Saint Michael's College Fall/Winter 2022 Magazine

Saint Michael’s College Magazine (ISSN 0279-3016) is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications twice a year. The views expressed in the Saint Michael’s College Magazine do not necessarily represent the official policies and views of Saint Michael’s College.

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Cover photo: Jerry Swope Inside front cover: Bear Cieri

KLEIN HALL

Letter from the President

Now, more than ever, education is the fulcrum of democracy. Throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, we learn what it means to participate in a democracy—how to apply the lessons of history, how to form our own opinions, and how to debate with others.

Today, all eyes are on students: K-12, college, and

beyond—the canaries in the coal mine. Studies, surveys, and polls report the effects of the pandemic on mental health, learning gaps, and declining enrollment. In the face of many challenges, too many good teachers are leaving the profession. Yet, at Saint Michael’s, our faith in education is as strong as ever.

In these pages you will see what our faculty members are doing to meet

the cultural, political, pedagogical, social, and economic challenges of our time. You will be inspired by their honesty, creativity, and persistence as they employ data, technology, empathy, and curiosity to save our schools, nurture our teachers, and feed hungry minds.

On the higher education front, not all of our challenges began with the pandemic. As always, in difficult times we are asked to justify the value of education, to separate the return on investment from the less measurable values we all know exist. It is true, as Professor Patrick Walsh points out in these pages, that the unemployment rate of college graduates is less than half that of nongraduates and that college prepares students to right past wrongs and to correct patterns that history tells us lead to moral and financial bankruptcy. College graduates have more control over their own future. You will see here reports from alumni attesting to this and to the lifelong value of the education they received here.

In both K-12 and higher education, change is needed from the ground up. Self-care for teachers and systemic change are required. In both, broadening accessibility to include traditionally underrepresented people not only is the right thing to do, it is the key to survival. Every moment of every day, on our campus and beyond, we are working to increase access to the education we offer. We are training future teachers to recognize bias and to stop it in its tracks. We are discovering ways to use technology to relieve anxiety. We are offering ways for our community to think through the many questions that cause stress and to find the elusive answers.

We work for a future in which everyone shares a sense of possibility and optimism. This cannot happen if our schools and colleges fail to change with the times. When education is imperiled, democracy is imperiled.

D. E. Lorraine Sterritt President

WHOLE TEACHER, WHOLE STUDENT

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS

Photo by Jerry Swope

Annie O’Shaughnessy: A

Annie O’Shaughnessy, Saint Michael’s College’s Holistic Restorative Education (HRE) certificate program coordinator and instructor, has always done her best work when she is able to bring her whole self to the job. “If we want our schools to be joyful places, we cannot teach from what Parker Palmer, the author of The Courage to Teach, calls ‘the divided self,’” she says.

O’Shaughnessy earned her master’s degree in education at Antioch University with a focus on mindfulness for educators. “Today, there’s a breathless quality to most schools, no room or time for heart,” she says. “I had a hypothesis that if educators were able to slow down before they reacted to student behavior, they would ask more questions and make fewer assumptions.” In addition, she believed, if educators developed a strong mindfulness practice, they would not only be able to stay grounded when confronted with challenging behaviors, but also uncover the implicit biases that undermine equitable responses. To test her hypothesis, in 2017 she started teaching Transforming teaching and learning through mindfulness and restorative practices, and found, to her delight, that her hypothesis bore out. Just as important to her was the feedback from educators that the course had reinvigorated them, and in some cases, given them what they needed to stay in the profession.

Inspired and emboldened by the impact of this one course, O’Shaughnessy approached Saint Michael’s

Graduate Education Department and pitched the idea of a four-course online certificate program—a program that would offer educators the opportunity to explore, apply, and reflect on principles from four interconnected topics—mindfulness, restorative approaches, trauma informed practices, and equity. Innovative and always open to improvement, Saint Michael’s said yes, and the first

on the issues facing participants in their schools and classrooms and strengthen their resilience.

O’Shaughnessy keeps the program relevant by continuing to work as a consultant in private and public schools in Vermont and across the country. As the founding partner of the nonprofit Starling Collaborative, she works with other consultants,

cohort launched in January 2021. Students in the program are all ages, at all stages and positions in their education careers. Although nearly 100 percent online, the program uses specific and intentional techniques to build strong trusting relationships, wellness, and meaningful dialogue. Each course uses mindfulness as a throughline to reflect more deeply

educators, and school leaders on a grant-funded project to develop best practices in a holistic restorative approach to education. Her four-semester program begins with Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Mindfulness and Restorative Practice and concludes with a Holistic Restorative Education Practicum.

Annie O’Shaughnessy is an educational consultant and the coordinator of the Holistic Restorative Education Certificate Program at Saint Michael’s College. She is pictured here at Albert D Lawton Intermediate School in Essex Jct., Vermont..

WHAT’S NEW?

St. Peter, Saint Michael’s director of Purposeful Learning. “As students begin to discover who they are and how they want to be in the world, we help them find ways to put their passions and gifts into action to better the world around them. That’s how they build lifelong habits of giving back.”

black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students; and international students, said Sarah Childs, director of the DEC and associate dean of students. “While the focus is on those aforementioned groups, there’s work in the center that welcomes people who aspire to be allies. There’s room for everybody in the work and in the community,” she said.

Students from SMFR reviewing procedures.

PRINCETON REVIEW RANKS SAINT MICHAEL’S AMONG TOP COLLEGES FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Saint Michael’s College is being recognized for its longtime mission of, and passion for, service to the community. The Princeton Review, which issues annual reviews of the best colleges in the country, recently ranked the College #25 on the list of colleges most engaged in community service. Saint Michael’s has long focused on how students, faculty, and staff can make an impact on the larger community. Our founders, the Society of Saint Edmund, have their roots in service, hospitality, education, and social justice, which is embodied by the College both inside and outside the classroom. “We talk about the importance of purpose a lot at Saint Michael’s,” said Heidi

CENTER’S NAME CHANGE REFLECTS WIDE EMBRACE OF DIVERSE POPULATIONS

This past summer, the Saint Michael’s College center formerly known as the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Services (CMAS) changed its name to the Center for Student Diversity, Empowerment, and Community (DEC). The mission of the center is to support first-generation college students;

FOUNDERS HALL CUPOLA RETURNS TO HEART OF CAMPUS

ment, and Community.

The Saint Michael’s College cupola— the most recognizable symbol used to represent the school—has returned to campus and now sits on a new pedestal at the heart of campus. Construction on the cupola’s new site began September 1. The cupola formerly adorned Founders Hall, the oldest building on campus, for more than a century before the building came down in May 2021. “The cupola holds immense historical and sentimental significance for the Saint Michael’s community,” said College President Lorraine Sterritt. “We are thrilled to be welcoming home this iconic structure to grace our campus once again.” Since its removal, the cupola has been undergoing restoration at Watershed Construction in Berlin, Vermont. Restorers replaced the rotted

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Sarah Childs, direcor of the Center for Student Diversity, Empower

wood while saving about 75 percent of the original wood, painted the wood its original white color, and topped the hexagonal structure with a new copper roof. The cupola measures 14 feet high and 11 feet across. The cupola will be the centerpiece of an outdoor gathering space in the heart of Saint Michael’s campus on the main green between Durick Library and the chapel.

ALDEN GRANT OF $150,000 BOOSTS NEW MEDIA CREATION STUDIO

Workers move the Founders cupola onto its new center-campus foundation in September.

TREES HEADING FROM NURSERY TO NATURAL AREA

Trevien Stanger of the Saint Michael’s College Environmental Studies and Science faculty coordinated with the campus environmental group Green Up to harvest trees from the Ecological Restoration Nursery in the center of campus and replant them in the Natural Area. Kristyn Achilich ’05, director of the College’s Center for the Environment, said these three-year old shrubs, once sticks, “proliferated under the care of our stewards over the last three years— an initial financial investment in these cuttings and bare-root saplings has been paid back in spades.”

A grant of $150,000 from the George I. Alden Trust—a longtime supporter of smaller Northeast colleges including Saint Michael’s—will advance the College’s Strategic Plan priority that students acquire indispensable communications skills for today’s job market. The Alden grant supports the new state-of-the art Media Creation Studio on the second floor of the main St. Mike’s academic building, St. Edmund’s Hall. The timely grant, combined with budgeted seed funding from the College, has funded core elements for the professionalgrade studio. Saint Michael’s professors and students are wasting no time putting the College’s new Media Creation Studio to good productive use. Student editors from Professor Jerry Swope’s publication class for The

Defender—the College’s student newspaper—have already used the space. Possibly the first faculty client for the new studio the day before Swope’s students first came in was Biology Professor Declan McCabe, who has recorded a regular podcast for about the past year from a shed behind his house, but now is thrilled to have a professional-grade studio for his podcast recordings!

CLASS OF ’72 GIFT TO NEW GLOBAL CENTER MODELS STRONG STEWARDSHIP

An artist’s rendering shows an overhead view of the new studio space on the second floor of St. Edmund’s Hall.

Brian Lacey ’72 joined with his classmates and Center for Global Engagement Director Jeffrey Ayres to invigorate the College’s Strategic Plan. The Saint Michael’s College Class of 1972 delivered a master class in effective and meaningful fundraising this year to honor their recent 50-year reunion, meeting their ambitious goal of a $1 million gift. Lacey, a highly successful entertainment executive and long a champion of the humanities and international scholarship at Saint Michael’s as a donor, trustee, and volunteer, led the push for his class to support the new Center for Global Engagement. Lacey believes a liberal arts education has a much longer trajectory than mere preparation for a career. “The class of 1972 gift underscores our collective faith and commitment that this special Saint Michael’s College

To read the full version of any of these stories, visit smcvt.edu/news and search the story’s title.

Trevien Stanger (left) of the Environmental Studies and Science faculty with a student harvesting trees to be replanted in the Natural Area.

experience is transformative and, more importantly, will be available for worthy students for future generations,” he said.

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, CLEAN ENERGY FROM FUSION, CANNABIS IMPAIRMENT TOPICS FOR SEMINAR SERIES

Faculty members and students at Saint Michael’s College presented their groundbreaking research throughout the fall semester on topics that addressed some of the biggest challenges facing our world today. The series, called “Solutions for Social Impact,” included three seminar-style presentations by faculty who teach and research in scientific fields. Students who worked on the research projects were also involved in several of the talks. All three events took place in the McCarthy Arts Center Recital Hall on campus, and were livestreamed. They were all free and open to the public.

RADIO STATION WWPV ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL POST-PANDEMIC

WWPV is a radio station owned by Saint Michael’s College and licensed to serve the community of Colchester, Vermont. The station’s control room is on the second floor of Dion Family and Student Center. The WWPV Club creative director, Jenna Farber ’24, a Psychology major with a Sociology and Gender Studies double minor from Coventry, Rhode Island, said that her biggest goal for the station is to recruit new show hosts and members of the club this year. Farber said she also hopes to market the station to the school more.

Director Peter Vantine told students. In closing, Vantine drew student attention to the ways our choices indicate our priorities—an important idea to keep in mind while pursuing purposeful learning at Saint Michael’s. “You’re at a stage where many have independence perhaps for the first time,” he said, “and we look forward to being part of that as you come into your own and decide what choices you will make to study and specialize in, and then go out into the world and work in.”

ST. MIKE’S STUDENTS LOBBY ON GLOBAL AIDS ISSUES IN NATION’S CAPITAL

COMMON TEXT AUTHOR DANIELLE EVANS PACKS RECITAL HALL

Each year, the College chooses a common text for the incoming class to read and discuss. Danielle Evans’s novella The Office of Historical Corrections (2020), contained in a volume alongside six other related stories, is the first-year seminar common text for 2022–2023. All first-year students read the book over the summer before arriving on campus. Evans spoke with students about her writing process and answered questions about her novella, which probes truth-telling about U.S. history. “One theme in this talk was what it means to be a citizen-member of a community,” First-Year Seminar

Fourteen members of the Saint Michael’s College Student Global AIDS Campaign, accompanied by Choeden Lama, the College’s assistant director for the Center for Student Diversity, Empowerment, and Community, were in Washington, D.C., November 12–15 to meet lawmakers in the hope of influencing policy on global AIDS issues. Professor Trish Siplon of the Saint Michael’s political science faculty, the longtime faculty advisor and founder of the campus group, has led similar groups to the nation’s capital for many years, but said her plans to take part this year hit an unfortunate last-minute snag. “On Saturday morning when we were getting ready to leave I was very

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Author Danielle Evans speaking at McCarthy Recital Hall.

The WWPV studio on the second floor of Dion Family Student Center.

Students and faculty who presented research findings at the Seminar for Social Impact on October 6, 2022.

Brian Lacey ’72

Members of the student delegation from Saint Michael’s in Washington with others they met for their lobbying.

ill and had to cancel my participation in the trip,” Siplon said. “I am very sorry I had to miss it, but the others carried on and did a great job under the leadership of Choeden and student leader Jeson Li ’23.” In Washington, the group met with Saint Michael’s alumna Emily Sanderson ’15, senior coordinator for grassroots advocacy, and Aly Bancroft, associate director for U.S. policy for the organization Health GAP, and together they made office visits to six members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including the office of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT ’61. U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH, personally met with the Saint Michael’s students.

NEARLY A MONTH IN, FOOD PANTRY IN ALLIOT IS HELPING MEET NEEDS

This fall, the Saint Michael’s College food pantry opened in Alliot 204 for student and employee use. Shelves

were stocked with boxes of pasta, crackers, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, hygiene products, and more. The refrigerator in the pantry was stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables from the College’s farm. Collaborators who contributed to the pantry’s launch include Residence Life, Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE), Center for the Environment, Facilities, Center for Student Diversity, Empowerment, and Community (DEC), and more. There are five permanent donation locations across campus: outside the MOVE office on the first floor of Alliot, in the DEC office on the second floor of Alliot, in the Chapel, in the Durick Library, and in the Center for the Environment on the first floor of St. Edmund’s Hall. The food pantry team is collecting data about the pantry’s use during the fall semester, including how many people are using it during the current hours, what time the pantry has the most foot traffic, how students and employees prefer to engage with the pantry, what food and personal preferences may be, and more. These efforts will help evolve the pantry to best meet campus needs into the future.

ALUMNA SPEAKER SHARES RESEARCH ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN COURT

Katie Petrozzo ’17, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah, recently gave a talk on campus, titled “Mental Illness as a Life Sentence: the (Mis)treatment

of Psychiatric Disorders in the Courtroom and Beyond.” The Philosophy and Neuroscience Departments sponsored the event. During her time at Saint Michael’s College, Petrozzo double-majored in Philosophy and Psychology and participated in the Trustee Summer Research project during the summer between her junior and senior years. Petrozzo’s research explores the intersections among psychology, neuroscience, and the law when it comes to mental illness, and focuses on the broad idea of “sanism,” which is “kind of in the same line as sexism and racism; it is the irrational prejudice against people with mental illness,” she said. In the Q&A after her talk, one listener asked about the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in court. Petrozzo believes there are several problems with using the DSM in court. She explained that the DSM, created in the 1950s, was meant to be used exclusively in clinical settings, originally to determine who was eligible to serve in the Korean War. She also answered questions about the MAOA gene, stimulated through trauma and resulting in a stronger likelihood of aggressive behavior, being a point of evidence in the courtroom.

To read the full version of any of these stories, visit smcvt.edu/news and search the story’s title.

Katie Petrozzo ’17 presents on campus late in the fall semester.

The food pantry on Alliot’s second floor welcomes donations.

Can Higher Ed Save Education?

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS

Photos by Jerry Swope

e believe the answer is yes. New research, programs, relationships, and understandings unfold every day, both here on our campus and beyond, in the classrooms where the talented, caring, committed, professional graduates of our education programs teach.

There is no doubt that there are challenges in education at all levels, from kindergarten through college. Some have been building since pre-pandemic, some arose directly from the pandemic. Some are economic, some are cultural, some are political. Others, many would say the hardest challenges, are systemic, brought into stark relief by COVID-19. As different as the worlds of higher education and K-12 are, they share the same moment in history. They exist in a culture

and on a continuum built largely on a fundamental belief in the value of education, the merits of teaching as a career, and the continued vitality of institutions that support teachers and students at all levels.

Across the country, schools report teacher shortages. The demand is high and the supply is low. A National Education Association survey conducted earlier this year showed 55 percent of teachers are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than planned. Black teachers make up more than half of those leaving the profession, and Hispanic/Latino teachers, much of the remaining half. Reasons for leaving include burnout; legislation that limits teacher agency, creativity, and expression in the classroom; declining academic freedom; and a forced neutrality that feels increasingly

Grace Erholtz ’23, (left in mask) is a secondary education and history double major student teaching at Essex High School. Prof. James Nagle (right), chair of the Education Department, is Erholtz’s student teaching supervisor and professor of her Student Teaching Senior seminar class. As her supervisor, Nagle observes her teaching 7-10 times during the semester.

inauthentic. To add insult to injury, teachers are often the targets in political battles, blamed by parents and administrators alike. “Gag order” bills introduced in 2021 in state legislatures limit discussions in K-12 classrooms about gender, race, and other vital topics.

Students are also suffering. The U.S. Department of Education recently released data showing reading scores for 9-year-olds across the country declined in the last two years more than in the last three decades; math scores also fell “for the first time on record.” Several other studies marked the fact that students in high-poverty schools lost half a year of instruction when classrooms went remote in April 2020.

promote “inclusive and dynamic learning communities,” and empathetic, reflective practitioners who understand “the connection between intellectual and social-emotional growth.”

Professor James Nagle, Department of Education chair, works primarily with middle and high school teachers in training. His courses emphasize teaching for social justice, environmental education, and project-based learning. With Professor Penny Bishop at the University of Vermont, Every summer Nagle runs the popular

statewide Middle Grades Institute, which provides professional development to educators who work with young adolescents. Nagle trained as a lawyer and worked pro bono for several years with juvenile offenders. What can I do, he asked himself, to change their trajectory? During a stint with Teach for America, he saw that many believed anyone could teach. He saw cracks in the system that were widening, and he got a glimpse of the social and emotional challenges life as a teacher would involve. He made the leap.

Let’s take a look at what Saint Michael’s is doing to meet these challenges and to prepare future generations of teachers. The newly released “Mission and Vision of the Saint Michael’s College Education Department” establishes a commitment to “work toward creating equitable and just systems by dismantling inequitable and oppressive educational policies and structures.”

The statement identifies educators in the department as change agents creating sustainable communities and schools, “passionate and curious scholars” using analytical skills to

“We built these models ourselves. Other colleges cover these issues as a course, but we do it as a program. We listened to teachers … and responded to their needs.”

— PROFESSOR JAMES NAGLE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CHAIR

James Nagle, professor and chair of the Education Department prepares to observe a student teacher at Essex High School.

CAN

Today, the scope of his work has grown to include the needs of students and families. Courses in the department now cover social-emotional learning, mindfulness for students and teachers, social discourse, racial justice, and even trauma. Saint Michael’s four-year program addresses all these issues. “We built these models ourselves,” Nagle says proudly. “Other colleges cover these issues as a course, but we do it as a program. We listened to teachers practicing in Vermont and elsewhere and

responded to their needs.” Students majoring in education must doublemajor, and many choose Psychology, Environmental Studies, or Equity Studies. From the first term at Saint Michael’s, students are placed in schools to observe and assist teachers. By the time they are seniors, they will have explored all levels, from K through 12, in rural and urban environments.

Nagle has seen the decline in the number of students wanting to go into education, which he attributes to many factors, including lack of respect in various communities, and a decline in professional autonomy. The pandemic also dealt a serious blow to in-classroom relationship building, a critical piece of the new curriculum. Two new programs, one run by Professor Annie O’Shaughnessy, the Holistic Restorative Education certificate program (see page 3), and several anti-bias, anti-racist courses taught by Professor Rebecca Haslam as part of the Racial Equity and Educational Justice program, (see page 13), address these and other issues currently facing our teachers and students. The average number of master of arts in teaching (MAT) students who completed an undergraduate major in Education at Saint Michael’s is just under one out of five (17.8 percent).

The demand for Saint Michael’s College graduates is high, particularly in Vermont, and particularly in rural areas. Just under half of the College’s graduates choose to stay in Vermont to teach, and others often return to their home state. Although the Vermont tradition of teacher autonomy remains, other states are increasingly run from the top down, limiting creativity and personalized teaching. Graduates choosing to teach in Title I schools (schools in which children from low-income families make up at least 40 percent of enrollment) can have their college loans forgiven.

Professor Amy Saks Pavese has many roles, as the director of graduate education, the MAT cocoordinator, the arts concentration coordinator, and the English language learner (ELL) licensure coordinator. The one-year MAT program began in 2018 as an accelerated option for those seeking teacher licensure and a master’s degree. A key feature of the mission-driven design is a fall workshop series with a specific focus on social-emotional learning. This student-centered approach began almost three decades ago, but the power of the equity lens and related skills in the classroom is more recent. The pandemic highlighted “how many hats teachers need to wear,”

Rev. David Theroux, SSE ’70

says Pavese, and many burned out. The pedagogical techniques students learn at St. Mike’s have now become a fundamental part of success in the classroom.

