Emmanuel News
campus news
OCTOBER 2011
McLaughlin Hakim Lecture to Address Affirmative Opportunity in Obama Era William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, will address “Affirmative Opportunity in the Barack Obama Era” at the Catherine McLaughlin Hakim Lecture Series on Tuesday, November 15th. The lecture will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall. A former MacArthur Prize Fellow and president of the American Sociological Association, Wilson was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the U.S., in 1998, and was named one of America’s 25 most influential people by Time magazine in 1996. Wilson has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National
William Julius Wilson
Academy of Education and the Institute of Medicine. He is the author of a number of notable and awardwinning publications, including The Declining Significance of Race, The
Truly Disadvantaged, and When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor. His latest book is More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City.
The Catherine McLaughlin Hakim Lecture Series is an annual lecture series established by Dr. Raymond Hakim in honor of his late wife, Catherine McLaughlin Hakim ’70. A sociology major at Emmanuel, Catherine studied under longtime sociology professor Sister Marie Augusta Neal, SND, who left an indelible mark on her student experience. The lecture series commemorates Catherine’s life, her fondness for Emmanuel, and the relationships she formed at the College and continued to maintain throughout her life. The Catherine McLaughlin Hakim Lecture Series is sponsored by the Department of Sociology. Lectures focus on issues of sociology, social justice and public policy on the local, national and international levels.
Famed Constitutional Scholar Speaks at Wyant Lecture Series Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard University, discussed “What will the Constitution mean in 2037?” at the October 5th Wyant Lecture held in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall. Tribe looked to the year 2037, not only as the 250th anniversary of the Constitution, but as a quarter of a century—a generation—after the 2012 elections. These elections will have a profound effect on how our
fundamental laws are interpreted, as the next president will possibly nominate a justice to the Supreme Court, who may, in turn, serve for decades, casting votes crucial to the meaning of the Constitution.
Notably difficult to amend, the most remarkable thing about our Constitution, Tribe said, is that it facilitates “evolutionary renewal, without revolutionary discontinuity, and transformation without risking the whole enterprise at any given moment in our history.”
Laurence H. Tribe
as “arguably the most famous constitutional scholar and Supreme Court practitioner in the country.” He has taught at Harvard Law School since 1968 and was voted the best professor by the graduating class of 2000. Tribe’s title of “University Professor” is Harvard’s highest academic honor, awarded to just a handful of professors at any given time and to fewer than 70 professors in all of the university’s history. Tribe helped write the constitutions of South Africa, the Czech Republic, and the Marshall Islands, and is the recipient of 10 honorary degrees, most recently a degree honoris causa from the government of Mexico’s National Institute of Criminal Science in March 2011, which had never before been awarded to an American. He has prevailed in three-fifths of the many appellate cases he has argued (includ-
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ing 35 in the U.S. Supreme Court), and was appointed by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder in 2010 to serve as the first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice.
For more on the lecture, visit www. emmanuel.edu/news.
Emmanuel was nominated by St. Ambrose Family Shelter, a 15-family residence in Dorchester, Mass. As part of the nomination process, site coordinators were asked to recommend volunteers who have “gone above and beyond” with their service efforts. Rick Freitas, the director of the St. Ambrose Family Shelter, estimated that in the six-plus years Emmanuel has partnered with the shelter nearly 400 student volunteers have come through its doors, taking part in various beautification projects from painting rooms to maintaining its gardens and playgrounds. Through the years, he has found Emmanuel students to not only be reliable, but enthusiastic.
Emmanuel students cheer on participants along the Charles River during the 2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Boston event on October 2nd.
Saints Make Strides Against Breast Cancer Emmanuel students were well represented at the American Cancer Society’s 2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Boston event on October 2nd. In addition to students cheering on walkers during the day, a number of student-athletes volunteered with event preparation and the Emmanuel College Dance Team performed during the day.
