featuring remembrances on the life and legacy of Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Alumni, Friends, and Families,
eing a part of the Saint Vincent community, you know the importance of our history. As we reflect on our shared history and how it connects to the future, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
We celebrate the life of monumental figures in our community. Archabbot Emeritus Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B.,
Father Myron Kirsch, O.S.B., and Roman Verostko all made contributions to our College that will not be forgotten. Their intellect and legacy continue to shine over us and guide us.
Those who remember Archabbot Douglas will remember his care for all of those who encountered him. His smile warmed our hearts, and his words filled us with joy. You may also remember his pectoral cross, reflected on the cover of this issue, which he treasured as a gift from the monks at São Bento Priory in Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Our history guides us on the path forward. Let us continue to learn from those who came before us, celebrating their legacies as we chart a path to help our beloved community continue to thrive.
Looking forward,
Rev. Paul R. Taylor, O.S.B. President
All five living Saint Vincent College presidents pay tribute to Archabbot Douglas.
Left to right: Archabbot Martin de Porres Bartel, O.S.B.; James Will; Jim Towey; Br. Norman Hipps, O.S.B.; and Rev. Paul Taylor, O.S.B.
FALL 2024, VOL. 2, NO. 3
Archabbot and Chancellor
Rt. Rev. Martin de Porres Bartel, O.S.B., S’85
President
Rev. Paul R. Taylor, O.S.B., C’87, S’91
Executive Vice President/ Chief Operating Officer
Jeff Mallory, Ed.D., C’06, G’13
Vice President of Marketing
Simon Stuchlik, C’12
Editor-in-Chief
Morgan Paris, C’16
Institutional Marketing Manager
Art Director
George Fetkovich, C’80
Designer Ellie Powell, C’22
Contributing Writers
Jim Bendel, C’60
Jim Berger, C’04
Rob Biertempfel
David Collins, C’24
Guy Davis
Andrew Julo
Madison Kozera, C’24
Rev. Paul R. Taylor, O.S.B., C’87, S’91
Photography Chris Gooden Liz Palmer
Visit us on the web at 1846.stvincent.edu 1846@stvincent.edu
DEPARTMENTS
2 News Briefs
20 Office Space
32 From the Archives
Reflections on the life and legacy of Archabbot Douglas.
Breaking Bread
SVC faculty member and recent alumnus team up to pioneer water desalination research.
Spontaneous and Calculated
Remembering Roman Verostko— digital art trailblazer, educator, and humanist.
22 Dialogue in Context
34 Class Notes
36 By the Numbers Check out the next installment of 1846: The Podcast featuring Andy Julo, Curator of the Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections
1846: The Magazine of Saint Vincent College (United States Postal Service Publication Number USPS 51448000) is published by Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for alumni, parents and friends. Thirdclass postage paid at Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Alumni Office, Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650-2690. Saint Vincent College reserves the right to accept or decline submissions of both information and photos for use in 1846: The Magazine of Saint Vincent College, 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/.
Visiting professor shares expertise with the Saint Vincent community. 23
Outdoor Leadership sets out on a forty-mile journey.
Master Historian
Alumnus chronicles World War II with Masters of the Air
ON THE COVER
Archabbot Douglas, custom Benedictine cross—a gift from Brazilian monks—is reflectively mirrored in a graphic illustration by designer Ellie Powell.
news briefs
DP Harris named director of athletics
DP Harris, C’13, was named director of athletics for Saint Vincent College after filling the role in an interim capacity the past twelve months. Harris is a Saint Vincent College Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball coach of the year.
cybersecurity program ranking
Saint Vincent College ranks No. 3 on Cybersecurity Guide’s 2024 list of the top twentyfive cybersecurity bachelor’s degree programs in the United States. Cybersecurity Guide evaluates only programs that are rated as Centers for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity, a status SVC’s program received in 2020 from the NSA.
direct entry - master of science in nursing program approved
Saint Vincent College received approval from the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing to offer a new Direct Entry - Master of Science in Nursing (DEMSN) program starting in summer 2025. The DE-MSN program will prepare students who did not study nursing in college for clinical careers.
Dr. Yount appointed to endowed chair
After completing a national search, Saint Vincent College has selected Dr. Mary Beth Yount to fill the Irene S. Taylor Endowed Chair for Catholic and Family Studies. Dr. Yount holds a PhD in Catholic systematic theology from Duquesne University, with specialization in ethics and practical theology.
Rogers fellowship
Rev. Dr. Clarence E. Wright will serve as the inaugural Fred Rogers Fellow in Theology and Ministry, effective July 1. The Fellowship is offered in partnership between the Fred Rogers Institute and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and honors the ministry and legacy of Rogers.
Read more and get the latest Saint Vincent College news at 1846.stvincent.edu/news.
Two hundred campers worked up a sweat during annual Steelers Youth Football Camp at Saint Vincent College. The annual event, held June 17-18, was the second in a series of four noncontact camps offered by the Steelers this summer in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The camps are open to girls and boys ages 6 to 14.
SVC ranked in Money magazine
For the second year in a row, Saint Vincent College has earned high marks on Money magazine’s Best Colleges in America list. Saint Vincent is among only twenty-three private colleges in Pennsylvania that received at least a four-star rating for 2024.
San Beda University Steelers youth camp
As part of a recently established partnership between SVC and San Beda University (Manila, Philippines), thirty-one students and faculty members from San Beda visited Saint Vincent College in early September. Thanks to this growing relationship, students and faculty from Saint Vincent may visit San Beda in the future.
2024 alumni of distinction announced
This year’s honorees are Marianne Reid Anderson, C’87, of Pittsburgh; Adrienne M. Geis, C’89, of Alexandria, Virginia; Joe Hoffman, C’78, of Dallas; W. Jeffrey Hoover, C’79, of Wexford; Daniel P. Lynch, C’89, of Fombell; William A. Ramos, C’64, of Nesconset, New York; and Ronald G. Rosemeier, P’70, C’74, of Monkton, Maryland.
Douglas Archabbot Emeritus
O.S.B. Nowicki, in memory of
STORY
Father Paul R. Taylor, O.S.B. President, Saint Vincent College P'63, C'68, S'72, H'95
1888, just two months after his death, Sadlier’s Catholic Dictionary named Boniface Wimmer the greatest missionary of the 19th century. The founder of Saint Vincent had a vision to meet the needs of the poor, the marginalized, immigrants, Native Americans, African Americans, farmers, and many more. He knew that education and pastoral care are the best instruments by which people are raised up from their current situation to become integrated into the mainstream of American society and the way that faith is transmitted and strengthened.
In 1959, Bobby Nowicki arrived at Saint Vincent to study in preparation for monastic life and priesthood at the Prep School. Father Method Mraz, O.S.B., his pastor, told him he could not go to the diocesan seminary because all the students studying for the priesthood from Saint Bruno Parish went to Saint
Vincent. It was in this year of 1959, then, that Bobby Nowicki was introduced to the legacy and mission of Boniface Wimmer.
Throughout the rest of his life, as he embraced the cross of Jesus Christ, monastic profession, the Sacred Chrism of Holy Orders, and a rigorous and broad education, he also embraced Wimmer’s mission.
Elected Archabbot on January 8, 1991, he knew that this office of service and leadership could best be motivated by renewing and articulating this clear and simple mission. As Wimmer wrote in 1854, “Forward, always forward, everywhere forward! We must not be held back by debts, bad years, or by the difficulties of the times. Man’s adversity is God’s opportunity.” This famous saying of Boniface Wimmer became the mantra of Archabbot Douglas Nowicki. Quite fittingly, too: many people have called Archabbot Douglas the “Second Founder” of
The
Most Reverend BISHOP DAVID A. ZUBIK
I first met “Father” Nowicki when we worked together in Pittsburgh under Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua and then-Bishop Donald Wuerl.
He was the diocesan secretary for education. I was the Bishop’s administrative secretary. We often worked in our separate offices late into the night sometimes close to midnight. I could count on him checking in on me. There began our cherished friendship one that lasted until he breathed his last.
So much can be and is being said about the beloved Archabbot Nowicki. He was a great teacher, administrator, leader, innovator among other realities. But for me, he was especially a loyal, supportive friend.
Of recent years and during my annual retreat, I felt his friendship when we sat next to each other in the choir stalls of the Basilica. There we shared our common friendship with the Lord.
Farewell my dear, dear friend.
Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord.
Saint Vincent or the “Second Wimmer.”
