Connections Summer 08

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Holy Cross College — Alumni and Friends Magazine

Notre Dame, Indiana spring/summer08

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Holy Cross College — Alumni and Friends Magazine

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Notre Dame, Indiana spring/summer08

On the Cover In Ghana, Br. Chris Dreyer steps ahead nervously, following Holy Cross students into the rain forest canopy on a rope bridge stretching hundreds of feet above the forest floor.

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2008-2009 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chairman: Jerry Love ’72 Vice Chairman: Richard Rice President: Br. Richard Gilman, CSC, PhD David Bender Jr. John Berges John Carnesale Br. James Everett, CSC Br. Robert Fillmore, CSC Daniel Fitzpatrick Deborah Foley-White ‘75 William Giles Luanne Hallett John Hardesty Gregory Hoffman, MD Christine Klauer Paul Laughlin Lucille McKenna Mark McNamee ‘80 Michael Method, MD Terry O'Reilly

Mark Pulte ‘83 Brian Regan John Rosenthal Rev. Kevin Russeau, CSC, ‘94 Tim Shelby ‘93 Hastings Siegfried Thomas Sopko Br. Donald Stabrowski, CSC Mark Tabit Anthony Uebelhor ‘81 Gary Vanderbeek ‘73 Robert Wade Paula Waters Emeritus Arthur Decio Jerry Hammes Elizabeth Barkyoumb Louis Carnesale Robert Corrao Bazil O'Hagan William Shannon John Wilson

letter from the president

To Cross Borders of Every Sort Almost ten years ago we started a course at the College entitled “Through the Eyes of Faith.”

Designed by our campus minister, Robert Kloska, this international travel program was initiated to give students a global perspective much broader than the economic and cultural diversity which characterize so many study abroad regimes. The Holy Cross College International Experience was launched with the understanding that the common fatherhood of God would form a common basis for understanding the basic human needs that span current national boundaries and provide a perspective on the historical progress of the people of God. The positive initial experiences in this program motivated the faculty of the College to make the program a requirement for the liberal studies baccalaureate degree. It has now expanded beyond the original target, which was Ghana, West Africa, to include Mexico, Peru, and India. And it promises to become more wide spread.

I have witnessed many student Capstone presentations (our senior thesis), and I never cease to be amazed at the impact that this “crossing of borders” has on students. A common theme is that our students are moved by the basic happiness and contentment of those whom they have come to know as brothers and sisters. Despite material poverty, our international family exhibits a basic human joy, which students readily attribute to

seeing life “though the eyes of faith” and the daily experience of God’s love.

Moreau encouraged our first Holy Cross religious to “cross borders of every sort” out of love for God. At Holy Cross we encourage students to cross these same borders in order to experience global diversity “through the eyes of faith”—a vision that can only serve to create unity as we recognize the human needs which are common to us all.

This spring we adopted a new core curriculum.

It will serve the college well for many years and will form the foundation for new majors and academic programs to come. The core is firmly rooted in our Holy Cross belief that “no culture of the world can be our abiding home” (Holy Cross Constitution on Mission). Thus, even as we diversify our programs and expand our international horizons, we deepen our essential commitments to be an institution that advances the Gospel by building competent minds and compassionate hearts.

So, we cross borders in order to be more confident about being home.

Sincerely,

Br. Richard Gilman, CSC, PhD, President

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spring.summer08 Holy Cross College — Alumni and Friends Magazine

features

4

Commencement

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International Solidarity

8

Expanding Points of View

12

Liberal Arts‌ What Kind of Major is That?

in every issue

Connections is published twice a year by Holy Cross College. Its purpose is to enhance the educational mission of the College and encourage support by offering information on educational trends and informing alumni and friends of current activities at Holy Cross College.

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Campus Connections

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Faculty Connections

18

Alumni Connections

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Class Connections

Editor: Michael Davids, Director of Communications, Marketing & Public Relations Assistant Editor: KP Palmer, Community Relations Specialist Acknowledgements: Connections Editorial Board Hank Borne, PhD, professor of sociology Pat Falvey, Vice President for Advancement John Raymer, PhD, professor of English

Parents, please note: If your son or daughter is no longer at this address, please send updated contact information to the address below.

Address all correspondence and changes of address to: Holy Cross College, Advancement Office, P.O. Box 308, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0308 (574) 239.8400 FAX (574) 239.8323

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campus

Holy Cross Students Develop Their Own Student Lounge

Students at Holy Cross College wanted a state-of-the-art coffee shop/ student lounge, but when they found out it wasn’t in the budget, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The Student Government Association (SGA) has planned to completely remodel the Driscoll Lounge into a modernized, twenty-four-hour student union facility. With the help of undergraduate architecture students at the University of Notre Dame, the Holy Cross students drew up plans that include new media equipment, new furniture, new lighting, and a coffee shop.

The Holy Cross SGA has set a fundraising goal of $134,500. Currently, the association has reached 20 percent of their goal. SGA President, Steven Henderson, says “This is a completely student-run effort.

We have been the ones in charge of contacting contractors, going to area businesses to present and promote our cause, and creating a design and layout for the lounge.”

The students plan to meet their fundraising goals within six months. Vice President of the SGA, Michael Hodge, says “We see a great deal of potential in this room. Any support given to us would be greatly appreciated!”

Fundraising efforts have included the SGA raising over $10,000 parking cars at a Notre Dame football game, a Dinner Auction organized by student volunteer Abigail Stopczynski that raised $7,500, and several generous benefactors who have stepped up to give personal donations. If you would like to contribute to this effort. Please call Craig Horvath, Director of Alumni Relations, (574) 239-8368.

Women Recruits Bolster Holy Cross College Sports Programs

Holy Cross College Athletic Director, Nathan Walker presents an athletic scholarship to Cross Country runner Emily Ford of Mishawaka, Indiana.

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Holy Cross College has signed 15 incoming freshmen women athletes to various sports for the 2008-2009 academic year. Emphasizing the mind, body, and spirit in a holistic curriculum, Holy Cross is increasing the support the program offers to athletes.

This past academic year, Holy Cross sponsored four NAIA sports (men’s and women’s cross country, men’s golf, and men’s soccer) as well as ACHA hockey, and three club sports that participated in intercollegiate competition—cheerleading, men’s basketball, and women’s soccer.

Over the next two years, the College will add women’s volleyball, basketball, and golf to its varsity roster, while elevating women’s soccer to NAIA competition.

The women’s soccer team has signed 10 first-year recruits, women’s cross country has signed three, and women’s golf has signed two athletes for the 2008-2009 academic year. These new recruits will join the countless returning athletes, solidifying Holy Cross team sports.

The increasing number of women athletes has had a positive influence not only on the athletic programs, but also on the college as a whole. Athletic Director, Nathan Walker, says, “We are so pleased to see an influx of females choosing Holy Cross for the next four years. The young women who have signed with Holy Cross to continue their athletic endeavors will also complement the academic and social environment of the entire student body.”

CONNECTIONS spring.summer2008

Soccer Coach Thiago Pinto

Thiago Pinto will bring a Brazilian flare to the Holy Cross Men’s Soccer program this fall as well as some important player recruits for the team.

Mr. Pinto’s previous coaching experience includes stints with the Elkhart Flames, Granger Christian High School, and Bethel College. He played his college soccer at Bethel from 2001 to 2005. Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Thiago also played in the Brazilian first division for powerhouses Cruzeiro Esporte Clube and Athletico Mineiro. He has run numerous soccer camps for youth in the South Bend area and internationally.

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campus

Staci Lugar Brettin Joins Holy Cross College as Development Services Coordinator Staci Lugar Brettin has joined Holy Cross College as Development Services Coordinator.

She will be responsible for providing administrative support for the Development Office, including coordinating the stewardship of contributions and conducting research on prospective donors. “It’s exciting to be part of the dynamic development team at Holy Cross. I look forward to being a part of the advancement and growth here,” said Lugar Brettin.

Lugar Brettin holds a Bachelor of Arts in international business from Ball State University, a Master’s of Business Administration from Bethel College, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Business Administration in marketing at Andrews University. Her experience includes positions in marketing management for a regional consumer products manufacturer, in marketing strategy and account management for a regional marketing communications firm, and in business consulting for a local small business development organization. She currently serves as associate faculty in entrepreneurship at Indiana University South Bend.

Vice President for Advancement, Patricia Falvey, says Lugar Brettin’s commitment to excellence, enthusiasm, and drive make her the ideal team member for the Holy Cross Development Office. “She is a perfect fit here!”

