. It is completely run by its members with no faculty or marketing department.
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College Launches Urban Education Center
he Nazareth College School of Education opened its new Frontier Center for Urban Education last fall. The center serves as a support structure for all urban education initiatives within the College’s School of Education and also houses resources such as books, research, and teaching tools related to urban education. Some of the initiatives within the center include Nazareth College GEAR UP programs, providing programs where Nazareth students go into Rochester City School District classrooms and work with teachers; professional development opportunities for urban teachers; Nazareth’s student teachers placed in many Rochester City schools; and the Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC), a New York State-funded Nazareth collaboration with the Rochester City School District to prepare teachers of color to address the learning needs of students in high-need schools. In November, the center hosted fifth- and sixth-grade students from urban schools for Listening to Urban Students’ Voices: What Makes an Effective Teacher? The youth discussed characteristics of a good teacher with students studying education at Nazareth. A lecture series early this year reflected urban students’ voices with a presentation and discussion on strategies that facilitate adjustment and learning of refugee students in urban schools. Visit the Center for Urban Education at go.naz.edu/urban. President Daan Braveman (center) opens the new Frontier Center for Urban Education, accompanied by Dr. Timothy Glander, dean of the School of Education, and Center Director Dr. Shirley Sommers.
Interfaith Student Leaders Visit Washington
Maura Whitman ’11, Center for Spirituality Director Lynne Staropoli Boucher, and Iffat Shafiq ’12 in Washington D.C.
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A delegation of Nazareth College students and staff visited the White House to attend the Interfaith Youth Core’s (IFYC) Student Leadership Institute last October. Nazareth students Iffat Shafiq ‘12 of Rochester, N.Y. and Maura Whitman ‘11 of Fairport, N.Y., along with Center for Spirituality Director Lynne Staropoli Boucher, were selected to represent the College at the institute. IFYC received more than 500 applications for the 200 available spots for the Student Leadership Institute. The institute was designed to equip interfaith student leaders with the skills needed to advance IFYC’s Better Together Campaign and encourage interfaith cooperation on their campuses. Student participants learned how to speak out on the importance of interfaith cooperation on their campus, mobilize their communities to take action, and sustain their efforts to create a lasting impact on campus. “From the moment the conference began, students freely and respectfully expressed opinions regarding religious issues—even the hot topics that are often in the news,” the students wrote in a Nazareth blog after their return. “Staff from the IFYC focused on the idea that fostering religious pluralism involves establishing personal relationships. We tackled ideas such as environmental issues in an interfaith setting, how to establish campus cooperation among Muslim Student Associations and Hillel groups, and how to approach administrators and campus officials regarding interfaith work.” The Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships hosted the opening session of the institute at the White House. Other workshops, trainings, and networking events took place at Georgetown University. Representatives from more than 130 campuses from across the country attended, including delegates from St. John Fisher College and the University of Rochester. Learn more about Nazareth’s interfaith efforts at www.naz.edu/cisd.
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In Memoriam: William Gwinn
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by Mary T. Bush ’51
any Nazareth College students between the years 1950 and 1981 have fond memories of Dr. William Gwinn, professor of history and longtime chairman of the history department. We were saddened to learn that Dr. Gwinn, professor emeritus, had died on December 7, 2010, his 88th birthday. Dr. Gwinn received his A.B. degree in history from the University of Notre Dame in 1943. He then was drafted for service in the army during WWII and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge. Following his war service, he returned to the University of Notre Dame and received an M.A. in history in 1948 and his Ph.D. in 1953. His doctoral dissertation was published in 1957 under the title Uncle Joe Canon, Archfoe of Insurgency. Dr. Gwinn was the history department when he arrived at Nazareth. He had been highly recommended by his dissertation mentor, Dr. Aaron Abell, who had earlier taught history at Nazareth. Two years later, he secured my appointment as instructor in history. Throughout his time at Nazareth, Dr. Gwinn was always helpful to the students and faculty of his department. I personally am grateful for his concern and help. I can remember his helping me to “plot” the topic for my Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Ottawa and prodding me to start to write when I thought I needed more time to do research. Needless to say, he was right! Dr. Gwinn served on many committees at Nazareth, including Rank and Tenure and the Library Committee. Indeed, after his retirement he continued to recommend books on history and other subjects to the library staff, according to former librarian Richard Matzek. We are especially grateful for his chronicle of the first 50 years of Nazareth College, published for our 50th anniversary in 1974. Upon his official retirement in 1984, former students and faculty at Nazareth established the Dr. William R. Gwinn History Award for seniors in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and
commitment to the field of history. The award is still given each year. As the one suggesting the establishment of this fund in his memory, history graduate and Director of Development Laurel Roth Tarcinale ’68 wrote to history majors noting some of the trivia associated with Dr. Gwinn. Her trivia included his well-stacked set of note cards, his dry sense of humor, and his green corduroy jacket (never without a necktie!). Many of you who had Dr. Gwinn have your own memories, but I am sure all would agree that he was a true gentleman scholar and historian, who could answer questions on any subject and could connect dates with significant historical events. Indeed, he always connected my birthday as falling between the battle of Saratoga and that of Yorktown! And of course his was on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. Dr. Gwinn’s funeral service, with military honors, was held on December 13, 2010, at St. Michael the Archangel Chapel in Palatine, Illinois. Memorials can be made to Misericordia Heart of Mercy, Attn. Sister Rosemary Connelly, 6300 North Ridge Avenue, Chicago, IL 60660 or to the Dr. William R. Gwinn History Award Fund, Nazareth College, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Dr. Mary T. Bush ’51 is professor emerita of history and political science at Nazareth.
New Math and Science Center Approved Nazareth College is proud to announce that the board of trustees has officialy approved construction of the campus’s new Integrated Center for Math and Science. Estimated to cost $30.5 million, the four-floor building will house state-of-the-art labs and classrooms serving biology, chemistry, physics, math, computing, and ecology. The center will also be designed according to LEED standards, with expected certification at the silver level. With a majority of required funding committed, trustees expressed confidence that seeing the building actually taking shape on campus would provide the momentum needed to secure the remaining $2.5 million in philanthropic support needed to fully fund the project. As Connections went to press, ground-breaking was scheduled for April 2011, with completion projected for fall 2012. For more information, visit www.forcollegeandcommunity.org. www.naz.edu
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Congressional Candidates Debate on Campus
Congressional candidates Matthew Zeller (left) and Tom Reed shake hands after their debate at Nazareth.
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Last fall, Nazareth College hosted its first-ever political debate on campus—and it was largely organized by students, with some assistance from Nazareth’s public relations team. Campaigns, Voters and Elections (PSC 340), a political science class taught by Timothy Kneeland, Ph.D., inspired the students to organize the 29th Congressional District debate between Tom Reed (R) and Matthew Zeller (D). “You have to get involved. You cannot just stand by and not do anything,” says Benjamin Pate ’12 of the class’s decision to host a debate. “If you want to see change you have to get out there and play an active part in it.” The students reached out to WXXI Public Broadcasting (an NPR affiliate) and partnered with the radio station to broadcast the debate live and stream it on the Web. The debate was part of Voice of the Voter, a collaboration with other local radio/television stations and newspapers, to engage citizens in the political process. In addition to arranging the debate, the students held a voter registration drive. “Time and again, the best way to get people out to vote tends to be when there is someone who actually comes to you and talks to you in person,” says Kneeland. “If you connect with a person one-on-one, if you talk to them and tell them the importance of the election, they are more likely to come out and vote.” “We have this whole rich history in American politics where people have been fighting for the right to vote. People like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. I think students should remember that,” adds history major Iaonnis (John) Dedes ’12. Read more about the political science department at www.naz.edu/history.
Reading in Action
ast November, more than 400 student athletes and library staff from seven area colleges and universities fanned out to seven Rochester city elementary schools to participate in the Giant Read, a signature event of the READ: Hope in Action program created by Rochester Institute of Technology. READ: Hope in Action launched in 2007 under the vision of Chandra McKenzie, RIT assistant provost of academic affairs, in collaboration with Lou Spiotti, RIT director of athletics and recreation. The program partners RIT’s Wallace Center staff and student athletes with elementary school children to give them assistance in the classroom. RIT recently received a grant from the John F. Wegman Fund of Rochester Area Community Foundation to get other Rochester-area universities and colleges involved in the program. Nazareth College joined Monroe Community College, Roberts Wesleyan College, St. John Fisher College, State University of New York at Brockport, University of Rochester, and RIT.
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For the Giant Read, each university and college was paired with a city elementary school and read a book of their choice and played games with first graders in the respective schools’ gymnasiums. Each college and university will also host their “adopted” elementary school’s sixth-grade class this spring. The grant provides more than 500 books for the first graders to keep, school supplies for the sixth graders, bus transportation, and lunches. “Our student athletes have given a lot of time and effort to this program, and the rewards have been phenomenal in terms of the friendships and bonds our students and library staff have developed with the school children,” says Spiotti. “I’ve witnessed it during my visits there. It shows that the more you give the more you get in return.” Read more about Nazareth athletics at athletics.naz.edu.
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Of Fossil Mice and Man by Robyn Rime
Dr. William Korth holding the jawbone of the fossil rodent Prosciurus relictus.
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alk to people about fossils, and they think big—dinosaur big. But fossils, to the surprise of many, come in an immense array of sizes. William Korth, Ph.D., a visiting professor in Nazareth’s chemistry department, concentrates on the little stuff, and he’s one of the nation’s foremost experts in the petrified remains of rodents. Wait—fossil mice? “Mice, rats, squirrels, beavers, occasionally rabbits—anything that gnaws,” explains Korth. For fossilized rodents, Korth is the go-to guy. During the past 35 years, his field work has yielded thousands of fossils for collections across the country. The site in northwestern Kansas at which he’s worked for the past decade is too young for dinosaurs—between nine and 10 million years old—but is laden instead with fossils from prehistoric rhinos, elephants, and camels. Rhinos in Kansas may sound intriguing to the rest of us, but what Korth finds compelling is what’s left behind once those large bones are removed. Dirt that’s been dug through and discarded isn’t actually thrown away, he explains, but is instead carefully screened for little bones. And he means really, really little. The hardest bones, or those most likely to be preserved, are teeth, which means Korth collects fossils approximately the size of grains of sand. A mouse molar can rest on the head of a pin with ample room to spare. So why focus on the small stuff? Turns out things move pretty fast in the world of fossil mice, biologically speaking. “An elephant gestates for two years, a mouse for 21 days,” explains Korth. “Who’s going to evolve quicker? There’s much more diversity, adaptation, and reaction to the environment in rodents.”
Fossil mice are also more easily accessible than the sought-after dinosaurs. “A lot of people love dinosaurs—they’re big and scary and fancy,” says Korth. “Even big mammals are fun and flashy. In graduate school, everyone wanted to work on the big stuff, but there are thousands and thousands of little tiny fossils available. You could go into a collection for 50 years and never come out. There are thousands to look at at any time, and there’s always the chance of discovery.” Korth has discovered plenty during his career, describing 152 new species from all over North America. He has, in fact, his very own fossil mouse namesake: Willeumys korthi, christened in 2009 by Dr. John Wahlert of the American Museum of Natural History in acknowledgment of Korth’s many contributions to the field. Korth is currently writing up his newest discovery—fossil rodent #153—which was serendipitously unearthed while conducting research on a completely different species at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where he is a research associate. Preserved in a small glass vial labeled simply “rodent,” the fossils had lain untouched in the collection since 1937. Korth stumbled across them, put the bones under a microscope, and knew instantly he was looking at something dramatically new. “This was the earliest and most primitive species of this family of rodents,” he says. “It predates the earliest previous record by about 10 million years.” That thrill of discovery is what has sustained Korth’s interest in his tiny fossils. “I could describe 152 species in the next year, and each would still be exciting,” he says. “Every time is a new adventure.” Check out Dr. Korth’s research at go.naz.edu/korth. Robyn Rime is the editor of Connections.
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NEWS|views
n Co l l e g e o f Ar t s a nd Sc ien ces
Doctor Donates a Gift of Music
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r. Vincent Reale grew up in a Reale considered other homes for his medical family where there collection (the Eastman School of Music was a great love for music, and Princeton University, his alma mater) especially the violin. He began but decided that it could be put to best the study of the violin at age five. At use in the Lorette Wilmot Library at age nine he became a student of the Nazareth College. According to Reale, internationally renowned teacher Ivan the Eastman School already had about Galamian, studying with him for the half of the books in their library, and the next 10 years. He then worked for three Princeton music librarian felt that there years with master teacher and performer were not enough instrumentalists who Joseph Fuchs. would find such a collection useful. Throughout these years, Reale studied “This collection should be in an area and performed chamber music at the where it’ll be utilized,” explains Reale. New York City Center, Meadowmount “Nazareth is doing some great things School of Music, Lewis, NY, and Kneisel in music, and they were delighted to Hall in Blue Hill, ME. He spent a year at accept.” the Julliard School of Music between colDouthit is thrilled with the donation. lege and medical school trying to decide “Our orchestra is one of our newest if he could become a successful concert ensembles. With the addition of conducviolinist. Reale said that he was a very tor Nancy Strelau a few years ago to good violinist but knew that he wasn’t our faculty, the orchestra began to grow going to be a Heifetz or Kreisler. When in size and quality. With that comes a the decision was made to go to medical greater number of string players and a school, Reale promised his father and need for resources to support this growhimself that he would maintain his ability ing population in the Department of Dr. James Douthit (left) and Dr. Vincent Reale rehearse to perform on the violin. That is a promMusic,” he explains. “Here the collecfor their joint concert, held in February to dedicate the ise that he has kept. tion will be put to use. Music education collection of violin-related books and journals donated After finishing Harvard Medical students will use it as they study music by Reale. School, Reale completed 10 years of methods. String performance majors surgical training, becoming a plastic, rewill study the history of the instrument, Reale’s father starting in the 1940s. Accordconstructive, and hand surgeon. He practiced which is all intertwined with the acquisition ing to the appraiser’s report, the collection for 30 years in Rochester, both at the Genesee of performance skills on the instrument.” The includes 44 books, “some of them among Hospital and Strong Memorial Hospital, retircollection will also be open to the general stuthe most important, rare, out-of-print, and ing in 2008. dent population and to the public, circulating valuable volumes on violins, violas, violoncelIn June 2010, Reale attended Nazareth’s as does all the library material, according to los, and bows, and their makers….Many of series of chamber music concerts celebratCathy Doyle, library director. the books are of historical interest; the oldest ing Schumann’s 200th birthday. The level of The high level of quality in the materials dates from 1864. Many others have important performance by Nazareth students and faculty reflects the equally high standards of their photographs of old instruments and bows.” It so impressed him that within the week he donor. also includes eight years of Violins & Violinists, contacted James Douthit, D.M.A., professor “I heard Jascha Heifetz when I was eight from 1953 through 1960, and “an amazand chair of the music department, to inquire years old,” Reale concludes. “It made an ing run of Strad, the most important string whether Nazareth would be interested in a indelible impression on me and set a standard journal ever published,” from 1901 through donation. of perfection that I’ve tried to achieve in both 1982, which contains “an unmatched history The donation in question—a collection of surgery and in music.” He smiles and adds, of performances, interviews with players and books and journals devoted to the history of “’Tried’ is the important word.” composers, histories of many of the instruthe violin, violin making, and other aspects Learn more about the music department at ments themselves, etc.” of string instruments—had been amassed by www.naz.edu/music.