As we see and touch the beautiful campus of Saint Vincent, with the Archabbey Basilica as its crown jewel, we know that every square inch, every brick, every blade of grass, has been transformed by Archabbot Douglas in his almost thirty years as the Archabbot here. Even more importantly though, this place, as beautiful as it is, is even more resplendent because of its mission: to care for, shelter, educate, and minister to the people inside. Everything that Archabbot Douglas did, in all his achievements, in all the campaigns, was for people.
He did this because he was motivated by the mission. He did this because it was his vocation and calling. But he could only do this because many people loved him and supported him. As he would often say, “People don’t invest in things; people don’t invest in institutions; people invest in people.” Archabbot Douglas invested in—and indeed loved—people. In the words of Fred Rogers, the best gift that anyone could give is their “Honest Self.” Archabbot Douglas did that.
He studied in the Prep, College, and Seminary at Saint Vincent. After ordination, he earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee, writing his dissertation on smiling and laughing in children. Father Douglas also engaged in post-doc studies at the Max Planck Institute in Munich before returning to begin a practice in child psychology at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and to teach at Saint Vincent College. During his time
Class of 1999
DAVID GAITO, JR.
“I wish he would have given me a hint that he wasn’t well when we last spoke. I would have loved to give him a big hug and tell him how much I love him.
I think about him often. How he impacted my life. More so than any other man. He allowed me to feel close to “normal” and took an immense amount of stress away from my mother. I am so thankful that I put my thoughts in a letter to him years ago.”
at Children’s, he was “Dr. Nowicki.” But one of his patients didn’t like the “No” in his name, so the child called him Dr. Yeswicki. Henceforth, he became “Dr. Yeswicki” to patients and parents alike.
His practice gave him the opportunity to work with Fred Rogers on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood , which he did for twenty-four years. They became the best of friends. Fred wrote of Father Douglas: “It was our interest in children which first brought Douglas and me together. He was just completing his doctorate in clinical child psychology, and I was, as always, collecting ideas for children’s television programming. When we met, I quickly learned that Douglas cared far more for the children themselves than for their psychological test scores. None of us will ever know all of the children for whom Douglas has made a lifelong difference, children who had been physically and emotionally scarred, brought to him for help, and he quite naturally brought the love of God to the informed
Archabbot Douglas dedicates the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve in 2002.
Owner, Pittsburgh Steelers ART ROONEY, II
Archabbot Douglas was an incredibly kind and holy man. He reminded me of my grandfather in many ways, particularly in the way that he kept in communication with so many people through his postcards and messages.
I am sure there are thousands of people who received one or more of his postcards from all over the world. He was always thinking of others and tried to bring a message of peace and hope everywhere he went.
Archabbot Douglas’ acts of kindness toward me, and so many others in the Rooney family, will never be forgotten. The world is a better place in the footsteps where he walked.
God bless Archabbot Douglas.”
psychological healing of those little ones. And I know he has delighted in that.”
Father Douglas also served as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Whenever he spoke of these years, he always had the biggest smile. He cared for the poor, the immigrants, former prisoners moving into a halfway house, and single parents and their families. Children of these single parent families found a generous scholarship to Saint Vincent College through Father Douglas, going on to become very successful.
He went on to serve as vicar for education in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, where he faced challenges of declining enrollments and financial difficulties. In response, Father Douglas created the Extra Mile Education Foundation, which continues to this day. Corporate Leaders rallied around Father Douglas with significant resources to provide a strong Catholic education for three (and now more) Catholic elementary schools in the inner city of Pittsburgh. These students received a great education because of Father Douglas’ vision and the generosity of these leaders.
Then, elected Archabbot in 1991, his vision truly began to transform Saint Vincent.
In his first year as Archabbot, he took seriously his fatherly care for the monks, especially the monks in Taiwan and Brazil. While he normally awoke every day at 4:00 a.m., in that first year he awoke at 3:00 a.m. to study Portuguese for an hour so that he could speak with the monks in Brazil in their language.
He cared for all the monks and took seriously the charge that Saint Benedict puts forth in The
Rule: that the abbot be a loving father. He cared especially for the sick and took particular care that the monks had good food to eat. He mentored the monks to engage in education to fulfill their potential and provided jobs and responsibilities to challenge them to grow in their work and ministry. He reformed the Divine Office as it is prayed in this Basilica, strengthening our chant and prayer.
Saint Vincent celebrated 150 years with a year-long sesquicentennial celebration in 1996, which served as a springboard for the renovation of the Basilica as well as the transformation of the Seminary and College. Many people rallied around his vision and enthusiasm for this monastery and its apostolates.
Saint Vincent’s impact and reputation spans the globe. It was started with Boniface Wimmer’s influence in Rome and Germany. It continued with Archabbot Aurelius in China. Archabbot Douglas, however, strengthened all of these and more with great success. He invested in monks and seminarians from around the world to study at Saint Vincent and mentored abbots from other monasteries, fully embracing another Boniface Wimmer maxim: “We belong to the whole world.”
Archabbot Douglas also saw the need for strengthening the connection between the Jewish and Catholic communities.
Through the example and friendship of Rabbi Jason Edelstein, Archabbot Douglas established the endowed Chair in Catholic Jewish Dialogue with the support of the Rabbi’s family.
The mission of the College continued to blossom under his
Long-Time Friend of Saint Vincent MARY LOU MCLAUGHLIN
My first introduction to then-Father Douglas was through my late husband (Aloysius “Ish” McLaughlin, P’52, C’56), who served on the Saint Vincent Board of Directors and the Seminary Board of Regents at the time.
Amid many who were wary of new initiatives or approaches, Father Douglas said yes. He encouraged those around him to think outside the box, always thinking about where the College should be, could be, and would be with the support of everyone around him.
Over time, he became a dear friend. We traveled together on Benedictine heritage journeys, engaging in lively discussions about life, religion, and spirituality. His life and work were inspirational, but in a heartfelt and spiritual way that always came back to caring for students, for people. Throughout Ish’s illness, Archabbot Douglas called often and visited us at home and in the hospital, which was always a blessing. On our 50th wedding anniversary, he surprised us in the hospital with a beautifully framed Papal Blessing, which we loved and which our family and I cherish.
Archabbot Douglas never stepped out of his role as the leader of his community, but he still found ways to engage with everyone on a deep, personal level. His ability to find the simplicity of gaining, maintaining, and nourishing friendships was a gift and he shared that gift with all who knew him. I miss him dearly.
Long-Time Friends of Saint Vincent CHRIS & ANN DONAHUE
It is said that friendship is the highest form of love because it is open to endless participants who share common interests.
Archabbot Douglas was a dear friend and a friend to many. The Heritage Tours were fountains of friendship: part pilgrimage, part education but all friendship enhancing.
In Mr. Rogers tradition, he treated everyone with dignity. Archabbot even arranged for Fred and Joanne Rogers to visit our family in our home in Pittsburgh.
Archabbot Douglas had a jeweler’s eye for seeing what could be done on the Saint Vincent campus and a jeweler’s tool for finding the money to do so.
Of course, Archabbot was a monk who wore the robes with pride. Most
importantly, he wore the Benedictine cloth in his heart where it matters most.
We will always remember his “ever abiding” affability.
Ann and I were the last pew Catholics to visit the Archabbot in the hospital. As we were saying our goodbyes, we suggested that he should not do any more jailbreaks. He gave us a smile and a fist pump with his ring, and the next day did the ultimate jailbreak. You could never corral his spirit.
We are blessed to have known Archabbot Douglas and continue to be blessed by remembering our friend.
leadership across all three pillars of Catholic and Benedictine and liberal arts. He established, with the help of many friends, the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, the Boniface Wimmer Chair in Monastic Studies, the Endowed Chair for Catholic Family Studies, the Endowed Chair for Ethics and Catholic Social Thought, and many others. He also established the Benedict XVI Chair in Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation in the Seminary.
From his work in Pittsburgh, especially with students in the Extra Mile schools, and through Project Headway, many of Archabbot Douglas’ friends began a scholarship to fulfill his vision of
helping those in the most need: the Archabbot’s Minority Scholarship. For over thirty years, this significant endowed scholarship in the College has helped hundreds of young men and women to complete their education at Saint Vincent and to go on to have successful careers and meaningful lives.
Archabbot Douglas’s own theology and spirituality was rooted in a profound understanding of God’s love. Each year when our community received new novices, Archabbot Douglas delivered the same homily; a good homily, the kind that one is better for hearing over and over again.
He told the novices that the religious life is about overcoming illusions—illusions about ourselves,
illusions about the church, and illusions about God. He never explained how this worked—each monk must overcome these illusions for himself. But as we slowly but surely strip away these illusions, we come to a deeper understanding and experience of the only thing about which there can be no illusion: God’s love.