Career changers with no undergraduate experience in education can also enter the program, which is now in its fourth cohort (each cohort is 20 to 30 students). People in the program, says Pavese, are in their late 20s or early 30s. Many stay in Vermont and go on to earn additional licensures. The

MAT program includes a six-hourper-week field placement in the f all, aligned to teacher competencies and goals, followed by full-time placement in the spring. This model allows candidates to experience the arc of a school year, ensuring they are prepared for the multiple challenges they will face as educators.

Saint Michael’s Catholic history is appealing to many education students, undergraduate and graduate, who see it as aligning with the core values

of most teachers. Pavese received her master of education degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she specialized in teaching as service, and was placed in underserved communities. Stemming from this experience, her doctoral research focused on the teacher identity formation of educators in Catholic schools serving students from traditionally marginalized communities.

Father David Theroux, SSE ’70, who currently teaches religious studies at Saint Michael’s, joined the Edmundite Society right after high school in the 1960s, then came to St. Mike’s. He taught for many years in Mobile, Alabama, before being asked to set up a middle school for AfricanAmerican boys in New Orleans, following the Jesuit model to prepare students to “do good” in the world. Fr. Theroux served as principal, and recalls the days when parents “backed up the teacher,” but now, he says, that relationship is strained as parents strive to advocate for their kids in schools. “We’ve gone more in the direction of protecting the rights of individuals, versus the trust parents once placed in teachers,” he says. He has seen a return to the mistrust in institutions that was widespread in the 1960s. “Schools have become pressure points.” Saint Michael’s graduates are working to reinvigorate that trust.

Fr. Theroux recalls bringing graduates of Saint Michael’s education programs to his school in New Orleans. “They brought a sensibility with them,” he says. “They saw teaching as a calling, not just a job. They were willing to go the extra mile.”

Amy Saks Pavese, director of Graduate Education, meets with Areej Kadhem, a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Kadhem is pursuing licensure in secondary math.

The pedagogical techniques students learn at St. Mike’s have now become a fundamental part of success in the classroom.

EQUITY ED

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS

Photo by Jerry Swope

Rebecca Eunmi Haslam, assistant professor of education and coordinator of the new Racial Equity and Educational Justice graduate certificate program, is working to shift the way future generations learn how to be effective, empathic teachers. She is also working to change the way educational institutions approach equity, bias, and social justice. She’s not going to lie. It’s heavy work.

Haslam received her B.A. from Saint Michael’s College in 2003. After many years teaching elementary classes in the Burlington school district, and serving in leadership roles in curriculum and equity, she earned her master’s degree in education from Saint Michael’s in 2012, and her Ph.D. from the University of Vermont in 2019. She returned to teach at St. Mike’s five years ago and is heavily invested in— even interwoven into—the future of education in this state and beyond.

Haslam teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, largely on antiracism, justice, equity, and bias in the classroom, and on elementary curriculum integrating social studies and the arts. “Schools in Vermont and beyond really want our graduates,” she says. “They are relationship-focused and professional. We have a high bar for Education majors—a higher GPA requirement than most programs. And they receive a teaching license from St. Mike’s [because they are earning their Vermont teaching license at the same time].”

Haslam is proud of the new mission and vision of the Saint

Rebecca Eunmi Haslam

’03

Michael’s College Education Department, completed in June ’22. The focus is on education for equity and justice. “We locate ourselves in predominantly white educational institutions and enter school districts that are usually not predominantly white. And we don’t show up neutral,” she says of Saint Michael’s graduates in the classroom.

Haslam envisions a future that is simply not happening fast enough. The lack of tenured faculty of color in higher education enforces the status quo and is, for many professors, unproductive, inefficient, and lonely. New teachers in K-12 are burning out and leaving the profession. While Haslam and others design courses and programs to address growing challenges, change must also come from above.

“While many new programs and courses in other schools emphasize self-care for teachers, that only goes so far,” Haslam is careful to explain. “Self care does not mean ‘massages and bubble baths.’ Systems have to change.”

Haslam worked on creating the extremely successful Equity Studies major and is now designing, with colleagues, a new minor in Equity Studies. She played a leading role in creating the new mural on campus (see page 30). As Saint Michael’s strives to become a more inclusive and diverse community, Haslam hopes the mural will be a reminder and call to action to do better.

WEB EXTRA: To learn more about graduate racial equity and educational justice courses, go to smcvt.edu/racialequity.

Feeding the Multitudes: BRIAN ROPER

BY KAYLEE SAYERS ’23 Photos by Jerry Swope

rian Roper, the general manager of the Green Mountain Dining Hall in Alliot, has been working at Saint Michael’s College for the past seven years. Raised in Bristol, Connecticut, Roper found his interest in the culinary arts sparked by cooking dinner for his family while his mother worked full time. Once he was old enough, he enrolled in the Connecticut Culinary Institute.

Roper has seen both ups and downs over the past several years. He was thrilled to be the general manager when the dining hall was renovated to create a much more modern and comfortable place to eat. “It had been roughly 20 years since the last renovation,” Roper said. He also manages the food sourced from the Saint Michael’s College farm,

through the Center for the Environment. “We utilize any produce the farm grows that they do not sell to CSAs or at the farmstand,” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest challenge thrown at Roper and the rest of the Alliot staff in the past few years. “At the beginning of the pandemic most of the students went home, so we were only feeding the Edmundites, Fire and Rescue, and any students who did not have a place to go home to,” said Roper. “Then when students did come back, there were a bunch of restrictions put in place by the state Department of Health that we had to work through.”

Roper and his team worked tirelessly to meet the challenge of feeding not only the students who were abiding by COVID restrictions, but students in isolation and quarantine as well. “We had a few COVID outbreaks, which got pretty challenging when there

were over 100 meals per meal period being delivered to [the quarantine and isolation dorms] Joyce and Ryan,” said Roper. “When year two [of the pandemic] came, we provided the students in isolation and quarantine a self-serve buffet in Eddie’s Lounge [on the second floor of Alliot], which was much more manageable and a better experience for everyone.”

Challenges went beyond the pandemic. Roper disclosed that over the past two years, “the supply chain has been broken more than the average

consumer could even imagine.” The dining hall staff has had to manage student meals without a large proportion of the foodstuffs that the dining hall orders. “We are regularly shorted about 15 to 20 percent of what is ordered on any given day,” said Roper.

Now that the pandemic has waned enough for restrictions to ease in the dining hall, Roper’s main focus is providing students with the meals they need. Students who have food allergies meet with Alliot staff to

establish the best way to provide them with their meals. “We work with each student individually, and that seems to work for all parties involved,” said Roper. “Most utilize our glutenand nut-free pantry to get the basics, and then if they need more guidance, we meet with them and come up with a plan to feed them.”

Roper added, “One of the things I enjoy most about my work is connecting with our students. The staff and I are on a first-name basis with many of them and hear about how they

are doing, what they are working on, and what they like to eat. We’re always eager to hear their feedback—good or bad. That personal connection helps us do a better job meeting their needs.”

According to Roper, all-time favorites are the chicken patties and chicken parm meals. More recent favorites, especially since the renovation of Alliot in 2018, include the burrito station and the stir-fry station.

A Legacy of Learning: O

BY VALERIE BANG-JENSEN, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, MATT HAJDUN ’05, M ’13, CALLIE LUMBRA GOSS ’13, MAKAYLA FOSTER BROUGHTON ’20, AND OLIVIA DEFELICE ’22

Bohan

ne January night, mid-pandemic, I opened up a Zoom room and waited to see who would show up. I was in the middle of writing a book for elementary teachers and wanted to get some ideas from current teachers. I leaned on our Saint Michael’s alumni, inviting them to take time from their busy lives and COVID-induced challenges and join in a conversation. I was hoping for five to eight alumni, but that doorbell rang again and again. Twenty-eight alumni ranging from the Class of ’03 to ’21 showed up! While few knew each other, we spent an hour talking about teaching

Photos by Patrick

I invited each of these former and current students to consider both what their Saint Michael’s experiences had offered them, and what has stayed with them.

From top, left to right: Callie Lumbra Goss ’13; Matt Hajdun ’05, M ’13; Valerie Bang-Jensen; MaKayla Foster Broughton ’20; and Olivia DeFelice ’22

literacy outdoors in school settings, both obstacles and successes. I heard from many of them afterward about how happy they were to be together, with the refrain that it was “so great to hear from other other alumni who are teaching with the values and strategies we learned in the Education Department.” A personal thrill for me was to see how each has grown into the professionals they are. This discussion got me thinking about the graduates of our education programs; they are resilient, student-focused, and committed to best practices that emerge from experience and research. They are also practical, solution-oriented, and deliberate about their teaching moves.

In my role as professor of education, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with

I’m lucky to have followed a thread, beginning with Matt Hajdun ’05 (and M.Ed. ’13) as a student teacher who later became a cooperating teacher for Callie Lumbra Goss ’13. Callie then became a host teacher and then colleague for MaKayla Foster Broughton ’20. In spring of 2022, senior Liv DeFelice ’22 completed her student teaching internship in Callie’s classroom in Westford, Vermont, and is embarking on her first professional steps in a public school in Vermont. I invited each of these former and current students to consider both what their Saint Michael’s experiences had offered them, and what has stayed with them.

MATTHEW HAJDUN ’05

Elementary Education & Biology; M.Ed. ’13

One thing I have always taken with me from St. Mike’s is the elementary classroom experiences from the very first course. I felt ready when I started my teaching career because every course had an embedded and thoughtfully designed firsthand experience that prepared me. In both my undergraduate and graduate classes, not only did we have our real-world placements, but we had professors who used best practices in their own teaching.

St. Mike’s and Beyond

students who pursue an elementary licensure. In addition to teaching methods courses, I visit student teachers in their host classrooms to supervise their learning as they take on increased responsibility for management, curriculum, and instruction. Over the past two decades, I have been able to work with alumni at various stages of their career, and even match up current student teachers with alumni as their host, or “cooperating teachers.” This type of pairing can be ideal, as the departmental philosophy that guides classroom practice can provide a seamless start for an intense and important relationship.

Chronology may be linear, but my relationship and connection with my former student teacher, Callie, is more like a web. I learned from Callie beginning the moment she was student teaching in my classroom, and in watching her next steps as an educator, I’ve been able to go back and refine some of my own practices, particularly [after seeing] her ability to focus on explicit teaching points. I think she has done an amazing job analyzing how to teach student writers about writing craft; she is a true workshop teacher. I have found even her tweets to be inspiring and informative.

CALLIE LUMBRA GOSS ’13 Elementary Education & Psychology

The teacher I am today is directly traceable to Matt’s excellence (my cooperating teacher). From him, I learned that good teachers teach everything. Everything can be broken down into its tiniest parts and made accessible to young people. I remember walking into his classroom in the first week and noticing a small, comic-style chart hanging in the walkway where kids line up: “how to give a friendly reminder.” That chart pinpointing ways of interacting has shaped my goals with children and what I think is possible, because anything is.

From Matt, I’ve also learned about the power of a community. I had the privilege of watching a few wholegroup problem-solving conversations in his classroom, and I hope that my own classroom mirrors the safe, reflective spaces that were his circles. Similarly, Valerie Bang-Jensen’s words have helped me build strong relationships with families—I’ll always remember the day before parent conferences during student teaching when she mentioned, “Make sure every parent learns something new about their child.” I’m proud of my relationships with families, and this, too, is directly traceable to her advice.

When we work with kids, we ask them to reflect on their growth academically and socially. For me, I can’t separate what I’ve learned from my St. Mike’s connections—VBJ, Matt, MaKayla and Liv—from all of the ways I love and appreciate them as people.

MAKAYLA FOSTER BROUGHTON ’20 Elementary Education & English

When I was considering Saint Michael’s College, I remember people raving about the community and the Education Department. My experiences lived up to the hype. I enjoyed the small class sizes and the fact that professors not only knew my name but knew about my family and extracurricular interests. Fast-forward to my final spring semester, and I walked into Callie Goss’s third-/fourth-grade grade literacy classroom at Westford School for my first day of student teaching. One of the greatest things I learned from her was that students’ behaviors are expressions of their unmet needs. [For students] to be receptive to learning, students’ basic needs must be met first. I have tried to keep this fresh in my mind as I started my teaching career.

“[For students] to be receptive to learning, students’ basic needs must be met first. I have tried to keep this fresh in my mind as I started my teaching career.”

MaKayla Foster Broughton ’20 reading her class a story.

I remember my supervisor, Valerie Bang-Jensen, asking me how I would differ from Callie in my teaching. I had absolutely no idea at the time. Callie was (and still is) amazingly talented. Why would any teacher not want to mirror Callie? So, during the fall semester of the 2020–21 school year, one thought that shot in my head was What would Callie do? and another was What would MaKayla do? No matter how far away we are from each other— even if it is just down the hallway now at Westford—St. Mike’s brings us together in unexpected ways. For that, I am so thankful.

OLIVIA (LIV) DEFELICE ’22 Elementary Education & Psychology

One of the most powerful points that I will walk away from the Saint Michael’s Education Department with is the importance of inclusion in education— and more so an idea of what that actually looks like. It is a whole lot less of plastering posters in your classroom that say “all are welcome here” and much more of making a space feel inclusive and welcoming—by making it feel safe. This comes through setting boundaries, building relationships, and holding students to high expectations. This is something that I have seen in action by watching my cooperating teacher, Callie, conduct her classroom each day.

Callie is gifted in making sure her classroom feels like an inclusive space–and that is by making it feel safe. To do this, she employs many restorative practices, many of which I have been able to practice myself as her student teacher. This is not only classroom management that I will carry with me far into my own practice, but also a management method that makes her classroom inclusive because it feels safe.

From her I have learned that safety is the baseline for inclusion and community, and this has strengthened my educational philosophy and my practice as an educator. Thanks to Callie, I have been fortunate enough to further develop my lens for inclusion and problemsolving, and I understand the importance of and am able to utilize restorative practices. I am privileged to be one of her student teachers and to have the opportunity to build upon and strengthen my practice as a teacher by working alongside Callie.

VALERIE BANG-JENSEN

Matt, Callie, MaKayla, and Liv, once my students, are now my colleagues and friends. They keep me grounded in current practice. I know that each and every one of my colleagues in the Education Department could describe similar threads of connection and their own experiences with the powerful network of St. Mike’s Education alumni. In fact, one of my former students, Rebecca Haslam, is now my treasured colleague in the Education Department. Callie confided to me that she sees in her student teacher, Liv, and colleague, MaKayla, ideas and practices she herself learned from Matt and passed along to them. The throughline that emerges from this legacy is an unwavering focus on helping all students learn, a commitment to hosting student teachers as a type of professional development, and the understanding that teaching is about ongoing learning. Saint Michael’s has created a professional community that begins in our courses and continues long after graduation.

Valerie Bang-Jensen talking with her former students.

Stressbusters

How to Learn, How to Think, and How to Manage Stress

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS Photos by Patrick Bohan

Has academia become a giant flipped classroom?

Students in the front, sending urgent questions out to their professors and teachers, no longer in the “sage on the stage” roles, who do their very best to answer these questions alongside their students. They teach their students how to ask more, ask better, consider the myriad sources of information, think hard, and know the answers look a whole lot different, depending on where you sit in the world’s great classroom.

The cultural, emotional, scientific, and economic issues of our day leave us all searching for often nonexistent definitive answers. From recycling to climate change; from screen fatigue to neurodegenerative disorders; from colonial legacies to gross inequity, racial discrimination, and inherent bias;

Madeline Van Winkle ’23, research assistant, works closely with Professor Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo and Professor Dagan Loisel to refine data.

we search for our true selves, our true identities in a swirling sea of questions. No one feels this more acutely than students, poised on the brink of entering the “real” world, armed with questions: What to do, where to live, whom to be with, how to be safe, what to eat?

Professor Ruth Fabian-Fine had an epiphany: Contemporary questions regarding emerging problems in our society were causing many of her friends and students anxiety. Thinking about the possible explanations, she identified that the “lack of expertise” in relevant fields likely fuels anxiety. Fabian-Fine decided to start a seminar series on campus addressing current issues, shedding light on some anxiety-generating topics for nonexperts. The series, called “Solutions for Social Impact,” began on October 6, with a panel on neurodegenerative diseases, featuring recent research by Fabian-Fine, Adam Weaver (professor of biology and neuroscience), and eight St. Mike’s students. This was followed by a seminar called Creating a Star on Earth and The Role of Nuclear Fusion in a Carbon Emission-free Future by Princeton-educated physics professor Alan Brizard. The third seminar, Weed and the Wheel, was presented by psychology professor Ari Kirshenbaum and focused on the effects of cannabis on behavior and motor skills.

“Solutions for Social Impact.”

Helping students learn how to think and analyze information is a top priority in education at all levels. Helping students

Professor Ruth Fabian-Fine introduces the lecture series

manage stress is another. Stress is widely understood to cause all kinds of psychological and physical disorders, including reduced immune function. It is also an impediment to thinking clearly and learning. The pandemic exposed the raw effects of stress on students of all ages around the world, and studies have described “learning gaps,” “learning loss” and “unfinished learning” resulting from anxiety-induced mental health disorders.

Professor Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo teaches psychology and health science. Her research focuses on the acute and chronic effects of stress on the brain and body; stress reduction countermeasures; and behavioral medicine, including the biological, psychological, social, and behavioral moderators of disease pathogenesis. In March 2020, she and biology professor Dagan Loisel, an immune-geneticist and virologist, received a grant from NASA to study the effects of stress on indicators of health in students. Beginning with the premise that reducing stress strengthens the immune system, they designed an experiment to study countermeasures to stress and the effects on immune function. “By weakening the immune system,”

Loisel explains, “stress can cause the latent viruses that exist in all of us to emerge. And space is stressful.”

Testing on researchers stationed in Antarctica will begin this coming February and March. Phase two on campus has begun, with a goal of testing 100 volunteers, using a virtual reality meditation activity and electrodes to test various stress responses. Results will be presented to NASA in the spring.

VanderKaay Tomasulo envisions the possibility of on-campus places where students can use virtual reality and meditation apps to destress. Students homesick for their home environments could slip into familiar landscapes to relax.

“I tell my daughter to cut down her screen time,” she says, “but we are seeing great new ways that technology can help us relax.”

So is planet earth, and even Vermont. “Our baseline stress level, post pandemic, is higher,” says Loisel. In the second year of the pandemic, the two began testing virtual meditation techniques on Saint Michael’s Fire and Rescue staff. For five weeks, participants completed five meditations per week and brought saliva samples into the lab, where VanderKaay Tomasulo and Loisel and several research assistants measured stress hormones, immune molecules, and viral reactivation. NASA is currently analyzing their results.

It seems the days of the quiet, isolated campus, a place of contemplation and remove, is a thing of the past. Colleges and universities are more porous, buffeted by the same tremors and shifts that shake the world beyond. Stress is everywhere.

Our professors are finding innovative new ways to relieve it.

WEB EXTRA : To see videos from the Seminars for Social Impact, vist smcvt.edu/smcpresents

Professors Ruth Fabian-Fine and Adam Weaver presenting, along with their students, on neurodegenerative disorders.

The pandemic exposed the raw effects of stress on students of all ages around the world.

INTERGALACTIC ANXIETY

(It’s Everywhere)

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS

Photo by Patrick Bohan

Last spring, Professors Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo of neuroscience/psychology and Dagan Loisel of biology received a $50,000 Vermont Space Grant Consortium grant to identify stress-relieving countermeasures that astronauts could use during longduration space missions to reduce stress and the resultant immune dysregulation. They also received $8,000 of internal funding through the Vermont Biomedical Research Network.

A stressed astronaut is more likely to pass along illness through viruses that might be “shed” in the close quarters of space. But the work also has direct relevance for preventing immune dysfunction and improving health outcomes for people back on earth. Working with scientists from NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) at Johnson Space Center, Loisel and VanderKaay Tomasulo studied stress-induced reactivation and shedding of latent herpes viruses in college students to determine whether guided meditation delivered through virtual navigation might alter the dynamics of this viral shedding.

The project is the brainchild of collaborative work VanderKaay Tomasulo and Loisel did on the new Saint Michael’s Introduction to Health Sciences course in the fall of 2021. They began by testing their theories on students and emergency responders from the Fire and Rescue program at the College. In the

second phase of the study, they collected data from Saint Michael’s student volunteers about the use of virtual reality–delivered meditation and breathing exercises to counteract stress.

In both the fall and spring groups, students agreed to don virtual reality headsets several times a week as they collected bio-data on Fitbits about physical activity, sleep, and heart rate levels, and answered behavioral questionnaires. Participants also collected periodic saliva and urine samples to test cortisol levels and

immune functioning indicative of the effects of stress. The researchers will receive test results after the samples they shipped to NASA are analyzed.

VanderKaay Tomasulo and Loisel have anecdotal evidence from many of the students indicating that they felt less stressed during the weeks they were practicing VR meditation using an app called TRIPP on the Oculus Quest headset. The researchers plan to fly to Houston in the coming year to present their findings to NASA scientists at the Johnson Space Center.