In 2000, Lugar Brettin was named the Ball State University Graduate of the Last Decade for academic excellence and service to an international ministry located in Russia. She currently serves on the board of directors of the South Bend chapter of Rotary International and is a past volunteer on Ball State University’s Entrepreneurship Day business plan review panel.

Our Holy Cross Fight Song Rings Out On November 16, Jim Letherman, adjunct professor of Latin and liturgical choir director, sat down and wrote out the melody and lyrics to a new Holy Cross Fight Song. Katelyn Palmer, community relations specialist as well as an alumni and former member of the Notre Dame Marching Band, decided to take the song to the next level. She took the piece to current Notre Dame junior Greg Lopez to develop an arrangement for the Notre Dame Marching Band.

On Wednesday, February 6, the arrangement had been completed, and it was time to record it. Lopez conducted and directed the band through the recording process. This year there were 16 Holy Cross students in the Notre Dame Marching Band; the highest number of participants the College has ever seen.

Throughout the recording session, the Holy Cross students expressed their school pride. “It is so cool to know I am one of the first students to ever play this fight song!” said DiJavante “DJ” Albert, drummer. “We are so used to playing the Notre Dame Fight Song that it is awesome to finally have our own to identify with.”

The song was unveiled at the Ave Crux Weekend talent show. In the finale, Palmer led the other performers onto the stage and introduced Lopez. She surprised the audience by leading them in singing the Holy Cross Fight Song for the very first time.

The fight song will “ring from the rafters” in the soon to be completed Pfeil Recreation Center for years to come. We hope all friends of Holy Cross will come out to a home game this fall to sing along and cheer on the Saints!

You can listen to the fight song by downloading the mpg file at www.hcc-nd.edu.

Kyle Kincaid, ‘08

from left: Holy Cross drummers Mark Curtis, DJ Albert, and David Flores

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Holy Cross College Celebrates Its Fourth Baccalaureate Commencement with a Record Number of Graduates

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ore than thirty students accepted their BA degrees from Holy Cross College on Saturday, May 10.

Giving the commencement address was Joseph E.

Kernan, 48th Governor of the State of Indiana. The alumni address was delivered by Damian D. Dieter, DPM ’85, the Associate Director of Podiatric Residency at St. Joseph Medical Center. The student commencement Address was delivered by Jared Cody Sawyer, ’08, former HCC Student Government President, and Ellen Marie Ludwig, ’08 delivered the invocation.

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CONNECTIONS spring.summer2008

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International Solidarity, Holy Cross Style “often we must make ourselves at home among more than one people or culture.”

(Holy Cross Constitutions, 17)

By Michael Griffin, MDiv, adjunct professor of philosophy and religion

Professor Michael Griffin prepares to lead another expedition in Ghana

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CONNECTIONS spring.summer2008

“Akwaaba.” When I first heard that Ghanaian word of welcome from Br. Michael Amakyi, CSC, I knew that my experience of international solidarity, Holy Cross style, had begun. The year was 2004. I had just been hired with a twofold task: take the reins of the annual Ghana trip from Bob Kloska, who had begun this experience in 2000, and expand the trips to include other countries where Holy Cross Brothers, Sisters, and Priests serve.

The decision to bring me on board was part of the college’s larger decision to require every student in the Bachelor of Arts program to complete an international experience. In 2004, that meant Ghana, and so, along with the very first class of BA students, I headed across the Atlantic to West Africa. Unsure of what to expect, we quickly learned that hospitality—Akwaaba—is the trademark of Ghanaian culture.

On the first trip, and for a few years after, I wondered why the college had decided to require an international experience. My understanding of that wisdom would come as the program grew.

The first expansion came in 2005. A small group of us traveled to Lima, Peru, where Holy Cross operates one of the largest parishes in the world—almost 250,000 people! When Holy Cross went to Lima more than twenty five years ago, they told the Bishop they wanted to live and work in the poorest section of the diocese and remain there for the long haul. Now, the parish is full of health centers and schools, and family ministries. While we are there, we help out the Holy Cross religious and the amazing teams of committed laypersons who do this work. The result is not so much that we offer “service,” but that we learn the Holy Cross wisdom that we are called to “reach out to the afflicted and in a preferential way to the poor and oppressed.” (Constitutions, 13) While in Peru, the group also traveled to Machu Picchu, the ancient lost city of the Incas and one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Tucked high in the Andes mountains, Machu Picchu is among the most beautiful settings in the world. Historians are not sure why Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadores did not find it when they were laying waste to Inca cities in the 1500’s. Thank God they did not, because it remains intact as an amazing testament to the skill of the Incas and to the power of natural beauty. What a gift it has been to witness our Holy Cross students standing on this ancient site.

In 2007, the International Experience took another step in expansion, this time eastward, very eastward, to India. Holy Cross Brothers are serving, mainly in the southern cities of Bangalore, Salem, and Chennai. The work the Brothers do is impressive: an orphanage, many schools, and a formidable formation program of new Brothers. In a country of very few Christians, perhaps what stuck us most was, the Holy Cross Brothers are booming. And, these young Brothers are not seeking to remain in a church enclave. Rather, they serve the local community no matter what religion they are. For example, in the Holy Cross school of Salem, about 3,500 of the 4,000 students are Hindu. Indeed, we found that Holy Cross has won the admiration of countless Hindus who admire the Brothers’ zeal for education.

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None of those on that first trip to India will ever forget Brothers like Sabu, Sesu, nanam, and Britto, the superior. One day, Br. Sabu took us on a hike. We climbed a mountain, passing a Hindu ashram, or monastery. From this “holy hill” we could see all the surrounding villages. We could see the larger mountain where the Brothers grow coffee beans and where their novitiate (formation center) stands. Then, from this mountaintop, Br.Sabu began to tell us about his life and why he became a Brother.

I felt like I was listening to the Sermon on the Mount! Br. Sabu spoke to us of his faith, but then said that faith alone was not his motivation to enter. Rather, it was his desire to share the lot of the poor in his land, to make his life entirely other centered. From Br. Sabu we learned the Holy Cross wisdom that “as disciples of Jesus we stand side by side with all people,” and that “like them we hope for a world where justice and love prevail,” and that with them we “form communities of the coming kingdom.”

(Constitutions, 12) In 2007, we also saw the expansion of our program to Monterrey, Mexico. Just before Christmas Angel Cortes, PhD, assistant professor of history, led the first Holy Cross group to this rapidly developing city. In Monterrey, Holy Cross serves many of those who have not shared in the economic expansion of the city. One day, our group walked through a section of the parish called Las Sabanas. Right in the shadow of an upscale condominium development—and on the side where the condos do not have windows—stands a kind of shanty town.

The living there is not the “them” of a documentary but the “us” of the parish.

The people there, along with our students, share the distinction of being part of the Holy Cross family. Being in that neighborhood was one of the most powerful experiences for the group. Also powerful was witnessing the vibrancy of faith. Most of our students had never spent so much time in a church! Nor had they witnessed homes

where religious shrines and even altars are commonplace. Here, in the heart of the Mexican barrio, our students were learning the Holy Cross wisdom that “often we must make ourselves at home among more than one people or culture.”

(Constitutions, 17) So that is where our program stands after the latest rounds of expansion. But what about that question of “why require it?”

What Holy Cross wisdom here is so important that we want all of our students to learn it? And, how best to describe that wisdom in an understandable way?

Solidarity. There it is, the one word answer. Solidarity is our commitment to unity, to seeing our lives as being connected to the lives of people everywhere. It is what the Holy Cross Constitutions call “concern for the dignity of every human being as God’s cherished child.” (Constitutions, 15) Solidarity is what the Catholic Church means when we say, using the famous words of the Second Vatican Council, “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties” of people in our world are shared by us as followers of Christ.

Solidarity is what these trips are about.

Now, all this can sound like theo-babble, lofty words to express vague concepts, but here is what solidarity means on the ground floor. When our students return from Ghana, they care about what happens there. They learn about economic exploitation there and they want to help end it. And why? Not because Ghana has become “an issue” to them, but because they still e-mail with Kweku, or with Br. Ebenezer, or because they still care about the children they met in Moree.

Students who come back from Peru think differently about the mission of the church.

No longer is it just pie-in-the-sky spirituality; It is a concrete commitment to liberation.

How could you not connect Christ to liberation after spending time with the Holy Cross community in Lima? The community’s whole life is devoted to planting themselves in the midst of suffering people and working side by side with them to build up the kingdom of God. Solidarity means that our students no longer study “India” as a mass of a billion plus people or as an economic monolith.