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n Scho o l o f M a n ag e m e n t
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Business Savvy in the Family
any married couples dream of starting their own business. Joe ’92 and Nicole Argenziano Yacano ’95 are some of the few to do it successfully not once, but twice. Joe has enjoyed a successful and varied career since graduating from Nazareth’s School of Management with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, working in the field of pharmaceutical and biotech sales at firms such as Bock, Eli Lilly, and Amgen. Nicole, who has a bachelor’s and master’s in clinical social work, wasn’t finding her field as rewarding as she wanted and had begun designing and selling her own line of jewelry. When the time came to expand her business, Joe was the perfect person to help her market it. Nicole says her business, TRU, is “based on the pursuit of discovering and living one’s true path and being true to one’s self.” Her oneof-a-kind jewelry designs focus on the healing properties of natural stones and reflect all the elements needed to live a full life: love, peace, expression, and balance.
Nicole Argenziano Yacano ’95 in her studio at TRU. Photo by Walter Colley.
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by Alan Gelb “I want people to feel empowered, to know there are other options for healing,” explains Nicole. “When they walk in, they should be free to express who they are.” More than just a jewelry retail outlet, however, TRU strives to be a resource center. Jewelry is at the forefront of its offerings, but an essential part of the entire experience is its services: intuitive readings, reiki, mineral therapy, meditation classes, workshops, and more. As Nicole’s partner and marketer, Joe’s job is to help people better understand TRU’s product, to package it for public consumption. Having whetted his entrepreneurial appetite with TRU, Joe was ripe to start his own business. That opportunity presented itself when he met Ben Wood, a young medical student. Wood had a novel idea for a line of athletic apparel that would utilize technology activated by moisture—the good, honest sweat that comes with physical exertion. HIdden designs appeared on the clothes once the fitness threshold was attained. “I was always sports-oriented,” says Joe, who played soccer and golf at Nazareth. “So for me this was a genuine aha! moment.” Joe recognized the motivational potential in this business—getting people to “go for the burn” and thereby bringing hidden designs to the fore—and a year ago, ViewSport set up shop in Pittsford as a self-funded operation. “We formalized our business plan and reached out to friends for help with the legal end of things, manufacturing, and even the video on our website,” says Joe. “I find myself thinking back to what I learned at Nazareth—particularly how to collaborate effectively.” The Yacanos’ savvy marketing is already paying off with media attention that is increasing awareness, credibility, and customer base for both companies. The Wall Street Journal, Time.com, Slam magazine, and Fox Business News, among other local and national media, covered ViewSports’ high-tech clothes. The company is in talks with national retailers, and
Ben Wood (left) and Joe Yacano ‘92, owners of ViewSport. Photo by Annette Lein, courtesy the Democrat and Chronicle Media Group. it has arrangements with professional athletes who will be wearing and testing their product for workouts. TRU’s strong online presence has helped grow that business as well, and it enjoyed national media exposure when its unique designs were featured on last spring’s finale of American Idol. “Starting your own business is never an easy task,” says Joe. “But the creative freedom is incredible when you’re your own boss. We make the decisions and don’t have to ask anyone for permission.” “I can create whatever I want,” adds Nicole. “I’m not a prisoner of someone else’s idea. That’s really empowering.” Although the two companies appear very different, Joe sees a parallel between TRU and ViewSport. “Each is trying to sell something that you can’t see,” he says. “You can see the jewelry and the T-shirt, but it’s all the stuff behind them that means something to people.” He concedes with a grin, “Nicole’s is pure sophistication. Mine is sweat.” Explore other alumni entrepreneurs at alumni.naz.edu. Alan Gelb is a freelance writer in East Chatham, New York.
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n Sch o o l o f e d u cat i on
Different Ways, Not Deficient Ways
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he title said it all. “Revealing the Strengths of Learners with Autism,” the first conference of its kind in the region held at Nazareth College in November, highlighted a growing movement that focuses on what students with autism can do—not on what they can’t. “More people are starting to realize that this is the way that autism should be viewed,” says nationally known autism expert and keynote speaker Brenda Smith Myles. “We need to look at strengths, provide support as necessary, and promote the message that people with autism are not broken and do not need to be fixed.” Sponsored by the School of Education Alice Foley Speaker Series, the School of Health and Human Services, the Nazareth College Lecture and Film Committee, and the Department of Inclusive Childhood Education, the all-day Inclusion Institute included meaningful and timely workshops, as well as a screening Nationally known autism of the new documentary We Thought expert Brenda Smith Myles You’d Never Ask: Voices of People with delivered the keynote address Autism by another highly regarded at the Nazareth conference autism expert, Paula Kluth. Parents, “Revealing the Strengths of educators, service providers, and comLearners with Autism.” munity members from throughout the state attended. “I’ve been working in this field awhile but it’s new for a lot of people to think about autism in this way,” says Assistant Professor of Education Shanna Jamanis, Ph.D., who coordinated the conference. Instead of focusing on typical topics such as dietary restrictions, behavior therapies, and language development, she helped construct a program on autism that included workshops on, among other things, promoting literacy, how to use assistive technology, and ways to talk about sexuality. Most federal funding and large-scale fundraising efforts for autism research center around causation, intervention, and treatment. That has to change, say those involved with the conference, who study
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by Robin L. Flanigan promising practices for dealing with a condition now believed to affect 1 in 110 children. Yet while the traditional medical model is being challenged as the only way to advance knowledge about autism, money isn’t following. “It’s just a lack of understanding,” explains Jamanis, whose uncle has autism. “People tend to focus on deficits. They use words like ‘obsessions’ or ‘preoccupation.’ I like to use ‘fascinations’ or ‘special interests.’ We have to pay more attention to this idea of neurodiversity— diversity in thinking. And we need to embrace it.” Sharon Kofod of Penfield appreciates that the conference reaffirmed the approach she has always used with her 10-year-old son, Hayden Cary, whose diagnosis of mild autism at age four was recently reconfirmed. Hayden is a highly creative boy who can spend hours, sometimes days, drawing accurate reproductions of amusement park rides and other things that attract his attention. His mother works diligently to make sure his teachers figure out and support the ways he learns best. “People are willing to give you that support if you bring it up, but they generally don’t come from that place originally,” she says. “They think that if he were more manageable or compliant, then it would be better. I remind them that this is something he has. It’s not something that can be taken away.” Dawn Vogler-Elias, Ph.D. assistant professor in communication sciences and disorders, also welcomed the conference’s focus. “I was inspired at the institute by talking with educators, paraprofessionals, parents, speech-language pathologists, and students about ways to support children with autism by celebrating their strengths, instead of focusing on their deficits.” Part of the reason there is a larger lens on strengths these days— besides celebrated animal scientist Temple Grandin’s notable selfadvocacy work with the autism rights movement—is because people with autism are starting to speak out more freely about their experiences and are increasingly participating in similar conferences as guest speakers. Now it’s time for more action from others, says Smith Myles: “What we really need are more supports for applied interventions and applied research that can allow individuals with autism to reach their potential, which we are really beginning to understand is limitless.” Read more about the School of Education’s work in autism in their Fall 2010 newsletter at go.naz.edu/autism. Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York.
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n s cho o l o f h e a lt h a n d h u man serv ices
Guitar Hero
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ost people associate Botox® with society’s endless pursuit of youth, but did you know that botulinum toxin, commonly known as Botox, is used to help relax the muscles of children and teens with spastic cerebral palsy (CP)? Since 2002, Nazareth College music therapy students have partnered with Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) on a clinical research study to see how music therapy can be used to relieve pain and distress in children with CP undergoing Botox injections. Spasticity is the involuntary tightening of the muscles that happens in more than half the people diagnosed with CP. Botox injections relax the muscles for three to twelve months at a time, allowing physical therapists to step in and help improve a child’s mobility and strength. The downside to the injections is that they can be painful. O.J. Sahler, M.D., professor of pediatrics, psychiatry, medical humanities, and oncology, is heading up the study, which finishes enrolling in spring 2011, with the help of clinical research associate and music therapist Rosemary Oliva Obi ’10G, MS, LCAT, MTBC. Bryan Hunter, Ph.D., LCAT, MT-BC, chair and professor of music therapy in the creative arts therapy department at Nazareth, says music therapy students have done practica and internships for URMC clinical research studies since 1997. “It’s been a rewarding collaboration,” says Hunter. “Dr. Sahler is very interested in integrated medicine, and she’s a researcher. Much of the research we’ve collaborated on has to do with using music therapy for symptom and pain management.” “We know that people are looking to more healthy lifestyles and are recognizing that diet, exercise, and relaxation are very important in maintaining health,” says Sahler. “Many people want to use things outside of medication…We’ve really tried to use creative arts to help our patients and their families cope more successfully with various challenges.”
www.naz.edu
by Alicia Nestle
Music therapist Rosemary Oliva Obi ’10G works with a young client.
For the Botox study, the music therapy students serve as research assistants, providing both data collection and analysis. “It is vital to have students assist with this study,” says Obi. A primary outcome of the study is to measure whether there is a decrease in crying time during the procedure. A typical Botox injection session can involve anywhere from two to eight injections. Before, during, and after the injections, Obi will play her guitar and sing to or with a child to help decrease pain and anxiety. “During the actual sessions, the students videotape the intervention for future analysis and calculation of the amount of time spent crying by the child. Preliminary analysis shows that there is a trend effect for the children to cry less when they receive music therapy during their injections than when they do not,” explains Obi. Parents who filled out study surveys commented, “The music makes our Botox visits something our son actually looks
forward to—despite the unpleasantness of the procedure,” and “Although my child was still crying through her procedure, the music did seem to help her ease through it.” While the students may feel gratitude for the hands-on experience at a world-class research institution like URMC, Sahler says she is the one who is thankful. “I really want people to understand how valuable the students have been to us. We have limited funding and resources…The students’ volunteer time helps us to provide the service. We’re very fortunate to have the association with Nazareth College, and we wouldn’t be able to have a successful program without them.” Learn more about music therapy at go.naz.edu/music-therapy. Alicia Nestle is the assistant director of new media in Nazareth’s marketing department.
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sports|news
Nazareth Wins Wendy’s Title Brad Ford ’14 scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds last December 4 to earn tournament MVP honors as Nazareth’s men’s basketball team won the championship of the 45th annual Wendy’s College Classic with a thrilling 62-60 victory Nazareth’s men’s basketball team with the over the University of Wendy’s College Classic trophy. Rochester. The victory, at Roberts Wesleyan’s Voller Athletic Center, enabled the Golden Flyers to secure the tournament title for the sixth time and the first since 2003. The win also snapped a string of 13 straight losses to the Yellowjackets. In fact, Nazareth’s last win over UR came in the then-JPMorgan Chase Tournament final at Roberts Wesleyan in January 2003. “It means a lot for our program,” said second-year head coach Kevin Broderick ‘89. “Our guys needed to play hard to come out on top in this field. This is one of the best Division III tournaments in the country.” Ford was one of three Nazareth players to score in double figures. Phil Scaffidi ’12 scored 11 points and was named to the all-tournament team, and Jason Corletta ’12, who made three key foul shots in the closing seconds, finished with 10 points. Tyshun Stephens ’13 also represented Nazareth on the all-tournament team. Nazareth also defeated Roberts Wesleyan, 83-74, in the first round and Brockport, 57-47, in the semifinals. The tournament usually is contested in January but was moved to the first semester for the first time. Nazareth’s other tournament titles came in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 2003. The Golden Flyers also appeared in the title game in 1981, 1990, 2008, and 2009.
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Three Make All-Region Team for Women’s Soccer
hree members of the Nazareth women’s soccer team have been selected to the NCAA Division III East Region all-star team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The all-star teams are sponsored by Performance Subaru. Goalkeeper Hillary Simon ’11 was a second-team selection while midfielder Sarah Eichelberger ’13 and defender Amanda Sudore ’13 made the third team. Simon, of Homer, N.Y. and a graduate of Homer High School, had a sensational senior Goalkeeper Hillary Simon ’11 season for the Golden Flyers, who finished was one of three women’s soccer 11-7-2 overall and lost in the Empire 8 Conplayers on all-region team. ference finals to Stevens, 2-1. Simon allowed just 13 goals in 19 games for a 0.66 goals-against average, an .887 save percentage, and nine shutouts. A four-year starter, Simon was recognized as E8 Defensive Player of the Year and amassed 24 career shutouts. Eichelberger, of Pittsford, N.Y. and a graduate of Pittsford Sutherland, was a second-team E8 all-star in 2010 and finished second on the team in scoring with 14 points on six goals and two assists. Sudore, of Ontario, N.Y. and a graduate of Wayne Central, was a first-team all-conference selection after starting all 20 games for the Golden Flyers and contributing one goal and three assists. She also contributed to a defense that yielded less than one goal per game. In addition to Simon and Sudore, Nazareth had three other first-team allconference selections in forward Erica Conte ’11, midfielder Kelly Kuhn ’12, and back Kara Eaker ’11. Eichelberger made second team and midfielder Kerry Gannon ’12 and back Sarah Cipperly ’14 were honorable mention. Head coach Gail Mann, with more than 220 wins in 18 seasons, was named Coach of the Year.
Evans Makes All-Region Team for Field Hockey Kelsey Evans ’11, goalie for the Nazareth field hockey team, was a second-team selection to the 2010 Longstretch/NFHCA Division III North Atlantic Region team. A native of Penfield, N.Y. and a graduate of Penfield High School, Evans played every minute of every game in goal for the Golden Flyers in 2010 and led all of Division III with a save percentage of .879. She also amassed 188 saves for a 1.45 goals-against average and three shutouts. Evans also ranked 13th nationally in saves per game (11.06) and 36th in goals-against average (1.45). She also was a
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first-team Empire 8 Conference all-star and finished her career with 506 saves to rank second all-time at Nazareth. Evans and defender Emily Conway ’11 also were chosen as first-team Empire 8 Conference all-stars. In addition, defender Julie Davis ’11 and forward Kailee O’Hara ’13 were named to the second team. The Golden Flyers finished with a 7-10 overall record. They lost to Stevens, 2-0, in the first round of the E8 Conference Tournament. Evans ’11 www.naz.edu
Golfers Make First Team
First-Team Honors for Ashlee Travis in Volleyball
Jenee Vanderstyne ’13 and senior Michelle Van Slyke ’11 each were first-team Empire 8 Conference allstars for women’s golf after competing in the inaugural E8 Championship Tournament last fall at Blue Heron Hills. Van Slyke, of New Hartford, Vanderstyne ’13 N.Y., finished second with a two-round total of 167, while Vanderstyne, of Victor, N.Y., finished in fifth place with a score of 178.
