The Magazine of St. Ambrose University | Summer 2015
Ambrosian Integrity Enriches Lives ALSO INSIDE: Research Project Carries St. Ambrose Around the World
Scene The Magazine of St. Ambrose University Summer 2015 | Volume XLIII | Number 2 Managing Editor
Contributing Writers
Linda Hirsch
Steven Lillybeck
Editor Craig DeVrieze Staff Writer Jane Kettering Staff Assistant Darcy Duncalf ’12
Emilee Renwick ’14 Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04 Designer Sally Paustian ’94
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www.sau.edu/scene scene@sau.edu
2 Under the Oaks Photo and illustration credits: Dan Videtich: cover, pages 12–13, 28–29; Greg Boll: pages 5, 28; John Mohr Photography: inside front cover, pages 2, 6–7, 9–11, 16–17, 21, 28, Rockford Register-Star: page 24. Scene is published by the Communications and Marketing office for the alumni, students, parents, friends, faculty and staff of St. Ambrose University. Its purpose is to inform and inspire through stories highlighting the many quality people and programs that are the essence of St. Ambrose’s distinguished heritage of Catholic, values-based education. Circulation is approximately 30,000. St. Ambrose University—independent, diocesan, and Catholic—enables its students to develop intellectually, spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically and physically to enrich their own lives and the lives of others. St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803.
The new Bee Central will simplify the student service experience; justice is the academic theme for the new year; a Summer Research Institute project makes worldwide news; and an ethics professor asks students to look at issues from multiple perspectives.
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18 Features
Alumni Profile
12 Integrity Enriches Lives
24 A Judge of Good Character
Where in an ethically challenged world can you turn to find integrity fully taking root? Under the oaks is a good place to start. A life-affirming code guides our actions and acts of integrity enrich our learning experiences.
14 Something to Talk About What is integrity? How do we make it part of our work? How have technology, instant access to information and the examples of unethical newsmakers increased the challenge of promoting integrity? SAU adminsistrators and faculty take on these questions in a roundtable discussion.
18 A Good Neighbor Students, faculty, staff and alumni practice what we teach by stepping into the community-at-large to perform countless small, but significant acts of integrity.
For nearly 40 years as a U.S. Magistrate Justice, the Honorable P. Michael Mahoney ’68, JD, stayed true to the lessons he received at St. Ambrose, where his instructors informed him he had an obligation to serve the common good.
26 Alumni News In the workplace, St. Ambrose alumni call upon the ethical foundation they gained in college; faculty and staff members help the Ambrose Annual Fund assist our students; an alumnae is blazing a trail in healthcare; and, after a biking accident, an alumnus returned to teaching with a new perspective.
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21 ‘This is Who We’d Like You To Be’ When students run afoul of the code of conduct, Assistant Dean of Students Bob Christopher and the Student Conduct Review Board search for teachable moments that will change behavior rather than punish it.
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SAU Pursues Doctoral Program in OT St. Ambrose has applied for accreditation to offer a Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree. Pending approval by the Higher Learning Commission and the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, the applicant program would build upon the strong foundation of a St. Ambrose Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program that is the only fully accredited graduate program preparing occupational therapists in the State of Iowa. The first OTD cohort would enroll in the fall of 2016. In pursuing the entry-level professional program, St. Ambrose finds itself at the forefront of a movement to better prepare new therapists to work in the increasingly demanding healthcare arena. In response to changes in healthcare emphasizing quality outcomes, cost efficiency, inter-professional care teams and specialization in practice, the American Occupational Therapy Association issued a statement in April of 2014, recommending that all degree programs for new OT professionals be at the doctoral level. 2
“You have to have an advanced knowledge of how individuals live and work in their environment and what is going to best promote good health for each client,” said Lynn Kilburg ’91, DHSc, MBA, OTR/L, the director of the MOT program at St. Ambrose. In a doctoral curriculum, Kilburg said students would benefit from an individualized educational focus that will better train them to use evidencebased practices to meet the occupational health needs of clients in a variety of settings. Kilburg was among the first St. Ambrose students to earn an undergraduate degree in occupational therapy. The first Master’s degrees were awarded in 2000. OTD would be the third doctoral program offered at SAU, joining the Doctor of Physical Therapy and Doctor of Business Administration programs. Sandra Cassady, PT, PhD, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, is eager to welcome an OTD program to the college’s expanding healthcare curriculum. “I am very excited we are moving in this direction,” Cassady said. “It is the way the profession is moving, and we want to be on the leading edge.” Learn more about occupational therapy degrees at sau.edu/scene
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Bee Central Home to Seamless Student Services The St. Ambrose experience will be enhanced this year by a new office that will meet all of a student’s “traditional” academic service needs—class registration, financial aid and student accounts—in a single stop. Located on the first floor of Ambrose Hall in what formerly was the Financial Aid Office, the new Bee Central also will feature cross-trained staff able to respond to almost any academic service question. “Talking one-on-one lowers frustration levels and allows for listening and helpful responses,” said John Cooper, vice president for enrollment management. “Creating a convenient and studentcentered service allows everyone to get on with the business of education.” Students and families can drop in to meet with someone knowledgeable about processes such as course registration, adding or dropping classes, receiving financial aid and paying bills. Appointments also can be made online.
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With extended hours Monday through Thursday, SAU’s part-time adult learner population also will
benefit. “Someone can stop by on their way home from work, park close in a reserved spot, and get all of their needs met in one place,” said Cooper. A new phone system will reduce the need for students and families to leave voice mails. St. Ambrose also has opened a new Admissions and Welcome Center on the corner of Harrison and Locust Streets. The building will house the undergraduate and Graduate Admissions offices, providing future SAU students and their parents a comfortable and accessible setting to meet with an admissions counselor and learn what the university has to offer. Learn more about student services at sau.edu/scene
FOR ALL Justice, a focus of a St. Ambrose education since the school’s founding, will be an even larger topic of discussion and study this coming year as the College of Arts and Sciences’ academic project theme. Lectures, films and various activities in the classroom and beyond will examine the philosophies behind justice and how justice issues impact everyday life. Just Mercy, the true story of a young lawyer’s efforts to defend the poor and underprivileged, will be the New Student Seminar’s First Book. Nicole Pizzini, PhD, associate
professor of criminal justice, is the project leader. The lineup includes an Oct. 20 lecture by Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson. Also in October, the Theatre Department will present Parade, a musical about the 1913 lynching of a Jewish man in Georgia amid antiSemitic tensions. Spring programming will include a panel discussion on mental health justice for U.S. military veterans and the Baecke Lecture on justice for persons with disabilities. For information on all Justice events, go to sau. edu/scene
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SAU Research Project Makes World-Wide News Les jouets vintage, ces cadeaux empoisonnés, read a spring headline on a website in France. Toys from the seventies and eighties could be poisoning your children, read another on the same subject that appeared in a New Zealand newspaper. Far and wide and in multiple languages, important lessons learned through a 2014 St. Ambrose University Summer Research Institute project were shared with parents of young children this past spring. “I wasn’t aware of the extent it had grown,” Zoe Harris ’15 said of the worldwide notice garnered by a research paper she helped former SAU adjunct instructor Gillian Zaharias Miller, PhD, prepare for publication in the January Journal of Environmental Health. “It definitely makes me want to go into the research field to find out how we can limit what we are exposed to.” The paper was developed from a Summer Research Institute project Miller, who now lives and works in Michigan, led with the assistance of Harris and fellow SAU students Barbara Anderson ’95, ’13, Kialee Bowles ’14 and Alex Giblot-Ducray ’15.
