A n I n v i tat i o n t o S e r v e : T h e I m pac t o f A l u m n i Vo l u n t e e r i s m
jesuit tradition
“
e n g ag e m e n t
scholarship
B
eing involved with Seattle U gives me a way to remember
that my life is first and foremost
c h a r ac t e r
a spiritual life. I value the Jesuit tradition of reflection and Examen
t r a n s f o r m at i o n
and making a difference in the world. Staying connected to the
jesuit tradition
university keeps me connected with a community with values
Heart of Alumni
that are aligned with my own. —Karen Lynn Maher, ’00
service community
upcoming events
To learn more about these and other alumni engagement opportunities, visit seattleu.edu/alumni/events.
february 4
february 6-7
march 29
april 3
april 26
may 18
Washington, D.C., President’s Reception
SU Gives Day of Giving
Bay Area President’s Reception
SU Advantage Networking Night
Alumni Awards
Red Tie Celebration
”
VOLUME 43, ISSUE NUMBER 1, WINTER 2019
MAGAZINE
02 DI D YOU KNOW 04 CCE 15TH AN N IVERSARY 08 ON CAM PU S 10 FACULTY SPOTLIGHT 14 COVER STORY: ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT 24 ATH LETIC S 26 FI RST- G EN ER ATION STU DENTS 30 B EI NG SCEN E 3 1 I N M EMORIAM 32 TH E L AST WOR D
EDITOR Tina Potterf LEAD DESIGNER Marissa Leitch CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Yosef Chaim Kalinko, Matt Lipsen, SU Athletics DESIGN TEAM Terry Lundmark, Anne Reinisch CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tracy DeCroce, Mike Thee DIRECTOR | STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION & ENGAGEMENT Kristen Kirst PRESIDENT | SEATTLE UNIVERSITY Stephen Sundborg, S.J. VICE PRESIDENT | UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Scott McClellan ASST. VICE PRESIDENT | ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT Jonathan Brown, ’92, ’94 VICE PRESIDENT | UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT Michael Podlin
On the cover (left to right) Chris Canlas, ’01 Fred Capestany, ’99 MA Julie Woodward, ’93 Duron Jones, ’14 Debbie Akhbari, ’13 Brian Webster, ’91 MBA Shasti Conrad, ‘07 John Hooper, PE, SE, ’81 Mariam Abarientos, ’04 Reid Nabarrete, ’87 Bernie Liang, ’02
Seattle University Magazine (ISSN: 1550-1523) is published in fall, winter and spring by Marketing Communications, Seattle University, 901 12th Avenue, PO Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122-1090. Periodical postage paid at Seattle, Wash. Distributed without charge to alumni and friends of Seattle University. USPS 487-780. Comments and questions about Seattle University Magazine may be addressed to the editor at 206- 296-6111; the address below; fax: 206-296-6137; or e-mail: tinap@seattleu.edu. Postmaster: Send address changes to Seattle University Magazine, Marketing Communications, Seattle University, 901 12th Avenue, PO Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122-1090. Check out the magazine online at www.seattleu.edu/magazine. Seattle University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran in the administration of any of its education policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, and other school-administered policies and programs, or in its employment-related policies and practices. All university policies, practices and procedures are administered in a manner consistent with Seattle University’s Catholic and Jesuit identity and character. Inquiries relating to these policies may be referred to the University’s Assistant Vice President for Institutional Equity, Andrea Herrera Katahira at 206-220-8515, katahira@seattleu.edu.
WINTER 2019
DID YOU KNOW
INDUSTRY GAME CHANGERS INVEST IN FUTURE OF STEM Center for Science and Innovation opening in 2021 Renderings by EYP/Mithūn
Amazon.com has committed $3 million dollars to support the completion of Seattle University’s new Center for Science and Innovation, so that students may better prepare for responsible roles in the fields of science, mathematics, computer science and engineering and to inspire them to lifelong intellectual, professional and human growth. This investment in Seattle U reflects Amazon’s focus on ensuring that underrepresented minority students have a path to a STEM career.
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The university recently received a generous $3 million gift from Microsoft as part of the comprehensive campaign. Microsoft’s passion for using technology in a way that improves our world is demonstrated by this gift for Seattle University’s Center for Science and Innovation ($2.5 million), in addition to support for programmatic development around ethics and technology ($500,000).
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has committed $1.75 million to Seattle University toward completion of the Center for Science and Innovation. This gift backs Murdock’s belief that the Center will provide a venue for the next generation of scientific researchers to flourish and thrive in their work.
RANKINGS & RECOGNITION ROUNDUP PRINCETON REVIEW'S BEST 384 COLLEGES This is the 16th year running that the Princeton Review has recognized Seattle University as one of the best colleges in the nation for undergraduate education, according to its latest edition of The Best 384 Colleges 2019.
TOP 10 IN THE WEST FOR 18 TH STRAIGHT YEAR Seattle University continued its Top 10 ranking among the West’s best regional universities, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings. The university, tied for the #8 spot, has been in the top 10 among western regional universities in the magazine’s rankings for 18 consecutive years. U.S. News assessed 127 western regional universities that offer a full range of undergraduate, masters and select doctoral degree programs.
A 'COOL SCHOOL' FOR BEING GREEN Seattle University is a Top 10 school when it comes to being green, according to the 2018 “Cool Schools” rankings by Sierra, the magazine of The Sierra Club. Seattle U ranked #8, up from #48 in 2017. Seattle U was the only university in Washington to make the magazine’s Top 20. Sierra received submissions from a record 269 colleges and universities in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Canada for consideration in its 12th annual Cool Schools rankings. The schools were ranked based largely on their existing STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System) scores, which is a program of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The rankings highlight schools that displayed a deep and thorough commitment to protecting the environment, addressing climate issues and encouraging environmental responsibility, according to Sierra.
COSTCO SCHOLARSHIP FUND SUCCESS The Costco Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to highly qualified underrepresented minority students at Seattle U and the University of Washington, raised $4.4 million in 2018, its 19th year. Costco Scholars from Seattle University and the University of Washington (l-r) Alejandro Diaz, ’20 (UW), Aredy Garcia Quijano, ’21 (SU), Amina Ibrahim, ’19 (SU) and Jordan Crawford, ’21 (UW), at a Costco VIP reception in the fall. S E AT T L E U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 01 9
03
F E AT U R E
CCE 15TH ANNIVERSARY
PARTNERS IN PROGRESS Many milestones mark 15th anniversary of Center for Community Engagement By Tracy DeCroce
Seattle University’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE) began with a bold move. One year after its founding in 2004, the center teamed up with the university’s Center for Jesuit Education to host a Tent City on the university’s tennis courts. The move broke ground in several ways, among them making Seattle U the nation’s first university to host a homeless encampment. It didn’t end there. SU students served the homeless residents and offered their expertise in areas from nursing to law. Tent City residents reciprocated with an ad-hoc teach-in, educating the campus community about the experience of homelessness. “It was a phenomenal way for the center to get started,” says Executive Director Kent Koth, who was hired to launch the center. Fast forward 15 years and that founding spirit lives on. The center remains committed to addressing intractable societal challenges—poverty, racism and immigration—through mutually empowering campus-community collaboration.
