Bellarmine Magazine - Fall/Winter 2024

NOW, THAT'S JUST SHOWING OFF:

Students often cite the beautiful campus as one reason for attending Bellarmine. This maple tree near Miles Hall says, "Mission accomplished."

by Brendan J. Sullivan

Photo

Heard in this Issue

“ I worked with an absolute dream team in New York.” IMPACT INTERNSHIPS, PAGE 40

“While

Amanda Lucas

‘Nothing matters if there is no

COVER: Joe Hamilton ’95 captured this winning pic in the 2024 Photo Contest’s Nature category on a backpacking trip through Yosemite National Park. “We were essentially on top of Nevada Falls here,” he said. More winners, Page 28.

THIS PAGE: Amos Zoeller, the manager of Bellarmine’s science labs and stockroom, studies and collects fungi, including this unknown species of Neoboletus, which has flesh that rapidly stains blue when bruised or cut. Learn more about his unusual hobby on Page 21.

Dr. Susan M. Donovan l president@bellarmine.edu

The true meaning of legacy

WE TALK A LOT ABOUT LEGACY at universities. Legacy is the lasting impact that people’s actions have long beyond their lives. Legacy can be encouraging your children, grandchildren or friends to attend Bellarmine for undergraduate or graduate degrees. Or a legacy can be designating a gift in your estate plan. Sometimes, it is all three.

Earlier this fall, I had the pleasure of celebrating the legacy at Bellarmine of Dr. Allan Lansing and his wife, Donna Lansing, the namesakes of our Lansing School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences. We gathered with their family on Sept. 5 to dedicate new Lansing School signage in Miles Hall and to unveil plans for a lobby display case for items from our Lansing Archival Collection.

Dr. Lansing, an internationally renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, died in 2022, a year after his wife passed away. A $3.6 million gift from their estate in 2023 brought their

family’s lifetime giving total to Bellarmine to more than $10 million, making them the largest individual donors in the university’s history.

That gift also contributed to making fiscal year 2024 the most successful fundraising year in Bellarmine University’s history. Bellarmine received more than $18 million total from companies, foundations and individuals such as Dr. Mushtaque Juneja ’00 MBA, whose $1.725 million gift is supporting the new Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia program that is now named for him.

As is the case with many donors, the Lansings’ legacy goes beyond the monetary. Dr. Lansing’s keen appreciation for the role of nurses sparked a passion for healthcare education. As a longtime Bellarmine trustee, he helped to establish the university’s nursing curriculum and watched the

program grow in size and reputation.

He and Donna Lansing also established several scholarship funds at Bellarmine, most notably the Lansing Scholars Program. Through the Norton Hospital Foundation, that program helps cover Scholars’ costs while they work toward degrees in nursing and the health sciences. Upon graduation, they begin their careers at Norton Healthcare and are eligible to have their loans forgiven. The Lansings enjoyed meeting the Scholars at a reception each year.

The generosity of the Lansings has changed the lives of countless students and patients throughout our city and will continue to do so for many years to come. We are so grateful to them and their family, and to all those who are building legacies at Bellarmine.

Dr. Donovan chats with (L-R) Dr. Carly Mitchell, program administrator for Bellarmine’s Nurse Anesthesia Program, the Lansings’ daughter Michele Lansing Flowers and Michele’s husband, Kelly Flowers. Photo by Brendan J. Sullivan

Remembering the Rev. McDaniel

I just saw in the last issue [Spring 2024] that The Rev. Isaac McDaniel passed away last February. He taught a religious studies class that I took during my time at Bellarmine, and I will always remember how he taught with so much kindness and respect, both for the subject and for his students. Always compassionate, enlightening and quick-witted—I know his absence is felt deeply throughout the community. His class and teachings have always stuck with me, and I carry that experience with me to this day. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones.

Emily Wilson ’22 Louisville

Who Got You Through?

My Bellarmine journey was enhanced by Dr. Don Osborn. I was in the beginning stages of my MBA studies when I took his Research Methods class. I was an Accounting major in college; therefore, I only wrote one paper during those four years. I was very aware that graduate school necessitated major writing assignments, so a potential issue existed.

On the first night of Dr. Osborn’s class (which happened to be my birthday), he filled the 2 ½ hours with a lot of useful information. At the end, he announced that he wanted to meet individually with every student after class either that night or the following Wednesday night. I had taken several pages of notes and had questions; therefore, I opted to see him right away. We spoke for a while about my career and what I expected from the program. He then patiently answered all my questions, and at that point, I realized the structure and mechanics needed to write a major paper. I walked out to my car at 10 p.m. It had snowed about six inches, and the only vehicles around were my car and the guy driving the snowplow!

The majority of my classes required a lengthy paper, but what was once a perceived weakness was now a strength. Due to long work hours and business travel, completing my degree took longer than I wanted. Also, the company I worked for at the time didn't offer tuition reimbursement, so in my last year, I only took one course a semester so I could take on a second job. Since I had limited study time, being able to effectively write a paper helped. The knowledge that Dr. Osborn imparted helped me immeasurably in my career since several positions I held required me to write training manuals. He was probably the best instructor I ever had.

Don Paper ’85 MBA

Louisville

Who was your Bellarmine mentor — who got you through? Send your story—and a photo, if you have one—to Executive Editor Carla Carlton at letters@ bellarmine.edu. We may use it in a future issue.

Sycamore Tree

By Maria Tori ’24

Oh, how long have you been here? Standing in the field, so thick the trunk, and what branches are left, wide arms.

I imagine what your life must have been like when this field worked better as a floodplain and how your roots must’ve carved out a seat for something venturing by.

I wish I knew better how to judge the age of a tree. I wish I knew better how to rest in the arms of one for longer than the world wants me too. And there, you wish for nothing.

Still, with half your body gone, you hang seeds off for the next generation.

I measure my arm against yours and mold my hand into almost falling leaf.

Maria Tori, who graduated from Bellarmine University in 2024 with Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Justice and Sustainability, is a Sustainability Specialist with Louisville Metro Government. She has published a chapbook of nature-inspired poetry, Ode to Not Knowing, through Kentucky’s Finishing Line Press and is a certified Naturalist and Science Advocate.

RETURN TO THE HIGHLANDS

Compiled by Carla Carlton

Photos by Brendan J. Sullivan

Knights Hall once again welcomes Knights Nation

Beginning with this 2024-25 season, Bellarmine's women's and men's basketball teams return to the Highlands, playing once again in Knights Hall.

The storied gymnasium had been the home of the Knights from 1960 until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The basketball teams then moved to Freedom Hall, where additional space for fans and personnel was invaluable.

"Freedom Hall has been a great home for Bellarmine's women's and men's basketball programs during our transition to NCAA Division I, and we're grateful to Kentucky Venues for delivering a first-class experience for our studentathletes and fans," said Scott Wiegandt, director of Athletics.

Four years after making the ambitious transition from Division II, Bellarmine has successfully completed the mandated reclassification period and is now a full Division I member. That means its athletic teams are eligible to compete in postseason NCAA tournaments.

"Bringing the Knights back to the Highlands will allow our students to fully experience the atmosphere of Division I basketball without leaving campus, satisfy fans who have missed the venue's rowdy experience, bring added convenience to our student-athletes, and provide additional game-day revenue to neighborhood businesses," Wiegandt said.

Upgrades to Knights Hall will include a new entertainment space on the stage, a new centerhung scoreboard capable of showing video, a new scorer's table with video capability, and new television monitors in the lobby and terrace level. These improvements will also benefit the volleyball and wrestling teams that call Knights Hall home.

Tickets for home games of all Bellarmine teams are available at BUKnightsTix.com.

NEWS ON THE HILL

ESPN’s Jay Bilas courts a Bellarmine crowd

“Nobody loves their school like Knights love Bellarmine,” Emmynominated ESPN college basketball analyst, leadership expert and author Jay Bilas said as he addressed a capacity crowd in Frazier Hall for the Wyatt Lecture on Sept. 6. The free lecture, presented by the Knights Athletics Association and the Wyatt Lecture Series, celebrated Bellarmine’s full membership in NCAA Division I.

Bilas spoke about how the status of NCAA student-athletes has evolved, particularly in relation to their NIL (name, image, likeness) activities; the process of transitioning to D-I; and the transfer portal.

While some things may have changed, the factors that make a successful college athlete really haven’t, Bilas said: “preparation, priorities and gratitude.”

“They are not going to have the same experience as their fellow students. There’s no spring break, no semester abroad. But they get to do things that other students would kill to do,” he said. “For me, it’s never stopped paying off. The things I have learned in competition have helped me immensely in other endeavors.”

Bilas played basketball at Duke University under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski; was drafted by the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and played professionally for three years; then returned as an assistant coach at Duke.

He has since become a well-known commentator and analyst on ESPN, where he hosts the network’s popular road show, College Game Day. His 2013 book Toughness: Developing True Strength On and Off the Court, was a New York Times bestseller. He is also a practicing attorney at Moore & Van Allen.

After his speech, Bilas took a few questions, including one the moderator humorously described as potentially controversial: Should Bellarmine’s basketball team dribble more?

His answer was quick: “No!”

“Most of basketball is played without the ball in your hands,” he said. “The best players are accomplishing something before they get the ball.” He referred to former North Carolina Tar Heel Antwan Jamison, who went on to play 16 seasons in the NBA. “He was the quickest player from catch to release,” Bilas said.

During one game, someone used a stopwatch to time how long he held the ball—not counting free throws or inbounds. “At the end of the game, he had 35 points and 15 rebounds, and he had the ball in his hands for 53 seconds in a 40-minute game,” Bilas said. “Tell me how much difference dribbling made in that. Zero.”

The Wyatt Lecture Series at Bellarmine University was created and endowed in 1990 by former Louisville Mayor and Lt. Gov. Wilson W. Wyatt and his wife, Anne D. Wyatt.

NEWS ON THE HILL

2024 Week of Welcome

Bellarmine welcomed 539 first-year students to campus in August, bringing total enrollment for 2024-25 to 2,885. The first-year students come from 31 states, including Kentucky, and nine countries. Forty-three percent of them are first-generation, and 34 percent are students of color, making this the most diverse Bellarmine class in history. Before classes began on Aug. 22, new students participated in Convocation and Week of Welcome, an orientation that included ice-breaker games and Knights in Action, a day of service.

