SAINT VINCENT M A G A Z I N E
Fall 2018
IN THIS ISSUE: • LIBRARY EXPANSION • MAX KING: FRED ROGERS BIO • EDELSTEIN LECTURE • HALL OF FAME
2018
Upcoming
Events
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 EDGAR ALLEN POE History Dinner Theater 6 p.m., Fred Rogers Center Reservations: mccarlgallery.org
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2018 SAINT VINCENT CAMERATA AND CHATHAM BAROQUE Vivaldi “Gloria” Handel “Dixit Dominus” 7:30 p.m., Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2018 SEJOON PARK, PIANO 7 p.m., Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center concertseries.stvincent.edu
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2018 SAINT VINCENT CAMERATA Handel’s Messiah 7 p.m., Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica For reservations: 724-805-2177
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 ELEANOR ROOSEVELT History Dinner Theater 6 p.m., Fred Rogers Center Reservations: mccarlgallery.org
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018 SAINT VINCENT CAMERATA A Festival of Lessons & Carols 7 p.m., Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica
DECEMBER 14 TO 16, 2018 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: A CHRISTMAS-STYLE CONCERT CELEBRATION
Created by Greggory Brandt 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 14 and Saturday, December 15 Matinee 2 p.m. Sunday, December 16 www.svst.org
DECEMBER 15, 2018 COMMENCEMENT Saint Vincent College
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019 HYE-JIN KIM, VIOLIN 7 p.m., Robert S. Carey Performing Arts Center concertseries.stvincent.edu
Emily Uhrin, C’05, left, and Kathryn Klawinski, C’16.
ALUMNAE GUIDE FRED ROGERS CENTER PROJECTS By Kim Metzgar
As work was and is being done on the documentary, biography and movie about Latrobe’s Fred Rogers, two Saint Vincent alumnae, both English majors, have quietly made their contributions to the work. Emily Uhrin, C’05, would perhaps be the first name to come to mind to insiders for her role as archivist at the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent. Kathryn Klawinski, C’16, would be the second. A writer and researcher at Teeter Associates, Greensburg, she thoroughly examined the 367 pages of text in Maxwell King’s just-released The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, working with Uhrin to check sources on 20 pages of footnotes in the book. Uhrin worked with King on the project, as well as Director Morgan Neville on the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? as publishers and filmmakers celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Uhrin declined to say whether she has worked with actor Tom Hanks on the forthcoming feature film You Are My Friend, currently filming in the Pittsburgh region, although news reports noted Hanks was spotted in the area. “When I graduated I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Uhrin, “but I was leaning toward library science since I spent four years as a work-study in the library.” Brother David Kelly, O.S.B., director of the Dale P. Latimer Library at Saint Vincent since 2001, had also served as the initial archivist at the Fred Rogers Center, from 2005 to 2010. He was familiar with Uhrin’s work and when she applied for the position of circulation desk assistant, invited her to intern in the Rogers Center archives. She had already been contemplating a master’s degree in library science, which she obtained from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. Concurrent with her time at Pitt, the Fred Rogers archive collection began to develop. David Newell, who served as public relations director for the Fred Rogers Company in Pittsburgh, and who was also known (Continued on Page 9)
Departments
President’s 4 Message More Features 14 Prevention Projects marks anniversary; business school achieves high ranking.
5 Mission Trip To China: Homecoming Event
Faculty
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Dr. Foss publishes, Dr. Fish on committee.
News & Events 22 Joint nursing program planned; alumni of distinction.
Sports 26
10 Threshold: Fred Rogers Biographer, Max King
Athletic Hall of fame; Tom Harbert inducted; athletes and academics.
Alumni
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Maifest; legacy gifts by alumni; Alumni news, weddings, births and more.
16 Father Chrysostom Retires
S a in t V inc e n t M a g a z ine ARCHABBOT AND CHANCELLOR Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B. PRESIDENT Br. Norman W. Hipps, O.S.B. EDITOR Kim Metzgar svmagazine@stvincent.edu DESIGN Kim Metzgar & Jordan Hainsey PRINTING Laurel Valley Graphics ALUMNI NEWS COORDINATOR Mary Ann Dunlap PROOFREADER Carol Riddle
FALL 2018 Volume 16, Issue 1 Saint Vincent Magazine (United States Postal Service Publication Number USPS 5144-8000) is published by Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for alumni, parents and friends. Third class postage paid at Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Alumni Office, Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650-2690.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jim Bendel Suzanne Wilcox English Kim Metzgar Sports Information Office
PHOTOGRAPHY Archabbey Archives Alumni Relations Office Alexander Byers Kim Metzgar Brother Placid Sellers, O.S.B. Sports Information Office
Saint Vincent College reserves the right to accept or decline submissions of both information and photos for use in the Saint Vincent Magazine, based on content, quality, timeliness and suitability, at the discretion of the editor. Saint Vincent College subscribes to a policy of equal opportunity in the classroom, workplace and programs, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, veteran status, national origin, marital status, genetic history or disability. To learn more, visit: http://www.stvincent.edu/ Legal-Information/.
AD ARTWORK AND CAMPAIGN DESIGN George Fetkovich
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Cover: Construction continues on the library. For more information on how to help with the project see pages 18, 19 and 20.
MESSAGE FROM THE
P R E S I D E N T
Among the guests for a Threshold Series presentation on “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers” were, with Brother Norman Hipps, O.S.B. James Ragan, Linda Boxx, David Hartman, Sandra Mellon, Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B., Joanne Rogers and Maxwell King. More than 400 people attended the presentation, during which Hartman interviewed King, author of the biography, and Dr. Junlei Li, former co-director of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media and now a professor in the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
THE GIFTS OF THE FORWARD, ALWAYS FORWARD CAMPAIGN
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his edition of our magazine helps to draw connections between the old and the new, as well as to demonstrate what our Forward, Always Forward Campaign is allowing Saint Vincent College, and our students, to accomplish. The progress on our library and all that it will mean in terms of technology and connection for our students is outlined on page 19, while the precious contents of our special collections underlie the feature on Father Chrysostom Schlimm’s retirement. Father Chrys held an important role in managing our rare books and special collections, and students were always fascinated by his presentations on Chaucer’s work, accompanied by incunabula (books printed prior to 1501), from our collections. The library renovation, which will add galleries for our collections, will allow us the opportunity to display our rare book collection, a treasure previously viewed only on special occasions. The project, which will transform the Dale P. Latimer Library into a technology and information hub, will also facilitate student and faculty use of technology. As we complete our celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, this brings to mind how Fred Rogers used television to teach children and families how best to support each other in a complex and challenging world. The technological advances provided by the renovation will enable us to continue the creative work that Fred did, carrying on his legacy. Max King’s Threshold presentation on the production of “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers” is accompanied by details of the work of our young alumnae Kathryn Klawinski and Emily Uhrin in indexing the biography as well as assisting with the production of the spring 2018 documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”—a wonderful opportunity to immerse themselves in Fred’s work through our Fred Rogers Archive. We also celebrate 40 years of the Prevention Projects, which has educated more than 1.2 million students about wellness and how to avoid difficulties with alcohol, drug and other habits, as well as congratulate our Alumni of Distinction and Athletic Hall of Fame honorees. We are thankful to all of you who returned to campus to celebrate Homecoming and Fall Family Weekend, and on behalf of my brothers I invite you to return anytime to visit—Saint Vincent is always your home, as well as ours. God bless, Brother Norman W. Hipps, O.S.B. President
HOMEWARD BOUND HOME. A word that has grown to represent multiple other meanings other than a house that we live and grow in. It can represent a location, people and even hobbies. Saint Vincent is home to me, my fellow classmates, alumni, seminarians and the faculty and staff are part of that home. The United States is “home” to me. So is China. —Grace Alverson By Kim Metzgar
Coming of Age. Life-changing. Transformative. Those words are frequently used to describe the college experience. Multiply that by a hundred, or even a thousand to get an idea of how one Saint Vincent senior and one May 2018 graduate were affected by their summer service learning experience this year, thanks to Saint Vincent’s Campus Ministry program. This summer they had the chance to go to their country of birth, as adults, for the very first time. They both were adopted from China. Ande Greco, C’18, left, and Grace Alverson conquer the Great Wall of China. Photos by Brother Placid Sellers, O.S.B. Saint Vincent Magazine
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Below, Grace Alverson, C19, celebrates her first visit to the Temple of Heaven, located on the east side of Beijing. The Temple complex was originally constructed between 1406 and 1420. It was extended and named “Temple of Heaven� in the 16th century. In 1998, it was inscribed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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Above, at left, Grace Alverson, and at right, Ande Greco, provide some loving care to residents at a local orphanage.
give a history lesson on some aspects of the city, such as the significance of the number nine, believed to be the highest rank, and on the Temple of Heaven, which was visited by the emperors for prayer ceremonies. Being part of a tour group that included others who were mostly American, at least in the eyes of those they encountered, was a unique experience as both were approached by people who spoke to them in Chinese. “They thought we were the tour guides,” Greco said. “But we had to keep saying we are two ChineseAmericans,” Alverson added. They talked with excitement of bartering in the jade market and the vast expanse of the Great Wall and the people they met along the way, from a mixed martial arts fighter from Argentina, to soldiers in the Forbidden City, to schoolchildren fascinated by the white beard of Brother Placid Sellers, one of the Benedictines who accompanied the group on the tour. Their excitement was tempered by talk of the next stop on the itinerary—an orphanage— a facility that provides specialized care to infants and nurtures the growth and education of older orphans. “I do not remember anything about being in an orphanage,” Alverson said, “but I felt a nostalgia in visiting an orphanage, especially since I was raised in one for the first year of my life.” Students serve as volunteers for the infants, helping care for them and interacting with them. “The volunteers and ayiees (pronounced eye-ees) work around the clock to make sure that everyone is well taken care of and gets the proper medical help,” she said. Ayi means “auntie” in Chinese, and the women who are called ayi are in charge of assigned groups of babies and children, creating a mini-family unit for those in each group. “I did think that I have a unique connection with the babies that we got to interact with,” Alverson said. “On our last day there my heart broke leaving them. If I had
Campus Ministry’s service trips—which range from Alaska to Brazil to Asia—are something students hear of early in their years at Saint Vincent. Service has been instilled in the Saint Vincent community since the days of its founder, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, who intended to “establish a school for the Lord’s service.” Both Grace Alverson, a senior communication major, and Ande Greco, C’18, who had a double major in engineering science and biology, had heard about the service trip to China early on in their student days. Alverson, of Sewickley, and Greco, of New Alexandria, though a year apart, had known one another and of their common bond of being born in China and having a desire to go back. But neither knew the profound effect the experience would have on them. Greco had only returned to her native country once, when she was seven, when her family adopted her sister. Alverson had never been back. Greco had flown before, to Spain and Guatemala on other trips. Alverson had never flown, and couldn’t sleep before or during the flight. Both were excited. “It was a big culture shock for me,” Alverson said, “hearing the Chinese language from everyone around me, while also having the feeling of belonging. I was surrounded by the culture of where I was born. Beijing was like any city, filled with excitement and non-stop commotion, and it was impossible to think it was anything but wonderful.” “I have always taken a lot of pride in the country where I come from,” Greco said. “I’ve read about Chinese culture in books, read about how they built the Great Wall, took Chinese when I was little.” So everything was familiar to her, but also fresh, seen in person with new eyes. One of the first stops was the Forbidden City, constructed as the seat of the Ming Dynasty, and eventually the home to 24 emperors. Greco was quick to Saint Vincent Magazine
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the ability to, I would have adopted one of them myself. I prayed for them to find their forever homes, for them to be happy, despite the medical challenges they are facing, and for their caretakers.” China is a multi-religious country. The five officially approved religions include Taoism, Buddhism, protestant Christianity and Catholicism. While those faiths are officially permitted in China, public expression of those faiths can be limited, said Greco, who is Christian, and Alverson, who is Roman Catholic. While they respected this limitation, they often prayed together in their shared room. Both were surprised by the deepening of their faith, and Greco said the presence of the Benedictines contributed to that. In Taiwan, the group interacted with elementary and middle school students at Immaculate Conception Parish in Hsinchu, with the help of Father David Ho, O.S.B., a monk of the Archabbey who lives at Wimmer Priory in Taipei. “We taught the parish students how to pray the Hail Mary and Our Father in English,” Alverson said. “When I was helping my small group of students with the prayers, I reflected back to my speech therapy lessons that I had when I was their ages to help them enunciate and understand the words I was telling them. My personal lesson plan was having them repeat after me, then point out each individual word for them to say without my assistance. That let me know which words they needed help with.” The group met up with Fu Jen Catholic University students in Taiwan as well. Fu Jen was originally founded in Peking (Bejing) by the Benedictines of Saint Vincent Archabbey in 1925, at the request of the Holy See. The Benedictines relinquished control in 1933 during the Great Depression. The Catholic university continued until 1949 under the Divine Word Missionaries. All Catholic universities were closed in 1952, after Mao became the leader of China. Later the university was re-established in 1961 in Taiwan. The group at Fu Jen was “amazing,” Greco said. Because group member Gabrielle Kohl, C’18, was on her fourth trip,
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Greco noted that there was a very strong relationship between some of the students at the university, who remembered her. All of the students exchanged names so they could “follow” one another on social media. Other students and alumni on the trip included Phillip Johnson, Daniel Whirlow, and Samantha Pashel, C’14. In addition to Father Killian and Brother Placid, Brother Robert Austin, O.S.B., also accompanied the group. Greco also established a special connection with one of the Fu Jen students and they have maintained their friendship in spite of the distance. She and Alverson also found the trip challenging, especially in regard to communication. “Although we had various translators throughout the whole trip, it was difficult for me to not be able to speak and understand Chinese. Because I am Chinese, everyone in China and Taiwan naturally assumed I could speak it. I had to explain to people both in English and in terrible Chinese that I could only speak English. I was out of my comfort zone trying to communicate effectively without being culturally insensitive,” Alverson said. “When we were teaching English to the children in Taipei, I was even more out of my comfort zone.” What was unexpected for Greco was not only the hospitality she received, which she termed top-notch, but the bonds that were formed, both in China and Taiwan and at home. “I didn’t expect the emotional connection and friendship with the Fu Jen students,” she said. “I knew Grace before we became roommates on the trip. We knew each other before, but we were not as close as we are now.” Alverson noted that throughout the trip she tried to live in the moment and not take anything for granted. “Everything happens for a reason,” Greco said. “Talking about it makes me want to go back.” They both plan to. Again.