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It is the kind of revolutionary work President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., envisioned when he plucked Koth from Stanford University to launch the center. At the time, the university was searching for a centralized way for faculty to connect their service-learning courses to the community. As Koth implemented that vision, CCE’s early years set the stage for the Seattle University Youth Initiative (SUYI), the center’s flagship program that has garnered national recognition since its founding in 2011. CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY PARTNERS Koth and his team view the center’s work and its success as inextricably linked to the community partners who share the center’s goals. Today, the university’s service-learning courses exceed 200 a year and the center collaborates with 158 community partners. “It was really apparent how committed CCE was to connecting the partners and the university,” says LaKesha Kimbrough, a former program manager for the Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas, a CCE partner. Kimbrough was so impressed
PHOTOS BY CHUCK KUO
by the center’s work she joined its staff last July as the SUYI Washington Middle School Success Coordinator. “(Community partners) don’t want to be in a silo,” Kimbrough continues. “How do we authentically acknowledge that the community has an amazing history and brings valuable knowledge? And how does the university truly strive to strengthen and empower the community … without overpowering the community voice? It was very clear as a community partner that was how CCE operated.” At St. Francis House, one of CCE’s longest partners, SU students volunteer alongside the organization’s adult volunteers, many of whom are SU alumni. Together they assist the hundreds of homeless people who come each week seeking food, clothing, hygiene and household items. Executive Director Kathy Collins, ’09, says the students bring energy and engender community by chatting with clients over a cup of coffee, helping a client pick out a new outfit or translating for immigrants who don’t speak English. “The students have such an open curiosity,” Collins says. “… The clients feel like they are part of the students’ education. Not all education comes from a book.” Students learn about service opportunities when community partners promote their organizations to SU’s service-learning classes each quarter. Don Jensen, executive director of Community Lunch on Capitol Hill, and his staff have made their pitch countless times over the past dozen years. They let prospective student volunteers know how critical they are to the operation run by a small, mostly parttime staff that serves 50,000 meals each year to the hungry and homeless.
SUYI began as a piloted effort at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School. SU students, faculty and staff supported teachers and staff in daytime and after-school programming for K-5 youth. During the first full year of the Youth Initiative, the Gatzert students posted the highest academic gains of any school in Seattle, Koth says. In the past seven years, the Youth Initiative has expanded significantly, accounting today for 80 percent of the center’s work. SUYI staff work on site at Washington Middle School and Garfield High School and engage with several other schools, including four preschools. Integral to its work is the collaboration with more than 30 community partners whose missions focus on strong schools, stable housing, access to health care, safe neighborhoods and living-wage jobs. In addition, Seattle U has offered 10 scholarships to high school graduates from SUYI neighborhoods. Looking forward, Koth identifies the top priorities as development of a pre-kindergarten program, completion of high school programming and a deeper collaboration with the College of Science and Engineering.
“The students have such an open curiosity… The clients feel like they are part of the students’ education. Not all education comes from a book.”
“The students provide a lot of the manpower to make our program possible,” Jensen says. “(They are) incredibly important to the success of our organization.”
—Kathy Collins, ’09, executive director/St. Francis House
YOUTH INITIATIVE MARKS NEW ERA Unquestionably one of the greatest successes of the past 15 years of CCE is the Seattle University Youth Initiative, which marked a new era in CCE’S history. Since its launch, SUYI has become the university’s engine for mobilizing its knowledge and resources toward an ambitious, long-term campus-community investment.
SERVICE LEARNING FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS Meanwhile, the Youth Initiative has provided a focal point for service learning on campus. Faculty representing nearly every college and school lead a wide range of community-based SUYI projects.
The vision for SUYI is to provide a pathway of support from preschool to college for low-income children and youth in three neighborhoods surrounding campus. Inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City, the Youth Initiative convenes multifaceted community partners to provide holistic support to ensure disadvantaged youth have the best chance of graduating and continuing on to college.
“It allows me as faculty to do some meaningful consulting and gives my students the opportunity to do work on meaningful issues,” says Associate Professor Erica Yamamura, who teaches Student Development Administration in the College of Education. Each year 1,500 Seattle U students serve in SUYI neighborhoods. Many incoming students say it is the reason they choose to attend Seattle University.
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05
Senior Brandon Bassler, ’19, has been involved with SUYI for all four years, assuming positions of greater responsibility. When he arrived as a freshman film studies major, Bassler volunteered for “Young Visions,” a SUYI after-school enrichment program in which he helped Bailey Gatzert fourth graders produce their own films. He has also been a tutor, mentor, team leader and Serve Local Ambassador. As he looks toward a career in entertainment promotions, Bassler says working with the Gatzert students formed him in unexpected ways. “I think I’ve learned more about myself and how I fit into this world,” he says. “The kids complete you.” At Washington Middle School, Kimbrough sees a similar paradigm with “barriers being broken down” as SU students and middle schoolers discover the value they each bring to one another. “That’s when the organic community building starts to happen,” Kimbrough says. “Students on both sides start to understand more about who they are and you watch this amazing spider web of connectivity begin to happen.” SEATTLE U BECOMES A NATIONAL MODEL As news of the success of the Youth Initiative spread, colleges and universities around the country were eager to replicate Seattle University’s model and learn directly from Koth and other campus and community leaders. For his part, Koth is delivering a powerful message: Progress requires undoing entrenched historical systems such a racism that stymie the academic advancement of low-income communities and their residents. These barriers, he says, “hinder the transformative potential of higher education.” “What is the purpose of higher education?” Koth continues. “Is it just to get a degree or is it for an institution as a whole to be a change agent in the world? If we bring our resources to bear, then we can contribute to the change we hope will occur in our society.” Koth is a leader who engages others by listening and asking questions. He describes his role in forming the Youth Initiative as listening to countless small groups until one Saturday about 300 people from the campus and community turned out for a forum “and the Youth Initiative became owned by many more people.”
