Mulberry Tree magazine, Winter 2017

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE of Maryland

WINTER 2017

ENTREPRENEURS UNLEASHED! Entrepreneurship at SMCM [ PA G E 8 ]

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE

of Maryland

W INTER 2 0 1 7 , VOL. X X X V III, NO . 1

www.smcm.edu/mulberrytree Editor Lee Capristo Alumni Editor Kathy Cummings Design Jensen Design Photographer Bill Wood Editorial Board Karen Anderson, Michael Bruckler, Lee Capristo, Kathy Cummings, Missy Beck Lemke ’92, Nairem Moran ’99, Karen Raley ’94, Grace Davis ’15 Publisher Office of Institutional Advancement St. Mary’s College of Maryland 47645 College Drive St. Mary’s City, Maryland 20686

The Mulberry Tree is published by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Maryland’s public honors college for the liberal arts and sciences. It is produced for alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, the local community, and friends of the College.

The magazine is named for the famous mulberry tree under which the Calvert colonists signed a treaty of friendship with the Yaocomico people and on the trunk of which public notices were posted in the mid-1600s. The tree endured long into the 19th century and was once a popular meeting spot for St. Mary’s College students.

The illustration of the mulberry tree on the cover was drawn in 1972 by Earl Hofmann, artist-in-residence when St. Mary’s College President Renwick Jackson launched the magazine.

Copyright 2017 The opinions expressed in The Mulberry Tree are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the College. The editor reserves the right to select and edit all material.

Manuscripts and letters to the editor are encouraged and may be addressed to Editor, The Mulberry Tree, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 47645 College Drive, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686.

Photographs and illustrations may not be reproduced without the express written consent of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

CONTENTS WINTER 2017

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND July 2016 — June 2017

F E AT U R E S

ALUMNI COUNCIL

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PA G E 8

Executive Board Allan Wagaman ’06, President Alice Arcieri Bonner ’03, Exec. Vice President Ryan McQuighan ’05, Vice Pres. of Operations Angie Harvey ’83, Secretary Vacant, Parliamentarian Jim Wood ’61, Treasurer Danielle Troyan ’92, Past President

Chair The Honorable Sven Holmes

Elected Voting Members John Ahearn ’76 Jack Blum ’07 Thomas Brewer ’05 David Cribbs ’74 Geoffrey Cuneo ’10 Donna Denny ’81 Kate Fritz ’04 Chris Holt ’86 Missy Beck Lemke ’92 Molly McKee ’10 Jeremy Pevner ’09 Amir Reda ’11 Bobby Rudd ’13 Paul Schultheis ’98 Amanda Kellaher Walker ’01 Student Member Kate Cumberpatch ’17 Chapter Presidents Annapolis: Erin O’Connell ’91 Baltimore: Dallas Hayden ’06 Black Alumni: Nick Abrams ’99 Boston Alumni: Kyle McGrath ’11 D.C. Metro: Matt Schafle ’10 Denver: Alisa Ambrose ’85 New York: Christelle Niamke ’05 Philadelphia: Vacant San Francisco: Micah Morgan ’09 Southern Maryland: Cathy Hernandez Ray ’77 Western Maryland: Kristi Jacobs Woods ’97 Staff Dave Sushinsky ’02 Alumni Director Beth Byrd Associate Alumni Director Lauren Taylor ’14 Assistant Alumni Director

Entrepreneurship at SMCM

Vice Chair Ann L. McDaniel

Secretary Rear Admiral Tim Heely, usn Retired Trustees Carlos Alcazar Arthur “Lex” Birney, Jr. Cynthia Broyles ’76 Peter Bruns Donny Bryan ’73 Peg Duchesne ’77 Elizabeth Graves ’95 Gail Harmon The Honorable Steny Hoyer Captain Glen Ives, usn Retired Gary Jobson Lawrence E. Leak ’76 Molly Mahoney Matthews Michael P. O’Brien ’68 Katharine Russell Danielle Troyan ’92

HOWARD KORN

Treasurer Mr. John Chambers Wobensmith ’93

Professor Elizabeth Osborn sprouts budding entrepreneurs in her SOCI 323 course on the subject and alums seek her out for mentoring them through their own start-ups. [ PA G E 8 ] PA G E 1 4

Service & CommunityBased Learning Professor Joanna Bartow’s “Spanish in the Community” course propels students toward engaged citizenship and awareness of diverse perspectives.

Students continue the practice outside the classroom. [ PA G E 1 4 ]

Allan Wagaman ’06, Alumni Council President Vera Damanka ’17, Student Trustee Laura Cripps, hsmc

PA G E 1 8

Bay to Bay Service Days The second annual Bay to Bay Service Days is coming in April. Find out how to be a part of this new tradition.

DEPAR T MEN T S

[ PA G E 1 8 ]

2

President’s Letter

3

College News

20 Alumni Connection 28 From the Archives

C OV E R :

Entrepreneurship at SMCM. Photograph by Howard Korn OPPOSITE:

Bell Tower in snow.

Photo from the College collection

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A

L ET T E R

F ROM

T HE

PR E SIDE N T

DEVELOPING LEADERS FOR AN EVER-EVOLVING WORLD

S

t. Mary’s College is a public, liberal arts, honors college.

What does that mean? It means that we welcome anyone who has the intellectual potential and capacity to succeed in a rigorous and challenging academic and social environment, and we strive to provide experiences that prepare them for global citizenry and for leadership, not just a job.

We engage students in learning communities, collaborative projects, undergraduate research, service learning, internships, and capstone courses, all of which are high-impact practices shown to improve the success and fulfillment of our students during their years in and beyond college.

We develop leaders for an ever-evolving world. Thus, we provide intellectual experiences that span a broad range of subjects from diverse perspectives that facilitate the student’s ability to understand, respect, and appreciate different views, formulate their own opinions, and effectively communicate that view with respect, compassion, and empathy.

As a case in point, it was students who led our Community Conversations event this past August, participating with faculty and staff to address the central question: how do we maintain community and preserve the principles of our democracy in the midst of the many divisive issues that exist for us as a nation and as global citizens?

It is a well-known fact that our students are some of the brightest and most committed to the community, both locally and abroad (at a rate of nearly 10,000 hours per year). Community-based learning and service in the community are as much a part of the St. Mary’s College experience as the St. Mary’s River and sunsets. In fact, the Student Government Association (SGA) proposed and approved a bylaws change this academic year that requires every SGA-funded organization to perform at least one service project per semester.

We give students experiences that translate the theoretical into the practical and provide opportunities that enhance their ability to work effectively and collaboratively across disciplines to solve the problems of the 21st century. According to an employers’ survey done on behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a full 95% of employers say they give hiring preference to college graduates with skills that will enable them to contribute to innovation in the workplace. More than nine out of ten say it is important that those they hire demonstrate ethical judgment and integrity; intercultural skills; and the capacity for continued new learning. As global citizens and leaders, our students are ready to engage.

Editor’s Note

I

n the winter issue of 2014, Mulberry Tree profiled Paul Reed Smith, who built his first guitar in 1975 at St. Mary’s College as part of an independent study, then took the leap to start his own custom-made guitar business, repairing instruments on the side to pay the bills.

Forty years later, PRS Guitars generates revenue of more than $40 million per year, with Carlos Santana, Dave Navarro and John Mayer as clientele.

This issue celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of St. Mary’s College alumni and current students. They boost our productivity, manage our fundraising, rig our sails, mentor our teenagers, and help us train Fido to stay off the couch. Which students in Professor Elizabeth Osborn’s SOCI 323 “Entrepreneurship” class will create the next story of success? Will Seahawk Auto Service become a reality?

There is a contagious enthusiasm in St. Mary’s College students. Whether pitching their product as part of the “Entrepreneurship” competition, helping a young child learn to speak English as part of “Spanish in the Community” class with Professor Joanna Bartow, or building a house with Habitat for Humanity during spring break, these students do it with heart.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, says that “the arts and sciences prepare students for a lifetime of success by developing inventive employees and thoughtful citizens.” It seems that St. Mary’s College of Maryland is doing just that – its students and alumni are the evidence of success.

Lee Capristo, editor

Tuajuanda C. Jordan, President, St. Mary’s College of Maryland Source citation: https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf

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COLLEGE

NEWS

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY NEWS

Associate Vice President Kortet Mensah

New Associate Vice President Role Filled

SEAHAWK MEN GO TO THE SHOW AT UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

SMCM Named a College of Distinction

The men’s basketball team competed with heart in an invitational against University of Maryland on Nov. 17. Though the Seahawks were defeated, they were able to score 45 points against the Division I Terps. The fan turnout was huge, with as many Seahawks as Terrapins in the stands.

Innovative application of highimpact educational practices at St. Mary’s College earned the school recognition among the nation’s Colleges of Distinction for 2016-2017.

“With an increasing emphasis on hands-on learning techniques, Colleges of Distinction applauds St. Mary’s College of Maryland for practicing methodologies that prepare students for their futures,” said Tyson Schritter, executive editor for College of Distinction.

Anthony Kotoun ’00 and All-American Jane DeLashmutt ’00 (in boat #4) led a close pack into the leeward gate at the Possum Bowl on Dec. 2.

Kortet Mensah has been named to the inaugural role of associate vice president of diversity and inclusion/ chief diversity officer. She joined St. Mary’s College on Nov. 28 and reports directly to President Tuajuanda C. Jordan. In this inaugural role, Mensah will collaborate with administration, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners to infuse inclusion, diversity and equity efforts into all aspects of the College. She brings over 19 years of experience with initiating, overseeing, and evaluating programs and initiatives that facilitate diverse students and employees’ successful inclusion and adjustment. Mensah earned her bachelor’s degree from Stephens College, and her master’s degree and PhD in human development, family studies, and psychology from the University of MissouriColumbia.

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Physics Program a Role Model in National Report The St. Mary’s College of Maryland physics program is highlighted as a role model in the report, “Phys21: Preparing Physics Students for 21st Century Careers.” The report, published by the Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs (J-TUPP) and convened by the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), selected the College as one of five case studies of successful, innovative physics programs. Josh Grossman, associate professor of physics and chair of the department for the public honors college, said those involved with the report put out a call for best practices and “just how many we do caught their eye.”

Citing St. Mary’s College physics department eight times for best practices, the report includes the department’s use of assessments to truly measure innovations; keeping its finger on the pulse of the department; getting students involved in the career center early; keeping in touch with alumni; embedding career exploration into the introductory course sequence; giving administration values for the money spent and giving exit surveys to students majoring or minoring in physics.

