NEWSLETTER - WINTER 2016
2015 Women of Impact Honorees Marilyn Orlando ’60 Dorsa Sister Simone Campbell
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165 Years of Notre Dame Catholic Education
Nicola Tan ’03 - From MIT to the Philippines and Home Again
Class Notes - Get Caught Up On Alumnae News
Student News Advocating for Human Rights
165 Years of Catholic Education by Brigitte Heiser, Director of Communications In the spring of 1851, Bishop Alemany asked Sister Loyola to join with newly arrived sisters from Belgium to open a school in San Jose, the capital of the new state of California. They started with two modest buildings and from there grew quickly, paralleling the rapid growth of the state. In addition to Notre Dame, the sisters established ten schools in the Diocese of San Jose including Most Holy Trinity, Sacred Heart, St. Lucy’s and St. Leo the Great. In 2016, Notre Dame celebrates 165 years of Catholic education and nearly 10,000 alumnae including many who have contributed significantly to making San Jose what it is today. Among those are both the Liccardo and Cortese families, the Blach family, the Normandin family and many others. “Notre Dame has been committed to educating women to make an impact for 165 years,” explains Principal Mary Beth Riley. “Grounded in knowledge, spirituality and justice, Notre Dame women bring their voice and influence to promote goodness in the world.” Today, alumnae serve in leadership positions in major corporations, work in international and local political arenas, conduct research and change lives around the world. Current students also work to affect change, last year serving 16,800 hours of community service with more than 260 local, national and global organizations. Our students go on to study at prestigious colleges and universities around the world including Stanford, MIT, Olin College of Engineering and Harvard. “As a Catholic and Notre Dame school, we are keenly aware of our responsibility to have a vibrant Catholic worldview that responds to the signs of the times,” shares Mary Beth. “We embrace the complex challenges of modern faith with intellect, prayer and action. As a 21st century Catholic school, Notre Dame strives to be a center for dialogue, discernment and diversity in the universal Catholic experience.” Sister Nancy O’Shea ’61, former Notre Dame board member and member of the Sisters of Notre Dame leadership team has seen many changes in both Catholic education and Notre Dame San Jose. “I am so proud of the direction of NDSJ at this point in our history! Strong and dedicated leaders provide a curriculum that is teaching young women to take their place in the world, while at the same time planning is underway to ensure a solid future for the school. We are blessed!”
Principal’s Message by Mary Beth Riley In September, I traveled to Notre Dame schools in the Boston area with my colleague, Eran De Silva, who teaches social studies and serves as director of professional development. We were invited to lead workshops for the schools’ teachers, administrators and board members. As we traveled from Hingham to Worcester and parts in between, Eran introduced me to the idea of ‘geography of place,’ a concept that she develops for her 9th grade students in their Global Studies class. As we visited the east coast ND sister schools with rolling lawns and spacious facilities, we dove into conversation around how a geographic context shapes the identity of individuals and communities. An example we pondered was how our west coast context around cultural or political thinking can contrast with that of the east coast and how, in changing geographical places, we often garner insight and understanding. In both an academic and poetic way, I am taken with this idea of geography of place and how an environment shapes its peoples and their relations with the space and place. What is the geography of Notre Dame San Jose? Our urban landscape informs us every day of cultural riches and challenges of equity; our student diversity brings us global traditions of language, food, and dance and also the challenge of identity and how we weave the fabric of belonging into our community; our history at 2nd and Reed reminds us of our obligation to a larger community and our contribution to civic good; our young women voyage out into the world of San Jose to do research at the MLK library, to serve at Sacred Heart Community Center, look at art with their class at the SoFA museums, all on their way to becoming women of impact. This place is a small school with a huge context. Recognizing our 165 years of Catholic education in the heart of downtown San Jose, the geography of this place has contributed to the success of Notre Dame San Jose over many years. What a blessing!
ON THE COVER...
Ora et labora,
Notre Dame’s seventh annual Women of Impact event honoring alumna Marilyn Orlando ’60 Dorsa, local artist, philanthropist and entrepreneur, and Sister Simone Campbell, nationally-renowned social leader, attorney and public policy advocate, was a huge success! We’re excited to share a few details of our 2015 event.
SOLD OUT
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weeks before event date
434
nearly
$120,000
165% of 2014 event revenue raised
raised to support programs that develop future women of impact
attendees
Be sure to check the spring issue of Notre Notes for the announcement of our 2016 honorees! View photos and event information at www.ndsj.org/WOI.