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From the time of SUYI’s launch, the volume of requests for tours and trainings has steadily grown. To help CCE more efficiently respond to the demand, the Annie E. Casey Foundation began funding a national network in 2014 called the Place-Based Justice Network. Now, other universities with programs similar to SUYI have joined Seattle U in facilitating the annual national institute. AN AUTHOR & LEADER As the network grows, Koth sees potential for a grassroots impact with institutions of higher learning initiating substantive community change nationwide. “If we can pilot creative solutions at the local level and then share what we’ve learned with others across the country, collectively we can begin to address our most significant problems,” Koth says. “This network is the edge of the field of community engagement and pushing the field to confront racism, sexism and homophobia, which limits the field from having greater impact.” Because not all institutions can travel to participate in network trainings, Koth co-authored a book, Place-Based Community Engagement in Higher Education, in 2018 that provides case studies from five universities, including Seattle U, to guide colleges and universities in forming their own placed-based strategies like SUYI. Koth’s co-author, Associate Professor Yamamura, says he brings a rare combination of perspectives. “He is unique in that he’s worked in higher education and nonprofits and he understands the religious and faith-based nexus,” Yamamura says. “He is very much a servant-leader and leads by example. He’s not scared to take on the big issues. “He dug into the most difficult issues of our time such as racial equity,” she continues. “It’s courageous and keeps me wanting to partner with him.” Ever plainspoken, Koth describes his life’s work this way: “It’s hopeful work. It’s forward-looking work. It’s really what Jesuit education is all about.”
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY YOUTH INITIATIVE
BY THE NUMBERS
4 OUT OF 5
students engage in service learning— thats 3x the national average
191
faculty who teach 429 service-learning courses
1,000
number of low-income children and family members suyi reaches each year
SAMPLING OF SUYI PARTNERS Bailey Gatzert Elementary School Washington Middle School Garfield High School Seattle Nativity School Middle College High School Summit Charter School
FROM 2005 TO 2018
Seattle Housing Authority Catholic Community Services The Bureau of Fearless Ideas Seattle Parks and Recreation Africatown-Central District Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation & Development Authority
St. Francis House St. Mary’s Food Bank Northwest Harvest Yesler Community Center
21,750
3,296
undergraduates have taken servicelearning courses
service-learning courses offered at su
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07
ON CAMPUS
NURTURING CAREERS, NOT JUST JOBS
“Career development work is not segmented from a student’s total experience and involvement while they are at Seattle U. It is ingrained in everything . . .” —hilary flanagan , executive director, Career Engagement Office
By Tracy DeCroce Seattle University’s Career Engagement Office, formerly known as Career Services, has a new direction under the leadership of Executive Director Hilary Flanagan. True to its new name, the office seeks to fully engage the greater campus community and employers in helping students realize and achieve their professional aspirations. Maximizing collaboration is central to Flanagan’s goals and vision, which align well with the university’s mission. When interviewing for the position, Flanagan was impressed with how the university’s mission was top-of-mind to colleagues here. “Professional formation is at the center of the mission statement,” she says. “Knowing that the entire institution cares about and prioritizes professional formation for our students is pretty exciting.” To Flanagan, career formation means more than helping students land their first job. Under her leadership, the office will prepare students “to navigate all their career transitions over a lifetime.” “Career development work is not segmented from a student’s total experience and involvement while they are at Seattle U,” Flanagan says. “It is ingrained in everything, so they spend time (considering) ‘Who am I? What are my gifts, my strengths, my interests?’… It’s about creating opportunities to develop their career community and network. It’s our role to act as a catalyst for those kinds of moments.” The office is partnering with employers in ways beyond filling positions. In August it hosted the inaugural “Engaged Employer Symposium,” where employers, including alumni-led organizations, connected with students and the community through a workshop addressing diversity and inclusion in 08
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the workplace. The event marked “the transformation of our engagement model” in a way “more consistent with the evolving world of work our students are entering,” Flanagan says. On campus, Flanagan emphasizes creating “synergy” universitywide. Immediate priorities include broadening professional educational opportunities within colleges and programs and expanding relationships between students and alumni. Before Seattle U, Flanagan was the Career Center director at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Center for Career Services at John Carroll University. She established her career in higher education after serving in the military. Flanagan was a weapons officer on board a USCG Medium Endurance Cutter after graduating from the United States Coast Guard Academy. Motivated from a young age by a competitive spirit and desire to serve, Flanagan is drawn to the mentoring aspect of career development and satisfies her competitive side through Ironman competitions and triathlons. Since arriving in Seattle, she has found a favorite place to swim along the shoreline in Lake Washington. The married mother of two teenagers believes that maintaining a work-life balance is one more way to engage with the university’s mission for the betterment of the students she serves. “I think there is a wholeness to our lives that’s important to recognize,” she says. “It’s why I’m drawn to this field and this university. We have a unique opportunity when we work with college students to model that.” PHOTO BY MATT LIPSEN
Q&A WITH PROVOST SHANE P. MARTIN
GET TO KNOW SU’S NEW ACADEMIC LEADER
Martin’s expertise has been widely sought. He has served on the boards and commissions of a number of local, state and national organizations and entities focused on education at all levels including Jesuit higher education. Here is part of a Q&A conducted by writer Mike Thee in the fall. (Read the full Q&A online at www.seattleu.edu/news.) What do you see as the most important aspect or aspects of the job of provost? The provost is the chief academic officer of the institution and oversees the Academic Division. The wonderful thing a provost gets to do is to bring people in the university together to provide a powerful educational experience for our students. In a Jesuit university, we believe in educating the whole person—body, mind, soul, spirit—so it is about a holistic approach to education.
(above) The new provost at his installation ceremony in the fall.
Shane P. Martin began his role as provost in June, coming from Loyola Marymount University (LMU), a sister Jesuit school in Los Angeles. At LMU, Martin served as dean of both the School of Education and Graduate Studies. At Martin’s installation as provost in September, President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., said, “He matches who we are and are becoming as a university and what we need in our provost and our academic leader. How fortunate we are, Shane, and we thank you for choosing Seattle University and its future to which you bring your experience, your commitment and yourself.” A product of Jesuit education, Martin spent time in formation as a Jesuit before entering academia as an educator and administrator. In his two and a half decades at LMU, Martin established himself as a visionary and collaborative leader. He received an honorary doctorate from the university in May of this year.
