Reflections - The Magazine of SVSU, Spring 2017

THE MAGAZINE OF SVSU

FALL 2016

The Fungus Gnat is one of many types of insects that Stephen Taber, assistant professor of biology, has collected for scientific purposes during weekly treks to remote locations across the nation. For a photo essay featuring his discoveries, go to page 20. photo by Michael Randolph

REFLECTIONS: SPRING 2017 ı EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Linda Sims ı EDITOR: Justin Engel ı MANAGING EDITOR: Tim Inman ı WRITERS: Jill Allardyce, Don Bachand, Kayla Eisenlord, Justin Engel, Madison Shumate, Jason Wolverton ı GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Jill Allardyce, Justin Engel ı PHOTOGRAPHERS: Michael Randolph, Steven McBride, Tim Inman ı ADVISORY BOARD: Don Bachand, president; Deborah Huntley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; and Alumni Relations staff Jim Dwyer, Kevin Schultz and Pamela Wegener ı REFLECTIONS magazine is published twice a year. For comments and inquiries, contact: Justin Engel at Saginaw Valley State University • Wickes 389 • 7400 Bay Road University Center MI 48710 ı jlengel@svsu.edu • (989) 964-4883

CONTENTS IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE …

President Don Bachand reflects on the personable nature of SVSU’s people, and how that quality can strengthen the Cardinal family.

THE LEWIS LEGACY One of the university’s earliest and most beloved members is honored posthumously as his family upholds his good name at the institution he loved.

ON THE COVER

HAVEN FOR THE FALLEN As America descends into a deadly opioid drug epidemic, an SVSU-led health clinic is offering hope for addicts in one community — and providing a health care model for recovery nationally. cover art, “Release Me,” by Christine Janowiak, 2013 alumna

INTO THE WILD A photo essay documents a professor’s weekly treks into remote wooded areas, where he has discovered several new species of insects (including the fungus gnat shown on the left).

FOR LOVE After a devastating loss, Brian Thomas discovered therapy for despair in the form of competitive racing.

SON OF SAGINAW As a judge, minister and citizen, Manvel Trice III is on a mission to make a positive difference in his hometown.

AN AURA OF HOPE Gretchen Evans and (wo)man’s best friend are helping change the lives of wounded warriors.

4

12 14 20 24

28 32

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

It’s the little things in life …

An open letter from President Don Bachand about how personal touch can strengthen SVSU and its impact on the world Last year, our institution worked with a research firm to study the personality of SVSU. More than 900 people with ties to the university were surveyed. The results reaffirmed what many of us in the SVSU family already understood: Our most defining traits are our approachability and friendly, supportive nature.

These traits manifest in all we do. Our investment — both in terms of volunteerism and dollars — in the region; the way our small classroom size allows faculty to work closely with students; the networks we establish between the Great Lakes Bay Region’s most dedicated stakeholders.

Those are a few macro-level examples of how our institutional identity enriches lives.

But I want to explore — and advocate for others to help spread the word about — “the little things” that will help deepen our institution’s footprint. You ask, “What are the little things?”

The little things often are small gestures offered by an individual in the SVSU family during an exchange with someone not yet familiar with the institution. The little things carry the massive weight of our university’s spirit in inspiring and empowering ways. The little things spread SVSU’s message and strengthen our positive impact on the world. The little things create more of those personal relationships that, when added up, bolster our mission of fellowship.

Our students provide some of my favorite examples of people who have embraced advocating for how the little things at SVSU can make a big difference in the lives of others. Senior Shelby Watts is a master of this philosophy.

Her pride in SVSU shines like a beacon, and it’s a light she likes to display both in her work as a campus tour guide as well as when the occasion arises outside of campus. She illuminates SVSU’s culture for others in a way that helps the university’s neighborly stature shine and provides a guiding light for those seeking an establishment that shares in their values and vision. For Shelby, advocating on behalf of her school is not a duty. It is an extension of her belief that human fellowship drives human excellence. She understands that SVSU’s personable nature fuels both.

The principles she shares with SVSU allows her to easily connect our institution with likeminded individuals who might be interested in our causes but not yet familiar with our reputation. This kind of interaction can begin in an organic way with either virtual strangers or close kin, and it can result in a new community partner for SVSU … or a future student. Shelby, for example, can count a younger sibling among the many people charmed by her conversations about SVSU. As a result, next fall, her sister, Alyssa, will move 90 minutes north of her birthplace in Waterford, Michigan, to a campus whose warm and welcoming community will make her feel like she never left home.

Creating such a connection between SVSU and someone else does not require a brochure or a deep knowledge of an academic program or a team of recruiters. Establishing a relationship with SVSU involves one person speaking to another — at a very personal level — about their experiences there. Being an ambassador for SVSU involves simply being a human being who can connect with another human being, because human connection is a character trait at the heart of our institution’s drive for human development.

It’s that personal touch. It’s that simple.

It’s the little things.

sincerely,

President, Saginaw Valley State University

Campus life

Essayists embark on online ‘Odyssey’ SVSU has a new resource for a community of student writers creating content for Odyssey.

Aiming to shine a spotlight on millennial voices, Odyssey provides a platform for student writers eager to discuss what matters most to them.

Local communities of Odyssey are popping up on many collegiate campuses across the nation and many of the posts written on the platform have gone viral.

The SVSU community was established early in 2016 and has grown quickly to be among the nation’s most prolific.

Abby Engel, a communication major from Birch Run and editor-in-chief of SVSU’s community of Odyssey, described the site as “an open platform.”

“Writers have the freedom to cover any topic they choose,” she said.

In a few short months as editor-in-chief, Engel has taken the Odyssey community — composed of fewer than 10 content creators when she took the reins — and turned it into a staff of more than 30 contributors.

Michael Nocella, who works out of Odyssey’s New York City headquarters and serves as a content strategist for a number of Odyssey groups including SVSU, called the university’s 32-articles-per-week pace “very impressive.”

“Out of 1,200 local communities, only a handful of communities are producing that much content on a weekly basis,” he said.

Some of the essays, shared through

photo by Michael Randolph ABBY ENGEL (FRONT), A COMMUNICATIONS MAJOR, SERVES AS EDITOR OF THE SVSU CHAPTER OF ODYSSEY, A WEBSITE FEATURING COLLEGE STUDENT ESSAYS. MADDIE WOODRUFF, A NEUROSCIENCE MAJOR, WORKS AS ASSISTANT EDITOR.

social media, went “viral” in the region.

One of those writings, which focused on fighting against the stigma of campus danger, was shared on Facebook by 8,000 people and attracted media attention.

In an article written by Engel, titled “Thank You Odyssey for Giving Me a Home,” she addressed the online community and its empowering effect.

“You gave me a chance to change the lives of the people who read my articles, the people who join my team, the people who ask what Odyssey is,” she wrote. “You changed my life. Without you, I don’t know where I would be.”

SVSU’s Odyssey essays can be found at theodysseyonline.com/@saginaw-valleystate-university.

Website ranks university housing No. 1 in state The website, Niche, ranked SVSU’s residential facilities No. 1 in the state and No. 19 nationally. Niche first ranked SVSU No. 1 statewide in 2015. The university was ranked No. 26 nationally at the time.

Niche calculates its rankings using a weighted formula where 70 percent of a school’s score came from students’ satisfaction with their housing, as well as data from the U.S. Department of Education. The ranking assesses 1,398 four-year colleges and universities.

News of SVSU’s review was no surprise to Sean Gilmore. The junior accounting major from Oxford began living at SVSU as a freshman.

“The dorms here really helped me break

out of my shell that first year,” he said. “It’s a very safe environment where you feel comfortable walking around and meeting new people. That helped me become the person I am today.”

Gilmore said students are attracted to the on-campus activities and camaraderie felt between neighbors.

Michele Gunkelman, director of Residential Life, said the university wants residents to feel like part of a community.

“We work with students to create an environment where they are part of the experience, where they are engaged in their community and where they are empowered to make the most of their experience,” she said.

SVSU on-campus housing can accommodate 2,700 residents. For the past eight years, at least 70 percent of the freshmen class chose to live in SVSU residential facilities.

SVSUNEWS 5

Campus life

Museum to showcase Oaxaca sculptures It’s pronounced “wah-hah-kah.”

Marilyn Wheaton hopes a Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum exhibition later this year will expose visitors to much more than the correct pronunciation of Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s 31 states. She wants the display to showcase a culture unlike any other presented at the SVSUbased museum, which will host the sculptures of seven artists from Oaxaca from June 23 to Sept. 23.

“This is good for the artists, good for the university and good for the way it focuses on artisans outside of the country,” said Wheaton, the museum’s director.

“It’s going to be a very enlightening exhibition.”

During a trip in fall 2015 to visit a friend in Mexico, Wheaton was introduced to some of the clay and carved-painted wood sculptures that will arrive at SVSU in a few months.

“I now understand why she asked me to visit — to pique my interest and excitement about the artwork of that area,” Wheaton said.

“That area” — Oaxaca — is near the southern tip of Mexico, in a region still largely defined by an indigenous population as opposed to the corners

of the country more heavily inhabited by expatriates, Wheaton said.

“They’re not as influenced by the rest of the world,” she said.

The result is a brand of art distinguished both in style and in artistic approach.

“All of these artists choose to work with others in the creation of their art,” Wheaton said.

“There’s a real partnership to these pieces, and I found that very intriguing. These artists start off by carving, and then let somebody else paint it — sometimes family members.”

For instance, one of the artists, Neftali Martinez Villanueva, pays the college tuition for those who help him produce his artwork.

The lineup also includes Alicia Leticia Garcia Blanco, Fernando Felix Peguero Garcia, Maricella Gomez, Mario Castellanos Gonzalez, Giovanni Melchor Ramos and Neftali Martinez Villanueva.

Along with the exhibition, one of the artists will lead workshops at the museum, Midland Center for The Arts, Creative 360 in Midland, The Saginaw Art Museum, and Studio 23 in Bay City.

She also arranged for Wayne State University to display the art after SVSU’s showcase.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

University spotlights distinguished alumni In an online exclusive, REFLECTIONS sat down with some of the individuals honored during SVSU’s Alumni Celebration in October 2016. To watch the YouTube-based video interviews, go to svsu.edu/reflections.