When Archabbot Douglas retired from the Office of Archabbot four years ago, he remained a quiet yet steady presence in the monastic community on campus. He appreciated the opportunity to be in Florida for a few months each year, yet Saint Vincent was always home. Faithful to the Daily Office of Prayer and Holy Mass, he remained an inspiration. ♦
“ Forward, always forward, everywhere forward.
We
cannot be held back by debts, by the difficulties of the times, by unfortunate years. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.”
-
ARCHABBOT BONIFACE WIMMER, O.S.B. Founder, Saint Vincent Archabbey and College
1966
Professed as a Benedictine
1997
1991
Elected 11th Archabbot of Saint Vincent by fellow monks
Monastery Run Improvement project
1972
Ordained to the priesthood
1995
Rooney Hall constructed
< On May 11, 2010, Archabbot Douglas was re-elected to an additional ten-year term.
2002
Saint Benedict Hall construction and Rooney Hall renovation
2003
Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media created
2011
Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion constructed
2014
2006
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve renovation project
Retires from abbacy
Mary, Mother of Wisdom Student Chapel constructed
Dale P. Latimer Library renovation and construction of Verostko Center for the Arts
the legacy of theabbacy
legacy abbacy
ARCHABBOT EMERITUS DOUGLAS NOWICKI, O.S.B.
STORY Rob Biertempfel
PHOTOGRAPHY Liz Palmer
Inspiration for scientific innovation can be found in unlikely places. At a cookout with some buddies about five years ago, Dr. Adam Wood, an assistant professor of engineering, came up with what he believes is a better way to desalinate saltwater when he tossed a hamburger bun into the bonfire.
“I threw it right into the middle of the fire, where there is little oxygen for combustion but there’s still intense heat,” Dr. Wood recalled. “Right before my eyes, boom, that piece of bread turned into a carbon electrode.”
A carbon electrode conducts electricity under certain conditions. When two electrodes are connected to a battery, one becomes positively charged and the other negatively charged. Add some low-salinity water, and the electrodes will attract the positive and negative ions— removing the salt and other minerals and leaving fresh water. The process is called capacitive desalination (CDI).
When doing CDI on a broad scale, the electrodes can be the most expensive part. Dr. Wood, who back then was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, was searching for a way to make it cheaper and more accessible. He needed to create electrodes out of something that is high in carbon content, plentiful, and inexpensive.
Dr. Wood had been conducting trials with mangrove root but was looking for a more sustainable raw material. As he looked at the chunk of bread-turned-charcoal in the heart of that bonfire, Dr. Wood realized he’d finally found a great ingredient for his carbon electrodes: bread.
“Bread is one of the most wasted foods in the world,” Dr. Wood said. “It’s very high in carbon content, and very easy to get.” However, Dr. Wood’s research with bread came to a halt when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down everything. “I never stepped foot in the research lab again at CMU and ended up coming to Saint Vincent [to teach],” he said. Aided by his SVC students, Dr. Wood recently resumed working on the project.
Dr. Wood’s research might someday revolutionize how people around the world get their drinking water. The most common method of desalination is reverse osmosis, in which water is forced at high pressures through semi-permeable membranes that act as microscopic strainers to remove salt and other impurities. CDI has the potential to get the job done at a lower cost.
“We thought, this is great—but maybe we can we make it even better,” Dr. Wood explained. “We wondered if we could fine-tune the shape and produce an electrode with kind of the surface features we want.”
David Bujdos, C’24, of Munhall, who last spring graduated with a Bachelor of Science in engineering with concentrations in mechanical and materials engineering, made huge strides with the research over the past two years. “He took my method and basically said, ‘I have a better method,’ and he ran with it,” Dr. Wood said. “He’s an all-star student.”
To create the electrodes, store-bought bread is heated in furnace tubes in the lab. Any type of bread would work, but, for consistency’s sake, Dr. Wood and Bujdos exclusively use Pepperidge Farm whole wheat. “My job was to come up with different ways to create the electrodes and control their shape,” Bujdos explained. Bujdos first tried stamping custom surface topologies onto the bread, sort of like making thumbprint cookies on a microscopic scale. Then he devised a better process—mashing the bread into a paste which then goes onto molds to form ridges and valleys.
In May, Saint Vincent College was awarded a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for Dr. Wood’s desalination/ water disinfection project. A significant portion of the grant funded undergraduate students who worked on the project over the summer of 2024 and into following academic year.
Bujdos wrote a paper on his work and submitted it to a journal for peer-reviewed publication—quite an advanced step for an undergraduate. “People usually don’t do that until the second year of their PhD [program],” Dr. Wood remarked.
This fall, Bujdos began working toward his PhD in the materials science and engineering program at the University of Pennsylvania. He remains keenly interested in CDI’s potential. “What motivated me throughout this whole process is that everything is a recycled material,” Bujdos said. “Bread, water, and a solar cell from the dollar store is pretty much all it takes.” ♦
David Bujdos and Dr. Adam Wood review data from their desalination research.
S p o n t a n e o u s
and calculated
After working as an artist for over seventy-five years, digital art pioneer Roman Verostko passed away at his home in Minneapolis on June 1, leaving an indelible impact on the history of generative art and generations of digital creatives working around the world.
STORY
Andy Julo
Before he began experimenting with electronic media, circuit logic, and computer languages in the early 1970s, Roman was a professed member of Saint Vincent Archabbey, a professionally trained painter, and a humanities scholar. Working at a time when art made in tandem with computers was viewed with deep suspicion, Roman anticipated the ways in which algorithmic procedure would revolutionize the world. Forming friendships with like-minded artists, Roman mounted exhibitions, organized symposia, and lectured widely on the ways in which code could be leveraged to create art reflective of the digital age. As an author and academician, Roman’s understanding of the historical and theoretical dimensions of art allowed him to articulate the efforts of generative artists to the public.
Weeks before the onset of the Great Depression, Joseph Victor Verostko was born on September 12, 1929, to second generation Slovak immigrants. One of eight children, he grew up in poverty within the coal mining community of Tarrs, Pennsylvania. Shortly after graduating from East Huntington Township High School, Roman enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh with the intention of pursuing a career in illustration. Here he learned the essentials of figure drawing, color theory, handlettering, and layout design.
While at the Art Institute, he visited his brother, Remigius, who had become a monk of Saint Vincent two years prior. Disillusioned with the highly competitive field of commercial illustration, he became increasingly interested in monastic life and ultimately presented himself as a candidate to the monastery on his twenty-first birthday, changing his name to Roman. As a young Benedictine, Roman was a voracious learner, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1955 before graduating from the Seminary in 1959. Encouraged to fuse his artistic training from the Art Institute with personal interests in philosophy, theology, and semiotics, Roman was commissioned by the monastery to create several projects on campus.
Shortly after he was ordained a priest, Roman was sent to New York to pursue advanced study in art history and studio practice. He took classes at New York University and Columbia before earning a Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in 1961. Inspired by the work of twentieth century modernists like Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Kazimir Malevich who sought to integrate contrasting forces within their work, Roman developed an experimental practice of creating abstract paintings and drawings comprised of expressive, gestural forms. As part of that process, he experimented with automatism, an uncalculated technique of mark making that aimed to reveal subconscious thoughts and emotions. These works combine strategically-placed squares of saturated color with loose, gestural lines, emphasizing the need for balance between the rational and irrational, impulsivity and control. Rather than imaging a singular story or narrative, they are reflective of the process by which humans make decisions—each a meditation on the tensions between reason and feeling.
In May 1968, having confronted a crisis of faith, Roman left monastic life and married Dr. Alice Wagstaff, a child psychologist and university professor. The two relocated to Minneapolis, where he assumed a faculty position teaching liberal arts courses at what is now known as Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Over the next forty years, Roman and Alice would regularly collaborate on artistic projects in an endless pursuit of a shared creative life.
In 1970, Roman took a computer concepts course that included FORTRAN at Control Data Institute in Minneapolis. As an artist, learning to write computer code proved fascinating as the process permitted him
to explore forms previously unseen. In 1982, Roman acquired an IBM PC. Shortly thereafter, he also obtained pen-plotters to execute abstract drawings guided by vast algorithmic procedures he had devised personally. Through countless hours of trial-and-error, Roman would revise his master drawing program, Hodos (the Greek word for path), to achieve increasingly sophisticated abstractions. After acquiring several pen-plotters and personal computers, Roman came to view his studio as an electronic scriptorium, with the plotters serving as electronic scribes, harkening back to the labor-intensive output of medieval monasteries who copied texts by hand before the introduction of printing technology in the mid-fifteenth century.
