Saint Michael’s SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2019
A Higher Calling: Teaching Ethics Today
I
James Fallon ’69 studies the brains of psychopaths. Story page 3.
FOUNDERS HALL 2 A Letter from President Lorraine Sterritt STORIES 3 Ethics vs. Morals: James Fallon ’69, H’02 by Susan Salter Reynolds 6 Soul-Building: Teaching Ethics in Philosophy and Psychology by Susan Salter Reynolds 10 Difficult Decisions: Stephanie Fast ’99 by Susan Salter Reynolds 12 Life in the Real World: Brendan McCafferty ’92 by Susan Salter Reynolds
18 Beyond the Bottom Line: Teaching Economics and Business Ethics by Susan Salter Reynolds 21 Social Media: Setting Boundaries by Megan Beatty ’20 22 New Branding 24 Academic Integrity by Susan Salter Reynolds 26 Free Speech on Campus by Susan Salter Reynolds 28 Ethical Issues in Computer Science: Supporting the Public Good by Susan Salter Reynolds
14 Confronting Ethical Dilemmas on Campus by Danielle Joubert ’20
30 What Would Mom Do? Developing a Moral Compass in the Sciences by Susan Salter Reynolds
16 A Relationship With Nature by Susan Salter Reynolds
32 An Inspired Life by Phung Pham 33 Adieu Founders Hall
SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE Spring/Summer 2019 Volume 19, No. 1 smcvt.edu/magazine EDITOR Susan Salter Reynolds CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Megan Beatty ’20 Danielle Joubert ‘20 Phung Pham Mark Tarnacki Lauren Read
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER Jerald Swope DESIGN Harp and Company Graphic Design Douglas G. Harp Jennifer Fisher MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD Angela Armour ’99 M’09 Alessandro Bertoni Jennifer R. Conetta ‘09 Lindsay Damici Rev. Raymond Doherty ’51, S.S.E. Josh Kessler ’04 Jerald Swope Mark Tarnacki
34 Ethical Journalism: Jonah Kessel ’06 by Mark Tarnacki 36 Global Vision: royal hartigan ’68* by Mark Tarnacki 38 Catholicism and Feminism: Kathryn Markey ’83 by Mark Tarnacki 40 Commencement speaker raises civil rights call 42 Reunion 2019: Great times, big crowd 44 Faculty and Alumni Works 46 New Faces by Lauren Read 49 Letter from the Alumni Board President by Craig Duffy ‘06 50 Class Notes 58 In Memoriam
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. POSTMASTER Please send address changes to: Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439
EDITORIAL OFFICE Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439 802.654.2556 SMCMagazine@smcvt.edu ©2019. All rights reserved. Cover photo by Douglas G. Harp
1
FOUNDERS HALL 2
Letter from the President
D
ear Members of the Saint Michael’s College Family:
In this issue of the magazine we consider ethics, morals, and values. What do these words mean in the contexts of various disciplines? What does it mean to teach ethics in these disciplines? What codes, documents, philosophies, analytic tools, policies, and/or laws exist to help us make difficult decisions in the various disciplines that will inform our life’s work? How do we teach ethics at a Catholic college in Vermont? How do we teach ethics in today’s world? Questions. It is the questions we ask that help us to make the decisions we have to live with. Our alumni around the world say that they leave Saint Michael’s better equipped to answer difficult ethical questions. Why? Because ethics, morals, and values play a big role in the foundational courses at Saint Michael’s, and, as many alumni point out, throughout the curriculum.
Neuroscientist James Fallon ’69, H’02, has become an expert on the brains of psychopaths (turns out, his brain is the brain of a psychopath!). Stephanie Fast ’99, at the Department of Homeland Security, left when she was asked to implement policies she could not morally support. Brendan McCafferty ’92 returned to his home town to build enormously successful programs for immigrant families. Jonah Kessel ’06, a videographer for The New York Times, explains the importance of nuance in the stories we tell about other people’s lives. Saint Michael’s professors reveal the challenges and joys of discussing ethics, morals, and values in the classroom; of learning alongside their students; and of providing their students with the tools they will need to make their own decisions. Economics, environmental science, chemistry, philosophy, psychology, business, and computer science—what are the key ethical issues in these disciplines? Our campus is a living laboratory —John Hughes describes efforts to create a new Free Speech Code, and Jonathan
D’Amore expresses his pride in the growth of academic integrity he sees on campus. We learn so much from our students as they bravely face the future. We have woven their ethical dilemmas and moral questions into the text throughout this issue—privacy, social media, driverless cars, six-figure salaries, meaningful work. May their thoughts return to that favorite class, that inspiring discussion, that excellent
professor, that fabulous friend, or that quiet spot on campus whenever they are challenged to rise to an occasion and let their best selves shine forth. D. E. Lorraine Sterritt President
Lorraine Sterritt President
3
ETHICS VS. MORALS JAMES FALLON ’69, H’02 by Susan Salter Reynolds
When Jim Fallon ’69, H’02, was in his early teens, he was “obsessed with religion.” No, really. Diagnosed with an obsessive-compulsive disorder called hyperreligiosity, or scrupulousness, he gave early confessions (for example, guilt over “not being fully attuned to the symmetry of the universe”) that caused even the priests to say, “don’t worry about it.”
Behaving ethically, that is, following the rules, may be less desirable than having fully functioning moral reasoning, but rules sure come in handy in a pinch. James Fallon ’69 with his brother Pete at Burning Man.
T
oday Fallon, an accomplished neuroscientist (watch his TED talk, or search online for one of his many interviews with NPR or Vice), knows that a scan of his brain might have revealed overdevelopment or disturbance in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. That’s the place, Fallon explains, where the rules live. It’s the part of the brain that inhibits behavior, the part that, as Fallon puts it, “says ‘don’t do that.’” Moral reasoning, on the other hand, lives in the orbital and ventromedial
prefrontal cortices, which develop between birth and around three years of age. Trauma during that time, he explains, can upset the development and expression of moral reasoning. By the time Fallon was in his 20s (and thanks, in part, to his years at Saint Michael’s College), this obsession had subsided. “I held on to the good parts,” he chuckles, “how to take notes and finish projects.” Fallon loved his time at Saint Michael’s. It was there that he began his unique blending of
ETHICS VS. MORALS
“Ethics come to us from previous generations.
you release a lot of creativity,” he says. But you can also become a psychopath. Fallon studied psychopaths and their brains for several decades. Then, one year, — PHOEBE LOW ’19 as he was working on a study on Alzheimer’s disease, Fallon and his family agreed to serve as controls, or “normals.” When the technician brought the scans, with the names hidden by tape, to Fallon for review, he noticed one in particular that had all the traits of a psychopath’s brain. “This guy should not be on the streets,” he said, before pulling off the tape to reveal his own name.
Values are more personal.
Morals are influenced by the culture we live in.”
After years of psychoanalysis, Fallon realized that he had successfully repressed his psychopathic tendencies by “getting other people in trouble,” and other behaviors. “I never hurt anyone,” he says. “I had scrupulousness!” Does this mean that ethics, if we define them as rules, are a good thing?
the humanities and the hard sciences. Today, his life includes theater, film, acting, and consulting for TV and film. “I still turn to the classics, like Heidegger and Plato,” he says. Saint Michael’s is where Fallon let go of religion and discovered “spirituality.” Rules that are learned and processed become automatic, in contrast to moral reasoning, which requires “an elaborate circuitry in the ventral prefrontal cortex. …If you remove all that inhibition,
“Most people define a moral person by what they don’t do,” says Fallon, who considers that definition less than ideal. Behaving ethically, that is, following the rules, may be less desirable than having fully functioning moral reasoning, but rules sure come in handy in a pinch. “You use all the talents you have,” he explains.
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
5
6
illustration: Douglas Harp
Soul-Building:
T E ACH I NG E TH ICS IN PH I L O SO P H Y A N D P SYCH OLOGY by Susan Salter Reynolds Crystal L’Hote is a professor of philosophy. She also teaches in the neuroscience program, and in environmental studies and sciences. Her courses include The Mind, Free Will, and Neuroethics; Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Environment; and Introduction to Philosophy: The True, the Good, and the Beautiful.
When you leave Crystal L’Hote’s office, you think, “It may all work out in the end.” And yet, her classes, including Philosophy of Mind, and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Environment offer many reasons to believe that it may not.
L’Hote’s areas of expertise, neuroethics and bioethics, raise questions of identity, selfhood, and obligations at the cellular and spiritual levels. This material is not for the faint of heart. You have to go in open-minded, and you need a few pillars to lean on. For L’Hote, faith is one of those pillars. At a young age, L’Hote took to the structure and clarity of Catholicism. “The church offered spiritual guidance and helped me to become more sensitive to the moral dimensions of experience,” she says.
L’Hote pauses and smiles. Values, she says, are a matter of degree. For many, they take a lifetime to become fully formed. The longer L’Hote teaches, the more she notices students forming their own values; she notices the point at which they stop looking to authority figures to corroborate right and wrong. She notices an increasing sensitivity in her students to the moral dimension of issues. Questions of obligation and loyalty have taken on a new intensity. How should I live? What is a good life? How can we live alongside inequality and injustice? Many, like the students who took a knee at a basketball game last year in protest of racial inequality, find answers to those questions. 7
The classes L’Hote teaches allow students to engage broad ethical questions in a safe context, and in a thoughtful way that prepares them for real-life situations. And yet, she maintains, the classroom is also a form of real life. It is an ethical environment in which students and professors treat each other well; they pay close attention to one another, to their own needs, and to the needs of others in the classroom. They live up to obligations. They take responsibility.
“Values are what you love. Morals define right and wrong. Ethics are laws.” — ETHAN BROOKNER ’20
Professor David Boynton, Psychology PRACTICING ETHICS
David Boynton chairs the psychology department. His courses include Cognitive Psychology, Research Methods, and Psychology and Law.
Clinical psychologists, explains David Boynton, have an ethics code (the American Psychological Association ethics code, created after the Nuremberg trials in the late 1940s) that guides research in psychology. Early in their introductory courses, students become familiar with principles such as informed consent, doing no harm, and respect for the dignity of research subjects. These principles have evolved a long way since the days, for example, of the 1963 Milgram experiment, a famous study that tested participants’ willingness to subject others to electric shock if they were ordered to do so (in reality no shocks were administered), putting participants at psychological risk and causing them stress. “In our program, we integrate ethics into everything,” Boynton explains. “And there are mechanisms in place, like the code of ethics, to ensure ethical practices are used in research.” left: Professor Crystal L’Hote, Philosophy
SOUL-BUILDING 8
Do psychologists tend to talk about ethics or morals? “We tend to stick to ethical principles, especially in research,” Boynton says, “understanding that our students in academic psychology have a background in moral philosophy.” That said, Boynton has seen a shift in his lifetime toward evidence-based practice. “Much of the social psychology research came out of the horror of World War II. There was an increase in respect for the dignity and rights of individuals,” he says. Being a psychology professor, Boynton adds, involves “being honest about how far science reaches and how far it doesn’t. We have to be humble about what we do, and we have to be aware of our own biases. In teaching the science of psychology, you could be wrong. And being wrong could have serious consequences. For example, certain therapies, such as facilitated “At a small college communication, can cause harm. And that ethical failure there are more opportunities may be born out of ignorance.”
to share opinions and
Young people studying Professor Emeritus Edward Mahoney, psychology at Saint Michael’s Religious Studies develop the courage to develop a sense of self; they learn to acknowledge the speak up.” effect they have on people; ETHICS AND THE they develop a sense of respect — PHOEBE LOW ’19 CATHOLIC and of empathy. Have these INTELLECTUAL goals been more difficult to TRADITION achieve in the current political climate? “It has become more Edward Mahoney, Emeritus difficult to find common Professor of Religious ground,” Boynton admits. “There’s a lot of over-certainty out Studies, Christian Ethics; Christian Social Ethics; Christian there, which makes it easier to persecute others. Putting your Health Care Ethics; and Religion, Ecology, and Ethics. ideas to the test is a good way to correct for that.” Edward Mahoney’s training is in moral theology. In the late 1960s, These are polarizing times. Greed and narcissism may seem he was pursuing his M.A. in theology just after the closing of the woven into modern culture, but 50 percent of the students Second Vatican Council, which dramatically shifted the focus of majoring in Psychology at Saint Michael’s are going into the morality away from law and sin to a stress on freedom, the virtues helping professions. “They have a real social justice frame of and conscience. Up until this point, Mahoney explains, moral reference,” Boynton says proudly. “Being ethically and socially reasoning in the Catholic tradition was grounded in Natural Law; responsible often involves learning through experience.” Upa more fixed, static understanding of human nature. per-level capstone courses in psychology offer real-world experience counseling various affiliated institutions. “You can Mahoney grew up in the tradition of Natural Law, so this talk about risks and benefits and ethics,” says Boynton, “but paradigm shift was difficult and intriguing. He appreciated being in a work environment, failing, learning as you go, is where the inherent return to foundational principles in the Catholic you put ideas to the test.” Intellectual Tradition, that emphasized the importance of scripture, the Fathers of the Church as well as Aquinas and Aristotle’s more dynamic understanding of the human person, but the shift raised a bevy of new ethical questions, particularly in the arena of Mahoney’s evolving interest in biomedical ethics.
Students in Professor Mahoney’s Christian Social Ethics class review the rich heritage of encyclicals and other documents on social issues of the day. These documents explore the principles that help to define a just society and support the dignity of the human person and the practical implications of these principles in healthcare, workers’ rights, war and peace, racism, sexism, and other arenas. “We might, for example, look at the question of discrimination,” he explains, and realize that a secular approach and Catholic Social teaching may come to similar conclusions, but from very different understandings of the nature of the human person. Creating a foundation helps students to consider a wide variety of ethical issues—questions of global poverty, war and peace, nuclear disarmament, genetics, human fertility. “New questions,” says Mahoney cheerfully, “are always on the horizon.” LET YOUR CONSCIENCE BE YOUR GUIDE Peter Tumulty teaches philosophy. His courses include Human Rights, Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Contemporary American Pragmatism, The Later Wittgenstein, and Theories of Justice.
Tumulty believes that teachers can help students develop a rich inner dialogue and a strong relationship with the truth. From here they can encounter other minds and come up with other answers. He distinguishes between this search for truth and a reliance on rules: “You get into trouble if you don’t have a larger vision.” These days, he agrees, it can be difficult to develop that vision. “When the space for dialogue becomes polarized, people develop rigid positions. Students are kind and respectful and they tend to avoid sharp conflicts. They are surrounded by a world of anger and conflict, and they need a rest.” Tumulty is saddened by the rise in depression reported among young people. “To live thoughtfully and well, we need a shared social space that is welcoming,” he says. We must ask questions to gain clarity, and we need clarity to see the truth. Seeing the truth is hard. Tumulty adds, “There is drama in our relationship with truth!” Can people learn ethics in the classroom? “We can give [students] resources, an invitation,” Tumulty says. For him, teaching means acknowledging that every student has a unique starting point in the search for truth: “We don’t give them the truth. We give them a wake-up call so that they can begin to develop their relationship with the truth.” The relationship with the truth is what we mean by having a conscience, a moral compass, an inner voice, the place where our relationship with the truth is alive.
“Philosophy,” says Peter Tumulty cheerfully, “can help you live a better life. And being alive means having a soul, a soul that asks questions and seeks the truth, a soul that enables us in our effort to be ethical, moral human beings.” The liberal arts provide students and faculty a common language with which to discuss issues such as freedom and justice. “Discussion-based
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
learning,
The oldest son in an Irish even in biology classes, family, Tumulty entered a seminary, only to decide helps you cultivate your ethical against the priesthood as a vocation. But he had begun decision making.” his search for clarity. “We don’t get to pick our starting — MEGHAN SMITH ’19 point,” he says. “You learn to recognize your shortcomings and your gifts. Teachers have to be clear in order to provide students with the resources they need to pursue clarity, to figure out what it means to be a human being.” Above all, Tumulty says, “We must be clear about the difference between education and indoctrination.” right: Professor Peter Tumulty, Philosophy
9
Difficult Decisions by Susan Salter Reynolds
STEPHANIE FAST ’99 10
Stephanie Fast’s cv is about as impressive as it gets: Saint Michael’s College, Oxford summer programs, Georgetown, Yale, the Department of Homeland Security. Threads running through this line-up include Ethics, Policy, Social and Political Science. “I was always very interested in how human beings make decisions. Initially, I thought I would go into forensic psychology to help create reforms in the justice system. I’m interested in people and justice!”
And then came 9/11.
“I was a teaching assistant at Yale the time. Our campus was immediately impacted. I went to Ground Zero with the Red Cross and witnessed the turning point this was for our nation. I was recruited by the Department of Homeland Security soon after. It was a new department, with the most diverse mission in government and we all took ownership of its new statutory mission.” Fast worked on Her Saint Michael’s the Violence Against advisor, Psychology Women Act; she helped professor Jeffrey Adams, with special immigration guided Fast to take pathways for women who courses in Psychology had been abused; she of Religion and Ethics. fought human trafficking; “I had a tremendous she championed reforms realization in these for refugees and children classes: everything I was at the border. She was asking about human awarded for her reform behavior could be found work and participated in in classical texts.” Philosoheadlining undercover phy classes with Profes— BRANDON BIELINSKI ’19 work “that I cannot talk sors Ron Begley and John about. But, I can say, no Izzi developed her matter what I did, I understanding on how thought about values, law, morality is shaped well or influence and how to manipulated badly. A class with Ed Mahoney in Bioethbuild ‘the good life’ for others,” she says. “Usually when ics raised evergreen questions about the nature of I had a new dilemma I thought about those old, classihuman life, values and tough choices. It was all “deeply cal texts. There is nothing new under the sun.” engaging intellectually. I decided I wanted to teach and share that insight with others.”
“Should I go into
a career in journalism, making less money,
or a career in public relations, making more money?
It’s an ethical dilemma.”
Fast started her own consulting practice advising on technological solutions for federal agencies working on security and emergency management, among other things, “a job only Washington could invent,” she laughs. Her work has already appeared in major media. It helps agencies achieve humanitarian mission success with cutting-edge technology. Books and conversations she had decades ago at St. Mike’s help fuel her determination and the innovations this new work requires. It’s a steep learning curve.
11
She’s a fast climber.
After over a decade in Homeland Security, Fast, in an office advising to Department’s Deputy Secretary on immigration, was asked to look the other way when humanitarian immigration programs, those related to refugee and asylum protections, were being undermined. In one case, Fast was asked to write against a program. Rather than do so, Fast decided to resign. This was not an easy decision. Not only had she worked there for many ears, Fast was a cancer survivor. She needed the healthcare her job provided to stay on a protocol. Fast was not the only high-level DHS employee to resign. Still, well-meaning friends exclaimed “Why would you ever leave a position like that?” Fast said “I knew I could make a difference elsewhere.”
“Everything I was asking about human behavior could be found in the classical texts.”
illustration: Douglas Harp
Fast had to learn to get leaders’ attention to change policies. She had to be able to understand their perspectives, even when they didn’t jibe with her own. It worked. Until it didn’t. Initially, the people she worked with in Washington D.C. were “phenomenal. There were some great people you don’t read about in the headlines,” she says. Fast was worried in 2016 by the new style of power—the lying, the corrosive antisocial behavior and the outspoken misogyny. “It besmirched the hard work for personal honor in public service and discipline in policy-making to achieve justice. Ethics is about having a well-informed conscience,” she says. “Understanding the issues and understanding what’s at stake takes discipline, curiosity, empathy and humility.”
BRENDAN MCCAFFERTY ’92 12
Brendan McCafferty in the orange shoes
LIFE IN THE REAL Seeing a Problem and Doing Something by Susan Salter Reynolds
A
big yellow school bus drives through the busy city of Manchester, New Hampshire, at 5 p.m. on a sunny spring day. Traffic moves slowly, residents are out and about in the neighborhoods, and the 75 students on the bus are talking, laughing, listening to their music, and singing. Huge smiles. Beautiful kids. Grades 4–12. Having wrapped up a busy school day, they are all en route to a busy night program they look forward to every week.
These children are from Zimbabwe, Somalia, Ecuador, Mexico, Ukraine, Iraq, Bosnia, the Dominican Republic, Congo, Puerto Rico, Iran, China, and other regions. They have come to this city fleeing war or religious persecution, with their parents seeking a safer, better life. They are leaving behind death and violence, but also family and culture. Most have experienced more trauma at a young age than others will experience in a lifetime.
When some of these families arrived years ago, Brendan McCafferty ’92 and other locals started F.U.N. (Family Understanding Nights) events to welcome newcomer families from around the world. The evenings were designed to provide fun and information, a place to socialize and be educated on how to navigate their challenging and confusing new world. Buses with volunteers brought in the 250–300 guests, and the 85 volunteers from across the community provided meals and afterward games and activities, separating the adults from the kids. The adults were then brought to rooms, organized by language groups, with interpreters, to be educated by different guest speakers chosen by their community leaders. Over five years and 35 events, F.U.N. served as an incredible bridge to many, and warmly and creatively educated both newcomers and locals.