PHOTOS BY YOSEF CHAIM KALINKO
Teaching and learning is at the heart of what we do and this occurs in the classroom, in the residence halls, through a service opportunity, on the field, in a club or extra-curricular activity. First and foremost, it is the magic that happens in the studentteacher relationship. A Jesuit education starts with the quality of our faculty, who through their commitment to research and teaching stretch and support our students in their growth trajectory—not simply teaching what to think but teaching how to think. There are many other educational moments that occur in the lives of our students. Thus, the curriculum consists of all of those learning experiences and as provost I get the privilege of working with our faculty and staff to bring it all together in a coherent whole that has meaning and value. What are your priorities or areas of focus for your first year at SU? My top priority is to listen and learn from the Seattle University community—to understand the SU story from those who have shaped it. We have the opportunity to reset and rebuild relationships among all of our stakeholders that are based on trust, collaboration and our shared love for this institution. … We have an important opportunity this year as we build the next strategic plan for SU. As we begin this process, I see a clear commitment to putting the academic enterprise of Seattle University at the center of our work, in an integrated and holistic manner grounded in the context of Jesuit education. I want to support the strategic planning process because I believe that even as we work together to strengthen our infrastructure this year we need to dream of a bold future for Seattle U. What is it you would most like to communicate to SU’s alumni? Even though I am new to Seattle University I am no stranger to Jesuit higher education. I can say this with absolute certitude: Seattle University is your university—now more than ever. Today’s students are academically capable, intellectually curious and socially aware and active on a range of critical issues. … Investing in your alma mater is investing in the future of our next generation of leaders, the Seattle U way!
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FA EC A TU UL T RY E : S AP LOUTM LN I GI HATW A R D S
teaching with creativity & innovation By Tracy DeCroce
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PHOTO BY MATT LIPSEN
If you didn’t know better, you might mistake Professor Christie Eppler, PhD, LMFT, for a theater director when she says, “I invite an extra chair into the room for my students’ anxiety.” But the creative method is how Eppler, the School of Theology and Ministry’s Couples & Family Therapy Program director, helps fledgling therapists prepare for the emotional and psychological terrain ahead. “It’s about balancing creativity and evidence-based practice,” Eppler says. “Just because there’s a rubric in front of you doesn’t mean there’s one certain way you should do things. You have to get comfortable with the questions.” That kind of “creative and innovative teaching”—in addition to faculty mentoring and publishing in the field—is what the Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT) was looking for when it recognized Eppler as its Educator of the Year in December 2017, says WAMFT President Tess Wiggins Goodfellow, MS, LMFT. “Dr. Eppler stood out as a faculty member who clearly demonstrates what this award is all about,” Goodfellow says. Eppler’s path to teaching was a circuitous one, despite the fact that her mother was an elementary school teacher. “I always thought it looked like a lot of work,” Eppler says with a grin.
She earned a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from the University of Missouri and a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and a doctorate in family and child ecology from Michigan State University. Following that, she held clinical positions that included work as an elementary school family and child therapist and later as a mental health counselor at Seattle Pacific University. Teaching captured her imagination in 1999 when she stepped in a classroom as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan during her doctoral work at Michigan State University. She went on to serve on Seton Hall’s and SPU’s faculty before joining Seattle University in 2009. Today, she considers teaching her first priority. Back to the chair. Eppler doesn’t only teach theory. All her classes train students in the clinical skills necessary to “sit opposite someone.” Students mine their own lives for issues to examine such as personal identity, emotional triggers and reflective reactions. Such personal exercises tend to produce anxiety, which is why Eppler invites the chair into the room. Her method has a purpose. By training students to sit with their own discomfort, Eppler is preparing them for the day they will help real clients with challenging family issues or mental health diagnoses. “Therapy is full of ambiguity and messiness,” she says. “That’s what I love. As we start to claim creativity, it becomes a huge growth area. You see a shift in thinking in response to actions and interactions that influence each other.”
“Therapy is full of ambiguity and messiness. That’s what I love. As we start to claim creativity, it becomes a huge growth area. You see a shift in thinking in response to actions and interactions that influence each other.” —Professor Christie Eppler, PhD, LMFT
Eppler says she “always knew there was something special about SU” even before she joined its faculty. She especially appreciates the Couples & Family Therapy program’s added dimension of multifaith insight and spirituality training, which enables graduates who become therapists to discuss faith or spirituality if their clients desire it. “We won’t be experts in all faith traditions, but we can be curious and open to meet our clients’ needs,” Eppler says. Recently, Eppler’s participation in the nine-month Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life, a Jesuit retreat focused on daily prayer and personal growth, influenced her thoughts about the relationship between faith and therapy. “I came to see that everywhere is love … and at the same time there is openness for transformation,” she says. “When I see clients or my students that is how I want them to see things. By being fully seen and loved there is so much room for transformation.”
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A TNH C O LA ET M IPCUSS
SEATTLE U WELCOMES LARGEST INCOMING CLASS EVER 12
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“Speaking for myself and the entire university administration, we are grateful that so many students are choosing Seattle U’s distinctive Jesuit education in the heart of a one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking cities in the world,” says Provost Shane P. Martin, of SU's largest incoming class. “We welcome them with great enthusiasm to our vibrant campus and the majestic Puget Sound.” SU’s strong enrollment of transfer students is significant, says Melore Nielsen, dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions. “I’m thrilled with the transfer numbers because most colleges have seen declines in transfer students with both domestic and international enrollments down at many community colleges,” she says. One third of new transfers are international students largely coming from Seattle-area community colleges, says Nielsen. Foreign-born students make up three percent of the 2018 freshman class. The previous record for freshman enrollment at Seattle U was 1,055 students in fall 2010. Total enrollment at Seattle U this fall is 7,291 undergraduate, graduate and law students.
2018
1,083 FRESHMEN 431 TRANSFER STUDENTS [ 1/3 ARE INTERNATIONAL ]
13% INCREASE
over last year's freshmen class
TOTAL 1,514
PHOTO BY WINSTON O'NEIL
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C OV E R S TO RY
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
Legacy of Leadership They are mentors, tutors, influencers and job creators. They inspire and guide the next generation of tomorrow’s leaders through their own proclivity to lead selflessly. They are Seattle University alumni who are returning to their alma mater to give of their time and talents, working with students and the larger campus community, in the classroom and on boards, building partnerships and strengthening the bond with their university. And changing lives along the way. Recently Seattle University Magazine gathered together several of the university’s most actively engaged alumni to share their experience on why giving back can be truly transformational.
By Tracy DeCroce & Tina Potterf Photos by Yosef Chaim Kalinko 14
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“
why is it important for you to be an engaged alumnus?
I feel like the university took time to invest in me—the professors, the administration, the staff. I feel it is now my responsibility to support the next generation. I also feel a passion that as an African-American male I want other individuals who look like me to see a role model while on campus. Someone invested in me. That’s how I got here. Someone took the time to invest in us. Now it’s our responsibility to invest in the next generation.
”
duron jones , ’ 14 Albers School of Business and Economics Chief Executive Officer, Innovation Tribe of America SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): President, African American Alumni Group; Director, Albers Summer Business Institute
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J u l i e wo o dwa r d , ’ 93 College of Arts and Sciences Head Coach, Seattle University Women's Soccer SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Special Olympics with Women’s Soccer Team; America Scores at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School with Women’s Soccer Team
what is the most rewarding or meaningful part of your involvement with su? “I feel blessed to be doing something I love. One of my favorite parts of working at Seattle U is that the university supports us as coaches in terms of developing the whole person. Of course, as a coach and an extremely competitive person, I love to win games. But at the end of the day, a great amount of care is placed on the principles of character, commitment, consistency and community. These are the qualities we develop in our players each and every day. I see it as my and my staff’s responsibility to mentor our players to see that they not only grow as athletes and students, but also grow as people during their four years here. That’s definitely the most rewarding part of my job.”