Roman’s work is typically characterized by layered, multi-colored self-simulated lines assembled into ethereal forms. While contemporary inkjet printing places dots of color next to one another, pen plotters draw lines over one another, resulting in a more luminous output. Roman was interested in creating curvilinear forms that were not visually beholden to the computer’s inherent grid system. Several bodies of work feature hand-applied gold leaf—a reference to the illuminated manuscript traditions of Europe and the Middle East. Singular among his contemporaries, Roman was intent to honor luminaries in mathematics and computing, including Norbert Weiner, Alan Turing, and George Boole, whose respective pioneering scholarship was pivotal in the development of future computational technology.
Together with Jean-Pierre Hebert, Roman cofounded the Algorists in 1995. As with any twentieth century art movement, the Algorists had a manifesto, written by Jean-Pierre fittingly as an algorithm. This was a significant gesture as it helped to codify those working with studio practices grounded in rules-based logic. Despite staunch resistance from art curators and critics who maintained computer-assisted drawing would never be considered art, the Algorists remained resolute. It is at conferences like SIGGRAPH, ISEA, and Ars Electronica that these artists found a home, a place to share their ideas, forge connections with like-minded others, and exhibit their work.
At the end of his life, Roman’s work had appeared in over 100 exhibitions on five continents. His work is represented in institutions globally, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Digital Art Museum in Berlin, the Minneapolis Institute of Art,
Tokyo’s Tama Art University Museum, and the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany.
In November 2021, Saint Vincent College dedicated the Verostko Center for the Arts in honor of Roman. Located inside the campus library, the 9,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility features four distinct exhibition areas, a video-presentation space, administrative offices, and climate-controlled storage for Saint Vincent’s collection of art and rare books, as well as the College’s archive. Dedicated to featuring artwork that investigates intersecting academic disciplines, the Verostko Center stands as an enduring testament to Roman’s lifelong work of revealing the existent power when fields of inquiry converge. Saint Vincent proudly holds the largest collection of Roman’s work, spanning the entirety of his career, ranging from commissioned murals and interactive sculpture to pen-plotted drawings and time-based
AN IMAGINATION, A LIVING SPIRIT
media projects. The Verostko Center is also home to Roman’s personal archive—an extensive repository of materials for scholarship and curatorial projects, made available simply by contacting the Center.
Roman believed that the best work out there involved risks, that art was an indispensable tool in navigating life’s most enduring questions. As someone who was raised in the shadow of industry, Roman went out to become one of the prophetic witnesses to the Algorithmic Revolution. He was a tireless advocate for artists whose methods, deemed too strange or experimental, would ultimately bring us to the place where we find ourselves today. Perhaps the best way to honor the creative legacy of this seminal artist and son of Saint Vincent is to pay close attention to the world we inhabit and the one that lives inside us. Cultivating our curiosity and sense of wonder that asks, What else is possible? ♦
“Every human person bears within herself a jewel-like capacity— —which often lies dormant, unable to break through the busyness of everyday life.”
- Roman Verostko, 1972
office space
BY MORGAN PARIS
Replica of Castle
This castle was used for a museum exhibit that celebrated the thirtieth year of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The exhibit premiered in April 1998 at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and then travelled across the country for children to experience what it would be like to step into the Neighborhood
Wishbone
My favorite PBS program is Wishbone. I was excited to find this stuffed Wishbone and learn that it was in Fred’s office. Rick Duffield, creator of the program, wrote to Fred in 1998 to thank him for his dedication and the example he sets in the field of children’s television.
Celeste
The celeste was used to create the dingding sounds of the trolley. We acquired it from WQED where it had been stored in a closet when production of Neighborhood ended. Fred Rogers Productions visited the Archive recently to record the sounds of the celeste for their future programming.
Framed Quote
One of Fred Rogers’ favorite books was The Little Prince He often quoted the book in his speeches. Archabbot Douglas had a calligrapher write out this quote for Fred’s office, which translates to, “The essential is invisible to the eyes.”
It was serendipity the day a colleague of Fred Rogers suggested he connect with then-Father Douglas Nowicki, a well-known and highly regarded child psychologist in Pittsburgh. The two would become fast, lifelong friends sharing a bond that would not only benefit both professionally but would also result in Saint Vincent College becoming home to the Fred Rogers Archive upon Fred’s death.
Emily Uhrin, C’05, an English major, spent all four years at Saint Vincent as a work study in the library before enrolling in the University of Pittsburgh’s Master of Library and Information Science program. It was early on in her grad school career that a circulation desk assistant position opened up at her alma mater. But when she applied, serendipity may have been at play again; Brother David Kelly, S’75, director of the library, had another job in mind for Emily: become his intern,
which would give her requisite credit for grad school, and start going through and inventorying Fred’s files at WQED, which would ultimately result in her becoming the senior archivist for the Fred Rogers Institute.
Interestingly enough, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood wasn’t one of Emily’s go-to shows while she was growing up. Instead, Emily always looked forward to watching Wishbone after school. Little did Emily know, while going through the Archive one day, she would discover a letter Rick Duffield, creator of Wishbone, wrote to Fred, explaining how inspired he was by a speech Fred recently gave at a conference. This letter was accompanied by a life-sized, stuffed Wishbone that Fred would then keep in his office. This was a real treasure for Emily, who loved Wishbone, and there are more treasures still to find when you step not into The Land of Make-Believe, but the Fred Rogers Archive. ♦
Some Place Else Sign and Windmill
Donkey Hodie was an early Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood puppet who settled in the windmill at Some Place Else. His character lives on through Fred Rogers Productions’ television program Donkey Hodie, starring his granddaughter along with Purple Panda and Bob Dog.
Sweater
Fred’s mother knitted the sweaters he wore on the program. He received one from her each year at Christmas. Fred then gifted some of those sweaters to special friends, including Archabbot Douglas. Archabbot Douglas donated his sweater to the Archive in 2008.
Posters from Exhibits at Latrobe Art Center
We have been holding student-curated exhibits, which were originally funded by a grant from the Council of Independent Colleges, at the Latrobe Art Center since February 2022. Students in our Fred Rogers Scholars program have the opportunity to pick subjects for exhibits and select items from the Archive to display.
“Around the Neighborhood” Newsletters
Fred Rogers and his team at Family Communications published newsletters to go along with each theme week of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The newsletters contained explanations of the child development theories behind the themes and give us insight into why Fred presented what he did on the program.
Our Small World Book
Fred Rogers’ first television program was Children’s Corner, which aired on WQED in the 1950s. Most of the puppets we know had their start on the Corner. The book Our Small World tells stories from the perspectives of Daniel Tiger, King Friday, Lady Elaine, and X the Owl.
Storage boxes (standard and flat)
Although most of the items in the Archive are paper, we store them in different ways. Office files that came to us in file folders go in the bankers boxes. Loose pages, like newspaper clippings and Fred’s drafts, usually on yellow legal pads, go in the flat storage boxes
dialogue in context
STORY
Rob Biertempfel
SR. GABRIELE
PHOTO
Liz Palmer
Anative of Lithuania, Dr. Sr. Gabriele Aušra Vasiliauskaitė, O.S.B., has traveled extensively in Europe and Canada in her roles as a professor and researcher at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. Becoming the inaugural Stephans Family Visiting Benedictine Professor at Saint Vincent College this year gave Sr. Gabriele a chance to get acquainted with the United States.
Under the new visiting professor program, which is funded by a grant from the Rossin Foundation, the College recruits one scholar from the Benedictine community to live and teach on campus for at least one semester in each academic year. In the spring 2024 semester, Sr. Gabriele made Latrobe her temporary home as she taught and lectured about Catholic bioethics.
“This is actually my third time in the USA, but the first two times were only for a few days— just [long enough] to say hello,” Sr. Gabriele said. “This is good because it’s much longer.”
A senior researcher at the Research Center of Marriage and Family at Vytautas Magnus with a PhD in humanities (theology), Sr. Gabriele has been honored in Lithuania and abroad for her research and scholarly activities. She came to Saint Vincent after completing an internship with the Archdiocese of Toronto that involved training related to pastoral care in a hospital setting. That experience will prepare her for a coordinator role when she returns to Lithuania.
At Saint Vincent, Sr. Gabriele co-taught a course on Catholic bioethics with adjunct professor Rebecca Krzmarzick. Although the class was small, it was energized by Sr. Gabriele’s ideas about ethical principles for the intersection of faith and science on topics such as elective abortion, euthanasia, and endof-life care. She focused on the intersection of family studies and bioethics, particularly in the
context of fertility awareness and natural family planning.
