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N O T E S P R O F I L E
TA J M C W I L L I A M S - F R A N K L I N , ’ 9 3
COURTESY OF CONNECTICUT SUN
Taj McWilliams-Franklin, ’93, has traveled the world playing professional women’s basketball. She has played in Germany, Luxembourg and Israel and across the United States as a player in the American Basketball League and Women’s National Basketball Association. As a starting player for the WNBA’s Orlando Miracle, now the Connecticut Sun, she was named to the WNBA All-Star team for three consecutive years (1999–2001) and was the only Miracle player to start every career game. She also played on the 1998 USA Basketball Women’s National Team, which won the world championship that year. “Winning the championship in 1998 gave me a taste of what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to be one of the top players,” she said. “I also want to impact children’s lives by being a good role model. I want them to see me as a professional who also goes home to her family [husband Reginald, and daughters, Michele, 14, and Maia, 5 months] and actually cooks dinner.” A standout player at St. Edward’s, she was named the 1993 NAIA National Player of the Year and was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. She also set records at St. Edward’s for career scoring (1,837 points), highest scoring average (24.5 points) and most points scored for a single season (760). After the WNBA, McWilliams-Franklin hopes to utilize her English writing and rhetoric degree to become a writer. Her inspiration comes from a “mosaic of people” including Assistant Professor of English Laurie Drummond, Professor of Religious Studies Ed Shirley and her college teammates. “When I thought it was impossible to keep going, they made a way for me,” she said. “I was just blessed at that time and that place to do what I needed to do to get my degree. I would never have finished college if my professors hadn’t been flexible and if I hadn’t gone to St. Edward’s.” — Cassandra Elizondo, ’03
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90s CONT. David B. Sanchez, ’99, accepted a position with ESPN working on the Anaheim Angels account as the senior account executive for Sports Properties in the Los Angeles region. He is very excited to be working at ESPN and with the World Champion Anaheim Angels. David will continue to live in Redondo Beach, Calif. Steve Tipton, ’99, is stationed with the U.S. Army in Kuwait. He is thinking of St. Edward’s and “the good friends I have made there over the years.”
00s
Bradley Clark, ’00, graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in December 1999 and is working as a briefing attorney for a justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals. His wife Lisa (Leonard) Clark, ’98, works at CSC in Austin. Matthew Mize, ’00, was selected Austin Human Resource Management Association Volunteer of the Month in March 2003. He is currently the human resource coordinator at Century Tel for the San Marcos, Lake Dallas and Port Aransas locations. Rob Rose, ’00, was accepted to the MBA program at Cornell University’s Johnson School and was awarded a prestigious Toigo Fellowship from the Robert Toigo Foundation. Rob said, this accomplishment “speaks volumes [about] the quality education I received from St. Edward’s University.” Richard W. Allen, MBA ’01, passed the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) examination
administered by the Human Resources Certification Institute in December 2002. The PHR is a rigorous exam that covers compensation, training and development, safety and health, labor and employee relations, and employment law. Shane Boyd, ’01, finished flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala., and is assigned to the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq. Adam L. Padilla, ’01, is the founder and president of Small Business Services Group in Austin. The company consults and develops operations, management and service programs for small businesses. Morgan Trujillo, ’01, hopes to be volunteering with the Peace Corps within the next year. Lindsey Duncan, ’02, is living in Denver, Colo. She completed the first year of her MBA with a specialization in marketing at Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and will graduate in March 2004. Kevin Klauber, ’02, started Klauber Consulting, which offers drug-free workplace seminars, and has had two articles published about drug and alcohol abuse. He lives in Austin and enjoys watching his daughter, Morgan Exene, 3, grow up. Mario Cesar Trevino, ’02, is preparing to take exams for security investments. He lives in Austin and will accept a position with American Express Financial Services in September 2003 as a financial advisor after he passes the exams. ■