Belmont Abbey College Crossroads for Winter 2013

Ancient Treasure Trove

A Visit From the Cardinal

The Defense of Religious Freedom

Rare Books Collection Preserved at the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library

Archbishop Christoph Schรถnborn Celebrates Mass at The Abbey

Dr. Robert George Delivers The Annual Cuthbert Allen Lecture

THE MAGAZINE OF BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE

The Art of Teaching Science

WINTER 2013

FROM THE EDITOR

God Inherent In Nature: THE SCIENCES AT BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE Earlier this past summer, when I was asked to step in and assist with developing our next edition of Crossroads, I immediately said yes. I have especially been looking forward to overseeing the topic for this issue, the art of teaching science at Belmont Abbey College.

One of our most popular majors at the Abbey has been biology, which has not been in the spotlight of the magazine

until this year and so I am happy to see the virtues of the science disciplines finally getting their due.

Our cover story is told from the perspective of the alumni who have prospered in the science fields after graduation and the professors of the science departments (biology, chemistry, math, and physics) who took them there. Our graduates, some of whom have gone on to careers at

We also have a feature on the 2012 Annual Cuthbert Allen lecture. Dr. Robert George, a professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and member of the President’s Council on Bioethics under George W. Bush, gave a riveting lecture on religious liberties and working together via different religions in today’s society.

Last, but far from least, we offer an interview with Fr. Arthur

“No philosophical theory which I have yet come across is a radical improvement on the words of Genesis, that ‘In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth.’”

C.S. Lewis

NASA and the United States Navy, credit the faculty for their personal successes and it is quite easy to see why.

Next, we look at a little-known hidden treasure safely kept in the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library. Our rare books collection, overseen by book conservator Alexandra Pizza, includes a vast array of tomes that are hundreds of years old, some going as far back as 1522. Pizza received her training at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England and is a specialist in repairing these delicate objects back to their glory. We hope you will be delighted and appreciative after seeing the hard work that goes into preserving our collection.

Our third feature details the summer visit to our campus by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, Austria, and close associate of Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Schönborn received an honorary degree from the college in June and also celebrated Mass in the Abbey’s Basilica, which proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for all who attended.

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Pendleton, O.S.B., a former chemistry professor who has been a favorite with students for generations. We hope that his own reflections on his 30-plus teaching career will be the perfect supplement to our cover story.

More than anything else, I hope that this issue highlights the core values which our College is guided by, whether they are found in studying God’s creation, the importance of life and religious freedom or our appreciation for the arts. The Abbey strives to guide every student to graduate with a better understanding of how the Holy Spirit may be discovered within the many facets of the Liberal Arts. Whether found in biology, theology or English, our Lord Jesus Christ is and always will be the center of this College. May He bless our readers in 2013.

Emily Williams

Winter 2013

FEATURES

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COVER FEATURE: THE ART OF TEACHING SCIENCE Crossroads highlights the successes of the Professors and Alumni of the Abbey's Science disciplines.

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ANCIENT TREASURE CLOSE TO HOME The Abbot Vincent Taylor Library houses a hidden treasure trove of special tomes.

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This year’s Cuthbert Allen lecture saw Dr. George outlining the Church’s vision for harmony among differing religions in today’s world.

ARCHBISHOP OF VIENNA CELEBRATES MASS AT BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, a renowned theologian, educator and friend of Pope Benedict XVI, was on a personal visit at the invitation of the College and monastery.

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PROFESSOR ROBERT GEORGE DEFENDS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

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A CHEMIST WITH A LOVE FOR THE LIBERAL ARTS Once an educator, it is now Fr. Arthur’s turn to be the student. The well-loved former Chemistry teacher reflects on his past career.

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DEPARTMENTS

President’s Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 In The Abbot’s Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Noble Belmont Abbey Basilica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Monastic News Two Belmont Abbey Monks Take Solemn Vows . . . . . . 40-41 The Late Father Matthew McSorley Remembered . . . . 42-43 Father Kenneth Geyer: He Leaves Behind The Strokes Of His Brush, The Echoes Of His Music, And The Spirit Of His Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44-45

Campus News A Truly Fresh Experience At The New Dining Hall . . . . . . 46 Breakfast With Benedict Series Offers A Dose Of Reflection With Your Morning Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 A Transformative Experience: Belmont Abbey College Hosts Its First-Ever Literary Conference . . . . . . . . . 48-49 Choosing Life And Education: There’s Room At The Inn For Both . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50-51 Graduates Volunteer In The Benedictine Spirit And Bring The Message Of Christ To Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 52-53 Students Will Find Tranquility And Fellowship In The New Residence Halls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54-55

Faculty & Staff News Greg Swanson Joins The Abbey Family As New Vice President of College Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . 56-57 Meet Our New Faculty Members For 2012-2013 . . . . 58-63 Dr. Judith McDonald: 64 A State Winner, An Abbey Winner . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Noteworthy News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65-69

Sports News Stephen Miss Leads The Crusaders: The New Abbey Director Of Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-71 The Ladies Take It All: Conference Carolinas Champions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72-73 In Honor Of Jim Riches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Alumni News A Letter From Your Office Of Alumni Relations . . . . . . 76 Abbey Alum, Author, Business Professional: Success Started Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The Hon. David A. Bowers, J.D. ’74, Is Elected Mayor Of Roanoke, Va. For The Fourth Time . . . . . . . . . . . . 78-79 Distinguished Alumni Honored at Homecoming . . . . . 80-81 Come Together: Homecoming 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82-83 Class Notes & In Loving Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84-91 Mission Statement of Belmont Abbey College: Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. In this endeavor, we are guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning. Exemplifying Benedictine hospitality, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others.

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Crossroads Crossroads is the official publication of Belmont Abbey College.

Vice President of College Relations and General Counsel R. Gregory Swanson Interim Editor Emily Williams ’07 Assistant Editor Design & Production Supervision Renae Heustess Contributors Br. Tobiah Abbott, O.S.B. Dr. Elizabeth Baker Don Beagle Dr. Al Benthall Stephen Brosnan Dr. Grattan Brown Jim Clements Br. Elias Correa-Torres, O.S.B. Dr. Carson Daly Simon Donoghue Dr. Robert P. George Gireesh Gupta Ed Jones Dr. Lucas Lamadrid Christopher Lux Br. Edward Mancuso, O.S.B. Dr. Mike McLeod Stephen Miss Monte Monteleone ’71 Christine Goff Peeler Fr. Arthur Pendleton, O.S.B. Alexandra Pizza Dr. Joseph Pizza Chris Poore Dr. Sheila Reilly Wayne Scroggins Susan Shackleford Br. Paul Shanley, O.S.B. Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B. Stephen Steiger Greg Swanson Dr. Bill Thierfelder Dr. Rajive Tiwari Mary B. Worthington Photography Christopher Coutinho Photography Encaptured & Co. Event Photography Renae Heustess Christopher Lux Jillian Maisano Craig McCausland Anthony Perlas Patrick Schneider Printing ImageMark Business Services 1-800-632-9513

Abbey Mailbag To submit comments about Crossroads, email crossroads@bac.edu or send letters to “Crossroads” Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, NC 28012 Class Notes and Change of Address info should be sent to alumnioff@bac.edu or Office of Alumni Relations Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, NC 28012 All photos submitted must be high resolution at 300 dpi or higher to be used in Crossroads.

Copyright 2013 Belmont Abbey College

Winter 2013

BUILDING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE AND VIRTUE

By Dr. Bill Thierfelder The

Locker Room THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION’S STATEWIDE ISSUES BLOG

Three things I love about Belmont Abbey College POSTED ON DECEMBER 7, 2012 AT 1:05 PM, BY BECKI GRAY

Aside from a breathtakingly beautiful campus, here are three things Belmont Abbey College has done recently that should be a model for colleges across the country:

In its 137 year history, Belmont Abbey College has never been better known or enjoyed a more illustrious reputation for excellence and virtue than it does at the present time. World renowned speakers such as Robert George, Elizabeth Lev and Cardinal Schönborn have come to our campus this year through the efforts of our faculty and friends.

The Abbey was recently featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition with a viewing audience estimated at over ten million people.

The College was also mentioned in Our Sunday Visitor’s, Catholics of 2012. Our Motorsport Management program has been in the national news and recently finished second among leading colleges and universities in the NASCAR Kinetics: Marketing in Motion National Competition. In addition, Becki Gray posted a wonderful commentary on the John Locke Foundation’s blog, The Locker Room, about Belmont Abbey College that I thought you would appreciate reading.

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1. They offer a curriculum heavy on classical liberalism and fundamental disciplines, including two semesters of rhetoric, two of classic texts in political philosophy, two in Western civilization, two in literary classics, a semester on the U.S. Constitution, and First-Year Symposium (a one-semester introduction to college life in a Catholic and Benedictine community; the school has an abbey on campus).

2. They just reduced their tuition by 33%—a reduction by nearly $10,000/year. BAC president Dr. William Thierfelder said of the “tuition reset” that it “is a strategic move toward providing an outstanding private college education at an affordable price,” in light of the unsustainable rise in the cost of higher education, which has been more than quadruple the rate of inflation in the past 25 years.

3. They are standing up for their right to religious freedom. Belmont Abbey College’s lawsuit was the first to be filed after the Department of Health and Human Services issued in 2011 what’s known simply as the “HHS mandate.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is expediting the Benedictine liberal arts college’s case, scheduling it to be heard Dec. 14.

As you may know by now, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Belmont Abbey College. Although a final resolution regarding our first amendment rights as they pertain to the HHS mandate has not been determined, the Court’s ruling was a major victory for the Abbey.

And that’s not all! This fall we opened the school year with the largest traditional enrollment in the history of the College. The caliber and performance of our students and faculty has never been stronger. The new core curriculum, as well as our programs in the sciences, humanities, Honors Institute, Thomas More Scholars, Hintemeyer Catholic Leadership, Theater - The Abbey Players, and many more, are exceptional. We recently opened a beautiful new Dining Hall, Fitness Facility, and Student Center.

Construction is also proceeding on schedule to open two new residence halls for the fall of 2013.

All of this good news would not have been possible without all of your love and support. I am eternally grateful for your help and willingness to continue building a culture of excellence and virtue at the Abbey.

Our next major step is to build an endowment that will guarantee Belmont Abbey College in perpetuity.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that an Abbey education will always be available to generations to come.

God Bless, Bill

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AN ABBEY EDUCATION: PREPARATION FOR A GOOD LIFE.

By Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B.

All too often, when the Liberal Arts are mentioned, one thinks immediately of the Humanities. I am happy, therefore, that this issue of Crossroads is highlighting the liberal arts and sciences, for the instruction in science together with the disciplines of the humanities is an integral part of the liberal arts tradition. The traditional Quadrivium prescribed the study of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. These were directed towards the development of habits of mental order, which would lead to insight into the order of reality and thus to truth.

At Belmont Abbey College, we are fortunate to have gifted professors for our majors in mathematics and biology, and a minor in chemistry. This issue will introduce you to the work of some of our teachers and students in the sciences. Our Biology Department has long held a justly deserved reputation for excellence. The professors in that department, in addition to being talented scientists and gifted teachers and mentors, have always been active participants in all areas of the College’s life. It is this passion for one’s academic 6

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discipline, devotion to teaching and mentoring students, and commitment to forming a strong college community which makes an Abbey education a preparation for a good life.

Because of our belief in the value of this education, and as a sign of our respect and appreciation for our friends and colleagues in the college community, I am happy to announce that the monks of Belmont Abbey have voted to fund the construction of two new residence halls for the College this year. Through discussions with the Board of Trustees and the College’s administration, this project was identified as the way the monastic community could make the most immediate and beneficial contribution to the long-term welfare of the College community. This six million dollar project will be funded through loans taken on by the monastery. It will allow the College, which currently has over one hundred students in off-campus housing, to provide a place for all students to live as part of the campus community. In addition, it will provide a significant financial benefit to the College on an annual basis.

This six million dollar project undertaken by the monks of Belmont Abbey represents our lead gift for the capital campaign, now in its planning stages. It is the expression of our belief in the value of the education offered at Belmont Abbey College and sign of our commitment to and appreciation of the students, faculty, staff and administrators who are Belmont Abbey College. Most of all, it is an expression of our belief in the College’s future. I invite you to join with us in this coming campaign to invest in a bright future for our College.

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The Hallmarks of Benedictine Education OUR PASSION IS SHARING A LIFELONG JOURNEY TO SEARCH FOR AND LIVE IN RESPONSE TO TRUTH. At Belmont Abbey College, we approach education from the unique millennium-and-a-half Benedictine monastic tradition of seeking God by living, working, and praying in community. The core values animating our life overflow into these ten Hallmarks of Benedictine education.

1.

LOVE CHRIST AND NEIGHBOR The “good zeal” of the Rule, which has “each try to be the first to show respect to the other” and “prefer nothing whatsoever to Christ,” challenges our College community to engage persons from all backgrounds who desire to teach and to lead, to serve and to study with us. Each member of the College community should collaborate in pursuing a rigorous and disciplined search for Truth and be able to count on others’ assistance when needed.

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PRAYER

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STABILITY

4.

CONVERSATIO

COMMITMENT TO THE DAILY LIFE OF THIS PLACE, ITS HERITAGE AND TRADITION We strive to create lasting relationships between students, faculty, and staff. We believe that persevering together in the pursuit of wisdom—as opposed to engaging one another only enough to achieve private understanding—builds strong, lasting relationships and makes remarkably powerful growth possible for all.

THE WAY OF FORMATION AND TRANSFORMATION

Benedictine education intends to establish intellectual and moral virtues in each of us, which may take years to perfect. To achieve this, we must develop mental habits of challenging and wrestling with the ideas we take for granted, which will transform students, faculty, and staff alike by nurturing learning and generosity over a lifetime.

5.

OBEDIENCE

A COMMITMENT TO LISTENING AND CONSEQUENT ACTION

In intellectual inquiry, obedience means respecting the integrity of the methods of study appropriate to each academic discipline, and maintaining fidelity to the evidence, wherever it leads. Teaching and learning are impossible without this obedience, and through it, we form an intellectual community, drawing on a diversity of academic endeavors while respecting the methodologies proper to each.

6.

DISCIPLINE

A WAY TOWARD LEARNING AND FREEDOM

Discipline is the way of focusing energy and attention on what matters most. In our pursuit of academic excellence, we strive to order our minds and actions to develop personal discipline. Our goal is to grow beyond a discipline imposed from the outside to a mature self-discipline in which we possess a robust love of learning and can imagine and pursue what is necessary to achieve our personal goals.

7.

HUMILITY KNOWLEDGE OF SELF IN RELATION TO GOD, OTHERS, AND CREATION Humility is St. Benedict’s word for wisdom. It is an accurate appraisal of one’s strengths and weaknesses before God, before others, and before oneself. We seek to cultivate the exploration of truth in academic disciplines, aware that through a rigorous and wide-ranging pursuit of academic excellence, we are all made more free to discern and cultivate the gifts we possess, thereby contributing to the well-being of all.

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STEWARDSHIP

9.

HOSPITALITY

LOVE OF

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A LIFE MARKED BY LITURGY, LECTIO, AND MINDFULNESS We aim to inspire by the design and life of the campus a spirit of transcendence and mindfulness, encouraging all to cultivate a life of prayer appropriate to his or her own faith.

All who come here should cultivate openness to the work of intellectual and personal transformation by connecting study to the fundamental purpose of life.

RESPONSIBLE USE OF CREATION, CULTURE, AND THE ARTS We foster good stewardship of our environment and our talents out of respect for God’s creation. The world with its bountiful resources and each person with his or her unique talents have been created by God for the sake of us all. We strive to encourage the study and practice of the arts, aware of their capacity to develop in us a deeper recognition of the nature and purpose of life itself.

WELCOMING EACH OTHER AS CHRIST HIMSELF

St. Benedict directs us to respond to a guest’s unexpected arrival as we would to a visit from Christ Himself. Therefore, we strive to extend personal hospitality to each member of our educational community, especially to those who are new to our community or are guests to our campus. More broadly, we seek opportunities to enable us to recognize the needs of those in our community, and to call forth the talents and gifts of persons of differing capacities and dispositions, and of diverse races, cultures, and backgrounds.

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COMMUNITY

CALL TO SERVE THE COMMON GOOD

A Benedictine community is rooted in a particular place where mutual service is demanded of all without concern for individual reward. We have a practical focus on community building, cultivating responsible living that is enriched by the examples of those around us, grounded in the wisdom of the past, and refreshed by the perspectives of others. In so doing, we seek to ensure that students cultivate the disposition to serve others in ever deeper and broader ways.

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The Art of Teaching

Science

By Susan Shackelford

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In 1993, Belmont Abbey alum, Fr. Michael Kavanaugh, was a contestant on “Jeopardy.” While he attributes his selection to his broad liberal arts education at the Abbey, he laughs at what happened on the show. “I blew it spelling two biological words—psoriasis and staphylococci,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘They are going to take back my degree.’”

Kavanaugh, a priest in Macon, Ga., is part of a proud Abbey tradition. You might call it the Long Green Line— biology majors and other science graduates successfully continuing their education in graduate school or finding good jobs right out of college.

Kavanaugh graduated from the Abbey in the spring of 1980 and then entered a biology master’s program at Notre Dame in the fall. Though he soon decided he really belonged in the priesthood, and Michael Kavanaugh left the biology Senior, 1980 program after the first year, he felt his undergraduate science education had prepared him well.

Notre Dame had hired him to teach general biology labs, a position that paid for his schooling.

Grad schools offering advanced science education such as Kavanaugh pursued, as well as ones turning out doctors, dentists and other professionals, look for a mastery of science and math on the undergraduate level. For generations, the Abbey has offered that opportunity to students. At one time, the school offered a chemistry major, and a few years ago, it began offering a math major. Today biology majors comprise a Long Green Line that goes back many decades.

Joanie Philipp is one of those majors. After graduating in 1984, the Clearwater, Fla. native thought she might teach science. Instead, after answering an ad for a job at Charlotte’s Discovery Place, she was hired in an educational role for the science museum’s rainforest aquarium.

Over the nearly three decades since, Philipp has headed just about every department and at one time had responsibility for bringing in such major exhibits as the “The Dead Sea Scrolls” and “BODY WORLDS.” Today, as vice president of exhibitions and operations, she just finished overseeing a $31 million remake of the uptown attraction. “We pretty much gutted the museum,” she says.

Philipp says her biology education at

Small enough to care . . .

Large enough to challenge.

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Fr. Arthur Fr. Arthur Pendleton entered the Belmont Abbey Monastery in 1958. He earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and began teaching full-time in the College’s Chemistry Department. He went on to earn a doctorate in chemistry from Clemson University in South Carolina. He taught at Belmont Abbey for 37 years. He was strict in his teachings, but his students entered the workforce better prepared for having had him as a teacher. He truly cared for his students.

Crossroads: What is the key thing you really enjoyed when you were teaching the same course year after year?

Fr. Arthur: As I prepared for the same course year after year, I had time to think about it, to think about what went wrong and how I could make it clearer and better for the next year. And I had time to think about the things that worked best year after year. I was known as a strict teacher. I really liked teaching. And I might have been a perfectionist in the sense of wanting them to do really good work, but I have always cared deeply for my students and their education.

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Elizabeth Baker Dr. Elizabeth Baker came to Belmont Abbey College in May 1978. She is a graduate of George Washington University, and earned a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Michigan. She went on to earn a doctorate in biology from the University of Virginia in developmental biology. She loves teaching; she loves her students, and lives a life of commitment to her craft. Dr. Baker creates a learning environment where students can thrive and excel, preparing them for brighter futures. She is a living example of hard work and dedication to all who know her.

Crossroads: The Biology Department has continued to be successful despite the budget constraints and hard economic times. How do you think you all have achieved this?

Dr. Baker: In 1978 we started with a solid foundation and then were fortunate in our hiring to find very dedicated staffing. I chaired the department for the first 11 years and then later did a two-year term. I chaired

the Abbey has been critical to her success. “I had such great professors; it was truly a family atmosphere,” she says. “Having those close relationships and smaller class sizes really helped me.”

Two of Philipp’s three biology professors are still teaching today, Drs. Betty Baker and Mike McLeod. The third, Dr. Eunice Cronan, is retired.

“The professors truly cared about their students and their love of teaching came through,” Philipp says. “They instilled that love of learning.”

The College hired Baker as department chair in 1978 to re-establish the Biology Department after three biology faculty members had left. “There were dire predictions that this major change could harm our chances of getting into graduate school and medical school,” Kavanaugh recalls. But the opposite occurred. Not only did academic standards remain high—three of the four people in his class who applied to medical school got in, he says—the students liked the new professors and their camaraderie.

Baker hired McLeod two weeks after she arrived. “We looked at each other and said we need to build a strong department,” says McLeod, who chairs the Biology Department today. “We didn’t know why the previous department left. It was important for us to start fresh. We wanted to make the department as welcoming as we could.”

They established traditions for biology majors that persist to this day at William Gaston Science Hall: coffee and cookies ‘round the clock, access to a refrigerator, hallway furniture for relaxing and studying and labs open as much as possible so students can complete work. In their early years, they even organized recreational opportunities. “We used to play Saturday afternoon

volleyball in what is now a parking lot,” Baker recalls.

“Eunice (Cronan) had a deadly serve, and Fr. Placid (now Abbot Placid Solari) Eunice Cronan and Fr. Arthur used to play with us, too.”

“We found them (the new biology professors) to be very friendly, and they wanted the Science Division to be its own little community, distinct but not separate from the College,” Kavanaugh says. “They developed mentor relationships with us; they weren’t just faculty.”

The close working relationship between faculty and students became a hallmark of the Biology Department, and

(continued on next page)

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is still there today. “We are fortunate to have strong faculty members in biology in terms of academic background and their personal interaction with students,” notes Rajive Tiwari, chair of the Abbey’s Science Division and a math and physics teacher.

The Biology Department is known for the enthusiasm and lengthy tenures of its professors, how they encourage students to apply knowledge, not memorize facts, and how they promote working cooperatively, not competitively. “Students tend to build a loyalty to each other and to the department,” McLeod says.

Mentoring played an important role for 2006 graduate Theresa Turner Fraune. She remembers arriving at the Abbey from New Bern, N.C. with the idea that she wanted to be doctor. But thanks to assistance from McLeod and Dr. Sheila Reilly, another biology professor, she realized being a physician assistant suited her much better. “I didn’t want the lifestyle of a doctor,” she says.

Shifting gears her junior year presented challenges, however. “Dr. McLeod and Dr. Reilly sat me down to make sure I was not going crazy at the last minute making the switch,” Fraune notes. “Going the PA route, I had to have a lot more clinical experience to get into (a PA program). They broke it down for me, and showed me it was possible. They made an intimidating situation much more comfortable.”

Says Reilly, “It’s almost like a family, but it really is not that because we are their mentors. It’s easy for them to ask questions, and we get to know them, their strengths and weaknesses, and we hold their feet to the fire. We are rigorous.”

Though Fraune chose to attend PA school at East Carolina, she applied to several programs, including Duke University. “They (Duke) had had students from Belmont Abbey, and had found they were well prepared because of the small classes and the care the professors showed in challenging

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students to be life-long learners. I thought that was incredible. Belmont Abbey is very small but it is great in the eyes of many graduate schools.”

Small classes and personal attention also characterized the College when it offered a chemistry degree in the 1960s and Ed Antosek took advantage of it.

“Back then, what was so great was that most of the faculty were monks and nuns,” Antosek says. “Fr. Arthur would

Ed Antosek, ’68 see the lights on in the science building and come sit with us until 10:00 some nights and help us with our labs. It was like having your own personal tutor.”

Antosek, who grew up in Salisbury, N.C., went on to become an osteopathic physician, earn a master’s in public health and serve as a doctor in the Navy and in family practice. A member of the school’s Wall of Fame and its current alumni association president, he stays in touch with the school’s science program.

He gives talks to pre-med students and knows many of the professors. “They have that same dedication and availability for the students,” he says.

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the division for 23 years. I initially looked for staffing that had complementary skills. We were going to be too small a group to duplicate our interest areas so we had to be able to create a good balance. Then I tried to play to people’s strengths: find out where they had particular skills and then have them do work that used those skills. I tried to fill in with whatever was leftover that needed doing.