F r e d C a p e s ta n y, ’ 9 9 M A College of Education Director of College Support, Rainier Scholars SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): SDA Advisory Board; job/internship networking and outreach
why is it important for you to be an engaged alumnus? “I come from a Catholic household, an immigrant family from Cuba. I have always been committed to give back, to serve others. It’s what you do. When I came to Seattle University as a grad student, I was inspired to give back to an institution that gave me so much.”
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BRIAN WE BSTE R, ’91 M BA Albers School of Business & Economics President/CEO, Kestra Medical Technologies SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Longtime mentor to business students; serves on advisory board for Center for Business Ethics at Albers
what is the most rewarding or meaningful part of your involvement at seattle u?
“A
s a mentor, I get a renewed faith in the next generation. It is great to interact with smart, motivated young people. Just being able to provide the students with a little guidance and then hearing back from them later that this helped them in finding their career track is very rewarding. I had mentors who helped me figure out what path to take. I always remembered that and appreciated the value of mentors.
”
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MARIAM ABARIE NTOS , ’04 Albers School of Business and Economics Seattle Controller, Lease Crutcher Lewis SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): President, Albers Alumni Board
why is it important for you to be an engaged alumna?
“I want to give back to the university because it has given so much to me through the lessons, scholarships and the Jesuit values which molded me into who I am today. Seattle University has a heart for service and I’ve always been drawn to service. I want to be able to pass the torch to other students and alumni through the work of the Alumni Board and the university.”
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SHASTI CONRAD, ’07 College of Arts and Sciences U.S. Campaign Manager for the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and 100 Million Campaign SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Alumni Board of Governors; India Initiative
why is it important for you to be an engaged alumna? "Seattle University is how I learned to be a citizen of the world. I feel giving back is the right thing to do. I have such a place in my heart for Seattle U—the friends I made, the professors who supported me, the knowledge I gained, all helped me to become successful.”
Chris Canlas, ’01 Albers School of Business and Economics First Vice President–Wealth Management/ Portfolio Management Director/Financial Advisor, Morgan Stanley SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Board of Regents; chair of Alumni Taskforce for the Capital Campaign; former president of Alumni Board of Governors
how does your su education inform the work you do both as a volunteer and in your professional life? “Seattle U helped me to see volunteerism and professional development as what I would describe as ‘service-learning’; service-learning is a two-way street. Not only do I have the opportunity to help another person (‘service’), but through that experience, I also learn how to be a better person, how to change things in my own life for the better and how my decisions can affect others (‘learning’).”
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Re id Nabarrete , ’87 College of Science and Engineering Assistant Chief Engineer with PACCAR/Kenworth SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Member of Science and Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council; employer participant of Projects Day; established an endowed scholarship for engineering and nursing students with his wife Ameila, who is a 1986 graduate of psychology and nursing.
“
Visit campus. Come on to the campus and see where you can best contribute your time and talents. Return to your school or program and see where you can give back either through active involvement or through scholarship.
”
what would you say to other alumni considering stepping up their engagement or involvement with seattle u but not sure where to start?
John Hooper, PE , SE , ’81 College of Science and Engineering Director, Earthquake Engineering and Senior Principal, Magnusson Klemencic Associates SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Center for Science and Innovation Task Force; College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Leadership Council
“You start from where you came from. Go back there. See what’s happening. You’ll be amazed at how poised and knowledgeable the students are. Then you’ll see if you have a fit. Come back and see the place for what it is now. and how you might be able to fit your passion and talent into the matrix of what is here now.” 2 0 S E AT T L E U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 01 9
De bbie Akhbari , ’ 13 jd School of Law Associate, Helsell, Fetterman, LLP SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Law School Alumni Board; Law School Mentorship and Professional Development Committee; Public Interest Law Foundation Alumni Steering Committee
how does your su education inform the work you do both as a volunteer and in your professional life? “I believe in trying to focus my volunteer work on mentoring the next generation of attorneys because I was once that student. I was not one of those law students who knew what they wanted to do. It was really through working through people at the law school …this support network of faculty, staff and alumni…that I found my dream job. The law school instilled a sense of giving back.”
B e r n i e L i a n g , ’ 0 2 s da College of Education Director, Seattle University Center for Student Development SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Student Development Advisory Board
what is the most rewarding or meaningful part of your involvement with su? “I loved my experience in the Student Development Administration program… It’s rewarding to give back to a program that supported my learning and growth. I always knew there were a lot of people paying it forward for me, so to give back to the SDA program now means I'm hopefully doing that for someone else.”
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what would you say to other alumni considering stepping up their engagement or involvement with seattle u but not sure where to start? T o m H ov e , ’ 1 7
K a r e n Ly n n M a h e r , ’0 0
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
Veteran Navigator, The Outreach Center at Seattle University
Founder and CEO, LegacyONE Executive Communications
SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Works with undergraduate, graduate and law student-veterans and families on navigating college life and accessibility to resources; developing programs and services to support veterans including the Veterans Alumni Group.
SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): President, Alumni Board of Governors, Founder, Women of SU alumni group, guest speaker, A&S writing classes
“Get in contact with a group, The Outreach Center or the SU Alumni Association and ask questions about how you can get involved as an advocate or partner.”
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*Read Karen's response to this question on the inside cover.
Doquyen Huynh, ’07 bsn, ’ 10 MSN , ’ 14 DNP College of Nursing Primary care provider, director of nurse practitioner residency program, chair of clinical education and research, ICHS (International Community Health Services) SU Service/Volunteer Role(s): Mentors nursing students in rotation; teaches at the College of Nursing as “the bridge between education and practice.”
“Y
ou can always find ways to give back, whether it is time or through a gift. The university can only be as strong as the community that supports it.
”
— Doquyen Huynh, ’07 bsn, ’10 MSN, ’14 DNP
See yourself in these inspiring stories of alumni volunteers and want to get involved? Connect with the Seattle University Alumni Association at seattleu.edu/alumni. We’ll schedule time for you to talk to one of the team members to find meaningful ways that you, too, can make a difference in the lives of students, alumni and the university and inspire other alumni to do the same.
“My education at Seattle U was a transformative experience. In gratitude, I want to give back generously with my time and my financial support. Please join me in growing the Legacy Society of Seattle University. Together, we can make meaningful gifts to benefit Jesuit education and the students of tomorrow.” —Karen Lynn Maher, ’00, President, Alumni Board of Governors
YOUR LEGACY BUILDS FUTURES
Learn more about how to include the scholarship or program fund you love in your estate plans.
