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Service-learning shapes students
Barry pride displayed around the globe BARRY MAG | 1
International sports teams, like soccer powerhouse REAL MADRID, use Barry’s facilities to practice when in South Florida.
PRESIDENT Sister Linda Bevilacqua VP FOR INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Sara B. Herald MANAGING EDITOR Emilie Wernick NEWS EDITORS Gladys Amador Jeff LaLiberte ART DIRECTOR TURKEL Brands WRITERS Gladys Amador Jeff LaLiberte Travis Reed Luke Steinberger Emilie Wernick Evan West PHOTOGRAPHY & ILLUSTRATION Barry University Archives and Special Collections Gladys Amador Chris Casler Bacheler Jean Pierre Jeff LaLiberte Joshua Prezant Emilie Wernick PRINTER Bellak Color Graphics, Inc. Barry Magazine is published biannually for all current students and their parents, alumni, trustees, employees and other friends of Barry University. Communications may be addressed to: Barry Magazine Department of Marketing and Communications 11300 Northeast Second Avenue Miami Shores, Florida 33161-6695 305.899.3188 • publications@barry.edu Unsolicited manuscripts and art must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Copyright© 2013 Barry University www.barry.edu
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CONTENTS
FALL 2013 | VOLUME 18
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AT A GLANCE
CAMPUS CURRENTS News from across the university.
A WINNING TRADITION For the past three decades, the sweat and sacrifice of student athletes, coaches and administrators have made Barry Athletics one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the country — and became the answer to one woman’s prayers.
SPOTLIGHT ON SPORTS On the move with Barry’s student athletes.
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BARRY BEAT Stay in tune with student happenings.
FACULTY FOCUS
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Highlights from Barry’s impressive faculty.
BUCCANEER BOOKSHELF Read up on the latest publications written by alumni and faculty.
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LEARNING BY DOING Hands-on experience is a fundamental component of a Barry University education.
SEEING STARS An assistant professor of physics is making breakthroughs in research of massive stars.
KINETIC KIDS Pediatric teaching clinic helps children with special needs while giving occupational therapy students real-life training.
CLASS NOTES Alumni news and updates.
ON THE COVER: Barry celebrates 30 years of NCAA sports.
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FALL 2013 | VOLUME 19 | NUMBER 2
NCAA ofSports BRAND NEW
GIVING BACK
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
University debuts fresh look and feel.
Service-learning shapes students.
Barry pride displayed around the globe.
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CAMPUS CURRENTS
A BRAND NEW BARRY YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED BARRY UNIVERSITY’S FRESH NEW LOOK. After months of research and in-depth interviews with deans, faculty, staff, executive leaders, students, prospective students and parents, Barry’s advertising consultant, TURKEL Brands, developed a new brand identity to reflect Barry’s changing student body and to elevate the University’s presence both locally and nationally. A brand is so much more than a
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logo; it generates a feeling and an understanding for what Barry is all about. Barry’s evolved brand, which includes a refreshed logo, updated colors and a targeted advertising campaign, is a rallying cry to inspire and foster positive change – in the community, in business, at the University and beyond. You’ll notice the new look around campus, proudly displayed on signs, athletic uniforms, letterhead, merchandise, car decals and more! Go ahead, take a look.
CAMPUS CURRENTS
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MASCOT MAKEOVER
Bucky, Barry’s beloved mascot, is feeling good these days. The University’s half-parrot, halfpirate mascot took a sabbatical after he literally “lost his head” and has returned with a muchneeded makeover, which was unveiled to excited students, faculty and staff at Moonlight Madness on November 6. It was the first time Barry’s freshmen and sophomore classes had even seen Bucky! Now he’s back and better than ever, boasting a more elaborate pirate wardrobe with bright accents of red, blue and green. The mascot first debuted 17 years ago at a women’s volleyball game at the Health & Sports Center. At the debut in 1996, Bucky had not been named. Students were asked to suggest names and the moniker was announced a few weeks later. Since then, Bucky has been cheering on Barry and will continue to do so for years to come! Follow Bucky on Twitter and Instagram @BarryUBucky. Like Bucky on Facebook “Barry U Bucky.”
VALUE
ADDED Food for Thought The Andreas School of Business welcomed Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, in April for a discussion on “The Role of Conscious Capitalism in Business.” The talk drew a large turnout on the Miami Shores campus, focusing on conscious capitalism, a philosophy that encourages organizations to adopt a more sustainable approach of being active collaborators within the environment it operates. Robb discussed the philosophy and the importance of purpose beyond profit in business. An avid organic food advocate, Robb joined Whole Foods Market, the world’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods, in 1991 and was named co-CEO in 2010. BARRY MAG | 6
Barry was among the nation’s best colleges and universities for student return on investment (ROI) by two major collegiate rankings: Forbes’ annual list of America’s Top Colleges and AffordableCollegesOnline.org (AC Online). The Forbes list places great importance on ROI: What are students getting out of college? The categories include student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rates, and nationally competitive awards. In AC Online, Barry ranked No. 4 among the “Highest ROI Colleges in Florida,” and No. 23 among the “Top 36 Most Affordable Roman Catholic Colleges with High Starting Salaries for Graduates.” Barry ranked higher than all the public schools in the state with the exception of the University of Florida.
Raising the Bar A record 92.7% of Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law graduates who took the Florida Bar Exam for the first time in February passed the exam, the highest in the school’s history and the third highest among Florida’s 11 law schools. Barry Law’s passage rate was well above the state average of 80.2 percent. “Barry Law is constantly raising the standards for our students, and these Bar Exam results clearly demonstrate that our graduates have risen to that challenge,” said Leticia M. Diaz, dean of Barry Law School.
CAMPUS CURRENTS
Technically Speaking Surfing the web on campus has gotten a lot easier for students and staff. Barry University debuted a laptop checkout station and a cellphone/tablet charging booth, both housed in the Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library, as a convenient way to stay connected.
The laptop checkout is a self-dispensing kiosk with 24 state-of-the-art Dell Latitude computers that members of the Barry community can use free of charge for 24 hours. Getting access is as easy as 1-2-3: swipe a Barry ID card, select a computer and power up! Barry’s technology enhancements also included a KwikBoost floor stand cell phone charging station, capable of charging eight phones at one time. The University plans to add five additional KwikBoost stations throughout campus.
A.J. Gonzalez’s winning photo of the annual College Brides Walk
The Barry Buccaneer, Barry University’s college newspaper, won two awards from the Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) Mark of Excellence competition and two accolades in the Florida College Press Association (FCPA) contest. The newspaper brought home first place in feature writing, for Jonathan Fanfan’s article on injuries sustained from wearing high heels, and second place in general news photography, for A.J. Gonzalez’s photo of the annual College Brides Walk, in the SPJ Southeast Division. In the FCPA contest, open to all college and university student journalists in Florida, The Buccaneer was awarded first place in photography, for Gonzalez’s College Brides Walk photo, and second place in the feature design category, for Susan Dorta’s layout of a feature on alumni tips for new graduates. BARRY MAG | 7
LAY DOWN THE LAW Barry Law’s Student Advocacy Team advanced to the final four of the Miami Regional of the American Association for Justice mock trial competition in Miami. The competition is one of the largest in the nation, and the regional, consisting of students from Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, is historically one of the toughest in the country. Students on Barry Law’s team were Nicholas Primrose, Victor Zamora, Michael Cahill, Caryna Zamora, Sheryl Johansen, Amanda Kelly, Tiffany Walters and Rihana Quashie. Barry Law and trial team alums, Michael Kraynick and John Beamer, served as coaches.
International Relations
The Bahamas alumni chapter members pictured with Shaquille O’Neal, Ed.D ’12
On Board
Kevin Shaughnessy
WITH HONORS
Barry Law Red Team Sister Linda Bevilacqua with Chelsea Baker
Sister Linda Bevilacqua with Leslie Redmond Barry Law Black Team BARRY MAG | 8
On April 11, Barry’s first inter national alumni chapter was established in The Bahamas. The inaugural meeting and elections were held at the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau and 30 alumni and guests were in attendance – the largest turnout at any Barry alumni chapter election to date. At the helm of this international chapter is b oard president Braquelle Newton, M S ’12.
Kevin W. Shaughnessy has been named to the Barry University board of trustees. A partner at the Orlando law office of BakerHostetler, Shaughnessy represents national and interna tional companies in all facets of labor and employm ent law, including harassment, discrim ination, civil rights and Section 1981 claims. In addition to his new appointment at Barry,
Shaughnessy is very active in the community, having been a board member of the Urban League, chair of the Coalition for the Homeless board of directors and chair of the Bishop Moore High School board of directors. He previously served as chairman of Bishop Grady Villas, an assist ed living facility for adults with mental disabilities, and as a director of the Orlando Area Trust for the Homeless.