Ashlee Travis ’12, middle blocker on the Nazareth women’s volleyball team, was selected as a first-team Empire 8 Conference all-star for 2010. The all-star teams were selected through voting by the league’s head coaches. Three other Nazareth players were honorable mention selections: setter Brittany Crocetti ’13, outside hitter Kristi Custer ’11, and outside hitter Carra Vanderstyne ’11G. Travis, of Hammondsport, N.Y. and a graduate of Hammondsport High School, led the Golden Flyers with 108 blocks while also amassing 244 kills with a .269 hitting percentage. In eight conference matches, she averaged 2.1 kills and 1.0 blocks per set while hitting .348. Travis ’12 Crocetti, of Rochester and a graduate of Irondequoit High School, led the Golden Flyers in assists with 1,176 (8.34 per set) with 53 service aces and 255 digs. Custer, of Truxton, N.Y. and a graduate of DeRuyter High School, led the Golden Flyers with 333 kills (2.49 per set) and also has contributed 36 service aces and 178 digs. Vanderstyne, of Victor, N.Y. and a graduate of Victor High School, ranked second on the team in kills (261), digs (352), and service aces (63). Nazareth finished 18-20 overall and 6-2 in conference matches in 2010.
Van Slyke ’11
Kotak Makes All-Region Team for Men’s Soccer Rikesh Kotak ’11, who recently completed his fourth season as a midfielder on the Nazareth men’s soccer team, has been selected to the NCAA Division III East Region all-star team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Kotak, of Leicester, England, was named to the third team, which is sponsored by Performance Subaru. Kotak was the Golden Flyers’s leading scorer in 2010 with 26 points on 11 goals and four assists. He finished his career with 55 points, including 23 goals to rank in Nazareth’s top 10 all-time. Kotak ’11 Kotak also was one of two first-team Empire 8 conference all-star selections. Back Sean Dorman ’12 also represented the Golden Flyers. Three freshmen made the second team in forward Luke Elston ’14, midfielder Ryan Foley ’14, and back James Wheeler ’14. Foley also was chosen E8 Rookie of the Year. A first-team Empire 8 Conference all-star, Kotak helped Nazareth to a 10-7-2 overall record in 2010. The Golden Flyers reached the finals of the E8 Conference Tournament before falling 1-0 at top-seeded Stevens.
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Tepas Makes First Team Alison Tepas ’14, a freshman on the Nazareth women’s tennis team, was selected as a first-team all-star in the Empire 8 Conference for 2010. A native of Orchard Park, N.Y. and a graduate of Orchard Park HIgh School, Tepas helped Nazareth reach the Empire 8 Conference Tournament in 2010 by posting a 6-2 conference record at first singles. She finished with an overall record of 10-9, all at first singles. Tepas and Alex Vizgaitis ’13 also represented Nazareth as second-team doubles all-stars. They went 6-2 in conference matches at first doubles Tepas ’14 and 7-10 overall. Vizgaitis, of Fayetteville, N.Y. and a graduate of Fayetteville-Manlius High School, also made honorable mention in singles after compiling a 5-3 conference record at second singles.
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sports|news
RETHINK Graduate Degrees Whether you want to complete your studies, receive your certification, or switch careers, consider a graduate degree from Nazareth College. Nazareth offers graduate programs in: Arts and Sciences Education Health and Human Services Management Graduate Program Information Session—May 25 • Meet with faculty from your specific program of interest. • Optional campus tours available. Discover more or register for a session at grad.naz.edu.
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Giving Back to Lacrosse
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by Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G
hen Tom Cincebox ’89 was a senior on the men’s lacrosse team, former head coach Scott Nelson took the graduating seniors out to dinner and stressed two things Cincebox has never forgotten. The first: give back to Nazareth College. The second: give back to the sport we love. Cincebox didn’t know it then, but those two things would shape his career as well as the careers of many other men’s lacrosse alumni. “There was a need for guys who had knowledge of the game to get into coaching,” says Cincebox, the director of player personnel and assistant coach for the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League and sales consultant with Synthes Spine. “We needed to do something to advance the game.” The alumni listened: at least 20 former players presently coach at either the professional, collegiate, or high school levels. It’s an impressive statistic for a school that doesn’t offer coaching or physical education as a major—and it’s a consistent one as well. In 2002, Cincebox estimated that there were about the same number of alumni in the coaching ranks at some level. “In the lacrosse circles, they talk about Cortland State being a physical education school, and I think on a smaller scale that Naz has had an impact as well,” says Mike Gottko ’93, ’95G, the varsity boys lacrosse coach at Victor High School. “We’ve had a ‘coaching tree’ history within the high school and coaching ranks.” Gottko, who also teaches sixth grade in the Rush-Henrietta school district in Rochester, believes that it was the sense of community and culture in the athletics program that was unique to Nazareth. “We all had an excitement and passion and love of the game,” he says. “That’s why I feel very strongly about being an educator and a coach.” That excitement, passion, and love of the game has translated into collegiate coaching careers for alums like Marty Kelly ’92, the head coach at Roger Williams University, Gene Peluso ’92, the head coach at Stevens Institute of Technology, and Tom Mariano ’94, the head coach at Sacred Heart University. Kelly, who never had an assistant coaching position before becoming a head coach, credits his career to the Nazareth connections and the reputation of the Nazareth lacrosse program. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of Nelson and Rob [Randall ’88],” says Kelly. “Rob’s a great role model—he was a big influence on me when I was there, as was Scott.” “You always take care of other alums…that’s the way the College has been,” adds Cincebox. “You want to help the other guy; it’s a persona that you come in with.” Nazareth lacrosse had an enormous impact on Peluso’s decision to become a coach and work at colleges or universities that care about lacrosse. “Lacrosse has motivated me throughout my life in regards to academics,” he says. “The relationships that you build when playing for a team are better, in my opinion, than any fraternity you can be a part of. As I got near the end of my playing career, I thought that the
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Marty Kelly ’92, in action during a lacrosse game at Roger Williams University, where he serves as head coach. Kelly played on the Nazareth lacrosse team that won the 1992 NCAA championship; the Flyers also won national championships in 1996 and 1997. best way to continue with the game is to become a coach and try to build that same type of fraternity with my teams.” Peluso has used the Nazareth men’s lacrosse blueprint for success as a model throughout his coaching career. “It taught me to appreciate winning and that it takes a team effort to win at a high level,” he says. “It also taught me that there is a ton of pride to be a part of a young program [Nazareth was a young program when he was a player] and the importance of playing/coaching at a high level.” Mariano, who has coached at Division I Sacred Heart for the last 12 years, felt he gained so much from his playing experience at Nazareth and wanted to give back to the sport. “It was a great experience playing and having great coaches as mentors, so I wanted to follow in that example,” says Mariano. “A lot of what I have done as a coach I learned as a player at Nazareth.” Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G works for Nazareth’s Office of Alumni Relations and is a sports reporter for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 19
INTERFAITH | ideas
Spiritual Advisor to the Golden Flyers
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The team’s biggest fan, spiritual advisor Lynne Staropli Boucher attends every home game. 20 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
by Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G
few years ago Lynne Staropoli Boucher, director of Nazareth’s Center for Spirituality, was worried that her role as the spiritual advisor for the men’s basketball team might end. After all, former men’s basketball coach Mike Daley, who had asked Boucher to work with the team as the spiritual advisor more than 10 years ago, had announced his retirement. But Boucher had no idea of the impression and impact she had had on the team. When current coach Kevin Broderick ’89 arrived on campus, each of the returning players went to his office unsolicited and requested that Boucher continue working with the team. Broderick couldn’t help but agree to his team’s request. “They believed in it so much and it was a highlight for them,” Broderick says. “We see it as a huge benefit.” As the spiritual advisor for the team, Boucher conducts teambuilding exercises during “team time,” which occurs a few hours before every home basketball game. As Nazareth has evolved from a Catholic institution into an independent school with an interfaith focus, team time has taken a similar path. In Daley’s early years of coaching, he invited Leo Aman, the former deacon and Catholic chaplain at Nazareth, to pray with the team before games; that time was prayer oriented and religious. After Aman’s retirement, Boucher evolved team time into a spiritual part of the student-athlete’s experience that includes students from all beliefs and philosophies. “The guys explained that it is like the beginning of the transition from the mundane details of their normal lives into gametime readiness,” Boucher says. “Team time focuses them on themselves as players and them as a team.” With the preparation the student-athletes have to do to get ready for the game, Boucher once questioned if game day was the best time for team time, but the student-athletes said otherwise. “You need to get pumped up before a game, and that is not always what we do,” Boucher says. “It’s not always a pump-up kind of thing, it’s a more of a mellow out thing, but they’ve all said that the pattern of mellowing out, focusing, and then transitioning to dinner and then their pump-up pre-game stuff is a nice pattern.” www.naz.edu
Similar to a or during team director in a play, time, there is trust Boucher stresses between Boucher that her job isn’t and members of to talk at the the team, who in team but to create turn gain the trust an environment of one another. It’s in which they an important aspect feel comfortable that carries over to enough to share games, practices, and and listen to each the locker room. other. “They know “We weren’t just the team and the playing basketball insides of that together; we had team better than I trust in each other ever will,” Bouchand shared personal er says. “My job things,” Michalich is to tap into says. that and help The team knows Nazareth men’s basketball players sign the season’s dedicatory ball during a team time session with Boucher. them share on a Boucher’s their deeper level.” biggest fan—she Team time hasn’t just translated to success on the court; it doesn’t miss a home game. But that support has also come full unites the team off the court as well. “Lynne magnified our team circle and grown beyond the basketball court. Former allunity and our relationships, she gave us another dimension,” says America Corey McAdam ’10 used to attend the soccer games of Joe Mihalich ’09. “She gave us depth as teammates, as people, Boucher’s children, Jonah and Kateri, and several of “my boys,” as friends.” as Boucher calls them, have asked her to preside at their wedding Broderick echoed the same sentiments. “It promotes chemistry ceremonies. and togetherness,” he says. “She’s talented, skilled, and really In basketball, the sixth man is known as the unsung hero. interested in our players, and that has a real positive effect.” Broderick, who considers Boucher the team’s sixth man, is grateThat positive effect is evident once the Golden Flyers come ful for the support Boucher provides. An annual tradition of out onto the basketball court for pre-game warm-ups. The team hers at team time is the dedication of the basketball season. The is focused on the game instead of on schoolwork, tests, and any team members sit in a circle and pass around one of the practice other outside stresses. It’s also evident in the way members of the balls with a marker. Each player explains to whom he is going to team will pick up each other’s slack, communicate on the court, dedicate the season—a family member, friend, or anyone who and watch out for one another, which has translated to success has had an impact—and then writes that person’s name on the for the program. basketball. The ball is then used in practice for the remainder of But it doesn’t end there. Boucher also has the team over for the season. dinner during semester breaks and meets with the studentMihalich, who is now a graduate assistant manager with the athletes on a one-on-one basis. “Some of that is proactive like men’s basketball team at Villanova University, says the exercise general support, and some of it is when they do end up having always made an impact on the team. problems of some sort, they know that they already have a rela“We’d be doing a drill, would see the ball, and remember that tionship with me,” Boucher explains. we had dedicated the season to someone,” he concludes. “It was Communication is critical in Boucher’s role. She not only a great reminder that you’re playing for someone other than yourcommunicates with team members but with Daley and now self.” Broderick as well to see if there is something specific to talk Check out a video of the basketball team at go.naz.edu/basabout.“I usually check in with the coach before a session to try ketball. and get a sense if there any theme that the team needs to work Kerry Van Malderghem ’08G works for Nazareth’s Office of Alumni on or that he wants me to focus on,” she says. “We do a different Relations and is a sports reporter for the Rochester Democrat and theme every time.” Chronicle. Whether it’s meeting with members of the team one-on-one www.naz.edu
CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 21
beyond self | community service
College Doors and Minds Wide Open by Robyn Rime
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s a freshman, Luke Paddock ’12 didn’t start out at Nazareth. He began his first year at another college, and he found the experience nerve-racking. “It was not a friendly place for LGBT people,” he says. Like other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, he felt unable to tell anyone he had “accepted a life that was not okay with the school’s doctrine.” Paddock transferred to Nazareth, knowing it was a more welcoming community, a place where he would be accepted. Even so, Nazareth’s openness on LGBT issues astonished him. Before he even arrived on campus, Paddock’s roommate agreement addressed questions such as whether or not it was okay to have someone of the same or opposite sex stay over. “It blew my mind that it was right there in the open,” he says. Paddock calls his transfer to Nazareth the greatest decision he’s ever made. “It’s shocking and wonderful not to have being gay be the biggest part of me,” he says. “I’m Luke, I like to sing, I love coffee. People see me for me, not for being gay, which is wonderful.” Fortunately, Paddock’s experiences at Nazareth are not unusual. The open-mindedness, the opportunities for dialogue and education, and the respect built into campus policies all reflect a college that strives to be inclusive and welcoming—to everyone. “I think there’s no question that students, faculty, and staff who are openly gay feel welcome,” says Gaynelle Wethers ’74G, director of Nazareth’s Office of Multicultural Affairs.
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Several Nazareth College Lambda Association members at the 7th Annual Wedding March, sponsored by Marriage Equality New York (MENY) in New York City last September. L to R: Abigail Ritter ’13, Lauren Berger ’12, Rachel Olson ’12, Victoria Russell ’12, and Briana Ramirez ’13.
The College backs up that gay-friendly attitude with actions. Nazareth’s Lambda Association, which has provided education, advocacy, and support to the LGBT community since 1984, is one of the largest and most active student clubs on campus. It earned honors as Club of the Year last year, with its president Mike Boerner ’11 also named Leader of the Year. Lambda boasts nearly 50 students, 70 percent of whom are not gay, but rather straight allies. This year’s president, Lauren Berger ’12, says schools really need gay/straight alliances like Lambda to provide an open place of support, “to bridge the gap between gays and straights, educate the ignorant, and support the abused. … The students need a resource that they can access, with other people on their level, to let them know they are not alone.” If you were one of those kids who never fit in, she says, “it doesn’t matter who you are or what you like to do or who you’re in love with. It’s a place where you can just go to be.” Carlnita Greene, Ph.D., assistant professor/director of the communication and rhetoric program and the faculty advisor to Lambda, believes Lambda succeeds because their issues affect the whole campus community. “Their activities are available to all students,” she says. “They make the College as a whole more comfortable for everyone. That message resonates with a lot of students.” Many of Lambda’s events coincide with nationally recognized days, says Danielle Crews ’12, the club’s vice president.
