The Spring Hill College Magazine | Fall 2011 by Spring Hill College

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Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report | Leaders for Life

The Spring Hill College Magazine Volume 5, Number 3

President’s Letter Dear Alumni and Friends,

Editor:

In the words of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,

Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

“We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” The time

Art Director:

is ripe to do right was the theme of my inaugural

Margaret Broach

address in October 2009. In the past two years since I delivered that address, I have come to see the many

Photography: Seth Laubinger ’02 Keith Necaise

Contributing Writers: Seirra Collins-Hampton ’13 Monde Donaldson Ronesha Egson ’13 Greta Sharp Jim Stennett

students, alumni, faculty and staff who are “doing right” every day on their journeys as leaders for life. The former Jesuit and best-selling author Chris Lowney in his book “Heroic Leadership” states, “Leaders build a solid foundation, they know their purpose, have an ambition for the future and stand for values that are not for sale.” He notes that leaders must learn to use their heads and their hearts. Included with this issue of the Spring Hill College Magazine is the President’s Annual Report. What you will find in this report is not a compilation of graphs and charts but rather several stories about our students, alumni, faculty and staff who are indeed using their heads and their hearts as leaders for life.

President: Rev. Richard P. Salmi, S.J.

Director of Communications & Institutional Marketing: John Kerr

As you might guess, there are many more stories to be told about Spring Hillians who are leading by serving others and this one magazine section can’t tell them all. There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Badgers who are making a difference in their communities and around the world each and every day. In my letter in the SHC magazine last fall, I shared with you the College’s new promise statement: Spring Hill College – Forming leaders engaged in

The Spring Hill College Magazine is published three times a year by the Office of Communications and Marketing.

learning, faith, justice and service for life. This promise appears on all the admissions publications and on numerous materials distributed by the College. It succinctly states the commitment of the campus community to our students as well as our mission as a Jesuit and Catholic college. As you read on, you will see that Spring Hill students are indeed engaged

Comments: should be addressed to: Lindsay Hughes, Editor Spring Hill College Magazine, 4000 Dauphin Street Mobile, AL 36608-1791 (251) 380-2289 or (877) SPR-HILL lhughes@shc.edu To update your address or mailing preferences, contact Mindy Hovell, Director of Development Services, at (251) 380-2286 or hovell@shc.edu.

in learning, faith, justice and service. They are in tune to the needs of their communities and know the importance of exploring solutions to the myriad of problems that confront our nation and our world. I hope you enjoy reading the stories about and the reflections from these outstanding women and men who are living the Spring Hill College promise and have become, or most certainly will become, leaders for life. This is a President’s Report I am very proud to share with you. Sincerely,

Richard P. Salmi, S.J.

Table of Contents Campus News

Men’s Basketball Builds for Humanity

Seirra Collins-Hampton ’13

Bowling Badgers Recognized for Service

Badger News

Seirra Collins-Hampton ’13

Jim Stennett

Leaders for Life

A Legacy of Learning

Greta Sharp

From Struggles to Success

Monde Donaldson

Walking the Walk

Greta Sharp

Chapter Updates

Class Notes

Upcoming Events

Good Is Its Own Reward

Greta Sharp

Providing Keys for the Homeless

Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Building a Future for Indian Street Children

Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

A Preferential Love for the Poor

Greta Sharp

Journey to India

Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church

Greta Sharp

Seeing Is Believing

Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Jesus Was a Teacher, Too

John Kerr

CampusNews Spring Hill College launches new Web site

Spring Hill College has a new look on the Web. The College’s main site was unveiled in October. This joint project by the offices of communications and institutional marketing and admissions was several months in the making. The new site is aimed at recruiting prospective students, while internal audiences of current students and faculty and staff are driven to use the SHC’s Intranet site, BadgerWeb. Alumni are encouraged to log on to BadgerNet. The new site is easier to navigate and ties in to the newly redesigned admissions publications. “Because the college Web site is the first destination for many prospective students, it also becomes our primary recruitment tool,” said Brian Studebaker, director of admissions. “It is vital that the site look appealing, be easy to navigate, and have the information students need most. “Plus, we know that a bad experience on a school’s site will have a negative impact on the perception of the College from parents and students. We have shaped the new Web site to address those concerns, and have really focused our messaging toward the prospective student. At the same time, we have worked to make the navigation of the site much clearer for all constituencies. We’re very proud of the end result.” Visit www.shc.edu to check out the new site.

Warren named director of public safety By Ronesha Egson ’13 Todd Warren has only been on the job as director of public safety at Spring Hill College since July, but he has big plans for the department. He’s initiated some major changes in the way the public safety office operates, hired new officers, initiated new programs, and developed a rapport with students, faculty and staff. Warren, a Texas native, earned a bachelor’s degree in human services from Texas A&M. He has served more than 20 years in law enforcement, 10 of which he served with Texarkana College. He has worked in several other police departments as an officer in internal affairs, patrol, and crime investigations. However, Warren said he enjoys serving the College community. “It’s more of a positive environment,” he said. Warren wasted no time in developing initiatives for the department. Prior to his arrival, the College had contracted with an outside agency to provide and manage security personnel. Now Spring Hill employs its own officers. Warren is in the process of setting up a new records management system that will allow incident reports to be recorded in a computer database that will make those reports more accessible and easier to submit and organize. Public safety officers also now utilize a more reliable source of communication through a new radio dispatch system and upgraded equipment. “When someone calls for service, there is a precise log of what time he or she called,” Warren said. “We’ll know what time they called, and we’ll know what time an officer showed up on the scene.” Documenting the times, days, and types of disturbances, officers will use this information to identify and investigate patterns of criminal or suspicious activity on campus. Warren has more changes planned for the future. “We hope to offer more educational programs for staff and students,” he said. One such initiative is Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), a self-defense program available on numerous campuses nationwide. “We also would like to train our staff medically, extend first aid training and increase our emergency preparedness,” he said.

Clarification A photo of a girl from the Boys & Girls Club ran in the summer 2011 issue of the Spring Hill College Magazine. She had her portrait painted as part of a service-learning project, but she is not homeless, as the story may have implied. We apologize for the confusion.

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

By Seirra Collins-Hampton ’13

The Spring Hill College men’s basketball team

Even first-year participants, including freshman Jake

volunteered Sept. 24 with Mobile’s Habitat for Humanity to

Thelen of Edgewood, Ky., recognized the impact that the

help build a house in the Hillsdale community. With hard

program has on the team. “We all gained something from

hats, goggles, gloves and determination, the Badgers set out

the experience,” he said. “It’s always a good feeling knowing

to make a difference.

you are helping someone. It unites us as a team.”

Head coach Robert Thompson is encouraging his

“There are a lot of families out there that do not have

athletes to be leaders on and off the court. “We have set a

houses and certain necessities.

community as an extension of

“We get a chance as a team to work on something greater than ourselves.”

the SHC community,” he said.

- Tyler Schwab ’12

goal to become visible in the

This is the third year that

It makes me feel good that I can give back because I have been blessed with so many things in my life,” Schwab said. Thompson enjoys working

the team has participated in the program and each year it

with Habitat for Humanity because it builds camaraderie

brings gratification to the young men participating. Senior

and improves relationships among his players. He brought

Tyler Schwab of Panama City, Fla., has experienced what it

his own two children to participate in the program in order

has done for the team as a whole. “It brings the team closer

to stress the importance of community to his family.

together and allows us to bond,” he says. “We get a chance as a team to work on something greater than ourselves. It also just feels good to give back to the community.”

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

On Wednesday nights for the past five years the Spring Hill College baseball team has been devoting their time, efforts and smiles to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. On Sept. 15, the team received recognition for their work from The Arc of Alabama and was selected to receive the Boggs/Mitchell Award at the 2011 Alabama Disability Conference. The award recognizes a chapter or community organization providing year-round, challenging and inclusive recreational/leisure-time programs for people with disabilities. On these nights the young men meet with a group of disabled individuals from Arc and bowl at the local bowling alley. The players assist the individuals with their shoes, bowling balls, lane assignments and competitive spirit. SHC senior Fred Rossi of Shreveport, La., said, “We bowl and interact with them, and it’s usually very competitive.” While making an impact in the community, the program left quite an impression on the players. “It really makes me feel blessed that I am able By Seirra Collins-Hampton ’13

to give back fully and help the people who need help,” Rossi said. Spring Hill College head baseball coach Frank Sims is proud of his players and the recognition they have received. “You always read about the bad things going on in the world, but you hardly ever hear about the people who are giving back, the good guys,” Sims said. “That’s the important thing to me – that we can help someone, bottom line,” he said. Rossi and junior John Hollingsworth of Daphne, Ala., went to the conference to accept the award on behalf of the baseball team. The two men were among several other individuals who made a difference in their own communities. “It makes you feel good to have accomplished something at this level,” Rossi said.