Those who earned SVSU’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Awards were Sarah Fechter, a 2007 graduate and founder of Sarah Fechter Fitness; Robert Loftus, a 1981 graduate who serves as owner and president of an income development agency for the auto industry; David Points, a 1976 graduate and recipient of the U.S. Navy Commendation Medal; John Stadwick, a 1983 alumnus who works as the global customer experience officer for General Motors; and John Tolfa, a 1985 graduate as well as an inventor of several patents related to synthetic lubrication and bio-based industrial chemistries.

6 SVSUNEWS

Theatre

photo by Michael Randolph THEATRE MAJOR DONTÉ GREEN PERFORMS WITH JAYLA GASKINS, A COMMUNICATION MAJOR, IN THE NOVEMBER 2016 SVSU PRODUCTION OF THE CLASSIC, ‘A RAISIN IN THE SUN.’

Student finds role of lifetime — as himself To find himself, Donté Green first had to transform into someone else.

In January 2017, he was one of 16 college actors who advanced to the finals of the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition at the Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Indianapolis.

While the Detroit native did not win the scholarship, he found victory in establishing himself among the competition’s 250 contestants, which included the top student-actors from universities across the Midwest.

“I couldn’t be more excited about where I ended up,” Green said. “I used to think this was something only people from New York or Los Angeles could succeed at. But this is something I can do ... and excel at.”

Green came to that conclusion gradually.

He arrived at SVSU in 2012 with hopes of becoming an actor. His family, though, urged him to pursue a career that offered job security and reliable wages.

“That wasn’t me,” he said. “I wanted to be an actor.”

Set to earn a bachelor’s degree in theatre in December 2017, Green auditioned for roles in SVSU productions. One of the first times he realized he made the right choice came after he landed the role of Cassio in the 2015 production of “Othello.”

“This was Shakespeare, and I thought, ‘This is amazing,’” Green said. “That made me take this seriously.”

His confidence rose to another level in November 2016 when he landed the lead role of Walter Lee in SVSU’s production of “A Raisin in the Sun.” The role — made famous

by Sidney Poitier in the 1961

“

film — involved playing the patriarch of a struggling black family in 1950s Chicago.

“It was a challenge to dig deep into me to find Walter Lee,” Green said.

“My family isn’t like his family; we aren’t poor. At the same time, I could relate to him because we are both black, and whether you are the richest or poorest black man, there is still a struggle.”

Green’s interpretation of the character earned rave reviews from local arts critics.

The performance, as it turned out, played well with others, too. About 60 members of his family attended the final performance.

“They support me now,” Green said.

“Now they’ve seen what I can do. That support means a lot to me. It shows me I made the right choice.”

I used to think this was something only people from New York or Los Angeles could succeed at. But this is something I can do ... and excel at.

— Donté Green, theatre student

”

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 7

OLLI

Transition, growth for 50-and-older program People look forward to retirement so they can create a bucket list of activities and adventures that were difficult to fit into their schedule due to career and family obligations. After helping others cross items off their bucket lists, now it’s Jo Brownlie’s turn to manage her own.

The founding director of SVSU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), who retired in February 2016, spent 16 of her 31 years at SVSU overseeing OLLI, a program that offers educational opportunities and trips for its members.

“It has been a pleasure to see so many OLLI members cross things off their bucket lists on our trips,” Brownlie said.

That list included zip-lining and white water rafting in Costa Rica, enjoying the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, marveling over the Colosseum in Rome, touring the Acropolis in Athens and traveling on the Napa Valley wine train.

Travel is a small component of OLLI, which Brownlie helped found in 2001.

The university recognized and answered a community call for enrichment opportunities for people who are 50-yearsand-older and approaching retirement or already retired. SVSU’s program originally was known as the Institute for Learning and Retirement; the name changed after SVSU received an endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation in 2005.

“Education for that age group was an unmet need at that time,” Brownlie said. “That population really does enjoy learning new things, and no one in our region was filling the need despite the fact the number of retirees was really starting to grow. So we helped fill the gap.”

OLLI MEMBERS NAVIGATE RAPIDS DURING A WHITE WATER RAFTING EXCURSION IN COSTA RICA IN FEBRUARY 2016.

About 250 people signed up that first year. Membership now has eclipsed 2,000.

At first, the institute offered courses on a variety of topics that appealed to the demographic. As membership grew, the institute also offered educational trips globally. The first trip in 2005 sent members to Spain. Since then, Costa Rica and Ireland have proven to be popular destinations, as have domestic cities such as New Orleans and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“We have actually been told that our program has saved lives,” Brownlie said.

“After leaving a full-time job, or after the death of a spouse, OLLI classes and trips can add structure to a member’s day. They also have the opportunity to meet new friends who share their love of learning, fitness, a hobby or travel.”

The experience has proven inspiring for the program’s instructors, too. Katherine Ellison, an adjunct instructor of history at SVSU, has taught history-based classes for OLLI for two years.

“A lot of our members have lived through some of the history I teach,” she said.

“They’ve taught me things I never would have known from just reading books.”

Ellison’s experiences with OLLI have been so inspirational that she applied for the director’s position and was selected to be Brownlie’s successor.

Meanwhile, Brownlie has not completely removed herself from the program. Right after announcing her retirement, Brownlie signed up for three OLLI classes — and checked off three items from her personal bucket list.

Pre-law

Moot court team continues tournament streak Eight students with SVSU’s moot court team traveled to Gulfport, Florida, to compete in the Moot Court Association’s national championship in January 2017.

It was the largest group of SVSU students to qualify for the annual contest during moot court’s six-year existence. The program has qualified for the tournament each year.

“It’s a huge source of pride,” said Julie Keil, SVSU assistant professor of political science and moot court adviser.

The moot court competition involves 8 SVSUNEWS

students acting as attorneys in teams of two. They make arguments to a panel of judges by drawing from constitutional law and Supreme Court cases. Judges decide the winners based on public speaking ability, knowledge of cases and law, and ability to answer questions.

One of the four SVSU teams, the tandem of Connor Hughes, a political science major from Howell, and Madison Laskowski, a political science major from Bay City, qualified during a regional competition in Chicago. The duo earned first-place

honors — the first in the program’s history.

During January’s national tournament, that same pair placed highest — No. 49 out of 80 teams — among the SVSU group.

“There were very prestigious universities there,” Keil said. “The competition gets harder every year.”

Football

Where are they now?

REFLECTIONS catches up with SVSU football stars-turned-pro

Paul Spicer In 1997, Spicer doled out an SVSU- and GLIAC-record 16.5 sacks in one season.

He played defense professionally for 12 years, including with the 2010 Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

Today, he is an assistant defensive line coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

photo courtesy USA Today; photo of Nick Caserio courtesy New England Patriots MATT LAFLEUR, THEN-QUARTERBACKS COACH FOR THE ATLANTA FALCONS, COUNSELS QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN. THE PAIR HELPED PROPEL THE FRANCHISE TO THE SUPER BOWL IN FEBRUARY 2017. LAFLEUR IS AN SVSU ALUMNUS.

Alums duel in Super Bowl The 2016-17 NFL playoffs became a degree in physical education in 2003, “Battle of the Valley” of sorts. wasn’t surprised by Caserio’s success.

In the final three rounds of the playoffs, “If you’ve ever been around Nick Caserio, a former member of the SVSU football you know he’s going to be successful,” team knocked off the team of another LaFleur said. “Nick is one of the ex-Cardinal until, eventually, one of those hardest workers I’ve been around. graduates earned a Super Bowl ring.

It doesn’t surprise me that he’s Nick Caserio, who earned an achieved great things.”

M.B.A. at SVSU in 2001, won his After the Super fifth Super Bowl as a member Bowl, LaFleur was of the New England Patriots. hired as offensive He has served as director of coordinator of the player personnel for the storied Los Angeles Rams, franchise since 2008, when he his third NFL stop. took over the responsibilities He previously worked of drafting, signing and for the Washington developing players for the Redskins. most dominant franchise in the Before his Super league’s recent history. From Bowl matchup, LaFleur’s NICK CASERIO 2001-08, he served in various Falcons beat the Green personnel-decision positions as well as Bay Packers, 44-21. wide receivers coach for the Patriots.

From the sidelines, LaFleur helped During his tenure with the team, the defeat a team with an SVSU alumnus Patriots won Super Bowls in 2002, 2004, on the field. Jeff Janis, whose 46 career 2005, 2015 and 2017. The franchise won touchdown receptions from 2010-13 the latest championship when it defeated remains an SVSU record, plays receiver for the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in February. the Packers. Janis completed a bachelor’s The Falcons, at the time, employed one degree in exercise science in 2013. of Caserio’s former SVSU classmates, In the prior round of the NFL playoffs, Matt LaFleur, as quarterbacks coach.

Janis’ Packers bested the Dallas Cowboys, LaFleur led SVSU football at quarterback 34-31. Janis’ former SVSU teammate, Jeff from 2000-02, never missing the NCAA Heath, has played defensive back for the Division II playoffs. Caserio was a graduate Cowboys since 2013. Heath, who studied assistant during those first two years. criminal justice while at SVSU, was a LaFleur, who received his bachelor’s Cardinal from 2009-12.

Jon Jennings From 2010-12, SVSU’s quarterback shattered the team’s record for career touchdowns thrown with 96. Now Jennings plays QB for the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions in Vancouver. Only two players tossed more TDs in the league last season.

photo courtesy BC Lions

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 9

THE RED PRIDE RUNWAY Senior Jaeleen Davis, featured in the fall 2016 edition of REFLECTIONS, continues to recover from a 30-foot fall.

Her injuries won’t stop her from embarking on a Study Abroad semester in Sydney, Australia later this year.

First, though, she is stuffing some items from SVSU’s bookstore into her suitcase. Here’s what she’s packing:

KNIT CAP $19.98

SVSU T-SHIRT $22.98 SVSU COOP DOLL $20

SVSU BACKPACK JANSPORT $54.98

SVSU CARDINALS UNDER ARMOUR SWEATPANTS $59.98

SVSU ALUMNI DECAL $6.98

photo by Michael Randolph

Do you share Jaeleen’s sense of style? Want to see what else is on the shelves? Alumni can shop for SVSU clothes and accessories on the SVSU Barnes & Noble College Bookstore’s new website at svsuspiritwear.com. Alumni receive free shipping and discounts, offered when signing up to receive e-mail notifications. To inquire about items not on the website, contact Chris Pawloski at (989) 964-7122 or e-mail bookstore@svsu.edu.