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ALUMNAE ASSIST WITH ROGERS PROJECTS (Continued from Page 2) as Mr. McFeely on the show, had two file cabinets full of materials in his Pittsburgh office and invited Uhrin to go through the files. She was already traveling to Pitt for graduate school and would visit WQED a few times a week to begin the inventory. Her graduate work began to concentrate in archives and records management. Her work in the archive grew and is still growing, as she gestured to several boxes in a corner that were recently provided by Hedda Sharapan, who works at Fred Rogers Productions in Pittsburgh. Uhrin’s English major has been helpful in the archival process, as she pulls out keywords and especially as she writes summaries of documents that incorporate key points. She credits Dr. Dennis McDaniel, Dr. William Snyder and former professor Dr. Frances Zauhar as being influential to her in their styles of teaching and in what she learned from them. Klawinski attributes her attention to detail to working under the supervision of Dr. Sara Lindey, who was her thesis advisor as well as to Dr. Snyder. Klawinski began working with Incubator 143, a students-driven research and development lab based at the Fred Rogers Center, when she was a student. The lab moniker represents Fred Rogers’ favorite number, “143,” representing the number of letters in the phrase “I love you.” Thus the staff, including then-director Dr. Junlei Li, became familiar with her work, and she was recommended when Maxwell King was working on his book. Although she has only met King twice, they had a regular 10 a.m. Saturday morning phone call for months as the book project progressed. “I don’t know that I just read the book,” she said, because of all the fact-checking and sourcing. Klawinski recounted that the original versions of the book had included all of the footnotes, then new chapters were written and edits made. Eventually when the near-final draft came from the publisher, she said, “there were no footnotes at all.” So her work involved going back to previous versions Above, two Fred Rogers Center employees who helped with the indexing of Maxwell King’s book, The Good Neighbor, Theresa Noel, left, and Emily Uhrin, third from left, alumna Kathryn Klawinski and Maxwell King. Saint Vincent Magazine
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and lining them up with the chapters, and then working with the newer chapters that had no notes to create the footnotes. That is where she and Uhrin worked together. “Kathryn not only gave me the quote,” Uhrin said, “but she helped me by giving me the context around a quote, such as an event. But the sourcing didn’t end there, as Uhrin had to then try to find the original source of the quote. Take for example, a famous quote by Fred Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’.” In times of tragedy, the quote may be used thousands of times. So Uhrin would go back through her system and try to track down the original source for use in the notes. She also made sure the quotes were accurate, in the event that when a quote was repeated no variations occurred from the original. One of her favorite items in the archive is an article entitled “Who the Devil is Fred Rogers?” which reflects an in-depth view of his personality that “is really true to his spirit and tone. When people come here to do research it is the one article I always give to researchers to read first.” Other favorites, she said, are Rogers’ handwritten notes, “any time I see blue pen.” In the acknowledgements of his book, King remarked on the work of Klawinski, as well as Theresa Noel of the Fred Rogers Center, as their “thoughtful help with organizing and verifying footnotes for this book is much appreciated.” Uhrin said that she enjoyed working with King because “he knew what he wanted to see. He was never vague. He would say ‘so and so told me about this. Do you have anything about this?’ He was very focused.” It made her grateful for all of the meticulous efforts at keywording. Her work has been recognized as well. She has a credit for the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and as a result, a link on IMDb.com, the internet movie database. And, along with the other staff members at The Fred Rogers Center, an acknowledgment in King’s book. “Time and again, Emily pointed me in the right direction,” he wrote, “gently warned me off the wrong direction, helped with research and gave critical feedback at key moments.” She “provided so much intelligent support and assistance for this project.” FALL 2018
Maxwell King’s
THE GOOD NEIGHBOR: The Life and Work of
Fred Rogers
By Kim Metzgar
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hen Maxwell King, in his role as chief executive officer of The Heinz Foundation, was first approached about helping to fund The Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College he argued against it. He, and other funders felt it should go to some larger teaching university. More than a decade later, after its establishment at Saint Vincent, King, a former executive director of the center who is now a senior fellow, admits “this is the perfect place for it. The culture of Saint Vincent, what the Benedictine culture represents, perfectly fits Fred Rogers. The openness, the caring, this is exactly the place for advancing Fred Rogers’ legacy. Fred realized it. Archabbot Douglas realized it. Fred realized the qualities of this place were just right for the center. At a big university it would get lost in the shuffle.” Saint Vincent Magazine
King returned to campus recently for the Threshold Lecture, given to mark the release of his book, The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. It took nearly seven years to write, with King relying extensively on the archive at The Fred Rogers Center as a basis for the work, although he also met and interviewed many of Fred Rogers’ friends and colleagues as well as his family members. “Fred Rogers was an important figure in American culture, not just because he was creator of a childrens’ television show,” King said, noting that the man perceived as thoughtful, sweet and sometimes as meek was actually “a very complicated, complex deep thinker if you read all he wrote.” Rogers was also a radical thinker, King said. “While the rest of television was speeding up, he was still going slowly. But he was dealing with tough issues, such as death, racism, violence, anger and divorce at a time when no one else was doing that on childrens’ television.” King didn’t intend to take seven years to write the book, and in fact had a draft completed with a different structure a number of years ago. “I took the draft to my agent and publisher and they liked it but they didn’t like the structure.” So it was back to the keyboard. A former editor of The 10
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Philadelphia Inquirer, King said writing the second draft of the book was like writing 26 magazine articles, except that “each one had to fit into the other 25. I enjoy writing but it was a brutal challenge.” Perhaps the delay was providential, because its release has come in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the start of Rogers’ work in childrens’ televison, the same year a documentary by Morgan Neville, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was released in June. And Actor Tom Hanks is in Pittsburgh this fall filming the feature film You Are My Friend, to be released in the fall of 2019. King, who is featured in Neville’s documentary, said he feels the book and documentary complement one another. The documentary primarily shows Rogers from 1968 on, or after age 40. The Good Neighbor spends a great deal of time on Rogers’ early years, delving into “what made Fred ‘Mister Rogers.’ What he learned as a child shaped his world.” Rogers was a very private person, King said, and most of the chapters dealing with his family life came from Fred’s wife Joanne. Fred Rogers was also immersed in television with children, something that came through in King’s meticulous accounts of the script development, research and consultation with the foremost experts in child development, many of whom were working in Pittsburgh: Dr. Margaret McFarland, Dr. Benjamin Spock, psychologist Erik Erikson. Once, King wrote, Rogers stopped filming on his show, leaving the crew in place, while he went down the street to consult McFarland on a script. “By 1980, when his sons were grown up, his life was completely dedicated to his work,” King said. “He rarely went anywhere without taking his work along. When he went to Nantucket he wrote songs, he wrote scripts, he mailed them back to his secretary to be typed up. He was always working. She would type the manuscript and mail it back to him. The whole time he was there he was
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working.” The Latrobe native, King said, was also “a lucky person. He made his luck by being hard-working, but he was incredibly fortunate. Joanne Rogers was a sweet, kind, thoughtful person with a light heart and a great sense of humor and he was really lucky to have met her. “He was really lucky to be at NBC in New York as an intern in the 1950s. The people running the station were pioneering, most were high-minded, and they were devoted to making culturally uplifting television. “And he was lucky that he was able to get hooked up with Margaret McFarland, an advisor of the highest standards, when he returned to Pittsburgh.”
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he enormous amount of thought, creative talent, and hard work that Rogers put into every aspect of the show becomes abundantly clear in this book, as do the lessons in empathy and kindness that he took so to heart. Much there is for all of us to learn in Maxwell King’s The Good Neighbor.” —David McCullough
September’s Threshold lecture was presented in a unique format, with David Hartman, former host of ABC’s Good Morning America and now a member of the Fred Rogers Center Advisory Board, serving as facilitator to a discussion, along with Dr. Junlei Li, former co-director of The Rogers Center who is now teaching at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. The program began with a short video clip from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, an episode where Fred Rogers met Jeff Erlanger, a seven-year-old boy who talked with Fred about the mechanics of his wheelchair, and the spinal tumor that had confined him to the special chair. Jeff presented the information in a matter-of-fact manner. The segment ending with the two singing together “It’s You I Like.” King said that in spite of the efforts of his staff to script the segment, Rogers insisted that nothing be scripted
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because he felt it would take away from the authenticity of the moment. “He was controlling and stubborn, but people believed in him. He treated them with respect and they respected him. He was not often talked about as a great leader, but he expected the highest level of excellence from everyone on his staff, himself included, and that is part of what made him a great man.” Dr. Li, who was completing his doctorate and undertaking research on how children learn while at Carnegie Mellon University, had, as a native of China, never watched the show. “I had no idea who he was,” Li said. “My first impression of him was [the parody of] Eddie Murphy playing ‘Mister Robinson’ on Saturday Night Live.” But Li’s doctoral studies kept finding a disconnect from what he was being told in the classroom about how children learn and what Rogers was emphasizing. “I realized what Fred was talking about was much easier to apply than some of the things I was studying.” King, Hartman and Li spoke of Rogers’ ability to connect with anyone he encountered. King told a story of Rogers, in New York with Bill
Isler for a film shoot, sitting on the pavement in deep conversation with a homeless man while a film crew waited, on the clock. Hartman remarked on Rogers’ ability to do the unexpected, to turn the tables on people, especially reporters. “He did it to me on the air live one day,” Hartman said. “I asked him a question and he said, ‘You have children. I’ve met your children. What do you say to your children?’” “People often look at Fred as the ‘comforter in chief,’” Li said. “In times of tragedy they turn to someone who has always brought us reassurance. His quote ‘look for the helpers’ is often used because when people see helpers they feel hope. Hope, even more than comfort, is what we need.” Hartman broached the subject of religion, and Rogers’ respect for all religions even though he was an ordained Presbyterian minister. Rogers was able to impart his deep-seated beliefs of kindness, understanding, inclusion and openness by example instead of publicly championing them. “He had the capacity to see and accept differences,” Li
Attending the Threshold Lecture, from left,were Joanne Rogers, wife of the late Fred Rogers; Dr. James Ragan, C’66, poet/ retired director of the master of professional writing program at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and member of the Fred Rogers Center Advisory Council; and Hedda Sharapan, L.H.D., who has been named PNC Grow Up Great Senior Fellow at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College, and her friend Richard.
