SLUH Magazine

MAGAZINE

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WINTER 2018

I N SI D E T H I S I SS U E:

INNOVATION IN ST EM SE RV I C E T H E ARTS SP I R I T UA L I T Y SU STA I N A B I L I T Y SO C I A L J U ST I C E & MORE

THE

INNOVATION ISSUE

“In educating a balance must be maintained, your steps must be well balanced, one step on the cornice of safety but the other into the zone of risk.

And when the risk becomes safe, the next step must venture into another area of risk. Education cannot be confined to the safety zone. No. This would mean preventing personalities from developing; yet it is not possible to educate solely in the risk zone either: this is too dangerous. It is a balance of steps: remember it well.”

– POPE FRANCIS IN ADDRESS TO JESUIT SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ALBANIA (2013)

Students participate in the third annual Clavius Project Robotics Jamboree at SLUH on January 20, 2018.

INNOVATION AS TRADITION Dear St. Louis U. High Community, Happy Birthday, to all of us...200 years old!

I find myself thinking about different decades of history in our 200 years and what has taken place in our local, national and global history. St. Louis University High School has truly lived through many changes over the years. Always, I think of the people in those times. I think of school leaders, faculty members, parents, students and benefactors.

We stand on their shoulders. I pray in gratitude for their vision, perseverance, commitment, faith, dedication and achievement that handed to all of us a school that aspires to such high ideals.

Beyond those 200 years, I think of the miracle of the Society of Jesus, of St. Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. and his earliest friends like St. Francis Xavier, S.J., and St. Peter Faber, S.J. In their earliest inspiration for the mission of the Jesuits, they truly envisioned serving the world! Given the limitations of transportation and communication, cultural unknowns and unforeseen challenges, that was a tremendous vision.

This past October, I was invited to provide a keynote address in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a group of Provincials’ delegates responsible for secondary and pre-secondary education all around the world. It struck me quite clearly that we represented, almost 500 years later, a dream of a handful of men who trusted in God’s divine providence and did not limit the horizon of their work to their lifetimes. In many ways, this is the work of all educators. We plant seeds that grow to maturity long after our time on this earth has passed. But the planning and the execution of what we do today matters just as much as it did for those earliest companions many years ago.

My topic was Innovation as Tradition as a key aspect of what has made Jesuit education both worldwide and relevant for the past 500 years, both in context and in execution. The simple truth is that a core of human formation that has an eternal horizon has consistently been adapted to time and context. This was the purpose of our international meeting.

While I was fascinated being with my colleagues there, my reflection kept coming back to Oakland Avenue and our care today.

Through centuries of development, there is a consistent core of formation at SLUH. We are a Gospel-based, humanities oriented, Jesuit Catholic school for young men. The total formation of the student has always been tantamount.

However, the program surrounding that core has adapted through the decades. Some who read this publication were required to take Latin and might never have imagined 50-plus-year traditions in Chinese or Russian language and culture. Before 1995, we required two years of Science and now require three, but 75 percent of our students take a fourth year. We’ve added a burgeoning Arabic studies program to make our language department reflect seven opportunities. We now have 19 interscholastic sports. Only for about 10 percent of our history have we possessed the first-class Joseph Schulte Theater for the performing arts.

We now have both College and Personal Counseling.

I could continue to compare the past to the present to the future, but I hope as you read through this publication, you will see two things: our fierce love of the tradition of a total education for our young men, and our drive, like that of our predecessors, to continually challenge ourselves to place before our young men those opportunities that will allow them to be tomorrow’s leaders. Our world needs that. Our history gives us that momentum. Our forbearers did so for us. We can do no less. Go Forth.

God bless,

David J. Laughlin President

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MAGAZINE

ABOUT SLUH Magazine is a quarterly publication for alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, benefactors and friends of St. Louis University High School. The spring and fall issues are sent electronically. If you do not receive correspondence from SLUH but wish to, please send a note to alumni@sluh.org with your name, email and mailing address.

IN THIS ISSUE 8

SPIRITUALITY

CONTACT SLUH Magazine St. Louis University High School 4970 Oakland Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 magazine@sluh.org EDITOR Ben DuMont '92 Director of Communications SUBMISSIONS Story ideas and submissions are welcome. Please send a note to magazine@sluh.org.

THANK YOU Photography Club (Dominik Skroska '18, Sulli Wallisch '19, Louis Barnes '19, Jonel Olar '20, Miguel Cadiz '20, Jake McCullar '20, John Hilker '20, Ben Andrews '20, Andrew Munie '21, Drew Walters '21 and moderator Kathy Chott) for their dedication and commitment in digitally capturing life at SLUH and contributing to this publication...and to students in Prep News, SLUHTube, Sisyphus and Gadfly, for enriching the SLUH experience through their coverage, perspectives and creativity.

www.sluh.org sluhigh sluh @sluhjrbills COPYRIGHT © 2018 St. Louis University High School

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STEM & SERVICE

SUSTAINABILITY

SOCIAL JUSTICE

THE ARTS

THROUGHOUT THIS PUBLICATION SEE THE COMMON THREAD OF GRATITUDE AS WE CELEBRATE OUR BICENTENNIAL

Upward Bound – BOB CAITO '00

#2Centuries2Words Contribute your two words in celebration of our two centuries. sluh.org/bicentennial/mosaic

I N N OVAT I O N SLUH BICENTENNIAL

STUDENTS, FA C U LT Y & S TA F F

ALUMNI

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FEATURES

U. HIGHLIGHTS

AROUND THE HALLS 5 Semester Highlights

SLUH BICENTENNIAL 18 SLUH Bicentennial Mass & Celebration

ALUMNI PROFILES 34 Mike Eilers '06 Fr. Brian Christopher, S.J. '93 Terry Bracy '60 Dr. Francis Shen '96

SPORTS 6 Spring Sports Recap

12 Safety First ARTS 7 Semester Highlights CAMPUS MINISTRY 8 God’s Time: A Reflection on the Kairos Retreat STEM 10 The Clavius Project: Innovation — and Service — Through STEM OUTREACH 11 Outreach Marks Mothers Club Milestone INNOVATION IN CURRICULUM 14 New Geography Class Goes Experiential

16 The Freshman Experience

Gets a Fresh Look

20 One For The Record Books:

Frank Pawloski '63

39 Dr. John Paul Shen '98 46 Michael Beugg '81 Produces

INNOVATION IN SOCIAL JUSTICE 22 Building Bridges of Understanding: Delton Utsey '18

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY 26 Keepers of the World: Mike Hamm '70

INNOVATION IN THE ARTS 40 Rollo’s World: Dr. Rollo Dilworth '87

30 A Venture Worth Pursuing:

INNOVATION IN URBAN PLANNING 42 From Grit to Grove: Alumni Brooks Goedeker '98 and Matt Green '04 Lead Resurgence in the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood

The Greenhouse Venture, Tom Purcell '61

Wonder: Movie Review by Will Slatin '19

45 Noteworthy 47 Requiescat in Pace 48 Ignatian Reflection 49 Upcoming Events Winter 2018 | 3

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AROUND THE HALLS

SEMESTER HIGHLIGHTS

Youth and Government Numerous Jr. Bills won their mock trial cases or passed bills in November at the YMCA Youth and Government convention in Jefferson City. The event allows hundreds of students from across the state to compete and learn the process of democracy by participating in mock government as a legislator, attorney, print/media participant or elected member of the executive branch.

Jr. Bills on Wall Street Eleven juniors and seniors visited Wall Street in New York in November for a four-day trip to meet with alumni in the field of business and to learn about financial markets. “We got to sit right on the trade floor and go with young guys right out of college,” Ricky Browne '18 told the Prep News.

“That was pretty cool.”

Appetite for Competition SLUH hosted its second annual Iron Chef competition to showcase local alumni chefs/restaurateurs and expose students to healthy eating that utilizes low-impact, flavor-packed foods. Event proceeds benefited the St. Patrick’s Center. Chefs Brian Doherty '91, Chris Leahy '95, Brendan Kirby '99 and Alex Feldmeier '04 contributed their cooking expertise in this high-energy, competitive event and led student teams, and Sean Leahy '01 created a harvest-themed ice sculpture.

Welcome Relief In addition to providing service support at many organizations in the area through the Freshman Service Project and Community Service Program, Jr. Bills led drives to support worthwhile causes, such as the hurricane relief efforts in Houston and Puerto Rico, the Drive for the Homeless, the Adopt-A-Family for needy families during the holidays and a faculty karaoke fundraiser benefiting Children’s Miracle Network.

Robotics FLL Qualifier SLUH hosted the FLL Qualifier, with more than 200 students demonstrating their knowledge and expertise in FIRST LEGO League robotics. In addition to presenting their results in a variety of STEM projects, students went on to compete in the championship events. It was the first year that the Clavius Project at SLUH hosted and co-sponsored the event, which complements Clavius’ mission to bring STEM activities to middle schools in our metro area.

SLUH’s partnership with Ranken Technical College brings many opportunities for students to learn about STEM career pathways.

Highly Selective College Admissions.

In addition, SLUH hosted for the first time in the St. Louis area all nine University of California system schools for an Admissions Expo.

The University of California system is highly regarded and includes UC Berkeley, ranked as the #1 public university in the country and #4 in the world.

Up, Up and Away!

Ever wonder what it’s like to be an astronaut? Dr. Michael Massimino from Columbia University talked with Jr. Bills about his experience as an astronaut for NASA. He was one of several outside speakers, including Br. Guy Consolmagno (Director of the Vatican Observatory) and many alumni, who shared their expertise in a broad spectrum of fields to students.

Convenient Commuting SLUH began offering bus service for St. Charles and West St. Louis County students with three stops in the morning. The bus arrives at SLUH around 7:30 a.m. and departs at 5:45 p.m., allowing time for afterschool sports and activities. Students may ride for an annual fee with a semester-only option available.

College Bound Among a variety of new initiatives, College Counseling offered a program for parents called SLUH Selective Sunday: Insights Into the World of

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SPORTS

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS CHRIS MUSKOPF '91, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

2017-18 winter sports update (as of January 24th): highly competitive invitationals at St. John Vianney, Rockwood Summit, MICDS, and Seckman, while also wrestling in dual meets versus MCC foes Chaminade, St. John Vianney, CBC, and DeSmet.

Basketball The varsity team began the season with a 4th-place finish at the Siege Sports Invitational, featuring a victory over Wooddale (TN) and losses to Blue Springs South (in 2OT) and Rockhurst.

Over the Christmas break, the team snagged 5th place at the Coaches vs.

Cancer Tournament at Meramec, with wins over Lindbergh, Ritenour, and Marquette. The team’s only loss in the tournament came by a 1-point margin to Kirkwood in the quarterfinals.

In the 2017 portion of the season, the varsity team registered regular season wins over Trinity Catholic and CBC. In 2018, the team has registered MCC wins over DeSmet and CBC. Ice Hockey The varsity IceBills head into their last regular season game with a record of 24 wins and 1 loss. In its 25 games played, the team has outscored its opponents 149-15 and recorded 12 shutouts. The first round of the Challenge Cup playoffs will begin in the early portion of February.

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Racquetball All six of the SLUH racquetball teams have begun their seasons, with the program aiming for its eighth consecutive state and national titles.

Rifle The SLUH Rifle squad ramps up its season now that the calendar has turned to 2018, hosting the Missouri CMP Championships to end January and Montgomery Bell Academy to begin February. The program has its sights set on a return to Regionals in Alabama in April and Nationals in Ohio in June.

Wrestling The SLUH wrestling program continues its growth, development, and improvement under head coach Rob Nahlik. After a close loss in the season opener to Hazelwood West, the team has competed against Windsor, Hillsboro, Jackson, Poplar Bluff, Pattonville, Priory, MICDS, Ritenour, and Hillsboro. In the early portion of 2018, the team will be a part of several

Coaches in the News Charlie Martel '73 recently announced his retirement as head coach of the varsity soccer team (he will remain at SLUH as a theology teacher). His announcement comes on the heels of his induction into the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to Coach Martel on his 25-year career as head soccer coach, highlighted by a 514-16163 record. We are grateful for his commitment to serving our student athletes and their total formation.