10 SVSUCULTURE

Optimistic Club

spreads positivity at SVSU

by Kayla Eisenlord

Smile,

you are

amazing !

up r e e Ch up! butte

rc

Be kind to y o u r s e lf !

Stressful exams. Fast-approaching term paper deadlines.

Exhausting classroom debates.

Along with the anxieties of the world outside of campus, stress can lead some college students to see the glass as halfempty. Members of SVSU’s Optimistic Club, however, hope to fill those metaphorical glasses to the top.

“Too often we see people walking around, looking like they are having a bad day,” said Paige Teregan, a special education major from Lake Orion who leads the student organization.

“Our main goal is to make them smile.”

Established in 2012, the registered student organization promotes happiness and positivity through little acts of kindness.

One of the programs includes members’ sticky notes campaigns, when they place Post-its on walls and windows across campus. Each note features encouraging messages meant to inspire.

“Confidence is the first step to success,” one note read.

Another: “Keep going. You’re almost there.”

As project manager of the club, Jacob Jacopec, a business major from Holly, said the group tries to cheer up their peers especially near finals week, when stress levels are highest for many students.

Each month, the club focuses their attention on a different program. There was the time members super-sized the Post-it note initiative by writing cheerful messages on large billboards while standing in high-traffic hallways.

“I’d take your place in The Hunger Games,” one sign read.

“Act like a proton and think positive,” “Always look on the bright side,” and “beYOUtiful” were some of the other messages.

“I’d say it’s a job well done when people are frowning as they walk past but look up to see the boards and end up laughing or saying, ‘aww,’” Jacopec said.

One of Teregan’s favorite initiatives is the “free hugs” program, which involves members offering hugs to students willing to accept the offer.

“It may be a little strange to some people, but others absolutely love it,” Teregan said.

“Our hugs will make their day, and receiving so many hugs in one day makes me feel better, too.”

That kind of good will works for students such as Emma Eldred, a nursing major from Lake Isabella and the SVSU Student Association’s philanthropy chair.

“Throughout my years at SVSU, I have seen how the smallest acts of kindness can make an impact,” Eldred said.

“From the sticky notes at finals that encourage you, to getting a hug from a stranger, Optimistic Club has taken steps to change this campus for the better. They’ve definitely changed my experience for the better, too.”

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 11

The

LEWIS LEGACY

Thanks to his family and a campus that remembers kindness, the beloved status of Napoleon Lewis stands strong years after his death

BY JUSTIN ENGEL Alberta Lee has an image in her mind.

An early memory from childhood, circa 1970 something.

She’s sitting with her siblings in the bleachers of a basketball game at Saginaw Valley College, her father working security nearby. Napoleon Lewis Sr. — “dad” to her — stands out in the crowd. But not because he’s an intimidating authority figure keeping order. On the contrary, those surrounding the Shreveport, Louisiana, native are drawn to him. He smiles, they smile; followed often by laughter, like they had known each other for years.

Maybe some of them are familiar with her father, his daughter wonders, but it’s just as likely they’re relative strangers.

Lewis made friends with haste, after all, and in abundance.

“He connected with people like that,” Lee, 56, says now. “People talked to him so easily, and he was full of advice that you could trust. He loved engaging with them.”

And they loved him back. Still do.

Twenty-one years after Lewis died at age 71 of bone cancer, SVSU reaffirmed its affection for one of its earliest and most beloved members by granting him emeritus status in October 2016.

It’s an honor bestowed upon 81 people in the school’s history. A portrait of Lewis now is on display alongside framed photos of the others in the university’s Emeriti Room. It’s a physical link to his legacy at the campus.

Spiritually, his children carry that torch.

Lee, a 1982 graduate and SVSU’s Alumni Relations coordinator from 198689, and three of her seven siblings are linked to the school — even without their father’s history there — as students and workers. Ava Lewis, 60, earned the first of four degrees in 1979 and has worked as a professor of nursing since 1994. David Lewis, 53, earned the first of three degrees in 1987 and serves as director of School and University Partnerships. Napoleon

12 SVSULEWIS

NAPOLEON LEWIS

illustration by Jill Allardyce

Lewis Jr., who attended classes briefly on campus, worked in the Graphics Center for 17 years before his death in 1994.

“Dad would be grinning from ear-toear that we’re working here,” Ava Lewis says of her and David. “He thought of Saginaw Valley as the end-all, be-all.

He really was a champion of this place.”

Napoleon Lewis Sr., who served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, arrived in Saginaw from Texas in the 1950s. He moved there to join the automotive industry workforce, and eventually opened a business — South End Barbershop — in 1962.

His children remember how Lewis’ affable nature attracted whole neighborhoods to the shop. Customers considered him family. The depth of his hospitality seemed unending. There were occasions he loaned his vehicle to fellow Southern natives who needed to return to their hometowns for funerals.

“You can talk to people to this day about him, and a smile will come to their face,” David Lewis says. “Dad had that embracing style, and the greatest compliment is when someone would compare us to him. We’re working with the social capital that our father began.”

Napoleon Lewis extended that

capital to SVSU beginning in 1971. His duties involved patrolling the campus hallways, dormitories and athletics events, sometimes with his children in tow. Few people during those early years on campus failed to recognize him. Many were charmed by him. Some became lifelong friends.

Soon after Lewis was hired, former head coach Muddy Waters brought Lewis aboard as the football team’s first equipment manager. Lewis formed bonds with members of the men’s basketball team, too. Not long before Lewis died in 1995, one of those basketball players from the 1970s learned of his friend’s illness and returned to Michigan from Europe to visit.

“A lot of those players embraced him as a father,” David Lewis says. “He was that close to them.”

When Napoleon Lewis’ biological children began attending classes at SVSU and moving into its dorms, he often stopped by their rooms during evening shifts to visit with them. And with others.

“There were times when I was talking to him when my roommates would get into the conversation and start talking to him like he was their dad,” Lee says.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wait, do you mind if I have a moment with my dad?’

We all enjoyed it when he came around.”

Lewis stepped down from his duties at SVSU in 1986, but returned on a parttime basis in 1991, largely working from a parking booth at the entrance of a now-defunct lot on campus. Even with a more limited exposure to the campus population, Lewis managed to charm a new generation of SVSU people during those final years.

“It was an awesome feeling to see everyone react that way toward him because we, as his children, felt that way about him all the time,” Ava Lewis says.

“He touched so many lives here.”

His five living children and wife, 90-year-old Nelia, attended the October Board of Control meeting where the family’s former patriarch received emeritus status. Afterward, they posed for a photograph together, holding the piece of paper that formally established the onetime security guard’s status among SVSU’s most revered figures.

The significance of that paper wasn’t lost to members of the family who saw firsthand how their father once inspired so many smiles on campus.

“Now he’ll be here forever,” Ava Lewis says. “He belongs here.” n

photo by Tim Inman AFTER SVSU’S BOARD OF CONTROL GRANTED EMERITUS STATUS TO THE LATE NAPOLEON LEWIS, PRESIDENT DON BACHAND GATHERED WITH SOME OF LEWIS’ SURVIVING FAMILY. THEY ARE (FROM LEFT) SHALYNDA SCHRANK AND ALBERTA LEE, HIS DAUGHTERS; NELIA, HIS WIDOW; AND HIS REMAINING CHILDREN, AVA, DEBRA AND DAVID LEWIS.

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 13

COVER STORY

Haven for the faIIen As America descends into a deadly opioid drug epidemic, an SVSU-led community health clinic is offering hope for addicts such as Theo Hoxie — and providing a new model for recovery story by Justin Engel photos by Michael Randolph

14 SVSUCLINIC

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 15

THEO HOXIE PLAYS WITH HIS DOG, JAMES THOMAS, AT THE HOME THEY SHARE WITH HOXIE’S GIRLFRIEND, NICHELLE. THE COUPLE LIVES IN TAWAS CITY.

Theo Hoxie was 15 the first time he stole morphine from his cancerstricken mother’s medicine cabinet.

Using a syringe lifted from a friend’s father, he injected the drug into a vein and felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders.

It was an act of desperation from a young man chasing a high he first experienced months earlier when he popped a Vicodin out of curiosity. The morphine and the Vicodin — both belonging to a category of drugs known as opioids — offered reprieve from a home he considered torn. Neither pharmaceutical sealed the breach, but each provided a temporary escape from the despair of it all.

“It was like my soul had been awakened,” Hoxie said, nearly two decades later, of those initial euphoric experiences.

“I thought to myself, ‘This is the feeling I have been missing my whole life.’”

And, for much of the rest of his life, Hoxie chased that feeling. The pursuit led him down a deadly road. He dropped out of high school and instead graduated to more potent opioids. Oxycontin. Methadone.

Heroin. More heroin.

16 SVSUCLINIC

He spent much of the next decade-anda-half living in vehicles and alleyways, serving jail time for possessing drug paraphernalia, befriending and falling in love with other opioid addicts, then watching many of them die. Hoxie, for a long time, accepted he would die from the affliction, too.

He isn’t waiting to die anymore.

His fortunes seemed to change the day he walked into The University Clinic, a Bay City-based primary care facility forged from a partnership between SVSU and the Bay County Health Department. Over the years, he sought sobriety at 16 different residential treatment centers and five community health clinics, but at those places, Hoxie always fell off the wagon within weeks. Sometimes, days.

The Jackson native will turn 33 on July 6.

When that day arrives, he will mark nearly

two years of independence from opioids, by far his longest stretch since swallowing that first Vicodin at age 15. While associates credit Hoxie’s determination for the accomplishment, he is quick to share the triumph with others.

“I’m alive today because of The University Clinic,” said Hoxie, now employed and living with his girlfriend in Tawas.

“I truly believe that clinic saved my life.”

While the specter of relapse always looms over individuals with drug histories, Hoxie said the clinic’s interdisciplinary approach and dedicated staff — including SVSU faculty members with clinical experience and student interns training alongside them — provided his best chance ever at a healthy and happy existence. The office’s medical staff supervised his detox from opioids, its occupational therapists helped relieve the pains of his drug-abused body, and its social workers set him up for a sustainable lifestyle, free of drugs.

His ongoing recovery is a success story for The University Clinic, but it’s a rare bright spot in an otherwise dark narrative underway in the United States.