Office of Planned Giving | 206-296-6974 | www.seattleu.edu/giving S E AT T L E U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 01 9
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ATH LETI C S
REDHAWK HOOPS Support Seattle University men’s and women’s basketball in the home stretch with several games left this season. Here’s a look at some upcoming home games:
MEN’S BASKETBALL Thursday, January 17 vs. New Mexico State, 7 p.m. Saturday, January 19 vs.University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 7 p.m. Thursday, January 24 vs. Chicago State, 5 p.m. Saturday, February 2 vs. California Baptist, 7 p.m. Saturday, February 9 vs. Utah Valley, 1 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Thursday, January 24 vs. Chicago State, 6 p.m. Saturday, January 26 vs. Kansas City, 2 p.m. Thursday, February 14 vs. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 6 p.m. Saturday, February 16 vs. New Mexico State, 2 p.m.
For more information and tickets for these and other games visit GoSeattleU.com.
STATEMENT WIN In a stellar, early-season game before a raucous home crowd, Seattle University men’s basketball defeated the WSU Cougars 7869 at the accesso ShoWare Center. The win marked the first victory over a Pac-12 opponent since March 23, 2015, against Colorado. “You want to keep moving up the pecking order in the state,” said Coach Jim Hayford, in response to the growth of his team. “I’m grateful we won this game and we want to keep making the best out of each opportunity."
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WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM WAC CHAMPS
PETE FEWING GETS HIS 300TH WIN On Oct. 26, the men's soccer team handed Coach Pete Fewing his 300th career win with a 2-1 victory over University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The victory extended the Redhawks' stellar streak of 11-win seasons to six straight years.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ATHLETICS
On Nov. 4, the Redhawks won their fourth Western Athletic Conference title since 2013. Despite falling to #1-ranked Stanford in the NCAA tournament, the Redhawks’ season ended with a ninth-straight winning campaign.
EXCELLING ON THE FIELD AND THE CL ASSROOM For the fifth consecutive year and the sixth time in the last seven years, Seattle University has posted an institutional Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 95 percent—which is above the national average—according to figures released by the NCAA.
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F E AT U R E
FIRSTGENERATION
BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE fi rstg e n e r ation stu d e nts fi n d su pp o rt, co m m u n it y at s e at tle u By Tracy DeCroce
nancy mariano, ’18 26
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PHOTOS BY YOSEF CHAIM KALINKO
“As a first-generation student, my parents raised me to start where they were finishing. It’s really meaningful to me because I achieved my parents’ dream.” —Nancy Mariano, ‘18 While at Seattle U, Nancy Mariano, ’18, looked like she had it all together. She is one of those people who has given that impression all her life. “I was born in 45 minutes,” she says, with a laugh. “I wanted to do life.” Mariano is a first-generation college student, meaning that neither of her parents have an education beyond high school. Her parents couldn’t help her navigate or pay for college, but they fully encouraged her higher education pursuits. So, Mariano took it upon herself to research colleges, pay the application fees with money she earned from McDonald’s and apply for scholarships and financial aid on her own. At Seattle U, she majored in computer science and minored in math. She received a Costco Scholarship for underrepresented minorities and the Brotherton Family Scholarship recognizing students dedicated to their fields.
“It’s our opportunity to tell first-generation students it’s okay to stumble. You’ve got people to help you navigate,” she says. Intersecting identities add to the multi-dimension of many first-generation students, explaining why institutions, including Seattle University, have multiple approaches for connecting with them. When Chung-Jen (C.J.) Chen, ’20, transferred here from Tacoma Community College, he became a Fostering Scholar, a Seattle U program that provides wrap-around support for Washington state foster children. Chen is also an immigrant who came to the United States with his family from Taiwan when he was 10. In addition to these identities, Chen is a first-generation student whose mother’s highest education was high school and whose father’s was elementary school.
Her college experience looked like a success. She joined the Women in Technology Club, through which she raised money to attend a national technology conference, and secured two impressive technology internships.
When Chen arrived at Seattle U, he says, “I had no idea what I was doing.” College was “very different from how it is portrayed on TV shows.” By chance, he overheard a conversation between two students about accounting and thought it would suit his personality better than what he had declared.
Yet, Mariano struggled as a first-generation student to decode certain aspects of college life. She worked multiple jobs, but found the cost of college to be a persistent challenge. In four years, she never figured out how to get the most from financial aid options. It was only after graduating with considerable debt and moving back in with her parents that she learned she had left money on the table—money she could have accessed if she had only asked.
He changed his major and is doing well in the Albers School of Business and Economics. The Fostering Scholars program has helped him with budgeting, self-care and developing a resume. His campus job at the Center for Student Involvement has become so much more. There Chen works as a mentor to other first-generation students through The Outreach Center and serves as a Student Involvement Ambassador. “It feels like family,” he says.
“We were private about not being able to afford things growing up. I was taught not to ask for help,” Mariano says. “I could have really used a mentor.”
“I’m so much more hopeful for my future than ever,” Chen says. “I have so many options ahead of me.”
Recognizing the unique challenges of students like Mariano, Seattle University launched The Outreach Center in 2017. The center acts as the university’s hub to address the needs of firstgeneration students and veterans. Nationally, 60 percent of veterans enrolled in colleges and universities are first-generation, according to Gretchenrae Campera, ’08, assistant director of Student Success and Outreach. Much of The Outreach Center’s work is peer-focused. It has developed a guidebook, written by and for first-generation students, and a peer mentor program. At the same time, the center collaborates with various other university staff, programs and departments that support first-generation students through their work, Campera says.
For the past 10 years, Seattle University’s first-generation student population has remained steady at 15 to 17 percent of the total student body, according to SU’s office of Institutional Research (IR). First-generation students are defined as those whose parents’ highest level of education is a high school diploma, in accordance with the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) definition. A 2014 NCES report shows that 34 percent of undergraduates in the U.S. have parents who have never gone to college. First-generation students are more inclined to attend public institutions by a rate of 76 percent, according to a 2017 NCES study. Seattle University’s reputation for having an “ethic of care” gives first-generation students confidence they will find support here, says Joelle Pretty, director of Student Academic Services. S E AT T L E U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 01 9
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That, combined with demographic trends, suggests the university might experience an uptick soon, she says.