My colleagues eventually became my good friends. I came here looking for some place to which I could offer my loyalty. The Biology Department and then the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Division and eventually the College became what I was doing with my life; caring for the Biology Department in all its facets became really important to me. I always tried to think long-term in regard to purchases, and funding and extending the life of items by good stewardship. I worked for free just about every summer, I donated furniture, reupholstered and slipcovered couches, cleared out storage rooms, repurposed areas, painted lab benches, did routine microscope maintenance, created breakroom areas for students and faculty and assumed most of the responsibility for keeping those areas supplied and cleaned. And with the help of colleagues, we created study niches in the hallways.

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Mike McLeod Dr. McLeod came to Belmont Abbey College in 1978. He is a graduate of Lincoln Memorial University and earned a master’s degree in biology from East Tennessee State University. He went on to earn a doctorate in zoology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Dr. McLeod teaches biology and has served as Chair of the Biology Department for the last seven years. During his career at the Abbey he has served as Dean of Students, spent fourteen years as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, coordinated the Adult Degree and Summer School Programs, assisted with administering funded scholarships, and taught every semester since he arrived at the Abbey. Dr. McLeod’s contributions to the Abbey community in all areas have been unparalleled in his skill and determination to run things well.

Jennifer Nowak Partlow agrees. “It was such a small school that you had a personal relationship with all of them,” she recalls. “I wasn’t just a number. They knew who I was and what I wanted to do, and they helped you.”

Partlow, who grew up in Bakersville, N.C., earned her biology degree from the Abbey in 2004 and then attended optometry school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She felt ready for graduate school. “I can’t speak highly enough of the Biology Department,” says Partlow, who today is in private practice in Harrisonburg, Va. Brent Young, a dentist in Shelby, N.C., feels the same way, but his circumstances were vastly different. In the mid-80s, he flunked out of Appalachian State after three semesters.

“I liked skiing and rock climbing better than going to class,” he says. He then found himself in a dead-end job with a family to support.

Eager to improve his career prospects, he enrolled in the Abbey’s adult degree program. But it offered no path, he says, to what he really wanted: a career in a medical field. So the day before the adult degree program started, he went to a general admission day on campus and met Reilly from the Biology

Department. He lobbied her to enroll him as a regular student seeking a biology degree.

“She said it wasn’t an option,” he remembers, “and I said if Belmont Abbey gave me a chance, I could do it.

She pulled some strings to get me in, but said, ‘We’ll let you in but you’ll only take one biology class per semester and general admission classes. After one year, we’ll look at the situation.’ That first semester, I was really under the gun.”

But he was also extremely grateful and motivated. “No other university would give me a chance,” he says.

“Here was a kid who failed out of college—this is his track record. For me, the Abbey was about forgiveness, looking to the future and looking at me as more than a number.”

He earned his biology degree in 1994 and completed the UNC-Chapel Hill dental program in 1999. He points to the Abbey’s biology program as establishing the foundation for his success in dental school. “It laid the groundwork,” he says. “You either succeeded as a biology major or you left. There wasn’t any skating by.

Mediocrity in education there didn’t exist.”

Joe Schmid, ’88, would concur. As a

Crossroads: What does it take to be an excellent teacher when it comes to the sciences in general or biology specifically?

Dr. McLeod: I think that it takes enthusiasm…for your discipline, for the

(continued on next page)

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(Mike McLeod – continued from previous page)

material you are teaching, for your students, and the ability to communicate that enthusiasm to the students. It also takes setting standards that are clear and make the students stretch to achieve them so that they feel like (and really have) accomplished something when they are finished. Finally it takes being willing to mentor the students. I think that one of our strengths has been that our students feel like they have accomplished something special when they graduate with a degree in biology.

I expect and hope that students feel that way about their major if they are in other departments, but I know that they do in ours.

Joe Schmid, '88

high school student in Charlotte, he harbored dreams of working for NASA or becoming a pilot. But he also had soso grades and weak study habits. “I didn’t know how to approach learning,” he recalls. “The biology program really helped me with that. I learned to master a large amount of information in a short time and how to study and learn concepts as well as the details.”

He landed a full academic scholarship at the Abbey along the way, spent a year studying abroad in Japan and pursued a summer program at NASA, thanks to a pamphlet he read in Baker’s office.

While at Kennedy Space Center, he heard a lecture on aerospace medicine.

“I knew exactly at that point what I wanted to do,” he says.

That a summer program might play a key role in a student’s life is something Abbey biology professors are well aware of. Because there are few opportunities at the College to participate in research projects, the professors routinely advise students to look for a summer program elsewhere.

“Don’t go back to the club and lifeguard; don’t work in a fast-food joint,” Baker says. “Look at undergraduate

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programs at other institutions. In many cases, they can get stipends and work in somebody’s lab. I’ve had students who thought they wanted to do research, but you don’t know until you’ve done it whether it’s really something you like.”

For Schmid, the NASA summer program crystallized his career plans.

After graduating from medical school at Wake Forest, he accepted an Air Force scholarship and did a three-year family medicine residency at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Ca. From there, he spent two years in Japan and three in Frankfurt, Germany before doing a second residency, this time one in aerospace medicine in Galveston, Texas.

The first year earned him a master’s in public health, and the second year concentrated on aerospace medicine.

Today, Schmid works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He provides primary care and occupational medicine to American astronauts and their families, as well as astronauts of partnering countries. He also is part of mission control when astronauts are in space, sharing telemedicine expertise. “I owe my career and all those opportunities completely to the Abbey,” he says.

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Crossroads: What do you think has kept you here for so long at the Abbey?

Dr. McLeod: I guess what has kept me here is first and foremost—my students and my colleagues in the Biology Department, and to some extent the College as a whole and monastery.

I did my undergraduate work at a small liberal arts college, and have always thought that the mission of our kind of college was important for a certain type of student. I like working with undergraduate students, helping them mature and seeing them be successful in life. I still have a passion for my discipline and a curiosity about how living organisms have evolved, maintained themselves and their populations genetically and physiologically, and coped with the process of life.

It has helped to have students who seem to share some of the wonder and curiosity I feel.

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University of New York at Stony Brook in 1986. In 1997 and 1998, Dr. Reilly took a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Baxter Orthopedic Laboratory at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Reilly also served as Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs during the 2006-2007 academic year. Throughout her years at the Abbey, Dr. Reilly’s professionalism and the unwavering dedication she gives to her students have been great blessings for the academic community. She inspires her students by having them discover their own love of science by intricately studying the natural world around them.

Sheila Reilly Dr. Sheila Reilly came to Belmont Abbey College in 1987. She is a graduate of Grove City College. She went on to earn a doctorate in oral biology and pathology from the State

Crossroads: What does it take to be an excellent teacher when it comes to the Sciences in general or biology specifically?

Dr. Reilly: First of all, students have to know that you love the subject, which they discover by the enthusiasm with

which the instructor presents the material. A good approach is to ask the students to research the topic and bring it back to class, and then call them on it.

It gives the student ownership and draws them into the day-to-day material.

Secondly, and of equal importance to the first, is to make sure students see the relevance of what you are teaching them to everyday life: that so much of what one sees, reads, and hears each day touches upon the natural world and thus the need for biological literacy.

Whether it is just walking down Abbey Lane and being aware of nature around you, reading the latest research on cholesterol, or understanding why the Gulf is recovering so quickly from the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in 2010, it is all relevant to everyday life. I routinely bring current articles to class which reinforces that very idea.

Third, and what supports the first two points, is to keep current. This is critical in my discipline and dovetails with love of the subject. The love of the discipline and that innate curiosity that scientists are blessed with is what drives me to keep current.

Finally, I love that most of our courses have labs. This is where students get to see the practical application of what they are discussing in lecture. It gives one a chance to expand on that lecture experience as well as interact with students on a more personal level. It’s an opportunity to do some mentoring and maybe help them figure out what direction they want to take their lives.

Crossroads: What do you consider to be the best part of teaching within the Sciences discipline?

Dr. Reilly: It’s a joy to see students connect the dots when they get to be juniors and seniors. They start to integrate what they have learned. That is a nice feeling and it is a great accomplishment. Their struggles in cell or chemistry or genetics or whatever course(s) were worth it!

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

Winter 2013

Rajive Tiwari

Stephen Brosnan Mr. Brosnan came to Belmont Abbey College in 1982. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Michigan. As a math and physics teacher, Mr. Brosnan gives his students the confidence they need through his understanding and supportive measures to make sure they succeed in his own classes, as well as other math and physics-based courses. Well-liked among the students for his easygoing nature, he can often be seen playing a game of chess in Holy Grounds with the Chess Club.

Crossroads: What do you consider to be the best part of teaching within the Sciences discipline?

Mr. Brosnan: The best part of teaching is the satisfaction that comes when I see students take an interest in the physical world and the scientific principles that help explain that world. One student excitedly told me she saw a double rainbow (we had discussed this in class); another stopped by my office to talk about the Big Bang Theory of the universe. When I see enthusiastic responses to science from students, I believe that there may be a lasting impact.

This is what I find most rewarding..

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Dr. Rajive Tiwari came to Belmont Abbey College in 1994. He is a graduate of St. Stephens College, Delhi, India and earned a master’s degree in physics from Rutgers University. He went on to earn a doctorate in physics also from Rutgers University in 1989. His passion for his subject, along with the famous “Tiwari Movie Nights,” which he coordinated for eleven years, makes him a popular choice among students. His enthusiasm for teaching and his caring nature make him a true blessing for the Abbey community.

Crossroads: In your respective areas of teaching, what do you find the most rewarding aspect when imparting the knowledge of that subject? In other words, what do you consider to be the best part of teaching within the Sciences discipline?

Dr. Tiwari: It’s deeply satisfying to pass on the knowledge about the physical world that I have acquired during my academic life. All of the students in my physics classes are there either because they are genuinely interested in the subject and/or are biology majors. Generally speaking, these students tend to be smart, hard-working and curious about the nature of physical reality and this makes for meaningful class discussions. The most rewarding moments are when my own excitement about a point I am trying to make, whether in lecture or in lab, manages to find a resonance in the students.

Crossroads: What does it take to be an excellent teacher when it comes to your discipline specifically?

Dr. Tiwari: I try to put myself in my students’ shoes and use my recollections of my own student days to guide me—almost like method acting. It helps me decide what topics to devote more time to and the best way to present the topics. A little bit of humor goes a long way in keeping the class atmosphere light and reining in everyone’s attention. There’s a fine line between transmitting a body of knowledge with appropriate gravitas and taking oneself too seriously. And I think it’s pedagogically counterproductive to cross that line. When teaching abstract concepts of physics or math, it’s helpful to relate ideas with the lived experience.

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Ancient Treasure

CLOSE TO HOME In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time: the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. ~Thomas Carlyle

Rare Books Collection at Belmont Abbey’s Abbot Vincent Taylor Library: a Hidden Asset to the College Community

By Mary B. Worthington 16

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here’s a hidden treasure on the bottom floor of the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library. Its treasure chest is a sparsely lit cinderblock room with an unpretentious door. The cache is of irreplaceable, ancient wonder and even contains glistening gold. There’s even a guard to preserve it for future generations.

The treasure is the rare books collection.

And the guard is preservation specialist Alexandrea Pizza, who likens the collection to a medieval library.

“A medieval library—and that is very much what our rare book room looks like—would have been filled with dark leather volumes, some cast with gold, some with painted text blocks, and some bright white vellum occasionally thrown in between, standing out like a beacon of light,” she says, marveling at the extensive collection housed at Belmont Abbey College.

“It would have been truly breathtaking.”

Belmont Abbey College’s collection has over 13,000 rare books and manuscripts—“real and tangible history worth preserving,” explains Pizza. “The collection is comprised mostly of theological, historical, and literary works, and much of it was chosen by the first monks of Belmont Abbey, during their study in Rome.”

Don’t let the collection’s title fool you; the treasure contains more than just books. There are valuable papers, special collections, textiles, and other objects as well.

T

Finding her niche in preservation The collection, which boasts volumes dating as early as the 15th century, is in talented hands. Pizza’s

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Ali Pizza

affection for historical objects originated from her first post-college job as decorative arts conservation technician at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “I studied fine art in college and was enamored with the precision and skill of the craftsman. I wanted to learn to master a craft in this traditional way and, after graduation, had the opportunity to do so under a talented team of objects conservators at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was there that I discovered the passion I have for preserving art, for preserving history.”

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Pizza then perfected her trade through a traditional apprenticeship at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, a rare privilege even at Oxford. She spent three years as an apprentice to the conservation binders, including Christopher Clarkson, the world’s leading authority on the conservation of medieval manuscripts.

“Clarkson, who recently received an honorary doctorate from Camberwell College of Art, London, is a very important name in conservation,” explains Pizza. “I never realized how important he was until I studied in Italy with conservators and binders from

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around the world, and their eyes lit up when I informally mentioned his name.

His efforts in the salvage of over three million virtually-destroyed books from the Biblioteca Nazionale after the 1966 Florence floods led to his publication of ‘Limp Vellum Binding.’

“Everything we do today in library conservation is in thanks to his groundbreaking research, and continued presence in the field.”

Pizza received the prestigious Nicholas Hadgraft Award to study book conservation at Montefiascone Book Conservation School in Montefiascone, Italy, studying Armenian manuscript and medieval Arab book-bindings in Spain.

Pizza’s talents in craft and fine art are varied and refined. During her undergraduate years, she learned advanced glassblowing at Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, receiving the award for most talented emerging artist. After graduation, she studied advanced drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. With these talents, Pizza is enhancing the rare books collection at Belmont Abbey and guaranteeing its existence for future generations.

Arriving at Belmont Abbey College Pizza first learned of the Abbey’s collection when her husband, Dr. Joseph Pizza—who holds a Master’s and Doctorate in English language and literature from Oxford University—was offered a position as assistant professor of English here.

“He came home from the interview with a job offer and said, ‘Did you know that they have a rare book collection?’” Pizza recalls.

“I said, ‘Really? How big?’ I didn’t expect such an impressive collection.”

The couple settled in Charlotte in 2010 and both came to work at

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Belmont Abbey College.

“I love the community at the Abbey,” she says, “mostly because the monastic community defines it. More generally, working on a college campus is always something that I enjoyed. The exchange of ideas that you find and the enthusiasm of students who are discovering an area of study that they are passionate about make a campus unlike any other place of work.”

Pizza adopts students who are interested in discovering book preservation, hiring them as interns for a semester at a time.

A look inside the treasure chest How did Belmont Abbey College amass such a collection of rare and valuable works? Simon Donoghue, fine arts professor and director of theatre, answered that question in an article he wrote for Catholic Library World in 1995. He discussed the library’s early development and especially the European trips of Fr. Thomas Oestreich, O.S.B., who purchased books and shipped them back to Belmont.

“These books,” library director Donald Beagle explains, “were mostly for the open academic collection, but over the years a fair number of those titles migrated into the rare books collection.

“Because Don Beagle of our location in the southeastern United States, we have received substantial donations of monographs from other regional Catholic sources like the

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former St. Mary’s Priory in Virginia and the Diocese of Charleston, SC. In both cases, those bodies decided their collections would be more safely housed here at the Abbey library. Quite a number of the volumes from St. Mary’s Priory arrived in compromised condition.”

“Because our rare book rooms are packed, we also have important holdings of journals shelved out among our bound periodicals section, and they are in need of preservation,” says Beagle.

Some examples: Belmont Abbey has The American Catholic Quarterly Review in bound volumes dating back to volume 1 number 1 (January 1876) and The American Ecclesiastical Review also dating back to volume 1 number 1 (January 1889).

Explains Beagle, “Even Duke’s Divinity School Library lacks holdings of those journals from their first volumes. Preservation also includes proper care of rare holdings even when they happen to be more recent, such as our run of Archivum Historiae Pontificiae dating to volume 1, number 1 (1963). A series like Acta Apostolicae Sedis may not be rare across Europe, but it is not easy to find in the southeastern U.S., and so we feel a special responsibility to apply sound preservation practices to such volumes to forestall deterioration.”

An expert is worth waiting for For ten years, Beagle served as de facto preservation specialist, drawing on his experience in preserving works dating to the mid-seventeenth century at the Main Library in Charleston, SC. “I did not come to the Abbey with the training or experience to deal with works like our 1475 illuminated manuscript of a text by Albertus Magnus, or our 1493 edition of Ovid’s Metamorphosis,” explains Beagle.

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Ancient Treasure

CLOSE TO HOME “Monograph preservation has always been this Library’s greatest need, and that was part of Pizza’s focus in her own training at the Bodleian Library.

That is just one example of the vital expertise that she has brought.

“Plus there have been many advances in paper archival preservation since my work in Charleston 20 years ago. Pizza also repaired hundreds of maps and letters from 18th century Britain while in Oxford, and at the Abbey has used this foundation to repair the entirety of our Father Abram Ryan archive. Meanwhile, I have needed to focus on the ongoing tidal wave of digital publishing.”

Old media mixes with new media Beagle began a project to digitize key pieces from the room about a decade ago. Digitizing the works allows them to be studied without compromising their integrity, he noted.

The online exhibit—which can be viewed at http://crusader.bac.edu/ library/rarebooks/index.shtml—began with digitizing books that were on display in Charlotte’s Mint Museum in the mid-1990’s.

“I realized that with a high-quality digital camera, I could digitize all the descriptive materials and then photograph sample covers, pages, and illustrations from the rare books themselves,” says Beagle. “That is how the rare books online exhibition came into being. As I worked on it, I decided to expand it from the original Mint exhibit to include more 18th and 19th century volumes.”

For example, the Vincent Taylor Library boasts the largest collection of works by the “Poet-Priest of the South” Father Abram J. Ryan, a Catholic priest from the Civil War era. Digitized copies of unpublished poems and

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personal correspondence provide insight to the deep faith and utterly human spirit of this chaplain for the Confederate Army.

“But it is important to distinguish the sample images in this online exhibit from true full text digitization. We have not, as yet, digitized any rare book cover to cover,” Beagle says. “That is because a detachable digital camera— even a good quality camera—is not a viable instrument for a full-scale book digitization project. That type of project requires a page-turning scanner about the size of a photocopier that costs around $12,000.”

This device “cradles” a book and uses air pressure valves to turn the fragile pages for scanning.

Digitizing works is highly regarded, even by the most famous libraries in the world. For example, the Bodleian and the Vatican Library recently announced a $3 million collaboration to digitize approximately one million pages of materials in the next five years, making many of their rarest books available online for public viewing.

by a librarian or the preservation specialist.”

Neighboring universities send students to utilize and explore the collection. Based on his and his students’ positive experience, Lenoir-Rhyne University professor Rev. Andrew Weisner recently provided a recommendation to the library for a grant.

“The wonderful foreign language resources were essential to my own doctoral research and several of my students received full scholarships to graduate school based on their research at Belmont Abbey,” Weisner said.

He called the collection the “best patristic and medieval library anywhere in the Carolinas.”

Beagle was also excited to receive an unannounced visit this semester by a prominent Catholic

Sharing the wealth While researchers are not permitted to simply browse the stacks because many of the rare books are extremely fragile, anyone is welcome to request to see a book. There are strict guidelines to safeguard the works.

Beagle explains: “A librarian, usually our periodicals librarian, Megin Vickers, will locate the book for the patron, and he may take notes—only in pencil—at a desk on the lower level of the library. All bags must be left at the circulation desk, as well as an ID. Occasional photocopies are permitted, but must be done

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

Winter 2013

Ancient Treasure

CLOSE TO HOME scholar who dropped by the library for some research during a layover at Charlotte’s airport, just ten minutes from campus. This scholar found the work he was seeking—a Frenchlanguage article from a 1950’s volume of Bible et Vie Chrétienne.

Showing off While students and scholars are always welcome to make an appointment to see and study the works, whether to analyze a particular binding style or read the texts, with such a valuable collection and no one to oversee it, Beagle hadn’t opened the room to the public for many, many years. With Pizza now on the staff, however, in late October, the rare books room held its second public exhibition in nearly a decade. The first had been held just six months earlier.

On April 23, the College participated in the American Library Association’s “Preservation Week” by hosting an information exhibition and book preservation demonstration.

Throughout the six-hour exhibition, which included a one-hour workshop about how to make your own sewnbinding journal, Pizza, monk-librarian Br. Andrew Spivey, O.S.B., and a student intern, Sandra St. John, offered tips about how to preserve rare books, when to get rare books appraised and insured, and—what many of the students, faculty and staff in attendance were most curious about—what classifies a book as rare.

“First editions depending on the printer, where published, the age, whose hands they have been in, the binding style, whether there are fancy clasps, gold leaf or velvet: these all affect the quality and value of an old book,” explained Pizza, as she worked on preserving the pages of a 1736 work

by Thomas Prince. The cover of Prince’s Chronological History of New England had fallen off.

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While the guests were able to peruse books such as the Padua Missale (published in 1522) up close, the demonstration wasn’t an open door to the entire collection. It took place on the far side of the library in the Benedictine room—where books on Benedictine and Catholic theology and spirituality are housed.

Because the environment of the room is highly controlled for correct humidity and temperature, it wasn’t

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until October that Pizza felt comfortable opening the hatch of the treasure chest for public examination.

The stability of the room determines how well the pieces will survive; therefore the tours were guided.

Meanwhile, one of Pizza’s interns, Katie Carl, worked on repairs to a 1900 edition of the Georgetown College Journal, a work housed in the periodicals section of the rare book collection.

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Dreaming of a museum In addition to online access, Pizza and Beagle agree that a museum with rotating displays would benefit not only the students and the College but the larger community and scholars as well.

The current facility isn’t large enough to house such a museum. In fact, the collection is rapidly outgrowing the small basement room it currently occupies, which leaves Pizza questioning the long-term preservation of the books.

“I would love to see an exhibition space at Belmont Abbey,” Pizza explains. “Most of our books are too rare to be on permanent display, but with appropriate exhibition cases, lighting, and temperature controls, I believe we could have circulating exhibitions that would really showcase the rich Catholic heritage at the Abbey.

It would be a great opportunity for students and the academic community to utilize the collection. It is for their benefit, and without their research or appreciation, this rich history is lost.”

Pizza also wants to satisfy the curiosity of the students who peek at

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what she’s doing in the evenings, decked out in her floral print apron, paintbrush in hand.

“When I am working in the rare book room in the evenings, many students walk by and want to know: ‘What are you doing down here?’ They want to see and hear about this secret room in the library that they use every day, but never knew about.

“An exhibition space would give us the opportunity to generate interest among our students and prospective students, and would be a great attraction for our alumni as well. After all, this is their collection, their history, and it would be wonderful for them to be able to see and to use it. In fact, without student interest and research, the rich Catholic heritage preserved in the College’s rare book collection would be lost.”

Says Pizza, “It’s hard for anyone to walk into our rare book room and not step back and take a long, exaggerated breath.”

The Catholic News Herald, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, contributed to this article.

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Ancient Treasure

CLOSE TO HOME

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The

Love of Rare Books:

Alexandrea Pizza Preserves Our Past Repairing an Ancient Book

By Alexandrea Pizza

A childlike moment of excitement occurs when I first see a rare book— like the time when you went exploring in your grandmother’s house and found her Bible, or her old letters, or maybe even a photograph of her in her youth. The wonder sets in, and that in turn ignites the first step of conserving a book: research.

The first time I sit down with a book, I begin to investigate. What is it?

Where did it come from?

What materials is it made of ? These are not always easy answers, and in some cases, scientists are enlisted to help identify materials and to date a manuscript.

Once these things are established, more research is necessary to determine if repairing the book is even the safest decision.

As conservators we follow a strict

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code of ethics. At a religious institution such as the Abbey, this is especially important. Depending on the object, there may be concerns as to whether or

not a lay person can work on the document. We may also need to consider whether or not it is of a

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sensitive nature. At the Bodleian library, for instance, there were sacred Buddhist texts which could not be handled by women. As hard as that may be for some to understand, it is important to uphold and respect the cultural significance of each text.