Emmanuel College Honored by Catholic Charities of Boston CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The St. Ambrose Family Shelter is one of Catholic Charities of Boston’s 33 service locations around Eastern Massachusetts. The organization is one of the largest providers of social services in the state, assisting more than 200,000 of the area’s neediest citizens. According to President Deborah Kincade Rambo, LICSW, Catholic Charities of Boston relies heavily on volunteers to make their efforts possible. “We could not do what we need to do without these volunteers,” she said. “It makes a difference between doing a good job and a great job. Emmanuel has been a wonderful
“We could not do what we need to do without these volunteers...Emmanuel has been a wonderful partner in providing volunteers. It’s just remarkable.” – Catholic Charities of Boston President
Deborah Kincade Rambo, LICSW
partner in providing volunteers. It’s just remarkable.” In addition to serving as one of the College’s Day of Service sites each fall and spring, St. Ambrose Family Shelter is a popular location for student
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“It is an honor to be recognized by Catholic Charities of Boston,” said Associate Director of Community Service and Service Learning Deirdre Bradley-Turner. “This award is a reflection of our students and their commitment to community service.”
A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, he has written 115 books and articles, including his treatise, American Constitutional Law, which has been cited more than any other legal text since 1950. The Wyant Lecture Series features speakers in the humanities, history and the arts. This endowed professorship was established by the late Louise Doherty Wyant ’63 and her husband, Dr. James Wyant, in honor of Sister Anne Cyril Delaney, SND.
The New York Times described Tribe
Emmanuel College was named one of eight “Volunteers of the Year” by Catholic Charities of Boston. Members of Emmanuel’s Office of Campus Ministry were recognized at the organization’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on October 12th at the Tirrell Room in Quincy, Mass.
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Famed Constitutional Scholar Speaks at Wyant Lecture Series CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“Some of us, me included, find ourselves reluctant to take that gamble,” said Tribe. “Are we afraid of what government that isn’t just ‘of the people’ and ‘for the people,’ but truly ‘by the people’ would mean?”
Emmanuel Honored by Catholic Charities
It’s Family Weekend! th
He also spoke of changes in the constitutions of other countries, such as Iceland, who recently rewrote its constitution on the Internet, crowdsourcing with the help of social media.
service organizations such as Emmanuel College Community Outreach (ECCO) and Spark the Truth, the latter of which will volunteer at the shelter in November. Ben Mathews ’15 was one of the first-year students who recently volunteered at
the shelter as part of the 16th annual New Student Day of Service on September 6th. The experience convinced him to connect with the Office of Campus Ministry and explore other ways he can give back to the greater community throughout the year. “My personal experience with St. Ambrose had a large impact on my perspective on Emmanuel,” he said. “I realized just how important community service and projects are to the academic structure and spirit of the campus…As a biology and chemistry student, finding time can be difficult, but taking a few hours each week to help is a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.”
Welcome back family and friends! Here’s to an exciting weekend at Emmanuel!
“Emmanuel students stand out above the rest,” he said. “Emmanuel has been a great partner to us.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
IN THIS ISSUE
New Habitat for Humanity Club Gets Building
Hakim Lecture: Affirmative Opportunity in Obama Era
2 Devettere, De Leo Discuss Henrietta Lacks at Convocation
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campus news
campus news
New Habitat for Humanity Club Gets Building on North Shore Members of Emmanuel’s Habitat for Humanity Club broke ground on their first official project September 24th, taking part in construction efforts with Habitat for Humanity’s North Shore chapter. The club will continue to work among the chapter’s three home sites on Park Street in Peabody, Mass., until completed. A newly formed student organization this fall, the Habitat for Humanity Club was established by Jonathan Lourie ’13, who saw the club as a great addition to the College’s already existing community service-based groups. After a positive experience organizing a small group of students to volunteer with a Habitat for Humanity project in Boston last spring, he engaged the Office of Student Activities and Multicultural Programs to establish an official club for the 2011-2012 academic year.
the fall semester. Students interested in joining the club do not need to possess any previous construction experience, just a willingness to volunteer their time and an affinity for hands-on work.
Emmanuel’s Habitat for Humanity Club volunteered in Peabody, Mass., on September 24th.
“I wanted Emmanuel to be a part of it,” said Lourie of Habitat for Humanity. “It is a great organization that helps people become independent. I saw it as another forum Emmanuel could participate in and represent itself in a positive way.”
The club has partnered with the North Shore chapter to offer Emmanuel students the chance to volunteer outside the city limits. The group plans to return to the Peabody sites October 22nd and November 19th in addition to hosting fundraising events throughout
“What’s great about Habitat for Humanity is that you’re not only helping people get established, you are working side by side with them,” said Lourie. “This is going to be a lifechanging event for someone and you get to be there to see them appreciate it.” For more information on Emmanuel’s Habitat for Humanity Club, contact Jonathan Lourie at louriej@emmanuel. edu. Information on the club can also be found on Facebook (Emmanuel College Habitat for Humanity Chapter) and Twitter (@HabitatEmmanuel).