One of four research projects involving 22 students last year, the project enlisted a handheld X-ray spectrometer to quantify hazardous metal content in products such as dishes, money, t-shirts, vitamins and even cosmetic makeup. Harris focused on toys from the 1970s and ’80s, things such as vinyl-covered Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price plastic toys. All were produced prior to regulations passed in the 1990s that prohibited the use of hazardous metal elements such as lead, cadmium and arsenic in manufactured products. The research uncovered lead and/or cadmium in 67 percent of all vintage toys scanned, and frequently in concentrations exceeding current U.S. and European limits. Arsenic was detected at “levels of concern” in 16 percent of the vintage toys. Exposure to these metal elements, particularly when ingested from flaking paint, can lead to long-term health and development problems for young children. “It can decrease brain development,” Harris said. “Children are more susceptible to lead poisoning because their brains process it more efficiently. ” Jodi Prosise, PhD, a St. Ambrose associate professor of Engineering and Summer Research Institute instructor, said the project’s findings surprised—and educated—her. “I have toys from when I was a kid, and I used to dig them out and let my children play with them,” she said. “To find out that’s not really safe is important.” Virtually all of the worldwide coverage credited the discovery to St. Ambrose University researchers, further validating the Summer Research Institute’s impact. Through funding from Dr. Thomas and Mary Ann Stoffel and an anonymous donor, the Summer Research Institute celebrated its fifth anniversary this past summer and has involved nearly 80 students since its inception. Harris graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree in May. With an eye on a career in medical research, she will begin applying to graduate schools this fall. Having her name on a research paper cited worldwide certainly will make her applications stand out, Prosise said.
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Learn more about the Summer Research Institute at sau.edu/scene
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The Character of Champions Among the most over-used clichés is the one that says, “Sports builds character.” Dan Tomlin ’05, ’10 MBA, believes a truer variation on the theme is that sports reveals character. And for far too long, it seems, the boldest sports page revelations—from Barry Bonds to Lance Armstrong to Ray Rice—have unveiled character flaws. It is different at St. Ambrose. Here the headline news includes two Tomlin-coached track teams having been selected for NAIA Champions of Character team awards. It also features 102 NAIA Scholar Teams and more than 350 NAIA Scholar Athletes since
St. Ambrose athletic
components of the NAIA
2008. It covers countless
programs do attempt to shape
Champions of Character
community service projects,
the character of Fighting Bees
program. One team in each
including Bee the Difference
through service requirements
sport is honored annually
Day and other volunteer
and Leadership Academy
based on how they meet those
efforts that more than include
programs scheduled by
criteria. The 2015 women’s
student-athletes but are often
Athletic Director and Men’s
indoor track and field team
led by Fighting Bees.
Basketball Coach Ray Shovlain
“I feel like athletes are leaders at this school,” said
’79, ’82 MBA. “I think it is very
“We put integrity and sportsmanship at the forefront of what we do in athletics.”
Lauren Brummel, a senior
intentional,” said Tomlin.
earned that honor just two
education major and women’s
“We put integrity and
years after the men’s indoor
basketball player. “We set
sportsmanship at the forefront
team did likewise.
good examples. We show
of what we do in athletics. We
we can manage school and
want to set the example for
quantitative value on the
athletics, and I think people
kids on our teams, for students
things we talk about daily in
respect that. We bring
at St. Ambrose. We want to
practice,” Tomlin said. “There
ethical values we can spread
set the example for anyone we
is something substantial that
throughout the community. I
compete against.”
says we have accomplished
think St. Ambrose athletes do a great job of that.”
Respect, responsibility, service, integrity and
“That really puts a
our goal of being good citizens and good neighbors.”
sportsmanship are the five 5
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Now what? Everything!” This was part of the message speaker Haley Scott DeMaria ’15 (hon) shared with the 680 members of the Class of 2015 at a spring commencement ceremony highlighted by a little bit of everything— including a surprise marriage proposal. online extra: photo galleries and news stories at sau.edu/scene
COMMENCEMENT
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A
cross four busy years on the Fighting Bees
hour sports talk show broadcast as often
sports scene, Mitchell Widmeier ’15 never
as three times each week. With only
voice of the Bettendorf (Iowa) High School
scored a touchdown, made a basket or hit
emails and texts from a loyal group of
Bulldogs for a QC radio station this fall.
a home run.
KALA listeners to help drive the wide-
Ultimately, he would like to host a radio
Widmeier will begin his career as the
Instead, Widmeier turned a passion
ranging conversation, Widmeier created a
talk program or become a play-by-play
for sports into an award-winning resumé
professional caliber program that earned
announcer for an NBA or NFL team. With
from behind a microphone while earning
him a trip to New York in March to collect
a resumé that also includes two regional
his St. Ambrose Bachelor of Arts degree in
an Intercollegiate Broadcasting System
Eric Severeid Awards from the Midwest
Radio and Television.
Award.
Regional Broadcast Association last
“I always knew I wanted to do
That is a national level of recognition
spring, as well as five senior-year first-
something with sports, and then I realized
no previous SAU student journalist had
place awards in statewide competition, his
I wasn’t going to be a professional athlete,”
attained. And, while discussing his college
future certainly is bright.
he said. “By my junior year in high school,
experiences with fellow nominees from
I knew I wanted to try radio and TV
larger schools such as Arizona State,
to hear from in the future,” said David
broadcasting.”
Oregon State, Michigan State and Purdue,
Baker ’88, KALA station manager. “I get up
“I think he’s going to be one we’re going
Widmeier learned his early instincts about
in the morning and there’s Chris Hassel ’07
he might learn that craft to St. Ambrose
opportunities at St. Ambrose had been
on ESPN. That just shows you what they’re
and a larger in-state university. Almost as
spot-on.
capable of. Some go far and then keep
He soon narrowed the schools where
quickly, the field was whittled to one. “When I did a couple of visits here, it
“They said they had to scratch and claw sometimes just to get a story on a
just felt more tight-knit and I thought I
newscast,” he said. “Here, you take a class
would have more opportunities than I
and do a story every week.”
would have at a bigger school,” he said. “And I have.” Like many of the journalists who came from SAU before him, Widmeier was able to set his own pace from a generous menu of practical opportunities. Beginning in his first year, he provided play-by-play coverage of football, basketball, baseball and, occasionally, volleyball on SAUtv and KALA radio. He hosted football and basketball coach’s shows and was a sports anchor for Dateline SAU. In his final year, he also honed his writing skills as sports editor for The Buzz. From his sophomore year on, Widmeier hosted Unsportsmanlike Conduct, a two8
going.” Learn more about the Communications Department at sau.edu/scene
He’s an MVP of the Microphone
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Who is SAU? Tim Phillips When he walks through his door at 7:40 most mornings, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Tim Phillips, PhD, hopes not to see his phone’s red message light on. “Surprises in my work tend not to be exciting,” Phillips said. Still, Phillips seems always ready for whatever comes his way, and he does so with a sense of humility—“I don’t have all the answers”—and with great conscientiousness. “I fundamentally believe my role as dean of students is about connecting the academic area with the reality of the challenges we face. The recognition that we are whole people, that there are so many facets to getting an education.”
The Importance of Being Present Phillips can often be found at student activities or making himself available to students, considering the work of a dean to be far more than handling disciplinary matters. “I believe that being present speaks volumes,” he said.
Using the Ear, Not the Mouth According to Phillips, so much is about listening. The best part of his day involves one-on-one conversations, and some of his best relationships with students have started out from “not the best” circumstances. “When I visit with a student and get to see into their soul a little bit, that’s what makes my life rich.”
I believe that being present speaks volumes. The Evolution of Phillips’ Hair Phillips went from a mullet in college to a “tail” at the beginning of his professional career (which his wife, Erin, cut off in the middle of the night). A barber from Holland gave him his now signature flattop saying, “Good God, son, you’ve got a lot of cowlicks. This is the only haircut that makes sense for you.”