Andrew Toussaint will serve as new head coach for the varsity lacrosse team. A former college standout, he brings extensive coaching experience to an already robust lacrosse program at SLUH. Visit sluh.org/athletics for updates, or on Twitter at @SLUHAthletics

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THE ARTS

ARTS: SEMESTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Dauphin Players’ production of Romeo and Juliet featured impressive faculty contributions, including direction by Kathryn Whitaker, original music by Addie Akin, choreography by Simonie Anzalone, acting by Chuck Hussung (as the Friar) and original masks by Scott Schoonover, Joan Bugnitz, Sean Powers and Sarah Rebholz.

The fall gallery exhibition Impressions: An Alumni Print Show featured prints from alumni taught by art teacher Joan Bugnitz over the past 25 years.

The collection included recent prints from current working artists Steve Kuppinger '99, Matty Kleinberg '98 and Clayton Petras '11.

best high school and college students from Missouri and Illinois.

The following students were selected for All-State Band and Orchestra:

Four students were selected for the 2017 District Honor Choir, and Sam Pottinger '18 was selected for the second consecutive year for the 2018 Missouri All-State Choir.

Six Jr. Bills performed in the 2017 All-District Orchestra (Andrew Wilson '19 was named 1st chair violist and Alexander Unseth '21 was 1st chair cellist); nine students performed in the 2017 All-District Concert Band; and four students performed in the 2017 All-District Jazz Band.

Concert Band: Bryce Van Bree '20, flute, and Justin Koesterer '19, trumpet (both Honorable Mention); Thomas Curdt '18, trombone (3rd in state) Jazz Band: Joseph Hartung '18, trombone (2nd in state), Justin Koesterer '19, trumpet (4th in state) and Thomas Curdt '18, trombone (1st alternate). Also, though not in the band, Christopher Hartung '20 was ranked among the top five guitarists in the state.

Thomas Curdt '18 was selected to play in the St. Louis Youth Symphony Orchestra, comprised of some of the

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CAMPUS MINISTRY

GOD’S TIME:

A Reflection on the Kairos Retreat

REFLECTION BY BRIAN GILMORE '02, THEOLOGY TEACHER, CAMPUS MINISTER AND CROSS COUNTRY COACH

The word Kairos resounds deeply within the hearts of many who have come to know SLUH. To understand why, you really have to just give it a shot. On the surface, it is an elective retreat offered five times annually to second-semester juniors and first-semester seniors. Its true meaning and impact, however, far surpasses any such surface-level identification. Its essence is much more mysterious and difficult to define.

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Kairos is a Greek word that many translate as “God’s time,” though linguists may more precisely say, “a time set apart.” The time of Kairos truly does feel like a moment suspended – suspended within the flow of daily life for students, faculty and staff alike. It’s a retreat that magnifies realities and offers of love, friendship and faith that exist in the lives of our students.

Chuck Hussung, a colleague and a veteran of many SLUH Kairos retreats, once offered me a way of looking at Kairos. It is a retreat where the extraordinary will happen in ordinary ways, and the ordinary will happen in extraordinary ways.

Indeed, Kairos heightens one’s sense of wonder and awe through some very ordinary exercises and exchanges. I find Kairos to be a beautiful, lived expression of faith and relationships at a paramount developmental moment in the lives of our students.

Since the retreat began at SLUH in October 1995, our students, faculty and staff have taken 83 Kairos retreats. Each retreat is numbered, as each iteration can safely claim to have a life of its own. Such a life is animated by the beautifully vulnerable and courageous talks that students and adults present, honest small groups led by welltrained student leaders who first attended the retreat as retreatants, and the lowering of masks and pretentions that can periodically mark the way of proceeding for adolescents in a competitive college-preparatory school.

One of my personal experiences of Kairos has to do with the sacredness of sharing one’s story and, likewise, encountering the story of those around you. As an adult leader, I have had the chance to appropriately share parts of my own journey within the framework and progression

offered by the retreat. As with many others, Kairos has been a place where I have received the gift of tears – tears of laughter, sadness and redemption. It is a place where I have formed or deepened friendships with a number of colleagues, each of whom hold this retreat near to their own heart. It is a place where I have witnessed incredible moments of student reconciliation and transformation.

In November 2017, I attended my 29th Kairos retreat since joining the SLUH faculty 10 years ago as a member of the Alum Service Corps.

After that year, when Matt Stewart, S.J. '98 left SLUH to become a Jesuit, I joined Campus Ministry and inherited the organizational duty of the Kairos program, a role I have served in ever since. Kairos 81 again took place at King’s House Retreat House in Belleville, IL. King’s House is a location we often use for Kairos, and thus it is a place remembered as sacred by many SLUH Kairos retreatants over the past quarter century. My colleague and friend John Penilla '99, SLUH’s Director of Annual Giving, directed the seven members of the Kairos 81 student team, and six other wonderful members of the faculty and staff rounded out our leadership team.

DID YOU KNOW? During the week of Thanksgiving – for the second consecutive year – classes were not in session to allow for Retreat Week. Offerings included the Freshman Retreat (mandatory and on-campus), Senior Kairos Retreat (student-led), two Junior Retreats, Philia Retreat (considering issues of spirituality from a diversity perspective) and the Service Learning Retreat. All SLUH retreats are now fee-free.

Over the course of this retreat, held during the four days leading up to Thanksgiving, our senior team displayed incredible leadership and Christian witness. The senior retreatants entered the retreat willing and open, and they went home for the holiday feeling a refreshed sense of belonging, faith and connection. That is to say, Kairos happened. And that truly is a beautiful thing.

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STEM

INNOVATION – AND SERVICE – THROUGH STEM Since 2014, SLUH has brought education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) via robotics, coding and applied mathematics to middle schools in underserved areas in St. Louis through the Clavius Project. Named after Christopher Clavius, a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, the program has quickly achieved considerable success and momentum.

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On January 20, 2018, the Clavius Project hosted its third annual Robotics Jamboree at SLUH. More than 300 middle school students participated in the event, which featured a robotics competition among 26 area middle schools and exciting demonstrations from SLUH and other schools, including Ranken Technical College.

Currently, 34 middle schools in St. Louis – and more than 600 students – participate in the Clavius Project.

SLUH provides most of the program’s mentors, with Jr. Bills regularly visiting the middle schools to educate students; in some cases, they teach the teachers how to implement a STEM program in their schools.

The Clavius Project Robotics Jamboree is sponsored by the Berges Family Foundation, Ranken Technical College and Wells Fargo Advisors.

OUTREACH

Outreach Marks Mothers Club Milestone Following the call of Pope Francis and the urging of alumni, SLUH responds.

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Last winter a young family arrived in St. Louis after fleeing their native Sudan, a country enduring civil war so brutal it has spawned one of the world’s worst refugee crises and left half of the nation’s population, some six million people, in need of humanitarian aid.

The family, including a mother, father and three boys (ages 6, 11 and 13), was sponsored by the International Institute of St. Louis, an organization near SLUH that helps immigrants find dignity in America so that they can contribute positively to the community. The oldest boy is undergoing treatment for leukemia at Cardinal Glennon – one of the factors that allowed the family to come to St. Louis.

Shortly after their arrival, Fr. Paul Sheridan, S.J. (theology teacher and SLUH President Emeritus) arranged through the International Institute for the family to move into the former Jesuit residence on Lawn Place. In addition to housing provided by SLUH, the family has received incredible support from the Mothers Club. Alumni mothers have been very generous by taking the family to see city landmarks such as the St. Louis Zoo, Saint Louis Science Center and Turtle Park; arranging for them to visit with a SLUH family in their home; hosting a ‘block party’ for the family to meet their neighbors on Lawn as well as other SLUH alumni families; assisting with transportation to Camp Rainbow, which helps families of children with cancer; delivering a Thanksgiving dinner, and more.

“The boys are sports fans, especially soccer, and we are hoping to introduce them to basketball and get them to some SLUH games,” says Dede Pitts, Alumni Mothers Club volunteer who has been instrumental in supporting the Sudanese family. “The oldest, according to his dad, has always been interested in music and is learning to play the guitar.”

She adds that the family is very grateful for the outpouring of support from SLUH, which recently celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Mothers Club.

In 1927, a group of SLUH mothers raised funds to repair devastating tornado damage at Backer Memorial. In addition to aiding the school’s recovery, their effort spawned the advent of the Mothers Club – and Alumni Mothers Club for past moms. Through a variety of social, service, spiritual and fundraising activities, the Mothers Club provides an opportunity for mothers of students to partner with SLUH in the development of their sons.

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SPORTS

SAFETY FIRST

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While the impact of concussions in professional sports continues to garner national headlines, more attention is being paid at all levels to the safety of young athletes. And it’s not just concussions. The past decade has seen an oceanic rise in competitive athletics at the youth level. Among the drawbacks: more injuries at younger ages, and more athletes prone to injury by the time they enter high school. What is SLUH doing to promote a safe environment for student athletes while preventing injuries?

According to SLUH Medical Director Scott Gilbert, MA, RN, BSN '88, “We take a comprehensive and holistic approach when it comes to the health and well-being of our students. We focus on promoting safe and active lifestyles through education with emphasis on preventative measures when it comes to competitive play.

“Student athletes experience these aspects of healthy living and proper training at uniquely different levels from freshman to senior year. It is this blended level of education, training and rehab that defines our program and provides the foundation for the physical and emotional development needed by our student athletes to achieve higher levels of success.”

Opposite page, above: SLUH’s football team introduced the newest member to their team in the fall: a remote-controlled tackling dummy.

It is quick (pictured here racing the team in a sprint) and, above all, reduces the risk of injury during tackling drills. SLUH is among the first high schools in the Midwest to implement this new technology. Below: Staff members Jon McCutchen and Kim Bruhn

SLUH’s commitment to safety and injury prevention is highlighted by: • Investment in staff: A robust medical team includes Gilbert; Kim Bruhn MSED, ATC, ITAT; and Jon McCutchen ATC, CAT, CPT. They practice under team physician Dr. David Irvine, MD. The medical team provides injury evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation services for all athletes along with education about injury prevention.

• SLUH uses IMPACT baseline concussion testing for athletes involved in all contact sports and follows up with post-concussion testing consistent with the MSHSAA Return to Play Guidelines established by the state. Gilbert says, “We work closely with all types of physicians regarding concussion management and often refer many of our athletes to leading concussion specialists in the St. Louis area.”

• A dedicated training room utilizes band exercise rail systems, weights, foam rollers, stretching straps and stability trainers, along with commercial grade spinning bikes for cross training.

• Strength and conditioning is introduced in a comprehensive freshman health course. This is supported by a daily afterschool program offered to all students that focuses on proper movement mechanics.

• Training programs are available for all sports year-round, and specific exercises are introduced to meet the demands of each sport. After mastering lifting movements, stability and flexibility, students progress to strength, power and endurance. Much emphasis is also put on running and speed progression.

• Numerous wounds, contusions, strains, sprains, heat illness and other injuries are treated each school year and documented on injury tracking software.

• Medical coverage is provided for all MSHSAA and club sports teams for on-site practices and games.

Gilbert and his team continually research the most effective methods and strategies of teaching, injury evaluation and strength training through professional development opportunities locally and nationally.

They also routinely use technology for classroom lessons and video analysis used in strength programs to identify improvement areas for student athletes.

“It’s important for student athletes to know their limitations and progress slowly toward their goals,” says Gilbert. “We encourage them to be informed about best practices in their sports and to be open to advice about effective training and conditioning techniques that prevent injuries while leading them to success.”

True Brotherhood – MARIO THOMALLARI '16

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INNOVATION IN CURRICULUM

NEW GEOGRAPHY CLASS GOES

EXPERIENTIAL

SLUH’s new freshman Human Geography class is expanding the bounds of traditional course material. The class features a Passport program, an all-year field experiential project that allows students to explore the intersections of human geography and real experiences within the wider community spanning 100 different zip codes.

For the first time, all freshmen received a Passport when they began at SLUH last August. They earn stamps after visiting local landmarks and institutions – such as Crown Candy, Cahokia Mounds, Hindu Temple, Cherokee Business District and several universities – and completing related assignments.

What are some of the experiences and insights of students with the Passport program?

Below are a few of their perspectives, in their own words.

During my first Passport experience, I went to Soulard for a Hispanic festival with the Spanish Club. While I heard and danced to festive music and tasted vibrant flavors of enchiladas, empanadas and tamales, I also marveled at the unique brick architecture of Soulard. It was insightful, eye-opening and fun. In fact, I enjoyed that afternoon so much that I brought my family that evening so they could enjoy the same enriching experience. Along with the experience follows a reflection, which allows students to assimilate terms used in class through real life experiences. The Human Geography Passport allows us to embark on cultural journeys throughout St. Louis, which lead to real learning and allow for viewpoints to broaden and cultural acceptance to occur.