Once the initial research is complete, I begin cleaning the document. Surface dirt is first cleaned with a special vacuum and brush. A grated or whole white vinyl eraser is then used to clean residual dirt off the pages. Sometimes aqueous treatments are required to remove old animal glue or repairs made with nonarchival modern papers.

After the document is entirely cleaned, it can be repaired. We use a

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“Oh, to sit alone in the lamplight, holding a book so rare, turning a fragile page gives new light to a forgotten past.” Author Unknown

wheat starch paste, which is made by cooking wheat starch and deionized water for thirty minutes. It is then sieved three times through a Japanese horsehair strainer. The paste will last for three days; it is completely archival and removable. Repairs are made to tears in the paper with a fine sable hair brush and then backed with Japanese tissue of various weights, most finer than a silk thread.

We have a lot of Belmont Abbey in the Collection, and I like to think that I am using what the founding monks built with their own hands, to restore with mine. For instance, Brother Andrew Spivey, O.S.B., who also works in the library, gave me several handmade bricks that founding monks made. I covered them with cloth and use them as weights for repairs.

The final step is “rehousing,” placing the book in a protective enclosure. This step is imperative to the long-term preservation of the object.

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Without proper storage, dirt will build up, damage can reoccur, and then you are back where you began.

Depending on the book, repairs can take anywhere from a few weeks to ten years.

A simple re-back on a circulating collection item can take only three days. However, most rare books require a lot more attention than that. One year is quite standard for repairing a rare book, and it is not uncommon for a very important book, a group of papers, or even a map, to take several years. The Archimedes Palimpsest, for example, one of the most famous conservation projects to have taken place at a university in recent years, took four years to clean, and a total of ten years to complete.

Repairing rare books is, for me, one of the more exciting areas of conservation. The book is not just an object for display, but it is to be used, read, and reread. In that way, it is a

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living object. The way the book was used, how the leather is worn, if certain pages are more fragile than others, if notes are written inside, or parts underlined, all of these are part of a book’s story, and as such give a glimpse into the life of its keeper. Preserving these stories is an essential part of my work. Each book has its own story, and its own challenges, and it is precisely this uniqueness that I love about being a conservator.

Belmont Abbey College Preservation Specialist Alexandrea Pizza is a member of the Board of Directors for North Carolina Preservation Consortium, a nonprofit organization advocating for the preservation of collections in the state’s libraries, archives, museums, historic sites, and other heritage institutions.

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Archbishop of Vienna Celebrates Mass at Belmont Abbey College

By Mary B. Worthington

C

ardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., the Archbishop of Vienna, Austria, celebrated Mass with the bishops of Charlotte and Charleston, S.C., along with others at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Belmont Abbey College June 29.

The cardinal, a renowned theologian, educator and editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, was on a personal visit at the invitation of the Benedictine monastery and college in Belmont.

Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis and Charleston, S.C. Bishop Robert Guglielmone concelebrated the Mass, held on the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul. Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin, Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey, and Monsignor Mauricio W. West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, also concelebrated.

In his homily, Cardinal Schönborn thanked the monastery and the college

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for their service to the Church, calling them “co-workers with God,” in the words of St. Paul.

They are “rocks on which Jesus can build His Church today,” Cardinal Schönborn said, and he urged all of the faithful – bishops, priests, monks and laity – to follow Jesus’ call just as St. Peter did, as retold in the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew 16.

“He builds His Church upon each of us – a mother, a father, a priest, a teacher. Each of us is called to be a rock,” Cardinal Schönborn said.

But, he added, “It is not our Church.

It is His Church. And it is not we who build this Church – it is He who builds His Church. This is the true strength of His Church, because it is His, and He is the builder.”

When Jesus called St. Peter the rock upon which He would build His Church, He was entrusting the continuing work of evangelization and confession of the one true faith to

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human beings, Cardinal Schönborn said.

Even though we are weak in our humanity, just as Peter was, “do not be afraid,” the cardinal encouraged everyone. “It is His work.”

Cardinal Schönborn demurred from addressing current issues facing the Church in the U.S., such as the campaign for religious freedom or protection of marriage and family life.

But, he said, “I congratulate you for the stand you have taken, and for your courage, for your commitment. May God bless the good work that you do.”

Following Mass, Cardinal Schönborn attended a luncheon in his honor at the college, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College, said, “We are a Catholic college loyal to the Magisterium and it is an honor to have him here.”

Born in Bohemia, in what is now

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part of the Czech Republic, Cardinal Schönborn moved to Austria when he was just a boy. He studied theology in Paris, and philosophy and psychology in Bornheim-Walberberg and Vienna.

He also studied theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris, before studying Slavic and Byzantine Christianity at the Sorbonne.

He was ordained a Dominican priest in 1970 in Vienna, when he was 25.

He studied under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the University of Regensburg in Germany. He obtained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1971 and subsequently completed a doctorate in sacred theology in Paris.

He was consecrated a bishop in 1991 when he was 46 years old, choosing as his episcopal motto “I have called you friends” (from John 15:15).

He was elevated to a cardinal in 1998 by Blessed John Paul II. He has been the Archbishop of Vienna since 1995. In 2005 he was one of the youngest cardinals to participate in the election of Pope Benedict XVI. In collaboration with then-Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Schönborn was responsible for editing the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the early 1990s.

More recently, he has written YOUCAT, short for “Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church,” which was

launched on World Youth Day, 2011.

Cardinal Schönborn, who is fluent in German, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Latin, enjoys curial membership in the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, Oriental Churches, and Catholic Education. He is a member of the pontifical Council on Culture, the commission on the Cultural Heritage of the Church, as well as the Special Council for Europe of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. He is also Ordinary for the faithful of the Byzantine Rite in Austria.

“I congratulate you for the stand you have taken, and for your courage, for your commitment. May God bless the good work that you do.”

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

Pictured from left to right are Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., Mary Thierfelder, Dr. William Thierfelder.

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

27

Professor Robert George

Defends RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

By Mary B. Worthington

“As a Christian thinker, you have fought valiantly for the inviolable dignity and the immeasurable worth of every human life from conception to natural death.�

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B.

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The Annual Cuthbert Allen Lecture Commemorates 50th Anniversary of Vatican II, College’s Struggle for Religious Liberty F

ATHER CUTHBERT (EDWARD) ALLEN, O.S.B. was a monk and priest of Belmont Abbey. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1906. Edward was an average student, but possessed exceptional social skills. Originally, he aspired to Saint Anselm Abbey, whose college he attended in his native New Hampshire, but when he entered the Benedictine’s common novitiate in Pennsylvania in 1926, no abbey had yet committed to accept him. Nonetheless, he was confident of his Benedictine and priestly vocation. While a novice, he transferred his allegiance to Belmont Abbey.

Allen was ordained a priest in 1933.

Pastoral assignments included churches in Gastonia and Shelby, North Carolina, but Father Cuthbert was to be known primarily for his work with Belmont Abbey College. He served twice as the school’s rector, and was the first president of the college who was not simultaneously head of the monastery. Allen was also Dean of Students, and held a variety of other administrative positions. He taught sociology, English, public speaking, history, philosophy, and civics.

Cuthbert Allen took a Master’s degree at The Catholic University of America, and additional courses at the University of North Carolina. He received an honorary doctorate from Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania.

Allen initiated numerous programs of outreach to the local community, making the Abbey a more integral part of the life of Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties.

Ecumenism was a special interest.

Allen was assiduous in maintaining contact with BAC’s “Old Boys.” Many alumni particularly remembered him for his informal dialogues with students, sessions wherein he encouraged philosophical reflection and discussion of current events. He was devoted to the value of the Benedictine tradition of education, leading students to regard it with respect and love.

Father Cuthbert’s numerous awards include the Silver Medallion of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and membership in the Charlotte Philosophical Society. In 1975, His Holiness Paul VI bestowed the Bene Merenti medal on Father Cuthbert, making him the first Belmont monk so honored. In related celebrations, more than 500 alumni gathered to pay tribute to this Benedictine who had long been their mentor, priest, and friend.

Father Cuthbert Allen died on December 1, 1977, at age 71. He is buried in the Abbey Cemetery.

--From the archives of Belmont Abbey Monastery

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“Religion is a basic aspect of the well-being of a human being, and therefore it is the kind of thing that is protected by a right to religious liberty,” said Dr. Robert P. George in the annual Cuthbert Allen Lecture. “In its fullest and most robust sense, religion is a human person’s being in right relation to the Divine, the more than merely human source of meaning and value.”

In his October 4 lecture to a packed house at the Abbey’s Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, George reflected on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on Oct. 11, 1962, and focused on the Church’s understanding of religious liberty as a universal right, not a privilege that is exclusive to Catholics.

From that council came a declaration on religious freedom that highlighted the Church’s understanding of religious liberty.

“The council has fundamentally shaped our religious life, not just for Catholics,” George said. “The engagement of Catholics with the broader world, the ecumenical and inter-faith implications of the council have been profound. So, we should mark and celebrate this 50th anniversary.

“But, of course, there was a time before the Second Vatican Council, and for much of that time the Church did not fully embrace a robust conception of religious freedom, one that honors not only the right to be uncoerced in faith, but – even as the Church now acknowledges as a result of the teachings of the fathers of the Second Vatican Council – the civil right to give public witness and expression to sincere religious views even when erroneous, and that is set forth in the document Dignitatis Humanae of the Second

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Vatican Council.

“The fathers of the Second Vatican Council did not embrace the idea that error has rights. They noticed, rather, that people have rights, and they have rights even when they are in error.”

This understanding of ecumenism in light of Vatican II is especially relevant as Benedictine Father Cuthbert Allen, the monk for whom the lecture is named, was very active in ecumenical affairs.

“He was widely known as a pioneer in ecumenical relations,” explained Dr. Grattan Brown, professor of theology at Belmont Abbey College, in his introduction. “For example, he arranged for a local Baptist pastor to accompany Abbot Walter Coggin to one of the sessions of the Second Vatican Council as an accredited observer.”

George has likewise built bridges of ecumenism between Catholic and nonCatholic communities through his work, even touching on the subject of atheism which is growing in popularity in today’s culture. For example, George spoke about his friendship with atheist philosopher Nat Henthoff who shares his conviction for the necessity of freedom of religion.

“To compel an atheist to perform acts premised on theistic beliefs—that he in conscience cannot share—is to deny him the fundamental bit of the good of religion that is his, namely living with honesty and integrity in line with his best judgments about ultimate reality,” George said.

“We probably all know such atheists, like my friend the pro-life activist Nat Henthoff. Nat doesn’t believe. He just doesn’t get the God-thing. He’s an atheist, but he thinks about it. He thinks hard. And he tries to live a life of honor

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and integrity in view of his judgment that there is no more-than-merelyhuman source of meaning and value.”

Continued George: “The fundamental respect for the good of religion requires that civil authority respect and in appropriate ways even nurture conditions or circumstances in which people can engage in the sincere religious quest and live lives of authenticity reflecting their very best judgments as to the truth of spiritual matters.”

George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has served on the President’s Council on Bioethics and was a presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

He is a former judicial fellow at the U.S. Supreme Court, and he is a signer of the Manhattan Declaration. A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School, he earned a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford University.

In his address, George drew on his

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extensive work and study with individuals of many different religions.

He outlined the Church’s vision—as seen and defined through the Second Vatican Council—for a mutually hospitable dwelling of those of different religions in today’s world.

Said George: “Much less does the Catholic Faith root its appreciation of religious liberty with respect to other religious traditions in religious relativism or indifferentism—the idea that there is no religious truth or religious truth doesn’t matter—but rather the Catholic Church—in these documents from the Second Vatican Council—roots its respect for religious freedom and its affirmation of a robust right to religious freedom in a rational application of the value of religion.

“The Church also has a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God who is one, living, subsistent, merciful and almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men... They highly esteem an upright life and worship God especially by way of prayer, almsgiving and fasting.”

In gratitude for his work in defense

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“Through your example, you have reminded us of the difference one human being can make.”

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B.

of the Church’s moral teachings and the ideal of religious liberty, the College conferred an honorary doctorate upon George.

“As a Christian thinker, you have fought valiantly for the inviolable dignity and the immeasurable worth of every human life from conception to natural death,” said Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., abbot of Belmont Abbey Monastery. “Through your example, you have reminded us of the difference one human being can make. You have shown what convictions courageously held, cogently demonstrated, and charitably presented can accomplish.”

George replied, “This degree is very special to me because this college decided to stand in the gap in defense of religious liberty, not only for itself, its faculty and its students, but for everyone in the entire country. God bless you for what you have done. I am proud to be an alumnus.”

The Catholic News Herald, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, contributed to this article.

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Pictured from left to right are Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., Dr. Grattan Brown, Dr. Robert George and Dr. William Thierfelder.

The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

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The Noble Belmont Abbey Basilica April 21, 1876 was a day of historical and religious significance. Father Herman Wolfe, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk, arrived at the Caldwell Plantation in the town of Garibaldi, known today as Belmont, from the St. Vincent Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He was accompanied by the first two students, Harry Plageman and Anthony Lauman.

Father J.J. O’Connell had generously donated the 500 acre Caldwell Plantation to the St. Vincent’s Abbey for education and God’s service. Immediately upon arrival at the farm, Fr. Wolfe founded the monastery and named it Mary Help of Christians. Having no means to build a church, Fr. Wolfe made a room in the farm house as the chapel. On April 22, 1876, Fr. Wolfe celebrated the monastery’s first Mass praying that this sacrifice (of the Mass) will never be interrupted here.

The lack of resources hindered the building of a church. In 1877, a humble chapel of frame and board was constructed and the daily prayers were offered at this chapel for many years to come. Abbot Leo Haid, O.S.B., the first Abbot of the Mary Help of Christians Abbey, and Fr. Felix Michael Hintemeyer, O.S.B., worked tirelessly and selflessly to raise resources and broke ground for a new chapel on March 21, 1892, the day of the feast of St. Benedict.

On May 4, 1892, Abbot Leo Haid performed a blessing of the church’s cornerstone as well as several blessings for the rite at the construction site, attended by hundreds of guests brought to Belmont on specially scheduled trains, and named the church Mary Help of Christians. The earnest dedication and tireless hard work of volunteers bore fruit when on December 17, 1893, Gaudete Sunday, the annual Adventan day of rejoicing, Abbot Leo Haid offered the first Mass in the new church.

On April 11, 1894, the Abbey Church of Mary Help was blessed by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore.

Father Hintemeyer arranged trains that brought laity and clerics from throughout the Carolinas. Overjoyed guests stood in the aisles and outside and watched the blessing of the new church and witnessed the celebration of this historical event The Abbey Church was adorned with a tower clock in 1909.

In 1910, Abbot Leo Haid brought great honor to the Abbey Church, and the church was named a Cathedral by the Holy See, the only Abbey Cathedral ever built in the United States.

In 1964, under the visionary leadership of Abbot Walter Coggin, O.S.B., the Italian-made noble statue of Saint Benedict was placed on the piazza of the Cathedral. In 1973, the Cathedral became a historic landmark and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

A ramp was added in 1981 that enabled the physically challenged to enter the House of God, partake in the worship, and immerse in the beauty of the holy church. The distinguished leadership of Abbot Oscar Burnett, O.S.B., brought great honor to the Abbey Church when in 1998, Pope John Paul II named it a Minor Basilica.

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One-hundred-thirty-six years later, the splendor and the beauty of the holy Basilica are preserved and glow during the liturgies and the vision of the founding fathers lives on in the daily offerings of Vigils, Lauds, Midday Prayers, Vespers, and Holy Mass under the illustrious leadership of Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B. The magnificent Abbey Basilica is the house of prayer. It is the earthly dwelling of the Almighty Father. It is the sanctuary for the rich and for the poor, and it brings peace and comfort to all in despair. The sweet and melodious ringing of the bells on the tall tower is heard in the surrounding areas of the city of Belmont and fills the hearts and souls of the people of Belmont with devotion, love, and praise for the Divine power.

The academic pursuit of the young minds at Belmont Abbey College commences and completes at the Abbey Basilica. At the start of each academic year in the month of August, the eager to learn freshmen class is matriculated in the Basilica with prayers and blessings of the Almighty Father. At the completion of each academic year in the month of May, hundreds of blissful graduates gather near the Basilica piazza to celebrate the Baccalaureate Mass to invoke God’s blessings, and walk on the piazza to receive their diplomas while the divine power of the Basilica watches over them.

Gireesh Gupta, Associate Professor Belmont Abbey College January 2, 2013 The information in the article is taken from the document, A Carolina Cathedral, by Father Paschal Baumstein, O.S.B.

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

33

A Chemist with a

Love for the Liberal Arts

By Christopher Lux

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35

These days Fr. Arthur Pendleton, a monk of the Belmont Abbey Monastery, can be seen walking around campus talking to faculty and students. He frequently carries with him an assortment of books. The former chemistry teacher isn’t carrying science books, though.

Now he’s looking in a more liberal direction, reading works from Thomas Aquinas to Flannery O’Connor.

As a chemist, Fr. Arthur never did spend a lot of time studying literature, rhetoric, philosophy, or theology.

“Working for my masters,” he says, “I took one English course and one psychology course. So I really wasn’t liberally educated.”

Now retired, he takes at least one course a semester. “When I was studying in college I knew I wanted to know about Thomas Aquinas and I knew I couldn't do that then,” he recalls.

“But when you come through Belmont Abbey College you start to see what’s going on. I haven’t really touched history courses, but I’ve touched other subjects. I don’t do much homework, but I take notes in class because it’s very important to get the ideas.”

Fr. Arthur took courses in philosophy when the College still had a philosophy department, and he is currently taking a course in rhetoric and writing. “I got the book on rhetoric and started reading it this summer because I wanted to get ready for this course with Dr. Weir. I like her style of teaching; I know it’s a very healthy style of teaching.”

Fr. Arthur is a regular guest at the College’s Agora events, and is always open to a discussion about language and literature. Perhaps it takes him back to an earlier time when he would spend his childhood evenings surrounded by music and poetry.

His mother came to Rhode Island from Ireland. She brought with her a great talent for cooking—where Fr. Arthur’s appreciation for good food comes from—and cooked for wealthy families. When she was married and had children, she stayed home, spoiling her children with nicely cooked cakes,

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

pies, potatoes, and vegetables. Those family meals brought out in Fr. Arthur an appreciation of the finer things.

“In those days,” he remembers, “it wasn't unusual for people to stay around and have meals together. So, we would all gather, and my mother was the great talker. She would start talking about Ireland or almost anything. My father would sit there until he finished, then he would go off into the parlor and read his newspaper. We would continue to stay at the table, just because mother was very lively. She would read tea leaves or she would read poetry. She had picked up an ability to just say poetry, and sometimes in Gaelic. We were always interested in the stories.”

After dinner, his family would wash dishes, and then listen to the radio. “The big entertainment was listening to a series of evening musical programs. We always would be sitting around for that time. We were pretty lucky.”

In high school Fr. Arthur discovered an interest in chemistry. “In the second year of high school we had one year of it, and right away, very quickly, I liked it.” However, he had already developed a keen interest in literature. “My father liked mystery and westerns, but I just read westerns. We had a small library in our town and the librarian was our next door neighbor, so she would always have adventure stories. Moby Dick was considered an adventure story. I read them because they were ‘adventure.’ I didn’t know I was getting exposed to good literature.”

After high school, Fr. Arthur went to Rhode Island School of Design to study Textile Chemistry and Coloring. He then ventured south to Charlottesville, Virginia to study Textile Technology.

Upon completing a master’s degree, he took a job in South Carolina doing textile research. He loved his work, and, he says, “I was working at night. I wasn’t being paid for it, I just enjoyed research.”

After working in the textile industry for six months, he volunteered to go into the United States Army. “I’ll give you

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the fancy name for what I was,” he says with a smirk. “I was an Administrative Assistant; for your knowledge, Clerk Typist.”

“That was supposed to be for twenty four months, but I got out slightly early.

Then I went back to my job in South Carolina. I worked in a textile research lab for about three years. Then, at that time, I decided to go into the monastery.”

During those three years of working he realized he wanted to be a monk, although he had never considered being a priest.

“The reason I never thought about the priesthood when I was growing up was that I never thought I could stand up at the pulpit,” he says.

“I had one elective that I could have had at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was going to be public speaking and I chickened out.” He had thought about his vocation, but, he says, “I wasn’t very wise in the faith; I thought if it was tough it was right.” But then he saw an advertisement that said, “Even if you have a vocation you don’t have to follow it.” He remembers feeling relieved. “That made me free because all along I had been thinking about vocation as priesthood. I didn’t know about monks–all I knew was ‘priest.’ So, with that ad in mind something clicked and suddenly I thought ‘I could be a brother!’ And that was the perfect solution.”

After this realization, he made a phone call to a friend who was a priest.

He told the priest of his desire to be a monk and the priest told him that, “he knew monks in Belmont and ‘They have

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a really good Saint Benedict’s Day party’.” The priest remembered the party well. He told Fr. Arthur there would be a meal and drinks and things

like that – nice celebrations. “He says to me, ‘maybe you would like to go there.’

So here’s this strict priest being a mentor, telling me ‘they throw good parties.’ He knew I really needed to loosen up.” So, following his friend’s recommendation of monks who threw a good party, Fr. Arthur made a trip to Belmont Abbey.

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He entered the monastery in August of 1958. “I was 28 when I came to the monastery, just a child. In September I put in a year in the College taking mainly the theology and philosophy courses. Then I had a year in the novitiate.

When you come they have to check you out, so they were looking me over then.”

When Fr. Arthur moved from South Carolina into the monastery, he found it to be “a wonderful atmosphere” with many kinds of characters. “By knowing some of these people you really can appreciate what we could call characters or individuals. Once you get to know the various monks you see differences and then you can really have an idea of the richness of the life.”

During his novitiate he did the usual work of a novice, “like emptying trash cans and carrying them down the stairs, painting walls, painting the porch, or chipping the paint off a staircase then painting it again. It was almost understood that you would do some of this, it was part of it.”

At the time Fr. Arthur entered the monastery a farm was still maintained by the community. For his work as a novice, he and the others would also spend time on the farm. “You’d cut the corn with the stalks, you would take that and shoot it into the top of the silo.

Then you’d have a couple of people at the bottom of the silo who were spreading it with pitch forks.” He does not reminisce nostalgically about the farm work—“It's not nice work because it’s soggy and the corn is falling on

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you.” But he admits, “It was a very balanced life. When I came here it was quite wonderful.”

When Fr. Arthur entered the monastery, he took particular interest in the community’s recreation time. “You wouldn’t go for TV or something,” he says. “You would sit and just talk or maybe walk. It was very good to be with these people.”

He professed his solemn vows, and then, at the suggestion of some older monks, he was ordained a priest. Fr. Arthur earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and began teaching full-time in the College’s Chemistry Department.

As a priest he also took on priestly duties in the area as well. “Saturday you might leave at one o’clock with a couple of monks to Charlotte and other places

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to help with Mass and Confessions,” he says. “Then the next day, Sunday, you’d take maybe two Masses. So you were working full-time as a priest and a teacher. There was a shortage of priests so you could be having pretty busy days.”

Fr. Arthur went on to earn a doctorate in chemistry from Clemson University in South Carolina. He held repeated administrative assignments in the monastery, including serving as Prior three times. He taught chemistry for many years, and now ranks as a professor-emeritus.

Once an educator, Fr. Arthur now enjoys being the student. He currently takes courses because, he says, “I enjoy being with the students, I enjoy learning. When I’m taking rhetoric I’m taking it to learn, to read, and to get things. I might die tomorrow, so I’m just

The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

making a reasonable effort.”

Fr. Arthur’s special training in spiritual direction has allowed him to exercise a very particular ministry to monks, students, and area laity. He is always open to hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction. Spiritual reading is a special pleasure for him, with classical texts as well as contemporary writings earning his attention.

Fr. Arthur can always bring an original insight or penetrating question to any topic that arises, whether it regards spirituality, literature, or science.

Since his retirement from teaching, Fr. Arthur assists in the campus ministry program, where he is a valued counselor and confessor.

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got monks?

Our monks seek God. Our students seek Truth.