CONVOCATION

Dr. Mark Wiegand, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, participates in the Class of 2028’s official welcoming ceremony.

MOVE-IN DAY

Decorating the dorm room is a rite of passage.

CONVOCATION MASS

Fr. George Munjanattu and the Rev. Dr. John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv., celebrate Mass with new families in Knights Hall.

WACKY OLYMPICS

What better way to make new friends than to pull together on a tug of war team?

KNIGHTS IN ACTION

Incoming first-year students gave local organizations a hand during a day of service.

Lilly Foundation grant to help infuse character education into new core curriculum

A $50,000 grant from the Lilly Foundation is helping Bellarmine infuse character education through the lens of Thomas Merton’s life and work into a revised core curriculum that launched this fall.

“That's not to say that Merton isn't already present in our curriculum, but we are looking at how we might do this in a more robust way university wide,” said Dr. Jon Blandford, assistant provost. The artistic estate of the influential Trappist monk is housed in Bellarmine’s Merton Center, and Merton is at the center of the university’s Catholic identity.

A diverse group of faculty from across the university has been working for about a year on ways to infuse Merton and the university’s values into the core curriculum in a more intentional way.

With the new core curriculum launch approaching, Blandford said, “it seemed like unusually good timing to

put these two ongoing projects together and apply for this capacity-building grant through the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character, which is funded by the Lilly Foundation.”

The grant will provide Bellarmine faculty and staff the resources over the next year to develop Merton-infused coursework and new programming. Among other things, the Merton and Mission Working Group plans to host eight teaching workshops in 2024-25; create three new undergraduate courses and/or upper-level seminars; and revise six existing courses and/or seminars.

Character at Bellarmine is based upon educating the whole person to realize their highest potential as part of an interconnected world, Blandford said. “We're fortunate to have Merton as a North Star here.” Merton was in many ways ahead of his time, writing about race, about differences, and about the interconnectedness of all our lives.

The new core curriculum was designed by faculty across all schools and departments, with input from staff in the Center for Community Engagement and the Student Success Center.

“We have refreshed our core curriculum to make it more relevant to 21st century students, building on our liberal arts foundation and incorporating skills-based and competencybased education,” Blandford said.

The new core curriculum:

• increases the university’s emphasis on experiential learning and community engagement;

• highlights the eight dimensions of wellness (emotional, intellectual, occupational, financial, physical, environmental, social and spiritual);

• updates some foundational courses to make them more relevant to today’s learners. History of Western Civilization, for example, has become Global History, reflecting what graduates need to know in order to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world.

The core also updates the first-year and senior experiences. First-year students will take a new seminar sequence, Knight1/Knight 2, that begins with reflection on the self and then expands to community engagement. The new senior capstone course, the Merici Seminar (named for Saint Angela Merici), will pull together all that students have learned in the core curriculum, Blandford said, and “give them an opportunity to reflect on what did they learn? What does it mean? Why does it matter?”

Character education matters, he said. It's critically important as far as what kind of graduates we are putting out there—people who have integrity and who look at the world with empathy. Someone others can trust and who have the capacity to lead.”

NEWS ON THE HILL

Bellarmine Direct streamlines admission

A new streamlined enrollment initiative called Bellarmine Direct grants automatic admission—and a scholarship—to qualified students graduating from Louisville’s public and private high schools.

Bellarmine Direct applicants with at least a 2.75 grade-point average complete a short online form, and once Bellarmine receives their high school transcripts, they are automatically admitted with a minimum scholarship of $18,000. There is no cost to apply.

"In recent years, we have found very clearly that students who earn at least a 2.75 GPA from Louisville high schools perform very well at Bellarmine, and we know that 70 percent of students who graduate from Bellarmine stay in Louisville and contribute to the local economy through the workforce,” Bellarmine President Susan M. Donovan said.

“A Bellarmine degree is a path to unrivaled outcomes, and our commitment to Louisville through Bellarmine Direct is to help more qualified local students see how this path to success through Bellarmine is viable for them by reducing barriers in the college admissions process.”

Donovan noted that 99% of Bellarmine’s Class of 2023 were either employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation, according to the school’s survey of 2023 graduates.

Those Bellarmine graduates are paid more on average than graduates from any other institution in Kentucky, according to data from the Kentucky Center for Statistics. Three years after graduation, Bellarmine bachelor's degree recipients living in Kentucky earn a median income 19% higher than the average median income for those holding bachelor's degrees from all Kentucky institutions.

The Bellarmine Direct application is available at https://tinyurl.com/BellarmineDirect.

Festival of Lights: On Oct. 31, the Bellarmine community celebrated Diwali, the beginning of the new year in the Hindu calendar. The holiday symbolizes good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Photo by Carlos Vega.

$1M grant to fund DNP-Nurse Anesthesia scholarships

A $1 million grant will provide scholarships for students in the Bellarmine University Juneja Nurse Anesthesia Program, helping to fill a growing healthcare need in the Louisville Metro area.

Bellarmine received a $500,000 grant from Anesthesia Services of Kentucky and a matching grant of $500,000 from the new Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund on Oct. 30. Dr. Mushtaque Juneja ’00 MBA, the CEO of Anesthesia Services of Kentucky, had previously given $1.75 million to Bellarmine’s nurse anesthesia program, which is named for him.

The matching grant was made possible through legislation that the Kentucky General Assembly passed in 2023 and funded in 2024. House Bill 200 created the Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund (HWIF), a public and private partnership that is administered by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE).

The HWIF matches a private provider’s funding for scholarships in a specific healthcare-education program. Scholarship recipients commit to working in Kentucky for at least one year after completing their training.

ACADEMIC INNOVATION

New mental-health degree addresses critical need

A new master’s degree option in Bellarmine University’s Lansing School of Nursing addresses a growing need in healthcare by preparing nurse practitioners to provide psychiatric evaluations and treatment.

“The United States is facing a critical shortage of mentalhealth providers at a time when the country is seeing rising rates of mental-health issues such as depression, anxiety and substance-abuse disorders,” said Dr. Chris Webb, chair of Graduate Nursing at Bellarmine and director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program.

“The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program

can help close the gap.”

In 2019-2020, 20.8 percent of adults—more than 50 million Americans—were experiencing a mental illness, according to a 2023 annual report by Mental Health America, a national nonprofit. But over half, or 54.7 percent, do not receive treatment. The shortage of mental-health providers is one factor.

Bellarmine’s 47-hour MSN–Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program (PMHNP) prepares professional nurses to provide psychiatric disease management—including the prescription of medication—and advanced psychotherapy techniques in two years of part-time study, including two summers. The program is online, with only one required oncampus visit in its entirety.

For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/MSNPMHNP.

Bellarmine, JCPS collaborate on teacher education

Bellarmine University and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) are partnering on a new program that will allow adults who want to be teachers to get their master’s degree in teaching in just one year. The students will be enrolled in JCPS’ Louisville Teacher Residency program, which is recruiting and training more teachers, specifically more teachers of color.

JCPS has long been the largest employer of Bellarmine’s education graduates, and the university has previously offered outreach programs for master’s level credit. But this is the first time that Bellarmine has collaborated with the school district to provide a master’s in teaching aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color in JCPS classrooms.

“Bellarmine is excited to collaborate with JCPS to prepare more teachers for the unique needs of Louisville schools,” said Dr. Elizabeth Dinkins, dean of Bellarmine’s Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree, but it doesn’t have to be in education, making the program appealing to career-changers. Participants receive a reduced tuition rate and a $33,000 stipend. They teach four days per week in a JCPS school alongside a mentoring teacher. Bellarmine professors provide hybrid instruction, with no more than one in-person class per week.

Physical Therapy fellowship is accredited

A new fellowship in physical therapy for neurologic movement disorders that is supported by Bellarmine has been accredited by a national board.

The Neurologic Movement Disorders Physical Therapy Fellowship is the first program of its kind in the United States to be accredited by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE). The accreditation runs through September 2029.

The fellowship is a collaboration between Norton Healthcare of Louisville and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, with support from the Physical Therapy programs of Bellarmine’s School of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences and the OSU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

The 12-month fellowship will develop physical therapy specialists who can address the rehabilitation needs of patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, ataxia and Huntington’s disease. Participants do coursework while working at Norton Healthcare or the Wexner Medical Center. They are employed full-time with benefits and pay no tuition. The program began in November 2023.

Princeton Review: Bellarmine is one of nation’s top colleges

Bellarmine University has once again been recognized as one of the nation's top colleges in the latest edition of The Princeton Review's annual college guide, The Best 390 Colleges

Only about 15% of America's 2,600 four-year colleges earned a spot in this prestigious book for 2025. The Princeton Review selects the colleges based on comprehensive data collected from surveys of 2,000 college administrators regarding their institutions' academic offerings. Additionally, the company reviews feedback from 168,000 students attending these schools.

Dr. Elizabeth Dinkins, School of Education dean

NEWS ON THE HILL

Passages

DR. KATHLEEN LYONS, who died on Oct. 7 at 92, was just the third woman to teach at Bellarmine College when she was appointed to the English faculty in the fall of 1963. Three years later, she was named assistant dean. She would go on to serve as chair of the English Department and as co-director with Dr. Margaret Mahoney of the Cardinal Section, now the Honors Program.

In 1993, Dr. Lyons received the Msgr. Alfred Horrigan Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to Bellarmine University. The following year she became professor emerita of English. She spent several years as the chair of Curriculum for the Veritas Society and taught about 30 courses. In 2012 she was presented with the Msgr. Alfred Horrigan Medal.

Dr. Lyons’ community service included a term on the board of the Louisville and Jefferson County Human Relations Commission, for which she also served as chair; a stint on the editorial board of The Record; and membership on the St. Meinrad Seminary and Kentucky Youth Advocates boards. She also served as executive director of the Center for Interfaith Relations, where she helped coordinate the Festival of Faiths.

On April 24, 2023, she celebrated her 90th birthday in the Bellarmine Honors Program lounge, where she was honored with a plaque and the planting of an English Oak tree donated by Christina Lee Brown and her family.

REV. JOHN D. DEATRICK ’55 a former Bellarmine chaplain and head baseball coach, died Nov. 2. He was 91.

Fr. Deatrick mentored countless students and established several endowed funds that will benefit students in years to come.

