Spring Hill College Magazine | Winter 2014

Spring Hill the spring hill college magazine

winter 2014

Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador

from the president

Dear Alumni and Friends, My days at Spring Hill College are blessed with the beauty of life on campus. The Hill adds dimension to our students’ lives. It gives them pride in the roots they form here, a common ground when they come across fellow alumni one day. Our picturesque campus provides an environment in which our students grow during this truly transformative time in their lives.

As the fall semester and another year come to a close, we have much to be thankful for. I would like to welcome as our new Board of Trustees chairman, Michael Coghlan ’77. I would like to extend words of thanks on behalf of the College to Jim McKinney ’69 who has served as chairman during a pivotal time in the College’s 184-year history. The leadership of our Board of Trustees is instrumental in steering the College on its path to continued success in the Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts tradition and ensuring we strengthen as an academic institution each year.

In this edition of the Spring Hill College Magazine, you will find an array of stories highlighting the campus happenings, introducing new faces and celebrating the accomplishments of students and alumni.You will find news of the College’s presidential search, a movie filmed on campus, athletics, and what our alumni have been up to. It’s a glimpse into life on the Hill and beyond.

This fall the campus community also welcomed Dr. Thomas M. Kelly of Creighton University. Dr. Kelly presented “Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs: A Faith that Does Justice,” to an audience of student and community members. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre of eight people at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in El Salvador. Six of those eight were Jesuits. A recap on Kelly’s presentation and an article by Spring Hill College professor, Dr. Stephen Wilson, bring to light the work of the six Jesuits advocating for the poor, what led to this tragic event, and what has come of it in the years after. Honoring the memory of the martyrs is important in our education of and in keeping the promise to our students in their formation as leaders in justice for all.

I hope this edition finds you eager to share it with your family and friends during the holidays. May the blessing of Christmas bring you peace, and your New Year filled with hope.

Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J., President

in this issue

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Winter 2014

news from the hill

St. Joe’s Starring Role

“Yellow Day” movie filmed on campus, update on the search for a new president, and more.

St. Joseph Chapel was the setting for the Mass honoring the Jesuit marytrs.

Features 16 We Hear Their Heartbeat: Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador

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badger news

Updates on fall sports, NCAA compliance and new coaches.

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alumni news

Dr. Stephen Wilson recounts the events of the Salvadoran Civil War that led to the massacre of six Jesuits and their lay companions.

24 Home Sweet Hill

A pictorial of some of Spring Hill’s most most iconic spots on campus.

32 Chapter Updates 34 Class Notes 38 In Memoriam 40 Giving

just for fun on the cover:

6 Badgers Being Social Comments from our Facebook followwers

The cover features a painting of Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., one of the six Jesuit martyrs. The portraits of the Jesuits and their two lay companions were painted by artist Mary Pimmel-Freeman, a 2006 Rockhurst University graduate.

38 The Last Word Hearts of Gold Kayla ‘16 and Krista Owens ’16

view from the hill

Our campus provides the backdrop for many Badger traditions, new and old. Elizabeth Briggs ‘16 and Katie Drez ‘17 enjoy “hammocking” in Rydex Commons.

badgers being social

Spring Hill the spring hill college magazine Winter 2014

scene and heard> Comments from our Facebook followers on recent postings…

Editor: Lindsay Hughes, MLA ’08

On your favorite meal in the Caf (below) Art Director: Sharla Brink ’95

Photography: Seth Laubinger ‘02 Ashley Rowe Spring Hill College Archives

Contributing Writers: Andrew Cuff ‘15 Monde Donaldson Hallet Dunn Laura McNeill Jim Stennett Stephen Wilson, Ph.D.

President: Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J.

On the passing of Rev. G.T. Regan, S.J. Linda Gerard Tresslar – “Gentleman … scholar … a true Jesuit … and good friend. I loved learning and laughing with him. You will be greatly missed GTR.”

The Office of Communications and Institutional Marketing annually publishes two printed issues and two online-exclusive editions of The Spring Hill College Magazine.

Comments should be addressed to:

On the death of Rev. William Harmless, S.J. Carol Mann – “I had the privilege of being in one of his classes when I worked at SHC. Bill Harmless was a gifted teacher and always had time for students and those of us that just liked to have a conversation with him. My sympathies to his family. I know he’s walking the streets of gold now.”

On Move-in Day Tracey Hartzog Carr – “I remember it like it was yesterday!”

Scott McDonald – “Two big carloads done in less than 10 minutes.

Thanks for making a special day even more special!”

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 Advancement Services at (251) 380-2284.

News from the hill

Lindsey Shaw and Drew Seeley act out a scene in St. Joseph Chapel.

St. Joseph Chapel setting for “Yellow Day” movie “Yellow Day,” a faith-based feature film and fairy tale, premiered Sept.

16, at the Mobile Civic Center Theater. The film is a blend of animation and live action. The live-action scenes were filmed over the course of 20 days in the summer of 2012 in St. Joseph Chapel and Mobile’s Camp Grace.

Utilizing a production crew of more than 40 people and an award-winning animation studio based in Nashville, “Yellow Day,” was produced by local individuals and pulled from hundreds of volunteers and ecumenical groups within the Mobile community.

“To have produced such a powerful, quality, and truly community-driven independent film is a remarkable feat for the Mobile Bay area,” said G.P. “Jeff” Galle Jr., writer, executive producer and director of animation.

Galle is the son of Dr. Gerard Galle ’74 and grandson of famed SHC baseball coach Stan Galle, namesake of Spring Hill’s historic Stan Galle Field. Carl Lauten, son of Buddy Lauten ’50, directed the film and works at Nickelodeon.

The film stars Drew Seeley (“Glory Daze”), Lindsey Shaw (“Pretty Little Liars”) and Ashley Boettcher (“Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street”).

www.shc.edu

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news from the hill

Lucey celebrates 50 years of priesthood Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J. celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest on Sunday, Sept. 7. Mass was held in St. Joseph Chapel, followed by a reception in the Gautrelet Room.

Spring Hill College’s 5th annual Ignatian Day of Service

Spring Hill employees volunteer at the Mobile Bay Area Food Bank.

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In honor of the Feast Day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on July 31, more than 80 Spring Hill College faculty and staff volunteered throughout the city of Mobile.

Participants painted, visited the elderly, cleaned animal cages, restocked food, laid tile, did construction work, cleaned classrooms, as well as various other tasks at the seven service sites: Mobile Bay Area Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Little Sisters of the Poor retirement home, the Mobile Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Little Flower Catholic School, and historic Stewartfield on Spring Hill’s campus.

Spring Hill College continues presidential search Spring Hill College has embarked on a journey to select its next president. The Board of Trustees appointed a Presidential Search Committee, chaired by trustees Mary Lou Barter and Irving Silver.

Also appointed to serve on the committee are Michael Coghlan, current board chair; James McKinney, immediate past board chair; Dr. Thomas Hoffman, chair of the Faculty Assembly; and trustees Rev. Gregory Konz, S.J.; Rev. Donal Godrey, S.J.; Dennis McCluskey, M.D.; Patti Kane and Daniel Elcan.

Over the course of several weeks in September, President Gregory F. Lucey, S.J., conducted discussion sessions with the College leadership. He spoke with the Executive Committee of the Faculty Assembly, members of the Student Government Association, members of the Jesuit community, members of the National Alumni Association Board, members of the College Senate, and the College cabinet to begin to develop a profile for Spring Hill's next president. Lucey asked the various stakeholders, "What characteristics are we looking for in our next president?"

The characteristics approved by the board include: 1. Leadership for supporting the mission of Spring Hill College

as a Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education.

2. Strong management skills as well as extensive experience

regarding higher education financial management.

3. A record of demonstrated, extensive, sustained and successful

major gift and capital campaign leadership experience.

4. Vision and demonstrated higher education leadership skills

of the highest caliber as reflected in a consistent and sustained

record of achievement in accomplishing significant transforma tional organizational objectives.

5. Integrity of character and self-confidence.

6. A respect for the world of academia and learning.

7. An appreciation for the history, culture and values of

Spring Hill College and the contributions of the College.

Welcome to the Members of the Parents Advisory Council William and Karen Blaylock Reb and Anne Bodet Kurt and Kema Bueche Rosemary Buckle Claire Duchemin Tom and Heidi Elliot Joseph and Sherrill Grace Cynthia Heffernan Lee Leavitt Allison Lemm David and Carol LeNoir Stuart Luckie Scott and Leazel McDonald Randy McNeill Jane Murphy Tom and Karen Novak Leslie Reddick Tom and Gail Segatta Chris Teague Scott and Christine Zazulak The next Parents Advisory Council meeting is Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, on Spring Hill’s campus. If you are interested in the Parents Advisory Council, please contact Emily Fife at efife@shc.edu or by phone at (251) 648-8405.