Professors Melissa VenderKaay Tomasulo, Dagan Loisel, and student Colby Fane-Cushing ’25, research assistant, researching virtually guided meditation.

FINDING YOUR PATH: HANNAH

BISHOP ’22

BY FAITH MORGAN ’23 P hotos by Jerry Swope

The Saint Michael’s College master of arts in teaching program (MAT) is an accelerated program with one-year or two-year tracks that lead to a master’s degree in education and initial teaching licensure or an additional endorsement.

A current MAT graduate student, Hannah Bishop ‘22 received her bachelor of science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts from Saint Michael’s. During the latter half of her undergraduate education, Bishop felt herself leaning toward education as a possible career path.

During her senior year, Bishop took two graduate classes from the MAT program (undergraduate students are allowed to take up to three graduate classes). Bishop enrolled in these classes to test out her newfound interest in teaching and instantly fell in love with the field and the department.

Cathy Quinn, school leadership program coordinator and graduate professor, helped Bishop consider the MAT program as a possible option post-graduation and encouraged her to apply. Bishop said that Quinn’s advice provided a strong incentive for her to pursue education.

Bishop praised the many options offered by the program. “It really is different for everyone,” she said. “You can go the art education route, the special education route, the secondary education route, and more.”

Bishop is enrolled in the kindergarten through eighth” grade (K-8) special education program and is working toward her initial licensure. Meanwhile, Bishop said that a peer in the MAT program got an initial licensure during the undergraduate years at Saint Michael’s and is now working toward additional endorsements in special education with the MAT program.

“As someone with a different undergraduate major and minor than education, [I found it]

reallyoverwhelming to not have the background that some other graduate education students have,” said Bishop.

However, her initial nervousness was soon washed away as the “MAT Team,” as Bishop calls it, became a family. “Over the summer, I was in class with the same few people, so I really got to know them well. We were all able to build one another up through motivational efforts,” she said.

Everyone in the MAT program is leading their own journey, Bishop reports. The people running the program are supportive. They’re there to help you figure out what the next steps of your own specific journey might be.

Bishop works as a paraeducator for the Essex Westford School District during the day, contributes as a graduate assistant coach for the Saint Michael’s women’s lacrosse team in the evening, and attends classes for her master’s degree at night. “My days are definitely very long and full,” Bishop said, “but none of it feels like work because I enjoy it.”

The MAT program at Saint Michael’s has provided Bishop with a positive educational environment to explore the craft of teaching through on-campus classes and experience in the field working as a student teacher.

“This path I’m on is really exciting. During the first few years of education, you really have the ability to make a strong impact, and I want to be that leader for my students.”

Hannah Bishop ’22: Student, coach, teacher

The Value of Higher Education

BY SUSAN SALTER REYNOLDS

Photo by Bear Cieri

Students in the Environmental Restoration course touring a community-restoration site with Shawn White of the local Friends of the Winooski River, seen here learning about the importance of floodplains beside the upper reaches of the Winooski River—the same river that flows past the Saint Michael’s Natural Area some 40 miles downstream.

For a complex web of reasons, 60 percent of American adults don’t have a college degree. That said, a recent survey of 350,000 adults by Strada Education Network and Gallup found that half of U.S. adults without degrees want more education. What are they looking for? What is the value of a college education?

Different things, of course, for different people. But current data shows more high school graduates are saying no to college, causing an enrollment decline that began well before the pandemic. And then there’s the return-on-investment problem—will a college education lead to a job, or a meaningful career? We know the answer to that question has been a resounding YES for at least a century. “The unemployment rate of college graduates,” says Patrick Walsh, chair of the Department of Economics and associate professor of economics at Saint Michael’s College, “is consistently one half of the people who don’t go to college. College graduates have a greater ability to steer their future. They are more likely to be leaders in organizations.” In precarious times, that’s worth a lot. But how much?

A recent survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education explored the reasons that high school graduates have been saying no to college: 38 percent said it was too expensive, 27 percent said it was too stressful, 26 percent felt it was more important to go out and get a job to make money, and others said they were simply unsure about the future, affecting decisions such as what to major in or what career path to follow. Still others were turned off by the possibility of remote classes.

Data from the National Student

Those who believe that higher education is no longer necessary talk about breaking through “the paper ceiling.” Yet there’s increasing evidence that employers want people who can think and write and navigate social, cultural, and institutional changes. A recent study by the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University concluded that of the 35 million job openings in next decade, 40 percent will go to people with college degrees and 30 percent to people with postsecondary training. Seventy-five percent of the

Past dips were filled by an increase in women going to college, or a significant growth in financial aid. In the past decade, the growth of online and overseas students kept enrollments high.

What will increase enrollments now? In response to declining enrollments, some colleges have increased their career focus, offering on-the-job training, courses that result in a license, more flexibility for coursework to fit into life, opportunities for hands-on or field experience, classes on managing personal

What is the fundamental value of higher education?

Clearinghouse Research Center shows that college attendance has fallen 10 percent since 2020, some of which is due to a drop in birthrates since 2007. At first, starting pre-pandemic, the declines were mostly among men, but last spring women’s enrollment also fell, and still, the hardest fall has been in underrepresented groups.

good jobs (defined as paying $45,000 or more mid-career) are held by people with college degrees.

Higher education has traditionally been slow to respond to market changes, and usually grows its way out of the troughs. In A History of American Higher Education, author John Thelin assures readers that this has happened before.

finance, and the promise that all classes will be in person. Most of the pundits and policymakers agree: Colleges need to attract underrepresented and nontraditional students.

Liberal arts colleges, in particular, have borne the burden of proof: what is the fundamental value of higher education? This period

A small group of students learning in the Media Creation Studio.

reminds lifelong educator Fr. David Theroux of another period in the history of higher education, the early 1900s, when education was meant to train a workforce, not “better the person.” In his course, Christianity Past and Present, Fr. Theroux notices that the students rush through their coursework, eager to get on to filling credits for their major. Amy Saks Pavese, director of graduate education, feels that a Saint Michael’s College education helps students find their role, their voice in a democracy; it helps them consider the fundamental ideals of life in a democracy and form a nascent commitment to social justice.

Patrick Walsh has written, thought, and taught a great deal about the value of higher education. One central question he returns to is how much are families willing to pay for college, and what do they perceive the benefits are, beyond a future career? These are called externalities, and they include some important items: a more robust democracy, and, according to many studies, better health.

The national press, Walsh said, in most articles about the high cost of higher ed, treats colleges as a monolithic model. In fact, there are several college models: the large university with huge class sizes and many courses taught by relatively inexpensive adjuncts; state schools; the small, more elite liberal arts colleges; and the community colleges. Each comes with different costs, priorities, and outcomes.

“If you go back to the 1970s, when I was born,” Walsh says, “income inequality was much lower; status inequality was lower, which meant the value of an elite, expensive education was lower.” The direct cost (tuition + room and board) of a college education has in fact been rising faster than inflation for the past several decades, but only in the past 10 years or so has it overtaken the opportunity cost of four years of not working. It’s always good, he explains, to distinguish “sticker price” (which has greatly exceeded inflation) from the discounted tuition that most students pay, which has grown, but less quickly. This has to be factored in when calculating the net benefit of college.

Walsh is a first-generation college graduate. He has two children; the older child is very creative and artistic, the younger is very organized, structured, STEM focused, and musical. “There’s no one single right college for either child,” he says. As a parent, however, he hopes that his children find the support in college to become independent thinkers and doers. “At St. Mike’s,” he says, “we do a great job of that.”

Students presenting their art projects in Sloan Art Center.

Rev. David Theroux, SSE ’70 talking with student Asher Rich ’24.

WEB EXTRA : To read more about the new community mural, go to smcvt.edu/mural

AN ABIDING FO

BY ANNIE ROSELLO ‘94 Photos courtesy of alumni

“There’s a college for everyone” is a common refrain from high school counselors, and they’re absolutely right. But what makes Saint Michael’s the right fit for its students? We recently asked alumni from across the decades what made their choice of Saint Michael’s so valuable. Their courses of study and extracurriculars varied widely, but they all agreed: Saint Michael’s has helped shape their lives and careers in meaningful and wonderful ways.

SOPHIE ADAMS ’18 served as president of the Student Government Association, taught in Malaysia as a Fulbright Scholar, and now works as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The extracurricular opportunities and the incredible people who lead them at Saint Michael’s are what got me to my career today,” Adams explains. The diversity of her activities, including the Adventure Sports Center, and a wide variety of coursework led her to pursue a career in public service “on the frontline of the climate crisis.”

“Attending a liberal arts college turned out to be a lucky choice for me,” remembers ED ARCHER ’56, whose career included serving as an analytical chemist at Texaco. “Our Humanities program was a difficult joy, combining history, literature, and art into one course, while preparing me to communicate effectively with people of other backgrounds. St. Mike’s did a very good job teaching the sciences, too,

based on the number of students who were successful in the medical and other scientific fields after graduation.”

KATE PURCELL M’80 came to Saint Michael’s as a graduate student in counseling psychology. “What made the experience rich was the diversity of grad students in my cohort,” she says. But it was also her willingness to dive into the Saint Michael’s community that created lasting ties. Purcell was one of the first women in Saint Michael’s Fire and Rescue (SMFR) program to make senior status as a firefighter, and serve as resident director, through which she formed great friendships with staff and Edmundites. “Gratitude,” she explains, “is the one word I can use to express my time at SMC.”

Deputy Chief of Falmouth Fire-EMS COLIN SHEA ’02 credits SMFR for its ongoing influence post-graduation. “It was not a career path I had considered prior to SMC,” he says. “But SMFR

provided me with the skills and abilities I needed to start my career.” He values the diversity of knowledge that his liberal arts education provided. “Being able to recognize the different backgrounds and cultures of those I am working with helps me tremendously.”

The experiences that JESS GAGNE SHEA ’04 had at Saint Michael’s enabled her to examine the world through multiple lenses. “My liberal arts education led me to appreciate travel, understand inequality that exists, and focus on the importance of volunteering and giving back,” she explains. She believes her SMFR leadership gave her time management, collaboration, decision-making and negotiating skills. Now a senior technical consultant at MilliporeSigma, she says “These experiences significantly helped my career with the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively.”

UNDATION

MELANIE DEMARAIS ’79 valued her time at Saint Michael’s so much that she made a career of working in higher education. She currently serves as assistant vice president for leadership giving at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a young woman during the first few years of coeducation at St. Mike’s, she found it very meaningful to have women in positions of influence. “As a Political Science major, I was thrilled to have two female professors, which was rare at small colleges in the 1970s,” she remembers. “This reality meant so much to me; they stood as great mentors in my life.”

As an international student from Spain and a varsity soccer player, ADRIAN DIAZ GUERRERO ’18, M’22 , embraced the opportunities that Saint Michael’s provided. He also participated in a MOVE trip to the Dominican Republic. “To this day, it was the most eye-opening experience I have ever had,” he recalls. Diaz Guerrero not only stayed on at St. Mike’s after graduation as an

admissions officer, but also served as a resident director and assistant soccer coach, and in 2022, earned an M.Ed. degree.

PETER KOWALSKI ’83 has spent years working to protect public health as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. “Taking science classes from professors who were passionate about sharing their knowledge in small classes was most valuable to me,” he remembers. “I also benefited from non-science courses, such as economics, philosophy, and Christian bioethics, to help me think critically about important issues in our society.”

A third-year law student at Notre Dame, SHANE COUGHLIN ’20 knows that the academic rigor he encountered at Saint Michael’s fully prepared him for his current course work. “Seminar-style classes with discussion were beneficial,” he explains, “because they improved my ability to communicate clearly about complicated issues.” Coughlin worked closely with political science professor Shefali Misra on an

eight-week summer research project studying political theory and polarization.

VICTORIA SMITH ’18 is a researcher with ORB International. Through her graduate studies in international relations at the Citadel, extensive travel abroad, and experience in counterterrorism and intelligence, she has been grateful for the strong foundation Saint Michael’s gave her. “A liberal arts education exposes you to different topics and perspectives in the world,” she explains. “You see that there is often a deeper connection than the one you see at the surface. Learning to think about an issue in multiple dimensions not only encourages academic intelligence but can promote ethical growth.”

Countless alumni have fulfilled the Saint Michael’s vision, Do Well and Do Good. Created by our Edmundite founders and sustained by brilliant faculty and committed staff, this vision is a legacy that will abide for future generations of Purple Knights.

For more on the alumni featured here, visit smcvt.edu/spotlight

Left to right: Sophie Adams ’18; Ed Archer ’56; Kate Purcell M’80; Colin Shea ’02; Jess Gagne Shea ’04; Melanie Demarais ’79; Adrian Diaz Guerrero ’18, M’22; Peter Kowalski ’83; Shane Coughlin ’20; Victoria Smith ’18.

The School Question

REV. MICHAEL CARTER, SSE ’12

(excerpted from “The New Dividing Line: The School Question Viewed Through the Lens of Political Cartoons in the Election of 1876,” which was published in 2022 in the University of Vermont History Review, Volume XXXII: 2021-2022.)

Preceding the presidential election of 1876 between Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, the so-called School Question, the debate over whether publicly funded educational institutions should offer any sort of sectarian teaching, had the effect of disallowing the offer of public funds to any type of Catholic education. This debate over American schools and their funding, often a proxy for American “values” over and against the concern of “foreign” immigrant communities, emerged as the wedge issue Republicans sought in the campaign. This topic grew from a local- and state-level concern into a national and federal debate as the Republican Party

perceived that its educational policies could be a new “national dividing line” around which to motivate its core constituencies. The national media culture that was maturing in this era would play a key role in the growth and perception of this issue; political cartoons found in the national publication Harper’s Weekly in 1875 and 1876 provide a useful, enlightening way to chart how the School Question was visualized in the minds of Americans and how it shifted from a local issue into a federal matter.

The standard argument that emerges from the literature is that some Americans in 19th-century America equated Protestantism with the foundations of American society. Perceived fundamental American values such as individualism, egalitarianism, and republican citizenship were part of this ethos. Catholics, who were predominantly immigrants, therefore posed an existential threat to American society and politics. With American citizenship being volitional in nature, nativists believed that it would be difficult to assimilate Catholic foreigners into the American project. The struggles of immigrants between maintaining their specific identity and the pressure to conform to an “American” way of life are constituent parts of these experiences, and contributed to new understandings of American identity and culture into the 20th century and beyond.

The School Question must be viewed in light of the cultural climate of post–Civil War America, where there was a rising anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic fervor, an impulse that had been brewing in the antebellum years. One of the main battlegrounds for this sensibility was American education and its connection to American religion. Schooling in early America was neither fully public nor fully secular. Before the middle third of the 1800s, schools were largely voluntary enterprises, only occasionally aided by government grants. These schools were often affiliated with churches and administered by clergy, with specifically religious instruction being integral to their curricula.

While these schools helped to forge a common American educational identity, they ignored the rapidly increasing numbers of those who did not adhere to the general consensus. Chief among these “non-mainstream” believers were those in the mostly immigrant Roman

Catholic community, whose numbers were growing precipitously in American cities between the 1840s and 1860s. Anti-Catholic sentiment was deep-rooted in the American consciousness, predating independence and able to trace its ultimate beginnings to the Reformation. The predominantly Protestant character of early 19thcentury America was suffused with ancestral perceptions of Catholics as being foreign, immoral, and opposed to the individual freedoms that Americans so cherished. Aside from religious and ideological revulsion, the sense of difference that many Americans projected onto Catholic immigrants led to a widespread belief that they stole jobs from hardworking native-born Americans, and that they had a greater propensity to abuse

substances and commit crimes. Rhetoric from the press and the pulpit gave rise in this era to the first anti-Catholic societies and movements in the United States, many of which promoted the belief that Catholics were trying to undermine American society through the co-opting of such seemingly benevolent institutions as schools.

Textbooks used in the common schools often mocked Catholics and their faith. As some states continued to codify public educational requirements into law, there was a growing consensus among Catholic leaders that parochial schools were doing the work of the state by providing the required education that Catholics felt they were unable to receive in hostile public schools. This being the case, Catholic leaders felt that Catholic schools should receive public money to support their efforts. The resulting controversy over Protestant religious instruction in America’s public schools and the public funding of parochial schools became known as the “School Controversy,” or, more commonly, the “School Question.”

As these cultural and political standoffs seeped into the pages of the press, no figure better immortalized and exemplified the Republican position on this issue than the German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose work appeared in the pages of the New York City Republican magazine Harper’s Weekly. Nast was a pioneer of American cartooning, able to use his pen to cut to the heart of politicians and policy through his biting caricatures. In Nast’s hands, cartoons became a force capable of influencing public perceptions and debates far more eloquently than mere words alone.

One sees in post–Civil War cartoons a nation again divided, not between North and South, but between viewpoints on church and state. Fear of Catholic backwardness and its potential impact on education were part of the more general spectrum of anti-Catholic prejudice before the more specific crystallization of the School Question into a national campaign issue in the future. There was an emerging sense of there being two Americas: that which understood and abided by the system of common American values, and that which did not. The war was on for the American heart, and the “mainstream” and “foreign” camps would be two opposing forces.

Though ultimately something of a nonstarter in the closely contested election of 1876, the issue of public versus private education and all of the cultural baggage associated with it would rear its head again in years to come as the issues of Reconstruction faded into the background. The debates over what it meant to be a “real” American and who could claim those values for themselves were always a part of the School Question, and in the continuing controversies over the social role of charter schools and private versus public education, they are still argued in contemporary times. Though wearing different guises and discussed in some different contexts, the underlying cultural and ideological issues that characterized the School Question debate remain key controversies for any attempted conception of the American national character. Looking out from a contemporary perspective, one can see the cultural dividing lines that continue to be present in the American body politic: the School Question was never the first of these, as it was not to be the last.

WEB EXTRA : to read the entire article with explanations of the cartoons used here go to: smcvt.edu/dividingline

The debates over what it meant to be a “real” American and who could claim those values for themselves were always a part of the School Question, and in the continuing controversies over the social role of charter schools and private versus public education, they are still argued in contemporary times.

BREAKING IT DOWN: THE HIGH

COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION

BY ELIZABETH MURRAY ’13 Photo by Jerry Swope

Prospective student families may find it hard to avoid sticker shock when they see the price tags attached to colleges and universities across the U.S. these days.

But there’s good news.

As those overall prices seem to continue rising, the actual price that students end up paying has stayed mostly flat—including at colleges like Saint Michael’s College.

The amount students pay, called the net price, is calculated by subtracting the financial aid awarded to students from the total price of attending (tuition, room and board, and other fees and expenses), according to Saint Michael’s College Vice President for Finance and Administration Rob Robinson ’91.

The cost of higher education is a “hugely complicated” topic, Robinson said. National perceptions concerning what a sticker price says about the college or university complicate the calculation even more.

“Conventional wisdom in higher ed has been that your sticker price is a statement on your perceived value in the market, and your sticker price must keep pace with your nearest peers,” Robinson said. Meanwhile, he added, the sticker price needs to cover rising costs and the amenities students and their families expect, such as wideranging academic program offerings, recreation facilities, local food, and student support services such as counseling.

In the end, students still need to feel that they can afford college without being buried by student loans. So, how does this complex equation get addressed?

THE DATA

The average cost of attending a four-year college has more than doubled in the 21st century. The annual growth rate, the Initiative estimates, has been about 6.8 percent.

When we compare four-year public and private nonprofit institutions, the average costs diverge a bit. Data published in October 2022 by the College Board shows:

• Average costs (tuition, fees, and room and board) for four-year public colleges in the U.S. were $23,250 for the 2022–23 academic year—about 2 percent higher than they were a decade prior.

• Private nonprofit universities have annual tuition, fees, and room and board of about $53,430 on average— almost 6 percent higher than a decade prior.

Without considering room and board costs, students attending public four-year colleges actually saw tuition and fees decrease over the last decade, according to the College Board’s data.

• Public colleges: $10,940 in 2022–23, a 1 percent decrease since 2012–13.

• Private nonprofit colleges: $39,400 in 2022–23, a 6 percent increase since 2012–13.

Photo by Bear Cieri

Durick Library is a favorite location for an outdoor classroom.

Professor Alaba Apesin of the Business Department in the classroom

SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE

The rise in sticker prices continues to greatly outpace prospective students’ perceived ability to pay for college. That’s where financial aid comes in.

The Education Data Initiative’s data shows that more than 83 percent of first-time, first-year undergraduate students currently receive aid in some form. Data from the College Board’s October report shows that in academic year 2021–22, undergraduate students received an average of $15,330 per full-time equivalent student in financial aid.

At Saint Michael’s College, more than 90 percent of students receive financial aid.

• The College’s donors. A substantial percentage of annual gift revenue is earmarked for scholarships and other student support.

• Overall college resources. Much of this money comes from net student revenue, or the money that the College receives from student tuition payments, minus financial aid.