Most recently, he made endowment gifts that will establish the Rev. John D. Deatrick Center for Campus Ministry and the Rev. John D. Deatrick ’55 Knights Food Pantry.

He also helped to establish two endowed scholarships. In 2014, he and Al ’72 and Mary Jo ’74/’84 Burke funded a scholarship for full-time students with preference given to baseball players. Fr. Deatrick coached Al Burke on the Bellarmine baseball team and officiated at the Burkes’ wedding in 1973. In 2019, he established the Fr. John D. Deatrick ’55 Endowed Scholarship for full-time undergraduate students.

As a Bellarmine student, he played outfield for the Knights and

was a member of the track and field team. After being ordained a priest in 1966, he returned to Bellarmine in 1968 as the school’s chaplain. He was head baseball coach from 1970-74, leading the Knights to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1973 and coaching a career 110 wins and 58 losses.

Fr. Deatrick was named Bellarmine University’s Alumnus of the Year in 1980 and in 2005 was inducted as a Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame Legend.

DR. KATHARINE “KAT” BAKER , career advisor and adjunct Theology faculty member, died of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 28. She was 61.

Baker was born in New York City but grew up in St. Petersburg, FL, and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1981 with awards in academics, leadership and community service. Her love for literature led her to pursue her Bachelor's in English at Duke University (1985) and a Master's in English from the University of Virginia (1991).

With a master’s in Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School (2000) and a Ph.D. in Religion, Psychology and Culture from Vanderbilt University (2008), she dedicated her career to university teaching and community outreach.

As assistant director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching, Baker taught professors to better connect with their students. As assistant director of Vanderbilt’s Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions, she partnered with local nonprofits to develop service-learning projects.

More recently, she balanced her role as a Theology professor at Bellarmine University with leading her own coaching firm, Lodestar Guidance.

Kat demonstrated a lifelong commitment to ethical responsibility and social justice, working with the Ipas Impact Network to ensure reproductive rights; Nashville's Community Resource Center; and the Covid Grief Network.

DR. GREG HILLIS, a professor of Theology & Religious Studies at Bellarmine from 2008-23, died Oct. 8 at age 49. He had been diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2023, soon after moving to Atlanta with his family to be the executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Hillis joined Bellarmine University in 2008 after completing his Ph.D. in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His doctoral research was on

NEWS ON THE HILL

early Christian theology, with a particular focus on St. Cyril of Alexandria.

More recently, he had turned his attention to the life and writings of Thomas Merton. In addition to teaching a popular undergraduate course on Merton at Bellarmine, he wrote academic and popular articles and delivered lectures on Merton’s life and theology. His 2021 book Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Identity, was awarded first place in the Biography category in 2022 by the Catholic Media Association, and in 2023 it was awarded the “Louie” by the International Thomas Merton Society for Best New Book on Thomas Merton.

DR. MARIAN SWOPE ’69/’15 HON, a longtime Bellarmine trustee and supporter, died May 5 at age 76.

Swope was a pioneering physician, a clinical professor of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky and a mentor to countless medical students and residents. She had served Bellarmine as a trustee since July 1995 and had chaired the Student Life & Mission Committee since 2017.

A first-generation college student, she enrolled at Ursuline College in 1965 and graduated with a degree in Medical Technology from Bellarmine-Ursuline in 1969. She then earned a medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

As a faculty member of UK’s Department of Psychiatry, her leadership roles included director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program. She provided clinical care to youth in community mental-health organizations, group homes and the juvenile-justice system, pioneering the use of telepsychiatry.

In 2015 she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bellarmine, and in 2021 she was Alumna of the Year. She is also a member of Bellarmine’s Gallery of Distinguished Graduates.

RANDOLPH “RANDY” REYNOLDS

’67, a former Bellarmine trustee, died on May 17. He was 82.

Born in Louisville, Reynolds graduated from St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bellarmine.

He had a long career at Reynolds Metals Company, which was founded by his grandfather, Richard S. Reynolds. He became president of Reynolds International in 1978 and CEO in 1981 and was elected to the

Board of Directors in 1984. He was also elected executive vice president of Reynolds Metals Company, where several global business units reported to him.

After retiring from Reynolds in 2000, he was part of an investment group that took over the Alumina Company of Guinea and sold their interest to RUSAL, a Russian aluminum company. He was serving on RUSAL’s board at the time of his death.

He was also serving as president of the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation, the Randolph and Susan Reynolds Foundation and the William G. Reynolds Jr. Charitable Foundation.

In December 2023, the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation made a $500,000 gift to Bellarmine to support scholarships for military-affiliated students and their dependents and provide housing support and specialized programming through the Office of Military and Veteran Services (OMVS). Reynolds and the foundation had previously supported Bellarmine’s Frazier Stadium, Bellarmine Centro and the Rubel School of Business.

JOHN LANSING

’09/’21 HON, a Bellarmine alumnus and former Bellarmine trustee, died Aug. 14. He was 67.

Lansing had stepped down just six months previously from NPR, where he had been president and CEO since 2019. During his tenure, NPR won its first Pulitzer Prize in 2021.

Before moving to NPR, Lansing was the first CEO of the U.S. agency for global media. He also spent more than 20 years working at Scripps, where he led the networks division that included HGTV, Food Network and the Travel Channel, among others.

Lansing graduated from Bellarmine University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication after a journey that spanned nearly 30 years. He arrived on the campus in 1981; in 1985, just shy of completing his degree, he left to take the position of news director at a television station in Grand Rapids, Mich. He held positions at several other midwestern stations before joining the E.W. Scripps Co. in 2000.

In May 2008, he returned to Bellarmine to finish his degree. In 2010, he was named to the Bellarmine University Gallery of Distinguished Graduates. He served on the Bellarmine Board of Trustees from 2010-17, including a term as vice-chair from 2014-16.

In 2021, Bellarmine presented him with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and he was the commencement speaker. He was also inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame that year. In 2023, Lansing was named Bellarmine University’s Alumnus of the Year.

Mer-people and a meaningful ‘more’

By Adam Elias

Sometimes the most fitting real-world soundtracks come from unusual places—like under the sea.

While driving to Disney World for our vacation this year, at no particularly unique moment, I glanced around our vehicle to see both kids watching their own iPads—probably The Little Mermaid again—and my wife flipping through trip plans on her phone, while I listened to an audiobook on mine. We’d brought our own complete tech ecosystem: Our mid-sized SUV contained light years more computing power than that used for the first lunar landing. (To be fair, it seemed like a really long drive.)

Take a stroll around Bellarmine’s campus—or any college campus, really, or even any public space these days—and you’re likely to see just as many devices as people. Ariel’s earnest lyrics often swim through my mind:

I’ve got gadgets and gizmos aplenty.

I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore.

You want thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty!

(You know the next line, but hold that epic crescendo for a minute.)

You and I, dear reader, live in a time of technological proliferation, even excess. We’ve reached a point where our gadgets and gizmos are far more powerful than most of us realize, and our thingamabobs do…things…that are well beyond our everyday needs. The shiny new iPhone or laptop isn’t nearly as exciting as it was a decade ago, because the hardware leaps aren’t as superhuman as they once were. Better cameras, brighter screens and faster processors are all

well and good, but, like our redheaded mermaid friend croons (grab your invisible mic):

Who cares? No big deal. I want moooore.

But when we think about the technology that inundates our lives, what “more” could we want?

I’m an advocate of the human, quality-over-quantity argument that less technology is often better. There are aspects of life that we don’t want to lose to our screen time; even as a tech guy, I’m here for the human connections. But this is a technology column, and so I’m going to give you a future-facing technology answer that I think still aligns with that perspective.

I believe meaningful technological advancement is no longer about the next best gadget. And so your advancement with technology—personal or professional—may depend on your willingness to look beyond the thing itself—the device— and consider how it allows you to use artificial intelligence.

If you think you’re late to that party, you’re really not: A Pew study published in March 2024 suggested that more than three-fourths of U.S. adults still hadn’t used generative AI. That’s ironic, because I’m pretty sure at least 75 percent of U.S. adults are talking about it.

As I write this, the generative AI era is in full swing. Barely two years in, we’re seeing a regular cadence of AI models that are faster, cheaper and smarter. AI is everywhere—in our tech products, our work meetings and our water cooler conversations, our movie plots and our streaming ads. Many of the 2024 Super Bowl’s precious commercial slots were

filled by multimillion-dollar ads disguised as public service announcements to help audiences understand what they can do with AI.

Perhaps this has always been true, but at this point in history, it’s especially important to understand that your next phone, laptop or other gizmo is far less important than what you do with it. For the vast majority of humans, subsequent technological leaps aren’t going to come from a shiny new tangible thing as much as they’ll come from your ability to harness the unseen power that now dwells within any device that can access the Internet. The more will be in the method, not the machine itself.

I’ll say it for you: “What does that even mean?” Let’s frame this in an everyday sort of way, because a key life skill of today is to sift the AI gimmickry from its practicality. To start, consider how AI can be used in your career, whatever stage of life you’re in.

in advancing your work—both quality and capacity—as well as your “brand.” AI can help you learn and apply new planning, project management, presentation or programming skills, to name but a few. It can enhance your work, dislodge practical and conceptual barriers, help you identify growth opportunities, and provide candid evaluative feedback in the vein of a wise on-the-job mentor.

If you’re at a pivot point in your life, ready to jump into a new career chapter, including retirement, generative AI can be your career coach. You might feed it your resume or describe your strengths and discover potential fields and professions that align with your experience and interests. Found a posting for your dream job? Upload a specific job description to an AI chatbot and get customized advice on what to highlight in your application, gain insight into what such a position would involve day-to-day, and practice interviewing for that role. The AI can even help you identify and consider learning and

At this point in history, it’s important to understand that your next phone, laptop or other gizmo is far less important than what you do with it. Subsequent technological leaps aren’t going to come from a shiny new tangible thing as much as they’ll come from your ability to harness the unseen power that now dwells within any device that can access the Internet. The ‘more’ will be in the method, not the machine.

If you’re a student, your main interest may be reaching the finish line of your program of study, equipped with knowledge and a baseline of skill in a particular field or profession. In that case, an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Copilot can be your personal tutor, providing 24/7 on-demand support for your late-night study sessions, in-depth responses to the questions you’d rather not ask in class, or help in developing outlines or a plan of attack for your next big essay.