In May, Barry University held its annual Honors Convocation to recognize the outstanding aca demic achievements of the University’s students. Barry’s most distinguished award, the St. Catherine Medal, was awarded to two students this year: Chelsea Baker, a senior social work major, earned the award in the senior category, and Leslie Redmond, a junior political science major, earned the award in the sophomore/junior category. Kappa Gamma Pi National Catholic College Honor Society awards the St. Catherine Medal each year to a pair of Barry stu dents who have demonstrated outstanding service and leadership. Baker earned the award for her involvement in numerous philanthropic organizations including the Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers. On campus, Baker volunteered with the Alternative Spring Break program, created Barry’s Praise and Worship Group, and was the co-founder of Barry’s Students for Justice. She is the vice president of Barry’s Student Social Work Association, a member of the philosophy club and a member of Phi Gamma Mu Honor Society. In three years at Barry, Redmond has volunteered with numerous philanthropic societies including organizing the “Get Out and Vote” campaign on Barry’s campus. She is a resident assistant and the vice president of Barry’s Phi Alpha Delta professional organization. She was elected as the 2013-14 Student Government Association president and is a member of four academic honor societies: Phi Eta Sigma, Sigma Tau Delta, Delta Epsilon Iota and Phi Sigma Alpha.
CAMPUS CURRENTS
On Top of the WORLD
Members of the Barry community are trotting around the globe and are “Barry Proud” in their travels. No passport needed to get a glimpse.
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ONLINE OPTIONS
The School of Adult and Continuing Education has rolled out a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) program aimed at creating an online learning experi ence through an open access philosophy, utilizing videos, readings, problem sets, as well as interactive user forums. The first free course, which attracted students from all over the globe, focused on Disaster
1. Patrick Lynch, director of grants and sponsored programs, at Machu Picchu in Peru. Sadly Patrick passed away shortly before publication. 2. Laura Broderick-Fill ’99 and member of the women’s softball team, on the Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps. 3. Sandra L. Roberts, PhD., assistant professor of administration in the School of Adult and Continuing Education, at the Taj Mahal in India. 4. Mark Anderson ’12, former member of the Buccaneer soccer team, takes a break from practicing with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, part of the North American Soccer League. 5. Shannon Brown, director of foundation relations, looking out over the rainforest after a workout at Villa Calestas Hotel in Central Pacific, Costa Rica.
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Health (as introduced in Homeland Security Presi dential Directive HSPD 21) and ran from October 7 to November 25. The course integrated public health, medical preparedness and disaster behavioral health within one unified framework. It was responder oriented and featured six strategies that can be used to support responders and support survivors in incidents.
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CAMPUS CURRENTS
IN FOCUS BARRY UNIVERSITY’S CLASS OF 2017 IS 577 STUDENTS STRONG, REPRESENTING 33 STATES AND 28 COUNTRIES.
A pool party celebration during Weeks of Welcome
Students clean up the bay during freshman day
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SPOTLIGHT SPORTS
ON Trophies are proudly displayed by the men’s tennis team
WE ARE THE
CHAMPIONS! The men’s tennis and golf teams swung into action and brought home NCAA Division II Championships this year.
An Ace Performance With a 29-0 record, Barry University’s men’s tennis team went undefeated all season – the first team in Barry history to do so. The team culminated the extraordinary year with a NCAA Division II Championship after defeating Armstrong Atlantic State University in a 5-4 thriller at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona. It’s the second NCAA Division II Championship for the Buccaneer men’s tennis team. “This is a Cinderella story and I was hoping it would come to an end this way,” longtime coach George Samuel said. “By far, this is the best year that I’ve ever had in my 23 years as far as the success went throughout the year.” BARRY MAG | 12
George Samuel was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s Tennis National Coach of the Year
Marco Mokrzycki was named Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year
Teed Up for Victory
Win Out
It can’t get any sweeter for Barry University’s men’s golf team. Barry defeated Lynn University by four strokes to break a 2-2-1 tiebreaker in the NCAA Division II National Championship on a frigid day at the par 71 Hershey Country Club course in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It’s the second time the men’s golf team has brought home a NCAA Division II Championship trophy.
Barry University sophomore women’s golfer Nancy Vergara won the NCAA Division II National Championship at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, winning the individual title with a four-round, three-over 291. Vergara had three bogeys and no birdies in the final round, completing a steady 72-hole championship event in which she never wavered out of second place.
“It’s unbelievable,” head coach Jimmy Stobs said. “Every year, our goal is to win the national championship, just like Nova Southeastern, Lynn and all the top programs. When it’s reality, it’s very satisfying, especially for the kids.”
“It was amazing,” Vergara said. “I was hitting the ball pretty solid the four days. In the last three holes, everything came together and I won.”
Jimmy Stobs was honored with the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year award by the Golf Coaches Association of America
Adam Svensson was honored with the Phil Mickelson Award, given to the most outstanding freshman in NCAA Division II men’s golf
Nancy Vergara won the NCAA Division II National championship at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida
Trophies are proudly displayed by the men’s tennis team
The men’s golf team celebrates being number one BARRY MAG | 13
Barry Rowing Team
ROWING RUNNER-UP at NCAA Division II Championships
Barry University finished second at the NCAA Division II Rowing Championships, held at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. It matched the Buccaneers’ best finish in school history. The Buccaneers’ varsity four of freshman coxswain Angela Dasch, sophomore stroke Kasia Walentynowicz, sophomore Mandy Carper, senior Helene Pierre and junior bow Rebekah Kilroy finished second in 7:51.362 behind Nova Southeastern University.
Lopez Named Women’s Tennis National Assistant Coach of the Year For the second year in a row, Maria Lopez was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Maria Lopez
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A former All-American player at Barry University, she has been an assistant coach to some of the Buccaneers’ most storied teams in school history, including the national championship win in 2011. She helped Barry to a 26-0 season this year.
Athletics Excels in Classroom BARRY UNIVERSITY’S ATHLETIC TEAMS SET NEW ACADEMIC RECORDS IN THE CLASSROOM IN THE SPRING SEMESTER. THE UNIVERSITY’S 12 ATHLETIC TEAMS POSTED A RECORD-HIGH 3.301 AVERAGE CUMULATIVE GRADE POINT AVERAGE – THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY ALL 12 TEAMS HAD GPAs OVER 3.0 FOR BOTH FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS. THE BUCCANEERS WOMEN’S GOLF TEAM HAD THE HIGHEST SPRING GPA AT 3.511.
SOCCER STAR Inducted into SSC Hall of Fame
Estes at Helm of Men’s Basketball With over 30 years of coaching experience, Butch Estes took over the Buccaneer men’s basketball program in April. He comes to Barry after an extremely successful stint at Palm Beach State College. Estes holds a 443-309 record as a head coach, 270-243 at the four-year level, and has been named Coach of the Year nine times in his career, which has included positions at Furman University, University of Miami, East Carolina University and Rice University.
Former Barry University women’s soccer player Emelie Karlsson was inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame. Karlsson played for the Buccaneers from 2002 to 2005. She is the only women’s player in SSC history to be named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year all four years of her career. She is also a three-time SSC Player of the Year and was the SSC Freshman of the Year in 2002. Barry won four straight SSC regular season titles during her career at the University.
Emelie Karlsson
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BARRY BEAT
GIVING BACK The Mission of Center for Community Service Initiatives By Travis Reed Alejandro Tobin’s Alternative Spring Break trip to the Dominican Republic was eye-opening. The village had no reliable running water or electricity, and the poverty Tobin saw left a deep mark.
“It makes you realize how ungrateful we still are even if we count our blessings,” he said. Tobin, a biology and pre-med student, who now co-chairs Alternative Spring Break, believes service-learning is an essential part of his Barry education. More than ever, the school is focusing on new ways to emphasize the value of giving back. The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) serves as the clearinghouse for volunteer
involvement between the school and outside partners. CCSI programs range from things like Alternative Spring Break to the Campus Democracy Project, a deliberative dialogue series and the Federal Work Study Community Service Program. Administrators last year approved an “S L” designation for the curriculum which incorporates a service-learning component. Two classes were approved last year, though 25 have a servicelearning component.
Students work to restore an oyster reef on an Alternative Spring Break trip
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BARRY BEAT
Alternative Spring Break participants in Key West worked with the local homeless community in spring 2013
Tobin’s experience was so profound, he feels like service-learning should be a graduation requirement. “You learn so much all at once that you are not even aware in the moment,” he said. “It builds character. It creates conscious global citizens and you become that much better of a person because of the experience.” The CCSI was created by a task force in 2010, and began implementation in 2011 after securing a grant. Already, Barry has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the greatest distinction the institution can receive. In the 12-month period reviewed, more than 80 percent of Barry students were involved in some form of community service. In all, CCSI counted more than 26,000 volunteer hours spread over several programs, including health educat ion and assessments for migrant workers and group counseling in impoverished areas involving nursing and social work students, respectively.