“AS FAMILIES WEIGH

COLLEGE COSTS RELATIVE TO OTHER PRIORITIES, COLLEGES CONTINUE TO WORK TO FIND BALANCE BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL BUDGET AND REVENUE REALITIES, SOCIAL EQUITY, AND GREATER ACCESS.”

“Saint Michael’s is keenly aware of the challenges of college affordability,” said Student Financial Services Director Diane Corbett. “In addition to merit aid based on a student’s academic record, Saint Michael’s offers need-based financial aid based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The greater the financial need calculation, the higher the percentage of need met.”

According to Robinson, the money for financial aid typically comes from three places:

• The College’s endowment. More than half of the College’s roughly $95 million endowment is used for financial aid.

Corbett believes that using financial aid to provide equitable access to higher education is essential, and that need will only grow.

“From a practical perspective, demographics are changing,” Corbett said. “In order to compete in the marketplace, Saint Michael’s will need to think about new and different ways to provide access and ongoing support to students from every socioeconomic level.

I am pleased to share that these discussions are already underway.”

Moving forward, Corbett said she hopes measures such as doubling the Pell Grant and reducing the cost of borrowing for federal student loans will gather momentum. She believes this type of support on the federal level will help level the financial playing field.

“As families weigh college costs relative to other priorities, colleges continue to work to find balance between institutional budget and revenue realities, social equity, and greater access,” Corbett said.

ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME CLASS

BY JOSH KESSLER ’04, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Saint Michael’s College Department of Athletics honored five special alumni during the College’s Alumni and Family Weekend on September 23, inducting its 33rd Athletic Hall of Fame class in the Dion Family Center’s Roy Room.

Early soccer star PAM (MELCHER) COBB ’85 and record-setting ice hockey goalie PHIL FERNANDEZ ’87 hailed from the 1980s, when swimmer SUSAN FUMAGALLI MAHONEY ’92 began a college career that has yet to end, leading to a long tenure as an athletics administrator. A pair of recent greats were also recognized, as NCAA Championship-qualifying cross-country star CHLOE BOUTELLE ’15 and All-America swimmer LINDSAY MCNALL ’17 rounded out the impressive class of honorees.

Even nearly 40 years after graduating, Cobb remains one of the most prolific scorers in Saint Michael’s history, and helped build the foundation for a program that was among the College’s most successful by the end of the ’80s and into the early ’90s. A rare three-year captain, she scored 32 goals and 71 points during the program’s first three varsity seasons, including 14 goals and 33 points in the Purple Knights’ debut season of 1982.

Fernandez was the first great goaltender in the modern era of Saint Michael’s men’s ice hockey, and still holds the program record for career wins (37) after graduating with marks in nearly every goaltending category. After joining the Purple Knights in their second season of varsity play following three decades of dormancy, Fernandez appeared in 76 of 87 games over four years, making 75 starts. His standards for career saves (2,320) and minutes (4,307:59) lasted for 25 years.

Mahoney was a swimming and diving captain who has gone on to become a well-regarded athletics administrator, and an inspiration as she manages a challenging medical condition. The Purple Knights twice tied the school record for victories during her swimming career. Mahoney’s professional journey took her into the sports information field at Bucknell University, the United States Naval Academy, and Widener University, and she has continued climbing the administrative ladder, currently serving Gettysburg College as its senior associate director of athletics.

Boutelle captained both the women’s cross-country and Nordic skiing teams, and she remains one of the school’s most legendary harriers. The only four-time Northeast-10 Conference All-Conference runner ever at the College, Boutelle qualified individually for the 2013 NCAA Championship before leading her team back to NCAAs as a senior. She won six career races, captured a pair of state championships, and ran the top two 6K times in program history—and the second-fastest 5K time.

McNall is the only All-America swimmer in College history, becoming the lone member of the Saint Michael’s swimming and diving programs to compete at an NCAA Championship. The rare first-ballot Hall of Famer, she won a school-record 102 races during her career, graduated with eight school records, and was a three-time champion at both the NE10 Championship and NEISDA Championship. The 2017 NE10 Swimmer of the Year has since returned to serve as the top assistant coach at her alma mater.

To read more, visit smcathletics.com

Photo: Walter Erickson

Left to right: Chloe Boutelle ’15, Susan Fumagalli Mahoney ’92, Phil Fernandez ’87, Lindsay McNall ’17, Pam (Melcher) Cobb ’85.

Extreme Survival: Lessons from Those Who Have Triumphed Against All Odds

By Michael J. Tougias ’77 (Mango Publishing)

New York Times bestselling author Michael Tougias interviewed over 100 people with harrowing experiences: first chronicling their stories, then discussing in detail the lessons they learned. Extreme Survival provides the entertainment and exceptional research fans of Tougias have come to expect.

Why Should I Climb This Tree?

By Ryan Hogan ‘01 Illustrations by Susanna Braymer (The Troy Book Makers)

The book is about the lost art of climbing trees and about a boy who decides to climb one and overcomes many challenges to reach the top. Along the way, he learns about the great person he is. It is dedicated to the author’s son, Jack, and to the power of nature and getting kids back outside again.

Mass-Observation: Text, Context and Analysis of the Pioneering Pamphlet and Movement

Edited by Jennifer J. Purcell (Bloomsbury Publishing)

This book reproduces the original 1937 founding pamphlet of Mass-Observation—the compelling social research project that ran for decades in the mid-20th century—with expert commentary throughout. An introductory essay by Saint Michael’s College professor Jennifer J. Purcell synthesizes the arguments of this material, as well as contributing vital historical context and suggestions for ways in which other disciplines might benefit from the use of Mass-Observation approaches and archival material.

FACULTY AND ALUMNI

The Diversity of Fishes

By Douglas E. Facey (Wiley Publishing)

Saint Michael’s College Professor Emeritus Doug Facey is lead author on this third edition of The Diversity of Fishes, which provides a major revision of the widely adopted ichthyology textbook, incorporating the latest advances in the biology of fishes and covering taxonomy, anatomy, physiology, biogeography, ecology, and behavior. Key information on the evolution of various fishes is also presented, providing expansive and conclusive coverage on all key topics pertaining to the field.

The Road Taken: A Memoir

By Patrick Leahy ’61 (Simon and Schuster)

In his landmark memoir, Patrick Leahy ’61 looks back on a life lived on the front lines of American politics. As the senior-most member and de facto dean of the chamber, Senator Leahy has been a key author of the American story. Leahy established himself as a moral leader and liberal pioneer over four decades spanning nine presidential administrations.

“Out of the Ordinary: The Poetry of Greg Delanty”

By Daniel

(New

Johnson

Hibernia Review, University of St. Thomas)

Daniel Johnson of the Saint Michael’s English faculty had an article published in one of the leading journals on Irish and Irish-American literature and culture, New Hibernia. The article critically examines Greg Delanty, longtime Saint Michael’s English faculty member and an internationally acclaimed Irish poet, and his poetry.

Paying It Forward: A Win-Win Estate Gift

FORMER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT

PETE GRIFFIN ’60

IMPACTS STUDENTS

THROUGH CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITY

Growing up on a farm, Pete Griffin was fortunate to have the support of family and neighbors, who encouraged his participation in education and sports. His abilities paid off when he applied to Saint Michael’s and was awarded several small scholarships that made it possible to attend.

Griffin has many fond memories of his time here and has contributed financially to the College every year since his graduation. It was a natural progression for Griffin and his late wife, Joanne, to include Saint Michael’s in their estate plans. They chose a charitable gift annuity (CGA). The College will receive the gift upon both of their passing; between now and then, Griffin receives quarterly distributions from the annuity. He considers this a “win-win.” In addition, the Griffins received a tax deduction on their long form at the time they established the annuity, and the quarterly distributions are taxed by the IRS at a lower rate.

Griffin says that at St. Mike’s he learned to take responsibility in all aspects of his life, including academics, ROTC, and athletics. He also credits the College with giving him a sound religious foundation. While Griffin trained as an actuary, he became more interested in youth sports and working with young adults, so he ended up teaching math and coaching sports in public education for 33 years, 17 of which were as a high school principal. Upon his “retirement” Griffin became an adjunct professor at several colleges in the Albany, New York, area for another 17 years.

When asked what advice he would give to today’s students, Griffin quickly says, “Enjoy the holistic experience that St. Mike’s is giving you—the academics, the religious foundation, the leadership, service and athletic opportunities, and the wonderful sense of community. The total package is priceless!”

Carla Francis Major Gift and Gift Planning Officer

cfrancis@smcvt.edu 802.654.2618 smcvt.edu/plannedgiving

Could a charitable gift annuity help you meet both your philanthropic and financial security goals?

With a gift annuity, you make a donation using cash, marketable securities, or other assets. In turn, you’ll receive reliable, predictable payments for your lifetime (and the lifetime of a loved one, if you choose). Reach out to the College’s planned giving office staff to learn more.

“This

Pete Griffin ’60

Letter from the Alumni Board President

Being back on campus in September for Alumni and Family Weekend was a wonderful reminder that the community spirit at Saint Michael’s College is alive and well. On a glorious fall day, students were out in full force at the Welcome Back Bash on the library lawn, enjoying food and beverages, listening to live music, all while learning about the wide variety of clubs and activities they can be a part of. The women’s soccer game against Le Moyne may have ended in a tie, but campus was abuzz over the new lights recently installed on the Duffy Turf Field, which allow teams to dramatically extend their playing time during the fall and spring seasons. A special men’s 50th and women’s 30th rugby anniversary celebration was held on the 300s field, and a beautiful Saturday was capped off by a downtown gathering attended by more than 100 alumni. Meanwhile, in other corners of

Saint Michael’s College, music blared, frisbees flew, hammocks swayed—it was a reminder of those fabulous first weeks back on campus in the fall.

It is an exciting time for the College as it begins a new year with a focus on “Purposeful Learning,” a bold initiative, designed to prepare students to achieve lives of purpose and fulfillment both during and after college. As alumni, we can contribute to the success of Saint Michael’s College students. In November, the Alumni Board of Directors once again hosted its annual Career Symposium, in person and on campus for the first time in three years.

More than 30 alumni from across the country served on 10 different panels, providing personal stories about their respective career paths, along with career advice and ideas for internship and other growth opportunities to prepare students for their college and career journey.

If you are interested in helping students, join SMC Connect (smcvt.edu/ smcconnect) and email alumni@smcvt.edu to let the College know you’d like to be a future Career Symposium panelist or classroom speaker.

Finally, with the Alumni Office planning over 20 regional events across the country this fall, there’s probably an event happening near you (visit: smcvt.edu/alumni). I hope you take the time to reconnect and reminisce with fellow alumni; these events are always a wonderful reminder of why we cherish our own college experience. St. Mike’s is the place where we made lifelong friends and received a high-quality liberal arts education

in a beautiful setting. Please join me in profound gratitude for Saint Michael’s College and the impact it continues to have on our lives.

Suzanne Leous ’86

All in for St. Mike’s: Donor Impact FY22

Once again, Saint Michael’s alumni, friends, and family came through with impactful, tremendous support in FY22, with more than $8.1 million in gifts and pledges raised. The generosity we experienced this year speaks volumes about the intrinsic and lasting value of a Saint Michael’s education.

There were a number of remarkable gifts that created direct and immediate benefits for our students. A $1 million gift from Toni Boucher in honor of her late husband Henry “Bud” Boucher ’69 was directed to the Boucher Career Education Center to expand student connections with alumni mentors, increase internship opportunities, and create networking opportunities in popular post-grad career destinations like Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

The Golden Knight reunion class gift from the Class of 1972 raised a record-breaking $1.2 million for their 50th Reunion. Many of these gifts were designated to support

A tremendous gift

Dr. Bill Kelly was a kind and unassuming presence on the Saint Michael’s campus, where he graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1965. After earning an M.A. and Ph.D. out West, he joined the faculty at Auburn University in Alabama in 1973, where he remained until his death in 2021. Well-loved and highly respected at Auburn, Kelly lived a life of quiet frugality.

“He had very little as a child and went out of his way to make sure his students knew how to prepare for their future financially,” explains his colleague and friend, professor Steven Brown. “Students loved him for his concern about them and their future. Yet he constantly spoke of Saint Michael’s and wanting to give something back to the school. He was extremely frugal—he shopped at yard sales and flea markets, negotiated rock-bottom prices for used cars—

the Center for Global Engagement, an exciting new hub of international activity at Saint Michael’s, including study abroad programs, global internships, Peace Corps preparation, and support for international students studying on campus.

We also received significant gifts for the new state-of-theart media creation studio, an athletic conference room honoring legendary coach and mentor Sue Duprat, and all 21 varsity teams through the Purple Knight Challenge. No matter where your interests lie, a gift to Saint Michael’s makes a tremendous difference for today’s students, who enthusiastically and universally live up to the Saint Michael’s vision: Do Well and Do Good.

Krystyna Davenport Brown Vice President for Institutional Advancement

he made it clear he was saving all he could to help other people.”

In early 2022, Saint Michael’s received word from Dr. Kelly’s estate that he had left a gift to the College—a staggering $2.3 million. A gift of this magnitude will reach every corner of the campus and enrich the lives of all Purple Knights—now and in the future. “With Bill’s generous gift,” says Jim Whitman ’65, “he has made sure that others can take his path of solid growth, development, and service to others.” Agrees classmate Kevin Slane ’65, “The vision of Saint Michael’s College is Do Well and Do Good. Bill Kelly certainly lived that out each and every day throughout his life and through his legacy.”

The Don Sutton Fire and Rescue Scholarship provides a financial lifeline for student volunteers. This scholarship invests in students who dedicate their time and talent to saving lives through Saint Michael’s Fire and Rescue (SMFR). Established decades ago by the late Fran and Mary Ritz P’77, the scholarship grew substantially in 2022 following a bequest from their estate. Thanks to their vision and generosity, the Don Sutton Fire and Rescue Scholarship will continue impacting the lives of SMFR volunteers for generations to come.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the Spring/ Summer issue of the magazine. Loved the content themed to “purpose,” especially the beautiful profile of Mark Tarnacki. The story captured him perfectly.

Mark was a terrific colleague at the Brattleboro Reformer as a perceptive writer, an astute editor,

and an unbelievably kind friend. I DID give him my Bible from Father Berube’s New Testament class, and thought it was serendipitous when he found a home at Saint Michael’s years ago.

It seemed like a good fit for Mark—but also for the College. St. Mike’s is lucky to have him! It’s so nice to see him recognized.

Barb Nagy ’80

1956

RICHARD “NICK” BARONE , Meriden, CT, kindly shared the information elsewhere in these pages (under obituaries) about the interesting life of his late classmate Ramon (Ray) Geremia, who died in June 2016. The two classmates had a long connection through their lives, as Richard (known as “Nick” to his classmates) explained in his note: “After graduation Ray went to Washington, DC, to work for the Associated Press. In 1957, he was in Nick’s wedding party. Ray continued his career in Washington, DC, and eventually became Day Editor for the Washington Post. In 1965, Nick and his wife attended Ray and Jean’s wedding in DC. At some point in the 1970s, Ray felt he had enough of the

Richard “Nick” Barone ’56 holds a ceremonial mace carved by his late classmate Ray Geremia at Northern Vermont University after the May 2022 Commencement of Nick’s grandson. See story behind the photo under 1956 class notes.

Washington, DC, world and with his family moved to St. Johnsbury, VT. There Ray began his love of sculpturing and writing poetry. He also taught some courses at St. Johnsbury Academy. Nick and his wife visited Ray and his family in the 1970s. Ray loved where he was in Vermont and was happy to show off his sculptures and his property. Over the years Ray and Nick traded Christmas cards. When called about the 50th class reunion, Ray was unable to attend due to eye surgery. After Jean died, Ray remarried and became an adjunct in English and the Arts at Lyndon College. In 2014, Ray suffered a slight stroke. Before his death in 2016, he carved the ceremonial mace carried by the faculty marshall. He also sculpted a lion which was dedicated in 2019 in front of

the Veteran’s Memorial at what is now called Northern Vermont University. The prompt to reconnect to Ray occurred because one of Nick’s grandsons was graduating from Northern Vermont University in mid-May, and seeing the article about the mace in the program led to this research.” Nick also shared a copy of the recent Commencement program along with a photo of himself holding the ceremonial mace since he asked to see it after reading about it in the program. (See photo)

1958

JOSEPH HALEY, Estero, FL, traveled to Bozeman, MT, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his daughter KELLEY HALEY DOWDELL ’90 (see photo).

FABIAN RAAB, JR., Biloxi, MS, shared that his wife Marie T. (Terry) passed away January 7, 2021, after nearly 62 years of marriage. They were married by an Edmundite officiant on January 10, 1959. He wrote: “I spent six months working in the alumni placement office with Tom Kenney, then to retail for 45 years, clerk to OVP from Montgomery Ward to finally Home Depot. We retired to Florida for 21 years, and I now live here in Biloxi. Three children: Elizabeth, Fabian III (deceased), and Stephanie, six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren.”

1961

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, D-VT, Burlington, VT, in his June 8, 2022, address as U.S. Senate President Pro

Joseph Haley ’58 at daughter Kelley Haley Dowdell ’90’s 30th wedding anniversary. Alumni and faculty in attendance (back row left to right) Caitlyn Adamo ’10, Cathy Cadwell (faculty), Mike Riddell ’88, Erin Haley Cashman ’92, and Jen Plumley ’89.

Bob Parker ’63 and his entire family (25 people) visited Hawaii in late July for a week of sun, sand, and fun. (See Class of ’63 notes for details).

Peter Riley ’78 is an award-winning nature photographer. Now he has been contracted to provide his photographs of birds such as these as part of an Alzheimer’s treatment project (see Class of 1978 notes for details).

Tempore, made a reference to his days as a Saint Michael’s College student and his participation on the target shooting team. “I was on the target shooting team at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, my alma mater; earned my letter on that.” Leahy’s reference came during a speech in which he spoke about his support for responsible, safe gun ownership and “common sense” gun laws.

John Boutin ’79 co-owner of VermontBiz, a print magazine and business news website that produces daily reports sent statewide, celebrated the magazine’s 50th anniversary on August 17, 2022 at the Lake Champlain Sailing Center. The event drew many current or former employees of VermontBiz, one of whom was John’s fellow Saint Michael’s College graduate, Betsy Walters Drury ’79. (See Class of 1979 notes for more details).

1963

Greg White ’81 shared this photo of alumni together on Martha’s Vineyard after funeral services this summer for Robert “Bob” Donoghue ’57, who died in August and was Greg’s father-in-law. Pictured in the photo: Zach Cook ’04, Greg White ’81, Beth White, Christopher White ’04; back: Molly Cook ’04, Sunny White ’05, Casey O’Connor ’05.

BOB PARKER, San Antonio, TX, and his entire family (25 people) visited Hawaii in late July for a week of sun, sand, and fun. Bob, his four grown children, their spouses, and 14 grandkids had a fabulous family reunion on Oahu. They did “all the mandatory activities while on the Island: toured Pearl Harbor, hiked several mountains, lots of beach time and attended a luau.” A special bonus was spending time with his old roommate, MIKE SWEENY ’63, and his wife Nicole. Mike and his sister-in-law Sue were the “boots on the ground” and instrumental in setting up lodging, transportation, and restaurants. Mike and Bob enjoyed their mini class reunion, Bob writes (see photo).

1967

MICHAEL A. NUNNO, Auburn, NY, has been

granted Emeritus status at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at the College of Human Ecology, Cornell University. Hired in 1975, Michael was instrumental in the initial development and ongoing management of the New York State Child Protective Services Training Institute (CPSTI) and the New York State Residential Child Care Project (RCCP). The CPSTI was one of the nation’s first centralized child protective services serving all of New York’s 62 counties. At the same time, the RCCP evolved from a statewide child welfare training resource to an international child welfare training and technical assistance resource with programs in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Israel, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Since his retirement, he has remained active in multiple research projects, including evaluations of RCCP’s two flagship programs— Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) and the Children and Residential Experiences (CARE) program model. Most recently, he led the work to update a multidecade database of restraint fatalities in out-ofhome care settings that culminated with a new set of analyses. This work has resulted in over forty peer-reviewed publications and a “promising practice” designation for the CARE program model. Further, he co-edited a special edition of an international

child welfare journal on children’s perceptions of safety during out-of-home care and co-authored a paper for the edition.

1973

KEVIN GODDARD, Morrisville, VT, was the photographer at an alumni wedding (see 2014 notes).

1974

DEAN DELUKE , Reedville, VA, was recently appointed professor emeritus, oral and maxillofacial surgery, following 10 years of service at Virginia Commonwealth University.

1975

THOMAS FITZGERALD, Walpole, NH, and Susan Fitzgerald welcomed their first grandchild, Macauley Fitzgerald Mickle, on August 24, 2022.

1976

CARMEN CAFASSO, Fairfax, VA, retired on January 3, 2020, after approximately a 40-year career as an attorney for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Carmen showed up to work every day, did all he could, and then did a little more. Here’s how he worded his note on that topic: “Not that he would have stuck around longer, but Carmen

notes that everything went to hell shortly after he left federal service. Carmen has been, and intends to continue, enjoying life, very little of which he takes seriously any longer.”