Rather, they have been introduced to just a taste—a small slice—of the amazing complexity of life there. And hey, if some Indian Brother named Sabu can teach us about the Gospel, then maybe we have something to learn from this part of the world. Such a shattering of generalizations

can also occur to a student who has been on the Mexico trip. Maybe for them solidarity means that the next time they hear stereotypes of those who live south of the border, they will think of the families they met in Monterrey.

They will remember that behind stereotypes are real people whose lives matter.

So, it’s all about uniting with the world in solidarity. And, solidarity is a challenge not only in the spiritual but also in the practical realm. So I want to ask all those who love the mission of Holy Cross, especially the alumni who want to embrace this unity, to please consider supporting our international programs. They are costly but worth it.

Consider perhaps sponsoring a student each year, or sponsoring one of the trips. Also, we would even be open to an alumni supporter who would like to go on one of these experiences with the students. In whatever way each of us can, we need to support the mission of inter-national solidarity as central to our Holy Cross character.

Why do our students go on the international experience? They go to learn. And what they learn is solidarity. Notice how these experiences engage both the mind and the heart, a cornerstone of the Holy Cross education. And, notice how the experiences can connect learning-as-students to action-as-citizens of the world. Such a connection is captured in the motto for the BA program, “the competence to see and the courage to act.”

This phrase comes from the Holy Cross Constitutions on mission, and its full context helps us see the meaning of solidarity, Holy Cross style.

“The mission is not simple, for the impoverishments we would relieve are not simple. There are networks of privilege, prejudice, and power so commonplace that often neither oppressors nor victims are aware of them. We must be aware, and also understand by reason of fellowship with the impoverished, and by reason of patient learning. For the kingdom to come in this world, disciples must have the competence to see and courage to act.” (Constitutions, 14) CONNECTIONS spring.summer2008

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Holy Cross Students Discover the World My trip to Ghana was one of the most important experiences of my time at Holy Cross. It was there that I was able to take what I had learned in the classroom and apply it to real world experiences. For example, we spent a day at an orphanage in Ghana meeting the children who lived there. We worked with them to help them learn their numbers and learn the alphabet. One of the things that struck me was that many of the kids weren’t even orphans, they were third or fourth children from families that couldn’t afford to feed or clothe them. As I walked around the facility, I remember seeing a 10 pound sack of rice leaning against one of the group homes. The burlap was stamped “US Aid.” I knew that without that sack, many of these children wouldn’t get a meal. Later, when I worked in Washington, DC for Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), the memory of that bag of rice gave votes on foreign aid more meaning than they may have had otherwise. Going to Ghana taught me how to relate to other cultures in an engaged, compassionate, and open manner.

—Jared Sawyer ‘08

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CONNECTIONS spring.summer2008

Whether hiking three days into the Andes Mountains to see Machu Picchu, exploring a slave castle in Ghana, or riding elephants in India, the International Experience, in which each Holy Cross College student participates in their junior or senior year, leaves them with memories for a lifetime.

As you’ll come to understand by these firsthand accounts, this is not your typical college vacation abroad. The International Experience is a working adventure where students are asked to see and do what the Brothers of Holy Cross see and do each day in their ministries.

Holy Cross students learn about the ecology and the past, current, and political histories of the countries they visit. They see the challenges of poverty and illness faced by the population. They also discover the joy, responsibilities, needs, and aspirations of individual citizens whom they get to know and befriend.

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My trip to India was literally life changing. It brought many of the issues on television and that we talk about in class to a

My trip to Ghana was the most

firsthand experience. Hearing

amazing experience of my life.

about issues such as poverty

From being in the rainforest,

and seeing them for myself is

feeling like you were on top of

completely different. After I

the world to painting desks for

came back to the United States

less fortunate kids in an

I have a different perspective on

orphanage school, everything was great.

many of the things that we take

The brothers really went out of their way

for granted that others never

to make sure that our experience there

even think about. India was a

was worthwhile and meaningful.

trip full of memories and values

—Steven Henderson ‘08

that will remain with me.

—John Mark Curtis ‘09

My international experience to Ghana is something I will always carry with me. Through the witness of

Three days hiking in the

faith and hospitality of the Ghanaian

Andes was not an easy feat. Even some of the most experienced hikers had

people, I saw the fruits of what a life

difficulty with this trek. At 15,000 feet above sea level, breathing was a hard

centered in faith can reap—true joy.

task. When the elevation wasn´t taking our breath away, the views were.

I learned so much about myself during

Snow capped mountains, llamas, alpacas, and so much more surrounded us.

those three weeks. I also conquered my

The only way to truly explain how beautiful the sites were are to see the pic-

fear of heights, and a developed deeper

tures we took.

friendships with my peers and new friendships with the Holy Cross Brothers

In a way, this was a trip of firsts for many of us: first time hiking, first time camp-

and others we encountered on our

ing, first time without a "real" bathroom, and my first time riding a horse. Although

journey.

it was extremely challenging, the end result (Machu Picchu) was incredible. It´s

—Ellen Ludwig ‘08

hard to believe that it is still standing after hundreds of years.

—Chris Castagnetti’08

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international

What brings students to Holy Cross College from half way around the world?

Here is what two students told Connections.

Roberto Weller

Roberto Weller helps build a house in Appalachia

Helen Ntaki

I am from Guatemala City, and I came to Holy Cross to get a new start on my academic career. I was not the best student in high school. After I graduated, I took a year off and spent my time taking some classes at a local college and volunteering in community service.

Through the volunteer work I had some life-changing experiences, including helping doctors provide medical assistance to the poor. I was even allowed to do minor surgeries-under direct supervision of course!

I heard about Holy Cross College from two of my friends from the American School in Guatemala City, Juan Sebastian Rohrman and Fernando Sierra. Juan spent only one semester here but Fernando is now a sophomore. They both really liked the school, so I decided to give it a try.

It was a great choice for me. The faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to help me succeed, Dr. Raymer has been especially helpful, and everyone has been very friendly. My English and my writing have improved a lot—two skills that are very important in today’s global economy.

I have also had some great experiences here that I would not have had elsewhere.

For example, I went to the Appalachian region of Tennessee over spring break with Br. Chris Dreyer to help build a house for a poor family there. Although I had a little trouble understanding the dialect, I met some nice friends, saw some amazing scenery at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and got to know a part of the country that few foreign visitors will ever see.

My goal is to enroll in engineering school, and Holy Cross has helped make that possible. I am currently maintaining top honors in my schoolwork. I know that if I can maintain these high grades, my associate’s degree from Holy Cross will help me get into a top program.

I am the sixth child in a family of seven and although our parents remain in Uganda, my brothers and sisters are scattered around the world. My father owns a tea company in the city of Jinja where we were raised. Jinja is the second largest city in Uganda and is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest body of freshwater in the world.

I arrived at Holy Cross College in January, inspired by the good things I heard from my brother-in-law, Ryan Igbanol, who spent some time here six years earlier before continuing his legal education at William and Mary College. Two of my older sisters also live in Indiana; Elizabeth is a doctor at Indiana University and Edith works in computer data for J.P. Morgan Chase in Indianapolis.

My goal is to become a nurse and then teach nursing in Uganda. My aunt lost her baby when it was strangled by the umbilical cord. And, if there had been a nurse available, the tragedy wouldn’t have happened. Uganda desperately needs more nurses, and I want to be part of the solution.

My skills as a writer come from all my reading. My father loves books and encouraged us to read the classics. I’ve loved reading Hardy, Dickens, Shakespeare and many others growing up.

I love the people I’ve met at Holy Cross. You quickly realize that America is not like what you see in the movies. The professors are especially nice. And, unlike most of the teachers I had in Great Britain, here they teach with a real concern that their students understand the subject matter.

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international

“I Crossed the Ocean fora Heart of Gold” I come from New Jersey, right outside New York City, where materialism reigns over everything in life. Without being too unfair to my home region, I believe that we are nationally recognized as being cold and unfriendly. We would call it being “cool.” Therefore, coming to Holy Cross College, and the Midwest in general, was a bit of a culture shock. I found myself looking back on this “shock” as I listened to Brother Richard sing Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” at this year’s graduation ceremony.

He and the other people I’ve met here have truly been “miners for a heart of gold.” I know they helped me dig for mine. But it was more than just the people here, it was the experience, especially my trip to Ghana.