“Barry University has an enduring commit ment to service in and with the community. The work of the CCSI is designed to convey the message that Barry University is a private institution with a public purpose,” Bowen said. “Administrators, staff, faculty, students and alumni, together with our community partners, all have important roles to play in the fulfillment of the civic goals of our University.” Seretse Davis, a sport management major entering his second year with the CCSI as part of a work study program, said his involvement there has made him more confident. It is Davis’ job to help promote events, including his role last year as a liaison between the center and Sinai Plaza. “Usually it takes me awhile to speak up and talk. But since I am meeting new people every day and had to express my thoughts on different inputs, I found myself being more vocal in the classroom. It also helped me become more responsible and better with time management.”
“You learn so much all at once that you are not even aware in the moment.”
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DOWN TO A
SCIENCE By Luke Steinberger
Barry University’s commitment to science and its dedication to minority students converges with three programs dedicated to helping students realize their goals.
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RISE student Talia Guardia at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, D.C., April 6-10, 2013
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ince 1983, the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program at the University has aimed to increase the number of biomedical and behavioral scientists from underrepresented groups who are well prepared to enter PhD programs. MARC receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and, under the direction of Dr. Fiona Redway, prepares students for PhD programs in these fields. Dr. Redway also directs the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program, another National Institutes of Health funded program, to help enhance the interest, skills and competitiveness of biology and chemistry majors in pursuit of biomedical research careers. While the two programs are similar, they differ in that the MARC program has a more enriched curriculum. There are currently four students participating in MARC, for which funding ends in 2014, and eight students in the RISE program, each of whom underwent a rigorous application and interview process. Talia Guardia, a senior biology major, has been a member of RISE since her sophomore year and has loved every second of it. “When I first came to college, I didn’t really understand what a PhD was,” Guardia explains, reflecting a confusion shared by many underclassmen. “Through RISE, I realized that not only do I love
medicine and want to see patients, I also really want to make a difference for the patients by doing research that might help them.” Guardia has done on-campus research for the past three years under the supervision of biology professor Dr. Xiao-Tang Hu, exploring which proteins might be involved in the proliferation of leukemia cells. She also appreciates the way RISE allows her to attend conferences to present her work and learn about the work of others. “It’s nice to be able to go to conferences to show our research and get ideas,” Guardia says. “And we also get exposed to career options and networking opportunities.” The third program for Buccaneers interested in science is the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS). MAPS is an organization aiming to guide pre-health students by helping them explore and gain insights into a professional health career. The organization has 46 participants and is run by an 11-member executive board, chaired by MAPS president, Precious Ezeamama. Ezeamama got involved with MAPS after attending an event titled, “What I Wish I Knew About Medical School,” in fall 2011. Through her involvement with MAPS, Ezeamama learned about issues facing the health care community, particularly health care disparities in underserved communities.
BARRY BEAT
RISE participant Maxime Jean
“It’s nice to be able to go to conferences to show our research and get ideas.”
MAPS members DeLorean Ruffin, Alicia Guerero, Daphne Petit-Homme, Precious Ezeamama, Cyndie Dern and Tania Torres-Delgado at the Student Affairs banquet
“Once I learned about the disparity,” Ezeamama says, “I initiated a small committee within MAPS that looks into grant opportunities in Little Haiti and Little Havana to try and address the issue.” MAPS was recognized at the 2013 Student Affairs banquet, receiving four student
organization awards. While students are responsible for running the operation, they do not do it without help. “We have one of the best faculty advisors,” Ezeamama says about Dr. Stephanie Bingham, who in addition to overseeing MAPS has been Ezeamama’s mentor and academic advisor
since her sophomore year. “She is with us every step of the way. She follows up on everything with us and is a strong leader.” While each organization has different goals, MARC, RISE and MAPS each help the student body at Barry by ensuring that opportunities for academic and professional growth are provided. Moreover, the work done by the organizations—whether it is biomedical research, information sessions about preparing for medical school, or the professional development and community outreach projects – provide invaluable benefits not only to Barry students but to the community as well. BARRY MAG | 19
BARRY’S IN SESSION
A visit with Rep. Kionne L. McGhee
BY GLADYS AMADOR arry University students, faculty, and staff traveled to Florida’s capitol to meet with state lawmakers and advocate for the school’s educational priorities during the 2013 legislative session. During their two-day visit to Tallahassee, nine student leaders met with more than a dozen state representatives and senators to thank them for their support and discuss the effects that possible budget cuts would have on Barry and the future of its students. At the core of the discussion: the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), a state-funded grant that provides tuition assistance to the state’s full-time undergraduate students attending private non-profit colleges and universities. Students who took part in “Barry Days” got an inside look at the chambers and the offices of the legislative leaders including House Reps. Kionne L. McGhee, Ben Albritton, John Wood, Pat Rooney, Jr., and Daphne Campbell. They voiced their concerns and shared personal stories about how FRAG has directly impacted their college education. “FRAG provides monetary assistance, which all students appreciate,” said Shantell Monreal, president of Barry University’s Phi Alpha Delta chapter who participated in this year’s trip. “Without it, I would be just another student buried in loans.” For the past several years, budget cuts have threatened to slash the
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amount students receive from FRAG. Thanks to support from state legislators, more than 2,400 Barry students received FRAG last year. For the 2013-2014 school year, FRAG awarded an allocation of $2,500 per student. Many of their college educations may have been in jeopardy without this funding. “We have to keep fighting hard for this money,” said Dr. Sean Foreman, political science professor, who was among the administrators who accompanied the students in March. “I encourage all students and staff to contact their state legislators to tell them how important FRAG funding is for schools like Barry.” By visiting the capitol and speaking with legislators in person, students have the opportunity to not only learn about Florida’s legislative process, but also to promote Barry as a university and bring awareness to issues important to its students. Students who joined Monreal to the capitol were: Benjamin Otero, Wes Burns, Nicole Jimenez, Brian Otero, Tetyana Korshnyak, Khalid El-Amin, Geronimo J. Guevara, and Bibiana Potestad. The trip to Tallahassee also served to bring together nearly 65 Barry alumni from the area for the annual Alumni Association reception at the Hotel Duval.
BARRY BEAT
A PEACEFUL PROTEST BRINGS AWARENESS TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Students display posters and taped mouths in silent protest
BY EMILIE WERNICK
On a warm Saturday in March, about 20 Barry University School of Social Work students joined together to attend the raucous Ultra Music Festival, a two-week outdoor electronic music event in downtown Miami, Florida. The students were not there to revel in the thumping music; instead they were there to bring awareness to the disturbing reality of human trafficking in Miami.
“When I walked into the Christ Fellowship Church, where volunteers met ahead of time, I saw posters stating things like ‘Human Trafficking Happens Here’ and ‘Real Men Don’t Buy Sex,’” said Chelsea Baker, a Barry student majoring in social work. “I was pre pared for a day of the typical chants of protest.” Baker was in for a change. The mission of the day was not to confront or condemn, but to show love. The volunteers donned matching t-shirts, taped their mouths shut in solidarity with the silent victims, picked up posters and headed towards the festival. Proudly displaying posters and handing out information, the group conveyed a simple message: stop human trafficking by stopping the demand for sex workers, many of whom are children. The experience proved to be enlightening and sad at the same time as it became clear that most people have no knowledge or understanding of human trafficking in their
“The mission of the day was not to confront or condemn, but to show love.” own backyard. The lack of awareness only increased Baker’s passion to create change. “While the continued victimization of chil dren makes me very angry, I must rely not on that anger, but instead on compassion to catalyze me to movement,” Baker said. “Love and solidarity must be the foundation for any successful social movement. It is my hope that with a solid foundation I will have an opportunity to watch this movement flourish to one day witness a world free of human trafficking and childhood sexual exploitation.” BARRY MAG | 21
In 1983 and 1984, Barry University’s first NCAA intercollegiate sports teams kicked off their inaugural seasons. For the past three decades, the sweat and sacrifice of student athletes, coaches and administrators have made Barry Athletics one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the country — and became the answer to one woman’s prayers. By Evan West
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t began with a vision. In the early 1980s, newly installed president Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin looked at Barry University and saw something of an image problem. Founded as a women’s college by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1940, Barry had been coed since 1975. But it was still perceived as a school for girls; indeed, women accounted for more than 80 percent of the student body. And despite having adopted the “University” moniker, Barry maintained a small-college character, with a relatively low profile and a sleepy campus atmosphere. “When I got to Barry, we were in pretty serious trouble,” says O’Laughlin. “There was not a good image in Miami. We didn’t have the kind of things that were important to a student body.” O’Laughlin wanted Barry to feel more like a university in the fullest sense, a thriving, bustling, and visible institution BARRY MAG | 22
that served a wide range of student interests. At St. Louis University, one of her previous stops before coming to Barry, O’Laughlin had seen firsthand the impact intercollegiate sports could have on a student community. “In college, young people need a place to vent their energy in legitimate ways and enhance their personal growth,” she says. “And it seemed to me that for American people in particular, sports nurtured teamwork. Athletics help people know how to relate to one another.” At the time, organized sports at Barry were limited to intramural competition. O’Laughlin held the conviction that instituting intercollegiate athletics would benefit the University in numerous ways. For one, having sports teams — especially successful ones — would increase Barry’s visibility in the local community and beyond. It would boost the school’s appeal among
prospective student athletes interested in competing after high school and enrich their experience once they got to campus. Finally, O’Laughlin says, “athletics give the community a reason to come together to celebrate.” Having teams to embrace, she thought, would help bring the institution closer to its people. It would be difficult to imagine a more unlikely cheerleader for athletics than O’Laughlin. For most of her life, she had little interest in watching or following sports, and she didn’t play any herself. One of her most serious forays into athletics prior to Barry was coaching a team of seventh-graders as a teacher in her home state of Michigan, where, as she recalls, her duties consisted mainly of standing on the sideline and shouting “get the ball!” What’s more, O’Laughlin faced considerable hurdles in making her vision a reality.