- NOAH APPRILL-SOKOL '21

The Human Geography Passport brings learning in the classroom into real life. In the first quarter when I completed my Passport, I decided to go with a friend to the Gelateria on the Hill. I had been to the Hill before, but this time I had a whole new perspective. I was more conscious about the details, how the culture affected the architecture and the general atmosphere.

I had the opportunity to take photos of Forest Park for our Bicentennial Day of Service and all of the amazing things that were going on that day.

I had been to Forest Park many times before, but when I focused on paying attention to my experience and the area around me, I realized how much you can miss when you go through the motions. The conversations with my classmates and our Forest Park leader gave some amazing insight to the day. All in all, I feel the passport program is a great learning opportunity that allows us to slow down and appreciate what is around us in St. Louis.

- ANDREW MUNIE '21

- HAYDEN RUTLEDGE '21

I visited the Ritz Carlton, the Delmar Loop and Scottrade Center through this program, which has helped me broaden my views and opinions on matters that I have overlooked in the past. One of the most important ideas I’ve learned is to never take anything or anyone for granted. Everywhere I go, I now pay closer attention to the little things around me: the unique faces of the people I pass; the architecture of the buildings around me; the traits and habits of particular groups of people, all while acknowledging that each human is unique. Ultimately, the program has revealed to me concepts and ideas that are quite intense and profound, and I would never have taken notice of them in the past.

- JONATHAN GRIMES '21

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INNOVATION IN CURRICULUM

The Freshman Experience Gets a Fresh Look Education today evolves at an accelerating rate.

Faculty increasingly value their role as teaching facilitators, as opposed to classroom directors, to encourage dialogue and group problem solving. Gone are the days of operating in silos, as departments team up to become more efficient, effective educators. Meanwhile, students are more focused on becoming better learners. They are embracing a new mindset – and a new world – marked more by collaboration and process than facts and formulas.

And that’s just the beginning.

How is SLUH embracing change not just for the sake of doing so, but to open new doors to frontiers illuminated by opportunity and possibility?

In 2013-14, the school underwent a comprehensive strategic thinking process known as Imagining 18. The overarching goal of this visioning exercise was to become a “model in academic achievement and faith formation for the nation and the world.” Curriculum featured prominently on the roadmap to becoming a model school and ultimately led to the development of the Summer Curriculum Institutes.

SLUH’s Summer Curriculum Institutes enhance programming in specific focus areas through thorough research, creative brainstorming across multiple departments, and the recommendation and implementation of initiatives. The end product? A better curriculum – and experience – for students, one that best equips them for success in college and beyond.

Jr. Bills will have a greater awareness of how their brains work and use this knowledge to improve their ability to learn and lead productive adult lives. They will be more willing to take risks in – and increase their ownership of – their education, while developing an increased sense of curiosity that leads to more independent learning.

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FRESHMAN CURRICULUM INSTITUTE A reflection by Kevin Foy, social studies teacher and Chair of the FCI Many SLUH students will tell you that the beginning of freshman year is tough – so many things in their lives changed over one short summer.

They go from the top of the heap as 8th grade leaders in their schools to inexperienced 9th graders in a much larger environment. Their academic preparation varies widely and many of them are being academically challenged in a serious way for the first time. Some of their study habits, skills and self perceptions are put to the test, and some students fear that the success they have enjoyed is now beyond their reach.

Imagine a new Jr. Bill sitting down at the table in the evening after a difficult two-hour practice, staring at his to-do list and seeing several assignments, quizzes, tests, and long-term projects. Where does he start? Maybe with what he finds most challenging or what is due soonest; perhaps with what he likes the most or what is the easiest so he can at least check something off the list.

The Freshman Curriculum Institute seeks to better understand and give language to all of us – students, faculty, staff and parents – that will help SLUH address the challenges facing our students as they become leaders in a world that evolves at an ever-increasing pace.

We want students to take risks in their education, but we can’t reasonably expect them to do so if failure carries a penalty they can’t overcome.

We want them to love learning, but that is difficult if their curiosity is stifled by a list of academic chores that they need to “get through.” We want them to believe in themselves as noble men of God, regardless of what they produce. We want all of this without losing the tradition of academic excellence that so many graduates have worked to achieve over the last 200 years.

By reading books, learning from an expert and working together, the FCI learned about specific habits and skills (called Executive Functioning Skills) that academic research has shown help students achieve their potential. We studied how to encourage a mindset among students that is oriented toward growth and discovery. Finally, we learned about how to use assessments in ways that give opportunities to grow in mastery of fundamental concepts.

So we focus on the beginning – the new freshman student who walks through the halls of Backer Memorial ready and excited for whatever the school has to offer. That young man is ready and willing, and all of the adults here are ready to help him become the best version of himself.

For 200 years, SLUH has carefully considered how to grow and adapt. We don’t jump on the latest fad; rather, we study and change only when we well understand how the student experience will improve. We believe that students will benefit from what the FCI learned and look forward to the real work of implementation.

Innovation in Planning The Summer Curriculum Institutes tap into new and inventive thinking while empowering faculty to collaborate across disciplines and shape planning.

In addition to the freshman experience, interdepartmental teams are focusing on other key areas, including: • The Civil Rights and Human Dignity Curriculum Institute seeks to better understand the deep historical roots and systemic reality of racial injustice, and to identify ways in which that injustice manifests itself at SLUH. Faculty are developing a passion and vision for racial justice at SLUH and designing concrete strategies for implementing that vision.

By building connections with each other and a shared understanding, they will strengthen SLUH’s efforts at equity and inclusion.

• The STEM Curriculum Institute is investigating ways to implement Science, Technology, Engineering and Math at SLUH by visiting other schools throughout the country and looking at related curriculum, best practices and makerspaces. Faculty team members aim to fully understand design principles and implement a program that allows students to better imagine, design, create and promote their ideas.

• The Common Home Curriculum Institute is exploring the intersection of sustainability and the student experience.

The Institute’s team is creating a cross-disciplinary curriculum framework that integrates Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into problembased and project-based curricular resources, programs and opportunities for students.

Winter 2018 | 17

IT’S OUR

200 BIRTHDAY TH

AND YOU’RE INVITED TO CELEBRATE SLUH BICENTENNIAL MASS & CELEBRATION Saturday, April 21, 2018 ON CAMPUS

Event begins at 4:00 p.m. with outdoor Mass celebrated by V. Rev. Ronald A. Mercier, S.J. (Provincial of the Jesuits Central and Southern Province). It will be followed by a brief program, a variety of fun activities for all ages, live musical entertainment, food, drinks and much more – all capped by fireworks!

This is a free event and open to the public.

Visit www.sluh.org/bicentennial for more details and to register.

200 Hours of Adoration

Community Read-Along

The Campus Ministry pastoral teams invite students, faculty, staff, parents and alumni to participate in 200 hours of Eucharistic Adoration during this school year. We will pray to Christ Our Lord for our community and thank Him for His abundant blessings to us over our 200-year history. To learn more, visit sluh.org/bicentennial

Want to read for fun and NOT have to worry about a grade? The English department is offering a read-along program for those who wish to participate. The reading list includes Romeo and Juliet and Frankenstein for the spring and fall, respectively.

Visit sluh.org/bicentennial to learn more and engage in discussion with current teachers, alumni and others.

SLUH Archive Do you have SLUH memorabilia, artifacts or pictures of historical significance?

Do you have stories about notable faculty or administrators who helped shape your life’s path that you would like to share? If so, the SLUH Archive Committee would like to hear from you. Send a note to archive@sluh.org.

18 | SLUH Magazine

TWO CENTURIES. DOUBLY BLESSED. #SLUH200

SLUH BICENTENNIAL

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS Every season since his senior year at SLUH (save just one while away at college), Frank Pawloski '63 has strolled the sidelines of football games in support of the Jr. Bills, pen and stat sheet in hand, tabulating every tackle and touchdown. If there’s a new record, he makes note. In honor of his sacrifice and dedication to SLUH sports for more than 50 years – as a statistician and ‘man for others’ – Pawloski has been recognized with the Distinguished Service Award by the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).

varsity coach to produce summaries of each team’s season for the yearbook; ensures local media outlets have updated, accurate stats for SLUH teams and athletes; and serves as a liaison with alumni and the athletic program.

Yet it’s his selfless spirit that sets him apart. A recipient of the Rev. John J. Divine, S.J. Alumni Service Award for outstanding loyalty and devotion to SLUH, Pawloski goes above and beyond in his role as sports guru and record-keeper.

President David Laughlin recounts one instance that typifies Pawloski’s dedication and spirit:

Pawlowksi knows – and loves – sports. His career is highlighted by 23 years at KMOX Radio as executive sports producer. In 1986, he was honored with the 12th Man Club Award from the U.S. Military Academy football recruiting office for his many contributions to the Army football program.

“In 2009, we played our final basketball game in Backer Gymnasium, which was renovated to what is now our Si Commons. We invited all former basketball players to the game and a reception that followed. Frank Pawloski was our greeter to welcome those alumni back, get them a nametag and directions. But, typical Frank, that was too simple. He brought programs and statistics, reminded people of records and recalled old coaches.

In addition to partnering with the managers to record statistics for the football team, Pawloski produces a game program for home football, soccer and basketball games – an activity he started with the football program in 1976; works with each

“One by one, alumni came to the game from all over the country. When Frank greeted them, he didn’t just say ‘hello’ or ‘welcome.’ He would say things like, ‘John, welcome back. I remember that

#2Centuries2Words

Spirit, Determination – NORM THOMAS '63

20 | SLUH Magazine

SLUH BICENTENNIAL

PAWLOSKI’S

TOP 10 MOST NOTABLE EVENTS / PEOPLE IN SLUH SPORTS HISTORY Pawloski begins his list in a spirit of gratitude:

game against (School X) when you hit the running jumper from the short corner with 17 seconds to go and put us up one to win the game. What a great memory. Oh, here’s your name tag.’

“It wasn’t one or two men he greeted this way.

It felt like one or two were the exception where he did not have a specific memory of their time on that court. The amazement in their eyes that someone recalled a specific moment from their life sums up why Frank is such a valued member of our community. He cares deeply about St. Louis U. High. He cares about how our teams do and that they are supported. But above all, Frank takes a genuine interest in people and honors them with his service.”

According to SLUH Athletic Director Chris Muskopf '91, “Frank is quiet and unassuming in everything he does. He thanks us for our time and for the opportunity to serve this community, yet it’s we who are grateful for his consistent, generous service.

“One of the goals of the educators at SLUH is to produce graduates who comprehend and execute the calling to be ‘men for others.’ It is clear that a group of educators from 1959-1963 achieved that goal in relation to Frank Pawloski.”

Given SLUH’s tradition and achievement in athletics for 200 years, we asked Pawloski: what are the top 10 most notable events and/or people? It’s a tough assignment, particularly when you note there’s not enough room to include sports like riflery, which earned six national championships, or successes and records on the individual level.

1. The Jesuits, administration, faculty, coaches, students, players, alumni, friends and fans for their tremendous support of St. Louis U. High athletics through the years 2. BASKETBALL: 1958 Undefeated (28-0) STATE CHAMPIONS 3. FOOTBALL: 1970 STATE CHAMPIONS 4. SOCCER: 1973, Jr. Bills capture their first STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in soccer by defeating Rosary, 2-1 in seven overtimes 5. BASEBALL: Jr. Bills have won 38 DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS, the most District Titles in Missouri 6. ICE HOCKEY: 2013 STATE CHAMPIONS 7. VOLLEYBALL: 8 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 8. WATER POLO: 19 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 9. RACQUETBALL: 11 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, 18 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS 10. TRACK & FIELD/ CROSS COUNTRY: 7 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS between the two programs

Winter 2018 | 21

BUILDING BRIDGES OF UNDERSTANDING

Delton Utsey '18 (middle, with tie) was a featured speaker at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice and among many Jr. Bills who attended the event November 4-7 in Washington, D.C. 22 | SLUH Magazine

INNOVATION IN SOCIAL JUSTICE

INTRODUCTION BY TIM CURDT '90, ENGLISH TEACHER AND CURRENT PARENT (THOMAS '18, PETER '20)

This past November, SLUH senior Delton Utsey provided a wonderful example of the best type of innovative thinking and design from our students when he presented as a keynote speaker at the annual Ignatian Family Teach-In Conference in Washington, D.C. Delton was accompanied by a full contingent of Jr. Bill students and faculty as he delivered his address titled “Diving Into the Deep Waters of Sonder” to an audience of more than 2,000 people from Jesuit high schools and universities across the country.