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Students in the Greater Rochester Collaborative Master of Social Work program hosted a sidewalk chalk campaign in Rochester last November in response to recent lesbian and gay suicides and in support of LGBT individuals.
National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and World AIDS Day all have a Nazareth component sponsored by Lambda. Regional events such as ImageOut, the Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, are co-sponsored by the club, and Lambda organizes annual campus activities such as a drag show and a mixer. The club’s wide range of activities offers many different levels of participation, from education to activism, and that’s appealing as well, says Greene. “Not everyone is into marching and signing petitions. In Lambda, you can support LGBT efforts without always having to be an activist.” Like Lambda, Nazareth’s Center for Spirituality (CFS) is also intent on creating a welcoming community. “For better and for worse, religious traditions have a powerful effect on the gay community,” says CFS Director Lynne Staropoli Boucher. “We as chaplains need to make sure that groups that have traditionally been excluded or marginalized by religion are explicitly welcomed.” Boucher, along with Nazareth’s Catholic and Protestant chaplains Jamie Fazio ’97 and Alison Schmied, work one-on-one with students and groups to undo what Boucher calls religious baggage. “We need to reinstate the invitation—we know you’re gay, and you’re welcome here,” she says. Part of what Boucher, Fazio, and Schmied do to support the LGBT community is just to be present, attending campus events and being visible as allies. A series of events on coming out spiritually also occurs annually, where “chaplains and student leaders work together to create an interfaith service that celebrates the special gifts of members of the LGBT community,” says Boucher. Nazareth’s Office of Multicultural Affairs also sponsors many community and campus events in support of the LGBT community. A solid working relationship with the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley and access to good resources has created a full complement of opportunities. “Conversations about all these issues allow us to explore, discuss, learn, and change,” says Wethers. “You can intellectualize all these issues, but when your son or daughter brings home a gay or lesbian partner, it’s no longer intellectual. It’s about heart. That’s why we need these stories—to help change people’s hearts.” This welcoming attitude at Nazareth is more than just skin deep—scratch that surface, and you’ll find the College’s openmindedness runs to the bone, written right into its policies and procedures. Its official Statement of Respect and Diversity,
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adopted in 1998 and revisited regularly, was recently updated to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression as well as sex and sexual orientation. The College provides benefits to same and opposite sex domestic partners of faculty and staff, and the chapel is home to both weddings and same-sex civil unions. The College should of course be proud of all this, but it doesn’t mean no work remains. “The LG came first,” Boucher says. “The BT is the next step.” Transgender inclusion issues are being discussed on the campus, and the College remains vigilant about all LGBT issues. “Each year, there are 400 to 500 new people on campus,” Wethers says. “We can never give up on delivering that message.” Our job in life, concludes Boucher, is to come out to who we are. “Most gay students aren’t out at home, in high school, in their home towns. Most are out here for the first time. They see, feel, hear, notice that it’s okay and supported to be out. Nazareth is the first place they could be fully themselves.” Check out the Statement of Respect and Diversity at go.naz. edu/respect. Read more about the Lambda Association at go.naz.edu/ lambda. Visit the Center for Spirituality at www.naz.edu/cfs. Robyn Rime is the editor of Connections.
CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 23
Nazareth | in the world
Walking the Past, Shaping the Future
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by Robin L. Flanigan
ary Cannito-Coville ’08 traveled to Germany and Poland in 2006 to participate in The March: Bearing Witness to Hope—an emotional journey that gave her an up-close look at the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred and intolerance. Two years later, during a Fulbright Scholarship year in Medellín, Colombia, she watched as previously violent neighborhoods were transformed into peaceful places in which residents began walking around and joining in revitalization projects without fear. Though inspired by the air of promise in Colombia, Cannito-Coville continued to be haunted by her experiences overseas years earlier. Specifically, she wrestled with whether more lives could have been saved if more people had stood up and protested. As a result, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in Spanish languages, literatures, and cultures at Syracuse University; she plans to pursue a doctorate in community Just two of the hundreds of barracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. education as a way to help resolve tension, conflict, and violence in urban communities. at the Wannsee Conference Center in Germany for the annihila“Everything that I do has The March in the back of my mind tion of millions. They march on the train tracks that connect as a central focus,” she Auschwitz with Birkenau. They visit the barracks, gas chambers, says. “We can’t go back and crematoriums, and they talk with survivors. and change the past, but And still, they return home with hope, a desire to share what the question is, what can they have seen, and the determination to change—in ways large we do in the future to preand small—the world. vent the same things from “Their idealism is so rooted and strong that even in the face happening?” of all that they experience, they come out saying, ‘I can make a The March changes difference,’” says Susan E. Nowak, Ph.D., professor and chairthose who have shared person in religious studies. “When you think about Nazareth’s the experience of “walking mission in its deepest sense, this program embodies it in a very through hell in commupowerful way.” nity,” as Lynne Staropoli Underwritten by donors, The March began in 2000 as The Boucher, director of March of Remembrance and Hope, evolving out of an internaNazareth’s Center for Spirtional partnership among 30 countries. In 2008, after that colituality and a three-time laboration dissolved for financial reasons, Nazareth and Hobart group leader, describes it. and William Smith Colleges joined forces with a Canadian In addition to learning contingent to keep the program going, then decided in 2010 about the thriving life of Jessie Funk-Garvin ’08 (left) and Maud to create their own, more personalized trip together. Nazareth Dahme, a Holocaust survivor who traveled on Jews in Poland prior to and HWS are the only U.S. schools from the initial group still The March through Germany and Poland in World War II, March parparticipating. ticipants see written plans 2008.
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On his blog last November, Nazareth College President Daan Braveman, who participated in the 2006 March with his son and the 2010 March with his wife, wrote about there being more than just perpetrators and victims in times of atrocities: “There are also bystanders, those who ignore the evil and choose to remain indifferent and silent. Genocides could not occur if bystanders spoke out and took action against the massacres. In short, there are no ‘innocent bystanders.’” That realization has provided many of the participants with a framework for the future. “In a metaphorical way, they’re branded when a survivor says to them, ‘You are now a witness. I’m depending on you,’” notes Nowak, an organizer of the original, international program. For Kathleen White ’10, ’12G, a first-year graduate student in art education at Nazareth, becoming an art teacher—and helping students learn to think for themselves—is the way she feels called to share the lessons she learned on her trip in 2010. “Whether it’s a sculpture or a painting, they have something right in front of them to take apart and figure out what works, what doesn’t, what needs to be changed,” she says. “Then they can look with that same critical mind at the world around them and their own actions. That’s our duty—to question the systems we belong to and make sure things are working for ourselves and our fellow man.” Describing herself as “deeply impacted and radically changed” by what she had seen on The March during her first trip in 2006, Jessie Funk-Garvin ’08 felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to honor in her life and career what she had witnessed. She concentrated her undergraduate work on Holocaust studies and returned to The March in 2008 as a senior intern and group leader. “I felt as though we had made a pilgrimage and it was not over yet. There was still more to be done,” she says, adding that the second trip allowed her to lend support to others on their own affecting journey while gaining leadership skills. Now in her final year of graduate school studying interreligious dialogue at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, FunkGarvin continues that work today. The program focuses on using dialogue to build bridges and promote education, awareness, and respect among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her plan is to earn a Ph.D. in interreligious dialogue, then someday teach at the college level in both Holocaust studies and interfaith studies. Along the way, she has learned firsthand that taking a stand— no matter when it happens—can make a difference. www.naz.edu
Two years ago, she was taking a train to class when a woman began taunting with virulent names a nearby couple in tattered, smelly clothes. A group of teenagers watched and laughed. Funk-Garvin knew she should say something but was too timid to interrupt. Why didn’t I speak up? she asked herself as the expletivecharged woman got off the train. Then she thought about The March. Approaching the pair, she apologized for what had happened and for not coming to their defense. The woman thanked her sincerely for speaking up now. “I will always regret not standing up sooner,” says Funk-Garvin, “but the larger and enduring lesson for me was that I must always stand up and speak up for what is right, even when it is hard to do.” Find out more about The March at http://morah.naz.edu/ Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York. Photographs courtesy Jessie Funke-Garvin ’08.
Nazareth students outside Majdanek Mausoleum. Located at the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland, it holds the ashes of millions of people who were killed there.
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LIFE | of the mind
Writing for Mr. Right by Kimberly McGann, Ph.D.
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s a sociologist, I’m interested in understanding the connections between individual experiences and larger social influences. The incredible proliferation of technology, particularly the internet, over the past 10 years is a new social influence that is fundamentally changing the landscape of everyday life. My recent research into online dating is one window into this new world. While there is a great deal of variation in the themes and target audiences for online dating (there are websites for pet lovers, religious affiliations, athletes, even political orientations), most share similar interfaces and methods. Users create an online profile of themselves that generally contains photographs, a narrative they have written, and answers to basic demographic questions (gender, age, education, location, etc.). Users can browse other profiles, search for other users based on various characteristics, or rely on matches suggested by the website. Many popular sites charge a monthly fee to be able to contact other members (Match.com, eHarmony.com), but some of the largest sites (PlentyofFish.com, OKcupid.com) are completely free.
Feeling rules By studying profiles on online dating websites, I am really studying an early stage in the process of falling in love. When I tell people that I study romantic love, I am often asked how love can be sociological. Some of my earlier research looked at how the experience of being in love is guided by feeling rules—social norms that tell us what feeling is or isn’t appropriate to a given social setting. We usually think of love as a highly personal, unique experience. The expression “falling in love” implies that we do not choose to be in love but rather accidentally trip and tumble into it, and many people describe their desire to find that unique “one in a million” person. Yet these feelings of love are not as personal or free from social influence as we commonly think. As the American sociologist Howard Becker points out, “cultural understandings affect and ‘socialize’ the internal experiences that people have,” and romantic love is no exception to that. Just as the experience of being in love is socially influenced, so too is the process of finding someone with whom to be in love. For example, the switch from calling (where men met potential partners in the woman’s home) to dating (where interested parties went out in public without adult supervision) was caused by a technological change in society: the introduction and widespread promulgation of the automobile.
The advent of the internet
Match.com and DogLoversPersonals.com are examples of two online dating websites.
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Another technological change, the internet, is having a similar influence in changing how people find potential dating partners. Increasingly the question “Where did you meet?” has a new answer: online. According to the Pew American Life Project, 31% of American adults—or 63 million people—say they know someone who has used a dating website; 26% of American adults—53 million people—say they know someone who has gone on a date with a person they met through a dating site. And 15% of American adults—30 million people—say they know someone who has been in a long-term relationship or married someone he or she met online. Like so many other aspects of our daily lives, the ways we meet people and fall in love are being reshaped by the internet.
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My current research is an analysis of Match.com dating profiles gathered over the past three years during a class project in my Marriages and Families class. Match.com is one of the largest online dating sites in the country with about 20 million users. The profiles represent a geographically diverse set of singles between the ages of 25 and 35.
If I’m one in a million, there are 310 of me in the United States The vast majority of Match.com users in my study indicated in some way that they were looking for someone “special.” The desire to find someone special is unsurprising given romantic norms that promote uniqueness and monogamy as central features of true love. What is surprising is how little variation (or uniqueness) there was among users. Rather than searching a “community of diverse singles anywhere, whenever you want, however you want,” the findings suggest that online services like Match.com have the effect of making the pool of potential partners much more similar to each other than they are different. This is a surprising effect given that these online dating sites are designed and pitched as an efficient, predictable, rational way to find a unique, special romantic partner. Instead, they tend to create vast seas of similar profiles in ways that are unlikely to ever occur in the irrational, messy, unpredictable, “offline” dating world.
Shaping your identity Another striking result is the prevalence of what I term “duality” in individual profiles. This is a kind of identity where individuals describe themselves with a seemingly opposite set of characteristics. Common pairings were people being laid back but outgoing, enjoying staying in but going out, having a sense of humor but being serious, and liking to travel but also stay home. In addition to these dualities, there was a tendency for users to explicitly indicate that they were normal. For men, the phrase “I’m just an average guy” appeared frequently both in profiles and in their dating headlines (the “title” sentence that appears next to their picture in search results). Clearly, something about navigating online space shapes how people present their identities. (It would hardly be commonplace for two people to meet in person and for one to begin the conversation by saying “I’m just an average guy/girl” and listing a series of contradictory preferences.) Indeed, many users stated in their profiles that expressing themselves in writing on the dating website was difficult and awkward. These difficulties are likely due to the newness of online dating as a social space. Unlike offline, there aren’t clearly established social norms of interaction or presentation of self. It’s www.naz.edu
Dr. Kim McGann and sociology major Dave Sanchez ’11 present the results of the online dating study at the Eastern Sociological Society Meeting in Boston, MA, last spring.
difficult to follow offline norms about modesty if you are posting a profile that is supposed to make you stand out in the romance equivalent of a line-up. The fact that men were much more apt than women to express difficulty/awkwardness in the process is likely a reflection of offline gender roles, where women learn and are expected to be more competent and expressive in matters relating to love.
Where do we go from here? My research captures only a small slice of the new unfolding social landscape that occurs online. As more social scientists turn their attention to online spaces, we will get more “answers” to how this new social space works while at the same time encountering more questions. Studying online dating isn’t important just because it tells us something about online dating; it’s a way to explore what characterizes contemporary social life in the “internet age.” How do norms about dating and gender that exist offline carry over (or not carry over) into online spaces? Does it make sense to think of offline as “reality” and online as somehow exempt, or are both equally real in their consequences? How do people use online spaces to construct and maintain their personal identity in ways that are different than offline strategies? These are just some of the questions that await the current cohort of future sociologists at Nazareth. For more information about Nazareth’s sociology program, visit www.naz.edu/sociology. Kimberly McGann, Ph.D, is an assistant professor of sociology at Nazareth. CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 27
COVER|story
Encouraging
Excellence How Nazareth’s Endowment Helps Students and Faculty Realize Their Fullest Potential
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by Alan Gelb | Photographs by James Schnepf and Alex Shukoff
magine being on a shoestring budget and along comes a textbook that you have to buy for $85…used. You had planned to put that money toward snow tires or the phone bill and now you have some juggling to do. The problem is that it’s getting harder and harder to keep those balls in the air.
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continued on page 30
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COVER||story
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very year, many of Nazareth College’s students—half of whom come from families with an annual income of less than $75,000—find themselves in difficult financial straits. The high price of textbooks may seem like a relatively small problem, but, in fact, those price tags have been rising at double the rate of inflation for the past two decades, according to a Government Accountability Office study. In addition to the price of tuition, such prohibitive collateral costs are nothing less than salt in the wound.