New Hires Get Housing Help The Faculty and Staff Housing initiative, a recent collaboration between the offices of Business and Finance and Student Affairs, has been well received. The initiative aims to enhance the housing stock and provide more affordable housing options for newly hired College faculty and staff as they transition to a new community. For the fall semester, all eight of the housing options were booked.

San Francisco Mime Troupe: Socially Conscious Theater at SMCM The San Francisco Mime Troupe performed “Freedomland” on campus in October. The troupe, nearly 60 years in operation, specializes in political satire, broad farce and melodrama. “Freedomland” spoke directly to what it means to be Black and male in America in our supposedly post-racial society.

GIVING TUESDAY Top, L to R: Kelley Hernandez ’08, Jackie Wright, Don Stabile, Karen Raley ’04.

Bottom, L to R: Sophia Macek ’19, President Jordan, Joey Haavik ’17.

Giving Tuesday: A Stunning Success!

Giving Tuesday, the social media day of philanthropy, took place on Tuesday, Nov. 29, over a 24-hour period and it was a record-setting day for St. Mary’s College of Maryland. At press time, 651 donations catapulted the total amount raised to $152,231, more than $86,000 over last year’s total.

The drive was focused on positioning students for success, scholarships, academic enrichment, and the St. Mary’s Fund. The most generous gift came from St. Mary’s College Associate Dean of Academic Services Donald Stabile, who pledged a $66,000 dollar-for-dollar match. Continue the Momentum: the annual giving drive for students ends June 30, 2017.

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“ Breaking Bread – Breaking Chains” Brings Dutch Tradition to Campus On Sept. 27, the Keti Koti Table Foundation on behalf of St. Mary’s College of Maryland introduced for the first time in the United States, a formal Keti Koti Dialogue Table. The Dutch tradition was established over the last ten years to commemorate the abolishment of Dutch slavery in 1863, and reflect upon the effects of slavery. Mercedes Zandwijken and Machiel Keestra, the developers of the Keti Koti Table, facilitated the event at the invitation of Katharina von Kellenbach, professor of religious studies.

The Keti Koti (break the chains) table is organized around a series of rituals and a meal. It was partly inspired by the Jewish Passover Seder table, the African-American Kwanzaa festival and the Dutch Ramadan festival, all of which

combine rituals, reflection and festive meals. It brings together an equal number of Black and white participants, inviting them to exchange their personal experiences and ideas on freedom, identity and the consequences of the shared history of slavery for all. The series of rituals and facilitated dialogue creates a safe and intimate environment which makes participants confident to share sensitive experiences and feelings with each other.

The second event, on Sept. 29, was a 24-hour Racial Reconciliation Relay on the patio of the Campus Center where each hour a different pair of diverse people engaged in facilitated dialogue on their personal experiences and thoughts regarding the shared history of slavery and its aftermath.

At the Breaking Bread-Breaking Chains dinner dialogue, participants shared a series of rituals and a meal in the Dutch tradition of the Keti Koti Table.

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PRESIDENT’S NEWS President Jordan delivered the keynote address on Oct. 6 at the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) Annual Conference in Ocean City, Md. The title of her address quoted Malcolm X: “Tomorrow Belongs to Those Who Prepare for it Today.”

Read the transcript at www.smcm. edu/president.

P

resident Jordan was selected by her alma mater, Fisk University, as an inaugural Talented Tenth Award recipient at its Talented Tenth Gala and Awards Ceremony in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 15. The award, bestowed upon alumni who live or work in the Eastern region, honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions in their community and profession. The gala raises funds to support Fisk University in critical areas like scholarships and provides networking opportunities for members of the Fisk community.

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On Oct. 8-9, President Jordan participated in the Credo Women in Leadership Institute in Greensboro, NC, where she networked with other college and university women presidents. The theme “Courageous Leadership: Managing Your Board,” provided a platform to discuss strategies for working with Boards and faculty and issues management in a collaborative, solutionsoriented setting.

President Jordan networked with other women leaders on Oct. 25 at the 23rd Annual Women of Excellence Luncheon with Donna Brazile and Mary Matalin. The event was sponsored by Network 2000, a statewide, not-for-profit organization in Maryland that promotes the inclusion of women in leadership and the benefits of having women at the decision-making table.

President Jordan served as a keynote speaker for the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Meet and Greet on Nov. 15, in Philadelphia, Pa. Her presentation, “Unity is Strength,” was geared towards both alumni and prospective students.

Philadelphia is among the top five cities with the largest St. Mary’s College alumni concentration. Dr. Jordan’s presentation encouraged continued engagement based on the fact that success is a joint effort.

The Philadelphia tour is the first of several that Dr. Jordan will participate in during the year.

At the Maryland Commission on African American History on Dec. 5, President Jordan gave a special presentation, “We Have Been Here Before. Complacency is not the Answer.” The event, held in Lexington Park, Md., focused on the importance of awareness and preservation of African American history.

President Jordan was an invited panelist at the Dec. 14 release of the final report of the National Commission on Financing 21st Century Higher Education at the Press Club in Washington D.C. Joining more than 100 college and university presidents, President Jordan signed the statement for the continuation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that benefits undocumented college students.

Under the program, more than 700,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children have registered with the federal government in exchange for temporary relief from the possibility of deportation and a two-year renewable work permit.

THE ST. MARY’S WAY

FACULTY & STAFF NEWS

Liza Gijanto, assistant professor of anthropology, has written a new book: “The Life of Trade Events and Happenings in the Niumi’s Atlantic Center” (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2016). The “Life of Trade” utilizes archaeological and historical sources to address the dynamic nature of the Atlantic trade on the Gambia River.

Merideth Taylor, a professor emerita of TFMS (dance), was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award in October by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People St. Mary’s County Branch. The award specifically noted her use of the performing arts to produce positive social change.

Randy Larsen, professor of chemistry, with Nicolette Coluzzi ’17 (chemistry) and external collaborator Antonino Cosentino were published in the International Journal of Conservation Science.

Their paper, titled “Free XRF Spectroscopic Database of Pigments Checker,” contains a collection of spectra of over 50 historic paints that would be useful for art historians and conservators to identify the types of pigments found in artwork. Read their paper at http://www.ijcs.uaic. ro/public/IJCS-16-38_Larsen.pdf.

Laraine Glidden, distinguished professor emerita of psychology and human development, wrote a chapter, “Removing reproductive, sexual, and rearing rights of women with intellectual disabilities: Congratulated, condoned, and condemned” for the book “Maltreatment of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities” (edited by J.R. Lutzker, K. Guastaferro, & M.L. Benka-Coker and published by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2016).

Louis Hicks, professor of sociology, co-edited with Eugenia L. Weiss and Jose E. Coll, the book, “The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans: Issues and Identities” (Praeger, 2016). The book’s forward was written by Robert A. McDonald, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The book includes a chapter, “Veterans as Entrepreneurs,” co-written by Hicks and Elizabeth Osborn, professor of sociology.

Amanda Deerfield, assistant professor of economics, received a $14,000 award in October from the Charles Koch Foundation for support of her research titled “UberRegulation? Ridesharing Legislation and State Corruption Scores.”

Jeffrey Hammond, professor of English and George B. and Willma Reeves Distinguished Professor in the Liberal Arts, delivered the Annual Reeves Lecture on Sept. 30.

His topic: “The Liberal Arts: The Education That Wouldn’t Die.”

Kirsten Deane-Coe, assistant professor of biology, was awarded $130,079 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Dimensions of Biodiversity Program. She will be working with collaborators to investigate the drivers of diversity in an ecologically important clade of dryland mosses.

Geoffrey Bowers, assistant professor of chemistry, is continuing a long-term collaboration with scientists at Michigan State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The research, for the U.S. Department of Energy, develops general principles for understanding the role natural solid surfaces play in our energy infrastructure. Bowers recently received funding that will enhance new instrumentation in the SMCM museum studies’ program. He and his undergraduate researchers will use it to study how carbonbased molecules adhere to the surfaces of model and natural geological materials such as shale.

They will also be able to examine how such materials decompose when exposed to heat.

Erin De Pree, associate professor of physics, received an award of $4,158 in October from the Jonathan F. Reichert Foundation to build a small radio telescope that she and students will use for research purposes in advanced physics labs as well as for St. Mary’s Projects and independent research.

Adriana Brodsky, associate professor of history, has had her book published, titled “Sephardi, Jewish, Argentine: Community and National Identity, 1880-1960” (Indiana Univ. Press, 2016). At the turn of the 20th century, Jews from North Africa and the Middle East were called Turcos (“Turks”); they were seen as distinct from Ashkenazim and not even identified as Jews. In her book, Brodsky follows the history of Sephardim as they arrived in Argentina, created immigrant organizations, founded synagogues and cemeteries, and built strong ties with coreligionists around the country.

Julian Erville ’17, represented St. Mary’s College on Sunday, Nov. 6, at George Washington University in the final round of the Jiangsu Cup, a Chinese speech contest open to undergraduates and graduate students in the Greater Washington Metropolitan area who have studied Chinese. Students whose native language is Chinese are not eligible for the competition. Erville is a double-major in math and English with a minor in ILC-Chinese. He is the first student to make it to the final round of competition.

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‘‘ ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT SMCM 8 | St. Mary’s College | T H E M U LBERRY TREE | winter 2017

BY LEE CAPRISTO, EDITOR

So begins the course description of SOCI 323, St. Mary’s College’s only course on entrepreneurship.

It’s a popular course, in large part for its “Shark Tank”-like final project, where teams pitch a product or service they’ve created to a panel of corporate judges, defending their business plan, marketing strategy, growth projections and startup costs.

KATIE MAZZOCCO ’10 founder/CEO of Full Spectrum Productivity and author of, “Revolutionary Productivity: How to Maximize Your Time, Impact, and Income in Your Small Business”

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT SMCM

Led by Professor Elizabeth Osborn, author of “Open for Business” with Kazimierz Slomczynski (IFiS Publishers, 2005), the class starts with the basics: Who becomes an entrepreneur? What are the skills needed to be an entrepreneur? How does an entrepreneur think?

Informed by a reading list that includes “The Steve Jobs Way” (Vanguard Press, 2011), “Social Entrepreneurship” (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010) and “All in Startup: Launching a New Idea When Everything is on the Line” (Wiley Publishing, 2014), the students learn to implement sociological concepts while developing an entrepreneurial proposal as part of a team project.