See 2007 notes for news of MARY MORIARTY REILINGH having a mini alumnae reunion at a recent wedding.

1978

GENE FRENETTE , Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, has been a sports columnist at the Florida Times-Union for the past 34 years and recently took first-place in the Associated Press Sports Editors contest for 2021 in the Long Feature Category C division for a story about Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence growing up in Cartersville, GA. Gene also won first-place in the 2021 Florida Society of Newspaper Editors contest for sports writing. “I’ve been employed at the Florida Times-Union since 1981. I was part of the first graduating class earning journalism degrees from Saint Michael’s College,” he writes.

PAUL GALBRAITH, Highland Falls, NY, is very proud to be a part of a short film series titled The Cupcake Chronicles, written and directed by Kevin Byrnes. It was shown at the 2022 Nyack Film Festival and won First Place in the One Location Film Festival. The

film can be seen on YouTube; Volume 2 has been completed, and Volume 3 was scheduled to be shot in September 2022.

DAVID MARCHI, Wilton, CT, was the subject of a feature story in the regional high-end and high-circulation magazine Westport Weston & Wilton. The article, “The Accidental Artist: The Amazing Story of David John Marchi’s Uncovered Talent,” by Timothy Dumas, traces, in dramatic detail, David’s life through major personal transitions and emotional experiences. In recent years, he discovered a savant syndrome talent as a visual artist—seemingly out of the blue, after a boating accident—a talent that has driven and compelled his work to this day.

MATTHEW POPECKI, Lebanon, PA, has won a number of awards for his video work for the Pennsylvania Cable Network including first and second place Keystone Media Awards for two different “Best Public Service” entries. In addition, this year Matt won a Bronze Telly award for a video interstitial on the State Museum of Pennsylvania’s 9/11 display.

PETER RILEY, Essex Junction, VT, posted recently on social media about a worthwhile project. His former professor Nick Clary saw it and shared details: “In addition to being a local musician and piano tuner, Peter is an award-winning nature photographer. Now

he has been contracted to provide his photographs of birds as part of an Alzheimer’s treatment project…” Here’s how Peter describes his latest project on social media: “Two local women are developing a business that will provide activities to stimulate the brains of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.… I’m very proud that they’ve contracted to use my photos for [one version of the activities]. I retain the rights and can still sell prints but I have given them use for their project. I can’t think of a better use for my photos.” (See photos, page 52)

1979

JOHN BOUTIN, Vermont co-owner of VermontBiz, a print magazine and business news website that produces daily reports sent statewide, celebrated the magazine’s 50th anniversary on August 17, 2022, at the Lake Champlain Sailing Center. Business leaders from throughout the state joined the celebration. The event drew many current and former employees of VermontBiz, one of whom was John’s Saint Michael’s College classmate BETSY WALTERS DRURY. John is the son of the late BERNARD BOUTIN ’45, the first lay president of Saint Michael’s. The Boutin Commons townhouses on campus honor the family’s enduring association with and support for Saint Michael’s (see photo, page 52).

1980

MARY ELLEN HEPPNER MALY, San Antonio, TX, retired on December 30, 2021, after a nearly 40-year career with the U.S. Army Environmental Command in Maryland and Texas. For most of that time she investigated and implemented cleanup processes for contaminated groundwater, soil, air, and unexploded ordnance (UXO), to ensure that Army and non-military affected properties were safe.

1981

GAYLE BRUNELLE , Brea, CA, professor emeritus of history from California State University, Fullerton, with co-author Annette FinleyCroswhite, Ph.D., of Old Dominion University, published an article in Inside Higher Education. Says Gayle, “It is based on our experience publishing a book (Assassination in Vichy: Marx Dormoy and the Struggle for the Soul of France, University of Toronto Press, 2020) in the midst of the pandemic. We interviewed other authors, as well as journal and press editors, regarding the impact of COVID on publishing and, especially, the post-publication process, and we offer advice for adapting to the ‘new normal’ in academic publishing.”

WENDY PEPPE-ANDERSON, Wilmington, NC, retired as associate superintendent of

schools for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. After 40 years as an educator and school administrator in Vermont and Washington, she and husband Tom Anderson ’79 plan on traveling, volunteering, and spending time with their grandchildren. She writes that she “was blessed with a remarkable and rewarding career, particularly the past 12 years working to further the mission of the Church and its schools in the Washington, D.C., area. St. Mike’s gave me the tools to succeed and for that I will be forever grateful.”

MICHAEL SEAVER, Burlington, VT, recently was promoted to Vermont regional president and head of commercial banking across the state for M&T Bank, a role he had held with People’s United Bank since 2009 (People’s

was acquired by M&T in 2022). Michael will ensure collaboration across all lines of business and community banking activities, providing value for customers, businesses, and communities across the region.

GREG WHITE gathered with alumni on Martha’s Vineyard (see photo and caption, page 52).

1982

TINA MADKOUR COMPANION, South Burlington, VT, retired in June from the South Burlington School District. She was a special education teacher for the district for 27 years.

1984

MARC ARCHAMBAULT and AMY MCGOUGH, Saint

Joseph, MO, recently celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary in their new hometown of Saint Joseph, MO, just north of Kansas City. Marc was recruited by Missouri Western State University to serve as its vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Western Missouri State University Foundation earlier this year.

1985

See 2007 notes for news of MARY JANE MEAGHER REDA having a mini alumnae reunion at a recent wedding.

1986

DENISE MARTEL , Concord, NH, moved back to New England in January 2022 to live closer to her dad and begin a new job as the

production manager of the Wheelock Family Theatre in the College of Fine Arts at Boston University.

1987

JONATHAN BILLINGS, St. Albans, VT, has been promoted to chief operating officer of Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) in St. Albans. Jonathan previously served on the hospital’s senior leadership team for 32 years, with a focus on community relations and diverse management assignments. Jonathan shared, “I appreciate this opportunity to serve in an expanded way. I am proud of the NMC team’s response throughout the pandemic and our successful return to sustainability over the past two years. NMC has a long history and a bright future in our community and I’m grateful to be part of it.”

Kerrin McCadden ’88 accepted the 2022 Herb Lockwood Prize in the Arts during a July afternoon ceremony at the Burlington City Arts Center for her poetry and contribution to arts in the state (see 1988 notes for details).

Three Class of 1993 moms spent a week in Maine and Cape Cod this summer. (Left to right) Julia Powers (Kate PowersShanks), Lori Spesia (Sarah Spesia Valaika) and Mary Jean Crockett (Caroline Crockett Orford) have become great friends over the 33 years since their daughters started at SMC, and vacation together - without their daughters! Says Sarah, “Their long friendship has changed my perspective of my kids’ college experiences. Now I wonder who I may meet through my kids!”

Over the years, Pat has served as a board member, coach, snack shack coordinator, griller, and all-around Pat-ofall-trades, willing to help in any capacity to make dreams come true every spring. In May the SLL board honored him by naming the alleyway that stretches behind the Shelburne Community Center/Police Department and in front of the Little League fields: “Whitman Way.” His service has benefited innumerable families, including many Saint Michael’s staff, faculty, and alumni.

Patrick Whitman ’95 was recognized last spring for his 17 years of volunteer service with the Shelburne (VT) Little League (SLL) organization.

MORGAN RUSSELL , Hingham, MA, will have his art featured in the Clemens Gallery at Hingham Library, south of Boston.

1988

DANIEL FISHBEIN M’88, Hillsborough, NJ, was appointed interim superintendent of schools through the end of the 2022–23 school year by the Hillsborough, NJ, Township Board of Education.

CHRISTOPHER HERRICK , Grand Isle, VT, was announced as Governor Phil Scott’s appointee for commissioner of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Chris will lead the department responsible for the management and conservation of fish, wildlife, and their habitats. For the last five years, Chris has served as deputy commissioner at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and prior to that, he served two and a half years as director of Vermont Emergency Management within DPS. He has worked for DPS for 22 years in multiple roles and with increasing responsibility. Notably, he served as the first chief of the HAZMAT Team in 1999, which was created to work with fire chiefs before, during, and after hazardous material events in their communities. His community service includes 30 years as a volunteer firefighter including five years as chief of the South

Hero (Vermont) Volunteer Fire Department, 25 years as a certified EMT, and chair of both the selectboard and school board in South Hero. After Saint Michael’s, he earned his master’s degree from the University of Vermont. In his free time, he enjoys outdoor activities including kayaking, fly fishing, hunting, mountain biking, skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking with his dog, Lucy.

KERRIN MCCADDEN, South Burlington, VT, a Vermont poet and teacher as well as a Saint Michael’s College English graduate, is the 2022 recipient of a prestigious award and $10,000 prize to honor achievement in the state’s arts community. She accepted the 2022 Herb Lockwood Prize in the Arts during a July ceremony at the Burlington City Arts Center. This marks the ninth time the Herb Lockwood Prize has been awarded since 2014 (see photo).

CHAD Mc EACHERN , Selma, AL, Edmundite Missions CEO and president, was named to the Board of Trustees of Saint Michael’s College.

DANIEL P. MULHERN, Boston, MA, has joined Nutter, a Boston-based law firm, as the firm partner in its corporate and transactions department and as a member of its public policy group. Daniel will focus his practice on advising public and privately held compa-

nies on government relations, constituency building, strategic planning, government enforcement, and investigations, and will assist clients in legislative, regulatory, and community affairs.

BRUCE ZEMAN, New Haven, VT, a radio personality on Middlebury station WVTK, raised close to $11,000 in 24 hours for an animal shelter in central Vermont recently. It was the Seventh Annual Bruce & Hobbes Cash for Paws 24-Hour Radiothon, which this year (and for the seventh consecutive time) met its goal in raising funds to help local animals. Hobbes, Bruce’s rescue dachshund who survived abuse and neglect, became the first canine in radio history to be enshrined in the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame alongside his owner.

1993

MATTHEW MOWRY, Rochester, NH, now has an owner stake in Business NH Magazine. He has served as editor of the publication for 22 years. He joined two other colleagues in forming Granite Media Group earlier this year and completed the acquisition in late September. They are the fifth set of owners in the company’s nearly 40-year history. Matt worked as a reporter and bureau chief for the Caledonian-Record in St.

Johnsbury, VT, and as a reporter, bureau chief, and tri-city editor for Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, NH. He joined Business NH as editor in 2000 and has since led the magazine’s editorial department, including overseeing its major competitions, including the Best Companies to Work For competition and the Businesses and Business Leader of the Year awards. As co-publisher and executive editor of Granite Media Group, he will continue to oversee all editorial content of the award-winning magazine and its social media channels and will develop new media platforms. He is a graduate of Leadership NH and was named to the Union Leader’s 40 Under Forty list in 2010. He lives in Rochester with his wife, Lisa, and their two sons.

See fun photo about the moms of three classmates vacationing together: KATE POWERS-SHANKS, SARA SPESIA VALAIKA , and CAROLINE CROCKETT ORFORD

1995

PATRICK WHITMAN , Shelburne, VT, was recently recognized for 17 years of volunteer service with Shelburne Little League (see photo on page 54). Patrick is the son of JIM WHITMAN ’65 and Bunny Whitman, and the brother of DEIRDRE WHITMAN ’92. Patrick and his wife, MICHAELA

BROOKS WHITMAN ’95, served with the Edmundite Mission Corps in New Orleans for a few years after graduating from Saint Michael’s. Currently, Patrick teaches in the Old North End of Burlington, VT. He and Michaela have four children.

1996

CRAIG DAVIGNON, Middlebury, VT, moved from Massachusetts in 2021 with his wife, LAURIE HART DAVIGNON. Craig is a teacher at Neshobe School in Brandon and helps elementary students with reading and math interventions. Laurie is a nurse practitioner at UVM Medical Center, and provides healthcare to endocrinology patients in South Burlington. They have three children: Meredith, a first-year nursing student at UVM; Quinn, a first-year biomedical engineering student at UVM, and Sebastian, who was excited to be starting second grade in the fall.

HEIDI LUDEWIG ST. PETER, Hinesburg, VT, director of the new Saint Michael’s Office of Purposeful Learning and formerly of Academic Affairs and MOVE/Campus Ministry for many years, received the Edmundite Founders’ Award during a staff awards ceremony on campus in September.

1997

MICHELE HAGGERTY, West Hartford, CT, was named Teacher of the Year in the city. A first-grade teacher, she has spent her entire 22-year teaching career at Smith STEM School, where she has also taught second and third grade.

1998

ANNA LESTER, Monkton, VT, has left the staff of Edmundite Campus Ministry to take a position in the Saint Michael’s College Admission Office.

REV. BRIAN CUMMINGS ’86, director of Edmundite Campus Ministry, said staff honored and gave thanks for Anna’s 18 years of ministerial service to the community with a reception in the Edmundite residence following the Mass for the Feast of Saint Michael on September 29.

KATE THIES, Albany, NY, has a new job with the City School District of Albany, NY, as the district’s new human resources administrator. Kate brings to the position a strong background in HR administration, specializing in education. She spent the last 15 years with the University at Albany Office of Human Resources Management, serving as the organization’s assistant director since 2012. Prior to her time at the University of Albany, she worked in the Office of Financial Aid

at the College of Saint Rose, where she also earned a master’s degree. She started her new role in October.

1999

ANGELA ARMOUR, Colchester, VT, executive director of Institutional Advancement at Saint Michael’s, was presented the Buff Lindau Leadership Award during a staff awards ceremony on campus in September.

JOY-MICHELE JOHNSON, Woodland Park, NJ, was appointed executive director of the New Jersey State Ethics Commission in Trenton, NJ, in June 2022. The commission has jurisdiction over 100,000 New Jersey executive branch employees and special state officers with regard to enforcement and compliance with the State conflicts of interest law and uniform ethics code, commissions rules, and executive orders. She oversees a staff of attorneys who are responsible for training, compliance, and confidential investigations. For three years prior to her appointment to the commission, JoyMichele served in New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy’s administration as senior counsel in the governor’s authorities unit.

2000

KEVIN BEZIO, Albany, NY, is an attorney for the major Northeast-focused firm Barclay Damon, specializing in finance law out of the firm’s Albany, NY, office. Barclay Damon recently announced in a press release that the firm had 109 attorneys listed in the Best Lawyers in America and 21 attorneys recognized in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America 2023 editions, and Kevin is among them in the most recent edition.

MARIA RINALDI, Jericho, VT, of the Saint Michael’s College Admission Office staff and a longtime member of the liturgical choir in the campus chapel, in recent years founded a special singing group, Vermont’s Freedom and Unity Chorus, that was the subject of a feature piece on the Burlington–Plattsburgh area NBCTV affiliate. She founded the group as a response to ongoing division across the country as a place for peace and justice to thrive within a supportive community.

2001

RYAN HOGAN, Ballston Spa, NY, published his first children’s book (one of three in a series). His book is about the lost art of climbing trees, and a boy who decides to climb one and overcomes many challenges to reach the top.

Along the way, he learns about the great person he is. The book is dedicated to Ryan’s son, Jack, and to the power of nature and getting kids back outside again (see page 44).

2002

TIM BIRMINGHAM , Colchester, VT, career education coach in the Henry “Bud” Boucher, Jr. ’69 Career Education Center at Saint Michael’s, is pursuing his certification as a professional certified coach (PCC) through CoachVille and the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

MAUREEN COLBY, Dunbarton, NH, was appointed an instructional coach working with teachers to enhance the quality of their lessons and improve student outcomes at School Administrative Unit (SAU) 24 Schools in New Hampshire.

LISA MANCINI, Rutland, VT, is the author of the Freya Barrett mystery series. There are four books in the series, which

is based in Vermont. Lisa shares the sales proceeds with Rutland Regional Medical Center, where she works as a certified medical coder. Writing is her hobby, and her books sell throughout New England.

COLIN SHEA , Falmouth, ME, wrote that on September 30, 2022, RICHIE SIRACUSA ’22 graduated from Falmouth Fire-EMS (Falmouth, ME) recruit school for firefighters/ EMTs. Siracusa becomes the third Saint Michael’s Fire & Rescue alumnus working full-time for Falmouth Fire-EMS, including Colin, who is Deputy Chief, and Firefighter/EMT MATT TIVNAN ’12.

2006

JEFF S. BAKER II, Essex Junction, VT, has joined Vermont’s burgeoning cannabis industry after a 16-year career in craft beer and fine wine. He has earned the Cannabis Science & Medicine certificate from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

and is currently studying with the Ganjier program (the equivalent of a wine sommelier program for cannabis), hoping to take the exams in the spring of 2023. Currently he is working as the e-commerce customer service manager for Sunset Lake CBD, a Vermont farmer-owned CBD company that serves all 50 states and U.S. territories.

2007

LAURA MANN MICHALOWSKI, Wakefield, MA, went to a family wedding at the New York Athletic Club on Travers Island in July and was reunited with two other Purple Knights, MARY MORIARTY REILINGH ’76 and MARY JANE MEAGHER REDA ’85 (see photo).

LINDSAY MCANULTY RADICE , Annapolis, MD, recently presented two of her students with the 2022 Saint Michael’s College Book Award (see photo, above right). She currently serves as a theology teacher and moderator for the Council on Student

Laura Michalowsksi ’07 was reunited with Mary (Moriarty) Reilingh ’76 and Mary Jane (Meagher) Reda ’85 at a wedding this July.

Dan Driscoll ’12, South Boston, MA, married Mary Conner on September 10, 2021 on Cape Cod, MA. Alumni present (with other nonalumni), from left to right (top row): William Driscoll ’72; Josh Gessler ’11; Caitlin Rhodes ’12; Graham Madden ’12; P.J Mondani ’11; Sean Murphy ’12; Jeff Narus ’12; Mark Dalton ’72; Michael Dalton; From left to right middle row: Brian Bailey ’12; Michael Cracchiola ’12;

Lindsay McAnulty Radice ’07 (center) presented two of her students with the 2022 Saint Michael’s College Book Award (see 2007 notes for details).

Judge Manning ’08, captain of the Charlotte, NC, fire department, and his wife, Janelle, welcomed their daughter Eloise Elizabeth into their family this September. Eloise’s brothers, Judge and Zane, are thrilled to have a sister.

Five members of the Class of 2013 and residents of Townhouse 412 attended the wedding of their classmate Lauren Herlihy. Left to right: Bridget Hinz, Allison Fusco, Lauren Herlihy (bride), Jennifer Labrenz and Amanda Kaulins.

Ronny DiMasi ’11; Abby Middleton Mondani ’11; Caroline Hudson Murphy ’11; Jay Driscoll; Patrick Byrnes ’74; Joseph Rhodes ’12. Front row: Christine Driscoll ’08; Dan Driscoll ’12; Tommy Driscoll ’74; Meghan Driscoll Harvey ’10; John Motley.

Crystal King ’14 and Nick Bosco ’14 were married on September 10, 2022, at Ohana Family Camp in Post Mills, VT. Kevin Goddard ’73 was their wedding photographer. Alumni attending: Front row: Elizabeth Cusimano ’14, Elanna Lalezari ’14, Stephanie Moulton ’15, Emily Wilson ’14, Kelly Saunders ’14, Nick Bosco ’14, Crystal King Bosco ’14, Sarah Hiers ’14, Collin McCarrick ’14, Jason Moore ’14, Chris Puliafico ’14; Back row: Eric McGuirk ’13, Nick Kyratzis ’14, Evan Azzaro ’14, Kevin Goddard ’73, Bethany Powers ’14, William Tyler Weihs ’14, Corey Livingston ’14, Chris Allen ’14, Rob McCarty ’13, James Fitzpatrick ’13.

On September 30, 2022, Richie Siracusa ’22 graduated from Falmouth Fire-EMS (Falmouth, ME) recruit school for firefighters/EMTs. Siracusa becomes the third Saint Michael’s Fire & Rescue alumnus working full-time for Falmouth Fire-EMS, including Colin Shea ’02 (seen with Richie in this photo), who is deputy chief and FF/EMT Matt Tivnan ’12.

Carrie Ward ’13 married Alex Stott ’11 on October 10, 2021, at the Mansfield Barn in Jericho, VT. Alumni in attendance: Jared Peick ’13, Chris Moskal ’13, Brian Crowley ’13, Mike Carpenter ’13, Liz Carpenter ’13, Eric Jaukkuri ’13, Greg Sargent ’13, Jen Lockfort ’13, Laurel Robbins ’12, Drew Moll ’14, Kath Hackett ’11, Sarah Dewey ’11, Evan Dewey ’11, Christine Gallager ’11, Erick Gallager ’11, Sam Asker ’13, Hanna German ’13, Sam Giglio ’13, Kaiti Tuthill ’11, Josh Hoxie ’11, Nicole Wright ’13, Michael LaLiberte ’11, Kate Bailey ’11, Ben Taylor ’11, Matt Wolfe ’11, Eliza Giroux ’11, Amanda Geary ’11, Bryan Geary ’11, Jason Berglund ’11, Megan Berglund ’11, Dan Caredeo ’11.