Even in a healthy economic climate, colleges and universities can have a hard time making the numbers work. In the worst economic onslaught since the Great Depression, the challenges grow ever more pressing. Students struggle to make ends meet. Cutbacks hamper the valuable work of faculty members. Facilities require updating. That’s when the endowment comes to the rescue. Endowment is essential to a smart business approach for the College. The recession has taught all of higher education the danger of too much dependence on one funding stream. Nazareth receives 95% of its budget from tuition; growing the endowment is a crucial way to add diversity. Nazareth’s total endowment is about $50 million, or about $20,000 per student. Most years, it provides nearly $3 million in support. The unrestricted portion—almost two-thirds of the endowment—allows Nazareth to meet priority needs in technology and other essential areas while maintaining the flexibility necessary to thrive in a changing environment. Everyone who is a part of this community benefits from the endowment, and yet the workings of the endowment remain a mystery to many people. An endowment is a gift of money given to the College as an investment that earns annual interest. In this respect, it is akin to the money you put into your savings account or certificate of deposit— money that works for you. Nazareth’s endowment is money that works for the College. Pie charts and graphs are the vehicles usually used to make the endowment understandable. Of course, there is a time and a place for such visual aids (see page 32), but, just as much, there is a time and place to tell real stories of real people who have benefited from the endowment in very real ways. We invite you to meet several members of the Nazareth community who have been able to achieve their fullest potential courtesy of the endowment.
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Hilda Chácon, Ph.D. Expanding on Excellence
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ne of the endowment’s most important functions is to create endowed professorships, which allow faculty members to vigorously pursue scholarly research. As an added benefit, students often become engaged in such research. Endowed professorships are also critical in recruiting outstanding scholars to the College. Hilda Chácon is a Nazareth faculty member whose already-notable career has prospered as a result of an endowed professorship. An associate professor of modern foreign languages and the College’s Latin American specialist, Chácon holds the Rose Marie Beston Chair for International Studies (2010–2014), named for a former president of the College. The Beston Chair aims to encourage the development of scholarly publications that will further foster global viewpoints among Nazareth’s faculty and students. On many levels, Chácon embodies both scholarly vocation and a global viewpoint. In her first career, in her native Costa Rica, she worked as a journalist in radio, TV, and print. In 1999, she obtained her Ph.D. in contemporary and indigenous literatures and cultures of Latin America from The Ohio State University. She has served as a member of the Nazareth faculty for 12 years. Being a young professor can be extraordinarily demanding, with heavy teaching loads and administrative tasks to attend to, as well as the pressure to publish. Chácon has met these demands and has distinguished herself in all areas. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Emerson Language Laboratory, writing the grant that awarded Nazareth $300,000. These funds have allowed the College to create a facility that connects students with the global world through a more efficient acquisition of foreign languages. The Emerson lab also hosts the American Language Institute (ALI) each summer, bringing to campus groups of teachers from different parts of the world who wish to enhance their English language skills. As a teacher, Chácon has been dedicated in connecting her classroom to the real world. For instance, in her course on border culture, Culturas de Frontera (SPN 314), students interact with migrant workers
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COVER|story
who are in the area to harvest apples. The students help the workers develop basic English language skills, and in exchange the workers share their stories with the students. (See the course website with blog and video productions by students at http://web.me.com/hchacon6/ SPN314FA08/Welcome.html.) “We need to create experiences for our students that are meaningful and powerful, that they will recall and that will motivate them to extend scholarly growth and their growth as citizens of the world,” says Chácon. Such experiences have been extremely influential on Emma Ertinger ’09, who was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Merida, Venezuela, after studying with Chácon and is now working with AmeriCorps in Brooklyn. “Dr. Chácon fosters meaningful connections between theory and practice in her courses, urging her students toward a truly engaged learning process,” Ertinger notes. Chácon’s endowed professorship has lightened her teaching load, and this allows for more opportunity to pursue her scholarly research. Currently, this research is especially focused on testimonial narratives: interviews and recollections of experiences by marginal groups. Chácon is working on a testimonial narrative of a female anthropologist from Guatemala who has worked with Mayan women who survived the massacre in that country; she is also pursuing a book project on political cartoons relating to Mexico-U.S. relations and produced by artists in exile. “My research tremendously nurtures my teaching,” says Chácon. “I see no other way to guarantee my students excellence in teaching if we do not engage in research and scholarship.”
Nazareth Professor of Social Work Dr. Estella Norwood Evans, LMSW, ACSW, agrees. Norwood Evans holds the Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Endowed Chair and has used the opportunity to visit developing countries in South America and Africa, spending time with non-government organizations and studying and conducting research on indigenous religions. “Social work students—all Nazareth students, in fact—become servant-leaders by broadening their horizons to include study abroad, which broadens their experiences and creates empathy and appreciation for diverse cultures and communities,” she says. “For someone like me to have an opportunity to hold an endowed chair and to engage in study and research abroad contributes to excellence in my teaching and definitely trickles down to my students. Experience—whether it’s my travel or their travel—definitely makes a difference in teaching, learning, and the entire classroom experience.” The Schmitt Chair is not restricted to any single department but instead rotates college-wide; it is awarded to a faculty member on a two-year basis. Its endowment represents a long tradition of Nazareth support initiated by Kilian and Caroline Schmitt and carried forward by the foundation bearing their name. “The foundation was set up for the purpose of continuing to provide grants to organizations that Kilian Schmitt began supporting and to other organizations that benefit the greater community,” says Michael Walker, a Schmitt Foundation board member. “Nazareth was one of the early beneficiaries, and we are all pleased at how Nazareth has grown and what it has done.” That growth—and the research and scholarship it engenders— would not be possible without the Nazareth endowment.
Nazareth College Endowment Investment Performance by Year
Endowment Fund Allocation, June 30, 2010
20% 15% 10%
Unrestricted Scholarships Professorships Book Funds Casa Italiana Other
5% 0% -5% -10% -15%
62% 23% 8% 5% 1% 1%
-20% -25%
2001
2002
2003 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
“The endowment distribution from both restricted funds and unrestricted funds plays an important role in helping the College to achieve its educational objectives while striving to constrain the annual tuition and fees that we need to charge our 32 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
students,” explains Margaret Cass Ferber, vice president for finance and treasurer. “If these endowment fund spending amounts were not available, we would have to either reduce our programs or increase the costs to our students and families.” www.naz.edu
Kara Eaker ‘11 An Enriched Experience
C
ollege is designed to be a time for personal discovery, but such discovery requires a certain degree of psychic space. It can be extremely difficult to carve out that kind of space when one is anxious about meeting tuition and other school-related costs. Scholarships made possible by Nazareth’s endowment can ease that kind of anxiety for talented students who might not otherwise be able to pay for a private education. A healthy endowment allows Nazareth to develop an exemplary student body and thus maintain a “talent pipeline” of teachers, nurses, health and human service workers, and other professionals who will help Rochester and the surrounding region thrive in the years ahead. Kara Eaker, a social work major, is a shining example of a student who has benefited in key ways from the Nazareth endowment. A native of Scotia, N.Y., Eaker initially visited Nazareth at the invitation of the College’s soccer coach. “It was love at first sight,” she recalls. “I was so impressed with the beautiful campus and the community feeling.” Eaker entered Nazareth expecting to become a teacher. That plan changed during the course of a service-learning project. “I was working in an afterschool program with underprivileged children,” says Eaker. “My freshman seminar leader, Dr. Marie Watkins, observed me with the kids, evidently saw something in me, and suggested that I look into social work. It was the first I ever thought of it, but then I took classes and began to see that there were real
www.naz.edu
connections between the social work field and how I live my day-to-day life.” Eaker has always been a doer. At Nazareth, she has been a four-year member of the women’s soccer team while maintaining an A average. She has served as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has helped coordinate “The Battle of the Beaks,” an annual benefit basketball event between Nazareth and St. John Fisher College that netted some $40,000 for Golisano Children’s Hospital last year. In short,
Eaker has been a model student, but the challenges she has faced have been daunting at times. “One of my professors knew I was struggling financially with buying textbooks and stuff like that and suggested I apply for the Sheila A. Maguire Scholarship, which goes to social work students,” says Eaker. “I was lucky enough to receive it.” The scholarship is named in memory of Sheila Maguire ’82, a social work graduate who died tragically in 1995. Sheila’s parents, Tom and Mary Ellen Creedon Maguire ’53, established the scholarship the week after her death, finding an outlet for their grief in creating what was the first endowed scholarship for social work. Nazareth’s high academic standards, beautiful campus, and intimate size still speak strongly to the Maguires. “It’s a very familial place,” says Mary Ellen. “That’s what makes the difference.” The Maguire Scholarship has made an enormous difference for Eaker. “I’m able to buy my textbooks now without worrying and can apply myself to school and community service with even more focus,” she says. As a junior, Eaker interned at the Industrial Residential Facility at Rush-Henrietta, working with youth who had been in trouble with the law. This year, she will work with a similar population at St. Joseph’s Villa. Eaker has located a clear career path and plans to make a difference in the world. She has discovered herself at Nazareth, in large part because the endowment has given her the breathing space to do so.
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COVER|story
Did You Know? Here are some facts about the endowment that you may not know but certainly should:
•
Nazareth’s endowment is singularly well invested. In most years through 2009, Nazareth has beaten the average endowment return of nearly 700 schools. The recent performance of the endowment fund has been competitive, earning 12.1 percent as o f June 30, 2010.
•
The endowment fund is invested on a pooled basis (all the funds are grouped together). The portfolio is overseen by the investment committee of the board of trustees, assisted by an investment advisor.
•
Nazareth has four endowed professorships. A professorship can be endowed for $2 million.
•
The endowment is made up of restricted and unrestricted funds. Unrestricted funds allow Nazareth to meet its changing priorities with the utmost flexibility.
•
Twenty-three percent of the endowment funds are used for scholarship purposes. The minimum amount required to endow a scholarship is $25,000.
•
Endowed scholarships have grown at a dramatic rate during the last decade, rising more than 30% from 107 in 2001 to 142 in 2010.
Jigme Sherpa ’11 Ever Upward
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ack home in his native Nepal, Nazareth senior Jigme Sherpa deigns to go mountain climbing, but here in Rochester he has confronted many uphill struggles. His intrepid journey began when he resolved to study abroad. “My family didn’t want me to come to the United States,” says Sherpa, a major in accounting and economics whose home is Pengboche, a small town near the base of Mt. Everest. “They wanted me to stay and help run our family’s hotel and restaurant business.” According to Sherpa, there are only two real career options in Nepal: the hotel and restaurant field or becoming a climbing guide, or sherpa (“Sherpa” is a common surname in Nepal). Sherpa’s decision to study abroad was also related to the civil unrest in Nepal. “There is always fighting going on,” says Sherpa. “A great many of my friends had already moved away.” Sherpa began to research American colleges and universities. He knew he wanted to be somewhere near New York City—that great magnet for
people from all over the world— and he reasoned that Rochester was close enough. He communicated with several young women from Nepal who were already enrolled at Nazareth and soon came to the decision that this is where he wanted to be. Next, he had to figure out how to make things work financially. Sherpa’s father, Lama GeShe, is the head Buddhist monk in Pengboche and is the person most frequently asked to say special blessings for climbers who are setting out for Everest. One climber who had come to know Sherpa’s family well is Jim Williams of Jackson, Wyoming, an internationally noted Everest guide. Williams generously sponsored Sherpa in his first few years at Nazareth, but then along came one of those uphill struggles. The economic downturn put a hold on sponsorship funds, and Sherpa’s safety net was suddenly shredded. Immediately, the Nazareth community rallied around him, as faculty members, President Daan Braveman, and the board of trustees all joined forces to find a solution. In
For information about how to establish an endowment, please contact Director of Development Peggy Martin at 585-389-2401 or at mmartin0@naz.edu. 34 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
www.naz.edu
short order, the Nazareth endowment came to the rescue, with Sherpa receiving a number of scholarships, including the Linehan Scholarship. In 2006, Paul Linehan, a longtime friend of Nazareth College, established the scholarship that is named for him. Years ago, when Linehan was a freshman attending college out of state, his father died unexpectedly. A close friend of the family offered to take over tuition payments, but Linehan declined and returned home. Even so, that magnanimous gesture lingered in Linehan’s memory, and he set out to help students in similar states of need with emergency funds. Sherpa was the grateful beneficiary of this assistance. In fact, Nazareth cannot afford to lose students like Sherpa. In addition to being academically achieving, this enterprising young man does much to enrich the community. He has been a resident assistant in George Hall since junior year and is vice president of the Undergraduate Association. He also, of course, brings distinctive diversity to the student body, representing a nation located on the other side of the world. Perhaps most of all, Sherpa is indispensable because he is so inspiring. Lama GeShe, Sherpa’s father, thinks climbing is too risky, having seen so many friends and family hurt or killed on the punishing peaks. Nevertheless, the spirit that makes people climb is very much alive in Sherpa, and endowment funds help to support that spirit. To learn more about the Nazareth endowment and how you can help, visit www.forcollegeandcommunity.org. Alan Gelb is a freelance writer in East Chatham, New York.
www.naz.edu
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ALUMNI | profiles
Modern Day
Renaissance Man by Sofia Tokar
F
Alan Pascuzzi ‘91 often works with 15th-century methods and techniques.
lorence, Italy: The birthplace of Renaissance culture, home to Michelangelo’s David, the Uffizi Gallery, and vibrant piazzas and palazzi. The city is likewise home to Nazareth College alumnus and modern day Renaissance man Alan Pascuzzi ’91, who is living his dream of practicing art and teaching art history. “I enjoy being completely immersed in creating religious art and sculpture in the Renaissance tradition, which for me can only really be done in Florence,” says Pascuzzi. His studio is in the artisan part of the city. There he paints and sculpts for himself, for public and private commissions, and in preparation for class. The greatest compliment, he explains, is when a native Florentine stops and comments on his work. “We need beautiful things in life, and when I hear someone say ‘Bello!’
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about a painting or sculpture of mine—it’s validating.” Pascuzzi has established a reputation in Florence for his artwork and has been commissioned by the city to paint and sculpt original works for churches and public spaces. Recently his wife and infant son even modeled for his sculpture of the Madonna and Child for a tabernacle on Via del Leone in San Frediano. In addition, he teaches and lectures on art and art history for New York University in Florence as well as the British Institute of Florence. But it’s not just his family he involves in his art— his students are likewise plunged into the life of a Renaissance artist. One course he teaches is a hybrid art/ art history class based on historical methods and techniques. His students create their own vegetable- and mineral-based paints and study just as the Renaissance
www.naz.edu
apprentices did centuries ago. “We create frescoes, go to museums, draw with the same materials as Michelangelo did, and I draw right alongside them,” Pascuzzi says. “It keeps me honest with my students and I learn from them.” Pascuzzi does not subscribe to the romanticized notion of Bohemian artists. “True artists worked and often taught,” he explains. “Giotto, Beethoven, Mozart—they all had students because they all had to eat in order to survive, in order to create their art. It’s taken a long time and hasn’t been easy, but I’m lucky to be able to teach classes, work in my studio, and take commissions.”