Baseball players bond with a group

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

of disabled individuals through a game

of bowling.

BadgerNews

For the latest Badger news visit www.shcbadgers.com By Jim Stennett

Badger Volleyball Cruises to Perfect Season

The volleyball team congratulates coach Peggy Martin after her 1,100th career win on Aug. 26. Martin is the 3rd collegiate coach at any level to pass that plateau.

Badger fans pack the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.

Head coach Peggy Martin’s Badger volleyball team finished the 2011 regular season with a perfect 36-0 record and a 14-0 mark in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). Along the way, the Badgers set numerous team and individual records including most wins in a single season and the program’s longest consecutive winning streak. Senior right side hitter and 2010 NAIA All-American Yiting Cao of Shanghai, China, passed the 1,000 career kills mark with a 22-kill performance at Birmingham-Southern College on Oct. 29 and was selected the NAIA National Player of the Week for Sept. 12-18.

The 19th-ranked Badgers began post-season play at the SSAC Championship Tournament in Biloxi, Miss., on Nov. 11 versus Brenau University with an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Tournament on the line. Three Spring Hill players were named 2011 DaktronicsNAIA Scholar Athletes, as seniors Abbey Roam of Lebanon, Mo., Holly Shultis of Pewaukee, Wis., and Cao each received the national honor. Shultis was additionally honored as the SHC representative on the 2011 Musco Lighting/SSAC Champions of Character Team.

Men’s Soccer Posts First Winning Season

The men’s soccer team wrapped up the 2011 regular season with a 10-8 record to give the program its first winning season in the 20-year history of the sport at Spring Hill. Second-year head coach Tim Brooks’ Badgers made a six-win improvement over his 2010 record while scoring on average more than one goal per match better than last season. Freshman Tyler Hartlage of Tampa, Fla., and sophomore Patrick Culotta of New Orleans, La., shared the top scoring honors with eight goals apiece. Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Cory Bronenkamp of St. Louis, Mo., enrolled in graduate Continued, next page

Freshman Tyler Hartlage of Tampa, Fla., led the Badgers in scoring this year with 8 goals and 8 assists.

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

BadgerNews school to complete his eligibility and recorded a 7-5 record in-goal with four shutouts and 51 saves. For his career, Bronenkamp played more than 4,800 minutes in 55 matches for the Badgers while making 275 saves and earning 11 shutouts. Bronenkamp and fellow senior defenseman Phoenix Iverson of Decatur, Ala., were named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes.

Cross Country Teams Making Strides

Head coach Joe Williams and the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in five meets this fall with both squads placing in the top 10 in four of the events. Both teams opened the year by winning the inaugural SHC Badger Brawl held at Langan Park in Mobile. Senior Kate Imwalle from Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic High School set three new school records. She broke her own 5-kilometer record time at the University of West Florida on Oct. 1 with a mark of 18:39.10, and twice broke her own 6-kilometer time on Sept. 17 at the University of South Alabama and again on Oct. 7 at Mississippi College in a time of 23:05.77. Imwalle along with senior Alexis Davis of St. Louis; junior Payton Tanner of Fairhope, Ala.; Ashley Derenbecker from Bay St. Louis, Miss.; senior Emily Stewart of Mt. Juliet, Tenn.; junior Thomas Kinsey of Fairhope; and junior Ben Senior Kate Imwalle of Mobile holds 8 of the top 10 women’s 5-kilometer times in SHC history.

Pace from Dallas, Texas, were all named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes. Overall, for the five fall semester sports, a school record 18 student-athletes received Scholar Athlete recognition from the NAIA.

Women’s Soccer Starts to Rebuild

Second-year Badger head coach Christian DeVries’ women’s soccer team finished the 2011 season with an 8-9-1 record, and took an important first step on its path toward rebuilding the program. The squad qualified for its first appearance in the SSAC Championship Tournament after missing the cut by just one win in 2010. The team also improved its overall wins total by two games over the previous year. Two seniors shared the scoring crown as Abby Galen and Amber O’Connor each tallied seven goals. Freshman Abby Massengale of New Orleans stepped into the goalkeeping position and made 69 saves in 18 matches with two shutouts. Six seniors were named to the 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes list. St. Louis natives Elaine Femmer, Galen, Rachel Nance and twin sisters Lorie and Katie Pendergast each earned the award along with O’Connor of Ham Lake, Minn. Jim Stennett is Sports Information Director at Spring Hill College.

Freshman Ben Redman of Spanish Fort, Ala., placed 2nd at the SHC Badger Brawl with the 9th best time in SHC men’s history at 17:31.5.

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

New students are welcomed into the Spring Hill community at the start of the academic year with a candlelight induction ceremony, during which they pledge to become leaders engaged in learning, faith, justice and service for life. The following stories are just a few examples of how alumni, students, faculty and staff live out our mission in their daily lives. This is our promise statement, and it guides everything we do here on The Hill.

Rooted in its Catholic heritage and continuing the 450-year-old Jesuit tradition of educational excellence, Spring Hill College forms students to become leaders engaged in learning, faith, justice and service for life. t We pledge to become leaders engaged in Learning. We offer our students a thorough preparation for professional excellence and we strive to awaken mind and spirit to the pursuit of truth and to an ever-deepening appreciation of the beauty of creation, the dignity of life, the demands of justice and the mystery of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love.

t We pledge to become leaders engaged in Faith. True to the Catholic and biblical tradition, we nurture both the personal and social dimensions of faith, seeking to draw our students into a deeper and more vital relationship with God. t We pledge to become leaders engaged in Justice. Through informed dialogue with the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultures, religions and peoples, we promote solidarity with the entire human family.

Spring Hill College Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 2011

t We pledge to become leaders engaged in Service for Life. In our community of living and learning, we are committed to the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, that is, a care for the spiritual, social and intellectual growth of each person.

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Service

By Greta Sharp

When biology professor Dr. David Dean hears from students on how well Spring Hill College prepared them for professional programs of study, he’s pleased but not surprised. “That’s something we do, a measurement of our success here,” he said, explaining the Jesuit college has a decades-old reputation of equipping students to go into the health care field that goes back to Rev. Patrick K. Yancey, S.J., Dr. A. Fred Hemphill and Dr. John P. (Pat) Macnamara ’60. “I have a sense of personal responsibility to carry on that legacy they established,” Dean said. In doing so, he has twice been selected as the Edward B. Moody, S.J., Teacher of the Year and twice received the Dawson Service Award. Ninety-two percent of Spring Hill graduates who apply to medical school are accepted. As Dean was a pre-professional student himself once, he knows 8

firsthand what it takes to be successful in terms of career goals and how it relates to the importance of the material the students are learning: it’s not just for an upcoming quiz or exam, but for further coursework at Spring Hill and in professional schools. “I’m more focused on facilitating them acquiring the large amount of material they’re going to need to know, and to Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

engender in their attitude of always doing the very best they can in all circumstances,” he said. With courses covering such large volumes of material, Dean provides his student with printed notes, access to narrated PowerPoint files and online videos to present the material in various modalities. He also understands the importance of real-life relevancies and invites

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area physicians and Spring Hill graduates in the health care field to speak to his classes on topics related to course content. Dean said physicians now contact him about these speaking opportunities and appreciates that students can interact with members of the health care profession. “I have very high standards and expectations of the students,” said Dean, who is in his 18th year at Spring Hill. “I love the material I teach and I expect them as pre-health care professionals to love it just as much as I do and respect it, and always do their very best, taking care to make their best effort 100 percent of the time.” On the first day of his biomedical anatomy and physiology class, Dean’s lesson focuses on study techniques. “Knowing how to do it makes all the difference,” he

Dr. David Dean

said, though he noted the students still have to be driven to succeed. “My senior classes are easy to teach because they are motivated,

Mark Brink ’13 Slidell, La. History

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successful students really interested in the material. They’re a joy to teach.” Dean’s first experience with formal classroom teaching was in his Comparative and Experimental Medicine Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee, where he also earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. “I decided that’s what I really loved to do,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I really love it. I’m at my happiest when I have a student in front of my desk and a line going down the hallway. There’s very little more rewarding than one-on-one working with a student and seeing them improve because of that.”