WORLD: Thirteen years ago, BRING IT! (Bringing Refugees, Immigrants, and Neighbors Gently Into Tomorrow) became a natural spinoff of F.U.N. This weekly program serves all comers, grades 4–12, at no cost, and provides homework help, volunteers from local colleges and City Year, career exploration, soccer, dance, STEM, art, and more, for three and a half hours each week. BRING IT! is a program for all kids, a great example of where newcomers and locals meet to become the better and most recent version of their city. The bus finally arrives at Hillside Middle School in Manchester, where the program takes place. The smiles get warmer and bigger as the kids thank the bus driver and get off the bus, and warmer and
bigger still as they are greeted upon entering the school. Hillside Principal and BRING IT! cofounder Brendan McCafferty ’92 exits the bus, thanks the driver, and says, “See you at 7 p.m.” “These kids and families, both newcomers and locals, are all wonderful,” McCafferty says. “Many wouldn’t think it, but here in our Manchester schools, we have children from 85 countries who speak 70 languages and dialects. Our schools and community are full of wonderful people and organizations, including a significant number of the poor, marginalized, disenfranchised, and voiceless. We could complain about things or do something about them, and we at BRING IT! are trying to do something. We embrace the underdog, we like to see a fair fight, and we love our kids and community.” Through his day job and BRING IT!, McCafferty sees the daunting challenges, but also sees solutions. “We all need to take care of each other better. We need to embrace differences and diversity with dignity and enthusiasm. These kids inspire me every day, and I hope as time passes we can better focus on each other, provide a better education, and become better neighbors.” The smiles, the laughter, the high fives, and the jokes are all the fuel McCafferty needs to continue with this mission. He sees distinct parallels between this work and the values and ethics of Saint Michael’s, which he says he misses very much. He invites any and all interested Purple Knights to reach out, learn more, and support the cause. “We all had people instrumental in our development and survival. Some aren’t so lucky, so we’re going to keep trying to balance the scales better,” he says. “Kudos to all Purple Knights out there making a difference.” Reach out to McCafferty at bmccafferty@mansd.org and check out BRING IT! at bringitafterschool.org.
ALUMNI PROFILE
“These kids inspire me every day, and I hope as time passes we can better focus on each other, provide a better education and become better neighbors.”
13
14
Confronting Ethical Dilemmas on Campus by Danielle Joubert ’20
W
“People form relationships with others hen ethical and moral challenges come knocking, through their faith, and I know that for me, I can talk with friends who have it’s up to every student a similar faith and we can hold ourselves at Saint Michael’s College accountable because of that,” she says. to figure out where he or she is most Programs such as Wednesday night comfortable seeking guidance. Luckily, scripture study allow Christian students there are few better places to find like Newman to stay mindful of their oneself in need of moral support than beliefs in their daily lives. this campus community.
Madison Newman ’20 is a student leader in VITA, the College’s peer ministry program, which involves both on-campus programing and off-campus retreats. Although the Edmundites and staff leaders such as Anna Lester are always there to help students in times of personal crisis, Newman sees Campus Ministry more as a community of continuous support.
But although Campus Ministry is about community among like-minded people, it’s just as much about respecting difference. Newman herself is a nondenominational Christian who, like many other non-Catholic or even non-Christian students, still finds the Edmundite Catholic community to be enriching. She sees spiritual differences as an opportunity.
“If you differ in what you think about something, that’s going to help you grow in your own faith and just also grow in how you converse with others,” she says. In some cases, difference is the name of the game. Jessie Anderson ’21 is an RA in GEAR Housing, which consists of suites shared by international and U.S. students. Her job involves participating in programs and training put on by the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Services. “Taking on that leadership position has changed me a lot,” she says. “Now I have to be more aware of how I interact with people.” The center is there to assist international students, and students of color in particular, with wellness or academics in a
15
Students regularly meet to have discussions in The Center for Multicultural Affairs at Saint Michael’s College.
space where they feel welcome. It’s also a place for dealing with conflicts over racial and cultural differences. Staff at the center were able to help Anderson mediate a personal conflict of her own when a friend’s racially charged comments began to turn the relationship hostile. Anderson believes that bringing a third party into the discussion made it much more productive. “Sitting down and hearing their side and where they’re coming from and respecting that, but also being able to tell them that this is how their actions are affecting you as a person, is very important,” she says. That ability to talk through differences is also one that a liberal arts education fosters in the classroom. The Honors
Colloquium, an interdisciplinary twocredit course required for all Honors Program students, consists entirely of discussion and reflection on controversial issues. Students from various majors work in pairs to assemble readings on their topic of choice and lead discussions with their peers. In Professor Lorrie Smith’s spring semester course, topics included free speech on college campuses, injustice in the United States justice system, and dealing with the opioid crisis. “Rather than pro/con debates, the conversations provide a chance for deeper reflection on moral and ethical complexities of any given issue,” Smith says. In a time of political polarization, she believes this to be especially critical. “Almost
always, in their final reflection papers, students say they arrived at a more complicated understanding of the topic. As a teacher, I’ve really come to appreciate this process of developing more nuanced moral and critical thinking,” she says. Self-discovery in college is just as much about gaining moral maturity as it is about the joy of finding our passions and forming lifelong friendships with our peers. For this more challenging part of a student’s journey, there’s no shortage of help along the way. Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
16
A Relationship With Nature by Susan Salter Reynolds
Trevien Stanger teaches Environment and Society, Nature and Culture, Environmental Research Methods, American Wilderness, and Environmental Justice.
W
hat does it mean to be a responsible human being in the landscape? Trevien Stanger asks this question of his students. And by landscape, he does not mean the inside of an L.L. Bean catalog. He means nature.
What does it mean to have an ethical relationship with nature? In his Environmental Justice class, Stanger makes it clear that nature is not confined to special places such as national parks. Nature is wherever we live, work, and play. “I push them,” Stanger admits. “I am not just talking about ‘virtue signaling’” (recycling, driving a hybrid vehicle, etc.). “I’m taking about a relationship.” Stanger believes there have been some drastic missteps in the environmental movement in the last few
decades, including an intentional campaign of misdirection by big companies. “There are a lot of feel-good opportunities—Green Up Days, for example—that make participants feel like good environmentalists [but that] can distract us from really being a part of our surroundings.” Stanger starts from a place of rediscovery—learn about the watershed you live in. “I learned more about rain forest birds as a child than the birds [I saw] out my window,” he says. Students get it, he reports. They want to be agents of local cultural change. Climate change presents a host of difficulties. “Ethics depends on relationship, and it’s hard to be in a relationship with the climate. We are nested in the human community—what does that place look like?” he asks. Stanger wants his students to think about seasons and land use patterns and being part of a place. He wants his students to expand their ethical community to include the plants, animals, and soil they live with. Only then should they move on to the polar ice cap.
“If you have a land ethic, what does it mean? How do you change your behavior? What does it mean to defend that place? Can you identify with a river? Does that river have rights?” he asks. There are many ways, Stanger explains, to be part of the move from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining society. Borrowing from environmental activist and author Joanna Macy, Stanger suggests three ways to be part of the solution: holding actions (protests, etc.); examining and changing social structures (food access, environmental laws, etc.); and changing consciousness. Is there a sense of urgency? Yes. We are, says Stanger, ruining our life support systems. But we must “let [students] find their own orientation.” Climate change, as urgent as it is, often fails to inspire personal engagement. Environmental justice requires a willingness to speak up, to support one’s case with evidence, and to have a vision of how things ought to be. “Your zip code,” says Stanger, “is the biggest predictor of life expectancy.” It is connected with food justice, green spaces, pollution, cancer rates, unhealthy
17
living environments. These issues seem much more immediate than calculating parts per million. Stanger sees great hope in citizen science, in Mothers for Peace, and in indigenous resistance movements that focus on the sacredness of landscapes. This sense of sacredness, he says, creates a different relationship than traditional Judeo-Christian relationships to land. It is a relationship that inspires ethical behavior, that inspires change. Stanger advises his students to learn about issues before taking a position. “Learn before you act,” he says. “Create a cohesive ethical framework for yourself. Do a moral inventory. Look at your own hypocrisy. Then … speak out!” right: Trevien Stanger, instructor of Environmental Studies and Science, prepares to plant a Swamp White Oak near the banks of the Winooski River on the natural area owned by the College. Stanger and his students have been actively restoring the riverside habitat over the last two years and have already planted over 300 native trees and shrubs. Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
18
Beyond the Bottom Line: Teaching Economics and Business Ethics by Susan Salter Reynolds Tara Natarajan was recently named Dean of the Faculty and has been the chair of the Economics Department at Saint Michael’s. She teaches several economics courses, including Economic Thought and Policy and the Economics of Development and Poverty.
Professor Tara Natarajan sets me straight: Economics isn’t just about money. She invokes the work of economist Amartya Sen: “It’s about societal well-being and freedom.” In the 19th and 20th centuries, the discipline of economics shifted its focus from classical thought (questions of morality and moral philosophy) to an emphasis on logical positivism,
a mathematics-centered discipline that favored facts over values. Mainstream economics became reductionist; questions of right and wrong had no place in this new science. Natarajan calls this shift “the poverty of our discipline.” She moved away from mainstream economics into social economics during her third year in graduate school. “I did some serious soul searching,” she says. “I was excellent at the math, but I was more interested in what shapes human behavior and questions of distribution. I was more interested in evolutionary economics, in studying institutions, choices, values, and patterns of activity. I am called to the economics of bread, not cake.”
Natarajan moved to the U.S. in 1995. Growing up Hindu in India, she could not have imagined how her own humanist approach would one day intersect with the Catholic intellectual tradition. Much of her work involves studying patterns of inequality, and resource allocation is a moral question. She presents the material to students intellectually, without bias, so that they can grasp the theoretical issues before forming opinions. Students do not want to be told how to think about an issue. The second wave of classical economists, such as Sen, raise important ethical questions for economists like Natarajan, bridging philosophy and mainstream economics by borrowing tools from each.
19
“There are so many structural injustices that just can’t be fixed in a single lifetime. It’s hard to know which ones to tackle.” — EMALEE GARBOSKI ’19
Professor Tara Natarajan, Economics
“It’s really important that institutions in higher education adhere to the ethical guidelines in their mission statements.” 20
— EMALEE GARBOSKI ’19
Professor Paul Olsen, Business
Competing Goods Paul Olsen teaches Managerial Ethics, Human Resource Management, Peace and Justice, and Leadership.
Three or four years ago, a student majoring in Business at Saint Michael’s would have taken Professor Paul Olsen’s Introduction to Business class. That class is now called Managerial Ethics. Why the change? “Companies used to be all about the bottom line,” says Olsen. “Now, you have to do more than just make money.” More and more companies espouse the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. It’s all too easy, he explains, to pick up the newspaper and see stories of companies that ignored ethics in the name of shareholder return. Volkswagen, Theranos, Enron: These are just a few of the many case studies Olsen uses in his class. He also builds a foundation in ethical theory. Students discuss egoism, the four-way test (four questions a decision
maker must ask: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?), the TV test (would you feel confident describing your decision on 60 Minutes?), and the legal test (does your decision lead to illegal actions?). In his Leadership class, Olsen strives to develop leaders who will make ethical decisions. How can leaders create ethical organizations? Mission statements and codes of conduct can be the moral backbone of a company. “The fish starts to rot from the head,” Olsen notes. “As a leader, you have to do what you say you will do.” He continues, “The challenge I have is that by the time students appear in my class their values are set, learned at home or in their faith community. I can provide tools to help guide ethical decisions, but if the student is already a bandit or a sociopath…” Olsen chuckles. There aren’t many of those in his classes, he adds. But students do
have varying core values; they have different ideas about justice, fairness, honesty, and integrity. Professors should model ethical behavior and hold students accountable. “I try to practice what I teach,” he says. “It also matters to me that students take responsibility for their actions—[that they] don’t plagiarize, for example, or take other shortcuts.” In this way, the classroom models the real world. Like Olsen, Natarajan acknowledges that by the time students get to Saint Michael’s, their values have largely been shaped. “Education should not be about indoctrinations,” she says firmly. “We can make them aware of different types of values; we can help them learn how to think. We can give them a conceptual and theoretical foundation. But it has to lodge in the brain and the heart. And that can take a lifetime.”
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
SOCIAL MEDIA: Setting Boundaries by Megan Beatty
S
ocial media poses unique ethical questions. Saint Michael’s College professors Traci Griffith of the Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts Department and Renee Carrico of the Psychology Department shed some light on these questions.
Professor Traci Griffith, Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts Griffith maintains that privacy is the biggest ethical issue. “People don’t recognize how much of their privacy they’re giving away,” she says. Tracking tools such as cookies tell companies a great deal about who we are. To address this problem, Griffith
says, “It’s not a question of making social media more ethical; it’s about making people more aware.” Professor Carrico agrees that privacy is a primary concern, particularly the privacy of children. When asked if children are too young to consent to being shown by family vloggers (video bloggers) on YouTube Carrico says, “Yes, they are too young to consent, but parents make lots of choices for children that they are too young to make. However, when you are making a choice for someone else, the responsibility is much greater.” Once those photos are on the internet, they’re out there. “We look at kids like they are not full people,” Carrico says, “but they are autonomous individuals.” Just because children cannot understand the privacy issues involved does not mean they don’t have legitimate privacy rights, and parents are in charge of protecting those rights. Protecting privacy rights may include setting boundaries or guidelines on children’s own social media usage. Should there be a universal age limit for social media users? Carrico says, “Anyone under 11 or 12 years old probably doesn’t need to be using social media. Adolescents are the ones who become really interested in social media.” Adolescents’ brains are highly attuned to rewarding experiences; the pleasure received from a “like” or a comment on a social media post feels more significant to them. But social media is depersonalizing, and makes bullying easier. “Sixty percent of teens say they have been harassed or bullied online,” Carrico says. It falls on parents to set guidelines and help children navigate their social media usage.
There are definitely benefits to social media, says Griffith, but users need to know how to manage it. We need to educate ourselves and our children on these issues of privacy in order to make social media safer and to protect privacy rights for all. Carrico agrees, saying that the best thing we can do for children is to help them navigate the contexts in which they grow up, and in modern society, those contexts include social media.
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
Professor Renee Carrico, Psychology
21
Typefaces
NEW BRANDING
22
Saint Michael’s College completed a branding project early this spring and we are beginning with a roll out of the new look and messaging in our marketing and communications. Working with an internal committee which included faculty, staff, students, and alumni, the project involved conducting research, developing a strategy, then crafting the messaging and graphics that would resonate with the College’s different constituents. Upon seeing the final drafts, President Lorraine Sterritt, who helped in the development of the language expressed, “This new creative does a much better job in conveying the valuable experience and important outcomes of a Saint Michael’s education, and it does it with engaging and elegant creative.” The purpose of developing an effective brand strategy and creative is to articulate our unique identity and personality and convey the promise that we make to the people who interact with the College. In an increasingly competitive higher education market, it is more important than ever. The brand narrative you see below is primarily intended for an internal audience as a point of creative inspiration. It attempts to distill the messaging platform into an authentic “story” that helps to illustrate the Saint Michael’s College community. It is the distillation of a thorough messaging platform that was developed. While the new graphics standards do not include any changes to the College’s logo, or our treasured purple and gold, they do introduce some new secondary and tertiary colors; as well as new graphic patterns, illustrations, and ornaments. Together these graphics help convey a sense of seriousness about our mission, as well as sense of hospitality, faith, and community. If you would like to learn more about the new branding look and messaging, visit smcvt.edu/magazine Alex Bertoni Director of Marketing and Communications
Primary Typeface Use for headlines, section headlines, body copy, and captions.
Neuzeit Grotesk Regular Neuzeit Grotesk Bold Neuzeit Grotesk Black ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV W X YZ0123456789 Secondary Typeface Use for subheads, body copy, tags, names, quotes, and captions.
Georgia Regular Georgia Italic Georgia Bold Georgia Bold Italic abcdefghijklmnopqrst uvwx yz0123456789 Quotation Typeface Use sparingly for quotes.
Mission Script Illustrations
City of Burlington-Reversed
City of Burlington
Campus Buildings
City of Burlington-with Mountains
Colors
Brand Narrative If not for those who challenge themselves, those with the ambition to find solutions, and the courage to act on their convictions, where would we be? At Saint Michael’s College, we are called to uplift the human condition. We walk in the tradition of saints, and we focus on what’s in front of us. This gives us the power to approach the world’s most complex problems —integrating faith with action, intellect with empathy, and the individual with the community. Because today’s world requires people who are equipped to do well and driven to do good.
Ornaments
Banners and Enclosures
Cupola Vertical Banner
Mosaic Diamond Wrapping Banner
Personality
Horizontal Banner
Here, we search for truth. Our passion to learn is matched by academic opportunities and mentors that push us even further. In every pursuit, we hone skills and gain mastery to build lives of purpose and consequence. We explore freely. We uncover insights in a place where researching and restoring local ecosystems, interning at international organizations, and hiking the Green Mountains are all within reach. We lead by example, inspiring others as we pursue our own paths. We combine our belief in the power of peace, justice, and service, with a will to act. Driven by our values, we begin to understand humankind and cultivate human kindness. We come as we are and take everything we learn with us. As Purple Knights, we have the resolve to go out into the world as bold leaders. Confident in our chosen directions, we face our futures with determination, ability, and humility. Where would we be? If not for the curiosity that drives us. If not for the principles that guide us. If not for the community that uplifts us. If not for Saint Michael’s College.
Academic Integrity
by Susan Salter Reynolds
24
Jonathan D’Amore teaches courses in the English Department and the First Year Seminar Program at Saint Michael’s. He also serves as the associate dean of the College.
H
ow do we make choices? How can we make ethical dilemmas we haven’t yet faced seem real? Reading is one way. “Literature,” says Jonathan D’Amore, “makes the familiar strange.” Watching characters make good choices, bad choices, and ethical compromises is a great way, he explains, for students to play out these scenarios. From the safe distance of the classroom, students can begin to develop an ethical calculus they can carry with them beyond the campus.
“Ethical decisions are rarely transparent,” says D’Amore, but the liberal arts offer many opportunities to ask questions about the gray areas, “to hone our moral compasses.”
Where Is the Real World? In many ways, college is a mirror of the real world. “College is a place where we work together as a community to build opportunities for safe experimentation,” says D’Amore. This is not to say that actions in college do not have
consequences. They do. “We attend to consequences here,” he adds, “with deliberation and thoughtfulness.” For example, free speech on college campuses has been debated recently, at Saint Michael’s, and on other campuses as well. “We have an obligation to listen respectfully to people making statements in good faith,” D’Amore explains. “No one has to accept hurtful speech, but we should show generosity to all points of view and validate goodfaith arguments. “My students are tremendously validating of each other,” he says with pride. “It can be difficult to get them to disagree with each other. And it is important, even necessary, that we learn to disagree respectfully.” How is teaching ethics and helping students to develop their moral compasses different at a Catholic college? D’Amore, who is not a practicing Catholic, was happy to learn when he came to Saint Michael’s that the Catholic intellectual tradition does not conflict in any way with academic freedom. “There is an emphasis in the curriculum on foundational questions that can help people resolve those questions when they arise,” he says. In his role as associate dean in charge of academic integrity, D’Amore meets with students in crisis or in need of help with challenges that may or may not
originate in their academic lives. He often helps students who are having academic difficulties recalibrate their academic approach. “Our role is not to punish, but to support. When a student cheats, for example, I take action to educate them. I help them find other paths to success,” he explains.
Cutting Corners “When we cut corners,” D’Amore says, “it is usually because we are overwhelmed.” But it is important to learn to value one’s own integrity. “You might get a lower grade, but that’s better than violating trust and your own integrity.” D’Amore has worked on the Academic Integrity Policy, and has seen fewer violations (and fewer recurring violations) in the last two to three years. “For most students, it is not worth it to cheat, not because of the repercussions, but because they have bigger fish to fry. They’d rather turn in a good paper late than cheat. They are attending to their own needs, placing more value on their work than on the grade. They are making good on the investment they are making in themselves. They are learning that it is possible to fail in the process of succeeding.” Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
25
“Most college students face this dilemma at some point: whether to look over your neighbor’s shoulder when you are taking a test.” — ETHAN BROOKNER ’20
Professor Jonathan D’Amore
Free on C
26
“I have my own code of ethics. Will I lose my moral compass [at my new job] in Washington, D.C.? No. I have confidence in myself and my decision-making abilities.” — PHOEBE LOW ’19
Professor John Hughes, Political Science
Speech ampus by Susan Salter Reynolds John Hughes teaches American Constitutional Law, American National Politics, Civil Liberties, Criminal Justice, and the Politics of Capital Punishment in America.
J
ohn Hughes has served on a committee composed of students, faculty, and administrators drafting a Saint Michael’s Free Speech Code, making sure that it is in tune with the Catholic intellectual tradition but still adheres closely to established First Amendment principles. “As a private institution, we are not bound by the First Amendment. We can find considerable wisdom in First Amendment doctrine, but sometimes it is necessary for us to depart from the First Amendment to best serve interests unique to Saint Michael’s College. We are an intimate community with a robust moral foundation that values the individual dignity of every human being. While the U.S. Supreme Court mandates that hate speech can only be punished if it is a form of harassment, threats, or fighting words, we can define hate speech much more comprehensively,” explains Hughes, “to include personal disparagement on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, place of birth; age; religion; sex; gender or gender identity; sexual orientation; disability; HIVpositive status; or veteran or military service status.” The code applies to outside speakers; it does not apply to class assignments or discussion. “I can talk in class about the history of racial attitudes, for example,” he explains. Saint Michael’s Free Speech Code is “more of a guideline than a penal statute.” It would be enforced through the standard judicial review process already in place at the College. It offers very permissive guidelines for groups inviting speakers to campus. Given recent controversies on campuses across the country, fears have been expressed that limiting hate speech is akin to limiting free speech. “No one can suggest that speech be unlimited,” Hughes says. “After all, there are other values at stake—equality and safety, for example. These must be balanced with free speech.” Hughes has been teaching First Amendment theory for four decades. Why has the issue of free speech on college campuses risen to the surface now? “We live in very polarized times, in which arguments over speech are frequently proxies for arguments over group status and political power. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports show that hate crimes are on the rise, especially those based on religious bigotry. We see more and more targeted group animus,” he says. What can be done? Hughes sighs. “We want to encourage dialogue. But hate speech does not convey meaningful ideas, nor are such expressions invitations to serious debate. People employ such speech as weapons to intimidate its victims into silence or retreat. This is not compatible with the goals of an academic institution.”