“Everything I’m doing today is based on what I learned at Nazareth” And Pascuzzi’s lifelong love affair with—and journey to—Florence began at Nazareth College. “Everything I’m doing today is based on what I learned at Nazareth,” says Pascuzzi. “My advisor, Sr. Magdalen LaRowe, urged me to change my major from studio art to art history, and that opened up everything for me. I became indoctrinated in history while also creating art. I also studied Italian with Maria Rosaria Vitti-Alexander, and the Casa Italiana was an integral part of my experience at Nazareth.”
Pascuzzi used his wife and infant son as models for his sculpture of the Madonna and Child.
Financial aid from the College and scholarships from the Casa Italiana helped Pascuzzi pay for tuition and make the most of his undergraduate years. Indeed, explains Pascuzzi, “The summer before my senior year, I participated in a study-abroad program in Florence, which was thanks to a scholarship from the Casa Italiana. After that, I knew I had to get back to Florence.” Even though he lives an ocean away, Pascuzzi has taken what he learned at Nazareth and applied it to his life and career in Florence. “I often think back to professors such as Sr. Magdalen, Sr. Annunciata McCabe, Dr. Vitti-Alexander, Roger Adams, Ron Netsky, and Tim Thibodeau. They had this great balance between passionate scholarship and engaging teaching. And that’s how I now try to teach—by keeping in touch with both the art and the people.” Learn more about Nazareth’s art programs at www. naz.edu/art.
Pascuzzi lives and works in Florence, Italy.
www.naz.edu
Sofia Tokar is assistant editor in Nazareth’s marketing department.
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ALUMNI | profiles
Scene It by Amy Wong
rowing up, Duncan Crawford ’85 was always a comic book fan, but he never dreamed he’d be building robot corpses for a living. As a sculptor for set construction for television and film, he’s created everything from the robot graveyard in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to the mystical Light Cave on Lost. “I’m like a kid in a candy shop,” he says. “I’m a huge movie buff, so being a part of the films like Thor, Green Lantern, and Iron Man 2 is really special.” Stay tuned: Crawford’s working on a top-secret set for the J.J. Abrams movie, Super 8. “I can’t reveal much, but it’s a big, big background set,” he says.
How did Nazareth help you get to where you are today?
Duncan Crawford ’85 working on a character maquette, or a small scale model of a sculpture.
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In this business, the fundamentals are key. Nazareth taught me the basics: aesthetics, how your eye moves over a canvas, perspective. I took figure drawing, painting, print making, and illustration. And I took a wide range of classes, like jewelry making, sculpting, and metal-smithing, to figure out what I wanted to do. That trained me to pick up new things quickly, like working with foam. You can’t really prepare to work with foam until you’re in the entertainment industry.
www.naz.edu
Painting the Light Cave, the final set from the series finale of Lost.
How did you break into the business? Right after college, I did freelance sculpting and I met a guy who was carving wooden carousel horses. He ended up in Los Angeles and told me, “Hey, there’s work out here.” In 2000, I got married, moved to L.A., and got started working for the motion picture industry. The first movie I worked was Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage. There were a lot of extras involved in the battle scenes, and we didn’t want them running around with real weapons. So we made flexible knives and shovels and a flamethrower out of foam.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on? I made a full-scale Megatron robot for Transformers. He was 25 feet tall, from the belt buckle down. And that was just the bottom half! The top half was computer generated. And I created a scene of dead
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and rotten robots for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I used animal bones and sculpted clay robot parts around them.
What are some perks of the job? Getting paid to build sets for Lost in Hawaii is one! I didn’t get to keep any props from Lost, but I got invited to Evangeline Lilly’s wrap party with all the cast and crew. And when I worked on Green Lantern in New Orleans, I was there for Mardi Gras and all the Super Bowl excitement. Read more about Crawford’s experiences at go.naz.edu/life/sceneit Amy Wong is a writer for Zehno Cross Media Communications in New Orleans. Photos courtesy Duncan Crawford ’85.
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ALUMNI | news
Dear Alumni,
A
s an alumna with two daughters currently enrolled at Nazareth College, I was invited to attend the annual legacy luncheon during Family Weekend last fall. It was a special opportunity for me to share a meal together on campus with my girls. I was able to reflect on my experience as a student compared to what their experience is like now. If you thought Nazareth was wonderful 25 years ago, you should visit it today! Regrettably, I never engaged in college life to the fullest extent. Today, however, I couldn’t be more proud of the fact that both of my daughters are active and involved in campus life. They are experiencing a deeper and more meaningful sense of what the Nazareth College community has to offer. Their enthusiasm inspired me to get more involved as an alumna. As a result, I am now excited to be part of the Alumni Association as a member of the alumni board. I volunteer as one of the co-chairs on the student services committee, and I look forward to working more closely with current students to identify ways in which alumni and students can work together to strengthen the bond both share with Nazareth College.
Many of us know how important scholarships are for financing a college education, either for yourself or for your children. Scholarships provide that extra financial support that can end up saving students thousands of dollars in loans. Because of their excellent high school academic performances, my daughters could have chosen any one of a number of colleges and universities. Much to my delight and surprise, both decided to attend Nazareth. Scholarships played an important role in that decision, as did the emphasis that was placed on the value of their individuality within the Nazareth community at large. As I reflect back over the course of my life and those times when I felt most valued, memories from Nazareth truly are found in the mix. In those formative years, Nazareth provided me with the next steps in my journey of service to others. I encourage you to reflect on those memories as well, and then think: What am I doing to keep my connection to Nazareth alive? Sincerely,
Carleen Fish Pierce ’85 Co-Chair, Alumni Board, Student Services Committee
Alumni Board Standing Committees
I
f you are interested in serving on any of the alumni board standing committees, please contact the alumni office at 585-389-2472 or e-mail alumni@naz.edu. For more information on the alumni board, visit alumni.naz.edu. For contact information and biographies of each alumni board member, please visit alumni.naz.edu.
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Admissions Katie Baldwin ’09 John O’Gorman ’85, ’90G
Career Services Carrie Adamson Morabito ’97 Leigh Ann Schon ’93
Advancement Bryan Adams ’04, ’10G Rosemarie Scherer Burke ’58
GOLD Shannon Kline ’05 Bryan Sweet ’07
Alumni Awards Patty George Grabosky ’89 Kathy Amato Ross ’69
Graduate Kristin Coleman Bergholtz ’02, ’04G Daniel O’Connell ’01G
Athletics Rita Bartucca Kladstrup ’97 Eric Thomas ’03
Student Services Katie Kovar ’01 Carleen Fish Pierce ’85
Chapters Buffalo Terri Fiegl Flaherty ’93 NYC Linda Davison Mathues ’73 Kristen Pandick ’06 Rochester Liz Bremer ’06 Joanne Zawacki Sharpe ’81 Syracuse Nicole Zervas Adsitt ’97 Washington D.C. Rebecca Boyer ’98 Paul Morris ’95
www.naz.edu
Alumni Office Names New Assistant Director Nazareth’s Office of Alumni Relations is pleased to announce the addition of Donna Borgus as its new assistant director of alumni relations. She replaces Mimi Wright ’05, ’10G, who moved downstate last December. “I am extremely excited with the addition of Donna to the alumni team,” said Kerry Gotham ’98, director of alumni relations. “Her extensive experience, combined with her warm and inviting personality, will make her a great fit to the Nazareth family.” Borgus was most recently the associate director of annual giving at Heritage Christian Services in Rochester. Other previous positions include major gifts officer at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and manager of planned giving at the United Way of Greater Rochester. While at the United Way, she was also involved with Leadership Giving, Women United, and Young Leaders Club. In addition, Borgus brings 16 years of sales and marketing experience to Nazareth College. She received a bachelor of science degree from St. Lawrence University (1985), where she took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad in Vienna, Austria. “It is an honor to be involved in the current and future development of Nazareth College,” Borgus says. “The warmth and enthusiasm of the students, alumni, and staff drew me to join the Alumni Relations team. I look forward to every day, knowing that I will meet wonderful people who have been touched by Nazareth College in a meaningful way.” Borgus says she enjoys the challenge of keeping alumni engaged with their alma mater. “I want to make it easy and enjoyable for them to stay connected with Nazareth College,” she adds. “I look forward to hearing their personal stories and favorite memories, reuniting friends, providing networking prospects, and creating rewarding volunteer opportunities.” You can reach Donna Borgus at dborgus8@naz.edu and 585-389-2471.
Nazareth’s Alumni Board With a larger board and several standing committees in place, Nazareth alumni board members now have a wider reach than ever before. Join in the conversation and volunteer to become an alumni board member. Contact Director of Alumni Relations Kerry Gotham ’98 at kgotham7@naz.edu or call 585-389-2404. Alumni board members gather in Medaille Formal Lounge last November. Front row, L to R: Rosemarie Scherer Burke ’58, Terri Fiegl Flaherty ’93, Carleen Fish Pierce ’85, Vice President Lucas Hiley ’03, President Nancy Griffin Shadd ’64, John O’Gorman ’85, ’90G, Sandi Mrugala DeMott ’89, Patty George Grabosky ’89. Back row, L to R: Kathy Amato Ross ’69, Joanne Zawacki Sharpe ’81, ex-officio Susan Shubmehl ’74, Katie Kovar ’01, Shannon Kline ’05, Nicole Zervas Adsitt ’97, Bryan Sweet ’06, Katie Baldwin ’09, Leigh Ann Schon ’93, Carrie Adamson Morabito ’97, Kristin Coleman Bergholtz ’02, ’04G.
www.naz.edu
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ALUMNI | news
T
Connected for Life Contest Winners
he results are in! This year’s Connected for Life Alumni Contest grand prize winner is Maggie Mullin ’09, who is currently working as a Northern American language and cultural assistant in Valencia, Spain, for a program run by the Spanish Ministry of Education. Mullin wrote about how grateful she is to connect with fellow Nazareth alumni around the world. Last winter, while Mullin was working in Spain as an English teacher, she and Sandi Toth ’09, who was studying in Italy, traveled to Denmark, where Ryan McAdam ’09 was playing basketball. “It really is true that Nazareth not only prepares you for the working world, but also for anything that life may offer … like a trip to Denmark with two fellow Golden Flyers,” Mullin wrote. Maggie Mullin ’09, Sandi Toth ’09, and Ryan McAdam Other contest winners included: ’09 shared a chilly Nazareth reunion overseas in Odense, First Place: Jennifer Shanley Denmark. Lenox ’01 Second Place: Ellen Green Bushweller ’61 Third Place: Maria Liotino-DeStephano ’91 Share your stories of how your connection to Nazareth has helped you achieve your life goals by e-mailing alumni@naz.edu.
Webmail Are you one of the 3,000 alumni
Alumni All Over Legacy Luncheon Nazareth College alumni who are parents and grandparents of current Nazareth students joined their sons, daughters, and grandchildren for a special luncheon held during Family Weekend last fall. The event was hosted by the alumni office to honor the continued commitment of a Nazareth education.
Tapas & Topics In a continuation of the popular lecture series, Heather Ames Lewis, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, addressed more than 60 alumni and community members last fall on “Math Calculations + Math Mistakes
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= Big News.” During an enlightening— and frightening—evening, Lewis shared fascinating stories of commonplace math errors that led to significant historical consequences.
SOM Alumni Panel The School of Management (SOM) Lecture Series continued last fall with an alumni panel discussion focusing on career versatility in economics. Jennifer Jopson ’00, ’09G, Kelly Labby ’95, and Yana Green ’07 spoke to a crowded classroom full of students eager to glean job-hunting tips in this particularly challenging economy.
Fourth Annual Holiday Happy Hour for GOLD Alums GOLD alumni gathered at Mulconry’s in Rochester for an annual holiday celebration of good friends, food, and festivities. Megan Cregan ’13 with Mary Cooney Fay ’49, ’76G at the Legacy Luncheon during Family Weekend last fall.
www.naz.edu
Above: Linda Henehan Hanna ’83, Robert DeYager, and Jean Gramkee Hubsch ’68 enjoy each other’s company . Below: Sherman Levey is greeted by Trustee Zeke Duda and his wife Jane.
Council Oak Society Reception Each year at the Council Oak Society reception, Nazareth College honors leadership donors who have supported the College with annual gifts of $1,000 or greater. Held last September at the home of Lorraine and Daan Braveman, Nazareth’s president, the event allowed more than 100 guests the opportunity to mingle, dine on tasty tapas, and listen to the sounds of some of the College’s best crooners. For more information on giving options, visit go.naz.edu/give. Above: Call4BackUp, Nazareth’s female a cappella group, performs for Council Oak Society members.
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Alumna Bequest Funds Endowed Scholarships
azareth is honored that Margaret Smith Barnell ’32 recently left endowed scholarships to the College in the amount of $431,000. Born in 1911, Barnell graduated from Nazareth with a bachelor’s degree in math and social sciences, then furthered her education by receiving a master’s from Smith College in 1939. She was the chief psychiatric social worker and administrator for the Rochester Child Guidance Clinic. Her husband, Dr. John Barnell, was a surgeon at Rochester General Hospital. Dr. and Mrs. Barnell liked to travel and participated in study trips to Italy through Nazareth’s Casa Italiana in the early 1980s. She attended events at Nazareth on a regular basis, always wearing her signature white gloves. Barnell passed away in 2009 at the age of 98. “Dr. and Mrs. Barnell didn’t have any children, so there is no one to thank for this gift,” says Kelly Gagan, Nazareth’s vice president for institutional advancement, “but I think it is so important to celebrate the philanthropy of individuals who will touch the lives of our students for decades to come.”
Rollover Returns Are you looking
Learn more about endowing a scholarship at go.naz.edu/scholarships.
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ALUMNI | news
Into the Blue by Julie Long Lauren McLaughlin ’10 recently completed an amazing cross-continent journey as the production assistant of Alexandra Cousteau (granddaughter of legendary marine explorer Jacques Cousteau). McLaughlin was a member of Cousteau’s “Expedition Blue Planet,” a trip sponsored in part by National Geographic. She and the team voyaged 14,500 miles across North America, spending more than six months bringing attention to critical water issues. The expedition crew produced a series of short online films during the trip that will become a comprehensive film for broadcast in 2011. To read an interview with McLaughlin and view more extraordinary photos, visit www.naz.edu/features/into-the-blue Julie Long is the assistant director for media relations in Nazareth’s marketing department.