I went to Ghana in the summer of 2006. I had always wanted to visit Africa, and this was ultimately one of the top reasons I decided to stay at Holy Cross after earning my associates degree.

I fell in love with the country the moment I stepped off the plane in Accra, the nation’s capitol. Despite our ten hour flight, I felt energetic and invigorated, which was beneficial as we managed to pack in a full day of sightseeing before we moved into the compound where the Brothers of Holy Cross lived. It is an amazing compound. It sits on a hill where you can see the ocean just beyond the small fishing village of Mauri. This compound is where our group went to mass every morning, ate most of our meals, and bonded with the Ghanaian Brothers of Holy Cross and each other.

While in Ghana we were able to do a variety of things that gave us an appreciation of Ghanaian culture as well as its natural beauty. Jonah Smith, now an adjunct professor at Holy Cross, came along to help teach us about Ghana’s rich ecosystem. We visited Kakum National Park, which is an African rainforest. Here we walked on a rope bridge which is truthfully nothing more than rope and planks suspended between trees. I am deathly afraid of heights (and this bridge is high!) and I was not intending to participate. However, I knew I would regret that decision forever so I decided to go through with it. I ended up with rope burns on my hand from gripping the edges so tightly but I am so glad I did it. The few times I opened my eyes and peeked out over the vast expanse of jungle I saw the most beautiful, aweinspiring view I had ever seen. After the rope walk, we went on a hike through the rainforest. Our guide pointed out plants that have medicinal uses and explained how Ghanaians prefer to use organic treatments and ingredients in their everyday lives.

By KP Palmer ’07

Service is a big part of the program and we had several opportunities for it. We helped out at St. Claire’s, an orphanage and school. Here some of us sanded down all of the chairs and tables so they could be repainted while others poured concrete to build the foundation of another building. Some of us, myself included, visited Cape Deaf, one of only two schools for the blind and deaf in the entire country. A few of us knew sign language, but it was American sign language. Ghanaian sign language is slightly different, so we took turns writing on the chalkboard to explain ourselves. One of the girls in the class I was assisting was actually a member of the Ashanti Dance Troupe, one of the most famous in Ghana which my group was fortunate enough to see perform twice. It was amazing to see this thirteen-year-old girl dance so beautifully knowing she could not hear the drums, but rather felt the music through the floor.

One of our favorite activities was visiting the market in Cape Coast. It is not just because we were all interested in shopping, in finding souvenirs for our family and friends. Rather, we enjoyed these visits because they gave us an opportunity to interact with the Ghanaians. It was in this marketplace where we learned the true nature of Ghanaian life. We talked to the women who sold food out of huge baskets about what a standard Ghanaian meal consists of and how it is prepared, about their families, about anything and everything. They, of course, wanted to know all about life in America, about whether it was true that streets are paved in gold, and if we knew any movie stars. It was amazing how willing the Ghanaians were to open up to complete strangers, but that is what we found all over the country.

The people are so kind and warm, and they spoke of God as if He were a close friend, someone they saw and spoke to everyday. They were incredibly inspiring.

By the time I went to Ghana, I had let my guard down a little though I knew my outlook was still very different from those of my peers. Ghana was on another level. People there genuinely want to know you, want to talk to you. They are so welcoming and hospitable, I realized there that this was how to live. Being in this kind of environment, even for a short while, opened me up to new possibilities … exposed my heart of gold. People should not be disregarded because they are different than you or because they are strangers. My experience in Ghana made me realize there are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.

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Liberal What Kind of Major Is That?

By Mike Davids, Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations Liberal Arts—it’s not liberal and it’s not art, so what is it? According to Justin Watson, PhD, Dean of Faculty at Holy Cross College, “It’s a pragmatic, four-year intellectual, social, and emotional educational program that teaches students how to think, work, and get the job done.”

“Yes, it takes students on the search for ’truth, beauty, justice, and understanding’ through the recorded thoughts of the greatest thinkers in history. However, by studying history along with philosophy and literature, students learn that the great ideas were hard won. Christianity, democracy, and the idea that all men are created equal started as revolutionary ideas that people died to defend,” Watson continued.

“Following the logic and rhetoric of the great minds is like trying to follow Michael Jordan on a basketball court—you need to condition the mind, practice your communication skills, and try really hard.” Noted Watson, “A student who has completed a four-year liberal arts program is ready for the world in all its difficulty and complexity.”

Liberal Arts students read books that changed the world, discuss the ideas they find, debate these ideas with professors and classmates, and learn to write in a clear and consistent style about their interpretations and insights. “We need citizens, leaders, teachers, believers, and business people who can do what they say they will do and change things that need changing. That’s exactly what men and women like Thomas Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony, and Frederick Douglas accomplished in their lives. If we too want to accomplish something, we are a step ahead if we read how it has been done before,” Watson reiterated.

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Arts…

What good is Liberal Arts in a world obsessed with the latest technical skills?

“Learning a skill prepares the individual for a specific job; A liberal arts education teaches students to think, to apply information, to create new ideas, to communicate, and to influence others. In short, it is preparation for success,” says Br. Richard Gilman, CSC, PhD, President of Holy Cross College.

Graduate schools tend to look favorably on liberal arts graduates, especially MBA, law, education, and programs in the humanities. However, many businesses also prefer liberal arts graduates, especially those who expect to train employees for leadership and sales positions such as those at banks, investment firms, insurance businesses, and communications companies.

Very few corporations can hire a recent college graduate without providing extensive, specialized training in their own specific industry. This is why many hiring agents prefer liberal arts graduates. These graduates have learned how to learn, how to think for themselves, how to communicate verbally, how to read critically, how to interpret ideas, how to communicate effectively in writing, and how to defend an idea—critical skills for business and leadership.

Students who have spent four years thinking, writing, and debating fundamental questions such as “Would you rather live in a democracy or a theocracy?”; “What are ‘inalienable’ human rights?”; “When, if ever, should an individual sacrifice himself or herself for the greater good?”; have stretched and opened their minds and will be less intimidated by simpler questions like “How do we improve customer service in the third quarter?”

With the ability to think, question, communicate, and persuade, liberal arts graduates are prepared to work in diverse industries with diverse people, cultures, technologies, products, and ideas. They have learned that great minds make great strides forward by asking “why?”, “what if?”, and, “why not?”

Who would want to pursue a liberal arts major?

Many students today would rather not pin themselves down to a specific career track. When a student focuses

on a skill such as computer programming, rather than experiencing a broader education, they run the risk of becoming easily replaced by technological changes, resource reallocations, or lifestyle changes.

For example, will there be work for diesel mechanics in 10 years if truck manufacturers change to fuel cells or battery power? Will website developers be in hot demand if simple, website-development software replaces html code writing? Will geologists be in demand if the world stops drilling oil wells and begins growing biofuels? Will metallurgists be in demand if advanced plastics replace steel in the auto industry?

As a Liberal Arts major 30 years ago, I don’t think I could have survived the waves of change that I have experienced in my own career without the well-rounded training it gave me.

I have worked for an audio tape publisher that went out of business when CD’s replaced them, for an advertising agency that went out of business during the dot com crash, for a direct mail company that went out of business when the costs of paper and postage overwhelmed their margins, and for a trade association that was made obsolete by an act of Congress.

You might say that I have been unlucky, but I feel blessed that my college experience prepared me for anything. No one knows what the future will bring, however if there is a college major that prepares students to face it head on, it is the one that puts a priority on thinking over memorizing, interpretation over knowing, and imagination over procedure.

When change happens, we liberal arts majors expect it, adapt to it, and use it as a spring board to new ideas. We know that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we also know that the Roman Empire collapsed when it became resistant to change. We can find Rome on a map. And, because we know something about their history and culture, we’ll have an easier time traversing the global marketplace, cutting a deal to sell American goods, or to bring Italian products to American shores.

In a world where today’s hot opportunity is tomorrow's dead end, we need to invest more in education that helps broaden our vision so that we can see the road ahead, to the side, and around the next big curve. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”

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Michael J. Kiley, JD — Holy Cross Trustee and Great Friend of the College

Excellence in Teaching Award Goes to Justin Watson, PhD Holy Cross College honored Justin Watson, PhD with its annual Excellence in Teaching Award. The award is given each year to the faculty member who draws the most votes from students, faculty, and staff. Watson was recognized at the Honors Convocation on March 27. The event also honored the students who have made the dean’s list and included Br. George Kloughton as a featured speaker.