Because team, networking and pitching skills are all needed to be an entrepreneur, the team project provides the opportunity to practice the skills.

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Ryan Grant ’17 (economics) took the class last year. His team pitched “TaskiT” – a mobile application in which individuals could either post or take tasks for compensation.

This past fall, he returned to the class as its peer mentor, helping students with their projects and guiding them toward Osborn’s expectations. “As a student the class is demanding, not like a typical class. It is so hands-on that you don’t realize how much progress you actually have made until you finally pitch your idea at the end and realize it is over,” he says. “After doing an internship this past summer, I can honestly say this class provides the same education, experience and network an internship does.”

In an age of social networking, where it’s possible to become a billionaire at age 25 (if you’re Evan Spiegel and think up Snapchat while you’re in college), it’s also an opportune climate for small startups with a social conscience. “Social entrepreneurship,” says Osborn, “is aimed at righting a social problem.” On a national scale, two examples of these feel-good social conscience startups are Advocates for World Health, a nonprofit that redistributes surplus medical supplies to under-served hospitals in developing nations (http://awhealth.org/our-story/) and Matt Damon’s water.org (the company won a Skoll Award in social entrepreneurship in 2009).

Locally, HealthShare of St. Mary’s and the Greenwell Foundation are two examples studied by Osborn’s students.

In true liberal arts fashion, this course is designed to hone skills in oral and written communication, creative thinking and problem solving, ethical leadership and global citizenship. While large universities would likely house a course in entrepreneurship in the school of business, at St. Mary’s College, that’s not the intent.

This year’s class pitched four business proposals on December 1 to a panel of corporate judges that included Board of Trustee Peg Duchesne ’77 (owner, Duchess Enterprise, Inc.), Board of Trustee Gary Jobson (owner, Jobson Sailing, Inc.), David Lewis (retired professor of economics, Cornell Univ.), Owen Lewis (retired business director, Raytheon), and Kim Mozingo (program manager, TechFire Incubation, Energetics). Students wore business attire and offered sample products and marketing giveaways to the judges as part of their team’s pitch (see page 13). Afterwards, as on “Shark Tank,” they were drilled by the judges on the particulars of their proposals (direct quotes here): “How are you going to make money?” “You’re counting on one vendor to provide you with wholesale prices: what happens if that vendor changes its involvement?” “Your business model doesn’t

make any sense!” “Do you know how often people would use your service?”

top: KYLE GROSS ’91 founded Annapolis Performance Sailing Ltd. bottom: ERIN RORABACHER LEWIS ’04 (back row, left) owns her own business and co-founded Gals Lead teen program, shown here in 2015.

Asif Dowla (professor of economics) detailed the emergence of microfinancing ten years ago in his book, “The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story” (Kumarian Press, 2006). Social entrepreneurism is a topic now and SOCI 323 is a trendy class to take, but St. Mary’s College grads that weren’t able to benefit from Osborn’s class have made an entrepreneurial name for themselves, too.

Jayson Williams ’03 (political science) is president and CEO of Mayson-Dixon with his partner Matthew Newcomber ’05 (economics), who is vice president and CFO. Their company is a boutique business development and public affairs firm specializing in strategic planning for government agencies, non-profits, political offices, and community developers. Nick Pfisterer ’14 (economics/ political science) is a senior associate. In November 2016, Williams was a Baltimore Business Journal pick for its “40 under 40” list. In late December 2016, Mayson-Dixon Strategic Consulting and Princeton Strategies, a political consulting and fundraising firm based in

Philadelphia, announced a new partnership.

The two firms working together will cover six states plus Washington, D.C., and employ an energetic and growing team of 14 full-time employees. (http://maysondixon.com/)

JAYSON WILLIAMS ’03 and MATTHEW NEWCOMBER ’05, are CEO and CFO of Mayson-Dixon Strategic Consulting, respectively.

Straight out of college with a small bank loan and a lot of guts, Kyle Gross ’91 (economics) founded Annapolis Performance Sailing Ltd. It is thriving 25 years later. (http://www. apsltd.com/about-aps-our-history/ ) Katie Mazzocco ’10 (sociology) is a small business systems strategist and founder/ CEO of her own company, Full Spectrum St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 11

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT SMCM

JARED MARMEN ’00 and COURTNEY YOUNG MARMEN ’02, launched Chord in 2016, a pet collar with phone app for dog and cat owners.

and with mentoring from Osborn, he’s likely to be right. He won “Shark Tank Susquehanna” for Harford and Cecil Counties, Md., received TEDCO prototype funding, won the rural innovation challenge in Start Up Maryland’s STRT1UP Showcase in Dec. 2016 and was selected to be in the 2017 cohort for Accelerate Baltimore. Marmen judged Osborn’s student proposals in fall 2015.

HOWARD KORN

Noah Berk ’06 (economics) is co-founder of OutboundOps, a prospecting service for B2B companies. (https://www.outboundops. com/)

It’s happening in Southern Maryland! For alumni who haven’t visited in a while, it might be startling to read this statement from the SMIT organization, of which Elizabeth Osborn and Kim Mozingo are planning board members:

“Southern Maryland Innovation and Tech (SMIT) ignites and fuels tech entrepreneurship by fostering an inclusive and collaborative ecosystem in Southern Maryland. We meet in Southern Maryland, Maryland’s fastest growing Tech Hub, where technologists are 3.5 times more concentrated than in the rest of the nation.”

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Productivity in Pittsburgh, Pa. Mazzocco’s book, “Revolutionary Productivity: How to Maximize Your Time, Impact, and Income in Your Small Business” was released this month. Osborn mentored Mazzocco’s business plan development. (http://www. fullspectrumproductivity.com) Jared Marmen ’00 (physics) and Courtney Young Marmen ’02 (psychology, ILC) launched Chord in 2016, a pet collar with phone app for dog and cat owners to use for force-free positive rewards-based training. (http://chordcollar.com) Building on an idea that emerged while working on defense guidance systems, Jared Marmen fiddled first with applications to use satellite navigation to mow lawns at night. Later, when training rats to find landmines, he connected pets to GPS and ChordCollar is the result. His failed pitch in 2014 to SMIT was a defining moment.

“I did everything I could have done wrong,” recalls Marmen. “That failure made me know I was going to do it and succeed,” he says,

Erin Rorabacher Lewis ’04 (political science) has owned her own State Farm insurance agency for eight years and in February opens a new office in Severna Park, Md. She is creator of the Dream Queen Association & Foundation and co-creator of its Gals Lead teen program as well as its Stand Out annual women’s conference. (http://www.yourdreamqueen.com) Andrew Watters ’07 (philosophy) owns Pedicab People Movers, a bicycle-based “sustainable transportation option” offered at music festivals across the U.S. (http://www.pedicabpeoplemovers.com/) “Increase entrepreneurialism at all levels.”

That is objective five of goal five of the current strategic plan for St. Mary’s College. Working to achieve it, the College has developed infrastructure to reward units for cost savings and revenue generation. The College has also enhanced the faculty’s and staff’s ability to write and get grant funding. At press time, the College is considering introducing a minor in entrepreneurship. 

This year’s pitches Food on the Fly Anthony Cangelosi, Reid D’Antuono, Peter Dean, Garrett Pope A food delivery service for students and faculty of SMCM, providing online/mobile ordering and delivery from restaurants in the Lexington Park/California area.

“The guest speakers really helped us to think about the details (like insurance).”

– Peter Dean

St. Mary’s Business Opportunity Ivan Messi, Tally Aumiller, Marsalis Hurley, Samantha Saunders An organization whose website connects SMCM students and SMCM alumni in a LinkedIn sort of way to network for internships and job opportunities.

“This course offered so many connections and networking [with the judges]. You can’t get all this from just a book.”

– Samant

Seahawk Auto Service Erin Bedell, Jacqueline Carbo, James Loftis, Max Schel On-campus, quality auto care at competitive prices for the students, faculty and staff of SMCM as well as those in the surrounding community.

“This class provided a valuable opportunity to meet with outside experts.

We met with an auto repair shop owner and he explained their insurance policy, their mechanic’s certifications.”

– Max Schell

Saunders

The Rolling Pin Rowan Limbach, Leanna Zimmerman, Amy Graf, Zach Fontenot A mobile food service offering high-quality desserts and coffee to students, faculty and staff outside of Great Room hours and during high demand periods.

Past pitches from previous classes: Fit U: trainers in the ARC Hawk Dogs: Hot dog cart Hawk Eye: app for all campus life Hawk Link: app to match student workers to do chores

Hawks for Hire: matching chores with students to do them

IIWI (Is It Worth It): app of Great Room menus and instant rate food options Laundry Lads: laundry service The Nest: mobile store moving between

“I now understand how to be an ‘intrapreneur’ and bring my talents to the team.”

dorms with necessities

– Leanna Zimmerman

Pub Hub: app to order from the Pub with delivery service

Road Runners: food delivery service Sea Hawk Snack Shack: movable food cart

Sprint Print: printing and delivering papers at any hour

St. Mary’s Motors: car rental Student Body: spa Task It: app for doing basic tasks ZipWay: Segway rental

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 13

Service and Community-Based Learning Built Into and Extended Out of the Curriculum – It’s the St. Mary’s Way!