Tim Tidbits > He, his grandfather and both sons are lefties > The “P” in Timothy P. Phillips stands for Packard, a distant relative’s maiden name passed down through the generations > He scores as “very introverted” on the Meyers-Briggs > He is happy to admit that he takes his lead from the women in his life
Parting Words Phillips believes that to be educated is a privilege and with it comes great responsibility. He adds, “I’m very grateful to be part of this community. There are just some really good people here.” 9
In Perspective, There Are
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ethics
facultyPROFILE
Jessica Gosnell pushes students to keep an open mind by Steven Lillybeck
Philosophy
has come a long way. No more toga-clad old men gesturing in the shadows of pillars on the steps of the Parthenon; today’s philosophers are not bound by gender, race or wardrobe. St. Ambrose Professor of Philosophy and Ethics Jessica Gosnell, PhD, for example, is young, female, infectiously enthusiastic and highly intelligent. She’s also a conscientious scholar, committed to teaching with integrity while imparting lessons in that most ethical of values as well. Gosnell instills in her students the importance of keeping an open mind. Her academic training is well-suited to that endeavor and her high-octane personality adds luster. “The main thing I try to get my students to think about is that chances are pretty good that their gut intuitions may not be grounded in anything,” Gosnell said. “When you push students to think about something from different perspectives, they will usually discover more than one contradiction and how easily an intuition can lead to a bad place.” That philosophic approach to teaching also lends itself well to one of Gosnell’s myriad pet projects, a program in which St. Ambrose students serve as mediators for student disputes in the Davenport school system. Begun as a pilot program at J.B. Young Middle School, just blocks from the St. Ambrose campus, the program is set to expand to all of Davenport’s middle and high schools soon. In partnership with the Quad City Mediation Service, the program teams St. Ambrose students with members of the Quad City community, who also are trained in mediation skills. The program works as a perfect example of classroom lessons applied to real-life situations. “It puts the students in a completely different world,” Gosnell explained. “In a biology or mathematics class, there is a ‘right’ answer. In an ethics class, there is no ‘right’ answer.
“So, when my students go into a junior high school mediation, it’s a great learning situation. When they sit down with a couple of junior high school girls who have been backstabbing each other for six weeks, it is a very real social network and they are forced to see the world through different eyes.” The lessons learned are applicable beyond the classroom, according to Denocchio Pierce, a senior majoring in early childhood education who participated in the mediation program last year. “It’s not just learning how to mediate differences between younger kids,” Pierce said. “It also taught me how to mediate things in my own life.” Gosnell said the St. Ambrose mission statement is a palpable part of the university’s culture. “St. Ambrose can really be proud of that,” she said. “It’s not like this is our mission statement and we print it on the back of our business cards and that’s the last time we think about it. “When I went in to have a conversation with Paul Koch (provost and vice president for academic and student affairs) about expanding the mediation program, the center of that conversation was, ‘How does this fit with our mission?’” The mission of enriching lives underpins Gosnell’s approach to teaching. “I tell each student the same thing,” she said. “I want their life to be better at the end of the semester than it was at the beginning.” Read more about the Philosophy Department at sau.edu/scene
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Integrity in Action Enriches Lives
With examples of unprincipled behavior seeming to come at us non-stop on a digitized 24/7 news loop, where in the world can one turn to find the concepts of integrity, honesty, morality and mutual respect fully taking root? Right here under the oaks is a good place to start.
This is another in a series in which Scene magazine will examine the Core Values that define St. Ambrose University: Catholicity, Integrity, the Liberal Arts, Life-long Learning and Diversity. In this edition, we investigate Integrity.
Integrity We believe that as individuals we are capable of living in the fullest measure when our lives are freely based on values that acknowledge a loving God and a life-affirming moral code. Therefore, we teach, learn, and work in a climate of mutual respect, honesty, and integrity where excellence and academic freedom are cherished.
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Integrity is a noun that manifests only as a verb. Or, as our service-minded athletic director and men’s basketball coach rightly describes it, integrity is an “action word.” The St. Ambrose mission is integrity in action. Enriching lives is an act of integrity. Service is as well. The pursuit of social justice. The promotion of academic freedom and excellence. The enabling of students to develop intellectually, spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically and physically. All of these are actions rooted in integrity. Our community is guided by an institutional strategy to foster ethical behavior and acts of integrity, and to incorporate aspects of a life-affirming moral code into our learning—and teaching—experience. Committed to Catholicity and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, we talk here about the values we hope our students and alumni will practice in their lives. Yet, precisely because we are grounded in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, we also encourage students to exercise the academic freedom to challenge assumptions within those values.
Committed to service and social justice, we bring these concepts into the classroom time and again. And we program them into student life experiences through numerous clubs, organizations and activities devoted to service and promoting justice. Our students help new businesses to grow and reinvigorate blighted neighborhoods near campus. They assist learning for school kids who struggle. They offer speech and language therapy to anyone who needs it at a pro-bono campus clinic. They provide flu shots for families who might otherwise have done without and help all manner of nonprofit agencies serve the disadvantaged and persons with disabilities. They help construct houses for families who, under roofs they can call their own, have a chance to build stable homes. Through these and so many other valuable opportunities for experiential learning, our students enhance their education and enrich the lives of others. In those moments—and so many others inspired by Ambrosian integrity—they enrich their own lives, too.
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Campus leaders discuss how Ambrosians practice what we teach
To gain a better understanding of how St. Ambrose University both practices and promotes the foundational core value of integrity, Scene invited five members of the campus community to discuss the topic. Panelists were Sandra Cassady, PT, PhD, dean of the College of Health and Human Services; Micah Kiel, PhD, associate professor and chair of the Theology Department; Paul Koch, PhD, provost and vice president for academic and student affairs and a professor of psychology; Tim Phillips, PhD, associate vice president and dean of students; and Ray Shovlain ’79, ’82 MBA, athletic director, head men’s basketball coach and an instructor in the College of Business. What follows is an edited transcript. A longer version can be found at sau.edu/scene.
Integrity is a large concept, encompassing and supporting many aspects of the St. Ambrose mission. What does integrity mean to you and how do you promote this core value in your work? Ray Shovlain: “For me, integrity is an action word. I like the saying, ‘Do not tell me how good you are; show me.’ Within the Athletic Department, we continue to challenge all studentathletes, coaches and staff to reach out to others in need through the community service projects and experiences we participate in throughout the year. These incorporate integrity into action.” Tim Phillips: “The deepest level of integrity comes when an individual is faced with acting at a moment when no one else will likely ever know the outcome. In my mind, acting consistently with who you say you are in an ethical, respectful and lifeenhancing way at a time when only you know what you are doing is integrity in its purest form. I am grateful that we have many who do just that in our midst at St. Ambrose.” Sandra Cassady: “I believe integrity begins with understanding who we are as an institution of higher education, how we relate to one another and the broader community and how we prepare students for their future. Whether students are seeking traditional liberal arts majors or a degree in a professional program, we expect them to act with 15
Ray Shovlain
Tim Phillips
integrity and conduct themselves in a manner that recognizes the importance of honesty, moral actions and respect for one another. “We need to hold each other accountable, too, and serve as role models for students. Ray’s comment about integrity as an action word really resonates with me. ‘Deeds, not words’ applies here.“ Promoting integrity and ethical behavior should be a core mission of any institution of higher learning. Can you identify ways and examples of how we do this better than other institutions? Micah Kiel: “I would tie our understanding of ethics directly to our understanding and promotion of social justice. A true understanding of social justice ought to impact a myriad of decisions we make every day: what car to drive, where to live, which job to take, what food to eat, which portfolio to invest in.
“As a Catholic institution, it is my hope that what we bring to our students is value-laden rather than value-free.” —PAUL KOCH, PhD “SAU is better than many institutions in getting students to see this social component of the gospel and giving them opportunities to practice those very tenets.” Paul Koch: “One would like to think that integrity and ethical behavior would be core mission values of any higher education institution, but I sense a certain degree of fear in other institutions I have visited, especially those that are not faithbased, to even suggest that one can bring a conversation about values into the classroom or into meetings.