Lucey and the board stressed the importance that the next president have knowledge and experience in being a leader in an academic institution and have a strong understanding of the challenges facing Catholic, liberal arts institutions. Lucey said, "While our first priority would be to continue the long history of Spring Hill and fill the president's job with a Jesuit priest, we are committed to finding the best person possible to lead this outstanding institution into the foreseeable future."

The board is committed to finding Spring Hill's next leader in a timely manner and will continue a targeted search over the next several months. www.shc.edu

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news from the hill

Michael P. Coghlan ’77 elected chair of the Board of Trustees Michael P. Coghlan was recently elected as chairman of the Spring Hill College Board of Trustees. He served on the board from 2002 to 2011 and was re-elected in 2013. He replaces Jim McKinney ’69 as chair.

Coghlan received his B.S. in accounting from Spring Hill College in 1977.

After working in public accounting as a CPA, he joined the Coca-Cola system in 1983. Coghlan held various financial positions within Coca-Cola Enterprises until becoming its vice president controller and principal accounting officer in 1999.

He retired from Coca-Cola Enterprises, and in 2004 he and his business partner opened Avant Partir, a wine wholesaling company based in Atlanta, Ga. Avant Partir distributes primarily small production wines from Europe and the U.S. west coast. Coghlan is now the sole owner of Avant Partir.

Coghlan, a Mobile native, met his wife, Kathy ’78, at Spring Hill. They have two sons, Michael ’05 and Kyle, as well as their first grandson.

Meet the New Trustees

From left: Matthew Baugh, S.J.; Dr. Bart Kendrick ‘82; Dr. Charles Mosteller; Chris Rader ‘90; Dr. Jennifer Scalici ‘99; Rev. Andy Thon, S.J.; Kelly Woodford

Matthew Baugh, S.J. Baugh is a Jesuit scholastic and assistant professor of political science and law at Spring Hill College.

After receiving a B.A. from Duke University in 2001, he studied international relations at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He also earned a law degree from Yale Law School and a graduate diploma in philosophy from Regis College in the University of Toronto.

Since entering the Society of Jesus in 2007, Baugh has been sent by his superiors to serve in a variety of ministries: a home for people with mental disabilities in Mobile, Ala.; the Jesuit high school in New Orleans; a parish in the mountains of El Salvador; and a city in western Guatemala.

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Dr. James “Bart” Kendrick ’82 After graduating from Spring Hill College in 1982, Kendrick attended the Baylor College of Medicine for medical school, internship, and residency. He is an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. His area of specialty includes trauma and joint replacement surgery.

Kendrick partnered with Patrice and Bro Baur to spearhead the establishment of the Creagan Memorial Plaza in honor of the late Rev. Daniel Creagan, S.J. He served on the SHC National Alumni Association Board of Spring Hill College and recently organized the Miller-LeJeune Scholarship reunion in the spring of 2014.

Dr. Charles Mosteller Mosteller is a graduate of the College of Charleston and attended the University of Alabama’s School of Medicine in Birmingham. He joined the Premiere Medical Group in 1992 after completing an ophthalmology residency at Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation and a fellowship in oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital, University of London.

For more than 25 years, Mosteller has treated eyelid abnormalities. He is the vice president of the Dauphin West Surgery Center, a Gulf Coast regional chair of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, a board member for the Premier Medical Group, and a trustee of College of Charleston Foundation Board.

Chris Rader ’90 Rader earned an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

In 1998 he founded Rader Solutions in Lafayette, La. Today, Rader and his staff manage information technology for fast-growth energy, medical, manufacturing, and building supply companies located throughout the United States.

Rader serves on numerous boards, including Schools of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, La., and the Lafayette Community Health Care Clinic.

He also serves on a marketing

taskforce for the Community Foundation of Acadiana. He is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Louisiana and was appointed in 2013 to the Louisiana Innovation Council.

Dr. Jennifer Scalici ’99 Scalici graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine in 2005. She joined the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Cancer Institute in 2012 after completing an OBGYN residency at Northwestern University and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Virginia.

She has built a busy clinical practice with an emphasis on minimally invasive and robotic surgery. She is currently primary investigator for MCI on a national protocol to evaluate a novel, minimally invasive procedure to improve the prognostic value and decrease the morbidity of lymph node dissections in gynecologic malignancies.

Rev. Andy Thon, S.J. Thon is a clinical associate professor of higher education and student affairs in Marquette University’s College Student Personnel master’s degree program. He was a senior student affairs administrator for 20 years at Marquette University, including 11 years as vice president for student affairs, and previously worked at Seattle University, and Wheeling College (now Wheeling Jesuit University).

He was a member of the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators (JASPA) Executive Board for 20 years including serving as JASPA president.

Thon has a Ph.D. in higher education administration from University of WisconsinMadison, Master of Divinity from Regis College, Toronto, Canada, and a Master of Education from Marquette University.

Kelly Woodford ’89, SHC National Alumni Association Board President Woodford is a professor in the Mitchell College of Business at the University of South Alabama. She is also special counsel with The Kullman Firm where her practice focuses exclusively on representing management in labor, employment and employee benefits matters.

Woodford earned her J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she served as senior editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business. She is a frequent speaker on labor and employment topics and her scholarly work has been published in a variety of academic and practitioner publications. She is a member of the Alabama State Bar, District of Columbia Bar (inactive status), and the Mobile Society for Human Resource Management.

www.shc.edu

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news from the hill

Salancy appointed new Vice President for Advancement

Carpenter named vice

Fred Salancy was named the vice president for advancement and oversees the College’s development, alumni programs, and communications and marketing staff. He began his post Aug. 4.

Since 2009, Salancy served as the assistant dean of fine arts for the Florida State University Foundation in Tallahassee, Fla. As the chief advancement officer for the College of Visual Arts, Theater and Dance, and the College of Motion Picture Arts, he raised more than $23 million in major gifts for the foundation in the past five years. Salancy served as the director of development for FSU’s College of Social Sciences from 2000 to 2002, and as senior director of development for the university’s fine arts programs from 2002 to 2009.

Prior to his appointment at FSU, Salancy worked in development at Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, the largest not-for-profit theater in the state of Florida. In the summer of 1993, he was selected to participate in the National Endowment for the Arts – Arts Administration Fellows Program.

From 1981 to 1984, Salancy was an assistant professor and director of theater at Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, NC. Following his role at Pfeiffer, he was on the inaugural theater faculty at New World School of the Arts in Miami.

Salancy received a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Wheeling Jesuit University. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in theater from West Virginia University and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Georgia.

Rosalie A. Carpenter joined Spring Hill College’s leadership team in November as the vice president for student affairs. She will oversee all aspects of student affairs, including housing, campus ministry, student involvement, the wellness center, student government and dining services.

Carpenter comes to Spring Hill after an 11-year tenure at Stetson University, a private, liberal arts institution in DeLand, Fla., with a student population of 2,700. She most recently served as Stetson’s dean of students, providing strategic leadership to a student affairs division of more than 70 professionals. Some of her direct reports included the areas of student conduct, diversity and inclusion, interfaith initiatives, Greek life, first-year and transition programs, leadership development and the Student Government Association. Additionally, she coordinated the on-call crisis response team and served as the deputy Title IX coordinator for students to ensure federal compliance.

Carpenter holds a Bachelor of Science from Stetson University, and earned master’s degrees in higher education administration from the University of South Carolina and in positive organizational development and change from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. She regularly presents at national conferences and has received numerous awards for her work in the profession.

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president for student affairs

badger News

by Jim Stennett

Fall sports adapting to NCAA Division II

Junior Jordan Travis of Poplarville, Miss., finishes at the Disney Cross Country Classic in Orlando.

The Spring Hill College fall semester sports teams have experienced several highs and lows in their first season as a member of NCAA Division II. Women’s soccer currently stands at 3-7-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the Gulf States Conference (GSC). The Badgers earned their first win as a member of the NCAA on Sept. 7 in Americus, Ga., when they notched a 5-1 victory over Georgia Southwestern State University. Sophomore Maha Maarouf scored the first NCAA goal in SHC women’s history in the game’s 15th minute off an assist by junior Courtney Harlan.