Foreign Languages Department Hosting Four-Part Lecture Series The Voice Lecture Series: Issues of Immigration, Colonialism and Terrorism in Transatlantic Studies is a month-long series taking place throughout October. All programs begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall. The lecture series has been organized by Emmanuel’s Foreign Language Department, with support from the Spanish Consulate of Boston. During the first installment on October 3rd, Boston University Professor of French T. Jefferson Kline discussed, “Michael Haneke’s CACHÉ and the Dilemma of Interracial Violence in France.” The lecture examined Haneke’s awardwinning film as an invitation to rethink the age-old conflict between Arabs and indigenous Frenchmen.
Monday, October 17 “Migration and ‘Otherness’: Cinematic Chronicles of Multicultural Spain.” Marvin D’Lugo, Professor of Spanish and Coordinator of the Comparative Literature Program, Clark University
Wednesday, October 26 “Celluloid Borders: Immigrant Images on Film.” John Michalczyk, Professor of Fine Arts, Boston College
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Emmanuel News OCTOBER 2011
Emmanuel College held its Academic Convocation ceremony on September 13th in the Jean Yawkey Center gymnasium. Emmanuel Professor of Philosophy and Director of ValuesBased Education Dr. Raymond Devettere delivered the keynote address, discussing the ethical, medical, racial and social issues raised by Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, this year’s reading selection for incoming first-year students. The book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor African American woman from Virginia, whose cancerous cells, known as the immortal line, HeLa, became one of the most significant tools in medicine, playing a vital role in developing the polio vaccine, gene mapping, cloning, and in vitro fertilization. Though Henrietta’s cells have generated millions of dollars in profit for medical researchers, she remains virtually unknown, and her surviving family is still unable to afford health care. Dr. Joyce De Leo, vice president of academic affairs, provided the opening remarks. As a scientist whose research focuses on managing chronic pain, Dr. De Leo spoke of the book’s impact on her as both a scientist and a person.
Upcoming installments of the Voice Lecture Series:
Wednesday, October 19 “2004, Spain’s Haunted Year.” James Mandrell, Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies Program and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, Comparative Literature, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Film Studies, Brandeis University
Devettere, De Leo Discuss Henrietta Lacks at Academic Convocation
College Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry Father John P. Spencer, SJ
Emmanuel Celebrates Mass of Holy Spirit Emmanuel officially opened the 2011-2012 academic year with the celebration of the Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 12th. College Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry Father John P. Spencer, SJ presided over the Mass, which was celebrated in the Jean Yawkey Center gymnasium.
The Mass of the Holy Spirit is a longstanding tradition among Catholic colleges and universities that dates back to 16th-century Europe. It serves as a means of invoking the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom throughout the academic year and allows the entire College community to come together and celebrate Emmanuel’s mission and Catholic identity.
Alejandra Rincón Kicks Off Year’s First Through the Wire Lecture Alejandra Rincón, author and advocate for immigrant rights in the educational system, joined the Emmanuel community in celebrating Latino Heritage Month by kicking off this year’s Through the Wire lecture series with a discussion of “Undocumented Immigrants and Higher Education” on September 21st in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall. Rincón’s talk reviewed the historic struggle of undocumented students and their supporters to gain equal access to higher education through in-
state tuition laws and the continuous fight for passage of the DREAM Act. The theme of the 2011-2012 Through the Wire series is “Access to Higher Education: Citizenship, Socio-Economic Status, Class and Race.” The next lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 2nd, when Lorén Spears of the Tomaquag Indian Museum presents “College Native Style.” The program will begin at 6:45 p.m. in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall.
“I had worked with HeLa cells, among many human cell lines, and I never imagined where these cells came from. I never imagined that the label HeLa was based on the name of a poor tobacco farmer, Henrietta Lacks. Nor had I considered that these cells were
Dr. Devettere referred to this and the questions on medical testing and privacy that followed as “settled” questions, all answered with a definite “no.”