BY LEE CAPRISTO, EDITOR WITH KATE CUMBERPATCH ’17 (ENGLISH) 14 | St. Mary’s College | T H E MU LBERRY TREE | winter 2017

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rofessor joanna bartow’s “spanish in the community” course is a community-based learning (CBL) course, integrating meaningful service in the community, contextual academic content, and critical reflection. The course grew from an interest in the pedagogy of CBL and direct experiences with immigrant friends who negotiated the difficulties of supporting their children in the local education system. With a course development grant funded through the Mellon Foundation in 2011, Bartow drafted a syllabus and began an in-depth collaboration with colleagues in educational studies and with the local public school system. The following year, Bartow hand-picked St. Mary’s College students to pilot a tutoring program in the public school system with children needing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In fall 2013, she launched the four-credit course.

with Bartow to translate community organiNadine Postolache ’16 was one of three zation documents into Spanish. of Bartow’s students in the inaugural class The course, taught completely in Spanwho voluntarily continued tutoring after ish, explores immigration the class was over. Postoissues, what immigrant lache designed an afterfamilies face when they first school class for the students arrive in the U.S., and the and their families as part changing demographic of of her St. Mary’s Project. where immigrant popula(Postolache now teaches tions are found. Bartow English in Spain and in emphasizes cultural knowlNovember 2016 made a preedge as a bridge for buildsentation about her project ing a trusting relationship at a conference in Spain). with the ESOL students, In fall 2015, Bartow’s 16 stusome of whom have no Engdents logged 160 hours of lish language vocabulary to tutoring in two elementary Mavet Rosas ’17 (art, start. Bartow requires her schools. Three of the stuart history) tutored students to write frequent dents voluntarily continued elementary school ESOL students as reflective essays on their extutoring during the spring part of her “Spanish periences with the ESOL semester. Two others volin the Community” children they’re tutoring unteered as translators for coursework. (or, as in fall 2015, with the families at AccessHealth, families they translated for a public health organizaat AccessHealth). Civic engagement, emtion in the local community. In fall 2016, pathy and a passion to advocate for the in12 students logged 120 hours in those same terests of those from a different background elementary schools. Eight will continue to than their own inevitably emerge through tutor in the spring and some will also work

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 15

“ Bartow’s ... course propels students toward engaged citizenship and awareness of diverse perspectives ...”

the process. Thus, Bartow’s “Spanish in the Community” course propels students toward engaged citizenship and awareness of diverse perspectives, aligning with the College’s strategic plan goal to graduate “prepared, responsible, and thoughtful global citizens.”

Bartow’s former students Bianca Giosa ’13, Kate Meyer Jakuta ’07 and Hannah Walsh ’13 visited her class in fall 2016 to share their experiences working with immigrant populations in Baltimore: Giosa is a medical interpreter for Johns Hopkins University Hospital; Jukuta works for the Southeast Community Development Center as a family stability case manager; Walsh is a paralegal with the Public Justice Center. Leslie Walker ’13 also spoke to the class about migration and his master’s field work in Puerto Rico. He is project manager for the American Association of Anthropology’s public education initiatives.

There are also service and community-based learning examples in other curricular areas: Amy Henderson (asst. prof. of economics) incorporates community-based learning when she teaches ECON 459. It might come in the form of “Experiential Statistics” where students worked with local businesses and nonprofits to tackle a business problem or as “Valuation in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics” where students designed, implemented and analyzed a contingent valuation survey to determine local residents’ willingness to pay for a policy intervention to reduce deer-vehicle collisions. Those students engaged the local community in focus groups and presented their research findings to the County Commissioners.

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The St. Mary’s College Tiny House Project is a collaborative community project between the College, the Forrest Career and Technology Center, the Greenwell Foundation, Lexington Park Elementary School and the Three Oaks Center (shelter for men). With one house completed and delivered to Greenwell State Park, project leaders and teaching trio Barry Muchnick (asst. prof. of environmental studies), Carrie Patterson (professor of art) and Harry Garrison (home systems instructor at Forrest Career and Technology Center) expect to deliver the second 200 square-foot house on wheels to campus this spring. SMCM students enrolled in this course (“Community Sustainable Design”) will continue to work alongside high school students at the Forrest Career and Technology Center to complete the siding, plumbing, electrical, and interior finishes and furniture. (Editor’s note: The Tiny House Project was featured in the Winter 2016 issue.)

From 1999-2008, hundreds of students participated in the St. Mary’s River Project, connecting biology class work with Bob Paul (professor of biology) and Chris Tanner (now professor emeritus of biology) to field studies that benefited that watershed’s community. Now a student club, SMRP does an after-school environmental education enrichment program in local elementary schools. Bob Paul also worked with students and biology alums Kevin Boyle ’07, Brian Russell ’08 and Mandy Burch ’01 during 2013-2014 with Maryland Industrial Partnership grants on oyster reef restoration and growth. The entrepreneurial alums now run Shore Thing Shellfish, LLC in Tall Timbers, Md. (http://www.shorethingshellfish.com/)

left to right: Work on the Tiny House will wrap up during the spring semester. Lexington Park Elementary School students built “tiny house” birdhouses with Professor Carrie Patterson. Cristina Tono ‘14 led a playground renovation during one of her three service trips to Nicaragua.

Whether the service and community-based learning begins in the classroom or not, it doesn’t end when the class is done. Outside of class, student clubs and organizations continue the pattern.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee carries out a “Weekend Works” program in which student-athletes give back to the community by helping to paint and repair the home of a local family. The student-athletes also spearhead food drives and mentor local elementary and middle school students in addition to hosting the annual Halloween in the ARC for community children.

Cristina Tono ’14 (sociology), fueled by an internship to Nicaragua her sophomore year, spearheaded a student service trip to that country in 2012 that has continued every year since, through the Latinos Unidos Club with SGA support. Partnering with the Puertas del Saber Community Library in Limón 2, about 10 students spend two weeks each May helping to promote literacy and to work on environmental stewardship projects. Adriane Azucena ’17 (psychology) leads the trip this May and then hopes to go on to the Peace Corps. Tono is applying to graduate programs in international conflict resolution and peace studies. 

Ten Years: Ten Houses When spring break arrives and news stories start rolling about college students flooding the Florida coast, they’ll likely not report about an enterprising bunch of St. Mary’s College students who’ll descend upon Greenville, Georgia for a whole different reason. Their mission: build a house in five days.

This is the tenth year for SMCM students to partner with the Manchester County Habitat for Humanity affiliate on a house build in Greenville.

Kate Cumberpatch ’17 (English) is president of the Habitat for Humanity Club at St. Mary’s College. The spring 2017 trip will be her fourth with the club. Students who want to participate go through an application process and 14-16 are chosen to make the trip.

They’re joined by another dozen crew members who are residents of Greenville as well as the homeowners-to-be.”

Post-graduation, Kate plans to work in outdoor education, “hopefully,” she says, “with Habitat for Humanity through AmeriCorps.” Here is Kate’s account:

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very year our goal is to ‘dry the house in,’ meaning we hope to build until the roof is covering the inside of the house.

When we arrive at the build site on the first day, the only part of the house that exists is the cinderblock foundation and the plywood flooring on top of it. We work from 9:00-5:00, with a lunch break, and because many hands make light work, we make enormous strides on building the house in five days! We build all of the interior and exterior walls, cover the exterior walls with plywood, wrap the house with Tyvek to prevent water damage, raise all the trusses by hand and nail them into place, secure the trusses inside the house with braces along the length of the roof, insert all of the windows and exterior doors, attach the vinyl siding to the house, cover the roof in plywood, cover the plywood with tar paper, then begin to lay rows of shingles. Typically by Friday we’ve almost completed all of these steps!

I’m involved with Habitat for Humanity because I’ve never found an experience more lifechanging than building a house for someone who deserves it but has been unable to purchase one for a wide variety of reasons. Habitat has a rig-

orous process for homeowners to reach eligibility for a Habitat-house, one of the requirements being the completion of ‘sweat equity hours.’ Getting to hear [the homeowners’] stories and deeply bond with them over something as remarkable as building their future home -- literally watching their home come to life right before their eyes, and ours -- is the most humbling experience I have ever been a part of. The sense of community that is cultivated in Greenville during our weeklong trip is truly magical and restorative in a way I’ve never felt anywhere else. I’m certain that I will be involved with this organization for the rest of my life.” 

“ I’m certain that I will be involved with this organization for the rest of my life.”

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 17

Bay to Bay Service Days In order to exemplify the principles and lessons learned through the St. Mary’s Way as students, alumni across the country are gathering together to give back to their local communities for the College’s second annual SMCM Bay to Bay Service Days on Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23, 2017.

For those who live outside of the project regions, we encourage you to put on your favorite St. Mary’s College apparel and reach out to a neighbor in need, volunteer for a service organization, or host your own project to better your local community.

2016 Projects ANNAPOLIS

WESTERN MARYLAND

Led by Erin O’Connell ’91 in coordination with the South River Federation’s Executive Director Kate Fritz ’04 and Historic London Town and Gardens’ Executive Director Rod Cofield ’03, volunteers of this project performed spring cleaning of the woodland garden sanctuary on the banks of the South River. Kate and Rod hosted a pizza party and tour of the grounds and exhibits as a thank you.

Organized by Kristi Jacobs Woods ’97, volunteers donned waders and climbed into Carroll Creek for the annual lily planting and feeding. The project, known as “Color on the Creek,” is for flood control and has become a living work of art and tourism attraction in Frederick, Md.

SAN FRANCISCO Organized by Micah Morgan ’09, this project involved a shoreline cleanup at Heron’s Head Park, followed by a family friendly celebration of this wonderful planet that sustains us all.

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ON CAMPUS IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND Organized by Lucas Irvin ’16 and Cyrus Chimento ’15 and sponsored by Keep St. Mary’s Beautiful, St. Mary’s River Project, Alliance for the Bay, the Office of Sustainability, the Biology Department, Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, and Club Rugby, volunteers of this project picked up trash on campus and along the St. Mary’s River shoreline. Good news (and bad!): the volunteers collected over 900 pounds of trash!

BOZEMAN, MONTANA Kate Cowart ‘15 participated in the Bozeman Cleanup Day.

BALTIMORE COUNTY Andrew Reighart ’13 helped plant a 1000-tree riparian buffer to improve soil water retention and filtering around a new sustainable pasture, converted from old corn fields.

Learn more and sign up for the April 2017 events: http://www.smcm.edu/events/bay-to-bay-service-day

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 19

ALUMNI

CONNECTION CLASS NOTES 1960s Look who some 1966 St. Mary’s College alums happened to run into in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in November as they were celebrating their 50th reunion. None other than Brian Ganz, artist-in-residence at St. Mary’s College as well as an appointee at the Peabody Institute. Brian was performing an evening of Chopin at St. Paul’s Church and these five alums [1], from left to right, Beverly Molitor Gebicke, of Ninety Six, S.C.; Janet Girard Frame, of Coronado, Calif.; Judy Sayre McGregor, of Springfield, Ohio; Eileen Smith O’Connell, of The Villages, Fla.; and Fran Galiano Hughes of Millersville, Md., were lucky enough to attend his fabulous concert which combined performance with interwoven tutorials. Brian’s concert was a highlight of their reunion celebration.

1970s R. Harold Jones ’77, of Virginia Beach, Va., is president of Sigma Environmental Services, Inc. He was recognized by The Society of Wetland Scientists Professional Certification Program as the inaugural recipient of the program’s R. Harold Jones Lifetime Achievement award at the Society’s annual meeting in June in Corpus Christi, Texas.