The men’s soccer team holds a 2-7 mark overall and a 1-2 record in GSC play. Senior Eric Schwing tallied the program’s first NCAA goal in a 1-0 victory at the University of North Georgia in the 45th minute of the game in Dahlonega, Ga. Volleyball raced to a 13-0 start in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and currently stands at 20-5 overall. Senior Megan Haber leads the Badger offense with 299 kills and sophomore Marie Rooks has handed out 781 assists. Senior Sami Maurer has scooped in 328 digs while sophomore Savannah Becnel has blocked 61 shots by the opposition.

In other sports, the bowling teams opened the year with impressive showings at the TyBryt Invitational Bakers Challenge in The Colony, Texas, as the women won the championship over West Texas A&M and the men placed second after losing a nail-biting 3-2 decision to West Texas A&M in the finals. Women’s golf started the year with a 5th place finish at the Union University Invitational in Jackson, Tenn. The men won the event with +29 total score of 893 (296, 296, 301) over the 6816-yard, par 72 course.

Cross country has run in five events so far in 2014 including the Disney Cross Country Classic in Orlando, Fla., where the women placed 19th of 29 top teams from around the country and the men placed 10th of 21 teams.

Senior John Russell and junior Jordan Travis turned in a cross country rarity by tying each other for 40th place in the race as well as 16th best in SHC men’s 8-kilometer history with times of 2:24.18 over eight kilometers.

badger news

NCAA Compliance: What alumni and fans of SHC Badger Athletics should know Sheila Martin, Spring Hill’s new assistant athletic director for internal affairs and compliance, is charged with the responsibility to educate our coaches, student-athletes, faculty, staff, donors, boosters, alumni, fans and friends on a wide variety of NCAA rules and regulations.

SHC strives for academic and athletic excellence, as well as maintaining the highest standard of ethical conduct. Involvement with our athletics program is critical to our success, but any inappropriate activity, even if unintentional, could jeopardize the eligibility of our current and prospective student-athletes and Spring Hill College’s compliance with NCAA and Conference regulations.

What can a booster do? (The compliance office must approve of all activities prior to engagement.)

• Provide employment for prospective or currently enrolled student-athletes during permissible periods. All compensation paid to a student-athlete must be for work actually performed and given at a rate equal to the going rate for a similar job in the local area.

• Attend games where prospects are com peting, as long as no contact is made with the prospect or prospect's parents.

• Provide a student-athlete or the entire team in a sport an occasional meal in the home of an institutional staff member or a represent tive of athletics interests.

• Notify the Athletics Department or a member of the SHC coaching staff about outstanding prospects.

• Attend high school or junior college sporting events that you would normally attend pro vided there is no contact with a prospective student athlete.

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What is a booster prohibited from doing?

• Providing a prospective or current student athlete and their relatives and friends with any extra benefits.

• Making recruiting presentations to groups of prospective student-athletes.

• Providing anything to or for a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or friends without first checking with the SHC compliance office.

• Contact any enrolled student-athlete at another institution for the purpose of encouraging them to transfer and participate in another institution’s athletics program.

• Entertain or provide awards or gifts for a current student-athlete, or his/her family and friends.

• Use a student-athlete's name, picture, or appearance to promote sales or advertise the use of a commercial product or service.

What is an extra benefit?

Specifically prohibited financial aid, benefits and arrangements include, but are not limited to, the following: • Employment arrangement for a prospect's relatives • Gifts of clothing or equipment • Co-signing of loans or providing loans to a prospect's relatives or friends • Cash or similar items • Any tangible items, including merchandise • Free or reduced-cost services, rentals or purchases of any type • Free or reduced-cost housing • Use of an institution’s athletics equipment If you have any questions regarding compliance, eligibility or recruiting at Spring Hill College, contact Sheila Martin at smartin@shc.edu.

see complete athletic coverage at www.shc.badgers.com

Clayton hired to head spirit programs In October, the Athletics Department announced the hiring of Carrie Clayton of Mobile as spirit program coordinator with responsibilities over the Badger cheer and dance programs. Clayton has served as an assistant coach for the Badger dance program since 2013.

“I have truly enjoyed the past year as an assistant dance team coach at SHC,” Clayton said. “The wonderful student-athletes, helpful staff and beautiful campus make Spring Hill College an inviting place to be. I am thrilled to be the new spirit programs coordinator and look forward to my future here.”

Clayton was an assistant coach with the University of South Alabama (USA) Prowlers Dance Team for four years after having danced for the Prowlers while in college. She has also served as the dance team coach at both Dawes Intermediate School and UMS-Wright Preparatory School.

Goonan takes over SHC rugby teams, strength and conditioning The men’s and women’s rugby clubs welcomed Justin Goonan as their new head coach this fall. Goonan has also taken on the challenge of being the first strength and conditioning coach in Badger Athletics history with the duties of designing conditioning programs for each of the SHC sports teams.

“So far, this season has been a learning year for both the rugby teams and me,” Goonan said. “I’ve asked our players to adopt a new style and process of play that few of them have been exposed to before, but they have great attitudes.”

Goonan instituted one change immediately that caught his players’ attention. “I’ve added more strength and condition to our routines and less practice time,” he said. “It has made us stronger and improved our fitness while at the same time giving them more time for class and study. Our players carry a heavy class load and I wanted to give them more time to focus on that aspect of their lives.

Also, I started a mandatory study hall for freshmen and anyone with academic issues. I was impressed when our upperclassmen stepped up and suggested that everyone participate as a team-building process and to help out their teammates.”

A 2005 graduate of Texas A&M, Goonan came to Spring Hill from Wake Forest University where he was named the Demon Deacons’ 2014 Club Sports Coach of the Year. In addition to his tenure at Wake Forest, Goonan has a wide range of coaching and playing experience including at the international level where he served as a strength and conditioning intern with the London Scottish RFU-Championship League in 2012-13 and Strength Coach of the USA Rugby Junior All-Americans in 2010-12. From 2008 to 2012, Goonan was the backs and sevens coach with the Boston College Rugby Club in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

When not with the Badger rugby teams, Goonan dons his strength and condition coach hat. “That job has been a bit of a whirlwind for me,” he said. “The first item on my agenda was to rearrange the weight room in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center to create more room and to make it more usable for our student-athletes.”

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Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J. Segundo Montes, S.J. Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J. Joaquín López y López, S.J. Amando López, S.J. Elba and Celina Ramos Paintings by Mary Pimmel-Freeman

We Hear Their

Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador

by Stephen Wilson, Ph.D.

“Between 1980 and 1991, the Republic of El Salvador…was engulfed in a war which plunged Salvadorian society into violence, left it with thousands and thousands of people dead. …

Violence was a fire which swept over the fields of El Salvador; it burst into villages, cut off roads and destroyed highways and bridges, energy sources and transmission lines; it reached cities and entered families, sacred areas and educational centres. …

Violence turned everything to death and destruction.”

– United Nations Security Council, “From Madness to Hope: The 12-Year War in Salvador: Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador,” March 15, 1993

In

the early morning of Nov. 16, 1989, that fire of violence torched the campus of the Catholic university in San Salvador, the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA). In its wake, there were eight dead, including six Jesuits: Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio MartínBaró, Juan Ramón Moreno, Armando López, and Joaquín López y López. The Jesuits were the targets of United States-trained commandos who were members of the Atlacatl Battalion that were sent to the UCA by the military High Command. The commandos also killed Julia Elba Ramos, a cook for seminarians living near the UCA, and her teenage daughter, Celina. The two, ironically, had sought shelter with the Jesuits because of gunfire near their own home.

That violence entered the gates of the UCA is hardly surprising considering its prevalence during the civil war. According to Amnesty International, 75,000 people died during the conflict. While both sides were complicit in the torture and deaths of civilians, the United Nations report clearly indicates that government forces and their paramilitary allies were responsible for most of the atrocities. Many of the victims were “disappeared,” meaning they were taken from their families, tortured, and eventually executed. In some cases, entire communities were wiped out.

The massacre of the village of El Mozote is but one example. On Dec. 10, 1981, members of the Atlacatl Battalion, the very military unit that would be responsible for the deaths of the Jesuits, entered the village and detained all the men, women, and children with no resistance from the campesinos (villagers). The following day the campesinos were tortured and executed in groups.

The report of the Truth Commission harrowingly describes the event: “During the morning, [the soldiers] proceeded to interrogate, torture and execute the men in various locations. Around noon, they began taking out the women in groups, separating them from their children and machine gunning them. Finally, they killed the children. A group of children who had been locked in the convent were machine-gunned through the windows. After exterminating the entire population, the soldiers set fire to the buildings.”