Watson’s student nominations stated that his classes were always enjoyable due to his patience, passion, high academic standards, and unwavering positive attitude. The students found his courses a valuable learning experience that combined the abstract course material with real world, contemporary applications. His colleagues’ nominations described Watson as compassionate, respectful, helpful, and mission driven.

After receiving his BA in political science from the University of Nevada, Watson earned two MAs in literature and rhetoric and composition from the University of Eastern Washington. He also earned a PhD in English from the University of Notre Dame. Watson has been teaching at the College for twelve years and has taught a wide range of literature and English courses as well as some inter-disciplinary classes.

Recently, Watson was promoted to the post of Dean of Faculty.

On May 20, 2008, Mike Kiley, Holy Cross College Trustee and former Chairman of the Board, passed away at the age of 73. Kiley served one term as Chairman and was on the Board of Trustees for more than a decade since July of 1997.

Kiley started his Catholic education at St. Paul’s Grade School in Marion, Indiana. He became a member of the Holy Cross Family when he attended Gilmour Academy in Gates Mill, a boarding school run by the Brothers. He matriculated at the University of Notre Dame, graduated with a BA, and continued his education by earning a Doctor of Jurisprudence at Georgetown University in 1959.

“I met Mike one summer when he came to visit an ailing Holy Cross brother who had been one of his high school teachers at Gilmour Academy,” said Br. Richard Gilman, CSC, President of Holy Cross College. “He spoke of his admiration for the Holy Cross mission, and so I asked him if he would be interested in getting more involved. Little did he know how much I would be relying on him in the years to come! But Mike always served selflessly and with great compassion,” Br. Richard recalled.

Kiley was also a devoted public servant in his hometown of Marion, Indiana. He served two terms as city judge, from 1963 until 1970, was also a former public defender, a former attorney for the Marion School Board, and worked as counsel for the city of Marion on its development-bond issues.

On the state level, Kiley served as a commissioner for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Commission. For his contributions to the State of Indiana, he was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by former Gov. Robert Orr in 1989.

Kiley is survived by his wife, Carol, and three children; Anne, a St. Mary’s graduate; Dan, an Indiana University graduate; and Matt, a South Bend resident and graduate of St. Joseph’s College.

“He was just a wonderful man who will be missed by the entire Holy Cross family,” remembered Pat Falvey, Vice President of Advancement.

Sue Schoen, Professor Emeritus Holy Cross College “There’s no such thing as a failure except if you stop trying!”

By Craig Horvath ’85 Director of Alumni Relations At the Board of Trustees meeting Sue Schoen was honored for her long and distinguished service to Holy Cross College by being named Associate Professor Emeritus.

Born in Chicago, Sue received her bachelor of arts in English and Education from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois (now Dominican University). Following graduation, Sue pursued her master’s in English from (continued on page 15)

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(continued from page 14)

Sue Schoen, Professor Emeritus Holy Cross College …“there’s no such thing as bad writing. If teachers treat students with respect and dignity and teach them how to write, how to improve and how to find their inner voice, then they all can learn to write well.”

Purdue University while working as a teaching assistant. Her first career move led her to the University of Wisconsin as an instructor in Reading and Study Skills. She worked in this capacity for just over two years and was promoted to director of the program for the last 6 months of her tenure, and then put her talents to work at the University of Notre Dame’s Developmental Reading Program. When Notre Dame officials discontinued that program, one professor recommended that Sue consider teaching at St. Mary’s College or at Holy Cross College. “I had never heard of Holy Cross College and wasn’t even sure where it was located,” she recalls.

Sue thoughtfully pursued an interview at Holy Cross with Brother John Driscoll, CSC in 1970, and was immediately hired for a full-time teaching position. She began her career teaching in a room on the top floor of James Hall (currently a dormitory) and was assigned Composition I and II, World Literature I and II and Seminar. She also created the Reading and Study Skills program at HCC and continued teaching here for 37 years until the death of her husband; moreover her own failing health caused her to take a leave of absence for the 20072008 school year. Sue has established a scholarship in honor of her late husband at HCC. Fondly recalling the “early days” when she and the rest of the staff had informal meetings outside Brother John Driscoll’s office on Friday afternoons with assorted beverages, Sue recalls her start at the College: “Ironically, I never intended to become a teacher. I just sort of fell into it. My mom was a teacher, but I always dreamed of becoming a writer.”

Proudly reflecting on the opportunity to be a published writer at sixteen years of age, Sue said, “It’s true what they say, life happens to you when you’re doing something else.”

Sue has no regrets about pursuing teaching. “The best part of teaching and being a teacher are the students.” She still hears from many of her former students. They invite her to their weddings, their children’s baptisms and graduations and many still send her Christmas cards and call her at home.

Many others write her letters and notes. Sue’s caregiver, Jennifer Clark-Hunter is one of her former HCC students and attributes much of her growth to Sue. “Sue taught me practical skills. Specifically, how to self test prior to the actual exams. She also taught me the importance of using note cards.”

One of Sue’s favorite sayings was about the path to success: “There’s no such thing as a failure except if you stop trying!” A hallmark of her teaching strategy was providing her students in English 100 with a

motivational packet at the beginning of each semester to help them stay positive and focused.

And along the way Sue has encouraged her students to cultivate their voice in their writing. “There’s no such thing as bad writing. If teachers treat students with respect and dignity and teach them how to write, how to improve, and how to find their inner voice, then they all can learn to write well.” Sue hopes her legacy will be that students learned applicable life skills in her courses and that they learned how to be better human beings. She also hopes she helped her students learn (as she gratefully learned), that parents are a lot smarter than many college students think they are.

As I reflect on Sue’s influence in my own life, I fondly recall her teaching style and methods in Composition I and II. She loved the subject matter and she loved her students. Consequently, she made learning exciting and fun! She was extremely creative. I came to Holy Cross very strong in math, and yet barely adequate in writing. Sue equipped me with a formidable vocabulary. Through her encouragement, she also taught me to love to read and write. Journaling became my favorite part of her classes. We wrote each and every day and this helped enhance our writing skills. It also gave us confidence in expressing ourselves through the written word. Sue never missed an opportunity to offer positive, yet constructive, criticism. She communicated a strong belief in each student’s abilities, and students responded to her with effort and a desire to improve. To this day, with her tremendous memory, Sue can still recall topics students chose to write about.

One of the great blessings of my career at Holy Cross has been the opportunity to speak with Sue Schoen on a regular basis. She is very helpful and enthusiastic about the College, and her love and devotion for the College is matched only by her eager reports of alumni activities in the community.

Sue is an avid reader and she gleans a lot of her information from the newspapers, which has resulted in an incredible amount of support and ideas from Sue for my alumni-relationship building. She is a great aid in my fundraising and alumni relations efforts. To me, Sue is Holy Cross College. She is legendary and her contributions will resonate for many years to come.

It was a joy and an honor to write this article. It was my “Tuesdays with Morrie” moment. Thanks, Sue, for being such a rich blessing in all our lives.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Taught many GI’s and non-traditional students in the 1970’s.

Taught Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger and encouraged his writing.

Wrote the most successful Annual Fund appeal letter with “Rudy.”

Taught Baby Boomers, Yuppies, Gen X and Y’ers.

Participated in the growth and expansion of Holy Cross College.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Always received wonderful student evaluations which was very important to her.

She always strived to give a lot of personal attention to her students.

She had an “open door” policy.

She loved working with Brother John Driscoll, CSC and Brother Richard Gilman, CSC as well as her many dedicated colleagues..

Worked on widely acclaimed symposium for academic integrity with Brother Richard Gilman, CSC. She taught interviewing skills and resume writing skills to her students early on.

Founder and Former Director of Faculty Development.

HOBBIES/INTERESTS Teaching was and always has been “her life.” She enjoys writing and reading, and she is an avid movie aficionado.

Currently, she enjoys watching the classics on the Turner Classic Movie channel.

Sue is proud to have been a very creative teacher.

FAV O R I T E W R I T E R S She loves the Classics. She is particularly fond of Homer, Greek Literature, Voltaire, Tolstoy, and Camus.

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The Holy Cross College faculty have been very active since May. Here is the report from the Center for Faculty Development. faculty notes Pat Adams, MSA Attended “Aging as a Spiritual Journey,” the Conference on Ministry with the Aging XVI May 8 and 9. She will also be busy this summer offering two professional development programs in gerontology through the Gerontology Consortium of Michiana. June 2-6, was Geriatric Case Management Certificate (20 contact hours).