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Not only would Barry be starting from scratch, school coffers seemed insufficient to fund such a bold initiative. In 1981, the year O’Laughlin came onboard, Barry’s annual operating budget was a modest $6 million, and the endowment stood at less than $1 million. It was barely enough to cover
“I am very pleased to have had coaches and staff who understood the student priorities and motivated me to study while playing the sport that I love at the highest level that I could. Thanks to them, I got my degree in marketing in four years and two amazing rings for winning the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2001 and 2004.” – Karla Bersano (volleyball)’05, Marketing, AVCA All-American, two-time National Champion
1. Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin throws out the first pitch at a softball game. 2. Men’s golf takes home the title in 2007. 3. Baseball Player Dave Alexander awaits the sign. 4. Sister Linda Bevilacqua throws out the first pitch at a baseball game. 5. Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe played tennis at Barry from 1993 to 1996. 6. Volleyball Team Celebrates 1995 NCAA Division II Championship.
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existing expenses — let alone pay for the travel, equipment, venues, and coaching salaries that sports programs would require. But if anyone doubted O’Laughlin’s ability to score a win, they didn’t yet know Sister Jeanne. With her considerable charisma, charm,
and determination, she would soon prove herself to be an all-pro fundraiser. She reached out to the South Florida community, hat in hand, and roused enthusiasm for the idea of inaugurating sports at her small university. (Her popularity and influence eventually led her to become the first woman to sit on the heavy-hitting Orange Bowl Committee.) Barry sought inclusion in the NCAA’s
Division II, which, unlike Division III, allows for a limited number of athletic scholarships. Barry Athletics were off and running. Well, sort of. O’Laughlin put out a challenge to the new administrators, coaches, and athletes. They would have to “do more with less,” a directive that would become a kind of mantra for the fledgling program. Barry had a tiny athletic budget and part-time coaches, and the
playing facilities consisted of a few hastily upgraded intramural fields (the basketball team would have to go off-campus for home games). “It was new to everybody, so you didn’t have the resources students have now,” says Stephanie Stallings Walker, who played on the first softball and women’s soccer teams. “I go back to visit now, and I think, ‘Wow, you guys are spoiled.’” When in-state rival Central Florida visited the old soccer field, she says, they complained about the ants and rocks and refused to return. To encourage the school’s new athletes and coaches, O’Laughlin routinely showed up at practices in an old golf cart, greeting their hard work with blessings, prayers, and an indefatigably upbeat spirit. “No one has more love for people than Sister Jeanne,” says Mike Covone, who as head of women’s soccer, was Barry’s only full-time coach. “She loved BARRY MAG | 23
everyone. And when she saw you, you were getting a hug.” One of Barry’s early student athletes remarked to O’Laughlin that “the Pope has his Pope Mobile, and you have the Hug Mobile.” The name stuck. It was Covone who lobbied to include women’s soccer as well as men’s, leading to a fortuitous turn of events in the early history of Barry Athletics. He saw an opportunity for the new athletic program to get in on the ground level of a sport that was fast-growing in popularity, never mind that women’s college soccer programs were few enough in number that there weren’t even enough to support a Division II designation. Barry’s women would have to compete in Division I — with powerhouse state schools like North Carolina and Penn State. In the academic year of 1984-1985, the soccer teams and the rest of Barry’s first “Buccaneers”—men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s cross country, baseball, golf, and basketball— took the field for their inaugural seasons. Surprisingly, both soccer teams had success right out of the gate, finishing with winning seasons. Women’s soccer would continue to separate itself from the pack. In 1987, in just its fifth year of competition, the team qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament. Division II was established for women’s soccer the following year. And Barry University dominated it. In 1989, the team won the NCAA Division II soccer championship and went on to win two more national titles in 1992 and 1993, setting an early bar for athletic excellence at the school. Barry joined the Sunshine State Athletic Conference for the 1988-1989 academic year, and the 1990s brought another critical milestone for Barry Athletics — and the answer to another of O’Laughlin’s prayers. When the administration was still getting the sports program BARRY MAG | 24
off the ground, O’Laughlin says she remembers driving past the field north of Miami Avenue. She stopped and prayed. Suddenly, a fully formed vision of a gleaming new athletic facility came before her eyes. “I saw the gym as clearly as I can see the seat I’m sitting in right now,” she says. “But I knew I had to fundraise, or it wouldn’t happen.” She did, and in 1991, Barry completed the $4 million Health & Sports Center, one of the top facilities in the Sunshine State Conference. 2
1 1. Melisa Derden Reese Holds 1989 Women’s NCAA Division II Soccer trophy after defeating Keene State. 2. The 2008 softball team in the NCAA Championships elite eight. 3. Mark Anderson, 2011 National Player of the Year, scores a goal.
In terms of athletic success, Barry’s women continued to take the lead throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, as the volleyball team won Division II national championships in 1995, 2001, and 2004. Softball, too, was coming into its own, with standout Geralyn Elam winning National Player of the Year honors in 2002. It was no small accomplishment in a program that just a decade earlier, as Stallings Walker recalls, was comprised largely of fill-in players who struggled to win games and jokingly referred to themselves as “The Bad News Bucs.” “But the recent story of Barry Athletics has been about the success of spring sports,” says Covone, who, since 1998, has served as the university’s
director of athletics. In fact, as Barry has moved into the second decade of the 21st century, spring sports have largely carried the banner of excellence first established by the soccer women in the 1980s and 1990s. Men’s golf, under the leadership of Jimmy Stobs — twice named National Coach of the year by the Golf Coaches Association of America — won the first of two Division II national titles in 2007, with its second coming this year. And the future of men’s golf looks bright: Adam Svensson was named Division II’s Phil Mickelson National Freshman of the Year in 2013 as well. Men’s tennis has also won two Division II national titles in recent years, in 2010 and 2013, headed by George Samuel, who was named National Coach of Year by the Intercollegiate
3
Tennis Association in 1999 and 2013. The women of spring have made strong contributions, with the tennis squad taking a national championship in 2011, and with Nancy Vergara winning this year’s individual Division II championship in golf and bringing home the National Player of the Year Award for her efforts. And Vergara, for one, looks forward to more success in the future. “I would love to win the title as a team, and I know we can do it,” Vergara says. “We have talented players and we know we can beat the best. It feels amazing to be the 2013 NCAA national champion, but I will go back for the title this year.” For all the on-the-field triumphs, however, Barry
Barry Men’s Basketball, 1984-1985, Back: Coach Arthur Collins, Bill Murphy, Bobby Jacobs, Ron Johnson, Juan Williams, Paul Rentmeester, Carlos Sanchez, Jeff Larkin, Dean McDonald, Assistant Coach Gaston Cantens. Front: John Garcia, Mike Cousineau, Steve Ennett, Eben Morales
“The academic lessons learned in the classroom at Barry prepared me greatly for my career in education/ athletics. However, what has been as equally beneficial to me was the education that I received socially as a result of Barry’s international diversity. What I learned about, and from, students who were very different from me is invaluable and has been one of the most important components leading to any of the successes that I’ve experienced throughout my working career.” –Ron Johnson (basketball) ’89, sport management, Barry’s all-time leading scorer; currently assistant coach at Marist College. Athletics’ emphasis on academics might be the school’s more impressive achievement. The department falls under the purview of an academic division, the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences, which, under the guidance of Dr. Darlene Kluka — has become a model adopted by other institutions such as Vanderbilt University. The standards of Barry’s athletic department exceed even those of Division II, requiring student athletes to maintain a grade-point average of 2.0 (compared to the NCAA’s requirement of 1.6). “For Barry student athletes, that’s a selling point,” says sports information director Dennis Jezek. “For potential recruits who would find that
to be a hindrance — they wouldn’t do well at Barry, anyway.” Barry is the only Division II program that can boast of having two Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship winners, one of the NCAA’s top academic honors. Eight athletes have been nominated finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year honors — also the most of any Division II institution — an award that takes into account not only academic and athletic success but also character and community service. In fact, in the history of Barry Athletics, the number of athletic Division II All-Americans (261) has been eclipsed only by the number of Scholar AllAmericans (299). “As thrilled as I am with the number of
Sunshine State Conference and NCAA national titles our teams have earned for Barry, I am most proud of the academic achievements of our student-athletes and their outstanding record of community service,” says current university president Sister Linda Bevilacqua. “While playing sports they enjoy, they contribute to the vitality and vibrancy of campus life. They provide all of us with examples of self-discipline, the pursuit of excellence, and the creation of team spirit.” Covone says the academic strength of Barry’s athletes actually contributes to the far-reaching success of its sports teams. “We have stringent academic policies, and if you don’t abide by those policies, you’re not going to
be a Barry athlete,” he says. “And there’s a correlation between the quality of our students and the play on the field. We tend to have ‘high-IQ’ teams.” Taking stock now, O’Laughlin says Barry’s 30-year experiment in intercollegiate athletics has been more successful than she could have hoped. And yet, she admits to harboring one small disappointment. “I have to confess that I yearned for a football team,” she says. “They teased me about that. But it never came to fruition.” At least she has received some consolation: Her college alma mater, Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, recently named its football field O’Laughlin Stadium in her honor — a fitting tribute to a sports pioneer. BARRY MAG | 25
with Mike Covone Mike Covone, Barry’s director of Intercollegiate Athletics, has been a part of every achievement the athletic department has enjoyed. Covone served as the women’s soccer coach from 1984 to 1994, leading the school to its first three national championships. He has served in the roles of associate director and executive associate director of athletics before taking the helm as the department’s leader in 1998. During his time at Barry, Covone has seen the school earn 11 national championships, 52 Sunshine State Conference titles, 261 All-Americans, and 299 Scholar All-Americans. With such an esteemed profile, Covone knows more than most about Barry’s successful past, academic excellence and athletic championships. BARRY MAG | 26