The rose garden at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) commemorates where the Jesuits were assassinated.

A destroyed book found in Juan Ramón Moreno's room following his brutal murder.

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The number of victims is estimated to be over 200 people. The massacre in El Mazote was part a wider campaign known as Operación Rescate, which resulted in the slaughter of more than 500 people.

In addition to the UCA martyrs, other church officials were victims of violence in El Salvador. The most widely known example is Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. Romero’s denunciation of human rights abuses and use of violence by the government led to him being viewed as allied with the “subversives” by members of the government and armed forces. In early 1980, he delivered a series of homilies that furthered right-wing animosity against him. One of those sermons, which he gave on Feb. 17, asked the United States government to stop supplying military aid to the junta. In one on March 23, he passionately implored soldiers to stop the repression of civilians.

The next day he was celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Hospital de la Divina Providencia, just up the hill from his small apartment on the hospital grounds. Shortly after finishing the homily, which prophetically was on martyrdom, he was murdered by an assassin, who fired a single bullet that struck him in the right thorax. The order to kill Romero had been given by a former officer in the military, Roberto D’Aubuisson, who would later found the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) political party, the current right-wing party in El Salvador.

Other church leaders also lost their lives serving as advocates for the poor. In a move that foreshadowed the murders of the UCA martyrs, the first priest to die was the Jesuit Rutilio Grande Garciá, who was assassinated in 1977. Grande was a close friend of Romero, and his death was a catalyst in Romero’s increasing role in opposing injustice and violence.

It is also noteworthy that not all of victims were Salvadorans. Five of the Jesuits killed at the UCA were born in Spain. Americans were also targeted.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on Dec. 2, 1980, the National Guard arrested four American missionaries as they were leaving Comalapa International Airport, as it was then known. (It is now named in honor of Archbishop Romero.) The four women were Jean Donovan, Ursuline sister Dorothy Kazel, and Maryknoll sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke. www.shc.edu

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Following their arrests, the women were taken to an isolated area where they were tortured and raped before being shot at short range under the orders of Deputy Sergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Alemán. In 1984 Colindres and his men would be convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. It was the first time in the history of El Salvador that a judge had convicted members of the military for murder, a clear sign that the victims of violence and their families in El Salvador have rarely seen justice served.

The lack of justice in El Salvador makes it that much more of an imperative to maintain the memories of the victims of injustice and violence. In the case of the UCA martyrs, it is important to remember the contributions their lives and deaths made to the people of El Salvador.

They were killed for exposing injustice in El Salvador and trying to overcome it. Their deaths, in turn, helped galvanize people both in and outside the country in bringing an end to the war. On hearing the news of the deaths of the Jesuits, Catholics in the United States began to pressure their politicians to cut off military aid to the Salvadoran government. That reduction in aid and the scandal created by the murders within El Salvador expedited the peace process, which led to the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords on Jan. 16, 1992, in Mexico City.

Even today the legacy of the UCA martyrs lives on.

On the 20th anniversary of their murders the six Jesuits killed at the UCA were posthumously given El Salvador’s highest state honor – the Order of José Matías Delgado –

by President Mauricio Funes. In the United States efforts are ongoing to close the school (formerly known as the School of the Americas and now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) that trained the men who carried out the UCA massacre. Finally, every year representatives of various Jesuit institutions, including Spring Hill College, come together in November as part of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice to commemorate their memory and to learn from their witness in living “a faith that does justice.”

Dr. Stephen Wilson is associate professor of theology at Spring Hill College. The title of this article is a reference to lyrics in “Mothers of the Disappeared,” a song by the band U2 about the atrocities in El Salvador.

(Pictured from top): Rev. Ted Arroyo, S.J., rector of the Spring Hill Jesuit community, celebrates Mass on the 25th anniversary of the Jesuits' deaths. He received the red stole, draped over his left arm, on his trip to El Salvador in November 1990, on the first anniversary of their deaths; Students watch a video on the Salvadoran civil war prior to Dr. Tom Kelly’s presentation; Katherine Abalos ‘15 lays a cross at the altar in St. Joseph Chapel to honor those who lost their lives in El Salvador.

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A Faith that Does Justice Dr. Thomas M. Kelly, professor of theology at Creighton University, presented “Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs: A Faith that Does Justice” to the Spring Hill community Nov. 17. His talk focused on the events leading up to the Jesuits’ massacre and why their work with the poor and marginalized made them targets of the Salvadoran military.

The Jesuit faculty of Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) chose to embody the mission articulated in the 1975 General Congregation 32 of the Society of Jesus, which decreed: “The mission of the Society today is the service of faith of which the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement.”

“What got the Jesuits killed were the choices of whom they served and how they served them,” Kelly explained. The UCA Jesuits had collaborated with Rutilio Grande, S.J., who worked in El Salvador’s rural communities.

Grande criticized the Church for perpetuating the cycle of oppression, even if it did so unintentionally. The Jesuits, on the other hand, taught that it was not God’s will for the poor to remain in poverty.

“By offering a variety of courses to these poor agricultural workers, the UCA was trying to transform the structural inequity in El Salvador that hurt so many people,” Kelly said. These courses empowered campesinos to become promoters of their own destiny, a notion that was particularly offensive to the Salvadoran government.

Although their work at the UCA was immensely important, Kelly said, “the Jesuits were also committed to transforming Salvadoran society outside the university gates, working for peace and justice in the midst of violence and deep economic disparities.”

Kelly challenged the Spring Hill students in attendance to use their Jesuit education to make a meaningful difference in the lives most marginalized in our society.

Over the past 12 years, Kelly has held various administrative positions at Creighton and has taught immersion courses in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Peru. He has published nationally and internationally on topics ranging from philosophical hermeneutics, liberation theology, immersion education, marriage and social ethics. His latest book analyzes the life, ministry and death of Rutilio Grande, S.J.

Who were the

Jesuit Martyrs?

“Kill Father Ellacuria and leave no witnesses.”

– Order from Col. René Emilio Ponce, Chief of the Salvadoran Armed Forces General Staff

Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. Born Nov. 9, 1930, in Bilbao, Spain Ellacuría served as the rector of Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) for over 10 years. He was a theologian, a philosopher and a gifted intellectual with a fierce commitment to human rights. It was his strong advocacy for a negotiated solution to the war that won him the enmity of the military and rightist political sectors.

For the last 20 years of his life, he was also involved in pastoral work with the poor.

Because of his outspoken criticism of the military dictatorship, Ellacuría was the primary target of the Salvadoran military. Ellacuría maintained that the fundamental cause of the armed conflict in El Salvador was not the aggression of communism but the structural injustice lived by Salvadorans.

For him the only way to end with the war was to deal with this injustice.

Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J. Born Nov. 7, 1942, in Valladolid, Spain Martín-Baró was a wellknown scholar, social psychologist and philosopher. After his entrance into the Society of Jesus, his superiors sent him to Central America. In 1967, Father Martín-Baró started

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teaching at the UCA. He served many roles during his tenure, including that of dean of students and head of the Psychology Department. In 1986, he founded the University Institute of Public Opinion at the UCA, which sought to assess the attitudes and opinions of the Salvadoran people.

On the night of Nov. 15, 1989, Martín-Baró placed a telephone call to his sister Alicia in Spain.

During the call, Alicia asked him, “When are things going to improve in El Salvador?” Martín-Baró answered, “Oh, many people have to die before that happens.” Just a few hours later, he and the others were killed.

Segundo Montes, S.J. Born May 15, 1933, in Valladolid, Spain Montes was a well-known scholar and human rights activist. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1950. He began his teaching career at the Externado San José, a Jesuit school traditionally dedicated to educate the children of the Salvadoran elite. One of his students, José Ricardo Espinoza Guerra, would later command the soldiers that killed him.

In 1985, Montes founded and directed the Human Rights Institute at UCA, working with Salvadoran refugees throughout Central and North America. He was appointed to the boards of the Central American Resource Center and the Center for Central American Refugees. He also became an informal advisor to Congressman Joe Moakley

of Massachusetts on the subject of Salvadoran Refugees in the United States Moakley was later tasked by the U.S. Congress to investigate the Jesuits’ massacre.

Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J. Born Aug. 29, 1933, in Navarra, Spain After entering the Jesuit novitiate in 1950, Moreno spent the next eight years in El Salvador. In 1969, Moreno traveled to Rome to take courses on spirituality, and in 1970, he returned to El Salvador to direct the Jesuit seminary.