“Sr. Gabriele gave an interesting perspective, coming from a different country and culture,” Krzmarzick said. “She is very enthusiastic in her teaching and enjoyed engaging in discussions with the students.”
Sr. Gabriele didn’t limit her chats to theology students; she especially liked interacting with students from a variety of majors. Noting the importance of dialogue in a multicultural context, using Jesus’ teaching as a guide for building bridges and fostering understanding, she added that SVC’s students appreciated her background and viewpoints. “They had a lot of openness,” Sr. Gabriele said. “They’re willing to try to understand another context, not just an American context.”
Addressing students in the Benedictine Leadership Studies Program, Sr. Gabriele described two terms she created: pastoral care in silence and the pastoral care of silence. “A pastoral care of silence is an openness to the moment,” she said. “Pastoral care in silence is the preparation for that moment.”
Near the end of the semester, Sr. Gabriele delivered a public lecture about the fortieth anniversary of the Foundation Prayers of the Benedictine Monastery in Kaunas and the role of Archbishop Blessed Teofilius Matulionis.
“One of the great blessings of Catholicism is belonging to a global (‘catholic’) Church that constantly broadens one’s own perspective,” said Dr. Lucas Briola, C’13, assistant professor of theology. “In sharing her experiences of the Church—and Benedictine monasticism in particular—in Lithuania, Sr. Gabriele has done just that for our entire community, from students to monks. We have been so grateful for the opportunity to welcome her and build new theological bridges along the way.” ♦
TOP: Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania.
BOTTOM: Dr. Sr. Gabriele Aušra Vasiliauskaitė, O.S.B.
Madison Kozera
In most typical classes, students walk into their classrooms donning their backpacks filled with notebooks, pens, and textbooks alike, ready to learn and take notes on the next chapter of the lesson. When offered a class more physically demanding, with its learning taking place totally outside of the regular classroom, a few students recently replaced their school bookbags with hiking packs, ready to learn about nature and their own spiritualities in tandem.
In the fall of 2023, nine students joined Dr. Michael Krom, Br. Roman Pallone, and Nurse Jenna Gorsich, C 19, through a forty-mile trip on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail as part of their PL 263: Outdoor Leadership class. The Outdoor Leadership class came to Dr. Krom as a result of his own personal love for backpacking, a passion he hoped to share with students interested in exploring both themselves and the outdoors.
“For almost twenty years, it’s been in the back of my mind to create an outdoor leadership class,” Dr. Krom divulged, “and the conditions were finally right to make this a reality. The catalyst was that in 2021-2022 I had the opportunity to do some research on the philosophy of outdoor education.”
Dr. Krom explained that the founder of the philosophy of outdoor education, Kurt Hahn, inspired him to take up more research on the topic, excited to learn more about the subject while also filling his repertoire of knowledge to create a class of his own. He discovered how Hahn “established his first school on the grounds of a former monastery, and he himself saw Benedictine spirituality as an inspiration.” While most outdoor schools began with this idea in mind, they tended to fall away from the spiritual formation aspects of the philosophy. Wanting to follow in Hahn’s footsteps, Dr. Krom crafted his class in order to not only continue the use of the outdoor classroom, but to also return the classroom to its Benedictine heritage.
Combining his research and his own backpacking skills with some help from Dr. Elaine Bennett and Br. Roman and Gorsich’s medical background, Dr. Krom finally had all of the tools he needed to craft the Outdoor Leadership class he had been dreaming of creating.
Prior to the forty miles the group would eventually
have to hike over the course of five days, the students were required to complete eight hikes on their own, taking their hiking packs with them and noting their experiences to better prepare for the final trip. These practice runs included a 1500-foot elevation hike, a wet weather hike, and a ten-mile hike, each of these used to build the students’ skills and lay the groundwork for the demanding forty miles ahead of them. The students on the trip—recent spring 2024 graduates Sam Bringman, Jonah Vaglia, John Hurley, Parker Bowser, and Helen Kish and seniors David Richman, Thomas Anand, Sarah Burger, and Chloe Fontanazza—all eagerly stepped up to the challenge and completed their training preparations for the coming trip, each more than ready to begin their trek over the coming fall break.
Their journey began at the head of the Laurel Highland Trail in Ohiopyle State Park on Friday, October 13, 2023. The group, though perhaps a little daunted by the upcoming trek, took their troubles and gave them to God, ready to face whatever lied ahead.
Across the forty miles, the hikers experienced numerous trials and tribulations, including steep inclines, allergic reactions, and rainy weather that fought them throughout their trip. Relying on God and one another, the students and their leaders managed to not only successfully complete the forty-mile adventure, but they grew closer with their faith and party members along the way.
Although the students and leaders were grateful for the lessons gained from the trip, collectively, almost every individual agreed that the weather remained the biggest hurdle and the one aspect of the trip they wish they could have changed.
“It rained for most of the journey and poured the rest,” Vaglia commented. “With temperatures down in the thirties at night, this made keeping dry a necessity.”
Starting a fire, then, also quickly became a necessity, and while numerous individuals on the trip knew how to start a fire with dry wood, almost none of them knew how to start one with wet wood—all except David Richman, that is.
“David Richman was the only reason we survived,” Bringman shared. “He got a fire started every night, somehow producing flames from wet wood. He was most definitely the MVP of the hike.”
“Like a tenacious Prometheus, David managed to start fire from water,” Vaglia added. “He not only provided fire to his own shelter but worked so that fires could be started in each of the other shelters. He did this on multiple occasions, and his selfless efforts for the good of the party will never be forgotten.”
Of course, while Richman saved the group from cold nights thanks to his backpacking and fire-starting skills, each member of the party played a key role in the success of the trip. From Br. Roman’s magic trick performances to raise the group’s morale to Thomas Anand’s positive attitude that kept the group moving, every individual carried a vital part in helping the group complete the fortymile trail. Gorsich noted how this “strong community aspect” remained her favorite part about the trip as a whole.
“Everyone kept a positive attitude and supported each other along the way,” she explained. “Each member brought their own unique strengths, know-how, and supplies, and together we had everything that we needed and more.”
Not only did every member have an opportunity to learn more about themselves and others, but they also had a chance to engage more deeply in their relationship with God and the Benedictine Hallmarks, which is what the class was originally designed for.
“Benedictine Outdoor Leadership offered a unique opportunity to build character and virtue that can’t be duplicated in a classroom,” wrote Br. Roman. “A wilderness expedition like we undertook develops the virtue of magnanimity, the ability to pursue and accomplish something truly honorable and exceedingly difficult, with God’s help and for His greater glory. Everyone in our group succeeded in doing just that, and that success has prepared them to be strong leaders, capable of pursuing greater feats in the future, with a faith firmly rooted in Christ.”
“I am so thankful for this time to put the Benedictine Hallmarks into practice, learning more deeply the importance of a community rooted in prayer and work,” said Dr. Krom. “I learned a lot from this trip about what it means to say that we are called to always and everywhere love God and neighbor as self.”
In putting the Benedictine Hallmarks into practice and every individual’s faith to the test, the students and leaders alike learned how to rely both on God and each other, even during the lowest points of the trip. Through their daily prayers, hikes, and time spent around the campfires, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023,
"A WILDERNESS EXPEDITION LIKE WE UNDERTOOK DEVELOPS THE VIRTUE OF MAGNANIMITY, THE ABILITY TO PURSUE AND ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING TRULY HONORABLE AND EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULT, WITH GOD’S HELP AND FOR HIS GREATER GLORY."
the party completed their trek, each of them filled with a newfound confidence regarding the hike they had just accomplished.
As this class is to be offered every fall, Saint Vincent students are encouraged to take the plunge and test their perseverance with the Outdoor Leadership class, choosing a class designed to grant students opportunities to strengthen their relationships with each other, Christ, and themselves. For those willing to challenge themselves with new outdoor experiences or to relive old ones, all one needs to do is speak with the recent participants to be assured that this class is for you—each of these students carries with them stories to encourage others to undertake the same forty-mile journey that they already have. ♦
STORY
Rob Biertempfel
master
Alumnus Donald Miller a leading voice in chronicling World War II
Born
in November 1944, only nine months before V-J Day, Don Miller is too young to have personal memories of World War II. Yet, as Miller grew up in his close-knit Slovak Irish neighborhood in Reading, Pennsylvania, the war was tucked away in his grandfather’s attic, waiting for him to discover it.