If you’re a Bellarmine graduate early in your career, your focus may be on the next iteration of you: highly skilled, more competitive and ready for a new level of success in your current profession. In that case, generative AI can be your new professional mentor, providing advice or assistance

development choices that would prepare you for new pathways, such as returning to Bellarmine for a master’s or doctoral degree.

None of these AI examples require a powerful device or technical prowess, or bear a lofty price tag. Rather, these are absolutely ordinary life scenarios in which AI can make a meaningful contribution to your success, mental health, and livelihood. After all, the important thing is not that we come to terms with a planet dominated by AI, but that we navigate the sea of new possibilities and secure a future in which AI is part of our world.

BrAInstorming: Using AI for Good is a new regular column in Bellarmine Magazine. Do you have a question about artificial intelligence? Write to us at letters@bellarmine.edu and your question may be answered in a future issue.

Adam Elias is Bellarmine’s director of Innovative Learning Systems, a role in which he is charged with enhancing the culture of professional growth and development at Bellarmine, while also promoting excellence and innovation in teaching. He provides leadership for the Faculty Development Center and the university’s distance education initiatives.

Amos Zoeller: No ‘fun-guy’ jokes, please

By Harry Rothgerber ’69

SECRET LIFE

PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, one of Bellarmine University’s most knowledgeable authorities in an unusual scientific field is not a professor or on the faculty; in fact, he is still working on his Chemistry degree.

Amos Zoeller is the lab/stockroom manager for Bellarmine’s Natural Sciences Division and can be found each day in his office in the chemistry stockroom on the Norton Health Sciences Center’s second floor.

When he’s not supporting the labs and stockroom, Zoeller, an amateur mycologist, helps lead the Bluegrass Mycological Society, which promotes the study and appreciation of fungi and their roles in our region’s broader ecological systems.

Zoeller is unquestionably enthusiastic about mycology, a field he says he stumbled into. “I've always loved nature and hiking and learning the various organisms of all sorts that make up our environment,” he said.

“In the summer of 2019, I was using an app called Seek to photograph and log every species of plant I could when one hike changed everything. The path I was hiking had an absolutely mind-blowing assortment of fungi—bright orange and gold speckled Amanitas, huge red and purple boletes—and I had to photograph them and find out what they were.”

Zoeller said he is especially devoted to polypores, “wooddevouring fungi that usually form shelves or brackets on trees, stumps, and sticks,” and crust fungi, which look like a thin crust of material clinging tightly to wood, that “many are quick to call boring.”

When asked how many times he has heard a "funguy" joke, he said that number is approaching 50, “which matches the number of groans and eye rolls I've made in response.”

Since becoming involved with the Bluegrass Mycological Society three years ago, Zoeller has been a hike leader and educator. “We identify fungi, lead hikes and teach classes for everyone from Scout troops to Kentucky's state park rangers.”

He has also connected with Bellarmine faculty who are interested in fungi, in particular Dr. Joe Jareczek (Biology), Dr. Mary Kroetz (Biology) and Dr. Kate Bulinski (Environmental Studies). “I've been consulting him to help design a mycology course to offer here at Bellarmine, and his insights have been invaluable in that process,” Jareczek said.

Bulinski said faculty hope to capitalize more on Zoeller’s expertise in the future, perhaps by organizing a mushroom identification hike or hosting a public lecture about the ecology of mushrooms.

Zoeller has also recently taken up drawing illustrations of fungi.

“I've dabbled in art my whole life, just sculpting, painting or drawing for fun,” he said. “Prior to giving fungi a try, I was primarily drawing characters and scenes from my favorite anime shows. The Southeast Rare Fungi Challenge folks were looking for someone who could draw promotional artworks of fungi, and it sounded fun, so I gave it a shot!”

He has already produced seven of an expected 20 illustrations of rare fungi to be featured in the project, which is a regional effort to identify, document and study rarer species that may be at risk.

Zoeller’s passion for fungi has led to new friendships. “I met some good friends years ago as total strangers in the woods, where we geeked out about some edible American Caesar's mushrooms together,” he recounted. “It's a community full of insanely kind, wacky and ‘genuinely themselves’ people. I’m sure there are more mushroom nerds out there on campus.”

Zoeller suggests that anyone who wants to learn more about mycology should connect with local organizations by joining Facebook groups or emailing the Bluegrass Mycological Society to subscribe to their newsletter. He also said, “Take walks and look for fungi! It can be intimidating when you find out how diverse they are, but there are lots of people out there that are happy to help you identify them.”

“I want people to know how vast and incredibly important fungi are to us and our planet in ways you wouldn't expect…how staggeringly diverse they are in how they look and behave,” he said. “And how much more I've come to value nature, life and even other people just by studying a bunch of mushrooms!”

Do you know a member of Bellarmine’s faculty or staff who has an interesting off-campus pursuit? Tell us at letters@bellarmine.edu.

Chicken of the Woods

Vince the Bellarmine Facility Dog

Photo by Brendan J. Sullivan

QUESTION & ANSWER

By Carla Carlton

THE NEWEST INSTRUCTOR in the Lansing School of Nursing and Clinical Sciences has a lofty title and wears a fur coat no matter the temperature, but he’s far from a diva.

Vince, “the Knight of Lansing,” is Bellarmine’s new facility dog. Facility dogs are highly trained dogs that provide comfort and support in a specific setting, like a hospital or school, rather than for an individual. Vince’s main role is to accustom Bellarmine nursing and healthcare students to facility dogs they encounter in healthcare settings. He will also offer support to faculty and staff, visit classrooms, and participate in pediatric simulation experiences and recruitment efforts.

The yellow Labrador/Golden Retriever mix, who was bred for intelligence and calm temperament, seems like a quiet sort. But when we asked him a few questions, he was only too happy to “speak.” Dr. Leslie Leffler, chair of the Undergraduate Nursing Department and Vince’s mom and handler, helped him type his answers. (Follow his adventures on Facebook and Instagram at vincetheknightoflansing.)

what they can do to help me. To best help me, community members can start by understanding and respecting my role. This means recognizing that while I may seem like just a friendly dog, I’m actually on duty and have specific responsibilities to fulfill. It’s important to ask my handler for permission before interacting with me, as sometimes I need to stay focused on my tasks.

When you’re given permission to greet me, please do so calmly. And try not to tempt me to lick you—believe me, it’s hard to resist! Also, if you see any food or trash lying around, please pick it up. If I have a weak moment, I might eat something that could be bad for me.

Tell us a little about your background, Vince.

I was born right here in Louisville! I’m part of the breeding program at Paws with Purpose (PWP), an amazing organization that trains dogs like me to help people who need us. PWP is known across the country for providing service dogs, and they make sure we’re really well-prepared for our important jobs. I’m proud to make a difference in people’s lives!

Did you always see yourself in a service role?

I started training when I was just 3 weeks old. At first, it was simple stuff, like learning to “sit.” But even then, I knew I had something special to offer. I come from a long line of service dogs, so I’m living out both my legacy and my destiny. I’m happiest when I’m working and making a difference, so yes, I guess you could say I was always destined for this service role.

How does a dog become a facility dog?

Becoming a facility dog requires countless hours of dedicated training. I spent much of my early life full-time at the Kentucky Correctional Institute

for Women (KCIW) in Peewee Valley, where I underwent most of my training. During that time, I had a wonderful puppy trainer who would "break me out of prison" on weekends, taking me to different places so I could get accustomed to the outside world. Now that I’m older (I turned 2 in September!), my Bellarmine mom keeps me with her full-time, even at our house when we’re not working. I only return to KCIW for specialized training and grooming.

What sorts of things are you doing to help students?

One of my primary roles is to help prepare our nursing and healthcare students to encounter facility dogs like me in clinical settings. Through highfidelity simulations and just being an academic furry mentor, I help my human pals understand how we can assist in patient care. Beyond that, I work to create a sense of calm and comfort for everyone around me. It’s like having a special superpower.

How can Bellarmine community members help you do your work?

I like this question a lot! Most people ask what I can do to help them, not

What do you do in your spare time?

That's an easy one! I love running around the backyard and playing fetch with my mom. We also enjoy going on walks together—she’s always up for a fun adventure. I have a bit of a guilty pleasure: I can’t resist stopping to smell every flower I encounter. And when I’m not doing that, I love to watch the birds.

What’s your favorite treat?

I’m on a very strict diet to stay at a healthy weight, which helps me serve others for as long as possible. But I do get special treats, and my absolute favorite is the stinkiest fish you can find! When we’re working on really tough training exercises, my mom uses cod and lobster cookies. She isn’t a fan of the smell, but I can’t get enough of them. My other favorite treat is ice! There is a huge “treat machine” in Miles Hall, and my mom will get me a bunch. It is my favorite place on campus!

Finally: Lassie, Snoopy or Scooby-Doo? Why?

That’s a no-brainer: Scooby-Doo, paws down! Why? Because who can resist Scooby Snacks?

Lessons in the Key of Life

Dr. Louie Hehman teaches music — and so much more

Story by Carla Carlton

Photos by Brendan J. Sullivan

As an assistant professor of Piano and Music Theory, Dr. Louie Hehman ’14 helps Bellarmine music majors prepare for recitals in their junior and senior years. But on a Sunday in late September, Hehman himself was under the lights of the Cralle Theater stage.

At 3 p.m., he walked out, took a seat at the Steinway Model D piano and paused for a moment, collecting himself. Then he began to play Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady, followed by the composer’s Black Beauty. Spiritual Suite by Margaret Bonds concluded the program’s first half. As he played, Hehman’s eyes were closed, and at times he bent close to the keys.

After a short intermission, he was back for the featured piece: Carnaval, the famously difficult, 28-minute masterwork of Robert Schumann. Composed between 1834 and 1835, the work for solo piano has 21 movements that collectively cover the full range of human emotion.

Each movement depicts a character at an imaginary masked ball. A series of humorous illustrations projected on a screen above the piano helped listeners keep track of the characters’ entrances and exits.

It took Hehman more than a year to perfect and memorize Carnaval–a “never-ending process of repetition, listening, slowing yourself down, repetition again, reading the score away from the piano, and then more repetition.”