27
Ethical Issues in Computer Science: Supporting the Public Good by Susan Salter Reynolds
Professor Greta Pangborn, Computer Science
Michael Battig teaches Introduction to Computer Science; Technology, Ethics, and Society; Artificial Intelligence; and Software Engineering.
C
omputer scientists rely on the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM’s) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which begins, humbly enough, with this preamble: Computing professionals’ actions change the world. To act responsibly, they should reflect upon the wider impacts of their work, consistently supporting the public good. Battig exposes his students early on to this code, and to case studies in which the code has been violated. Students examine various ethical theories, including utilitarianism, relativism, and others. But Battig also wants to make it clear, from the beginning, that “ethics are not a function of education. Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber,” he reminds his listener, “went to Harvard.”
Most of the students in his classes become software developers, he says. And although alumni don’t report significant ethical dilemmas in their computer work, they do come back with stories of work/life imbalances. Foreign students hoping for a green card are often overworked by bosses who hold all the cards. The startup culture is also fraught with pressures from venture capitalists pushing products to market. “It is a common misconception that programmers are reclusive, code-generating bots, when in reality, the work is highly collaborative,” says Battig. Many of the ethical issues his graduates face are issues they would face in any other collaborative profession—competition, credit, communication, etc. Issues of ethics arise in Battig’s course on artificial intelligence as well. “There are two philosophical directions in AI,” he reports. “Build human replacements
or build systems to supplement the work that humans do. Machine learning uses complex modeling to create a metaphorical representation of human neural networks.” Of course, questions such as “What makes us human?” and “What does it mean to be human?” are ideally suited to the liberal arts learning environment. “Are humans biochemical computers,” asks Battig, “or the JudeoChristian mix of flesh and blood and a soul [created in the image of God]?” Students are pretty evenly split on the answer, he reports. “When I started teaching, I had to decide whether or not to reveal my position on these questions,” Battig admits. “I come from a traditional Judeo-Christian background, and I believe that part of us transcends our body. I don’t make a big deal of it, but I do tell [students] that ideas have consequences. If we are biochemical computers, then it becomes difficult to create a moral argument for environmental conservation.”
Battig believes that students are finding their balance with technology. “Five years ago, they were much more in awe of screens than they are now,” he says. In his First Year Seminar, students watch a PBS series on the Amish. At one point, the interviewer asks, “What is the difference between you and me?” The Amish interviewee replies, “We don’t let technology run our lives.”
DOES PRIVACY MATTER? Greta Pangborn teaches Data Structures and Algorithms, eCommerce, Introduction to Computing, Machine Organization, and Programming Languages for Information Systems.
In Greta Pangborn’s classes, students often discuss ethical issues concerning privacy and intellectual property. “Computer science majors have thought a lot about these issues,” she says. Nonetheless, Pangborn is often surprised by their positions—for example, she sees a seeming increase in equanimity about loss of privacy. Data protection rules are more stringent in the E.U., Pangborn explains, and California and other states seem to be moving in that direction, but students in Pangborn’s classes don’t appear to have the same fear of Big Brother that plagued earlier generations. “We need a certain amount of privacy for mental health,” says Pangborn, but there is no ethical default. A bigger issue may be programming based on biased data. Lending models used by banks, for example, may have been trained on datasets that reflect racial prejudice and never updated.
Algorithms used in machine learning can include “nasty stuff,” says Pangborn. “Are there fewer ethical defaults in the quantitative methods used to program than in qualitative methods?” In data science, Pangborn explains, algorithms are simple, but their power lies in their ability to process a lot of data. Not all of this data is updated with current cultural values. Pangborn appreciates that most of her upper-level students have taken philosophy courses that have allowed them to explore ethical issues. “They are able to use information from other classes to imagine decisions they might face,” she says.
29
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
“There are a lot of ethical issues that arise in programming. Take self-driving cars. Do you program the vehicle, in a potential accident, to hit the older person? To kill fewer people?” — TED RANKIN ’21
Professor Michael Battig, Computer Science
What Would Mom Developing a Moral Compass in the Sciences 30
by Susan Salter Reynolds
Bret Findley teaches Chemistry Senior Seminar, General Chemistry I and II, Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy, and Environmental Chemistry. Christina Chant teaches General Chemistry I and II, General Chemistry I and II labs, Integrated Chemical Analysis, Organic Chemistry I lab, Biochemistry I lab, and Senior Seminar.
E
thics play an increasingly important role in the hard sciences. Being true to the data, not making things up, being a good team player and Professor Christina Chant, Chemistry collaborator, considering how data is used, So where does the moral compass come in? “My internal voice applying for funding—these are only some of the points in the comes from my religious tradition,” says Chant. “I was raised life of a scientific researcher in which right and wrong can seem a Roman Catholic, and I have my mother’s voice in my head. But little fuzzy. Once a week, in her Integrated Chemical Analysis how do you teach that?” Findley’s senior seminar includes a class, Professor Christina Chant will pull out a case study for the focus on ethics. Students discuss underrepresented groups in students to discuss; gene editing, animal research, and vaccines the sciences, the falsification of data, and plagiarism. They are just a few of the arenas in discuss the temptations of using money from one grant to help which controversies typically arise. fund a different project (including small purchases of lab equipment), safety and waste disposal, the use of human and “As big money has entered science,” says Professor Bret Findley, animal subjects, and the pressures to produce results. They “we’ve seen increasing pressure to cut corners.” Tenure at most discuss ways to create a supportive, collaborative environment colleges and universities depends on publications, which and the socioeconomic benefits of the research they work on. depend on peer reviewing, a process that can be riddled with competition. Providing reproducible data is critical to receiving Chant and Findley agree: Navigating these issues in a classboth funding and good peer reviews. Given this pressure, room setting prepares students for the issues that will come up Findley explains, some scientists might decide to eliminate outin their lives as scientists. liers in their data. Graduate students hoping to please their mentors (who also wield enormous power over the students’ futures) might also be tempted to fudge data. Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
Do? 31
Professor Bret Findley, Chemistry
“One of the main ethical dilemmas in science [concerns] falsifying results. It’s important to remember that failure is a result. It’s not a priority to get the result you want.” — ETHAN BROOKNER ’20
An Inspired Life by Phung Pham
32
T
he generous spirit of the late Everest Smith ’56 is ever present on the Saint Michael’s College campus. A man who came from humble beginnings, Smith worked part-time jobs to pay for the portion of his tuition not covered by scholarships. Through his hard work and determination, he graduated in four years and dedicated his life to service, teaching, and coaching. Smith attributed much of his later success in life to the education and experience he received at Saint Michael’s College.
The experiences Smith had working to make ends meet during college also made him want to make a Saint Michael’s education and the college experience possible for others. “Dad was a big believer in the power of education to transform lives. He wanted to offer the same chance to St. Mike’s students as he was given,” said his daughter Kristin Smith. Everest Smith and his widow, Lorraine, established the Everest P. Smith, Jr. ’56 Memorial Scholarship to ensure that finances would not become obstacles to a full and rich college experience for students.
The Smith scholarship was funded with a $1 million life insurance policy gift. The scholarship supports students with financial need who exhibit leadership qualities and are involved in campus life through programs such as Campus Ministry, athletics, theater, ROTC, or Fire and Rescue. Everest and Lorraine Smith realized that scholarships remain a primary way to create better opportunities for others. At Saint Michael’s College, over 99 percent of students receive some form of financial aid, and over 237 students received named scholarships in 2018– 19. The Everest P. Smith, Jr. ’56 Memorial Scholarship will add to these named scholarships and will have a profound impact on the students of Saint Michael’s. Take junior Anita Curtin ’20, double majoring in anthropology and sociology, who says, “Thanks to people who support my scholarship, students like me whose families struggle with the financial burden of college can continue to gain the skills and experiences that St. Mike’s offers.” The Smith scholarship and other scholarship funds pave the way for students to be successful pursuing and completing their degrees. It provides flexibility with the alleviation of financial pressures, and opportunities to fulfill one’s potential while opening doors to
enriching lives and careers. Senior Business major Victoria Creighton ’19 says, “Being on Fire and Rescue for the past four years has given me so many opportunities and experiences that I couldn’t have imagined without it. As graduation grows closer, the financial burden of paying for college is becoming more of a reality than it has in the past, and my scholarship has taken an incredible load off my shoulders so that I am able to focus more on my experience here at St. Mike’s and the future that I want to pursue after graduation.” Scholarships leave an impactful legacy on the next generation of students. They ensure that more Saint Michael’s students graduate with knowledge, skills, and a deepened sense of service to others that positively affect our future communities. It is the generosity of those like Everest and Lorraine Smith, those who choose to make a lasting difference with their legacy, that keep a Saint Michael’s education possible for many others.
Adieu Founders Hall
F
ounders Hall, the most iconic Saint Michael’s building, with sections dating to the College’s very beginnings, regrettably has outlived its useful life and will be taken down before the end of 2019.
College leaders officially made their decision at the June 2018 meeting of the Board of Trustees in a vote on the Operations and Audit Committee’s recommendation, following years of studies and discussions that pointed firmly to the practical and financial inevitability of taking down the worn-out, weary, and quirky brick-over-wood campus landmark. Jim Farrington, director of facilities and the College’s architect, explained the particulars behind the decision: “Founders is built poorly—bricks of the facade have rusting old nails holding them to the old wood facade, the insulation is poor, the windows are terrible, and it would cost $2 million-plus just to keep it in ‘as-is’ condition,” he said. But even beyond the prohibitive renovation cost, he added, the building’s unusual and dated layout, low ceiling heights, inability to accommodate desirable HVAC infrastructure, and other drawbacks “would not provide us with a building we would want, even with renovations.” For the past several years it has only housed administrative offices on the first floor, and some storage space on upper floors. Any more occupants would have required significant costly improvements. He added that state historical preservation officials have studied the building in recent years and agreed with the determination that Founders is not restorable or salvageable. For now, Farrington says, the open space created once Founders comes down likely will become an attractive landscaped area with vegetation.
Familiar with the building’s long history going back to the earliest Edmundites in Vermont who founded the College, Father Brian Cummings, S.S.E. ’86, said, “We will miss the iconic old building with one of Vermont’s most stunning mountain views, but when we understood the challenges and cost of saving it, we knew that the decision to take it down was the right one.” A central consideration in the entire upcoming process, however, is to proceed with due respect for the history and memories associated with Founders Hall. For example, every effort is being made to save the building’s cupola. President Lorraine Sterritt expressed hopes of retaining the iconic cupola and finding a place of honor on campus to locate it. “From our immigrant founders who made residence in the original Kelly farmhouse that still lives beneath the brick façade, to the young men in 1941 who listened in this building to radio reports of Pearl Harbor, to the myriad coed populations of later generations, Founders has been witness to dramatic human stories that live on beyond its tired walls. We will ever be grateful for the home it provided and the memories forged within it,” she said. If you have memories of Founders Hall that you would like to share with our readers, visit smcvt.edu/magazine Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
34
Beyond Black and White: Ethical Journalism JONAH KESSEL ’06 J by Mark Tarnacki
ournalists, filmmakers, and citizens are responsible for “being aware of nuance” in the personal human stories they tell to animate larger societal issues, Jonah Kessel ’06, New York Times chief videographer, said during a campus appearance in April. Kessel told his large Dion Center Roy Room lunchhour audience that his experiences as a Saint Michael’s student introduced him to the wider world, ethically framing his emerging professional perspective, while providing the ideal place to practice an early passion for photography.
He shared two powerful examples from his own New York Times work: The first piece showed Kessel and a crew in Ecuador investigating how sophisticated security systems sold around the world by China can place cameras virtually everywhere, making the lives of autocrats much easier by allowing rigid control of society, as in China, even if this was not the original intent. The journalists’ talks with Ecuadorian citizens and officials allowed viewers to see for themselves, on a relatable, immediate human level, the potentially sinister side of an otherwise simple business story about China selling security systems abroad.
“The simplest way to look at this is China exporting cameras, but the nuance is how they’re being used. This is an example of the type of things I like to do—connect with things happening in different places, looking around and seeing ways we are connected,” Kessel said. “We don’t say in the piece that Ecuador is misusing the technology, though one subject claims it. So words matter—we show the potential for misuse is there. Nuance in wording is super important in terms of accuracy and presenting the world fairly and holding the powerful to account, but it also has to be fair.”
The second piece was about workers at an Indiana factory whose lives are thrown into upheaval by their plant closing as the company seeks cheaper labor in Mexico. Rather than dispassionately reporting a business item on the move, his Times piece enters the lives of individuals and unfolds a human conflict between former friends that emerges from their different views and actions on the matter. The journalists go into bowling alleys, bars, and homes to create a human dialogue that makes the impact of such global economics felt at a more personal level.
35
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
Kessel thinks public erosion of trust in the media is “a huge deal.” After his talk, he said social media and the misinformation it publishes is a large cause of that erosion, with politicians promoting false or one-sided narratives more than ever—“so you have a polarized view that says something crazy, but people click on it because it’s crazy, and then algorithms eat that up and spit it back out and it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “And that creates anxiety in how people perceive information, though I think we’re doing better now than a year or two before the 2016 election, in that people are more aware of disinformation and the fact that information online might not be correct.” He noted the problem is “way beyond words—it’s in our images and in video too.” At the Times and elsewhere, journalists are using advanced digital forensics and a diligent standards desk to counter these trends, Kessel said. “I think the biggest thing the Times sells in any of its products is actually truth,” he said. He feels journalists might go about increasing credibility by “finding authentic and trusted sources—thoroughly vetting [their] sources and material.”
These all are pieces of an ethical framework that started to emerge for him as a Saint Michael’s student, Kessel said, recalling a particularly vivid memory of Professor Jon Hyde introducing his Saint Michael’s class to photographer James Nachtwey, who is well-known for his “social reform photography.” “That was a term I hadn’t heard before, though I knew I was interested in human rights–related topics and social justice,” he said, “so when Jon showed me Nachtwey’s work, it was mind-blowing. Nachtwey photographs suffering and pain and misery—things we don’t want to see, but we should see, and they’re important to see.” Kessel continued, “My draw toward topics that I think are important came from St. Mike’s completely….I knew I was interested in it, but didn’t know how or what one would do with that interest, and that’s something I learned here.” In a satisfying and serendipitous full circle, he said, later in his career as an international visual journalist, “I ended up meeting Nachtwey and have been at news events shooting alongside him—and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is the guy from the book I got while at St. Mike’s!’ It’s pretty remarkable.”
royal hartigan ’68* Global Vision by Mark Tarnacki
W
e Are One is a film that royal hartigan ’68* recently produced about his ensemble’s global outreach and activism through jazz and indigenous world music traditions. The title, he says, also represents his feeling about the Saint Michael’s community, which set him on a journey of self-discovery, with answers emerging in music and service to humanity. hartigan has continued to return the favor to Saint Michael’s, a spot he considers one of Earth’s special places, by “coming home” to campus frequently through the decades for workshops and alumni weekends, most recently a workshop residency in the Fine Arts Department in November 2018 just months after he became a Golden Knight with his Class of 1968 during Reunion Weekend. Both times he performed in the Chapel with his brother musicians.
“The main messages from my film and from the campus workshops that I did in November are that we are all one as family, and until the world understands that, we can never escape the inequities resulting in hunger and violence and achieve our full humanity, until you eliminate the causes of inequities,” he says. “The name of my recent CD is the other message—Time Changes, meaning we need to have radical, evolutionary new
photo: martin adi-dako
36
blood drum spirit with tijan dorwana and isaac birituro dorwana in medie village, ghana
consciousness of what it means to be human and of this planet and of our moral responsibilities. For both of these messages, and my role in trying to make them a reality in our world, the groundwork was laid at Saint Michael’s.” His CD and themes from the film about his group are based on a philosophy of peoples of Africa, hartigan said, and he is completing a book along with a DVD on visual symbols and musical expressions about these philosophies from the Asante people of Ghana. He explained that all African languages are tonal and can be reflected on drums, his main instrument (hartigan also is a tap dancer and skilled pianist).
For him, it all connects to a new “consciousness about humanity” that has roots in South America after World War II and in liberation theology within Catholicism (which also has a musical expression, he says, in Neuva Cancion or “New Song”). These are ideas that he has long studied and thought about, he says. Key themes in this world view, based on global cultures and their histories and wisdom, are advocating against colonialism, against the accumulation of wealth by the 1 percent, and for indigenous peoples. His new CD espouses his philosophy “almost like a manifesto—and that philosophy is establishing and creating a new consciousness, not just in Africa but all over the world in the face of what we regard as
hartigan says that “while I’m just one human being,” he has always had a gut impulse to stand up to bullies, going back to his early school days when sometimes he was a bullying target. “St. Mike’s crystallized that and put it in a context that I could rationalize and understand better, and it helped me apply it to my life going forward as a human being, an environmental and political activist, and an artist.” hartigan feels that “there is a moral responsibility for every person to take a stand. Even if you don’t believe in God, you must stand up and put yourself on the line for what you believe, or you are no different than the person instituting the inhumanity.” He goes on, “A lot of this was something I learned at Saint Michael’s, through music that I learned in the Glee Club and Jazz Ensemble, and especially in philosophy and theology classes— I still remember the teachers and what they taught us,” he says. “I believe there is an objective reality outside of us, not just moral relativism, and that there’s something that really does matter … and St. Mike’s crystallized that for me.”
Beyond those memorable college classes, he says, his life was enriched through sports (he can still reel off the jersey numbers of the basketball team’s starters from his student days), a jazz club led by the very musical and intellectually formidable Rev. (and later Bishop) Moses Anderson, SSE, and himself, plus musical gigs and plays that he joined along with general dorm life. “We had a very diverse experience at St. Mike’s,” he says, “and I was lucky to have that and was able in my studies and informal non-academic activities to talk about and discuss life issues.” It inspired him to join the Peace Corps soon after college and go to the Philippines, where his years of service radically changed his world view. He responded with shock to Third World people’s struggles, witnessed firsthand and up close, compared with lives of people in the West. This newly awakened consciousness set the course for his future, as he sought out ways to channel his own personal gifts as a musician with a philosopher’s heart and move toward concrete actions to address those inequities. “As Fr. VanderWeel used to say in my St. Mike’s philosophy classes, things matter for their own sake, not for reasons of ego and wealth,” hartigan says. “Everything I learned at Saint Michael’s was really true for me in my later life.” The film We Are One that he produced about the travels and philosophy of his ensemble, blood drum spirit,* is
directed by Sara Pettinella and features fellow musicians David Bindman, Wes Brown, and Art Hirahara along with hartigan, documenting their global music adventures. He showed it at Saint Michael’s during his November residency. “I always miss Saint Michael’s when I’m not there,” hartigan says. “There’s a certain way that part of you stays there, and it’s nice going back to remember and reconnect with yourself—the past in the present toward the future.”
Additional online content available at smcvt.edu/magazine
aŋlɔ kɛtɛ drumming in anyako village with master drummers olu nudzor gbeti (standing in blue) and e. k. yevutsey (seated next to drumset); also leading but not visible, master drummer agbolosu yevutsey
photo: martin adi-dako
the inhuman, immoral history of colonialism and neocolonialism and tyrannical regimes,” which he and his fellow musicians believe destroy cultures through technological and political forces. “In effect, it’s a manifesto for standing up for human rights for all people against forces of inhumanity, violence, and insanity,” he explains, which these days for him sadly includes the U.S. under the “treasonous, criminal Trump regime.”
*Editor’s note: royal hartigan explains his preference for spelling his own name and his musical group’s name (and for that matter, all things) with lowercase letters: “my reason is that i read poetry by e. e. cummings in my humanities course at st. mike’s with dr. marie henault in 1967, and liked its feel because, while a small textual thing, it expressed the egalitarian impulse i believe in for all aspects of life. i started it some years after st. mike’s but that was the origin, and i continue with it.”
KATHRYN MARKEY ’83 38
CATHOLICISM AND FEMINISM: Markey finds a way to inhabit the nexus by Mark Tarnacki
During Kathryn Markey’s Saint Michael’s College student days in the early 1980s, her ardent feminism—“the filter through which I look at life,” as she now says—hit its stride and coexisted manageably alongside the Catholic family identity that she robustly challenged but never discarded.
“I think if you’re in a questioning, respectful, examining frame of mind, you are doing the true work of the Christian, even if it means disagreeing with your church on things, which I do in many ways,” she says. “On the other hand, Catholic individuals at Saint Michael’s and beyond have helped me in my life tremendously.” One was the late Rev. Michael Cronogue, SSE, whose gentle, small, but significant gestures, both when she knew him as a young campus minister and later when he presided at her campus Chapel wedding, signaled, for her, his and most other Edmundites’ profound respect for the ultimate justice informing her feminism.
That life-directing feminism for Markey as an English and Theater major originated and matured under inspiration from her English professor and mentor, Carey Kaplan. “Growing up around campus with my dad [Ed Markey] working here, I was deeply affected by the Women in Society symposium that took place at Saint Michael’s in 1979 organized by Carey Kaplan, among others, and she became a mentor to me in my own English studies,” Markey says. Markey, now a New York–based actor/director and Saint Michael’s Playhouse favorite, is the daughter of the College’s revered longtime former athletic director, Ed Markey ’51—so it was a true homecoming in the spring of 2019 when she was invited for a campus residency to teach and direct the classic Henrik Ibsen play A Doll’s House as the Theater Department’s Main Stage show. She says the play’s strong feminist themes and her own passion about topics such as inclusive language shaped important conversations she had with the cast.
