NEWSLETTER - SPRING 2022
IN THIS ISSUE...
2
4
5
6
Emerging Woman of Impact
The Birth of Josh the Robot
ThirtyOne Women Celebrates 10 Years
Celebrating Women’s History Month
E m e rging W o m a n
of
I m pact
Kristine Pashin ’22 wants change and she isn’t waiting until she achieves her goal of becoming a lawyer, or even until she finishes high school, to make an impact. She is advocating for justice now, bringing a strong voice and passion for equity to everything she does, from being editor of the Crown & Shield, Notre Dame’s student newspaper, to her work as a founder of Journals for Justice (JournalsOfJustice.wordpress.com). Below she reflects on her journey, from her freshman Woman’s Place Project to her Senior Service Learning Project. By Kristine Pashin ’22 It has been four years since I presented my Woman’s Place Project as a freshman at Notre Dame San Jose. I still vividly remember decorating my plate in ceramics in honor of my woman of impact: Wilma Rudolph. Wilma Rudolph inspired children and athletes around the world to overcome hardships and stereotypes and gave the youth of America a chance to be anything they wanted to be. She contracted polio at the age of 4, but overcame socio-cultural, racial and physical barriers when she set a world record in the 200-meter race at the Olympic trials. Wilma Rudolph taught me to seek intersectional justice — that the only way to truly affect sustainable change is through a multi-faceted perspective. Her resilience and story has shown me that identity and diversity are power, and that hearing and uplifting the stories of others is paramount. These are all aspects of equity that I want to continue exploring in college, law school and beyond. For my Senior Service Learning Project, I continued working on the issue of racial justice as the next step in my pursuit of intersectional justice. In June 2020, I joined the organizing committee of the Justice Initiative — a joint project of the Systemic Justice Project at Harvard Law School and the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law; a community devoted to thinking creatively about the role lawyers can play in reimagining, dismantling and remaking unjust systems. Working alongside influential legal scholars like Kimberlé Crenshaw, Derecka Purnell and Cornel West has buttressed my dream of attending law school and re-making our legal system to be more equitable. It has been truly an experience of remarkable solidarity and inspiration for me. No one should be treated as less than because of the color of their skin, and the legal system improperly perpetuates such an injustice. My work with the Justice Initiative aims to reform these legal systems by changing the way legal scholars approach and think about curbing racial injustice in their study and practice. Next year, I will be attending Stanford University, and plan to continue studying how implicit motives inform law and policy — investigating how behavior, rationality and political science coalesce in the policy sphere. When I think about my growth from when I was a new student at Notre Dame, working on my Woman’s Place Project, to now, I know that I’ve grown as a justice advocate. Whenever I now commit myself in the fight for justice, it is my passion that leads me. Working with the Justice Initiative has allowed me to gain a multi-faceted perspective of service and advocacy, and the connections between the two — a viewpoint that I will cherish and utilize in my pursuit of justice over the rest of my life.
Head of School’s Message In October, 2021, we participated in a survey administered by Donor Experience Partners to obtain feedback on the donor experience at Notre Dame. The survey was sent to donors at all levels and we had a solid response from current and alum parents, alums across many decades and community members. We want to thank all who responded. The information you shared with us is important to ND’s stewardship and the recommendations in all categories from communications to advancing the mission will help us improve. In a highlevel summary, we are doing well and our work is appreciated! Here are a few of my favorite comments! •
•
Continue to think out of the box. Continue to innovate and change. This school is amazing because it believes it can always do better.
•
I’d love to tell them that they are doing an incredible job amidst a very trying time. I am so aware of how much work/effort/resilience goes into the choice and progress that has been made and am so thankful for all that they continue to do. I am so proud of ND and appreciate the strength of the leadership to navigate the school to the point that it is at.
We are always working to do better, to be better and to live more fully into our Notre Dame mission. We are grateful for the mission and grateful for all of you!
SURVEY DATA....
321
83%
including alums,
were women
alum parents,
and ranged
current parents
in age from
respondents
and community members
of respondents
26 80 to
Stay focused on the hard work of diversity/equity/ inclusion — the school’s diversity of student body is a huge asset and also means that it is critical to truly serve all students.