Jill Kahn and Chris O’Brien, both of the Class of 2017, were married on September 10, 2022, in Jeffersonville, VT, with many alumni in attendance: Top row, left to right: Eliza McDermott (formerly McDonald) ’17 (officiant), Ben Lambert ’17 (groomsman), Veronica McGurrin ’17, Rachel Coley ’17 (bridesmaid), Taylor Schneider ’17, Lily Gardner ’17 (bridesmaid), Erik Ziemer ’17 (groomsman), Jill Kahn ’17 (bride), Chris O’Brien ’17 (groom), Elizabeth Rogers ’17 (bridesmaid), Will Ricigliano ’17, Nick Verdirame ’17, Cameron Hager ’17, Emily Zimmer (formerly Chabot) ’19, Kelly Zimmer (formerly Champlain) ’20, Greg Valentine ’17, Alan Hefferon ’14, Mckenzie Bergan ’17. Bottom row from left to right: Erin Buckley ’17, Meghan VanStry ’17 (ceremony reader), Rebecca Clark ’17, Pat Cornacchio ’18, Samantha Gillespie ’17, Rachel Carey ’18.

Jack Caron ’19 married Chelsea Brann on August 13, 2022, in Plainfield, NH. Alumni present (clockwise from the groom) were Annie Hogan ’19; Chelsea Brann Caron (bride), Rachel High ’20, Tyler Prime ’19, Corbin Arsenault ’19, Jack Donahue ’19, Alex Bigelow ’19, Colin Gidarakos ’19, Jake Poskus ’19, Colin O’Brien ’19, Chris Spodick ’19, Alex Otten ’19, and the father of the groom, Tom Caron ’86.

Abi (Walsh) Salzillo ’19 and Eric Salzillo ’18 were married September 16, 2022 in Plymouth, MA, with many alumni in attendance.

Affairs at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis, MD. In June 2022, she won the St. Mary’s School Board Award for service to the community. Lindsay continues to lecture in the Catholic University of America’s master of catechesis degree program and serve on the board for the university’s academic journal, International Journal of Evangelization and Catechetic. Her article “Press Conference with the Sources of the Pentateuch” was published in the peerreviewed journal Teaching Theology and Religion in July 2022. Most weekends you can find her with husband and 7-year-old son exploring museums in Washington, D.C., or sailing on the Chesapeake Bay (see photo, page 57).

MATT ROGERS, Burlington, VT, formerly of Higher Ground Presents, is the new programming director of the Flynn Theatre, a nonprofit performing arts center in downtown Burlington.

2008

JUDGE MANNING, Charlotte, NC, and his wife Janelle recently welcomed a baby girl. (See photo page 57).

2009

KATIE COLLERAN, Cambridge, MA, who had been working as assistant dean of students for

student engagement and leadership at Harvard University, has been named director of outdoor programs at Dartmouth College.

2010

CATHERINE WELCH, South Hero, VT, the College’s associate dean of student success, was interviewed for a significant story in the Burlington Free Press daily newspaper and website published August 19. The piece, by staff reporter April Barton, was titled “Why is Vermont doing so well graduating high schoolers but not college students?”

2011

ALEX STOTT, South Royalton, VT, married Carrie Ward ’13 (see photo page 58).

2012

BECCA CAMPBELL , Lawrence, MA, recently was promoted to Director of Service Quality at Logically, a national IT managed services provider.

REV. MICHAEL CARTER, SSE , Colchester, VT, a religious studies lecturer and member of the College’s resident founding Edmundite religious order, has become a regular reviewer for the national publication and website

U.S. Catholic. In his reviews, Fr. Carter encounters contemporary culture as expressed in music and film through the lens of faith and shared humanity, communicating perceptive and sensitive insights with precise, arresting language.

DAN DRISCOLL , South Boston, MA, married Mary Conner on September 10, 2021, on Cape Cod, MA (see photo, page 57).

EMILY RENDINE , East Providence, RI, a third grade teacher at Hennessey Elementary School, received a $25,000 Milken Educator Award presented by the Milken Family Foundation.

JANEL ROBERGE , Williston, VT, left her position with Vermont EPSCoR and joined the College’s Registrar’s Office as the coordinator of online and nontraditional programs, taking over for ALEX COLLETTA ’18 following his departure from Saint Michael’s. She will also continue as an adjunct instructor for the Biology Department.

APRILLE THOMAS, St. James, Barbados, was promoted at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. to the position of director of public relations and communications. In her new role, she is responsible for organizing the corporation’s global PR and communications strategy across its five main markets: the U.S., the U.K.,

Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe.

See news relating to Falmouth, ME, firefighter/ EMT MATT TIVNAN in 2002 notes.

ASHLEY WHITTEMORE FRECCIA , Stamford, CT, started working at Saint Michael’s College in February 2022. She works remotely in Institutional Advancement as a major gifts and alumni engagement officer for the New York region.

2013

JENNIFER LABRENZ , Poughkeepsie, NY, attended the wedding of classmate LAUREN HERLIHY along with the other three roommates of Townhouse 412, all class of 2013 (see photo).

CARRIE WARD, Wakefield, RI, married ALEX STOTT ’11 on October 10, 2021, at the Mansfield Barn (see photo, page 58).

2014

CRYSTAL KING and NICK BOSCO, Denver, CO, were married on September 10, 2022, at Ohana Family Camp in Post Mills, VT. Kevin Goddard ’73 was their wedding photographer (see photo, page 58).

2015

CARA CHAPMAN, Plattsburgh, NY, started work at

60 North Country Public Radio in May 2022.

2017

MADELINE “MADDIE” HUGHES, Washington, D.C., has a new job, according to a notice on the Business Media News website: “MLex Market Insight has hired Madeline Hughes as a data and privacy reporter. She is based in Washington. Hughes previously was a telecoms and tech reporter for The Well News. She also was a reporter for The Eagle-Tribune in Derry, NH, and a reporter for The Stowe Reporter in Vermont.”

JILL KAHN and CHRIS O’BRIEN, Burlington, VT, were married on September 10, 2022, at the Barn at Smugglers’ Notch in Jeffersonville, VT. They write that they “were surrounded by so many loved ones” from their time at St. Mike’s, and credit the College with their love story. They met “for the first time in September 2013 at the picnic table between Joyce Hall and Lyons Hall,” the couple reports. They started dating in January 2014,

(See photo, page 59.)

KATIE PETROZZO, Salt Lake City, UT, now a doctoral candidate at the University of Utah, wrote an article appearing on the website of the Baylor College of Medicine, titled “Interrogating the Brain on Trial: Neuroscience, Ethics and the Law,” which built on concepts that Katie explored in her work as a Saint Michael’s undergraduate. A note at the end states that Katie is a summer intern with the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy along with being a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah. The editors also share that Katie’s piece is “the first in an ongoing series by Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy summer interns, undergraduate/graduate students interested in emerging ethical issues.” Katie also spoke on the St. Mike’s campus this fall about her work.

CAROLINE SMITH, Medford, MA, graduated magna cum laude from New England Law–Boston, earning her J.D. degree in May 2022. She planned to sit for the Massachusetts

MaKayla Foster Broughton ’20 married Jordan Broughton on June 18, 2022, in Ferrisburgh, VT, with many Saint Michael’s College alumni in attendance. Left to right: Morgan Joyce ’20, Molly Humiston ’21, Nell Criscione ’20, field hockey coaches Carla Hesler, Anne Noone Adams M’84, and Jim Laskarzewski ’86, MaKayla Foster Broughton ’20, Erin LaMarca ’21, Izzy Bretz, Talia Torkomian ’21, Callie Lumbra Goss ’12, and Maggie Daley ’20.

bar exam in July 2022 and begin her law career at an environmental firm in Boston, MA.

2018

ERIC SALZILLO, Johnston, RI, married ABI (WALSH) SALZILLO’19 on September 16, 2022 in Plymouth, MA, with many alumni in attendance (see photo, page 58).

2019

JACK CARON, Framingham, MA, married Chelsea Brann on August 13, 2022, in Plainfield, NH (see photo, page 58).

RYAN HAY, Burlington, VT, started working at Saint Michael’s College in August as assistant director of Edmundite Campus Ministry community service. Directly following his 2019 Saint Michael’s graduation, he moved just outside of Barcelona, Spain, to teach English in a Catholic elementary school. After his year there, he was a team leader for Target in his hometown area near Glens Falls, NY.

ABI WALSH, Kingston, MA, married ERIC SALZILLO ’18 (see photo page 58).

2020

MAKAYLA FOSTER BROUGHTON , Middlebury, VT, married Jordan Broughton on June 18, 2022, in Ferrisburgh, VT (see photo, page 60).

2021

MARLON HYDE , Burlington, VT, has been working for Vermont Public (formerly Vermont Public Radio) since graduation. In October he proudly shared: “I’m heading home to NYC for my first awards gala. I was awarded a National Edward R. Murrow Award for the 9/11 Remembrance Project alongside incredible producers and under the phenomenal guidance of Jane Lindholm and Melody Bodette. This is truly a dream come true.” Marlon’s post shows that the project he was part of, titled “20 Years Later: Vermonters Remember Sept. 11,” was a winner in the “Excellence in Innovation” category. The gala in New York City, was held

“and the rest is history!”

by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), was October 10.

MCKENNA POPPENGA , Williston, VT, who has spent the past year on campus as manager and technical coordinator of the Saint Michael’s College MakerSpace in Dion Family Student Center, shares that she has accepted a leadership position at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

TUCKER RAYMOND, Arundel, ME, will embark on a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in February 2023. He has accepted a placement in the Dominican Republic teaching literacy in primary school. During his time at Saint Michael’s, he studied biology and Spanish while also participating as a

leader in multiple groups on campus, including MOVE, CORE, and Orientation. Through these experiences, he witnessed the immediate impact that volunteering has within a community, in addition to the value of strong leadership and communication skills, all capabilities that will prove essential during his Peace Corps service.

2022

RICHIE SIRACUSA , Falmouth, ME, graduated from Falmouth Fire-EMS (Falmouth, ME) recruit school for firefighters/ EMTs. Richie becomes the third Saint Michael’s Fire & Rescue alumnus working full-time for Falmouth Fire-EMS; the others are Deputy Chief COLIN SHEA ’02 and Firefighter/EMT

REUNION 2023

ANYA SONWALDT, Colchester, VT, a recent Health Science graduate, is the newest hire in the College’s Information Technology Department, where her job title is now system administrator, focusing on networking. She has spent the last four years working at the IT help desk at the College. She worked part-time in the spring and has since transitioned to full-time work and is very excited to take on new projects.

Saint Michael’s College takes pride in its alumni and joyfully shares the news of their lives and achievements. All announcements are included and published in the Magazine unless the content of the message promotes hate or violence. Publishing these alumni messages does not reflect any endorsements or positions taken by the College.

Whether you graduated five years ago or 50, please join us back on campus to share great memories and make new ones – you’ll feel right at home!

MATT TIVNAN ’12 (see photo, page 58).

1947

DANIEL E. MALONEY, Hockessin, DE, died August 6, 2022. Dan started at Saint Michael’s prior to serving as a radio technician in the Navy in World War II and returned after the service to graduate. He subsequently earned a doctorate in chemistry at Notre Dame in 1951. He had a long and successful career with DuPont, mostly at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, DE, and was a member of the American Chemical Society. Dan enjoyed coaching and watching baseball, following Notre Dame football, and fixing just about anything that was broken. After retiring from DuPont, he moved to Chesapeake City, MD, for several years and there enjoyed boating, fishing, and crabbing. He and his wife later moved to a retirement community. Dan’s wife of 67 years, Beverly, died in 2020, and his oldest son also predeceased him. He is survived by five sons, two daughters, and extended family.

1948

JOHN W. “JACK” BEATTY III, South Burlington, VT, died August 9, 2022. After a year at Saint Michael’s he joined the Navy in 1944, serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following discharge, he resumed his education, earning a business degree. His work career began as an accountant with National Biscuit Company

Bread Bakery. He was then with Fairchild Industries/ McGraw Edition Division in Burlington as a lab technician and was head of the motor repair department. When the firm moved away, Jack chose to stay in town and worked for General Electric as an engineering electromechanical/electronic technician until starting his career with IBM in 1965. His entire career there was in the purchasing department until his 1991 retirement. He then traveled extensively through the U.S. and Canada by minivan, and when home, he worked with his son at G.B. Mechanical Truck Center. Music was his first love. In early years, Jack trained for a music career and traveled widely with church and other choirs, and later was active in many bands in key roles including trombonist. He formed or directed choirs at Burlington-area parishes over many years and was the longtime cantor/leader of song at St. John Vianney in South Burlington. He also was song leader for the Annual Memorial Day Mass at Resurrection Park, and he sang with Dr. William Tortolano in the Vermont Gregorian Chant Schola, based at Saint Michael’s. In his college years he was student director of the college band and he conducted it during his own graduation. He chaired the dedication of the Bandshell in Burlington’s Battery Park and was a leader at his South Burlington parish and in the K of C. He also was active in credit unions at GE and IBM, including holding leader roles at district and state levels. His wife of 52

years, Teresa, died in 2005, and he married Jean Giddings Harvie in 2006. They enjoyed music and plays together in the years since. Jack is survived by his wife, six daughters, two sons, and extended family. A daughter predeceased him.

1950

EDWARD J. CASEY, MD, Bronx, NY, died September 24, 2022. A Connecticut native, he enlisted in the Navy at age 17 during World War II, and after basic training he had more training at the Naval Hospital in San Diego and was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Holtville, CA, where he was honorably discharged in 1946. He entered Saint Michael’s that year and, after graduation, taught a year at the College before working in research labs in New York and Virginia. He then attended Georgetown University Medical School, graduating in 1958. He did his residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, CT, was in private practice in Thompsonville, CT, until 1965, and had associations through his later career with hospitals in Springfield, MA; New York City; Princeton and Orange, NJ; Stamford, CT; White Plains, NY; and the Bronx at Our Lady of Mercy and Calvary Hospitals. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Ed is survived by his wife of 63 years, Judy, five sons, three daughters, and extended family.

JOSEPH V. MCKENNA , Sugar Land, TX, died September 21, 2022. Joseph

joined the Navy in 1943 at age 18 and served as a petty officer in the Navy Air Wing during World War II. Four of his brothers also served during the war, and all returned home. Joseph received two medals for his service. At one point he boxed for the Navy and was a good athlete. After the war, he came to Saint Michael’s and earned his economics degree before working on Wall Street for Chase Manhattan Bank. Eventually he settled with his family in New Jersey, where he became a real estate broker and opened a brokerage agency with his brother. Then, Joseph worked for the Federal Housing Administration for 35 years. He was the chief appraiser of residential and commercial properties for the State of New Jersey. He also was involved as a director in the development of many FHA and HUD housing projects. He met with government officials many times in the nation’s capital to implement new projects and ideas, and he was committed to improving the lives of everyday Americans and veterans. During the late 1950s, the government chose Joseph to study the economics of national security for two years through the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. After retiring from the federal government, he continued to do private appraisals and remained active as a senior residential appraiser. He and his wife moved to Texas in 1994 to be closer to family. Joseph was very active in his parish and the K of C, both in New Jersey and Texas. He

enjoyed travel and family dinners. His wife of 56 years, Anna, predeceased him.

1951

THOMAS PETER CARNEY, South Burlington, VT, died June 24, 2022. Peter was owner of Hayes and Carney, an independent retailer on Burlington’s Church Street selling men’s and boys’ clothing, and, in earlier years, graduation gowns and wedding apparel. In later years, he worked at Uniglobe, a Burlington travel agency, and for Shedd Brown. He was very active in his Burlington Catholic parishes as a choir member, prayer leader, lector, parish council member, and daily communicant. Later in life, he took up golf. He enjoyed reading and singing, and told jokes and stories well. He is survived by his wife of 70-plus years, Jane; a son; two daughters; and extended family.

SALVATORE Q. LUPO, JR., Mahopac, NY, died September 17, 2019. He lived most of his life in the Carmel/Mahopac area in the lower Hudson Valley, and worked in sales for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. He was active in the K of C. His wife, Kathryn, died in 2018, and at that time, survivors included four sons.

PAUL A. STACY, Dearborn, MI, died August 21, 2018, the College learned recently. Survivors at the time included his wife of 58 years, Dorothy; a stepdaughter; and extended family. No further information about his life or career was available.

JAMES M. STAFFORD, Lynn, MA, died September 14, 2022. He was Saint Michael’s Alumnus of the Year in 1991. After high school he enlisted

in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Japan from 1944 to 1947. Upon his discharge he enrolled at Saint Michael’s, graduating with an economics degree. During his college years, Jim was a summer lifeguard at North Shore beaches outside Boston. He continued studies at Salem State University, earning a master’s degree in education and guidance. His focus throughout his long life was the education, coaching, and guidance of young people, whether in classrooms or skating rinks, ski slopes, or swimming pools. He taught history and social studies in the Chelsea school system before moving into a guidance counselor position at Austin Prep in Reading, MA. In 1991, Jim joined the executive board of the North Shore Guidance Directors Association, where he served as treasurer until he was 90 years old. Jim was an outstanding multisport athlete. He was a ski instructor at Bradford Ski Area in Haverhill, MA, and in the 1970s, he served as a ski reporter for WEEM radio. He coached many hockey teams including the Chelsea Devils and Lynn Youth Hockey. In summertime, he enjoyed running and bicycling, well into his 80s. His wife of 59 years, Ellen, died in 2009. He is survived by two sons, a daughter, and extended family.

1952

RICHARD H. BARRY, Pineville, NC, died August 6, 2022. After Saint Michael’s he earned a law degree from Boston University before spending most of his life in Manchester and Bolton, CT, and retiring to Florida in 2007 before moving closer to family in North Carolina. Dick owned and operated his own real estate appraisal business in

his hometown of Manchester. A President’s Medallion supporter of the College, he enjoyed travel, skiing, golf, and fine dining. He is survived by his wife, Jane; two daughters; a son; four stepchildren; and extended family.

JOHN A. “JACK” WHELAN , Charlestown, MA, died July 12, 2022. After high school, he enlisted in the Navy in 1945, serving as seaman second class. He attended Huntington Prep School before coming to Saint Michael’s, where he had a very productive baseball career. His three-year batting average was .365, and he made three Vermont State College All Star Teams. He later played and managed for Charlestown teams for three years after college and was the player/manager of the 1958 Boston Park League Champion Charlestown Cardinals. Jack worked for 35 years in management with the Commercial Union Insurance Company. He was very active in the Charlestown community throughout his life. He helped start the Milt Schmidt Hockey Program, which attracted more than 500 boys from Charlestown, a few moving on to Division 1 college programs and then on to the NHL. He was on the board of the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, an associate commissioner for the Metropolitan District Commission, a director at the Charlestown Savings Bank, a Trustee of the USS Constitution Museum, a 15-year member of the Charlestown Democratic Committee, and a Trustee of the Massachusetts State College System. He was a member of the Old Charlestown Schoolboys Association, where he was past president and chairman of the Scholarship Committee, and a member of the Bunker Hill Associates. Jack enjoyed

skating and spending summers in Falmouth. A daughter predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ellen; a son; and extended family.

1953

RAYMOND F. BRAULT, Burlington, VT, died April 30, 2022. After Saint Michael’s he did graduate work in education at Plattsburgh State and the University of Ottawa, Canada. Ray served in the Army from 1953 to 1955, including in Japan. He began his education career as a high school French teacher and guidance director. In 1965, he joined IBM in the education and personnel research department. In retirement, he and his wife worked in the Edmundite Missions in and around Selma, AL, and traveled across the U.S. and Canada by car. They also visited the Holy Land and traveled extensively in Europe. He was devoted to his Catholic faith and the Eucharist, which he tried to receive daily. He was a lector, cantor, Eucharistic minister, and voice for the unborn, with special dedication to the poor, the elderly, shut-ins, hospital patients, and those with special needs. In younger years, he enjoyed skiing, skating, bridge, golf, and attending sporting or cultural events. Ray is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary; three daughters; a sister; and extended family.