Words and what they represent matter a lot to Markey, which is why she sees such conversations as important. “Sexism is the great invisible bias that we live with,” she says, “so I feel it’s important for me to bring that to light for my own family and beyond.” She recalled Fr. Cronogue asking before her wedding, “Who is standing up for you?” rather than wondering about “maids of honor” or “bridesmaids” or a “best man” or “groomsmen”— just the kind of seemingly small but importantly aware human touches that always made her appreciate the Saint Michael’s culture. She also is quick to credit the church with switching to inclusive language in some liturgy and hymns “even before The New York Times did” in its style guidelines.” And, “I never say mankind—I always say humankind—an ancient word that I learned from Carey Kaplan,” says Markey. Her father, the quintessential old-school Catholic College coach and athlete, demonstrating hard
39
Kathryn Markey and student during play rehearsal for A Doll’s House. work and unflinching moral courage, was naturally enough the first Saint Michael’s person to influence Markey’s ethical framework. Ed Markey impressed his daughter from her earliest memories by the way he “focused on making people better human beings with integrity; doing things in the right way for the right reasons; [being] honest, forthright, and trustworthy.” To this day, she associates such qualities as signature Saint Michael’s values— still central and sustaining to her as a daughter who recently saw her mother through her hard final months of life; meanwhile, her father characteristically has been hanging tough and defying the odds in hospice for some time. Kathryn Markey says it touches her heart when her dad’s former Saint Michael’s basketball players from the 1960s, “now basically old men themselves,” make special efforts to contact him in hospice with the kindest words and remembrances. For her, it exemplifies that uncommon personal warmth of Saint Michael’s community members that she experienced through her life.
Also an experienced actor, Dinner? Doing that job well, as an comedy writer, musician, voice example of liberal arts education artist, and acting teacher, coming into play, demands context whose recent project starring Amy about the 1960s, the Vietnam Stiller was featured in The New War, race relations, and many other York Times, Markey stresses how topics from multiple disciplines. much Kaplan’s ethical framework informs her work even today. “You have to be able to get your “Of the many exceptional teachers imagination wrapped around I had at the College, no one the circumstances of the play, and was more influential on my thinking, to do that you need to know and her scholarship about the about history, sociology, literature, roles of women in literature and science, journalism, and politics, the world remain my guide and and these are the things you learn standard. Every idea I have, every and think about in a liberal arts piece of work I have created in environment. You need to know my career carries questions and about the world in order to make ideas about the depiction of an impact on it,” she says, fondly women’s lives,” she says. recalling studying Shakespeare with Nick Clary; ethics with Rev. Liberal arts education was essential Joseph McLaughlin, SSE; and to her later life and professional sociology with Rev. Bernard work, Markey adds, explaining, Couture, SSE. “You cannot be an artist unless you know about the world. You have to “You can’t be a compassionate know about life.” In late April she human being if you don’t underwas directing a stage production of stand about other people,” Markey a play based on the Sidney Poitier adds—“and you can’t do that film Guess Who’s Coming to unless you are curious, engaged, and looking for new things to hear and read about.”
Americans have the moral imperative to challenge prejudice courageously, welcome immigrants, and understand that voting is a privilege and power to be used for good, 2019 Commencement speaker Karen Korematsu told Saint Michael’s College’s graduates on Sunday morning, May 12, in the Ross Sports Center. “We want your generation to understand the dangers of racism and racial profiling and the injustice of treating immigrants like they don’t belong,” said Korematsu, a civil rights advocate, public speaker, and public educator whose civil liberties work is motivated by the experiences of her father in a World-War-II-era incarceration camp for Japanese Americans and his subsequent civil rights activism.
Commencement speaker raises civil rights call Sunday’s program for the 112th Saint Michael’s Commencement listed 454 undergraduates – 236 Bachelor of Arts (BA) and 218 Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees, plus about 80 master’s degree recipients. Other honorary degrees besides Korematsu’s went to William Gallagher and David LaMarche ’60, each a longtime generous supporter of the College. Gallagher is a former chair of College’s Trustees and co-founder/CEO of Atlantic Data Services, Inc., a Massachusetts financial services and informationtechnology-strategy firm, while LaMarche was a longtime business faculty member and administrator at the College. It was the first Commencement at the Saint Michael’s helm for President Lorraine Sterritt, who will have been on the job a year on July 1. She told graduates “to continue to think, learn and care” as the College has taught them. Top academic prizes: Valedictorians, Lorie Blais, biology major with minors in chemistry and psychology from Lyndeborough, N.H.; Emily Ferreri, biology major with minors in chemistry, psychology and religious studies from Hyde Park, N.Y., and Kalli Opsal, biology and religious studies double-major with a minor in chemistry from Farmington, MN. Katherine Fairbanks Award, Emily Ferreri, also a star varsity basketball player; Father Prevel Award, Ryan Hay, Spanish major, South Gens Falls, NY, very active in music groups and Campus Ministry. Class speaker was Winston Jones II, and graduate programs speaker was Iuliia Fakhrutdinoval of the TESOL program from Uzbekistan.
41
R E U N I O N 2 01 9 :
Great times, big crowd
42
Hundreds of Saint Michael’s College alumni “came home” and visibly enjoyed a wide range of activities on and off campus between Thursday and Sunday, May 30 to June 2, for 2019 Reunion Weekend. “We have received a lot of nice feedback from a lot of people —more than any other year since I’ve been involved,” said Angela Armour, director of alumni and parent relations. She made particular mention of this year’s “Golden Knights” (50 years out) from the Class of ’69, whom she described as “a fun and energetic bunch.” About 50 from the class were present Thursday night for their Golden Knight induction that followed the traditional late-afternoon Mass in the Chapel, class photo on the Chapel steps, and cocktail hour. The class also raised over $420,000 for their class gift, with more gifts coming in. At their dinner, many of the Golden Knights stood in front of the room to talk about how much Saint Michael’s and their classmates meant to them. Armour also made special mention of Saturday’s “Trucks, Taps, and Tunes” event starting early Saturday afternoon in the 300s field, which she said “went really well, with four local food trucks and Red Clover Events serving the alcohol. It was a fun atmosphere with more lawn games than in previous years, and the weather was ideal.” The Purple and Gold Celebration late Saturday morning in Alliot Hall’s Green Mountain Dining Room honored this year’s several Alumni of the Year—Tom Kelley ’69, Melanie Demarais ’79, Rick Coté ’89, Stephen Giulietti ’99, and Ed DiFiglia ’04—for all of their service and support to their alma mater. “They all had wonderful things to say about their time at St. Mike’s and their connections to the institution and their classmates since,” Armour said. The Fr. Mike
Cronogue Award for Service went to Jim Wall ’74, H’07 for his outstanding service in his community of East Otis, Massachusetts. He recalled Fr. Mike’s saying that volunteering is “a way for individuals to help God in answering the prayers of strangers.” Reunion officials arranged to rent 15 townhouses in the 300s for the weekend to returning alumni in a variety of class years so they could relive their college experience in a truly authentic way. Other events included tours, the Golf Classic, lunch cruise, ice cream social, Leadership Reception, Welcome Back Dinner, Purple Knight Fun Run, story-sharing recordings for podcasts, a Meet the Faculty presentation on new majors, a MakerSpace activity, individual-class events at venues around greater Burlington, and Sunday’s Strawberry Brunch and Mass. Several emeritus faculty came to mix with former students. Sponsors included Sue Bette ’02, from Bluebird Barbecue, Pete Angus ’79, from Tito’s Vodka, Paw Print, which did all of our new signs, Hotel Vermont, Switchback, Hilton, the Saint Michael’s College Campus Store, and the Courtyard Marriott. Armour said a feedback survey link will be posted on social media and in upcoming emails. Said emeritus psychology instructor Dave Landers of his conversation with five members of the Class of 2014 back for their fifth reunion, “As we talked, the common theme was their appreciation for all that their St. Mike’s experience gave them and their agreement with me that folks who have never actually experienced Saint Michael’s College truly cannot understand it—a very special place.”
See a photo gallery from reunion at smcvt.edu/magazine
43
WORKS
(film) We Are One: Blood Drum Spirit by royal hartigan ’68 (directed by Sara Pettinella)
44
A cross-cultural examination, We Are One follows the stories of four American musicians who travel to Ghana to explore its musical traditions and the creation of jazz. As the group joins members of the communities, they discover connections we all share as part of the human family.
Trust: A Perspective on God’s Will by Timothy Nagy ’05 Resisting long-held philosophical norms and the concept of a higher “madness,” Timothy Nagy uncovers the wisdom at the base of theology. While acknowledging the difficulties of upholding Christian faith in a world of differing beliefs, he stipulates that following Jesus is the most practical decision one can make.
Living in the United States: Its Language, Culture, and Customs by Kazuko Tanimichi ’07 Based on the author’s personal experience studying in the U.S., this textbook aims to help those planning to live or study in the country gain a better understanding of its language and culture. With “listening and speaking” activities and informative articles, the book prepares readers to step into new experiences.
Aquinas on Emotion’s Participation in Reason by Nick Kahm
Soon the Light will be Perfect by Dave Patterson ’02
Using Aristotle’s tripartite division of the soul as the primary point of investigation, Kahm presents Aquinas’s answer to a popular question: In what way can emotions be rational? With a sensitivity to the philosopher’s historical and philosophical development, the scholarship takes a unique perspective on Aquinas’s ethics.
Set in a small, povertystricken town in Vermont, this story follows the journey of two brothers and their family as they struggle with a life-changing diagnosis. As the family clings to their Catholic faith as a refuge, the difficulties of being alive in a moment of political, social, and familial instability take their toll.
FA C U LT Y A N D A L U M N I
Traveling Museum of Very Small Objects at the Fleming by Brian Collier
Qualitative Inquiry, Cartography, and the Promise of Material Change by Aaron Kuntz Examining the impact of materialism on contemporary forms of inquiry in education and the social sciences, this work challenges readers to consider inquiry as a mode of ethically engaged citizenship. Drawing upon real-world examples, the author imagines the decentralization of status quo living situations and practices.
WORKS
Artist Brian Collier contributes to a Fleming Museum exhibit with a “miniatures” themed project that he has named “Traveling Museum of Very Small Objects.” Exceeding Collier’s expectations, the exhibition has received more than 100 submissions of new “small objects” from museum patrons within the first three weeks.
45
Burlington Brewing: A History of Craft Beer in the Queen City by Jeff S. Baker II ’06 and Adam Krakowski Burlington has become a lively hub of breweries, distilleries, and farm-fresh food. Exploring the unique food and drink culture of the city, Adam Krakowski and Jeff S. Baker II offer an inside view into the history of local breweries.
To Have and to Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma by Molly Millwood, Ph.D. A clinical psychologist who unexpectedly found herself in the midst of postpartum depression, Molly Millwood illuminates the complexities of new motherhood and the effects it has on women. As Molly shares her story, she offers guidance to help readers reclaim their identities, overcome their guilt, and repair their relationships.
New Faces THE LEADERSHIP OF SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE HAS SOME NEW FACES.
46
by Lauren Read
Eileen O’Rourke ’83 has joined the College as the vice president of human resources, and Krystyna Davenport Brown was promoted to vice president of institutional advancement. O’Rourke joined Saint Michael’s in August 2018 after over 10 years as the executive director of human resources
“Saint Michael’s represents who I am as a person, and what I believe in strongly: family, faith, and community,” O’Rourke said in a news release. “I am honored to become a part of such an excellent College.” O’Rourke also served as the vice president of human resources at Bombardier Capital and the director of human resources and infrastructure at the Penn Traffic Company. She also founded HR 4Sight, LLC, to provide local businesses with human resource expertise, business strategy, and health insurance services. Davenport Brown originally joined Saint Michael’s as the associate vice president for development in 2017 and quickly established herself as a leader within the institutional advancement team. This led to Davenport Brown becoming the VP of institutional advancement in December 2018.
Eileen O’Rourke ’83 at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. O’Rourke graduated from Saint Michael’s in 1983 and earned her MBA degree from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.
“I have been impressed by our student body and how engaged and active the students are, both on campus and in extracurricular activities, and also by our dedicated faculty and staff, which includes the Edmundites,” Davenport Brown said in a news release. “It’s just a really wonderful campus community.”
Krystyna Davenport Brown Davenport Brown worked at the University of South Carolina and the University of Texas at Austin before making the move to Saint Michael’s. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and completed graduate work at Baruch College. She also brings experience in institutional advancement at Fordham University and at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Krystyna into her new role,” President Lorraine Sterritt said. “She rose to the top of a truly outstanding pool of candidates.”
LET T E R S TO T HE E DITOR
and majors, and approaches We received our latest edition for attracting a diverse and of the SMC magazine (Fall/ exceptional student body Winter 2018–19) today, and I (which needs to also include wanted to pass along my kudos for the structure, articles, active career development, mentoring, and internships). updates, and connection back Professor Standen’s [profile] to SMC! was simply inspirational and characterizes SMC past, I thought it included great present, and future. Bradley stories with the right amount Anair’s achievements show of writing/information with that athletics and academics links available for more if can both be achieved at the reader desired. highest levels with the right focus and discipline! And I I applaud the views and loved seeing my old professors insights shared by President Fr. VanderWeel and John Sterritt, and in particular her Hanagan sharing their insights, statement that “A liberal arts knowledge, and stories! education lays the foundation that allows students to be Thanks again and we look flexible. ...These four years are not preparation for a single job. forward to our next issue!!! ...They are preparation for any job, for a lifetime of work, for a Happy New Year, lifetime of satisfaction.” Also, Ed Johnson, Class of 1979 she is correct that “both sexes must work in harmony for the (married to Donna KingJohnson, Trinity Class of 1980) greater good,” as well as all people. We need leaders from everywhere!! Thanks to Lauren Read for the article that sent me back to my formative years.
While she did not list alumni as “stakeholders” (page 6), I know she understands we are and take pride in both SMC successes and growth. As an alumnus, [I know that] the reputation of SMC follows you for your lifetime, including opening career opportunities, and identifying future SMC students.
I graduated from St. Mike’s in 1972.
Finally, as stated previously, the articles were great. Well done on the new curriculum
Well, truth be told, I finished three credits short, and completed my degree at C.W.
This is more in the way of a reminiscence than a letter to the editor. Do with it what you will.
Post down here on Long Island. My bad. I flunked “Music Theory” in my junior year. Looking back, it’s pretty ironic. I’ve made some money as a musician between then and now. Still, my sheepskin is from Winooski. One small beef. My last name [Meade] reads “Mead” on my diploma. Is that because I didn’t finish my degree at Saint Michael’s? I took Professor Clary’s Shakespeare class during the fall term in 1970. It was a hike up to the North Campus (past the National Guard camp), but well worth the walk. Thank goodness it was the fall term! Nick was really good at his job. Not only did he motivate me to read Shakespeare; he taught me to appreciate Shakespeare, and gave me a love for the language. The girl who sat behind me in his class liked him, too. Boy, I wish I could remember her name! Dr. Hanagan was, and, I hope, still is, a piece of work. I trust he still enjoys playing jazz. I was in his Medieval Philosophy class in my sophomore year. Who knew that stuff that dry could capture a 19-yearold’s attention? Christmas break was approaching, along with semester finals. Those of you of a certain age may recall that finals stretched out over a week and a half back then. All of my finals were scheduled for
the first week, except for Medieval Philosophy, which meant we in his class would have to spend the weekend waiting to take one last test. Dr. Hanagan, aware of our predicament, gave us a choice. Stick around and take the written final, or go to his office and take an oral final. And get to go home early. With my heart in my throat, I chose the latter. “So, Rich,” he said, relaxing behind his desk, “let’s talk about Aquinas’s Philosophical Proofs on the Existence of God.” I did my best, and got a B on the final. Thanks, Dr. Hanagan. You were more than generous. I took a couple of courses with both Mr. and Mrs. Rathgeb. Mr. R. was a pretty good historian, and I enjoyed his classes very much. I enjoyed writing papers for him, and looked forward to his critiques. I took a couple of acting classes, and one speech class, with Mrs. R., and they were memorable. She taught me how to relax in front of a crowd, project my voice, and channel my nervousness through it. “Stop shifting your feet! Stand still, and project!” All those things have come in very handy over the years. Dr. John Reiss taught me how to write clearly, and to think before I write. Herman Melville and James Fenimore Cooper became favorites of
47
C NNECTI NS MATTER. SMC students want career advice. 48
Y U help? smcvt.wisr.i Will
mine after he opened my eyes to their writings. He should have been at that gathering, but God chose otherwise.
Richard Meade, Class of 1972 Bayside, New York
Fr. Ralph Linehan. He taught me about Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Parmenides, and on and on. He also taught my father, Henry J. Meade, who got his master’s degree from Saint Michael’s in the ’30s. Dad called him “Spike.” I understand that he was quite a hockey player in his day. Fr. Ned Stapleton, the kindest man I’ve ever met. And Fr. Ray Doherty, whose door was always open in that corner office in Alliot Hall.
A classy upgrade to the magazine! Interesting content, great pix.
The late ’60s and early ’70s were tumultuous times. I’m lucky to have spent those years on the Hilltop, with the teachers I had. I am much the better for it.
The article “The Emeritus College” brought back some memories, and in particular the comment by the late Don Rathgeb about seeing Gerry Dupont hitting golf balls over a field and watching a touch football game there. In 1963 a group of us ’65ers had a touch football game against a group of ’66ers on the lawn between Alliot Hall and Founders (Old) Hall; this is the field, of course, that later became the site for the “new” chapel. Needless to say, after
this game there followed a trip to the laundromat in Winooski!
I do enjoy the magazine especially the content or theme-focused issues.
Regards,
Thank you,
Bill Troy, Class of 1965
Melanie Demarais ’79
(Re: Spring/Summer 2018 issue) Dear Ms. Reynolds: I often pick up the magazine, read the class notes and some articles, and then put it down for a while. Last week I picked it up again and read about Prof. Kroger. I do remember him, and I believe I had him for class. … in fact I can still hear his voice in my head. I’m sorry to hear he passed. …he was a great addition to Saint Michael’s at the time.
C AL L F O R L ETTE RS T O TH E E D I T O R Send us your thoughts, reactions to stories, memories, dreams, and reflections. We’ll get back to you, and let you know if we’d like to publish them.
Letter from the Alumni Board President
T
One of the many benefits of serving on the Alumni Board of Directors is seeing firsthand the connections that are made between fellow Purple Knights, regardless of their graduation year. Though our lives may have changed in big or in small ways, all 20,000 of us have the shared experience of having spent our formative years at Saint Michael’s College.
There are many ways to get more Saint Michael’s connections in your life. SMC Connect, a personalized networking platform for current students and alumni allows for easy connections to be made based on geographic location, industry, former major or interest. The number of active users is growing fast, please join us and connect with our newest alumni who would love to hear from you with career advice and guidance!
If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to follow President Lorraine Sterritt on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. You’ll see she has been quite active in sharing posts of events on and off campus during her first year at Saint Michael’s. Though I’m not certain on the details, please stay tuned for another Purple Knight Challenge where alumni will compete with current students to help refer prospective students! As we welcome the class of 2019, the newest members of our alumni family, there’s no better time than now to remember the impact we can have on our alma matter. Higher education is changing in many ways but it’s up to us to help preserve the Saint Michael’s experience for generations to come. It’s important that we all share our Saint Michael’s story with others, you never know if you might be helping recruit the next class! Making a gift to the College is also an important way to show your support; it’s not the size of your gift, but the fact that you give that helps strengthen the reputation of our alma mater.
49
Warm Regards,
Craig Duffy ’06 craigEduffy@gmail.com
1954 50
RICHARD NAPOLITANO, Englewood, FL, had an enjoyable reunion with some classmates in Florida since the last issue — including JAMES STARKEY and JOE BELLICO. (See photo with more information from Dick). MARTIN “MARTY” WALSH, DesMoines, IA, has an update about his business, Walsh Door & Security. Marty is currently the Chairman of the board at Walsh, and the company recently acquired a business in Kansas City, which will be the company’s third location. Metal Doors & Frame Co. joined forces with Walsh Door & Security. The transaction closed on December 31, 2018. The Kansas City office will be maintained and expanded. With existing offices in Des Moines and Iowa City, Walsh has become one of the Midwest’s leading providers of premium commercial door, frame, hardware and electronic security products and services. The company is family-owned and more than 150 years old.
1959 ALBERT BRAULT, Fairport,
NY, along with a colleague received a Technology Emmy® Award from the National Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences for their “Pioneering Development of the SingleChip Color Camera” on April 7 in Las Vegas, NV. Their inventions include coating a mosaic of color filters over the light sensitive pixels on an image sensor and developing demosaicing algorithms to generate color video images. This technology is widely used to produce television programs and movies. It is also used to create color photos and video clips in a broad range of products, including smart phone cameras, drones, and medical imaging devices.
1961 HARRY LLOYD JR., Venice, FL, writes: “On March 22, 2019, the Shelburne Apartment Boys and wives held our fourth annual Mini SMC reunion again at the Sunset Bar and Grill in Sebring, FL. We were joined by our classmate, JAMES GALLAGHER and his wife, Ana Lilia Masuda. Remembering old times and what has gone on during this past year plus a good meal and libations made for a very enjoyable event. We are looking forward to our next annual gathering in March 2020 (date to be announced). If there are any other ’61 classmates visiting or residing in the area who would like to attend, please let one of us know.” (See photo
with more on classmates who attended).