"My parents always valued education. They never went to high school themselves. They used a metaphor of education by comparing literacy to living in bright daylight compared to illiteracy as living in the dark.” —Abdul Diriye, ’19
The Seattle University School of Law has the highest percentage of first-generation students of any of the university’s schools and colleges. Each year since the 2012–13 academic year, more than one-fifth of all law students have identified as firstgeneration. Many of those students enroll through the law school’s Access Admission’s Program, a seven-week summer course offering an introduction to law school culture, coursework and test preparation for students whose numerical indicators (LSAT scores and GPAs) fall below the typical student profile, says Gerald Heppler, director of admission for the law school. First-year law student Jeaqualyn Borgonia, ’21, didn’t know any attorneys growing up. Her parents, neither of whom advanced beyond high school, are from Guam, where her dad served in the military. While studying political science at St. Martin’s University, Borgonia interned for the Washington state legislature where she became convinced that policy was the way to social change and decided to become a lawyer. Entering law school, she “felt very fortunate to have the option” of the Access Admission’s Program “because without that I probably would have been pretty lost.” Family expectations play heavily into the first-generation student experience. Some families assume their children will maintain family roles and responsibilities while attending college full-time, Campera says. The Outreach Center hosts family orientation sessions and sends a newsletter to educate families about the college experience. As first-generation students tend to be older than traditional students, it is common for them to be managing adult responsibilities. At age 34, Abdul Diriye, ’19, is the father of five young children. He is a Somali refugee who immigrated to Kenya in 1990 and to the United States in 2000 before settling
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in West Seattle in 2002 for his senior year of high school.
me it is a struggle. But with Alfie’s support, I came through tough times.”
Diriye didn’t follow a traditional path to college. Impelled to help the Somali community, he immersed himself, often volunteering at public health clinics translating for Somalis who didn’t know the language. He got a job where he continues working today for a rental car company near the airport, married and started his family.
As the first in his family to attend college, Diriye feels like he carries a great weight. One mistake could have grave consequences.
A decade passed. But college was never far from his mind. “I knew all the time I could do better once I could focus on my education,” he says. “My parents always valued education. They never went to high school themselves. They used a metaphor of education by comparing literacy to living in bright daylight compared to illiteracy as living in the dark.” Diriye transferred to Seattle University from South Seattle College in 2017 to study diagnostic ultrasound in the College of Nursing. He became an Alfie Scholar, a Seattle U scholarship program for transfer students. Not only did the Alfie Scholarship program provide financial support but “they are like an immediate family” to him. He makes the Dean’s list and is a member of the Tau Sigma Honor Society. Still, he says the biggest challenge is knowing where to find information. “I compare that to the native students. I found they knew what they were doing. To
“I believe every first-generation will tell you that,” he says. “If you don’t pass a class, you feel that your future is threatened. None of my family went before so I am the lead person. I don’t want my family to lose hope. It’s a big responsibility.” When Mariano graduated last spring, that weight Diriye describes was lifted and replaced by a new feeling, one Mariano can’t quite express. By graduating from college, she realized a family dream. “[My parents] worked really hard to advance through their companies,” Mariano says. “But there’s a barrier when you don’t have a degree.”
jeaqualyn borgonia, ’21
Now the dream is coming full-circle. Mariano’s dad, who started in the mailroom at Microsoft, manages a data center that uses F5 products from the company where Mariano now works. “As a first-generation student, my parents raised me to start where they were finishing,” Mariano says. “It’s really meaningful to me because I achieved my parents’ dream. I still haven’t taken it all in."
Resources for First-Generation Students Student Success & Outreach: Learn more about programs for first-generation students and student veterans at www.seattleu.edu/student-outreach. Alfie Scholars: A program that provides financial and academic support for transfer students from two-year colleges. Learn more at www.alfiescholars.org. School of Law Access Admission Program A seven-week summer program for first-year students whose LSAT scores and GPAs fall below the typical student profile. Learn more at www.law.seattleu.edu/admission/access-admission.
chung -jen (c.j.) chen, ’20
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BEING SCENE
NOTABLE FACES & EVENTS COME TO SU
PHOTO BY YOSEF CHAIM KALINKO, MATT LIPSEN, MERYL SCHENKER
This past fall brought many noteworthy speakers to campus along with the celebration of Seattle U signature events.
(Clockwise from top left): Homecoming came early this year and was celebrated in grand fashion, including the Homecoming court and Red Umbrella Parade. Another signature event was the annual Gala, which this year honored Steve and Tricia Trainer, ’02, who received the St. Ignatius Medal for service. On the speakers front, Seattle U hosted former Secretary of State John Kerry
and the Albers Executive Speaker Series presented a Boeing panel discussion featuring former Boeing CEOS Alan Mulally, Ray Conner and Frank Shrontz, pictured here with President Sundborg, Associate Dean Marilyn Gist and Dean Joseph Phillips. And finally, the academic year was kicked off at the Mass of the Holy Spirit at Immaculate Conception Church.
5.2.19-5.3.19 The Pacific Northwest’s premier news and ideas festival featuring the boldest names in politics, science/the environment, business and social justice from across the region and around the nation.
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SU ALUMNI DISCOUNT 20% discount on Friday/Saturday combo tickets and Saturday-only tickets .
HOSTED BY
code: Alumni (case sensitive)
CROSSCUT.COM/FESTIVAL
IN MEMORIAM
Seattle University remembers those in our alumni family and university community we've lost. 1943 Bert Daigle (March 28, 2018)
1958 Kenneth C. Faris (Dec. 21, 2017)
1978 Carol Rottier (March 19, 2018)
1946 Claire Boonov Litchman (Oct. 28, 2017)
1960 James M. Donovan (December 24, 2017)
1980 Joseph Shea (April 2, 2018)
1947 John Oscar Beimborn, MEd (May 14, 2018) Margaret Maxine (Hunt) Kirschner
1961 Richard Day Andrews (April 22, 2018)
1982 Scott Mitchell Hyde (June 4, 2018)
1962 Sister Margaret Rose O’Neill, CSJP, MEd (June 8, 2018) William Bernard Seubert (April 3, 2018) Richard “Rick” Ullern Starr (Feb. 3, 2018)