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Dr. Junlei Li, left, and David Hartman, discuss the legacy of Fred Rogers during a Threshold Lecture with Maxwell King, author of The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Li is a former co-executive director of The Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent and is now teaching in the graduate school at Harvard University. Hartman, former host of ABC’s Good Morning America, is a member of the Fred Rogers Center Advisory Council.
said. “He had a deep conviction that we are all more the same than we are different. The root of his empathy is to be able to see that we are so much more the same inside as human beings.” Rogers, Li said, “didn’t set out to be rich and famous, just helpful.” King, when asked what he valued most about writing Rogers’ biography, noted two things: the deep friendship that he developed with Joanne Rogers, thanks to her help with the book. The other, he said, as “an ex-journalist who has always struggled to slow down and be more patient, is that I can now slow down better than before.” When asked what Rogers would think of today’s media, and the negative spin that is often projected on a person, event or news topic, Li said he felt Rogers would not criticize. “He would go out there and remind us to do better. He would make good news attractive.” “I think he would be distressed at the lack of civil discourse in this country today,” King said. “But he wouldn’t just lament it. He would do something about Saint Vincent Magazine
it. He would show how critical to a good life that kind of respectful dialogue is.” Once the “buzz” has died down from this anniversary year, and after the feature film on Rogers is released next year, King said “it is the job of the Fred Rogers Center and Fred Rogers Productions and of all of us to keep his legacy going.” King will help support that work by donating 50 percent of the royalties from The Good Neighbor to the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent. Rogers’ standards, King said, are something that he will carry with him well after his book appearances and interviews end. “Fred’s values represented universal human values. Be kind. Slow down. Take time to be with people. Experience life and enjoy people.” Or, as the epigraph in King’s book says, to quote Fred Rogers, “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”
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Prevention Projects: 40th Anniversary By Suzanne Wilcox English
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hen asked about the impact of the Saint Vincent College Prevention Projects, director Donna Kean recalled one former student as an example. “I know of a gentleman who was in recovery … he sounded like he was going to relapse,” she said. But as a student, he had attended the Prevention Projects sessions, and remembered its penguin mascot, B. Cool. “He remembered B. Cool’s messages, and so we went back to those days. He could recite those messages.” The man, now an adult, told Kean, “I didn’t listen, but I knew you were there.” On this particular day, they went back together to those early years, and the messages he had learned. “This was somebody who, a good 20 or 30 years later, could recite and recall those messages, and make a different decision that day. He could still take those same messages and incorporate them into his life,” Kean said. In these times of opioid addiction as well as other problems—alcohol, other drugs, gambling, mental health issues—the simple goal of the Prevention Projects is to promote wellness. “We are trying to strengthen wellness in people of all ages, and strengthen the systems they are connected to, so they are not engaged in inappropriate or risk-taking circumstances,” Kean explained. The program’s reach is broad; it is in every school district in Westmoreland County to some extent,
whether through curriculum, intervention services or presentations. “Conservatively, we see over 30,000 people a year, and over 25,000 are in the schools,” Kean said, adding that students don’t see just one presentation, but up to10. “In 40 years, we have seen over 1.2 million people.” The program celebrated its 40th anniversary on Sept. 11 with a well-attended luncheon at the Fred Rogers Center, including a talk by founding director Dr. Hugh Dempsey and displays featuring the history of the program. During the celebration, Phil Dymond, who has as a member of the executive board since its founding, served as mistress of ceremonies and was honored for her service. Kean has been part of the Prevention Projects for nearly 30 of those years, having been hired in the late 1980s as the Student Assistance Program county coordinator. She has served as director since 2002. She related that the program had its beginnings when local pharmacist Joe Mosso began doing The mission of the Prevention Projects is to create, promote and strengthen classroom presentations on wellness in people and systems to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse, drug abuse prevention – violence and other socially destructive behaviors using education, early intervention and the number of requests and community development. continued to grow. He Services: saw the need for an • School Services for preschool through Grade 12, including classroom curricula, organization to respond to prevention programs and series, support groups, intervention specialists and tobacco the demand for education, cessation programs and reached out to Robert • Community Services including free educational materials and participation in Teeter at Saint Vincent special events such as Red Ribbon Week, health fairs and community festivals College for help; Dempsey • Consultation, Training and Professional Development, such as workshops for was hired to head the educators, human services personnel, parents, youth leaders and community program. In the beginning coalitions; employee wellness events; training for SAP programs; Power of Parents the program worked out of Training and youth/young adult smoking cessation programs a small office at the College Directors: with secondary students Dr. Hugh Dempsey, Dr. Larry Montemurro, Father Mark Peters, Barbara Hills and from four founding school Donna Kean. districts: Derry Area,
What is the Prevention Projects?
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“The Prevention Projects has had to address societal Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley and Mt. Pleasant. Under changes,” Kean pointed out. “If we were stagnant and its second director, Dr. Larry Montemurro, the program the same as we were in 1978, we would be closed. We grew to include students from grades kindergarten are on the third generation now, grandchildren of our first through 12. “We start very young with age-appropriate students. When they see this little B. Cool, the mascot— information about making good choices,” Kean explained. the parents remember that.” While the organization has had to adapt to funding changes—at one time, it had 48 staff and currently has 21—it has survived the tough years through its creative and able staff, some of whom went through the program themselves as students, Kean said. In the beginning, funding came in thirds: one-third from the Westmoreland Drug and Alcohol Commission, one-third from the school From left, Dr. William Kerr, superintendent, Norwin School District; Dr. Timothy districts and one-third from Gabauer, superintendent, Mount Pleasant Area School District, SVC Prevention Projects foundations and grants. Now, Advisory Board Chairperson; Mrs. Judith Swigart, Superintendent Greater Latrobe 80-90 percent of the funding School District; Mrs. Susan Schropp, RPH, Latrobe Medicine Shoppe Owner; Mrs. Phil is from the Westmoreland Dymond, Community Member and Prevention Projects Founding Board Member; Dr. Drug and Alcohol Commission. Hugh Dempsey, Keynote Speaker and Prevention Projects First Executive Director; Mrs. The program is regularly Donna Kean, Prevention Projects Current Executive Director; and Br. Norman Hipps, invited to present regionally O.S.B., Ph.D., President Saint Vincent College. or statewide, in particular because of its partnership approach with the school districts. The newly released 2017 Dartmouth, Michigan junct professors Jeff Anzo“This program has University Edition of the University, University of vino, Eva Kunkel, Anthony enjoyed an extraordinarily National Association of Rochester, Ohio State UniMucha, Richard Williams long tradition of strong State Boards of Accounand Thurman Wingrove. versity, University of Penndirectors and staff, as The report also lists retancy (NASBA) Report sylvania, Pennsylvania well as partnerships with ranks universities accordState University and the sults for “First-Time Testarea school districts and University of Pittsburgh. ing to the first-time pass ing Events within One Year the Westmoreland Drug Saint Vincent’s pass rate rate on the CPA exam. For of Graduation.” Fourteen and Alcohol Commission,” also exceeded that of the institutions (281 universirecent McKenna School said president Br. Norman graduate programs from graduates took the CPA ties) with 21 to 60 reHipps, O.S.B., Ph.D., who Harvard and Columbia exam with an 84 percent ported candidates, Saint served on the Advisory universities. pass rate—the secondVincent’s recent accountCommittee and to whom “I want to personally highest in Pennsylvania, ing graduates from the the program reported as congratulate our accountjust behind Lehigh UniverAlex G. McKenna School provost from 1985-2002. of Business, Economics ing graduates and the sity’s 84.5 percent pass “The Prevention Projects and Government ranked McKenna School accountrate. has provided essential 24th in the nation. Saint NASBA began gathering ing professors,” said Dr. support, not only to Vincent’s pass rate was data on CPA examination Gary Quinlivan, dean of students and families, but 84 percent, ahead of the candidates in 1982 and the McKenna School, citing also to teachers, in dealing University of Berkley, has published reports on Dr. Robert DePasquale, Dr. with what has become a Northwestern University, performance and selected Charles Fazzi, Professor scourge on our society.” University of Chicago, characteristics since 1985. Thomas Holowaty and ad-
BUSINESS SCHOOL RANKS HIGHLY IN CPA EXAM REPORT
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Father Chrysostom Schlimm, O.S.B., and Clydene Duran, administrative assistant, reminisce about the library.
Library Building on Legacy of Father Chrysostom “I go into my library and all history unrolls before me.” —Alexander Smith, Scottish poet. By Kim Metzgar
For the first time since 1970, when he began work as an assistant cataloger, Father Chrysostom Schlimm, O.S.B., is not reporting for duty at the Dale P. Latimer Library at Saint Vincent. That’s not to say he still doesn’t visit—after all, he is retired, and perhaps has a little extra time to read now. He has been a member of the Saint Vincent community since his arrival as a student at the Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1952. Then he began studies at Saint Vincent College, earning a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1957. He completed studies at Saint Vincent Seminary four years later, where he earned a master of divinity degree, and was ordained a priest on June 3, 1961. Although he certainly used the library as a student, back when there were separate libraries for the Prep, College and Seminary, his initial focus was not in working there. His interest was in classical languages and literature. Following his ordination he was asked to give teaching a try, and that focus became classical languages and literature, earning a master of arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1964. When he returned to the monastery, Father Chrysostom taught Latin and the Roman authors in the college as well as the Latin and Greek languages in the Seminary. He also taught second-year Latin to the sophomore students in the
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Prep school. To supplement his classical studies, Father Chrysostom traveled to Greece and Italy in 1969. In between teaching and other assignments, such as teaching secondary school religion at Saint Bruno Parish in South Greensburg and serving as a weekend missionary in various parishes, he lived in a residence hall as a dorm moderator. But, with the changes that came with Vatican Council II, there was less of a need for teaching Latin and Greek. Archabbot Egbert Donovan, O.S.B., asked Father Chrysostom if he would begin assisting Dr. John Macey in the Library, working as a cataloger. “I enjoyed teaching,” Father Chrysostom said, “but I told the archabbot that if if he needed help in the Library, I would help to catalog books as I liked that work also.” He then attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he was awarded a master of library science degree in 1973. After earning his M.L.S., he continued work full-time as an assistant cataloger, working with Macey and John Benyo. Then he became director of libraries, serving in that capacity from 1983 until 2001. At that time he was named special collections librarian, the position from which he just retired. As he reminisced in the library on a recent morning with his longtime administrative assistant Clydene Duran, Father Chrysostom recalled the first days of automation, starting about 1978. Back then, early computer systems used punched cards, prepared using keypunch machines, as the primary method for data input. Father Chrysostom noted that staff members learned the new techology as 16
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pressure-filled time.” the process unfolded. The process had to be carefully As Brother David took over the directorship, Father coordinated, especially since the library was always Chrysostom moved to special collections. In that role receiving additional books and periodicals. Eventually, he was frequently asked to speak to classes about the cataloging was completed; however, the library maintained rare book collection. He would gear each its extensive card catalog system for a period presentation to the topic of the class. He also of time. spoke to alumni groups, those talks often As technology improved, Father Chrysostom resulting in either monetary gifts or donations noted, a bar code system was implemented. of books. Duran recalled Father Chrysostom taking The oldest book in the collection, he said, is library staff members to visit other libraries a first edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury so that they could see how other libraries Tales, from 1478. Those rare books date back used their automated systems. During Saint to the days of Saint Vincent’s founder, Boniface Vincent’s automation, when bar codes had Wimmer, who brought more than 100 books to be placed on nearly 300,000 books, the with him from Germany when he arrived in process was done seven shelves at a time. Pennsylvania in 1846. Some manuscripts date to “We took the books from those shelves,” around 1100. Father Chrysotom said, “added them to the Father Chrysostom was awarded the Boniface database, then would bring those back and Wimmer Faculty Award in 2001 for service to do seven more shelves.” the library, including During a renovation automating the library when the library had Look for more articles on the Dale P. Latimer Library in 1994 and upgrading to be closed due to as our renovation project progresses. To have a look at the system to a web and asbestos removal, service how things are going, view the construction at any time graphics-based system, in to students continued, on the Alumni YouTube page: https://bit.ly/2MkiigC addition to overseeing the through arrangement 1998-1999 renovation. He with other local libraries was named an Alumnus of as well as internally. Distinction in 2001 and also received the Prep Hall of Fame “If a student wanted a book they would make a request Faculty Award in 2011. and we would take it to the back door for them to pick up,” Father Chrysostom still delights in hearing from former he said. students, whether they knew him from Seminary, from Duran remembered how the staff would decorate the the College, or from parishioners where he served on library for the holidays, especially for Christmas, Father weekends. Chrysostom’s favorite season. The tops of the now ancient “I have come to know many people through the years,” card catalog cabinets would be beautified with poinsettias, he said. “The library staff was always close, and remains so a crib in front of the mural and a Christmas tree placed yet today. We always had a good rapport.” in front of the library when the entrance was a series of One of his goals in retirement, he said, is to do a little steps from the south side of the building. Father Thomas reading, something he rarely had time for due to his duties Devereux, O.S.B., and Brother Patrick Lacey, O.S.B., would in the library. At the moment there are about 25 books on help with the decorations, Father Chrysostom said. “The his list, mostly theology and spiritual reading books. He will students enjoyed it and it made the end of the semester be finding most of them, of course, at the library. and finals week a little more joyful for them during a
SAVE THE DATES BEARCATS IN THE SUN
BEARCATS IN THE BIG APPLE
Bonita Springs, Florida
New York City’s Eataly (Flatiron Location)
Sunday, February 17
Palm Beach, Florida Colony Cottage Recreation Center, The Villages Sunday, March 17
January 9
SNOWBIRDS: Keep in touch! Email your contact information: alumni@stvincent.edu