1962 RUSSELL VAN ZANDT, St. Petersburg, FL, saw an alumni e-newsletter item about recent campus maple sugaring operations and it tapped sweet memories for him: “In my junior year, Pete Wursthorn and I became roommates as we both got the job to be student proctors. Pete was from Troy, VT, raised on a dairy farm with a gravel pit, logging and a sugar bush. I was from Northern New Jersey. My roommate in my sophomore year was Bob Warren (now deceased), and he was from Ludlow, MA. Pete and I were Math Majors, Bob was a history major with great writing skills. Pete took me to his home where we slept in the uninsulated attic, milked the cows in the morning had a breakfast feast that his grandmother provided and then did other chores. What an experience for a suburban Jersey native born in Manhattan. His mother was a school teacher and his father worked the farm, dairy, gravel, logging, maple syrup. We decided to go into the Maple Syrup business! Bob was our publicist and copy writer for an article published in New Jersey in the local “Penny Saver,” where he got a front
page article published and we put an ad inside for home delivery of Pure Vermont Maple Syrup. We sold all we produced. Pete and I went to the farm and purchased Grade A amber syrup from his grandfather, he boiled down the sap to syrup and sold it to us at 40 cents per pound, the current wholesale rate. We bought lithographed cans, Pete and I canned the syrup and sold it in New Jersey. I remember we got $11.90 a gallon, quarts and pints were much less but had a better mark up. We made a good buck and helped pay our $1,500 fees to St. Mike’s. We got the syrup to New Jersey in my 1949 Chrysler that I paid $65 for. We took out the back seat and loaded up. Very little clearance from the road. Not sure where Pete is now, I think he got his PhD in mathematics and was a professor in Wisconsin. We all graduated in 1962, Bob and I were both commissioned in the Air Force through the ROTC program.”
1964 Several classmates of the late
JOHN REILLY were present at
John’s interment at Arlington National Cemetery on January 16, 2019. Present were CHUCK ROGERS, BRUCE BURKHARD, AL SAUTER and wife, Connie, DAVE RACK, JIM MCMURRAY and
Saint Michael’s Trustee BOB TOBIN. Writes Bob, “Reilly’s youngest son arranged for a B-52 flyover, giving John an amazing send off!” (See photo)
1965 MARK PEACOCK, Wesley Chapel, FL, watched his alumna daughter Kristin Shepard ’98 receive her diploma for her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) recently at Brenau University in Gainesville, GA (see 1998 notes and photo).
1966 DR. MICHAEL LEPORE, Glastonbury, CT, is a retired orthodontist and award-winning poet who lives with his wife, Nancy, in the Historic Main Street District of Glastonbury. Michael is the author of Forgotten Heroes- Poems for and about Veterans of the Vietnam War. His second book, Vietnam Voices- Echoes of the Vietnam Experience, received the Bronze Medal in the poetry category of the 2018 Awards Program of the Military Writers Society of America. His third book, Moral Injury: A Vietnam War Journey of Moral and Spiritual Confusion received the Gold Medal in the 2017 Awards Program of the Military
Writers Society of America. Michael’s fourth book, My Inner Eye: Reflections Seen Through a Veil of Time, was released in September, 2018. All four books were published by Grayson Books, West Hartford, CT. Michael received a commission in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps and served his active duty attached to Headquarters, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. from 1968 to 1970. He also is treasurer of the local Veterans’ Service Commission and Paymaster of the Peter P. Monaco, Jr. Detachment of the Marine Corps League where, through his poetry, he raises awareness to the emotional and physical issues facing many veterans, not only Vietnam veterans but veterans of all conflicts since Vietnam. His poetry has been featured in New Dimensions, a publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, Tufts Dental Medicine, the magazine of the Tufts University Dental Alumni Association, and Caduceus, the Yale Medical Group Art Place. Michael is the past treasurer of the Connecticut Poetry Society and a member of the Hartford Chapter’s Second Sunday Poetry Workshop. This past July he was selected as Poet Laureate for the town of Glastonbury for a three-year term. As poet laureate, he has a monthly poetry column in the Glastonbury Citizen, in
The Honorable James Starkey ‘54 and his wife, Susanne, flew Jim’s Cessna to Englewood, FL, where he visited with his “old” roommate Dick Napolitano and his wife, Louise. They also managed to get together for an outdoor breakfast at Boca Grand with classmate Joe Bellico and his wife, Carole. Dick writes that the guys “reminisced about the good old days roughing it out in Old Hall. [and] wondered how today’s students would manage with one telephone for the entire building, heat that was as reliable as the weather and only a frozen windowsill for a refrigerator. We recalled skiing from the third floor of Old Hall to a second floor window of the old gymnasium over banks of windblown snow. Carole and Lou talked about staying together when they came up to the College for the school’s very first Military Ball.” Joe and Dick are living in Englewood while Jim resides on Long Island. (He has a winter place in Jupiter FL). This photo is Dick Napolitano (l) and Jim Starkey (R).
On March 22, 2019, writes Harold Lloyd Jr. ’61, “the Shelburne Apartment Boys and wives held our fourth annual Mini SMC reunion again at the Sunset Bar and Grill in Sebring, FL. We were joined by our classmate, James Gallagher and his wife, Ana Lilia Masuda. Remembering old times and what has gone on during this past year plus a good meal and libations made for a very enjoyable event. We are looking forward to our next annual gathering in March 2020 (date to be announced). If there are any other ’61 classmates visiting or residing in the area who would like to attend, please let one of us know.” Clockwise from left: Dick & Mary Larke, Joe Hart, Jane Lloyd, Jack & Ann O’Brien, Carolyn Hart, Ana Lilia Masuda, Harry Lloyd, Jim Gallagher. Writes Harold Lloyd Jr. Adds Jack O’Brien: “The 10 of us talked and laughed for about four hours about our times in Winooski Park, VT. We even remembered some of the names of other classmates who had memorable events during various experiences but, some names escaped our aging grey matter. We would welcome any SMC ‘61 alumnae who are located in SW FL to join us.”
Several classmates of the late John Reilly were present at John’s interment at Arlington National Cemetery on January 16, 2019. From left are Chuck Rogers, Bruce Burkhard, Al Sauter and wife Connie, Dave Rack, Jim McMurray and Saint Michael’s Trustee Bob Tobin. Writes Bob, “Reilly’s youngest son arranged for a B-52 flyover, giving John an amazing send off!”
CLASS NOTES 52
When the Class of ’22 moved onto campus this past August, the traditional “legacy” photo of alumni parents and children of alumni parents was taken on the steps of the Chapel after most of the move-in had been completed. Back row, left to right: John Chamerlain ’80, Katie Chamberlain, Ryan Tota ’15, Katelyn Tota ’20, Mary Robert ’85, Kaitlin Robert ’20, Jim Edmonds ’82, Jessica Edmonds ’22, Craig Charlton ’85, Brian Charlton ’22, Eric Caputo ’92, Sheila Caputo ’22, Tim Krumm ’89, Emily Krumm ’22, Ted Geary ’88, Kit Geary ’22 ;Front row, left to right: Claire Monachino ’97, Jerome Monachino ’91, Olivia Monachino ’22, Amy McLane ’93, Julia Fitzgerald ’22, Cheryl Turner ’88, Megan Schneider ’22, Mary Williamson ’87, Sam Williamson ’22, Mark Davitt ’87, Brendan Davitt ’16, Bella Davitt ’22, Renee Davitt ’86, Ingrid Peterson, John Medenwald ’97, Gunnar Sonwaldt ’20, Anya Sonwaldt ’22, Jonathan Matte ’91, Donna Matte ’91, Celeste Matte ’22, John Hickey ’91, Daniel Hickey ’22. Frank Fleming ’91, Colchester, VT, married Alicia Butson on August 4, 2018 at Tourterelle in New Haven, VT. Alumni present included: (from left, back row) Jeff Capobianco ’91, John Edwards ’91, Keith Steele ’90, Conrad “Skip” Vincent ’91, James Carr ’91, Chris Judd ’91,; middle row from left, Cindy Roach Carr ’91, Jennifer Butson Williams ’03; the bride, the groom; Jim Medeiros ’91, Tim Dunning ’91, Donna Walter ’93, Rick Homan ’92, Chris Lewis ’95; front kneeling from left, Craig “Scooter” Callahan ’91, and Sean O’Brien ’97. Frank’s late father, Francis “Hank” Fleming, was a member of the Saint Michael’s Class of 1960, and his Saint Michael‘s pennant is being held by the bride and groom in this photo.
Members of the class of 2001 gathered in the Berkshires to celebrate their friendship of over 20 years for a weekend in early March. Pictured are, bottom left to right: Beth Wagner (Grimaldi) ‘01, Laura Pratt (Pepi) ’01, Catherine Holtman (Hourihan)’01, pictured on FaceTime Kristen Fielding (Brodeur) ’01, Erin Flink (Stinchfield) ‘01. Top left to right: Katrina Breen (Johnson) ‘01, Kelly Bailey (Cullen) ‘01, Katie Farraher ‘01, Liza Carpenter (Bascetta)’01, Andrea Couture (Gamelli)’01 and Devon Aloisa ‘01.
Another Saint Michael’s alumni “small world” encounter happened recently, as Christi Turner ’96 wrote to tell us recently: “We wanted to share this amazing story! Sarah Coghlan ’09 and I work for the same company (Red Hat, Inc), in the same departments (Global Workplace Solutions), but in different states (Sarah works in our Westford, MA office and Christi works in Raleigh, NC). Our North America team all met for a few days (rare opportunity). We were at dinner with our team and colleges was a topic of discussion. We found out we are both SMC grads! Not only that, but she lived in Lyons Hall 351 and I was in Lyons Hall 350. Just a small world!” This photo shows Christi on the left with the longer hair and Sarah is on the right with the shorter hair.
Kristin Peacock Shepard, Atlanta, GA, completed her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) from Brenau University. Pictured: Mark Peacock (1965) and Donna Peacock with daughter Kristin (Peacock) Shepard (1998).
1967 RICH FEELEY, Ocala, FL,
retired from Coburn & Feeley Real Estate Property Management on January 1, 2019. Coburn & Feeley was founded by Rich and the late Tom Coburn in 1978, and has been one of Vermont’s most active firms for 41 years. Rich and his wife, Terri, remain active real estate investors in Vermont and Florida.
1968 ROYAL HARTIGAN, North
Dartmouth, MA, spent November 12-19 of first semester in a Saint Michael’s campus residency with his blood drum spirit ensemble, performing the Missa Luba African Mass music with the Saint Michael’s and neighboring college chorales. royal recently retired from UMass Dartmouth and is traveling around the globe to perform with blood drum spirit (no caps is intentional for his and his group’s name, symbolizing his egalitarian sensibilities) and screen their film, we are one, which has recently received a number of awards at international festivals. Royal also is releasing a new CD called time changes, and
is completing a book on African philosophy, drumming, Adinkra symbols, and adaptations to jazz. (See story in this issue).
1973 ROBERT TURCOT, Monkton,
VT, recently completed 30 years of service at the University of Vermont Medical Center where he works as the senior counselor in the Employee and Family Assistance Program. Bob holds dual practice licenses as a Clinical Social Worker and Alcohol and Drug Counselor.
1977 MICHAEL BROWN, Lithopo-
lis, Ohio, retired from his job as an executive with the Ohio Board of Regents, and now serves as a baseball umpire and teacher. He underwent a triple bypass heart operation in August 2017 and has since recovered well.
1984
She writes that her two daughters are thriving and together have given her “eight incredible grandchildren.”
1993 KATE (DEVOE) TIRABASSI, Swanzey, NH, is director of the Center for Writing at Keene State College in Keene, NH, and teaches writing in the English Department. She recently has helped to launch a new professional writing minor, coordinates the English Department’s Writing and Publishing Internship program, and in August 2018, was promoted to Professor of English. Her co-authored book Fostering Positive Civic Engagement Among Millennials (with Dr. Darrell Hucks and Tanya Sturtz, IGI Press) was published in 2018.
1996 CHRISTI TURNBULL TURNER, Cary, NC, had a
“small-world” alumni encounter at work with Sarah Coghlan ’09 (see photo).
RUTH NEWELL, Iverness, FL, AARON KUNTZ, Birmingworked as a technical writer, ham, AL, recently published then freelance travel writer his latest book, Qualitative before learning that her Inquiry, Cartography, and the stepfather was in the late Promise of Material Change, stages of Alzheimer’s disease. with Routledge Press. “Many She chose to stay to help her of the ideas in this text took mother, becoming her father’s root during my time at Saint caregiver. Since his death two Michael’s,” Aaron writes, years ago, she has been “especially the connection of primarily focused on complet- inquiry and social justice ing and publishing manuwork.” In the book Aaron scripts of her creative writing. “maps the impact of materialHaving just completed her ism on contemporary first novel, she is now shoppractices of inquiry in ping it around to publishers. education and the social
sciences. Through this work, the author challenges readers to consider inquiry as a mode of ethically engaged citizenship with implications for resisting our contemporary moment towards a more equitable future,” according to publisher notes, which continue, “This text will prove valuable to graduate students and faculty who take inquiry seriously and seek the means to understand their work as engaged in the necessary challenge for material change.” GREG MCDONALD, Broomfield, CO, was honored with the Heart of Broomfield Education award, bestowed by the Broomfield Community Foundation. He was selected “for the uncompromising dedication to Broomfield youth he demonstrates in his work as a school counselor at Broomfield Heights Middle School.” Sacha Mittelman ’99, also of Colorado, shared the news.
1998 KRISTIN PEACOCK SHEPARD, Atlanta, GA, completed
her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) from Brenau University in Gainesville, GA. Her father, Mark Peacock ’65, helped her celebrate. (See photo).
2000 BRIAN ACUNTO, Brigantine, NJ, completed his Executive Juris Doctorate degree from Concord Law School at Purdue University Global. He
CLASS NOTES
which he features the works of local poets. He has started a poetry writing class at the Senior Center and is working with the Glastonbury High School English Department to produce a music and poetry event for May 2019, showcasing student works in original poetry and music.
53
Norah Breen (’08) married Chris Munger on October 6, 2018 in Schuylerville, NY, with several alumni in attendance. From left are Sean Dulmaine ’08, Kate Bohannan ’08, Owen Glubiak ’08, Shana Lothrop ’07, Mallory Wood ’08, Pam Kunar ’08.
Jean-Luc LaDouceur ’04 and Tara Baker were married on September 8, 2018 at the Adirondack Camp on Lake George. Pictured with the bride and groom and attending from Saint Michael’s were Justin Barrel ’04, Matt Scimone ’04, Jeremy Mularski ’05, Ryan Deveaux ’04, Mark Kolonoski ’04, Kyle Smith ’05, Derek Kline ’04, Joe Sidlovsky ’04, Casey O’Connor ’04, and Jared Bicknell ’04 (Jeremy Richard ’04 not pictured).
currently serves as the director of the emergency department for Atlanticare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, NJ, and as an attending physician in emergency medicine. GRETCHEN COYLE, Boston, MA, became the English Department Chair at DoverSherborn High School in Dover, MA, after fifteen years of teaching English at the school.
2001 BETHANY RICE, Newmarket,
NH, was to release her first edited book, Global Perspec-
Michelle Lynch ’10 married Thomas Ferguson on September 15, 2018, with several alumni in attendance. From left are Kyle and LeeAnn Murphy ’10), Christopher and Lynsey Fahner ’10), bride: Michelle (Lynch) Ferguson ’10), the groom Thomas Ferguson; Deborah Bartos ’10 and Jessica Prencipe (attended Saint Michael’s as a freshman then transferred to Springfield College.)
Elizabeth Sell ’07 married Andrew Grossman in May of 2018 at a summer camp in Charlottesville, VA, and the couple are currently living in Washington D.C.
tives on Inclusive Teacher Education (Endicott College, USA) in March 2019. ANDREA GAMELLI COUTURE, Hooksett, NH, sends
word that members of the class of 2001 gathered in the Berkshires to celebrate their friendship of over 20 years for a weekend in early March. (See photo).
2002 VICTORIA WELCH, Medford,
MA, married Matthew Carter on August 10, 2018 at the Harding Allen Estate in Barre, MA.
Mallory Wood ’08 married Grant Willsea in Temecula, CA on October 14, 2017, with several alumni in attendance Back row: Zach Pratt ’10, Norah Breen ’08, Owen Glubiak ’08, Shana Lothrop ’07, Kevin Anglin ’08, Pamela Weagle ’08, Sean Dulmaine ’08; Front row: Marci Wood ’14, Bride: Mallory Wood ’08, Groom: Grant Willsea, Kate Bohannan ’08.
GARY HOFFMAN, Nashua, NH, graduated from Tufts University with a Master’s in Public Policy in May of 2018, and was awarded “Teacher of the Year” by Nashua VFW after teaching social studies for 16 years. He serves on the executive board of the Nashua Teacher’s Union and was recently successful in leading an effort to change the city’s spending cap formula, increasing tax revenue to benefit the Nashua Public School System. DAVE PATTERSON, Cape Elizabeth, ME, released his debut novel through Hanover Square Press/Harper Collins
in April 2019, and in the same month returned to Saint Michael’s College for a reading.
2004 JEAN-LUC LADOUCEUR,
New Britain, CT, and Tara Baker were married on September 8, 2018 at the Adirondack Camp on Lake George. The bride is a 2004 graduate of Northern Michigan University (See photo).
2007 ELIZABETH SELL, Washington, DC, married Andrew Grossman in May of 2018 at a summer camp in Charlottesville, VA, and the couple are currently living in Washington DC (See photo). Elizabeth has also accepted a new position as the Director of Internal Communications for the American Federation of Teachers.
2008 AMELIA HOLSTROM,
Wilbraham, MA, has been named a partner at Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., a leading labor and employment law firm serving employers in the greater Springfield, MA, area. Amelia was also selected to the Super Lawyers® Massachusetts Rising Stars list in October 2018. It is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state. Amelia resides in Wilbraham with her husband, Stephen, and two children, Carter and Reid.
NORAH BREEN, Littleton, CO, married Chris Munger on October 6, 2018 in Schuylerville, NY, with several alumni in attendance (see photo).
2009 SARAH COGHLAN, North
Andover, MA, had a nifty “small-world” alumni encounter at work recently with Christi Turnbull Turner (see photo).
2010 MICHELLE LYNCH, Braintree MA, married Thomas Ferguson on September 15, 2018 at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee, MA, with a wedding reception at Willowbend Country Club (also in Mashpee, MA). (See photo). ELLEN PARENT, Augusta, Maine, in February 2019 accepted a position as the Regulatory & Legislative Advocacy Coordinator at the Maine Credit Union League. As part of the Department of Governmental Affairs, Ellen will be focusing on providing
Amy Winter ’14 married Alan Cunningham ’14 on October 27, 2018 at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, VT. Attending from Saint Michael’s and pictured from left to right are Dana Bourne ’14, Mike Brown ’14, Eric Dubuque ’14, Taylor Shea ’15, Sam Brigham ’14, Jess Sweeney ’16, Tyler Griswold ’14, Amy Winter ’14, Tyler Pierson ’14, Alan Cunningham ’14, Danika Leblanc ’14, Dana Glubiak ’14, Christine Manty ’14, Justin Salls ’14, Mary Hall ’14, Mick Roberto ’12, Erin Cater ’14, Molly Kalker ’14, and Angelica Wroblewski ’14.
compliance support for Maine credit unions. She holds a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law and has been certified as a Credit Union Compliance Expert (CUCE) by the Credit Union National Association. LUCAS LEIGHTON, Brooklyn, NY, was married on October of 2018 to Holly McCarthy in St. John, USVI. “We are currently living in Brooklyn, NY where she works in the cinematographers guild here and I am employed by Patagonia,” Lucas writes.
2011 ABIGAIL MEACHEM and SAMUEL WALKER, Brook-
line, MA, were married October 13, 2018 in the Chapel at Saint Michael the Archangel.
TREVIN SCHMIDT, North Attleboro, MA, recently joined the Boston law firm Eckert Seamans as an associate in the firm’s Boston office and litigation division. He focuses his practice on
complex civil ligation matters, including commercial disputes, employment law, product liability, and mass tort litigation. He attended law school while working fulltime as a paralegal at Eckert Seamans, primarily in commercial and toxic tort litigation matters. Prior to joining the firm, Trevin gained valuable experience as a paralegal at a Boston firm specializing in product liability and catastrophic injury matters, preparing for and attending trials in state and federal courts throughout New England. Treven earned his J.D. from New England Law in 2018 after Saint Michael’s. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Massachusetts Defense Lawyers Association, and Boston Bar Association.
2012 KIMBERLY MARCHETTI GAUTHIER and JUSTIN GAUTHIER, Hudson, MA,
welcomed their first child, Emily Jeanne Gauthier, on September 11, 2018.
CLASS NOTES
Madelena Santore ’13 married Nick DeThomasis ’14 on October 21, 2017 in Hopewell, NJ, with many alumni in attendance. From left to right are Melissa Coughlin ’13, Chrissy Trani (Skrzat) ’13, Meaghan Chase (Curry) ’13. Kelly McDonald ’12, Maire Bartkus ’15, Macey Lefebvre (Thomas) ’14, Lindsay Phenix ’14, Fernanda Saavedra ’15, Darah Thomas ’13, Jessica McLeod ’14, Chelsey Covitz ’14, Cynthia Edgerton ’14, Will Bruno ’14, Evan Ginja ’14, Ben Polaski ’14, Erin Stevens ’13 and Meaghan Leong ’14.
55
BEN GRANJA, Pawtucket, RI, completed a rigorous Fire Department training academy for Providence, RI, recently (see photo).
2013 56
Craig Resendes ’14, left, married Seth Hannan on August 30, 2018 at The Abbey in Orlando, Fl.
MADELENA SANTORE, South Burlington, VT, married Nick DeThomasis ’14 on October 21, 2017 in Hopewell, NJ, with many alumni in attendance (see photo).