August 11 will be Health Care Administrators Retreat: Future Issues in Health Care (7.5 CEUs). Both are offered at Holy Cross College and are part of plans for a gerontology center on campus with the Gerontology Consortium of Michiana.

Lori Crawford-Dixon, MEd, assistant professor Lori Crawford-Dixon is the newly-appointed instructoron-record for the Foreign Language Education and Assessment courses for the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Master's of Education program at the University of Notre Dame. She will be teaching two 7–week courses at the University this summer.

This contract extends throughout the school year as well as an online assessment course.

Her current project, “Developing Performance Assessments as Tools for Civic Engagement,” was accepted for presentation at the 2008 national conference by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). She will fly to Orlando in November to present.

Vickie Frohne, PhD, assistant professor physics Professor Frohne has been active as a member of the MINOS collaboration at Fermilab. MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) is a high-energy physics experiment in which rates of neutrino oscillation are being studied. The experiment is described at www-numi.fnal.gov.

She has an upcoming conference talk this summer “Writing as a tool for coaching students to think scientifically,” at the American Association of Physics Teachers summer 2008 meeting, July 19-23; in Edmonton, Canada She has also been featured in several publications: ”Study of Muon Neutrino Disappearance Using the Fermilab Main Injector Neutrino Beam” P. Adamson et al. MINOS Collaboration Phys.

Rev. D 77, 072002 (2008) ”Measurement of Neutrino Velocity With the MINOS Detectors and NuMI Neutrino Beam,” P. Adamson et al.

MINOS Collaboration Phys.

Rev. D 76, 072005 (2007) “Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Charge Ratio at TeV Energies” collaboration Phys.

Rev. D 76, 072005 (2007)

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“Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Charge Ratio at TeV Energies,” with the MINOS detector P. Adamson et al. MINOS Collaboration Phys. Rev. D 76, 052003 (2007) “Charge-separated Atmospheric Neutrino-induced Muons in the MINOS Far Detector,” P. Adamson et al.

MINOS Collaboration Phys.

Rev. D 75, 092003 (2007) John Raymer, PhD As a Dismas House of Michiana Board Member, Raymer worked on the Dismas House Annual Dinner and Silent Auction (March 27), their Homeward Bound–North Central Indiana Walkathon (April27), and their 15th Annual Salad Luncheon (May 1) at the First Presbyterian Church.

Raymer also taught a class in workplace grammar at Dismas House in April, organized a group from his church, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal, that made dinner for the residents (an on-going project of that church), and went to Regency Place Retirement Home, South Bend on two occasions with St. Michael’s Outreach Committee to talk with residents and serve beverages before their Sunday meal.

This summer he has been asked to be a reader of S.A.T. essay examinations at Daytona Beach, Florida (June 10-18, 2008) by College Board’s Advanced Placement Program, an honor given to those “who, by virtue of their experience and expertise, have appropriate student performance expectations in their disciplines.” He also continues to teach the English S.A.T. preparation classes offered by Holy Cross College’s Division of Community Education (two sections each semester).

This coming fall, Professor Raymer will also have an article on major South African novelist Andre Brink published in the forthcoming Salem Press book, Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition (Pasadena, CA).

In a side note, after admitting to his class at St. Mary’s College that his parents met while performing Romeo and Juliet, his students determined that he must truly be an incarnation of the Bard. Below is his official “Rebirth Certificate” which was presented to him on the last day of class. (Come to think of it, there is a strange resemblance, hmmmm.)

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as seen on campus… the floral photos of Br. Lawrence Unifried

Robert Benjamin, Director of Financial Aid from Kuala Lumpur to the US in Search of Religious Freedom Like many US immigrants before him, Robert Benjamin, his wife, Judy, and their Daughter, Melodie, left their home in Malaysia to pursue religious freedom in the US. “For the most part, I believe we have found what we were looking for,” Benjamin tells Connections. “Malaysia is primarily a Moslem country of 27 million people. Although it is a multi-racial society, containing many ethnic groups including indigenous peoples like my wife Judy, Malays, Chinese, Europeans, and Indians like myself, Islam dominates politics and commerce. Many people treat you differently when they hear you have a Christian surname.”

“Although Judy and I had built a successful clothing sales business in Malaysia, as we became more active in our church, my heart told me that I should pursue studies in theology.” The Benjamins sold their business and left Malaysia 11 years ago so that Robert could study for his master’s degree in divinity at Andrews University where he graduated in May 2002.

“When we first arrived in Michigan, the thing we liked most was the snow —today, not so much,” he says with a laugh. While at Andrews University, Robert found a new career in financial aid. “I love helping students,” he admits. “When I discovered that I could make a significant difference in young people’s lives by helping them find money for education, I knew I had found my calling.”

Benjamin says he has gotten used to the openness of American people and their willingness to speak their minds. He especially appreciates being able to go to church without any fear of government suppression. The only trouble he has had in the US was a year after 9/11 when he and his brother, Richard, were sightseeing in Washington, DC. “We were circling the White House looking for a parking space and evidently a bicycle patrolman thought we looked suspicious. Before we knew it, our car was surrounded by four patrol cars, three bicycle officers, and a police helicopter overhead,” he says. “They evidently thought we were Moslem. Isn’t that ironic?”

Benjamin has been at Holy Cross College for two years. “Holy Cross has been very welcoming to my family and me, especially Mark Mullaney, who has been instrumental in helping extend my work visa and in helping me apply for citizenship.”

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alumni In our tame suburban lives, being Christ-like may be as simple as sharing our finances to buy bagels and coffee for our co-workers, refraining from cheating at games or lying to our friends, and donating some of our salary to good causes like hurricane or earth quake relief. The more adventurous among us may actually donate time by teaching reading or volunteering in a soup kitchen. However, rarely is our courage tested or are our lives endangered by our faith.

But, when you find yourself in a “mob justice” situation, similar to what Christ encountered in ancient Jerusalem, and you put your life on the line to be Christ-like, you learn something about the true power of our Christian faith..

Blogging from Ghana— Editor’s Note The basic tenet of our Catholic faith, the reason we are called Christians,

Jay Dunne ’07 An Excerpt from “A Good Friday and a Bad Friday”

By Jay Dunne ‘07

is that we are expected to behave Christ-like in our actions and daily life.

A

t around noon that same day, I heard a loud ruckus outside the school library where I was working with a student. I turned to see a few students running across the assembly area toward the canteen just outside the campus grounds. As I walked out of the room, there were close to a hundred of our boys at the canteen.

I knew what it was before I got there. It was what I feared—Ewee. In the Fante language Ewee means thief. Now why does that cause me fear? Stealing in Ghana, or in Africa for that matter, is a pretty serious crime. The thing is, thieves aren’t turned over to the police. In fact, the police sometimes don’t ever hear about the incidents. When a thief is caught he faces mob justice, which usually ends up with the thief being beaten, humiliated and then lynched, drowned, or burned to death. The general justification for such brutal punishment is that to steal something that someone has worked their whole lives for is like taking that person’s life, so you should be killed for doing such a thing.

Anyway, the story is this. A young man was caught trying to steal a TV antennae in Anaji, where our school is located. The small mob stripped the man naked and beat him severely. They walked him down the road humiliating him in front of all who were present, until the thief ran toward our school for some vain hope of refuge. His accusers continued to beat and insult him outside our school grounds.

When I finally got to the scene, I was overcome with anger. There were my own students laughing, insulting, and encouraging the other men to beat the thief. One of the students ran up to me laughing like a jolly fool, “Hey Bro, look, look Eweeo!”

I shoved him to the ground and started screaming at the tops of my lungs for the students to go inside. I don’t think they ever saw me that angry, because they all scattered and ran inside. One of the teachers came out behind me and helped me to get the rest of the boys back inside.

I turned back to see the thief crying and begging for his life, while bleeding all over. His accusers stood over him holding big sticks and shovels. They were shouting insults in the vernacular and slapping him across the face.

They wanted to kill him. I felt sick. I couldn’t stand it, so I stepped up to the accusers and begged them to let him go. At first they didn’t mind me at all; almost as if I wasn’t there. But, eventually they began to move away from the thief until there was only one man left. He still stood there holding his stick threatening the thief by slamming it on the bench behind where the thief was sitting. I looked at the man and told him he was sick.

All of the students were still watching from inside the campus. I had to do something for the young man. I took off my undershirt and gave it to the poor naked criminal. We made eye contact for about one second, before I turned and headed back inside the school.