Professor of Philosophy and Director of Values-Based Education Dr. Raymond Devettere
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is not a story that lives in the past, but one that shapes our lives and our future.” – Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Joyce De Leo taken without her or her family’s knowledge or consent. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is not a story that lives in the past, but one that shapes our lives and our future,” said Dr. De Leo. She encouraged students to uphold the moral ideals brought to light in Skloot’s book, both in their studies at Emmanuel and as a member of society after graduation. “Actively engage in something that doesn’t seem right. Be the one in the group that questions the ethics. Be the critical thinker. Be the leader. Grow not only intellectually, but consider your role as a person in this college, in this amazing city and in the larger community.”
Dr. De Leo began and ended her talk with a quote from Elie Wiesel, which appropriately serves as the epigraph to the book. “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.” In his address, Dr. Devettere posed a series of questions to the audience of students, faculty and staff.
Dr. Devettere continued with a succession of “unsettled” questions regarding compensation for donated cells and our rights to our own cells as personal property. For these answers, he placed the responsibility in the hands of Emmanuel students. “It would be wrong, I think, to say that there is no right answer. I’d rather we say there is a right answer. We don’t know it yet. Maybe you’ll help us find it.” “That’s why we stress values-based education at Emmanuel,” said Dr. Devettere. “We hope our faculty and students will raise the value questions, the moral questions, in their science courses…but also across the curriculum. “The point of a values-based education…is simply to prevent moral blindness, to overcome a lack of moral awareness that can affect all of us and to become sensitive to what the researchers and the scientists in the 50s and 60s—bent on doing good, bent on finding cures, bent on doing great science—never saw. Good people with good intentions often do terrible things. With values-based education we can prevent that from happening in the future.”
“Was it moral, was it right, for the doctors to take those second two biopsies without asking [Henrietta]?”
Vericker to be Honored with Outstanding Continuing Education Faculty Award Chris Vericker, an adjunct faculty member of Emmanuel’s Graduate and Professional Programs, was named the 2011 recipient of the Outstanding Continuing Education Faculty Award from the University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), New England region. Vericker will be honored at the association’s conference in Providence, R.I., on October 26th. Vericker has been an adjunct faculty member at Emmanuel since 1996. He has instructed over 150 courses in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program and the graduate programs in management, research administration, and human resource management. In addition, he has been instrumental in the development of new graduate management specializations, which include two courses delivered in a fully online format. As a long-serving faculty member in Graduate and Professional Programs, Vericker is well regarded by his colleagues and is often sought out for direction and guidance. As an
Chris Vericker
instructor, he is consistently evaluated by students as among the top faculty members in management. Students appreciate his ability to make complex subject matter engaging and relevant while understanding their interest in career growth at their places of employment. “His greatest strength [is] to put himself in the place of the student, see things from that point of view, and work together with each student to ensure success in the course,” said Sheila Doyle, a student of Vericker’s within the graduate programs in research administration. Vericker’s appreciation for the needs of his students stems from his own
experience in education, having received both his bachelor and master’s degrees as a part-time student. He holds a Bachelor of Science from St. Peter’s College and a Master of Science from Pace University. Of his own educational experience, he told Emmanuel News in 2007, “I know it really helped me find my way in life and gave me an opportunity to get my education.” In addition to teaching, Vericker is the vice president of the Construction Lending Group of Middlesex Savings Bank where he has worked for seven years. Even with a full-time career of his own, he maintains an exceptional commitment to Emmanuel College and its students in Graduate and Professional Programs. In her official nomination of Vericker to UPCEA, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs Ellen Mendonca, formerly the director of advising and special projects for Graduate and Professional Programs, highlighted some of his outstanding contributions, from serving as a graduate student advisor for capstone projects and mentor to
students and colleagues, to attending student events and participating in activities across the College. “Chris exemplifies all the extraordinary traits that we seek for continuing education faculty members teaching adult and graduate students,” she wrote. “We are so fortunate to have Chris as part of our esteemed faculty in Graduate and Professional Programs.” “A special talent Chris possesses is his understanding of the intersection of an excellent academic credential, which our students seek, and how this credential impacts the workforce development strategies of their employer,” said Dr. Judith Marley, dean of Emmanuel’s Graduate and Professional Programs. “Chris’s insights in this area played a key role in the expansion of Emmanuel’s employer partnerships with Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, to name only a few. Clearly Chris’s work translates to both student and community impact. It is a delight to work with him.”
Emmanuel News OCTOBER 2011
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