Assistant Coach Pat Iacono and head coach Mike Covone Celebrate 1989 Women’s NCAA Division II Soccer Championship
When did you first develop a love for athletic competition? I was always very competitive from a very young age. With two younger brothers, a younger sister, and a neighborhood full of boys, we competed at everything we did. We played sports all the time - soccer, football, baseball. How exciting was it to coach Barry’s women’s soccer team to the school’s first national title in 1989? It was an extremely exciting time. We beat Keene State 4-0 at home with a very dedicated and experienced group of women that were committed beyond any coach’s expectations. How did the championships in 1992 and 1993 compare to the first title? Many of the freshmen who won in 1989, won again in 1992 as seniors. It was a special time for those student-athletes since we lost in the NCAA finals in 1990 and 1991. In 1993, the team was primarily composed of freshmen who played their hearts out. They were extremely talented, and had a lot of fun.
How difficult was the transition from coach to full-time administrator? The major difference I experienced came in recruiting, teaching, and coaching students as opposed to hiring and managing personnel. It was rewarding in both cases and full of opportunities. I do miss the big games though! Since being named athletic director in 1998, what have been your fondest memories of Barry athletics? Seeing our student-athletes graduate is always rewarding. Watching our students and coaches experience the feeling of winning conference and national championships is gratifying as well. Looking forward, what are your hopes for Barry University’s athletic department? Keeping up with ever-changing technology and facility needs will be critical to our future success. We have come a long way, but we also have a long way to go. We live in a new generation which is exciting and sometimes challenging, but full of possibilities.
What is special about Barry University athletics that makes so many top student-athletes and coaches want to be a part of it? The culture we have developed over the past 30 years is one of fairness and equity. We are committed to doing things the right way with a student-first philosophy and we offer a championship experience for all our student-athletes. It all starts with our coaches who believe in the philosophy and are committed to recruiting the best students.
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Athletics Timeline 1983
Groundbreaking for 15-acre athletic complex, Barry’s first intercollegiate athletics facility
1983
Dr. Eileen McDonough appointed NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative
1983
1940
Barry College founded
1975
Barry College goes coed
1940
1990
Eddie Coletti and Mike Covone hired as first director of athletics and part time soccer coach (full time in ’84), respectively
1981
Baseball, men’s golf, and men’s and women’s tennis play their inaugural seasons
1985
Barry College becomes Barry University
Kyllene Carter (women’s soccer) becomes first of six Barry athletes to be named National Player of the Year
1985
1989
Men’s soccer becomes first Barry team to qualify for NCAA Division II tournament
Women’s soccer wins first of three NCAA Division II titles (’89, ’92, ’93)
1987
1984
Men’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s cross country start their inaugural seasons, becoming first Barry intercollegiate-athletics teams
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Women’s soccer qualifies for NCAA Division I tournament
1988 1988
Barry joins Sunshine State Conference
Women’s basketball, softball and volleyball play inaugural seasons
1996 1996
Women’s rowing begins its inaugural season
1994
Barry establishes the Division of Sports & Leisure (not the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences)
1991
Dr. Jean Cerra hired as director of athletics; Barry teams will win four Division II titles during her tenure as AD (’91-’97)
1991
Completion of the $4 million Health & Sports Center
1995
Volleyball wins first of three Division II titles (’95, ’01, ’04), becoming the first sport other than women’s soccer to win a national championship
1998
1995
Herbert Bende (men’s tennis) wins Barry’s first Intercollegiate Tennis Association individual national title
1995
Marya Moruseiwicz (volleyball) is the first of eight Barry student athletes to be named a finalist for the title of NCAA Woman of the Year
Barry Athletics finishes with highest-ever standings in Directors’ Cup standings (3rd), placing first among all private Division II programs under athletic director Mike Covone
2010
Men’s tennis wins first of two Division II titles (’10, ’13)
2013-14
Barry Athletics celebrates 30th anniversary season
2014
1998
Marya Morusiewicz (volleyball) is first of two Barry student athletes to win NCAA Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship (Anna Hallbergson, ’00)
Women’s golf competes for the first time
2013
Golfer Nancy Vergara wins Barry’s first individual NCAA Division II title
2007
Men’s golf wins first of two Division II titles (’07, ’13), becoming first Barry men’s team to win a national championship
2011
Women’s tennis wins Division II title
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LEARNING Hands-on experience is a fundamental component of a Barry University education. By Travis Reed Anna Hallbergson wasn’t just a tennis star at Barry University. She was also a 4.0 pre-med/biology student, an NCAA woman of the year, and actively worked with the community in the little spare time she had left. Now a fellow in interventional congenital cardiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the 2000 graduate has kept similarly busy. She has written extensively in her field, was student president of her graduate school and continued to give back. Hallbergson set up a CD library at a Chicago hospital and formed an adolescent substance abuse prevention program, which used actual organs to demonstrate to children how smoking, drug abuse and alcohol damage the body. She credits Barry for helping teach her to successfully maintain a busy, varied schedule. Her experience helps highlight the ultimate value of a Barry education: the school’s focus on promoting experiential learning and a tradition of inclusivity, social justice, knowledge and truth through individual experience. Much of a Barry student’s education happens outside of the traditional classroom setting, and opportunities abound. When she wasn’t studying, practicing or playing tennis, Hallbergson was involved with a Big Brothers Big Sisters program organized by the school. “You continue to try to stay somewhat balanced. It certainly helped me when I went to medical school afterwards. It just helps with time management and priorities, and knowing you can do things other than BARRY MAG | 30
BY DOING
studying. You learn to interact better with people when you learn to manage your time.” Experiential learning can be divided into three categories: internships, service learning (such as charitable cooperatives), and cooperative education (focusing on first-hand experience in trades). “It can be inside or outside the classroom, but what makes it experiential is that students have ample opportunity to think critically about what they’re doing in the field,” said Karen Callaghan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Callaghan said most of the roughly 1,600 majors in her department take at least two service learning courses, one apiece in sociology and theology, and the overwhelming majority of students in the sciences are involved in some type of faculty research. For the past three years, associate chemistry professor Zuzana Zajickova has taken undergraduate students to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., to use specialized equipment and apply lessons learned. “Our department has state-of-the-art instrumentation. There are people coming from graduate schools who say they can’t believe some of the things we have,” Zajickova said. “But there’s always something you don’t have.” At the national laboratory, students use expensive devices like an electron microscope and interact with scientists from around the world. “There are three main things: you’re learning different theories, but only if applied and tested does it become reality for you. You retain information better and you understand information better – pretty much it’s to enforce whatever you’ve learned in lecture. If you’re doing something, let’s say learning how to ride a bike, you’re going to remember it for the rest of your life.” Also, as our students say, it will be an opportunity to bond with the
students in the group, as well as bonding with the faculty and bonding with the staff.” Zajickova said such excursions also provide the opportunity to teach new material, because there often isn’t time to cover everything in a semester’s worth of curriculum. Students can participate for school credit, typically with a Barry faculty member, or to receive pay during the summer. Zajickova said most funding comes from the National Institutes of Health or National Science Foundation (NSF). Her Lawrence-Berkeley group, for example, is funded by an NSF grant. “On top of it, we take students to local, national and international meetings,” she said. “I think in some schools and disciplines, they don’t get the opportunity at all. We find the funding.” For Bradley Haves, who graduated in 1990 from Barry’s School of Podiatric Medicine, out-of-classroom learning opportunities meant two things: learning to give back and interacting with different patient populations. At the end of their second year, podiatric med school students have a white coat ceremony and graduate to a clinical setting. Each goes through one rotation per month for a period of two years at different facilities, clinics and doctor’s offices. “That’s the way you learn, because it’s hands-on experience for treating patients, and Barry was very smart in getting some of the best hospitals in South Florida for us to get programs to rotate through. They really did a great job in getting us some tremendous doctors who were able to spend time with us and help us.” He lauded the school’s charitable efforts, which include seeing and providing care for South Florida’s indigent and homeless populations. “The idea is not only providing charitable service to the community, but making sure the students have exposure to as many people as they can see,” Haves said. “It’s
one of the great things about learning in South Florida–because of the ethnic diversity, you get to see different kinds of pathology.” Haves, former Alumni Volunteer of the Year, honoree of the Barry University Hall of Fame and Big Brothers Big Sisters, says his time at the school has a great deal to do with the type of physician he is today. “I think it really molded me to be a much more charitable person and really work more with the religious aspect, giving me more of a sense of community,” Haves said. “I think Barry really taught me a lot about that, and I’m really grateful for that, because I really feel it in every sense of the word.” Experiential learning can also help students find employment when they graduate. “Even though you have a college degree, people who are hiring want people with experience as well,” Callaghan said. “All experiential coursework is listed on a resume in a way that allows potential employers to see they have some type of experience. What employers really need in finding new employees is identifying those who have gone and practiced something, who can think of things differently and come up with solutions to problems. Our students have already kind of proven that they can function effectively in whatever field they’re interested in.”