1954

ROBERT M. “O’BIE”

O’BRIEN , Hilton Head, SC, died October 10, 2022, of Parkinson’s disease. He started at Saint Michael’s as an Edmundite seminarian with the intention of becoming a priest, before switching to a

MARTIN J. WALSH III, West Des Moines, IA, died September 22, 2022. A lifelong volunteer and generous donor to Saint Michael’s, Marty was an exceptionally loyal Purple Knight who leaves behind a lasting legacy for future students. In 2017, he and his wife, Katie, members of the College’s Heritage Circle, created the Martin J. Walsh, III ’54 Scholarship to financially support students who would otherwise not be able to attend. He was a 1999 Saint Michael’s Alumnus of the Year, for his many years of volunteer service including as a reunion committee member and class agent. Upon graduation, the Connecticut native was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force and served two and a

Biology major. While in college, he was captain of the ski team and excelled as a ski jumper, igniting a lifelong love for skiing. After Saint Michael’s he graduated from the University of Vermont School of Medicine in 1958; after a one-year internship at Buffalo General Hospital, he joined the Navy and was assigned as a Medical Corps Officer to Flight Surgeon School in Pensacola, FL. He became a flight surgeon for VRF-32 Naval Air Station in Coronado, CA. He began his general surgery residency in 1961 at Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Illinois. After completing the four-year program, he was assigned as commanding officer of 1st Hospital Company, 1st Marine Division, Field Medical Facility, from 1967 to 1968 in Duc Pho, Vietnam. He and his staff saw extraordinary combat during Operation DeSoto on April 5, 1967. His exceptional skills were recognized as “extremely effective, resulting in the saving of lives” and he was awarded the Navy Legion of Merit with a combat “V” for his actions during this assignment. In 1968 he started a second residency program at the Naval Hospital in San Diego to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. After

half years. In 1960, Marty moved to Des Moines as a sales representative for the P. and F. Corbin division of the American Hardware Corporation. He spent his entire career in the builders’ hardware industry. In 1975, he and Katie purchased the builders’ hardware division of L.H. Kurtz Company and formed Kurtz Walsh Builders Hardware Company, building the business into what is now Walsh Door and Security, with offices in Des Moines and Kansas City. He was devoted to his Catholic faith and Irish heritage and a member of the diocesan papal visit steering committee for the 1979 visit of Pope Saint John Paul II to Des Moines. He also served on the board of the Iowa Region of the National Conference of Christians

and Jews and the board of Homesteaders Life Company. He belonged to the Cambio Club. Although Des Moines was Marty’s home for over 60 years, he spent winters in Naples, FL, where he attended SMC alumni events, and summers on Lake Vermillion in Tower, MN. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College with an outstanding 50 years of consecutive giving. Marty is survived by his wife of 59 years, Katie; two sons; a daughter; four grandchildren, and extended family, including nephews Connor Brennan ’22 and Christopher Hawrylik ’08. He was a cousin of the late James Walsh ’51.

completing this program in 1970, he was assigned to the Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton, CA, and while there was promoted to captain. From there he became commanding officer leading the Navy medical facilities in southern Europe, based in Naples, Italy, but also including facilities in Greece and Crete. He retired from the Navy in 1984 while at the Naval Medical Command, Oakland, CA. In Europe, he renewed his love of skiing and skied at more than 50 ski areas in Europe, and still more in Canada, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand. He was a ski instructor at NorthStar Resort in Lake Tahoe. After retiring as a medical consultant for the State of California in 2000, he and his wife moved to Hilton Head, where he loved to golf and entertain. He belonged to several golf resort clubs, and kept skiing into his 80s. While living in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1994 he was invited to join the Family, an organization for men dedicated to the arts, and greatly enjoyed the yearly celebrations at interesting venues. O’Bie loved jokes and stories, travel, and fine wines and dining. He also was a woodworker and handyman and was deeply devoted to

his Catholic faith. Robert was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Barbara; two sons; two daughters; and extended family.

1955

CHARLES J. FOLEY, Dedham, MA, died October 4, 2022. After Saint Michael’s he earned further degrees from Boston College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Massachusetts. He served in the U.S. Air Force before launching his teaching career at Dedham High School in chemistry and physics and later serving 26 years as vice principal. He and his wife were accomplished breeders of Airedale Terriers, and he was a respected judge in high-profile dog shows nationwide. Charles is survived by his wife of 63 years, Regina, and extended family, including his cousin, JP Isabelle ’05.

GERARD J. HOUDE , Port Kent, NY, died May 9, 2022. A native Vermonter, he worked for Ausable Valley Central School in upstate New York for many years. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and a son.

1956

CHARLES D. GILSON, JR., Pittsfield, MA, died April 16, 2022, of cancer. At Saint Michael’s he studied history and philosophy and joined the Edmundites for a time, before graduating from Boston College with master’s degrees in history and philosophy. Chuck served in the Army in Germany and later at Fort Bragg, NC, in 1962. Chuck was a popular instructor of AP and honors European history at Pittsfield High School, where he taught for 35 years. Following his retirement in 1995, he spent winters at his Florida condo and summers in the Berkshires. He was a Eucharistic Minister to nursing homes in the Pittsfield area. A Renaissance man, Chuck enjoyed opera, Broadway theater, Tanglewood, domestic and foreign travel, fine art, literature, church architecture, puzzles, and postcards. He was a generous supporter of the College through his gifts. He is survived by his longtime friend and companion, Barbara Bell; a sister; and extended family. His late brother-in-law was Peter Spina ’70.

VINCENT N. IAROSSI, Fredericksburg, VA, died May 25, 2022. He lived for much of his career in Liverpool, NY. Vinnie had a successful career in the commercial fence industry, but his true passion was music. He played saxophone and clarinet starting in high school, and, with his twin brother, started a 14-piece band playing big band and swing during their college years. He continued to play music with concert bands and his own trio or quartet all his adult life. He played with the Liverpool Concert Band for many years and, with his own groups, played on weekends at nightclubs. In later years, he also played for nursing homes. Vinnie was a big New York Giants fan. His wife, Carol, died in 1996. He is survived by a daughter, a son, and extended family.

RAMON “RAY” GEREMIA , West Burke, VT, died June 10, 2016, the College learned recently. He served three and a half years in the U.S. Army, most of that time in Army Intelligence. After graduation, Ray went to Washington, D.C., to work for the United Press International, and he also worked for the New Haven Register. He continued his career in Washington and eventually became day city editor for the Washington Post. As a reporter, he covered two presidential campaigns, Congress, the White House, and legislatures in several states. He also worked as a press officer in the federal government with the Food and Drug Administration, the Social Security Administration, and the then-HEW Department under Secretaries Elliot Richardson, Caspar Weinberger, and David Matthews. In 1976, Ray felt he had had enough of the Washington, D.C. world, and with his family, moved to St. Johns-

bury, VT. There he began his love of sculpting and writing poetry and taught some courses at St. Johnsbury Academy. He loved living in Vermont and was happy to show off his sculptures and property to visiting St. Mike’s classmates. After his first wife died, Ray remarried and became an adjunct instructor in English and the arts at Lyndon State College. In 2013, he suffered a slight stroke. He sculpted Lyndon State College’s (now Northern Vermont University’s) ceremonial mace for processions and a lion in front of the school’s veterans memorial. College files show that in 1984 Ray was married to Jean and had a son and two daughters. No word was available about survivors.

MARIUS PELADEAU, Readfield, ME, died April 11, 2022. After Saint Michael’s he went on to earn graduate degrees at Boston University (in journalism) and Georgetown University (in English literature). His early career included reporting for the Burlington Daily News and the Lewiston Daily Sun and duty covering the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, and the White House in Washington, D.C. He served as a consultant to the National Park Service, the Order of Cincinnati, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Marius was a lifelong learner with a love of history as a common thread in all he did. He served as the press secretary for Congressman Joseph Vigorito (D-PA) during the Kennedy administration. He also was director of the Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums and director of the Farnsworth Museum. That position afforded him the chance to meet and spend time with many artists, which he

cherished. His interest in and research into U.S. history led him to write multiple books, including a 2021 book about the Union Meeting Hall in Readfield. He was active in the hall’s conservation and restoration. His wife of 45 years, Mildred, died in 2017. He is survived by extended family.

1957

ROBERT J. “BOB” DONOGHUE , Shrewsbury, MA, died August 4, 2022. While earning his Saint Michael’s business degree, he was co-captain of the golf team, active in debate and drama, and class president. Later in life, he attended the Harvard Business School program for management development. Bob spent his professional career at Wyman Gordon Company in the aerospace industry, starting in sales and rising to vice president/general manager. He traveled the world in his work, growing the business extensively. Bob lived most of his adult life in Shrewsbury. He was active as a Little League and Babe Ruth youth baseball coach. As father to his special needs daughter, he was very involved in Mercy Centre, the Special Olympics, and other organizations supporting the Worcester special needs community and beyond. Nearly every Father’s Day he cheered on his daughter at the Special Olympics State Finals in pursuit of another gold medal. He acquired a home in Sunapee, NH, in 1980 and eventually moved to Fisher’s Bay there. He was involved in the Fisher’s Bay Community Association, serving its board of directors, and was active in the Lake Sunapee Country Club. He spent hours on the lake with family in

summer and hosted “apresski” festivities in winter. In later years, he and his wife moved back to Shrewsbury. He attended Mass, lecture series offerings, weekly senior Jeopardy contests, and chair yoga, while taking on community leadership in many roles. He also enjoyed his community’s annual musical revue, playing leads as actor, singer, and dancer; including in the role of Frank Sinatra. Bob was a great cook, scratch golfer, and gifted storyteller. He also was a big Red Sox fan and enjoyed reading and current events. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Bob is survived by his wife of 64 years, Maureen; a son; four daughters; a sister; and extended family, including grandson Christopher White ’04 and Chris’s wife Sunny Timbo White ’05, and son-in-law Greg White ’81.

REV. DONALD J. RAVEY, South Burlington, VT, died June 27, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he received his training for the priesthood at St. Paul’s Seminary in Ottawa, Canada, and was ordained in 1961 by Bishop Robert Joyce in Burlington. His ministry included hospital chaplaincy at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D.C., and at Medical Center Hospital of Vermont; other assignments as a Vermont diocesan priest were to parishes in St. Albans, Essex Junction, Waitsfield, Morrisville, Hyde Park, Eden, Williston, and Richmond. He also served various diocesan commissions. Fr. Ravey retired from active ministry in 2009 but continued assisting his brother priests at various parishes until his health declined. He is survived by his friend of 54 years and caregiver, Roger Ross, with whom he made his home in South Burlington. He also

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is survived by a brother, sister, and extended family.

OMER RICHARD “SONNY” VILLEMAIRE , Burlington, VT, died October 22, 2022. Fluent in French from his French-Canadian upbringing, he served after College in the U.S. Army for two years in Paris as an interpreter. Upon returning from duty, he worked as a chemist for Sucrest Corporation in Brooklyn, NY, as a plant supervisor. He finished his career at Presquile Winery in California. He retired to Burlington in 2001 and lived with his brothers and sisters. Omer was one of 10 siblings, all very close. He is survived by a brother, three sisters, and extended family.

1958

JOHN STANGLE , Spring Hill, FL, died September 7, 2021. He was a retired math teacher, worked at one time as an independent marketing executive with Melaleuca in Hawaii, and at various times in his life lived in Hawaii, Arizona, Maine, and Connecticut, his file at the College shows. No information about survivors was available.

1959

ALLAN M. COONS, Thomasville, GA, died September 9, 2021. After Saint Michael’s, Allan served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Yorktown. He worked for several years with International Harvester Motor Truck Division in Connecticut before moving to Hillsdale, NY, where he established his business as an insurance broker for 30 years. He returned to Vermont yearly to indulge his passion for skiing. Allan had been retired for several years in

Thomasville. He is survived by his wife, Mary Julia, and three daughters.

CHARLES “DICK” COURCY, Ocean Ridge, FL, died September 5, 2020, as a result of a heart attack, the College learned recently. He lived in the greater Burlington, VT, area for most of his career before retirement and worked as an accountant for General Electric for many years. No information about survivors was available.

WALTER A. KENNEDY, Mashpee, MA, died October 15, 2022. Walt and his wife, Louise, established the Walter and Louise Kennedy Family Scholarship at Saint Michael’s in 2018. After earning his Chemistry degree from the College, he served in the Army in Georgia until 1960 and worked for Ethyl Corporation until 1964. Walt then moved on to an extensive career with Mobil Oil, where he worked for 35 years until his retirement. He was honored by the American Chemical Society for his role in the development of Mobil engine oil. He was active in his Catholic parish and loved to travel, visiting 74 countries. He also enjoyed golf and reading. Walt was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Louise; a son; two daughters, including Elizabeth Kennedy Volpe ’94; three sisters; and extended family, including nephews Eddie Del Guercio ’94 and Dan Del Guercio ’95.

PAUL MICHAUD, Timonium, MD, died September 25, 2022. During college, he worked for Red Robert at his convenience store. At Saint Michael’s he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and began active duty shortly after graduation,

serving in Texas and Georgia, and after three years, he joined General Electric and its financial management program in Hudson Falls, NY. Soon he had a chance to join GE’s corporate audit staff based in Schenectady, NY, and for three years he traveled domestically and internationally reviewing business operations. His next GE assignment was in Syracuse in its semiconductor products department, which had four U.S. and two foreign manufacturing plants, and he advanced to financial manager for that business. After 10 years with GE, Paul joined Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, CT, as assistant controller, supervising accounting pricing and contracts functions. He soon earned promotion to chief financial officer at Pratt & Whitney’s government products division in West Palm Beach, FL. In 1981, he joined the B.F. Goodrich Company in Ohio as CFO, responsible for all their accounting and business planning activities. In 1986 he joined Bell Aerospace Textron as CFO, and at his suggestion, Textron consolidated Bell with another business unit to improve its competitive position. He was then recruited by a former associate to become CFO for AAI Corporation in Hunt Valley, MD, a defense contractor with considerable foreign business, requiring significant efforts with the Defense Department and foreign governments. He retired from AAI in 2002 and remained in Maryland. In retirement, he was very involved with his Catholic parish and did considerable travel. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Katherine; two daughters; a son; a sister; a brother; and extended family.

1960CHARLES T. BROWN, JR., Clearwater Beach, FL, died November 10, 2019, the College learned recently. After Saint Michael’s, he studied at New York Institute of Technology, earning a degree there. His work career included time as senior business manager for Colgate-Palmolive in New Jersey after time earlier as a sales manager. He also worked as a corrections officer for the New York City Department of Correction. In a 1984 alumni survey, Chuck reported having two sons and two daughters, including twins. He married his wife, Carmelita, in 1991, and she survived at the time of his death.

JOSEPH J. GUARNACCIA , East Boston, MA, died April 16, 2022. A Korean War U.S. Army veteran as a medic stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Joe attended law school for a time. He was the longtime Northeast regional sales manager for Fisher Scientific. He was very active in his East Boston community, including serving as president of the Little League and of the Athletic Board. He loved coaching Pop Warner and Little League and was a member of his parish men’s club. His wife of 56 years, Paula, died in 2018. He is survived by two sons, including Joseph R. Guarnaccia ’91; a daughter; and extended family.

GARY GUTCHELL , Saratoga Springs, NY, died of complications from heart disease June 6, 2022. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1952 and served until 1956 before coming to Saint Michael’s through Air Force ROTC. After college, he embarked on a career teaching

high school English before transitioning to sales and joining Prentice Hall Publishers in its college textbook division. Gary enjoyed travel, gardening, woodworking, and food and candy preparation. After retiring from Prentice Hall, he was very active in his Catholic parish and played a role bringing Shelters of Saratoga to his parish while serving on the SOS board and with the Economic Opportunity Council. He also was a hospice volunteer, earning a Volunteer of the Year award in 2009, and was active in the K of C. His wife, Cecile, died in April 2022, and a daughter predeceased him. Gary is survived by a son, three daughters, and extended family.

1961

DR. DAVID J. CLIFFORD, Lewiston, ME, died August 7, 2022. After Saint Michael’s he served in the U.S. Army, and after returning to his hometown of Lewiston, he married and moved to Cleveland, OH, where he attended the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. He spent a year in Philadelphia for his residency at St. Luke’s Hospital before returning to Lewiston to open his own practice. He practiced podiatry for 35 years, always serving his community, including weekly visits to nursing homes where he provided care and conversation. Dave was a life member of the American Podiatric Medical Association. In retirement, he spent several years as a professor at Andover College and was a frequent substitute teacher for Lewiston schools. He was an avid sports fan with season tickets for the Lewiston Maniacs hockey team, and served on many boards, committees, and booster clubs

involving his children’s teams. He also was an active youth athletics coach. Dave served the St. Joseph’s Elementary school board, volunteered at St. Martin De Porres, and was active in Lewiston historical preservation and with his parish. He enjoyed reading and storytelling, summers at the beach, crosswords, Jeopardy, and following New England sports teams. Dave’s wife of 60 years, Carmen, died in March 2022. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, two brothers, and extended family.

DAVID RICH, Henderson, NV, died November 2, 2017, the College learned recently. He was a Sociology major in college, also playing golf and baseball. David was selfemployed in his professional career, records show. After a period living in Ormond Beach, FL, and Las Vegas, he moved in the 1990s in Anaheim Hills and Wildomar, CA. He was married to Nancy, according to a 1991 alumni survey. No further word was available about survivors.

REV. RICHARD TINNEY, Rutland, VT, died April 14, 2022. After two years at Saint Michael’s, he studied for two years in Montreal at the Seminary of Philosophy before going to the Grand Seminary, also in Montreal, where he spent four years and earned a master’s degree in theology. He was ordained a priest in 1965 in Rutland. His assignments as a Vermont diocesan priest included the Cathedral in Burlington, then parishes in Bellows Falls, Troy, Rutland, Fair Haven, and Essex, VT. While at Fair Haven he began the “Blessing of the Bikes,” inviting all motorcycles to participate in a blessing at the start of the season. He was an avid NASCAR fan and enjoyed golf,

snowmobiling, and riding his own motorcycle. He had ridden as far as California and visited every town in Vermont. He enjoyed his camp in Marshfield, visiting Aruba, and driving his Jeep in the desert. He is survived by a sister, a brother, and extended family.

1962

DONALD P. HEYEL , Savannah, GA, died June 26, 2016, the College learned recently. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1955 to 1957 aboard the USS Basilone. After college, Don lived in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. He was president of Don Heyel & Company, a manufacturer’s representative company, after working earlier in his career for Continental Forest Industries. He was active in his parish in Savannah, where he lived for 44 years. He was a member of the Savannah Yacht Club, teaching his kids and neighbors to sail and ski. Don is survived by a son, four daughters, and extended family.

CLAUDE E. JOHNSON, JR., Essex Junction, VT, died May 28, 2022. Claude attended a year of college at Notre Dame before transferring to Saint Michael’s, and, after graduation, worked as an accountant in Burlington until 1975, before starting a full-time position in the Vermont Air National Guard. He retired as a master sergeant in 1997. His 38 years with the Green Mountain Boys culminated as alert force supervisor. He enjoyed camping, golf, watching Notre Dame football, and spending his retirement winters in Sarasota, FL. Claude is survived by his wife, Kathleen; two sons, including Daniel Johnson ’95; two

daughters; and extended family, including daughter-inlaw Michele Johnson ’95.

1963

THOMAS E. DEROSIER, Bourne, MA, died August 22, 2022. After his Saint Michael’s Chemistry degree, he earned his dental surgery doctorate from Georgetown School of Dentistry in 1967. Tom then served as a captain in the U.S. Army in Alabama as a preventive dentistry officer during the Vietnam War. Eventually he returned to his home state, Massachusetts, and with a colleague founded Salem & Lynn Dental Associates. In 1990, he permanently relocated to Cape Cod and established Falmouth Dental Associates, continuing in practice until his death. While raising his children with his first wife, Margaret, in Marblehead, MA, he was a youth sports coach. Tom was an expert in home improvement projects. He enjoyed time in Pine Island, FL, fishing, exploring, and crabbing. He also recently took up sourdough bread making and gardening, and, with his second wife, Debbie, enjoyed long road trips and dog walks. He loved Cape Cod and Florida fishing trips, ice cream, barbecue, Sudoku, hammock naps, and birdhouses, which he collected. He was a friend of Bill W. and a member of the major dental professional groups regionally and nationally, along with other boards and committees serving his profession and community. For years, he also volunteered with Cape CARES, providing medical relief to the people of Honduras, making multiple trips per year, sometimes with his children. Tom is survived by his wife, Deborah; three sons; a

68

daughter; three stepchildren; and extended family.

PAUL R. PROVOST, Kingston, NY, died June 2, 2022. Paul worked throughout college at Miles and Riley and then went on to Vermont Transit Lines, where he would continue working until 1988, moving up in the ranks and eventually leading its tours and charters division, which created ample opportunities for his family to travel to Montreal and Quebec for cultural and sporting events. Paul served in the Vermont National Guard in the 1960s. He continued to stay connected to Saint Michael’s through alumni events, eventually being named Alumnus of the Year (1978) along with serving as Alumni Association president (1981–82) and on the Alumni Board of Advisors and serving as an associate trustee in the 1980s. He also was a leading advocate for a varsity-level hockey team for Saint Michael’s, which became a reality. He was active in his parish as a CCD teacher, served on the parish councils of churches he attended, and was a Fourth Degree K of C member. He also served on the Mount Mansfield Union School District board. Paul was active in the bus industry’s trade associations, served with the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce for many years, and was dedicated to supporting Burlington’s Old North End community, where he grew up. After moving to Kingston, NY, in 1988 to take on a VP position at Adirondack Trailways, he joined Kingston Rotary Club. He and his wife raised and showed bearded collies and were active members of the Champlain Valley Kennel Club. Paul enjoyed practical jokes and puns, cross-country skiing, and deer hunting. He is survived by

his wife, Catherine; three daughters, including Laura Martin ’88; a brother; and extended family.