No wonder we end up at the same place: Belmont Abbey College, the 135-year-old ‘Catholic College of the Carolinas.’ What are YOU seeking?

www.BelmontAbbeyCollege.edu

Winter 2013

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The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

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MONASTIC NEWS

Two Belmont Abbey Monks Take Solemn Vows

By Ed Jones

Brother Tobiah Abbott, O.S.B., and Brother Elias Correa-Torres, O.S.B., took their solemn vows as monks of Belmont Abbey at the Profession Mass in the Abbey Basilica on July 11, the Feast of St. Benedict.

By taking solemn vows of stability, commitment to a monastic manner of life and obedience, the two men are committing to live the rest of their lives in the Benedictine community at Belmont Abbey. The monastic community, in its turn, promises to support them in this lifelong commitment.

“The monks of Belmont Abbey are blessed to have these men become a permanent part of our community,” says Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B. “July 11th was a truly joyous celebration for the entire Belmont Abbey community.”

Brother Elias, whose given name was Ricardo José Correa-Torres, was born in Oklahoma. However, Brother Elias says he feels that he’s really “from all over,” since his father was in the Air Force and was stationed in many different cities during Brother Elias’ childhood.

Before coming to Belmont Abbey, Brother Elias studied meteorology at Florida State University and earned his doctorate in that field. Upon completion of his studies, he accepted an opportunity to be one of the four cofounders of a new weather forecast service, Weather Predict, which originated in Florida and then relocated to Raleigh. After working with Weather

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MONASTIC NEWS

Brother Tobiah Abbott, O.S.B. Brother Elias Correa-Torres, O.S.B.

Predict for eight years, Br. Elias decided to enter the monastery at Belmont Abbey. In the summer of 2009, he made his first profession of vows.

Since becoming a monk, Brother Elias has taught courses in meteorology and in mathematics at Belmont Abbey College. He has also begun studies for ordination to the priesthood and has completed two years of study at St. John’s School of Theology in Minnesota.

Brother Tobiah Abbott, whose given name is Derrick Lamar Abbott, was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. Before coming to Belmont Abbey, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard, and was stationed in such diverse places as New York, Alaska, Japan and Hawaii. Brother Tobiah was raised in the Baptist faith and came into the Catholic Church and to his monastic calling later in life. He made his first profession of vows in 2005.

His current duties as a monk include serving as the assistant to the novice master in the monastery’s formation program, overseeing and assigning the

daily manual labor assignments of the monks in the formation program; and tending to the monastery’s small fleet of cars, as well as the Abbey cemetery.

One of Brother Tobiah’s avocations is brewing homemade beer.

Making solemn vows is the final step in what is typically a four-to-five year formation period. To become a fullyprofessed Benedictine monk, a man must first enter the order as a postulant.

After several months, he may then request initiation into the novitiate.

During the novitiate, which is a year in length, the monk takes classes on subjects such as monastic practices, Church teachings, The Rule of St. Benedict (which has guided the Order for 1500 years), Benedictine history, Scripture, and more. During this year, he works closely with the novice master, who is the mentor for the novice monk in the monastic way of life. The novice moves to the next period of formation when he takes his triennial or “simple,” vows. During the next three years he moves more fully into the life and work of the monastic community.

“The monks of Belmont Abbey are blessed to have these men become a permanent part of our community.”

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B.

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MONASTIC NEWS

The Late Benedictine Monk Father Matthew McSorley Remembered

By Christopher Lux

As the monks of Belmont Abbey Monastery finished praying Lauds (morning prayer) on May 24, Benedictine Father Matthew McSorley passed away peacefully. Father McSorley was the oldest at Belmont Abbey, living there for 68 years and serving as a priest for 62 years. He was 91.

The day Father McSorley died happened to be the feast of Mary Help of Christians, the patronal feast of Belmont Abbey.

Upon being diagnosed with cancer, Father McSorley had expressed his longing to finally see his mother again.

At the funeral Mass, Abbot Placid Solari noted the beauty of Father McSorley’s death on a Marian feast – a reminder that he would not only see his biological mother, but also our spiritual mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Father McSorley taught in the English Department at Belmont Abbey

“A wonderful and wondrous man.”

M.F. McCarthy ’74

College from 1945 to 1979, earning a reputation as a skilled and demanding teacher. He was a mentor to countless students, many of whom attribute their subsequent professional careers and success to his encouragement.

M.F. McCarthy, who graduated from Belmont Abbey College in 1974, was one of many students influenced by Father McSorley’s teaching. Among teaching and serving as dean of students at an all boys’ preparatory school, McCarthy went on to be a writer. One of his novels is dedicated to

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his former English teacher, Father McSorley: “In token of my admiration for his remarkable genius.” McCarthy remembers his teacher and mentor as “a wonderful and wondrous man. Rare is the day when some image or notion concerning him fails to cross my mind.”

Upon retiring, Father McSorley spent most of his days inside the cloistered monastery.

However, he remained influential in the lives of many people – visiting students, guests, nurses and other employees of the monastery. He regularly welcomed visitors during his final years in the monastery’s infirmary, and he was most commonly known for his mealtime conversations. Sitting in the same seat at the monastery’s refectory every day, Father McSorley always welcomed a good conversation with anyone who was there.

When guests met Father McSorley, they would always meet a hospitable and kind monk. They would also meet a monk who loved to shock people. He seemed to enjoy saying things that would surprise new students and firsttime guests by claiming monks practice birth control because they wear habits, or talking about how good snake meat tastes. A guest once asked him, “Father Matthew, are you a relativist?” He answered, with a straight face, “I’m a little bit of everything. I’m Chinese, I’m communist, I’m Indian, I’m African...look at my hair. It's curly and it used to be dark.”

Father McSorley also had a reputation as a formidable competitor on the handball and tennis courts, and

The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

he was a great chess player. Though he spent his life reading and teaching about higher works of literature (like Shakespeare or Melville’s Moby Dick), he spent the last years of his life exclusively reading murder mysteries.

After a life of hard work, he deserved to take it easy and, as he said, “read what I want to read.”

Father McSorley was once told this: “If you don’t do what people tell you to do, they’ll stop telling you what to do.”

And he lived up to this advice by doing whatever he wanted to do. He also had high taste, only eating a steak, for example, if it was a good cut and perfectly cooked (rare was perfect for him). But he was not lazy and he was not unappreciative. He regularly told people how grateful he was for all he had. “I have my own nurse,” he would say, “and look at this food! I eat better than most people in Belmont.”

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MONASTIC NEWS

Father Matthew McSorley 1921 - 2012

Father McSorley was a man of God, a man of love. For the Scripture reading at his funeral, he pre-selected St. Paul’s praise of love (from the Letter to the Corinthians). He believed in love and he lived a life of love. He would remind people, “Jesus said to love one another.

He didn't say anything about sex or birth control or going to Mass every Sunday. He said to love one another.”

This is not to say that he neglected to attend Mass on Sundays or that he lived a life with disregard to Catholic teaching. It simply meant he placed love as a very important part of his life. He was empathetic to anyone who was neglected, anyone who was hurt and anyone who suffered.

It was this love that kept him working with the neglected and

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underprivileged communities in Gaston County for so many years.

For more than 40 years Father McSorley served at St. Helen, a small Catholic mission in Spencer Mountain, located near Gastonia. Sallie Rollinson, a long-time parishioner of St. Helen Mission, began attending Mass there when a neighbor offered to give her a ride to the black Catholic church.

Although she was not Catholic, Rollinson took advantage of the transportation offered to her and her five children. In an interview with the Catholic News Herald last year, she reflected on how she converted to the Catholic faith. At St. Helen Mission, Rollinson explained, she was welcomed by a congregation of “down-home people filled with the Spirit” and led by

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a caring priest from Belmont Abbey.

That priest was Father McSorley.

Rollinson says he played a vital role in her continuing to attend St. Helen Mission. She praised him as “one of the greatest priests I ever met.” When she attended her first Mass 45 years ago, she found that “everyone in the church was welcoming when I came; Father Matthew followed up on it and came out to my house to visit me and my kids. He was good to the whole congregation and treated us like we were white: people are people, just different colors.”

In 1991, Father McSorley retired from active ministry, and the Benedictines completed their service at St. Helen Mission. The church was transferred to St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia as a mission, and in 1995 St. Helen became a mission of Queen of the Apostles in Belmont.

Father McSorley is remembered with affection and gratitude by the AfricanAmerican communities at St. Helen Mission and in Belmont for his solicitude and his promotion of civil rights and integration. At Belmont’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in 2008, he received the Humanitarian Award for his outstanding service.

Father McSorley requested, and the monastic community agreed, that after his death his body be donated to Duke University Medical School. It was, Abbot Placid said at his funeral, his last act of service.

Father McSorley is survived by the monks of Belmont Abbey, by his sister, Sister Ellen McSorley, R.S.M., and by his niece, Charlene Curry.

A public Memorial Mass was celebrated in the Belmont Abbey Basilica on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

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MONASTIC NEWS

Father Kenneth Geyer 1927-2012

He leaves behind the strokes of his brush, the echoes of his music, and the spirit of his life.

By Christopher Lux On February 8, 2012, Benedictine Father Kenneth Geyer—friend, artist, musician, teacher, servant of God— died at the Belmont Abbey Monastery in Belmont.

He had been a professed monk at the Benedictine abbey for nearly 70 years, and for 50 years he served as the organist at Our Lady Mary, Help of Christians Basilica.

A native of Lancaster, N.Y., Father Kenneth was born on April 1, 1927, the son of the late Joseph A. and Kathryn Nuwer Geyer. He earned his A.A. degree from Belmont Abbey Junior College, his B.A. from St. Benedict’s College, and his M.A. in musicology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. In 1945, at the age of 18, he vowed to live by The Rule of Saint Benedict, the guide for the daily life, temporal and spiritual, of the Benedictine monastic community.

In his Rule, St. Benedict instructs the monks to “run on the path of God’s commandments…Never swerving from his instructions, then, but faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery until death.”

He was professed a monk on July 11, 1946, and ordained a priest on June 13, 1953. Except for two years when he was assigned to teach at Benedictine High School in Richmond, Va., Father

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Geyer spent the remainder of his life in the monastery of Belmont Abbey – a total of 67 years.

At the funeral Mass February 11, 2012, Abbot Placid Solari noted that Father Geyer “has, with the grace of God accomplished what he vowed to do.” Until death, he lived a life of fidelity to the monastery.

He taught generations of Belmont

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Abbey College students the history of music and art, according to the monastery’s website, and he coordinated all fine arts programs on the campus. “In the monastic community and beyond, Father Kenneth is appreciated for his original works of art – both his paintings and his music – and his knowledge of current literature,” it stated.

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In addition to teaching, he led numerous recitals on campus and taught French, as well as served as prior of the monastery and master-ofnovices. He was chairman and founder of the Department of Music and Fine Arts at Belmont Abbey College, directed plays in the Abbey Theater, and was the organist and choir director at Belmont Abbey for 50 years. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Belmont Abbey College.

He was ordained a priest in 1953 at Belmont Abbey. As he was called to live a life in a monastery affiliated with academic institutions, it seems only appropriate that he was a teacher for 44 years. Teaching art, music and French, Father Geyer had a positive

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impact on many students of Belmont Abbey College.

His passion for teaching and serving as chapter counselor of the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon was accompanied by a love of music and candy. His last days on this earth, Abbot Placid said, “were made especially joyful by the visit of four men he had mentored as students 45 years ago.” Their visit made his last days joyful ones. And, Abbot Placid pointed out, “their visit included a substantial offering of candy.”

Benedictine Brother Edward Mancuso remembered Father Geyer as “one of my best friends. He will be greatly missed and greatly remembered.”

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CAMPUS NEWS

PULSE ON DINING: Every Day, Every Meal, and for Every Guest By Stephen Steiger Our vision for Belmont Abbey was to bring a truly customized dining program that will fulfill the needs of a wonderful campus that needed a new facility.

We went forward with our most interactive program to date, Pulse on Dining—a truly customized, modern dining environment for students and faculty, where our teams focus on providing an outstanding dining experience every day, every meal and for every guest. Diners enjoy an Internet café and new digital monitors which display menus and campus events. This is the first ground up build of a campus restaurant for Chartwells in the region and the efforts are completely customized for Belmont Abbey’s needs.

We listened to the students and are delivering what they expect: healthy, nutritious and flavorful made-to-order meals that are prepared in open-area, exhibition-style kitchens where chefs interact with diners. This campus restaurant allows us to offer great flexibility in how we serve.

Upon the start of the new academic year, we now offer students an upgraded meal plan which includes unlimited dining options. They can take advantage of our continuous dining program that provides an extended service period between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner—and a menu of great offerings daily.

We’re honored to be Belmont Abbey’s foodservice provider and proud to be part of each student's higher education experience.

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A Truly Fresh Experience at the New Dining Hall

When I joined the College in 2005 the residential population was 362 and the dining hall easily accommodated student needs. The following year the residential population increased to 458 and in the fall of 2012, we had 622 students living on campus. It was obvious three years ago that we would need a larger, more modern facility in a few years to provide for the needs of a growing student body.

Specifically: 1. The old dining hall had a capacity of 160 per sitting. The new dining hall has a capacity of 320.

2. Kitchen equipment was nearly obsolete and in many cases in need of major repair. The new kitchen is a chef ’s dream—ask Chef Shawn Kravis or Steve Steiger, the Director Food Services.

3. The old dining hall was not suitable to provide more than three meals a day. Now Chartwells offers continuous dining during the week, including deli selections, salad bar, pizza and grilled items—in addition to serving three main meals a day.

In 2008-2009, we also recognized that a new dining hall would allow us to renovate the old dining hall into a Student Center, which is now a work in progress.

Tom MacAlester, director student activities, has been soliciting student suggestions to be considered as we enhance the center.

Personally, the dining hall has surpassed my expectations, and I am grateful for the opportunity to create a place for students to gather 24/7.

Wayne Scroggins Vice President for Administration & Finance

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CAMPUS NEWS

Breakfast with Benedict Series Offers a Dose of Reflection With Your Morning Coffee

By Mary B. Worthington To hear a lecture while dining is nothing new in the Benedictine tradition.

“Reading will always accompany the meals of the brothers,” says St. Benedict in his Rule. “The reader should not be the one who just happens to pick up the book, but ... brothers will read and sing, not according to their rank, but according to their ability to benefit their hearers.”

In a series of five breakfasts throughout the academic year, Breakfast with Benedict has provided this same opportunity to students, staff, coaches, faculty and monks of Belmont Abbey College.

Organized by Patrick Ford, director of Catholic Student Leadership and Formation, the final breakfast on April 18 featured Dean of Students Dr. Lucas Lamadrid talking about the Benedictine hallmark of humility, explained in chapter 7 of The Rule.

“We all want to be CEOs of our own lives,” Lamadrid said, “but really, we have very little control. There is a freedom in handing over to God. Knowing that you are not the measure of all things, that you have a place before God, is the first step to humility – the first step to wisdom.”

That place before God, Lamadrid explained, applies to all created things, not just humans. Illustrating his point through a diagram of the hierarchy of beings, Lamadrid placed God on the top rung, with the distance of infinity before angels on the second rung, followed by man on the third, and with the lesser beings such as “Harvey the

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Platypus, celery, and pond scum.”

“What really stood out to me was the analogy,” said Jordan Spinharney, a FOCUS team member. “I never heard it described in that way – that we are not compared with other humans, but with God, who is infinitely greater than us.”

Sophomore elementary education student and cross country runner Tim Gill appreciated the ongoing opportunity to learn more about St. Benedict and The Rule.

1 2

3

“Since Breakfast with Benedict is in the morning... there is one Christ-related phrase or thought that resonates in my mind throughout the rest of that day,” said Gill, showing that the lecture during a meal was truly “beneficial to the hearers” as St. Benedict himself desired.

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1 Mike DeWitt 2 Ali Bahr 3 Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B. 4 Dr. Lucas Lamadrid

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CAMPUS NEWS

A Transformative Experience: Belmont Abbey College Hosts Its First-Ever Literary Conference

By Emily Williams

make a positive contribution—to energize the department, engage the broader Belmont Abbey community, and to reach out to other colleges and universities. In one of our conversations, Joe mentioned that he had organized a literary conference while studying at Oxford, and we both began asking “Why not do one at Belmont Abbey College?”

What was your biggest challenge when putting together Belmont Abbey’s first conference in literature?

From left: Dr. Joseph Pizza, Dr. Stanley Fish, Dr. Al Benthall

During June 22-24 of last year, the English Department created a milestone for Belmont Abbey College as the first annual Literary Conference, Transformations in Literature, was held in Grace Auditorium. Attended by graduate students and professors from the likes of Oxford University, Baylor University, UNC Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, Davidson College and Ave Maria University, the conference’s theme covered a vast array of periods in Literature.

From the Medieval to the Modern, Transformations in Literature addressed the experience of change and enlightenment from both the protagonist’s viewpoint as well as the reader’s, with a strong emphasis on metanoia, literally translating as a “change of heart” or repentance, as in Christian conversion.

The topic generated a plethora of papers both sober and entertaining, ranging from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The highlight of the conference was a

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name that everyone in Literary Studies will instantly recognize: nationally renowned author and scholar Dr. Stanley Fish gave the delightful keynote lecture on “What Are the Humanities Worth?” which certainly got the room buzzing with questions and discussion.

Dr. Al Benthall and Dr. Joseph Pizza, Assistant Professors of English, were coproducers of this remarkable, longawaited event. Crossroads recently posed a few questions to them: How did the whole idea of a literary conference at Belmont Abbey College get started?

Dr. Pizza: I broached the idea of

hosting a literary conference to Dr. Daly during my first visit to the Abbey in 2010. Then, in the spring of 2011, I approached Dr. Benthall to discuss the possibility of teaming up to plan the event.

Dr. Benthall: As new members of the English Department, we both wanted to

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Dr. Benthall: The biggest challenge was getting the word out. You’d think that information technology would make the process easier, but it poses challenges of its own. People are inundated with information noise, and so generic postings and announcements turned out to be quite limited. In the end, we sent personal invitations to the Department Chairs of all the good English programs we knew. The personal touch seems to have done the trick.

Dr. Pizza: Also, the difficulty of organizing a conference on limited time and with limited funding was challenging. Keynote speakers typically request anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 for a lecture or reading. Obviously, we can only muster a fraction of that, and so we had to rely, more often than I anticipated, on our wits and charm to make up the difference.

What influenced your choice on the topic of Transformation?

Dr. Benthall: As Flannery O’Connor once said, “The Catholic novelist doesn’t have to be a saint; he doesn’t even have to be a Catholic; he does, unfortunately, have to be a novelist.” Her emphasis on mastering the natural craft of writing in the service of grace served as a guiding light in organizing the conference.

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The theme of transformation arose during our attempts to formulate a topic that would resonate with the mission of the College, as well as generate interest in the broader academic community. We initially considered the theme of metanoia or Christian conversion. While this is a rich topic in itself, it occurred to us that the concept of conversion actually occurs under different guises in many forms of non-Christian literature.

In The Iliad, for example, the fierce warrior Achilles must undergo a change of heart in surrendering the dead body of Hector back to his father, King Priam, for proper burial. The causes of this change are both natural and supernatural, involving both human psychology and the prompting of the gods.

Based on this example and many others like it, we thought the theme of “transformation” would help to investigate the threshold between natural changes in character, and changes that seem more mysterious and even uncanny. To that extent, we anticipated that Aquinas’s dictum “grace perfects nature” would be investigated from a number of different perspectives, both inside and outside the Catholic intellectual tradition. We were not disappointed.

What do you think the audience took away from their experience?

Or what did you want them to take away?

Dr. Benthall: We wanted the audience to include both specialists and non-specialists. To that extent, we hoped to achieve what all first-rate literary scholarship achieves: namely, a fascination with primary works of literature, and a desire to go home and read good books, and to be changed by them for the better.

Dr. Pizza: Although from the outside,

English Professors may seem at times rather quixotic, we are well aware of economic realities and the constraints that they put upon teaching and research, especially since what we do is so difficult to quantify in terms of dollars and cents. In this context, I believe that the weekend’s events were a testament to the vitality and enthusiasm that many,

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both inside and outside of academia, share for literature despite these difficulties, which is a great inspiration in going forward.

How do you think this annual conference can impact the local academic community in terms of the wider metropolitan area, as well as our English Department on campus?

Dr. Pizza: First, it allows us to better serve the College and our students by providing an excellent professional development opportunity on campus, which, in turn, only enhances our teaching and learning; and, secondly, it creates a space for building relationships between our faculty and students and those of other local and international institutions, like Davidson, Wingate, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Chapel Hill, Baylor, Notre Dame, Oxford, and the many others who participated.

Cultivating relationships with our colleagues at schools like these creates opportunities for further collaboration in the future, whether in the form of conferences and publications for faculty or graduate school and other professional opportunities for our students.

Dr. Benthall: Like a Catholic

hospital, a Catholic college has a mission to the broad human community. We hoped the conference would allow us to

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demonstrate the virtue of Benedictine hospitality in academic terms. Is there such as thing as intellectual hospitality?

Joe and I think so, and we want this conference to be a galvanizing force for the Belmont Abbey community, as well as for local colleges, local universities, and beyond.

Inviting someone as respected and well-known in the academic community as Dr. Stanley Fish to give the keynote speech was quite a treat for everyone in the audience. Who would you like to see next at the second Literary Conference and what are the themes for the next conference?

Dr. Pizza: At this stage, I would prefer not to name names, but I will say that bringing in a creative writer might make for an equally interesting, though somewhat different, event in 2013.

Dr. Benthall: We’re currently discussing themes that will allow scholars and creative writers to examine and celebrate literary form in all its manifestations. Stay tuned!

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CAMPUS NEWS

Choosing Life AND Education: There’s Room At The Inn for Both The First-Ever College-Based Maternity Facility in the Nation Opens on Belmont Abbey College Campus.

By Christopher Lux

“Congratulations, this day has arrived,” Father Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life, told those gathered to celebrate the realization of Room At The Inn’s dream: the opening of the first college-based maternity center in the country, located on the grounds of Belmont Abbey College.

Well over a hundred people attended the ribbon-cutting celebration, held on the morning of the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16.

Room At The Inn has been assisting women of all ages in the Charlotte area facing unexpected pregnancies for 18 years.

The new 10,000-square-foot facility sits on four acres donated by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey and will house up to 15 mothers at a time, providing emotional support and practical assistance to unmarried college women facing unexpected pregnancies. Residents will be able to

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have their babies and continue their education at nearby colleges.

The building took just over a year to complete – “only one year and 26 days,” said Jeannie Wray, executive director of Room At The Inn. “But who’s counting?”

Room At The Inn has received a steady stream of inquiries from pregnant students as far away as the Midwest interested in joining the program, Wray noted in her remarks during the opening celebration.

Further evidence of the need for these services has been the number of requests from around the world for Room At The Inn to build similar facilities in other locations.

“Over the past four months,” Wray said, “I have been contacted by people in three foreign countries – Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Argentina – who want us to come there to build a facility like this there. This is in addition to the

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requests from seven other states.”

Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life of America, was among the speakers at the opening celebration.

Foster recalled having spoken at many of the nation’s colleges and universities, and, she said, “I had never seen a visibly pregnant college student, or, for that matter, a professor. And that’s when we started asking, ‘Where have all the pregnant women gone?’ Gone to abortion clinics, almost every one. Half of the abortions were performed on college-aged women.” Why are collegeaged women choosing abortion?

Because of a lack of resources and support for them if they choose life, she said.

“Women deserve better than abortion,” she proclaimed. “Today we are here to right a terrible wrong.”