Notre Dame Celebrates Major Donors There really was magic in the holiday season. With food, wine and song, Notre Dame welcomed generous donors to a holiday party on campus to thank them for their leadership and support this past year. We are grateful for the impact that our benefactors have made on the lives of Notre Dame students and for helping make Notre Dame’s future ever brighter. This annual event is a joyful celebration that includes the presentation of Notre Dame’s most prestigious donor award, the L’Esprit de Françoise Award, awarded this year to Suzanne Donovan ’53 Cortese and her husband Dominic for their significant contributions of tuition assistance for students. The award is named in memory of Sister Julie Billiart’s friend Marie Louise Françoise Blin de Bourdon, who provided the resources to finance a shared dream of creating a community devoted to education. We are grateful for the support and loyalty of our community and supporters.
A Circle of Men: Impact Notre Dame A new initiative to provide a full scholarship for a Notre Dame student over her four years has been launched by four Notre Dame fathers — Pat Caldwell (Kelsey ’11), Paul Pashby (Michele ’15), Ashvin Patel (Sonali ’18) and Pete Scanlan (Shelby ’11) — who are passionate about the value of Catholic education. “We want to make a Notre Dame education available to girls from low-income families,” said Paul Pashby. “With a donation of $75 per month, or $900 per year for four years, each Impact Notre Dame giving circle will cover the tuition, uniform, books and fees for at least one ND student during her enrollment at Notre Dame.” Similar to the giving circle of Thirty-One Women, Impact Notre Dame is creating a special community to strengthen families by supporting young women who may be the first in their family to graduate from high school. For more information about ND giving circles, contact Executive Director of Advancement Beth Fox at (408) 294-1113 x2125.
Celebrating Grandparents Notre Dame’s second Grandparent’s Day for freshman and sophomore students was a wonderful success with grandparents attending from as far away as Indonesia. More than 100 grandparents spent the morning with their granddaughters taking campus tours, enjoying a program that included performances by Notre Dame’s dance and cheer teams, Regent Collective Dance Company and ASB Cheerleaders.
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Nicola Tan ’03 - From MIT to the Philippines & Home Again Nicola Tan ’03 graduated from MIT—for the second time—with an MS and MBA in 2014. Following graduation, she spent eight months in the Philippines working with the Red Cross on postHaiyan operations after the super typhoon devastated the central part of the country in 2013. Funded by a grant from the MIT Philippines Relief Fund, Nicola worked to map processes and develop inter-department communication strategies, planned distribution logistics and developed livelihood and disaster risk reduction programs. Now living in the Bay Area for the first time since her Notre Dame days, Nicola is working as a product manager at Intel in Santa Clara. “I started professionally by engineering technical solutions for complex commercial, industrial, and consumer products. Later, I discovered a passion for building new products, markets, and businesses; understanding how people use products and services; and influencing the future landscape of technology.”
Mikaela Fenton ’17 - Leading the Fight Against Human Trafficking Moved by a shocking video about organ trafficking in Nepal she saw in her freshman year, Mikaela Fenton began a journey that led her to participate in a panel discussion at this year’s Faith Formation Conference for the Diocese of San Jose. As a student leader of Notre Dame’s Students Against Modern Slavery club, Mikaela has worked tirelessly to educate her fellow students to make informed choices. Currently the group is working on spreading the word through social media, lobbying bills and is even writing a children’s book to help educate younger, at risk children about the dangers in the world. “The best way to get involved is to educate yourself,” explains Mikaela. “Some great resources are free2work. org where companies are graded and you can see if the companies you buy your products from have a good or bad grade. One other great resource is the documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate , where a reporter went to the Ivory Coast of Africa and shot real footage of child laborers working on the cocoa plantations. Once you have educated yourself, tell others, spread the word and try to be conscious of where you’re buying things. By being an advocate in your community you can make a difference.”