1980s Alison Keane ’89, of Bowie, Md., is president and chief executive officer of the Flexible Packaging Association headquartered in Annapolis, Md. She previously served as vice president for governmental affairs and industry programs with the American Coatings Association. An environmental attorney, she also has worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland state senate.

1990s Jacqueline Green Abell ’92 [2] and her husband David, a chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, renewed their vows at Trinity Church in St. Mary’s City, Md., while on a visit to see family and friends. David grew up attending Trinity Church and his brother Richard is on the vestry and officiated the couple’s ceremony. Shown here with their son Justin, age 15 and daughter Jenna, age 12, the Abells’ first wedding took place in Germany 16 years ago. Currently stationed in the United Kingdom, the family hopes to return to the U.S. in 2017.

Karen Binder ’92, of Bristol, R.I., has received a 2016 gold medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for her significant horticultural accomplishments as the executive director of Blithewold, Inc. Since July 2004, she has led and guided her organization to accomplish its mission of preserving Blithewold, New England’s finest garden estate with 33 acres of gardens and an arboretum, through excellence in horticulture and historic preservation and by teaching and inspiring others.

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Betsy Anthony ’93, of Washington, D.C., successfully defended her dissertation, “Return Home: Holocaust Survivors Reestablishing Lives in Postwar Vienna,” and received her doctorate in history from the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in May 2016. Betsy [3], shown here giving the Lithuanian Minister of Defense a tour of the permanent exhibition, has been actively involved with Holocaust commemoration, education, and research activities since 1996.

She first worked for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from 1998 to 2004, most of that time in the Office of Survivor Affairs. Betsy moved to Vienna, Austria, in 2004 and lived there for more than eight years, working as a casework manager for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She interviewed refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. until she began her doctoral studies focused on the city and the Holocaust survivors who lived or are living there. She returned to the U.S. and to the Museum in 2013, accepting a position as a historian on staff at the Museum’s Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. Betsy’s work includes

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the promotion and facilitation of the scholarly use of the collections held in the International Tracing Service archive, as well as the coordination and implementation of international academic programs.

Robert Getty ’94 [4], a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves, was mobilized back to active duty from his job as lead systems engineer for the missile integration and engineering branch at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va. He is on a one-year assignment supporting Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa.

Robert, wife April Stuart Getty ’95 and their two sons Brian, age 12 and Alex, age 10 live in King George, Va. Nicolas Abrams ’99, of Baltimore, Md., founder and chief executive officer of AJW Financial Partners, LLC, has been appointed to the board of directors of Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation. He will help provide strategic oversight and governance to the foundation.

Nick also is the president of St. Mary’s College’s Black Alumni Chapter.

2000s Keisha McGeachy ’03, of Cheltenham, Md., has published a book of inspirational poetry, “Glory Story: A Poetry Collection of My Life’s Expressions.” The book is available online through xulonpress.com/ bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. A licensed graduate social worker, Keisha began writing poetry as part of a creative writing class at St. Mary’s College. She performs at “open mic” nights throughout the Washington, D.C., area and is a member of the D.C. Poetry Spot Meetup Group.

Deirdre Bulger ’04, of Mechanicsville, Md., was hired in August 2016 to be St. Mary’s College’s coordinator of disability support services. She has a master’s degree in leadership studies and organizational development from Fresno Pacific University and previously worked for Compass, Inc. of Beltsville, Md., as the director of quality assurance and behavior supports.

Julie Hocker ’05, of Arlington, Va., has relocated back to the Washington, D.C., area after spending two years in Chapel Hill, N.C., getting her MBA from the University of North Carolina and then four years working for The Vanguard Group in Pennsylvania. She is now a senior manager for the Charles Koch Foundation in Arlington, Va., leading grants management and data strategy across the organization.

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ALISON HARBAUGH

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Alumni Spotlight Congratulations to Robert White ’04 and Brandon Scott ’06 who were elected to the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore City, Md., city councils. Robert, appointed to the at-large D.C. Council seat vacated in August 2016, successfully ran for re-election to the same seat in the November 2016 election. His platform included making education, affordable housing and workforce development a priority. He also said he would take on the troubled job training program as one of his first acts of oversight. Robert previously served as the director of community outreach for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Brandon Scott, a member of the Baltimore City Council representing District 2 since 2011, was re-elected in the November 2016 election. The youngest person on the City Council, Brandon has emerged as one of its most vocal members. He co-founded the 300 Men March, an anti-violence group; is vice chairman of the council’s public safety committee; sponsored legislation that revamped the city’s youth curfew ordinance; and ran on a platform of open primary elections, health grades for restaurants and community mediation training for police.

Andrew Hock ’04, of Longwood, Fla., teaches seventh grade language arts at Windermere Preparatory School in Windermere, Fla. He also oversees the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse programs and serves as an associate head coach for boys’ lacrosse. Andrew previously was the head lacrosse coach at Father Lopez Catholic High School in Daytona Beach, Fla., and an assistant lacrosse coach at Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando, Fla.

Julio Zarate ’04, of Redondo Beach, Calif., is the head coach and chief executive officer for Swim Torrance, a California non-profit organization providing focused and dedicated coaching to young swimmers.

He spent the prior two years as lead senior coach for one of the premier club programs in the U.S., SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. When he’s not coaching, Julio enjoys painting, swimming and Cross Fit.

Sherry O’Dell ’05, of California, Md., has been appointed as a supervisor of special education in St. Mary’s County, Md., public schools’ department of special education. She previously was lead teacher for instructional interventions in the same department.

Joanna Masterson Young ’05 [5], of Annapolis, Md., had a busy 2016. After living in New York for a couple of years, she returned to Annapolis in May with her fiancé Geoffrey Young.

She bought Historic Annapolis’ oldest antiques store, Evergreen Antiques, after its long-time owner retired. Joanna and Geoffrey got married June 18, 2016 and after re-naming the store Evergreen Antiques and True Vintage re-opened it on July 8, 2016. Joanna sells paintings, antique and vintage furniture, jewelry, ceramics, vintage clothing and a “bit of this and that.” Check out her store at www.facebook.com/ EvergreenAntiques.

Mary Ichniowski ’06 said aloha to Hawaii and her job as a naturalist at the Pacific Whale Foundation and is now the program director for the Lake Champlain Community Sailing

Center in Burlington, Vt. She started sailing as a sophomore at St. Mary’s College and also worked for the Catalina Island Marine Institute in California teaching marine science and serving as program director/ third mate on the tallship SSV Tole Mour; and cruised the British Virgin Islands as program director for Sail Caribbean. She’s excited about the transition to freshwater sailing.

Congratulations to Freddie Rohner ’06, of Knoxville, Md., who won a first place award for best hospitality resume in the 2016 Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) resume writing competition sponsored by Career Directors International.

Freddie was an award finalist in 2014 for best accounting resume and in 2015 for best new graduate resume but this is his first TORI win. He entered the hospitality category because it’s one of his favorite industries with interesting subject matter, clients who have great achievements to highlight, and many opportunities for creative presentation. He’s been writing resumes for iHire for six years.

Jason Dorick ’07, of Hapeville, Ga., works as an international student and scholar coordinator in Georgia Institute of Technology’s Office of International Education. He’s lived and worked in the Atlanta, Ga., area since 2011 and has been a student success adviser at the Atlanta campus of Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta campus and an academic operations coordinator for the American InterContinental University.

Kafuti Talahumbu ’08, of Silver Spring, Md., received his MBA in international business and finance from George Washington University in 2015 and joined IBM in June 2016 as a software solutions specialist in the IBM public sector division focused on enhancing IBM’s cloud analytic mobile social security vision. Kafuti also is a member of IBM’s two-year career and mentoring development program created for millennials. While working on his MBA, Kafuti established the annual African Business Conference at George Washington University and co-chaired the conference 2011-2013.

Ryan Niland ’08 [6], is a copywriter for Wieden + Kennedy, an ad agency in Portland, Ore. He wrote one of the new Old Spice commercials called “The Road,” featuring last year’s Superbowl MVP, Von Miller.

Von Miller actually contacted Wieden + Kennedy about doing an Old Spice commercial. Ryan says he was great to work with as he’s really laid back and funny. Ryan credits Jameson McCulloch-Faber ’09, a copywriter at TBC, a Baltimore, Md., ad agency, for helping him get started in advertising.

Ryan welcomes students and alums to message him if they’re interested in pursuing an advertising career. If you haven’t seen his commercial, here’s the link: http://www.adweek.com/ adfreak/von-miller-shows-hismany-quirky-talents-his-debutold-spice-guy-173527

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 21

C ONNECT ION

Alumni Spotlight In 2005 Andrea Templeton ’12 met her Navy test pilot husband, Brian Tollefson, in California where she lived and worked. Married 15 months later, she made her first military move with him to Dayton, Ohio, and then to Lexington Park, Md. While her husband was stationed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Andrea finished her bachelor’s degree in theater, film and media studies at St. Mary’s College. Brian’s next assignment was a three year sea-duty tour in Japan. With a toddler and one on the way and knowing Brian would be deployed seven months of each year they were there, Andrea felt very alone. She soon realized there were other military spouses who had left their careers and support networks stateside only to find there wasn’t much opportunity in Japan for meaningful work, let alone a career. In 2015 Andrea and another military spouse, Dr. Lynn Waidelich, co-founded “The Other Side of Service,” (www.theothersideofservice.com ) a nonprofit organization whose goal is to offer meaningful support to and inspire the global community of military spouse professionals who find it difficult to have careers given the frequency of military moves.

Andrea and Lynn have been invited to the Pentagon and the White House to share their vision for the military spouse community and have been accepted into the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership Ambassador Committee. “The Other Side of the Service” draws attention to the many services available to assist military spouses in pursuing successful careers, and is creating content that will help educate employers and the public at large on the many benefits of employing military spouses. For Andrea, who is living again in St. Mary’s County with her family, her advocacy work on behalf of military spouses allows her to combine her passion for storytelling with her marketing background, love for non-profit work and serving her community.

Joanna Gibson ’09 [7], of Olympia, Wash., is teaching at Olympia Community School; Thurston County, Washington’s oldest alternative secular elementary school, founded in 1973. She teaches the combined fourth/ fifth grade class. This is her sixth year teaching. She has taught at Lincoln Elementary in Olympia, Wash., the Montessori School of Northern Virginia in Annandale, Va., and the Twin Oaks homeschooling cooperative in Louisa, Va. In her spare time, Joanna is a performing acrobat and aerialist.