Opioid addiction has surged nationally in recent years, prompting medical professionals and lawmakers alike to label the problem an “epidemic” — the same status applied to history’s deadliest outbreaks of smallpox, polio, typhus and the bubonic plague.

In a 2016 report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced the rate of deaths related to opioids increased 200 percent between the years 2000 and 2014.

In 2015, more than 33,000 people died from the epidemic.

No neighborhood is safe from the problem. Its reach stretches from the streets of crime-infested communities, where Oxy is traded for unseemly acts … to doctor’s offices, where painkiller prescriptions sometimes are offered like candy. Its victims range from homeless people opting for heroin over food … to parents passed out from overdosing in idle-running vehicles, their infant children still strapped to safety seats in the back.

Bay City and its surroundings certainly aren’t safe from the opioid problem, as The University Clinic’s staff and associates discovered. And Hoxie is far from the first opioid addict — and likely far from the last — to seek help there.

F “I never thought I’d see the day when more people were dying from overdoses than automobile accidents,” said Joel Strasz, who began his health care career in Bay County in the late 1990s.

“That’s what’s happened, though. It’s happening here.”

Four years ago, Strasz was promoted to health officer — the top post — at the

Bay County Health Department, where The University Clinic now is housed in downtown Bay City. During his time there, he watched the opioid crisis develop both afar and near.

The CDC in March 2016 issued recommendations to the nation’s doctors, urging caution when prescribing highlyaddictive painkillers. Since 1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. quadrupled. Medical professionals had lowered the threshold for deciding when patients needed painkillers and how long they needed the medicine, experts argued, and those increasingly lax standards resulted in more Americans growing dependent on — and eventually abusing — the pharmaceuticals. In many cases, those pills served as gateway drugs to cheaper alternatives with more potency and deadly potential such as heroin.

Those national trends took an alarmingly local turn in recent years, Strasz observed.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services figures showed medical professionals in Bay County wrote more opioid prescriptions-per-person (1.9) than in any of the 82 other counties in the state in 2015. That figure represented a sizable spike from Bay County’s 1.2 opioids prescribed-per-person just six years earlier.

The statistical surge seemed to coincide with other trends.

Overdose deaths in Bay County jumped from five people in 2005 to 25 people in 2016. Of those 25, 23 died from opioids.

Riverhaven Substance Abuse Services, a recently-defunct office within Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health, reported 15 percent of clients receiving treatment for substance abuse at the facility were seeking help for opioid abuse in 2005. That figure soared to 48 percent in 2014.

“The numbers didn’t look good,” Strasz said. “We needed to do something.”

In May 2015, he issued a public health advisory for Bay County regarding the opioid epidemic. The advisory remains in effect today.

“I’m waiting for the problem to lessen significantly before ending the advisory,” Strasz said. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to do that anytime soon.”

Raising public awareness is one approach taken by The Bay County HOPE (Heroin Opioid Prevention and Elimination) Project, an organization Strasz assembled as part of the public health advisory.

Its members discuss the problem at community forums as well as middle and

high schools where opioid abuse also is on the rise in Bay County.

HOPE members apply other strategies to curbing the epidemic, including referring addicts to treatment centers.

“That’s where The University Clinic has become so important,” Strasz said.

F The clinic began as an experiment. No other county-run health department in the state housed primary care staff, which offer the sort of services patients often seek when visiting family doctors and physicians.

Funded by a $1.5 million U.S. Health and Human Services grant, SVSU and Bay County Health Department officials opened the clinic’s doors in January 2015, providing a variety of health care resources to clients who were less likely to seek primary care at traditional facilities.

“People suffering from chronic health conditions like hypertension and diabetes are who we targeted first,” said Kathleen Schachman, SVSU’s Randall Wickes Endowed Chair in Nursing and one of the clinic’s coordinators.

Clients trickled in at a slow pace for months. Early efforts at promoting public awareness for the facility attracted relatively few people, Schachman said.

Then the clinic redirected its outreach and began seeing results within its first year.

“Things really started to pick up when our social workers and student interns reached out to homeless shelters in the area,” she said. “This just happened to be a population that had nowhere else to go.”

Soon, positive word-of-mouth from clients attracted others. The office’s proximity to a bus station, the county jail and courthouse, and a park known as one where people abused drugs led growing numbers of individuals with limited resources to the clinic’s front door.

“In some cases, these are people who don’t usually get the care they need until they are in a crisis, and don’t always show up for their appointments,” Schachman said.

“A lot of places don’t want these people as patients, but we are willing to take them on, and to treat them with respect.”

Serving the homeless, in particular, made Schachman acutely aware more resources were necessary.

To meet those needs, Schachman applied for — and received — a trio of grants in 2016 worth a total of $2.9 million

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 17

from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

The funds beefed up the clinic’s mental health resources, established a partnership with Wayne State University, secured an alliance with Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health, and expanded a three-days-aweek office schedule to five.

As the clinic evolved during its second year of existence, the increased traffic revealed a growing community problem.

Clients arrived with a variety of needs outside of mental health-related issues such as high blood pressure, lung disease, and diabetes, among others. Many of these problems, though, often were accompanied by another: opioid abuse.

F Dorothy Lee, an SVSU associate professor of nursing and a nurse practitioner at the clinic, estimates two-thirds of her clients suffer from opioid dependency.

“Some come in — their heart on their sleeve — and ask for help with it,” said Lee, who has 25 years of experience as a nurse in facilities across the state. “With others, they’re much more guarded, and say they’re here for something else.”

“Something else” often involves a desire for the staff to write a prescription for opioid-based painkillers. While Lee and others at the clinic are authorized to order such medicine, education and experience help them distinguish individuals in need of pain relief from those seeking a high.

The staff does not write prescriptions for those in search of the latter. Instead, the clinic offers them help in achieving sobriety. Sometimes the patient welcomes the extended hand. Sometimes not.

“There is the attitude of, ‘It’s OK, because at least you came to us for help, and we want to help,’” Lee said. “They might leave frustrated when they don’t get what they want, but sometimes those same people will come back later when they realize we can help them and that we aren’t going to judge them.”

Lee said The University Clinic staff recognize people addicted to opioids are suffering from a disease, not a weakness, as some in the public — and in medical care circles — perceive the problem.

“No one becomes an addict by going into a situation saying, ‘I’m going to make a bad decision today,’” Lee said. “They start off thinking they can control themselves, but that’s not the case. There’s so much that

18 18 SVSUCLINIC SVSUWILD

JOEL STRASZ AND KATHLEEN SCHACHMAN WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY CLINIC INSIDE BAY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT.

gets broken and hurt when you become addicted to a drug.”

The staff’s empathetic approach was what distinguished The University Clinic from all the other facilities Theo Hoxie visited while trying to kick his opioid habit.

“I thought it might be one of those community clinics you had to call for an appointment at 8 in the morning and wait in line,” he said. “That was not the case.

They took me in with hugs and smiles.

They listened to my story. I’ve never had that before.”

Hoxie initially was evaluated by Lee. “I told her I was an addict, but she didn’t treat me like I was an addict,” Hoxie said.

“Most doctors treat addicts like crap. The University Clinic staff wanted to understand

me, and then they wanted to help me.” Lee connected Hoxie with the clinic’s social work supervisor, Sherry LaMere, an SVSU social work adjunct instructor with 34 years of clinical experience. LaMere and her master’s degree-level social work interns assisted Hoxie in securing his first phone.

He was provided with ongoing therapy as well as help in crafting a résumé that landed him a job as a therapist technologist working with autistic children.

Hoxie continues to visit the clinic, nearly two years after staff there helped him get clean. Lee continues to treat him for the Hepatitis C he developed from injecting himself with an infected needle. Social work staff check in to ensure he remains connected with support systems in the

community. He also visits the clinic to receive a healthy dose of something else: “Love,” he said. “That place has shown me so much love.”

F Hoxie so far has proven to be a success story for the clinic. Other examples show why there is a need for the clinic.

“It’s heartbreaking, some of the stories you hear,” Lee said. “I asked this girl who came here once — she was 20 and had been on heroin since 11 or 12 — ‘How do you define health for you?’ She said, ‘Health, to me, is not trying to kill myself every time I try to get off this stuff.’”

Lee hasn’t heard from that particular patient in months, and fears the worst.

The best chance many addicts may have for recovery lay in the clinic’s interdisciplinary approach, staff say.

“The more we look at our patients’ lives in a comprehensive way, the more we can help them,” LaMere said. “The less often you have to refer a patient to an outside service, the more likely it is we can keep them engaged, helping them immediately and over a sustained period of time. Otherwise, people can get lost in the transition of care.”

Offering a “one-stop shop” for health care needs help staff build a rapport with patients. With rapport comes trust.

“It’s all about trust,” LaMere said.

“Frequently, that means interdisciplinary staff connect with patients at the emotional,

physical and mental level.” Sometimes that effort involves literally meeting them where they are. LaMere has traveled throughout the city to locate University Clinic patients who missed appointments for a variety of reasons.

Officials hope the clinic’s reach will expand soon. Schachman plans to apply for grants aimed at establishing satellite clinics north of Bay City.

In the meantime, the downtown clinic will serve as a center for healing in a community struggling against an epidemic.

“These are people who have been exposed to war,” Lee said of Hoxie and other opioid addicts. “It’s a different kind of war, but that’s what it is. That’s what we’re faced with here.” n

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 19

20 SVSUWILD

Into the Wild a photo essay by Michael Randolph

Each weekend, Stephen Taber treks into remote areas of the country in search of previously undiscovered insects. The associate professor of biology has found, catalogued and named 30 of them over the years. Recently, he invited REFLECTIONS on one of his expeditions into Michigan’s Manistee National Forest and then back to his lab to see his extensive bug collection. Here’s what we saw:

Mixture of unidentified Fungus Gnats

male Glowworm

an unidentified beetle from aTexas swamp REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 21

Autumn Crane Fly

Cottonwood Borer Plectrodera Scalator

new species of Fungus Gnat chemically prepared for microscopic study

unidentified arachnids known as Daddy Long Legs

Male Grapevine Beetle Pelidnota

22 SVSUWILD

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 23

For love.

After his wife’s death, Brian Thomas discovered therapy for despair through running ultra miles

by Jill Allardyce

I

t was just after midnight on a warm fall Saturday morning. The light rainfall had suddenly switched to a downpour during the 100-mile Hallucination trail race on Sept. 9, 2016. As the morning hours ticked on, the dusty dirt paths transformed to deep pockets of mashed mud. Visibility was becoming a problem for runners on that dark and challenging trail race in Pinckney, Michigan.