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“Some have suggested that education should be value free, but the reality is that I bring my values into the classroom or into a meeting each and every time. As a Catholic institution, it is my hope that what we bring to our students is value-laden rather than value-free.” Sandra Cassady: “What may differentiate us is the manner in which we handle lapses in integrity. On occasion, I have witnessed how our student affairs professionals and faculty approach the disciplinary process in a developmental manner. Our collective actions—how we work through these difficult situations—likely have a profound effect on students and the others they go on to serve.” How have the advance of technology and the ready availability of information increased the challenge of promoting and ensuring ethical behavior in the pursuit of learning? Paul Koch: “It has become a problem. While students have engaged in plagiarism from time immemorial, the nature of what I see has become more aggravated over time. It is no longer just pulling a sentence or two out of a reference and failing to cite the source. I see situations where entire paragraphs are lifted from electronic sources and presented as their own, and occasionally entire papers. “The rapid communication that can occur and escalate quickly on social mediums that offer anonymity also has caused us challenges. We could simply prevent access to such media through our servers, but, as a learning organization, we have taken the route of using such events as a learning environment, where we remind people of our mission and core values and that certain behaviors are intolerable. The behaviors in question have typically moderated or ended using this technique.” Sandra Cassady: “To ensure integrity and ethical behavior, we need to continue to provide education for all—traditional undergraduates, adult students and graduate students—about how to be responsible users of information. From my experiences visiting other colleges and universities
and interactions with graduate students who come to us from other institutions, I find that the work our library faculty does and lessons provided through our information literacy class are tremendous resources for undergraduate students. And surprisingly, this is somewhat unique.” Micah Kiel: “With technology, I worry about community. When I started teaching at SAU, few students had smart phones. Before class they would interact, talk, discuss. Now, every single student is buried in a phone up until the start of class. Part of ethical behavior is communal—it is easier to make good choices if others around you are doing the same. I worry that technology prevents personal interaction and that can lead to isolation, a cutting of the ethical tether between an individual and a community.” Do you believe the world our students live in is more ethical, less ethical or equally ethical to the one students knew as recently as 20 years ago? Have world events, including behavior by entertainers and particularly athletes, affected how students value integrity? Micah Kiel: I actually do not think the world is any more or less ethical than it used to be. Close reading of the Iliad, the Bible, Dante or Flannery O’Connor can tell us that humanity has long been facing ethical challenges, and while the specific guise of those challenges may have changed slightly, the basic components of ethics have not. “This does not mean we ought to ignore the particular iteration of our current ethical problems, but a place like St. Ambrose University ought to contextualize them historically, philosophically and theologically so we can bring the wisdom of the past—learning both from successes and mistakes— in order to be that which God calls us to be in the present and future.”
Ray Shovlain: “Compliments to the Internet and social media, as they provide more exposure of negative or unethical situations and issues. Unethical behavior of years ago truly went underexposed. “I do feel that students have been affected both in a positive and negative way given world events, as well as exposed bad behavior by athletes and entertainers. One fear I have is that given all the exposure to negative and unethical behavior, there is a tendency to desensitize not just young people, but everyone.” What does success in advancing this mission core value look like specific to St. Ambrose University? Tim Phillips: “I think the outcome of our effective advancement of integrity is demonstrated by the job placement rates, relative career success and the general impressions the community has about St. Ambrose. “Time and again, we hear from employers that St. Ambrose graduates provide the foundation to their workforce and come well-prepared to hit the ground running. That makes the university a dependable entity, one that our city and places beyond can turn to with specific educational and service needs.” Paul Koch: “Agree, Tim. I think success is also demonstrated by the very action of paying attention to our core values and guiding principles in ways such as this discussion. We make the attempt to practice what we preach.”
Sandy Cassady
MIcah Kiel
Paul Koch
Read more from this discussion at sau.edu/scene
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Ambrosian Integrity
An Integral Partner in the Community by Craig DeVrieze
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When the volunteer board of the Children’s Therapy Center of the Quad Cities needed some expert help developing a longterm strategic plan, it got a willing assist from St. Ambrose Managerial Studies Department Chair Arun Pillutla, PhD. “St. Ambrose has been a great partner to us,” said Dan Donahue ’74, the chairman of the Therapy Center board. “We already have had a great relationship and I think, going forward, it is going to get even stronger.” When the Quad Cities Chapter of Habitat for Humanity needed help with a home build or sought volunteers to assist with a fundraising event, it found a ready workforce among SAU students, faculty and staff. “They are amazing,” said Dougal Nelson, the chapter’s director of development. “Anytime we have an event, you can find a St. Ambrose Bee there.” Whenever. Wherever. St. Ambrose students, alumni, faculty, administrators and staff always have been ready, willing and exceptionally able to join the work of making their communities better. More than just fulfilling a mission to enrich lives, these contributions also speak to a core commitment to integrity. That is because, while the concepts of integrity and ethics can be learned in a classroom, they are best taught by example. “We always know people pay far more attention to what folks do than to what folks say,” noted Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, the university president. “What is it that St. Francis of Assisi said? ‘Preach the gospel always. Occasionally use words.’”
Not every act of integrity and service must be an entirely selfless one, and much of the work the St. Ambrose campus community does in and for the community-at-large brings the significant return of enhancing students’ educations. It is the proverbial “win-win,” noted Sandra Cassady, PT, PhD, dean of the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS). The CHHS and its health- and education-oriented programs lead the way in partnering with community organizations, both in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. > At Jim’s Place, the assistive technology showcase home on Brown Street in Davenport, occupational therapy students learn how to forge adaptive solutions that provide independence to the physically challenged. > Through numerous action-oriented research projects within the Master of Social Work program, students identify ways to help local nonprofit
agencies better serve their missions while also honing skills they will use in their future careers. > There also are nursing outreach programs for nearby nonprofits; the Master of Speech-Language Pathology program’s pro bono community clinic; and the hundreds of clinical and intern partnerships through which the MSLP, Master of Occupational Therapy and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs assist the work of nonprofit providers like the Children’s Therapy Center— all of which, in turn, provide students supervised experiential learning. “When we can benefit the community, but also provide a hands-on learning experience for our students, it is the best of outcomes,” Cassady said. The College of Health and Human Services has a longstanding relationship with the Children’s Therapy Center (CTC), where five of the center’s nine full-time therapists are SAU graduates who first proved their abilities as CTC interns. In addition, the center’s development office has been aided by marketing interns from the St. Ambrose
College of Business in each of the past eight years. “Our partnership with St. Ambrose helps us become stronger and our community become stronger, too,” said George McDoniel, the CTC’s executive director. “Certainly, services for children with disabilities become stronger.” Pillutla was impressed with the Children’s Therapy Center mission and its results after Cassady referred Donahue and McDoniel to the Doctor of Business Administration program for strategic planning assistance. The initial hope was to find a DBA student to build a dissertation around their involvement in creating a strategic plan. When no students were immediately available, Pillutla joined the effort himself. “What they do for children is very appealing,” he said. “It is an organization in the community that is doing great things, and it turned out I could help. As a university faculty member, I see that as an important role.”
19
One of the things at St. Ambrose University that resonates with me is that it is connected to the community, it cares about the community, it is in the community. —ARUN PILLUTLA, PhD
Pillutla also serves on the board of directors of a local savings and loan, making him one of the dozens of St. Ambrose faculty, staff and administrators who help steer the important work of schools, churches, foundations, health providers, nonprofits and businesses in the Quad Cities and elsewhere. This work typically is done without pursuit of recognition. In fact, many of the hours devoted to service by faculty and staff are not included in the hundreds of thousands of Ambrosian service hours that have earned SAU a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five straight years. In 2014, St. Ambrose was elevated to the Honor Roll with Distinction level. “One of the things at St. Ambrose University that resonates with me is that it is connected to the community, it cares about the community, it is in the community,” Pillutla said. “When I visit another school, I always ask what they do in their community and I come away thinking that we seem to do more, we seem to do better.”
20
The local chapter of Habitat for Humanity certainly has a friend in St. Ambrose. Sr. Joan supported the Habitat mission of providing home ownership to families in need long before she arrived at St. Ambrose in 2007. Here, she eagerly joined the work of a campus Habitat chapter chartered by students. “As Ambrosians, we are all committed to helping people have a more dignified life,” said the SAU president, who annually wields a hammer for the local chapter’s Women Build projects. “It’s all part of the social justice of our faith.” Habitat’s Nelson said St. Ambrose students enrich his chapter’s projects merely with the energy they bring. “It’s kind of contagious,” he noted. More importantly, he said they wordlessly impart a message that may enrich lives years beyond their time at St. Ambrose. “I see the interaction between our Habitat families’ children and the St. Ambrose students,” Nelson said. “The children look up to them and maybe for the first time think ‘Gosh, I’d like to go to college someday myself.’ We think that is a pretty cool thing.”
