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Students Raise $14K and Collect 9,816 Items for Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief St. Mary’s College of Maryland students led by the Student Government Association collected nearly $14,000 in monetary donations and 9,816 non-perishable items currently being distributed by the Pasadena Independent School District in southeastern Texas.

“I am beyond proud to see not only our students join together to help those devastated by this natural disaster, but also our alumni who worked with the Pasadena School District to organize the distribution, donated goods and services for those in need along with the College and community, and even donated the vehicle and driver to transport the items,” said St. Mary’s College President Tuajuanda C. Jordan. “This just shows that the St. Mary’s College community – its students, faculty, staff, alumni – stays together long after graduation.”

Of the nearly $14,000 collected, $7,000 was a matching gift from

the St. Mary’s College Student Government Association. Whittni Pickens ’18, Student Government Association president, said, “We decided to match the gift after we realized just how much damage had occurred at the Pasadena School District. The SGA promotes the St. Mary’s Way, particularly the 7th tenant: “Where people contribute to a spirit of caring and an ethic of service.” Our best judgment was to continue to foster the spirit of service among the community, reaching beyond our campus.”

St. Mary’s College Foundation Board Member and alumnus Jack Saum Jr. ’89, president and CEO of Beltway

Companies, donated the truck and driver in order to make the journey with the non-perishable items to southeastern Texas. The 9,816 items collected includes 505 binders, 2,011 notebooks, 2,525 pencils, 1,441 pens, 368 toilet paper rolls, 144 foam mats, 197 backpacks, 133 cans of cat food, 379 paper towel rolls, 168 Ramen noodle packages, and 1 generator.

“The students and community of St. Mary’s College are nothing short of wonderful! It is truly humbling to know the effort and energy that went in to this project. As we unloaded and unloaded, we were amazed at their generosity and thank you does not seem enough to show our appreciation. All of the items will be used by students, teachers and families in our community that were affected

by Harvey. Pasadena ISD had 16 campuses with significant damage, 800 employees and 11,000 students directly affected by flood waters in their homes.

These donations will help in the restoration and rebuilding of lives here in our community,” said Cindy Parmer, director of community relations for the Pasadena School District.

Companies and organizations that supported the relief efforts include Beltway Companies, BJ’s, The Drop Foundation, Dyson’s Lumber, Finch Services, First Team 836 – The Robobees, Five Below, Great Mills High School Student Government Association, Naval Supply Corps Foundation, Office Depot, St. Mary’s College Alumni Council, St. Mary’s College Chess Club, St. Mary’s College faculty and staff, St. Mary’s College Foundation, St. Mary’s College Men’s Varsity Soccer, St. Mary’s College Residence Life, St. Mary’s College Staff Senate, St. Mary’s College Student Government Association, St. Mary’s County Health Department, Tri-County Community Members, Trinity Episcopal Church, and William B. Wade Elementary School.

Photos: (Top) Andrew Messick ’19 demonstrates how to shrinkwrap a pallet of pet food for loading onto the truck on September 23. (Left) Thankful recipients in Texas at the Pasadena School District sorting through the supplies received on September 26.

President: Tuajuanda C. Jordan, PhD

October 2017

A newsletter for the community, faculty, staff and students.

Students Lead SMCM Hurricane Relief Effort for Texas On Friday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 23, students and staff collected, inventoried and packed a large truck, donated by alumnus Jack Saum Jr. ’89, with school supplies and nonperishable items. The items were delivered and distributed to 56,000 families of the Pasadena Independent School District in southeast Texas, one of the many school districts along the Gulf Coast that sustained extensive hurricane damage. School officials listed most needed items and the SMCM community, led by the SGA, got to work collecting. (See full story and photos on back.)

Welcome to the Alumni Center at Cobb House!

President Tuajuanda C. Jordan (center) with alumni and guests at the Cobb House.

The SMCM community officially dedicated The Alumni Center at Cobb House Saturday, Sept. 23.

Want More?

News, Student and Faculty accomplishments: www.smcm.edu/news Campus Events Calendar: www.smcm.edu/events/calendar 240.895.2000 | www.smcm.edu

The long-standing, newly renovated building, houses the Office of Alumni Relations and provides dedicated space for alumni and the campus community to gather. Director of Alumni Relations David Sushinsky ’02 expects the facility to be well used. “The multiple meeting rooms and stateof-the-art presentation system included in the renovations make this an ideal space for student programming,” he said.

G ra n t Fu n ds “A Call to Men” Wor ks h o p s

Michael Dunn, director of Title IX compliance and training/Title IX coordinator, submitted a successful grant proposal to fund A Call to Men training workshops on campus this fall.

As part of an ongoing effort to contribute to a culture shift, Michael Dunn Title IX coordinator at St. Mary’s College of Maryland began a partnership with the national sexual violence prevention organization A Call to Men. This partnership was made possible through an $8,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Health.