“Many young women in college facing unexpected pregnancies believe they have to give up everything to keep

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Pictured from left to right is Tom Mathis, Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., Cindy Brown, Jeannie Wray, and Bishop Peter J. Jugis

their babies - but they don’t,” Wray Expectant mothers interested in said. “Room At The Inn can give these Room At The Inn must complete an young women the opportunity to interview and application process continue their educations, have their before being accepted into the free babies, make a positive impact on program, which Wray describes as society and fulfill their “fairly stringent” and filled with classes hopes and dreams.” and counseling to Room At The Inn "We don't serve will offer its services for prepare young them because mothers with the free to the residents, they are skills they need to be who can stay at the Catholic, we successful in life. maternity center for up serve them “Many of the to two years. Young because we are young women we women do not have to Catholic.” see are frightened be Catholic or attend and they feel Belmont Abbey College Father Frank to participate. hopeless and Pavone abandoned and have “We don’t serve no earthly idea what them because they are they are going to do Catholic, we serve them next - they’re just looking for the because we are Catholic,” said Father light,” Wray said. “Room At The Pavone. It was a happy return for the Inn can offer them help, hope and nationally-known priest, who has often possibilities so by the time they visited the Diocese of Charlotte to leave, they are more prepared, more encourage its pro-life efforts and who mature and ready to take that next attended the ground-breaking for the big step. They may even come to our maternity center in June 2011.

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outreach program for continued assistance.”

The new facility has two residential wings that will be home to 15 mothers, 15 infants and four toddlers. Each mother has a private bedroom and bathroom and shares the dining room and laundry room with other residents.

The residents will be provided with food from a menu set by a nutritionist and prepared by staff.

Administrative and counseling offices and quarters for residential managers are also on site.

Room At The Inn is still in the process of obtaining licensure with the state of North Carolina and will admit residents as soon as that process is completed, officials said.

Though this facility is the first like it in the nation, David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life, hopes to see it as a trend-setter. At the grand opening, he told the crowd, “You truly are lighting a fire of inspiration.”

Bereit, along with Foster and other prolife campaigners, were among those returning to the opening celebration after helping to break ground on it in 2010.

Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari, abbot of Belmont Abbey monastery, spoke on behalf of his fellow monks of Belmont Abbey and the Belmont Abbey College community. He expressed hope that “this facility will be a witness to our own students.”

Besides use of land for the facility, the monks of Belmont Abbey made one more gift to the organization for its opening: a statue of a young Blessed Virgin Mary standing with her mother, St. Anne.

Learn more about Room At the Inn and how you can support its pro-life work: http://www.rati.org/.

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CAMPUS NEWS

A Journey

Like No Other Graduates Volunteer in the Benedictine Spirit and Bring the Message of Christ to Africa

By Christopher Lux

Four Belmont Abbey College graduates have been living a far different life than what they had in college. But this is not a typical “life after graduation” story.

These former students have been living in Kenya as part of a newlyformed Benedictine Volunteer Corps.

The Benedictine Volunteer Corps offers a unique way to participate in the

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Benedictine monastic life while at the same time serving others in some of the poorest corners of the world.

The volunteers left in August after readying themselves for their lives in Kenya by spending a week experiencing the Benedictine monastic life firsthand at Belmont Abbey. Each morning during their week retreat, Kate Drinkwater, Harris Moriarty, Caitlin O'Malley and Henry Wilson woke up early for Vigils, starting their daily routine of work and prayer with the monks of Belmont Abbey. They studied The Rule of St. Benedict. They prayed in the Abbey Basilica five times a day. They worked odd jobs around the monastery. They learned about Benedictine monasticism. They formed a bond with each other in preparation to spend the next several months working together halfway around the world.

They ended their week at the monastery by taking a 22-hour flight to Nairobi, Kenya, on August 23.

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But their lives of work and prayer did not end there.

During their eight months in Kenya they are living in monastic communities, continuing a similar life of prayer with two Benedictine monasteries. Their work and environment, though, have been far different than what they experienced at Belmont Abbey.

Moriarty and Wilson are living and working in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Nairobi is a financially and politically prominent city in Africa. It is also home to Mathare Slum, one of the oldest and largest slums on the continent, where life is a daily battle for survival.

“There’s a ton of different religious orders and communities there. Why would they choose that space of all places to settle? Because they happen to be snuggled up right next to Mathare ...

Some 250,000 people in hundreds of high-rise buildings with no electricity or running water,” writes Harris Moriarty in a blog that he keeps while abroad.

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Moriarty and Wilson are staying in a guest house and retreat center, the Amani Center, run by a Benedictine community of about five monks.

Drinkwater and O’Malley are spending their months in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, about 45 minutes from their fellow volunteers. They live with the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in the Sacred Heart Priory.

The work they do varies and is always subject to change. One thing Moriarty does is teach art to young students. The volunteers have also been helping in orphanages feeding babies and playing with children. Other days they do work in a health clinic.

Their work also consists of visiting the elderly with one of the sisters from the monastery. “Caitlin and I decided to start a project where we raised money to create food packages for 250 elderly people,” says Drinkwater. “With the help of benefactors from both our home states as well as Belmont Abbey College students, we raised $4,500. We were able to give every single elderly person a package and had money left over for them to be able to use for cab rides to places like doctor’s appointments.”

In their spare time they help in the monastery kitchen and lend a hand with garden work. However, they have made some time for fun. They visited the Giraffe Center and fed giraffes, saw baby elephants at an elephant orphanage, visited the source of the Nile River, stood on the equator line, rode camels, and snorkeled in the Indian Ocean.

The monks of Belmont Abbey decided to make a commitment to send former Belmont Abbey College students

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abroad as part of a Benedictine Volunteer Corps, joining other Benedictine colleges with similar volunteer service programs.

The monks fund the airfare, health care and monthly stipend for the volunteers. In return, the host monasteries in Africa commit to providing lodging, food and meaningful work. It’s the start of what the monks hope is a long-term relationship of service to others, all to glorify God. “The whole point is for our volunteers to live with the Benedictines in Kenya, and to join them in their ministry,” says Benedictine Father Christopher Kirchgessner, Benedictine Volunteer Corps director. Father Kirchgessner recruits interested students for the program and keeps in touch with the volunteers while they are abroad. In February of last year, he traveled to the locations in Kenya to get a feel for the life the volunteers would live and to visit the various ministry opportunities.

While staying in the monastery of Belmont Abbey for a week, the four grads learned about Kenyan culture, foods, languages and religious traditions. Now they have experienced it firsthand.

“Africa has been the most eye opening experience and has shown me how simple life can be,” Drinkwater reflects during her time in Kenya.

“These people here are so full of love and joy all the time, and I cannot wait to take that mentality back with me to the States. Even though I miss my American home at times, my African home has treated me very well.”

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The Best of BOTH Worlds: Students Will Find Tranquility AND Fellowship in the New Residence Halls

By Emily Williams

Belmont Abbey College is particularly proud to announce the news of our two new residence hall facilities currently being built on the east side of campus near our new dining hall. With a completion date of summer 2013, the dorms will be a welcome sight for both incoming and returning students.

According to Jim Clements, Program Manager for the construction, each building has a square footage of 20,000, with room for 55 beds. With the

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exception of single rooms for resident assistants, each floor will be comprised of suites containing two private bedrooms, a shared living room and a bathroom. Each floor will also have its own special common area, with a chapel on the second floor of the building and a kitchen/lounge area and laundry room on the first floor. The two buildings will be joined by a common plaza for the students.

One of the major advantages of the new dorms will be retaining students on

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campus and having an option other than off-campus housing, says Dr. Lucas Lamadrid, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs. “The new halls will allow us to attract new students who want an option other than Poellath or O’Connell halls. At a Benedictine institution which so prizes the value of community and at a college where students learn from each other, a strong residential presence is crucial to creating and maintaining the spirit of a learning community.”

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For those students who will be residing in the dorms, a significant addition to the campus life experience will be the tranquil chapel on the second floor and the combination of private spaces adjacent to community “play” areas. “Today’s discerning student wants both the amenity of private space but also does not want to be alone throughout the freshman year,” says Lamadrid. “The student wants company, friendship, community, but privacy as well. This design offers both. The halls are also completely wireless so that students can access the Internet and email with their laptops or tablet. This is how students communicate nowadays. The wireless halls will facilitate that communication.”

The benefit to the Abbey community as a whole is also not overlooked.

Keeping the family together, so to speak, by keeping students on one campus is one of the major goals of the project. “We have housed between 100 to 120 upperclass students in sublet apartments for three years, having surpassed our residential capacity each fall semester. The construction of the new residence halls will allow us to reduce the numbers of upperclassmen living off campus and will restore the connection between those upperclassmen and the campus community.”

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FACULTY & STAFF

Greg Swanson

Joins The Abbey Family As Our New Vice President of College Relations

By Emily Williams

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For anyone who has the pleasure of meeting him for the first time (or the tenth time), you will be greeted by a nice warm smile and a welcomed kindness. Newly appointed Vice President of College Relations and General Counsel, Greg Swanson, is settling into his role here at Belmont Abbey College. He arrived in September 2012, having left his family behind in Kentucky to finalize the sale of their home, pack up everything they own, and move to Belmont, North Carolina.

So, what would possess a man who had a successful career, a beautiful home and was surrounded by great friends to uproot his family and travel just over 400 miles to start a new career at a small college in North Carolina?

Let’s just say, he was listening to a higher calling. “At first the nudges were subtle. I was really attracted to the Abbey because of the strong liberal arts curriculum steeped in the Catholic intellectual tradition. That’s very important to me because it is this aspect of higher education that I resonate with most,” says Swanson. “I had also been following the Abbey in higher education news and it impressed me as being a leader, especially in the context of defending religious liberties, which is really near and dear to my heart. It soon became apparent that divine intervention was leading me south once again, and through much prayer and extensive discussion with my family, we joyfully made the decision to take this next step in our lives.”

Swanson comes to us from Wilmore, Kentucky where he served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement and General Counsel for seven years at Asbury University. He received his undergraduate degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1979 and graduated from Creighton University School of Law in 1981 with the Juris Doctor degree.

Swanson certainly knows what it is like to have a lot on his plate and handle it with aplomb. While holding his position at Asbury, he provided leadership for two major capital campaigns and supervised a team of

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nineteen professionals serving public relations, financial development, and alumni and external relationships.

Swanson also provided oversight and direction to the governing board as the school’s chief institutional legal officer.

With such a strong resume, the Abbey is certainly fortunate to have him join our family.

Swanson says he’s particularly looking forward to rolling up his sleeves and working on the development aspect of the college. He has a central philosophy that drives his view of development work. “Although there are many components of development work, I think a college our size needs to give focused attention to individualized or personal work with donors and friends of the College. We have very supportive alumni and donors at the Abbey and we need to be working with them more closely to both share what is happening on the campus but also to listen to what is occurring in their lives and what we need to learn from them.

“This work begins the creation of a culture of philanthropy, both within the College and among our various constituencies. When this culture begins to flourish, we will find that resources multiply to meet the needs of the College as it furthers its mission.

Most people want to be a part of something larger than themselves and if they resonate with the vision and mission of the Abbey, they can realize that desire here and be part of what God is doing in the lives of our students.

“This takes thoughtful, intentionality and more than a compartmentalized departmental endeavor,” Swanson adds. “While certainly College Relations needs to lead this effort, I think fundraising, in some sense, is something that all of us who participate in the life of the College, can effectively influence. We can all play a role in helping inspire people to give back to the College and ultimately, that’s how we will be most effective. In addition, good relationships not only foster strong donors but oftentimes open the way for prospective students to find us.”

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In his more than 14 years in higher education, Swanson has seen firsthand how these relationships will grow in a myriad of ways while also helping people line up their personal interests with the institution. “We will begin to see temporal development take on an eternal perspective. It’s a blessing for both them and us.”

Swanson’s wife, Maria, and their three children are very happy about his new position at Belmont Abbey College. Maria, Zach and Sarah are also eager for the move to North Carolina and are looking forward to being a part of the community, while Jake, currently graduate student at the University of Chicago, is hoping to visit very soon. Completing the Swanson family is their much loved Collie, “Sunny.” He may not be ready to leave his Kentucky blue grass, but will love his new home under Carolina blue skies.

In his spare time Swanson especially enjoys time with family and friends.

Politics, sports, and hunting are big contenders, however, more often than not. you’ll find him reading. So Swanson continues as an advocate for the liberal arts and education in this his first choice of hobbies. “I do love to read. I’m filling up my office at the moment with the books I don’t have room for at home. Although I read less fiction nowadays, I’m a Flannery O’Connor fan and I also love G.K. Chesterton. His book Orthodoxy is probably my favorite of all time.”

So what’s on his nightstand at the moment?

“Currently I’m reading several, actually. I just finished How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by N.T. Wright. I recently began reading The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie and I’m also reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.” Please join us in welcoming Mr. R. Gregory Swanson to the Abbey!

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MEET OUR NEW FACULTY MEMBERS FOR 2012-2013 The Abbey has certainly been blessed this past year with the talent you are about to meet. Our new faculty members hail from a prestigious variety of universities and each of them brings their own passion and dedication for the subject they teach. We welcome them all to their new home and family at Belmont Abbey College.

Mary Beth Chambers Visiting Assistant Professor of Motorsports Management M.Ed. (Sport Administration), Bowling Green State University B.A. (Communications), University of Kentucky at Lexington

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

I was intrigued at the new motorsport program that Travis Feezell was crafting and I wanted to be a part of the process that expands the program from a concentration to a full blown degree curriculum. It is also exciting to have an opportunity to help students navigate their way into a field that has been my passion for almost 20 years.

The vision of this program that is in place—to partner Belmont Abbey’s motorsport program with companies and executives in the motorsport industry—is also very interesting to me because it enables the content of the courses to stay relevant to the times and it offers opportunities for students to start interacting with executives currently working in the field, almost immediately from the time that they begin their motorsports coursework. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with some of my friends through the process of coming here.

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What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

In terms of my background, I have worked in sport business in various capacities for almost 20 years. I have a master’s in sport administration from Bowling Green State University in OH, during which time I interned with the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Upon graduating, I worked for three years as the Marketing Director for an LPGA golf tournament, and ran press conferences for eight sports in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games. I spent three years in Detroit with the Pistons (NBA) and Palace Sports & Entertainment as a sponsorship sales executive across all of their teams and arenas they owned.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

I met my husband while in Detroit and he swept me off my feet and brought me to Charlotte in 2000, where I found the opportunity to serve as the Sponsorship Director for the Charlotte Checkers. When the ownership group changed around 2002, I stayed with the new folks and ran the Ticket Sales and Marketing Departments for the team.

In 2003 when the U.S. Olympic Canoe and Kayak team moved its headquarters to town, I was excited to return to my Olympic roots and so I threw my name in the hat to be the Marketing Director.

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I worked in that role for a year before Matt and I decided to start a family. My husband is a senior manager with one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams, so in 2009 we decided to pool our talents and we started a small race team in NASCAR’s Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series. I run the business side of this endeavor (taxes, insurance, accounting, contracts, event logistics, etc.) and Matt builds the cars and oversees the at-track competition side of the team.

In terms of hobbies outside of class, I have two kids that keep me hoppin’—I love to be a mom. They teach me so much about myself and how I can be a better person. I enjoy reading and I love to go to concerts (all sorts of music). I have a set of drums at home that I play occasionally when I need to vent some stress. I enjoy a trip to the beach or the mountains to be in nature, and scoring a great find at a consignment shop. I like to write letters to friends.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

In terms of surprises at the Abbey, I don’t know that I’ve had too many of them. At least not yet. I have been very pleased with the genuine welcome that I have received from every single person here. Belmont Abbey has a very special “vibe” and I feel honored and blessed that God gave me the chance to be here.

Thanks God!

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Margarita Eganova Full-time Lecturer in Mathematics M.S. (Mathematics), Tashkent Polytechnic University B.S. (Mathematics), Tashkent Polytechnic University

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

Shortly after I moved to Charlotte, my son showed me the Abbey. “Would it be a nice place for you to work? It is close to the home, beautiful, relatively small. Plus, the school could be something different—you have not taught in the private religious college.”

All of these attracted me very much.

So, I sent to the Abbey my resume.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

In a few months after sending my resume, I started to conduct the Physical World lab for traditional students as an adjunct instructor, then later to teach Mathematics courses for the adult degree program (ADP) students. Now I teach several basic math

courses for the ADP and traditional students. Overall, during my long, more than 25 years teaching experience, I have taught Theoretic Mechanics, Resistance of Materials, Physics and Mathematics.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

I have an addiction—reading. I have a long term love of sewing and embroidering. I have gardened since my childhood. And now I have my new passion—photography.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

Monks, monks, and monks. I had a little knowledge of monks and nuns. I was baptized by an Armenian priest/

monk. I conversed a few times with nuns and monks during my trips back to Russia and Ukraine. That was it. Here at the Abbey and at the Sister of Mercy House, I discovered and developed a completely new comprehension of monks and nuns. I am in awe of how intelligent, accomplished, kind, and dedicated they are.

Trent Ikerd Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Ph.D. (Criminal Justice), University of Nebraska at Omaha M.A. (Political Science), Appalachian State University B.S. (Criminal Justice), Appalachian State University What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

The College has an excellent student to faculty ratio.

This allows me to interact with my students in a smaller classroom environment to help them hone their thinking skills (particularly regarding ethical issues) that are an important part of criminal justice field work.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

I mainly research issues regarding problem-oriented policing, organizational change in policing, and issues regarding police effectiveness.

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What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

I enjoy outdoor activities, working out, etc.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

The College really has a diverse group of students in both traditional and adult degree programs. This diversity really strengthens the class discussions.

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Amanda Kloo Associate Professor of Education Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh M.A., Teachers College - Columbia University B.A. (Theatre and Education), Chatham College The College community’s hospitality, prayerfulness, and genuine collegiality inspired me. It was “love at first phone call.”

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

I wholeheartedly believe that God called me to the Abbey. A coincidental (but fortuitous) phone conversation with Dr. Sara Powell in December 2011 sparked my interest in the outstanding work of the Department of Education.

The program’s track record for exemplary teacher preparation impressed me. Belmont Abbey’s mission of promoting academic excellence, ingenuity of thought, and Catholic stewardship energized me.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

My research and professional interests focus on early literacy practices, effective intervention strategies, and data-driven instruction/ assessment practices for students with disabilities and those at-risk for academic failure. I am also personally passionate and professionally committed to exploring the academic and social-emotional benefits of integrating The Arts into educational and therapeutic experiences for individuals with exceptionalities.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

I devour every opportunity to learn, discover, and play with my three-yearold twin boys Isaac and Elliot. Also, my husband Rob and I are proud members of the “Steelers Nation” and look forward to a fun-filled, emotionally wrenching football season every year. I am a ravenous reader, a Broadway musical fanatic, a gluten-free cook, and Beagle-lover.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

I have always loved what I do but I am surprised by how much more I love to do it now that I am here at BAC. Every person who has crossed my path since joining the faculty has brought joy to my life and my work. It amazes me how much fun it is to come to work each day—the Department of Education is an absolute blast!

Farrell O’Gorman Professor of English Ph.D. (English), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill M.A. (English), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.A. (Liberal Studies), University of Notre Dame

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

My father is an Abbey alumnus (class of 1959), and I was born in Belmont when he returned here as basketball coach for several years in the late 1960s. I grew up hearing great things about his time at the Abbey, especially about Father John Oetgen, who took him aside as a freshman and

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introduced him to the novel concept of studying. The monks taught him both the faith and the value of the whole person. “Mind, Body, and Spirit” was something he learned here more than fifty years ago. My own experience as an undergraduate at Notre Dame convinced me that my vocation is to teach at a Catholic liberals arts institution, and I have always wanted to

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come back home to the Carolinas. So I have been interested in teaching at the Abbey for many years now and am deeply grateful that I am finally able to do so.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

My main expertise is in American literature and Christianity—particularly in Catholicism and the literature of the South, which is to say Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy. I enjoy the work of writers ranging from

Herman Melville, William Faulkner, and Ralph Ellison to contemporaries such as Tobias Wolff, Seamus Heaney, and Cormac McCarthy. Having earned my own B.A. in a Great Books program, I also appreciate the Abbey’s commitment to teaching the long tradition of Christian literary excellence that runs from Dante to Dostoevsky and beyond.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

Outside of teaching and writing, I

mainly enjoy spending time with my wife and children, who are all excited to be back home and visiting our extended family more often. I cheer on my kids at their sporting events, do what I can to exercise a little myself, and wish I spent more time hiking and in boats of one sort or another.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

How many student-athletes we currently have enrolled here.

Hubert Sales Assistant Professor of Business Ph.D. (Public Affairs), University of Texas at Dallas M.B.A. (Management), University of Indiana Wesleyan B.A. (Business Management), Trinity Christian College

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

As I was finishing up my dissertation, my wife and I put together a “wish list” of where we would like to be located as I start this “second career.” We both agreed that a small, religious-based, private liberal arts school in the Carolinas would be ideal. I could not have imagined that we would be so blessed as to find this community that brings together a committed faculty, tremendous support staff, engaged leadership, and terrific, motivated students – all in a beautiful setting near a really exciting city.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

My business career spanned 35 years, and during that time I had the great opportunity to work for several domestic and foreign companies – large and small – mostly in management, sales, and marketing. I also started a

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few businesses on my own. This experience has led to my having a pretty good handle on most aspects of organized business, as well as entrepreneurship. During the latter years of my career, I was active in nonprofit management, and my concentration during my doctoral studies was on public affairs, with my dissertation being written on certain aspects of modern philanthropy.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

We love to travel; enjoying the people, cuisine, and culture of foreign countries. Having bought a “tired” house in Cramerton, I am also spending a lot of time on remodeling and repairs – maybe not a passion or a hobby, but certainly very enjoyable.

Without a doubt, the caring and commitment displayed by the people who make up the BAC community is most surprising. Having lived in many different places, I can say without hesitation that this community has some of the nicest and friendliest people I have ever met.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

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Gary Scott Professor of Business and Chair of the Business Department Ph.D. (Economics), University of Notre Dame M.A. (Economics), Bowling Green State B.A. (Political Science), Bowling Green State

acquaintance of Belmont Abbey College and myself–Dr. Sophia Maria Aguirre, a professor of economics at the Catholic University of America–further boosted my interest and prompted me to apply for an opening to teach at the Abbey.

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

From reading newspaper articles, the Abbey struck me initially as a smart and feisty institution of higher education.

Those attributes seemed earned from its historic service in North Carolina while practicing a Benedictine tradition of Catholic education that arguably predates college as a human institution.

That long view evident today in things like the College’s wide-ranging and rigorous core curriculum further piqued my interest in Belmont Abbey College.

I had also enjoyed some cordial and scholarly correspondence with Academic Vice-President Dr. Carson Daly before the later possibility of my teaching here. A trusted and mutual

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

My doctoral degree is in economics, with concentrations in public finance and labor markets. Public finance consists of the theory and data surrounding government spending, taxing, and regulating. Extensive quantitative training typically accompanies all graduate study of economics, and my Ph.D. from Notre Dame was no exception to that. From all this training, plus additional scholarly reading and inquiry, I soon developed an interest and publication record in the area of education economics.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

Coaching little league youth basketball these past eight years has generated some fond and shared memories with my four young sons, no matter our win-loss record being less than triumphant. Our winter-evening outings at the gym gave some quiet relief to my wife, Lauri, who homeschools our boys. We also enjoy summer canoe trips, mowing our lawn, swimming, and traveling to visit grandparents.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

I am most surprised by the beautiful and historic buildings on campus, the invitation to direct our academic freedom to an even higher purpose, and the challenging task of formulating the course schedules. Further surprises have proved to be students’ general curiosity, their interest in business courses at this liberal arts and sciences institution; plus, the good cheer of staff, faculties, students, parents, and benefactors.

MISSION STATEMENT Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. In this endeavor, we are guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning. Exemplifying Benedictine hospitality, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others.

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Patrick Wadden Assistant Professor of History D.Phil (Medieval History), University of Oxford M.St. (Medieval Historical Research), University of Oxford B.A. (History and Political Science), Trinity College, Dublin

What drew you to teaching at the Abbey?

I came to Belmont Abbey College having studied and worked in a variety of different institutions, but I always felt that the smaller, more intimate community of a college this size offered the best student experience. The sense of community created in a school with small classes and where faculty and students can establish individual relationships was something I was really looking for. I also believe in the importance of a holistic approach to education, one that addresses students’ academic, physical and spiritual development. My priorities were well matched by those I found expressed in the Abbey’s mission statement and enshrined in the Hallmarks of Benedictine education, so when the opportunity arose to join the faculty here I was delighted to take it.