Several weeks earlier, Delton had been a part of a large group of SLUH students who, under the mentorship of Mr. Frank Kovarik and Mr. Erwin Claggett, had led the entire SLUH community of students, faculty and staff through a series of honest, prayerful reflections designed to help process the difficult news of the verdict in the Jason Stockley trial and its effect on the St. Louis area. Inspired by his work as a leader for this group at SLUH as well as his work in the community to promote justice and human dignity, create interracial connections, and increase understanding on complex and potentially divisive issues, Delton applied to be a presenter at the national Ignatian conference and was enthusiastically accepted.

Over the next month, Delton and a team of faculty mentors and fellow students prepared for the conference, which after two full days of presentations, educational sessions, and communal prayer, would conclude with a full day of advocacy on Capitol Hill with Missouri senators and representatives on the pressing issues of criminal justice and immigration reform.

Along with fellow faculty members Ms. Meg Beugg, Mrs. Mary Michalski and Mr. Craig Hannick, I was graced with the opportunity to accompany Delton as he earnestly prepared for his talk, sweating over revisions, line by line.

He struggled to link his thoughts on the racial difficulties and issues in his hometown with the insightful concept of “Sonder,” an idea that had

Winter 2018 | 23

fascinated him since he learned about it during his junior year. As Delton articulated in his talk, “Sonder” (not a real word, but found online in the “Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” database) is the call to embrace the reality that “each random passerby lives a life that is equally as vivid and complex as your own.”

With each successive draft, Delton worked to make meaning out of the emotional chaos he encountered as a young African American male in times of racial conflict in his own city and to synthesize his churning thoughts with his commitment to social justice and the Ignatian concept of the “Magis” (roughly translated as “the more” or “the better”). Like his classmates and generations of Jr. Bills before him, Delton had been formed in the concept of the Magis, “seeking to do more” in service to God and others, and it was a delight to see his innovative mind at work linking these powerful concepts to the most difficult and pressing social problems of our time.

As a Jesuit educator in the 21st century, I am continually charged with cultivating in myself and my students a creative, collaborative, problem-solving spirit. Many times in our culture, however, such a challenge is articulated solely in terms of celebrating technological or scientific innovations that will continue to serve humanity and our world in the future. As important and necessary as this work is, Delton’s presentation reminded me of one of the most valuable aspects of our formative intellectual work with our students.

By combining his personal pain, idealistic passion for justice, and reflective spirit, Delton gave us all a perfect gift in these polarizing times when simplistic thinking and sound bites can too often force our communities to retreat to their respective corners. With his thoughts, words and actions, Delton created an intellectual scaffolding to help us

24 | SLUH Magazine

all build a bridge of understanding out of the chaos of seemingly insurmountable and intractable racial divide and conflict in our world.

Following are remarks from Delton Utsey '18 at the Ignatian Family TeachIn. He began his talk by recounting how the student body learned about the Jason Stockley verdict over the PA on the morning of September 15, 2017.

The announcement ended and everyone rushed to their lockers, seemingly unfazed. Like a number of students, I felt neither angry, nor hurt.

Officer Jason Stockley had shot and killed a black man, Anthony Lamar Smith, after a high speed chase in 2011, but now, six years later, would officially face no legal consequences for Smith’s death. I was indifferent because I had honestly become accustomed to the idea of murder without consequences…

It was not until I heard the remark “Yes! I’m so glad Stockley got off!” from a fellow student in the hallway that I became angry and upset. I could understand why people in my school might be indifferent about the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith, but I could not understand why some people actually seemed happy. Did somebody really say “yes” to the loss of a human life?

Overwhelmed with rage, distraught, and disappointed in my own apathetic attitude, I entered our chapel to attend the meeting of people who were as upset as I. In the chapel, I watched as my SLUH community came together to display a true feeling of empathy, sorrow and grief at the loss of a life unjustly taken. The fallen tears and gut-wrenching gasps of my fellow SLUH brothers and teachers

fueled the passionate fire in my heart.

I decided to make use of my feelings, so I went that night to join the protests.

I have to say, the experience at the protest was beautiful. I remember the warm feeling I had chanting in the middle of a normally very busy street when our activist group met up with hundreds of protesters coming off the highway. The sight of such a large and diverse group of people would normally be intimidating, but instead was reassuring. More than a thousand St. Louisans were as upset and outraged as I was at the injustice of it all.

We continued to march on and chant as cars honked in approval.

The moment was so peaceful that people were literally waving at us from the windows of their houses, showing us so much love and support.

Once we made it to our destination, in the middle of a very affluent neighborhood in St. Louis, we sat silently on the ground in the center of the street for six minutes to draw attention to the six years that this case had gone unnoticed. I was proud to see that not only my SLUH community could come together, but that my St. Louis community could as well.

I would like to share a concept with you. It is the idea that each random passerby lives a life that is equally as vivid and complex as your own. This concept is sonder. Sonder is a word I hold so dear to me I’d tattoo it on my own heart.

This concept is not a real word, but comes from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, an online database with concepts used to help express emotion. Sonder may be a difficult concept for some, so let me propose a thought experiment.

If you would, take a moment and close your eyes. Imagine your life is a movie, starting from your birth.

Picture your experiences and the people who are essential to your

INNOVATION IN SOCIAL JUSTICE

story, and how they’ve shaped you.

Like most movies, there will be people in the background of your story. Zoom in on the people in the background.

What are the experiences and who are the people essential to their story?

You can open your eyes. Sonder is focusing in on the people in the background of your story and striving to learn theirs. It is realizing that they are too complex to simply be an extra in your movie, but actually the main star of their own.

When I came home from the protest that night, I watched the news and saw a mob of angry people attacking the house of the mayor. Once again, the media had failed to display a peaceful protest, and instead left all the viewers seeing only the negative of events of that Friday. I almost cried as I watched all the beauty, love and peace I had experienced with my community go completely unrecognized.

I refused to accept defeat and instead saw sonder as a way to experience life within my city and my country.

Because of sonder, I see Anthony Lamar Smith as more than some “urban drug dealer” or criminal who deserved to be gunned down by the police. Through the lens of sonder, I understand that what he did deserve was not death, but life and a chance to be understood by Officer Stockley.

He had a family who loved and cared for him like many of us do. Anthony Lamar Smith was complex.

Officer Jason Stockley is complex as well. Honestly, in my own personal experience as a young black male, it is hard for me to relate to a white police officer because I am legitimately afraid of them. I have seen all the worst aspects of police officers on TV and social media, only reinforcing my bias against police. I find myself worrying that police will see me through the lens of stereotypes and will end up shooting me dead because they fearfully mistook my graphing calculator for a gun.

It took my rowing deep into the concept of sonder to understand that Officer Jason Stockley is a person, too. Just as Anthony is too complex to be labeled as a black criminal, Jason Stockley is too complex to be merely labelled a white racist cop. I still struggle with understanding Jason Stockley, but I recognize that while I can not excuse Jason’s murdering of Anthony, I can at least understand that just as Anthony is a product of a system that has disenfranchised and disadvantaged his community, Officer Stockley is the product of a system that has cultivated his “pervasive cultural implicit bias.”

Thank you, Fr. Bryan Massengale, for that phrase. Officer Jason Stockley is complex, and his story deserves to be understood as well.

As attendees of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, I feel we are all called to leave the shores of comfort and row into the deep unknown water of sonder. We must dive deep below the surface of petty labels and stereotypes that polarize us and find our way into the complex world that is human dignity and deeper understanding. Ideals of simplicity and complicity get us nowhere, but sonder can lead us to magis.

It is here at this Teach-In that Magis meets Justice. As Pope Francis tells us, magis is “the fire and fervour in action, awakening those who lie dormant.” At first, I was indifferent and my fire was dim, but with the spirit of sonder and Christ, the fire in my heart grew. Once we see the beauty and value of each life, we can light the dim flames of all those who lie dormant, and, as a result, go forth and set the world on fire with equity, justice and love.

Delton Utsey '18 was recognized by the Archdiocese of St. Louis in January 2018 with the MLK Model of Justice Award for his commitment to social justice. He received a full scholarship to attend Washington University in St. Louis in the fall.

DID YOU KNOW? SLUH is committed to furthering equity, inclusion and social justice through a variety of programs and activities.

Some of these include: • The Association for Cultural Enrichment at SLUH (ACES): Seeks to promote discussion and awareness of diversity issues at SLUH and to make all students feel welcome • Student-Teacher Association for Racial Studies (STARS): Book group that brings together faculty and students weekly to discuss issues of racism • SLUH for Gender Equality (SLUH4GE): Club formed by SLUH students seeking to address sexism and gender inequality both at our school and in our culture in general • Pax Christi: Works to promote the culture of peace and social justice throughout the SLUH community through prayer, reflection and service, listening to the call of Christ the peacemaker • SLUH Students for Life: Welcomes students toward building and strengthening a Culture of Life in our school, in our community and in our world; organizes the annual March for Life trip to Washington, D.C. • Ignatian Family Teach-In and Arrupe Leaders Summit: Every year, SLUH sends teams of students to these leadership events sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network

Winter 2018 | 25

KEEPERS OF THE

WORLD

Providence greeted Mike Hamm '70 in a series of events beginning second semester his senior year at SLUH. It started when he conducted a research study for Advanced Biology on how much pollution his class generated; that spring, he attended the first-ever Earth Day, held at Washington University and featuring Barry Commoner, a founder of the modern environmental movement; then, that summer, in a reprise of the winter musical, he played Orphan in Celebration at the International Thespian Convention at Indiana University, a role in which he rescued his garden and Angel from forces of exploitation. Looking back on Hamm’s career trajectory, everything has come full circle.

Science teacher Bill Anderson '78 (left) and Mike Hamm '70 in SLUH’s aquaponics lab.

26 | SLUH Magazine

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY

Winter 2018 | 27

“It’s been a fascinating journey,” says Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Senior Fellow for the Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University (MSU). After starting in pre-med, he transitioned to a career in nutritional biochemistry, followed by community nutrition, and now, for the past 20 years, food and food system sustainability. “In a way, I’ve returned to Orphan’s garden.”

His unabated passion and focus: to better care for our planet, or “garden,” while ensuring everyone is food secure.

“We are at an inflection point in our social, technological and economic development, and we need to make significant changes,” says Hamm. “The technology is largely there for us to shift to a much more renewable economy, but the social and political will to support such a shift are lacking. This is not just technology with new gadgets but also technology in the sense of ecological understanding – agroecosystem functional, soil carbon sequestration strategies, among others. ” The endowed professor is doing his part at MSU through research in community-based food systems, regional food systems, food security and sustainable agriculture. He is data-driven in his quest to determine what will help food systems move toward a more sustainable path, and to do it in a way that provides more social equity, giving more people access to healthy food while also building more jobs.

“Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”

– POPE FRANCIS IN LAUDATO SI’ (“PRAISED BE”), AN ENCYCLICAL ON CLIMATE AND JUSTICE

“What drives me is the need to determine where our food supply is going to come from,” says Hamm. “If we’re all going to eat well in the future, I am convinced much more of it has to come from local regions – small farms in those regions have to be able to scale up, without increasing labor.

We need to create avenues where young people pursuing farming and other food system businesses have tools to become more efficient by scaling appropriate technology and mechanization.”

Of course, food sustainability extends beyond production and includes areas like recycling, dietary patterns and more. Hamm reflects below on some of the challenges and opportunities on this important topic.

28 | SLUH Magazine

CHALLENGES: MANY BUT SURMOUNTABLE Moral ethics and norms: We as a country don’t see food sustainability as an issue. We see there’s plenty of food now and largely don’t worry about the future. The U.S. is somewhat unique with a lot of good, fertile land, especially in the Midwest – and relatively low population density across the country. Many other parts of the world, however, have very poor soil, making farming difficult, and burgeoning populations.

We often either don’t believe this is a major issue, or we don’t believe it’s our problem.