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2010s Ben Casto ’10, MAT ’11, of Baltimore, Md., works as an instructional technologist at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School. He designs and runs academic technology workshops for faculty, staff and students; supervises the creation of secondary media; storyboards and films video for inclusion in an online knowledgebase; and produces synchronous sessions for online courses. Ben previously worked at St. Mary’s College as the senior learning technologist.

Katie McDermott ’10, MAT ’11, of Washington, D.C., is one of two 2016 DC Arts Writing Fellows with Day Eight, a nonprofit organization that empowers individuals and communities to participate in the arts. She helps manage Day Eight’s social media channels and assists in the promotion of the e-book, “Bourgeon: Fifty Artists Write About Their Work.” She also writes monthly arts journalism articles posted at www.artapedia. com; her most recent was about Dog & Pony DC’s production of “Beertown.” A freelance writer since September 2013, Katie wrote music and lyrics for

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ERIC PARTHUM

ALUM NI

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“Tomato Beard,” a rock musical she co-directed with playwright Danielle Hedquist for the 2015 Capital Fringe Festival. Fellow 2010 alums Alex Swope and John Marth were in the cast.

Katie also is a member of the post-punk band, Bacchae.

Jordan Gaines Lewis ’11 [8], of Hummelstown, Pa., graduated from Pennsylvania State University’s College of Medicine in August 2016 with a doctorate in neuroscience. She currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State studying the role of obesity and inflammation in the development of obstructive sleep apnea.

She will be back at St. Mary’s College on April 3, 2017 to give a Neuroscience Seminar Series talk. Her husband, Christopher Lewis ’10 graduated in July 2016 from Anne Arundel Community College with a certificate in physician assistant studies and a master’s in health sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore. He works as a physician assistant in otolaryngology

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at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

Laura Miller ’11, of Marietta, Ga., is the assistant coach for women’s rugby at Life University, specializing in coaching the back row and line outs. She also is a certified health coach. Laura played for three years with the Glendale Raptors rugby team in the women’s premier league and as team captain, led them to a national championship in 2014 and 2015. A member of the Women’s National Rugby Team since 2010, she’s taking a short break from playing rugby to coach collegiate rugby and pursue a master’s of science degree in positive psychology from Life University.

Camille Campanella ’12 and Chris Robinson ’12 both joined Wayfair LLC in 2016. Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online retailers of furniture, home furnishings, décor and goods and was recognized in 2016 as Internet Retailer of the Year and one of the Best Places to Work.

Camille is the project manager

for Wayfair business operations and develops and manages the tech roadmap for the tools the business team uses. Chris, who received his master’s degree in mathematics from Boston University, is a strategic operational finance analyst. He previously worked as a contract specialist for Naval Air Systems Command at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and as St. Mary’s College’s annual giving officer.

Darren Leu ’13, of Baltimore, Md., works for the City of Baltimore as a revenue and longterm financial planning analyst.

His primary responsibilities include formulating the city’s annual revenue budget and developing methods to improve the city’s financial forecasting capabilities. He previously worked as a senior associate for an Annapolis, Md., management consulting firm.

Mike Victory ’12, MAT ’13, of Meadville, Pa., is the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the Allegheny College baseball team. Mike previously spent four seasons as an assistant Seahawk baseball coach and seven seasons as an assistant Seahawk coach for women’s basketball. Since 2010, he has worked with the USA Baseball Academy as a spring training head coach, organizing eight-week pitching programs and developing pitching and throwing skills of younger baseball players. While at St. Mary’s College, Mike was a two-year captain of the baseball team, four-time Capital Athletic Conference All-Academic Team selection, finished in the top 25 nationally for walks per inning (0.125) as a senior, and received the College’s Athletic Director’s award.

Alexander Walls ’13 attended the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va., where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. After completing The Basic School, also at Quantico, he was selected for the military occupational specialty (MOS) of finance officer.

Now stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., he is attending financial management school.

Ariel Hirsh ’13 received her master’s in social work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and moved to Israel in June 2016. She teaches English as a second language (ESL) to children in Israel but is looking for employment as a social worker in the field of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Her brother, Sam Hirsh ’16 works as a laboratory research technician for the University of Maryland Medical School.

Muluberhan Bahre ’16, of Baltimore, Md., is working at Johns Hopkins Hospital as an anesthesia critical care technician. While at St. Mary’s College, Mulu was a DeSousa-Brent Scholar and mentor; a resident assistant for three years; and also worked for The Beltway Company as a rental sales/marketing intern.

program uses international student-athletes to coach, mentor and help disadvantaged youth across the island of Ireland.

Tanner is living in Cork, Ireland where he will be attending Cork Institute of Technology for a master’s degree in international business. He plays with the Neptune Basketball Club (BC), the local professional club and helps coach some of the younger teams within the club.

He also works with local kids from underprivileged schools.

Tanner’s been in Ireland since August 2016 and says everything has been going great including his team, Neptune BC. You can follow Tanner and his basketball club on the team’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ neptune.bc

Tanner Brooks ’16 is a member of Sport Changes Life’s 2017 Class of Victory Scholars. The

Autumn Fisher ’16, of California, Md., was the Seahawks interim head volleyball coach

Danielle Manos ’14 has been working as an assistant language teacher in Akita, Japan since August 2015 as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). Danie heard about JET while studying abroad in Japan through St. Mary’s College’s program at Akita International University.

She and her husband, whom she met in Japan, hope to stay there for a few years.

Alumni Spotlight

WISTAR INSTITUTE

Ashani Weeraratna ’91, of Merion Station, Pa., is an associate professor and program leader in the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program at the Wistar Institute. In September 2016 she was honored for her profound impact in the field of melanoma research by being named the Institute’s first recipient of the Ira Brind Endowed Associate Professorship. During the award ceremony, Wistar’s president and chief executive officer recognized her for outstanding and impactful research, national and international scientific collaborations, and a true dedication to the mentorship of young scientists. Ashani joined The Wistar Institute, an international leader in cancer, immunology and infectious diseases research, in 2011 and also is a member of Wistar’s Melanoma Research Center.

She previously spent eight years as the head of the cancer biology unit in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology at the National Institute on Aging and before that, three years as a staff scientist at the National Human Genome Research Institute. She received her doctorate in molecular and cellular oncology from George Washington University Medical Center’s Department of Pharmacology and did her postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins’ Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ashani’s primary research focus is how melanoma metastasizes and how changes in the tumor microenvironment might initiate the disease’s spread to other parts of the body and also make it resistant to treatment. Her research, using melanoma cells and both young and old normal skin cells as a model, is working to unravel what these changes may be and how they affect tumor progression.

for the first two months of the 2016 season, leading her team to an 18-9 overall record and a 3-2 Capital Athletic Conference record. She continued on as the assistant coach after the arrival of head coach Kelly Martin. As a Seahawk player, Autumn was a three-year team captain and helped lead her team to three Capital Athletic Conference tournament semifinal appearances and a 73-42 four-year overall record. Autumn is a contracts assistant for Resource Management Concepts, Inc. Hannah Lewis ’16 [9] was one of 21 students nationwide selected to be a 2016 Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia, one of the most highly selective merit graduate fellowships in the nation. The criteria for this fellowship are twofold; a student must have outstanding academic achievement and the highest

promise as a scholar, teacher, public servant or business leader. Hannah is receiving full funding to pursue a doctorate in astronomy and also has been given space at the Jefferson Fellow Center to work and conduct research. She also received the Hearst Minority Fellowship for being a woman in astronomy.

At St. Mary’s College, Hannah received the Paul H. Nitze Scholarship; was vice president of the Class of 2016 Executive Board; and co-founded St. Mary’s Shop Hop which provides transportation to any student with no other means of leaving campus.

She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa; Omicron Delta Kappa, a leadership honor society; and Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society; and both tutored physics and was a teaching assistant in the physics laboratory.

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 23

ALU M NI

C ONNECT ION

MARRIAGES

Christoph Weber ’95 and Jennifer Jenkins [1] were married March 22, 2016 in Tacoma, Wash. The couple honeymooned at the Grandhotel Giessbach in Switzerland.

Christoph and Jennifer are both associate professors of German; Christoph at the University of North Texas and Jennifer at Pacific Lutheran University. They are spending their sabbatical year together and as recipients of the Suhrkamp Scholarship will be doing research at the German Literature Archive Marbach in March 2017. Christoph’s current book project builds on his previous research on disaster narrative with a focus on the representation of air raids against Nazi Germany in German literature from 19451961. Christoph says he discovered his passion for German literature at St. Mary’s College under the mentorship of Professor Anne Leblans and tries to replicate with his students the guidance she gave him.

David Ryden ’00 and Caylin Austin [2] were married July 19, 2016 in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Jonathan Saxon ’00 was the best man. The couple invited 24 friends and family to come with them for the 10-day trip to Belize. David is an assistant state’s attorney for Harford County, Md; Caylin is self-employed as a professional photographer. In marrying Caylin, David welcomes Tenley, age 5 and Harper, age 3 to the St. Mary’s family.

The family lives in Bel Air, Md.

TED S. WARREN

& UNIONS

1

Joanna Masterson ’05 and Geoffrey Young [3] were married June 18, 2016 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Annapolis, Md. Wedding guests included 2004 alums Rachel Larsen Weaver, Tom Weaver and Ben Church; 2005 alums Lorien Evans Covelly, Kathryn Bogel, Steve Gardner, Christina Hailman Gardner, and Maggie Low; and Joanna’s sister, Jennifer Martin Odenwald ’90 and Peter Odenwald ’90. The wedding reception was held at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md. Joanna owns Evergreen Antiques and True Vintage on Maryland Avenue in Historic Annapolis; Geoffrey is in the graduate program at St. John’s College and is a freelance writer for literary magazines and television. The couple lives in the historic section of Annapolis, Md. Sharlitta Myrick ’07, MAT ’08 and Clinton Gilbert III ’07 [4] were married July 9, 2016 in Hebron, Md. Members of the wedding party included Markea Daniels ’07, Esrael Seyum ’09, John Johnson III ’07 and Kyle Williams ’09. Wedding guests included Wes Lanich ’05, Bridget McVae Johnson ’06,

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2007 alums Eric McAllister, Noah Jacobs, and Shannon Williams Lee, also MAT ’08; 2008 alums Melanie Barner, Kasinda Cargill, and Constance Foreman; and Brittany Dorsey Jacobs MAT ’10. The couple honeymooned on a cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport in the Bahamas. Sharlitta teaches English as a second language at Milford High School; Clinton is the associate director of housing and residence life at Salisbury University. They live in Delmar, Del. Matthew Baden ’11 and Elaina Straub ’14 [5] were married Oct. 29, 2016 in Annapolis, Md. Members of the wedding party included Erin Larrabee ’14, Parisa Assadi Ramsey ’14 and Michelle Klima ’14. The couple honeymooned in Newport Beach, Calif. Matt is a registered nurse and works in the operating room at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He also is the founder of Mid-Atlantic Kayak Bass Fishing Series. Elaina teaches fourth grade in the Anne Arundel County public schools. They live in Edgewater, Md.