DR. FOSS PUBLISHES BOOK ON AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM Dr. Jerome Foss, associate professor of political science recently had his first book published: Constitutional Democracy and Judicial Supremacy: John Rawls and the Transformation of American Politics, published by Cambria Press in Amherst, New York. Foss’ book offers a fresh interpretation of American political philosopher John Rawls, arguing that Rawls hoped to transform American politics through the Supreme Court. “Most people have not heard of John Rawls or read his books, and yet his theory has had a tremendous influence on the American legal community and, more generally, our understanding of politics,” Foss said. “Scholars often depict Rawls only as a philosopher, but I argue that
he used familiar imagery from the American Founding in an effort to
fundamentally change the way we live.” “This book is a trustworthy guide to the American constitutional tradition as well as Rawls’ innovative alternative, offering a respectful treatment of the latter while providing an engaging and persuasive defense of the former,” wrote Micah J. Watson, William Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar Chair in Political Science of Calvin College. “Foss’ careful study of the transformative intention of Rawls’ political theory brings extraordinary insights to our academic debates, and to the real causes of our polarized, dysfunctional politics,” noted Paul Carrese, professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
DR. FISH NAMED TO POGIL PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE Dr. Caryl Fish, professor of interdisciplinary science and chair of the interdisciplinary science department, was recently named to the nine-member steering committee of the POGIL Project. The POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) Project serves to connect and support educators from all disciplines interested in implementing, improving and studying studentcentered pedagogies and learning environments. It works to disseminate its unique pedagogy, POGIL, at the secondary and college levels through professional development workshops as well as the production of curricular materials. Classrooms and laboratories implementing this approach to learning typically include self-managed teams that employ the instructor as a facilitator of learning rather than a source of information, activities that guide students through an exploration of a topic or idea to construct understanding and a strong emphasis on the
development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As a member of the committee, Fish will provide definition and direction to the goals of The Project. “I am pleased to have such outstanding educators join our Steering Committee,” said POGIL Project Executive Director Rick Moog. “Each brings a wealth of knowledge in both STEM education and student-oriented guided-inquiry practice. Their passion and vision for POGIL will help us in our goal of transforming education, both within and beyond the classroom.” Fish will have oversight of the POGIL Project’s feedback process and development of an activity clearinghouse for POGIL-approved materials. Fish received her B.A. from Manchester College, M.B.A. from the University of Dayton and Ph.D. from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her work focuses on abandoned mine drainage remediation and science education. She has been
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involved with the POGIL Project since 2006 and has contributed to three National Science Foundation (NSF) funded projects related to POGIL. Currently, Fish is working on the development of a coalition comprised of faculty interested in writing, reviewing and testing environmental science activities. FALL 2018
Sharon and Jim Rohr, longtime friends of Saint Vincent College, have made a leadership gift to help support the new construction and expansion of the Dale P. Latimer Library. Their gift will be recognized in the main entrance and welcome center. Saint Vincent is grateful to the Rohrs for their generous support. F O R W A R D , A LW AY S F O R W A R D C A M PA I G N U P D AT E
Ground Broken for Dale P. Latimer Library Expansion Earth flew on April 25 at the groundbreaking for the $22 million renovation and expansion of the Dale P. Latimer Library at Saint Vincent College. The expansion project will transform the library into a 21st-century learning commons and technology hub, leverage new technologies to enhance teaching and distance-learning capabilities and improve the preservation and display of the College and Archabbey art and rare book collections. The transformation will incorporate core Benedictine values and support the engagement of students and faculty members in the liberal arts and sciences with the latest technology. This initiative will honor the 1,500-yearold heritage of Benedictine education and scholarship while utilizing the latest advances in technology and contemporary pedagogical approaches to fulfill the library’s role as a resource in support of the College’s
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Architect’s rendering of the new main entrance to the library. 19
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Forward, Always Forward
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teaching and research mission. In developing its plans, the project committee sought to maintain the rich history of the library while responding to the ways in which information technology has changed how educational resources are accessed and delivered. The building will be LEED-certified and will contain three levels within its two stories. The lower level will feature four new classrooms, a computer laboratory, service desk, open social space with a barista café, writing and tutoring center, instructional technology offices, video production suite and smallgroup collaborative and study rooms. The middle level will house an expanded circulation area for interlibrary loan and bibliographic instruction, conventional and compact stacks, small-group study rooms, printer-copier devices and a welcome center at the entrance. The top level will offer individual study spaces, group study rooms, library staff offices, three art exhibition galleries, an arts video exhibition room and a rare book exhibition and arts storage area. General architect is MacLachlan, Cornelius and Filoni of Pittsburgh. The three-phase construction project will be completed by August 2020, with phase one from May 2018 to Spring 2019, phase two in summer 2019 and phase three from fall 2019 to summer 2020.
Thank You to Our Leadership Donors
Dale and Darlene Latimer and Latimer Family The Richard King Mellon Foundation The Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation Ann Carey and J. Christopher Donahue, L.H.D., D’09 Sharon and James Rohr, L.H.D., D’13 Anna and Edward Dunlap The Dunlap Family Centimark Corporation The Benedictine Community of Saint Vincent Bibiana Boerio Roman Verostko, C’55, S’59 Kay and Arthur Rooney Jr., C’57 Ann and Alfred Moore, Ph.D., C’67 Marlene and Joseph Maloy, Ph.D., C’61 The Estate of Shirley and J. Wray Connolly Jr., P’51, C’55 Laurel and William Laird, C’69 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania And thank you to the many others who have supported this project to date!
D.J. HOUGH
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ne of the most important things that I have learned at Saint Vincent is that relationships are vital for a meaningful and healthy life. Everyone you meet, whether it is at a school, in a class or at Mass, can (and will) have an impact on your life. Everyone whom I have met during my four years at SVC has shaped my life tremendously for the better. I have learned to teach, formed a family of friends and assisted in the development of the young minds in America. Although academics are important, making sure to “spread kindness like confetti” takes precedence over all. Grades and careers are fleeting. People and the legacy they leave can last a lifetime. D.J. Hough
Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education Graduate Fellowship, Laurel Valley Elementary School
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A MESSAGE from the campaign director Dear alumni and friends of Saint Vincent,
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ince our last update on the progress of our Forward, Always Forward Campaign, we have experienced your enthusiasm and made further headway on our goals. Many of you have responded to this opportunity to make a real difference through gifts to the endowment, the building and renovation projects and our current funding needs for programs and projects. In fact, since the beginning of the campaign, nearly 12,000 of you have contributed to bring us to this promising stage. Our total goal is to reach and surpass $100,000,000 and we still have gains to make. One thing is certain, with your help and participation, we will accomplish this goal! Along with the excitement of the Dale P. Latimer Library expansion, we are also continuing plans for upgrades to classrooms and other facilities in Alfred Hall and the Robert S. Carey Student Center. And there is even more to come as we refine the plans for our student life center and dining facilities enhancement. As we witness the new and important physical changes coming to our beautiful campus, we are grateful for your gifts to so many other scholarships, programs and current projects. Each of us can be involved in some way and at some level in supporting the wide variety of outstanding areas of impact represented in the Forward, Always Forward Campaign. Whether it is helping our students with financial aid through the Students First Fund or an endowed scholarship, by enriching a department or major, helping to support a team or activity on campus or contributing to campaign objectives in a general fashion, all are ways that each one of us can be a part of this new chapter for Saint Vincent. Every gift makes a difference, and Saint Vincent and our students will be the ultimate beneficiaries of your good will and support. Thank you for your interest and for all you do for Saint Vincent and our students!
SAINT VINCENT
Visit our campaign page and watch the live stream video link for the library construction at www. stvincent.edu/forward
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$87 Million Raised
If you would like to support the renovation and expansion of the Dale P. Latimer Library, or any of our other campaign priorities, please contact David M. Hollenbaugh, associate vice president
Sincerely,
for Institutional Advancement and campaign director,
David Hollenbaugh Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Campaign Director
at 724-805-2590 or david.hollenbaugh@ stvincent.edu. n n n n n n n n n
SAINT VINCENT, CARLOW TO OFFER COLLABORATIVE DEGREE IN NURSING Saint Vincent College and Carlow University jointly announced that the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing has approved a collaborative plan to offer the Carlow University fouryear, bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) program on-site at Saint Vincent College beginning in the fall of 2019. Carlow will be responsible for the nursing curriculum and Saint Vincent will primarily offer the nonnursing courses including those that satisfy the core curriculum, said Brother Norman W. Hipps, O.S.B., Ph.D., president of Saint Vincent. “We look forward to a program which will take advantage of Carlow’s expertise in nursing and Saint Vincent College’s strength in the sciences and humanities, as well as the business department which teaches lean principles for health care,” Brother Norman said. “It will serve our students well and fulfill an extraordinary regional need to meet the nurse shortage.” “Carlow University has been educating nurses since 1948,” said Suzanne K. Mellon, Ph.D., Carlow’s president. “Carlow’s nursing program teaches nurses to care for the whole person. Carlow nurses graduate ready to care for the sick and promote and maintain the highest possible levels of health and wellness. We look forward to continuing this through this unique collaboration
with Saint Vincent College.” Qualified prospective students will be invited to apply for enrollment in fall 2019 as Saint Vincent students on campus for the first two years. While living and studying at Saint Vincent their last two years, students will be registered as Carlow students. They will be taught by Carlow nursing faculty members, and will be awarded their BSN degree from Carlow. Nursing students will utilize the excellent facilities of Saint Vincent’s Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion. “A new simulation labora-
tory will be added to support the program,” said Dr. Stephen Jodis, dean of the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing. The program will also take advantage of the existing partnership between Excela Health and Saint Vincent. Saint Vincent and Excela Health have offered a master of science in health science–nurse anesthesia degree since 2006 and a doctor of nurse anesthesia practice since 2013. “Students who choose to study nursing at the Saint Vincent campus will be se-
lecting a BSN program with an excellent reputation,” noted Dr. Lynn E. George, dean of the Carlow University College of Health and Wellness, adding that “Carlow’s BSN nursing program graduates have had the highest NCLEX first-time pass rate in the Pittsburgh area for the past four years with 100 percent of them finding employment or moving on to graduate school. Nurses who graduate from the BSN program at the Saint Vincent campus will be well-prepared for careers in health care systems regionally and nationally.”
COVERLET EXHIBIT ON LEGACIES OF SLAVERY
The Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery is presenting an exhibit, Blood Cotton: Legacies of Slavery and Exploitation in the Decorative Textile Industry through January 11. Sponsored by the McCarl Family Foundation, the exhibit is free and open to
the public. “Thousands of visitors to the McCarl Gallery have appreciated the beauty and craftsmanship of woven coverlets and the machinery that produced them,” said Lauren Churilla, curator. “Rarely, however, do they stop to consider the high cost, paid in human lives, of 19th-century cotton and textile production in the American South and the industry’s dependence on the enslavement of Africans. “Cotton grown in the South fueled the Northern textile mills,” she said. “The products of those mills were sold within the United States and abroad. Weavers relied on spun cotton thread from these mills and the demand for coverlets and other textiles drove
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the expansion of Southern slavery. This exhibit will juxtapose the visual magnificence of woven textiles with the inhumane realities of 19th-century cotton manufacture.” This exhibit features images and artifacts from the McCarl Coverlet Gallery, the Senator John Heinz History Center, Little Beaver Historical Society and the Library Company of Philadelphia. The Gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday evenings. For further details, visit www.mccarlgallery.org, or phone 724-805-2188. Photo: Wall mural which is part of the McCarl Gallery’s Blood Cotton exhibit, created by Rafael Pantalone.
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PALMER SCHOLARS PROGRAM ESTABLISHED
Dr. Peter M. Smyntek, left, assistant professor of integrated science at Saint Vincent College, leads a group of students in collecting field samples in streams in conjunction with a Colcom Foundation grant project he is heading to study the combined effects of sewage and mine water pollution on human and ecosystem health in southwestern Pennsylvania. The students, from left, include Ashley Zolocsik of Worthington, Greg Bizup of Hollywood, Maryland, and Casey Markle of Latrobe, all environmental science majors.
COLCOM GRANT TO ASSESS EFFECTS OF POLLUTION Colcom Foundation has awarded a $196,000, three-year grant to Saint Vincent College, Saint Francis University and the United States Geological Survey to assess the combined effects of sewage and mine water pollution on human and ecosystem health in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Dr. Peter M. Smyntek, project director and assistant professor of interdisciplinary science at Saint Vincent, said that due to decades of intensive private and public investment, the waterways of southwestern Pennsylvania are emerging from more than a century of severe acid mine drainage impacts. “However, as the metalladen pollution decreases, other previously masked critical underlying water quality problems are becoming evident,” he said. “Of special concern to human and ecosystem health are the threats
of elevated nutrient and pathogen concentrations from untreated sewage. The discharge of untreated sewage is particularly common throughout Appalachia, with Southwestern Pennsylvania having an estimated 27,000 illicit sewage discharges causing 16 billion gallons of raw sewage to flow into our rivers per year.” The research team will examine how decreasing acid mine drainage affects underlying sewage pollution. The proposed study will take place at several field sites in Westmoreland County to evaluate the water quality dynamics when mine drainage mixes with sewage in the environment. The first two years of the project will focus on data collection and synthesis, blending into the third year’s focus on sharing findings to inform science-based approaches to tackle this widespread issue.