While muscle memory is important, he said, even more important is cultivating aural memory, often called audiation. “I compare it to hearing a narrator in your head while reading a book. Over the course of the year-and-some-change I've worked on this piece and the other pieces on this program, I’ve worked to cultivate a strong auditory image of the music so that I can hear everything in my head before I even sit down to play.”

That skill takes years to master, and while he might be a teacher now, he said he is still working on it.

“I gave my first recital as a sophomore at Bellarmine back in 2012, and I have tried to give at least one every year since then. Every time I do it, every time I learn a new piece, the audiation gets a little stronger.”

The lessons of music

Although he started piano lessons when he was 6, Hehman didn’t get serious about the piano until college.

“I was mainly a jazz major. The first year, I studied with Todd Hildreth. Then I had some classical lessons with Meme Tunnell. And Meme was the one who made me really fall back in love with the classical music that I had been raised with.

Those lessons are where I really realized that music was what I wanted to do with my life.”

Tunnell said Hehman, who graduated in 2014 with a double major in Music and History, was an exceptional student.

“He asked all the right questions, never shied away from a challenge, hungered to learn everything I could teach him, and easily is one of the most stellar and hard-working students in all my years of teaching,” she said. “I recall the moment he began to consider further studies in graduate school, and I knew at that point he was headed for a great career as a performer and teacher.”

Hehman subsequently earned a degree in piano pedagogy from Butler University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of South Carolina.

A big part of her decision to retire in 2021, Tunnell said, “was knowing Louie would most likely take over. He is everything the students and music department need in a music professor, and I am so gratified to see how he stepped into the job and created his own ‘village.’"

Hehman, who joined the music faculty that year, is the head of Bellarmine’s keyboard area, coordinates music theory and runs the Bellarmine University Preparatory Program, which offers music lessons to the community.

“Whether students take private lessons with me, or they take classes with me, there are certain ‘greatest hits’ that I want them to come away with,” he said. “I remind them, ‘Just a little over 10 years ago, I was one of you guys. I didn't go to Juilliard, I didn't go to a conservatory. I went to Bellarmine, and I worked really, really hard.’ So don't count yourself out, right? If you have dreams and you are willing to put in the hard work to make those dreams a reality, then you can make it happen.

“Music doesn't just teach us to conquer difficult passages or to work on notes and rhythms and things like that. It teaches us how to persevere. It teaches us discipline. It teaches us patience, and it teaches us to be okay with who we are at the moment. And if we really listen to those most basic lessons of music, they encourage us to become not just the musicians that we want to be, but to grow into the people that we want to be as well.”

The humanity in music

Elise Major ’23, who double-majored in Piano Pedagogy and Chemistry with a minor in Biology, currently teaches piano for Bellarmine’s preparatory program while attending pharmacy school in Louisville.

She took several classes with Hehman, who was also the advisor for her junior and senior recitals and her Honors thesis.

“I am a better student, a better musician, a better teacher, and a better person because of Dr. Hehman’s investment in my life.”

“Dr. Hehman's teaching is not only informative, but also practical,” she said. “Instead of just lecturing to me about piano pedagogy, he hired me to teach piano lessons so I could put the skills I was learning into practice. This also created a place for me to give back to the community and continue to be a part of the Bellarmine music department post-graduation.”

She said he has coached her through numerous performances, often coming to campus during summers, holidays and weekends to squeeze in extra lessons and rehearsals.

“He is a role model of professionalism and musical excellence, approaching everything he does with great artistry and intellectualism,” she said. “I am a better student, a better musician, a better teacher, and a better person because of Dr. Hehman’s investment in my life.”

As a performer, Hehman is interested in the intersection of traditional repertoire with new music, particularly works by lesser-known and marginalized composers. He pointed to his September recital, which combined early 20th century standards by jazz great Ellington and the Black spiritualinspired movements of Bonds’ Spiritual Suite with the classical Carnaval

“Music teaches us about the oneness of humanity. That sounds very grandiose. But what's beautiful is, these are all people that led very, very different lives from one another, maybe lived centuries apart, but still have some kind of emotional resonance to this day,” he said.

“And if there's any kind of fundamental truth that music teaches us, it’s that all people, regardless of when they lived, or where they lived, or who they are, or who they love, or how they identify, or how they worship—whatever it is, they’re all fundamentally human beings. I think that by recognizing the humanity in music, we can grow to better recognize the humanity in one another.”

Following the Carnaval performance in September, Hehman greeted audience members in the lobby of the Wyatt Center for the Arts. They included faculty, current and former students—and his mentor, Meme Tunnell, who gave him a hug. “I so enjoyed hearing him perform,” she said.

Learn more about Dr. Louie Hehman and hear him play at: https://vimeo.com/1013005233

Dr. Louie Hehman instructs students in his Music Theory II class.

Photo Contest Winners!

The 2024 Bellarmine Magazine Photo Contest drew a dazzling 104 entries in three categories: Nature, Faces, and Cityscapes/Architecture. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who entered!

– Carla Carlton, executive editor

1. FIRST PLACE (on the cover): Sunset at Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park. Joe Hamilton ’95

2. SECOND PLACE: A water droplet on a feather reflects a daisy. Katie Hughbanks, Catholic teacher and mother of David Caswell ’21

3. THIRD PLACE (previous spread): Chained Rock, Pine Mountain State Resort Park, Pineville, KY. Tim Curtsinger ’02

4. HONORABLE MENTION: Honeybees at work. Michelle Smith ’18/’20 DPT

5. HONORABLE MENTION: Oregon Trail, Cape Lookout State Park, Tillamook, OR. Sarai Mallin ’19, current graduate student

6. HONORABLE MENTION: Horseshoe Bend, Grand Canyon, AZ. Heather (Perez) Lowrey ’12

7. HONORABLE MENTION: The Great Migration, Maasai Mara, Kenya. F. Joseph Schmitt ’72

1. FIRST PLACE: My twins enjoy ice cream in New York City; as ever, Evie is as cool as a cucumber while Penny demonstrates her mastery of creating drama where none should exist. Brad Hensley ’03

2. SECOND PLACE: Bride. Kesley Moorefield ’17

3. THIRD PLACE: Justan Napier prepares for an elimination drifting tournament at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY. Trey Hankee, sophomore Nursing major

4.

HONORABLE MENTION: Gentleman resting, Mughal Fortress, Agra, India. F. Joseph Schmitt ’72

5. HONORABLE MENTION: Maasai medicine man. Mike Lombardo ’80 MBA

Cityscapes/Architecture

1

1. FIRST PLACE: Pigeon Forge, TN., drone shot. Trey Hankee, sophomore Nursing major

2. SECOND PLACE: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA. Averie Richardson, senior Physical Therapy major

3. THIRD PLACE: (back cover) Hindu-Buddhist Temple complex, Angkor Wat, Cambodia. F. Joseph Schmitt ’72

4. HONORABLE MENTION: Greece. Kelli Goings ’16/’18 MAC

5. HONORABLE MENTION: Downtown Louisville. Lukas Sedelmeier ’24

6. HONORABLE MENTION: Eiffel Tower at night with the Olympic rings. Brady Campbell, Marketing major

7. HONORABLE MENTION: Dürnstein Castle, Dürnstein, Austria. Leisa Wernert Taylor ’83

The Spiritual Journey of Camino de Santiago

A long walk along an ancient route inspires profound insights

By the Rev. Dr. John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv.

In a world filled with spiritual hunger and the search for meaning, the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain offers a unique and transformative travel experience.

This ancient pilgrimage route, which dates to medieval times, draws people from all walks of life—theists, atheists and people of various cultures and religions. In 2023 alone, half a million people walked this path, each for their own reasons: reflection, health, grief, adventure, curiosity and more.

Though the pilgrims are on different spiritual paths, there is unity on the Camino. Pilgrims cherish the rituals—nature walks, stopping at stunning views, passport stamping, and finally entering the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle James are buried. (“Camino de Santiago” translates to The Way of Saint James.)

The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is made up of several routes of differing lengths and can be as long as 825 kilometers (about 521 miles).

In the summer of 2024, I walked a portion of it.

Preparation and providence

I was expecting nothing from this pilgrimage other than to walk the walk that millions have made. Along with 11 others, I began walking from Sarria, Spain, to Santiago de Compostela—a distance of 72 miles—on May 26.

‘Walking the Camino, I could not help but think of Jesus and his 12 disciples— talking, sharing, reflecting, and encountering people along the way.’

I had been invited by Dr. Lisa Thomas and Dr. Isaac Thomas of Cincinnati, with whom I had become close after officiating at her mother’s funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning of my love for hiking and biking, they asked if I would like to join them and nine of their friends on the pilgrimage. I eagerly agreed.

While most of us were strangers at the start, we all grew close by the end, shedding tears as we parted ways after an intimate and profound experience. Walking the Camino, I could not help but think of Jesus and his 12 disciples—talking, sharing, reflecting, and encountering people along the way. The Camino imparted valuable lessons about embracing the unknown and trusting in God's providence.

nights, but the magic of the Camino inspired us to continue our journey.

We began preparing a year in advance so we could embrace the unknown during the trip. We watched the 2010 movie The Way, in which Martin Sheen plays an American doctor who comes to France to collect the body of his

destination, allowing us to meditate on the handiwork of God.

My all-time favorite novel is The Alchemist by Portuguese author Paulo Coelho. This mystical story, about a shepherd boy who journeys in search of worldly treasures and finds much more, introduced me to the idea of pilgrimages and the search for truth. The novel emphasizes the importance of asking ultimate questions. We asked many questions along our own journey and engaged in several philosophical discussions. We had no answers to some questions, but we pondered what life would be like if we did know all the answers.

Every pilgrimage comes with its challenges, and I was particularly nervous about this trip. Before leaving, I explained to one of my community members where everything was in the friary and what they should do in my absence. The friar asked me, “Why are you saying all this?” I replied, “This pilgrimage makes me really nervous after hearing some of the stories.”

Despite God's favor gracing my journey, one must expect unpredictability on the pilgrimage, including varying weather, challenging terrain and scarce amenities. We endured blisters, aches and some hard

adult son, who died while walking the Camino de Santiago. The doctor then decides to make the pilgrimage himself.

In Zoom meetings, we discussed what to pack, how to pack, and what kind of shoes we would need. Preparing our feet was crucial, so I walked 5 miles daily to get ready. On the Camino, we spent more than a week walking about 30 kilometers (18 miles) each day. This meant that most of our time was spent walking rather than at the final

The Camino has become a sacred place for many to share stories, and I took several memorable stories home with me.

