Campus Happenings

Sisters Shannon ’03 and Heather ’07 Armbruster virtually present to a group of students about their educational and career paths in the medical field.

Hoban has created a new alumni and friends speaker series called Voices in the Crowd. The series offers students an opportunity to connect with Hoban alumni and other community members, hear their personal stories and learn from them. In the inaugural year, virtual presentations were made by LaTroy Lewis ’12, Jaelen Hollinger ’13, Ashley Horton ’04, Jennifer Brady ’08, and Shannon ’03 and Heather ’07 Armbruster.

"Many people have expressed interest over the years in giving back to Hoban in different ways," Principal T.K. Griffith ’89 said. "They yearn to stay connected and pass on all they received from Hoban to our students. Voices in the Crowd was created from a brainstorming meeting about programming for Black History Month. The first presentation by Jaelen and LaTroy was well received by students."

Held on Feb. 25, Lewis and Hollinger spoke about their experience as Hoban students, college and their career paths. After playing for several teams in the NFL, Lewis is now a graduate assistant linebacker coach for the University of Michigan. Hollinger earned a degree in human resources management and a minor in entrepreneurship from Baldwin Wallace University and is now a senior human resources generalist at the Cleveland Foundation.

Hoban alumni span all professions and areas of interest. After a successful first Voices in the Crowd presentation, Griffith and the advancement office continued to ask alumni to share their stories with students. In April, which celebrates autism awareness month, Brady presented about her career as an associate teacher counselor at Prentiss Autism Center in Fairview Park. In her role, she assists students with severe disabilities in the classroom. "It’s a wonderful concept to allow current students to hear the journey of our alumni," Brady said. "Our experiences, successes and even failures could help light a spark that Hoban students didn’t know they had inside of them. Exposure to a range of careers is so valuable to someone finding their path in life. I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell my story and hopefully open the door for those coming my direction, or, even more importantly, figure out maybe it’s something they don’t want to do."

With the use of online meeting resources, alumni can participate from anywhere in the world. Shannon Armbruster ’03 presented from her office at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, where she works as an assistant professor and recently received a career development grant from the National Institute of Health.

"Meeting with Hoban’s students was a rewarding experience," Shannon said. "I appreciated the opportunity to connect with and provide guidance to our next generation of leaders, highlighting the aspects of their high school experience that will be beneficial in the future."

Plans are being made to continue and expand the speaker series next academic year.

"What started as a brainstorm has grown to help us build a stronger Hoban community with the synergy and wisdom from our alumni," Griffith said.

On Saturday, March 19, Hoban dedicated the second-floor hallway in honor of Brothers Joseph LeBon and Edward Libbers in recognition of their unyielding faith and service. More than 200 guests were in attendance to celebrate Mass and the blessing and dedication of the Brother Joseph LeBon and Brother Edward Libbers Academic Hall of Honor. Together, LeBon and Libbers have served Hoban for more than 100 years, making them the longest-serving Brothers in Hoban history.

"Hoban has planned to honor Brother Ed and Brother Joe for quite some time," President Chris DiMauro ’99 said. "It is more than fitting that our Hoban Family recognize their years of service to Hoban."

The event was held on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and began with Mass in Barry Gymnasium to accommodate the large gathering. The Rev. John Blazek, a Holy Cross priest, celebrated Mass and blessed the hallway, which was previously the Brothers' residence at Hoban. The Academic Hall of Honor pays tribute to the history and legacy of the Congregation of Holy Cross and recognizes members of the Academic Hall of Honor, an award that was created at Hoban in 1991 to recognize the academic achievements of Hoban graduates.

During the event, Hoban also celebrated Brother James Spooner in his final year at Hoban. At the end of the academic year, Spooner relocated to South Bend to continue his ministry for the Congregation of Holy Cross, Midwest Province as the assistant provincial for planning, province steward and province secretary. "I am pleased to share that Brother James Spooner has been approved by the Superior General and his Council to assume the duties of provincial steward," said Brother Ken Haders, provincial superior and former Hoban president. "This will be in addition to his duties as provincial secretary. He will move to Notre Dame this summer to assume full time duties at the provincial office. In addition to being both provincial secretary and provincial steward, he will assume primary responsibility for our due diligence efforts toward the unification of the four provinces of North America."

Likewise, LeBon retired to Colombo Hall at the University of Notre Dame after the academic year. For the past several years, LeBon has continued working part-time as Hoban's webmaster.

"With both Spooner and LeBon exiting from Hoban, it nearly seemed as though for the first time in school history, Hoban would be without a Holy Cross Brother in the building," DiMauro said. "I am thrilled to welcome Brother Dennis Bednarz back to Hoban. Brother Dennis was at Hoban when I was a student and integral in my academic and faith formation journey as a student."

Bednarz has worked more than 10 years at St. Edwards High School teaching in the social studies department and coaching baseball. He will join Hoban in the fall as a social studies teacher and work in the admissions office.

The renovation of the Academic Hall of Honor was supported by philanthropic donations, a testament to the love and respect Hoban alumni and families have for the Brothers. Hoban is accepting donations towards the Holy Cross Legends Scholarship, in honor of Libbers, LeBon, Spooner and all the Holy Cross Brothers.