While there, he also taught at the UCA. In 1976, Moreno was sent to Panama to create the Ignatian Center of Central America in order to promote Ignatian spirituality. He built up the center’s library and founded the publication Diakonia, which sought to spread information on liberation and spiritual theology. In 1985, he returned to El Salvador to organize the Center for Theological Reflection at the UCA. He also taught philosophy and supervised the construction of the Monseñor Romero Pastoral Center. Despite all his academic accomplishments, he always longed to work as a priest at a rural parish.

Joaquín López y López, S.J. Born Aug. 16, 1918, in Chalchuapa, El Salvador López y López entered the novitiate with Mexican Jesuits in El Paso, Texas in 1938. He began his theological studies in the U.S. and completed them in Spain in 1951. He took his vows with the Society of Jesus in 1952.

A few years later, he began efforts to create the UCA. In 1969, together with a group of women, he raised money and created the organization Fe

y Alegria (Faith and Joy), which he directed until his death. During that time, 30 educational centers were opened in marginalized communities across the country and 48,000 people received vocational training and education. He considered the work of Fe y Alegria to be crucial in addressing the lack of education in El Salvador, one of the most pressing problems in the country.

Amando López, S.J. Born Feb. 6, 1936, in Burgos, Spain In 1952, López began his novitiate with the Society of Jesus. After earning degrees in classical humanities and philosophy, he went to El Salvador to teach at the San José de la Montaña seminary and soon became the school’s rector. In 1973 and 1974, he taught philosophy at the UCA. In 1975, López moved to the Central American University in Managua, Nicaragua. His arrival coincided with the final years of the Somoza regime, during which López assisted the many suffering people. During the most difficult moments of Somoza´s bombing of civilians, López opened the university campus to families in need. In 1979, after the success of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, López was named rector of the university, a post he held until 1983 when conflict between the Church and the Nicaraguan state forced him to resign.

In 1984, he returned to El Salvador and became a philosophy and theology professor at UCA. He also served as pastor of the Tierra Virgen community in Soyapango, a poor neighborhood in the periphery of San Salvador.

Biographies courtesy of the Center for Justice and Accountability

www.shc.edu

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Home Sweet Hill Spring Hill’s campus is known for its breathtaking beauty amid the warm, temperate climate of Mobile.

As you enjoy the holiday season, we invite you to take a moment and wander through some of our most iconic spots on campus.

St. Joseph Chapel

St. Joseph Chapel

Peace Garden

Sodality Chapel

The Grotto

Alumni News Cynthia Figueroa ’95 Leader in the Latino community

Figueroa works with students at Congreso (top and bottom); with her husband, Robert Clark, and their children: Lola and Santiago.

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by Monde Donaldson

Cynthia Figueroa ’95 would not be leading one of the top 25 Latino nonprofits in the country had it not been for Spring Hill College. Figueroa credits the personal attention given to her by Jesuits and lay teachers alike that inspired her to live a life of service to others as president and CEO of Congreso de Latinos Unidos in Philadelphia.

Born in Puerto Rico, she came to Spring Hill from Miami at the suggestion of her two cousins Debbie Figueroa Kronschnabel ‘88 and Darryl Figueroa ’92. Once she got to campus, it was somewhat of a culture shock. For the first time, she was a minority. “It was the first time I realized I was Latino,” she remembers. “It was the first time I had to spell my name.”

At Spring Hill, she took art classes but found psychology and English rounded out her interests. She remembers Barbara Starr, Ruth Belasco and Dr. John Hafner fondly.

She credits Hafner with broadening her skills and her confidence in the written word.

“He gave us the ability to express ourselves,” she says, adding that his influence is instilled in her today as she writes grants and gives speeches.

It was Rev. Bobby Rimes S.J., though, who steered her onto the path of social justice.

He told her about the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC). “That’s where I was first exposed to social services,” she says. She was placed with JVC in Detroit.

Then, it was on to her first stint at Congreso, an agency that strengthens Latino communities through social, economic, education and health services, leadership development and advocacy. She went on to become executive director of Women Against Abuse, the largest domestic violence agency in Pennsylvania. Her success got her noticed by politicians. She served as deputy commissioner of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services.

She has been back at Congreso for almost four years working with city leaders, community advocates and clients to serve others. She knows the organization inside and out – having served as a staff member, board member and CEO. Congreso makes sure minorities have access to education, health care, and even financial counseling.

In 2010, she was selected for a prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship. She traveled to Chile and Argentina to explore women leadership models in the government and private sector. She has stayed active with the group and currently heads the Philadelphia chapter. This organization has allowed her to become exposed to her international counterparts and to count among her contemporaries U.S. cabinet secretaries and embassy heads from around the world.

She and her husband, Robert Clark, have two children, Lola and Santiago. She prioritizes her time and limits her night time obligations to two evenings a week.

But, Figueroa, whose mother lived in poverty in Honduras, has not forgotten her roots. “Spring Hill gave me the thirst for social justice with the analytical skills to succeed,” she says. “It made me realize that I can be a part of change in the world. It is how I move through life.”

Her office overlooks the city, not in some fancy downtown office. It is the neighborhood she serves, a neighborhood that is challenged by significant poverty and violence with equal amounts of resilience and hope.

Spring Hill College Magazine

Winter 2014

Dr. David McDuff ’74 A military, addiction and sports psychiatrist, Dr. David McDuff has a varied career that spans more than 30 years.

After graduating from Spring Hill in 1974, McDuff earned his M.D. at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. McDuff treats complex cases of addiction and mental illness.

He is the founding director of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the Addiction Psychiatry Fellows Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is also an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md. For the past 20 years, he has led the only academic sports psychiatry program in the U.S. As a sports psychiatrist, he provides mental skills training and stress control services to teams and athletes of all ages, including serving as the team psychiatrist for the Baltimore Orioles and a sports psychiatric consultant for the National Football League (NFL). He also served as the team psychiatrist for the Baltimore Ravens until 2013.

“Spring Hill is where I first learned to think and operate outside the box,” McDuff said. “By taking courses outside my major, I learned to shift my perspective from narrow to broad and back again. As an addiction and sports psychiatrist, I use the art of perspective shifting every day to solve complex problems and find novel solution pathways.”

In the military, he served for three years as the director of mental health services for 40,000 soldiers in southern Germany before becoming the substance abuse consultant to the medical commander of U.S. Army Europe in Heidelberg. He also served as the lead psychiatrist on five missions to retrieve hostages held captive by terrorists in the Middle East. McDuff retired from the military in 2002 after 28 years of service.

To learn more about McDuff’s work visit www.mdsports.net.

Accept the Dr. Mac challenge Looking back on their days on the Hill most students can name a professor or two who have influenced them in their professional career as well as their personal life. For Dr. David McDuff ’74 of Baltimore, Md. – that person was Dr. Pat Macnamara.

Dr. Mac, as he was affectionately known, was a biology teacher, dean, mentor and friend at SHC for decades. Upon his death nine years ago, the Dr. John Patrick Macnamara Endowed Scholarship Fund was established. McDuff, who has been supportive of that fund, has challenged his classmates to help increase that scholarship to help keep Dr. Mac’s legacy alive.

McDuff and his wife, Marie, have issued a challenge to raise an additional $50,000 by Dec. 31, 2014. They will match 2:1 every gift made prior to that time.

If this challenge is successful, the McDuffs are considering funding a new initiative in Dr. Macnamara’s name for a faculty development fund in the sciences.

A nationally known addiction, trauma, and sports psychiatrist, a retired Army colonel and the long-time team psychiatrist for the Baltimore Ravens & Orioles, McDuff uses lessons daily he learned from Dr. Mac in his work with patients, residents, medical students and even professional athletes. He feels confident many more alumni can tell similar stories about their lives in the lab and outside of the classroom and how they can trace their success to his influence.

To honor the legacy of Dr. Mac, visit www.shc.edu/giving and specify your gift to this fund, or contact Monde Donaldson at mdonaldson@shc.edu or (251) 380-2291.

www.shc.edu

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alumni news | Chapter Updates

Atlanta

Chicago

Play ball! Atlanta alumni, parents and friends spent Labor Day at the Top of The Chop cheering on the Braves.

Alumni in Chicago gathered for a day at the races in August. Badgers of all ages had a ball visiting with friends and enjoying the events at Arlington Racetrack.