“I have honestly never had a professor or a class that I have not found enriching, challenging and enjoyable in some way, shape or form. In one instance, I remember asking one of my professors to proofread a paper that was due for his class the next day. He basically said the paper was trash (which was probably true), except for one idea within the paper that he thought was a worthy topic. Needless to say, I had to write an entirely new paper in a few hours, which was challenging but ultimately very rewarding. I have been challenged to rethink and rework the way I do things in a very positive way. Furthermore, the tutoring I do at Wilmer Hall Children’s Home through the Foley Community Service Center has shaped me as well. There is just something special about teaching others of which I am particularly fond. I’ve also learned a great deal from becoming a founding father of my fraternity, Delta Chi. It has certainly been a unique learning experience for all of us involved, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, despite the challenges that have come with it.”

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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from

struggles tosuccess By Lindsay Hughes, MLA ‘08

Lexy Morvant was not a stellar student.

Alexis “Lexy” Morvant ‘07

A biology major from Thibodeaux, La., Morvant hoped to coach basketball and teach science at her local high school on the bayou, but the floundering undergrad was barely passing her classes. With the guidance of her professors at Spring Hill, Morvant transitioned from a struggling student to a 4.0 scholar destined for medical school.

“I was not like all the other brilliant students who were normally accepted to SHC – I had to work hard for the grades I received,” Morvant said. “The professors at Spring Hill changed my life and allowed me to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to. They were also the first mentors I ever had to believe in me academically, who challenged me in an unprecedented way.” Morvant credits her transformation to the late Dr. Shawn Allin and Drs. David Dean, Don Culberson, Charles Chester and Lesli Bordas. “They made me feel accountable to more than just myself,” she said. With a new focus on getting into medical school, Morvant spent most of her free time volunteering at local hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in the Mobile community. After graduating from Spring Hill in 2007, she volunteered with

the Vincentian Service Corps via AmeriCorps in Los Angeles, where she taught at a St. Francis nursing school and served the city’s vulnerable population. In 2008, she was accepted to Louisiana State University School of Medicine, but she deferred for two years to pursue a master’s degree in medical ethics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. During graduate school, she served on ethics committees at hospitals around Los Angeles and continued to tutor her nursing students. Morvant started medical school at LSU in 2010. She founded an organization at LSU called Ethikos, a group devoted to the humanities of medicine, such as medical ethics, healthcare law, social justice, and history and philosophy of medicine. Her interest in these areas can be traced back to her Jesuit education, what she refers to as an “awakening” of her mind. Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

“It was one of the most personal journeys of my life because it provided the beginnings of my foundation to be a well-rounded physician who embraces all aspects of the patientphysician partnership,” she explained. “It gave me the tools to take interest in my patient’s culture, religion and ethnic background and not just her disease – in other words ‘to treat the whole person and not just the disease.’” A testament to her academic journey and personal growth, Morvant received the LSU School of Medicine’s 2011 Clay Easterly, M.D. Award Scholarship, for academic excellence and considerable promise. “Little did I know, Spring Hill was going to provide me the tools to one day become a physician,” said Morvant. “SHC transitioned me into a woman that no one – not even my family – thought I could become, and I will forever be indebted.”

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Jesus was a teacher, too By Greta Sharp

After spending 40 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, H. William “Bill” McAtee ’65 is still making an impression on the students. At every home football game at Lipscomb Stadium, the team runs past a giant inflatable yellow jacket named Billy Mac. But, McAtee was especially pleased when McGill’s chapter of the National Honor Society was renamed in his honor in 2006. In 2011, the McGill Distinguished Service Award was named after him as well. “That’s what I’ve tried to do in 40 years, is service,” McAtee said. The real gift at McGill was not any honors or awards. Instead, it was the role of a teacher. “We’re in pretty good company, because Jesus was a teacher,” he explained. McAtee felt a calling and obligation to instill into young people the knowledge of God in their lives through the subjects he taught. “People ask ‘what do you teach?’ I teach kids. I use history as a vehicle to do that.” Teachers can incorporate faith life and church teachings in the classroom with social justice issues. “It was a golden opportunity in a Catholic school like McGill to integrate these topics,” McAtee said, especially in subjects like government and politics. “The choices you make have to be conditioned by faith, or faith doesn’t mean anything.”

H. William “Bill” McAtee ’65 with McGill-Toolen junior Elizabeth Glasner in Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

McAtee experienced a double dose of Jesuit education. The Brothers of the Sacred Heart who taught at the then-McGill Institute were trained by Spring Hill Jesuits. The Socratic method used, especially by Rev. Joe Walsh, S.J., who taught philosophy at the College, helped McAtee develop his own teaching style. “They were teaching us to think and think things through. I used that. You teach like you were taught,” he said. Two teachers at Spring Hill fostered McAtee’s love for history: Dr. Howard Smith and Rev. Roy “Chief” Vollenweider, S.J. After graduating from Spring Hill in 1965, McAtee went on to earn a master’s degree in American history from the University of Alabama, then spent two years on active duty with the U.S. Army. But having also realized a love for teaching at Spring Hill, McAtee looked for a teaching job in Mobile. With nothing available at McGill, he took a job with the Mobile County Health Department. Soon after, in the Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

spring of 1970, McGill Principal Bro. Foster Zidilich called about a history position. Over the next 40 years, McAtee served in the classroom and as an administrator, including assistant principal for attendance and discipline, and assistant principal for student activities. During his years at McGill, he headed up the junior class trip to Historic Williamsburg more than 25 times. Even though McAtee retired in August 2011, he accompanied the students this fall and plans to continue doing so. “I take kids now whose parents I took on that trip,” he said with a laugh. He uses these opportunities to show students learning and fun can happen simultaneously. “Be a lifelong learner. Learn for the sheer joy of it. An educated person is a better person,” he said. Knowledge of God, McAtee shares with them, is lifelong and never complete: “God is like a diamond with infinite facets. We’ll never see them all.” 11

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By Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Rev. Marvin Kitten, S.J., at Mass in St. Joseph Chapel.

It’s a good thing Rev. Marvin in Houston, and that he would not be “You’ve been thinking about it long Kitten, S.J., never came to his senses. entering the priesthood. enough. This priesthood thing doesn’t Born on a cotton farm in Lubbock Kitten worked outside of San leave your mind, so you’d better check County, Texas, Kitten was one of Francisco as a theoretical seismologist it out,” Kitten recounted. five boys in a large German-Catholic for GSI for a year. The company The following Sunday after Mass, family. After attending the rural selected him to go to Brazil for three Kitten bought a copy of “America public high school, he entered Texas years, which was a great career Magazine,” published by the Jesuits. He Tech University, where he majored in opportunity and a considerable pay didn’t know much about the Society of theoretical mathematics. increase. Kitten had four months to Jesus. So, he contacted the publisher of “When I got to Texas Tech, I had sign the contract, “and they assumed “America” and asked him, “Where can I to consider whether I would remain a I would, unless I was brain-dead,” find a real live Jesuit?” Catholic, or would I go the Southern he said. Kitten arranged to meet with the Baptist route, which most other provincial in San Francisco, and Dear Marvin, people did,” Kitten said, “and I everything he learned about the made the decision that this is Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality You’ve obviously taken leave of your fit with his worldview. “For who I am.” During Kitten’s senior senses. When you come back to your the Jesuits, the world is their year, the priest at the Catholic sanity, let us know, and we’ll pick up monastery. They are called to student center advised him insert themselves in the world where you left off. that every Catholic male and make a difference. That should devote at least 20 sounded good to me.” Kitten minutes reflecting on priesthood. Meanwhile, Kitten corresponded continued, “We try to find God in all After Kitten’s obligatory 20 minutes of with the priest at Texas Tech, who things. We also want to explore a discernment, he informed the priest continued to ask how his discernment person’s gifts and talents, develop them that he had accepted a lucrative job was coming along. Kitten’s Catholic and see how we can use them to help offer at Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI) roommate nudged him further, saying, others. That sounded good to me, too.” 12