Finding Teachable Moments
Student Conduct Review Process Focuses on Building Better Neighbors
The most impactful lessons of a college experience seldom are learned in a classroom. Life is a learning laboratory in its own right, and, increasingly, Robert Christopher, the assistant dean of students and director of campus security, is enlisting the SAU student handbook as a life lessons textbook while creating teachable moments within the student conduct review process. Christopher has leaned on his own experience and training
by Craig DeVrieze
from organizations like the Association for Student Conduct Administration to shape an approach geared more toward altering conduct than punishing it. Ultimately, he said, the new brand of conduct review is about “developing the kind of people we would all like to see in our neighborhood.” Christopher’s own life lessons include 25 years experience in student affairs and campus security at Marshall University and Keene College, as well as at St. Ambrose. He also brings formal classroom experience to the job, having earned a Master of Criminal Justice degree at Marshall.
21
Dean of Students Tim Phillips said Christopher’s
“That is the mainstream of student conduct policy
long experience with student conduct is why Phillips
now,” he said. “To have fundamentally fair processes,
chose to place conduct review under the director
but also to really take advantage of the fact we can
of security’s responsibilities. “In Bob, you have a
have direct conversations about integrity and these
background in student development and learning and
life-shaping moments.
growth and yet also a security and investigation mind,” Phillips said. “In some ways, he covers all the bases.” For all he learned on the job and in the classroom,
“I would argue that integrity is the one thing you have that nobody can take from you,” Christopher added. “People can take your life, your property. They
however, the foundation of Christopher’s “good
can take your stature. They cannot take your integrity.
neighbor” approach may have been constructed in a
But you can choose to give it away.”
dojo, where, as a young man, he earned a black belt in
You also can choose to take it back.
tae kwon do.
“As we are working with students, that’s where we
That’s where his grandmaster told him about “three kinds of people in this world,” he recalled. First, the teacher asked Christopher to think about the neighbor who moves away one afternoon and a celebratory block party ensues that very night. Next,
try to get them to focus,” Christopher said of thinking forward. “As we work through our conduct system, we use the end goal of ‘This is who we’d like you to be when you graduate.’” Conduct issues that may cross Christopher’s desk
he cited the neighbor who moves and you don’t notice
range from excessive noise in a residence hall to
for a month.
criminal conduct. Remedies range from a hearing
“And then there are those people who live in your
with a residence hall director to expulsion, but only
neighborhood who if they moved this afternoon you
a few cases go beyond one-on-one mediation with a
would be missing them by this evening,” Christopher
Residence Life staffer or Christopher himself.
recalled. “He always challenged us: ‘Who do you want to be?’ I find myself challenging students that way.” St. Ambrose has separate processes for adjudicating
Every student has the option of taking their case before the Student Conduct Review Board. “We have some very formalized ways that allow us to provide
issues of student conduct and allegations of academic
the greatest protection for their rights, for our rights,
dishonesty. Yet, Christopher believes either kind of
for the safety of everybody involved,” Christopher said.
violation provides an opportunity to challenge, and
Student Conduct Review Boards consist of one
hopefully enhance, a student’s understanding of
faculty or staff member and two students. Student
integrity.
board members are trained in decision-making, Christopher said—“how not to be afraid to ask a question, how to listen, and how you begin to create a decision and an outcome.” Student board members sometimes make tougher judges than faculty and staff, Christopher noted, but almost always the desired outcome is education and restoration. “I want them to have an honest response,” he said. “But I want them to do that under
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Intervention Program Makes Students Part of the Solution The St. Ambrose Bystander Intervention program is about making students part of a preventive solution to campus behavior issues. an umbrella of ‘How do we help this person grow?’’’ Olivia Lofgren, a senior with two years experience
“It’s not victim blaming, it’s not perpetrator blaming,” senior psychology and Spanish major Stephanie Burns said.
on the review board, said a key lesson she learned
“It’s all about preventing situations to begin with. I’m a firm
through her experience is “you don’t always know
believer this can work on our campus.”
what others have going on. So before you speak or
The program trains 10 to 15 student leaders per year
pass judgment, it is important to sit back and realize
in various ways to spread the message and empower
where they are coming from.”
bystanders campus-wide with the skills and confidence
Phillips said the evolution of a more inclusive
they need to act.
review process fits a mission-driven university that is
These leaders create a call to action by sharing their
grounded in the liberal arts. Constant learning means
message with New Student Seminar classes and meeting
openness to change.
students where they are—in residence halls. They are
“Certainly, the environment we have tried to create is ‘Hey, we are all learning here,’” he said. “As faculty and staff, we have some knowledge based
getting conversations started about difficult topics ranging from sexual assault to cyber bullying. “I enjoy the tough conversations we get to have,” senior
on experience, but the nature of what we know is
psychology student Connor Daws said. “Situations with
constantly changing. And that always needs to be
no good answer: like what’s the difference between being
taken into consideration.”
flirty and sexually harassing someone? It’s interesting how
Learn more about Student Conduct Review at sau.edu/scene
people think they’ll react in those situations.” Dean of Students Tim Phillips said peers are best suited to convince students to change their behavior. Burns and Daws agree. “We’re trying to be really proactive at St. Ambrose,” Burns said. “The higher-ups have been super supportive and want to see us grow. They have pushed to put this at the forefront.” Burns and Daws also are members of the Sexual Assault Awareness team on campus, and hope to see the Bystander program grow by involving more student-athletes and members of clubs and organizations. They hope to make Bystander Intervention training mandatory in every NSS class and at all residence halls. “I want to get more men involved in the group, because that’s the only way we’re going to find some sort of equilibrium,” Daws said. “And to just let people know that if they want to take a stand for something, we’re here for them.” Learn more about Bystander Intervention at sau.edu/scene 23
alumniPROFILE
A Judge of Good Character
by Steven Lillybeck
24
P. Michael Mahoney Ruled in Landmark Rockford Schools Case
If
one of the hallmarks of a good judge is the ability to tell it straight, then the Honorable P. Michael Mahoney ’68, JD, can be judged as good. Ask about the influence his St. Ambrose education had on Mahoney’s stellar legal career and his response will be affirmative and emphatic. “St. Ambrose taught me the basic difference between right and wrong,” Mahoney said with no hesitation. “During my time at St. Ambrose, the professors fostered that and to some extent preached it. I was basically told that I have an obligation to the greater good and that I was not at the university to learn how to make money and protect my money. I was instructed that the whole idea of being educated was to learn how to go out in the world and do something to help the average person and, in particular, help someone on the poor end of the spectrum.” Over three decades as a U.S. Magistrate Justice, Mahoney served his education well. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois in 1971, and that same year joined the Freeport, Ill., law firm founded by his father. Five years later, Mahoney was appointed a parttime U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western Division of the Northern District of Illinois. He held that position until 1992, when he was appointed fulltime U.S. Magistrate Judge for the same district. He fully retired from the bench in May 2014 and now serves as an arbitrator and mediator. As a judge, Mahoney heard thousands of cases across a broad spectrum of jurisprudence. And while it may be a stretch to single out one case as the most important in a 44-year legal career, the landmark People Who Care v. The Rockford (Ill.) Board of Education certainly sits near the top. Originally filed in 1989, the civil suit eventually
ended up on Judge Mahoney’s docket in 1992. The case centered on alleged discrimination in the Rockford schools. Mahoney eventually ruled that the school district had consistently violated the law through a pattern of intentional discrimination. The school district planned to close schools in older parts of community and replace them with newer schools in areas that would place an undue transportation burden on minority students and poor families. Mahoney ruled this was a violation of plaintiffs’ civil rights and forced the district to proceed in a more equitable manner. “Basically what was happening was that new schools were going where new houses were being built,” he explained. “In my opinion, I stated that the district needed to look at black and white and rich and poor. We required the district to build new schools that had a magnet quality and that attracted students from all over the district with no geographic imbalance.” Mahoney said his St. Ambrose experience helped him reach that historic decision. “St. Ambrose helped me a great deal in the desegregation cases,” he said. “When I went to St. Ambrose, there was a lot of discussion going on about how to desegregate the South and the North and how to help poor people who had been deprived. “And it’s important to note that the instructors at St. Ambrose did that from both sides of the spectrum— liberal and conservative,” he continued. “John Norton ’56, PhD, and Rev. Jack Smith had a huge impact in that regard. They both taught me to look at an individual situation and make a determination that is fair and reasonable.”