2

Jackson Webb ’11 and Hattie Schiavone ’13 [6] were married July 16, 2016 at Woodlawn, an historic bed and breakfast in Ridge, Md. Members of the wedding party included the best man Nico Pinto ’11, the maid of honor Christine DiMenna ’12, and bridesmaid Stefania D’Ambrosio ’14. The couple’s honeymoon was a fishing trip in the Catskills of New York.

Jackson, the assistant Seahawk swimming coach, teaches social studies at Ryken High School and farms. Hattie teaches math at Great Mills High School and is a coach for the Chesapeake Bay Aquatic Club. The couple lives in Lexington Park, Md. Alexandra Moore ’13 and Nicholas Pasko ’13 [7] were married May 21, 2016 in Baltimore, Md. Members of the wedding party included maid of honor Sam Nagy ’12, bridesmaids Patty Romaine ’13 and Julia Gardner ’14, MAT ’15, best man Nick Gay ’15 and groomsman Dan Swain ’13.

The couple honeymooned in Disneyland and Fiji. Alex and Nick are patent examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and live in Waldorf, Md.

Alyssa Nutter ’13 and Jonathan Weber ’13 [8] were married Oct. 22, 2016 in Historic St. Mary’s City, Md. Members of the wedding party and ceremony readers included fellow 2013 alums Chris Coghill, Simone Campbell, Rob Crook, Leanne Gradijan, Megan O’Hern, Sarah Platt, Christiana Sabett, and Emma Sullivan; Sarah Minkoff ’12 and Becca Weber ’20, the groom’s sister. For their honeymoon the couple flew to Vancouver, Canada and took a train through the Canadian Rockies.

Alyssa is an assistant director for financial aid outreach at Johns Hopkins University; Jonathan is a teacher at Green Street Academy, a Baltimore City, Md., public charter school. They live in Ellicott City, Md. Caroline Sellers ’13, MAT ’14 and Charles Fiertz ’13 [9] were married Aug. 8, 2015 in Historic St. Mary’s City, Md. Nick Huber ’13 officiated and 2013 alums Brad Doan, Abby Taylor and Aimee Becker were in the wedding party. Guests included 2013 alums Steve Barnold, Mark Lehtonen, and Jocelyn Baltz; and 2014 alums Mary Beth McAndrews and Kaylie Jasinski. After the wedding the couple had a ‘super mini-moon’ in Niagara Falls, N.Y. and then moved to Chicago, Ill. Their official honeymoon was touring Europe in December 2016 while Charles was taking a class in France.

Caroline is a student research facilitator in the learning department of the Lincoln Park Zoo; Charles is finishing his master’s degree with a focus on climate policy at the University of Chicago’s Harris School for Public Policy. The couple currently lives in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, Ill.

PERSKIE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

NOE TODOROVICH & PATRICK ONOFRE

5

JOHN SMITH

6 JILL SPRINGER

ALISON HARBAUGH

BIRDS OF A FEATHER PHOTOGRAPHY

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St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 25

To Katherine Marks Hardy ’97 and Edmond Hardy, a son, Ewan Duer Marks Hardy [1], born Sep. 21, 2015. He joins big sister Abby, age 13, and big brother Connor, age 11, who are excited about welcoming their little brother and future Seahawk soccer player to the family. Kate is a visual information specialist for the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Bay office; Ed is an architect for the Department of Defense. The family lives in Baltimore, Md. To Zakiya Williams ’98 and and Jamie Schott, their first child, a son, Harper Jackson Schott [2], born Aug. 8, 2016.

The family lives in Pasadena, Md.

Joseph Anthony Lex III ’02 and Alyson Nicole Lex welcomed Joseph Anthony Lex IV [5] into the world on Aug. 26, 2016.

Joseph is a claims authorizer technical expert for the Social Security Administration; Alyson is the co-founder of AskACopyExpert.com. The family lives in Parkville, Md.

To Kate Story Sirc ’04 and Chris Sirc, a son, Coulter James “CJ” [9], born Aug. 25, 2016.

Kate is an assistant business manager for the University of Richmond athletics; Chris is a process engineer with Capital One. The family lives in Richmond, Va.

To Carly Forton Richmond ’03 and Benjamin Richmond ’03, a son, Calvin Sharp Richmond [6], born July 24, 2016. Carly works for the federal government; Benjamin is an information technology specialist. The family lives in Eldersburg, Md.

Eric Herrmann ’99, Kate Greene ’00, and big sister Beatrice, age 4, welcomed Edward “Eddie” Thomas Herrmann [3], born June 27, 2016. Eric is an associate at the law firm of Klein Hornig LLP; Kate is a senior associate in global health at Abt Associates. The family lives in Silver Spring, Md.

To Ben Church ’04 and Maggie Low ’05, a son, Wilder Everett Church [7], born Sep. 29, 2016. Ben is an account executive with Randstad USA; Maggie is the marketing manager for Baltimore Magazine. The family lives in Glen Arm, Md.

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2

5

To Dawn Klein ’05 and Stacey Hamlet ’05, a daughter, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Hamlet Klein [10], born April 8, 2016. Dawn teaches eighth grade mathematics at Bel Air Middle School in Harford County, Md.; Stacey is a content editor for ProQuest in Bethesda, Md. The family lives in Parkville, Md.

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To Bridget McVae Johnson ’06 and John Johnson ’07, a son, John Isaiah [11], born June 21, 2015. Isaiah joins big brother Daniel, age 4, who he is trying to be like. Bridget is multi-tasking as a historian/archaeologist for AECOM, history teacher and mom; John is an attorney for Benjamin L. England and Associates. The family lives in Annapolis, Md. To Laura Stanley Gibb ’08 and Jeremy Gibb, a son, Felix Henry [12], born Nov. 7, 2015. Laura teaches U.S history, government and AP psychology at Queen Anne’s County High School; Jeremy is a geographic information systems technician. The family lives in Dover, Del.

1

3

MEREDITH BURKE

ADOPTIONS

To Kathryn Webb Gruver ’04 and Ryan Gruver, a son, Nathan Andrew [8], born Feb. 26, 2016.

He joins big brother Grant, age 3. Kathryn is an art director at Eleven Peppers Studios; Ryan is the director of operational excellence at Northwest Hospital which is part of Lifebridge Health. The family lives in West Friendship, Md.

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KIMBERLY M. FLORES

BIRTHS&

To Carrie Hughes Peery ’01 and Jonathan Peery, a son, Thomas Hadyn [4], born Feb. 23, 2015. He joins big brothers Jack, age 6, and Charlie, age 4. Carrie is a senior health consultant for Kaiser Permanente and Jonathan is a territory sales manager for Goodman Manufacturing. The family lives in Severna Park, Md.

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ALU M NI

C ONNECT ION

IN MEMORIAM

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To Kaycee Mullins Rump ’08 and Kevin Rump, a daughter, Hannah Rose [13], born Dec. 16, 2015. She joins big brother Mason, age 3. Kaycee is a professor at the Anne Arundel Community College School of Nursing; Kevin is a senior engineer program manager for Alion Sciences and Technology. The family lives in Annapolis, Md. To Lauren Gill Leischer ’09, MAT ’10 and Cameron Leischer ’10, MAT ’11, a daughter, Eloise Mae [14], born Jan. 4, 2016. Lauren and Cameron are teachers in the St. Mary’s County public schools; Lauren teaches math at Spring Ridge Middle School and Cameron teaches 9th grade English at Leonardtown High School. Lauren says Eloise appealed to ‘mommy’s geeky math side’ by being born on a day of perfect squares—1/4/16.

The family lives in Lusby, Md.

Ruth Jones Wheeler ’44JC, of Towson, Md., died Aug. 1, 2016 at age 91. Born and raised in Leonardtown, Md., she married her first husband, Robert Ferber, in 1946. After he died in 1968, Ruthie organized trips and worked as a travel agent for Valley Travel in Lutherville, Md. In 1974 she married her second husband, the late Joshua Wheeler, a long-time family friend. Together they enjoyed many wonderful travel adventures. She taught Sunday school, organized food drives and volunteered at the Assistance Center of Towson Churches. Ruthie is survived by her children, Janet Ferber Brown, Bette Ferber Bibee, Robert Ferber, Lynn Wheeler and Cheryl Wheeler; and her “12 Wheeler crabs” as she loved calling her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Joyce Probert Bedell ’51JC, of Santa Ana, Calif., died Oct 7, 2016, at age 85. Joyce was a retired Bank of America employee.

Iris Hearn Fuller ’53HS, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., died May 30, 2016, at age 80. Born in Willards, Md., she studied nursing at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Md. and also graduated from the National Keyboard Arts Associates in Princeton, N.J. For 25 years, she was an officer and member of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Iris studied the piano at Lebanon Valley College and was an independent piano teacher for over 30 years. She also served for 12 years as a volunteer for Contact Harrisburg. Iris is survived by her husband Evert and her children, A.K Fuller and Greg Fuller.

Janet Cooper Hirsh ’79, of Baltimore, Md., died Aug. 29, 2016, at age 59. Born and raised

in Baltimore, she was very active in St. Mary’s College’s theater department and later received a master’s degree in publications design from the University of Baltimore. Janet worked as an English teacher for various Baltimore County, Md., parochial high schools, taught English as a second language (ESL) to children, and taught adults in general educational development (GED) programs. She enjoyed attending alumni reunions and was proud to be a St. Mary’s College alumna.

Janet is survived by her husband of 27 years, Michael; and her children, Ariel Hirsh ’13 and Sam Hirsh ’16.