One unfolded while I was conversing with two Irish siblings, one of whom had left the church because of a pastor's unkindness during her divorce. She asked if I went to church. When she learned I was a Franciscan priest, she apologized for speaking ill of the church. I asked her forgiveness on behalf of the church, gave her a rosary, and prayed over her. Perhaps this journey was her path to forgiving the church. As we parted, I wished them Buen Camino, which means "good road."

Pilgrims often encounter each other repeatedly along the path until they

reach their destination. As I relaxed in a coffee shop later that day, someone offered me ice cream. It was the Irish pilgrim with whom I had spoken earlier!

Grace and gratitude

Though the pilgrimage begins at your doorstep, the Camino has an ultimate goal: Santiago de Compostela and the Cathedral of St. James, where pilgrims can visit St. James' tomb in a crypt beneath the main altar. The history of the Cathedral dates to the early 9th century, when the remains of St. James were discovered, leading to the construction of a small church. Today, the Cathedral showcases magnificent architecture and religious art.

This sacred site marks the culmination of a transformative journey and embodies centuries of faith, devotion and historical significance, reflecting the enduring legacy of the Camino de Santiago. When our trip ended on May 30, I was blessed to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral. While seated on the altar, I thought of the kings, popes, bishops and saints, as well as the famous people and the poor, who had also sat in this sacred space. I experienced deep and enduring gratitude.

Everyone's face was joyful when we received the certificate of completion after showing our Camino passport to the front desk. This final ritual of the pilgrimage made us forget about our blisters and aches. We heard from several groups we met along the way that some of their members could not complete the pilgrimage due to illness, blisters, or swollen ankles that happened on the Camino. We could not have completed the journey without God's providence.

We spent the last night in the Major Seminary next to the Cathedral, which has prepared many bishops and priests—another favor from God. The 12 of us could not have completed the pilgrimage without helping each other as well, including my friends who had sponsored my trip. Whether by waiting for each other, sharing snacks, or offering shoulders to lean on, each of them touched my life. By the end of the journey, I heard them say, “Next time we take a trip, make sure Fr. John is with us.”

While the physical pilgrimage has ended, the lessons I learned on the Camino de Santiago will continue to shape my life and the lives of everyone in my group.

The Rev. Dr. John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv., is director of Bellarmine University’s Campus Ministry Office.

The Bellarmine IMPACT

In summer internships, students apply their classroom learning and hone their purpose

THE BELLARMINE IMPACT describes in universal language what is most relevant, authentic and distinctive about a Bellarmine education, focusing on four broad areas: Engagement, Belonging, Wellness and Purpose.

At Bellarmine, hands-on experiences such as internships let students apply and integrate learning outside of the classroom to help them find their passion and purpose.

Four students who landed internships earlier this year shared details of how they spent their summers and what they learned about themselves in the process.

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms

ABIGAIL GNANN, SOPHOMORE

Environmental Science major; Honors Program

This past summer, I was part of a work exchange through Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). I have been interested in the organization for years due to the community it provides for people interested in organic farming of various types.

I worked on a goat dairy in Barnard, Vermont, called Villa Villekulla Farm. The operation consisted of around 50 goats and the farm sold a product called skyr, a thick yogurt that is made from goat milk. Though it does not sound extremely complicated, I soon learned that there were so many details that went into creating a product, especially on a small scale.

My main responsibility on the farm was tending to the kids (baby goats, not humans). On a dairy farm, it is common to separate the mothers and babies after birth so that the farmer can control the amount of milk that is being given to the babies and that is being used for production. Therefore, the kids had to be bottle-fed three times per day.

I also helped with chores in the main barn, mucking the barn, putting out hay and feeding the goats different supplements. Although slightly intimidating at first, I learned to love spending time with the older goats in the main barn. There were about 40 of them, and they all had such unique personalities.

Even though chores were a large part of my time on the farm, I was able to learn a lot about food production and business ethics during my time there. The entire farm is run by one woman, Lauren Gitlin, and I quickly became impressed with how proud she is of her product. She milks 30 goats each day while she talks to them and ensures they are comfortable. I learned how much she respects animals, and how she values their quality of life over making a huge profit. Her business is small, but Lauren feels confident in the skyr that she produces because it is made in an ethical and sustainable way.

This program exceeded my expectations. I have become more passionate about sustainability and agriculture and have so much more respect for farmers now. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to be involved in such a hands-on experience and look forward to doing something similar in the future!

GE Appliances

JADEN WILKINS, ROSWELL, GA., SENIOR

Business Administration major, Business Analytics minor I was recruited to play lacrosse at Bellarmine and was also attracted by the Business Analytics minor that I have been able to pair with my Business Administration major.

This past summer, I was a Sales Operations intern with the Air & Water Team at GE Appliances in Louisville. My primary duties included using Salesforce to streamline sales processes and using Excel models to optimize output. I used a lot of the Excel skills and shortcuts I learned from BUSA-346 to complete analytical tasks very quickly. I also assisted in updating sales territories maps using a graphic design app. My favorite parts of the internship were the more technical tasks, along with connecting with my coworkers after work.

At Bellarmine, lacrosse coach Andy Whitley is one of my mentors. He has helped my teammates and me get connected to alumni for various opportunities. Beyond the classroom, I am inspired by my older brother, who is working in the field of business analytics, and my father, whose career success has shown me how I need to work to provide for my loved ones in the future.

My advice to other students looking for internships is to consult with multiple sources about formatting your resume and handling different types of interviews. Having different perspectives will give you the best chance for success.

American Heart Association

ELLA BEAMES, LOUISVILLE SENIOR Communications and Sports Studies major; Honors Program

Entering my final year at Bellarmine University has sparked an insurmountable amount of reflection about how I will enter the “real world” in May 2025. One message has been clear, and it is one that I will live out for the rest of my life: Lead with purpose.

This past summer, I was the Intern of Impact in Marketing Communications for the American Heart Association (AHA) in New York City. The American Heart Association’s mission is close to home for me, as I am a cardiac arrest survivor. It meant the world to me that I was able to be part of the organization I had revered for over a decade.

I traveled among New York’s five boroughs to meet with members of the community, collaborated with and learn from esteemed cardiologists and medical experts, partnered with elected officials on the New York City Council, and connected with courageous survivors who were willing to share their stories.

I worked with an absolute dream team in New York and stacked up not only a portfolio, but connections I hope will last a lifetime. While there were many highlights, the biggest happened in my last weeks on our team: A story that we’d been pitching since my arrival was finally picked up by NBC New York.

I thank my experience at Bellarmine over the last four years for my success in the Big Apple. I am the team manager for the Bellarmine lacrosse team, and my two biggest mentors during my time at Bellarmine have been Head Coach Andrew Whitley and Associate Head Coach Nicholas Marks, who is also my Honors thesis advisor. I attribute so much of who I will become as a worker and team member to the guidance of these amazing champions. They have coached me in confidence, management, self-improvement and passion, all of which contribute to my engagement, my sense of belonging and intention to live a purposeful life.

Duolingo

CARLOS VEGA, LOUISVILLE JUNIOR

Photography and Design, Arts & Technology (DAT) double major, Marketing Communications minor; Honors Program

My summer internship at Duolingo’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, was a wonderful experience. My primary duties involved collaborating on a project related to the Duolingo app and artificial intelligence. I learned a lot about user experience, interface, research and the language-learning process.

My favorite part of the internship was attending the company’s annual Duoversity event. I met people from some of Duolingo’s other offices around the globe and participated in many fun activities. Linda Simensky, who helped to develop shows like Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Samurai Jack and Ed, Edd n Eddy, gave a fantastic presentation about animation for the interns.

As a Duolingo Intern Ambassador at Bellarmine, my responsibilities include promoting Duolingo's language-learning platform to students and the internships offered every year to students in DAT and computer science.

My mentors at Bellarmine have been instrumental in my growth and development. Dr. Shawn Apostel, Professor Laura Hartford, Angela Miller, Michael Kopp, and Anita Tyler have provided guidance, support, and valuable insights that have helped me both personally and professionally.

My advice to students considering an internship is to take the initiative and network with as many people as possible. Internships are a great way to gain practical experience and build your professional network.

Bellarmine provides a distinctive and transformative student experience rooted in Catholic and liberal arts foundations, with personalized pathways to success. Students can tailor their experience with hands-on experiences, internships, clinicals, fieldwork, study abroad, and volunteer opportunities. These opportunities set Bellarmine students apart, with 98% finding a job or pursuing further education within six months of graduation. Visit bellarmine.edu/impact/ to learn more.

KNIGHT OF EXCELLENCE

Knight of Excellence combined two previous signature Bellarmine occasions—Knight of Knights and the Bellarmine University Alumni Awards—into one evening to thank members of the President’s Society, the university’s premier donor-recognition club, and celebrate the importance of philanthropy to Bellarmine’s mission. All proceeds from the event go to student scholarships.

The honorees:

Trustee Sharon E. Des Jarlais ’72 2024 Knight of Knights

Sharon Des Jarlais, who received the university’s highest honor, is retired vice president of Finance for American Express (AMEX), where she worked for 25 years. She has served on the Bellarmine Board of Trustees since 2008 and is currently board secretary. She supports Bellarmine’s work with first-generation students and students with learning differences and welcomes the use of technology to stimulate innovative ideas from faculty and students. She is a member of Bellarmine’s Gallery of Distinguished Graduates and was the 2016 Alumna of the Year.

Dr. Mushtaque Juneja ’00 MBA Alumnus of the Year

Dr. Mushtaque Juneja is a distinguished anesthesiologist based in Louisville with over 40 years

of experience. He directs multiple medical and chairs the Department of Anesthesiology at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is also an entrepreneur, commercial real estate developer, restaurateur and financial consultant. He is a founding member of the Rubel School of Business Advisory Council, and he and his wife, Dr. Samina Juneja, are longtime supporters of Bellarmine University. Their recent $1.725 million gift supports the Bellarmine University Juneja Nurse Anesthesia Program.

