Sept. 7, 2016

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The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

Volume XCVI | Est. 1929 | www.hawkhillnews.com

Sept. 7, 2016

University community mourns the loss of James Klinges

Friends and family of Klinges gather at his home after the funeral service.

Photo courtesy of Allie Fanto ’17

MOLLY GRAB ’17 Editor in Chief James (Jim) Klinges, ’17, died on Aug. 27 after fighting leukemia for two years. Klinges, from Wayne, Pa., studied in the Erivan K. Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University. On Aug. 29, the university community was notified of Klinges’ death via an email message from Campus Ministry. The message communicated the details of Klinges’ viewing and funeral mass, which were held last week. After his diagnosis in the summer of 2014, Klinges stopped attending classes at St. Joe’s to focus on his treatment. Then, according to Allie Fanto, ’17, a friend of Klinges’ since grade school and a pallbearer at his funeral, Klinges was pronounced cancer-free in March of 2016. “He was officially announced cancer-free March 23 of this year,” Fanto said. “And then August 3 of 2016, his cancer came back and then it was a really quick and rapid progression.” According to his friends, Klinges maintained his unique sense of humor

throughout his illness. “He had this really fun, dry sense of humor that everybody appreciated,” Martin Farrell, ’17, recalled. Farrell knew Klinges throughout their time at Malvern Preparatory School as well as at St. Joe’s. “He always kept people honest. He would call you out if you were being an idiot or not being honest.” Fanto agreed. “He had the driest sense of humor of all time,” Fanto said. “It was just his personality, and if you knew him well enough, all of his jokes came from a good place in his heart.” According to Farrell, Klinges was also a serious St. Joe’s fan. “Jim was a huge St. Joe’s fan. He absolutely loved the school and the community and the culture of it, and he loved the basketball team,” Farrell said. Men’s basketball Head Coach Phil Martelli learned of Klinges’ illness, as well as his dedication to the basketball team, through a connection in his wife’s family. After the Hawks’ first win in the 2016

NCAA March Madness Tournament, Martelli called Klinges to speak with him personally. “I called him [Klinges] and it was the day after we had beaten [the University of] Cincinnati, so I had a chance to speak with him, and whether he was excited or thought he was being a bother, he hung up quickly,” Martelli said. “DeAndre’ Bembry and Isaiah Miles were with me and they asked if they could speak to him, and so I put them on the phone with him. They had a long conversation and it was really touching that they would care as much and that he would engage with them.” Fanto, who was present at Klinges’ funeral service, said that guests wore colorful clothes in remembrance of him. “It was really good symbolism of who he was as person,” Fanto said. “Obviously people are so broken-hearted, but he wouldn’t want any mourning or anything. He would want a celebration of his life.”

New Hawk on campus ANA FAGUY ’19 News Editor Monica Nixon, Ph.D., has taken over as the first assistant provost for inclusion and diversity and chief diversity officer at Saint Joseph’s University. After spending 10 years at Seattle University in Seattle, Wash., Nixon moved across the country to another Jesuit institution to take over a newly -founded position. “I think what I am looking forward to in this role is, again, it’s a continuation of the work that I’ve done before, which is how to get the whole institution engaged because what I’ve seen is work around inclusion is happening in little pockets,” Nixon said. Nixon will oversee the diversity and inclusion initiatives on campus at the Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity, formally known as the Office of Multicultural Life, and she will work to provide support services for students.

“I think that folks realize that the job is not mine to do and that it really does involve the whole campus. Personally I think about inclusion when I think about diversity; I think about it in intersectional ways,” Nixon stated. Cary Anderson, Ph.D., vice president for Student Life and associate provost, will utilize his position and Nixon’s position to improve inclusion and diversity on campus. “We have always been very decentralized in our approach to diversity and inclusion so it was decided that it made the most sense to have a point person and a position that would have some authority to work [in] various areas across the university,” Anderson said. Nixon emphasized that the challenges for St. Joe’s are the same ones that higher education, in general, are facing. “I’ve been at a Jesuit Catholic insti-

tution for 10 years,” Nixon said. “I really believe in the mission of Jesuit institutions and how we live out that mission is different in different places. It’s impacted by the student body, the region, [and] lots of different things. So I think getting to know how St. Joe’s lives its Jesuit mission is really important to me, so I know how the work around inclusion and diversity fits this institution.” Another point Nixon mentioned was the evolving terminology around diversity. “There are these terms that have been used for a long time [multicultural, diversity, and inclusion] and have had currency in their time and I think as the work around inclusion is evolving the terminology is evolving as well,” she added. “[The name] may change again.”

Graphic by Krista Jaworski ’17


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Sept. 7, 2016 by The Hawk - Issuu