Although Miller never experienced the far-flung battles or the sacrifices made by soldiers and civilians, he knew many who did. Miller’s father, Donald, was based stateside during the war in the Army Air Force and later became president of the Reading chapter of Catholic War Veterans. His uncle, John, stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day with the Big Red One, the First Division. His other uncle, Bill, flew B-29 bomber missions in the Pacific Theatre.
When Miller’s father and uncles returned home, they stowed their combat gear and other mementos in the attic. On rainy summer afternoons, Miller and his younger brother, Larry, would climb into the rafters of the row house on Laurel Street and explore the contents of those musty boxes and trunks. “There were
gas masks, German daggers, Lugers, uniforms, and bomber jackets,” Miller remembered. “My mom used to hang up the wash and the bomber jackets. It was part of our lives.”
Nearly eighty years later, Miller, C’66, H’93, is a respected historian and educator who is sustaining the legacy of the Americans who fought in World War II. Last May, Miller talked about his craft with a group of Saint Vincent College alumni at the annual Bearcats in the Big Apple event in New York.
Miller's most recent book about the war, Masters of the Air, tells of the airmen who vanquished the Nazis in the skies over Europe. A New York Times bestseller, the book inspired a nine-part docuseries
blew up the conventional storytelling process of miliary history. “Ken broadened the canvas and brought in African Americans, women, and the whole home front,” Miller said. “It was a cultural and social history of the war, and that interested me.”
A professor of history at Lafayette College, Miller’s newfound interest in military history sparked him to begin teaching courses on the Civil War and World War II. “The two became commingled because I was interested in the impact of heavy combat on human beings” Miller said.
produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman. The series debuted worldwide in February 2024 on Apple TV+ and has become the streaming service’s most-watched show.
Miller was a consultant for the Masters of the Air series. He also worked with Hanks, Spielberg, and Goetzman on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, which aired in 2010 on HBO.
“During the filmmaking process, we’d get pleading letters from [World War II veterans], saying, “Please finish this in my lifetime. I really want to see it.” We kept thinking about those guys and how much this means to them,” Miller said. “Not a day goes by when I don’t hear from someone, thanking us for making those movies. Some of the guys hadn’t talked much about the war, and it helped them to open up to their families about it. Or maybe it caused the families to go into their attics and pull out old letters and things and learn about what grandpa did during the war.”
Miller came to Saint Vincent to play football, but the program was disbanded in his freshman year. “I managed to get an academic scholarship and stuck it out,” he said with a chuckle. He majored in European history and philosophy and took only one American history course. “I wasn’t interested in military history back then because most of the military history I’d read was pretty dry,” Miller said.
That changed in 1990, when historian and filmmaker Ken Burns released The Civil War series on PBS and
“The psychological aspect of it was the initial hook for me with World War II.”
Miller’s books about World War II—The Story of World War II (2001), D-Days in the Pacific (2005), and Masters of the Air (2006)—have been published in ten languages and feted with more than a dozen literary awards.
Miller first met Hanks and Spielberg about twenty-five years ago at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The two Hollywood heavyweights helped raise money to build the museum, which opened on June 6, 2000, the fifty-sixth anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. When Hanks and Spielberg began mapping out The Pacific as a companion piece to their hugely successful HBO docuseries Band of Brothers (2001), they hired Miller as a consultant.
After The Pacific was released, Spielberg and Hanks began searching for a follow-up project. According to Miller, “Spielberg came into the offices at Playtone, that’s Hanks’ studio, and said, ‘I’ve just finished reading Masters of the Air, and that’s what we’re going to do next!’”
It took Miller about five years to write his Masters of the Air book. His research often resembled detective work, as Miller attended bomber group reunions and conferences, and interviewed dozens of veterans. “One guy would put me in touch with another one and that’s how it went,” Miller said. Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay” on its atomic bombing run on Hiroshima, Japan, suggested Miller talk to Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal, who flew fifty-two missions over Europe with the Army’s Eighth Air Force.
“Rosie was an amazing figure,” said Miller, who developed a close friendship with Rosenthal and regularly drove from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley to New York for visits. “I was transfixed by his story. His modesty really stood out. There was no chest pounding or anything like
that. He opened up about the war late in his life, although he didn’t write about it. Almost everything I gathered from him was oral testimony—interviews with him, some of his crew, and other members of the Hundredth.”
The 100th Bombardment Group was based at Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk, England. It sustained such heavy losses during daytime raids in the summer and fall of 1943 that it became known as the “Bloody Hundredth.” On one particular mission over Münster, Germany, Rosenthal’s B-17, dubbed the “Royal Flush,” was the only Flying Fortress from its unit that made it back to England.
The props crew built two B-17s from scratch— every rivet, every button was made exactly to Air Force specifications of 1943-45. The uniforms were handmade. Some of the shoes used original shoelaces. “All the booze in the officer’s club was vintage 1943 and ’44,” Miller said. “Everything was on point.”
In the series’ credits, Miller is listed as a consulting producer. “I don’t know what that means,” Miller said with a laugh. “I wasn’t a scriptwriter, but I was a script idea guy. I saw the scripts and we had regular conferences about them. We had a really good team. Hanks, Goetzman, and Kirk Sandusky, the main on-site producers, were very easy to work with—bright and demanding, but no screaming or yelling. They brought me into the making of the film and made me part of the creative team.”
Although Miller’s book dealt with the entire Eighth Air Force, Hanks and Spielberg focused the miniseries on the Bloody Hundredth. “We decided to tell a lot of the story from inside the cockpit,” Miller said, “showing in depth the horror and heroism of combat in a high-altitude bomber at fifty degrees below zero.”
Just as in Miller’s book, everything depicted in the miniseries happened in real life. No names were changed, no details were embellished. “Fidelity became our keynote,” Miller said. “We didn’t have to overdramatize it. Hanks kept saying, “We don’t have to make anything up. There’s enough real-life, action, drama, tension—all the good things that make a good movie—available to us in the real story.’”
Due to production delays and the pandemic, it took about ten years to complete the Masters of the Air docuseries.
Toward the end of the process, Miller began writing a book about the Battle of Vicksburg, a key Union victory in the Civil War.
“Sometimes, you get your mind a little twisted because you’re thinking about the Civil War at the same time you’re doing World War II,” Miller said. “On the other hand, there are lots of lessons from the Civil War that can be applied to any combat. You read a book like The Red Badge of Courage, and it’s all about, ‘Will I fight, or will I run?’ Masters of the Air is about, ‘Will I get in the plane, or will I not?’ Those men didn’t have to fly those suicide missions. They were volunteers. They could have refused to fly and remained in the Air Force, reduced in rank but alive.” ♦
A Member Emeritus of the Saint Vincent College board of directors, Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Emeritus Professor of History at Lafayette College. He has authored eleven nonfiction books, including Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign That Broke the Confederacy (2019), Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America (2014), and City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (1996). He is currently writing a second volume to his Civil War book, which will span the final battles of the war and the partnership between President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant.
Don Miller (left) and Tom Hanks during an interview session at Lafayette College. PHOTO COURTESY OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE
FROM THE ARCHIVES
By Guy Davis, Archivist and Collection Curator
The construction of the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica was completed in 1905 . . . or was it? Unfortunately, due to a lack of funds, the front spires, which were a part of the original design of the church, were never installed—meaning it would be another ninety-four years before construction the Basilica was truly complete.
In conjunction with the sesquicentennial of the founding of Saint Vincent Archabbey and College, a major interior and exterior restoration of the Basilica began in 1996. The culmination of that restoration was the long-awaited installation of the spires upon the front towers of the church, along with the placement of three large bells within the north tower. It was a dream come true for Right Reverend Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., who was the Archabbot and Chancellor of Saint Vincent during the restoration project.
The spires are fifty-five feet high and are each capped with a ten-foot cross that increases the total height of the Basilica to a towering 185 feet. The bells in the north tower are programmed to ring throughout the day, adding a sound to the Saint Vincent campus that had been absent since the fire of 1963 destroyed the original bell tower,
which was located in the center of campus and had been a fixture in the community since 1872.