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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Kitten wrote a letter to the personnel director at GSI and explained why he had to turn down the job offer in Brazil. The director wrote back: “Dear Marvin, You’ve obviously taken leave of your senses. When you come back to your sanity, let us know, and we’ll pick up where you left off.” “The good news, I thought, is I have a safety net. I like them; they like me,” Kitten said. “The bad news is, maybe I am crazy.” Kitten reported to St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, La., to begin the Jesuit novitiate. After his novitiate training, he came to Spring Hill College to work on a master’s degree in philosophy. Kitten was ordained in 1965, and his first assignment was Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, where he taught theology for 12 years. In an interesting turn of events, the former personnel director at GSI attended a farewell party for Kitten the summer he left Dallas. “It was that man who sent me that letter 27 years before,” Kitten said. The director told

him, “I never understood why you would turn down such a job offer. But, I see that you’re obviously very happy, and that’s what it’s all about. I’m so glad you never came to your senses.” After leaving Dallas, Kitten taught at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston for six years before moving to College Station, Texas, to help with campus ministry at Texas A&M for five years. From 1991 to 2007, Kitten served as vocation director for the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus, “the highest burnout job of the Jesuits, so it’s unusual that I lasted that long,” he said. “But that’s what I did for 18 years – I hustled young men to get them to buy into poverty, chastity and obedience, which was not always an easy sell,” he joked. When Hurricane Katrina hit in the fall semester of 2005, the provincial sent eight Jesuits and 120 students from Loyola University New Orleans to Spring Hill College. Kitten worked remotely as the province’s vocation director from Spring Hill’s campus

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ministry office. In 2008, Kitten was assigned to Spring Hill College, where he works as campus minister for spirituality. His office in the student center is filled with old photographs and scrapbooks of former students’ essays. A “rising senior” this year, he enjoys offering spiritual direction and helping students in their faith formation. “I love meeting one on one with students who are seeking, who just want to talk and peel back layers,” he said. “Some I have been very privileged to journey with, because they may be dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, and they just need someone to listen.” Kitten believes the pillars of Spring Hill’s promise statement – learning, faith, justice and service – are “caught rather than taught. I think the more we have individuals exemplifying these values, the more likely we’re going to get more people buying into it. It’s always an ongoing process,” he said. “We have to believe that we can fulfill the promise statement first; then we begin to see it.”

Christopher Lazarine ’13 “Being at a Jesuit school has opened my eyes to a new way of seeing what it is to be Catholic. The Jesuits have enabled my faith to grow through giving me the chance to find it, but they are always there as a guide. It is such a wonderful feeling to have so many Jesuits on campus who are willing to listen and help on a daily basis.

Kenner, La. Business Administration

With Campus Ministry, I have been able to been able to find leadership positions where my faith has been at the center. They tend to push me in the growth of my faith, while, at the same time, allowing students to be themselves. SHC has taught me how to live my faith; meaning, it has taught me to serve others before myself.” Watch a video of how giving to Spring Hill College has made a difference in Chris’s life at http://url.shc.edu/chrisvideo

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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“Upon this rock I will build my Church” By Greta Sharp

It’s a very different worship space than Spring Hill’s Murray Hall chapel where Chris Cheever ’89 attended weekly Mass as a student.

Chris Cheever ’89 in front of a Spanish Mission in San Antonio.

Spring Spring Hill Hill College College Magazine Magazine • Summer • Fall 2011 2011

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Mission Espada, Mission San José, Mission San Juan and Mission Concepción were established in San Antonio, Texas, during the 18th century by the Spanish government and the Catholic Church. The capital campaign for Las Misiones, or Old Spanish Missions, sought to repair, refurbish and restore the four churches. In addition to being a community of faith, the missions contribute significant historic, educational and cultural value to San Antonio and welcome 1.6 million visitors each year. “It was a testament to everybody valuing the missions that we were able to raise the money,” said Cheever, who co-chaired Las Misiones. In a two-year, four-month campaign, the project raised $15.7 million, surpassing the planned $15.5 million. Completing a capital campaign during an economic downturn was a bit of a challenge, he said, but shows support of the missions’ significance.

“The Jesuit ideals taught at SHC have been fundamental in the growth of my faith. Around campus, you will see the letters AMDG, which stand for Ad Majorem dei Gloriam, or, “for the greater glory of God.” This is something that my Jesuit education at SHC has taught me – to offer everything for the greater glory of God, and also to find God in all things.

Cheever credits Rev. David Garcia, a local priest, with helping grow his own faith in the project. “He just knows how do it,” said Cheever, who described the priest as dynamic and endearing. “There was a lot of faith on my part in him. He’s a bit of a local rock star.” As part of the renovations, Cheever traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico, to meet with artist Augustin Parra, who was carving the retablo, or altar piece, from wood for Mission San José. “The goal was an accurate as possible rendition of what the church looked like from that time period,” he explained. “The retablo is a signature piece in Mission San José, the most visited mission.” In the old world, the mission of the church was to Christianize the native people, and the retablos told the story of the church, of Christ and of the different saints. Cheever spoke at the reopening of Mission San José, thanking the donors

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and the faith community, ensuring the missions would be good stewards of their contributions. The new building and its artwork were blessed in what he called a “powerful” Mass. With most of the cosmetic work finished, Cheever said the committee is moving to the less glamorous projects like foundation work. “What we’re doing is to get this on track for the next 100 years,” Cheever explained, including an endowment for ongoing structural maintenance. The Las Misiones project was tailor made for Cheever, who has an interest in Latin American history and old Spanish colonial churches throughout the Americas. His family’s business is also heavily engaged in the local community. Cheever’s father was part of the 2001 capital campaign that raised $21.6 million to restore the San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio.

Erin Stauss ’13 Indian Springs, Ala. Nursing

I also have learned the ideal of Magis, or “more” – to always strive to do more, and to be more. This is applicable in the classroom, but also in my faith life. SHC has provided me with numerous opportunities to be able to delve deeper into and to learn more about my Catholic faith: daily Masses, retreats, youth ministry experiences, spiritual direction, and theology classes. The presence of the Jesuits and the opportunities not only to learn from them in the classroom, but get to know them on a personal level has also been a source of faith development for me.”

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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Laren Klapp ’12 with the children in Dharamsala, India.

By Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Studying global issues at home can only take one so far. An immersion trip to Nicaragua during her sophomore year ignited a passion within Lauren Klapp ’12 to use her education and gifts to help others. “I realized there is so much more going on in the world outside of my own Spring Hill College bubble. It isn’t until you see the poverty that you realize the magnitude of these problems,” said Klapp, a pure mathematics major from Cincinnati. “I knew that I had to travel more, experience more, and educate myself on the world that we live in.” 16

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While researching study abroad opportunities, Klapp came across a program with Cross-Cultural Solutions in Dharamsala, India. She signed up the next week. Over the summer, Klapp volunteered for three weeks at an anganwadi, a daycare that prepares children ages 2 to 5 to enter primary school. The government-run centers are often short of teachers. She also shadowed other volunteers at their placements in a women’s group and at a Red Cross physical therapy unit.

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“At some times it was tough, especially with the language barrier between myself and the eight children, but I definitely loved every minute of it,” she said. Klapp describes her experience in India as “life enhancing.” She learned to appreciate the beauty of Indian culture and landscapes, and her faith grew from working with the children, her fellow volunteers and the program’s staff. Witnessing the simple lifestyle of the people of Dharamsala made her recognize her own blessings. “We may have our moments of humility, but sooner or later we slide right back into our daily routines without even a moment of appreciation,” she said. “Now, more so than ever before, I know that serving others is what I am meant to do with my life. Even saying this now, I am a little intimidated because I know it will be tough, but my trip to India has shown me it is definitely possible.” Klapp, who went to a public high school, was not familiar with Ignatian spirituality before her arrival on The

“When talking about forming leaders, I believe there is some crossover between learning, faith, justice, and service. From the standpoint of a justice agent, I see students aiding impoverished nations by going on immersion trips or joining a judicial board that adjudicates community problems. These two cases are among a plethora of ways students apply what they have learned in the classroom, campus ministry, and/or residence hall about caring for the individual and serving others.