The soaking wet conditions took a toll on the 203 race entrants. Of them, 132 runners would eventually quit before finishing in the 30-hour time limit. Yet one runner, Brian Thomas, made a promise to himself that no foul weather would dampen his determination to finish this race. For him, this race was more significant than any other in his lifetime.

Brian had five 100-mile race entries under his belt. He discovered over a decade earlier that distance running helped him cope with stress, like when he and his college sweetheartturned-wife, Holli Wallace, dealt with tuition debt while completing graduate and law school, respectively.

The couple grew together, from their 20s to their 30s, seeking out careers that fit their passions. He became a faculty member with SVSU’s sociology department as well as acting director of strategic partnerships and Study Abroad.

She worked as an attorney helping underprivileged groups.

They started a family with two sons, Elliott and Oliver.

Then tragedy struck the family Oct. 16, 2013, when Holli unexpectedly died. She was 37.

Three years later, the difficult conditions of this 100-mile race were no match to the despair Brian endured following his wife’s death. Still, both challenges collided along this dark trail. After all, it was his grief that propelled him forward into the night — and toward the hope that his example might help others dealing with the loss of a loved one.

Oct. 16, 2013, started out a regular day for Brian Thomas and his family. After finishing teaching his statistics course at SVSU, he hurried to pick up his son, Elliott, to take the then-7-year-old boy to karate lessons.

“I remember wondering if Holli would have Elliott in his karate uniform,” Brian said. “The last couple of months had been a little different in our hurried lives of young professionals. Holli had left her 9-to-5 job as an attorney to focus her energy on politics, pro-bono legal work for the community, and, of course, our boys.”

When Brian arrived home, Elliott called up from the basement. He couldn’t wake up his mother.

“I quickly went over to her, remember shaking her right knee to wake her and knowing that something was seriously wrong,” Brian said. “I realized she wasn’t breathing.”

He called 911 and began CPR. The paramedics arrived quickly and could not resuscitate Holli. Later, doctors discovered she died from mitral valve prolapse, an undiagnosed heart condition.

Brian and his boys were lost in the weeks following her death. During that period, he often thought to himself, “Others have been through this — so shouldn’t we make it through OK?” He hoped at first, with a little patience and perseverance, the ache of losing his wife of 11 years would get easier. The words of others, support from friends, and sympathy cards filled him with hope he would be OK with “moving on” or “letting go” and would eventually find “acceptance” of living without her.

What he discovered was that grief wasn’t a race to finish, and he would need a different sort of stamina to endure its challenges. photo by Michael Randolph

24 SVSUHOLLI

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 25

BRIAN THOMAS AND HIS WIFE, HOLLI, WHO SUPPORTED HER HUSBAND’S RACING COMPETITIONS.

Brian was at the 84-mile mark, with only 16 more miles to go.

The course included six 16.6-mile loops. There was an inevitability to the sixth and final circuit. Yet the closer he came to the finish line, the farther away it seemed.

As the sun began to set once again and runners neared the end of the race, the darkness took over for a second time during this 30-hour challenge. The physical toll of the effort began to weigh on Brian mentally. Trees along the side of the pathway seemed like lurking bears, waiting to pounce in the darkness. The trail beneath his feet appeared to wind and move like a threatening snake.

He felt a little unsure, but he knew there was nothing to fear. He would finish this. He had to finish this.

Thoughts of seeing Oliver and Elliot at the finish line — thoughts of Holli — helped him move forward.

About a year and a half after Holli died, the challenges of loss and grief remained with the family of three. At the request of eldest son Elliott, Brian sought out a support group. He found the recently formed Children’s Grief Center of the Great Lakes Bay Region. While the Midlandbased institution specialized in helping children deal with loss, the therapy extended to Brian, too.

Together, they faithfully attended meetings, even to this day. They healed together as they grieved through expression, using art, dance, theatre, storytelling and writing to share their feelings.

The experience helped Brian discover how to cope and move forward — doing what needs to be done in everyday life while still honoring the legacy of Holli.

26 SVSUHOLLI

“That’s the challenge that I woke up to the day after Holli died,” Brian said. “Memories are sometimes a double-edge sword for me. Part of me wants nothing more than to freeze everything in place and linger in the past. It took me several months to take her clothes from our closet. I wish Elliott and Oliver could forever wear the pants she sewed for them.”

Oliver was reaching a toddler’s developmental milestones that would require Brian to help him wean from his pacifier … learn to use the bathroom … transitioning from a crib to a “big-boy bed” and, eventually, start school. Both children needed Brian to remain strong and lead the family through everything to come.

“It can be dangerous lingering too much in the past as the world moves forward,” he said. “Holli is so much a part of who I am in my heart and soul. I think about her every day to draw my strength. At the same time, I know that I have to keep moving forward without her by my side.”

Work provided one coping mechanism. Brian earned accolades over the years for his approach to teaching sociology as well as his efforts in assisting SVSU’s Study Abroad program. His accomplishments included founding the Green Cardinal Initiative, which featured SVSU students, faculty and staff promoting environmental friendliness. His exceptional work continued after Holli’s death. Later that same year, he was one of 11 recipients of the Ruby Award, given annually to the Great Lakes Bay Region’s most remarkable professionals under the age of 40.

Although he didn’t realize it at the time, Brian in retrospect realized his running strategies also helped him approach each new day after his wife’s death. He

THE THOMAS FAMILY INCLUDING HOLLI, ELLIOTT, OLIVER AND BRIAN.

moved forward in small increments, with what he calls “The 10 Percent Rule.” In running, this applies to increasing week-by-week mileage in increments of 10 percent. It’s applied to prevent injuries that would result from over use of a muscle.

“Early on, I began envisioning being without her at small moments, like dinner in the evening or for the upcoming weekend, before trying to think about major events like holidays,” he said. “I practiced retelling the events of the day that she died in my mind, and then to people close to me so that I could move myself closer to a stage where I could talk openly about her to strangers.”

Having a good support system of friends and family to make decisions and carry the load is important, he realized. Life can offer heavy burdens.

“In truth, I have a very independent personality,” he said. “That’s a problem sometimes and I have had to learn to reach out for help. With the help of grandparents, friends, neighbors and teachers, the boys and I made our way.”

Brian made a point to never ignore his pain. He recognized it and tried to learn when to talk about it or ask for help.

“I look for pain that may be leading me to make bad decisions or unable to function well for extended periods,” he said. “I’d like to say that the distinction is easy to make, but it isn’t.

Through trial and sometimes error, I like to think that I am

better at it than when I started this journey.”

Brian raised more than $7,700 in pledges for the Children’s Grief Center as part of his participation in the Hallucination race in September. Even though Holli was not there in body, he was determined to run with her in spirit. He wore her name on his chest — “RUN FOR HOLLI,” his shirt read — as a celebration of all that she represented.

“She was one of those people who seemed like she was everywhere at once,” Brian said.

“She could not be summed up in single words or even short phrases. She was, at best, a long list. She was a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, an attorney, an activist, a caretaker, a community volunteer, a political leader, an idealist, a seamstress, a cook, and a lifelong fan of The Bold and The Beautiful. The list goes on.”

That list is a legacy that remains strong for her family.

It was near the end of the Hallucination race when Brian first spotted the faint green glow near the finish line. As he approached, he recognized the source of the light as a sight he spent much of the last 100 miles thinking about: Elliott and Oliver, both wearing glow bracelets.

Brian’s sons shrieked in excitement when they recognized their dad. The boys ran toward him. A few steps from the end of the race, they embraced as a family — minus one.

In struggling with the loss of Holli these last few years, Brian realized there was no finish line for grief. There was no medal to collect and no accomplishment to celebrate.

The road for that race remained unendingly ahead for him and his sons.

Still, they moved forward — stepping over the Hallucination’s finish line together — in this run for Holli; in this tribute to the life she left for them all. n

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 27

28 SVSUTRICE

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 29

anvel Trice III doesn’t reside in Room 306 of the Saginaw County District Court. He presides there.

Still, the courthouse’s newest judge speaks about his position as if the role was more comparable to that of a household’s authority figure as opposed to a law enforcement official appointed by the state of Michigan. And he speaks about the work he performs in his courtroom — Room 306 — as if he was providing parental-like guidance to those living beneath his roof.

To Trice, that makes his responsibilities more than simply a job. He is on a mission to work as a steward for the place he calls “home” and serve as a role model to the residents he considers extended family.

“I want to help the Saginaw community continue to be a successful, thriving community once again,” he said. “This is my community. Our community.”

Born in the city of Saginaw and raised in Saginaw County’s Bridgeport Township, Trice’s sense of civic responsibility was initially shaped by the blue-collar upbringing his mother and father provided during his formative years.

Later in life, he was empowered and encouraged to pursue a career in law by two mentors he met while enrolled as an undergraduate student at SVSU in Saginaw County’s Kochville Township.

“I wanted to be someone who could become part of the solution rather than someone on the sidelines, talking about solutions,” he said. “Now I have a broader platform to help people.”

That platform extends beyond the courthouse in Saginaw’s Old Town district and involves tools other than his judge’s gavel. Trice, an ordained minister, also strives to make a difference in people’s lives on a metaphysical level.

“There is a spiritual component to the revitalization of Saginaw,” he said.

“I try to use my position as a minister to help people with issues of the heart. I prefer to address the whole person; body, soul and spirit.”

Trice and his at-home family — his wife, Caressa, and their 3-year-old 30 SVSUTRICE

daughter, Maya — are active with nonprofit organizations and charities involved in addressing Saginaw’s social challenges.

His day job, though, keeps him plenty busy tackling one of the community’s largest challenges: crime. It’s a responsibility he approaches with a passion he learned early in life.

“When I was young, I didn’t know I was going to become a judge,” Trice said. “But the lessons my mom and dad taught me molded me, so in large part, they are responsible for who I am. The things I was taught as a child — patience, love for community, and family values — all are important qualities for any judge to have.”

His parents’ influence also provided another important lesson he applies to different aspects of his life.

“With anything in life, if you’re going to take on a project, you need to do it with passion and commitment,” he said.

Trice credits the beginnings of his devotion to law to two men he met while attending SVSU in the late 1990s: thenPresident Eric Gilbertson and current President Don Bachand.