1 1. Lauren McLaughlin ’10 (© Oscar Durand) 2. The expedition crew and Alexandra Cousteau film and view the scenery in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The park includes the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the Colorado River, where their first film of Expedition Blue Planet 2010, “The Headwaters: Shaped By Demand,” was filmed. (© Blue Legacy/Lauren McLaughlin) 3. A street in New Orleans, Louisiana. (© Blue Legacy/Lauren McLaughlin) 4. Taken at the Imperial Dam on the lower Colorado River. There are several dams along the river coupled with a large network of canals to distribute water into various areas of desert, such as the Imperial Valley in southeast California, for agriculture irrigation. (© Blue Legacy/Lauren McLaughlin) 5. Yuma County is the leading producer of watermelons in Arizona. Arizona is the fifth largest producer of the crop, behind Florida, California, Texas, and Georgia. Dozens of watermelon stands can be found lining the roads in Yuma. An abundance of fertile land in valley regions, combined with a warm, dry climate, allows for one the best watermelon-growing industries in the country. (© Blue Legacy/Lauren McLaughlin)
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2 www.naz.edu
3
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5 www.naz.edu
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ALUMNI | news
“this
is the
time of life t o c re a t e
l e gac i e s
“ .
s a Nazareth student in the 1960s, Elizabeth Osta ’67 and her classmates “had some of the best and brightest instructors acting as role models. Watching these courageous men and women shaped my view of the world.” In her years since graduation, Osta has recognized Nazareth graduates by their strong ethic of community service, and she has loved seeing the growing diversity on campus. “Over and over, I find reasons to love Nazareth,” Osta explains. “Over and over, this place just keeps giving to me. Now we’ve got to a place where we have some discretionary income, it makes sense that some should go to Nazareth to support its values-based education.”
To donate to the Annual Fund, make your gift online at www.naz.edu/makeagift. Please contact the Development Office at 585-389-2415 with any questions.
4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618 www.naz.edu
46 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
www.naz.edu
Ready for Reunion Weekend? June 3–5, 2011
R
eunion Weekend is only a few weeks away! Have you made your travel arrangements yet? What are you waiting for? Reunion Weekend provides a great opportunity to rediscover what made Nazareth home for you and to renew your lifelong connection to this special place. All members of the classes of 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006 are invited back to campus for a giant-sized celebration of friendships, fond memories, and fun. Classmates and friends from other classes are also welcome to join in the festivities…the more the merrier!
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The slate of activities planned for the weekend includes: • School of Management Golf Tournament • 50th anniversary luncheon for the Golden Ladies of 1961 • Local artists and student art show Shared Spaces • Friday night class parties to reconnect and reminisce • Arts Center a capella show “Ball in the House” • Alumni Institutes to get you back in the classroom • Sprint for Scholarships 5K Run/Walk • 51+ Club gathering • Reunion picnic (family friendly) • Elegant all-class dinner and alumni awards presentation • “Savor the Flavor” wine tasting • President Daan Braveman’s update on the College • Campus tours • Alumni memorial mass • And more…. Did you know? You can stay overnight right on campus in our suites. Online registration will open on April 15 at alumni.naz.edu/ reunion, or you can mail in the registration form found in the back of your reunion brochure. If you have any questions regarding the weekend, please contact the alumni office at 585-389-2472 or e-mail alumni@naz.edu.
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1. The Art Gallery in the Arts Center was a perfect early evening reception spot. 2. Alumni board president Nancy Griffin Shadd ’64 with Lucia Vetter Unger ’35, the oldest alumna to attend last year’s Reunion. 3. Members of the Class of 2005 during last year’s Reunion. 4. Therese DiPasquale Soule ’55 got into the fiesta spirit! 5. Kay Kurz ’58 in the greenhouse during an Alumni Institute session on horticultural therapy. 6. Elaine T. Desilva-Elich ’80, ’84G, Carol Hutchinson McNelly ’80, Elizabeth Bonacci Bond ’80, Nancy O’Rourke Baker ’80, Sheila Antil Arrajj ’80, and Nancy Coonan Licata ’80 struck a pose in the Shults Center. www.naz.edu
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class|notes
CLASS|notes ’50s Mary Hibbard Brennan ’56, Nsg., retired her nursing license and pin in 2009 after 53 years. She says her Nazareth education and Sr. Margaret Mary Townsend prepared her for a long and rewarding career. Janet Langevin Schwan ’56, Art, is a freelance writer and had essays published in the May and September issues of the Genesee Valley and Rochester area Parent magazine. Stephanie Sullivan Brown ’59, Spc., was the recipient of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest award to one of its citizens. Mary Doran Deane ’59, Nsg., is playing alto sax and tenor sax in the New Horizons Band through the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.
Patricia Gay Mueller ’59, Nsg., is enjoying retirement and volunteers at Hope House, Women’s Club of Rochester, and Parish Council.
’60s Mary Pfeffer ’63, Eng., recently launched a new career at a parish church after careers in the museum field and libraries. Sr. Kathleen Bayer ’64, Edu., celebrated her 60th Jubilee as a Sister of Mercy in 2010. Jo Anne Zanio Gaudioso ’64, French, is traveling and working part-time as a site manager in an after-school enrichment program in the Williamsville schools. She is also serving as a docent at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in her retirement.
Carol Remacle Leary ’65, Music, travels extensively with her husband as he speaks on his 60 books on “Preparing for the Great Tribulation” and “Era of Peace.” Marcia Grucza Beck ’66, Hist., retired from her position at Davidson College in July 2006. Donna Arganbright Black ’66, Art, produced and exhibited pottery in the Bay Area. Dolores Hintz Tracy ’66, Eng., is still enjoying her classes in the middle school special education department in the Starpoint Central School District in Lockport. Katherine T. Smith ’67, Hist., was named Henrietta Woman of the Year in 2009 and is the president for the League of Women Voters in the Rochester Metro Area.
Last June, several out-of-state visitors prompted this luncheon in Lima, N.Y. Front row, L to R: Midge Sheehan Merritt ’58, Rosemary Dessel Taub ’58, Mary Ann Finnegan Roesch ’58, Jeanne Bryant Leonardi ’58, Arline Teschner Baughman ’58. Back row, L to R: Joan Korn Starkweather ’58, Anne Reed Suter ’58, Dorothy Krenzer Wing ’58, Judy Lang Atwood ’58.
48 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
Kathleen Scheg ’69, Soc., served 25 years as a public interest lawyer and is now a pastoral counselor helping individuals, couples, and groups in Maryland and Virginia to heal and create more loving and fulfilling lives. Her specialty is facilitating the growth and transformation of the whole person by combining pastoral counseling and Core Energetics Evolutionary Process, a spiritually based body-psychotherapy.
’70s Catherine Aiken Labombard ’70, Chem., volunteers for the L. Geo Association on water quality committee and DEC. She is involved in New York state horseracing with her husband. Kathleen Madigan ’70, Soc., is a newly retired minister and has been playing the flute with the New Horizons Concert Band, taking art classes at the Memorial Art Gallery, and continuing the work of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley. Carol Pender Sinwell ’70, Art, is teaching in the master’s of education program at the University of Virginia and contributing to academic publications authored by Dr. E. Evans. Judith Donohue Ebbinghaus ’73, Soc., is the director for the nonprofit organization YRC, Inc.—Your Rally Committee, a camp for teens who suffer from incontinence diseases.
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Linda Davison Mathues ’73, Art, published several of her oil paintings in the new book Painting Impressionist Color, Any Style, Any Medium from lulu.com press. The author, Lois Griffel, a nationally renowned artist and instructor, selected her landscapes of The Planting Fields, Oyster Bay, Long Island and Paul Cezanne’s Mont St. Victoire in Aix, France to illustrate the use of color. Nancy Klaneski Cabanas ’75, Eng., worked for the Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs for more than 25 years and retired as human resources manager at VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven, Conn. in April 2001. Mary Kathleen Hogan Collier ’75, Eng., is volunteering as a guidance counselor for grades 6-12 at Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate in Auburn. Mary L. Gilman ’75, Art, won three gold swimming medals (200 yard individual medley, 200 yard breast stroke, and 50 yard butterfly) and three silver medals (500 yard freestyle, 100 yard individual medley, and 100 yard freestyle) at the senior games at SUNY Cortland in June. Genevieve Krokys ’75, German, has been working at the IRS for 25 years. Jean Infante Cilione ’76, Music, retired in July 2009 after 32 years of teaching vocal music to grades K-12. Perri Berg Hogan ’76, Art, is an MLA documentation and research specialist and was named to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2004, 2005, and 2007. Gracelyn Raymondo Tuoti ’77, Eng., retired from HSBC and started a jewelry design business with custom work. It can be found at www.encoregems.com.
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Josie Bus Levine ’78, Mgt. Sci., recently obtained enrolled agent status with the IRS. Pamela Rider ’78, Hist., is a part-time investigator of IDEA complaints for the Georgia State Department of Education. Marilyn Goodyear Pettinger ’79, Mgt. Sci., was promoted to a position where she will be managing federal and state grant reimbursements. Michelle Chava Redonnet ’79, Art, was ordained as a priest in May 2010 by the Roman Catholic Women priests in Rochester at Spiritus Christi Church.
’80s Lisa Coe Davies ’81, Soc. Wk., received her M.S.A. from Roberts Wesleyan College with a concentration in mental health in May 2010. Brigitte M. Failner ’81, Nsg., is president of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses (NAON) for 2010–11. Theresa Mulee ’81, Rel. Stu., had a one-woman photography show at St. John’s Home in April 2010 and was selected for her first juried show in September 2010. She spent last summer as the photographer at the Walworth-Seely Public Library documenting summer reading. Rebecca Fenity Kranhold ’82, Soc. Wk., received her master’s degree in special education from the University of Missouri Kansas City in December 2008. Susan Collins Roberts ’82, Hist., retired as the Town of Perinton clerk after 12 years. Margaret Reynolds Rush ’82, Amer. Stu., earned her M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2009.
Nancy Mortensen Mascia ’83, Spc., received the Distinguished Clinical Achievement Award from the Speech and Hearing Association of Alabama in March 2010. Robert Herman ’84, Eng. Writing, was the first quadriplegic in the Washington D.C. area to be a competitive rower through the Capitol Adaptive Rowing program. Cheri Conley Jones ’85, Psy., volunteers for both MNA and NAMI. Teresa M. Levy ’88, Comp. Info. Systems, earned her black belt in Isshin-Ryo karate in May 2010. Susan Fear Serrao ’88, Nsg., completed a master’s degree and PNP from Syracuse University in 2004. Daniel Strong ’88, Art, has been at Grinnell College for 11 years curating exhibitions and working on budgets, as well as traveling and fixing up a house in his spare time. Thomas Nicholson ’89, Bus. Adm., retired in August 2010 at the rank of lieutenant after 20 years of service with the Oswego Police Department.
’90s Sandra LaFarnara ’91, Psy., graduated from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2006. She earned a master of science in health sciences for clinical research administration and clinical leadership, graduated magna cum laude, and was inducted into the National Alpha Eta Honor Society for contributions to health care.
Matthew Orioli ’91, Bus. Adm., was promoted to district general manager for Stanley Security Solutions, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio. Nancy R. Nelson ’92, ’98G, Eng. Writing, holds positions as an adjunct faculty for Nazareth/ Brockport GRC master of social work program and as a program surveyor who commissions on the accreditation for rehabilitation facilities. Catherine Nortz St. Croix ’92, Psy., became a nationally board certified teacher for students with exceptional needs in 2008. Laura Murphy ’94, Mus. Ther., earned a certificate as a HPMT (Hospice Palliative Music Therapist) after taking 130 CMTEs at the Music Therapy End-of-Life Center in Chicago, Ill. Patricia Powers ’94, Art, received her master’s degree in library science from SUNY Buffalo in May 2010. Christopher E. Murtha ’95, Bus. Adm., is completing his second term on the Connecticut Financial Planning Association (FPA) Board of Directors. Michael Paquette ’95, Eng. Lit., served in the U.S. Navy for four years, separating in late 2000 as a lieutenant. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Paquette joined the Army National Guard and served in the infantry as a rifle platoon leader and battalion staff officer; he was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003–04. He separated in 2005 after an injury and now works with the Department of Homeland Security in Boston, Mass. as an analyst. Dr. Thomas V. Caprio ’96, Biochem., completed a master’s degree in public health at the University of Rochester in 2010.
CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 49
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Candice Clarke Brown ’01 organized an annual camping trip to the Susquehanna Trails Campground in Oneonta, N.Y. last summer. Left to right: Nicole Aymerich Vandermeid ’00, Nicole Pachla Ross ’01, Mary Czopp Cornwell, Tricia Beach Shaffer ’02, ’06G, Candice Clarke Brown ’01, Lisa VanDame Enfonde ’04G.
A few members of the class of 2006 met up in Syracuse last fall to go to Abbott’s Apple Farm in Baldwinsville, N.Y. Left to right: Kevin Laley, Julie Gardner, Lindsey Taube Perkins, and Liz Bremer.
Elizabeth Heard Driscoll ’96, Soc. Wk., is in private practice treating individuals and couples in Rochester. Craig Rowe ’96, Eng., started his own commercial copywriting and marketing consulting company in early 2009. In September 2009, he completed an outdoor educator course with the National Outdoor Leadership School to pursue seasonal employment as a backcountry travel guide.
50 CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011
Marianne Dykhouse-Lane ’97, Soc. Wk., is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Rochester in the human development and counseling program. Her area of interest is developmental disabilities. Deborah Ellerbe ’97, Soc. Wk., is enrolled in the doctorate program at Syracuse University’s social science department. Deborah Munoz Hurdis ’97, Mod. Foreign Lang., completed the Hamptons Full Marathon in 5 hours and 55 minutes and raised
more than $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in October 2010. She is currently enrolled at Pace University as a graduate student for her master’s degree in education, adolescent track in French. Margaret Haust-Arliss ’98, Soc. Wk., received certification through the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and is now a certified cognitive therapist specializing in anxiety disorders.
’00s Angela Libertella Calabrese ’03, Music Perform., is an applied instructor of voice at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She appeared most recently with Mercury Opera Rochester as Kate in Pirates of Penzance and at the Smith Opera House in Geneva as Angelina in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. Calabrese completed piano studies at and holds a bachelor of music degree in vocal
performance and pedagogy from Nazareth College. She also holds a master’s degree in vocal performance and literature from Northwestern University. Amy Beth Wellman Jones ’04, Rel. Stu., was accepted into the graduate division of religion at Drew University last fall and continues to work on her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible. Joy Messinger ’04, Soc. Wk., was accepted as a master of social work student in the community health and urban development concentration at the Jane Addams College of Social Work of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Kristine Pierce Potter ’04, Bio., received her Ph.D. in biological sciences from University at Buffalo in June 2010. Cecilia B. Dejoy ’05, Eng. Lit., graduated in 2005 at the age of 75. Leah Monachino ’05, Soc., earned a master’s degree in mental health counseling from St. John Fisher College in August 2010.