Karin “KK” Goodman Evans ’92, of Mechanicsville, Md., died Oct. 21, 2016, at age 46. Born in Ronceverte, W. Va., she grew up in Leonardtown, Md. Karin loved children and worked as a day care and small childcare provider.

She belonged to the First Saints Community Church, St. Paul’s campus. Spending time with family and friends, especially her two sons, made her the happiest. Karin is survived by her husband Steven; her sons, Jackson and Hunter; and her sister Paula Goodman.

FACULTY & STAFF Janet Kosarych-Coy, of Nanjemoy, Md., died Oct. 13, 2016, at age 62. She joined the St. Mary’s College faculty in 1988, teaching courses in psychology, counseling, lifespan development, learning disabilities and social systems.

She retired in 2013 as an assistant professor of psychology. Janet lived in a house that is a Civil War historic landmark and often said it was her favorite place in the world.

Her husband, Michael Coy, an anthropologist and professor in the College’s sociology & anthropology department died in 1991. Janet

is survived by her twin daughters, Helen Coy ’11 and Mary Coy ’11.

Joanne Klein, of Leonardtown, Md., died Oct. 25, 2016, at age 67. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees, all in dramatic art, from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining the St. Mary’s faculty in 1989, Joanne taught at Stanford University, Middlebury College, the University of Denver, and Colorado College. Her areas of expertise and scholarly interest included film theory and criticism; performance studies; feminist studies, theory and practice; film studies and theatrical studies and practice. Joanne mentored more than two dozen St. Mary’s Projects; served for eight years as the coordinator of the Women, Gender and Sexuality (WGSX) Studies program; and in 2000 co-founded with her partner, Mark Rhoda, the WGSX Colloquium.

She chaired the department of dramatic arts from 1991-1995; and had been chairman of the department of theater, film and media studies since 2010. Her St. Mary’s College theatrical productions included “The Threepenny Opera,” “Cloud 9,” “Angels in America,” “The Laramie Production,” and “The Balcony.” In 2015, Joanne produced “Speaking of Race,” where students and members of the St. Mary’s College community expressed their understandings of race, ethnicity, and identity through original monologues.

Joanne is survived by her partner, Mark Rhoda, a visiting associate professor of theater, film, and media studies at St. Mary’s College.

ALUMNI COUNCIL Mark Fedders ’74, of Dameron, Md., died Sep. 10, 2016, at age 63. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., he worked as a St. Mary’s County, Md., deputy sheriff for ten years.

In 1985 Mark graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy. During his 25-year FBI career, he was assigned to offices in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., where he was an FBI liaison for homeland security.

After retiring from the FBI in 2010, he worked for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources as a natural resources policeman. Mark joined the St. Mary’s Alumni Council in 2012 and was elected by the council in 2015 to serve as its parliamentarian. As parliamentarian, he spearheaded significant revisions to the Alumni Council’s by-laws to improve council operations.

He also chaired the governance committee and was the Council’s representative to the College’s Board of Trustees buildings and grounds committee. He supported many alumni activities; volunteering at Alumni Weekend, Governor’s Cup, new student move-in day, Hawktoberfest at Family Weekend and Spring-Break-A-Sweat. In the Winter 2016 Mulberry Tree, Mark authored a message from the Alumni Council encouraging alums to get involved with the alumni association. Mark enjoyed networking with students who were interested in his work with the FBI and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

He loved being outdoors; hiking, sailing, kayaking or canoeing.

Mark is survived by his sons, Michael, Matthew ’08, and Brian; his daughter Lauren Fedders Crockett; his brothers Ted ’66, Jim ’71, and Roy ’83; several nieces and nephews; his grandson Cole born in October 2016; and his former wife Sharon.

Donations in honor of Mark may be made to St. Mary’s College of Maryland Foundation, Inc. ( http://www.smcm.edu/give)

St. Mary’s College | THE MULB ER RY TR EE | winter 2017 | 27

F RO M

T H E

ARC H I V E S

UPDATED ALUMNI DIRECTORY, 1846-1940, IS NOW ONLINE

By Kent Randell, College archivist and assistant librarian

The archive has been actively updating its directory of known St. Mary’s Female Seminary and Junior College alumni (both graduates and attendees) in an effort to help complete the College’s history and also to assist genealogists. The latest updates are available online. There are now 1,141 known alumni.

The Calvert Hall Fire of 1924 destroyed the College’s own records, which has meant that much of this information has been researched using other sources. Two important volunteers have assisted with this project: After the archives received seven recipe boxes of notecard, Samantha Magli entered the data from every card and made notes concerning any changes. She used Google to research additional information about 200 alumni. Local genealogist Linda Reno provided valuable assistance with filling in pieces of history related to St. Mary’s County families.

Among others, scholars and professionals include the first poet laureate of Maryland, Maria (Briscoe) Croker (1891, did not graduate) and Alice Anna Deckman (1895 HS), who received a doctor of philosophy in 1920 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Emily Louise Clayton Bishop (1900 HS) studied sculpture under Auguste Rodin and has been exhibited in major museums.

Nurse Florence Patti “Flo” Kennedy (1905, did not graduate) served the American Red Cross in Mexico, France and Germany during World War I while Alice Rinehart (Cohill) Marquez (1930 HS, 1932 JC) was a volunteer Red Cross driver during World War II. Local Countian Violetta “Lettie” Marshall (Dent) Gough (1911 HS) was the first female County Superintendent of Schools in Maryland. Lorena Belle Croft (1917 HS) served hospitals and the United States Public Health Department as a dietician.

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Another interesting alumna is Zora Ewens Frankel (Kettell) Hamilton (1919 HS), who was a reporter for the Philadelphia Ledger & Inquirer. One of three known Seminarians to become nuns, Sister Mary Thecla Lancaster (1940 JC, did not graduate) was superintendent of nursing at St. Joseph Hospital in Savannah, Ga., and nursing instructor at Mercy Medical in Baltimore, while Georgie Edwardina Crane (1892, did not graduate) was named a deaconess of the Episcopal Church in 1909 and served in Puerto Rico and Cuba. St. Mary’s College can count not only Kay Aldridge (1934 HS), 1930s supermodel and 1940s movie star as an alum, but also philanthropist Jean Miles Perkins (1939 HS, did not graduate), who was named Miss Park Avenue in 1939.

These stories and more are available at www.smcm.edu/library/archives/onlinepublications. Please contact the archivist at kdrandell@smcm.edu if you have more information about any pre-1940 alumna that can be added to this online resource.

clockwise from top: Emily Louise Clayton Bishop (on far left) in 1898.

Alice Rinehart (Cohill) Marques (on left) with friend in 1930.

Zora Ewens Frankel (Kettell) Hamilton (second from left) with graduating Class of 1919.

Watch Kay Aldridge ’34 jump off a cliff in this heart-pumping scene from “The Perils of Nyoka”: https://librarysmcm.wordpress. com/2014/04/28/kay-aldridge-queen-ofthe-serials-and-st-marys-graduate/ Visit online: www.smcm.edu/library/ archives/online-publications/

2017 CALENDAR Spring Break-a-Sweat | April 8

Held in conjunction with World Carnival, alumni athletes from the fall and winter sports head back to campus to reconnect and compete in their reunion games. Registration opens February 1.

Bay to Bay Service Days | April 22- 23 Alumni and students from Annapolis to San Francisco gather to give back to their communities by participating in local service projects. Registration opens on February 15.

Alumni Weekend | June 8-11

It’s our biggest alumni celebration of the year!

Whether it’s been 50 years, 25 years, or just a year since you’ve been back to St. Mary’s College, we hope to see you this June. Registration opens March 15.

Governor’s Cup & Zero Year Reunion August 4-6

Zero Year Reunion is designed to welcome our 2017 graduates back to campus and introduce them to the Governor’s Cup, now celebrating its 45th running.

Registration opens on June 15.

Hawktoberfest | October 20-22

At the College’s homecoming celebration, over 1,000 alumni and parents join the current students on campus for a full weekend of activities and entertainment. Registration opens August 15.

Giving Tuesday | November 28

During this 24-hour campaign, the college community rallies together to give back to St. Mary’s on this global day of giving. Help make this the most impactful year ever!

Register at www.smcm.edu/alumni or (240) 895-4280

Calendar of Events VOICES Reading Series with Benjamin Warner & Jim Ruland January 26 @ 8:15 p.m.

Daugherty-Palmer Commons VOICES Reading Series with Nina McConigley February 7 @ 8:15 p.m.

Daugherty-Palmer Commons Natural Science & Mathematics Colloquium Series with John Drazen February 15 @ 6:30 p.m.

Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary’s Hall Neuroscience Speaker Series with Alexaii Kravitz February 27 @ 4:45 p.m.

Goodpaster Hall 195

An Evening to Honor the Legacy of Lucille Clifton March 1 @ 7:30 p.m.

Daugherty-Palmer Commons “On Contentious Grounds” conceived and directed by Daniel Bear Davis March 1-4 @ 8:00 p.m.

March 5 @ 2:00 p.m.

Bruce Davis Theater 48th Annual All Student Art Exhibition Reception & Juror’s Talk March 2 @ 4:30 p.m.

Boyden Gallery of Montgomery Hall The President’s Office Welcomes Walter Mosley March 7 @ 8:00 p.m.

Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena

The Benjamin Bradlee Distinguished Lecture in Journalism with Cokie Roberts March 8 @ 7:00 p.m.

Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena Neuroscience Seminar Series Jordan Gaines Lewis ’11 April 3 @ 4:45 p.m.

Goodpaster Hall 195 VOICES Reading Series with Ruth Irupé Sanabria April 13 @ 8:15 p.m.

Daugherty-Palmer Commons Art SMP Exhibition Opening Reception April 17 @ 5:00 p.m.

Boyden Gallery in Montgomery Hall

“Eurydice”

by Sarah Ruhl, directed

by Amy Steiger April 19 – 22 @ 8:00 p.m.

April 23 @ 2:00 p.m.

Bruce Davis Theater The 11th Annual Twain Lecture with Scott Dikkers, founding editor of the Onion April 21 @ 7:30 p.m.

Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena Young at Art Opening Reception May 8 @ 5:00 p.m.

Boyden Gallery in Montgomery Hall Commencement May 13 @ 10:00 a.m.

Townhouse Green

Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #10001 Leonardtown, MD

PHOTO BY HOWARD KORN

Crew is in its first year as a varsity sport and getting ready for the spring regatta season, to start in March.