At the time, Bachand was Trice’s criminal justice professor.

“There were things he taught me that were critical to my success today professionally,” Trice said of Bachand. “He also taught me things about being a man; things that supplemented what my dad and other men taught me.”

Bachand, a former Detroit policeman, was instrumental in Trice landing his first jobs relating to law enforcement. Trice served as a youth care specialist at the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center and later as a data collection specialist for the Saginaw Gang Task Force.

While at SVSU, Trice also enrolled in

a Constitutional law course taught by Gilbertson, a former attorney.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Trice said of the class.

What may have been an even more important experience was a meeting Gilbertson once requested with Trice.

“He invited me into his office and really opened the door to the law,” Trice said.

“He encouraged me to attend law school and told me what I needed to do to become eligible. No one had ever before encouraged me to pursue the law. He saw something in me that I didn’t necessarily see in myself.”

Soon after, Trice began taking law school admissions tests and speaking with admissions representatives from institutions across the country. After earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from SVSU in 1998, he attended the Michigan State University College of Law, where he graduated in 2001.

“I would not have chosen that path if not for the sage wisdom of Drs. Bachand and Gilbertson,” he said.

Trice became a defense attorney at Braun Kendrick PLC in Saginaw from 2001 to 2011. Then he was hired as an assistant prosecutor for Saginaw County until 2015, when he spent 11 months as an assistant U.S. attorney. Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Trice as a Saginaw County District Court judge in 2016, when he replaced the retired M.T. Thompson.

At Trice’s swearing-in ceremony in August, Gilbertson was in attendance.

Bachand was chosen by Trice to ceremoniously present him with his judge’s robe at the event.

Bachand addressed those in attendance, praising his former student.

“SVSU is honored to have graduated Manvel Trice,” said Bachand, who discussed Trice’s work with SVSU’s Alumni Relations board and willingness to mentor students.

“He’s also really good at talking to young people about life and decency, honesty and fairness,” the president said.

The comments were the ultimate compliment for Trice, who prides himself on providing a positive influence on others, both inside and outside of Room 306.

“It behooves us as professionals to try and bring out the best in people,” Trice said.

“Now that I’m in a position to do so, I feel an obligation to help others realize their full potential. For those of us who want to see Saginaw thrive, we all have to do our part. This is my part.” n

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 31

An Aura of

hope

How one SVSU grad and (wo)man’s best friend helped change the lives of wounded warriors

by Jason Wolverton

32 SVSUAURA

It’s mid-afternoon in early December and the Baltimore airport is abuzz with travelers as a chorus of conversations, gate announcements, and clicking suitcase wheels fill the air.

Aura sits attentively and takes it all in.

Part golden retriever, part lab, she is here on assignment to carry out the same vital mission she’s been asked to carry out every day for the last two years: Listen.

A specially-trained hearing dog, Aura acts as the ears for SVSU alumna Gretchen Evans, an Army veteran wounded in Afghanistan in 2006. While serving a tour in Kabul, Evans’ unit took fire and a mortar explosion just 10 yards

away left her deaf and suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Just like that, a decorated 27-year military career came to an end and Evans was left trying to adjust to a silent civilian life.

That adjustment has come in the form of helping other veterans like herself.

On this day, Evans is travelling to New York to speak on behalf of America’s VetDogs. The non-profit organization, which provides wounded veterans with service dogs, teamed Aura with Evans in January 2015. Now Evans sits on its board and travels the country with Aura, championing their cause and fulfilling a passion to help America’s wounded warriors.

It’s a passion that, in many ways, began at SVSU.

F Of all the reasons to choose a university, it was a t-shirt that sold Evans on SVSU. Her husband, Robert Evans, became chief chaplain of the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw and when they moved to the area she began looking for a place to continue her education. As a wounded veteran, the military would pay 100 percent of her tuition and she considered a number of area institutions.

When she came to campus for a tour, the Admissions representative promptly gave both her and her husband some

photos by Steven McBride GRETCHEN EVANS AND HER DOG, AURA, ENJOY A MOMENT TOGETHER.

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 33

Cardinal swag. It was a personal touch that made Gretchen Evans feel at home.

A life of military service provides many rewards, but one thing it does not offer is geographical stability. So when she ultimately decided to enroll at SVSU, it was the eighth university she’d attended.

“I could have gone anywhere I wanted to,” she said, “but when they gave my husband a shirt, too, I just felt like this was the place for me. That simple act of caring and kindness sealed the deal.”

Soon Evans connected with Career Services Director Mike Major — who recently formed the Cardinal Military Association for Veterans — as well as now-retired Dean of Students Merry Jo Brandimore. Together, they discussed navigating university life as a veteran, and Evans expressed interest in helping provide more and better services to fellow military-affiliated students. When Brandimore received approval from the Veterans Administration to employ two veteran work studies in her office, Evans got one of the jobs.

The work by Evans and Brandimore laid the foundation for what would eventually become the Military Student Affairs Office, founded in part by Denise Berry, who stepped down as director in 2016.

SVSU was recognized by Military Times as part of its Best for Vets: Colleges 2017 Rankings. SVSU was ranked No. 34 among 130 four-year institutions across the country.

“Individuals who have spent time in military service have different issues in transitioning to college life compared to other students,” Brandimore said.

“I hope that the Office of Military Student Affairs is the one place our military students can go where someone understands the perspective of a student who has come from a military framework.

Gretchen understands that and she always gave her all for these students because she felt every one of them was deserving of our best.”

Evans helped military students navigate everything from financial aid to classroom life, and in doing so, discovered a passion for serving her country in a new way: by helping its veterans.

“Working with military students was

34 SVSUAURA

part of my healing process, too,” Evans said. “My whole adult life, I was in the military and I didn’t know anything else.

It was healing for me to be able to give back and navigate a new life that I had been dealt.”

Evans was dealt another curveball when her husband was offered a job transfer as she was preparing to finish her degree. Determined to graduate, she stayed in Saginaw while her husband relocated. When their house sold, Evans moved on campus so she could finish her bachelor’s degree in sociology. At 54 years of age, she was the newest University Village resident. Evans graduated in May 2013.

“I can’t even articulate what it meant to graduate from SVSU,” Evans said. “I really felt like it was meant to be. My experience at SVSU was so phenomenal as both an adult student and also a wounded warrior.

After 35 years and 40 countries, I finally had that diploma.”

And it almost never came to be.

F Evans’ military career began, in some ways, because of college. In 1978, she enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and later at Austin College in Austin. She was paying for school all by herself and so she decided to enlist in the military. Her plan was to serve four years and leave with the G.I. Bill to pay for school. Instead, she fell in love with being in the Army and made a 28-year career of it.

“Every time I stood before my fellow soldiers I felt humbled and honored to be among them,” Evans said. “They inspired me to be the best leader, soldier and person I could be.”

Throughout her time in the military, Evans earned every rank from private E1 to E9, the highest rank for an enlisted member. Her last duty assignment was in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she served as the Garrison Command Sergeant Major.

On Feb. 27, 2006, her unit began taking mortar fire at the forward operating base. She was standing out, yelling for everyone to get into the bunkers when the mortar that took her hearing hit to her right and blew her off her feet.

“I looked down to see if I had arms and legs,” she said. “I had an incredible headache and I couldn’t hear, but I didn’t realize I was permanently deaf until the doctors told me. You don’t realize how devastating it is to be able to hear your whole life and then suddenly not be able to anymore.”

She returned stateside, finished her rehabilitation and retired from the Army.

An avid runner, Evans was jogging one day when a bicyclist ran into her trying to pass. He yelled to her that he was passing, but she couldn’t hear him coming up.

Concerned for her safety, her doctors determined getting a safety dog would be in her best interest.

That’s when she met Aura.

Aura helps Evans by responding to sounds, alerting her with a poke in the leg if she hears anything from a ringing phone to a knock on the door. Aura can also tell the difference between noises like an oven timer or fire alarm so Evans knows if there’s an emergency. Aura even alerts her to potential dangers while driving and will turn her head quickly if she hears a car horn.

Evans said Aura also helps by alerting others she is deaf. Since Evans has what is known as an invisible injury, people she meets for the first time don’t realize she can’t hear them. She has grown adept at reading lips; but, if she can’t see the person who is talking, she doesn’t realize they are speaking to her. Having Aura by her side helps people recognize something is different. Aura also serves as a conversation starter, as people will focus more on Aura than Evans’ injury.

“She keeps me safe and serves as an ambassador to the world for me,” Evans said. “She’s my family.”

The TODAY Show featured Evans and Aura recently during a segment as part of their Puppies with a Purpose series that focuses on its partnership with America’s VetDogs. The segment highlights several veterans who, like Evans, have benefited from the companionship and assistance of a service dog.

“I knew my country was going to take care of me,” Evans said. “And Aura has given back so much of what was taken away.” n

“I knew my country was going to take care of me,” Evans said. “And Aura has given back so much of what was taken away.”

photo by Steven McBride

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 35

CLASS NOTES SAGINAW VALLEY STATE COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S PROGRAM BOOK IN 1976 (COVER SHOWN ABOVE) PREVIEWED THE TEAM’S SECOND SEASON. THE FRANK “MUDDY” WATERS-COACHED CARDINALS EARNED A 3-7 RECORD THAT YEAR. WATERS LED THE TEAM FOR FIVE SEASONS TO A 24-26-2 RECORD. THOSE FIRST YEARS SET THE STAGE FOR COACHES JIM LARKIN, GEORGE IHLER, JERRY KILL, RANDY AWREY AND JIM COLLINS, AS WELL AS PLAYERS SUCH AS MATT LAFLEUR, JEFF JANIS, JEFF HEATH AND JON JENNINGS, FEATURED ON PAGE 9.

36 SVSUALUMNI

GUIDE TO DEGREES I BACHELOR OF ARTS (B.A.) I BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (B.B.A.) I BACHELOR OF PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY (B.P.A.) I BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.S.) BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (B.S.E.E.) I BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (B.S.M.E.) I BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING (B.S.N.) BACHELOR OF SOCIAL WORK (B.S.W.) I DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE (D.N.P.) I EDUCATION SPECIALIST (ED.S.) I MASTER OF ARTS (M.A.) I MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING (M.A.T.) MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (M.B.A.) I MASTER OF EDUCATION (M.ED.) I MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.S.) I MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP (M.S.H.A.L.) MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NURSING (M.S.N.) I MASTER OF SCIENCE IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY (M.S.O.T.) I TEACHER CERTIFICATION (T.C.)