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alumniNEWS
“It is critical to remember that your work has a direct effect on other people’s lives. Other people must trust that you are going to do the right thing for them.” —ANN O’DONNELL, DO
Integrity is Good Business
Ambrosians reflect on integrity in the workplace by Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04 Miles Chiotti ’11 knows the secret to success in politics—and it has every bit to
restraint,’ meaning I don’t read our
do with integrity.
students’ stories before they are
“To be successful in governing, you
published,” said Veto. “But that doesn’t
have to be able to build coalitions and get
mean we don’t talk about how to handle
others to work alongside you,” Chiotti said
the story the right way.”
from his office on the Hill in Washington,
This spring, for instance, a student had
D.C., where he is legislative aide to Rep.
uncovered statistics about sexual assaults
Rodney Davis (R-Ill.). “You cannot get to
on college campuses that feature large
that point if you haven’t built trust—if
numbers of fraternities and sororities,
your constituents don’t believe you will
which are prominent at Lehigh.
be responsible, listen and do what you say you are going to.”
all sides—if you are going to make a population look bad, you have to talk
with as many as eight groups from the
to them,” he told her. She did, and the
congressman’s district about issues
result was a “well-rounded, fair story that
important to them. Not everyone will
started a conversation on campus about
come out of the meetings agreeing with
this issue,” he said. “You see, journalism
one another, but they will know where
doesn’t have to be void of empathy. You
everyone stands.
have to ask questions, but you don’t have
“That, to me, is integrity. That is
to be callous.” As senior vice president of investment
me that I know all sides of the issues, and,
relations and corporate communications
just as important, the people behind those
at MGIC, a private mortgage insurance
issues.”
corporation, Mike Zimmerman ’81
That’s also an approach to journalism
believes in complete transparency with
that Matt Veto ’04 teaches his student
his investors—even when the news is bad.
reporters at Lehigh University in
“No, it isn’t completely altruistic—but it is
Pennsylvania, where he is beginning his
part of our core company values,” he said
second year as a journalism professor of
from his office in Milwaukee.
practice and the adviser to the student newspaper, The Brown and White. 26
“You’re going to need to talk to
On any given day, Chiotti will meet
respect,” Chiotti said. “It is important to
Miles Chiotti
“As the adviser, I practice ‘no prior
As the financial and mortgage crisis began to unfold in 2007, “we could see
Matt Veto
the train wreck coming but couldn’t do
am working with people and their families
anything about it due to the way insurance
in end-of-life situations—and there are
accounting happens,” he said. “What we
incredibly hard discussions to have and
could do was put all of the information out
decisions to make. When I know their
on the table—the good news, of course,
wishes, I am able to help them have as
but also the not-so-good. Yes, we have a
much time as possible to spend with those
legal responsibility to do so, but we go
they love.”
one step beyond that to make sure the
She had two huge influences in her life
information we are sharing isn’t opaque. If
to model after. One grandfather was Jack
one sentence suffices legally, we write two
“Doc” Sunderbruch, MD, and the other
sentences to make sure everything is clear.
was the great Quad Cities sports editor
“I cannot change the facts when
John O’Donnell, whose name was borne
something happens in our business, but
for decades by the stadium in downtown
I can choose how to deal with things,”
Davenport.
Zimmerman added. “It shows respect for
“I think women and men like my
the investors we work with, and it is simply
grandfathers, generations ago, valued
the right thing to do.”
integrity more—they understood what it
Ann O’Donnell ’91, DO, feels the exact
meant,” O’Donnell said. “If you are in this
same way. As medical director of the
profession—or really any job—I think it is
Visiting Nurses Association for Genesis
critical to remember that your work has a
Health Systems, she works directly with
direct effect on other people’s lives. Other
patients in hospice—both in their home
people must trust that you are going to do
and at the hospital. Her entire approach to
the right thing for them.”
Mike Zimmerman
healthcare centers on honesty. “As a physician, there are two ways I think of integrity—the integrity I hold myself to and the commitment I feel to my patients,” she said. “In many cases, I 27 27
alumniNEWS
you
are the missing piece of the puzzle.
Together, we can enrich the lives of St. Ambrose students of today and tomorrow. Invest in St. Ambrose. Bee a giver. Visit sau.edu/give today.
28
alumniNEWS
The Gift of Giving SAU Faculty, Staff Support the Ambrose Annual Fund Cara Carter ’15 is among the reasons Maggie Woods is a regular donor to the Ambrose Annual Fund. In January, Carter was a semester shy of earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Teacher Education, but feared she was going to have to step out of school when her grandfather died unexpectedly and her parents were forced to cover funeral expenses with the last of what they had saved for her college expenses. Financial assistance kept Carter on track to graduate and enabled the new alumnae to land her “dream job” teaching English and creative writing starting this fall at the high school from which she graduated in Rockford, Ill. “Financial aid helped me through my last semester,” said Carter, who also had worked a number of jobs throughout her college career. Those paychecks and her parents’ college fund savings helped to supplement financial aid Carter was granted for academics and for participation in track and field. The Ambrose Annual Fund helps provide that kind of aid assistance and helps make a St. Ambrose education attainable for many students and their families. Woods has contributed since she joined the Education Department a decade ago.
“This is how we help many students afford to go here,” said Woods, a former area high school teacher and now the director of the SAU Master of Education in Teaching program. “Without our students, we have nothing. I also see it as part of living the mission of St. Ambrose, the mission of social justice and helping others. We can’t just let those be words. We have to live that and so I make it a priority.” A Rock Island, Ill., native, Woods was born into a family that emphasized the importance of giving. “I have always been blessed in my life, and we were always taught that you share, you give back, you help others,” she said. Her reward at St. Ambrose is seeing the tangible impact of helping start the teaching careers of dedicated students like Carter and Celeste Raya ’15. Another beneficiary of financial aid, Raya this fall will become the first instructor of English as a Second Language in the same Moline school district where Woods spent the bulk of her teaching career. “I can’t imagine anyone who works here not seeing how important that is,” Woods said. A fifth of all SAU faculty and staff support the annual fund, and Margaret Babbitt, director of the Ambrose Annual Fund, said employee giving is important for numerous reasons. “It is significant because it sets a philanthropic example for future alumni and because many prospective donors are encouraged when we can show them proof of internal support,” Babbitt said. “Also, many national collegiate rankings measure the level of faculty and staff giving, as well as that of alumni. Giving enhances the value of a St. Ambrose University degree.” Learn more about the Ambrose Annual Fund at sau.edu/scene
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classNOTES
60
The Sixties
St. Malachy Parish in Geneseo, Ill., honored Mary (Busch) Hughes ’61 as one of its 2015 Volunteers of the Year. Hughes was honored at a Peoria Diocese appreciation luncheon in April. Tom Dowling ’66 received the Pour Le Merite award from the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vt. The award is given annually to an outstanding individual from the region who has exhibited care, support and leadership through substantial engagement in volunteer activities that have contributed to the betterment of society.