Deepa Gharbharan and Dr. Zuzana Zajickova conducting research at the Department of Physical Sciences
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Seeing Stars An assistant professor of physics is making breakthroughs in research of massive stars. By Luke Steinberger
Dr. Maurizio Giannotti
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When you sit back and look up on a beautiful starry night, it’s hard to get over the splendor and think about how and why the gaseous bodies millions or billions of miles from earth exist. Some people, however, think deeply about the composition of stars and their life cycles, the long journey from the beginning of a star’s life to its explosive death. These scientists know that understanding the mathematics behind that journey and exploring the complexity of particle physics and stellar evolution have implications about how the universe truly works. Dr. Maurizio Giannotti is one of those people. His recent work focused on the evolution of massive stars, meaning stars about eleven times the mass of the sun. In particular, Dr. Giannotti dedicated himself to studying the potential interaction between electromagnetic fields and a hypothetical particle called the axion. Scientists use axions to make predictions about dark matter, one of the major frontiers in understanding the universe and, for the most part, a mystery. Dark matter
may not be as immediately apparent to our everyday lives, but that in no way means that it is not important: scientists estimate that dark matter particles constitute more than 80% of the universe. Dr. Giannotti research focused on the later stages of a star’s life. While a star remains constant for most of its existence, it eventually begins undergoing changes. The change involves the type of chemical transformation that occurs. Initially, a star burns hydrogen into helium, but when the hydrogen runs out the star begins transforming the helium into carbon, and then carbon into oxygen, and so on. This process takes place over billions of years, forcing researchers to find stars that have run out of hydrogen. For Dr. Giannotti’s specific purposes, the star also needed to be at least five times the size of the sun. As if finding a star of that mass at a particular stage in its billion-year evolution weren’t enough, Dr. Giannotti and his team also needed small miracles here on earth. That came in the form of a code for stellar evolution made available to the general scientific community for the first time in 2010. The code proved so complex that it required a special computer, one with processing capabilities that far exceed the normal laptops seen around campus. Here, Dr. Giannotti enlisted the help of Michael Wise, a lab technician at Barry, and asked him to build a computer smart enough and strong enough to run the code. Wise, essentially on his own, designed the machine, bought the necessary parts, and constructed a computer capable of running the code.
The application of stellar code to massive stars led to the discovery of strongest constraint, or bound. The previous bound was discovered 25 years ago, meaning that researchers for the last 25 years have been using flawed information. The new constraint will change the mathematics used by theoretical physicists and will potentially lead to new and exciting discoveries about our world. While the advanced science behind Dr. Giannotti’s work may be difficult for a layperson to appreciate, Barry University immediately recognized the potential for amazing results. The Department of Physical Sciences eagerly supported his project when he submitted his research proposal, upon invitation, to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the largest and most respected science and technology institutes in the world. Dr. Giannotti and Wise teamed up with Alexander Friedland, an author at Los Alamos, to write a paper summarizing their findings and the implications for future research, and Barry’s trust in Dr. Giannotti was overwhelmingly rewarded. Dr. Giannotti was invited to a conference in Germany to speak about his results. The paper was published in the prestigious Cornell Journal, and a viewpoint praising the paper and its implications was written by Georg Raffelt, a man recognized as the world leader in the field. In addition to praising the particular findings of the research, Dr. Raffelt celebrated the way Dr. Giannotti and his team exemplified the manner in which stars act as heavenly laboratories, allowing us to understand the majesty and complexity of the world in which we live. Dr. Giannotti, of course, is not satisfied with this one accomplishment. In addition to writing a follow-up on this research, as is customary in the scientific community, Dr. Giannotti plans to delve deeper into the physics behind massive stars. He also plans to ensure more scientists can access the code he developed to continue the research. It’s clear that Dr. Giannotti’s star is on the rise. BARRY MAG | 33
Kinetic Kids
Brandon Romay excels at the Kinetic Kids program
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Pediatric teaching clinic helps children with special needs while giving occupational therapy students real-life training. By Gladys Amador
Occupational therapist Fabiola Conille with Brandon Romay
A
s part of an exercise designed to help him improve his focus, 10-year-old Brandon Romay traces foam letters on a piece of lined paper. When a letter falls to the ground, Brandon stops writing and crawls under the table. Former Kinetic Kids, Inc. occupational therapist Fabiola Conille needs him to refocus. “Show me a good sitting,” she says. Brandon, who suffers from mild seizures that cause his mind to go blank, pokes his head out from under the table at a therapy session last year in a brightly-decorated, playground-like room at Barry University’s Adrian Hall. “But I just need to pick up this letter,” he says. Conille replies with carefully planned technique, “Okay Brandon, show me a good
sitting in one … two … two-and-a-half … two-and-three-quarters …” Before she finishes, Brandon pops back up into his chair, his back straight, hands clasped on the desk. “It’s all about redirecting him, being very clear with him and keeping it moving,” Conille explains. This type of therapy is designed to help kids or adults with neurological disorders or developmental delays become as independent as possible, explains Belkis Landa-Gonzalez, director of the occupational therapy program at Barry University’s College of Health Sciences. Landa-Gonzalez has partnered with Jennifer Gober, founder of Kinetic Kids, since 2009. The collaboration has proved enormously
beneficial both for Barry students as well as special needs families like Brandon’s. “The interaction we have with faculty on campus is important and, in turn, we are able to provide students with the groundwork of clinical practice,” Gober says. “It’s a great opportunity; the give and take of knowledge and resources is invaluable.” The partnership with Barry and other universities gave Gober a way to develop a pediatric research and teaching clinic on campus with a focus of providing services to children with autism. It also afforded the students the opportunity to integrate what they learned in the classroom with hands-on experience working with specials needs families. Barry students in the program earn a Master of Science. After graduation, they become certified as registered occupational therapists working at hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers and schools. Kinetic Kids has hired four Barry graduates so far. Occupational therapists, Landa-Gonzalez explains, help people develop, recover or maintain the skills needed for performing everyday tasks, from dressing to studying to working. Here, therapists use games, toys and obstacle courses, to strengthen the children’s muscles, refine motor skills, and work on “sensory integration.” “Occupational therapy is science and arts combined,” Landa-Gonzalez added. “We need students with anatomy and science backgrounds but also with an interest in psychology and the ability to do crafts because you need to be creative and resourceful to come up with an individualized way to help your client.” BARRY MAG | 35
A FOND FAREWELL
Spring marked the retirement of 45 of the University’s exceptional faculty and staff members. Each left an indelible mark on their respective fields and in the hearts of students and colleagues.