1983 Joan Lucille Hardiman, MPA (Feb. 6, 2018) 1986 Sister Maryann Bochsler, SP (Jan. 29, 2018)
1963 Philip Steven Rogers (March 23, 2018)
1988 Donna Schultz Stirton (Feb. 6, 2018)
1964 Col. (Ret.) James Robert Moergeli, Jr.
1994 Janice L. Harlow, EdD (January 26, 2018)
(March 20, 2018)
Margaret Lotzgesell (March 23, 2018) 1948 Catherine Mowry LaCugna, ’68 MIT (April 5, 2018)
1949 Ruth Porter (April 4, 2018) Lois Elizabeth Murphy Spellman (
January 25, 2018)
(Feb. 12, 2018)
Marilyn Carol Skone, MEd (May 27, 2018)
1950 Rita G. Hooper (January 24, 2018) Nicholas “Nick” A. Grossi (May 6, 2018) Walter J. Stolle (Dec. 10, 2017) John D. Wiles (April 12, 2018)
1965 Roger Lamar Ramsey (January 15, 2018)
1995 Nancy Krueger, MEd (Jan. 21, 2018)
1966 Rodney “Rod” Allen Falor (May 5, 2018)
1951 William “Bill” Vincent Baumgartner
1967 Kenneth L. Marsh, MS (April 29, 2018)
1997 Flavia Gierin Roach, MAPS (March 3, 2018) Father Michael Wagner (May 2, 2018)
(June 7, 2018)
Daniel Gorman Donohue, ’66 MEd (June
1, 2018)
1953 Dr. Richard Paul McCullough (May 4, 2018) Fred Tatsuo Sato (April 17, 2018) 1954 Wilfred “Bill” Finnegan, ’71 MBA (Jan. 30, 2018)
1956 Clare Irene Andriesen (May 8, 2018) 1957 Sister Patrice Eilers, OP, ’62 MEd (March 22, 2018)
Father Ralph O. Jones (Feb. 13, 2018) Raymond J. Keating (Feb. 14, 2018) Dr. James M. Quinn (May 31, 2018) Norman E. “Gene” Schille (Feb. 11, 2018)
1968 Richard Hanson, MEd (April 12, 2018) Dr. Donald John Soltero (May 19, 2018) 1969 Cathy Lynn Adams (April 5, 2018) Robert Norman Olson, MEd (April 25, 2018) 1971 Michael Aust (May 12, 2018) Linda Jo Reynolds (May 12, 2018)
2003 Carol Ann Fielding (May 26, 2018) 2009 Susan Morrisson, MDiv (Feb. 22, 2018) 2014 Peter Jeffrey Olund (May 7, 2018) FACULTY/STAFF Patricia Ann FitzGerald (June 5, 2018) Taught at the university from 2005-2015
1975 Molly Reagle Booth, MEd (Feb. 16, 2018) Claudia B. Thomas, MEd (May 12, 2018) 1976 Albert William Hazard (Jan. 20, 2018) William Richard Michelman, JD (May 2, 2018)
1977 Scott Alexander Candoo, JD (April 4, 2018)
THINKING OF YOU
We ask readers and family members to inform us of the death of alumni and friends of Seattle University. Please email tinap@seattleu.edu or send via mail to Seattle University Magazine, Attn: Obits, 901 12th Avenue, PO Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122-1090.
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NEW YEAR, NEW DIGS THE LAST WORD
Students share slice of life inside new Vi Hilbert residence hall
Ariana Mafi, ’20
Interviews conducted by Tracy DeCroce It’s new. It’s modern. It’s city living with stunning views. Vi Hilbert Hall—Seattle University’s newest residence hall—opened this past fall, providing space for more than 300 upper-level and graduate students on Madison near 12th Avenue. The building’s first two floors house Seattle University’s Enrollment Services, including Student Financial Services, the Registrar and Admissions. The building also connects to the Campus Store located in an adjacent Madison building. Vi Hilbert Hall is named for a Northwest tribal woman who devoted her life to keeping alive the Lushootseed culture, language and stories. Students moved into their rooms just prior to the start of the academic year and Seattle University Magazine spoke to some of them about their first impressions of their new digs.
VI HILBERT BY THE NUMBERS 32
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303
127
Number of students it houses
Number of apartments
10 Number of floors
(eight of which are residential)
PHOTOS BY YOSEF CHAIM KALINKO, MATT LIPSEN
GRAYSON MARTELLO-LIVINGSTON, ’21 bothell, wash.
major: strategic communications
Snagging one of Vi Hilbert Hall’s single apartments, Grayson MartelloLivingston, ’21, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window that makes his living room feel like it’s hovering in the sky above Capitol Hill.
“And around here are a lot of good restaurants,” he says. Best of all is the chance to live in an upper-classmen dorm. Last year, he was unable to get into campus housing after transferring to Seattle U from Cascadia College. So, he jumped at the chance to live here.
“I had no idea the view would be this spectacular,” Martello-Livingston says. In fact, he liked the modern look and feel of the whole building. “It’s pretty spectacular.”
“To be on campus in new apartments was really attractive,” he says. “I like being more integrated with campus and the community of SU.”
There are other benefits, too, like being just steps away from his favorite coffee spot—Café Presse on 12th Avenue.
Grayson Martello-Livingston, ’21
apartment: single
DYLAN FONG, ’20 o’ahu, hawaii
major: civil engineering
apartment: quad
Dylan Fong, ’20, was nervous about moving into a new building, site unseen. So, he was relieved when the time came to move into his 10th floor quad apartment. “It’s like when you watch an HGTV show,” he says, referring to the home improvement-focused cable channel. “I was happy with the way it came out.”
couch, chair and wooden coffee table. He will share the space with three roommates.
As a quad his apartment has four bedrooms, a common area and a kitchen and furnishings that included a leather
“All my friends decided to live here. I wanted to spend my last two years of college with them,” he says. “We can study together without having to travel too far.”
Fong lived in Campion and Murphy his first two years at Seattle U. He chose Vi Hilbert for his junior and senior years because he wanted to be around by people he knew.
ARIANA MAFI, ’20 normandy park, wash.
Dylan Fong, ’20
“I was really surprised,” says Ariana Mafi, ’20, when she entered her double on the 10th floor. “I have a view of the Space Needle. I walked in and it was the first thing I saw.”
major: marketing
apartment: double
Ariana Mafi, who has never lived in a new building, was thrilled with Vi Hilbert Hall, including the nearby common room. “This is really different from any place I’ve ever lived,” she says, snuggled into the window seat she created by scooting the apartment’s leather couch under the living room window.
Having spent her first two years on the opposite end of campus, Mafi looks forward to upping her proximity to Madison Street. It’s closer to where she works and to many of her classes. She also considers it “the quieter side of campus.” Mostly she was eager for “something different.”
The kitchen is equipped with a slim wooden table and two bar stools pressed against the wall, plus roomy cabinets above the sink and a twoburner stovetop. Each bedroom is outfitted with a twin bed and a desk.
Mafi spent her first quarter living alone but that changes this winter when her roommate returns after studying abroad in China in the fall.
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SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
901 – 12th Avenue PO Box 222000 Seattle, WA 98122-1090
BUT DON’T WORRY, THE PRINT ISN’T GOING AWAY. Seattle University Magazine is launching a greater digital presence that will provide web-exclusive content to complement the print editions. The expanded digital format will debut in place of a traditional printed spring issue. Check it out in early May 2019 at www.seattleu.edu/magazine. And for those who enjoy the printed version of the magazine, fear not: the print is not going away; in fact, you’ll still receive two issues each year. Watch for the new digital site coming this spring!
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