As I walked back into the school, all of my students with impatient tones demanded to know why I would do such a thing. “Bro why would you give that man your shirt? He is a thief,” they demanded.

I was so bewildered by my mixture of rage and discouragement that I could hardly speak, but I did manage to answer their question. “Because I am a Christian.”

I don’t think they understood me.

If you want to read more of Jay Dunne’s blogs about his year in Ghana go to http://www.holycrossghana.blogspot.com

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God Healed the Little Boy by Greg Fean Published by Lightening Press

O

n Christmas day 2005, nine-year-old Greg Fean, son of Tom (’91 AA) and Kathy Fean of Fort Wayne, Indiana received a special present from family friends—a young author’s kit. The present included a book with blank pages and coloring tools. “You should write a book,” the friends said. “You have quite a story to tell!”

Greg’s amazing story was how he managed to survive acute lymphocytic leukemia in a more than three-year ordeal that included chemotherapy, losing his hair, and many nights in the hospital away from his parents, little brother, Tim, and sister, Mary.

“You are right,” Greg agreed. “I should write a book to tell all the other boys and girls who have cancer that they don’t have to be afraid. God saved me, and he can do the same for them.”

“At first we tried to explain to Greg that the kit was not for ‘that type of book’,” admitted Kathy. “We thought little boys simply don’t publish real books.” But Grandma Roe believed it was a wonderful idea. “Why not go for the real thing!” she said, and she agreed to help Greg.

Greg got right to work and completed the book fairly quickly.

Grandma Roe designed the book and created many colorful and heartwarming illustrations for it.

It is a book of hope and encouragement that leads the reader through the entire cancer experience from diagnosis, to hospital stays, through chemo and hair loss, to how the drugs make you feel, and why Greg loved the nurses and doctors.

The publishing process took almost two years. Today, the book can be ordered through BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, and at the book’s own website: www.GodHealedTheLittleBoy.com.

You can also call to order the book or just to catch up with Tom. The Feans home number is (260) 482-2659.

Readers (children and even adults) who are fighting the battle against cancer are sure to be educated, inspired, and comforted by the content of this beautifully written and colorfully illustrated book of hope. “We have received a lot of orders and positive response from Internet customers,” said Kathy. “Now we are trying to get the book into libraries and children’s hospitals. If anyone who would like to help, by donating copies to a children’s hospital in your area, please call the Feans and ask to speak with Kathy or Tom.

Father Ted Honored with a Grove of Trees Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, was honored by alumni and friends of Holy Cross College with the naming of a landscaped garden and grove of trees—the new Hesburgh Grove.

The Grove was designed by Purdue University landscape architecture student Kimberly Leja, daughter of alumnus Philip Leja and the goddaughter of Br. Lawrence Unfried, CSC, Associate Professor of Biology.

On hand for the dedication ceremony were donor, Jerry Hammes –who along with his wife Dorene funded the grove project, his daughter, Sue Kruggel, and son-in-law, Kevin Kruggel; Holy Cross Trustee Paul Laughlin, Rev. Hugh Cleary, the eleventh Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross; and many other friends and donors.

In speaking of the beauty and importance of the trees, Father Ted drew a hearty laugh from the audience by reminding them that there were some living things in Notre Dame, Indiana that had been around even longer than he. He concluded by reciting the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918 I THINK that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth's flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

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campus Holy Cross College alumni, family, and friends enjoyed a special weekend on campus during the 2008 Ave Crux celebration. It began on Friday, February 8, when parents and alumni attended classes, took tours of our rapidly changing campus, and sat in on informational sessions about the many new opportunities available at Holy Cross College. After that, the weekend really took off!

On the first night the College hosted a cocktail party in the Vincent Atrium where students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni alike socialized. After the party, guests were treated to the Sounds of Holy Cross production in the Driscoll Auditorium—“Bound for Broadway”—a musical review of Broadway’s most famous hits.

On Saturday, guests had the chance to attend a luncheon with Br. John Driscoll’s relatives.

Br. John was the first president of the College and most every student who came to Holy Cross from the 60’s to the 90’s remembers him fondly.

Later that night guests attended the President’s Gala Dinner, truly the high point of the weekend! It was held at the Windsor Park Conference Center, a beautiful venue that provided cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a fabulous meal. This year, the after dinner entertainment was provided by Art and the Artichokes, a well-known local rock band that enticed almost everyone on to the dance floor.

Not only are Art and the Artichokes an awesome band, but three of them are Holy Cross alumni!

Damian Dieter (see also page(s) 4, 23), Matt Irish and Art Kopec met during the 80’s at Holy Cross College and have been friends and band mates ever since. Check them out at www.artandtheartichokes.com.

We hope everyone who attended Ave Crux Weekend had an amazing time, and for those of you who were not able to come, we missed you and wished you could have joined us. We look forward to seeing you all next year!

ave crux 2008

By K.P. Palmer ‘07

W E E K E N D

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Three Alumni Recognized for Their Contributions Three Holy Cross College alumni were recognized at the College’s annual Ave Crux Weekend President’s Gala. This year the Outstanding Alumni Award was given to the two co-founders of the Holy Cross Alumni Club of Chicago, Caitlin Hurley and Van Giles. The Outstanding Service award was given to Br. Shaun Gray for his lifelong contributions to Catholic primary education.

Caitlin Hurley graduated from Holy Cross in 2002. While here, she served as Residence Hall Council Representative and Student Body President. Her love for the school prompted her to co-found the first Holy Cross College Alumni Club in Chicago. She also serves on the Holy Cross Alumni Board of Directors and is a Class Agent for the 2002 class. She currently lives in Chicago and works at the University of Chicago’s Medical Center as a development officer.

Van Giles, a 2000 graduate of Holy Cross College, is the co-award winner and co-founder of the Holy Cross College Chicago Alumni Club. He is the son of Holy Cross College Trustee, William Giles, and is the younger brother of Bill, a 1995 alumnus of the school. While at Holy Cross, Van Giles was a Dorm Representative and Secretary of the Student Government Association. He was also a featured writer for The Observer, the Notre Dame campus newspaper, and contributed to The Crossword, the Holy Cross student newsletter. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Giles is currently employed as an Account Manager for Lake Effect Communications of Chicago. He is a member of the Publicity Club of Chicago and the Lincoln Park Young Professionals. He also volunteers weekly with the Lincoln Park Community Shelter dinner/brown bag service and annually with the Children’s Memorial Hospital toy drive.

Hurley & Giles are excited to report that the Holy Cross Alumni Club of Chicago has received overwhelming support and has exciting plans for 2008 and beyond.

Van Giles and Caitlin Hurley

Brother Shaun Gray Receives 2008 Service Award Br. Shaun Gray, the recipient of the 2008 Service Award, graduated from Holy Cross College in 1968 and spent the next thirty-four years as an educator at Le Mans Academy, a Catholic boys boarding middle school run by the Holy Cross Brothers. At Le Mans, Gray served as the Director of Residence, Activities Director, Athletic Director, Director of the Military Program, Commandant, bus driver, basketball and soccer coach, and assistant headmaster.

Br. Shaun is greatly loved by students, parents, faculty and staff alike. He has had a positive influence on young boys around the world, as the academy had many international students. Currently he works at St. Stanislaus Elementary School in Michigan City, Indiana.

The Giles family Bill Jr. ’95, Danielle Veldhuizen, Van ’00, Ann Rosenstein, William Sr.- Trustee of the College

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PROGRESS UPDATE WITH THE PFEIL RECREATION CENTER

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class

60s Br. Shaun Gray, C.S.C. lives and works in Michigan City, Indiana at St. Stanislaus School. He was recently awarded the Holy Cross College Outstanding Service Award by the Alumni Association (see story p. 21).

70s Gwen (Mayfield) DeMaegd works at Holy Cross College as the Purchasing Agent.

Anne (Robinson) Conley resides in Osceola, Indiana.

80s Craig Horvath ’86 is the Director of Development at Holy Cross College. He coached a U-19 boys soccer team to a runnerup finish in the National Indoor Soccer Championship in Baltimore, Maryland in January, 2008. Horvath holds a national soccer coaching license.

Damian Dieter, DPM is the Associate Director of Podiatric Residency at St. Joseph Medical Center in South Bend, Indiana and moonlights as the bass guitarist for “Art and the Artichokes,” his band which performed at the Ave Crux Dinner Dance this year (see story p. 20). Dr. Dieter also provided the Alumni Address at the 2008 Commencement Ceremony (see story p. 4).