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FACULTY
Dr. Stephen Anderson, Professor, Sport and Exercise Sciences Dr. Juanita Brandford, Associate Professor, School of Education Maura “Silvia” de la Peña, Assistant to the Chair, Theology and Philosophy Dr. Betty Diener, Professor Management, School of Business Dr. Lee Dutter, Professor, School of Adult and Continuing Education Sister Veronica Koperski, Professor, Theology and Philosophy Cynthia Lasky, Assistant Professor, School of Education Gene Majka, Assistant Professor, Division of Nursing Dr. Nancy Masztal, Professor, School of Education Irene Moreda, Associate Professor, School of Social Work Dr. John Nelson, Professor, School of Podiatric Medicine Eric Olson, Assistant Professor, School of Adult and Continuing Education Jillian Reed, Assistant Professor, School of Adult and Continuing Education Dr. Catherine Roberts, Associate Professor, School of Adult and Continuing Education Dr. Mark Rokhfeld, Instructor, Math and Computer Science Dr. Carlos Segami, Professor, Math and Computer Science Dr. Edward Sunshine, Professor, Theology and Philosophy Sister Paul James Villemure, O.P., Professor, Math and Computer Sciences
STAFF
Myrna Beresford, Assistant Clinical Coordinator, School of Podiatric Medicine James Bower, Maintenance Plumber, Maintenance Maria Buria, Academic Advisor/Recruiter, School of Adult and Continuing Education Mary “Laura” Corriss, Director, Systems Services, Administrative Information Systems Carole Deutsch, Executive Assistant to the Vice President, Institutional Advancement Janet Dowd, Executive Assistant, Student Affairs Rosemary Eichenberg, Executive Assistant, Institutional Advancement Sister Grace Flowers, Associate Director, School of Adult and Continuing Education Robert Frazer, Audiovisual Support Specialist, Division of Information Technology Cheryl Gerber, Executive Assistant, Business and Finance Jocelyn Goulet, External Relations Manager, Anesthesiology Jan Griswold, Coordinator, Division of Information Technology Karolyn Jenkins, Administrative Assistant, School of Podiatric Medicine Dorothy Kelly, Assistant Registrar, Registrar Harold “Terry” Kushi, Unified Communications Manager, Division of Information Technology James Leverock, Master Plumber, Maintenance Luisa Lopez, Custodian, Housekeeping Dolores Lukomski, Regional Director, School of Adult and Continuing Education John “Dave” Mace, Manager, Grounds Willie Mitchell, Custodian, Housekeeping William “Patrick” Morrissey, Collection Manager, Library Gerard Pierre-Antoine, Maintenance Helper, Maintenance Gayle Remer, Call Center Specialist, Enrollment Services Rosa Rodriguez, Executive Assistant to the Dean, School of Adult and Continuing Education Thomas Severino, Associate Vice President, Institutional Advancement Margot Swan, Senior Accountant, Finance Nancy Telford, Office Manager, School of Social Work
Gene Majka, Assistant Professor, Division of Nursing After 11 years of teaching students about the importance of community health nursing, Gene Majka, a certified adult nurse practitioner, has retired. In the spring of 2002, Barry had only 10 students a semester and two clinical sites. During his tenure, he added 12 more sites throughout South Miami-Dade, changing the way scores of nursing students practice their profession. As an assistant professor at Barry, Majka taught Community/Public Health and Mental Health nursing to dozens of students a year. He obtained clinical placements for nursing students at sites like the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA), a non-profit childcare center in Homestead, where students spent the entire semester gaining in-depth knowledge of the culture and values of that particular community. By the end of the semester they also visited five different nonprofit, county or state agencies to get some exposure to services in other communities. Majka says he was fortunate that he was able to receive exposure to community nursing at a time when it wasn’t necessarily in the forefront of nursing education. “The need for community nursing has always existed,” Majka noted. “In the 1990s, more than 90 percent of nurses worked in hospitals, and now less than 60 percent do. There are other settings to work in; you see parish nurses, nurses working for insurance companies and community centers.” Majka is an active member in many community organizational committees, where he serves the homeless as well as South Florida migrant workers. He received the Migrant Unsung Hero Award from the Migrant Health Network 2010, the Florida Compact Community Educator of the Year Award in 2012 and the South Dade Care Award as Outstanding Educator in 2013. In his retirement, Majka plans to teach part time at the Miami VA and continue to be active in nursing professional associations. He will enjoy his friendships with Barry nursing students and his many colleagues. Majka also hopes to travel abroad, catch up on his favorite mystery novels and find serenity at various South Florida fishing piers. BARRY MAG | 37
FACULTY FOCUS Admission Granted Sarah Riley has been named Barry University’s director of undergraduate admissions. She previously served as associate director of Undergraduate Admissions and was selected as director following a nationwide search. Riley will be responsible for the recruitment activities that facilitate enrollment of traditional undergraduate students, including the campus visit program, the tour and tour guide program, communications, the recruitment travel plan, and coordination of special admission programs and activities presented both on and off campus.
Write Away Steffano Montano, Barry University’s director of service-learning in the department of theology and philosophy, has published a series of online articles on service-learning and theological reflection in the U.S. Hispanic Ministry - Pastoral Hispana en los Estados Unidos.
In the Best of Health Dr. John McFadden was appointed dean of the College of Health Sciences after being interim dean for several months. The College of Health Sciences is the home of all programs in the division of nursing, as well as undergraduate and graduate health sciences programs such as histotechnology, cardiovascular perfusion, anesthesiology, health services administration, biomedical sciences, and occupational therapy. Dr. McFadden holds a BSN from Gwynedd-Mercy College, a Master of Science in Health Care Administration and a Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia from St. Joseph’s University, an MSN from the University of Tennessee, and a PhD from Barry University.
An ACE Addition Dr. Andrea Allen was named dean of the School of Adult and Continuing Education (ACE). She previously served as ACE’s interim dean. ACE provides adult students with undergraduate, graduate and non-credit programs that recognize the educational needs of the adult learner and promote lifelong learning. Allen earned a PhD in psychology with a concentration in life span developmental science from Florida International University. She is also a licensed mental health counselor who has produced numerous publications and presentations on traumatic stress, and disaster response and preparedness.
Justice Served Dr. Laura L. Finley, assistant professor of sociology and criminology, was selected by the American College Personnel Association’s Commission for Social Justice Educators to receive the Outstanding Social Justice Collaboration Award. Finley was nominated and won for the work she does on campus with social justice initiatives including anti-bullying programs and domestic violence awareness, and the promotion of environmental initiatives.
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Make Your Gift Today. Help support our students. Visit www.barry.edu/giving or call 305.899.3070 to make your gift.
Annual Giving | Support Students Every BUC Counts
“My name is Nicole Marie Paez and I am a proud Barry University student. I am currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in social work with a minor in business. I am also a student ambassador for Barry University and vice president for membership of the Student Alumni Association. Thanks to alumni support, I have been able to continue my education through the scholarships I have earned as a student.” Nicole has benefited personally from the annual contributions that Barry University receives from friends, parents, alumni, faculty and staff. The generosity of Barry donors funds scholarships and program development, which transform students’ lives on many different levels.
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Buccaneer Bookshelf Baker’s Haulover, A Maritime Treasure of History and Pioneers
Martha Saconchik-Pytel ’61, MS ’68, tells the untold story of Baker’s Haulover at the north end of Miami Beach, Florida and the adjoining lands of Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles. The book is a celebration of a forgotten era of maritime history and a tribute to the spirit of its pioneers. Saconchik-Pytel words are taken from more than 400 interviews. Many of the pioneers interviewed have since passed and if not for this author’s research, first-hand dialogues would be lost forever.
Advance My Baby: The Ultimate Secrets of Healthy Development For Your Baby Birth to 3 Years Paula Tarver and Jeanne Martin, both ’98 graduates in occupational therapy, developed a how-to manual for encouraging healthy development of children. The handbook is a parent-friendly and professionally comprehensive guide for learning about and tracking the critical developmental stages from birth to three years old.
Cartridges and Firearm Identification Robert Walker ’02, brings together a unique, multidiscipline approach to questions that arise regarding ammunition and firearms within the context of investigation. At a time when crime scene television shows are all the rage amongst the civilian population, knowledge of firearm forensics is of paramount importance to crime scene analysts, police detectives, and attorneys for both the prosecution and the defense.
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ClassNotes 1960 Larita Norris Kaspar celebrated her 48th wedding anniversary recently. Larita has four children, six grandchildren and is still teaching classes in nursing.