2014 NICK DETHOMASIS, South Burlington, VT, got married (see 2013 notes). AMY WINTER, Colchester, VT, married Alan Cunningham ’14 on October 27, 2018 at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, VT. (See photo). Dan Rathbone ’17, Mike Bodreau ’14, and Ben Granja’ 12 are graduates of the two most recent Providence, RI, Fire Department training academies and are all past fire captains of Saint Michael’s College Fire & Rescue. Dan and Mike graduated from the 51st Training Academy and Ben from the 52nd Training Academy. Dan and Mike took the entrance exam in September of 2016 and successfully moved on to the physical ability obstacle course a few months later. Once it was determined how many candidates would be needed, the highest finishers on the list were submitted to psychological exams and background checks. Eighty of the almost one thousand people who took the entrance exam were then invited to the six-month training academy which began in June of 2017. Dan and Mike graduated from the academy in November of 2017. Ben followed the same procedure one year later, taking his entrance exam, again with approximately one thousand people present, in September of 2017. His training academy of 80 persons began in June of 2018 and graduated in November of 2018. Their assignments began upon graduation. Dan is assigned to the Broad St. Fire Station in the South Providence neighborhood, Mike to the Washington St. Fire Station, near Downtown, and Ben to the Admiral St. Fire Station, in the north end of the city near Providence College. Ben and some of his classmates put on an after-graduation get together for friends and family, and the photo above was taken at the party. It includes Dan, Mike, and Ben and also other SMFR alumni. From left to right, they are, Chris Eldridge ’12, Mike Bodreau ’14, James Mclaughlin ’13, Ben Granja ’12, Dan Rathbone ’17, Tommy Farragher ’11, Matt Tivnin ’12, and Brian Eldridge ’18.
MIKE BODREAU, Quinebaug, CT, completed a rigorous Fire Department training academy for Providence, RI, recently (see photo). CRAIG RESENDES, Kissim-
mee, FL, married Seth Hannan on August 30, 2018 at The Abbey in Orlando, FL. (See photo)
2017 DAN RATHBONE, Charles-
town, RI, completed a rigorous Fire Department training academy for Providence, RI, recently (See photo).
PRESIDENT LORRAINE STERRITT’S HISTORICAL FRANCE TOUR OF EDMUNDITE FOUNDATION PLACES Rev. Father Marcel Rainville, S.S.E., invites you to join President Sterritt and her husband, Professor Bert Lain, on a tour of principal Foundation Places of the Edmundites in Burgundy and Normandy.
JUNE 16 - 25, 2020 See the remote villages and vibrant cities in France that contributed to the beginnings of the Edmundites and eventually Saint Michael’s College. For more information visit: smcvt.edu/heritagetrip2020 Or Call EF Go Ahead Tours at 1-800-438-7672
Alumni & Family Weekend Sept. 28-29 2019
In Memoriam 1943 58
FRANCIS J. CAIN, Shelburne, VT, died March 14, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he enlisted in the Navy and entered Officers Training School. He was commissioned an Ensign in 1943 and served during World War II in the Mediterranean, European and Pacific Theaters in the amphibious fleet. On June 6, 1944 Francis took part in the D-Day Landing at Normandy. He transported occupation troops to Hokkaido, Japan, following the surrender and end of WWII and was the last Commanding Officer of LST 309 in 1946. He returned to Burlington after the war, married and raised 10 children. Under his father’s guidance he entered the property-casualty insurance business in Burlington and eventually established Cain Insurance Agency. He was the first person in Vermont to achieve his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. Cain Insurance later merged with Hickok and Boardman in 1969 and he was active in that agency for the balance of his professional career, serving as general manager for the Property-Casualty Division until retirement in 1988. He serve as Mayor of Burlington for three terms from 19651971 and Alderman from Ward 1 from 1962-1965. He also served the boards of the
Chamber of Commerce, Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, United Way, and University of Vermont Medical Center. He initiated The Burlington International Games with the Mayor of Burlington, Ontario, and the B.I.G. games were a free athletic competition for kids for more than 30 years. He was a Saint Michael’s Associate Trustee in the 1980s. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary Jane; four sons, six daughters and extended family including granddaughters Mallory Breiner ’07 and Emily Breiner ’99.
1949 GEORGE T. BROWN,
Portland, OR, died March 31, 2019. After World War II Army service George attended several colleges and earned his French degree at Saint Michael’s. He then married and with his wife built their first home, a log cabin, in Beaverton, OR, while working for the post office. His family moved to Portland in 1955. In 1962 George transferred to Seattle to work for the National Labor Relations Board and was the point man for civil rights issues. He became involved in Boy Scouts there and was a Scoutmaster for years, earning the prestigious Silver Beaver award, and his sons all became Eagle Scouts.
H loved mountain climbing and travel and still led climbs at age 75. He moved later to Vancouver to investigate French-Canadian genealogy, inspired by a gravestone, and helped solve 200-year old mysteries for numerous families including his own. He belonged to many historical societies. His wife of 51 years, Mariette, died in 2000 and he moved for a time to St. Paul, OR, and continued his volunteer genealogy and history work, researching French Prairie, OR. He moved back to Portland in 2004. He is survived by four sons, two daughters, and extended family.
often singing Clancy Brother ballads. He also was a Boy Scout leader for a time. When his military service ended in the mid-1970s he managed the family commercial real estate properties in downtown Pittsfield, MA, his hometown. He received a master’s degree from Union College in the 1960s while serving as a professor and AFROTC leader there during his military service. He was predeceased by his wife of more than 40 years, Florence. He is survived by his a daughter, a son, two stepdaughters and extended family.
1950
NY, died February 11, 2019. He served in the Pacific in the Navy in World War II before Saint Michael’s and after graduating, he earned a law degree at the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1953. He established his law practice in Rochester, NY, and was engaged in litigation and general law for 37 years until his 1992 retirement. He enjoyed summers on Lake Conesus with his family for 40-plus years, was very active in the community and an avid runner who completed 20-plus marathons. John was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Joan, three sons, four daughters, and extended family.
LEMUEL G. LLOYD JR., El Dorado Hills, CA, died April 5, 2019. A decorated veteran, Lem served more than 23 years in the Air Force commanding troops across several continents. He enlisted in 1951 right after College to start a career that took him from Newfoundland through Germany and onto the battlefields of Vietnam. His decorations included The Bronze Star and The Republic of Vietnam’s Honor Medal (First Class). He was a keen student of military history and all history. He became fluent in German during his tours in Germany and loved Irish folk songs,
JOHN F. BURKE, Pittsford,
DONALD R. LEDUC, Manchester, NH/Orlando, FL, died December 30, 2018. After Saint Michael’s “Duke” served in the Army in Germany during the Korean War before going to work for the Bell Telephone System, retiring from AT&T 34 years later. He was an avid sports fan and became a referee and umpire. He also loved golf, carding six holes-in-one in his 60-plus-year golf career. His eldest son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Audrey, a daughter, three sons and extended family. REV. LAWRENCE F. LYONS, Fort Lauderdale, FL, died February 26, 2019. He had been a priest for 64 years, joining the Edmundites in 1954 and serving the missions in Venezuela until coming to South Florida in 1974 to eventually serve as a diocesan priest. After earning his Saint Michael’s bachelor’s he obtained a second bachelor’s in theology from St. Edmund’s Seminary in Randolph, VT, then studied for a master’s in philosophy at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto and obtained a doctorate in philosophical theology from the Catholic University of America. He understood French and was fluent in Spanish along with English. After ordination he served about a decade as an Edmundite missionary in Caracas, Venezuela, describing his work as “everything from barrio work, community development, mission promotion, literacy classes to
seminary administration and teaching, work with charitable foundations and a university professorship.” He helped establish the national seminary in Venezuela and served there as dean and professor. But after seeing that seminary thrive he felt called to the Spanish-speaking apostolate in the U.S. and came to the Archdiocese of Miami in 1973, soon after being appointed to the faculty of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach where he served until 1980. He also taught for a year at St. John Vianney Seminary in Miami and while there was parochial vicar at a parish, followed by other parish assignments around the greater Miami area. He was incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami in 1990 before retiring in 1993, and for many years after his retirement he served as chaplain at the Nursing and Rehabilitation Center where he also resided. He is survived by a brother, John Lyons ’54. RICHARD P. SULLIVAN, Marlborough, MA, died February 17, 2019. He was a World War II veteran, world traveler and gifted linguist who taught English, French and Spanish for many years at Kiley Junior High School in Springfield, MA.. He also spent years as a caretaker for his mother and a disabled brother in Gilbertville during the school year while summering in a West Brookfield lake cottage. He traveled Europe while a Saint Michael’s student and later showed his mother and brothers the wonders of
France and Spain. He wintered in Mexico for many years. He loved humor, tennis, reading, cooking, crossword puzzles, jazz, opera, spicy paella and good martinis. Richard left the College a generous estate gift in his will. He is survived by a sister and extended family. ROBERT M. SMITH, JR., St. Albans, VT, died November 9, 2018. Bob served in the Navy from 1945-46 before Saint Michael’s, and after graduation worked for the St. Albans Grain Co. until it closed, after which he went to Winooski to become manager of Grossman’s. Later he worked as a Lister for the City of St. Albans. Active in his community, he belonged to Rotary, the American Legion and St. Albans Historical Society. He enjoyed sports, particularly softball, ice fishing and biking He was an avid Red Sox baseball and Giants football fan. A daughter predeceased him. Bob is survived by his wife of 68 years, Kathleen, two sons, a sister and extended family.
1951 JOHN R. GALLANT,
Rumford, ME, died April 8, 2019. John left high school to enlist and serve in the Army from 1944 to 1946 After Saint Michael’s he graduated from the University of Maryland Dental School and had a long career as a dentist. He was proud of his Acadian Ancestry and active many years in dentistry professional groups, Rotary and the American Legion. He is
survived by a son, three daughters, a brother and his loving companion for the past 10 years, Bernadette. HENRY E. HARNEY, Monroe Twp., NJ, died January 16, 2012, the College learned recently. A World War II Army veteran, he was the owner-operator for many years of the Dairy Queen in Barnegat Light, NJ. He was active in the American Legion and enjoyed hockey and following the news in the Newark Star-Ledger. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College He is survived by four daughters, a sister and extended family. JAMES M. QUINN, JR.,
West Suffield, MA, died March 4, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he earned his MBA at Western New England University. As a young man he worked for his family’s construction company in Longmeadow, MA. He joined the Air Force after Saint Michael’s and served during the Korean Conflict stationed in Greenland. After working many years for United Technologies he retired as a senior financial analyst at Pratt & Whitney Aerospace. A licensed private pilot, Jim enjoyed owning and flying his own aircraft and flew until the age of 85. His wife, Joan, predeceased him. He is survived by son, a daughter and extended family. REV. JOHN T. SCULLY, S.S.E., Colchester, VT, died
March 26, 2019. He served in the Navy before entering Saint Michael’s College and professing vows in the Society
59
IN MEMORIAM 60
of St. Edmund in 1950. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1955 and as an Edmundite priest taught at Saint Michael’s from 1955 to 1960, at Cardinal Mindzenty High School, Dunkirk, NY, from 1960 to 1963, and at Saint Bernard’s High School, New London and Uncasville, CT, from 1963 to 1978. He served in parish ministry in Groton, CT, from 1978 to 1985, at Saint Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Whitton, Twickenham, England in 1985 and in Windham County, VT, mission parishes until his retirement. He is survived by extended family.
1952 REV. MARTIN P. DONAHUE, Worcester, MA, died January 29, 2019. He was a priest of the Diocese of Worcester for 57 years. After teaching Spanish at Saint Michael’s for five years following graduation he began his path toward the priesthood, studying at St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester, NY, and at Catholic University in Washington, DC. He later earned master’s and doctoral degrees in education from Harvard University and taught at the Boston College Graduate School of Education. He was ordained a priest in 1961, beginning a long ministry in Catholic education both as a headmaster and in assisting the Diocesan Spanish Apostolate. He was assigned to a Catholic high school in Fitchburg, MA in 1965, became assistant superintendent of schools for the Diocese in 1969 and was
appointed superintendent in 1974. In 1980 he was named vice-chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester. He became a pastor at a Worcester parish in 1984 and retired as a pastor in 2005. In retirement he assisted at a parish in Spencer where he lived. He loved dogs, particularly his German Shepherds (all named Nomad). He also enjoyed time at Saint Joseph’s Abbey and at his family lake house in Spencer. He is survived by extended family. ROBERT A. KATELEY, North Adams, MA, died December 22, 2018. An accomplished high school athlete, he played football at Saint Michael’s. He was an Army veteran and member of the North Adams American Legion. He served as Command Sergeant Major for the Massachusetts National Guard in North Adams for 41 years. He also was a salesman for Met-Life and Prudential Insurance Companies. He last worked as a school bus driver for J.T. Bus Lines. He was active in his parish and Youth Programs with his family. He enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, and was a Red Sox and Patriots fan. He was predeceased by two sons. His first wife, Barbara, died in 1988, and his second wife, Sylvia, whom he married in 1990, died in 2014. Bob is survived by two daughters, a sister and extended family.
1953 RODERICK C. BILLUPS, Tacoma, WA, died January 25, 2019. He enlisted in the Army
after Saint Michael’s and was assigned as a Headquarters Radio Operator. After being awarded the National Defense Service Medal and Army of Occupation Medal-Germany, Rod was honorably discharged in 1955 and worked as a systems analyst at IBM for 12 years. After his 1968 marriage he and his wife focused on their Christian faith and attended the Christian Outreach Center School of Ministry in Missouri, where he also served as the school administrator and was ordained an evangelist. He had leadership roles with domestic evangelical groups and then served with his wife as a missionary to Japan before transitioning to Puget Sound Christian Center in Tacoma, WA, where he served for 25 years in various roles. He is survived by his wife, Ayako, two sisters, a son, two stepsons, a stepdaughter and extended family including niece Christine Billups ’82. Predeceasing him were two brothers, Charles Billups ’51 and Robert Billups ’49. DR. ANIELLO “NEIL” G. DIORIO, Northridge, CA,
died February 24, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he completed Medical School at the University of Vermont and spent several years practicing medicine while serving as an officer in the Navy before he and his wife moved with six children to Northridge. He accepted the position of Chief of Radiology at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Santa Clarita. He retired from medicine in 1991 and lived in several southern
California communities. He enjoyed socialized, hosting card games and created a dining club called Old Retirees Eating out (OREOs). He wrote and published several books including a cook book and several dramatic thrillers. He also was well-versed in history, geography, construction and horticulture. Neil was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Evelyn, three sons, three daughters and extended family. EUGENE P. O’NEILL, Essex Junction, VT, died January 30, 2019. After earning his degree in classics from Saint Michael’s he served in the Army from 1952-54 during the Korean War. He then graduated from the University of Connecticut with an English master’s in 1961 and taught English at Saint Michael’s for 35 years, joining the English Department in 1956 and serving as director of the College’s international students program from 1970 to 1981. He established the College’s first language laboratory and helped create a master’s program in Teaching English as a Second Language. He retired in 1991 and enjoyed many adventures with family such as trips to ball games, circuses and wild game dinners. He also studied every U.S. president and numismatics (coins, currency and medals), and traveled to Ireland where his grandparents were born. He was active in philanthropy and parish work as a lector, Eucharistic Minister and assisting at
1954 WILLIAM H. CARPENTER, Burlington, VT, died November 16, 2018. He was an all-state football player before Saint Michael’s and after graduating in business served in the Army Medical Corps as a medic in Germany. He began his post-service work career in commercial lending for the Commercial Credit Company in Burlington, then Ford Motor Credit Company. In 1967 he began his career as a banker for the Chittenden Trust Company, rising to senior vice president of the Mortgage and Loan Department. After retiring from the bank he sold real estate for Century 21 Jack Associates and worked for the Handy family in property management. He completely retired from work in 2015. He was active in his Burlington parish on the Parish Council, was a big fan of the Yankees, Notre Dame football and UVM
hockey, and was a collector of Big Little books, Corgi cars, baseball cards, Bicentennial quarters, and Lone Ranger and Hop-along Cassidy memorabilia. His hobbies also included long-distance running and casting and painting lead soldiers. He was a Fellows Club supporter of the College. A son predeceased him. He is survived by a son, three daughters and a sister. SALVATORE J. LEOMBRUNO, JR., Dupont, WA, died
January 15, 2019. After Saint Michael’s Sal joined the Air Force and served for 30 years, rising to the rank of Colonel. After retirement he settled in Lakewood, WA, and came to love golf. A son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Jean, a brother, a sister, a daughter, a son and extended family. DONALD W. PINE, Wood-
stock, GA, died December 8, 2018. Don spent the majority of his career at IBM, retiring in 1989 after 35 years. He started with the company in White Plains, NY, after Saint Michael’s, and his work as a financial analyst/controller there took him from Crotonon-the-Hudson, NY, to Boca Raton, FL, before finally settling in Marietta, GA. After his IBM retirement, he and his wife translated their love of travel and adventure to 22 years of owning a travel agency, Travel Professionals International. They sailed on more than 150 cruises together, enjoying the open ocean and exploring cultures and people along the way. He is survived by his wife,
Dolores (“Dee”), a son, four daughters, and extended family.
1955 JOHN J. BURNETT, Clinton,
CT, died December 14, 2018. He worked in the plumbing trade and became the plumbing and heating inspector for the town of Wethersfield before his brother urged him to enroll at Saint Michael’s. After College he joined the Army and served in Germany during the Hungarian Crisis, and after the service joined The Hartford Courant in 1957 and had a 35-year career in sales including as National Ad Manager and later Research and Sales Training Manager until his 1992 retirement. He was a past president of the Hartford Area Business Economist, regional VP of The Holy Family Retreat Center in West Hartford, and was very active in his parish, teaching CCD for years and serving as a Eucharistic minister, altar sever, minister to the sick and active on the parish building committee and with hospice. He also did prison ministry with his wife and was active in the K of C. He was predeceased by his first wife, Maureen. He is survived by his wife, Mary (married in 1991), three sons, three daughters (his children with Maureen), and extended family.
WILLIAM F. PELKEY, Hague, NY, died March 8, 2019. An Army veteran, he worked after Saint Michael’s for Mathew Bender Publishing Company of New York City as an
accountant for many years. He also worked as a controller for Warrington USA and as a finance VP for the New England Carpet Company in Vermont for a time. He lived in Hague for many years. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Madeline, a son, two sisters and extended family.
1956 LAWRENCE E. DREW, Bradford, VT, died December 2, 2018. Larry earned his master’s at Saint Michael’s in 1957 and continued studies with the National Science Foundation, the National Physics Institute, the United States Ski Association and the Vermont Coaches Association. He had a long career as an educator, teaching math at Newbury School, at Marion High School and Spaulding High School in Barre, and at People’s Academy in Morrisville, Bradford Academy and retiring from Thetford Academy. He also worked for 47 years at Camp Billings at Lake Fairlee as the assistant director and head of maintenance and served on the Bradford Town Planning Committee and the town’s Water-Sewer Department. He was active in his parish and coached basketball, skiing, cross country and track & field. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Margaret; a son, two daughters and extended family. JOHN D. KENNEDY, Wake
Forest, NC, died December 20, 2018 of Alzheimer’s disease. After Saint Michael’s he graduated from the Univer-
IN MEMORIAM
funerals, and he volunteered for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Families Anonymous and Meals on Wheels. After his Saint Michael’s retirement he worked at the Chittenden County Insurance Agency, U.S. Census and was an Essex Junction school crossing guard. He wrote many poems, songs and short stories includes lullabies and limericks for his children and grandchildren. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Nora, a son, two daughters, and extended family.
61
IN MEMORIAM 62
sity of Maryland Law School in Baltimore and was a career federal administrator, retiring as director of Health and Human Services for the Northeast Region of the U.S., residing in Boston where he raised his family. He loved reading, history, science, chess, classical music and opera, and was an avid bird watcher, serving as president of the Brookline Bird Club for a time. He also was an avid fan of all Boston sports teams, having switched allegiance in hockey from the Canadiens (he grew up in Montreal) to the Bruins. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Nicole, two daughters, a son and extended family. WILLIAM J. MCGOWAN, Pawcatuck, CT, died November 26, 2018. Bill joined the Army out of high school and served before and during the Korean War before coming to Saint Michael’s and then returning after graduation to Pawcatuck where he worked at General Dynamics/Electric Boat until retiring at age 62. He was active in his parish. His wife, Agnes, predeceased him. He is survived by a daughter, Erin Collins ’84, and extended family. LOWELL J. MCPHERSON, White River Junction, VT, died March 21, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he did graduate work in Industrial Management at the Bernard Baruch School of Management (1960-1964). He had developed, owned and sold several successful businesses including being president of Technology Management (a service company for banks
and other business concerns), and partner in the firm Data Mann; he also spent a period doing business recruiting and running a golf business. He served on the Saint Michel’s Alumni Board of Directors from 2000-2004. Early in his career he and his family lived in Flushing and Stoney Brook, NY, moving to Medfield, MA in 1970 and finally settling in 1978 in Hanover, NH, where he and his wife raised their five sons. He was a regular at the Hanover Country Club for about 40 years. He enjoyed biking, surf fishing and skiing. Lowell was a dedicated member of the Upper Valley AA community. He had achieved more than 50 years of sobriety, was active in the community and frequently spoke of the support and friendships the group provided for him. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Lowell’s wife of 45 years, Jeannine, died in 2007. He is survived by his five sons and extended family. ROLAND P. POULIN, Burlington, VT, died March 17, 2019. All through high school in Burlington and college at Saint Michael’s he worked at Miles and Riley, a men’s clothing store in downtown Burlington. He was a member of the Army Reserve and spent two years of active military duty. After his discharge he worked at George Little Press, retiring as general manager after 37 years. He was a Burlington School Board member in the late 1960s and over the years donated 18 gallons of blood to the Red Cross. He was
active in the St. John’s Club and Burlington Elks. He enjoyed square dancing, camping, travel and skiing, particularly at Stowe, until retiring his skis at age 84. He was a College Fellows Club supporter of the College. Roland is survived by his wife, Yvette, two sons, a daughter and extended family.