The Pat ’63 and Susie ‘65 Rice Family

Tara Oldham ’97 and her newest Badger, Ryan ’34

Chris and Mary Nowak, parents of Hunter Nowak ’16

(l-r) Jim Gearty ’76, Joe Fischer ’71, Dick Mortell ’76 and Greg Schlax ’77

Jim ‘89 and Lori McNamara and their daughter, Sallie

Upcoming Alumni Events Stay up-to-date on Badger activities in your area at badgernet.shc.edu New Orleans> Feb. 7, Mardi Gras Party; April 24, Happy Hour Mobile> Feb. 28, Alumni Day of Service Homecoming on The Hill> April 17-19

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send us your news and photos at alumni@shc.edu

Mobile

St. Louis

Mobile alumni raised $9,000 for the ZoghbyDeVaney Mobile Alumni Scholarship at Art a la Carte, an inaugural event featuring food from local restaurants, raffles and prizes, and the downtown ArtWalk. Alumnus Matt LeMond ’07 graciously hosted the event at his bar, O’Daly’s Irish Pub.

Parents of SHC students sent new Badgers off to their first year with a back-to-school bash hosted

by Joyce and Stephan Schaefer and Kathy and David Gmelich at the Schaefer home.

Steven Kinsey ’85, Payton Tanner ’13 and Terri Kinsey ’85

Tiffany Slater ‘12 and Lindsey Aucoin ’10

New Orleans Kenneth Purcell ’98 hosted a group of Dr. Charmane May’s Entrepreneurship class at his company iSeatz on Oct. 7. He spent the morning talking to students about his experience being an entrepreneur and had lunch with the students.

St. Louis alumni gathered for a happy hour to share stories and life updates over drinks and appetizers at The Eleven Mile House.

(l-r) Jack Sullivan ’06, Maura Guzy ’04, Nikki Standley ’04, Nikita Elder ’04 and Patrick Mullin ’03.

Washington, D.C. Alumni in Washington, D.C. gathered for their third annual service day at the Capital Area Food Bank, where they packed 1,476 bags of food to be distributed among the elderly in need in the D.C. Area. (l-r) Kate Titford ‘03, Valerie Johnson ‘67, Tim Embree ‘01, Chris McCarthy ‘03, Delvin Seawright ‘99, Jennifer Rhorer ‘04, Laura Iverson ‘95, Bernard Durbin ‘57, Charles Padgett ‘72

www.shc.edu

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alumni news | Class Notes

1960s

Marie Simonet Revere ’65 joined the Mental Health Working Group for the San Diego Diocesan Office for Social Ministry. She is the family education coordinator for NAMI North Coastal San Diego County. She lives with her husband, Eric, in Encinitas, Calif.

They have four children and nine grandchildren, all on the West coast.

Richard Abbene ’69 retired after 40 years of teaching creative high school students at Friends Academy on Long Island, N.Y.

1970s

Mary Scully ’71 and her daughter, Helen, are a mother-daughter writing team whose historical romance novels are penned under the name Ursula LeCoeur. Their latest book, “The Willing Widow,” part of the “Love in New Orleans” series, is a love story that takes place as the city prepares for the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884.

Mary and her husband, Frank, now live in Philadelphia; and Helen lives in New Orleans.

Their books are available on Amazon.com.

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Sidney “Sid” Leak ’75 was the guest preacher at the 70th anniversary of Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Ala., on July 13, 2014.

Cliff York ’75 was inducted into the Davidson High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept.

19, 2014, in Mobile, Ala. Brian Melton ’77 joined the Cristo Rey Network in July 2013 as the director of school growth. The Cristo Rey Network is the largest association of nonprofit, co-educational high schools exclusively for low-income students in the United States. Prior to joining the network, Brian was a founding partner of Shackelford, Melton & McKinley, LLP, a regional law firm with offices in Dallas, Nashville and Austin. His background in education includes serving as chair of the Education Task Force of the Greater Dallas Chamber, chair of the Community Symposium for Justice in Education of the Dallas Bar Association, founder of the E-Mentoring, Esq. program of the Dallas Bar Association, and board chair of St. Rita’s School in Dallas. Brian’s civic involvement includes serving as a trustee of the Dallas Theater Center and as chair of the Dallas Arts District Alliance.

In his legal career Brian served as president of the Dallas Bar Association and chair of the Dallas Bar Foundation. He holds a J.D. degree from S.M.U. Dedman School of Law, and is

Winter 2014

enrolled in a master’s program in contemporary spirituality from Loyola University Chicago.

Tim Mahoney ’78 was recognized for his five-year dedication to the St. Jude Memphis to Mobile Run, a 391-mile event that took place April 8-12 through Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. He has participated in and fundraised for the race since its beginning in 2010. Tim is vice president of post-delivery service and support at Austal USA. He and his wife, Sheila ’78, live in Mobile.

1980s

Dr. Michael Giorlando ’80 announced his retirement from his position of director of athletics and wellness at Loyola University New Orleans.

He served the university for 10 years and is now pursuing a professional opportunity in dentistry.

Paul Cussen ’89 is chairman of the METROsquash board in Chicago. Construction is under way for a new complex for the nonprofit organization, which teaches students from fifth grade through high school how to play squash.

1990s

Greg Walsh ’93 is employed at The Sundmaker Firm in New

send us your news and photos at alumni@shc.edu

Orleans, La. He is a member of the Louisiana Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute. He has served as the president of the New Orleans Speech and Hearing Center’s Board of Directors and is a volunteer with the New Orleans Pro Bono Project’s Self Help Resource Center and the Homeless Clinic at the Harry Thompson Center.

Jill Phillips ’96 was named Alabama’s top assistant district attorney by the Alabama District Attorneys’ Investigators Association. She has been with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office since 2000, and handles major cases as a member of its “murder team.”

Brian Lauten ’97 joined the Dallas office of Deans & Lyons as a partner, adding to the firm nearly 15 years of experience as a triple board-certified business trial and appellate lawyer.

Melissa Chuilli DiTosto ’97 and Tom DiTosto welcomed their third daughter, Stella Grace, on Aug. 27, 2014, in New York City.

Tara Ryan ’97 and her husband, Todd Oldham, welcomed their second son, Ryan Daniel Oldham, into their family on Dec. 17, 2013, in Chicago, IL.

Rev. John Hatcher, S.J. ’67, Dora Piccini ’78, and Davanne Piccini ’11 gather at the St. Francis Mission Meet and Greet in Miami, Fla.

St. Francis Mission brings together three generations of SHC grads> In the summer of 2014, three generations of Spring Hill grads came together in support of St. Francis Mission, a ministry of the Jesuits among the 20,000 Lakota (Sioux) people on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

For more than 40 years, Rev. John Hatcher, S.J. ’67 has dedicated his life to serving the Lakota. In his 11 years as president of St. Francis Mission, Hatcher has put into place a model to end the systematic dysfunction present on the reservation. Today this model is helping to prevent suicides, gang membership and addiction, while providing opportunities for jobs, training, counseling and religious education. Programs are also in place to preserve the Lakota tradition, language and artifacts.

Davanne Piccini ’11 joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after graduating from SHC and spent her volunteer year working with Hatcher and the Lakota at St. Francis Mission. She taught Catholicism while tending to the needs of the Lakota. The following year, St. Francis Mission hired her as a front-runner and fundraiser for the nonprofit organization.

At Hatcher’s invitation, Davanne’s aunt, Dora Piccini ’78, and grandmother, Celia Piccini, visited St. Francis Mission and enjoyed conversations with the Lakota. They heard stories from mothers, grandmothers, children, and St. Francis’s teachers and staff.

Their visit inspired Dora Piccini to host a meet-and-greet in her hometown of Miami, Fla., for current St. Francis Mission donors and their friends.

www.shc.edu

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alumni news | Class Notes

Dr. Danielle Cruthirds ’99 is an associate professor of pharmacology at the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University.

Delvin Seawright ’99 successfully passed comprehensive exams and is now a doctoral candidate in accounting at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md. He is an American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Minority Doctoral Fellow and an Association of Government Accountants (AGA) and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) Scholar. He’s also a CPA, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and Certified Government Financial Manager.

2000s

Barbie Martino Heneghan ’00 and Jeff Heneghan welcomed their second son, Jacob Albert Heneghan, on Feb. 21, 2014, in Orlando, Fla.

University as a postdoctoral researcher.

Dr. Jeremy Speeg ’03 is an urologist with Southern Urology in Lafayette, La.