Homecoming Returns! Reconnect, reminisce and celebrate was the theme of this year’s homecoming celebration — and that is exactly what alumnae did! The event, organized by the Notre Dame Alumnae Council, was open to all alumnae, regardless of class year. The festivities began with alumnae invited back to campus to watch and cheer at the annual Powder Puff Football game, where current junior and senior students compete for bragging rights. On Saturday, mass in the school’s chapel was led by Bellarmine graduate and friend to many Notre Dame alumnae, Fr. Jerry Wade, SJ. After mass, lunch was served in JB Hall where alumnae perused archives of old uniforms, photos and other memorabilia. The celebration included two renditions of the alma mater, the more traditional, complete with three-part harmony, and today’s version, complete with loud singing and feet-stomping. Although very different, both renditions rang with pride, joy and love of sisterhood. The Class of 1966 will be holding their own 50th reunion on April 23, 2016 at Mariani’s. For more information, contact Dianne Banker ‘66 Barcelona at deebarc@gmail.com. WINTER 2016
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CLASS NOTES Corinne Rossi ’55,
now Sister Laetitia, entered the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1958 and recently celebrated 58 years of sisterhood with the other 70 members of her community. She and her sisters will be moving into cottages on the current property in Fremont once the original mother house is demolished. When Mary Ann
Kelly ’61 McCarthy (1) sent
out her Christmas mailer this past year, it occurred to her that five of the 16 family members in the group photo were graduates of Notre Dame schools representing three generations! Mary Ann graduated from Notre Dame San Jose and her daughters graduated from Notre Dame Salinas. Mary Ann’s, mom, Elizabeth Noonan ’34 Kelly, and her father’s aunt also graduated from
Notre Dame San Jose. Mary Anne’s granddaughter is the 20th family member, and the first member of generation five, to be educated in the tradition of St. Julie Billiart and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Denise LeBeau ’68 Callagnan and her husband, Keith, welcomed their second grandchild, Alana, in 2015.
Gayle Masino ’68 Meusel (2) worked
as a clinic manager for Stanford Hospital and retired in April 2015. Her oldest daughter is a veterinarian in San Luis Obispo and her youngest daughter is a professor at Montana State University.
Cheryl Gilbert ’73 Carlotta and
husband, Larry, celebrated their 40th anniversary on July 26, 2015. Her daughter, Janelle, is the program coordinator for Avenues
Community Connection, and is also an attorney, practicing criminal law. Cheryl’s son, Kenneth, is the supervisor for Grant Park in the Santa Clara County Parks Department.
Rosanne Battaion ’74 Harris (3)
retired from CSU East Bay in 2013 after 38 years. She and her husband, Rick, moved to Chattaroy, WA, where they live in a house in the woods that Rick designed and built.
Mary Keirns ’74
recently moved to Albuquerque where she is working for Gentiva Hospice and is excited her schedule allows for more travel and more time with her grandson, Erik Alfred Peterson.
Monica Gomez ’90 Trujillo (4) works
for Applied Materials as a program manager responsible for employee engagement. She also sits on the board of directors for Sacred Heart Community Service and is a founder of Amigos de Cesar Chavez, dedicated to preserving the memory of Chavez and recognizing the work of farm workers.
Xochitl Cazador ’92 (5) has been
awarded a fellowship at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Genevieve Dominguez ’97 Dong (6)
has been married to David Dong since 2008 and they have two beautiful children (Oliver, 4, and Natalie, 18 months). Genevieve has been an attorney since 2006 and currently serves as general counsel to various homeowners associations and common interest developments in Northern California.
Amber Rogers ’97 Romualdo (7) now
has a family of four. Her daughter, who was born in December 2014, joins a very excited big brother who is three years old.
Amy Moudakas ’99 Reichert (8)
and her husband, Jeff, welcomed their daughter Melanie Rose to the world on March 24, 2015. Proud grandma is Lynda Sanfilippo ’61 Moudakas. On July 11, 2014,
Kirina Alonzo ’00
completed the United States Air Force Military Training Program. Her home station is Homestead Air Force Reserve Base in South Florida. She was accepted to Florida International University’s master’s program where she is studying international and intercultural education.
Kimberly Trinh ’01 Mangum (9)
and her husband, Clarence, welcomed their second son, Ezekiel, on October 8, 2015. Big brother Isaiah (age 2) is very proud.
Angelica Ramos ’01 earned a B.A. in
law and society from American University in Washington, D.C., and J.D. from Whittier Law School as a Center for Children’s Rights Fellow. She is the president of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Silicon Valley and a Policy Associate at the Bill Wilson Center where she is working on a plan to end youth and family homelessness.
Kristin Hopkins ’02 Thompson (10) and her husband completed their family on October 3, 2015, with the birth of their 4th child, Liam. He was welcomed by big sisters Emmalynne and Madilynne and big brother Logan.
Krystle Ordonio ’04 is working as an
assistant patient care manager at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Krystle will also be getting married in May of 2016!
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CLASS NOTES continued
Kristiana Brix ’05
and her husband moved to Sydney, Australia, in 2014. She works for Qantas Airways, specializing in procurement strategy for aircraft and engine components.
Erika Ilanan ’05 Chowana, who
graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law, was recently married and is expecting her first child. She lives in San Diego and is a business law attorney for an Internet startup company.
Kathryn Abel ’06 Christofersen (1)
graduated from the Pacific Northwest University of Medicine in Yakima, WA, on May 9, 2015. She was accepted into the University of Washington’s Clinical and Anatomical Pathology Residency program, the next step in her medical career.