Upon completion of the spires, Archabbot Douglas ascended high above the campus on September 15, 1999, via an open carriage attached to the arm of a 200-foot crane from which he blessed the crosses atop the spires. From his lofty position, he waved to the students, faculty, administrators, and monks below who were present for the historic occasion. In commenting about the project, Archabbot Douglas said, “The spires suggest that we reach up to God in worship and pray that God will be with us in our work. Their height will provide a dramatic visual addition to the campus skyline and will further enhance the architectural dominance of the Basilica at the forefront of Saint Vincent. Our hope is that the appearance of the spires and the peal of the bells will also express our Benedictine tradition of hospitality to the thousands of people we welcome to Saint Vincent each year.” ♦
Force
Force SS tT R R II
Senior Sabine Strickland looks to capture the Bearcats first conference tournament championship.
he Saint Vincent College men’s bowling team made history in 1978 by winning the NAIA National Championship, which remains the lone national title won by a Bearcat program.
Nearly fifty years later, the Bearcat women’s bowling squad looks primed to follow in the footsteps of its male predecessor, quickly becoming one of the College’s most successful programs.
Since its establishment in fall 2017, the women’s bowling squad has amassed an overall record of 276-84 and won three Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) regular season championships.
The Bearcats have posted the highest winning percentage across all NCAA classifications three times and have been regularly ranked in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) polls.
It has been a rapid ascension for the Bearcats under Jeff Zidek, C’90, who leapt at the chance to coach the brand-new program upon its launch.
Zidek boasts an impressive résumé as a competitive bowler since his youth, and at the time of the team’s birth, he was in the midst of a fifteen-year
tenure as SVC’s sports information director.
“A lot of colleges were adding bowling and filling rosters,” Zidek recalled, “so Saint Vincent saw this as a great opportunity. I had a lot of experience in the sport and was already here in athletic administration at the time, so I was fortunate to be able to step right into the position.”
Despite his bowling success and in-depth knowledge of SVC athletics, he admittedly did not fully know what to expect upon entering the coaching profession for the first time and faced challenges typical of those encountered by start-up programs.
“There were definitely some challenges,” he said. “We made the decision in January 2017 to add the program, and I needed to assemble a team by October. I managed to recruit three freshmen, but the rest of our team was made up of students already on campus—a golfer, coincidentally our current golf coach Samm Firestone [C’17, C’19], and four softball players. If not for that group stepping up, we wouldn’t have been able to field a team that first year, and who knows where we would be right now.”
The Bearcat women’s bowling team took to the lanes for the first time on November 3, 2017, winning two of three matches against Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York, and would go on to post a respectable 25-26 overall record in its inaugural campaign. Along with valuable contributions from its senior studentathletes, the 2017-18 season also saw the emergence of the bowler whom Zidek considers the best to ever don the green and gold and the biggest reason for the team’s sustained success.
“We brought in a freshman, Dani (Koehler) Clark [C’21], who was a legitimate Division I prospect,” Zidek recounted. “That kind of set us in motion. We went 25-26 that year and upset a few teams that had far more experience. I was able to not only tell recruits about Dani and the program’s
success, but also the fact that most of our team was graduating and I had plenty of roster spots available.”
In its second season, the team posted a 39-14 record, good for the second-highest winning percentage among all NCAA programs, before the 2019-20 team led the nation in winning percentage with a 50-7 mark and tied for first place in the AMCC. The Bearcats were now on the map, allowing Zidek to attract highly coveted recruits from across the country.
“At the Division III level, I believe you need one top-level athlete to put you on the map, and that helps you to draw in other good athletes,” he said. “Once you get the ball rolling— no pun intended—it kind of keeps going. Success breeds success at this level. The same teams tend to do well year after year in a lot of Division III sports. Dani was that athlete, and from there, the program just kept growing.”
Zidek’s squad quickly proved that its fifty-win 2019-20 season was no fluke. In the four seasons since, the Bearcats have racked up a 162-37 overall record, won fifty-one of fiftysix regular season matches against conference foes, captured each of the past three AMCC regular season championships and reached the AMCC Championship Tournament title match three times.
Having quickly established itself as a perennial power in the AMCC, the program would reach a level of
Jim Berger PHOTOS
Chris Gooden
national prominence in February 2023, when it entered the NCTA rankings for the first time, cracking its Division II/III national poll in the No. 13 spot. The Bearcats have remained ranked in the DII/III poll since, climbing to No. 9 in its most recent release in April.
Mount St. Mary’s, Duquesne, Saint Francis, Morgan State, and Valparaiso.
“I set a goal for us to win one single game against a Division I team,” he said. “We went 5-2 against them. That included the match against Valparaiso, where we were down forty pins halfway through the last game and then came back to win.”
year is something that makes me extremely proud. We are ranked ahead of many full-scholarship Division I teams. That is an accomplishment, to say the least.”
Senior Sabine Strickland, a three-year starter, said she and her teammates embraced the step up in competition.
“It was definitely intimidating at first,” she said. “Going into it, we were told to just do our best, and that’s what we did. DI teams are supposed to beat a DIII team like ours, so when we beat them, it was very satisfying. These wins make us want to continue to face high-level teams like that.”
“If you had asked me a few years ago, I don’t know that it had much importance to me,” Zidek said of the national rankings. “But it eventually became a goal to make the poll, and now of course the goal is to stay there. Honestly, it makes recruiting a lot easier when prospective studentathletes have heard of your program, and you can show them the success you’ve had. It’s just more of the ‘success breeds success’ theory.”
After feasting on Division II and III foes over its first six seasons, Zidek made a conscious effort to beef up his team’s schedule for the 202324 campaign, as it faced off against Division I opponents including
Thanks in part to this success against Division I opponents, the Bearcats again made history in March, when they cracked the NCTA’s all-division national poll for the first time at No. 25, one of just two Division III teams to appear in the rankings. They would then maintain their No. 25 ranking in the NCTA’s final all-division poll in April.
“That was a big surprise,” said Zidek. “Most people don’t realize that NCAA bowling combines all three divisions at many events. There aren’t a lot of sports where a Division III school regularly competes against Division I programs, but in bowling, you can. To crack the top-25 this
“We were all really excited,” said Strickland. “It felt amazing to be recognized like that. After being ranked, it has become our goal to stay in the rankings, continue to prove that we deserve to be there, and continue to keep improving.”
The national rankings were a culmination of yet another excellent season for the Bearcats in 2023-24, as they finished 64-14 to again lead the nation in winning percentage and captured the AMCC’s regular season championship. Zidek was named the AMCC’s Co-Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, while six Bearcats landed All-AMCC honors, highlighting the depth of the Bearcat roster, as a team only fields five bowlers in a match.
In a season full of highlights, the team posted one of its biggest achievements in its history on February 9, when it threw a 299 Baker game in a win over Daemen University at Latrobe’s Lincoln Lanes.
“A Baker game,” explained Zidek, “is where you use five bowlers to combine for one score. Bowler 1 throws the first and sixth frames, bowler 2 the second and seventh, and so on. We had 11 strikes in a row and just missed on the last shot, but it was still a school record. Only a handful of teams every year throw a Baker 300 perfect game, and we just missed it.”
With the Bearcats now considered among the nation’s elite, Zidek and Strickland are both well-aware that they have a target on their back, as opponents regularly put forth their best efforts when facing SVC. This was on display first-hand at the 2024 AMCC Championship Tournament, where the Bearcats battled throughout but fell in the semifinals.
The 1978 Saint Vincent men's bowling team celebrates their NAIA National Championship victory.
Left to right: Joe Rossowski; Ron Uveges; Gary Giacobbi; Br. Pat Lacy, O.S.B.; Doug Pohland; Mike Petrarca; Jim Racosky
so when we beat them, it was very satisfying. These wins make us want to continue to face high-level teams like that.”
“Everyone seemed to be ‘up’ for a match against us,” Zidek said. “We were very consistent all season long, but a couple of other teams really improved during the season and in bowling, anyone can beat anyone in a single match. We lost in the semifinals, but the players handled it well. We didn’t give any wins away—other teams just simply stepped up at the right time.”
“I think it’s great motivation,” said Strickland. “I think it makes us bowl even better when another team takes us so seriously. I love competition and hate to lose.”
Now firmly entrenched as a bowling power, expectations will understandably be high for the Bearcats as they prep for the upcoming 2024-25 season, and both Strickland and Zidek say that their team aims to capture one of the only goals that has proven elusive during a run of such sustained success—winning the AMCC tournament and advancing to the NCAA National Championship Tournament.
“This has been a long-standing ambition for all of us,” said Strickland. “As team captain, I am committed to leading by example and working collaboratively with my teammates to ensure we perform at our highest level, and I believe we have the talent and determination to achieve it this season.”
“I’m counting on the whole ‘success breeding success’ thing to keep us going,” Zidek added. “It’s worked so far, as our team season average has gone up every single year. By making the top 25, we were able to bring in what I believe is the best freshman class we’ve ever had. I expect another record year.” ♦
EMPLOYEE PROFILE
AnaLucia Trielli, S’92
TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO FOR SAINT VINCENT.