70
The Seventies
Dennis Prior ’71 of Davenport retired in June as national secretary of Modern Woodmen of America and as a member of Modern Woodmen’s Board of Directors. He served the organization for 44 years. Jerry Lyphout ’83 of East Moline, Ill., is the new national secretary. John Fridlington ’74 is the new chief executive officer for the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors. Fridlington is responsible for oversight and management of the professional organization, which serves more than 6,000 members who live and work in the Twin Cities metro area. Karene (Arp) Nagel ’76 has been elected to the position of precinct committee-person for the Scott County Democratic party. Chaddock, a high-end case goods and upholstery manufacturer, has named Dan Bradley ’78 as its 30
chief executive officer. Bradley most recently was a senior vice president of operations at Ethan Allen.
80
The Eighties
Provisur Technologies, Inc., announced the appointment of Scott Scriven ’80 as vice president of its slicing business unit and a member of the company’s executive team. The company is a leading global provider of high performance food processing equipment and systems. John “JS” Fer ’82 was selected as a finalist to participate in the Head Start Pre-Conference track sessions at the Mt. Hermon (Calif.) Christian Writers’ Conference in March. Cynthia (Masterson) Carrington ’86 was awarded the professional insurance designation of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter by The Institutes, which is a primary source of professional development in the insurance profession.
90
The Nineties
Ed ’92 and Angie (Griffin) Hubbard ’92 have founded Adroit Systems Co., a security systems integration company that specializes in commercial intrusion/fire alarm systems, video surveillance systems and access control systems in Greer, S.C. Denise Broderick ’93 was promoted to vice president of training and education for Hy-Vee, an employee-owned chain of 235 supermarkets in the Midwest.
Jay Sommers ’94 is general counsel with Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor, Inc., which is headquartered in Bettendorf, Iowa. Sommers, his wife, Kate, and their three children reside in Bettendorf. Lee County Bank & Trust, N.A., Fort Madison, Iowa, announced the promotion of Chad Ward ’95 to executive vice president/chief lending officer. Carrie Landau ’96, ’02 MCJ was appointed to the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Based near Chicago, she is a Crimes against Children special agent for the FBI. Modern Woodmen of America announced the retirement of Ted Kobow ’96 of Rock Island, Ill., after 31 years of service. Kobow was the director of the Information Technology Department.
00
The Zeros
Eric Anderson ’00 received a Staff of the Year award this May from the University of Idaho. Margo (Fulcher) Hone ’01 is a sales account specialist for Mediacom Business in Davenport. Hone and her husband, David, reside in Geneseo, Ill., with their four children. Matt Ehlman ’02 was a recipient of a 2015 Bush Foundation Fellowship. The two-year fellowship will provide Ehlman up to $100,000 to help complete his dissertation through the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, Indianapolis. The grant also will help Ehlman establish a rural philanthropy
institute focused on research and bringing accurate data to decisionmaking in rural areas. Royal Neighbors of America announced the appointment of Matt Mendenhall ’02 MSW, as director of philanthropy. Christopher Stone ’02 MED is the assistant director for the Disability Resource Center at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. In March, Stone successfully defended his dissertation, “What College Students with Physical Impairments Say About Discourses of Disability on Campus,” and earned an EdD from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. D. Scott Welker ’02 MBA has been appointed deputy to the commander for the Joint Munitions Command at the Rock Island Arsenal. Welker is among the Army Material Command’s and the Army’s top executives. First Midwest Bank announced Mike Weipert ’03 has joined the corporate banking team. Weipert will help business clients throughout the Quad Cities. Deere Employees Credit Union in Moline, Ill., announced Cody Flatt ’05 has rejoined the investment and retirement services team. Flatt will focus his area of expertise on wealth management, retirement income planning, estate planning and asset management.
classNOTES
Triumph Community Bank N.A., Bettendorf, Iowa, announced the promotion of Amy Mason ’05 to information security officer/ programmer/analyst. Lien Moore ’05, ’12 MBA has been awarded the Scott Community College Outstanding Alumni Award. Moore is a finance analyst at Deere & Co., Moline, Ill. The North Dakota Department of Human Services’ Behavior Health Division has hired Stacie Dailey ’07 MSW as its lead mental health program administrator. Dailey works with provider licensing, supports the integration of behavioral health services and administers traumatic brain injury services. She also coordinates the North Dakota Olmstead Commission, which promotes community-based services for people with disabilities. Christine (Hassenfritz) Toft ’07 accepted the lead teacher position in the teacher leadership and compensation program with the Davenport School District. She will assist in the introduction of new teachers and identify resources for her colleagues in order to improve classroom management. Ruhl and Ruhl Realtors announced Bonnie (McCalester) Turner ’07 has joined the Moline office as a real estate agent. Kent Corporation announced the promotion of Mike Gauss ’09 MBA to vice president, operations for Kent Nutrition Group. He joined Grain Processing Corporation in 2005 and most recently was director of manufacturing and distribution.
She’s Making Healthcare Healthier Lyn Ketelsen ’98 has long made it her mission to ensure every patient has a great healthcare experience—and now she has an opportunity to make it happen for patients of one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. This spring, the St. Ambrose business administration graduate was appointed chief patient experience officer for Hospital Corporations of America (HCA), a provider of healthcare services in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company manages 166 hospitals and 113 surgery centers, along with physician practices and other patient services. “I am responsible for ensuring that HCA’s patients have an experience that matches the high level of care we intend to provide,” Ketelsen explained from her office in Nashville, Tenn. “I get to make sure we are living up to our values as a company, offering the very best care possible.” As a registered nurse nearly three decades ago at Genesis Health Systems in the Quad Cities, Ketelsen first became aware of how important customer service was. “They created a position for a customer service coordinator,” she explained, “and I felt I was uniquely qualified to take on the task.” She left a customer service model at Genesis that ranked among the best in Iowa a few years later to take a job with Studer Group, a consulting firm that helps healthcare organizations improve patient and physician satisfaction levels. She is now in her first few months
with HCA, an organization she described as forward-thinking, especially in terms of its use and investment in new technologies. The creation of her position also speaks to the integrity of HCA’s interest in providing a quality experience for patients. “But there are also things we can continue to be better at, like listening to our patients. Sometimes the things that appear simplest to do are actually hardest to do,” she said. “Every person who walks into a healthcare facility is different, and comes with a variety of different needs and expectations.’’ Focusing on individual needs is an approach Ketelsen said she experienced at St. Ambrose. “The faculty valued me—and my needs—as an adult learner, in the same way HCA does today with the people we care for,” she said.
31
Teacher Spins Positives from Bike Accident It was just a normal day. Start with coffee, kiss the kids and wife, go to work and help mold the minds of high schoolers. Normal. Until it wasn’t. Today, Craig Reuter’s new normal has challenges. Still, he will tell you he’s the luckiest person alive. Early last fall, the 2001 St. Ambrose graduate and Central DeWitt (Iowa) Craig Reuter shortly after his accident High School science teacher was struck from behind by a car while riding his bike. His injuries ranged from a life-threatening concussion to a broken neck, back, scapula and shoulder. Through the intervening months, Reuter has fought, overcome and ultimately thrived. Less than two months after his accident, he returned to a classroom full of students, and tanks filled with spiders and snakes. Oh, and as head track coach with a season fast approaching. “I’ve lost a lot physically, but I’ve gained a ton in perspective,” he said. “I’ve been able to go out and give back to the communities that came out in full force for me.” Some of the most critical help he received came from fellow St. Ambrose graduate Molly Muhl ’92. An occupational therapist at Genesis Health System, Muhl assisted with the first steps in Reuter’s rehabilitation. Reuter traveled around eastern Iowa schools in the course of his recovery, sharing his survival story and promoting bike safety, while providing hundreds of kids with bike helmets through “pay it forward” funds. He completed physical therapy in February, and resumed his active lifestyle as best he could. “These injuries are going to catch up with me in 20 years and it’s not going to be pretty, but I get to have those 20 years,” Reuter said. Given the severity of his concussion, Reuter said he probably should not have made it to his recent 38th birthday, one he celebrated with a bike ride. “I could be really bitter. I could hold grudges, but what do you gain from that?” he said. “You have to have a positive attitude. Everything I do from here on out is icing on the cake.”