What are your areas of expertise within your field of study?

I’m a medieval historian with special interests in early Christian Ireland, the creation of national identities in early medieval Europe, and political and cultural links around the Irish Sea during the Viking Age. I work with a wide range of sources, including early Irish literary texts and early medieval law-codes as well as the more usual chronicles and charters that are the mainstay of all medievalists.

What are your passions or hobbies outside of the classroom?

I’m a big sports fan, though I’m yet to get to grips with American games.

I’ve played soccer, Gaelic games and been a swimmer since I was a young child, but rugby is my first sporting passion. I played until very recently and try to watch the Irish teams on TV whenever possible. I’m quite passionate about the Irish language too, and have started informal classes in the College since my arrival. I’m also always happy

when I can find time for fishing, cooking, eating and watching westerns.

What have you discovered about the Abbey that surprises you the most?

One thing that has really taken me by surprise has been the students’ energy for extra-curricular activities.

For a relatively small student body, there is a huge number of clubs, societies and other activities meeting on a daily basis. It’s very impressive.

Additional New Faculty Dr. Joan Brugman Assistant Professor of Psychology Ph.D. (Psychology), Nova Southeastern University M.A. (Clinical Psychology), Nova Southeastern University B.A. (Psychology), College of the Holy Cross Dr. Justin B. Litke Assistant Professor of Government and Political Philosophy Ph.D. (Government), Georgetown University M.A. (Government), Georgetown University B.A. (Philosophy and Politics), Catholic University

Dr. James R. Powell Assistant Professor of Business Ph.D. (Higher Education Management), University of Virginia M.Ed. (Secondary Social Sciences), Plymouth State College M.A. (Urban Studies), University of Maryland at College Park B.A. (History), Hunter College Mr. Steven Shivone Assistant Professor of English Ph.D. (in process), University of Dallas M.A. (English), University of Dallas B.A. (Liberal Arts), College of Saint Thomas More

Dr. Irene Meares Professor of Accounting DBA (Marketing/Accounting), University of Sarasota M.B.A., University of South Florida B.A. (French), University of North Carolina

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Dr. Judith McDonald A State Winner, An Abbey Winner.

By Emily Williams

Awards for excellence in education not only affect those who achieve high honors, but they also impact individual students, the educational institution and the entire community. We are proud to announce that Dr. Judith McDonald, Assistant Professor of Education, was chosen by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (SENAGT) as the 2012 North Carolina State Winner of the Outstanding Earth Science Educator (OESE) Award. Dr. McDonald was recognized for her impact on elementary science education by guiding future teachers in two distinct courses: ED409 Teaching Science in the Elementary Classroom and SC201 Earth Science.

A nominee must demonstrate a commitment to earth science education; excel as an educator; develop and use innovative earth science education materials; share information with colleagues; and promote earth science education professionally. Dr. McDonald’s dedication and hard work are also evident in her teaching practices at Belmont Abbey College.

She is loved and respected by her students and peers.

When Crossroads asked Dr. McDonald how she felt about winning this most prestigious award, she said she was thrilled to receive the news: “I was personally excited because it affirmed my personal goals that science

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is for everyone and all students can succeed in science. Also, my inquiry style of instruction was being recognized by others as an excellent method of teaching science.

Professionally, I was excited for both Belmont Abbey College and elementary science to be recognized as important for science education across the state.

Our college was competing with many other large institutions for this award.”

She was also praised by SENAGT for having “metamorphosed the science methods class for pre-service teachers” into an enjoyable experience, creating an “engaging classroom environment that is safe for questioning and risk taking for the sake of learning.” Dr. McDonald’s achievements were particularly noted as “much needed and commendable” in regard to the Girls Leading Girls program in local Title 1 schools, which aims to nurture interest in science for fifth grade girls, a topic that is meaningful to her.

“Elementary science is the foundation for all science K–12 and into undergraduate and graduate studies. Our nation needs great scientists and it begins with the interest and curiosity of children in the early years. We can reverse our nation’s trend in poor science understanding by increasing science rigor in the primary grades of our elementary schools.”

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Crossroads sends hearty congratulations to Dr. McDonald!

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NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Faculty Accomplishments Professor Julia Beeman, Chair of the Social Sciences Division and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, was invited to UNC Charlotte’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology Annual Awards Presentation to confer the department’s “Julia F. Beeman Recognition of Excellence” Award, which was named in her honor when she left UNCC to begin the Criminal Justice program at the Abbey.

The award “acknowledges an undergraduate criminal justice major who exemplifies the ideals of academic excellence, personal integrity, individual responsibility, and the motivation and dedication to succeed.”

Professor Beeman began work on her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida while continuing her teaching and administrative responsibilities at the Abbey.

Professor Beeman chaired the search committee for Criminal Justice, was a member of the search committee for Government and Political Philosophy and is currently chairing the search for Psychology. Professor Beeman also served on the Faculty Appeals Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, and the Academic Review Committee.

Drs. Al Benthall and Joseph Pizza, Assistant Professors of English, launched the Abbey’s first annual, three-day Literary Conference last June—to resounding success.

Ms. Jill Bloede, Assistant Professor of Theatre, led a workshop for secondary school teachers on the subject “Strategies in Teaching Literature through Drama” at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), held in Greensboro in March of 2012.

Ms. Bloede directed Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer at Belmont Abbey College as the season finale for the 20112012 Abbey Players schedule.

Ms. Bloede and Simon Donoghue, Associate Professor of Theatre, coordinated and judged the annual Shakespeare Slam on March 25, 2012. Thirty-four students and faculty members participated.

Ms. Bloede directed Neil Simon’s The Female Odd Couple at Theatre Charlotte in June.

Dr. Michael Botts, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, had a paper “Organized Crime, Developing the

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Academic Canon” accepted for presentation at the Southern Criminal Justice Association meeting in fall 2012.

Dr. Botts collaborated with his wife, Dr. Tina Botts of the Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), to develop a grant proposal to assess the need for domestic violence shelters in the Charlotte area. The grant was provided by UNCC to Dr. Tina Botts, who is the principal investigator.

Dr. Botts successfully completed a mediation course “6Hour Mediation Training: An Introduction to North Carolina Court Organization, Legal Terminology, and Civil Procedure.”

Dr. Botts began his law studies at the Charlotte School of Law in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dr. Grattan Brown, Assistant Professor of Theology, read a paper “Ordinary, Extraordinary and Futile: What’s the Difference and What Difference Does It Make?” at the conference “Human Dignity at the End of Life” in San Antonio, Texas on March 23, 2012.

Dr. Brown’s book review of Christopher Kaczor’s The Ethics of Abortion will appear in the upcoming issue of Nova et Vetera.

Dr. Brown contributed the essay “A Free Society of SelfCorrection?” to a Festschrift in honor of the thought of noted American intellectual Michael Novak.

Dr. Laura Campbell, Director of Teacher Education for the Charlotte Campus, completed her Ed.D. from Barry University in May. Dr. Travis Cook, Assistant Professor of Government and Political Philosophy, served on the search committee for his department.

Dr. Svetlana Corwin, Assistant Professor of English, presented “The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind” at the Belmont Abbey College Literary Conference on June 23, 2012.

Dr. Nathalie Coté, Chair of the Psychology Department and Associate Professor of Psychology, gave an invited address on her research on Self-Compassion at University of South Carolina at Lancaster (USC-L) in February as part of a lecture series sponsored by the USC-L Psychology Club.

Dr. Coté is co-authoring a chapter on chairing psychology departments with colleagues at James Madison University and University of Florida for the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Psychology Education, edited by Dr. Dana Dunn.

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Dr. Carson Daly, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, delivered a talk “Lectio Divina, the Study of Rhetoric, and Serving the Common Good” to BAC Rhetoric instructors on August 10—a speech that she had previously given at Saint Anselm’s College as part of a conference on Benedictine Pedagogy in Manchester, New Hampshire. She also contributed the introduction to Rudyard Kipling’s “If ” for the second edition of The Belmont Abbey Reader, expected to be published in time for fall of 2013. In October, Dr. Daly participated in Baylor University’s Technology and Human Flourishing conference in Waco, Texas on the topic “The Way Out of Mordor.”

Mr. Simon Donoghue staged Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, as the initial production of the 20122013 season.

Mr. Donoghue contributed the introductory article on Elizabeth I to the second edition of The Belmont Abbey College Reader.

Mr. Donoghue performed More, a one-man play that he wrote, at the annual conference of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars—held in Washington, D. C. on September 29—to great acclaim.

Dr. Jennifer Ellington, Assistant Professor of Biology, was reappointed for another three-year term as a community member on the University of North CarolinaCharlotte’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Dr. Diana Elliott, Associate Professor of Psychology, served on the search committee for Criminal Justice.

Dr. Elliott headed a group of more than 20 teenagers who did mission work in Zimbabwean villages last summer under the auspices of Teen Missions.

Dr. Troy Feay, Associate Professor of History, had a chapter “Creating the People of God: French Utopian Dreams and the Moralization of Africans and Slaves” published in July 2012 by Oxford University Press in the book In God’s Empire: French Missionaries and the Modern World.

Ms. Daphne Friday, Lecturer in Business, negotiated a partnership with the College’s Crusader newspaper to give several students enrolled in her Marketing practical experience working in advertising sales. She hopes to develop this pilot program into a permanent partnership.

Dr. Tara Galloway, Assistant Professor of Education, presented a research paper Diagnostic Accuracy of Formative Assessments and Optimal Cutoff Scores for Prediction of High Stakes Assessment at the American Educational Research Association annual conference in Vancouver, April 12-17.

Dr. Galloway is serving as a member of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Advisory Board for the Diagnostic Reading Assessment Program.

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Dr. Galloway served as team captain for 15 players in a Kickball Tournament on August 4. The tournament was a community service project for 5th grade students at Rankin Elementary called “Kickin’ It to Hunger.” The team raised $150, which went to the Community Relief Organization (CRO) in Mt. Holly, North Carolina.

Dr. Galloway gave a talk on Training Preservice Teachers to Improve Student Performance with Active Student Responding at the Council for Exceptional Children Teacher Education Division (TED) Conference in November.

Dr. Michael Hood was honored at the 2012 Academic Awards dinner in honor of his retirement at the end of the spring 2012 semester. He taught more than three decades at the Abbey. Dr. William Thierfelder, President of Belmont Abbey College, read a summary of Dr. Hood’s accomplishments during his long tenure at the College.

Dr. Daniel Hutchinson, Assistant Professor of History, will present his paper “Southern (In) Hospitality: Military Bases and Civil-Military Relations in the American South During World War II” at the Society of Military History Annual Meeting in Lisle, IL, in June of 2012.

Dr. Hutchinson received the Milo B. Howard Award from the Alabama Historical Association for the best article published in the Alabama Review during 2011-2012. This honor, awarded in April of 2012, was for his article “We are the most fortunate of prisoners: The Axis POW Experience at Camp Opelika, Alabama, during World War II” in October 2011.

Dr. Amanda Kloo, Associate Professor of Education, co-authored a white paper commissioned by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (to be published as a book in 2013 or 2014). The paper is entitled “AA-MAS in Pennsylvania: Defining the Population; Tracking Their Performance, Reporting Longitudinal Student Achievement Outcomes for Students with Disabilities in Pennsylvania.” Her co-authored manuscript “Performance of Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities on Early Grade Curriculum-Based Measures of Word and Passage Reading Fluency” was also accepted for publication in Exceptional Children (2013).

Dr. Kloo concluded her work as Co-Principal Investigator on a six-month, $50,000 U. S. Department of Education Enhanced Assessment scale-up research grant awarded to the South Carolina Department of Education to explore opportunities to learn grade-level Common Core Standards and the Expanded Core Curriculum for students with visual impairments.

Dr. Kloo concluded her work as Co-Principal Investigator on an 18-month, $1.8 million U. S. Department of Education Enhanced Assessment Grant awarded to

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university and state education agency partners in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and South Carolina to study improved measurement of opportunities to learn gradelevel academic content for students with disabilities.

Mr. Mitchell McIntosh, Lecturer in Business, recently completed AT&T 2012’s Leading with Distinction−a management development program consisting of twelve seminars.

Dr. Justin Litke, Assistant Professor of Government and Political Philosophy, had an article “Varieties of American Exceptionalism: Why John Winthrop is No Imperialist” published in The Journal of Church and State.

Dr. Michael McLeod, Professor of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department, served on a SACS off-site reaffirmation committee looking at three colleges.

Dr. Litke has just had his book, American Exceptionalism: From Exemplar to Empire, accepted by University of Kentucky Press for publication.

Dr. Judith McDonald, Assistant Professor of Education, gave a presentation on integrating the natural water cycle with the industrial water cycle at the regional NASA workshop in February 2012. Attendees included teachers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.

Dr. McDonald served as the Coordinator for Wellesley College’s prestigious Summer Science program.

Dr. McDonald designed and conducted a two-day workshop in March 2012 for third, fourth, and fifth-grade teachers. The workshop included rigorous science content, technology integration, and instructional strategies that best reach all students.

Dr. McDonald designed and implemented a sixth-grade science curriculum night for students and families at Southwest Middle School in Charlotte in March 2012.

The students in her ED409 Science Methods class conducted mini-lessons for over 60 families.

Dr. McDonald coordinated the fourth annual Girls Leading Girls in Science Abbey Day with 30 girls from North Belmont Elementary School in attendance. Twelve BAC female STEM majors/minors established a mentoring relationship with the girls and many agreed to attend Field Day at North Belmont. Twelve local women scientists attended the luncheon to discuss their work and career choices. The day was the most successful GLGS event yet.

Dr. McDonald was chosen by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (SENAGT) as the 2012 North Carolina State Winner of the Outstanding Earth Science Educator (OESE) Award. Dr. McDonald was recognized for her impact on elementary science education through guiding future teachers in two distinct courses: ED409 Teaching Science in the Elementary Classroom and SC201 Earth Science. She was also praised by SENAGT for having “metamorphosed the science methods class for pre-service teachers” into an enjoyable experience, creating an “engaging classroom environment that is safe for questioning and risk taking for the sake of learning.”

Dr. McDonald’s achievements were particularly noted in regard to the Girls Leading Girls program in local Title 1 schools, which aims to nurture interest in science for fifth grade girls.

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Dr. McLeod and Dr. Rajive Tiwari met with department chairs at Gaston College as part of an effort to encourage transfers from there. Dr. McLeod served on two search committees—for the positions of Registrar and Director of Institutional Research.

Dr. McLeod and Dr. Sheila Reilly, Professors of Biology, attended the meeting of Health Professions Advisors of North Carolina (HPANC) on March 31 at Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine – Spartanburg campus.

Dr. McLeod attended a lecture at Queens University on “From Reading to Writing the Genetic Code” by Dr. Craig Venter, one of the leaders in decoding the human genome.

Dr. McLeod judged part of the Science Olympiad at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte in early March.

Dr. Angela Miss, Associate Professor of English, revised and updated an entry on rhetoric for the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

Dr. Miss has solicited and is coordinating all the contributions to the second edition of The Belmont Abbey College Reader (which she edited) so that this source book will have the requisite scholarly apparatus – including introductions to periods, authors, genres, and various works.

Dr. Miss delivered a talk “The Pleasures and Perils of Interdisciplinary Writing Courses for First-Years: Transferring Knowledge Across Disciplines” at the Four C’s Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on March 22.

Dr. Miss received the 2012 Adrian Excellence in Teaching Award at the Academic Awards dinner on April 24. She delivered a talk at the ceremony that dealt with influences upon her teaching and received a standing ovation.

Dr. Rebecca Munro, Assistant Professor of English, presented “The Humane Nature of Shakespeare’s Transformational Art” at the Belmont Abbey College Literary Conference on June 23, 2012.

Dr. Munro wrote two book reviews for Boston College’s journal Religion and the Arts—of, respectively, Jan Blits’ New Heaven, New Earth: Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and Ruben Espinosa’s Masculinity and Marian Efficacy in Shakespeare’s England. These reviews will appear in Volumes 16 and 17.

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on the 3rd edition of Introduction to Middle School (to be published in January 2014), which is the market leader in middle-level preparation programs.

Dr. Munro delivered a paper “Disturbing Grace, Surprising Grace, Amazing Grace in Margaret Atwood and Mary Doria Russell” at the Conference on Christianity and Literature held at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina from April 12-14. Her paper placed as a runner-up in the conference’s “best paper” contest.

Dr. Powell also continues writing online teacher preparation modules for the Pearson Publishing Company.

Dr. Munro performed Shakespeare’s song from his play The Winter’s Tale, “Fear No More the Heat of the Sun” for the yearly Shakespeare Slam held in the Haid Theatre, for which she also serves as a contest judge.

Dr. Joseph Pizza, Assistant Professor of English, delivered a paper “The Value of Difference: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Writing Instruction” at the Four C’s Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on March 22.

Dr. Munro, with the Agora Editorial Elves, hosted and performed at the last Agora Poetry, Song, and Story night of the year. She also planned and organized the evening which brought more than two hours of poetry and short fiction reading, song, and music to a crowd of students, faculty, and monks. Dr. Munro performed two songs with students and faculty; she also read Robert Frost’s poem “Birches” to accompany Father Arthur’s explanation of how one swings a birch tree.

Dr. Pizza has been invited to submit an article on “new directions for Hopkins scholarship” for an upcoming special issue of Religion and Literature.

Dr. Munro, along with Don Beagle, Director of the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library, has initiated a digital library project that will display the covers of editions of Agora since its inception, along with brief information about each. Dr. Munro and Mr. Beagle will also develop a poster triptych that can be used at Abbey Experience Days.

Dr. Frank Murray, Professor Emeritus of History, was honored at the Academic Awards dinner on April 24 on the occasion of his final retirement as an adjunct professor in the History Department. Dr. Murray taught at the College for fifty years. Dr. William Thierfelder, President of the College, read a citation listing Dr. Murray’s impressive list of service and accomplishments during his tenure at the College.

Mr. Bill Myers, Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems, received a Distinguished Service Award from the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) on March 2, 2012. He has served the group in numerous capacities: as the Membership Secretary, as Treasurer, as Registrar for CCSC conferences, and as a member of the Steering Committee for the Southeastern Small College Computing Conference and the CCSC: Southeastern Conference.

Dr. Sara Powell, Chair and Professor of Education, authored a chapter to be published in Middle Level Curriculum: Voices and Visions of the Self-Enhancing School in January 2013. Dr. Powell’s chapter is titled “From Debilitating Teacher Self-Perceptions to Enhancing Teacher Self-Perceptions.”

Dr. Powell has been invited to prepare a third edition of Your Introduction to Education: Explorations in Teaching (to be published in January, 2014), one of Pearson’s top three general introductory college texts. She continues to work

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Dr. Melinda Ratchford, Associate Professor of Education, was featured in an interview on Channel 9 WSOC News/ Channel 64 WAXN concerning the Titanic on April 1. She was also featured in an article in the Charlotte Observer on April 1 entitled “Professor Fascinated by Titanic.”

Dr. Ratchford was in demand for her expertise of the Titanic during the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking. She gave presentations at ten area schools and libraries to crowds that, in most cases, broke the record for attendance at similar events.

Dr. Ratchford volunteered for three weeks with Habitat for Humanity’s Book Sale of 42,000 volumes. She managed the collection and established the rare book room.

Dr. Ratchford served as a reviewer and is listed in the Acknowledgments for Donna Gollnick and Philip Chinn’s ninth edition of Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society (Pearson, 2013).

Dr. Laurence Reardon, Assistant Professor of Government and Political Philosophy, served on the search committees for Criminal Justice, English, and Psychology.

Dr. Sheila Reilly, Professor of Biology, continues to serve as a trustee for CaroMont Health and Gaston Memorial Hospital. She is a member of three Board committees and chairs one of them. On April 2, she attended a Chair-toChair Volunteer Appreciation Dinner sponsored by the Gaston County Commissioners, representing CaroMont and the Hospital.

Dr. Jane Russell, Associate Professor of Theology, published a poem “Time Out” in Sacred Journey: The Journal of Fellowship in Prayer.

Dr. Hugh Sales, Assistant Professor of Business, presented his findings on the “philanthropic propensity” to scholars at the international conference of the Association for Research on Non-Profit Organizations and Voluntary Action in Indianapolis, Indiana in November.

Dr. Gary Scott, Chair and Professor of Business, recently reviewed the Prentice Hall textbook Macroeconomics 3rd ed.,

by Glenn Hubbard and Anthony O’Brien.

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Mr. Gary Sivak, Technical Director of the Abbey Players and Lecturer in Theatre, designed the set for the Central Piedmont Community College Summer Theatre’s production of the musical Guys and Dolls and served as resident lighting designer for the entire summer season.

Dr. Ron Thomas, Assistant Professor of Theology, published an audio visual course entitled Introduction to Theology: Tradition, Doctrine and Culture (Catholic Courses/ St. Benedict Press: Charlotte, 2012), consisting of eight, thirty-minute presentations on CD and DVD designed to introduce a general audience to Catholic theology.

Dr. Thomas’ article “The Sanctification of Culture in the Universal Church: The Christendom Polity and Conclusion” was published in volume III of Anglican Embers: Quarterly Journal of the Anglican Use Society.

Dr. Thomas’ article “St. John Fisher” was published in Volume 3 of The Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science and Social Policy, edited by J. Varacalli, R. Myers, and M. Coulter.

Dr. Eugene Thuot, Director of the Honors Program and Chair of the Government and Political Philosophy Department, chaired the search committee for Government and Political Philosophy.

Dr. Rajive Tiwari, Chair of the Mathematics and Physics Division, Coordinator of the Physics minor, and Professor of Physics, volunteered at Myers Park High School as one of the judges for Senior Exit Projects during spring break.

Dr. William Van Lear, Professor of Economics, advised a money management company, Fross & Fross Wealth Management, LLC (headquartered in The Villages, Florida), on the influence that political campaigns exert on financial markets. The company plans to use Dr. Van Lear’s briefing paper to further educate its clients.

Dr. Van Lear’s article “What the Writings of Fr. Ryan and Catholic Social Thought say Concerning Modern Capitalism” will be published later this year in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought.

Dr. Patrick Wadden, Assistant Professor of History, hosted a class in fall 2012 in Gaelic for interested members of the College community.

Dr. Mary Ellen Weir, Associate Professor of English, presented “Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People’ and the Reader’s ‘Moment of Grace’” at the Belmont Abbey College Literary Conference on June 23, 2012.

Dr. Weir has written the introductions to the works of Alfred Lord Tennyson and John Keats for the second edition of The Belmont Abbey College Reader.

Dr. Williams delivered the New Testament portion of the Summer Bible Institute at the Oratory Center for Spirituality in Rock Hill, South Carolina on July 8-13, 2012.

Mr. Joseph Wysocki, Assistant Professor of Government and Political Philosophy, was selected for a prestigious “Young Leader’s Fellowship” by the American Council on Germany to participate in the Young Leaders’ Program in Germany in summer 2012.

An article by Mr. Wysocki “Justice Alito and American Founder James Wilson: Rediscovering a Natural Law Jurisprudence Centered on Injury” was accepted for publication in the spring 2012 issue of Listening: Journal of Communication, Ethics, Religion, and Culture.

Staff Accomplishments Ms. Sharon Allen, the Coordinator of Academic Support is now certified with the ALCE (Association of Learning Center Excellence).

Ms. Denise Rhodes, the Coordinator of Evening Services, was elected to a state-wide post; she sits on the minority enhancement committee for NCICU. Ms. Kimberly Stallings, the Academic Resource Specialist is pursuing certification with the Americans with Disabilities Association.

Mr. Thomas Turner, the Director of the Office of Academic Assistance and Ms. Kimberly Stallings, the Academic Resource Specialist have earned their certification with the North Carolina Association for the Disabled (AHEAD).

Ms. Karen Price, Dr. Sandra Nicks Baker and Ms. Mary Heuser presented a paper entitled “Measuring students’ engagement on campus: Are the NSSE benchmarks an appropriate measure of adult students’ engagement?” at the National Association of Institutional Research (AIR) conference last June in New Orleans. This was an invited presentation following their being awarded best paper at the annual Southern Association of Institutional Research (SAIR) conference in October of 2011.