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Gavin Thomas ’06 and Shelly Moerschell ’11G wed in Saratoga Springs, NY, on September 18, 2010. From back to front: TJ Lynch ’03, Brian Huss, Ed Babcock ’07, Scott Cavanaugh ’07, Sarah Homer ’07, Sara Steenberg Bergan ’07, Jeremy Bergan ’07, John Mahoney ’01, Matt Piston ’03, Devin Gotham ’98, Patrick Keegan ’06, Laura Nemcek Harding ’05, Brian Harding ’02, Colin Boughter ’00, Sara Spillane ’10, Jessie Walton Thomas ’03, Eric Thomas ’03, Ben Wilson, Kacey Peek Wilson, Kerry Gotham ’98, Eve Hosford Gotham ’98, Mike Deichmiller ’06, Korryn Hornaday Deichmiller ’06, Jared Millbrandt ’06, Matt Elliott ’06, Eli Widrick ’08, ’10G, Steve Hogan ’03, Jenna Atchinson Hogan ’05, ’09G, Aleia Bucci ’06, Patrick Mullin ’07, Kat DiNicola ’10, Steph Cash ’10, Alex Gotsch ’08, Ben Kabat ’07, Leanna Santorio Kabat ’08, Jamie Regan Merna ’07, Marisa Matarazzo ’06, the bride, the groom.
Korryn Hornaday ’06 married Michael Deichmiller ’06 in Rochester, NY, on August 22, 2009. Left to right: Pamela Wesley ’81G, Ryan Deichmiller ’10G, Leanna Santorio Kabat ’08, Ben Kabat ’07, Kimberly Yancone Rohr ’07, Doug Rohr ’06, the groom, the bride, Jeremy Bergan ’07, Matthew Elliott ’06, Nicole Gilmour McCoy ’06, Shelly Moerschell Thomas ’11G, Mike Kelley ’05, Andrea Neulander Brescia ’07, Gavin Thomas ’06, Kristen Genello ’06, ’09G, Matthew Landon ’07, Michelle Webb Landon ’06, ’08G, Jared Millbrandt ’06, Randi Higgins ’06, Alex Gotsch ’08, Lea Daley ’07, Caty Halbig ’08.
Wedding of Leanna Santorio ’08 and Ben Kabat ’07 in Buffalo, NY, on October 1, 2010. Left to right: Caty Halbig ’08, Maura DeMaria ’08, Korryn Hornaday Deichmiller ’06, Shelly Moerschell Thomas ’11G, Gavin Thomas ’06, the groom, the bride, Deborah Graffius Kabat ’77G, Kellen Gambeski ’08, Mike Deichmiller ’06, Sara Spillane ’10, Eireann Byrne ’09, Bridget Downing, Matt Elliott ’06, Jeremy Bergan ’07, Sara Steenberg Bergan ’07, Jared Millbrandt ’06, Ed Babcock ’07, Brynn Lucas ’08, Shaun Tyszka ’07, Alex Gotsch ’08.
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Clayton M. Pittinaro ’05, Psy., is the varsity boys basketball coach at School of the Arts in the City of Rochester. Ashley Bigelow Dittmar ’06, Bio., is working on her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute at SUNY Buffalo. Nicole McCoy ’06, Psy., graduated from RIT in 2010 with master’s in school psychology and a certificate of advanced study. Christina Savatxath ’07, Art, is a food service assistant at Sisters of Mercy and has been enjoying serving meals to the sisters and other residents in their home. Erinn S. Durst ’08, Psy., is in the doctor of physical therapy class of 2011 at Upstate Medical University. Caroline Fiore ’08, Comm., is in her second year at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She completed her master of arts in educational leadership studies in December. Emily A. Marushak ’08, Math, received her master’s degree in inclusive math education from the University of Rochester in May 2010. Scott Paeplow ’08, Music Ed., works at Canisius College in the campus ministry department as director/cantor for their Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as many campus events and masses. He is also finishing graduate work at the University at Buffalo. Danielle Crino ’09, Eng. Lit. and Bio., began working as a marketing coordinator and sales support representative at AdviStor in August 2010. She also started a freelance design and photography company this year called Crino Creations. Laura A. Krebs ’09, Spn., has been in Spain teaching English to
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Mary Beth Hewitt ’80G opened a small business in Fabius called Serenity Hill Stained Glass. Francis Gacioch ’81G retired in July 2010 from Victor Central Schools after a 35-year career working as a 7-12 mathematics educator, K-6 math coach, and full-time mentor. Carol Gibson ’81G is a church music director where she directs an adult choir and serves as the afterschool director. Debra L. Stewart ’85G retired in June 2010 after 29 years teaching art for the Rochester City School District. She has also taught drawing, painting, and clay classes at the Memorial Art Gallery’s creative workshop for children and adults. Graduate Marian T. Straight ’88G obtained a math 7-12 certification Sheila Nast Abeling ’74G is in 2006. enjoying her retirement after Helen B. James ’99G is a 2011 teaching for more than 30 years. graduate of the Colgate Rochester She belongs to a variety of organiCrozer Divinity School. zations, including NYR Teachers, Dr. Elisabetta Sanino AAUW/FAB, and the LWV/RMA. D’Amanda ’05G recently graduatDr. Morton Stein ’76G is served from a doctoral program at ing as an adjunct professor at Middlebury College and is a Doctor Nazareth College and the of Modern Languages in Italian. University of Rochester and is a Jacob Atkinson ’07G is a regismember of the Board of Education tered art therapist and received his in Brighton Schools. ATR. Nancy Murray Ferington ’78G Heather L. Hatch ’09G teaches is a retired ESL teacher from math in the Alexander Central Greece Central School District. School District. Mary Jo Asquith TenEyck ’79G Roberta McGill ’09G obtained received an additional master’s in her social work license in June library science from the University 2010. of Buffalo in 2002. She retired Sarah Wetherby Campbell from teaching and school library ’10G teaches ESOL at Fyle media in 2007. Elementary in Rush-Henrietta. Kathleen J. Clute ’80G is Jill A. Rittinger ’10G received retired after 35 years of teaching her master’s in inclusive adolescent and is now in business with her education in May 2010. husband making maple syrup and Barbara E. Wilcox ’10G maple syrup products. received her master’s in inclusive Ivena C. Grantham ’80G has adolescent education and received been a teacher for 35.5 years in certifications in ELA and special the Rochester City School District. education grades 7-12 in 2010.
Spanish students for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 school years and is completing a master’s abroad. Daniel Resch ’09, Art, was accepted to a master’s program in fine arts in Philadelphia following a year as an elementary art teacher in Spencerport. Christopher Zimmerman ’09, Math, is attending graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago for a master’s in statistics. Elizabeth Gates ’10, Soc. Wk., is attending the Greater Rochester Collaborative MSW program as a full-time advanced standing student. Tina M. Snyder ’10, Soc. Wk., is enrolled full-time advanced standing at GRC MSW Program.
Weddings & Unions Vivian Ginorio ’99 to Roy Henley, Oct. 16, 2010. Heather Sims ’99, ’01G to Christopher R. Brown Jr., July 14, 2007. Angela Staugler to Daniel Moosbrugger ’01, July 17, 2010. Katharine Antonucci ’03 to Richard Austin II, Sept. 5, 2010. Emily S. Krenichyn ’03G to Marc Genovese, Aug. 28, 2010. Amber Spink ’03, ’08G to Brian Tolnar, Aug. 28, 2010. Tina Lim ’10G to Samuel C. Frechette ’06G, March 20, 2010. Ashley Bigelow ’06 to Justin Dittmar ’06, July 11, 2009. Abigail A. Burke ’06 to Paris Hall Jr. ’06, Oct. 4, 2008. Jolie Dahlstrom ’06 to Andrew Bourgeois, Oct. 2, 2010. Kristen Long to Jeremy D. Macaluso ’07G, Sept. 18, 2010. Samantha Beardsley ’08G to Mehit Dutta, Jan. 16, 2011; a traditional Indian wedding followed on Feb. 27, 2011. Sarah Wetherby ’10G to Alan Matthew Campbell, Aug. 1, 2010.
Correction We apologize for including Gail Connors Stevenson ‘72, ‘76G, in the Obituary section of the Winter 2010 issue of Connections. After a phone call from Gail to the alumni office, we are happy to report she is very much alive.
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welcome! Nazareth welcomes the following newborns into the ever-growing ranks of future alumni! (left) Hannah Grace Tyler, daughter of Julianna Davis Tyler ’02, ’03G and Dan Tyler ’02, ’04G, born May 25, 2010. (right) Gabriel Bishop, son of Laurel Vishnesky Bishop ’97, born April 15, 2009.
Births & Adoptions Cara-Leigh L. Battaglia ’88, a son by adoption, April 29, 2010. Eric Spatola ’88, a daughter, Emily Grace, Nov. 18, 2010. Suzanna Tofte Heacock ’89, a daughter, Abigail Zarina, Feb. 5, 2010. Danielle Rinaldi Roddy ’92, a son, Joseph Alexander, July 23, 2009. Angelina Bogart Collins ’94, a son, Beckett Bogart, March 13, 2010. Marcus B. Vivona ’95, a daughter, Margaret Anne, on March 1, 2010. Michele C. Houck ’96G, a daughter, Mariann Christine, June 17, 2009. Kristen Murray Marsh ’96, a daughter, Aria Therese, Jan. 28, 2010. Brent Pierce ’96, a daughter, Harper Olivia, June 9, 2010. Carol Burns Corriveau ’97, a daughter, Emily Madeline, June 24, 2010. Marlene Rae Giacobbi ’97, twins, Isabelle and Ryan, July 3, 2008.
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Kristin Merman Graham ’97, a daughter, Bailey Madison, March 6, 2010. Mary Jo Cardamone Burd ’98, a son, Thomas Craig, March 1, 2009. Heather Nowicki Burke ’98, a daughter, Lauren Alicia, Jan. 17, 2010. Ryan Kazmark ’98, a daughter, Julia Elizabeth, April 9, 2009. Andrea Zambito Neal ’98, a daughter, Kasey Lynn, July 31, 2009. Heather Sims Brown ’99, ’01G, a son, Dylan Patrick, April 18, 2009. Kristin Dunleavy Davis ’99, a son, Parker John, Aug. 9, 2010. Michelle Empric Del Regno ’99, a son, Lero Robert, Aug. 9, 2010. Julie Houseman Kile ’99 has two daughters, Katherine (age 2) and Jessica (age 2 months). Jennifer Basile Renahan ’99, twins, Jake and Emily, May 6, 2010. Naomi Pagano Colquitt ’00, ’06G, a daughter, Greta Isabelle, Feb. 22, 2010. Sarah Menard Janis ’00, a son, Caleb Alexander, Nov. 8, 2009.
Jessica Gilson Basta ’01, ’05G and Jake Basta ’98, a daughter, Giana Mary, Aug. 24, 2010. Jennifer McKinney Glover ’01, a son, Lucas Norman, April 13, 2010. Regina Hassel Lozinski ’01, a daughter, Samantha Grace, Sept. 5, 2009. Lacey Kianka English ’02, a son, Elijah Brendon, May 12, 2010. Tracy Weingarten-Meltzer ’02G, a daughter by adoption, Rose-Min. Katharine Antonucci Austin ’03, a daughter, Lilliana Antonucci, Feb. 4, 2010. Lauren Firlit Holland ’03, a daughter, Reese Marilyn, May 12, 2010. Dr. Kristine Pierce Potter ’04, a son, Jeremy David, Aug.11, 2010. Christine Card ’05G, a son, Nathan Robert Hofgren, April 21, 2010. Erin Kline Goodwin ’05, a daughter, Ava Rose, April 8, 2010. April Barber Seeley ’05, a daughter, Isabella April, Dec. 7, 2009. Peter S. Sozio ’05G, a son, Stone Alexander, Dec. 21, 2009.
Bethany Nickoloff Bajus ’06, a son, Jadon Mark, Aug. 26, 2010. Lauren Poleshuk Mykins ’06, twins, Feb. 2010. Jacob Atkinson ’07G, a son, Oliver J., June 24, 2010. Lauren Masci Peck ’07G, a son, Colin Parker, Feb. 5, 2009. Ashley Clingerman Renckert ’07, a daughter, Madylin Grace, Feb. 10, 2009. Courtney A. King ’08G, a son, Joshua Christopher Stevens, April 18, 2010. Stacey L. Vanooyen ’08, a daughter, Kelsey Lynne Dougherty. Christine Ferguson ’09G, a daughter, Alexis, June 11, 2010.
In Memoriam Dorothy Louis ’49, June 4, 2010. Marjorie Sullivan ’49, July 12, 2010. Marilyn Finley McArdle ’55, Sept. 1, 2010. Mary Joan Costigan Brien ’60, April 8, 2010. Jill McDermott ’08G, on July 23, 2010.
CONNECTIONS | SPRING 2011 53
THE | archive
Kick Up Your Heels
N
ever let it be said that Nazareth College students lack spirit! It’s uncertain whether this image, taken around 1950, shows a theater performance or a glee club concert, such as those in the article on page 37. But whatever the occasion, these young women demonstrated their fancy footwork with true Flyer finesse.
If you have additional information about this photograph, please let us know! Send comments to Connections, Marketing and Communications, Nazareth College, 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618, or e-mail rrime7@naz.edu.
“My years at Nazareth gave me a great foundation for my professional and personal life. I see Nazareth as a very positive influence in our local community as well as giving today’s students a very sound education. I am happy to have established a charitable gift annuity and to have included Nazareth in my will. I feel strongly that the College merits my continued support.”
— Florence Capo ’51
C haritable G ift A nnuities .
Providing a fixed
Income for Life How does it work?
What are the benefits?
A charitable gift annuity is a simple contract that provides a lifetime of fixed payments, to one or two income beneficiaries, in exchange for an irrevocable gift to Nazareth College. Age
Annuity Rate
Annual Annuity on a $10,000 Cash Gift
65
5.50%
$550
75
6.40%
$640
85
8.10%
$810
• A fixed income for life, a portion of which is tax-free
• An immediate charitable income tax deduction
• Membership in the Founders Society, Nazareth’s planned giving recognition society
• Knowledge that your gift will help provide a foundation for future generations of students at Nazareth College
For more information on this and other planned giving options, please contact Melissa Head, associate director of development, at 585-389-2179 or at mhead9@naz.edu.
4245 East Ave. Rochester, NY 14618-3790 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
Non-Profit Org. U.S.Postage PAID Rochester, NY Permit No. 1217
Foyer
Facelift
The Lorette Wilmot Library underwent significant alterations in recent months. The foyer study area (shown here) has become a more open and inviting spot in which groups can study and socialize. Large study carrels in the reference area came out in favor of tables that create collaborative work spaces. And the new Technology and Media Service desk consolidated campus-wide Information Technology Service desk operations and media equipment delivery requests, as well as offering expanded hours and direct tunnel access. “We repurposed what we had and made it more useful,” says Library Director Catherine Doyle. “The changes have all helped create a better learning area for the Nazareth community.”