1962 Hope Lewis Lawler and husband Bill are proud to announce that their oldest daughter defended her dissertation and earned her PhD from Duquesne University in Communication and Rhetorical Studies. They also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a weeklong celebration on a cruise with all of their children and grandchildren. Peggy Raiss Atwood and husband Bill celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at Hilton Head with all of their children. Margo O’Connor and Bob are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise to Montreal for a month. Patty Bourke Green and Marty celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in New Jersey where many of their friends and family live; they will continue to celebrate at Lake Tahoe with their daughter. Rose Vilallba Dery and Bill are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends, including some ’62 classmates. Rose and Bill are also celebrating a graduation for their first grandchild from Virginia Tech as a first lieutenant in the Air Force. They also have twin granddaughters graduating from Blessed Trinity High School. Ann Bredemeyer Doyle and Morrie are off for a long journey to wherever their hearts desire in their camper; they just returned from Baton Rouge.
Barbara Scheier Phillips and Bill returned from San Diego and Tucson with their grandson for his seven-year-old birthday celebration. They went to Helsinki in June and in July to Switzerland, Austria and Germany with their 11-year-old granddaughter. They plan to visit Ethiopia soon. Jane Simons celebrated her birthday and just returned from eight days in Las Vegas, and a visit to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. Maureen Dinnen has been selected “Florida School Board Member of the Year” by the Florida Education Association. Nell Favarato and husband Bob visited with grandchildren in Massachusetts. Their grandson, John, and his girlfriend of several years gave birth to baby, Aviendha, in May and it is their first great grandchild. Julie Juliano was so sorry to hear about the death of Judy Brogen ’62. “She was greatly admired by us in the nursing department. Going to class during the day and working nights and weekends to pay her way through college and always with a smile on her face. It did not go unnoticed. I feel privileged to have been her classmate.”
1966 Judith Antinarella has retired from the full time faculty at Miami Dade College. She had been assistant professor of Human Services and Addiction Studies at the college.
1968 Georgia Ann Bicknell is still working at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute as an education technician. She finished her master’s degree
in education through Jones International University online and is ABD on her dissertation in Education with Grand Canyon. Georgia Ann hopes to finish her doctoral work next year and is active in the Barry Space Coast Alumni Association.
1981 Stephanie Rakofsky, South Miami Hospital’s director of Social Work, Care Coordination and Counseling was honored with Florida International University’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work’s 2012 Path Award. The Path Award recognizes individuals in public health, social work and dietetics for their contributions and commitment to promoting and protecting the health of the South Florida community.
1981 Arleen Dowd received an NEH Fellowship to study in South Africa. Additionally, she received her PhD from the University of Mississippi in Educational Leadership in 2012. As chief warrant officer 3 (CW3), she is also a member of the United States Army Reserves and serves as an instructor to new warrant officers and lieutenants. Arleen has just completed her 28th year as an English teacher in Oxford, Mississippi, where she resides.
1984 Maria Dusenbery has completed her credentials to become a parish nurse and hopes for ministry to grow in Florida and Michigan.
1991 Dr. Vershern Edwards has written, “I Don’t Want Okra,” a book of poems of inspiration, focus and resolve to make it BARRY MAG | 41
through when all seems hopeless and you may feel helpless. Dr. Edwards has been interview by NPR Mississippi’s public radio and other print publications.
1992 Brendan Francis participated at the first-ever Global Healthcare Summit, 2012, organized by the Economist Group, United Kingdom. Brendan was among 250 invited senior healthcare decision makers from around the world to discuss the future of healthcare. Dr. Francis was also invited by the Economist Group to join 150 global leaders in discussing the future of Africa.
1996 Anthony DeSantis, BS ’96, MS ’99 and Michelle DeSantis ’98 will be celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary in November. Anthony completed his PhD in Conflict Resolution and Analysis from Nova Southeastern University in 2011. After working 10 years at Nova Southeastern University, Anthony was hired as the associate dean of students at the University of Florida. Michelle completed her MBA in accounting from Saint Leo University in 2012 and is working as an accounting manager for Haven Hospice. They moved to Gainesville, Florida in 2010 but always stay connected to the friends they made during their time at Barry University. Andy Muccino has been promoted to associate athletic director as well as head athletic trainer and sports medicine instructor with Gray Stone Day School near Charlotte, North Carolina. Andy and his wife, Jill, also welcomed son, Callen David in 2011, joining sisters Delaney (4) and Norah (3) in the household.
1998 Ruben J. Gomez and Marcia Gomez, ’00 had a baby boy named Liam Colin in January 2012. Tonya Laster received a master of arts in Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California, in April 2013. Angel Velez Oyola, Director of the School of Theology at InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico, was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa during its annual commencement. This honorary doctorate serves as a recognition of the importance of Velez’s work in continuing education and ecumenical and BARRY MAG | 42
interreligious understanding both within, and outside, Puerto Rico.
2000 Cami Green Hofstadter just published her book: “The Foreign Consuls Among Us: A Guide to Citizen Diplomacy.” To be credible players in the global community, all of us must learn to be “goodwill ambassadors” like the foreign consuls among us. This guide shows how to partner with them in our efforts to promote effective citizen diplomacy.
2001 Queen Rogers-Paschal married Alvin Paschal III in December of 2012. They have four beautiful children together. Queen works for the Broward County School Board and is currently working on her first novel and screenplay. Ira Gonzalez, BS ’01, MBA ’05, has been appointed one of the new young lawyers subcommittee co-chairs of the ABA Section of Litigation Products Liability Committee. Gonzalez serves as the deputy regional representative for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas for the Hispanic National Bar Association, young lawyers division. Antoine Atouriste is a professor at the University of Notre Dame Haiti and a member of the Haitian National AntiCorruption Committee. Anis Blemur is a successful American entrepreneur of Haitian origin. Anis is an expert in accounting and has helped immigrants in their fights to obtain legal rights. After working many years for Sharpton & Brunson, and then becoming CFO with a multi-national firm called Xantic, Inc., he went on to explore his entrepreneurial passion in starting his own firm to help local international entrepreneurs start successful businesses in South Florida. Anis authored, “A Balanced Life,” a self-improvement book to help smaller investors and entrepreneurs achieve the American dream.
2002 Kristina Feher, Esq. has been selected to the inaugural class of the Wm. Reece Smith, Jr., Leadership Academy of the Florida Bar. The goal of the academy is to train younger lawyers not only to be leaders in the legal profession but also in their communities. Kristina just completed a two-year term as
young lawyer section chair of the St. Petersburg Bar Association. Kristina practices bankruptcy law, divorce, small business and immigration at Feher Law in St. Petersburg, Florida.
2003 Anne Shaver has obtained her license in social work and started working as a medical social worker at a community hospital. Anne and her husband are raising and preparing to adopt their 21-month-old granddaughter, Kendra. Deborah Reato, BS ’03, MS ’06 has been named director of Veterans Success at Georgia Gwinnett College. In addition, she was awarded the University System of Georgia’s African-American Male Initiative Award and has established the college’s elite scholars program.
2006 Michael Ugarte, BA ’06, MS ’09, married Ashley DuFrene on March 22, 2013; “my best friend is now my wife and partner in crime.” Michael is also the new director of stewardship at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
2008 Jermaine Rolle, a mental conditioning coach at Velocity Sports performance in Cherry Hill, N.J., has achieved certified consultant status with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, an international professional organization that promotes the field of sport, exercise and health psychology.
2010 Nancy Clark has just had her second book published, “Haikus and Cinquains.” The book contains photos that were taken during her travels throughout the United States and Canada that Nancy tried matching up with various poems to paint a pleasant visual picture for the reader.
2011 Saskia Stamm has relocated to Oakland Park with her three-year-old daughter where she will be teaching for the German School of Ft. Lauderdale while continuing her graduate studies with Barry University.
2012 Joshua Jackson has been accepted to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California to pursue his master’s in Motion Pictures and Television.
Lance Leider, with the Health Law Firm, delivered a seminar to Florida Hospital’s family medicine residents and medical students in February 2013. The topic focused on types of fraud and abuse in the health care industry.
2013 Brittney Bartlett will be earning her master of arts in International Administration from the University of Miami starting this fall.
IN MEMORIAM Mary Dwyer Honebrink ’47 Mary Jane Mills Renuart ’48 Cilia Vallejo Bach ’51 Judith Brogren ’62
Beverly Eberly ’62 Martha Suguitan Klingberg ’64 Alan Rene Turin ’78 Nicole Hives ’09
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TE DA E TH VE SA BARRY UNIV ERSIT Y REUN ION WEEK
FEBRUARY 21-23, 2014
END 2014
The weekend’s festivities will include deans’ receptions, alumni and family tailgate, homecoming basketball game, campus tours, reunion mass, the induction of the 50 Year Class of 1964 into the Golden Shield Society, and more! If you are interested in getting a group of your Barry friends together for Reunion Weekend 2014, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at alumni@barry.edu or 305.899.3175.