Ms. Alexandrea Pizza, Preservation Specialist, has been elected to the Board of the North Carolina Preservation Consortium.

Dr. David Williams, Associate Professor of Theology and Chair of the Theology Department, presented a paper about end-of-life issues at St. Pius X Parish in Greensboro on May 19, 2012.

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SPORTS NEWS

STEPHEN MISS

Leads the Crusaders The New Abbey Director of Athletics Continues as Head Men’s Basketball Coach

By Chris Poore In late August, President Dr. William Thierfelder announced the appointment of men’s basketball coach Stephen Miss to the position of Director of Athletics. Miss will continue to serve as the Crusaders men’s basketball coach, which Dr. Thierfelder sees as a testament to Miss’s excellent capabilities.

“His model of excellence and virtue has been an integral part of the education, formation, and preparation of our student-athletes.”

Dr. William Thierfelder

Miss will by all means be a much busier man this coming semester. Yet, as many of his colleagues can attest, his role at the Abbey is more than just an occupation for him. What is it that keeps him going during the long hours?

“The off-the-court and postgraduation successes of our student athletes provide the greatest satisfaction,” says Miss. “Although we have not had a losing season in my five years as a head coach, I derive great pleasure from the fact that the varsity men’s basketball team has had a 100% graduation rate over that same period: of our eighteen graduates, two were summas, one was a magna, and two were cum laudes.” Miss mentions that five of Belmont Abbey’s former student athletes have gone on to play

professionally after graduation and others are currently pursuing graduate degrees at prestigious universities, such as the University of Oxford in England and the University of Ulster in Ireland.

“As the new Athletic Director, Stephen Miss will do an exceptional job of building on all the good work of those who have come before him,” Thierfelder said. “His model of excellence and virtue has been an integral part of the education, formation, and preparation of our student-athletes. In addition to his head coaching experience, his advanced degrees in the humanities will help ensure that our students are world-class performers both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Miss makes his foray into athletics administration as he enters his sixth year as the Crusaders men’s basketball coach, a position he started on July 26, 2007 after spending the previous three seasons as the top assistant coach.

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Miss will lead a department that has ascended to unprecedented growth in the College’s history, one that has added nine sports in the last eight years. He will also direct a program that saw its women’s cross country team, women’s basketball team, men’s tennis and men’s lacrosse teams – the most teams of any in Conference Carolinas – recognized with the Messick Award for displaying the best sportsmanship. The Crusaders also claimed the overall sportsmanship award from the conference in 2012.

While Miss’s past accomplishments with the Crusaders have proven to be remarkable, he has even better hopes for the future of the Athletics Department.

“We will endeavor to provide each and every one of our student-athletes the best experience possible in college athletics, and we will aspire to foster and to cultivate a culture of virtue and excellence in and through sport. We must continue to develop innovative ideas, methods, and means to constantly improve and enhance athletics across the board.”

As Head Basketball Coach, Miss has guided the Abbey to an 80-61 mark, including a 20-win season during the 2008-09 campaign, the program’s first 20-win season since 2002-03.

Under Miss’s tutelage, guard Richard Barbee (2008-11) ended his career as the program’s fourth all-time leading scorer, netting 2,018 points, the first Crusader to eclipse the 2,000 point

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mark in 22 years. During Miss’s tenure, five players have scored over 1,000 points, three have signed professional contracts and two were invited to NBA pre-draft workouts with the Charlotte Hornets.

Miss has coached 11 academic allconference players and ten were named all-conference in his five years, with a 100 percent graduation rate among his players.

Prior to joining the Abbey, Miss served one season as an assistant coach at Towson University during the 200304 season. That year, the Tigers doubled the previous season’s win total and recorded the program’s first ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference tournament victory. From 1998 until 2003, Miss was an assistant at the University of Georgia, beginning as a graduate student assistant and eventually becoming administrative assistant for the Bulldogs. While Miss was on staff at Georgia, the Bulldogs won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Eastern Division title in 2002, made post-season appearances in the 2001 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments as well as in the 1999 NIT, and were ranked among the top 25 teams in the country for the last 10 weeks of the 2002-03 campaign.

In addition to lottery pick Jarvis Hayes (Washington Wizards), firstrounder Jumaine Jones (Los Angeles Lakers), second-rounder Rashad

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Wright, and free agent Damien Wilkins (Seattle SuperSonics), Miss aided in the development of 12 players who went on to play professional basketball at Towson and Georgia.

Miss received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina in 1992 and holds two master’s degrees, one in English (1996) from the University of Georgia and one in Irish Theatre (1997) from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Miss and his wife, Angela (Chair of the English Department and Director of the Rhetoric and Writing Program at Belmont Abbey College) were married in 2003 and reside in Belmont. The couple has two children, Abigail Grace, born November of 2004, and a son, Stephen Patrick Mitchell, born January of 2007.

“I am humbled beyond words to be named Athletic Director at Belmont Abbey College,” Miss said. “I am grateful to Dr. Thierfelder, Abbot Placid and the entire Abbey community for this tremendous privilege and for their confidence. I would like to express my gratitude as well to Quin Monahan for his service to our department the past two years. My charge is to continue to foster a culture of virtue through sport and to provide our student-athletes with the best experience possible while simultaneously assisting and mentoring them in becoming more complete individuals in mind, body and spirit.”

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The Ladies Take it ALL! Conference Carolinas

CHAMPIONS

By Chris Poore

Soccer Team Captures League-Best Seventh Conference Title

Some traditions never end.

They keep going and going.

Arguably the most consistent athletic team in Belmont Abbey’s history, the Crusaders women’s soccer team captured its league-best seventh Conference Carolinas title with a 1-0 win over Pfeiffer on November 4.

Much like the season, the win was a dramatic one.

The only goal of the contest came with one second left in the first half, as

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junior midfielder Silvia Vazquez–who would go on to become the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player– knocked home a 20-yard rainbow that dropped in the net just as the buzzer sounded.

The goal was the catalyst for bigger things to come, as the dramatics did not stop there.

One week later, the Abbey took on Lenoir-Rhyne in the sixth NCAA Tournament in the school’s history.

Despite being outshot 24-5 the Crusader

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defense did not budge as the two teams entered sudden death overtime.

The sudden death overtime lasted 38 seconds. Belmont Abbey controlled the kickoff and sent a long ball down to the right flank, where Ananda Gebreyesus flagged it down. After gaining possession, she sidestepped a defender, and fired a turning, left footed shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the head of Lenoir-Rhyne goalkeeper Caitlyn Scruggs and into the top left corner of the net for her fourth goal of the year.

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The win was the Abbey’s first in the NCAA Tournament since November 14, 1999, a 3-2 win over Presbyterian in a match that the Abbey trailed 2-0. The Crusaders had lost their last four matches in the NCAA Tournament

until that day.

As all good stories do, this one came to an end two days later, as the Abbey lost 2-1 to Columbus State, ending the season with a mark of 12-10-1.

The honors came pouring in, as

three players—Silvia Vazquez, Alana Ryczek and Meghan Philps—were named to the all-conference team.

In January, the Gaston County Board of Commissioners honored the Crusaders with a commendation.

Volleyball Team: First Time Conference Champs

Predictions sure do go wrong sometimes.

Picked to finish fifth in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll, the Belmont Abbey women’s volleyball team defied expectations, all except their own, as the Abbey fashioned its best season in school history.

The Crusaders ran roughshod through Conference Carolinas, as they finished the record-breaking 2012 season with a mark of 26-5, the first Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

The team posted school records in overall wins (26), conference wins (14), winning streak (9), all-conference honorees (5) and all-region honorees (1).

November 17 stood as the watermark day for the program, which had never before advanced past the quarterfinal stage of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Belmont Abbey

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finished the regular season with a 14-2 conference mark, with both losses coming to Queens.

But on November 17, the Crusaders won the war after losing the two battles.

On that day, playing on Queens’ home court, the Abbey swept the Royals 3-0 to earn the Conference Carolinas championship.

The triumph, as sweet as any in recent memory, allowed the Abbey to advance to the first NCAA Tournament in school history.

Seeded as the eighth and last seed, the Crusaders battled valiantly with the topranked team in the Southeast Region, before losing in the fifth and final set to end the season with a 3-2 loss.

Despite the end of the season, the haul of awards was plentiful.

Head coach Mary DeJute was the first coach in program history to be named Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year. Kay Schellenberg was the

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second player in school history to be named Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, and is the first Abbey player to be named to the all-region team.

Younger sister Hannah Schellenberg was the second player in school history to earn Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year honors. It was the first, and only, time that the three Schellenberg sisters (which includes middle sister Lydia) played on the same team at any level of play.

The senior class of Kay Schellenberg (aspiring elementary school teacher), Angela Jubb (a three-time allconference selection who will enter the coaching ranks), Remick Tiller (who graduated in December and entered graduate school), Morgan Kirby (a future sports marketer) and Julianne Pisano (a future event planner) won 68 matches in their careers, which is more than double of any other senior class in school history.

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In Honor Of

Jim Riches 1971- 2001

By Chris Poore The Jimmy Riches Memorial game on the morning of January 26 in Wheeler Center was a mini-homecoming of sorts, as many of Jimmy’s friends, classmates and fellow FDNY firefighters traveled from New York to Belmont to witness the FDNY/Abbey team defeat the Charlotte Metro Fire team by a score of 73-67 on the floor where Jimmy once played—and excelled. A member of the College’s inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, Jimmy is one of the top three-point shooters in school history. After leaving the Abbey in the early 1990s, he returned to his native New York and became a fireman.

On September 11, he was involved in the rescue effort of the north tower of the World Trade Center. That is where Jimmy endured the furor of hatred, and ultimately, lost his life. His body was recovered by his dad and brothers in March of 2002.

The Jimmy Riches Memorial game attracted over 300 people for the event, including the entire Riches Family, who were presented with Jimmy's #20 jersey later that night before the Crusaders game against Lees-McRae. Approximately $5,000 was raised, with the money going toward the Jimmy Riches scholarship fund which will benefit Belmont Abbey student/athletes.

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ALUMNI NEWS

October 4-6 Where will YOU be?

STROLLIN’ ABBEY LANE? (We hope so!)

HOMECOMING 2013 SAVE THE DATE October 4-6, 2013

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ALUMNI NEWS

ABBEY LUMNI The Office of Alumni Relations Dear Alumni and Friends, A beautiful autumn has come and gone here on campus. The bright colors of orange and gold on Abbey Lane are a distant memory and the chill of winter is now in the air. I hope you can look back on your days at the Abbey and remember such beauty.

Traditionally at the Abbey, the arrival of fall brings Homecoming weekend, and this year was no exception.

Homecoming was held on October 5-7 and was a smashing success. Camaraderie, celebration and excitement were in the air and evident at all the events held that weekend. Alumni and friends took great pleasure in reminiscing with old friends and meeting new ones. We had record-breaking attendance at most events and everyone had such fun. We are already planning for next year, so stay tuned.

As we move forward with the rest of the school year, your Alumni Relations Office and Alumni Association Board are committed to serving you and to meeting your needs as alumni. We’ve seen an increase in our alumni participation, and we thank you. Your financial contributions, volunteer commitments and continued comments, suggestions and support are so very important to us.

Our mission is to develop programs, events and services that keep you connected to your alma mater and to your alumni family. We will be traveling to cities throughout the East Coast (we’ve already been to Orlando, FL and Newport, RI this past fall) to host alumni gatherings. If you are interested in helping host an event, please let us know.

We will continue to evaluate and update our programs for all of our alumni. Please look for your copy of the Alumni E-Newsletter to hit your email box. Send in your stories, accomplishments and other noteworthy items to us so that we can put them in the newsletter. To find important program updates, event listings and contact information, please go to our website: www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/alumni.

Anytime throughout the year, you are invited to stop by and visit us in the Lowery Alumni House on Campus. We welcome your visit.

Thank you for your support of Belmont Abbey College and may God bless you and your family, Christine Goff Peeler

Director

Alumni and Community Relations

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Monte Monteleone '71 Assistant Director Alumni and Community Relations

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Abbey Alum, Author, Business Professional:

Success Started Here.

By Emily Williams Luis Lobo, a 1983 Abbey alumnus, recently marked his thirtieth year with BB&T. He previously served as the President for BB&T’s Washington Metropolitan Region based in Washington, D.C. from 2005 to 2011.

A native of Costa Rica in Central America, Lobo grew up in Lincolnton, North Carolina. After graduating with a double major in economics and business administration from the Abbey, went on to achieve much success in his professional career. Lobo also received an MBA from Campbell University, an honors degree from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, and a post-graduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

He has been featured on NPR’s Marketplace and in national and regional publications. Minority Business & Professional Network named Lobo one of the 50 Most Influential Minorities in Business in the nation in 2004. That same year, Lobo published his first book, It IS Your Attitude. In 2005, Belmont Abbey College inducted him into its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Wall of Fame. The Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named him Banker of the Year in 2007 for his support of financial services to the multi-cultural community.

The Hispanic Committee of Virginia awarded him the Hermes Award in 2007 for his community leadership in the Hispanic community in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Lobo credits his many accolades to the Abbey, as his longtime source of encouragement and inspiration.

You have had a successful career at BB&T since graduating from the Abbey in 1983. To what do you attribute to this success?

Any success that I have enjoyed in my career has been the result of involved leaders within the organization. The BB&T Culture, based on a foundational Vision and Mission, requires 33,000 team members to achieve WIN results for our clients, our communities, BB&T shareholders and for ourselves. The values of reality, reasoning, independent thinking, productivity, honesty, integrity, justice, pride, self-esteem and teamwork; all in unison with one another, this is our decision template. BB&T leaders execute on these principles and the outcomes have been extraordinary for all constituencies. I have had the opportunity to serve in twelve distinct markets, within four states and Washington, D.C. Gaining the awareness necessary to make that kind of contribution has been a great satisfaction to my family and me.

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In what way did your education at the Abbey prepare you for your future in Business? Was there anything in particular that you recall as having helped you in the transition from undergrad into the businessman you are today?

The impact of my education at Belmont Abbey College is significant. Again, the involvement of professors, monks, and leadership while at the Abbey and thereafter proved to be a competitive advantage. I have a group of mentors—a Board of Directors, if you will—that have advised me for many years in all aspects of my life. Abbot Oscar, while head of campus ministry, always made me feel included and involved in the Coffee House music session. Professors Carl Van Orden, Dr. Stanley Dudko, Fr. David Brown, Abbot Placid and others remained engaged and responsive. My first seminar upon publication of my book, It IS Your Attitude, in 2005 was hosted by BAC. My family established the Jerry Lobo Business Scholarship Fund because of our gratitude to BAC on so many points in our lives. Finally, it is less the subject matter that you are learning as it is the applicability of knowledge through the human experience.

What advice would you give to a current Abbey student who wants to follow in your footsteps, either in Business or a related field?

Capitalism is messy but just. The “free market” rewards those who provide the greatest value to their clients, which is different than the cheapest price (location, product, etc.). The recent Great Recession has created great suffering due to a lack of knowledge, lack of ethics and irresponsible behavior by businesses and their clients. My industry has suffered a reputational hit, and we understand that as a result, we have to become involved in our communities through financial literacy in business, personal financial budgeting and responsible home ownership. The most successful business organizations are those that clearly understand that their success is directly tied to the success of their clients and constituencies. Financial Services is a fast growing industry within the U.S. due to the massive transfer of wealth from the Baby Boom generation to their children and often requires expert advice on savings, credit, insurance, and succession management. We need you to help the United States remain the most competitive economy in the world. Go for it!

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Serving His Hometown The Hon. David A. Bowers, J.D. ’74, Mayor of Roanoke, Va., is sitting in the catbird seat for the fourth time.

By Shelby Schultheis

The Honorable David A. Bowers, J.D., Loyola University College of Law ’78, and Roanoke Young Democrats

After David Bowers, ’74 graduated from Belmont Abbey College, he took advantage of a $15 application fee for Loyola’s law school and applied. He had never been to New Orleans and didn’t know a lot about Loyola, but he thought he would take a chance on it—a decision he is glad he made.

While in New Orleans, Bowers worked several jobs off and on. He delivered

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The Times-Picayune newspaper, worked as a waiter and worked in the law library at Loyola.

While working in the law library, he was befriended by Loyola Professor Emeritus Rousseau Van Voorhees, who enjoyed reading at the law library. One day, when Bowers was telling Van Voorhees about his plans for when he returned home to Roanoke, Va. after

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college, the professor told him, “Well, David, when you go back, practice law and become the mayor—you’ll be in the catbird seat.” Confused, Bowers asked him what he meant. Van Voorhees clarified, “That’s a southern term for ‘you’ll be on top of the world.’ Your dreams will come true.”

Fourteen years later, in 1992, when he became mayor of Roanoke for the

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ALUMNI NEWS

first time, Bowers had not forgotten Van Voorhees’ words. On his desk in the mayor’s office sat a name plate that was inscribed: Mayor David Bowers, In The Catbird Seat.

Bowers adds that the people of Roanoke use that colloquialism from time to time, but for those who are unfamiliar with its meaning, he’s always ready to explain it.

“You’re in the right place at the right time,” Bowers tells them.

As of this past May’s election, Bowers is sitting in the catbird seat for the fourth time in his career. After first being elected in 1992, he was reelected in 1996, and served until 2000. In 2008, he was elected once again, and after being reelected this spring, is continuing his service to his community for another four years.

Since Roanoke operates on a council manager form of government, Bowers isn’t the full-time, executive type of mayor. He also functions as a lawyer and as an adjunct professor at Virginia Western Community College where he teaches classes in government.

His typical days start at 7:30 a.m. and their length depends on the demands of his schedule. He often goes back and forth between the city hall and the courthouse in the mornings and in the afternoons he meets with clients or attends a court hearing.

“I just keep moving and smiling all day long. That’s my motto,” Bowers says.

Bowers finds the natural beauty of Roanoke to be breath-taking and promotes it as a tourist destination for those seeking an escape near the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Roanoke also has people from more than one hundred different nationalities

“I tell people, when I'm elected, I promise to give you my heart, my honesty, my hard work, and my good sense of humor.”

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David A. Bowers ’74, Senior, Belmont Abbey College

inhabiting it, and this diversity, for Bowers, is one of the things he loves about being the mayor.

Bowers enjoys serving the people of his community and feels that he’s established a good rapport with them.

“I tell people, when I’m elected, I promise to give you my heart, my honesty, my hard work, and my good sense of humor,” Bowers says.

As mayor, Bowers puts the people’s needs ahead of his own.

“I am conscientiously trying to figure out, as an elected representative of the local democracy, what the peoples’ agenda is and promote it for Roanoke. It’s not my agenda,” he adds.

Another aspect of Bowers’ job is making the city of Roanoke thrive for the permanent residents. According to Bowers, Roanoke is “a very stable city,” which offers safe neighborhoods and good schools. In fact, the crime rate in the city is down for the seventh consecutive year, and nearly all of the schools in the inner-city school system are accredited. Only one school did not become accredited this year.

“For an inner-city in Virginia with high education standards, we have a remarkably good school system,” Bowers says. “And that one school that fell back this year, we’ll make sure that by next year we bring it back up to accreditation.”

This concern over education stems from the mayor’s organization of an initiative called “ACT Now” which stands for academic educational

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development, cultural economic development, and tourism economic development. Bowers adds that this initiative is projected over the next 10 to 20 years to bring more graduate education programs to Roanoke, to sustain cultural icons such as the many museums, and to promote Roanoke as a tourist destination.

As a part of the academic educational development, Roanoke is now the home to the Virginia Tech medical school. Bowers feels that his city is becoming poised to be a regional medical center, on par with WinstonSalem and Chapel Hill.

Bowers enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, Margarita Cubas, from Honduras, and his pets—a dog named Catcher, after J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, and a cat that he affectionately calls Kitty. [Bowers was an English major at the Abbey, which explains the literary moniker for his canine companion.] He also enjoys a hike to Mill Mountain, right outside his back door, with Margarita and Catcher.

He loves his hometown and feels that his greatest accomplishment is becoming the mayor of such a beautiful city.

“That was my dream come true,” Bowers says. “So, I’m in the catbird seat when I’m in the mayor’s office.”

This article was edited and reprinted with permission from the Fall 2012 Loyola Lawyer magazine.

The author of this article, Shelby Schultheis ’14, is an English major at Loyola.

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Distinguished Alumni Honored at 2012 Homecoming The Brother Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus of the Year and Wall of Fame Induction Ceremony held during the 2012 homecoming honored four distinguished alumni. Mr. Michael E. Snyder ’62, Dr. Joseph C. Whitt ’69 and Dr. Thomas E. Nolan ’73 were inducted into the Wall of Fame and Mr. Richard G. Hoefling ’71 was selected the Brother Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. All four alumni have demonstrated the highest standards and achieved great success based on a strong foundation provided by an education acquired at Belmont Abbey College.

The purpose of the Wall of Fame Award is to recognize individuals from Belmont Abbey College who have distinguished themselves in either their professional or personal lives and to afford the undergraduates of Belmont Abbey College an opportunity to see the accomplishments of those who went before them. The Brother Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award is conferred to a graduate of Belmont Abbey College, Belmont Abbey Prep School, Sacred Heart Academy or Sacred Heart College. He or she is recognized for outstanding personal achievements that exemplify the ideals of the College.

Brother Gregory Corcoran Distinguished Alumnus Of The Year Richard G. Hoefling, J.D. ’71 Richard Hoefling graduated from Belmont Abbey College in 1971 with a BA in political science. He continued his education at Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, graduating in 1975. While at the Abbey, Hoefling was recognized as an outstanding student athlete and Who’s Who in American Colleges & Universities. He was junior class president, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon and captain of the soccer team.

Hoefling is currently practicing law in Charlotte, NC and represents both the College and the Monastery. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Good Will Publishers Board of Directors, Executive Vice President, CFO and General Counsel, as well as President of the Good Will Publishers Corporate and Organizational companies.

Before moving to North Carolina, Hoefling practiced Real Estate and Securities Law at the firm of Dunaway, McCarthy and Dye in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the North Carolina, District of Columbia and Virginia Bars.

Hoefling is a Knight of Malta and has served as an advisor to and member of a number of non-profit boards and foundations, including a long time affiliation as a member of the Board of Trustees of Belmont Abbey College, the Alumni Board of Directors, Room at the Inn (Mecklenburg Area) and Charlotte Catholic High School Foundations.

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Rich Hoefling ’71 and his wife Diane (Klinker) ’71 Sacred Heart.

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2012 Wall of Fame Inductees Michael E. Snyder, ’62 Mike Snyder received his BA in Business Administration in 1962 from Belmont Abbey College. He was the 1998 Belmont Abbey College Alumnus of the Year.

Snyder is the retired Vice President of Research and Development of the former E.J. Snyder & Company, Inc., a family owned textile knit goods dyeing and finishing company located in Albemarle, NC. At its peak, E.J Snyder & Company employed over 400 people.

He was honorably discharged from the U. S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1968. Snyder’s philanthropic work is extensive. He established the Michael E. Snyder Family Scholarship at Belmont Abbey College in 1983. He is a current member of the Board of Trustees of Belmont Abbey College, originally joining the board in 1995. He is a former board chairman of Uwharrie Capital Corporation, a multibank holding company and former board chairman of the Bank of Stanly.

The Snyder family helped establish the Stanly County Association of Retarded Citizens of which Snyder is past President and was a board member for nearly 50 years. He remains active in the community life and affairs in Stanly County where he is a member of the Annunciation Catholic Church, a board member of the Stanly County Community Foundation and the Stanly Regional Hospital Foundation.

Thomas E. Nolan ’73 Thomas Nolan graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1973 from Belmont Abbey College with a BS in Premedical Chemistry. He received his MD degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1977 and his MBA from the University of New Orleans in 1998.