Hill. But, now these Jesuit principles guide her academic pursuit and longterm aspirations. “Attending Spring Hill College, I have learned a lot about putting your faith and your spirituality into practice through your actions. For me, ‘a faith that does justice’ means utilizing what God has blessed me with, such as my education and an amazing support system of friends and family, to reach out to others. It means to strive for justice, whether it be in the small instances or the larger issues of the world and to help those who cannot help themselves,” she said. “Faith is an amazing thing and it has definitely helped me to get to where I am today, but this faith is nothing unless we share it and the results of our faith with others.” At Spring Hill, Klapp is a member and officer of Delta Gamma, president of Order of Omega, a resident advisor for the Fairway Apartments, and a

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tutor in the Center for Academic Excellence. She is grateful for her Jesuit education that emphasizes cura personalis, care for the whole person – mind, body and spirit. “Spring Hill is able to provide students with this amazing experience through service opportunities, a liberal arts education, an awesome community, and the ability to have relationships with the faculty and administration who are all encouraging each student to be the best they can be,” Klapp said. “Our education goes further than a degree. I think that’s what makes students fall in love with The Hill.” After graduation, Klapp plans to take the MCAT and apply to medical school. She hopes that her future as a doctor will take her on trips to serve those in need of medical care.

Jordan Biggers ’12 Student Government Association President Montgomery, Ala. Political Science/Pre-law

St. Ignatius of Loyola once said, ‘Go forth and set the world on fire!’ This means go forth and light a fire of desire in the hearts of others to serve and engage in leadership. This, I believe, is something we all should strive to do if we want to significantly change the world. To that end, Spring Hill College is a wonderful institution for those who wish to be change agents.” Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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by Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

Dr. Kathleen Orange’s commitment to service and justice stems from her deep-rooted belief that every person deserves a chance. “Nobody should be left out. I’ve always believed that,” she said. “Everybody should know that they’re loved. Every child should feel like they can be whatever their talents allow them to be.” Nearly 20 years ago, thenpresident Rev. William Rewak, S.J., charged Orange with the task of coordinating students’ community service through the Foley Center. Since 1992, she has orchestrated thousands of hours of service to the elderly, people with special needs, immigrants, and children from poor neighborhoods. “Jesus would have died on the cross for me, if I were the only human being that were ever created. And that’s true of every other human being,” said Orange, referencing a Guatemalan bishop whose homilies she has translated. “So, it’s not true to God that some people are more important than others.” A child who lives in the Crichton area of Mobile, Orange gives as an example, is just as important as the Spring Hill student who tutors him. “It completely changes your idea of what it is to be human when you get to know a sixth-grader, who has all the potential in the world but for lots of reasons has never learned to read, who has just as much love and hope as any other human being, and needs someone to hope for him and love him back.” One of the most rewarding aspects of serving others, Orange said, is the realization that one person is part of the whole. “You make a contribution to the whole, but the whole is also sustaining you,” 18

“Jesus would have died on the cross for me, if I were the only human being that were ever created. And that’s true of every other human being”

Dr. Kathleen Orange

she said. “I think most of human unhappiness comes from feeling that your life is not solidly connected to other people’s lives. Going out and relating to people is an enormous step forward in your awareness of what it is to be human.” Students who serve are more rooted in their communities in a meaningful way. “You can’t be all tied up in yourself,” Orange explained. Punctuality, for example, becomes more than a personal virtue. “When you realize the effect on other people of your being late, it changes the whole reason you ought to be on time. It’s not just so you can prove that you are well organized, but because you are aware that you are part of a community of people who have feelings.” The concept of justice, Orange said, always implies a structural injustice. In cities where neighborhoods are divided by class, it is easy for wealthier individuals to pretend that poor areas do not exist, she said. Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

“Every time we evade that reality, we deprive ourselves of God’s grace, and, of course, we deprive all those people of a chance.” Reflecting on Spring Hill’s promise statement, Orange believes that service, justice and faith are interrelated. “Nobody who does service has any sort of illusion that they are going to be able to change the structural injustice,” she said. “I think that’s where faith really sustains you.” Orange said working with the poor “wears you out; it hurts you.” God’s preferential love for the poor, she said, means that God wants them to have the same chance at life as everyone else. “Jesus said he came for the poor. And I think he accompanies in a special way people who go out, day after day, and work with the poor – because it requires a lot of extra support.”

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John Kuder ’66 visits with the children during his recent trip to India.

Building a Future for Indian Street Children by Greta Sharp

Even though he’s halfway around the world, senior circuit judge John Kuder ’66 is making a difference in the lives of children in India, providing a safe place to live, good food, education, and the chance to grow up and become productive citizens. Kuder, his wife, Susan Bleiler, and two friends living in India built the John P. Kuder Home and School for Orphaned and Abandoned Children outside Viyawada in southeast India. Children are referred to the program by pastors in nearby villages often because their parents died or were killed, leaving the children to live on the streets, in dumpsters or concrete pipes, fighting with dogs for scraps of food. “The only thing they’re trying to do is stay alive one more day,” Kuder said. In a very rural setting, on an acre and a half of land filled with palm trees and banana trees, Kuder built his children’s home with men’s and women’s dormitories, a chapel, a school up to the 8th grade, a full kitchen and dining facility, a water system and a commercial generator. During the day, the children attend the school named after Kuder’s mother, who was raised by nuns in an orphanage. There are 55 students, from ages 4 to 17, currently living at the home. The program started out with 20 children in 2005. “They do consider themselves brothers and sisters,” said Kuder. “They love each other.” This year, Kuder saw four young men graduate from 8th grade and go

on to a public high school for grades 9 and 10. In India, grades 11 and 12 are known as “junior college” and a student must pass a national exam to attend. These four students were determined to pass the exam, so Kuder and his wife hired a tutor to work with them. “Every one of them just blew the test away,” said Kuder. “Every one got a scholarship.” He was so pleased with these results, he wanted to give more children the opportunity to reach their full potential. Kuder is currently raising funds to purchase additional land, build a new facility to house 500 students, and construct a school that will go through junior college, as well as include a nursing school. The current school is fully accredited by the Indian government, and the new school will allow village children to attend as day students. Kuder worked as a juvenile court judge for six years where his philosophy of juvenile justice evolved. Often children in dire straits were in situations beyond his control, with little discipline and few role models. He saw the importance of family in getting young people back on the right track. When he left the juvenile bench, a business trip to Albania exposed him to street children living in dumpsters and begging on the streets. “After that I decided this is where I felt I could have the greatest impact and do the most good,” said Kuder. “Take children who have nothing and provide them with a Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

home, a family to nurture them emotionally, spiritually, physically, to protect them, to give them an education, and prepare them for something in life that would be worthwhile to them.” Kuder believes the greatest injustice in the world is to take hope from a child, to use them for purposes of prostitution, as forced labor in mines, or to maim them for the purpose of begging greater sums of money on the street. “These children have no rights, no way of getting rights; they’re entitled to nothing, they get nothing,” he said. “They’ve all encountered things most of us wouldn’t have encountered in a lifetime, or three lifetimes.” Even though Kuder only makes the 24,000-mile round trip once a year, these children and their futures are never far from his thoughts. His Indian counterpart at the school turns away some 1,000 children a year due to lack of space. “That is the only reason,” Kuder said, but with the new facility in the works, these children have hope. “There are 18 million street children in India. That’s a lot of kids.” For more information on the John P. Kuder Home and School for Orphaned and Abandoned Children, visit the Kuder Foundation on Facebook or www.kuderfoundation.org.