1960s 1970s

Henry Hatter, 1966, B.S., was a member of the electoral college for the 2016 presidential election.

Gary Feeney, 1974, B.A., and June Feeney, 1976, B.S. Both Gary and June led a 62-mile bike tour across Northern Michigan, from Gaylord to Mackinaw City.

Most of the riders they led were fellow members of SVSU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

David Kowalski, 1979, B.B.A., was an inductee to the John Glenn High School Athletic Hall of Fame for bowling.

Ronnie D. Smith, 1972, B.A., a retired newspaper reporter, appeared in a docudrama based on his book, “Dinner with a Killer,” which aired on CBS Reality TV in England. His books include the Amazon bestseller, “TRUE STORIES I Never Told My Kids,” which mentions his time at SVSU.

1980s

Douglas Czajkowski, 1983, B.A., was named associate dean for development for Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.

Kurt David, 1986, B.A., retired from his counseling position with Farmington Public Schools. He will continue his work as a TV host, corporate keynote speaker and Detroit recruiter for Spring Arbor University. His third book will be released this year.

Randy Kazmierski, 1989, B.S., completed his Ph.D. from the Eastern Michigan College of Technology. Since then, he has published works in both the Journal for Quality and Participation and The Six Sigma Forum titled “Key Factors that Affect 5S Implementation in the Automotive Industry” and “Determining Drivers,” respectively.

Michael Lasley, 1984, B.B.A., was recently honored for 28 years of service with the City of Farmington Hills. He is beginning a new career with the National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance.

Patrick McInnis, 1988, B.A., retired as CEO of Fathead.

Scott Smith, 1986, B.B.A., was named president of the St. John Providence Foundation in Detroit.

Andrew Wilson, 1981, M.B.A., was appointed CEO of Crescent Health Solutions in Asheville, North Carolina.

Allen Yenior, 1988, B.A., retired from the 81st District Court in Standish after 20 years of service as judge.

1990s

Craig Block, 1992, B.S., was an inductee of the John Glenn High School Athletic Hall of Fame for bowling.

Timothy Bussineau, 1994, B.A., was elected as a trustee for Macomb Township. He also teaches at Romeo High School.

Julie Duffing, 1995, B.A., is the girls head cross country coach for St. Francis High School as well as head girls track and field coach.

Ronda (Simonsen) Feague, 1991, B.A., was promoted to director of instructional design strategy & choice university operations at Choice Hotels.

Pamela Hornberger, 1997, M.Ed., was elected Michigan State representative for the 32nd District.

Carey Lewis, 1994, B.S., was named senior vice president of corporate development for EAG, LLC. Before accepting this position, he was vice president at Underwriters Laboratories.

Steven Locke, 1991, B.A., has been named president and CEO of Disability Network of Mid-Michigan.

Brittney Miller, 1996, B.A., was elected to the Nevada Legislative Assembly.

Sheila Phillips, 1992, B.A., retired after 16 years as an Alcona County commissioner.

Brenda Raper, 1998, B.A., graduated from the Prospective Superintendents Academy hosted by the Tennessee Schools Boards Association.

Amy Wehner, 1995, B.B.A., was promoted to vice president and trust officer for Thumb National Bank & Trust.

Laura Yockey, 1991, M.B.A., received the 2016 Spirit of Saginaw Award from the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce.

2000s

Jill Allardyce, 2006, M.A., was promoted to director of creative services at SVSU. She was also a recipient of the 2017 1st State Bank’s RUBY Award which honors our area’s brightest professionals under the age of 40 who are having an impact throughout our region.

Amanda Bausack, 2008, B.S., accepted a teaching position at Oxford High School in Michigan.

Lisa Brennan, 1992, B.A.; 2000, M.A., was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the Michigan Board of Audiology for a four-year term.

Wendy Bridges, 2001, M.Ed., was hired as an assistant principal at Swan Valley High School.

Tara Carr, 2004, M.B.A., is the new director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Patrick Cavanaugh, 2003, B.A., was hired as principal at Walnut Creek Middle School in West Bloomfield Township.

Patricia Eleyae, 2009, B.S.N., received an Excellence Award as a Distinguished Professional in her field from Women of Distinction Magazine.

Kara Hopper Root, 2000, B.A.; 2004, M.Ed., was selected by her fellow teachers at Chatham Charter as Teacher of the Year for the 2016-17 school year.

Joshua Hucul, 2008, B.B.A., was promoted to vice president and credit department manager for Choice One Bank.

Kelly Hume, 2003, B.B.A., was given the Outstanding Young Agent of the Year award from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America for her work at Tawas Bay Insurance Agency.

Joseph Jaksa, 2002, M.A., recently released the textbook “Security 101 – An Introduction to the Private Security Industry,” published

by Carolina Academic Press.

Robert Jansen, 2009, Ed.S., was hired as principal at Bishop Elementary School in Ypsilanti.

Leland Jennings, 2008, M.Ed., was hired as principal for Shields Elementary in Thomas Township.

Eddie Jones, 2003, B.S.W., received the 2016 Achievement Recognition Award by the Saginaw chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

John-Matthew LaGalo, 1999, B.A.; 2002, M.Ed., was selected as a member of the class of 2017 for SVSU’s Gerstacker Fellowship Program, a leadership development program for educators.

Robert McCabe, 2008, M.Ed., was hired a principal at New Haven Elementary.

Bill O’Neill, 2004, B.B.A., was selected to serve on the United States Bowling Congress Board of Directors, starting with the 2016-17 season.

Christopher Pryor, 1995, B.B.A.; 2000, M.Ed., and Kenyatta Pryor, 2001, M.S., received the 2016 Achievement Recognition Awards by the Saginaw chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Noreen Saylor, 2003, T.C.; 2008, M.Ed., was selected as a member of the class of 2017 for the Gerstacker Fellowship Program.

Barbara Siemen, 2003, M.A.T., and her husband, Darrin, were selected as the 2016 Michigan Milk Producers Association Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperators for their Harbor Beach Prime Land Dairy Farm.

Matthew Slack, 2008, B.S., was hired as senior associate at Shen Milsom & Wilke at its new Toronto branch.

Brittany (Wellman) Tibaudo, 2008, B.B.A., and Christopher Tibaudo, 2013, B.B.A., welcomed their son, Easton Leo, on Jan. 19, 2017.

Kelly Torpey, 2000, M.A.T., is the new principal of Kaiser Elementary School in Roseville.

Brigette Uhrich, 2007, M.A.T., was selected as a member of the class of 2017 for the Gerstacker Fellowship Program.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! SEND YOUR CLASS NOTES INFORMATION AND A HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTO TO: ALUMNI@SVSU.EDU OR MAIL TO: SVSU, ALUMNI RELATIONS, 7400 BAY ROAD, UNIVERSITY CENTER MI 48710

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 37

1

2

3

7

4

5

38 SVSUALUMNI

6

8

9

1. Tara Carr, 2004, M.B.A. 2. Cameron Thorp, 2013, B.A. 3. Brittney Miller, 1996, B.A. 4. Nathan Hoyle, 2013, B.A., and Emily VanFleteren, 2015, B.A. 5. Samuel Yost, 2006, B.A. 6. “Security 101,” written by Joseph Jaksa, 2002, M.A. 7. Patrick Cavanaugh, 2003, B.A. 8. Pamela Hornberger, 1997, M.Ed. 9. Kara Hopper Root, 2000, B.A.; 2004, M.Ed. 10. Kelly Torpey, 2000, M.A.T. 11. Jeremy Kern, 2012, B.B.A. 12. Henry Hatter, 1966, B.S. 13. Kurt David, 1986, B.A. 14. Brittany (Wellman) Tibaudo, 2008, B.B.A., and Christopher Tibaudo, 2013, B.B.A., welcomed their son, Easton Leo. 15. Raymond Daenzer, 2011, B.S. 16. Barbara Siemen, 2003, M.A.T.

11

10

Samuel Yost, 2006, B.A., was awarded the James R. Ryan Family Foundation Scholarship for top-ranked students in the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.

2010s

12

13

14

15

16

Justin Bell, 2016, B.A., was hired as a graphic designer for Perrin Brewing Company in Grand Rapids.

Damon Bozeman, 2016, B.S., is playing professional basketball with the Bulleen Boomers in Melbourne, Australia.

William Castle, 2003, B.P.A.; 2014, M.B.A., after serving in an interim capacity, was hired as chief executive officer for Huron Medical Center.

Raymond Daenzer, 2011, B.S., graduated from Chicago State College of Pharmacy in May 2016 with his Pharm.D. degree and accepted a position as pharmacy manager for CVS of Frankenmuth.

David Farley, 2013, M.Ed., was selected as a member of the class of 2017 for the Gerstacker Fellowship Program.

Matthew Hatch, 2011, B.B.A., was hired as a CPA for Nietzke & Faupel PC in Pigeon.

Nathan Hoyle, 2013, B.A., married Emily VanFleteren, 2015, B.A., on Dec. 30, 2016, in Freeland.

Jeremy Kern, 2012, B.B.A., was promoted to senior accountant at Yeo & Yeo CPAs & Business Consultants.

Mike Lerchenfeldt, 2012, M.Ed., presented at the Michigan Digital Learning Conference. He received an education grant for his science classroom from the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals.

Lerchenfeldt’s article, “The Toxic Environment of Standardized Testing,” was published in The Detroit News.

Ryan Moormann, 2016, B.S., was hired as a web developer at Health Enhancement Systems in Midland.

Jillian Renee Peterson, 2011, B.S., and Chase Ryan Coulter, 2011, B.S., married on May 21, 2016. Both majored in kinesiology at SVSU; played softball and baseball, respectively; and wore No. 6 as a jersey number. They live in Louisville.

Elijah Redman, 2012, B.S., married Megan Brennan, 2013, B.S., in 2014. Since then, Elijah has graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic and began working at Total Health Systems as a chiropractic doctor. Megan works for Cardiology Associates of Michigan as an exercise physiologist.

Sara Sisco, 2013, M.S.N., joined the Central Michigan District Health Department’s traveling family planning team as a family nurse practitioner.