Victoria “Torie” Pilch ‘02 was a 2014 recipient of the Joanne Strahinic Nursing Excellence Award for her outstanding direct patient care at the SSM St. Mary’s Health Center in Richmond Heights, Mo.

Tamara Tilley Lindsay ’04 joined the New Orleans office of Coats Rose. She has significant experience representing owners in industrial construction disputes and will focus on construction and surety litigation.

Dr. Elizabeth McIntosh Chawla ’03 is an attending physician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital in Gaithersburg, Md.

Caitlin Smith ’05 married Henry Sockbeson IV on May 25, 2014.

Dr. Mike Flanagan ’03 recently joined the Edward Doisy Research Center at Saint Louis

Lisa Norris Williams ’05 and Jason Williams welcomed their third child, Anne Dorothy

Claire Wilker ’05 and James Mansfield were married Dec. 14, 2013 in Bath, England.

Phi Tau Reunion> SHC Phi Tau alumni John Amat ‘84, Bart Hannah ‘83, William Powers ‘84, Phil Jesse and Eddie Barranco ‘82 got together for a golf outing and reunion on Jekyll Island, Ga.

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send us your news and photos at alumni@shc.edu

Williams, on May 16, 2014, in Mobile, Ala. Lenice Emanuel (MLA) ’06 received the 2014 Chamber of Commerce Iconic Women of St. Petersburg Nonprofit Woman of the Year award for her work with the YWCA Tampa Bay, of which she is the president and CEO. Mary Dolan Schulte ’06 and Matt Schulte welcomed their daughter, Maren Clare Schulte, into the world on July 30, 2014, in Portland, Ore. Conor Gee ’07 was promoted to lead marketing communications consultant at the Health Care Service Corp. in Chicago.

2010s

Lindsey Peterson Aucoin ’10 was hired as the manager of CK Collection’s men’s store in Fairhope, Ala. Heather Bozant ’10 and Gregory Witcher ’07 were married in June 2012 in New Orleans, LA. Heather is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English literature at Saint Louis University.

Katherine Powell ’10 and Kendall Falana Jr. ’09 were married June 7, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Coppejans ’11 and Alex Del Rio ’11 were married June 7, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Celia Davanne Piccini ’11 and Michael O’Sullivan were married Oct. 18, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Rachel Cedeck ’12 and Anthony Quehl were married Oct. 10, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Caroline Gernhauser ’12 was hired for the position of assistant director of alumni relations at Loyola University New Orleans.

Meghan Kacic ’12 and Brendon Arquette ’12 were married June 21, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Starla Piccini ’12 was promoted to operations manager at Sherwin-Williams in Birmingham, Ala. Erin Thomas ’12 graduated with a master’s degree in biology from Southeastern Louisiana University and is now working as a forensic DNA analyst at the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office.

Thomas Todd Martin IV ’13 and Cindy Garcia were married May 17, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Daniel Zekert ’13 was hired for the position of sales supervisor at Hayes Beer Distributing in Chicago.

Ashley Adams ’14 and Joseph Webster ’14 were married on May 24, 2014, at the Bell House Bed and Breakfast in Heflin, Ala. Monica Castello ’14 and Evan Yearwood ’12 were married June 14, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

Meredith Donald ’14 is working at St. Luke’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Ala., as a computer teacher, assistant volleyball coach and head middle school coach.

Lesliey Garza ’14 was recently hired as the special events/promotions coordinator at Bass Pro Shop in Spanish Fort, Ala.

Meredith Bodet ’13 and Nicholas Norman were married Sept. 20, 2014, in St. Joseph Chapel.

we want to hear from you!

Please let us know what you’re up to. Email your news and photos to alumni@shc.edu or submit your Class Note online at www.shc.edu/alumni.

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alumni news | In Memoriam

In Memoriam Col. Henry A. McPhillips ‘32 Maj. Gen. A. P. Tacon Jr. ‘38 Rev. Jacques L. Weber, S.J. ‘42 H. Manning McPhillips, Jr. ‘44 Albert John Boudreaux ‘49 Dr. Jack T. Coleman ‘49 William R. Lynch Sr. ‘49 Frederick P. Coogan Jr. ‘50 Gregory B. Finch Jr. ‘50 Norman J. Godbold ‘50 Robert Roberts ‘50 Robert M. Schneider ‘50 Charles A. Miller ‘51 Robert E. Williams III ‘51 George E. Barrett ‘52 Jack E. Lowrey ‘52 Sterling J. O’Shaughnessy ‘52 Raymond A. Redlingshafer Sr. ‘53

Alfred M. Rodriguez ‘53 John J. Barnes ‘55 Salvador J. Cangemi ‘56 Rabbi Stanley Greenstein ‘56 Thomas Patrick Killough ‘58 Edward H. Schweers ‘58 Charles L. Gambel Jr. ‘59 Rev. Ernest J. Jacques, S.J. ‘59 Thomas J. Becker ‘61 Constance Altice Dalton ‘61 James H. O’Donnell, Jr. ‘61 Jules A. “Tony” Schwing ‘63 Charles Gooch ‘64 Daniel L. O’Connor ‘64 Charles del Pizzo ‘65 John W. Byers, Jr. ‘66 Stephen O. Hamrick ‘66 Mary Catherine Shea Hare ‘66

Michael J. Unsworth ‘67 Eileen R. Ast ‘68 Henry W. Kupper ‘70 Scott A. Pearson ‘72 Arthur G. Pilley, Jr. ‘74 Dr. Gregory T. Zaar ‘80 Kathleen Clyatt Ellis ‘85 Sean P. O’Hare ‘89 Claude S. Mumphrey II ‘93 John J. “Jack” Keyes Jr. ‘95 Patrick L. Goff ‘98 Pamela Snell Steele ‘01 David Florian ‘11

Rev. J. William Harmless, S.J. The Rev. J. William Harmless, S.J., who taught theology at Spring Hill College for many years, passed away unexpectedly Oct. 14, 2014.

Harmless was 61 years old, a Jesuit for 36 years, and a priest for 27 years. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1978 and was ordained in 1987.

He studied philosophy at Loyola University New Orleans, theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and earned his Ph.D. in religion and education from Boston College in 1990.

He taught theology from 1990 to 2003 at Spring Hill College, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 1994 and held the Thomas E. Caestecker Endowed Chair in the Liberal Arts.

Spring Hill President Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J., said, “More than the multitude of books and publications he authored, he will be most remembered by faculty and students as an extraordinary teacher and as a professor whose enthusiasm for his subject matter captivated his students.”

Following his tenure at Spring Hill, Harmless was professor of historical theology and patristic studies at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. He was an internationally renowned scholar and historian on St. Augustine and early Christianity and a prolific writer.

Memorial contributions may be made to Spring Hill College's new blended-format graduate programs in theology and ministry. To make a donation, contact the Office of Advancement at 251380-2280 or giving@shc.edu.

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Rev. G.T. Regan, S.J.

George e. barrett ’52

Spring Hill Professor Emeritus Rev. Gerald T. “G.T.” Regan, S.J. passed away Oct. 23, 2014, at the age of 83.

A Jesuit for 65 years and a priest for 50 years, Regan entered the Society of Jesus in 1949 and was ordained in 1964. He studied philosophy at Saint Louis University and theology at St. Mary’s College. He obtained a master’s degree and doctorate in zoology from the University of Kansas.

Regan spent his career at Spring Hill College as a professor, and later professor emeritus, of biology. His love for marine biology and for S.H.O.R.E.S. (Spring Hill Ocean Research and Exploration Society) influenced many Spring Hill students to follow in his footsteps and pursue careers in the sciences.

Regan’s research and study focused much on the impact of humans on ecosystems. He shared his expertise in marine biology outside of the classroom as the Alabama representative of the Southeastern Marine Mammal Stranding Network. During his later years of teaching at Spring Hill, he was also chief scientist at the Marterra Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on research and development in the biotech field.

He is also remembered for his storytelling and incredible knowledge about many things, including dolphins, Jimmy Buffet and the Civil War, to name a few. For years, he was known to play his harmonica in churches all over Mobile.

George E. Barrett, civil rights attorney and 1952 Spring Hill College graduate, died Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, at age 86.

He was a founding partner of Barrett Johnston, LLC, in Nashville, one of the first integrated law firms in the South.

As a student at Spring Hill College, Barrett served as president of the student body and was inducted into the Jesuit honor society, Alpha Sigma Nu. Barrett credited his Jesuit education at Spring Hill College with inspiring his “zeal for social justice.” In 1953, he earned a diploma in economics and politics from Oxford University in England. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University in 1957.