32
10
The Teens
Emily Harvey ’13 MSW is the executive director of Humility of Mary Housing Inc. and Humility of Mary Shelter Inc. Harvey will be responsible for the provision of support services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas. Emilee Renwick ’14 is an apparel copywriter for Von Maur E-Commerce. Renwick writes product descriptions for clothing at VonMaur.com. Valerie (Baughman) Roemer ’14 MBA is the talent acquisition coordinator for Providence Health and Services in Renton, Wash. Avalon Sorensen ’15 is the digital marketing manager for CAT Scale and Iowa 80 Group in Walcott, Iowa.
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Marriages
Elizabeth Russell ’08, ’09 DPT and Larry Najera, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico Kevin Fiedler ’10 and Katie Mattoon ’10, McHenry, Ill. Cody Koeppen ’13 and Zoey Schmalz ’13, Rock Island, Ill.
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Births
Margo (Fulcher) Hone ’01 and her husband, David, welcomed their son Ivan on July 10, 2014. Ivan joins siblings Johnna, Gavin and Charlie. Ashley (Kohn) Segal ’01 and her husband, Nick, are happy to announce the birth of their son Anderson on Feb. 5, 2015.
classNOTES
and big brother Grayson.
Rev. Msgr. Raymond Wahl ’49, Rockford, Ill., Jan. 31, 2015
David Deninger ’60, San Diego, Jan. 9, 2015
Traci (Vis) Hart ’88, Eldridge, Iowa, April 25, 2015
Jessica (Leonard) Holberton ’03 and her husband, Nick, are proud
Richard Ambre ’50, Bettendorf, Iowa, March 10, 2015
James Gemskie ’60, Chicago, Dec. 17, 2014
Robert Hutcheson ’92, Davenport, Feb. 25, 2015
parents of daughter Charlee Jean,
Philip Cooper ’50, Memphis, Tenn., May 1, 2015
Richard “Dick” Moeller ’61, Rocky River, Ohio, May 5, 2015
Marilyn Brodie ’94 MPS, Muscatine, Iowa, July 17, 2013
Paul Hatfield ’50, Evansville, Ind., May 29, 2015
James Foley ’62, Davenport, Feb. 9, 2015
Julie Morrison ’03 MBA, Rock Island, Ill., May 11, 2015
Edward Mueller ’50, Tyler, Texas, July 7, 2014
George Lindle ’64, Muscatine, Iowa, March 1, 2015
Deb Waddingham ’05 MBA, Bettendorf, Iowa, April 18, 2015
Harry “Hank” Sonnemaker, Jr. ’50, Dunlap, Ill., March 21, 2015
Lawrence Schirck ’64, Phoenix, March 4, 2015
Laurel Molen-McCreary ’07, Davenport, April 6, 2015
William Garland ’51, Moline, Ill., Dec. 23, 2014
George Mowry ’66, Freeport, Ill., Dec. 16, 2014
Linda Steffen ’07, Bettendorf, Iowa, Feb. 13, 2015
James Lindsey ’51, Rexford, N.Y., May 28, 2015
Sylvester “Bud” Gottlick ’67, Alto, Mich., April 4, 2015
Faculty and Staff
Robert Linton Sr. ’51, Jacksonville, Fla., April 21, 2015
Sr. Mary Mel McMillan, OSF ’67, Clinton, Iowa, May 2, 2015
Rev. Robert Cooney ’52, Arlington Heights, Ill., Dec. 12, 2014
Gary Slavish ’67, Moline, Ill., April 1, 2015
Maj. Henry Nixon ’52, San Antonio, April 25, 2013
Patrick O’Brien ’69, Bourbonnais, Ill., May 7, 2015
Paul Sydow Jr. ’52, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Jan. 22, 2015
Louis Serafin Jr. ’69, Lakeport, Mich., April 4, 2015
William Weiman ’52 Academy, Davenport, March 29, 2015
David Fratzke ’71, La Grande, Ore., May 30, 2014
Ralph Knickrehm ’53 Academy, Maquoketa, Iowa, Feb. 26, 2015
Lawrence “Larry” McDermott ’71, Leesburg, Va., Aug. 13, 2014
Joanne (Knapp) McMasters ’55, Woodstock, Ill., May 8, 2015
Terrence McGrath ’71, Arnolds Park, Iowa, Nov. 16, 2014
Loreta “L.M.” O’Kelly ’55, Chicago, Nov. 26, 2014
Michael Wiskirchen ’71, West Allis, Wis., Jan. 28, 2015
Richard Caffery ’57, Racine, Wis., March 28, 2015
Sherman Arnold Jr. ’72, Flossmoor, Ill., May 12, 2015
Msgr. Philip Thoni ’46, Nashville, Tenn., March 19, 2015
Leo Latz Jr. ’57, Elmhurst, Ill., March 6, 2015
Scott Karwath ’75, ’95 MBA, Davenport, May 9, 2015
Paul Bohnsack ’47, Bettendorf, Iowa, Oct. 22, 2014
Michael Maher ’57 Academy, Geneseo, Ill., May 7, 2015
Deborah (Raftery) Feddersen ’80, Davenport, July 6, 2014
Donald Hayes ’49, St. Charles, Mo., April 29, 2015
Wilma (Gaunt) Nichol ’58, Davenport, Jan. 25, 2015
Lynda Talley-Moore ’83, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 29, 2014
Rev. Angelo Nobile ’49, Deerfield Beach, Fla., Dec. 24, 2014
David Herington ’59, Bettendorf, Iowa, April 20, 2015
Shane Elko ’88, Streator, Ill., May
Anderson joins big sister Aidan
born on March 9, 2015. Charlee was welcomed home by her brother Chase. Gabriel Barta ’04 and his wife, Kelly, welcomed home twins Lincoln and Zoey on Jan. 10, 2015. Katie (Thomas) ’05 and James Gimbel ’07, ’09 MOT are the proud parents of son James, born on July 6, 2014. Christy (Brehm) Wolf ’10, ’13 DPT, and her husband, Todd, celebrated the birth of their son Thomas on Feb. 20, 2015.
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Deaths
Joseph Colgan ’36, Wyoming, Ill., April 28, 2015 Faynelle Haehn ’40, Long Beach, Calif., April 7, 2015 John Kamerick ’43, ’73 (Hon), Sarasota, Fla., April 13, 2015 William “Bill” Malires ’43, Atlanta, May 22, 2015 John “Jack” Killion ’46 Academy, ’50, ’91 MBA, Omaha, Neb., May 1, 2015 Rev. Raymond Ruppenkamp ’46, Clinton, Iowa, Feb. 23, 2015
18, 2014
Vinod “Ray” Chohan, Davenport, April 16, 2015 Gerri Conway-Hatchett, Bettendorf, Iowa, March 20, 2015
Corrections
Iowa Lt. Gov. Robert Fulton was misidentified in a cutline for a picture of the 1965 Pacem in Terris Award ceremony and the party affiliation of Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill) was incorrect in a class note in the Spring 2015 Scene. We regret the errors.
Help us keep you informed The St. Ambrose University Office of Alumni Engagement is eager to keep your contact information current. If you have a seasonal address in addition to the one we currently have on record, or if you have recently relocated, let us know. Contact us at 800-SAUALUM, alumni@sau.edu, or visit sau.edu/scene/newaddress. 33
518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803
What’s New? Let us know what you’ve been up to. Drop us a note at Alumni Engagement, St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803, or go online to share updates. Include your full name, class year and phone number or email where we can contact you to verify your information. online extra: tell us what’s new at sau.edu/keepintouch
HOMECOMING 2015 Sept. 18–20 A voice from the recent past and a new generational gathering of SAU alums will join with traditions new and old to make Homecoming 2015 one you’ll not want to miss. The new highlights include a Friday night concert by a quintet featuring Javier Colon, winner on the inaugural season of the TV show The Voice, and the Stingers Reunion, a Saturday evening reception for alums from the classes of 1995–2004 at the new Beehive lounge. Visit sau.edu/scene for more details