FRANCIS A. RAUCH, JR., Longview, TX, died September 19, 2022. He began his professional flying career in the U.S. Air Force after participating in Air Force ROTC at Saint Michael’s. After earning his English degree, he joined the Regular Air Force in 1964 through flight training and he continued in the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1992. Frank was a skilled pilot, logging over 20,000 flying hours in his career. In the military, Frank flew the EC/ AC/C-47, C-124, KC-10, A-37, and A-10. In 1965, he participated in the action in Santo Domingo, flying 30 combat missions. During his Vietnam service, he flew 60 combat missions and later assisted in the development of Puff the Magic Dragon (the AC-47 gunship) and EC-47, as well as preparing combat crews for service in Southeast Asia. He also had a brief stint as a Customs and Border Protection “skyjacking officer.” Frank also had a long civilian aviation career. Hired by Braniff Airlines in 1969, he stayed until the first bankruptcy filing in 1982 and then returned to Braniff 2 from 1984 to 1989. He then flew for North American and Polar Air Cargo. His airline retirement came in 2001. Aircraft he flew in his civilian career included the B-727, B-737, B-747, B-757, B-767, DC-3, and DC-10. In retirement, he lived first in Dallas, TX, then in Windemere, FL, until moving to Longview back in Texas in 2017 to be near his daughter. Frank is survived by a son, two daughters, a brother, a sister, and extended family.

1967JOSEPH COUTURE , Springboro, OH, died April 21, 2022. He was on the ski and soccer teams at Saint Michael’s, and after graduation moved to Ohio in the 1970s, spending countless hours building and coaching the boys’ soccer program at Springboro High School with a friend in the 1980s. After years working in the insurance field, he went back to school, earned a certificate in the HVAC trade, and started his own business, Climate Dragon. Joe is survived by his wife, Mary; four sons; two daughters; two brothers, including Henri Couture ’67; two sisters; and extended family.

GORDON C. IVANOSKI, Pompano Beach, FL, died September 24, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he earned his master’s degree in mathematics at Boston College, going on to teach math at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts. He moved to Florida in 1982 and worked at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale for 29 years. Besides teaching, he also was a dedicated cross-country coach and an AP math exam grader. After retiring he continuing teaching through tutoring, and he enjoyed running and world travel. Gordon is survived by his wife, Cindy; a son; a daughter; a sister; and extended family.

1968

WILLIAM G. “BILL” KINIRY III, Pembroke, MA, died April 19, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he had a successful career, starting as an area manager for White Fuel/Texaco, becoming vice president and general manager of Quinoil Industries, and eventually

serving as the president and owner of Alltown/All County Fuels. A career change in 2005 brought him to Baynets/ Incord safety systems as a vice president of sales until his retirement. He was active in his Catholic parish in Duxbury, MA, where he lived for many years, including as lector and member of the folk and adult choirs. Bill is survived by his wife of 52 years, Carolyn; two daughters; a sister; and extended family.

1970

FRANCIS M. “FRANK”

CORBISHLEY, Cranston, RI, died October 8, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he earned a master’s degree in foreign service at Georgetown. He also had specialized federal government training in service managerial programs, staff development, labor relations, staff supervision, community needs assessment, and federal regulations. Frank dedicated his professional career to the administration of social programs and advocating for social justice, including serving as executive director for Providence Community Action, Inc., since 1991. In his first year in the position the agency nearly doubled in size, adding several new direct service programs. Frank is survived by his wife, Kimmy Lim; a son; a daughter; and extended family.

WILLIAM H. MESKILL , Billerica, MA, died April 29, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, Bill obtained his master’s degree at Montclair State College in New Jersey and served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of major. In the 1990s, he worked for a time as a department manager and software engineering manager for Logicon in Bedford, MA. He

most recently worked with Oasis Systems, where he was a senior systems cybersecurity engineer supporting the Air Force, and in his spare time, he was a colonel in the Civil Air Patrol, where he served as a longtime vice wing commander as well as wing commander for four years. His interests included military history, classic cars, and classic rock music—he was a disc jockey both in college and with the Armed Forces Radio and Television service. Bill is survived by his wife, Marianne; a son; and extended family.

1971

DAVID A. WOODRUFF, Manchester, NH, died April 5, 2022. After college, he worked at the Brattleboro Retreat in Vermont before moving on to a career in the shoe business. David worked for Mortt Distributors and then Miltner, Inc., where he was a buyer for many years prior to his 2016 retirement. David enjoyed games, particularly cards and bridge; line dancing; music; reading; and the outdoors. An avid sports fan, he loved golf and belonged to several country clubs. He was 2015 club champion at Mountain View Country Club in Greensboro, VT, where he had a family summer camp. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Dianne; a daughter; three brothers; three sisters; and extended family.

1972

JOHN E. FOLEY, address unknown, died January 10, 2022. John’s wife was Maria, College records show. No further information was available about his life, career, or survivors.

KENNETH E. REED, JR., Liverpool, NY, died July 9, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he earned two master’s degrees, in English from SUNY Albany and in elementary education from the College of St. Rose. Ken also served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, including as a pilot, before his 1976 discharge. He worked as an adjunct professor in computer science in the Onandaga Community College Business Department, and for P&C Foods as a data processing supervisor. He is survived by a daughter and extended family.

EDWARD V. SABELLA , East Longmeadow, MA, died November 28, 2021. After Saint Michael’s, the New Jersey native graduated from Western New England College Law School in 1976 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, working for several firms in Springfield, MA, through the decades, eventually as an associate in the firm of Shatz, Schwartz, and Fentin, P.C. He enjoyed sports. Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Kathy; a son; two daughters; a brother; a sister; and extended family.

1974

HUGH M. GORMLEY, New York, NY, died December 30, 2017, the College learned recently. Hugh had worked some years after graduation in the insurance industry, including as New England casualty manager for American International Group, and as assistant secretary, reinsurance brokerage, for O’Connor Associates in Hartford, CT. Survivors include his sister, Susan.

CHARLES M “CHIP” SCHOFIELD, JR., Medway, MA, died June 2, 2022, of ALS.

Chip had an accomplished career in sales, earning awards and consistent recognition for his performance for companies including Gillette and Rexnord. He was an avid golfer and had a passion for music, attending many concerts and shows. He also loved books and movies. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary; two sons; three brothers; a sister; and extended family.

KENNETH F. SENERTH, Glastonbury, CT, died April 19, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, Ken attended Indiana University for graduate school before starting and moving up in the world of medical publishing. Eventually he launched an independent venture, the Journal of Applied Research. He spent many years living in Lawrenceville, NJ, and also lived and worked for a time in North Royalton, OH. He enjoyed running and music, particularly Hank Williams, Sam Cooke, Steve Earle, the Beach Boys, and Van Morrison. He also enjoyed poker, golf, New York Giants games, walks along the Connecticut River in later years, trips to Ireland, a rare steak, jokes, good arguments, cigars, the horse track, and thoroughbreds. Ken is survived by his mother, two daughters, his former wife (with whom he remained friends), a sister, a brother, and extended family.

1977

JOHN GILBERT, Huntington, NY, died April 4, 2021, in a nursing home from COVID, a classmate shared recently. He worked briefly after college as a self-employed builder with Tall Trees Construction. He enjoyed skiing and was a good athlete in his younger days;

however, John sustained a severe head injury in an accident in 1978 and lived at a nursing home for many years. According to a note in his College file, he loved all the mail he got from Saint Michael’s people. No information was available about survivors.

KEVIN C. MCMULLAN , Wilton, CT, died June 14, 2022. Kevin spent his career in the clothing industry, starting in sales and marketing, and later moved to production, which gave him the opportunity to travel the world including to China and Japan, which he loved. At one point in his career, he was executive vice president and national sales manager for Christian Dior in New York City. He also loved golf, a good cigar, books, cooking, and all types of music. He took up fly-fishing later in life and was a huge sports fan, especially football and hockey. He is survived by his wife, Jo Ann; two daughters; three brothers; three sisters; and extended family.

1978

MITCHELL J. KRUKAR, Southport, NC, died June 1, 2002. Mitch formerly lived in Stowe, VT, and in Long Valley and Clifton, NJ. After Saint Michael’s he returned to New Jersey and began a career with Tenneco Chemicals, and completed an MBA at Farleigh Dickinson University in that state. From there he enjoyed a long career in the flavor and food ingredient industry with multiple organizations, including D.D. Williamson, Virginia Dare, Mane USA, Corn Products, Solazyme, Inc., Rochem International, and most recently Tate & Lyle. In New Jersey, he devoted time to coaching youth soccer,

baseball, and sports. Mitch was an avid road biker and skier, and he enjoyed hiking and other activity atop Mt. Mansfield and in the Stowe area, starting in his college days and continuing long after. Mitch was a longtime fan of the New York Jets and the Grateful Dead. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara; two sons; a brother; his stepmother; and two stepbrothers.

1980

FRANCIS X. FARRELL , Yorktown Heights, NY, died May 10, 2022, after living with ALS since 2012. After Saint Michael’s, Fran moved to New York to pursue a career in publishing, which included roles at Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure, as publisher of the Sporting News, National Geographic Adventure, and Men’s Journal, and as CEO and president of Turnstile Media Group. He was an avid skier, biker, hiker, and runner and a passionate environmentalist. Even as his ALS advanced, an eye gaze–controlled tablet allowed him to read, play chess, meditate on daily devotionals, and communicate with family and friends. He would tell his 17 nieces and nephews, “Don’t let anyone have more fun than you,” and emphasized gratitude above all throughout his life. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Fran is survived by his wife of 38 years, Denise; two sons; three daughters; three brothers, including Joseph Farrell ’75 and Thomas Farrell ’82; five sisters; and extended family, including nieces Rita Brown ’09 and Kathryn Farrell ’19, nephews John Clark ’04 and William Farrell ’17, and cousins Timothy Collins ’75, Brian Costello ’69, and Thomas Costello ’68.

SHANE GINGRAS, Rutland, VT, died September 24, 2022. Shane was a litigation expert, working for Nationwide Mutual Insurance for 42 years. He earned his associate degree from Cape Cod Community College before coming to Saint Michael’s for his bachelor’s degree in political science and a later master’s degree. Shane served in the Air National Guard and Army National Guard, each for six years. He won top awards in his company and industry. He enjoyed all sports and loved tennis, qualifying for the Senior Olympic Games in men’s doubles in May 2022. He also enjoyed table tennis and was an excellent downhill skier in younger days, and he further enjoyed vacations at Walt Disney World Resort, and in Ogunquit, ME. He is survived by his wife, Deborah; a daughter; his father; two brothers; two sisters; and extended family.

MARK E. MEANEY, Denver, CO, died June 19, 2021. He was Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder in Social Responsibility and Sustainability. He received his doctorate in philosophy and applied ethics from Marquette University in Milwaukee, working on his dissertation in Germany, the Netherlands, England, and Hungary; taught philosophy briefly at Saint Michael’s in the late 1980s; and worked for 30 years in the social responsibility, sustainability, and compliance fields, both in academia and in private practice. In a memorial tribute publication, Mark’s colleagues in the Leeds School of Business at Boulder recalled him as “someone whose experiences and perspective gave him a kind of foresight into the next big things in business”—a world citizen with a global perspective,

devoted to sustainability. At his death, he was survived by his wife of 25 years, Elyse; two sons; a daughter; a stepson; and extended family. His oldest son died two months after Mark’s death.

WILLIAM J. QUIGLEY, Grafton, MA, died May 26, 2022, of cancer. A three-sport varsity athlete at his Boston high school, he excelled on the Saint Michael’s varsity baseball and swim teams. He had a long, successful career as a heavy equipment sales representative for several firms. Bill was a longtime Third Degree K of C member. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Suzanne; several brothers and sisters; and extended family.

1983

DIANE PETIN FLAHERTY, Barrington, NH, died August 18, 2022, of pancreatic cancer. After earning her Saint Michael’s bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and master’s degree in Education, she settled with her husband in Essex Junction, VT, and raised three children. Diane spent 32 years teaching math at Essex High School. She coached the Math League for many years and was department co-chair. She was named Essex High School Teacher of the Year upon her retirement in 2015. In retirement, she and her husband moved to Barrington to be closer to their families. She volunteered at the local thrift shop to benefit hospice and was an election poll worker. She enjoyed crafting, quilting, gardening, cooking, and interior design as well as word and jigsaw puzzles. She was an adept event planner, hosting holiday parties and family gatherings. She loved the lake, the ocean, and scenic mountain drives. Diane was an

organ donor. She is survived by her husband, Michael Flaherty ’83; a son; two daughters; two brothers; three sisters; and extended family, including nephews John Flaherty ’07 and Joseph Flaherty ’09.

1985

MICHAEL C. MULDOON , Methuen, MA, died May 9, 2022, after heart surgery.

Michael began his sports writing career at the Eagle-Tribune in the Merrimack Valley outside Boston in 1988, rising from stringer covering JV events to sports editor covering the Boston Celtics, and memorably leading a pack chasing Dennis Rodman around the Boston Garden. His signal achievement was covering high school sports in the Merrimack Valley for 35 years. He turned the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Basketball Tournament into the preeminent event of its kind in the region, and his coverage launched it from a small affair to a raucous packed event at Merrimack College and other area venues. He was known in his home region for his popular “Faces in the Crowd” feature particularly, and was a walking encyclopedia of regional records in all sports.

His annual “Athlete’s Oath” column will continue as a tradition after his death. His community activity included championing the sacrifice of soldiers and supporting charity and student athletes. He received the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches media award and many other honors for his achievements personally and professionally.

Michael is survived by his wife of nearly 20 years, Yadira; a son; three brothers; a sister; and extended family.

1987

RICHARD J. HARRIS, JR., Medway, MA, died August 25, 2022. Rich worked as an information technology system administrator for several technology companies for over 30 years, including Digital, Thompson Financial, Intel, Raytheon, Draper, and, most recently, Stevenson Technology Corporation. He was an avid New England sports fan, particularly of watching NASCAR and attending races with his father and son. He also was very active in his children’s youth sports. He was a ski ranger at Wachusett Mountain and played lacrosse and hockey well into adulthood, including several international hockey tournaments. He also enjoyed kayaking, grilling, and smoking meats. Rich is survived by his wife of 29 years, Jane; a son; three daughters; a sister; and extended family.

1988

DANIELLE “DANI” M. DUGGAN , Pembroke, MA, died October 15, 2022, of cancer. Dani loved all aspects of drama and theater from an early age, and it framed her life’s work as an educator, actor, director, and producer of artistic projects in the U.S. and abroad. At Saint Michael’s, she won a departmental award for outstanding achievement in Fine Arts and was deeply influenced by Don and Joanne Rathgeb of the College theater faculty in those years. Her friends from St. Mike’s helped sustain her through her illness. After graduation, Dani moved to Ireland to accept a position at the famed Abbey Theatre in Dublin. She loved Ireland and thrived there for eight years, earning a master’s degree in

modern drama in 1992 at University College Dublin. After a period of college teaching, she formed Salem Willows Theatre Company and produced many performances. Returning to the U.S., she and her husband (whom she had met in Ireland) settled in Pembroke. She became a drama teacher at Middleborough High School and eventually Fine Arts chair, remaining on the faculty for 24-plus years. She also directed the speech and theater workshop, directed several plays, supervised That’s Entertainment, and created the Black and Purple Ball. She was instrumental in the design of the school’s new performing arts center and Black Box Theater. She also directed several productions with the Plymouth Community Theatre and created the Plymouth on the Rock series. Dani is survived by her husband of 28 years, Gerry; her mother and stepfather; a brother; a stepbrother; and extended family.

1990

RICHARD P. O’DAY, Rumson, NJ, died May 1, 2022. He grew up in New Jersey in a family of 10 and was an outstanding high school athlete, lettering in varsity track and field all four years. A corporate banker, he was a senior managing director at Cohn Reznick Capital in New York City, and prior to that was a managing director at Credit Suisse and director at CitiGroup, both in New York. Richard was an avid surfer, boater, fisherman, and paddleboarder, and he enjoyed skiing and snowboarding. He is survived by two daughters, a son, a brother, five sisters, and extended family.

2001

CHRISTOPHER J.J. NICHOLS, Needham, MA, died September 23, 2022. After Saint Michael’s, he graduated from Suffolk University Law School; he worked as an attorney in the financial industry for the last 17 years. Most recently, he worked at LPL Financial as a senior vice president in compliance. He enjoyed ski trips, visiting Disney World with family, and traveling. He also had a passion for celebrating the holidays and was known for his Christmas and Halloween displays. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Maguire Nichols ’01; two daughters; his parents; a brother; and extended family.

2002

MARY E. ZENO, Burlington, VT, died May 3, 2022. She was the great-niece of Michael Kelley, who donated the farm property that became Saint Michael’s College, and the widow of Carl Zeno ’67, long of the College faculty. She earned an associate’s degree from Trinity College prior to receiving her Saint Michael’s bachelor’s degree later in life. Mary was a talented artist, well-versed in many artistic media, and was especially fond of painting. A devout Catholic and lifelong Vermonter, she loved the outdoors. Mary is survived by two sons, a sister, and extended family.

FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS

BRYCE M. BLUDEVICH, MD, Colchester, VT, died June 25, 2022, of melanoma. She grew up in Colchester with close ties to Saint Michael’s throughout her life given that both of her parents, Jacqueline Murphy ’74 and Zafir Bludevich, were longtime employees, in the Admission and Athletics Offices, respectively, and her mother was among the College’s pioneering first female students. Calling hours for Bryce were in the Hoehl Welcome Center on campus and had an enormous outpouring of support. Bryce was an accomplished athlete in soccer and skiing, was Colchester High School salutatorian, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College where she played soccer, and lived after college in Cambridge, MA, while working at a research lab at Children’s Hospital in Boston and meeting her future husband. She embraced adventure, travel, and learning about different cultures, and traveled to China for studies in language and traditional medicine. She was a graduate of the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, participating in the Global Health Initiative with study and service in Russia and Uganda. She chose to pursue a career in surgery, undertaking the start of her surgical residency at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA, and earning honors among residents even as she received treatment for her melanoma. Sadly, Bryce eventually returned there as a patient. She is survived by her husband, Nick Jessee; her parents; a sister; and extended family.

MARYELLEN C. HAM , Greenwood, SC, died June 16, 2022. Maryellen taught graduate courses at Saint Michael’s for a time, and at the University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire while teaching full-time in-service courses to teachers and administrators. After high school she was a religious Sister of Mercy for eight years in New Hampshire, earning a master’s degree and advanced graduate certificate in education. In those years she taught courses at Saint Michael’s and elsewhere. For many years starting in the 1970s, she taught in public schools, and served 10 years as a superintendent in Vermont. She and her husband traveled through all 50 states and six continents. Maryellen earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Vanderbilt University in 1983. In retirement, she was a research associate, writing articles for education journals. She continued to provide seminars and courses to educators. She relocated to Hilton Head, SC, in 1999 and subsequently to Greenwood. She is survived her husband of 50 years, Charles; a sister; and extended family.

ROBERT J. NIEMI, Winooski, VT, died September 17, 2022, of pancreatic cancer. Bob recently became an emeritus professor of English at Saint Michael’s after teaching for 32 years. After earning his undergraduate English degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Bob went on for his master’s degree in library science from Columbia University in 1978, a master’s degree in English literature from UMass in 1988, and a doctorate in English in 1990 from UMass. Bob was director of technical services of the Leominster, MA, public library and the Western

Massachusetts Regional Library System from 1979 to 1983. He was a full tenured professor at Saint Michael’s, teaching American literature, film, and American studies. He was English Department chair for several years and earned the 2012 Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Award. In 2022 at the College’s annual Academic Convocation, he was recognized for his academic contribution to the College after teaching more than 4,000 students in his years at Saint Michael’s. He also taught film courses for prison inmates through the Vermont Department of Corrections.

Bob was active with the Center for Working Class Studies in Youngstown, OH. A student of American popular culture, Bob presented numerous papers at the Northeast Popular Culture Association conferences, hosting two at Saint Michael’s and serving twice as NEPCA’s president. He presented at more than 60 literature and film conferences throughout the world. Bob also was a prolific writer, publishing seven acclaimed nonfiction books on film and popular culture topics and dozens of critical biographical essays. An avid book collector, reader, and talented artist, he enjoyed hiking, photography, oil painting, and linocut artwork. He and his wife enjoyed travel and took memorable trips to New Orleans, Mexico, Edinburgh, Lisbon, and Paris. Bob is survived by his wife, Connie; a son; two brothers; and extended family.

MARY F. RITZ , Portland, ME, and formerly of Poughkeepsie, NY, died June 22, 2022. She was a longtime supporter of the Sutton Fire & Rescue Scholarship at Saint Michael’s based on the experience of her daughter

Susan Currier ’77 as a student. She worked briefly at IBM before raising her family. She was a hospital volunteer and enjoyed bridge, golf, bowling, needlework, and cooking. Her husband Fran, with whom she supported the College through an estate gift, predeceased her. She is survived by two daughters and extended family.

“Teachers from Saint Michael’s College bring a sensibility with them. They see teaching as a calling, not just a job.”

— REV. DAVID THEROUX, SSE ’70

Saint Michael’s College

One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439