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The goal is to produce a policy guidance report and fact sheet for state agencies, foundations, watershed associations and conservation districts that will guide management programs targeted at improving rural infrastructure and inform communities about human health risks associated with mine drainage and sewage-influenced water resources. The project will also train professionals to address the dynamic water quality problems of the region. The Colcom Foundation was established by the late Cordelia S. May, a western Pennsylvania philanthropist who supported regional and national initiatives to improve quality of life. Mrs. May was also a lifelong friend of the late Fred M. Rogers whose legacy is embodied in the work of the campus early learning and children’s media center. For more information, visit http://colcomfdn.org/ 23
Established through generous support from the Palmer Family and the Arnold D. and Winifred W. Palmer Foundation, the Arnold D. and Winifred W. Palmer Scholars Program has been established at Saint Vincent. The program provides each Palmer Scholar with $12,000 in scholarship funding—$3,000 applied to their tuition each year. The scholarships are in addition to Saint Vincent’s generous merit awards. Scholarships are renewed annually based on the student’s maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Throughout their four years, Palmer Scholars will also have opportunities to engage in research on Arnold Palmer’s accomplishments and to participate in community service programs at the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve. Five freshmen who graduated from Greater Latrobe High School were awarded the scholarships this year: Levi J. Keys of Latrobe, political science major; Kethrie L. Heasley of Greensburg, science major; Marli E. Nicol of Latrobe, business major; Gabrielle L. Sadekoski of Latrobe, Pre-K-4 Early Elementary Education major and Zachary J. Smith of Latrobe physics and premedicine major. FALL 2018
EIGHT ALUMNI HONORED WITH DISTINCTION, ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Saint Vincent College honored eight alumni with the presentation of Alumni of Distinction or Recent Alumna/ Alumnus Achievement Awards on Friday, October 5 during the annual Alumni Homecoming and Fall Family Weekend. All of the awards are made by the Saint Vincent Alumni Association in recognition of meritorious service and commitment to Saint Vincent. JOLENE H. BOGNER, C’88
of Columbus, Ohio, earned a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and a master of business administration from Marquette University. She currently serves as the global HR systems and project leader at Mettler Toledo, LLC. Her certifications include Master Black Belt Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing, Senior Professional in Human Resources and Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional. At Saint Vincent, she was involved in campus ministry and was one of the original organizers of Sports Friendship Day. She also volunteered with the Carmelite Sisters, was a member of the tennis team and enjoyed intramural football. She received a fouryear Saint Vincent College leadership scholarship. She is a member of the Church of the Ascension in Johnstown, Ohio, where she participates as a greeter, lector, server, teacher and council member. Bogner and her family are committed to fundraising for ovarian cancer research for The James Hospital of Ohio State University Medical Center and Kobacker Hospice Care Center. KEVIN J. COAKLEY, ESQ., C’68
of Morristown, New Jersey, earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science. In 1972, he completed a juris doctorate at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey, where he was editor of the Rutgers Law Review. Currently, he is a senior partner at Connell Foley LLP in Roseland, New Jersey. During his sophomore year at Saint Vincent, he was a member of the Rules Committee. He competed in intramural sports, especially basketball. He has often visited the campus for class reunions and events. He is a member of Christ the King Church in New Vernon, New Jersey. He is a trustee of the New Jersey Alliance for Action, which supports the development of infrastructure projects, and a trustee of the Blue Cross
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Blue Shield insurance company. Coakley is the son of Michael and Anna Coakley of Bantry Bay and County Mayo, Ireland, respectively. REV. KEVIN J. DOMINIK, S’88
of White Oak completed a master of divinity degree from Saint Vincent Seminary. He serves as administrator of Saint Damien of Molokai Parish, Monongahela; Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Charleroi; and Our Lady of the Valley Parish, Donora in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. As a student, he traversed the campus on foot, admiring the beauty and finding quiet, peaceful places to pray. He also enjoyed a variety of jobs, including working in the rector’s office. After graduating, he returned to the Seminary as the Dean of Students from 2001 to 2004. In 2014, he became an adjunct member of the Seminary faculty. He is an active member of the community and is a member of the White Oak Ministerium. He is proud of his Polish heritage and is fond of polka music and Polish traditions. DR. PETER C. JULIANO, C’63
of Marana, Arizona graduated with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry. He earned a master of science degree in chemistry from West Virginia University in 1965 and a Ph.D. in polymer science from the University of Akron in 1968. Prior to his retirement, he was a research manager for General Electric Corporate Research and Development in Niskayuna, New York. At Saint Vincent, he was involved with campus activities, including orientation committee, Alcuin Scholars, student government, Chemistry Club, varsity tennis and intramurals. He was awarded an undergraduate research participation grant at West Virginia University through the National Science Foundation. The work he completed during the program led him to pursue his Ph.D. in polymer science. He organized the 40th reunion of the chemists from the class of 1963, helped with the organizing committee of his class’ 50th reunion, worked to establish The William C. Dzombak Chemistry Scholarship Fund in 2002 and supported the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion in 2011 with funds to provide a classroom in the new building. He served on several boards including Birthright of Schenectady and the Priory of St. Benedict in
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Chestertown, New York, and was a research professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He is currently a member of the Knights of Columbus as well as several Tucson area museums. DR. FRANK W. MOCEK, C’83
of Dallas, Texas earned a bachelor of science degree in biology with highest honor. Afterward, he earned his medical degree from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is currently a selfemployed surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano. One of his fondest memories at Saint Vincent is attending Sunday evening Mass in the chapel underneath the cafeteria. He is a member of Saint Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas. His current civic involvement includes his membership as an executive board member of the Presbyterian Hospital in Plano, Texas. His professional interests include anterior exposure of the spinal cord in regard to fusion procedures, and his personal hobbies include cycling. JAMES B. PIEFFER, C’83
of Mars graduated with a bachelor of science degree in sociology, and went on to complete a master of science degree in health administration through the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. At Saint Vincent, he was involved in campus life as a prefect and participated in Campus Ministry. He was also a swim coach for the Special Olympics, a volunteer swim coach at Clelian Heights and a Latrobe hospital volunteer. His current and past involvement since graduating includes volunteering for the Wimmer Corporation, serving as a member of the Capital Campaign Committee and sponsoring students who attend the college. His current civic involvement includes serving as a cabinet member of the LeadingAge National Affordable Housing Cabinet and a member of the Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Services and Supports Committee, as well as other associations that focus on long-term care, public health and affordable housing for seniors. He is a member of St. Kilian’s Parish in Cranberry Township. DR. MICHAEL A. POLECHKO, C’68
of Mount Pleasant earned a bachelor of arts degree in biology. He earned a master of science degree in biology from California State College in 1974, and a Ph.D.
Saint Vincent Magazine
in biology from West Virginia University in 1982. As a student at Saint Vincent, he was a two-year letterman in wrestling, a member of the Letterman’s Club for four years, active in intramural sports and a member of the Stenson Club for biology majors. Having taught for 42 years, Polechko retired in 2010. His teaching career began at Greensburg Central Catholic High School in 1968. He then taught at Saint Vincent College from 1973-1983, teaching general biology, ecology, botany and biostatistics. Next came two years at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1983-1985. In 1985 he accepted a position at Southmoreland High School to become the head wrestling coach and a teacher of biology and chemistry, positions he held for 25 years. From 1986-2018 he taught general biology at Westmoreland County Community College evenings and summers. He is a member of St. Pius Roman Catholic Church in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, where he is a lector and member of the Holy Name Society and St. Vincent de Paul Society. In addition, he is a member of the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association. LLOYD M. CHEATOM, C’13
of Pittsburgh graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business marketing. He continued his education and earned a master of science degree in instructional leadership from Robert Morris University. Since graduating, he has become a Heinz Endowment Graduate Fellow, a “Men of Excellence” honoree (New Pittsburgh Courier), and received the Alan Lesgold Award for Excellence in Urban Education. He has returned to campus numerous times and served as a keynote speaker for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration and “Saint Vincent Week” with the Act 101/Opportunity Office and Crossroads Foundation for the past three years. Currently, he is the co-founder and director of student affairs for 1Nation Mentoring and with collaboration of the Extra Mile Foundation and Crossroads Foundation, he works at Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Academy as the transition coordinator. In his community, he serves as the head basketball coach for Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Academy and serves as an out-of-school-time facilitator in various neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh. 25
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NINE INDUCTED INTO ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME Nine individuals were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame on September 15. The alumni were recognized during the halftime ceremony of the Saint Vincent and Westminster College football game as well. “The Athletic Hall of Fame is the highest level of recognition presented to student-athletes, coaches and teams at Saint Vincent College,” said Shawn Gouch, director of alumni relations. “Each year, Saint Vincent College formally recognizes student-athletes and teams who not only excelled in the classroom and on the field of athletic competition during their collegiate careers, but also excelled once leaving Saint Vincent. Those individuals and teams that are selected to be members of the Hall of Fame exemplify the lessons they learned in athletics and through their Benedictine education.” RICHARD E. BOYSEN, C’86,
of Belle Vernon, received a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He was a co-captain on the men’s soccer team, and was honored as a first-team National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)/National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American. He was a three-time regional allAmerican, three-time all-district and three-time all-conference player. He is a recipient of the Albert Deluca Award, given in recognition of athletes who displayed dependable and responsible leadership during their athletic careers. For the past 15 years, Boysen has been operating a security and video surveillance company that sells, installs and services security systems to both commercial and residential customers. One of his fondest memories includes competing in the NAIA Soccer National Championship, when his team upset the number-one seed in overtime. JEFFREY A. GIORDAN, C’93,
of Latrobe, received a bachelor of arts degree in information science. He participated in both cross country and lacrosse, for which he was a four-time Allegheny Lacrosse League All-Star Goalie. He was also a recipient of the Albert Deluca Award for dependable and responsible leadership as an athlete. After graduation, he was the assistant to the men’s lacrosse coach from 1993-1998 and has been a goalie clinician for the Nike Girls camp at Saint Vincent for the past 15 years. He currently works as a technical specialist for Westmoreland Saint Vincent Magazine
County Information Systems, in addition to being the head coach of girls’ field hockey and assistant coach of girls’ lacrosse at Latrobe High School, and a goalie coach for True Lacrosse in Pittsburgh. He was also formerly a coach for the boy’s lacrosse team at Latrobe High School. MELISSA A. (SHELL) HAYES, C’97,
of South Fayette Township, received a bachelor of science degree in business management. The recipient of a full scholarship award, she was a four-year starter on the women’s basketball team. Hayes set a school record for most steals in a career at 502 and amassed 1,204 career points. She was a fourtime All-Conference selection, was Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year and was named a 1996-97 Kodak All-American. She received the William Rafferty Award for athletes who achieved excellence both athletically and academically. A four-year Dean’s List student, she was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities and was nominated for the National Collegiate Business Merit Award in 1997. Additionally, she was Saint Vincent’s first-ever homecoming queen. She is an account executive at UPMC Health Plan. KELLY N. MORDA, C’02,
of Ford City, earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and elementary education. She continued her education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Health and Physical Education Teaching Certificate. A member of the women’s basketball team, she was named 1998-99 Freshman of the Year for the AMC conference, first team all-AMC conference in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Morda was named NAIA all-American in 2002, received the NAIA All-American Collegiate Scholar Award and Albert Deluca Award, and was the second leading career scorer with 1,776 points. She is currently a health and physical education teacher at Riverview School District, in addition to volunteering at Saint Vincent women’s basketball summer camps and as a women’s basketball team chaperone. She was also an assistant coach for the Ford City High School volleyball and basketball teams and an assistant basketball coach for the Riverview High School basketball team. She was part of the national-bound women’s basketball team coached by the late Kristen Zawacki. 26
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ANTHONY L. MOROCCO III, C’98,
of Trafford, received a bachelor of science degree in business management. He was the captain of the men’s basketball team from 1997 to 1998 and was a Bearcat Athletic Club Senior of the Year in 1998. He broke Harry Folk’s 40-year all-time career points record and currently holds the third all-time career point total for the men’s basketball program at 1,738 points, along with several other basketball records, including most assists in career, most assists in season, most three-point goals made in career, season and game. He also helped lead the team to most wins in a season and its highest National Tournament finish in the Elite Eight. He is also the recipient of Lifetime Athletic Achievement Award for fostering youth sports in Trafford, was inducted into the East Boro Sports Hall of Fame and is the vice president of community relations for the Coach Rich 4 Kids charity event. Morocco is an executive general manager for Virtual Manager, a company based in Brisbane, Australia. EUGENE T. OBERST, C’71,
of Rochester, New York, earned a bachelor of arts in history and continued his education at Ohio University, receiving a master of arts degree in history in 1973. He was the co-captain of the wrestling team at Saint Vincent. He is a teacher and department chair for social studies at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, New York. In addition to his career as an educator, Oberst is involved in the Parish Council at Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini Parish in Rochester and serves as the treasurer for the Rochester Area Council of Social Studies. He is a member of the New York State and National Council for Social Studies and a member of the Portland Avenue Revitalization Committee and was an item writer for the New York State Regents Examinations and ACT tests. JEFFREY A. SHELDON, C’84,
of New Kensington, earned a bachelor of science degree in sociology and continued his education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he received a master of arts degree in criminology, and at the FBI National Academy, where he graduated in 2000 as a member of the 203rd class. He participated on Saint Vincent Magazine
the men’s soccer team for four years and received the Albert Deluca Award in 1984. He noted that the Opportunity Program, gave him a chance to be successful. Sheldon currently serves as director of school police at Highland School District in Natrona Heights. He has done volunteer work with the Special Olympics and Stampede in the Park, is involved in the Miss America Pageant and is the director of security for the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant. TARA L. COCHRANE-WARRINGTON, C’00,
of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, has a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and her certification in elementary education. She continued her education at the University of Pittsburgh, where she received a Principal K-12 certification in 2008 and a master of education in administrative and policy studies, school leadership in 2012. She scored more than 1,000 career points on the basketball team, became a 1999-2000 NAIA All-American, a 1999-2000 Kodak All-American and was Saint Vincent Player of the Year in 2000. She is the director of curriculum and instruction at Meeting Street Schools in Charleston, South Carolina. Warrington was inspired to become an educator for urban youths because of her experiences with Saint Vincent’s Pathways to Success Program. DEAN M. ZANELLA, C’87,
of Everett, has a bachelor of arts in history. He played on the men’s soccer team for four years and became a team captain. He received the Albert Deluca Award and was named an NAIA All-American, AllRegion and All-Conference player. In addition to his athletic achievements, Zanella was a Student Government Association senator and received a leadership scholarship. He served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, retiring as a platoon sergeant. He was inducted into the Sgt. Audie Murphy Club and was Brigade Soldier of the Year. He has also volunteered as a church youth group leader, a Boy Scouts of America cubmaster, American Youth Soccer Organization head coach and referee, and as a varsity soccer coach. He received the Laurel Highlands Coach of the Year Award for his efforts in coaching. He is involved in American Legion Post #8 and the Everett Sportsman Club and currently works as a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner at Bedford-Somerset Developmental and Behavioral Health Services. 27
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TOM HARBERT TO ENTER PENNSYLVANIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME Longtime Saint Vincent Coach State Athletic Conference Tom Harbert will be inducted wrestling championship and later into the Pennsylvania sports was selcted to compete for the Hall of Fame in November for United States Olympic Trials. He his lasting impact through also ran the mile and two-mile extraordinary athletic events for Shippensburg. achievement and contributions. He took over the Saint Vincent He has already been inducted wrestling team in 1963 and later into the Pennsylvania Chapter coached men’s and women’s of the National Wrestling Hall cross-country, establishing of Fame in Oklahoma, the the women’s team when Saint Shippensburg University Athletic Vincent began accepting women Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania in 1983. He also established Tom Harbert now, and in his early days as a Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, the men’s and women’s lacrosse wrestling coach at Saint Vincent. the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of programs. One of his women’s Fame-East Boros, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Hall cross country team members, Ivette Mejia made the “top of Fame and the Saint Vincent College Athletic Hall of 25” in the nation in 2005 and became Saint Vincent’s first Fame. Harbert, who retired in 2016, coached for 54 years female cross country All-American. at Saint Vincent, and also served as wresting coach at Harbert taught business at Greater Latrobe for 30 years Greater Latrobe High School. A four-year letterman in and at Westmoreland County Community College for 25 wrestling at Shippensburg, he won the 1961 Pennsylvania years.