There were two A Call to Men workshops Sept. 6. run by Jeff Matsushita, of the Idaho Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence, who is also a core trainer with A Call to Men. The workshops explored the prevalence of sexual and domestic violence in society and on college campuses and how men can work together to prevent it. Another presentation is slated for November 1 and will be suitable for new and returning participants.

The workshops were open to all but geared toward male-identifying students. The September program drew 200 students, faculty and staff. “To see so many people come out and to see them engaged in conversation and really grapple with these issues was really exciting,” Dunn said.

Dunn said one thing he’d like to see come out of this type of programming beyond students not engaging in sexual misconduct, is for them to not tolerate a culture that enables sexual misconduct or sexual violence to occur. “That cultural shift is really the goal.” Dunn said.

Campus partners including athletics, student affairs and the Masculinity Discussion Group run by Dunn, Matt Jordan and Michelle DiMenna ’15 have been working to keep the message going between the two events.

One follow-up event the MDG hosted in late Sept. was a discussion titled “Unpacking the Man Box” a discussion dealing with particular rules society, over time, has placed on men.

Dunn said having discussions and being able to have campus partners help reinforce the messaging from the workshops through September and October will help keep the topic fresh leading up to the Nov. 1 workshops.

Rowing Team Adds to Its Fleet With a ceremonial champagne pour, the St. Mary’s College rowing team, now in its second year as a varsity sport, christened the newest addition to its fleet on Sept. 29.

Donated to the team by friend of the College and former Foundation Board of Directors member Dr. William “Bill” Seale, this eight-person rowing shell, named “Tuajuanda C. Jordan,” is slated to be the top boat for the women’s team. The eight fastest women on the team will crew this new vessel.

This gift to the Seahawk rowing program is not the first in generous gestures from Seale and is certainly not the first gift to impact the waterfront. Several

Jeff Matsushita of the Idaho Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence is also a core trainer with A Call to Men. He led both workshops on Sept. 6 and will return to campus on Nov. 1.

What’s Happening in Sports On Saturday, Oct. 21, cheer on our fall athletes at Seahawk Stadium and Michael P. O’Brien ARC! Soccer (W) vs. Wesley at 1:00 pm Volleyball vs. Goucher at 1:00 pm Soccer (M) vs. Wesley at 3:30 pm

years ago, he donated the sailboat “Riptide” to the waterfront program.

He also ignited the College’s $2.5M Capital Campaign Challenge with the first gift, provided support for the St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellows program, and established the William Seale Teaching and Learning Fund.

Lynn Stevens Captures the Beauty of Chemistry Chemistry student and photographer Lynn Stevens ’19 had a photo published in the American Chemical Society’s Chemistry in Pictures website. Working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dan Chase, Stevens combined the chemicals ß-ketoiminato boron difluoride and 4-N,N-dimethylbenzaldehyde through a Knoevenagel Condensation, resulting in fluorescent dyes.

After purifying her reaction mixture through a column of silica, she was able to separate the orange dye structure from the green one.

Dunn said the grant allowed the college to bring its programming efforts to the next level and opened up a new partnership between the College and the Maryland Department of Health.

Moving forward, he said there will be more Title IX programming and more MDG discussions helping to ensure efforts made through these A Call to Men workshops and discussions don’t simply end after November 1.

President Tuajuanda C. Jordan and Dr. William “Bill” Seale christen the new rowing shell.

Kudos to...

Angela Johnson (prof. of educational studies) was published in The Physics Teacher by the American Association of Physics Teachers. Johnson’s paper documents the challenges faced by women of color in physics, including stereotypes, isolation, and microagressions. It also describes actions taken by faculty in our physics department where women of color are thriving. The paper highlights the positive approaches to improving these extra burdens faced by women of color.

Giulia Livi (visiting asst. prof. of art) was awarded the 2017 Young Artist Prize in the Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, honoring artists under the age of 30 from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Andrew CognardBlack (visiting assoc. prof. of sociology) co-authored an article, “Demography of Honors: The Census of U.S. Honors Programs and Colleges,” that appears in the most recent edition of the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council.

Troy Townsend ’07 (asst. prof. of chemistry) was one of nine invited speakers at the TEDx event in Leonardtown, Md. on Sept.

9. He talked about

design, synthesis, and device applications for inorganic nanocrystals with a focus on energy and power systems.

Barry Muchnick (asst. prof. of environmental studies) received a $5,000 award from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to help fund a teaching innovation workshop at SMCM on Oct. 8-9. The workshop brings faculty from diverse disciplines together in an effort to incorporate sustainability and climate change learning into new and existing curricula.

Sue Johnson (prof. of art) gave an art workshop at the Lila and Joel Harnett Museum at the University of Richmond, Va. Her work was included in the exhibition “Chasing Bugs: Insects as subject and Metaphor” which ran through Oct. 3.

Jake Wolf ’15 co-authored with Prof. of Psychology Libby Nutt Williams, Megan Darby ’17, Jonathan Herald ’16, and Catherine Schultz ’16, the article “Just for Women? Feminist Multicultural Therapy with Male Clients,” published in the journal, Sex Roles. The article was based on Wolf’s St. Mary’s Project.