We want to do something about the challenges we face, unless it’s going to impact us. We all need to make changes in the way we live - for instance, modestly changing our dietary patterns, recycling more, and wasting less (40 percent of the global food supply is wasted). We can improve the carbon and water footprint of our diets tremendously – making it easier to feed a growing world sustainably.

We are resistant to adapt and innovate. To make an analogy, Charles Stewart Mott was an early executive in the auto industry. His dad and uncle owned a bicycle wheel business in New Jersey in the early 1900s. After his dad died and his uncle asked him to take over the business, Mott was contacted by William Durant to move his business to Flint, Michigan – he later merged with Buick Motor Company to form GM. That was a time where there was a massive shift in the way things got done. For every C.S. Mott that adapted, moving from the bicycle/carriage trade to automobiles, there were many others who did not change and innovate, and their businesses died. Today, for example, too many people are clinging to coal as an energy source – something that has little future – while denigrating the opportunities in renewable energy.

OPPORTUNITIES: DECENTRALIZE AND BE OPEN The future in food sustainability lies partly in decentralizing production. Currently, 50 percent of our nation’s fruit and vegetable production is in California, which is slated to increase its population by 14 million to 50 million people in 2050. At that time, the state may have 70 percent less snowfall in the mountains due to climate change, compromising summer irrigation and further stressing an alreadyshort water supply. Moreover, other places outside the U.S. we import from are dealing with burgeoning populations, climate change and water shortages.

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY

2050: BY THE NUMBERS 600 additional cities with more than 100,000 people

About

It may not come as a surprise that by 2050 there will be an increase in the number and size of cities worldwide. But the statistics are staggering:

15 additional cities with more than 10 million people

70% of the developed world will live in urban areas, compared to

30% today

The population surge poses monumental challenges – where will food come from, how will it be produced and how will we ensure food security? – particularly considering that the world’s farmers are an aging population.

If we are to succeed, we must spread out production across our country with efficient farms. This will provide abundant opportunity for businesses to form to build new equipment and infrastructure with renewable energy. Already, in urban and peri-urban areas we are seeing opportunities for more greenhouses and unheated hoop houses (greenhouse without fossil fuels or light for heat) for off-season production.

The future in energy sustainability also lies in decentralization. In Germany, 25 percent of energy comes from renewable sources. They have a massive infrastructure program to do this, and 95 percent of the public approves of it. Why? Because solar panels are on homes and businesses, and biogas generators are on farms. The ownership of energy is decentralized. In the U.S., less than five percent of energy comes from renewable sources (and most of that is hydroelectric). Opportunities abound with developing the infrastructure to support more renewable energy, and there are many good jobs to be created.

Small dietary modifications can make a big impact.

We are a nation that loves meat. Estimates vary, but they conclude our appetite comes at a great cost, with livestock farming producing about 14.5 percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions with a large percentage of our land base used for feed production.

Modifying our dietary patterns without sacrificing what we perceive in quality of life or nutritional health can drastically improve our environmental footprint of the food supply and free up land.

I’m on a science advisory panel for Menus of Change, a joint collaboration between the Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We are looking at plant-forward menu planning, where plants become the dominant item on the menu.

For example, developing lower beef hamburgers with virtually identical taste characteristics can improve our environmental impact.

Overall, Hamm remains optimistic about the future and possibilities in food sustainability, yet he is moved by a sense of urgency. In the Ignatian spirit of the magis – to do more for God’s greater glory – he feels compelled to respond to Pope Francis’ call to care for our common home. It is more than a calling, he says. “It’s a moral imperative.”

That sense of urgency to constantly improve was ingrained at SLUH. In addition to Joe Schulte '54, Fr. Jack Warner, S.J. '62 was one of Hamm’s favorite mentors. “I remember once during play rehearsal, Fr. Jack thought I was singing too much from my stomach and not enough from my diaphragm, so he had me lay on the ground and he put a book on my belly and he put his foot on the book and said, ‘Okay, now sing!’”

Today, Hamm is a mentor who, like Fr. Warner, strives to mold minds and build a better world. Instead of lowering his foot, however, he is raising his voice through research and education to proclaim something he learned at SLUH: “We are keepers and stewards of the world, not just part of our own backyard.”

Mike Hamm, PhD is the C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture. He founded the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University in 2003 and was founding director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems from 2011-2015. Prior to moving to MSU, he was Dean of Academic and Student Programs for Cook College, Rutgers University.

As a faculty member at Rutgers, he was co-founder and director of the New Jersey Urban Ecology Program and founding director of the Cook Student Organic Farm. He was also facilitator for the New Jersey Cooperative Gleaning Network and a board member/board president of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey.

Winter 2018 | 29

A VENTURE WORTH PURSUING

30 | SLUH Magazine

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY

Tom Purcell ‘61, known for his leadership and vision in revitalizing St. Louis, was involved with the development of Laclede’s Landing and the surrounding area decades ago, and more recently with MetroLink and regional economic development. Today he is still going strong, working on an innovative community startup that may have far-reaching effects on how our metro area embraces urban agriculture – one that may serve as a national model in sustainability in the future.

To understand Purcell’s initiative, The Green House Venture, you need to start with the future. “By 2050, we will face a huge challenge,” says Don Stump, Vice President of The Green House Venture. “Many large cities around the world will range from 18 to 50 million people. If the items on a plate of food in the U.S. now travel an average of 1,500 miles to get to us, how will we feed that many people? Cities will have to provide more of their own food.”

“I immediately knew where we should locate and build,” says Purcell, who earned an undergraduate and two masters degrees (Urban Affairs and M.B.A.) from Saint Louis University. One of the most dynamic areas of the city, he explains, is bordered by Delmar, Arsenal, Jefferson and Skinker. It’s market-driven with two major universities, lots of businesses – including Cortex Innovation Community – and a population representative of every socio-economic and cultural background.

“When we studied this area, we found education to be under stress,” he says, noting fewer public and private elementary schools in the city as well as the introduction of charter schools. “We strategized on how to create scale, given a shrinking city population, and help the remaining schools survive and even thrive.”

Stump, Professor of English and Co-Chair of the Urban Project at Saint Louis University, has been tackling this question for years. Since 1997, he has directed the Micah Program, the nation’s premier undergraduate academic program and learning community addressing urban poverty. In 2011, he set out to design and build a sustainable greenhouse with a multi-disciplinary team from SLU as part of the Urban Project. Just two years later, with funding from SLU’s Center for Sustainability, the team completed the design, which now serves as the technological basis for The Green House Venture.

Purcell, who possesses an impressive record in urban planning and business and community development, became partners with Stump in late 2014 to bring The Green House Venture to life.

For the past few years, they’ve made extraordinary progress. If you hear about it from Purcell, who serves as President, you’ll learn about concepts like density, scale, timing, culture, pluralism, risk and pace of change. You’ll also become aware of Purcell’s expansive knowledge, sharp focus and unrelenting will to get things done, characteristics earned after serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, Captain in the USMCR and on more than 45 boards of government, non-profit and business organizations; reshaping several area neighborhoods; and founding the Community Alliance for Education for Saint Margaret of Scotland School and co-chairing the school’s recent campaign that funded the building of a middle school.

Strategic Approach In 2013, Purcell announced plans to start The Green House Venture with a two-pronged strategy: • Create a strategic alliance of four elementary schools, including Tower Grove Christian Academy, Mullanphy Investigative Learning Center, Saint Louis Language Immersion Schools and Saint Margaret of Scotland; and • Develop an urban resource center focused on three challenges facing our nation: poor nutrition, inadequate science education and a lack of recognition of employment opportunity in the bioscience industry.

Above, from left (back row): Don Stump and Tom Purcell ‘61 with student Ambassadors in The Green House Venture.

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Two years later, The Green House Venture assembled a team of volunteer leaders and project consultants that includes Peter Benoist '66, President of Hercules Construction Management Company, and organizations like UIC, SWITCH, The Rome Group, DTLS, Landes and Associates, and Speth and Associates. Bryan Cave provided pro bono support in creating a memorandum of understanding (MOU), a legal framework that, according to Purcell, “understands the diverse cultures within the elementary schools and allows for consistent relationships, participation, policies and activities between these schools and partner institutions like Tower Grove Park and Saint Louis University.”

they will grow native Missouri crops on raised embankment terraces. The site will provide educational opportunities while also serving as a test plot for the state in bringing back native plants along highways to revive bee populations for plant pollination.

In addition to its embankment property, The Green House Venture purchased land from the Land Renewal Authority just across the street on the corner of DeTonty and Lawrence, where it will build a science education and outreach center.

This site will contain a greenhouse, classroom, children’s growing gallery and a teaching lab, all designed to stimulate interest in science, urban food production, community engagement, sustainability and economic development. A fundraising effort is underway to develop the facility ($4 million) and embankment ($450,000).

“Success of The Green House Venture relies on the willingness of many…to accept risk and embrace the opportunity for St. Louis to remain relevant and play a dynamic role in the 21st century.” – TOM PURCELL '61 “I’ve never seen a project like this at this level,” says Terry Donohue '63, who serves on The Green House Venture Board and is leading its fundraising. “It is a real unique collaboration of individuals and organizations focused on educating and getting kids excited about bio-science and urban agriculture.”

Regarding the uniqueness of the endeavor, Purcell asks, “How often do you see a magnet, charter, parochial and Christian school working together so closely on something like this?”

The four schools provide scale for the project and represent more than 2,000 students of diverse backgrounds from 58 zip codes. The principals of these schools, who each serve on the Board, and professors from Saint Louis University are guiding the development of the curriculum and facility design.

Prime Real Estate To some, the side of the highway is a litterground, a narrow sliver of wasteland, but it represents prime real estate for The Green House Venture. It turns out the nation’s highway system is the largest owned government property after the national parks, which cannot be cultivated or utilized for farming. “We saw this as a great opportunity to invest in highway embankment property for bioscience and urban agriculture,” says Purcell, who adds The Green House Venture is the first in Missouri – and the Midwest – to do so.

The Green House Venture leased and permitted 3.5 acres from MoDOT along Interstate 44, across DeTonty Avenue between Thurman Avenue and 39th Street. When funding is available,

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Eventually, all four schools will be able to bring full classes to sophisticated lab space at The Green House Venture for long-term growing experiments. The school teachers will conduct the lessons, and The Green House Venture will provide experts to facilitate the instruction.

Tours and workshops with special speakers will also be available to schools beyond the four partnering institutions.

Innovative Curriculum In 2015, MIT developed the Media Lab Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAg), which features a controlled-environment agriculture platform called a food computer. The food computer is like a lab in a box that can fine-tune and accelerate the growing process. All of its hardware, software and data are open source, creating a standardized open platform for agricultural research and experimentation. It may represent the future of urban agriculture, and The Green House Venture is taking full advantage of it.

According to Phillip Speth, a seasoned web developer who is creating the online education platform for Green House, “The food computers can literally go ‘Jurassic.’” That’s true – to a

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY

Park, creating and copyrighting its own curriculum, and establishing new partnerships with Washington University, Saint Louis University, Harris-Stowe State University and St. Louis Community College for curriculum purposes.

Long-Term Vision The Green House Venture is targeting young students because, as Stump says, “That’s when kids develop their interests and passions.” The organization’s long-term vision, however, extends beyond elementary school to build on that interest and provide the tools and resources for future success.

This spring, for instance, experts from Washington University will meet with the students about bioscience careers and opportunities. In the St. Louis region, biotech offers more jobs than any other STEM field, and 10 percent of the available openings in this sector go unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers. Relationships are being forged with other local universities to build a cultural and institutional network and leverage the center’s impact by providing job opportunities for young graduates.

certain extent. While food computers may not bring dinosaurs back from extinction, they can control nearly all environmental variables for plant growth, producing food with optimal flavor in less than half the time by conventional means. They also have sensors for data collection of experiments, or ‘recipes,’ each stored in a central, publicly accessible database.

Speth says each of the four schools in The Green House Venture will soon have a food computer. “This will allow us to set up more controlled environments, do better experiments and improve data collection. It will also help us to make meaning out of our experiments with bioinformatics and share results with other schools.”

Currently, The Green House Venture is educating five students from each of its schools through an after-school Ambassadors program. Last semester, several Jr. Bills took a joint field trip with the Ambassadors, helping them with water testing at Tower Grove Park.

“It went exceptionally well,” says SLUH science teacher Bill Anderson '78, who serves on The Green House Venture Board and is assisting with the curriculum development.