STUDENT-ATHLETES SHOW FOCUS ALSO ON ACADEMICS In addition to attaining success on the field, in the pool and the gymnasium, Saint Vincent’s student-athletes are also accomplishing great things in the classroom. This is evidenced by a number of honors the athletes and their teams received following the close of various spring sports. Collectively, Saint Vincent’s teams led the 10 full-time league schools with 78 student-athletes earning Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) recognition on its Spring Academic Honor Roll. The honor roll recognizes students on varsity teams who have earned grade point averages (GPAs) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition. The women’s lacrosse and women’s swimming teams each had 11 student-athletes recognized. Four lacrosse players also attained recognition on the 2018 Zag Sports Division III Academic Honor Roll by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association. To be eligible for this honor, student-athletes must be a junior, senior or graduate student and have earned a cumulative academic GPA of 3.50 or higher. The women’s (3.56 team GPA) and men’s (3.16 team GPA) swimming teams were honored by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for earning Scholar All-America team distinction for the spring 2018 semester. The men’s basketball program was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches when the organizaSaint Vincent Magazine
tion announced the sixth annual Team Academic Excellence Awards, created by the NABC Committee on Academics. “We strive to build our program through successful student-athletes,” said Coach D.P. Harris. “Our team motto is ‘Academics, Basketball and Character,’” Harris said. “We are certainly proud of what we have accomplished on the court as we set out to compete at a championship level. However, we are also proud of what our players achieve in the classroom academically.” The NABC awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better during the 2017-18 season. In order to earn a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, institutions in the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA must count the grade point averages of all men’s student-athletes who competed during the 2017-18 season. Both College track and field programs were recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as All-Academic Teams for the 2017-18 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field seasons. Led by second-year head coach Kevin Wanichko, the women’s team posted a 3.73 grade point average, the second highest grade point average of any Division III women’s team. The Bearcat men, led by veteran head coach Dr. Andrew Herr, accumulated a 3.44 team GPA during the spring semester to earn mention on the list. 28
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ALUMNI & FRIENDS
CHRISTMAS AT THE LIBRARY Claudene Duran, administrative assistant in the library, provided this image of Christmas at the Library back when the library access was via steps coming up the front of the building. Inside, library staff members would decorate seasonally, especially during Christmas, to brighten the days of students who were vigorously studying for finals.
ALUMNI EVENT SCHEDULE November 9, Latrobe Alumni Luncheon, Metten Room, Campus November 16, Ligonier Alumni Luncheon, Carol & Dave’s November 20, Greensburg Alumni Luncheon, Giannilli’s II November 30, Cranberry Township Luncheon, Pittsburgh Marriott North December 7, Pittsburgh Alumni Luncheon, Teutonia Mannerchor December 14, Latrobe Alumni Luncheon, Metten Room, Campus December 18, Greensburg Alumni Luncheon, Giannilli’s II
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CLASS OF 1977 DOES GREAT ALLEGHENY PASSAGE TRIP
NOONAN RECEIVES LEADERSHIP AWARD Jacob M. Noonan, C’16, of Pittsburgh was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Award by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police upon completion of his academy training on June 11. The award is presented to a cadet demonstrating the highest level of leadership and selflessness during seven months of training.
In mid-August, a group of four alumni from the Class of 1977 embarked on a 335mile bike journey. Starting in Pittsburgh and riding an average of 55 miles per day, they were able to reach Washington, D.C., in six days. The Great Allegheny Passage bike trail runs through various towns in Pennsylvania and Maryland and allows travelers to take advantage of dining and overnight accommodations. This foursome found this to be an added bonus to the trip. Each evening they experienced new riverside towns that they may have never visited if not for the bike trail. This trip came to fruition last summer when Greg Fajt, C’77, completed his first ride along the GAP trail. “What a great way to bond with your best friends.” said Fajt. So he presented the idea to fellow classmates John Lally, Denny Seremet and Jeff Holtzman. Fajt, Lally, Seremet and Holtzman departed from Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh after receiving a “blessing of their bikes” from Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B. Golden Triangle Bikes provided the logistics for luggage transport and hotel accommodations. Throughout the trip, these four alumni experienced sunshine, heat and 2 days of pouring rain and lightning. The last 180 miles proved to be more difficult as the trail got harder, but they persevered. The unforgettable adventure adds another chapter to their book of friendship that was initially started at Saint Vincent College.
‘Coming Home’ Was Important to William Kosglow
W
hen William Kosglow, C’57, frequently visited the campus through the years after his graduation, he always felt like he was “coming home.” Born in Claridge, Bill often stated that he never would have been able to go to college without the scholarship that he received after graduating from Penn-Trafford High School. Bill felt strongly about supporting the college and upon his passing last year his entire estate of nearly $180,000 was directed to the General Scholarship Fund. Jim Kosglow, C’60, felt that his brother’s success that led him to Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania for his advanced degrees came about solely due his education at the college. And now, his legacy will continue with a gift that will have lasting value, affecting the lives of present and future students.
JAMES BENDEL, DIRECTOR OF PLANNED GIVING Institutional Advancement • 724-805-2948 Saint Vincent Magazine
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In Memoriam GERALD GUZ
Gerald Guz, C’63, of Frisco, Texas, died on August 26, 2018. Gerry and his wife, Bonnie, have been wonderful friends of the College and the Benedictine community for many years. For the last 13 years, they have hosted an annual gathering for alumni and friends in Bonita Springs each February. Starting with a small group years ago, this event grew to an attendance of nearly 80 people in recent years. Many alumni knew Gerry through his great love of Bearcat Football. He is a member of the Saint Vincent Athletic Hall of Fame and was inducted because of his distinguished four years of play as a student at Saint Vincent. Gerry’s funeral Mass was held at the Saint Vincent Basilica Church on September 15, 2018, and he chose his resting place to be Mary, Mother of Mercy Chapel and Mausoleum at Saint Vincent.
MAIFEST EVENT ASSISTS SCHOLARSHIP FUND By Alé Simmons, C’10 Alumni Council Vice President
The Saint Vincent Alumni Council held its annual fundraiser for the Father Gilbert J. Burke, O.S.B. Alumni Scholarship Fund May 19, at the Fred M. Rogers Center. Maifest also celebrated the Bavarian heritage of Saint Vincent founder Boniface Wimmer as well as the spring season. More than 100 alumni and friends of Father Gilbert and the College, Prep and Seminary attended. The event started with a bilingual English and German Mass in the Mary, Mother of Wisdom Student Chapel led by Father Warren D. Murrman, O.S.B. A variety of German food and beer was served, and entertainment was provided by Pittsburgh’s Autobahn Band. Both a silent auction and a Bearcat auction were held, with featured prizes donated by friends and alumni of Saint Vincent. The planning committee was led by Ryan Retter, C’08, president-elect of Alumni Council. “This year’s Maifest honored the foundation of Saint Vincent and celebrated the many opportunities Saint Vincent continues to offer its students,” Retter said. “We are honored to carry forward Father Gilbert’s legacy for the benefit of future generations of students and alumni and pay tribute to Father Gilbert’s hospitable nature and contributions to Saint Vincent.” The Father Gilbert J. Burke Alumni Scholarship Fund was established in 2001. It provides scholarship support to full-time students with academic merit and financial need. The scholarship enables Alumni Council members the ability to heighten student interest in alumni activities, encouraging students to remain active in the Saint Vincent community after graduation. To view more photos of the event please visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saintvincentcollege/albums/72157667180463047.
BRUCE BOSSIE
Bruce Bossie, P’57, of Scottsdale, Arizona, died on August 3, 2018. Bruce and his wife Peggy, have been great friends of Saint Vincent over the many years since his time in the Prep. They particularly appreciated their friendship with Father Campion Gavaler, O.S.B. Bruce would often visit Saint Vincent and meet with Professor Rob DePasquale and his students in the McKenna School and share insights about his career on Wall Street and his work in financial investments. He would joke that after Prep School he should have stayed with the Benedictines because of the rigor and great learning he experienced in the Prep. In addition to his business success, Bruce had intense interest in health and spirituality. He expanded his interests through his avid reading and practice of yoga and meditation. Much of his fervor for the spiritual life came from his mother—a Baptist convert to Catholicism. Her impact led Bruce to establish the Ruth B. Bossie Scripture Fund. This fund supports students’ Bibles for First Theology as well as supporting the Ruth B. Bossie Lecture. Saint Vincent Magazine
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Class News
1960s Rev. Thomas M. Lukac, C’59, S’63, is celebrating 55 years of priestly ordination.
Atty. James A. Meyer, C’62, announces his retirement from Meyer Wagner Brown & Kraus, following a distinguished career as a member of the Pennsylvania Bar of more than 50 years.
1970s The Hon. William H. Baughman, C’71, represented Saint Vincent at the Inauguration of Michael D. Johnson, Ph.D., as 25th president of John Carroll University, Ohio, on September 6.
Atty. Richard W. Perhacs, C’71, was named the new Erie County solicitor.
Atty. Francis E. Pipak Jr., C’71, was listed on the 2019 Best Lawyers in America list (Workers’ Compensation LawEmployers) for the 23rd year, as announced by Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP. It is the oldest and most highly-respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide, coming into its 25th Edition.