Ora et labora,
Mary Beth Riley, Head of School
Scores received, based on donor experience, on a scale of 1 - 5 in three areas:
4.5 - 4.7 for communications 4.2 - 4.6 for recognition 4.5 - 4.6 for engagment SPRING 2022
3
The Birth of Josh the Robot Spring brings new life and, every year, Notre Dame’s Robotics Team, the Janksters, spend more than a hundred hours creating and birthing a new robot. In late February this year, after seven weeks of designing, manufacturing and programming a robot from scratch, the Jansters brought their vision from blueprint to reality and “Josh” was born. Sixty-six students learning about science, math and technology under the mentorship of industry professionals, honing their skills in a variety of areas including mechanical, engineering, marketing and programming worked together to bring Josh to life. The team participates in several competitions throughout the season, returning to the engineering lab in the Center for Women’s Leadership to finely hone their robot in between competitions. At competitions, they partner with other schools and independent groups and practice key life-skills such as teamwork, critical thinking and leadership. “As members of Notre Dame’s robotics team, we take every opportunity to advance ourselves as life-long learners and appreciate the beauty of building and collaboration,” shares Joyce Yang ‘23. “At competitions, we learn to love both the excitement of competition and the virtue of communication and cooperation.” The experience students gain through the program provides lasting benefits. “Robotics put me where I am today,” shares mentor and alum Tamara Kawa ‘16. “I’ve always known I wanted to do something in STEM, but my time on the Janksters was what pushed me into mechanical design. Everything I do in my job now — CAD, troubleshooting, training other employees — came from my time on the team.” But Notre Dame Janksters are not satisfied with simply
BRINGING JOSH TO LIFE.....
getting through the season. They do more. Wanting to encourage young girls who are hesitant to try robotics, they developed a four-day camp, led by veteran team members, that provides insight and exposure to the robotics program and helps students meet others with similar interests. They have also hosted an annual Young Women’s Engineering Symposium open to girls who attend all local schools. Through the symposium, attendees hear from women engineers working in a variety of industries and begin building their network of engineering professionals. At the recent 2022 Silicon Valley Regional tournament, Joyce Yang ‘23 was selected as a Dean’s List Finalist, longtime mentor Dean Mulla received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award for his outstanding impact on students and the team was awarded the Judge’s Award for excellence across a number of categories. The participants in Notre Dame’s robotics programs will have a marked advantage in pursuing STEM opportunities in an evolving technological era where their skills and train ing will be recognized and rewarded.
GRADUATE SUCCESS STORY
Yasmen Lopez '16
Together, donors in ThirtyOne Women circles have raised $1,260,000 and made it possible for sixteen outstanding students from Our Lady of Grace Nativity School to obtain an exemplary Catholic, collegepreparatory education at Notre Dame High School. Yasmen Lopez ‘16 was one of the first students to benefit from the generosity of 30 women. “I am proud to say I graduated this year with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from San Jose State University and am now working as an industrial engineer at Jabil. As one of the first recipients of the ThirtyOne Women scholarship, I can’t say enough about the gratitude my family and I have for the donors who made my education possible. What started as the dream of two women has turned into more than a million dollars invested in the education of 16 Our Lady of Grace students. I can assure you, we are the investment and our education and success after high school is a gift that makes our families, and every person who has stood with us on our journey, proud. Now it’s my turn to help others.” If you would like information about any of our circles of giving, please contact Shannon Chastaine at schastaine@ndsj.org.
SPRING 2022
5
Celebrating Women ’s History Month Throughout the month of March, Notre Dame celebrates the legacy of powerful women and emphasizes the critical role of women leaders through a series of events aligned with Women’s History Month. Spirit Week and the Sister Project combine school spirit and fun with a service project that benefits girls and women in the local community. The Young Women’s Advocacy Summit shines light on the leadership and advocacy of the senior class as the freshman class presents Woman’s Place Projects to honor more than 170 women who have contributed to humankind. A diversity of women’s voices were amplified with more than 60 live and recorded sessions focused on leadership skill development through the Women’s History Month Conference and the Women of Impact Speaker Series. And, throughout the month, faculty designed lessons to highlight the role of women in their particular areas of study.