“We are planning a second field trip this semester, when the students will come to SLUH for our Environmental Science STEM balloon launch as part of their weather unit.”

Among other program initiatives, The Green House Venture is developing a summer science explorer camp in Tower Grove

“Ultimately, we want to become a hub for schools all over, especially for those in underserved areas, by sharing our curriculum, equipment and facility,” says Purcell.

It’s a lofty aspiration, but optimism abounds when you talk with Purcell and other volunteer project leaders.

“The beauty of innovation is doing something a little differently or more creatively than is already being done elsewhere, and in a way that has ramifications beyond our area,” he says. “Success of The Green House Venture relies on the willingness of many, including SLUH alumni, to accept risk and embrace the opportunity for St. Louis to remain relevant and play a dynamic role in the 21st century.”

St. Louis is a hotbed for research and development in bio-science and agriculture:

DID YOU KNOW?

Damen Alexander '18 poses with students in the Ambassadors program during a water sampling activity in Tower Grove Park. Bill Anderson '78, SLUH science teacher and Green House Venture Board member, is in the water collecting samples.

• The city has the highest concentration of bio-science PhDs in the country, thanks to organizations like Monsanto, Cortex, Missouri Botanical Garden, HELIX, 39 North, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis University and Washington University.

• 43% of the economic value of agriculture in the U.S., supporting 179,000 jobs, is contributed by the St. Louis region (within a 500-mile radius of the city)

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U. HIGH LIGHTS

34 | SLUH Magazine

U. HIGHLIGHTS

ALUMNI PROFILES

Innovation is an elusive concept, one that many pursue yet few realize.

It embraces change, elevates thinking and emboldens creativity. It is Ignatian in its ability to adapt and accept extraordinary challenges to better the world. And, though it knows no bounds, it is known well by many SLUH alumni.

While graduates have excelled in fields frequently associated with innovation – such as science (Keith Schwab '86, quantum physicist and head of Schwab Research Group at Caltech) and technology (David Moellenhoff '88, co-founder of Salesforce), to name just a couple – how are they embracing innovation in other professions, like urban planning, environmental science and the arts? The following are alumni ruminations on innovation, along with a closer look at what others are doing in their respective fields.

Think, Succeed

#2Centuries2Words

– DENNIS RABBITT '60

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Mike Eilers '06 Digital Thread Leader @ GE Aviation recently recognized by Forbes on its distinguished 30 Under 30 list Working for GE Aviation building jet engines requires continuous innovation not only to meet customer needs, but also to stay ahead of the competition. We are constantly creating new ways to design, build and service engines with advanced technologies. All businesses need to continue learning, adapting and innovating — or risk becoming obsolete. I think we must apply the same principle in our own professional life and never get too comfortable doing things the same way every day. In my career, I’ve had seven different roles in eight years across engineering, manufacturing and digital analytics with each new opportunity allowing me to learn and develop new ideas. This variety of experiences has been essential in my current work designing new digital solutions for manufacturing challenges. We are rethinking how we use data to make business decisions and the innovations we are working on now will shape the way our company does business in the future.

Fr. Brian Christopher, S.J. '93 Provincial Assistant for Apostolic Planning, Belize City, Belize

It might strike some as strange that a religious order of priests and brothers would aspire to be innovators, since tradition and continuity often seem predominant in Church circles, but Jesuits have always had a spirit of innovation. We were founded during the 16th century, a time that was full of “…our innovation must be rooted in a deep discovery, transition experience of God, who gives us the inner freedom and turmoil, all of which shaped our that turns challenges to opportunities and failures character as an order. into grace.” - Fr. Brian Christopher, S.J. '93 St. Ignatius and his

#2Centuries2Words

Spirit, Spiritual – TOM MCTIGUE '55

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U. HIGHLIGHTS

friends formed the Society of Jesus to respond to the complex realities of their age. They were not afraid of the challenges or even of their failures, because they had a profound experience of God, who indeed “makes all things new.”

The challenge for our order remains to find new and effective ways of living the mission that we share with Christ: “the service of faith and the promotion of justice.” Our recent documents challenge us to become more agile in living this mission and even to embrace the “audacity to do the impossible,” because our world is no less complex or challenging.

But as with Ignatius and the First Companions, our innovation must be rooted in a deep experience of God, who gives us the inner freedom that turns challenges to opportunities and failures into grace.

We call it “discernment.”

Moreover, like Ignatius and the early Jesuits, we have learned that we are not alone in our mission.

Countless women and men have also experienced Christ through the Spiritual Exercises and burn with the same fire to transform the world. As we discern, therefore, we no longer do so simply as Jesuits, but we do so together with our partners in mission.

I am writing this reflection from Belize, Central America, where Jesuits have worked since the mid1800s. Over that time, we have had a tremendously positive impact in this small nation, but Belize has changed dramatically. We have the third highest homicide rate in the world, a reality driven largely by the demand for illegal drugs in the U.S. The need for innovation is as urgent as ever. We ask ourselves: how is the Spirit inviting us to find new, more impactful ways of living our mission? And we continue to ask God for the creativity to face our challenges, the courage to risk failure, and the trust that, no matter what, God is at work through both.

DID YOU KNOW? More than 80 Jesuits have graduated from SLUH, which has consistently been a top feeder school to KenrickGlennon Seminary. For information on religious vocations, visit www.sluh.org/ campus-ministry/vocations.

Terry Bracy '60 Partner in the public and government affairs firm Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano; former Assistant Secretary of Transportation Only six years after graduating from SLUH, I walked into the Cannon House Office Building to begin what became a 50-year Washington career. I had been hired to write speeches for six House Members, a talent awakened by the brilliant and demanding Rev. Francis X. Cleary, S.J. at this wonderful school.

My tools were a standard Royal typewriter, Webster’s Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, Strunk and White, and the Library of Congress Reading Room. Today, speech writers employ a smartphone and laptop to access all the information they would ever need. The Congress I first knew featured spittoons, cigar smoke and secret voting. Today, all contested votes are counted electronically, proceedings are televised and computers have replaced paperwork.

After 10 years on the Hill, I accepted an appointment at the US Department of Transportation which was locked in a battle with Detroit over a new technology called “airbags.” The Big Three could not see why the cost of this “unproven technology” should be imposed on them. Ultimately, we went to Congress and after a bitter battle with the auto companies, airbags carried the day. In the succeeding five years, airbags saved 147,246 lives.

Not all technologies have worked as well. Experts worry that too rapid adoption of software products has exposed our intelligence and defense systems to cyber enemies. Yet I would rather take this risk than stand still. Not in every way, but in most, we have a better government in the era of Washington.com.

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ALUMNI PROFILES

Dr. Francis Shen '96 Professor of law and neuroscience at the University of Minnesota; serves as the Senior Fellow in Law and Neuroscience at Harvard Law School’s Center for Law, Brain and Behavior; received his JD and PhD from Harvard Neuroscience is innovating rapidly. Every year we learn more about how we think, feel and decide. I am a professor of law and neuroscience (“neurolaw”), and my core mission is to develop innovative legal responses to neuroscience advances. The potential implications are stunning.

Brain science might allow us to one day reverse

That’s where we come in. The mission of the Shen Neurolaw Lab is to translate advances in brain science into better law and policy. Our Lab motto is, “Every story is a brain story.” We recognize that the promise of brain science must be balanced against the perils of premature and inappropriate uses.

We study big problems such as dementia and the law; brain injury and mental health for veterans; reforming criminal justice based on new science; sports concussions policy; providing educational services; developing early childhood interventions; litigating brain injury and pain; assessing brain death; brain-based lie detection; cognitive enhancement; and even the “sacred brain.” The law is slow to change, but brain science research is not slowing down. So stay tuned: a neurolaw revolution may soon be coming.

“Brain science might allow us to one day reverse dementia, prevent addiction, reduce interpersonal violence, detect lies and much more.” - Dr. Francis Shen '96 dementia, prevent addiction, reduce interpersonal violence, detect lies and much more. But whether this promise is realized depends critically on the path that is forged from lab to law.

38 | SLUH Magazine

Dr. Francis Shen '96 (center) with his brother John Paul '98 (also featured in this publication) and his father Jerome '58, who has six patents as a scientist (he is now retired). According to Francis, “We get the innovation bug from our father.”

U. HIGHLIGHTS

Dr. John Paul Shen '98 is on the cutting edge of cancer research and still enjoys a good game of rugby my junior year at SLUH and still play at the club level. This year will be my 22nd season. Since moving to San Diego, I have also gotten into sailing and try to take a sail trip every year.

John Paul Shen, M.D. '98 is Clinical Instructor, Gastrointestinal Oncology at the University of California-San Diego Moores Cancer Center. He served at SLUH in the Alumni Service Corps in 2002-03.

How did a SLUH education influence you to pursue medicine and research? SLUH gave me a great foundation based on the core principles of the physical sciences: chemistry, physics and biology, and also mathematics, which is also integral to being a scientist.

It’s remarkable how frequently we go back to these basic principles when planning or analyzing an experiment. Additionally, a SLUH education should instill a sense of intellectual curiosity, I took this in a science direction, but that really applies across disciplines.

What advice would you give to a SLUH student interested in the sciences and innovation? Get involved with a project that has you innovating. There are actually opportunities for this if you look hard. Examples would be the FIRST robotics competition, or even working in a biomedical research lab at SLU or Washington University, which is not impossible for a motivated SLUH student.

What is your favorite activity to do in your free time? Rugby is my passion. I have been playing since

From your own experience, what are the biggest challenges in research and innovation?

One big challenge in science is that the federal grant system that funds most research in the United States tends to favor safe, incremental proposals over those with higher risk of failure, but great true innovation. This issue has been recognized by many and is now being addressed by private philanthropists.

What do you think is the best movie of all time? Tombstone.

What led you to become interested in gene editing and cancer research? My initial training at MIT was in chemistry, and I chose oncology as this seemed like the best field to apply my chemistry knowledge to develop new drugs.

When I came to UCSD I changed fields away from chemistry to genomics. The CRIPSR technology I now use for high-throughput gene editing was only developed in 2014, but it was a natural extension of my work in cancer genomics.

What is one thing you’ve always wanted to do? Travel to all 50 states – right now I’m only missing North Dakota.

without my clinical team (admin assistant, nurse case manager and nurse practitioner) to help manage the cancer patients. I only see patients in clinic one day a week, but someone always needs to be available should they get sick.

What gets you out of bed every day? Working in the cancer field, you’re trying to save someone’s life every day. That should be motivation enough.

What are the most important character traits needed for invention and innovation?

Confidence and persistence. One of the quotes I have on my wall is “Fortune favors the bold.” You can’t have innovation without taking some risks, so it’s important to be confident in your own ability and to overcome the fear of failing. Most of the experiments you will run as a scientist will fail, so it’s important to not let this discourage you. Science is more like hitting a baseball – even the best only get a hit about a third of the time – than it is like shooting free throws.

Questions by Nathan Lu '18. Nathan is a member of SLUH’s swim team and the Medical Careers Club, and he serves as President of the Science Club. He is interested in universities such as Washington University-St. Louis, Duke and Northwestern, where he wants to pursue medicine (specifically neuroscience) and biomedical research.

What or who couldn’t you live without and why? It would be hard to do my job as a scientist

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INNOVATION IN THE ARTS

Rollo’s World The magic of Dr. Rollo Dilworth '87 is close at hand.

Just search his name on YouTube and you’ll see videos of a lively conductor, hear the sounds of a polished composer, and learn from a seasoned educator. Yet beneath these videos is a man whose passion for and understanding of music is transcended only by his ability to personify it.

“I think of everything in musical terms,” says Dilworth, Chair of Music Education and Music Therapy and Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University. “If you think about it, every living being is musical, because we all have a heartbeat. Even plants have a rhythm.”

Dilworth felt the beat and rhythm early on. At age seven, his elementary teacher noticed his singing and note-reading ability, suggesting to his parents that he consider more formal studies on piano and in music theory.

“I guess the rest is history,” he says.

Dr. Joe Koestner, longtime choral teacher at SLUH, recalls Dilworth’s formative years: “Rollo was skilled in piano in the Western Classical Music tradition but also had absorbed the unique playing and compositional style that is African-American Gospel Music. He absorbed all he could of the limited musical experiences available to him at SLUH in those years and was very generous in sharing his musical gifts with the community.