In the 1960s, Barrett helped register African Americans to vote and served as president of a statewide human rights council that fought to end segregation. In 1968, Barrett filed a historic federal lawsuit against the state of Tennessee, protesting instances of segregation that still existed in the state’s public colleges and universities. A federal judge ordered the state to integrate the mostly white University of Tennessee-Nashville with the largely black Tennessee State University. Despite a number of well-publicized forays into civil rights law, Barrett is most known for his work on behalf of labor.

Barrett served on the Spring Hill College National Alumni Association Board from 1989 to 1993. He received the 1995 Ignatian Award, presented to an alumnus who exemplifies the ideals set forth by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. He has hosted numerous alumni events and receptions for prospective and accepted students from the Nashville area.

In 2006 he established an endowed scholarship to benefit Nashville area students. In 2013 Barrett spoke at Spring Hill’s commencement and received an honorary doctorate from the College.

www.shc.edu

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giving

Jean McDonald Pinkley ‘67 and Dr. Len Pinkley ‘66

From Rural Locations to a College Education

by Andrew Cuff ’15 When Dr. Leonard “Len” Pinkley Jr. ’67 entered Spring Hill College his freshman year in 1962, he never thought he would still have such a strong connection more than 50 years later.

Pinkley chose Spring Hill for its well-known pre-medicine program and Jesuit education. Even though he came in with high expectations, what he received from Spring Hill was far greater than he ever imagined. “Spring Hill imprinted my mind and heart many wonderful times,” he said. “It afforded me many friendships and opportunities that have carried me forward throughout the years.”

Pinkley also met his future wife at Spring Hill, Jean McDonald Pinkley ’67. She transferred into Spring Hill her junior year, and quickly became part of the Spring Hill family. She worked a part-time job for the dean of students in the student center, and made many friends by having her office in the middle of all the College’s activity.

Pinkley graduated from Spring Hill in 1966 with his B.S. in biology, and went on to become an

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obstetrician-gynecologist. Jean graduated the following year with a degree in English. The couple has lived in Amory, Miss., for the past 37 years and has dedicated many aspects of their lives to the small town. The downtown area of Amory is part of the Mississippi Main Street Program, a program that assists in rebuilding struggling downtown areas and businesses. Jean was the first Amory Main Street manager, and both she and her husband have served on the board every year since it was founded.

The couple also has a strong connection to the Catholic Church. Since moving to Amory, they immediately found comfort in St. Helen Church.

They have served on the Parish Council several times and have been fully involved in the parish life, as the church and the congregation have grown substantially over the years. Through the Loyola University Extension Program, Pinkley was able to earn a master’s degree in pastoral ministry.

While the Pinkleys have kept busy through the

years, they never lost their tie to Spring Hill. The couple has been continually giving back to the College since they left.

With their love of Spring Hill and Catholic education, the Pinkleys established a scholarship, The Dr. Len Pinkley ’66 and Mrs. Jean McDonald Pinkley ’67 Scholarship, that would assist students from the rural South.

Grady Blanks, a junior from Alexander City, Ala., is one of the recipients of the Pinkley scholarship. Blanks is a secondary education and mathematics major and one day hopes to teach high school math and pursue a master’s degree. Blanks cites the Pinkleys’ scholarship as one of the main financial reasons he chose Spring Hill. “I would like to thank the Pinkleys for their support,” Blanks said. “I do not know if Spring Hill would be an option for me without their help.”

While they have repeatedly proven to be a generous and successful couple, the Pinkleys remain humble when reminiscing about Spring Hill.

“Seeing old friends and witnessing the transformation of the campus show that the Spirit is actively breathing on this little school,” Pinkley said.

“We honestly do not remember when we started giving. We felt if we could support Spring Hill we certainly should, as we are grateful for all she has meant to us.”

Holleys establish endowed scholarships for students from Mississippi Gulf Coast A small act of kindness can leave a lasting impression. Bill Holley was just a child in the 1930s when his parents divorced, leaving him and his mother destitute. As a teenager, he worked odd jobs after high school to help make ends meet. He would ride his bike from his home on St. Joseph Street in downtown Mobile to Murphy High School, and after school to Albright & Woods Drug Store at the foot of Spring Hill, where he worked as a soda jerk.

Each day some of the Jesuits from Spring Hill College would drop in for a soda. Holley once told his future wife, Marjorie, that had it not been for the tips the Jesuits would leave, he and his mother likely would not have been able to eat.

Holley never forgot their generosity. He died June 8, 1982.

Rinda Mueller, who handles planned giving for the College, learned of Marjorie Krebs Holley after a Phonathon student caller solicited her for an annual fund gift. Mrs. Holley informed the caller that she had already made arrangements for Spring Hill College in her will.

“I wondered why she would be so generous as to include Spring Hill in her estate plans, since neither she nor her husband were Spring Hill alumni or parents,” Mueller said, adding that the Holleys had no children and none of their relatives attended Spring Hill.

Mueller later met with Mrs. Holley at her home in Pascagoula, Miss. “When I asked about the connection, she told me she had been working on her estate plans and was in a quandary as to what to do with her estate and said she prayed and prayed about it,” Mueller recounted. “Finally, she remembered a story Bill had told her while they were dating.”

Holley had shared the story of the Jesuits’ soda tips with her once, more than 50 years before. Because of this, Spring Hill will receive close to $1 million to establish two endowed scholarships for students from Jackson County, Miss.

Mrs. Holley died March 15, 2012. According to her will, the funds from her estate will establish The William Hosea Holley Scholarship for men and The Marjorie Krebs Holley Scholarship for women.

Mueller said, “It’s amazing how such a small act of kindness meant so much to this man and now, in turn, what his kindness will mean for the College and future generations of students.”

To learn more about leaving a planned gift to Spring Hill College, contact Rinda Mueller at (251) 380-2285 or Rmueller@shc.edu.

the last word

Hearts of Gold

Kayla ‘16 & Krista Owens ’16

by Laura McNeill

Don’t worry, you’re not seeing double in the Spring Hill College nursing department, library, or student center. You’ve probably caught a glimpse of one of SHC’s dynamic duos: students Kayla ‘16 and Krista Owens ’16, identical twins from Daphne, Ala. Spring Hill College nursing instructor Joan Sands, RN, M.Ed., has enjoyed having Kayla and Krista in several classes. She commends the sisters for being supportive of each other and remaining each other's strongest advocate. Sands sees the twins’ enthusiasm as one of their greatest assets.

“I have seen severely depressed patients lighten up when Kayla and Krista walk into the room. Part of it is that Kayla and Krista are upbeat when they go into their patients' rooms,” Sands said. “Another part of it though is that people, including their patients, are intrigued by twins. Since they are both so approachable, patients take the opportunity to find out what it is to be a twin and the girls are willing to share their insight.”

The Owens twins both intend on continuing their nursing education after receiving their bachelor’s degrees from Spring Hill College in May of 2016. Their goal is to pursue an advanced nursing degree, and the twins are considering all Kayla ‘16 (top) and Krista ‘16 (bottom) Owens. options, from completing Master of Science in nursing (MSN) degrees to becoming certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA).

Kayla and Krista are members of both the Delta Delta Delta sorority on campus, as well as SHC’s Student Nurses Association. Both women tutor local students through the Foley Community Service Center and have volunteered for the United Way of Southwest Alabama at events benefiting the Dumas Wesley Community Center, Sybil H. Smith Family Village, the Sickle Cell Anemia Association of America, and the Bay Area Food Bank.

When asked about advice they might offer new students at Spring Hill College, the twins agree that preparation and time management are crucial to doing well in class. They also stress the importance of finding time to have fun with a good group of people or organization.

“I live my life according to the belief that if you work hard, you can achieve anything,” said Krista Owens. “Hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but it improves the chances for yourself and others.”

Kayla adds her own sentiment to succeeding at Spring Hill College: “Although times may get challenging, perseverance is important,” she said. “I live my life according to the belief that if you give your all for the things you want, amazing things will happen for others, as well as yourself.”

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enjoy The view from The Hill The perfect location for your next event.

Spring Hill’s campus rests on a 400-acre site, is naturally landscaped, and features huge oaks, azalea-lined walkways and an 18-hole golf course. Several buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Spring Hill College offers a variety of venues that can accommodate meetings, dinners, receptions and conferences year-round with overnight accommodations available during the summer.

Find out more about how Spring Hill College can help make your special event very special indeed. to schedule your next event or for more information, Contact Sharon Williams at swilliams@shc.edu.

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