Guy J. Bellaver’s, C’72, art sculpture, The Key, (above) has been sited and dedicated. The Key is one of the pieces of public art created for The Gratitude Project—Public Art from the Community | To the Community…in Gratitude. The commission to create this piece honoring Sharon and Vern Oie hit so many artistic notes for Guy. The opportunity to create a piece to speak to the Oie’s “coupleness” allowed him to execute a design idea for a two-piece, offset sculpture. He has always loved bright colors, and this piece utilizes color
to the fullest. His artwork has been informed by geometrical shapes since his earliest work in stone, but the charge to develop a piece whose shape told the Oie’s story was almost a gift. For the first time in his career he utilized interior lighting and he expanded his earlier use of glass to highlight the sculpture’s geometry by more fully incorporating that medium. Glass Artist Amy Simpson was able to meet the design requirement for iridescent glass with the multilayered work seen in the above image.
Rev. Samuel J. Smolcic, C’74, travelled to the Lower Yukon region of Alaska for a short term mission trip among the native Yup’ik people.
Lee Hamilton Jr., C’76, a retired insurance agent from Jeannette has attained the designation of certified church executive from StartCHURCH University in Lawrenceville, Georgia. His expertise is in IRS compliances as it pertains to churches and ministries.
Vincent Mascia, C’76, is the
Alumni Council Re-elects Seven Members The Saint Vincent Alumni Council re-elected seven members to serve a three-year term beginning in August 2018. Re-elected members include George A. Fetkovich, C’80; Sara Green, C’06; George E. Martin, P’59; Frank Susko, C’79; and Marco Sylvania, C’11. Pictured, front, from left, are Vice President Alé Simmons, C’10; Green; Brother Norman Hipps, O.S.B., College president; Fetkovich and Sylvania. Back, from left, are Susko, Martin, and Alumni Council President-Elect Ryan Retter, C’08. Not pictured are J. Patrick Conroy, C’64, and Frank Nelson, C’70 who were also re-elected to three year terms and Jason Winters, C’04, current president of the Alumni Council. Any member of the Alumni community interested in becoming a member of the Saint Vincent Alumni Council should contact the Alumni Office at alumni@stvincent.edu. Saint Vincent Magazine
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new superintendent for Southmoreland School District.
Donald J. Ammon, C’86, and Kristopher L. Veenis, C’03, wrote a screen play together, “Summerlings.” It is about “teenage alienation, and the collapse of the steel industry highlighting the feeling of hopelessness.” Details about investment opportunities are available at sulfurcreekproductions.com.
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2000s
1990s Molly Robb Shimko, C’90, was named Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Seton Hill University.
Rev. William J. Kiel, S’93, is celebrating 25 years of priestly ordination.
Col. Peter H. Guevara, D.M.D., C’87, and CPT Aaron Lazuka, C’13.
1980s
Gene M. Battistella, D.O., C’88, was recently elected vice
Col. Peter H. Guevara, D.M.D., C’87, presided over a graduation
president of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association. POMA represents more than 8,100 osteopathic physicians, residents and medical students in Pennsylvania and is headquartered in Harrisburg.
for one of the Army’s one-year Postgraduate training programs, and presented CPT Aaron Lazuka, C’13, with his Training Certificate (photo above).
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While attending a FileMaker Pro® conference, FileMaker DevCon 2018 in Grapevine, Texas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Bill Barnes, C’94, crossed paths with Joshua Brock, C’93, of St. Marys, who is now employed by Accuweather.
CDR., USN (RET) John R. Drotar, C’95, retired from the Navy on August 1 after 29 years, and will be staying in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jennifer L. Sopko, C’04, a writer and historian, announces her second book, Idlewild History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park. Her first book, Ligonier Valley Vignette: Tales from the Laurel Highlands, was published by The History Press in 2013.
Marita A. Hunchuck, C’04, S’07, director of faith formation at Saint Katharine Drexel Parish, has developed an intergenerational catechesis program. The program’s initiative is to promote lifelong learning of the faith “from womb to tomb” and referred to as LIFT, Living in Faith Together.
MOVING BEARCATS FORWARD!
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Zachary Clark, C’07, director of Student Activities and Assessment for Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Student Cooperative Association, was recognized in the May/June 2018 edition of Campus Activities Programming, the monthly periodical of the National Association for Campus Activities.
Bradley J. Sanders, C’07, was named a financial adviser by Wormleysburg-based Stonebridge Financial Group.
Shannon (Ballantyne) Becker, C’09, graduated with a doctorate of business administration from Wilmington University.
Dr. Audrey M. Rossowski, C’09, represented Saint Vincent at the
inauguration of Rev. James J. Greenfield, OSFS, EdD, as fourth president of DeSales University on April 4.
2010s Jason J. Brinker, C’10, is a funeral director at the John J. Lopatich Funeral Home, Inc. in Latrobe.
Sarah E. Hunter, C’12, participated in the Greater Latrobe School District’s third grade art symposium. She discussed and showed images of Impressionist works of art and artists while guiding the students in the creation of an Impressionist-style sunrise over water, based on Claude Monet’s
“Impression Sunrise.”
Brandon W. Brumage, G’15, and his wife, Nicole Snyder, G’14, are currently living in Chicago, Illinois. They would like to announce a recently published book on Amazon titled Strugglehood: A Practical Guide to Financial Situations No One Bothered Teaching Us. It’s currently a #1 New Release, and at the time of this writing, it’s the #1 Best Seller in the Banking Law category!
Hannah D. Brock, C’16, is the new Human Resources Specialist and Public Relations Officer for the City of St. Marys.
Hannah R. Kahn, C’16, is the Membership Director for the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Chamber of Commerce in Latrobe. Five members of the Class of 2018 were accepted into the Disney College Program for the fall season. Each received a five- to-seven month-long paid internship that provides on-thejob experience and training, networking opportunities and career development opportunities. Interns reside at a Disney property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and work full-time at Disney World. The accepted alumni include Delfine Bredniak, a communication major from Washington; Michael Brinker, a communication major from Bethel Park; Caroline Colcombe, a psychology education major from Greensburg, John Casto, a bioinformatics major from Johnstown; and Robert Moore, a communication major from Montgomery Village, Maryland. Graduates from the class of 2018 of the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing who are now pursuing advanced degrees include:
Saint Vincent Magazine
34
Haley Lynne Adams of Saltsburg, M.S. in nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing;
Rachel Baumann of Greensburg, M.S. in criminology, Saint Vincent College;
Maria Laura Beecher of Milford, Connecticut, Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, University of Pittsburgh;
Margaret (Meg) Birmingham of Grove City, M.S. in geology, University of Kansas;
Nicholas Borkowski of Natrona Heights, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine; Joshua Centore of Canonsburg, Ph.D. in nutrition, Case Western Reserve University; Rachel Elizabeth DiLeo of Uniontown, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine;
Ashley Dubos of Chestnut Ridge, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine; Kameron Faychak of Boston, Salus University for Optometry;
Tessa Fraicola of Youngwood, M.S. in nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing;
Jessica Gibbs of Oakdale, M.S. in physician assistant, Chatham University;
Jacob Green of Cecil, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine; Claire Gribik of Clarion, accelerated second degree nursing, B.S.N., Duquesne University;
Madison Gruss of Derry, M.S. in physician assistant, Saint Francis University; Collin Hall of Delmont, Palmer College of Chiropractic; Taylor Hanson of Greensburg, University of Pennsylvania FALL 2018
engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute;
Vincent College;
Ph.D. in chemistry, Duquesne University;
Joseph Marcinik of Latrobe, Ph.D. in physics, UCLA;
M.S. in biology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania;
Jason Horan of Jefferson Hills,
Claudia Matthews of Greens-
Tyler Stercho of Greensburg,
Lake Erie College of Dental Medicine;
burg, second degree nursing, Carlow University;
Pharm.D., West Virginia University School of Pharmacy;
Claire Jackman of Strongsville,
Connor McCormick of Upper St. Clair, Ph.D. in chemistry, Penn State University;
Kathryn Straatmann of Wash-
Ohio, Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience, Kent State University;
Caitlin Johnson of Ridgway,
Tyler McFadden of Bullskin
Ph.D. in biochemistry/biophysics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill;
Township, Salus University for Optometry;
Kaitlyn Thomas of Johnstown, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine;
Joshua McHarg of Odenton,
Rochelle Valore of Greens-
Maryland, Saint George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine;
burg, Pharm.D., Duquesne University;
School of Veterinary Medicine;
Sarah Hejnosz of West Mifflin,
Matthew James Kenney of Cumberland, Rhode Island, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine;
William Kohler of Canonsburg, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine; Heather LeClerc of Plantsville, Connecticut, M.S. chemical
Alexandra Piampiano of Collierville, Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University, Debrusk COM;
Brian Shaffer of Hunker, M.S. in Operational Excellence, Saint
Katie Smith of Mount Pleasant,
Engagement
ington, Missouri, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine;
Elizabeth Volna of Meadville, accelerated second degree nursing, University of Pittsburgh; Katryna Williams of Mount Pleasant, Ph.D. in chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Hannah R. Kahn, C’16, to Jason J. Brinker, C’10. A November wedding is planned. They will live in Unity Township.
Condolences J. Anthony “Tony” Glasstetter, P’50, C’54, on the loss of his sister, Marianne Glasstetter on March 2.
George R. Blaha, C’61, on the loss of his wife, Mary Terese Blaha on December 14, 2017.
Rev. Dr. William Hisker, P’65, C’69, S’05, and his wife, Vera (Nelson) Hisker, C’86; Jennifer (Hisker) Hedden, C’94; and Rev. Joseph Hedden, C’94, on the loss of their son, brother, and brother-in-law, respectively, Joseph R. Hisker, C 97, on July 21.
W. Timothy Pitchford, C’66 on the death of his mother, Ruth, on August 18.
Thomas Kennedy, C’69, on the loss of his wife, Joyce (Francis) Kennedy, SHU’69, on March 20.
David R. Pavlock, C’74, and Korina E. (Bauer) Knipe, C’95, on the loss of their wife and mother, respectively, Donna W. Bauer, on May 16.
James K. Laffey, C’75, and Maureen Laffey on the loss of their mother-in-law and mother, respectively, Ruth Alleman, on June 22.
Jay Paul Murray, C’79, on the loss of his mother, Margaret “Peg” Murray, SHU’49, on March 13.
Sharon (Sliz) Hillwig, C 88; Ian M. Dunlap, C’10, G’14; and Patricia I. Sliz, former bookstore employee, on the loss of their mother, grandmother, and sister-in-law, respectively, Bertha K. “Bertie” Sliz on June 24.
Michelle M. (Henry) Rawl, C’88, on the loss of her mother,
Saint Vincent Magazine
Evelyn (Stein) Henry, on July 25.
Eileen Flinn, C’90, on the loss of her sister, Anne Louise Flinn, on May 3.
Walter J. Nalducci, Esq., C’90, and Julie Nalducci MacIntyre, C’95, on the loss of their mother, Angeline “Anne” Nalducci on August 17.
Richard E. Zemba, C 92, and Brian J. Zemba, C’94, Leandre Randall, a Saint Vincent retiree; Rhonda L. Randall-Scruggs, D.O., C’94; Melanie Ryan, C’95; and Danielle Zemba, C21,on the loss of their mother, sister, aunt and grandmother, respectively, Kathleen Ann Smith, a Saint Vincent retiree, on August 13.
Heidi Anderson Carroll, C’95, on the loss of her mother, Cynthia Scopel Anderson, on August 30, 2017.
Patty Van Deusen, C’98; Reed Van Deusen, C’98; and Valerie Malingowski, C’95, on the loss of their mother and motherin-law, respectively, Mrs. Patty Malingowski, on October 20.
Julie M. Slaughter, C’06, on the loss of her grandmother, Laura J. Winters, on August 18. Professors Dr. Gene Torisky and Ms. Teresa Torisky, on the loss of their father and father-in-law, respectively, Gene Torisky Sr., on March 24.
Heidi Anderson Carroll, C’95, on the loss of her husband, David D. Carroll, C’94, on July 1.
35
FALL 2018
Births
Finley Paul Daniel Carroll to David Carroll, C’94, and Heidi Anderson Carroll, C’95, on May 3, 2017. Finn joins big sisters Megan, 17, and Sydney, 10.
Hugo Benedict Walz to Andrew L. Walz, C’06, G’12, and his wife, Aliesha M. (Pocratsky) Walz, C’07, on October 27. He
Wyatt Regis Kupec to Zachary Kupec, C’10, and his wife, Julie Kupec, C’11, on January 19. He joins big brother, Caleb.
David Hunter Baker was born May 1 to Laura (Fedor) Baker, C’07, and David J. Baker, C’08. He joins his big sister, Sydney.
joins big brother, Leopold.
Callen Irvin Becker was born to
Shannon (Ballantyne) Becker, C’09, and her husband, Douglas Becker on April 25.
Volunteer! Alaina Renee McCay was born on September 9, 2017 to
Amanda (Kozar) McCay, C’09, and her husband, Gregory McCay.
Deaths
Andrew Michael Kosanovich was born to Sean Kosanovich, C’09, and his wife, Clara (Miller) Kosanovich, C’09 on July 16.
Help our Alumni Recruitment Network spread the word about Saint Vincent in your area. For information call 724-805-2568.