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Providing keys for the homeless by Monde Donaldson

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, falling in love, in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, what you know, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” - Rev. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Valerie Guste Johnson ’76 lives by these words every day. The former superior general of the Society of Jesus, Arrupe defined the modern mission of the Jesuits in terms of “faith that does justice.” His compassion and commitment to justice keep her centered as the founder of KEYS for the Homeless Foundation in Washington, D.C. KEYS grew out of Johnson’s recognition of the influence the hospitality industry has in supporting homeless services in the nation’s capital. It started in 1998 with a youth

Valerie Johnson (center) poses with Shelby Spriggs (left), office supervisor of the East Housing Assistance Shelter, and Paul Amara, director of Men’s Shelter Operations of Catholic Charities, behind towels donated by the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown.

service initiative in her parish, Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown, to assemble personal care items for the homeless. She reached out to the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C. to support the project. Over the years, the work has evolved into a foundation that in 2010 procured more than $200,000 of in-kind donations for those living in poverty in the greater D.C. area. Everyday household items such as linens, home furnishings, kitchenware and small appliances from many from high-end hotels and vendors

Joshua Wing ’12 “We are called to serve God by serving others. I have been blessed with so much in my life, and giving back is how I find happiness. We all have received a gift from God; it is our responsibility to use it to help others.”

Daphne, Ala. Nursing

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

are helping families transition from homelessness and poverty to selfsufficiency. Johnson gratefully embraces Spring Hill’s Jesuit influence on her in this mission. “The enduring words of Father Arrupe encompass past, present and future years of KEYS for the Homeless Foundation. My years at

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Spring Hill opened my heart to ‘falling in love’ in unexpected ways, and the memories are integral in forming my convictions in trusting the love of God,” she said. “At Spring Hill, I knew my relationships in company with the Jesuits would enlighten my hopes and desires. I distinctly remember the pure, drawing nature of charism through the Jesuit presence that permeated the essence of my education and believed it would strengthen me with a boundless, liberating love.” Many Jesuits have touched her life – some through books, some with prayers and retreats, others with their presence at family dinners. Two Spring Hill Jesuits, Rev. Jim Lambert, S.J., and the late Rev. Paul S. Tipton, S.J., served as godparents to two of her six children, now ages 22 to 32. She and her husband, Rob Johnson ’72, have shared 36 years of married life finding the Jesuit way. “I thank God for our friendships and for those yet to be, as they are truly lasting gifts for my entire

family,” she said. Her work with the homeless continued to grow, and in 2005 KEYS was established as a nonprofit foundation. As an allied member of the Hotel Association of Washington, DC., she networks with leaders in the hospitality industry; and as a member of Good360, she partners with nine retail stores to further the foundation’s mission. As a member of the United Way of the National Capitol Area, she has the recognition with both charities and businesses. Johnson navigates an office on the road, traveling miles in her Subaru station wagon, connecting existing resources to a wide network of care providers and advocating for homeless services. In June, the foundation launched a new feature on its Web site to better streamline and track donations. Reflecting on her work, Johnson recalls experiences in her early life growing up in New Orleans, and the

“By serving others you grow as a person and become more well rounded. I have found through my service that I have a better perspective on how life is and how it should be. It isn’t just about me all the time, but about others and our community. I have learned patience, compassion, and a more mature sense of responsibility because of the service that I have done. I honestly think that in serving others you get just as much, or sometimes even more, out of that experience.

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happy time of Thanksgiving at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, the Rosary, when each family prepared giftwrapped boxes of food to be shared with those in need. And, unbeknownst to her as a child, her grandfather helped develop the first urban housing project in New Orleans. Her father served on the founding board of directors for Unity of Greater New Orleans; and her mother strived to improve the services provided at Ozanam Inn, a nonprofit shelter and kitchen for the homeless in New Orleans.

For more information on how to get involved with KEYS for the Homeless Foundation, visit www.keysforthehomeless.org.

Mamie Jaynes ’12 Mobile, Ala. International Studies

Through the Foley Center I have tutored at local high schools and grade schools for the past three years focusing on math skills for the ACT, and reading and math for grade-school children. I have also volunteered at Little Sisters of the Poor for a semester in the activities department. While studying abroad at the SHC Italy Center this semester, I have been on two social justice trips. The first was in Croatia and Bosnia, and we focused on the War in the Balkans during the ’90s. We visited Sarajevo and Srebrenica, Bosnia, where we learned about the atrocities that occurred there. The second and most recent was to Poland where we traveled to Krakow, Warsaw and Torun. In Krakow we visited Auschwitz concentration camp; in Warsaw we visited a museum on the Polish uprising that occurred there during WWII; and in Torun we attended a conference on the Arab Spring. In November I volunteered with a program in local high schools to educate kids about human rights and how to get involved.” Check out a video on how the generosity of donors made it possible for Mamie to study abroad at the SHC Italy Center by visiting http://url.shc.edu/mamievideo

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

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Dodie Ward ’79 leads service/immersion trips to Belize and Nicaragua.

By Greta Sharp

Working at Spring Hill College has allowed Delores “Dodie” Ward ’79 to visit exotic locales and live like a native. Ward, who is a psychotherapist in private practice, works part time on campus as a mental health counselor in the wellness center. For 10 years, she’s led student service/immersion trips to places in Belize and Nicaragua. This year takes her to El Salvador. During these immersion trips, held during the college’s Mardi Gras or spring break, students have built homes, helped with the construction of churches in Maya villages, and laid the foundation for a school library. Students have also worked in a child development center for children who have AIDS or a family member with AIDS. “You just do whatever is needed when you get down there,” Ward explained. “It’s us going in and helping them in any way possible.”

As each trip begins, she encourages the students to “unplug,” to turn off their cell phones, MP3 players and iPads, and immerse themselves in the culture. “I love to watch the students,” Ward said. “They go with what they think is going to happen to them and they come back changed.” She’s also quick to point out that student leaders plan meetings and lead discussions throughout the weeklong trips. “They are the ones who make this work,” she explained. One of the topics of discussion is how to take home what they’ve learned. “This is not just a week. It’s something to hold onto for the rest of your lives,” Ward said. “They start feeling it. The world is big, but a lot of people are the same.” Ward hopes each trip brings the students to look at one another more openly as they build relationships, recognizing they might not have come into close contact with some of their fellow students even on such a small campus. Part of the bonding begins with fundraising for the trips. In the 10 years Ward has been traveling with Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

students, the cost has doubled. Students sell Christmas wreaths, sing Christmas carols and write begging letters for donations. Ward said not only does this raise funds, it also builds unity before the students leave on the trip. Facebook groups keep the members of each immersion trip connected long after they arrive back in Mobile. “To understand we’re all God’s children, we’re all in this together,” she said. “Faith is not shown by words alone. Faith is shown by action. You’ve got to do things. You’ve got to make things happen. They don’t happen by sitting around talking.” As a Spring Hill student, Ward saw Jesuits and professors putting their words into action. “Frs. (Dan) Creagan and Jim Lambert definitely influenced that part of service in me because you saw them in service,” said Ward. “It’s important for kids to see adults doing, not just talking. We’re not here to take; we’re here to give. You want things to be different. You can change them. I feel God has led me to where I am.”

ChapterUpdates

Atlanta

Baton Rouge

Birmingham

A reception for Rev. Richard P. Salmi, S.J., was held in September at the home of Mike and Kathy Coghlan ’77/’78. In attendance were Nicholas Clapper ’10, Anna Claire Flood ’11, Kathy Coghlan ’78 and Mike Coghlan ’77.

In October, Baton Rouge alumni gathered at Coyote Blues Fresh Mexican Grill. Ed Hardin ’90, past parents Laura and Skip Rhorer, and Angele Davis-Kelley ’90 catch up over drinks.

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Mike Morris ’65, Paula Morris ’67, Rev. Richard P. Salmi, S.J., Debbie Jarratt and Devereaux Jarratt ’63 mingle at the Atlanta reception.

Denise Hatcher ’85, Elizabeth Bondy Fortenberry ’07 and Justin Fortenberry celebrate happy hour together.

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Birmingham alumni gathered in August for a happy hour at Billy’s Bar & Grill in English Village. In attendance were alumni from a variety of classes, including Pauline Fugazzotto, MAT ’11 and Diane Caver ’71 and 6 Johnny Arndt ’06, Katie Hawkins ’07, Nick Rayburn ’10 and Joelle Bernhardt ’08. (Photo on next page)

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ChapterUpdates

Chicago 7

At Highland Golf Course, Chicago alumni gathered in October for the 16th annual Chicago Scholarship Classic. Clutching the winning title are Joe Tener ’76, Ray Dempsey ’76 and Jim Gearty ’76.