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“While still in college, Rollo, at my request, wrote a song for use at SLUH’s Holy Spirit Mass. I used it for many years as either the opening or closing song for that liturgy. He arranged the accompaniment for full Jazz Band, and it truly was spirit-filled.

“Rollo really blossomed when he got to college. With his combination of charismatic choral conducting, compositional skills and pianistic excellence, he began to attract the attention of music publishers, college faculty and many choral directors who, like myself, would have Rollo come to their school as a guest clinician to work with the kids on style and to conduct his own works.”

Fresh Approach As a conductor, Dilworth is a performance in and of himself.

He energizes and elevates the performance of his singers and musicians to new heights with incredible poise, his body fluid and unified with the music, personifying each piece in poetic flurries, sweeping undulations and feisty contortions. He

and the music become one.

What makes Dilworth unique – and exceptional – is the creative foundation that matches his ability as a performer. His musical compositions offer a fresh and forward look at an important historical genre known as African-American Spiritual.

By creating modern, innovative arrangements of the Spirituals, born during slavery, he makes an old art form relevant today.

For instance, in one of his signature compositions entitled Take Me to the Water, he keeps the first portion of the piece original to maintain integrity, yet later he quotes two spirituals in a contemporary way with modern harmonies drawn from jazz, gospel and even blues, as opposed to the way it was sung out in a field acapella-style. This, says Dilworth, helps the music resonate more with contemporary, and especially younger, audiences.

He also brings the spirituals genre to the concert stage by writing piano

U. HIGHLIGHTS

accompaniments – and in some cases full orchestral accompaniments – so even those in the classical world can access the music.

Dilworth says he uses music as a tool to inspire singers, especially young people. “Music has the power to heal us when we’re hurting. It provides the opportunity to unite us when we’re divided. In many ways, music can hold up a mirror to our faces, to not only show us more about the world around us but to show us who we are.”

International Superstar Dilworth’s remarkable talent and innovative approach have allowed him to excel in a highly competitive field.

In 2009, he was commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony to write a piece based on Langston Hughes’ poem Freedom’s Plow. It premiered with David Robertson, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus. “That was an exciting experience,” Dilworth says. “I flew back for the premiere.”

More recently, he wrote a piece called Bound for Glory, which premiered

I Dream A World One of Dilworth’s favorite poems is I Dream A World by Langston Hughes, an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. Hughes was an innovator in what is sometimes called jazz poetry.

“Even though the text was written several decades ago,” says Dilworth, “I find it to be powerful, inspiring, and relevant to our present.”

Dilworth has set about a dozen of Hughes’ poems to music, including I Dream A World:

at Carnegie Hall in New York City on November 18, 2017. Performed by the Canterbury Choral Society as a prelude to Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, it was a 25-minute piece centered on the spiritual genre with an ascension theme of moving from an earthly existence into a heavenly realm.

A singer, pianist and composer, Dilworth spends most of his time these days as a conductor. When he’s not working or listening to composing legends like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jason Robert Brown, John Williams or Quincy Jones, chances are you’ll find him playing Words with Friends (the modern, mobile version of Scrabble).

“I am a Scrabble fiend,” he says. “I used to own seven Scrabble boards, with one or two in the trunk of my car and in my office. Now with Words with Friends, I have about eight boards going on with friends at any given time.”

He reflects on his career with gratitude, noting, “I feel blessed to have the opportunity to pursue something I’m so passionate about.”

“Dr. Dilworth is a shining example of someone who has dedicated his professional career to preparing young people to succeed,” says Richard Englert, President at Temple University.

“The outstanding work he has done with our Choral and Music Education Programs, and as a champion for new music and community outreach, further exemplifies the mission of the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University.”

“Rollo has gone from being a quiet SLUH student to an international superstar in the realms of composition and choral conducting,” says Koestner.

“SLUH is doubly blessed to have such an alumnus and one who keeps contributing to his school so many years after graduation.”

Recalling the last time Rollo visited SLUH, Koestner says, “He did a clinic on a Thursday and then did us the honor of staying in town until our concert on Sunday and guestconducting his work on the concert. I can still hear the kids chanting ‘Rollo!

Rollo! Rollo!’ as he came up from the audience to conduct.”

I dream a world where man, no other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth and peace its paths adorn.

I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way, Where greed no longer saps the soul nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white, whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth and every man is free.

Where wretchedness will hang its head And joy, like a pearl, attends the needs of all mankind — Of such I dream, my world!

- LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967)

Blessed Future

#2Centuries2Words

– DAN KISTER, S.J. '53

Winter 2018 | 41

INNOVATION IN URBAN PLANNING

FROM

GRIT TO

GROVE Alumni Lead Resurgence in the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood

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In the mid 1990s, a 10-year-old boy was killed in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood by a gang member using him as a human shield from the gunfire of an opponent gangster. Soon after, Washington University Medical Center issued a statement to their employees to travel around – not through – the neighborhood, adjacent to SLUH, to get to work.

“It was a neighborhood of last resort,” says Brooks Goedeker '98, who is currently Executive Director of Saint Louis University’s Redevelopment Corporation.

Goedeker, who grew up in South St. Louis, never went to the neighborhood east of Kingshighway during high school. That changed as he began his Master of Social Work program at Saint Louis University. At that same time, he began interning for McCormack Baron doing urban planning and community development in the neighborhood. “It was like another world,” he says. “I went to high school across the street but had never stepped foot in the neighborhood and probably for good reason.”

U. HIGHLIGHTS

At the time, only six storefronts contained businesses out of the 100 available parcels. Most of the structures were dilapidated, run-down and boarded up, with broken windows and building floors that would cave under the weight of a single foot.

In the early 2000s Forest Park Southeast saw annual rates of over 1,000 crimes, many violent and assault-related. Last year, there were fewer than 300, mostly of the petty, nonviolent type.

Improved safety is just the start. Residents and businesses are flocking to the neighborhood. Eighty of the business parcels are now occupied, and “the missing teeth are either being filled or in demand,” says Goedeker. A couple of these new businesses include Sauce on the Side restaurant, owned

by Dan Porzel '95, and Cortex, a vibrant 200-acre innovation hub and technology district adjacent to the area.

Forest Park Southeast will be among a handful of city neighborhoods that show growth for the next census, moving from an all-time low of 2,900 residents in 2010 to over 4,000 residents today – with a goal of 5,000 by 2020.

Twenty percent of homes will be affordable as defined by the U.S. Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Topping it off, the neighborhood is experiencing remarkable economic growth as part of a neighborhood network that comprises eight percent of all urban land area yet accounts for half of all construction and development in the city.

What caused this transformation? How did a neighborhood rise to achieve its potential and become a national model?

Charting the Course Washington University Medical Center, near SLUH, established its own Redevelopment Corporation in 1972 to invest in the Central West End, which at the time was littered with brothels and drug houses. Their effort exceeded expectations and continues to pay dividends with improved safety and flourishing business and residential growth.

In the late 1990s, Washington University turned its attention to Forest Park Southeast, hiring McCormack Baron to conduct a master plan. This resulted in three neighborhood recommendations: reopen Adams Elementary School, which closed in 1988; build a state-of-the-art community center; and replace an uninviting neighborhood entrance with something that welcomed visitors.

By 2001, each of these initiatives had been fulfilled. AnheuserBusch donated land it owned on the northeast corner of Manchester and Kingshighway to the Saint Louis Science Center, which replaced an abandoned gas station site with sprawling green space. A senior residential living community, McCormack House, was built next to the green space on Manchester. Things were looking up, but the neighborhood still

Brooks Goedeker '98 (left) and Matt Green '04 discuss new zoning codes for the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood when they worked together at Park Central Development.

wanted to improve safety and security, economic development, housing, community investment and social services.

“The neighborhood really embraced a holistic approach to community development,” says Goedeker, who, after a stint with McCormack Baron, worked for Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation until 2013. At that time, Park Central Development hired him as executive director to improve and redevelop additional areas outside of Forest Park Southeast and the Central West End. “We really saw the value in working collaboratively with other neighborhoods in the area.”

Goedeker assisted in an effort to combine three entities – Botanical Heights Development, Forest Park Southeast Development Corporation and Central West End Midtown Development – into Park Central Development Corporation.

Park Central acts as a quasi city manager group for six neighborhoods in the central corridor, including Forest Park Southeast. It is funded by local organizations, taxing districts and special events.

“It’s been so successful because it’s a community-driven approach, not a top-down approach,” says Goedeker. He adds that every five years Park Central Development works with the community to undertake a needs assessment process, which focuses on specific areas of need and drives action plans for the next five years. This model has been replicated in other cities with great success, including Atlanta, Detroit and Cleveland. “Cities need organizations like this to provide vision and support, stabilize neighborhoods and foster economic growth.”

Bright Outlook Though Goedeker is no longer at Park Central Development (Saint Louis University hired him last spring to lead their redevelopment effort), others are building on the foundation he helped lay for Forest Park Southeast and its business

Winter 2018 | 43

district on Manchester known as the Grove.

Matt Green '04, Director of Special Taxing Districts and Infrastructure Projects at Park Central, is in the midst of implementing a groundbreaking initiative. In addition to leading projects for five special taxing districts and ensuring compliancy with local and state regulators, he is updating the building code for the Grove – essentially bringing it from the early 1900s to the 21st century. The outcome of this three-year process will result in an area with not only an improved and contemporary aesthetic, but one that better accommodates urban growth for residents and businesses. Green has worked closely with Bill Kuehling '70, Counsel at Thompson Coburn, to establish the new building and design code, which is set for adoption this spring and will set the standard for the future.

Green is also working with his team at Park Central Development to implement a strategic plan for Forest Park Southeast that includes a focus on safety and security; maintaining neighborhood diversity; improving neighborhood access; retaining a strong, unique identity welcoming small businesses; and adding density with more residents.

“The Grove is among the biggest success stories in St. Louis in the past 10 years.”

– BROOKS GOEDEKER '98, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY’S REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION “SLUH’s focus on being a man for others really made an impact on me,” Green says. “Though I’m a planner by trade, I’m a social worker by heart. I really enjoy working with people to find common ground and solutions that are mutually beneficial.”

Looking ahead, Green – in the Jesuit spirit of the magis – chooses to focus on improvement areas, like the few remaining boarded-up properties on Kingshighway. Yet one cannot overlook Forest Park Southeast’s incredible transformation. It’s one that can perhaps best be summed up by David Renard '68, who experienced firsthand the area’s blight and rebound. His business, Renard Paper Company, was located in Forest Park Southeast from 1969 to 2011, when he sold his business (in 2013, his former building was sold to Urban Chestnut Brewing Company).

“The early years of the neighborhood were rough,” says Renard. “There was a lot of crime coming from the residential areas and we had to be sure that all the trucks were locked and secured each night.” Today, he says, it’s a different story.

“The neighborhood is safer and it now has Grovefest, a major bicycle race and other events taking place in the Grove each year. These events attract people who in the past would have spent their dollars elsewhere.”

COMMUNITY PARTNER

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Since the 1990s, SLUH has been an active member and leader of the Forest Park South Business Association, comprised of nearly 100 local businesses. The association advances the mutual interests of businesses within the area bounded by Hampton Avenue, 39th Street, Forest Park Avenue and Interstate 44.

Among many achievements, the association has: • Contributed to funding and implementation of the Grove entry marker on Manchester Avenue • Contributed funding to GroveFest, the neighborhood’s largest eclectic street festival • Contributed funding to “Opportunity Around the Corner,” a local job fair to connect local residents to local employment opportunities • Developed Oakland Avenue way-finding and improved public infrastructure • Earned receipt of $2.2 million in streetscape improvements for Manchester Avenue • Earned receipt of $1.5 million for pedestrian lighting for Manchester Avenue • Earned receipt of $45,000 in MoDOT marketing grants • Earned receipt of $18,000 City of St. Louis commercial facade grant • Established Prohibitive Use legislation for Forest Park Southeast “Forest Park South has made remarkable progress in the past decade,” says Ben DuMont '92, SLUH Communications Director, who serves on the Forest Park South Business Association Board. “Thanks to the leadership and vision of people like Brooks Goedeker and Alderman Joseph Roddy, institutional support from Washington University and investment from small businesses, it’s transformed from a sore spot to a destination spot for residents, consumers and businesses.”

U. HIGHLIGHTS

ALUMNI

NOTEWORTHY Following is a sample of recent alumni activity and achievement. For an extensive list of class notes, visit alumconnect.sluh.org.