90s Laura (Glon) Hartz ’90 and her husband, Matthew, reside in Niles, Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Notre Dame where she works as an Administrative Assistant.

Steven Lee Woods ’97 and his wife, Jamie, reside in Dallas, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Loyola University of Chicago, and he works as a Corporate Recruiter for ReachLocal.

Brian Rajkovich ’98 resides in Santa Barbara, California, where he is owner of R & R Transportation LLC. Jordan Jiloty ’98 resides in Ormond Beach, Florida. He most recently served as a Delegate Relations Specialist for Hillary Clinton for President.

Lora Ann Colby ’98 resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of St. Francis, with a major in Elementary Education. Colby is currently enrolled at SUNY Empire State College in New York in Criminal Justice studies.

02s

05s

Tim Bonadies ’02 is a Captain in the US Air Force stationed at Sembach AB, Germany. On April 19, 2008 he married Lauren Falvey, SMC ’07, and daughter of Holy Cross Vice President for Advancement, Pat Falvey.

The wedding took place in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the University of Notre Dame Campus.

Isaac Ruiz ’05 resides in Fairborn, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University.

Brion Colleen (Davis) Thompson ’02 and her husband, Jason, reside in Traverse City, Michigan.

She works in the Intensive Care Unit at Munson Medical Center.

04s Tim Falvey ’04 lives in South Bend, Indiana. He is a Student Loan Coordinator at the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. Falvey graduated from Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies.

Dan Nussbaum ’06 and Amy DeCloedt ’06 became engaged in December 2007.

They will wed in June 2009.

07s Jay Dunne ’07, spent a year in Ghana teaching at the Holy Cross School in Butumagyebu (Read his blog entry from Ghana April, 2008 on page 18).

Katelyn Palmer (K.P.) ’07 works at Holy Cross College as the Community Relations Specialist and is an Assistant Editor for Connections. She organized and directed the “Bound for Broadway” production during Ave Crux weekend (see story p. 20).

Jay Pentzien ’04 resides in Omaha, Nebraska. He holds an Associate of Arts in Computer Animation from Full Sail University.

Matthew Wolbeck ’99 resides in Chicago, Illinois. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame.

Ryan Gerard ’98 owns and operates Third Coast Surf Shop in New Buffalo, MI (see story p. 24).

00s Chuan Vo ’00 lives and works in Chicago as a Systems Analyst for the Walgreens Corporation.

He also runs a freelance photography and web design business (see story p. 25).

Haley Moore ’00 resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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IF EVERYBODY HAD AN

OCEAN…

Ryan Gerard ’99 has been called “The Big Kahuna “ of the Great Lakes by Lake Magazine. His store in New Buffalo, MI–Third Coast Surf Shop–may be the surfing epicenter of Lake Michigan. “On any given week, we’ll have one or two days with surfable waves on our beach. And when the break is really big the local surfers start calling each other’s cell phones, emailing, and checking the surf forecast on my website at www.thirdcoastsurfshop.com,” Ryan explained.

“People thought I was crazy when I said I was going to open a surfing store in the Midwest. But, so far, things have been working out pretty well,” Gerard admits with the knowing smile of someone who is making a living while living his dream.

Third Coast Surf Shop, located in a tidy craftsman style cottage on Smith Street (about six blocks from the beach), has a good mix of products and services including surfboards, wetsuits, swimsuits, surf books, DVDs, sunglasses, beach toys, a collection of skateboards, and hardware. And, of course the store offers, surfing lessons and rentals. New Buffalo has a large summer clientele of vacationers and cottage owners all looking for something fun to do on their summer vacations. Learning how to catch a wave fits the bill perfectly.

Ironically, the best surfing conditions aren’t on the bright sunny days of summer, but on the gnarly gray days when the Siberian Express is racing down the lake in early spring and late fall. Waves can get over ten feet tall. Those are the days when you’ll see a loyal band of the Midwest surfing elite hanging ten in head-to-toe wetsuits. A very cool Cowabunga! “Actually, we are often warmer in our wetsuits than the folks watching on the beach in their winter parkas,” Gerard claims.

Gerard learned his craft on Lake Michigan while studying at Holy Cross. “As soon as I finished my associate’s degree, I headed west with the goal of snowboarding in the Rockies. However after spending a little time in Santa Cruz, CA, I decided to stay there to work and surf. I guess you could say I was hooked,” Gerard recalled.

“Eventually, I became good enough to teach surfing lessons and later got a job in a surfboard factory.”

As someone who had been stuck in the Midwest most of my life, I wanted to know “Why did I ever leave?” “I realized there really was more to life than surfing every day,” he confessed. “I wanted to complete my BA in history and be closer to my family and friends.”

Bringing the surf culture to the Midwest is evidently a newsworthy undertaking.

Gerard has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, ABC 7 Chicago, WGN, WTTW Chicago, Lake and Shore Magazines, numerous regional and national newspapers, and now Connections, too!

If any of you South Benders are feeling bored this summer and are interested in feeling “board”… call Gerard at 269-932-4575. It’s less than a 30-minute drive, but it’s as “far out” as you can get without a real ocean.

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Spotlight on Chuan Vo HCC ’99 to ’01 (ND ’03)

O

riginally from Sarasota, Florida, Chuan Vo was the first of his family to be born in the US. His parents and older siblings came to the US from Vietnam as refugees after the fall of Saigon. Today, he lives in a condo in the trendy Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago’s near north side. His passions for photography and Web design keep him busy as a freelancer when he is not at his “day job” as a Systems Analyst for the Walgreens Corporation.

Chuan followed his oldest brother and sister to Notre Dame, IN. His brother, Hoang Khanh was President of the Student Activities Committee at Holy Cross and is an alumni from the Holy Cross class of ’95 and ND ’98. His sister, Oanh Vo-Liu, graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1996. Currently, she acts as President of the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Chicago.

Thanks to encouragement by his friend Tory Mitchell ’05 (also from Sarasota) Chuan became active in many Holy Cross student committees until he transferred to Notre Dame in ’01 where he became co-president of the Vietnamese Student Association and graduated with a BS in Management Information Systems.

Lately he has been active in the Holy Cross Club of Chicago. In fact, you may have seen his work designing the websites http://www.hccchicago.com, the Ave Crux website, and creating a logo and flyer for the Holy Cross Alumni Club golf outing. He has also created materials for Holy Cross College Parents' Weekend.

You can see more of Chuan’s cutting edge design and photography at his business website: www.vofotos.com where he showcases his favorite images done for Metromix.com/Redeye, Going.com, Ginseng.tv, Fotojack.com and others.

Elizabeth Hope Ruggaber May 12, 3:26 PM 8 lbs.

Amelia (Marcum) Ruggaber Assistant Director of Campus Ministry

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WE’LL CONTINUE TO DO OUR LEVEL BEST …

PLEASE JOIN US AT A LEVEL WHERE YOU CAN HELP. Holy Cross College excels at helping students learn, mature, develop moral understanding, and compassionate leadership. As you can see and read in this issue of Connections, we are developing students, graduating alumni, and building an institution that will make you proud of your connection to the school.

We hope you will consider investing your charitable dollars in Holy Cross College—a place that makes a positive difference in the lives of our students and our world.

Whether you are an alumni, parent, or a friend, please become a vital contributor to the Holy Cross College experience by joining at one of our giving levels.

Everyone who joins at the Saints Club Level or above receives a beautiful Holy Cross Halo lapel pin. At each level we add an additional beautiful gift. We also have sponsorship and naming opportunities in the new Pfeil Recreation Center and student lounge. Call our Development Office today for more information at 574-239-8399.

BROTHER JOHN DRISCOLL SOCIETY TRUSTEE’S CIRCLE $2500 (or above) Free parking for all ND home games (and all gifts below)

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

$1000-$2499

Pen and ink campus drawing (and all gifts below)

ADVOCATE OF HOLY CROSS

$500-$999

Campus nature photos by Br. Lawrence Unfried (and all gifts below)

ASSOCIATE

$250-$499

Brother John Driscoll Commemorative Coin (and all gifts below)

Giving Clubs: CROSS AND ANCHORS CLUB

$100-$249

HCC Coin and Halo pin

SAINTS CLUB Halo Pin

$42-$99

*Donors who make unrestricted gifts at the qualifying levels will be entered in appropriate giving level automatically.

NON-PROFIT. U.S. POSTAGE Holy Cross College • P.O. Box 308 • Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-0308

Return Service Requested

PA I D PERMIT #44 NOTRE DAME, IN