An annual tradition, Spirit Week is lead by Notre Dame’s Associate Student Body officers. The event helps build a strong sense of community and also provides students with important health and wellness benefits — the cheers, laughter and silly costumes reinforce the bonds of a life-long network. In conjunction with Spirit Week, students collect feminine hygiene products for donation to Sacred Heart Community Center through the Sister Project. Over the past 10 years, they have raised more than $140,000 in cash and products. The 179 students in the senior class presented their Senior Service Learning Projects in conjunction with the Young Women’s Advocacy Summit, advocating on behalf of the organizations they served. Thirty students chose to address homelessness and food insecurity, partnering with local organizations or creating projects on their own. Others addressed access to education, environmental stewardship, animal rights and justice for immigrants, to name a few. At the Young Women’s Advocacy Summit they took their place at the table of women’s leadership.
The students in the freshman class created 177 place setting for the Woman’s Place Project, one of Notre Dame’s signature projects. Through this project, now in its 27th year, 4,670+ students have created place settings honoring the contributions of women across time, culture and industry.
The Women’s History Month Conference at ND featured powerful women including (top) Zulma Maciel, director of racial equity for the city of San Jose, (right) Sameena Usman, senior government relations coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and (bottom left) director of career and life success, Raven Gilberts, who led a session on writing effective emails.
I appreciated having Zulma Maciel here at ND because as a first-gen, Latina daughter of immigrants it felt very inspiring and comforting seeing someone with a similar story as mine, someone who understands my struggle and is so successful. It inspires me to become something better.”
Celeste '23
Building on the annual Women of Impact event that highlights the contributions and achievements of women, in March Notre Dame’s Women of Impact Speaker Series focused on women’s leadership and featured Amanda Rawson (left) and Folake Phillips (right). Amanda is currently one of the leads for Womanhood, a public art and digital media project that will commission interactive, educational, and accessible artifacts and public artwork in San Jose to promote the historical recognition and representation of women. Folake is the founder of AWỌ, a social justice nonprofit that offers inspiring programs and community workshops to bring people together across racial, economic and cultural divides. For Women’s History Month, Chris Johnson’s graphic design and photography classes studied female artists from the 1980s. They investigated artistic appropriation — taking something that exists and putting it in a new context — and how it fits within the myth of originality. Artists like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, and Sherrie Levine made careers out of artistic appropriation and iteration. Students found images on the internet to digitally appropriate in the style of Barbara Kruger.
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH @ ND.....
60+
live and recorded sessions
177
Woman’s Place Projects
3,000+ crazy costumes
179
student advocates
100%
of students celebrating women leaders
$7,000+
raised for Sacred Heart Community Center
C
CLASS NOTES Eva Prudhomme ’39 Orton (1)
celebrated her 100th birthday last summer with Notre Dame. She was very active in San Jose’s League of Women Voters for many years. Eva’s long list of accomplishments were recognized with a special commendation by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. In October 2021, Eva passed away peacefully.
Geraldine “Gerry” Zaro ’46 Johnson was born in the US to immigrants from Croatia and grew up during the Great Depression. She attended Notre Dame thanks to a generosity of a St. Joseph’s parishioner.
Lori Castillo ’92 (2) Martinez
was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief
Equality Officer at Salesforce, where she has been working for the past four years
Molly Owens ’97 is the CEO and
Founder of Truity Psychometrics, now one of the leading providers of research-backed personality tests in the US. Molly’s company has been named on INC Magazine’s 2021 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies list. Molly founded Truity in 2012 to help make personality assessments more accessible for individuals and businesses.
Rebecca Bignell ’01 Reuters,
assistant director of educational outreach at Juilliard, oversees MAP (Music Advancement Program),
the Saturday instrumental instruction program for students from backgrounds underrepresented in the American performing arts.
Krystal Pham ’07 (6) welcomed
Nicola Tan ’03 (3) was married in
in Middletown, NY reporting for Spectrum News 1 after two years working as a News Reporter in San Angelo, TX. She will always have gratitude to her ND teachers who stay in touch with her and witness her growth as a young woman in the news business.
a small COVID micro wedding in April, 2021. The event was streamed live to friends and family (thanks to classmate Micaela Go ‘03 who photographed and streamed the ceremony). She was also excited to have virtual bachelorette parties with several ND classmates. Nicola and her husband, Mark, are now living in San Carlos. In January, they welcomed a baby girl, Zoey Teresa.