Dave Ganz '56, who has served at the University of Missouri-St. Louis for the past 51 years (first as an educator and currently as an alumni and constituent relations coordinator), was honored for his commitment to education with the installation of the $1-million Dave Ganz Room at UMSL’s College of Business Administration.

Denny Rabbitt '60 was recognized with Rockhurst University’s Xavier Medal of Honor Award on September 30, 2017. This honor is bestowed on an alumnus(a) who has contributed a substantial impact of service and effort to some segment of society external to Rockhurst University, consistent with the Jesuit tradition of “service to others.”

Bob Wilber '74 Veteran sports personality Bob Wilber '74 has released his longawaited autobiography, Bats, Balls, & Burnouts.

The memoir traces Wilber’s life from the age of three, including tales of a childhood as the youngest son of a former Major League catcher

(Del Wilber) and a radiopersonality mother (Taffy Wilber) before recounting stories about his own baseball career, his sports marketing experiences, three stints as a seniorlevel executive for professional indoor soccer franchises in St. Louis, Kansas City and Indianapolis, as well as 20-year career working for National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drivers as a team manager and public relations representative.

Tom O’Toole Jr. '75 will serve as USA captain for the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship from September 5-8 at Carton House Golf Club in Dublin, Ireland.

Robert Quinn '85 is the new head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in St. Louis after 20 years with the FBI in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

In November, Brian Walsh '89, Partner at Bryan Cave, argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case seeking to limit bankruptcy court’s right to recover fraudulently transferred assets. Interestingly, his father, Tom Walsh '58, also a Partner at Bryan

Cave, has presented a case to the Supreme Court in the past, making them a rare – and perhaps the only – SLUH father/son duo to do so.

Robert Jackson '90, English professor at the University of Tulsa, has written a new book, Fade in, Crossroads: A History of the Southern Cinema.

The book deals with southern and African American film history from the silent era to mid-century, and other current issues.

Tom Neill '95 was elected as the Commissioner of the Appellate Judicial Commission for the Eastern District of Missouri for a six-year term. The sevenmember Commission selects nominees to fill vacancies on Missouri’s three appellate courts, as well as the Missouri Supreme Court. The Governor then appoints one of the three nominees to serve on the court. Neill practices at Gray, Ritter & Graham, P.C. in St. Louis, focusing primarily in civil litigation.

Archdiocese of St. Louis in 2013, will obtain his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, Italy. He will also be publishing his first book, entitled Come and See: A Catholic Guide to the Holy Land. The proceeds of its sale will be donated to the Latin Patriarchate (Roman Catholic) seminary in Beit Jala, Palestine, near Bethlehem.

TWEETWORTHY December 6, 2017

Big day for @ SLUHPrepNews : one former staffer (Nick Fandos '11) has lead article in @NYTimes and another (John Wagner '87) has lead article in @ WashingtonPost. #SLUH200 Follow us on Twitter @sluhjrbills

In June 2018, Fr. Charles Samson '05, who was ordained to the priesthood for the

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ALUMNI

Michael Beugg '81 Produces Wonder, a Heartwarming Film About How We Treat Others MOVIE REVIEW BY WILL SLATIN '19

theology teachers. By apologizing on Minecraft servers and helping Auggie stand up to older kids at a class trip, the students at Beecher Prep fully transition away from their cruelty, making amends with Auggie.

The new hit film Wonder, produced

by Michael Beugg '81, embodies a principal aspect of Jesuit education: acceptance of others. By experiencing a year in the life of August (Auggie) Pullman as he enters the fifth grade, viewers are taken aback by the rude, obnoxious and cruel ways in which Auggie’s peers react to his facial deformity. Whether it be passing him mean notes, making fun of him in the halls or avoiding him in the lunchroom, most of Auggie’s classmates make it clear that he is unwelcome in their school, all because of his condition. However, as time moves on, Auggie’s classmates’ empathy, combined with getting to know Auggie better, allows them to experience in metanoia, a radical change of mind and heart that is often encouraged by our SLUH

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The film goes above and beyond by focusing not only on the growth of the school bullies, an arguably cliché storyline, but by also telling the narrative of Auggie’s relationship with his sister, Via Pullman, a minor character who surprisingly gets lots of screen time. Viewers would expect Via to be his loyal comrade, tending to Auggie’s emotional needs whenever things get rough at school.

While she is initially portrayed as a loving helper, the audience soon learns that she feels neglected by her parents, who focus most of their time helping Auggie. However, just like the school bullies, and most of the other characters in the film, Via grows away from her resentment, completing her own metanoia by developing a stronger bond with both her parents and Auggie. Through this bold take on how relatives of those with a deformity may react, Wonder stands out from other films of this genre like Peter Bogdanovich’s 1985 Mask. With the help of SLUH alumnus Michael Beugg '81, Wonder reveals itself to be a classic, heart-wrenching film about kindness and metanoia while also taking a bold look at how people might react to living with a family member who suffers medical traumas similar to Auggie’s.

Will Slatin '19 is on the swim and water polo teams, and is involved in National Honor Society (NHS), StudentTeacher Association for Racial Studies (STARS), and Association for Cultural Enrichment at SLUH (ACES). He wants to study environmental sciences, communications and Spanish in college.

Michael Beugg '81 is a producer and line producer with more than 30 feature credits, including Jason Reitman’s Golden Globenominated Thank You for Smoking, the Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine and He’s Just Not That Into You (directed by SLUH alumnus Ken Kwapis '75). He is also the Executive producer of Oscar-nominated Up in the Air, starring George Clooney and based on the 2001 novel by Walter Kirn, and La La Land, winner of seven Golden Globes (the most ever for a movie).

U. HIGHLIGHTS

REQUIESCAT IN PACE Since May of 2017, SLUH has learned of the deaths of the following alumni. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

List compiled 5/25/17-1/1/18

Robert D. Lippert '38 Thomas P. Gleeson '40 Daniel J. Doolan '41 Rev. James D. Wheeler, S.J. '41 William V. Burns '42 Richard J. Steinmetz '42 Robert M. Wrobel '42 Robert M. Hormberg '43 John F. Uxa '44 John D. Blanton '45 George J. Koch '45 Patrick McDarby '45 Joseph J. Schmitt '45 John H. McCarthy '46 Richard J. Moxley '46 Edward S. Farrelly '47 George Gaffney '47 John J. Goebel '47 Robert V. Kehoe '47 Thomas B. Lyons '47 Henry W. Pieper '47 Kenneth A. Finch '48 James O. Gray '48 Donald J. Andert '49 Robert P. Baine '49 John C. Bianchi '49 Thomas J. Hogan '49 Francis L. Immer '49 William Reid '49 John A. Rothermich '50 William A. Gartland '51 Richard J. BenĂŠ '52

Leo E. Gerritzen '52 Richard D. Costello '53 Joseph C. Dalpiaz '53 Rev. Carl A. Dehne, S.J. '54 John D. Schneider '54 Thomas A. Zeitz '54

John J. Harty '55 J. Robert Hughes '55 Elmer C. Bansbach '56 Felix Baz-Dresch '56 Edward A. Barth '57 Michael W. Bilgere '57 J. Philip Dacey '57 George H. Kister '57 Joseph T. Sullivan '57 Michael R. Hopkins '58 Douglas K. Pinner '58 Kenneth J. Ryan '59 Frederick M. Tasch '59 James C. Cradock '60 Michael J. Mitra '60 Ronald E. McLaughlin '61 R. Thomas Spurr '62 Daniel M. Steffen '62 Rev. Frank A. Bussmann '63 John A. Joseph '64 Robert J. Walsh '67 David T. Eberle '68

Thomas R. Koebel '69 John W. Gleeson '73 Mark E. Keeley '74 Gerard M. Sullivan '75 Joseph M. Bonwich '76 James F. Haffner '77 Timothy C. Hogan '77 Christopher A. Miller '80 Justin J. Hertling '92 Jason E. Williams '95 Jeffrey A. Loyd '96 Joseph P. Giljum '98 David K. Jackson '16

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IGNATIAN REFLECTION

BY HAP BURKE '82, CURRENT PARENT (HAP, JR. '15, JOHN '18), FATHERS CLUB PRESIDENT AND LEADER OF ALUMNI MANRESA (IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY) GROUP

IGNATIUS THE INNOVATOR When we think of “innovation” and “innovators,” one image that would not come to mind is one of Ignatius of Loyola as a young man.

He was attracted to whatever was prestigious and worldly – fame, the court, military glory, the “in-crowd.” His deepest desire was to be part of the establishment, not outside of it, and certainly not to reform it. Recall the effort he exerted after his war injury to conform himself to the established standards – insisting on surgery to remove a bone spur in his leg so that he could wear the hose and costumes of the day.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of the story. Through prayer and contemplation during his recovery, Ignatius let God change him, and he became responsive to God’s call. As he read the lives of the saints and of Christ, he noticed how God’s spirit moved him. And as he let God work on him, Ignatius began to give up his attachments to the things in his life that were not bringing him closer to Jesus.

There were a lot of spiritual dead-ends for Ignatius along his journey: a failed attempt to live as a hermit, a refusal to cut his fingernails on spiritual grounds, brushes with the inquisition, an aborted pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At each step of the way, he paused and reflected on how God spoke to him, what he was thankful for, what he could improve, and what more he could do for Christ.

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As a result, Ignatius became one of the most influential innovators and reformers who ever lived, helping restore the Church in the 16th century amidst the chaos of The Reformation. All of us in the greater SLUH community – almost 500 years after Ignatius founded the Jesuits – are heirs to his legacy, which includes not just this school (amazingly, at the brink of its third century), but also the university course of study, retreats, Spiritual Exercises, missions, exploration, scientific work, and a remarkable group of saints and blesseds.

In fact, the word “innovate” first came into usage in the 16th century. It’s a word almost tailor-made for what Ignatius did – introducing change to an established system through new ideas and processes.

Perhaps as we contemplate innovation and its proper role, Ignatius’s life is a good frame of reference. Not to endlessly pursue the latest fashion or trend, not to pursue change for change’s sake, but to indifferently hold all things in balance, desiring only what brings us closer to God and what helps us follow Jesus more perfectly. Ignatius did his greatest work – for Christ, for His Church and for us – when he did just that.

Hap Burke '82 (far left) pictured with SLUH President David Laughlin (middle) and Dan Lally '82 at a Fathers Club meeting at SLUH in August.

UPCOMING EVENTS | 2018

Visit www.sluh.org/calendar for more details and a complete list of events and activities.

Thursday, March 1 AMDG Ignatian Spirituality for Parents 5:30 p.m., SLUH Chapel (sluh.org/amdg) Saturday, April 7 Cashbah – Bicentennial Ball: Celebrating Two Centuries of Tradition 5:00 p.m., Si Commons (sluh.org/cashbah) Sunday, April 15 Grandparents Mass 9:30 a.m., Si Commons Saturday, April 21 Michael Palumbo Memorial Golf Classic Saturday, April 21 SLUH Bicentennial Mass & Celebration 4:00 p.m., Outdoors on-campus (sluh.org/bicentennial) Saturday, May 26 Baccalaureate Mass and Dinner 5:00 p.m., Danis Field House Saturday, June 16 Father/Son Golf Tournament 7:30 a.m., Norman K. Probstein Golf Course

ALUMNI REUNIONS SAVE THE DATE! CLASS DATE 1958 1963 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998

Thursday-Saturday, September 20-22

Thursday, September 20 75th Soccer Anniversary 1948 1953

Friday, October 19

1968 Friday-Saturday

October 12-13 2003 2008 Friday, November 23 2013 For reunion details, visit www.sluh.org/alumconnect/ events-calendar

Friday, June 22 Fr. Hagan Alumni Golf Cup Tournament Noon, Norman K. Probstein Golf Course

VISIT SLUH ONLINE

When You Give to SLUH, You Give to the World

www.sluh.org

A SLUH education is a tremendous gift, made possible by the generosity of our benefactors. Financial support is needed to maintain our excellence and provide accessibility to all qualified students. Ultimately, it is a gift that keeps giving. In the words of one alumnus, “When I give to SLUH, I give to the world.” Make a difference today and visit www.sluh.org/giving.

sluhigh sluh @sluhjrbills

Winter 2018 | 49

Doubly Blessed.

Bicentennial Mass & Celebration | Saturday, April 21, 2018 | sluh.org/bicentennial

Two Centuries.

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