Stella Marie Levi has recently celebrated her first birthday on June 29, 2018. Stella is the daughter of Amanda Como Levi, Esq., C’09, and her husband, Bryan Levi.
Vincent Bracco, P’49, on May
John T. Blum, P 53, on January
May 24.
26, 2017.
1.
on July 25.
Rev. Msgr. Paul A. Lenz, P.A., P’46, C’49, D’95, on May 14,
Frederick S. McAlpine, M.D., C’50, on May 31.
Eugene P. Tassone, C’53, on
John L. “Leo” Schick, C’43, on
2017.
Richard E. “Dick” Pipak, Sr., P’50, C’56, on June 7.
Roy F. Walters, Jr., C’53, on
David T. Bannon, P’41, C’45,
June 24.
Kenneth J. Frech, P’44, C’51, on January 2.
Richard J. “Dick” Maher, C 44, on June 12.
Allen H. Weiss, M.D., C’44, on April 1, 2017
Francis L. Langan, C’46, on
William J. Mitchell, M.D., P’46, C’50, on March 31.
May 25.
March 12.
John K. Donahue, M.D., C’50,
George West, C 53, on
on February 1.
February 15.
Rev. Brian W. Connolly, C’51, S 55, on May 16.
Rev. Charles B. Bergman, C’54, S’58, on February 27.
November 1, 2017.
Frederick W. Enfield, C 51, on
Angelo J. Taiani, C’48, on
August 4.
Alphonse J. Cipriani, M.D., C’54, S’58, on July 25.
William J. Blatt, Jr., P’47, C’51, on April 29. Robert R. Charlton, P’47,
August 16, 2018.
Saint Vincent Magazine
36
FALL 2018
Bossie and Guz notices
Deaths
Charles H. Decker, C’61, on
John W. Gardner, Ph.D., C’68,
John Robert White, C’84, on
February 1.
on February 21.
July 5.
Bruce Bossie, P’57, on August
Bernard J. Ozolins, C’61, on
Joseph R. Hamo, P 68, on June
Michael F. Fleischauer, C’87,
April 30.
9, 2017.
on April 8.
Robert E. Wainscott, Jr., P’61,
Robert Luczak, C’68, S’72, on
Gregory A. Jasper, C’88, on
on May 30.
May 31.
July 23.
3, 2018.
Atty. Richard F. Pohl, P’58, on August 17, 2016.
William Kosglow, C’57, on January 22, 2017.
John L. Vaccare, Jr., C’61, on
Rev. James G. Salberg, S’69,
Julianne (Davies) Miller, C’88,
May 15.
on March 24.
on March 20.
Rev. Eugene F. Lauer, S.T.D., C’57, S 61, on May 20.
Anthony D. DeFilippo, P’62, on
William G. Barrick, C’70, on
John E. Jablonsky, Jr., C’90,
April 19.
August 9.
on April 17.
The Hon. Joseph A. Nickleach, C’62, on August 15.
James E. Morrison, C’72, on
Randy W. Parfitt, C’90, on
February 24.
June 14.
February 21.
C. William Thompson, C’62, on
C. William Thompson, C’62, on
David D. Carroll, C’94, on July 1.
John P. Peterman, D.D.S., C’59, on February 10.
June 9.
June 9.
Charles E. Glessner, P’62, C’66, on April 9.
Steven Todoric, C’72, on June 23.
Paul F. Bradley, C’58, March 23. George M. Pavick, C’58, on
James F. Moore, P’59, on April 10. Frank G. Blaz, C’60, on March 13. Francis G. Nicholson, C’60, on April 17.
Robert Roberts, C’60, on May 19. George R. Blaha, C’61, on January 25,
Albert A. Chenet, P’61, on January 29.
Rev. James E. Reiter, P 63, on January 23.
Gerry Guz, C’63, on August 26, 2018.
John Jeff Shaffer, P’64, C’68, on March 23.
Thomas L. Antkowiak, C’67, H’99, on April 18. Raymond G. Spisak, C’67, on
George F. Kobil, C’74, on May 25.
Joseph R. Hisker, C 97, on July 21. Jonathon R. “J.R.” Morrell, C’98, on June 19.
Michael J. Maher, C’74, on
Michael P. Beaver, C’01, on
April 20.
May 2.
Timothy W. Scheier, C’79, on
Mark Cogan, C’04, on July 6.
April 8.
John G. Uhring, C’79, on September 2.
Lt. Cmdr. Raymond E. Sullivan, C’82, on July 13.
Jeffrey J. Maurer, C’05, on July 2.
Kathleen Ann Smith, Saint Vincent retiree from the Development Club and Public Relations on August 13.
March 15.
Marriages Janelle L. Reed, C’09, and Brian Baudinet on June 30 at Saint Vincent Basilica with
Father Thomas Curry, O.S.B., S’02, officiating. Alumni in the wedding party included; Lauren
(Reilly) Petricig, C’09, matron of honor and
Abby Bryant, C’13, and Austin Dill met in the Peace Corps in Panama and were married in Atlanta, Georgia on September 24, 2017. Classmates in attendance are pictured from left, Olivia
Michelle L. Simpson, C’09, maid of honor; and bridesmaids: Maura A. Wahl, C’09, and Melissa C. McKamish, C’08.
Sharkey, Sara Maurer, Carly Marsh, Abby Bryant, Colleen Cocchi (Fisher), Sadie Stresky, Rachel Diethorn (Gettinger), and Megan DePrimio, all Class of 2013 (above). Saint Vincent Magazine
37
FALL 2018
Jayna Cline, C’13, and Trevor Comas, C’13 (above and at right) were married June 17, 2018 at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, Pittsburgh. Members of the bridal party included Jill Cline, C19, maid of honor; Jenna Thomas, C’13; Kelsey Linstrum, C’14; Sam Cline, C’14, best man; Ryan Nguyen, C’14’; Matt Manspeaker, C’13 and Jeff Williams, C’11.
Joseph D. Fearer, C’14, and Julie Ann Bearer on May 19 at Saint Vincent Basilica. Alumni in the wedding party included:
Adam F. Zurawsky, C’10, and Monica R. O’Donnell on April 14 at Saint Vincent Basilica with Father Vincent Zidek, O.S.B., C’85, S’91, as celebrant. Alumni assisting at the wedding included Gene Zurawsky, C’87, father of the groom; Mario
Andrew J. Kavinsky, C’14; Jordan Britcher, C’14; Anthony Hanula, C’16; Max Henry, C’14; Sean Malone, C’14; and Ben Webb, C’16.
Fragello, C’10; Darren Smith, C’11; and Jonathan Rosa, C’10, as groomsmen.
Maggie Garvey, C’14, and Aaron Wilkinson, C’14, pictured
Brittany D. Bowen, C’13, and Zachary M. Ray, C’12, on July
below, on June 9 in Frederick, Maryland. Alumni taking part in the nuptials included Kathleen
7 at Saint Vincent Basilica with
Father Thomas Curry, O.S.B., S’02, as celebrant. Alumni in the wedding party included
Patrick Shiner, C’11; Alex Coffroth, C’12; Jesse Metz, C’12; Alex Verosky, C’12; Patricia Allan, C’13; and Victoria Magiera, C’13.
Erika Anstead, C’14, and Lieutenant Daniel Syzdek, U.S. Navy, at Saint Dominic Church in Washington D.C. They are currently stationed in Naples, Italy.
Sigg, Rob O’Hearn, Chris Toy, Jay Donoghue, Kaley Burkardt, and Trevor Cutlip, all with the Class of 2014; Elom Pedanou, C’13, and Brody Ruffner, C’15.
Emma Marie Hamling, C’16, and Benjamin Joseph Grassi, C’16, on June 23 at Saint Vincent Basilica.
Sarah L. Hejnosz, C’18, and Ryan Lewis, C’15, on June 9 at Saint Vincent Basilica with Fr. Brian D. Boosel, O.S.B., C’96, S’02, officiating. SVC alumni in the wedding party included Best Man, Emmett Perry, C’16, groomsmen: Sean Merritt,
C’15, Peter Wojtechko, C’15, Matthew Gates, C’15, Daniel O’Connor, C’16, Jordan Reyna, C’18, and Kyle Donovan, C 19. Jessica Bordenave, C’11, Maria Beecher, C’18, and Kelly Wieczorkowski, C 19, were
bridesmaids.
GUARDIAN SOCIETY
Guardian Society members are loyal alumni and friends who have remembered Saint Vincent College in their estate planning through bequests, insurance policies, trusts or annuities. Their stewardship guarantees a quality education to Saint Vincent students of the future. For information call 724-805-2949. Saint Vincent Magazine
38
FALL 2018
MALOY GIFT GIVES BACK TO SAINT VINCENT STUDENTS
A
little over a year ago Joseph T. Maloy, Ph.D., C’61, retired after more than 50 years of teaching chemistry at Ramsay High School (four years), West Virginia University (nine years), and Seton Hall University (38 years). Earlier this year, he and his wife, Marlene, made unrestricted gifts to the college via Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) directly from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). We asked them to share some of their thoughts in processing this gift. “Even though 401k and 403b plans are generally subject to the same Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) as traditional IRAs, only members of the traditional IRA family allow QCDs,” Joe noted in describing his research. “While the onset of taking 401k or 403b RMD can be delayed by continuing to work past the age of 70½, the direct donation of qualified funds from either of these plans is not permitted. In order to make a qualified donation from funds accumulated in an employer’s plan, it must be converted to a traditional IRA after retirement.” As Joe and Marlene continued sharing their reasons for directing funds to the college, they offered the caution that if interested, one must be sure to first consult with an attorney or tax advisor. “When Marlene and I were approaching retirement we had four different retirement accounts,” he said. “As we each retired, we rolled our employer plans into our respective IRAs. She retired first before reaching the age of 70 ½, but I delayed the RMD onset by working for many years past that age. When I finally did retire, I took care to complete my IRA rollover prior to December 31 so that these funds would be available in the IRA for QCD the following year. This increased our taxable income for the prior year by having both earned income and RMD income in the same year,
but it avoided the possibility of having double RMD income in the following year.” Further conversation with Joe and Marlene uncovered personal reasons for their commitment to Saint Vincent. Joe felt that without his scholarship support by the Benedictines over 50 years ago, he never would have been able to pursue a degree. The couple is also thankful that they met while he was at Saint Vincent and have benefited from a very happy marriage. When asked what their core motivation for their interest in Saint Vincent College, without hesitation, Joe and Marlene responded: “We live in changing times, and the motto expressed by Boniface Wimmer, ‘Forward, Always Forward,’ is still relevant today. Always moving forward but being rooted in longstanding Benedictine tradition seems to us the best place to be while seeking those things that will profit us in eternity. It is in this hope that we would recommend Saint Vincent to any young person.” There are many ways to create a planned gift for the college. If, upon reading this brief story about Joe and Marlene, you have an interest in supporting Saint Vincent and would like to discuss your giving options, please feel free to give me a call at any time. And, thank you for your interest in Saint Vincent College. To read more about the commitment of Joe and Marlene Maloy, please visit the “Spotlight on the Alumni” section of the college webpage. —Jim Bendel, C’60, D’85, Planned Giving Director For information please contact Jim Bendel james.bendel@stvincent.edu, 724-805-2948
MAKE A DIFFERENCE, MAKE A FUTURE Contact the Office of Institutional Advancement 724-805-2948 www.stvincent.edu/studentsfirst
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Saint Vincent College Quality Education in the Benedictine Tradition
300 Fraser Purchase Road Latrobe, PA 15650-2690 www.stvincent.edu
SAINT VINCENT COLLEGE: COMMEMORATION 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT THRESHOLD/RABBI EDELSTEIN LECTURE and GALLERY EXHIBITION 7 P.M., TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 • FRED ROGERS CENTER
Rabbi Ron Symons: Love Your Neighbor As Yourself: 21st Century Imperatives Saint Vincent will comemmorate the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht with a lecture by Rabbi Ron Symons of Pittsburgh and the opening of the exhibition Beloved: Children of the Holocaust by Mary Burkett. On November 9 and 10, 1938, some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and taken to concentration camps by the Nazis in an event later known as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). Synagogues were torched, homes, schools and businesses were vandalized and more than 100 Jews were killed. The Nazis held the German Jews responsible for the broken glass that littered the streets. Kristallnacht marked a turning point toward more violent and repressive treatment of Jews by the Nazis. Less than a year later the Germans invaded Poland and World War II began. The command to love your neighbor as yourself from the Book of Leviticus is among the foundational obligations of communal life. Join with Rabbi Symons as he explores the impact of this obligation from Biblical times through our own day. This message has the power to inspire us to work towards a day when no one’s glass and when no one is broken again. Rabbi Ron Symons serves as the Senior Director of Jewish Life at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. He is responsible for guiding the Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement of the JCC through which the JCC and its partners redefine neighbor from a geographic term into a moral concept.
FREE ADMISSION. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: 724-805-2177
Kristallnacht image courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Used with
permission.