New York City Special thanks to Robin Mumford ’81 for hosting the send-off for our new Badgers. 10

Kii Sato ’91, Kai Sato and Monique Curet Sato ’99 have a great summer day at the Chicago alumni baseball gathering where 8 Chelsea Gerstle ’07, Colleen the Cubs took on the Cincinnati O’Brien ’89 and Peggy Cussen ’89 Reds. enjoy their time on the golf course.

Terry Hillery ’00, Bernie Prat ’08 and Bob Bulger ’68 attend a reception for Rev. Richard P. Salmi, S.J., at the Princeton Club in New York City.

Dr. Leo J. Hoar ’53, Georgine Hoar and Rev. Daniel Sullivan, S.J. ’55 enjoy the New York reception. Special thanks to Bob Bulger ’68 for hosting the Badgers.

Welcoming a new set of Badgers to the family are Ginny Kasteck ’15, Mary Kate Gallagher ’15, Robin Mumford ’81 and Nicole Pembroke ’15.

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St. Louis 13

A poolside reception was held in June for Rev. Richard P. Salmi, S.J. at the home of Jerry and Suzzie Carmody ’71/’72. Showing off their Badger claws are Kristen Phillips ’08, Jessica Stieven ’09 and Cecilia Venker ’11. 14

Karen Lane, Susan MacDonald, Leo MacDonald ’56, Con Lane and Jerry Carmody ’71 enjoy the reception.

Young St. Louis alumni Jimmy Chassaing ’09, Courtney Carter ’09, Jess Gouldthorpe ’10, Tim Garvey ’10, Jamie Villmer ’10,

Scott Thouvenot ’09, Allison Giles ’10 and Dom Palumbo ’10 enjoy happy hour in August at The Biergarden at Schneithorst’s.

Washington, D.C. Alumni of all ages gathered for a summer picnic in the park in Washington, D.C. Enjoying the chapter-sponsored festivities are: 16 Kat Milligan Moore’06, Kate LaBorde ’09, John Pisarkiewicz ’66, Meghan Bartow ’08 and Eileen Grande ’08.

Visit Flickr

for the SHC Alumni Photo Gallery www.flickr.com/photos/shcalumni

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ClassNotes 1950s Dr. Robert Clawson ’50 retired from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center after 43 years. He is currently employed as a volunteer professor. Br. Louis Laperle ’51 was the New England Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart treasurer for 32 years. He now volunteers at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, R.I. Rev. Daniel J. Sullivan, S.J. ’55 has taught biology at Fordham University for the past 43 years. This past summer, he went to Europe to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood. Leon F. Bouvier ’57 co-authored the textbook, “Population and Society: An Introduction to Demography” (Cambridge University Press), along with Dudley Poston of Texas A&M.

1960s Dr. Stafford Betty ’64 recently published a book, “The Afterlife Unveiled.” He is an expert of afterlife studies and has been a professor of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield. He is the author of six books and has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and the popular press. H. William “Bill” McAtee ’65 was named to the Catholic High Schools Alumni Association of Mobile’s (CHSAAM) Hall of Fame. He recently retired after 40 years of employment at McGill Institute and McGillToolen Catholic High School. John P. Kuder ’66 was appointed by the Florida Bar Foundation to a three-year term. He is the senior chief judge in the First Judicial Circuit Court. Ron McConnell ’67 was named Alabama Tourism Department’s Employee of the Year 2011 from Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau.

1970s Rob Johnson ’72 is the director of development for the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. Reggie Copeland ’75 of Adams & Reese law firm in Mobile has been selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of the “Best Lawyers in America.”

Ken Stickney ’78 is the new executive editor of the American Press for Shearman newspapers in Lake Charles, La. Stickney has won state and regional news awards in reporting, depth reporting, commentary and editorial writing. He is serving his third term as president of the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors. Katherine M. Sisoian ’79 recently received the San Antonio Business Journal Women’s Leadership Award for Volunteer Leadership.

1980s Dr. Vincent P. Arata, DMD ’85 was named to the Catholic High Schools Alumni Association of Mobile’s (CHSAAM) Hall of Fame at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School. Alexander P. Armbrecht ’86 is the new administrative director for J.L. Bedsole/ Rotary Rehabilitation Hospital in Mobile.

1990s Tracey Moore Brachle ’92 and her husband, Paul, announce the birth of their second child, Mary Kate, born March 4, 2010. She weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19.75 inches long. Mary Kate joins big brother Luke. They reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kelly Hogan Wendland ’92 and her husband, Mark, announced the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth Kathryn, born Aug. 20, 2011. She was 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Jessie Halverson Burnside ’94 and Andy Burnside welcomed a son, Benjamin Roberts, on March 6, 2011. Jessie works as a copywriter for Burns Marketing Communications in Loveland, Colo. Kay Steele ’95 is an internship supervisor at Portland Community College in Portland, Ore. Yvonne M. De La Vega ’96 and Shawn Bourque were married on June 27, 2010 in Treasure Island, Fla. Sean Hardin ’96 and Maureen Shipley were married on July 3, 2011 at St. Anthony of Padua Church in St. Louis, Mo. They currently reside in St. Louis where Sean recently started his own insurance agency, Greenpoint Insurance Advisors. Gary Pugh ’96 works with the library information technology systems at the University of South Alabama.

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

Tara Ryan Oldham ’97 and Todd Oldham announce the birth of their first child, Bret James Oldham, on Aug. 18, 2011. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. Rae Williams Leytham ’98 and husband, Wesley, welcomed twin daughters born on Dec. 14, 2010. Margaret “Maggie” Grace was 5 pounds, 1 ounce; and Saylor Elizabeth was 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Their oldest daughter, Avery Rae, is 4 years old. The Leythams reside in Pensacola, Fla., where they have a wedding and portrait photography business, Rae Leytham Photography. Dr. Elizabeth Adams ’99 and husband, Matt, announce the birth of Catherine Adams, born Jan. 21, 2011. She is welcomed by her older brothers Will, 7, and Elliot, 3. They reside in Mobile, Ala. Delvin Seawright ’99 has been awarded a minority doctoral fellowship from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for the 2011-2012 school year. He is working on his Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in accounting at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. He is a CPA and Certified Government Financial Manager with over 10 years of experience as an accountant and one year experience as an adjunct accounting instructor.

2000s Brent Hoeman ’01 and Melanie Stevens were married on July 23, 2011 at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, La. Brendon Lawler ’02 and Anne Egan ’03 were married on Sept. 24, 2011 at St. Francis de Sales Church in New York. Joe Pappalardo ’02 is the vice president and in-house counsel at Latter & Blum Property Management, Inc. in New Orleans, La. Maria Cristina “MC” Garcia ’04 and Julio Cesar Bertemati ‘03 were married on June 4, 2011 at Gesu Catholic Church in Miami, Fla. AshLee Stephens Motyka ’03 and husband, Matt, announce the birth of their first child, Abigail Rose, on Sept. 14, 2010 in WinstonSalem, N.C. She weighted 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 22 inches long. Elizabeth Ferrill Rios ’03 recently accepted a position as senior account executive for Cookerly Public Relations. She resides in Atlanta with her husband, Gus, and son, Will.

Jennifer Leigh Girod ’04 and Bernard Scott were married at St. Joseph Chapel on Aug. 6, 2011. She works at Theodore High School in Theodore, Ala. Eddy Acevedo ’05 married Lourdes Cristina Cortizo at Gesu Catholic Church in Miami on Aug. 10, 2011. They reside in Arlington, Va., where Eddy is a professional staff member for the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs under the leadership of Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Georgiana Morales ’05 married Maurice E. Pipkin IV on June 25, 2011 at Gesu Catholic Church in Miami. Georgiana is a media manager for Macy’s Department Stores. The couple resides in Miami. Daniel Norfleet ’05 is in Alaska studying to be a doctor. He has received a grant to help serve the medical needs in underserved areas of Alaska. Kathleen Hughes Payne ’05 earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi. She works as a clinical psychologist in the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System Blind Rehabilitation Center in Biloxi, Miss. Caitlin Smith ’05 is a school sales manager at Pelican Publishing Company in New Orleans, La.