Title: Mission Advancement Coordinator, Saint Vincent Missions
Years worked at Saint Vincent: 15
What we do is we help raise funds for the different missions. We have a mission in Brazil and a mission in Taiwan and two dependent priorities that Saint Vincent took over. So, we make sure that they have enough funds to function.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF ARCHABBOT DOUGLAS?
There are many good ones. I was in a privileged position to observe his interactions, and he was always so humane and so understanding. When he interacted with people, he was always so sincere no matter who or what, whether it was a benefactor or if it was one of the children from the favela in Brazil. There was a very moving experience once when we had been working with the Missionary Sisters of Christ, and for several years they had helped at the retreat house. So, we knew them, and we knew they worked with children from the favela, some without parents, some with single mothers, but all very, very poor. When we went to Brazil, he said, "Well, let’s start helping the children because we’re not doing so many retreats much anymore." We started working with the Sisters, and one time in 2011, he said he wanted to visit the families of these children, but he wanted to see where they live, how they live. We talked to the Sisters, and they made arrangements. We had to go low profile and with one of the Sisters because then the families would let us in. And we visited several homes and several families, and he was very moved by it. He said we needed to help these children as much as we can. And then, a few years later, he said, “Well, how about we bring one of them to come study at Saint Vincent?” I said, “Wow, that’s quite a challenge.” I told him that we’d go down and see if there’s someone who would come because they’d have to learn the language. We got a candidate, and he
came and studied here and graduated from here. And now he’s finished his master’s degree in chemistry. I think this interaction, especially how much he liked to help people, to pull them up—it really stood out.
WHAT IS A FUN FACT ABOUT ARCHABBOT DOUGLAS YOU KNOW THAT YOU THINK OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO LEARN?
I don’t know how this many people know this, but he played volleyball pretty well because when he’d go to Brazil and they’d do some recreation with the monks, he’d say, “Let’s play volleyball!” And many of the monks didn’t know how to play and didn’t want to, but
class notes
For a comprehensive, regularly-updated list of Class Notes, including birth, engagement, marriage, career, and other announcements, or to submit a class note of your own, go to 1846.stvincent.edu/classnotes.
BY MADISON KOZERA
Josh Kearns: A Shared Mobility
Life has a funny way of changing a person’s plans, and while Josh Kearns, C’09, followed the path he believed would grant him the most success, life had a different plan in mind. Upon graduation, Kearns accepted a position with Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED) and moved to Tampa, Florida. But, after thirteen years, he realized he was not happy and left his job, wanting to figure out a way that he could give back to the community.
During his self-reflection and inspired by his passion for refereeing wheelchair rugby, he pursued a new career: he opened his own franchise of Next Day Access in Tampa in October 2023.
As a business that sells and installs mobility and accessibility equipment, where the primary reason is for those to age in peace, Kearns discovered that the goals of Next Day Access aligned with his. He divulged how the McKenna School of Business aided in his success and encouraged the business in Tampa, keeping the business going forward.
Kearns remains glad of the journey he has taken, and he looks forward to both the growth of his business and the next Paralympics he will referee. ♦
IN MEMORIAM
NAME
Paul Milza, C’51
H. Lee Printz, Jr., C’75
William Danko, C’51
James Bokros, C’90
David Bridge, C’71
Peter Staab, C’89
Vincent Kuharic, C’70
Robert Racko, C’68
Marley Case, C’15
Angelo Massaro, Jr., C’74
Michael Peretto, C’62
Austin Noll, Jr., C’65
Hon. William Baughman, Jr., C’71
Dr. James Gyurke, C’82
William Vincent Kenda, P’60
Joseph Rubino, C’50, H’93
Tom Durishan, C’75
Joseph Narduzzi, C’98
Domenico Schiano di Cola, C’17
Terry Murphy, C’67
FATHER
MYRON KIRSCH PASSES
ShortlyMeg Matich: The Poetry of Expression
Meg Matich, C’11, has had numerous achievements since her graduation, including an MFA in literary translation and poetry from Columbia University, the publication of many books and translation projects, and the creation of her own marketing agency as only a handful of her listed successes. Of all of the obstacles she’s faced, however, her most difficult challenge has been practicing compassion in parts of her life. She explained that kindness can be difficult to choose—it’s an action. While the world is not always kind back, that shouldn’t stop us from practicing empathy and love.
Matich expressed how her time at SVC taught her this idea conceptually, but she didn’t begin to understand and apply the idea until later in life. In turn, listening to others and finding one’s voice is crucial to fully express this concept She explained that, at its root, translation is about listening: choosing to listen, be critical, be honest. Her compassion remains an inspiration, and Matich continues to seek balance and show patience in all parts of her life, regardless of the uncertain world around her. She eagerly looks to the future after her recent acceptance into Harvard University’s Institute of World Literature. ♦
DATE OF PASSING
March 28, 2024
April 11, 2024
April 19, 2024
April 25, 2024
April 26, 2024
May 1, 2024
May 10, 2024
May 19, 2024
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January 17, 2024
June 25, 2024
June 17, 2024
July 6, 2024
July 8, 2024
June 13, 2024
July 27, 2024
August 2, 2024
August 18, 2024
August 6, 2024
August 29, 2024
before this issue went to press, we learned of the passing of longtime athletic director and faculty member Father Myron Kirsch, O.S.B, C'69, S'73. Father Myron took on the role of athletic director in 1983, just as Saint Vincent was transitioning into a co-educational institution, and presided over the introduction of women’s sports, including a very successful basketball program. By the time he retired in 2023, the program had grown to twenty-five sports, and the athletics program had transitioned from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to the National Collegiate Athletics Association. At the time of his retirement, about one-third of the student body at Saint Vincent participated in intercollegiate athletics.
A full obituary is available on the College website at bit.ly/fr-myron-obit.
11
The number of nonfiction books Don Miller has authored
1508
The number of Emily Uhrin’s favorite episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
29
The number of years Father Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B, served as archabbot
162-37
The overall record for the Bearcat Bowling team
185
the total height of the Basilica after the addition of the spires
feet
40 The number of miles hiked by the students in the inaugural section of Dr. Michael Krom’s Outdoor Leadership class
100+ exhibitions
Roman Verostko's work has appeared in museums and galleries on five continents
Rev. Bonaventure Ostendarp, O.S.B.
American, 1856–1912
Ss. Benedict & Scholastica, 1875
Oil on canvas, each 40 ¾ x 14 ¾ inches
Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections
Photos by Richard Stoner
Learn more about this piece at 1846.stvincent.edu/collection.
Lessons in Learning
BY Jim Bendel
Uponreturning to Saint Vincent in 1968 to begin my first tenure in the Philanthropy Office, the then-president of the College, Maynard Brennan, encouraged me to visit with one of the student leaders at that time—Jean AbiNader, C’69.
I met with and uncovered a wealth of knowledge of the culture at the College, and likewise, I discovered an individual who has become a “lifetime learner” as a result of his time at Saint Vincent College.
“BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND DO GOOD IN THE WORLD.”
Jean speaks of Saint Vincent College in glowing terms, explaining that the leadership he assumed was a function of the times. In the mid ‘60s, the American educational system was undergoing a revolution centered on the needs of the individual and how they could contribute to society. So, Saint Vincent seemed like the ideal environment for shaping one’s own belief system while giving back to the community. His experience at the College included close relationships with many students, in particular with Dennis Skocz, C’69, and James Pepper, C 69, who served as Jean’s “North Star” in terms of policies and skills of working on how students could contribute to the betterment of society. SVC also gave him an introduction to international students, and being the son of immigrants, it was his first lesson in reaching beyond his family traditions.
In reflecting on his time at SVC, Jean has a message for all of our alumni and friends: Check your assumptions about what the world should be domestically and internationally. Challenge yourself to learn another language, and travel in the USA and overseas to learn about yourself through others. Make friends, not acquaintances. Believe in yourself and do good in the world.
If you also have an interest in aiding current and future Bearcats, consider reaching out to our director of planned giving, Carolyn Walsh, at 724-805-2412 or carolyn.walsh@stvincent.edu
It is of paramount importance, Jean believes, that we use the time we have on Earth well and have fun along the way, which is something he learned to do at SVC.
To honor SVC for shaping his life, Jean has made a legacy gift in his will of $25,000 that may be used by the College in whatever way makes good sense at that time. Additionally, Saint Vincent will receive a significant portion of his art collection. ♦