1957 ROBERT L. CAPRIO, Chatham/Manasquan, NJ, died January 29. At Saint Michael’s he was on the basketball team, played football for a year and was active in interclass athletics. Bob for many years was a history teacher and basketball coach at West Orange High School and also spent many years at Parsippany Hills High School as a teacher, athletic director and vice principal. He spent much of his free time officiating football, basketball and softball games, and in summer, managing swim and tennis clubs. He was a fan of the Red Sox and Villanova basketball. He is survived by his former wife Bernadette Brady, four daughters and extended family. THOMAS J. DOOLEY, Vero
Beach, FL, died December 13, 2017. After Saint Michael’s, Tom received his master’s from Boston College and had lived in Vero Beach for the past 40 years. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Air Force after 25 years and served as assistant superintendent of schools for business and financial affairs for Indian
River County. He was a founding member of his parish and active in the K of C, Rotary and Military Officers Association of America. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Katherine, two daughters, a brother and extended family. DANIEL J. DWYER, Rensselaer, NY, died November 20, 2018 of cancer. After Saint Michael’s he served in the Air Force as an officer aviator, and after the service worked as a pilot for Pan American World Airways and Atlas Air. He flew many aircraft but loved flying the 747. For the past 13 years he served as mayor of Rensselaer. He also was active in the local American Legion. Dan was predeceased by his wife, Kathleen. He is survived by a daughter and son and extended family.
1958 GEORGE H. PARSELLS, JR., Allendale, NJ/Naples, FL, died November 19, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he served in the New Jersey National Guard. George was president of GHP Insurance Center of Ramsey, NJ, where he worked for many years with his late wife before their 2004 retirement. He was active in Rotary and loved travel and all things outdoors, including hunting, fishing, alpine and cross-country skiing and, later, golf, bridge and time at the shore. He belonged to many golf clubs and was an avid sports fan. His wife of 56 years, Norma, died in 2016. He is survived by a son, a daughter and extended family.
JOSEPH S. SPYCHALSKY,
1959 KENNETH F. MADIGAN, Bloomfield Hills, MI, died November 29, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he attended graduate school and earned his MBA from the University of Detroit in 1972. He worked for a time as vice president for Power-Seal Corporation. He was a longtime marketing and sales executive with E.I. Dupont Corp, and recently, the Macomb County Planning and Economic Development Department. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Barbara Ann, three daughters and extended family.
1960 JOSEPH P. MALONEY,
Melbourne, FL, died October 12, 2018, the College learned through one of Joe’s classmate’s recently. No obituary information was yet available. “Joe was a very active Michaelman and attended all of our reunions,” shared classmate John Zurlo in October. According to College records. Joe was active during college with the AFROTC Drill Team and earned a master’s from the University of Oklahoma in 1980 in Human Relations, and achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel in the service. He worked as an accountant with H&R Block for many years, and had once lived in Cocoa Beach, FL and in South Dakota. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. A 2010 Reunion questionnaire shows he was married to Marilyn and had three daughters including Colleen Maloney-Benedix ’86 at that time, with a seasonal home in the North Carolina mountains. He enjoyed jogging, fishing and golf. No official word was available about survivors.
1961 ROLAND R. BROSSEAU,
South Burlington/Winooski, VT, died January 23, 2019. He served four years after high school as an Air Force radar operator during the Korean War in Lisburne, AK, before enrolling at Saint Michael’s. He was a social studies teacher for 30 years at
Winooski High School and spent many summers as a security guard at General Electric in Burlington. He volunteered for 15 years at the Vermont Militia Museum at Camp Johnson in Colchester and enjoyed walks in the woods, picking berries, ice skating, fishing and reading. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Gloria, three sons, four daughters and extended family.
1962 RICHARD F. WALSH, Yarmouth, ME, died September 21, 2018. He studied at Suffolk University and then earned his law degree at Suffolk Law School. He lived in Belmont, MA and summered in the Cape for 35 years before moving full-time to the Cape 15 years ago. Richard was a self-employed attorney and founded Walsh & Fadden, Esq. in Cambridge MA, where he worked for over 50 years. He also was the attorney of 45 years for North Cambridge Co-Operative Bank and a member of their board of directors for 29 years and chairman of the board for 12 years. He was a corporator for South Boston Savings Bank and served as an attorney for several Boston-area banks. He also was in real estate for a time. He enjoyed his 43 years with the West Dennis Yacht Club, and was Commodore in 1981-82; He is survived by his wife, Madeline, three sons, a daughter and extended family.
1963 JOSEPH M. CURTIN,
Saratoga Springs, NY, died March 16 of cancer. A longtime leader at Saint Michael’s in alumni relations and institutional advancement before furthering his higher education career, Joe had a master’s degree from the University of Vermont. He worked briefly after his St. Mike’s graduation at Moore Business Forms in Providence, RI, but was quickly called to start his career in higher education in the Saint Michael’s Alumni Office. After 10 years — progressively serving as alumni director, assistant to the president, Cabinet member and manager of external affairs — he moved on to become vice president and then interim president of Russell Sage College in Troy, NY. He finished his career as the president of the Independent College Fund of New York in Albany. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Amelia, four sons including Brian Curtin ’87, a daughter, his mother, a sister, two brothers and extended family.
1964 JOSEPH R. AIELLO,
Methuen, MA, died January 15, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he joined the Air Force and attained the rank of captain, later continuing as a reservist. Following the service he was a computer programmer at AVCO for 20-plus years until following his true passion as a carpenter and cabinet maker. He
IN MEMORIAM
Melbourne, FL, died February 16, 2019. “Little Joe” was a member of the 1958 St. Mike’s “Iron Knights” basketball team that made it all the way to the NCAA tournament finals. After college Joe worked for Sperry on Long Island, including work on the Apollo 13 Lunar Excursion Module that ferried the astronauts back to Earth following that tragedy in space. He moved his young family to Melbourne in 1967, taking a position at Radiation (later Harris Corp.) where he managed many subcontracts for satellite antennas. He later moved to Northrop Grumman and worked on the JSTARs program. He retired from Grumman in 1999. He loved reading, golf, boating, fishing, shrimping and crabbing. His wife of 50 years, Joan, and a son predeceased him. He is survived by a son, a daughter, a brother and extended family
63
IN MEMORIAM
loved home-cooked meals and quiet times. He is survived by extended family.
64
JOHN T. MAHONEY,
McLean, VA, died January 18, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he earned his education master’s from the University of Massachusetts and a certificate of advanced graduate studies from American International College. His long career with schools started at a Holyoke, MA, junior high before he became the Director of State and Federal programs for the Holyoke Public Schools, securing $400 million in state and federal grants. He also established the HALO Center of Adult Education in Holyoke and planned many trips for the Valley Community Arts Association. He retired from the school system in 2002 and relocated to McLean. He is survived by his spouse, Chee Seng Lai, a brother, William Mahoney ’67, two sisters and extended family. GEORGE R. QUINN, Newtown, CT, died December 5, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he entered the Air Force as a First Lieutenant in 1964 and was discharged with honors as a Captain in 1969 after serving in the U.S. and Libya. He then began a career that lasted almost 50 years in the field of non-destructive testing as an instructor. Nondestructive testing is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and technology industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing
damage. Starting with Krautkramer Branson, then as a partner with Hellier Associates and ending with Sperry Rail Service, George became one of the bestknown instructors of Ultrasonic and Eddy Current Testing in the country, teaching thousands of individuals in different fields. He was certified Level III in both ultrasonic and eddy current testing with the American Society of Non-destructive Testing. George is survived by his wife of 40 years, Kathleen, a son, a sister and extended family.
1965 ANTHONY NATALE, Hanson,
MA, died March 10, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he worked at Sears and Roebuck for many years and was a member of the Hanson Athletic Association. An avid sports enthusiast, he was a fan of all Boston professional teams and loved NASCAR. He often played cards, especially cribbage, and loved playing computer games. He relished summers in Cape Cod. Tony was predeceased by his wife, Pauline. He is survived by his longtime love Elizabeth Lane, a son, two stepsons, a brother and extended family. MATTHEW C. TERLIZZO, Flagler Beach, FL, died December 4, 2018. He spent all of his professional life working within the intelligence community, 10 years with the CIA and then working for companies contracting with the agency.
He retired in 2004 from Lockheed Martin and relocated to Palm Coast, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Kathleen, a brother, a sister and extended family.
1966 LAWRENCE A. BEAUCHAMP JR., San Antonio,
TX and formerly Waterbury, CT, died March 28, 2019. A wordsmith with his Saint Michael’s degree in English literature, he served in the Peace Corps and taught English in Palau, Micronesia, upon graduation. After his return he obtained an MBA in 1969 from the University of Bridgeport, and that year was drafted into the Air Force. He applied to an elite Medical Administration program of only 30 people nationwide and received a commission from Airman to Officer. In 1970 the Air Force sent him to San Antonio where he started law school, earning his law degree in 1974. He was an attorney for almost 45 years. He enjoyed studying and celebrating his Italian and French heritage and was active in social clubs and legal organizations. He loved cooking, reading, history, story-telling and humor. He is survived by his ex-wife, Joyce Beauchamp, to whom he was married for 33 years; their son and two daughters, another son, two brothers, two sisters and extended family. JEFFREY C. BISHOP,
Shelburne, MA, died April 15, 2019. After Saint Michael’s he earned an education master’s
from Springfield College and then taught at Greenfield High School for 32 years. He loved history and humor and was an avid and perpetual student of U.S. history. Family vacations included trips to Washington, D.C., Civil War battle sites and Colonial Williamsburg. He also loved antiques and old homes and opened his own antique shop in 1985. He is survived by his wife Barbara, a daughter, several siblings and extended family. MAURICE A. “MO” RANCOURT, Bennington,
VT, died November 25, 2018 of lung cancer. After Saint Michael’s, Mo worked for a time at GMAC in Burlington and later for the Prudential Insurance Company after moving to Bennington in 1970, until his retirement. He briefly was a substitute teacher after retiring. Mo was an accomplished and passionate musician, playing trumpet with bands in the Bennington area, the Berkshires, Catskills, Albany and Schenectady, and was a member of the New York Musicians Union. In the 1970s and 1980s he played the trumpet and sang in his band, Common Courtesy. He also played in a Dixieland Band, as well as Sage City Symphony, the Burlington Jazz Festival and annually for Normal Lear in Shaftsbury. Mo was well-known for playing “Taps” at area funerals since his teenage years, and for singing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Mo was a member of AA since 1972, and over the last 46 years was a sponsor to
1968 T. MICHAEL ARMSTRONG,
Essex Junction, VT, died March 23, 2019. A lifelong athlete and avid runner, he completed several Vermont City Marathons and was a boxing enthusiast, winning the Vermont Golden Gloves title in 1965 with a first-round KO at 135 pounds. He returned to competition after a 12-year absence and won the 147-pound class as Vermont Golden Gloves champ again. He spent countless volunteer hours mentoring young people in athletics and life. After Saint Michael’s he earned an MBA at the University of Vermont in 1974 and was a financial planner at IBM for over 25 years. He launched a second successful career in real estate at Century 21 Jack Associates and Keller Williams Vermont. He enjoyed deep-sea fishing and hunting. Mike stayed very close to his St. Mike’s classmates through the years and enjoyed his Golden Knights 50th reunion this past June. He is survived by his wife, Ellen Hagman, a son, a daughter, two stepsons and extended family. MICHAEL J. BUCKMAN, Williamsburg, VA, died October 27, 2018. After Saint
Michael’s he was commissioned into the Air Force, and was a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving until 1972. He spent most of his successful career at Schiffenhaus Industries (containers and packaging) where he held several management and executive positions before retiring in 2007. He enjoyed golf and sailing and was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College, particularly Military Heritage Scholarships. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Janet, three sons, a daughter, 10 brothers and sisters, and extended family. EDMUND J. BOUTIN, Chester, NH, died August 28, 2018. He was the son of the late former Saint Michael’s College President Bernard Boutin, the College’s first lay president. After graduating summa cum laude from Saint Michael’s, Ed obtained his law degree from Georgetown University in 1971. After law school he remained in Washington and served as legislative assistant to Sen. Thomas McIntyre. His next position as associate general counsel at Sanders Associates brought him back to his family’s native New Hampshire, where he would remain for the balance of his life. In 1976, Ed and his partners founded the law firm where he worked for the next 42 years. His clients included Fortune 500 companies, but he most valued helping private individuals and municipalities, establishing long-term relationships. He served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court
Professional Conduct Committee for many years, and was involved with numerous civic and community organizations, most recently serving the board of the Sonshine Soup Kitchen in Derry, NH. He enjoyed reading, cigars, nature, fishing and good conversation. Ed was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Linda; his mother, Alice H’13, a son, Jonathan Boutin ’94, a daughter, Anne Lawrence ’93; four brothers including John Boutin ’79 and Joseph Boutin ’69, five sisters including Marie Boutin ’73, Suzanne Boutin ’81 and extended family including nephews Mackenzie Boutin ’18, Steven McGrath ’11 and Christopher Moore ’04, and niece Angela King ’03.
1969 SEAN MOORE, Houston, TX, died December 4, 2018 of cancer. Sean was a Vietnam veteran and Houston business leader who founded and owned Shower Solutions, the company that invented, patented and manufactured the curved shower rod. He played football and hockey in College, and after Saint Michael’s enlisted in the Army, completing flight school and serving as a Chief Warrant Officer 2, UH-1 Huey helicopter pilot with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1971. Assigned to C Company of the 158th Battalion, he participated in the massive three-week
helicopter operations of Lam Son 719 as part of the Phoenix unit where his call sign was “Phoenix 28.” His unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its performance during the operation in which several ships and crews were lost. Dedicated to his unit, Sean attended several of the Phoenix reunions and kept in regular contact with his fellow pilots and crews. It was during his Vietnam service that Sean was exposed to Agent Orange that caused the cancer that led to his death. After Vietnam Sean was a flight instructor at Ft. Rucker, AL and flew medical evacuation missions at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Air Medal with 27 oak leaf clusters, along with the Vietnam Service Medal and his Aviator’s Badge. After completing his military service in 1974 he moved to Houston and earned his law degree at the Texas College of Law in 1977. He opened a private law practice, was the Chief Counsel at XOIL Energy, served as an investment property broker at CBRE and was the President of IG Energy Co. At the time of his death Sean was president of Caledonia Water Co. and Core Plastics, L.L.C. Sean is survived by his wife of 43 years, Judith, a son, two daughters, three brothers, three sisters and a stepsister and extended family. GEORGE B. HIGGINS, JR.,
Darien, CT, died December 22, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned his MBA
IN MEMORIAM
many friends in need. He loved attending local high school sports games and sang the national anthem at basketball games. He is survived by a son, four daughters, a brother, a sister and extended family.
65
IN MEMORIAM 66
from Boston University in 1971 and returned to his home state of New York to begin a career at Xerox in New York City, rising to management prior to leaving in 1982 to become president of Higgins Fire Protection, Inc. after the death of his father, who founded the corporation. He was active in professional groups in the fire protection industry. He loved travel, his golden retrievers, boating, fishing, clamming, sailing, golf and skiing and cherished summers in Shady Harbor, RI, George was a President Medallion’s supporter of the College and generous contributor to Military Heritage scholarships. He is survived by his wife, Peggy, a son, two sisters and extended family.
1970 DONALD R. FOWLER, Venice, FL/Cheshire, CT, died September 28, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he worked for United States Surgical Corporation of Norwalk, Seitz, LLC of Torrington (both CT) and G&F Industries of Sturbridge, MA. He enjoyed skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, travel and cooking. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Virginia, a son, a sister and extended family.
1971 JAMES J. O’CONNOR,
Schenectady, NY, died March 27, 2019. He was a dedicated alumnus with strong connections to his classmates, and in
2014, the Class of 1971 Jim O’Connor Endowed Scholarship was established to honor Jim for his contributions to his Class and Saint Michael’s along with honoring his grit, courage, determination and grace in encountering the Cerebral Palsy that he lived with. After Saint Michael’s Jim earned his master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling at SUNY Albany and worked for the majority of his career in the New York State Education Department for the Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities section for more than 30 years until he retired in 2010. He loved baseball and football and fantasy sports. He is survived by his wife, Christine, a daughter, Corrine O’Connor ’04, a son, David O’Connor ’06, two stepsons, three brothers, two sisters and extended family. ANTHONY STAFFIERI,
Chelsea, MA/New York, NY, died November 11, 2018. Tony had a long career in public relations, marketing and special events with Savvy Partners, Inc., where he was president and senior partner for many years. He was an author, award show producer and innovator in cause-related merchandising. Among major projects he was involved with was the opening of one of the world’s largest public gardens on Mount Carmel when it was inaugurated at the Baha’i world headquarters in Haifa, Israel, in 2000. Along with his Saint Michael’s studies, he studied at Loyola University in Rome, Italy, and did master’s studies in theater (directing and design) at
Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He helped raise millions of dollars in his work for AIDS, breast cancer, the environment, and prevention of violence against women. He co-authored with Elizabeth Post The Complete Book of Entertainment from the Emily Post Institute. He won numerous awards for his publicity work and was involved with a diverse selection of clients and subjects ranging from lipsticks to satellites to climbs on the world’s highest mountains. He helped organize Centennial celebrations for Saint Michael’s and a campus tribute to longtime theatre professor Joanne Rathgeb. Tony is survived by a brother, two sisters and extended family.
1972 DOMINICK J. VISCARDI, Seattle, WA, died January 26, 2019 of cancer. Dom worked as a stock broker in several prominent brokerage firms until he retired to open his own personal fitness company. He had just retired from this second career when he became ill. Once, earlier in his work career, he was a sales supervisor for John Hancock too. In his youth he was active in the Boy Scouts and played football and lacrosse. He is survived by his parents, three brothers, three sisters and extended family.
1975 JOHN F. CANNON, Winoos-
ki, VT, died March 10, 2019
of prostate cancer. John had several jobs after college but ultimately spent 38 years working for the state of Vermont, retiring in 2016. He loved biking, reading, coffee and Irish terriers, and served as a Eucharistic minister and lector at his Winooski parish. A daughter predeceased him. He is survived by his wife, Karol, a daughter, three brothers, seven sisters and extended family including nieces Kerry Cannon ’15 and Mary Cannon ’14. Predeceasing him was a brother, Brian Cannon ’72.
1976 JOHN P. COWRIE, Long
Branch, NJ, died May 11, 2017. He once had worked for Brandeis, Goldschmidt & Co. in New York City (then an international metals import business) according to a 1981 correspondence with the College. He had a lifelong love of photography and a wonderful eye. He also loved dogs, reading, opinionated conversations, and hockey. Like his father, he enjoyed playing hockey goalie and was a huge Montreal Canadiens fan. He is survived by five sisters, his longtime best friend Kerry Dalton, and extended family.
1979 MARK MOEN, Gray, LA, died July 9, 2017 of cancer, the College learned recently. His work career had included time with the Valentine Paper Mill in Louisiana. Mark is survived by his wife of 25
years, Janelle, two sons, three sisters, two brothers and extended family.
JAMES M. KENNY, Cole-
brook, NH, died February 20, 2019 three years after his diagnosis with brain cancer. After Air Force ROTC at Saint Michael’s he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, serving at Mather AFB in Sacramento, CA where he went through Navigator Training, then on to Loring AFB in Maine as a member of the B-52 squadron. He cross-trained into FB-11s at Plattsburgh AFB, and was stationed at Pease AFB in Portsmouth, NH with the 509th Bomb Wing 715th Bomb Squadron. He ended his 12-year career as an instructor back at Mather AFB, leaving the Air Force in 1992 when he earned his master’s in public administration from Golden Gate University, and his family bought the Northern Comfort Motel in Colebrook, NH, a business he ran until his 2016 diagnosis with glioblastoma. He was active as an American Legion commander and president of his local Chamber of Commerce and snowmobile club. He was a Little League coach and loved to hunt, fish and travel. He also loved the Red Sox and bought his sons to spring training games each year. He loved reading about history, especially World War II. Jim is survived by his wife of 38 years, Lisa, two sons, a sister, two brothers and extended family.
1983 THOMAS I MURPHY III,
Newbury, MA, died December 6, 2018 of cancer. After Saint Michael’s, where he was junior class president and four-year varsity soccer player, he had a long career as a territory sales manager in the material handling industry, earning numerous local and national sales awards, and worked 15-plus years with Brodie Toyota Lift in North Andover, MA. He was mechanically skilled and created an elaborate system for trapping beach sand around his summer home on Plum Island where he loved spending time. He was an avid reader, particularly about local history. He was an avid hiker and snow and water skier from a young age and excelled at all sports, with a true passion for soccer and skiing. He was a longtime certified youth soccer coach and major soccer fan. Tom is survived by his wife of 11 years, Maria, three daughters, a sister, a brother and extended family.
1984 JO ANN N. WASHBURN,
Parker, CO, died December 7, 2018 of ovarian cancer. In college she ran the campus movie theater, igniting a lifelong passion for old movies. Following graduation Jo Ann and her sisters backpacked around Europe. Moving to Boston after that reunited her with college friends. She held professional positions in several tech companies, including director positions with Evolving Systems and Excell Marketing Group after launching her career in investor relations at Shiva. She loved the Boston Pops, rollerblading on the Commons, rock and pop concerts and other cultural activities that Boston and Tanglewood afforded. She lived in Boston for several years before settling in Colorado after marrying in 1997. She loved annual summer trips back to be with family by the shore in Connecticut, catching crabs with her sons, sailing and enjoying family. Her true passion was food and in 2007 she graduated from the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking in Denver, launching Sweet 2 Savory Culinary Services LLC, and soon after she was an executive chef at BAC/ Ferguson in Englewood. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014 but stayed active planning trips, activities and meals for family and hosted head-shaving parties to raise money for children facing cancer treatment. She enjoyed the outdoors, walking, skiing and reading. Her family roots were in
Pittsburgh and she was a big Steelers fan. She is survived by her husband, Brooks, two sons, her mother, four brothers, two sisters and extended family.