Elizabeth Gonzalez ’07 (2) is the
marketing/catering manager for Ike’s Love and Sandwiches in the Bay Area. She works with ten locations in helping to grow catering and market Ike’s and its products to businesses.
Elizabeth Nguyen ’07 (3) is currently
serving as a youth development specialist for Peace Corps Swaziland. She was stationed at an orphanage for two years and now works with Enactus Swaziland focusing on social entrepreneurship with tertiary students through the development of sustainable businesses in rural communities throughout the country.
Chanel O’Brien ’08 graduated from
Chico State with a bachelor’s degree in education, a multiple subject credential and a master’s in
education. She is currently living in San Jose and working as a first grade teacher in Fremont.
Kelsey Carney ’09
completed a year as a research assistant at the Linda Crinic Institute for Down Syndrome of the School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is currently pursuing her master’s in social work at the University of Denver, and is working for AmeriCorps in the Denver public school system.
Alicia Graham ’09 graduated from
Regent’s University in London, UK, in 2014 with a degree in film, TV, and digital media production. She works as a freelance screenwriter, having completed two commissioned feature length film scripts.
Alma Acosta Sanchez ’10 is currently
pursuing an associate’s degree in mathematics for secondary school teaching at Evergreen Valley College. She is president of the college’s SACNAS (Society for Advancing Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) chapter and traveled to Washington, DC to attend the 2015 SACNAS National Conference.
Faith Fermin ’10
recently moved to Sacramento and plans to pursue a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy. Faith is now working at Vibrant Care Rehab as a Physical Therapy Aide. In June 2015 Raquel Ryan ’11 graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s in human biology with a concentration in child development and neurobiology. She is now working as a preschool teacher at Stanford’s Bing Nursery School and loving every minute of it!
Erica Sciamanna ’11 (4) graduated
with both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in taxation from the University of San Diego. She is currently working at Frank, Rimerman + Co., an accounting firm servicing high-net worth individuals in the Bay Area.
Lluvia Carrasco ’12 (5) is at St.
Mary’s College of California pursuing a degree in women’s and gender studies. Lluvia published a book of creative writing and poetry, has performed spoken word pieces, and has traveled as a writer and activist to the United Na-
tions Climate Change Conferences in 2014 (Lima, Peru) and 2015 (Paris, France). After graduation, she hopes to pursue writing, acting, and singing in LA as a way to bridge the political and artistic worlds in creating social change. Over the summer,
Catherine James ’12 interned with
the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) as a behavior therapist. She is currently an intern at Harborview Medical Center in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department working in the PTSD research lab. Catherine will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and will then be pursuing a doctorate degree in clinical psychology.
Arielle Limberis ’13 transferred to UC Davis from De Anza College and recently completed her first quarter.
Juliana Mount ’15
just finished running cross country at Oregon State University and had a great season making it to the Regional Cross Country Meet and the PAC-12 Championship.
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Leaving a Legacy by Mary Quilici Aumack A legacy is quite simply a continuation. Through thoughtful planning, we are able to “continue” our financial support, our values and the institutions and ministries we cherish. The way we choose to “stay” may be through endowing an annual gift, supporting a scholarship, or ensuring the existence of a ballet troupe. Ours will be a family endowment, supporting a small number of key institutions forever. For Doug and me, our planning and our “continuance” will be centered on our faith. In the present, and through our estate plan, we choose to support Notre Dame High School, not just because it is a great girls’ school, but because it is a great Catholic girls’ school. My experience at Notre Dame was formative: academically, spiritually and socially. Through our planned gift we are delighted to be a small part of the bright future of Notre Dame.
Become a lifelong Notre Dame 1851 Legacy Society member by including Notre Dame in your estate plan. To learn more, contact Beth Fox, executive director for advancement, at 408-294-1113, ext. 2125 or by email at bfox@ndsj.org. WINTER 2016
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M A S QUERA DE
B EN EFIT & AU CT ION
SATUR DAY AP R I L 30 TH 201 6
S U P P ORT S A C A D E MI C P ROG R A MS A N D TU I TI ON A S S I S TA N C E
JOIN US FOR THE PARTY OF THE YEAR! The Notre Dame community will once again gather at the beautiful City Hall Rotunda in downtown San Jose for this year’s Masquerade benefit and auction. Join alumnae, family and friends of Notre Dame as they enjoy an evening of excellent food and drinks, entertainment and the opportunity to bid on a wide array of silent and live auction items. Proceeds help support the 23% of Notre Dame students who receive tuition assistance as well the development of academic programs.