Dr. Barbra Cave ’03, ’05, ’10 MSN Scarlet & Silver Society

Dr. Barbra Cave is an associate scientific director in hepatology at AbbVie. She earned a bachelor’s in Biology, an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and a Master of Nursing degree at Bellarmine before earning a Ph.D. in Nursing at the University of Louisville. She has worked at Jewish Hospital and U of L’s Division of

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, where she became an assistant professor in 2020. Her focus is patients with viral hepatitis. Cave served on Bellarmine’s Alumni Board for seven years and has been a preceptor for numerous Bellarmine students.

Fr. George Kilcourse ’69 Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan Distinguished Service Award

Fr. George Kilcourse is a scholar in the fields of Thomas Merton studies, ecumenism, and religion and literature and was a Bellarmine faculty member for more than 40 years. As a student, he studied under Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan and turned a chance meeting with Merton in the library into a lifetime of scholarship. He is the former editor of and a frequent contributor to The Merton Annual and has written dozens of scholarly articles and several books, including the award-winning Ace of Freedoms: Thomas Merton’s Christ.

Bellarmine University honored four outstanding alumni at a new event, Knight of Excellence, on Oct. 19 at the Omni Louisville Hotel.

Future Knights of Bellarmine

Knights arrive every day! One day soon, these children of proud Bellarmine grads may also don the Scarlet and Silver. Send us a photo of your Future Knight! Fill out a class note at alumni.bellarmine.edu/BUclassnotes.

1. Sarah Greenwell ’09 and husband Derek Dressler welcomed their first child, Bennett Louise, on Nov. 1, 2023.

2. Tiffany (McConnell) Elias ’10 and her husband, Joey, welcomed their second daughter, Jillian Kate, on July 13, 2024.

3. Dr. Winnie (Spitza) Shouse ’10, ’16, ’21/’23 DNP, APRN, FNP-C and Derek Shouse welcomed Winifred “Winnie” Marie Shouse on Aug. 3, 2024.

4. Ali (Cheesman) Kinney ’16 and husband John Kinney welcomed daughter Claire Kinney on Oct. 12, 2023.

5. Karen Thomas Lyons ’13/’15 MAEd and Christopher Lyons ’13 welcomed Evelyn Grace on May 10, 2024.

6. Kylee Clarkston ’13 and husband TC welcomed their second child, Timothy Crew, on June 9, 2024. Crew joins big sister Beck.

7. Jonathan Smith ’14 and Catie Meyer Smith ’14/’17 MAEd welcomed Cameron Henry Smith on April 15, 2024.

8. Shannon Siders Sheehy ’11 and Mike Sheehy welcomed Allyson Nicole Sheehy on Sept. 4, 2024.

9. Brandon Taylor ’17/’21 DPT and Dominique Hunter Taylor ’17 welcomed Leon August Taylor in May 2024.

10. Lindsey (Potts) George ’19 and Chris George ’19 welcomed Devan George on Sept. 2, 2024.

11. Jennifer Tiller ’19 and Steven Tiller ’19 welcomed Jackson Jack James Tiller on April 14, 2024.

Q&A with new Alumni Board President Nate Butler ’05

Nathan Butler is originally from Cadiz, Ky., and graduated from Bellarmine with a degree in Communication. He started his career in radio with Ham Broadcasting before coming on board with what is now iHeart Radio as a news anchor and director of operations for the Kentucky News Network. He later worked as executive vice president of Operations for Orbital Media Networks, a satellite uplink facility in Denver, Colo., and as vice president of North American Sales for ATX Networks. After returning to Louisville in 2019, he opened Mosquito Authority of Louisville and Fitness Machine Technicians. Nathan lives in the Highlands with his wife, Kristen, and their son, Maximus.

What contributions make you especially proud?

Many advancements of the university are made possible by its alumni. I am extremely honored to serve as the Alumni Board president. This board has the privilege of being the voice for the thousands of graduates of both undergraduate and graduate programs. During my time as a board member, we have seen an increase in young alumni outreach, athletic transformations and an expansion of new programs. These advancements are assisted by the Bellarmine Forward program. I am extremely proud of the board's commitment to this program and its support for student services. As a student who relied on scholarships, I'm also proud of the board’s fundraising efforts.

How did your Bellarmine experience help you succeed?

I came from a very small city in Kentucky, and I had unprecedented support from my entire community through high school. When I was searching for my undergraduate home, I wanted a place that provided that same support, and I found it right here at Bellarmine. The compassion of our faculty and staff ensured that I stayed focused and moving forward. In addition to those pushes along the way, I was able to help develop a network of connections that assisted with job placement. Professors and advisors frequently said, you can be successful, but how are you going to get there? That challenged students to find a vision and, most importantly, to formulate a plan and a path. While I was supported, I was constantly encouraged to make that path, not just expect it to appear.

What’s your advice to current Bellarmine students?

While degrees show that you have the training and follow-through to compete in the job market, the connections you make and the involvement you complete give you the best shot at success. Get to know students in other majors, volunteer, complete internships and find people who have already excelled in your field. Frequently check in with your network and use the student and career resources available.

Refer a Knight!

As a Bellarmine grad, you know how your Bellarmine experience shaped your future. If you know someone who is looking for that same transformative educational experience and would benefit from our supportive community, refer them to Bellarmine through our Know a Knight program by Dec. 4, 2024, and we will send you FREE Bellarmine swag!

Use this link: application.bellarmine.edu/ register/referral/

Write a Knight

Write a Knight provides our amazing alumni a chance to reach out to the future of Bellarmine University by writing postcards to prospective and incoming students. We provide ready-to-mail postcards for 10 future Knights, writing prompts and more.

The 2025 campaign will run from Jan. 17Feb.14, 2025. Be on the lookout for more information soon!

Trivia Knight: Feb. 22, 2025 Day of Giving: March 19, 2025

THE ALUMNI CORNER

Class Notes

1960s

Vince Aprile ’65, who practices law with Lynch, Cox, Gilman and Goodman, P.S.C., in Louisville, was reappointed on June 24, 2024, to the editorial board of Criminal Justice magazine, the quarterly publication of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. The magazine has more than 10,000 subscribers, including judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, both retained and assigned, in both state and federal courts. Vince has been a member of the magazine’s editorial board for well over 30 years (1989-2012, 2014-present) and twice has served as its chair (2005-09, 1991-93). He continues as the author of his column, Criminal Justice Matters, a regular feature of the magazine from 1992 to present. His latest column is “Judicial Recusal and the Duty to Disclose,” which will appear in the Fall 2024 issue.

1970s

David Cooper ’71 published an article on Kentucky’s Black writers in the Spring issue of the Kentucky Humanities magazine.

Mary Jo Burke ’74/’84 MA was awarded a Bell award on October 10 for her life of service to the Sister Visitor Center.

Father Terry L. Bradshaw ’76 retired on June 19 from the same parish where he was

Submit a class note about a change in employment, a recent career highlight or a new addition to your family! Visit www.alumni.bellarmine.edu/BUclassnotes

ordained 44 years ago, the Basilica of St. Joseph ProtoCathedral in Bardstown, Ky.

1980s

Chuck Priddy ’84 won the People's Choice Award at the 2024 Let's Dance Louisville fundraiser for the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Kim Priddy Wolfe ’85 was named a Trustee with Teamsters Local 89, making her the first woman Trustee for the Louisville-based union.

1990s

Stephanie Mazzon Sellers ’94 retired in June 2024 after 30 years of teaching chemistry in public schools in Texas and Michigan. Also in June, she and her husband, Mark, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.

Jay Ebelhar ’97 joined Phelps Dunbar’s team in Memphis, Tenn., to help companies handle disputes and stay compliant. He partners with employers of all sizes to provide clear, actionable advice and day-to-day employment counsel on federal and state laws. He has a long track record of success when a client’s best option is to take their case to court.

2000s

Chris Carmicle ’00 MBA was appointed by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to the Louisville Regional Airport Authority Board for a four-year term through July 2028. The

Louisville Regional Airport Authority owns, operates and develops the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) and Bowman Field (LOU).

Dr. Jason Browning ’02 has been appointed the inaugural Chief Data Officer at Montana State University in Bozeman.

Marc Ebelhar ’04 was recognized with the Putting Students First Award at Georgia Tech’s annual Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon.

Claire Simms ’05/’13 MBA , senior director for Corporate Social Responsibility at Churchill Downs Inc., was nominated for Most Admired Woman in Corporate Leadership in the 22nd annual Most Admired Women poll in Today’s Woman.

Dzaflo Larkai ’08, a Bellarmine men’s basketball player for two seasons, served as an assistant coach for the Bright Stars, South Sudan’s men’s national team, during the Olympic Games in Paris.

Liz Cheser ’06/’09 MBA accepted a job at Farm Credit Mid-America as Director of Food and Agribusiness Operations.

2010s

John Gregorich ’11 was promoted to Major League Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Houston Astros. John has spent the previous 10 seasons

in various positions throughout the Astros Sports Medicine Department.

Heather Riczo ’11/’20 MBA started a new job as a Business Analyst at the University of Michigan.

Beth Hull ’12 , director of the Miami County (Ohio) Communication Center, which manages 911 calls and dispatches county police, fire and Emergency Medical Services, was featured in the Tippecanoe Gazette.

Samantha Robey ’12 was hired as the new Athletics Development Officer at Bellarmine University.

Arielle Clark ’13, founder and owner of Sis Got Tea, received a $10,000 grant from American Express in partnership with Main Street America. Sis Got Tea was one of 500 businesses nationwide to receive this grant.

Will Saucer ’13 accepted a new job as a Solutions Architect at Kardex Solutions LLC.

Jonathan Smith ’14 was ranked No. 2 on the 2024 Forbes Best-In-State NextGeneration Wealth Advisors list.

Gregory Bashford ’15 was promoted to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps and started a new position as trial counsel (prosecutor).

Kyle Miller ’15 was appointed as a Trustee of Family Scholar House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty and transforming communities by empowering families and youth to succeed in education and achieve lifelong self-sufficiency. Miller’s role will include advising the organization on technology, privacy and cybersecurity.

Jake Thelen ’15 was named Covington Catholic High School's new head basketball coach.

Eric Zipperle ’16/’16 MBA was featured in INC's List of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Zipperle’s company, Cornbread Hemp, landed at the top of the pack

THE ALUMNI CORNER

locally, at No. 122.

Michaela (Julian) Menefee ’17 accepted a new position as a Healthcare Strategy Advisor at Humana.