Dr. Brandon Goodwin ’05, Dr. Brian Dupont ’07 and Dr. Erica Pate ’07 graduated from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine on May 14, 2011. They are currently in their first year of residency. Timmie Ackels ’07 and Ty Hathorn ’07 were married Nov. 5, 2011 at St. Joseph Chapel. Timmie is assistant director of alumni/ development at Spring Hill College, and Ty is an AP/IB history teacher at Davidson High School in Mobile. Sarah Ampleman ’07 is a library clerk at the St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, Mo. Christopher Carey ’07 and Mallory Davis ’08 were married Sept. 24, 2011 at St. Joseph Chapel. Katie Noletto ’07 and Andrew Felis were married July 2, 2011 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mobile. Katie received her Master of Fine Arts degree in dance in December 2010 from Florida State University. The couple resides in Kirksville, Mo., where Andrew is in medical school. Kathleen Parks ’07 is the assistant district counsel at the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Nashville, Tenn.

Julie Anderson ’08 is a retail sales representative at the Hershey Company in Dothan, Ala. Robert Barrow ’08 teaches JROTC at LeFlore Magnet High School in Mobile. Patrick Crawford ’09 is the director of channel partnerships of the Northeast region at Gateway EDI in New York City. Jeromy Miller ’09 is an accountant at KBR, Inc. in Pascagoula, Miss. Kelly Phillips ’10 married Wally Reed IV on July 9, 2011. They reside in Louisville, Ky.

2010s Justin Woodard ’10 made his debut on the air at KLST in San Angelo, Texas for Concho Valley. Anna Marie Capote ’10, Gina Pambianchi ’11 and Davanne Piccini ’11 have been selected to serve as Jesuit volunteers in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Anna Marie was assigned to Catholic Charities in San Antonio, Texas; Gina to St. Martin de Porres Primary School in Belize City, Belize; and Davanne to St. Francis Mission in St. Francis, S.D.

Patrick Yursik ’07 and Megan Wientge ’08 were married Sept. 3, 2011 at The Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Mo. Megan is a physician’s assistant at Missouri Baptist Hospital.

In Memoriam Sally A. Allemang ’64 Gerald F. Barry ’39 Joseph Keith Bosarge ’52 James “Jim” Edward Brannigan ’59 Clayton H. Brant ’64 Kenneth “Ken” E. Brouilette ’56 Robert Jerome Carley ’37 John L. Copeland ’57 Kristina M. Cox ’71 James E. Crahan Jr. ’67 Mark Vincent Dantone ’85 Rita B. Durkin ’82 Fred Franklin Feagin ’66 Henry J. Fernandez ’50 Frank Vincent Fiore ’59 Thomas Octavius Gaillard ’56 Peter Porcher Gaillard ’65 William L. Goodall ’60

Joseph “Joe” H. Goldman ’62 Frederick “Fred” G. Helmsing, Sr. ’63 Charles H. Hindman ’84 Rev. Ernest R. Hyndman ’86 Carl J. Koster ’89 Adrian Iselin Lee ’43 Joseph Brooks Mackey ’65 Joseph Mitchell Maloof ’52 Dr. Nicholas D. Mamalis ’74 Louis Cannarella Mathers Jr. ’57 Edward J. McDonough ’42 Revera M. McMillian ’88 Larry Allen Menz ’70 John Anthony Miklic Jr. ’50 Dr. Joseph Bernard Miller ’42 Joseph H. Miller, Sr. ’50 Jewell L. Minnich ’62 Lynn George Muth ’73

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

Gloria Hay Myers ’69 Elizabeth T. Peters ’88 Jesse Arnold Prouse ’59 Joseph “Steve” Stephen Noser ’64 Julia Marie Nunan ’66 Dr. Marcelino Oliva Jr. ’59 Martin O’Malley ’42 Rev. Monsignor Milton L. Reisch ’54 Dr. Paul Roell ’52 Thomas E. Sharp ’39 Samuel Parker Stewart ’09 Norborne “Bazoo” C. Stone ’47 William Maginnis Walsh ’42 Max T. Watson ’59 Henry E. Wilson ’52 Phillip J. Westley ’59

Does Someone You Know Deserve an Award? Spring Hill College presents several honors annually to outstanding alumni and non-alumni who, through various acts and achievements, have shown their commitment to Spring Hill College and their communities. We encourage you to take a few minutes to nominate outstanding individuals who deserve recognition in these areas. Ignatian Award Community service and humanitarianism Karopczyc Award Young alumnus for outstanding service to College or community Gautrelet Award Outstanding professional achievement Athletic Hall of Fame Outstanding athletic achievement In adherence to the award descriptions, I hereby nominate:

Share your successes with friends and classmates by submitting your news to the Spring Hill College Magazine. We want to know about your new job, volunteer work, exciting accomplishment, recent marriage or addition to the family. Send your news to: Spring Hill College Class Notes Office of Alumni Programs 4000 Dauphin St. Mobile, AL 36608 E-mail your news to alumni@shc.edu, or fill out the online form on BadgerNet at www.shc.edu/alumni.

Nominee: Date Submitted: Class (if known): Address: City/State:

Dec. 1 – Northeast Christmas Party

Zip Code: Professional Affiliation:

Dec. 8 – Immaculate Conception Mass & Mobile Christmas Party

For the Following Award(s):

Dec. 9 – West Palm Beach Christmas Party

Reasons for Nomination:

Dec. 10 – Miami Christmas Party

Submitted by: Address: City/State/Zip Code: Phone:

Class:

Please detach and send this completed form by Jan. 18, 2012, to: Office of Alumni Programs 4000 Dauphin Street Mobile, AL 36608 Or, complete online at www.shc.edu/alumni If you have questions about any of these awards, please 26 call the Alumni Office toll-free at (877) SPR-HILL.

Dec. 16 – Dallas Christmas Party Dec. 24 – Mobile Christmas Eve Mass For complete details, additional events and registration, log on to www.shc.edu/alumni or call 877-SPR-HILL.

Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

Giving

SHC establishes Mary York Scholarship in Nursing By John Kerr

Mary York’s legacy is one of healing and love for the was, ‘Good is its own reward.’ It’s a simple yet powerful many SHC students she cared for. message that reflects the way she approached life.” As the Spring Hill College nurse for 37 years, York Cliff York added, “For 37 years, she treated every touched a lot of lives. Known to thousands of students kid who came on campus as one of her own. The same as “Nurse York,” she was not only a nurse but also a was true for the faculty and staff. The passion she surrogate mother. demonstrated helping others through illness, injury and Amidst all the allergy all kinds of emotional “For 37 years, she treated every kid who challenges perfectly stated shots, bouts of mono and late-night trips to the came on campus as one of her own. The how she felt about Spring emergency room, she also same was true for the faculty and staff.” Hill and the Jesuit mission. managed to earn a degree “Honoring her by - Cliff York in general studies from SHC helping nursing students in 1984. with the cost of education would make her very proud.” York came to Spring Hill in 1967 and retired in 2004 All three of York’s children, Cliff, Jay ’77 and Mary ’80, as one of the College’s most cherished professionals and graduated from Spring Hill; as did her husband Jerry ’84, one of the students’ most beloved friends. daughter-in-law Margee (Bopp) York ’76, son-in-law Bo Hudson ’80, To honor Nurse York, Spring Hill College has granddaughter Molly (York) Strauss ’97 and her husband established a nursing scholarship in her name. Eric Strauss ’96. York’s oldest son, Cliff ’75, recently shared some memories of his mother. “I think my mom wrote the To find out more on how to support the Mary York book on motherly sayings and seemed to drop one into Scholarship in Nursing, contact the SHC Advancement every conversation,” Cliff York said. “One of her favorites Office at (251) 380-2280 or visit www.shc.edu/giving. Spring Hill College Magazine • Fall 2011

Spring Hill College

4000 Dauphin Street Mobile, AL 36608-1791

Spring Hill College Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 2011