Myeisha Smith, 2015, B.B.A., was given a 2016 Achievement Recognition Award by the Saginaw chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Kyle Stokes, 2010, B.B.A., was promoted to leisure sales manager for 1Hotel South Beach.

Heather Stolp, 2016, B.A., recently accepted a position as a district manager with General Motors.

Jaclyn Szczerowski, 2010, B.A., married Michael Lancewicz in August 2016 in Alpena.

Cameron Thorp, 2013, B.A., began working at the Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI) as the assistant stage manager for the 2016-17 season. He also accepted membership to the Actors Equity Association (AEA), an actors and stage manager union.

Samuel Tilmon, 2010, B.B.A.; 2012, M.B.A., received a 2016 Achievement Recognition Award by the Saginaw chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Janet Timbs, 1993, M.A.T.; 2012, Ed.S., was appointed to the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Craig Trombly, 2006, T.C.; 2012, M.A.T., accepted a teaching position at Oxford High School.

Molly (Doan) Wendling, 2010, B.A., and her husband, Ed, welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Harlow, on Nov. 13, 2016.

Gaoxee Yang, 2014, B.A., was promoted to lead graphic designer for The Advertiser after her logo was chosen as the new face of the newspaper.

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 39

IN MEMORIAM Ted Braun — Feb. 8, 2017 Ted Braun, 84, was one of the Saginaw community’s finest ambassadors, and one of SVSU’s great champions.

Individually and collectively, he and his wife, Ruth (both pictured to the right), who survives him, were committed servant leaders.

Ted served on the SVSU Board of Control from 1981-89, and was succeeded by Ruth, who served from 1991-2007.

Their support extended to empowering programs such as The Braun Fellowship and Braun Writing Awards. Ted served as president of the board for the Harvey Randall Wickes Foundation, which has been among

SVSU’s chief benefactors for decades.

He received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from SVSU in 1990.

Braun was a graduate of Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Yale University and the University of Michigan Law School. He practiced law for 57 years at the firm of Braun Kendrick.

He was active in charitable and civic organizations. He served as president/ board chairman at United Way of Saginaw County, Saginaw Community Foundation, and Saginaw General Hospital, among others. He also was director of Wolohan Lumber Co. and Citizens Banking Corp.

The Brauns were married for 62 years.

Brandon Bills, 2013, B.S. – Aug. 23, 2016 Bills, 30, was a husband and father of two young boys. After graduation, he worked for the Dow Chemical Co. before taking a position with Nexteer Automotive. He was an outdoorsman and family man.

Michael Cesal, 2005, B.A. – Oct. 16, 2016 Cesal, 34, was an accomplished student and educator. He taught at Northwood University, focusing on philosophy and politics.

Debra Colling, 1985, B.B.A. – Sept. 22, 2016 Colling, 57, worked for the IRS before the birth of her daughter and love for animals took her in another direction. She began fostering animals in need before starting a business baking natural dog treats in 2014.

Kevin Green, 2003, B.A. – July 21, 2016 Green, 51, was an accomplished educator and superintendent with the Genesee School District. He previously worked with the Kingston School District, Cass City School District, and Lakers School District.

Dawn Hoeg, 1980, B.B.A. – Oct. 4, 2016 Hoeg, 58, experienced a great basketball career at SVSU and was involved with many athletics programs while also serving as a referee. The Dawn Hoeg Memorial Basketball Scholarship was established by Dawn and her surviving husband, Dennis Hoeg.

Brian Moody, 1989, B.A. – Aug. 23, 2016 Moody, 71, earned his bachelor’s in psychology before working for St. Luke’s Health Center as a counselor.

Arloa Rose, 1973, B.A.; 1976, M.A.T. – Sept. 11, 2016 Rose was a two-time graduate of SVSU, where she pursued secondary education teaching in English.

Nicholas Scheall, 2001, B.S. – Aug. 18, 2016 Scheall, 38, returned home to SVSU as a math faculty member. He also had a passion for music that led him to serve as the musical director for Bay City All Saints middle and high school productions for 17 years.

Elizabeth Sonefeld, 1997, B.A.; 2001, M.A.T.; 2015, Ed.S. – Aug. 8, 2016 Sonefeld, 47, was a dedicated educator and Cardinal, receiving three degrees from SVSU. She worked as a special education teacher and most recently as special education supervisor for the Swan Valley School District.

Barbara Sucher, 1982, B.B.A.; 1987, M.B.A. – July 17, 2016 Sucher, 74, worked at Saginaw Cooperative Hospitals and Michigan State University Medical School for almost 30 years as vice president for medical education. She retired in 2014 as associate dean for the College of Continuing Medical Education at Quillen College of Medicine.

Scott Ignatowski, 1987, B.B.A. – July 12, 2016 Ignatowski, 61, was employed as a tax consultant in Wichita, Kansas, for several years. He enjoyed being outdoors, especially photographing nature, camping and hiking.

Carl Taylor, 1979, B.A. – July 25, 2016 Taylor, 67, began at General Motors Chevrolet Grey Iron Foundry, after which he enlisted in the U.S. Army and fought in 1968 during the Vietnam War. He received a Purple Heart. After the military, he began a 27-year career with the Saginaw Police Department.

Marilyn Kevern, 1989, M.A.T. – Aug. 23, 2016 Kevern, 83, resided in Arizona with her husband, Ron, after retiring from the Rochester Community School District, where she was a learning consultant.

She was a member of the Beatrix Potter Society and lectured across the U.S.

Elizabeth Thompson, 1992, B.S. – Aug. 11, 2016 Thompson, 50, worked at Dow Corning Corp. for many years. She was an active member of the community, participating in Relay for Life for the last few years before losing her own battle with cancer.

Michael Klass, 1976, B.A. – July 31, 2016 Klass, 63, was a retired band teacher from Clio Public Schools and taught at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, St. Peter and Paul High School in Saginaw, and Arenac Eastern Schools. He also played tuba for the Saginaw Eddy Concert Band.

Paula Von Kampen, 1984, M.A.T. – Sept. 20, 2016 Von Kampen, 83, was a member of the Macomb County Scholarship Committee for Oakland University, LWML, and Valparaiso University Guild.

She also was the chair of the committee to hire entertainment for Super Bowl XVI at the Silverdome in 1981.

Michaela Kroswek, 1976, B.B.A. – Aug. 9, 2016 Kroswek, 80, served the State of Michigan as an auditor for nearly 15 years until her retirement in 1997. Even while studying and working full time, she was very instrumental in her children’s education as she served on the school board at All Saints High School in Bay City.

Benjamin Wackerle, 1997, B.B.A. – Sept. 9, 2016 Wackerle, 44, was a member of Alpha Mu Gamma as well as Honor Society for Foreign Languages. Wackerle operated Rollin’ B Entertainment DJ Service and worked for Do-All.

Carol Begian-McGuire, 1995, M.A.T. – Sept. 17, 2016 Begian-McGuire, 68, was a music teacher, band director and NASCAR lover who dedicated her time to helping the less fortunate and making a lasting impact on her students.

40 SVSUALUMNI

Nicholas Weigold, 2005, B.S. – Aug. 4, 2016 Weigold, 33, was a member of the Class of 2001 at Chesaning High School, where he played on the 1998 state championship football team. He was employed by Jackson National Life Insurance in Okemos as a computer science and software engineer.

Your birthday present has arrived!

If your birthday is coming up, it’s the perfect time to spread some Red Pride statewide with the new-look SVSU alumni license plate. We asked alumni to vote on a new design, and by popular demand, the Cardinal logo is back on our license plates. Ordering a new one is as simple as visiting a Secretary of State office or website at michigan.gov/sos. Proceeds support the Alumni Legacy Endowed Scholarship.

michigan.gov/sos

SVSU ALUMNI

LEGACY PROGRAM

tradition.

Our Roots Grow Deep in Cardinal Country.

Legacy scholarships are for students* with guardians who are graduates of SVSU. Continue to grow your family tradition in Cardinal Country and apply today.

989.964.4196 • legacy@svsu.edu alumni.svsu.edu/legacy *first time in college or transfer

REFLECTIONSMAGAZINE 41

change Iives.

CAREER SERVICES ALUMNI, WE ARE HERE FOR YOU FOR LIFE. OUR PASSIONATE STAFF WILL ASSIST YOU THROUGHOUT ANY STAGE IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE. CONTACT US TO ADVANCE YOUR CAREER, IMPROVE YOUR RÉSUMÉ OR HIRE NEW TALENT. svsu.edu/careers 989.964.4954 • careers@svsu.edu 42 SVSUALUMNI

HIRE CARDINAL TALENT

With your Cardinal Career Network Employer Account, gain access to more than 8,000 passionate SVSU students and alumni actively seeking full-time, part-time, co-op, and internship opportunities. SVSU hosts four university-wide and four industry-specific professional employment fairs for you to meet and greet talented Cardinals.

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER

SVSU provides more than 8,000 positions annually via the Cardinal Career Network, the online job database exclusively available to SVSU students and alumni. Opportunities are sent directly to your @svsu.edu account. If you need assistance with your résumé and cover letter, get one-on-one assistance with an appointment or at one of our Career Services résumé workshops. Whether you have recently graduated from SVSU or it’s been a few years, employers are ready to speak with you about full-time, career/degree positions at one of our eight employment fairs.

7400 Bay Road • University Center, MI 48710

mentor.

.com AN EXCITING NEW SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK LINKING CARDINAL ALUMNI, STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTY. SVSU CONNECT IS DIFFERENT THAN FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES BECAUSE IT ALLOWS USERS TO CONNECT WITH FELLOW CARDINALS BASED ON THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM YOU STUDIED, A STUDENT ORGANIZATION YOU JOINED, AND A VARIETY OF OTHER FACTORS THAT DEFINED YOUR SVSU EXPERIENCE. WANT TO START AN AFFINITY GROUP OF CURRENT AND FORMER LIVING CENTER RESIDENTS, AND SHARE PHOTOS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE? EASY. CARE TO SEARCH FOR JOB OPENINGS OFFERED BY FELLOW ALUMNI? THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNITIES. CURIOUS WHAT COMMUNITY EVENTS ARE SCHEDULED AT SVSU NEXT WEEK? THE CALENDAR IS UPDATED.

Sign up at svsuconnect.com.

Users can join through their Facebook or LinkedIn accounts.

Career Navigation + Network + Mentor

connect.

support.

network.