Dr. Nolan is Professor and Department Head Emeritus of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the LSU Health Science Center-New Orleans. He was Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Chief Medical Officer for the LSU Health Care Network. Prior to LSU, he was an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Georgia. He served as the President of the Medical Staff, Hospital Center Director for Women’s and Newborns’ Services at Charity Hospital from 1996-2005 and was

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Joseph Craig Whitt ’69

DDS, MS, MBA

Craig Whitt graduated in 1969 from Belmont Abbey College with a BS in Chemistry. He earned a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Bowie State University and a Master of Business Administration from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. Whitt graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry in 1978 and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and a Fellow of the American Academy of General Dentistry and the International College of Dentists.

After 30 years of service in the United States Navy as both a Line Officer in nuclear submarines and as an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist in the Navy Dental Corps, Whitt is currently the Rinehart Professor and Chair, Department of Oral Pathology, Radiology, and Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri Kansas City and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine.

He maintains an active practice in diagnostic surgical and clinical oral pathology, is the recipient of various professional and military awards, and is the author of numerous scientific peer-reviewed papers.

MD, MBA, FACOG, FACP the Hospital Center Director for Surgical Services from 2006-2011.

He was the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 2002-2011, the President of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons from 2008-2009 and the President of the Orleans Parish Medical Society from 20102011.

Dr. Nolan, originally from Norfolk, VA, completed his residencies in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Internal Medicine at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. During his active duty career he received Navy achievement and commendation medals. He retired from the Naval Reserves as a Captain in 1997. He was the Editor-in-Chief of The Female Patient and contributed to over 150 publications and gave hundreds of lectures at the local, state and national levels.

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Come Together!

ABBEY HOMECOMING 2012

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Provided by The Office of Alumni Relations These notes are based on information gathered from January, 2012 through December, 2012. They reflect information from alums and friends of Belmont Abbey College.

59

Jim Babb ’59 and his wife Mary Lou, received the 2012 Echo Award Against Indifference, awarded annually by the Echo Foundation. The Echo Award Against Indifference honors members of the CharlotteMecklenburg community who exemplify the organization’s dedication to promoting human dignity, justice and moral courage through positive, effective action for humankind.

Past recipients include philanthropists, corporate executives and community leaders: Hugh McColl, Jr., Sandra and Leon Levine and former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt.

The Babbs are well known for their many contributions to educational, cultural and charitable institutions in the Charlotte community. Jim has spent the entirety of his career working in broadcast communications with wide impact in state and national business circles. He’s the past president and CEO of Jefferson-Pilot Communications and Outlet Communications and currently he’s executive vice president and chief operating officer of Bahakel Communications, Ltd. Operations of the three companies include television and radio properties across the nation. He is a former member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Mary Lou is the former chair of the board of trustees of the Mint Museum and briefly served as interim director of the museum. She co-founded The Woman’s Impact Fund in 2003, which helps women reach their monetary giving potential while meeting community need. Both are active on several advisory boards and have received countless honors for their work in the community.

“Mary Lou and Jim uplift the cultural, educational and philanthropic fabric of this community,” said Stephanie Ansaldo, president of The Echo Foundation. “Their compassion for others and dedication to improving the quality of life in Charlotte set the bar high as we seek to follow their noble example.”

Congratulations, Jim and Mary Lou.

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Frank Monahan ’66 of Suffolk, Virginia retired from the department of agriculture at 52 with 30 years of service. He became part owner and vice president of Superior Form Builders (taxidermy supply co.) which had a court case that went all the way to the Federal Supreme Court. His company won and set a precedent for copyright infringement. He later sold the company and now owns an antique shop specializing in period furniture.

68 Ed Antosek ’68 hosted a reunion with his Phi Kappa Pledge class from 1966 at his home near Burnsville, North Carolina. Included in that class and pictured below from left to right are Dick Evans ’69, Rick Salem ’69, Mike Fallon ’69, Ned Morris ’71 and Ed Antosek ’68. (Not in attendance/not pictured: John Hickey ’69 and Greg Rupe ’69.)

Everyone had a great weekend catching up on the good old days and enjoying the wonderful weather. For those of you who don’t know, Ed’s home in the mountains of North Carolina near Burnsville was former Abbey professor Jack Hanahan’s mountain retreat. Abbey alumni from the 60’s and 70’s spent time there and put a lot of sweat equity into the home. Most of the Brothers had not seen each other in many years, and Mike and Ned traveled from Arizona to be at the reunion.

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69 Ed Tobiason ’69 was in town visiting his brother 70 Danny Treece ’70 lives in Belmont and owns and came by the Abbey to visit with some of his old his own company, American Meetings and Events, Inc. professors such as Fr. Oscar and Fr. Arthur. Ed is retired and lives in New Jersey where he still does some consulting and traveling. After graduating from the Abbey, Ed went to El Salvador where his family lived while his father worked with Exxon. He eventually made his way back to the states and to New Jersey where he and his family have been for several years.

70 Don Falato ’70 is the proud grandfather of Aidan Nichols (5), Ella, Elizabeth and Tristan Nichols (15 month old triplets) all of whom are his daughter’s children.

Don’s son has two children, Alyssa Falato (2) and Andrew Carter Falato (6 months), born on July 2.

Don’s children are living in Massachusetts and Maryland, so getting them all together for a photo op is difficult.

However, Don and Trish fly back and forth often. They now have their very own Brady Bunch–3 boys and 3 girls–and consider themselves blessed.

which he started in 1993. Danny has 25 years of experience in planning meetings, conferences, trade shows and employee events for non-profits, Fortune 500 corporations, and religious and government entities. The best part of this story is that Danny volunteered his services this year with Homecoming 2012. His professional touch helped spice up Homecoming weekend. “Come Together” was a huge success! Thanks, Danny.

71 Mike Sepe ’71 helped to arrange an Abbey Alumni event in Newport, Rhode Island the evening of August 11. The event included alumni from Rhode Island to Massachusetts who gathered at 41 North in Newport. In addition to Mike and his wife Valerie, Charlie Martin ’70 and his wife Dot as well as the Abbey’s Alumni Director Chris Peeler were the official hosts. A great time was had by all as old friendships were rekindled and new ones were created.

We hope to increase attendance at alumni events like this one, expand to others cities across the East coast, and re-energize all Abbey alumni.

70 Larry Hartsell ’70 was inducted into the Mount Holly, North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in August.

Larry, who grew up in Mount Holly, was a standout in many sports but especially football and baseball. After graduating from high school, Larry came to the Abbey and became a key member of the baseball team as a catcher. The following was part of the Sports Hall of Fame presentation: “Hartsell is a 1966 Mount Holly and 1970 Belmont Abbey graduate who starred in football and baseball in high school and helped Belmont Abbey make its firstever NCAA Division II regional baseball appearance in 1968. A 2009 inductee into the Belmont Abbey Sports Hall of Fame, Hartsell is given much of the credit for the school restarting its baseball program in 1990.”

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Pictured from left to right: Maurice Theberge ’56, Edith Theberge, Mike Sepe ’71, Charlie Martin ’70, Valerie Sepe, Michael Nestor ’65, Marie Nestor, Pete Rawlings ’64 and Linda Rawlings.

71 Brendan Soden ’71 and his wife Gerri attended the wedding of their son Connor and daughter-inlaw Mary Ann at the Marriott Fair Oaks in Fairfax, Virginia.

Chuck Miller ’69 and his wife Jennifer SH ’71, Bob Dineen ’71 and his wife Jeannine, Jim Mason ’71 and his wife Colleen SH ’71, Kevin Soden ’67 and

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Provided by The Office of Alumni Relations his wife Meg were also in attendance. Brendan and Gerri have another son Flannan and a daughter Shannon.

Pictured from left to right are Chuck Miller, Brendan Soden, Bob Dineen and Jim Mason.

71

Gary Pietruszewski ’71 met classmates and Phi Kapp Brothers Don Anderson ’71 and Frank Taylor ’71 in Atlanta, Georgia. They caught up on what’s been going on with them over the last 40-plus years and relived some of the good times they had at the Abbey. Don lives in the Atlanta area while Frank is in Maryland and Gary resides in New York.

Pictured from left to right are Gary Pietruszewski, Don Anderson and Frank Taylor.

74 David Bowers ’74 ran for re-election in the fall as Mayor of Roanoke, VA. This following story appeared in the local newspaper: David Bowers will be cutting a lot more ribbons over the next four years.” The incumbent Roanoke mayor survived a scare Tuesday but held on to defeat Republican challenger Mark Lucas 4,827 to 4,478 – 52 percent to 48 percent - while fellow incumbents and Democratic nominees Court Rosen, Anita Price and Sherman Lea swept the city council races.

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“This is a good team.” Bowers said. “I think it shows a lot of stability for our council, for our city government and for our city. Had the vote gone the other way, we’d have had four single-term mayors [in a row].”

Bowers’ win ensures a second consecutive term and four overall as mayor. He had to defeat challenger Sam Rasoul in a firehouse primary to win the Democratic nomination before beating Lucas.

Bowers built his campaign around the city council’s record of accomplishment over his most recent term. The school system has seen graduation rates rise and every school has received some form of accreditation. Reported crime has fallen for seven years running. And he said that after the national recession, business has started picking up again with new real estate development projects.

Join us in congratulating David and wishing him another successful and productive term of office.

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Nikki Hornsby ’74 lives in California and owns an international consulting business in the recording industry. She started pursing her singing career while still a student at Sacred Heart and moved back to California in the mid-70’s to continue working on her career. Now, with over 35 years in the business, she continues to perform and record.

Nikki has written over 300 songs which have been used on radio, TV and movies. She has been nominated for several Grammys and continues to be very active in the music industry.

83 Jim Kirby ’83 once again hosted the annual Belmont Abbey Day at Monmouth Park Race Track in New Jersey on July 28. He writes, “The 2012 event was the 25th anniversary and it has grown over the years to become a real Abbey tradition. The weather was threatening but, for the most part, we avoided the rain except for a small brief shower.

Over twenty alumni, family and friends were in attendance with everyone using their own methods or luck in picking their horses.

We had representation from the Class of 1967

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Provided by The Office of Alumni Relations and 1975, but the largest turnout was from the classes of the 1980’s with fifteen alumni. We saw some old faces and new faces and a surprise showing by Mike Flynn ’83.

Now we can finally stop asking the question, ‘Where is Flynny?’ Everyone had a good time and shared laughter and stories from the past. We also had representation from the Abbey soccer alums. We look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s event. Thanks to all who participated and made the journey to New Jersey Day at the Races.”

83 Luis Lobo ’83 wrote an editorial entitled “Banking is an ethical profession.”

The article can be found at http://www2. journalnow.com/news/opinion/2012/may/ 24/wsopin02-luis-g-lobo-guest-columnist-bankingis-an-ar-2304671/. Luis is an Executive Vice President and Multi-cultural Markets Manager for BB&T where he has worked since graduating from the Abbey. Crossroads commends Luis on his editorial and hopes that all bankers will read it and take it to heart.

84

Andy McCaw ’84 organized an alumni event in Orlando on July 19 at the Dubsdread Golf Club. The group represented a wide range of Abbey alumni from the class of 1957 to the class of 1995. Below is a photo of the event.

Pictured left to right are Jack Shrenker ’69, Larry Plante ’85, Monte Monteleone ’71, Mike MacKay, Jan Margraf MacKay ’95, Andy McCaw ’84, Ginny Shrenker, Jane McGuiness, Lee McGuiness ’57.

83 Jim Kirby ’83 and Hank Steincke ’63 organized the Abbey contingent for the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade and sent the following recap: “Well, back to work on a Monday morning. It was great to meet and spend time with all of you this past weekend. We had a great turnout and a good mix of Abbey alumni and friends from the decades of the sixties through the nineties.

The day was fantastic and was made possible with the luck of the Irish and the spirit of the Abbey. Hurley’s Saloon turned out to be a great venue for the post-parade gathering. Thanks to Jim Blum ’91 for finding this establishment. Thanks for everyone’s patience with the delay in getting the march onto 5th Avenue. Good conversation and reminiscing was had by all—prior, during and after the parade. Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend in New York and we look forward to seeing you in the near future.”

Pictured left to right are Golf Coach, Joey Denton and Abbey Alum Jim Kirby ’83

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Andy McCaw ’84 and his wife Lisa celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary. They took a trip in the fall to the Great Exuma, Bahamas. Also, their son Colin (8) celebrated his First Holy Communion at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Altamonte Springs, FL. Older sister Olivia (11) and brother Andrew, III (10) are proud of him.

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85 Julie Hill Noonan ’85 sent the following story about how her marriage to Tom Noonan ’86 was a long time coming.

“I attended Belmont Abbey, graduating in 1985, and while there dated another student, Tom Noonan (1986). This is a picture of us at Homecoming in the 1984 yearbook.

“We met in Fr. John’s Shakespeare class and dated for nearly a year, but we parted ways that summer. He went on to marry, became a commissioned artist then a residential contractor. His marriage only lasted for five years and he had no children. I also married and became a human resources consultant while raising two lovely daughters. After 21 years, my marriage also failed.

“While reconnecting with some of my Abbey friends on Facebook, I ran across Tom and “friended” him. He was in Charlotte and I live in Nashville, Tennessee. Thus began a longdistance romance that resulted in our marriage two years ago on June 26, 2010!

“I’ve included a picture of us at our reception–complete with reggae and tie-dyed tees! We live outside of Nashville where Tom works for Gibson Guitar and I recently took a position with the State of Tennessee. Tom is a great step-dad to my daughters, Krista (18, going to Jacksonville University in the fall) and Darya (15, attending high school and playing in the marching band). I know a lot of very happy marriages have come from relationships formed at the Abbey, but this one took just a bit longer to bloom!”

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Wendy Greene Hostetler ’89 and her husband David Hostetler ’89 own Garibaldi Realty, a real estate company located on Main Street in Belmont.

They help both buyers and sellers throughout Gaston County and have worked with BAC staff on real estate transactions.

Working with Wendy at Garibaldi Realty as an agent is Jenny Eckl Granson ’86.

Jenny is married to Michael Granson ’87. Wendy Greene Hostetler Jenny Eckl Granson

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91

Amy (Bischoff) Nelson ’91 of Shrewsbury, New Jersey sent us photos of a Christmas Party she attended in 2011 in New York City for Abbey alumni. Most of the alumni were from the class of ’91 but other classes were represented as well. It looks like a good time was had by all.

Pictured left to right, front row, are Kerry (Doyle) Gallagher ’91, Jim Blum ’91, Mike Sheehan ’91, Amy (Bischoff) Nelson ’91 and back row, Patrick Macfarlane ’91, Rob Cahill ’90, Hank Steincke ’63.

95 Melissa Lewis Witte ’95 is a media specialist at St. Joseph Catholic School, a K-8 National Blue Ribbon School in Marietta, Georgia.

Melissa also finished her Masters in Education this year. Her daughter Eleni, pictured right, is six and attends St. Joseph’s.

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97

Kathy Bentley ’97 and Rajeev Kumar-Rathor were married in London, England on March 5, 2012. Since entering the U.S. Foreign Service in 1998, Kate has served in Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. In Washington, DC, Kate has served on the staff of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans International Environment and Scientific Affairs, and as a Desk Officer for Brazil and the Southern Cone. Previously posted to the U.S. Embassy in London, she moved to San Antonio, TX, in August. There she serves as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commanding General of U.S. Army South, the Army component of U.S. Southern Command. In her new role, Kate advises the Commanding General on policy issues affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, the Command's area of responsibility, and provides broad policy guidance to staff directors and subordinate command components. She serves as U.S. Army South's principal interagency interface with the U.S. Department of State, all U.S. diplomatic missions in the Western Hemisphere, and the National Security Council.

99 Rep. Patrick McHenry ’99 10th District Congressman, was named one of the “Top 10 Most Influential People in Business Crowdfunding" in August

by Forbes Magazine. An excerpt from the article says of McHenry, “As a small business owner, he knows firsthand the funding challenges faced by small business owners. His passion and bipartisan approach were the major factors in winning overwhelming support for business crowdfunding on the House floor.”

McHenry authored the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act (H.R. 2930) to permit crowdfunding and was a key part of the JOBS Act which was signed into law in April 2012.

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Tony Citro ’00, working with Alumni Relations at the Abbey, helped to arrange an alumni event at the Charlotte Knights game on August 26. 2012.

Several Abbey alumni attended including from left to right, Kenny Sparr ’99, Tony Citro ’00, Melissa Sparr ’99, Adrian Ethridge ’99, David Beaumont’s fiance, Tara Goodfellow ’98, David Beaumont ’02, Scott Goodfellow ’99.

02 Catherine (Rumore) Hahn ’02 and her husband Jeff celebrated the birth of their daughter Veronica Grace Hahn on December 12, 2011. She was 7 lbs.

12 oz., 19 ¼ in. long. She joins her loving siblings, John Paul (8), Joseph (6), Ann Marie (4), Blaise (2).

Congratulations, Catherine and Jeff.

03

John Plecnik Jr. ’03 has been named “Professor of the Year” in the Law School at Cleveland State University in Ohio.

04 Jessica ’04 and Matt ’03 Ferrante welcomed the birth of their son, Dominic Anthony Ferrante. Dominic was born May 9, 2012 and weighed a healthy 8 lbs.

7 oz. His three sisters were overjoyed to have a little brother.

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05

Billy Kennedy ’05 and wife Lisa Brown Kennedy ’07 welcomed their first child, William McLaurin Kennedy (Liam), to the world on November 19, 2012 at 2:38 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 in. long. Both Liam and Lisa are doing well. Billy works at Bank of America in Charlotte, NC, while Lisa teaches at the Goddard School in Charlotte.

Congratulations to Billy and Lisa.

07 Kevin Weber ’07 and Amanda Maddock ’10 were married May 19, 2012 in Charlotte at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. Abbot Placid Solari performed the marriage. Congratulations to Kevin and Amanda.

In Loving Memory 1940 – Mary H. Thomas, Belmont, North Carolina –March 20, 2012 1941 – Charles Jenkins, Columbus, Ohio –September 22, 2011 1942 – Maude Chiverton, Wilmington, North Carolina –March 4, 2010 1943 – James Gilreath, Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina –December 9, 2011 1943 – Benedict Johnston, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina –April 16, 2012 1944 – Teresa Masotti, Charlotte, North Carolina –May 13, 2012 1947 – Frank Delery, Kenner, Louisiana –March 20, 2011 1947 – Roscoe Fox, Charlotte, North Carolina –June 5, 2011 1948 – Fred Cloninger, Stanley, North Carolina –March 11, 2012

09 Laura Myers ’09 of Belmont, North Carolina, received her M.S. in Management and Leadership from Montreat College in May 2012.

11

Ryan Gawronski ’11 was received as a novice to the Belmont Abbey monastic community on July 10, 2012.

He has received the name Brother Brian. Please remember Brother Brian in your prayers.

1948 – Merton Mauney, Gastonia, North Carolina –January 12, 2012 1948 – Dr. Norman Patrick Moore, Norfolk, Virginia –January 3, 2012 1949 – Everett Arndt, Mount Holly, North Carolina –April 4, 2012 1949 – Bill Auten, Aventura, Florida –April 29, 2012 1949 – Frederick J. Came Jr., Port Charlotte, Florida –December 14, 2011

12 Louis Liberator ’12 got some good news while working for the Abbey in the Admissions office. He

1949 – Charles Goldsborough, Culpeper, Virginia –July 14, 2012

had been looking for opportunities to continue his education while earning a living. He found out about an opportunity at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. After going up for an interview, he got the offer to be a graduate assistant soccer coach for both the men’s and women’s teams while working on his MBA. Lou started at FSU in August and has been enjoying his coaching duties as well as all the great winter activities available in the area.

1950 – Bernard Brouillette, Lowell, Massachusetts –June 28, 2011

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1950 – Curt Davis, Franklin, North Carolina –October 8, 2012

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Forever in our hearts. Forever in our prayers.

1950 – James Shaw, North Wales, Pennsylvania –November 24, 2011

1971 – Charles Guida, Potomac Falls, Virginia –May 14, 2012

1951 – Joseph Moore, Gastonia, North Carolina –July 11, 2012

1973 – Richard Lewis, East Freetown, Massachusetts –November 2, 2011

1951 – John Faison Shine, Jr., Newton Grove, North Carolina –June 07, 2011

1974 – David Maney, Mooresville, North Carolina –March 21, 2012

1952 – Thomas Madden Raftery, Ruther Glen, Virginia –February 11, 2012 1957 – Ray Carson, Gastonia, North Carolina –January 24, 2012 1958 – Luke Lenahan, South Amboy, New Jersey –January 11, 2011 1958 – Lee Waters, Rock Hill, South Carolina –July 6, 2012 1959 – Donald Lewis, Gastonia, North Carolina –July 16, 2012 1959 – Walter Roberts, Tucson, Arizona –August 6, 2012 1959 – Michael Santore, Hicksville, New York –January 27, 2012 1959 – Charles White, Atlanta, Georgia –December 4, 2011 1960 – Julia A. Brittingham, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware –October 9, 2011 1961 – William Sims, Omaha, Nebraska –June 17, 2010 1961 – Ruth Stroup, Cherryville, North Carolina –August 26, 2012 1963 – John Daniel, Raleigh, North Carolina –April 30, 2010 1964 – Robert Montgomery, Rumson, New Jersey –June 11, 2012 1965 – Thomas Carluccio, Palm City, Florida –November 15, 2011 1966 – Eileen Clarke, Anderson, South Carolina –April 13, 2012 1969 – Michael Beauchamp, Nashua, New Hampshire –September 22, 2011

1979 – Mary Pfab-Calugar, Chesterfield, Virginia –November 13, 2011 1981 – Timothy Lawson, Charlotte, North Carolina –September 24, 2012 1993 – Timothy McIvor, Charleston, South Carolina –February 11, 2012 2004 – Wyndham Sifford, Mooresville, North Carolina –June 20, 2012 “Wyndham was born July 17, 1982 in Lincolnton, NC, the only child of Fran Hilton Ellis and Gordon Lee Bostic, III. Wyndi was an only child, but she enjoyed the companionship of all her many friends including Christopher Donoghue whom she considered her truest brother. She also thought of her Mom’s dearest friends to be her aunts and uncles.

She began playing the piano at age 6 and continued lessons until age 18, often accompanying her mother on piano for church, theatre and family gatherings. She was Baptized at age 8 after a profession of Faith. She ran cross country for the track team and was a member of the marching band at Clover High School, where she graduated in 2000. Wyndi was a cheerleader for the Belmont Abbey Crusaders, graduating in 2004 with a major in Sociology and minor in Psychology with a concentration in Criminal Justice. She was a merchandising specialist with Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores in Mooresville. She married the love of her life, Daniel Lee Sifford on January 8, 2011 and gave birth to her daughter, Isabel Virginia Sifford on May 27, 2012. Because of Wyndi’s final, unselfish act as an organ donor, many others will live and countless lives will be impacted in a beautiful way.”

2010 – Philip W. Jobst, Bourbonnais, Illinois –March 7th, 2012 “Philip was in his second year of Law School at Southern Illinois University and was a popular personality both at Belmont Abbey and with his fellow law students. Friends in North Carolina and Illinois remember Jobst as being fiercely intelligent, kind, quick witted and a friend whose loyalty was unparalleled. He will be sorely missed.”

1970 – James Eagen, Lebanon Township, New Jersey –February 28, 2012

Winter 2013

CROSSROADS

The Magazine of Belmont Abbey College

91

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Charlotte, NC Permit No. 3609

100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Rd. Belmont, NC 28012

What’s Your Crusade?

What is your noble cause? What do you want to fight to become?

What do you stand for? What is the purpose of your life?

NEW Tuition.

Another reason to choose Belmont Abbey!

Belmont Abbey College will reduce its tuition price by 33% to $18,500 per year beginning in fall 2013 for all incoming freshman and transfer students. This tuition reset makes Belmont Abbey College one of the most reasonablypriced private colleges or universities in the country, providing you an OUTSTANDING education!

What is your Quest?

Come to Belmont Abbey College and discover it!

BAC: Become A Crusader! www.belmontabbeycollege.edu.

Named “America’s #1 school on the rise, filled with excitement”

by First Things.

BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE. Visit. Apply. Enroll. Become a Crusader.

Come for a visit. You'll love what you see. Call 704.461.6665, or scan the QR code, or go to bac.edu to schedule a visit or sign up for one of our open houses.