Dr. Camille Broussard ’04 Robinson (4),
Woman of Impact 2021 Honoree, and her baby, Violet, representing Notre Dame! Never too early to start planting the seed.
Tina Tran ’06 (5) is the managing
attorney of Upsolve in Chicago, which was featured in TIME Magazine’s list of 100 Best Inventions of 2020!
a baby boy named Ramsey V. Knight in June 2021
Jacquelyn Quinones ’08 (7) is now living
Shiva Barforoshi ’09 (8) graduated
from medical school and started her residency in Chicago. Shiva is incredibly grateful for all of the support of her family and friends who have helped her get to this point and is now excited for the next chapter in her career.
Georgina Dunn ’11 (9) married her best friend in March 2022 at a beautiful winery in Paso Robles.
Sophie Holohan ’20 (10), singer and songwriter, has signed with Avex USA/Selene and composed
her fourth single “Butterfly Effect,” that is available on all streaming platforms. With whimsical lyrics and powerful melodies, Sophie’s writing expresses typically unspoken truths in a unique and poignant way.
Notre Dame San Jose alums (11)
value their lifelong network and come full-circle as employees of their alma mater. We are proud of the 12 alums working at ND this year. We value their commitment, experience and leadership. Pictured: Marilou Figone ‘60 Cristina, Eugenia Barba ‘10, Tammy Castillo ‘09, Joycelyn George ‘17, Sascha Stankovich ‘91 Warner, Artemisa Bobst ‘04, Jessica Angelo ‘05, Jessica Krent ‘15, Monica Gomez ‘90, Cara Cavigliano ‘00 Borromei, Chelsea Beck ‘12. Not pictured: Abby Johnson ‘12.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
10
SPRING 2022
9
R
REUNION NOTES The centennial
Class of 1951 (1)
celebrated the 70th anniversary of their graduation at the October reunion weekend on the Notre Dame campus. They were joined by the Class of 1961 (2) celebrating their 60th and the
Class of 1960 (3)
celebrating their 60th + 1. Reunions featured an outdoor lunch, tours of the Center for Women’s Leadership, Zoom virtual events with classmates from afar and mass in the new meditation space.
Alums from the
Class of 1966 (4)
recently gathered at Giorgio’s Italian Food and Pizzeria to celebrate their 55th Reunion. Organizer Dianne Banker ’66 Barcelona said that everyone enjoyed catching up, and that it seemed like they had been away from each other for “only a day.” The Class of 1984 (5) celebrated with a mini reunion (38 years) in Napa Valley in March. Their connection and bond gets stronger every year!
1
2
3
4
The Class of 1986 (6) celebrated 35
years of a Notre Dame friendship and bond! They gathered at a pizza place and shared laughs and memories. The Class of 1991
Purple & White Dinosaurs (7)
reconnected recently at Maggiano’s, sharing memories, fun times and their special bond. The Class of 2015
Maroon & Gold Goddesses (8)
celebrated a “re-do” five year reunion in December. Alums were full of laughs, memories and hugs.
They also honored two alums who passed earlier in the year.
Class of 2016 Lime Green & Royal Blue Wolves (9)
celebrated its five-year reunion at Hapa’s Brewery in December. They also spent time reconnecting with their teachers and Head of School Mary Beth Riley.
5
6
7
8
9
SPRING 2022
11
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION 596 S. Second St. San Jose, CA 95112 Address service requested
US POSTAGE PAID SAN JOSE, CA PERMIT NO. 499
All-Alum Weekend OCTOBER 14-16, 2022
Notre Dame invites alums from all years to join us as we kick off All-Alum Weekend with ND's signature event, celebrations and Mass.
MILESTONE
Reunions
FRIDAY
October 14, 2022
SATURDAY
ALL-ALUM
Mass SUNDAY
October 15, 2022
October 16, 2022
@ Notre Dame
@ Notre Dame
If you would like to join the planning committee and help us bring your class together, please email Monica Gomez: mgomez@ndsj.org