12 A Study in contrasts Sarah Cardona ’15 traveled to Chile this summer with 12 other students from St. Edward’s. They explored graffiti-lined streets and the beautiful contradictions of urban Chile.
16 That’s Brilliant These eight alumni all set their sights on something — a school, a backpack, a way to test water and then some — and took action. Here’s how they turned their ideas and visions into successful ventures.
Letter from the Editor In an attempt to pretend I’m 18 years old instead of in my mid-30s, I read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide this summer. All of the university’s incoming freshmen read the book, too. Half the Sky (see page 3), a thoroughly researched and meticulously reported work, chronicles the harrowing conditions women around the world face because they’re, well, women. Since I finished the book, I’ve been telling everyone who will listen to read it. It’s powerful. It’s moving. It puts your bad day into perspective. The book inspires action, even for those of us living worlds away from the problem. (I’m now an investor in a one-woman Philippine grocery market.) And it’s a powerful way to start off a school year: reading a book that illuminates solutions about an important humanrights issue.
As I reflected on both the book and the incoming freshmen who were reading it, I started imaging the change that these students might someday inspire. What nonprofits will they create? What diseases will they cure? What companies will they start? What solutions will they present to the world? In this issue, we bring you a host of stories on alumni, students and faculty members who are changing the world in their own ways. Alumni who have started companies and nonprofits. Students who are searching for solutions to big problems. Faculty members who are inspiring young minds with powerful stories. But back to the book. You should read it.
Frannie Schneider Editor