Lilly Pinhas ’18 started a new job as the Development Officer at Gateway Community and Technical College.

Megan Alexander ’19 and Jack Hellige were married on April 20, 2024.

Andrew Hampton ’19 accepted a new role as the Client Relations Coordinator at Leadership Louisville Center.

Ted Kamer ’19 and Megan Kamer were married on April 27, 2024.

Chris Smith ’19/’22 MEd started a new position at

Bellarmine University as a Career Advisor.

Sarah Williams ’19 graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in May 2024.

2020s

Monica Jackson ’20 was recognized at Georgia Tech’s annual Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon with the Embracing All Voices Award.

Molly Jett ’20/’20 MSDM married her husband, Jack, on Sept. 6, 2024, at Whitehall on Lexington Road in Louisville.

Ryan Meyer ’20/’24 MBA and Lilly Caudill Meyer ’20/’21 MAC were married on June 15, 2024.

Steve Tabler ’20 and Kate Lonneman Tabler ’20 were

married on April 20, 2024.

Olivia Johnson Castlen ’23 married Michael Castlen on May 4, 2024, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bowling Green, Ky.

Tucker Shuff ’23 started a new role as an editor at WHAS-TV in April 2024.

John B. Habig ’55

Robert J. Zimlich ’55

G. Anthony Mills ’57

Sr. Shirley Ann Simmons ’57

Leonard W. Meyer Jr. ’57

J. Carroll Spanyer ’58

Earl M. Kalkbrenner ’61

Karl Joseph Russ Sr. ’62

John A. Stell ’62

Perry Carney ’63

The following alumni passed away between April 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2024.

William V. Campbell Jr. ’64

John O. Koch Jr. ’64

Michael T. O’Hern ’64

Richard J. Walsh ’64

Henry F. Despain III ’65

Robert T. Hickey ’65

Marlott J. Rhoades ’66

Dr. James R. Gossman ’66

Stephen V. Schoo ’67

Robert M. Stack ’67/’83 MBA

George F. Brand ’68

Donald E. Poppe ’69

George E. Gast Jr. ’69

Robert A. Yeargin ’71

James P. Higdon Sr. ’73

James P. Heicken ’74

Theresa G. Stiebling ’74

Larry W. Zimmerer ’78

Karen Kerwin Krieger ’82, ’88, ’92

James F. Miller ’82

John D. Herfel ’84 MBA

Madonna Ann Tischendorf ’86

Chester R. Blair ’88

Kathleen Sullivan ’91

Bonnie Lou Nelson ’94 MSN

Zachary M. Zeillmann ’13

Matthew H. Smith ’18

William C. Ellifrits Jr. ’24

ALUMNI WEEKEND REUNION AND CELEBRATIONS

Bellarmine welcomed all graduates back to campus from Sept. 6-8, while honoring the reunion classes of 1974 (50th), 1984 (40th), 1998 (25th) and 2014 (10th). The weekend included a brunch for the Class of 1974; a reunion of Cardinal Section and Honors Program graduates; and the signature Brew at BU Festival

Photo Gallery: https://tinyurl.com/BUAlumWknd24

50th Reunion celebration

Cardinal Section Reunion

THE ALUMNI CORNER

Gallery of Distinguished Graduates

The Alumni Association also inducted six individuals into the Gallery of Distinguished Graduates at a reception on Sept. 7 as part of Alumni Weekend. (Max Clemons did not provide a photo.)

Dr. Rick Blackwell ’84, LouisvilleJefferson County Metro Council member and former president known for work on local school and community projects; president of DeSales High School; teacher and service-learning coordinator at Mercy Academy for 34 years.

Carol Heil ’84/’90 MBA, dedicated Wealth Management Advisor for Merrill Lynch recognized by Forbes; first in her family to go to college and a dual sport athlete; member of Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Fame.

Dr. Margaret (Hayes) Annunziata ’93, president of Isothermal Community College in North Carolina; former vice president and of Academic Affairs and faculty member at Davidson-Davie Community College; in 2018, one of eight U.S. community-college representatives selected to meet with leaders in Paris to address global education and workforce development issues.

Vanessa Cantley ’99, trial lawyer and founder of law firm that employs 12 attorneys in Louisville and Campbellsville, KY; former president of the Kentucky Justice Association and Louisville Bar Foundation; founder of Empathy in Action, non-profit food pantry in the Highlands.

Matthew Rich ’00, practices employment law and litigation at Katz Teller in Cincinnati; at Cornell Law School, where he was an Honors Fellow, had a two-decade mock trial coaching career that included Kentucky high school championships (2008, 2016) and the college national championship for Miami University (2018).

Max V. Clemons ’16, accomplished entrepreneur and co-founder of Prime Hydration, whose Congo Brands is a leader in the competitive market of hydration and energy drinks.

Dr. David Ray Smith ’71 of Arnold, MD, who taught thousands of students about meteorology and oceanography at the United States Naval Academy (USNA) and through the American Meteorological Society, died in his sleep while vacationing with family in Corolla, N.C., on July 28. He was 74.

Smith, who was born in Louisville, studied math at Bellarmine and participated in U.S. Air Force ROTC through a reciprocal program at University of Louisville. After graduating from Bellarmine, he obtained his Ph.D. in meteorology at Texas A&M in 1979. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a first lieutenant at Vandenberg AFB in southern California, forecasting weather for missile launches on both coasts and deploying to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific and Wallops Island in the Atlantic.

Upon completing his military service, he became an assistant professor at Purdue University. In 1987, he moved to the Annapolis, MD, area, where he spent the rest of his career teaching at USNA. He led the Department of Oceanography as associate chair for 16 years and chair for seven years. He also co-founded and co-directed the Meteorological Society’s Maury Project. In his 26 years with the Maury Project, the team trained more than 600 teachers in physical oceanography, who then peer-trained more than 20,000 other teachers across the U.S., its territories, and nine other nations worldwide.

Smith’s awards included three Navy Civilian Meritorious Service Medals and the Navy Civilian Superior Service Medal. Bellarmine University inducted him into the Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 2021.

By Hoon Choi, Ph.D.

The Bellarmine Difference: Nothing matters if there is no love

BELLARMINE SENIORS OFTEN MENTION “the people” in their answers to the question, “What is the Bellarmine difference?” I suggest that it is because our mission is centered on our vision of the human person as sacred and dignified.

Through various initiatives, including introducing our new core curriculum, the Bellarmine community is making a concerted effort to recognize, love and care for the human person as a central expression of our mission. Delivering on that mission boils down to what the Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, a Jesuit priest who is the president of Creighton University, calls “study” (a movement inward), “solidarity” (a movement outward) and “grace” (of God).

To put Hendrickson’s definition in Bellarmine terms, our mission first helps students to study, cultivate and grapple with who they are, with the end goal of discovering their “True Self.”

Thomas Merton was convinced that if we look deeply into our true selves, we will discover God’s own presence. No matter who we are or what we believe, we are born with that proximity to our creator. Just by existing, we are beautiful, dignified, engraced and sacred, precisely because God resides in us.

When we learn to recognize our true selves in this way, we become better equipped to see God’s presence in others, too. Merton understood this divine indwelling in others as “a spark… the secret beauty of their hearts…the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes.” When he saw his fellow human beings in this way, he said it was as if they were “all walking around shining like the sun.”

When you have this sacramental vision of the world, you will be moved to compassion, mercy and solidarity with others, particularly with the most marginalized, the most minoritized and “the least among us” (see Matthew 25:40).

Bellarmine cultivates a shared vision of each person’s unique dignity, sacredness and grace. That vision empowers all members of our community to love one another, to be in solidarity and to give themselves in service to others, starting with the Day of Service for all first-year students. Through our repeated efforts, we begin to experience something beyond ourselves, something transcendent—even, perhaps, the Ultimate. In words from Les Misérables, we learn that “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

This is a vision of God’s ongoing incarnation and continuous presence in others, attained through selfless acts of love for our neighbor. Indeed, in the Christian tradition, “giving of oneself” is the definition of sacrificial (agape) Love by which God is described

(1 John 4) and through which God is exemplified and incarnated in the crucifixion and the person of Jesus. Living out such a call to love selflessly is often the “difference” at Bellarmine. I once heard a professional nurse say, for example, “Bellarmine nurses are different,” as shorthand for how compassionate and unselfish they are.

Bellarmine University, and its mission as a Catholic institution, therefore, is “different” from many institutions of higher education. Veritas! (Truth), Harvard University claims. Lux et Veritas! (Light and Truth), Yale University adds. At Bellarmine, none of that matters if there is no love. In fact, our mission affirms that one cannot genuinely get to the Truth except through Love— In Veritatis Amore.

The Catholic intellectual and liberal arts tradition—the tradition upon which Bellarmine University’s mission is based—is designed to recognize Love’s imprint (grace) that is inherent in creation by studying it and by paying attention to it. The more aspects of creation you study, therefore, the more visible and audible the Ultimate Mystery of God becomes.

Of course, we are not perfect. No one is. Like many universities, our Bellarmine community is emerging from a few rough years following the pandemic. We have responded in ways that moved us forward, but there are still opportunities to grow and live out our mission more fully exactly because we are not perfect.

So, how do we go beyond our shortcomings, mistakes and deficiencies? We must ask ourselves tirelessly, “Are we loving?” When we come up short, when we make mistakes, even when we sin, are we giving each other opportunities for grace, invitations to restore and reconcile, to be merciful and loving?

A common mistake in how institutions of higher education think about their mission is to imagine that it is only about the students. In truth, our mission applies to everyone: administrators, staff, faculty, students, donors and alumni. Yes, students are essential, and their preparation for successful careers is immensely important. However, Bellarmine’s mission calls us beyond the measure of career success (which we reliably attain), and into the deeper territory of living meaningful lives.

We can live up to this mission by encouraging each person to find their own gifted ways to help and live for others. That requires love. It is love. At the end of the day, then, Love that seeks Truth is, and ought to be, the “Bellarmine difference.” For even when we achieve all else “…but do not have love, we are nothing” (John 13:2).

Dr. Hoon Choi is co-chair of the Bellarmine President’s Advisory Board on Mission and an Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies.

STEP INSIDE:

F. Joseph Schmitt ’72 photographed the Hindu-Buddhist Temple complex in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, taking third place in the 2024 Photo Contest Cityscape category. More winners, Page 28