1986
IN MEMORIAM
1980
BRADLEY S. SMITH, Charlotte, NC, died March 13, 2019. He was a high school varsity football player and studied economics in College before a long successful career as a professional actuary in the insurance, banking and investment fields. Most recently he worked as an insurance specialist at TIAA in North Carolina. He was an avid golfer and sports enthusiast. Brad is survived by two brothers, two sisters and extended family.
JOHN W. ASKINTOWICZ II,
Glastonbury, CT, died October 12, 2018 in Virginia. He was a skilled varsity basketball player in high school and majored in accounting at Saint Michael’s before graduating from West Virginia University Law School and later opening his own law office in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was an avid fan of Boston’s major sports team and fine athlete and loved playing basketball, football and baseball in his youth. He enjoyed travel and the finer things in life. He is survived his wife of 24 years, Debbie, and by extended family.
1990 JUANITA P. (SMITH) JONES,
Burlington, VT, died December 9, 2014, the College learned recently. She had worked for a time as a nurse associate for the Medical Center of Vermont according to a 1992 alumni survey, and was 83 years old when she died. At the time of her death she was survived by a sister.
ROBIN T. MESSEMER, Warrensburg, NY, died March 1, 2019. Her successful work career included roles at Tru-Stitch Footwear, Orvis, New York Housing and
67
IN MEMORIAM
Urban Development, and Northeastern Products Corporation. She was an avid reader and talented cook who loved to sing and dance to ’80s hits. She also enjoyed the outdoors and walks by the river. She is survived by her husband, Kyle, two sons, her parents, a sister, two brothers and extended family.
68
1992 KRISTIN MOONEY WILLER, Fairfield, CT, died November 11, 2018. She had lived in Fairfield for the past nine years. Following her College graduation Kristin worked for a time with Massachusetts Financial Services in Boston as a customer service manager. She enjoyed running marathons, world travel and all kinds of music along with supporting her children’s school and sports activities.
She is survived by her husband, Brian, two sons, a daughter, her parents, a brother, four sisters and extended family.
1997 ALISSA G. PORCARO,
Sharon, MA, died April 25, 2019 of cancer. After Saint Michael’s she earned her master’s from Suffolk University in Boston in 2004. She had lived in Sharon since 2012 after living in Stoughton for eight years. She worked for Massport at Logan Airport and Biogen in Cambridge before becoming a stay-athome mom for the past 14 years. She was on the YMCA Board and active in Moms Clubs in Stoughton and Sharon. She was a tireless fundraiser for YMCA campers, local food banks and clothing drives, and
was a triathlete. She loved trips to Disney World, Cape Cod National Seashore and ski destinations, and also Appalachian Trail hikes, live music concerts and Berkshires foliage rides. She is survived by her husband Matthew Porcaro ’97 (they met the first day of College), her parents, three daughters, a brother, two sisters and extended family including sister-in-law Elizabeth Vareschi ’02, cousin Carrie Ely ’03 and uncle Thomas Swift ’75.
2001 JOEL M. SENESAC, Colches-
ter, VT, died March 21, 2019 from complications related to a lifelong battle with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Joel graduated Valedictorian of his class from Colchester High School in 1997 and graduated Magna Cum Laude
2018 CO L IN M. CRON I N
Colin M. Cronin, North Andover, MA, died November 26, 2018. He aspired to the medical field after majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry at Saint Michael’s, and became an EMT through a grueling 18-day boot camp while on a Christmas break. He was a member of the National Ski Patrol and volunteered at Stowe Mountain. He spent summers on Cape Cod working at a restaurant and a medical transportation service. He loved travel, the mountains and beach, but had the strongest passion for lacrosse: he was captain of the Saint Michael’s men’s lacrosse team his senior year, and captain for his high school varsity team before that. Directly after graduating from Saint Michael’s he went to Adelaide, Australia, to play lacrosse and also spent time working, traveling and making friends. He is survived by his parents, a brother, a sister, his grandmothers, a step-grandmother and extended family.
from Saint Michael’s College with a degree in journalism. He received the prestigious Father Prevel Memorial Award at Commencement by virtue of his forceful demonstration of the values set forth by the College’s founders. He was a sports writer and editor of the College’s on-line publication The Echo, founder of the Saint Michael’s pep band and co-founder of Project AHEAD, a program designed to make apparent to the able-bodied the difficulties of getting around in a wheel chair. An ardent advocate for people with physical challenges and disabilities, he spearheaded a special Echo issue devoted to people with disability issues, and, working with classmates, blocked off the front of Alliot Student Center to raise awareness about the need for wheelchair access ramps. Joel served on the Orientation
and once met (and had his picture taken with) one of his idols, Ted Williams. He built an impressive collection of Red Sox memorabilia. His favorite football team was the New York Giants and he once attended their spring training camp in Albany, NY, meeting many favorite players. Joel, a lifelong Colchester resident, is survived by his parents, Gerald and Suzanne Senesac, and extended family, along with close friends Greg Niquette, Margaret Trayah and the Dick Mazza family.
M A STE R ’S DE GRE E G RA DU AT ES
M1971 SISTER MARY CONLON, RSM, Greenville, RI, died
February 4, 2018. She had many ministries with the Mercy Sisters, including teaching children and other pastoral ministry roles. She is survived by two brothers and a dear friend of 40 years, Ann P. McDermott.
M1980 SISTER EILEEN MCGOWAN, DW Sound Beach, NY, died
November 26, 2018. She spent 22 years in Canada after her Profession as a Sister in the Daughters of Wisdom, obtaining degrees in Ottawa and Montreal, and she taught English in Quebec and New Brunswick. She completed master’s studies in English at St. John’s University (New York) and Saint Michael’s
(theology degree). In 1968 she returned to the States from Canada and taught English and religion in Queens, NY, for 28 years, and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. In retirement she worked in Rachel Ministry consoling and bringing healing to women who had experienced abortions. She also joined the telephone ministry of friendship to the elderly at her Queens parish, and had been in assisted living at a Convent for three years. No word was available about survivors.
M1985 KAREN ANN F. HOSKINS, Bardstown, KY/Stockbridge/ VT, died January 16, 2019. She was visiting family in Nebraska when she died. She attended college at the College of St. Teresa in Minnesota and did an exchange year at Spellman College in Atlanta, inspiring her to find work in Atlanta helping the developmentally disabled; she married a coworker, touring the USA and Canada in their VW bus and settling in Vermont. They found jobs at Brandon Training School, and moved to Stockbridge in 1974, building a home from lumber cut on the land. She later returned to teaching at Bethel Elementary, earning her Saint Michael’s master’s in special education while working as a reading teacher there. She taught 30 years in elementary, middle and high schools around Vermont and Kentucky. She retired from teaching in 2005, taking up
gardening and landscaping and qualifying as a master gardener with University of Kentucky Extension in Bardstown. She loved travel. She is survived by her husband, Alan, two daughters, a brother, a sister and extended family. DIANE M. STUART, Orlando, FL, died December 2, 2018. She graduated from Vermont College and received a Master of Science in Administration degree at Saint Michael’s. She worked for the State of Vermont for 10 years in various departments, started her own telemarketing business, and from 1996-98 worked for IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY. She loved travel and visited scores of exotic international destinations. She lived the past 13 years in Orlando and was part of the Christ Church Unity community in which she was active as the wedding coordinator, usher, and volunteer in many charitable events. She also was active with animal shelters and loved her cats, along with glittery clothes and jewels and Disney World. She enjoyed poetry and journaling. She is survived by a daughter, her mother, five sisters, two brothers and extended family.
M1986 DORIS E. BARON, Grand Isle, VT, died March 19, 2018. She received degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Florida Southern in biology and nursing, and during World War II was a first lieutenant in the Army Nurse
IN MEMORIAM
Committee and the College’s long-term strategic planning committee. Also during College, he was an Edmundite Honorary Scholar, a participant in the Honors Program, a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma (the national Catholic honor society), a member of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, and the Peter “Buck” Healy Scholar. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his graduation, Joel was named Saint Michael’s Alumnus of the Year. After graduation he wrote for the Vermont Guardian, the Saint Michael’s College Magazine and other periodicals. He also produced the first Saint Michael’s Athletic Hall of Fame website and did other multimedia work. For more than 20 years Joel was a regular local announcer at the annual MDA Stars across America Labor Day Telethon. He also could be found at numerous alumni events both locally and regionally, including the annual Vermont Lake Monsters event and the Saratoga Day at the Races event. His interests were vast and eclectic, and he lived his life with a positive attitude, never letting his challenges limit his ability to impact the world or stop him from participating in life, as proven by receiving a 2nd degree black belt in the martial art of Moo Gong Do. Joel loved music. At the age of 11 he began playing saxophone and continued to play through high school and college in both wind and jazz ensembles. He attended countless concerts, stage shows and movies. He loved the Red Sox
69
IN MEMORIAM 70
Corps, stationed stateside caring for soldiers returning from the European Theater. Doris taught ob/gyn nursing at Keene State in New Hampshire, Mary Fletcher School of Nursing in Vermont and did nursing coordination at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester, MA. She led Lamaze classes and was a summer camp nurse in Vermont. After earning her Saint Michael’s master’s in Healthcare Administration in 1986 she helped establish the first neonatal intensive care unit at UVM Medical Center. She was active in nursing professional groups .She enjoyed travel, bridge, knitting, needlepoint, painting and volunteering in the community. She was a longtime member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was predeceased by her husband of 36 years, Al, in 1990, and is survived by a son, a daughter, a brother and extended family.
M1 9 9 0 SISTER JOYCE GADOUA, CSJ, Latham, NY, died
November 8, 2018. She was a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet for 55 years. She worked several years in customer service for New York Telephone Company in Troy before entering the CSJ novitiate, and pronounced final vows in 1971. She had a social studies bachelor’s from the College of Saint Rose, theology master’s from Saint Michael’s and pastoral theology master’s from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana. She taught history
and religion in Albany and Syracuse Diocesan schools, was chaplain at Union College in Schenectady and in parish ministry in New York and Illinois. She had wide interests including music, poetry, politics, technology, nature, puppies, discussions, history and theology. She is survived by a brother and extended family.
M1992 ROBERT M. SMITH, Craftsbury, VT, died January 3, 2019. After earning his sociology degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey he was a social worker in Bayonne, NJ, working with recent Puerto Rican immigrants with his knowledge of Spanish. He joined the New Jersey National Guard before moving to Vermont in 1972 and joining the Vermont Guard. He became a probation/parole officer for the Burlington District Office and in 1976 became the District Manager for Probation and Parole of the St. Albans and Burlington Probation Offices, second youngest ever to hold such a position, and in 1986 he was selected Director of Probation and Parole for the State of Vermont, responsible for the State’s 13 Probation Offices. His next position was director of Human Resource Development until 2009. He was active in the main regional professional group in his field, was its president and won a major New England award in 2002 in his profession. He was a pioneer in Vermont for Restorative Justice. He earned his Saint
Michael’s master’s in Public Administration, taught criminology and corrections part-time at Champlain College in Burlington and CCV and was a trainer at the National Institute of Corrections. He enjoyed body-building, running, skiing, camping and hiking, along with reading, writing poetry and studying Spanish and French. He is survived by his wife, Margaretann Hadden, a son and daughter, and extended family.
M1995 SONIA A. KISHKA, Saratoga Springs, NY, died October 31, 2018. She had a long career in nursing in New York’s Capital District, including as a nurse practitioner in Schenectady and Troy. She also taught nursing and healthcare topics at hospitals, companies and colleges, including Saint Michael’s for a time. She is survived by a sister, two sons, two daughters and extended family.
M1997 JUDITH F. CHASE, Silver
Spring, MD, died March 11, 2017. She once lived in Montpelier, VT. Her husband, John, predeceased her. Survivors include a son and daughter, a sister, a brother and extended family.
M2011 KAREN MARTELL, St. Albans, VT, died April 24, 2019. After earning her Saint Michael’s
Master of Science in Administration she continued working for Northwestern Counseling & Support Services (NCSS) in St. Albans, where she started in 2003 and was employed until the time of her death. She is survived by three daughters, three stepchildren, her parents, two brothers, a sister and extended family.
FACULT Y, STA FF, AND F R IE ND S THERESA AVERILL, Shel-
burne, VT, died January 16, 2019. Terry was an avid golfer who was deeply involved with the Saint Michael’s College benefit Golf Tournament over many years. She also had served as associate trustee for the College. She was deeply involved with Burlington Country Club, served on Catholic elementary school boards, PTA, The Boys and Girls Club, and Meals on Wheels. She supported all UVM athletics. Her husband of 50-plus years, Charlie, predeceased her. Survivors include a sister, a brother, six sons and extended family. CAROL ANNE MARKEY, South Burlington, VT, Cape Canaveral, FL/ Beachwood, OH, died March 7. She was deeply connected for decades to Saint Michael’s, where her husband, Ed Markey ’51, was the longtime basketball and baseball coach and Athletic Director, and their two children were graduates. In the 1960s Carol was a driving force in the College’s social organizations, known at that time as “The Ladies of Saint
ROBERT H. BLEAKLEY, Jericho, VT, died October 27, 2018. Bob worked many years as a custodian in the College’s Facilities Department. After Army service as a combat medic he attended college in upstate New York where he grew up and worked many years for Union Carbide and IBM in that region before transferring to IBM in Essex Junction and working there until his 1991 retirement He then worked for Hendrickson and Associates as a Realtor, Underhill schools and Saint Michael’s until full retirement in 1998. He was a volunteer firefighter, Cub Scout leader and Little League coach and involved in local politics. He
enjoyed crabbing, fishing, the Yankees, walks, hiking, gardening, working out, reading, movies, cards, chocolate, and maple creemees. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Fran; three daughters including Kathleen Cowan ’99, two sisters, three brothers and extended family. ROBERT P. FOX, Fairfax. VT, died November 20, 2018. He was a longtime faculty member in the Saint Michael’s Applied Linguistics Department. Bob spent a year as a novitiate monk before joining the Army as a cryptographer. After earning a doctorate he taught at Georgetown, University of Illinois and the American University before taking his Saint Michael’s professorship. He loved travel, collecting indigenous artifacts, nature, gourmet dinners and parties and friends. After official St. Mike’s retirement he worked as a speech language pathologist in three local school districts and still taught part-time in Applied Linguistics at the College. His wife, Ann, died in 2003. He is survived by a son, a sister and extended family. GEORGE E. JODOIN, Shelburne, VT, died March 19, 2019. He worked in maintenance for the Saint Michael’s Facilities Department for many years. After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, he had a career both at UVM and Saint Michael’s in maintenance. He also helped many family members renovate their homes, and built beautiful furniture. He
was an avid ballroom dancer, attending many events and competitions with his wife, Joyce, who died in 2017, and they enjoyed his camp on Lake Champlain. George is survived by a brother, two sisters and extended family. NANCY A. KINGSBURY, Burlington, VT, died March 17, 2019. She worked as custodian in the College’s Facilities Department for several years. She enjoyed bingo, yard sales, soaps, camping, and her dog. She is survived by a son, three daughters, two sisters and extended family. Her husband and daughter predeceased her. BRIAN D. LEWIS, Manches-
ter, VT, died June 23, 2018. At Saint Michael’s he was a lecturer in Graduate Studies Administration later in his long college teaching career. He studied at Rutgers University and eventually completed a master’s at Purdue University after studies in Washington, D.C. He returned to his home state of New Jersey to start a teaching career and in 1973 was named one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. He worked for educational opportunities at a youth correctional facility and to establish a daycare center at Burlington County College in New Jersey where he taught many years. He moved his family to Vermont in 1979. While teaching at Saint Michael’s he also developed a graduate program to further the education of hospital administrators at Rutland Regional Medical Center and he was a partner in the
Antiques Center of Camelot Village. His wife of 55 years, Judith, died in 2018. He is survived by three sons, a daughter and extended family. JACQUELYN W. MCKENNA,
Winooski, VT, died November 6, 2018. She worked from 1990 to 2002 as administrative assistant to the superior general of the Society of Saint Edmund at Saint Michael’s College and was a good friend of the Edmundites for many years. Her professional career was devoted to community service, first as a Sister of Mercy (1958-68), later as secretary, associate director and director of Burlington Ecumenical Action Ministry (1968-75), and as personnel and employee relations and development manager at Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (1978-1988) before her work for the Edmundites. She is survived by her husband, John, a brother, and extended family.
LILLIAN M. SCHIFILLITI, Burlington, VT, died December 31, 2018. She operating the switchboard for Saint Michael’s for a number of years following her longer main career in management at New England Telephone Company. She was a founder of the Snack Bar at what is now Schifilliti Park for Northern Burlington Little League. She loved baseball and the Red Sox. Her husband of 62 years, Charlie, died in 2005, and a son predeceased her in 2016. She is survived by two sons and extended family.
IN MEMORIAM
Michael’s” and “The Faculty Wives.” A Bronx native, Carol earned a communications degree at Marymount Manhattan College before marrying Ed in 1958. They raised their family in South Burlington. When her children got older she entered the workforce, first as a bookkeeper for a local confection wholesaler and later with Vermont Federal Bank, rising to manager of several branches. In retirement she and Ed moved to Cape Canaveral, FL, where they lived more than 20 years. She enjoyed the ocean, concerts, theater and hosting dinners. She was active in her Catholic parishes wherever she lived. She moved to Ohio in 2016 to be nearer to her son and medical support/ hospice there. She is survived by her husband, Ed Markey ’51, a son, Edward Markey ’81, daughter Kathryn Markey ’84, and extended family.
71
IN MEMORIAM
TIMOTHY J. WHITEFORD,
72
Richmond, VT, died February 11, 2019. A native of England, he met some teachers while working as a quantity surveyor in his early 20s and discovered his true passion of education, going on to seek understanding on how children learn “maths,” which he called “The Science of Pattern and the Art of Making Sense.” He graduated with an education degree in Bristol, England, and taught fourth grade for five years before coming to America in 1977 to pursue a master’s at the University of Illinois. There he met his wife and decided to stay in the U.S. after falling in love with her and America. He completed his doctorate in 1980 and they married. In 1982 he took a teaching position at Trinity College and they moved to Vermont. After 17 years teaching education there, he had leadership positions at several local school districts developing math and science curricula and leading professional development. He became interested in how English Language Learners learn math. In 2005 he began teaching at Saint Michael’s. His math patterns, expressed with pennies, still adorn the walls of Saint Edmund’s Hall at Saint Michael’s. He became full professor in 2012 and earned tenure. He was named to give the Richard Balomenos Memorial Award lecture in 2013, a high regional honor for math educators. He retired in 2016 after 11 years at Saint Michael’s and became professor emeritus. He had passion for music, learning piano, violin and guitar in his
youth, and running Folk Nights throughout college. In Vermont he led his band The Highland Weavers for 30 years, performing often with his wife and daughter in the band. He also did countless benefits at Saint Michael’s and in Richmond to support nonprofits dear to him. He loved motorbikes and cars, soccer, the sea and all things British and was an avid collector of model VW beetles and buses. He love maple creemees. He is survived by his wife, Lucie, a son, a daughter, a brother and extended family. DONALD A. RATHGEB, Richmond, VT, died November 11, 2018. Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts/Theater, Don was a beloved longtime director and professor of theater at Saint Michael’s for decades. With his late wife, Joanne, he was instrumental in the development of the Fine Arts Department at Saint Michael’s, chairing the department for many years. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned his master’s from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He had a short stint in the Army in the Medical Corps, and after receiving his MFA he toured the U.S., Germany and Greenland with the National Players, was a scene designer at Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, IN, and was associated with the Olney Theater in Maryland. In 1955 he joined Saint Michael’s Playhouse and there wore many hats, including technical and scene designer, coach, director, producer and the
occasional appearance on stage. During his teaching tenure in the Saint Michael’s Fine Arts Department the student Main Stage Productions received seven invitations to the New England Regionals of the American College Theater Festival and two of those were invited to the National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Both he and his wife were awarded the Kennedy Center Medallion by the ACTF Regional Festival for meritorious achievement in New England theater. Both were inducted as Fellows into the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences. He retired from both the theater and teaching in 1997. He was fond of food, family, fun, puns and Pooh, and enjoyed travel, including many trips abroad, family Broadway trips and camping trips close to home. His wife, Joanne, predeceased him. He is survived by a son, three daughters, a sister and extended family. SISTER JACQUELINE BURNS, Florham Park, NJ,
died August 6, 2018. She was a former Saint Michael’s Trustee. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1946 and was a member for 72 years. She began her career as an elementary and secondary school teacher in Newark and Paterson for 15 years. After earning a doctorate in modern European history from Catholic University she began her tenure at her alma mater, the College of Saint Elizabeth. Sister Jacqueline dedicated more than 30 years to that College, 10 as Academic Dean and 16 as
president. During those years she sat on numerous state and national boards, including the New Jersey Board of Higher Education. She was a dynamic leader in healthcare governance as founding chair of St. Joseph’s Healthcare System, spearheading integration of several hospitals. As a Sister of Charity she was elected to every General Assembly from 1968 through 2008, chairing many committees. In 1999 she was elected to the General Council and appointed treasurer of the Corporation. She received an honorary doctorate from Seton Hall and Centenary College and many other awards. She is survived by a sister and extended family.
“Ethical decisions are rarely transparent.” — PROFESSOR JONATHAN D’AMORE
No n-Pro f i t O rg. US Po s t age PAI D Per mi t No . 154 B ur l ., VT 05401
Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439 Change Service Requested
Your support helps students hone skills and gain mastery to build lives of
purpose and
consequence. Join fellow alumni, parents, and friends in donating to Saint Michael’s today. smcvt.edu/givesmc
IN THE NEXT ISSUE: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM