The Word Online - Fall 2013

WORD the

2013 ANNUAL REPORT AND HONOR ROLL LIST OF DONORS

Unity Through Diversity

Dear Friends:

“Our

international enrollment has reached an all-time high, as nearly 16 percent of our students are now from outside of the United States (a record 73 countries in total).”

I’m pleased to welcome you to the 2013 donor’s issue of The Word, our way of saying “Thank You” to the many special people from around the world that contribute to the continued betterment of the University of the Incarnate Word.

I’m happy to report that we set another enrollment record this fall with 9,597 students. That number includes more than 900 students at our campus in Mexico City, which only had four students when it was launched ten years ago (and three of them left). Our international enrollment has reached an all-time high, as nearly 16 percent of our students are now from outside of the United States (a record 73 countries in total). By the way, we now have about 30,000 alumni worldwide, a four-fold increase since 1985.

All of those numbers point to an important aspect of our Mission – to provide access and opportunities to populations historically underserved by higher education. UIW remains at the top in the United States among faith-based universities in graduating the most Hispanics with bachelor’s degrees, even though Hispanics remain underrepresented nationally in college. We’re also No. 6 among all not-for-profit private universities in the country (it’s worth noting the five schools in front of us are much larger).

But it’s not a matter of simply providing access. Our students deserve an excellent educational experience that features first-rate facilities. This is something in which benefactors such as Ruth Eilene Sullivan play an important role.

In September, we dedicated a new facility long overdue at UIW – the Ceramic and Sculpture Studios that we named after Ruth Eilene. The Sullivan family’s history with Incarnate Word goes back to 1902 with the addition of the beautiful Grotto of Lourdes. In the 1980s, a love for baseball led Ruth Eilene and her late husband, Dan, to donate Sullivan Field. As for the location of the studios, the synergy couldn’t be better - next to Sullivan Field. It’s a fitting tribute to the Sullivan family that ties together athletics and the arts.

Earlier in the summer we refurbished the former West House and renamed it the McCracken House in honor of Dr. Richard McCracken, who’s served six of the eight Incarnate Word presidents since joining UIW in 1964. This includes me, as Dick was my assistant when I became president in 1985.

Dick has worn many other hats in the nearly 50 years he’s been at Incarnate Word, including director of public relations and dean of alumni. It was appropriate, then, that the McCracken House be named after him since it’s the new home of several university offices, including the Office of Public Relations and the Department of Alumni and Parent Relations.

In order to strengthen the student experience at UIW, particularly as students become alumni, this past summer we launched the Center for Civic Leadership in partnership with CHRISTUS. I was surprised to learn that according to research, students enter college with a desire to serve but leave with a sense that their desire hasn’t been fostered. Given that service is an important component of the student experience at UIW, we felt compelled to do something to correct this disconnect, which is what we hope to accomplish with the Center. It will seek partnerships with local and global groups willing to provide opportunities for students to serve, engage and learn through collaborative involvement. By the way, the Center’s director is someone familiar to many of us, Sr. Dot Ettling.

I encourage you to read the rest of The Word for additional details on the many exciting things that are happening at UIW including an update on our planned School of Osteopathic Medicine.

As you do, please remember the momentum generated by your generous support is what allows us to continue fulfilling our goal of offering students top-notch educational opportunities within a context of faith. Your steadfast support is also what allows UIW to continue having a positive impact on San Antonio and South Texas.

Special blessings on you and your loved ones for the remainder of 2013.

Best Wishes,

Louis J. Agnese Jr., Ph.D. President

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Campus News

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Unity through Diversity

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Annual Report

21 UIW plans to open school of osteopathic medicine 22

H-E-B School of Business set to open finance lab

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Historic events highlight UIW students’ Roman adventure

26 Ricky Williams joins UIW football coaching staff 28

Every scar tells a story

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UIW’s new Center for Civic Leadership continues a tradition of service

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Setting the scene

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University Collective

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Class Notes

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Meet the Alumni Board of Directors

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Moment for Reflection

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Healing generations through scholarship

76 Contributing Writers Rudy Arispe ’97 BA Brance Arnold ’10 MA Rudy Dominguez Coordinator Brance Arnold ’10 MA Rebecca Esparza ’99 BBA, ’03 MBA Art Director Ashley Festa Michael Hood Margaret Garcia Crystale Lopez Graphic Designer Marisol Martinez Cover Photo Steve Holloway

credits

Managing Editor Debra Del Toro

Dr. Louis J. Agnese Jr. President

Lisa McNary ’91 BA,’95 MA Director of Alumni Relations

Sr. Kathleen Coughlin ’67 Debra Del Toro Director of Public Relations BSN Vice President for Institutional The Word is published by the Advancement Public Relations Office of the Vincent Rodriguez University of the Incarnate Chief of Staff to the President Word for the alumni, parents, benefactors and friends of the Incarnate Word community.

Board of Trustees Dr. Louis J. Agnese Jr. Charlie Amato Tracy Avery Scott Beckendorf Michael Belz Doyle Beneby Gayle Benson Mike Beucler David Cibrian Sr. Martha Estela Perez Curiel Catherine Dulle Veronica Edwards

John Feik Sr. Marinela Flores Gary Henry Sr. Mary C. Henry Winell Herron Gary Joeris Betty Kelso Nancy Kudla Jack Lewis Stephen Lucke Charles Lutz Sr. Teresa Yolanda Maya

John Miller William Moll Carmen Nava Dr. Ramona Parker John Peveto Sr. Annette Pezold Marky Pontius Joseph A. Reyes Bobby Rosenthal Richard Schlosberg Sr. Yolanda Tarango Sr. Gloria Ortiz Villalon

campus news

UIW Confers Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree to South Korean Mayor Kang Un-tae On July 10, UIW conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon The Honorable Kang Untae, the Mayor of Gwangju, South Korea. This honor is the most prestigious the university can confer on an individual.

UIW Provost Dr. Kathi Light welcomed Kang calling him “a leader in his country and friend to UIW and the City of San Antonio.” Ivy R. Taylor, councilwoman, City of San Antonio-District 2, brought greetings from San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and members of the Korean American Association of San Antonio presented Kang with congratulatory bouquets of flowers. Others attending the ceremony included members of the Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce; Ron Nirenberg, councilman, City of San Antonio–District 8; and members of the UIW faculty and administration.

“I am happy to welcome Mayor Kang to the City of San Antonio and to the UIW campus,” said UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese. “In San Antonio, you will always

Pictured L-R Dr. Louis Agnese, UIW president; Dr. Kathi Light, UIW provost; Honorable Kang Un-tae, mayor of Gwangju, South Korea; and Marcos Fragoso, UIW vice president for international affairs. be known as Dr. Kang Un-tae.”

“I am grateful for the honorary degree and I thank you all. I accept this honor on behalf of the city of Gwangju,” said Kang. “We truly value our relationship with UIW and the City of San Antonio and hope it continues far into the future.”

Gwangju has been a sister city of San Antonio since 1981. Mayor Kang played a key leadership role in helping UIW and San Antonio secure the Korean Pavilion, a $1.5 million gift from Gwangju located at the Denman Estate that was installed and dedicated in 2010. He was also instrumental in developing opportunities that have allowed UIW students and faculty to teach English to elementary and middle school students at Gwangju.

UIW Welcomes Dr. Forrest Aven, Jr., as Dean of H-E-B School of Business & Administration UIW is proud to welcome Dr. Forrest F. Aven, Jr., as dean of the H-E-B School of Business & Administration. Prior to joining UIW, Aven spent 23 years at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD).

While at UHD, Aven served as the interim dean for the College of Business, associate dean, department chair for management and marketing and was granted professor of management status. Aven has also published several articles relating to compensation, orgaDean of the H-E-B nizational commitment and entrepreneurship.

School of Business In addition, he has conducted several compenDr. Forrest Aven, Jr. sation surveys for the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) and created several successful and lucrative continuing education programs for UHD’s College of Business.

Aven received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Colorado and earned both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He also spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia as a consultant to small businesses.

Aven and his wife, Patti, have been married for 28 years and have one daughter.

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UIW offers new program UIW’s Extended Academic Programs (EAP) is starting a new cohort for the Master of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) degree this fall where students can complete an accelerated graduate business degree in as little as 10 months.

The MSBA is designed to enhance each student’s understanding of the fundamental practices of business while enabling them to acquire the analytical skills necessary to lead others. The program provides the options of in-classroom or online classes for working professionals who seek the opportunity to complete an entire graduate business degree plan by taking two classes per eight week term for five sessions.

The MSBA degree requires students to successfully complete 10 courses (30 credit hours) representing each of the functional areas of business including a capstone course requiring a student to develop a new, comprehensive case study.

To fulfill the requirements for the MSBA degree program, each student must complete 30 hours of graduate coursework along with a significant research project.

UIW provides educational opportunities for adults wanting to earn a college degree. Both undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in a non-traditional format through the Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCaP). Degrees can also be earned completely through UIW Online.

Learn more about ADCaP or UIW Online at adulted.uiw. edu or contact a representative at 210-757-0202 (local) or 1-800-318-1876 (toll free).

campus news

UIW charges full speed ahead into the NCAA Division 1 Southland Conference

Excitement filled the air at UIW on July 1 as UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese and Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett raised the conference flag, officially commemorating the university’s first day in the NCAA Division 1 Southland Conference (SLC).

Held on Dubuis Lawn, hundreds of Cardinals fans cheered at the celebration marking the first day of a new era at UIW. The university was previously a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference.

“This is a truly historic day for UIW,” said Agnese. “We’re pleased and honored to officially become a member of the Southland Conference.”

“This is an exciting time for UIW as we become a member of Southland, a high caliber Division I conference. Joining the Southland Conference is the next step in the journey Dr. Agnese envisioned for UIW over 25 years ago,” said UIW Athletics Director Mark Papich.

UIW begins the four-year shift to Division I with the Southland

UIW’s Rosenberg School of Optometry achieves accreditation

(Pictured L – R) UIW Athletics Director Mark Papich, UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese and SLC Commissioner Tom Burnett are joined by Red the Cardinal and members of the UIW cheer squad and dance team as the university celebrates day one in the NCAA Division I Southland Conference.

Conference’s assistance and oversight. It is expected that UIW will begin counting as an NCAA Division I team for scheduling purposes in 2014-15, and will be fully eligible for NCAA Championship events in 2017-18. In total, UIW sponsors 21 teams in nine men’s and 10 women’s sports more than any other NCAA Division II school in the State of Texas.

UIW’s journey to Division 1 began July 20, 2012 when UIW hosted a four-person delegation from the SLC. The visit familiarized the delegation and its members with the university and Cardinals athletics.

The Southland Conference participates in the NCAA’s Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Member schools of the SLC are: University of Central Arkansas, Lamar University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Oral Roberts University, Sam Houston State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Stephen F. Austin State University, and Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.

The University of the Incarnate Word’s Rosenberg School of Optometry (UIWRSO) has been granted the classification of “ACCREDITED” effective March 20, 2013 by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) of the American Optometric Association. The classification of “ACCREDITED” indicates that the program meets the ACOE standards for accreditation.

The council found the UIWRSO to be in full compliance with all of the ACOE standards.

The ACOE is the only accrediting body for professional optometric degree (O.D.) programs, optometric residency programs and optometric technician programs in the United States and Canada. Both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Higher Edu-

cation Accreditation recognize the ACOE as a reliable authority concerning the quality of education of the programs the Council accredits.

ACOE accreditation means that the program that has attained accredited status meets the council’s standards of educational effectiveness and shows a demonstrated commitment to quality assessment and improvement.

The UIWRSO successfully showed the council that the school is constantly achieving the mission to educate and prepare future leaders in optometry through excellence in education, patient care and vision research, achieved in an environment committed to personal growth within a context of faith, human dignity and social justice.

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campus news

UIW named a 2013 Great College to Work For For the fifth consecutive year, the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) has been chosen as one of the country’s Great Colleges to Work For, according to a survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition, for the fourth consecutive year, UIW is one of only 10 four-year universities nationally to attain the prestigious Honor Roll designation in its size category.

The results, released in The Chronicle’s sixth annual report on The Academic Workplace, are based on a survey of more than 44,000 employees at 300 colleges and universities that gauges specific best practices and policies. The results are reported for small, medium and large institutions.

UIW is one of just two four-year universities in Texas that attained the Top 10 Honor Roll designation in the medium-

size category (universities with enrollments between 3,000 and 9,999 students).

“This is positive affirmation of the type of environment we’ve worked hard to create for our employees and students,” said President Dr. Louis Agnese. “It’s gratifying recognition not just for UIW, but also San Antonio.”

UIW won honors in the following categories this year: Collaborative Governance, Job Satisfaction, Professional/Career Development Programs, Respect and Appreciation, and Teaching Environment Tenure Clarity and Process.

“The institutions that the Great Colleges program recognizes provide innovative educational experiences – while also offering their employees outstanding workplace experiences – and we are eager to help readers learn more about them,”

said Liz McMillen, The Chronicle’s editor.

Great Colleges to Work For is one of the largest and most respected workplacerecognition programs in the country.

For more information and to view all the results of the survey, visit The Chronicle’s website at http://chronicle.com/AcademicWorkplace2013.

UIW sets enrollment record and welcomes new students UIW has set another enrollment record, surpassing the 9,500-mark for the first time in its 132-year history. The university’s global enrollment reached 9,597 students, a 4.5 percent increase from last year. That figure includes more than 600 freshmen students and over 900 students at UIW’s academic site in Mexico City, Mexico. The enrollment has now increased 27 out of the last 28 years.

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) welcomed 950 freshmen for the 2013-2014 school year and approximately 500 to residence halls on campus. Many of the students arrived on Aug. 15 for Freshman Move-in Day. Members of the UIW community including faculty and staff were on-hand to meet and greet new students as they arrived and assist them with the move-in process.

Campus Life and Residence Life hosted a New Student BBQ where incoming students enjoyed refreshments and had an opportunity to meet with fellow Cardinals.

Later that evening, a Pinning Ceremony was held at the Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center. During the annual ceremony, students received a special welcome from university administrators, faculty and student leaders to celebrate their new beginnings at the university.

UIW staff volunteers assist a student and his family at the Agnese-Sosa Living Learning Center during Freshman Move-in Day. On Aug. 15, first-year and transfer students moved into UIW’s residence halls.

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CHASS welcomes new associate dean UIW’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) welcomes Dr. Jeff Crane as the new associate dean.

Crane has taught history at Sam Houston State, Western Illinois University as well as Culver-Stockton College and Columbia College in Missouri. He earned his BA in American studies from The Evergreen State College and his MA and Ph.D. in history from Washington State University.

Crane’s research and teaching interests are in American Environmental History and the American West.

campus news

UIW’s Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources recognized by Society of Human Resources

(Pictured L-R) Dr. Ruth Eilene Sullivan and Dr. Louis Agnese pose in front of the newly dedicated studios.

New Ceramic & Sculpture Studios dedicated at UIW The University of the Incarnate Word, officially dedicated the new Ruth Eilene Sullivan Ceramic and Sculpture Studios to a longtime UIW friend and benefactor on Sept. 10. The facility is named for UIW Trustee Chairman Emerita Dr. Ruth Eilene Sullivan. Sullivan, a two-term chair of the board of trustees, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by UIW in 2002.

In her remarks, Sullivan stated that a dear friend opened her eyes to the world of ceramics and sculpture many years ago. She noted that it was her hope that students who come through the doors of the new studio would find the “joy in creating art as much as her dear friend did.”

The Sullivan Ceramic and Sculpture Studios will be made up of one gas kiln, a ceramic studio with 10 pottery wheels, spray booth for glazing and five to six electric kilns as well as a sculpture studio with five metal welding stations, two large portable welding stations for larger pieces, a ban saw, a chop saw and a sandblaster. Each studio can accommodate up to 10 students per class. This is the first time UIW students will be able to do metal work of this caliber. Completed projects will be displayed at UIW locations in San Antonio.

“Every piece is important at UIW but the humanities are the core of every student’s education. It’s from liberal arts that everything else is built upon,” said UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese. “Dr. Sullivan is a longtime friend of UIW and her family is very involved in our history. It is appropriate that this new studio is dedicated to her.”

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) announced on Aug. 22 that its Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources has been acknowledged by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for its full alignment with SHRM’s “HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates.”

Throughout the world, 332 programs in 251 educational institutions have been acknowledged by SHRM as being in alignment with its suggested guides and templates. The “HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates” was developed by SHRM to define the minimum human resources content areas that should be studied by HR students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The guidelines – created in 2006 and revalidated in 2010 and 2013 – are part of SHRM’s Academic Initiative to define human resources education standards taught in university business schools and help universities develop degree programs that follow these standards.

UIW offers the Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources through the Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCaP) and UIW Online.

Classes are available at seven ADCaP centers around San Antonio and in Corpus Christi in accelerated eight-week terms. The degree is also available in a 100 percent online format through UIW Online.

Learn more about ADCaP or UIW Online at adulted.uiw.edu or contact a representative at 210-757-0202 (local) or 1-800-318-1876 (toll free).

UIW’s newest residence hall now housing upperclassmen UIW’s newest residence hall, currently referred to as Hillside 3, opened this fall and is now housing upperclassmen. The facility, located adjacent to Joeris Hall on main campus, holds 167 students with a combination of single and double capacity rooms and suited baths. Public areas in the building include a study room, activity room, and floor lounges. Easily accessible mailboxes and onsite parking are available. San Antonio’s skyline can be viewed from the fifth and sixth floors. The new residence hall is staffed by eight resident assistants and one graduate assistant. To learn more about UIW residence halls and campus living, visit Residence Life at http://www.uiw.edu/housing/index.htm

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campus news

UIW dedicates the McCracken House At an event held Aug. 7, the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) honored Dean of Alumni Emeritus Dr. Richard “Dick” McCracken by officially naming its newest office facility the McCracken House.

Since 1964, McCracken has served Incarnate Word in many capacities as an English professor, director of public relations, and as dean of alumni relations and planned giving. He has served six presidents helping some to transition into their new role. In 2005, he was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters.

Much has changed since 1964. McCracken recalls when more than 60 nuns in habits taught, worked and lived on campus.

Lay faculty numbered less than 20, and cows grazed in pastures across the river from the Blue Hole. Now semi-retired, McCracken continues to serve the UIW Mission as dean of alumni emeritus. As friend to countless former students, faculty, administrators, donors and Sisters, he is a vital link to Incarnate Word’s past, present and future.

The McCracken House is located at 102 Mount Erin Pass and is home to UIW’s Department of Alumni & Parent Relations, Office of Development, Office of Public Relations and the Alamo Heights Office of the Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCaP).

Dean of Alumni Emeritus Dr. Dick McCracken stands in front of the office facility named in his honor.

Construction is underway on UIW’s new Fine Arts Center

Construction has begun on UIW’s Fine Arts Center.

A rendering of UIW’s new Fine Arts Center slated for completion in 2014.

The expansion and renovation of UIW’s Fine Arts facilities is underway.

The new Fine Arts Center will contain over 55,000 square feet of space devoted to arts education including studio, classroom and office space; gallery and performance space; and new and updated equipment and technology.

Construction on the Music Building began over the summer. It’s set for completion in July 2014 and will be ready for occupancy on Aug. 1. Plans are in the works for the renovation of the Fine Arts Auditorium and Fine Arts Building.

Current plans call for construction of the Fine Arts Auditorium to commence late this fall with expected completion by July 2014. Renovation of the basement level of the existing Fine Arts Building is anticipated to begin on May 1, 2014 and completion is expected by August 2014. First and second floor renovations should start on Aug. 1 with completion by December 2014.

The expansion of UIW’s Fine Arts facilities will ensure students receive a quality education in the arts, provide faculty with up-to-date resources, and provide new, accessible performance venues for the student body and the community.

With the expansion, UIW also can increase its art degree offerings, including new Bachelor of Arts degrees in photography and art history, and new Master of Fine Arts degrees in art and arts administration.

Moreover, UIW is the only university in San Antonio that has an accredited Theatre Arts program. The university now is working to enhance its accreditation in Arts from the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD). Accreditation is an important process to show achievement of quality in a program at a national level.

To learn more, please visit www.uiw.edu/fineartscampaign/

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Unity through Diversity T

he University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is known for celebrating the rich diversity of its students, faculty and staff. After all, UIW’s first graduate was Antonia Mendoza from Durango, Mexico.

International students from 73 countries now comprise nearly 16 percent of the total enrollment, both all-time highs.

“This is by far the most diverse group of students UIW has ever encountered,” said Jose Martinez, Jr., director of international student and scholar services. “I’m sure faculty and staff feel that we are a global university.”

In addition, the UIW campus in Mexico City has more than 900 students, also a new record, while another 150 students from Mexico are enrolled in the main UIW campus in San Antonio.

“I always say that you can hear just about every language being spoken on the campus, and occasionally English, too,” quipped UIW President Dr. Lou Agnese.

UIW also reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of San Antonio.

The current enrollment is 51 percent Hispanic and almost seven

percent African American. In fact, UIW graduates the most Hispanics with bachelor’s degrees of any faith-based university in the United States.

“In terms of the composition of our student body, UIW is the only university among the top four privates in the state that represents the Texas that exists today and that will exist tomorrow,” Agnese says in reference to the state’s rapidly changing racial and ethnic demographics.

Also known for its celebration of interfaith growth, UIW students and faculty practice many faiths; among them Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and many more. UIW is the quintessential interfaith institution where those from all walks of life are embraced and free to celebrate their cultural and religious diversity.

“While UIW is Catholic in its Mission, we’re not going to either proselytize or preach religious conversion to those individuals who are not of the Catholic faith,” Agnese said. “All that is suggested of students and employees is that they grow stronger in their individual faith, whether it is Islam, Judaism, Christianity or any other faith, A N N UA L R E P O R T | FA L L 2 0 1 3

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as a result of being a member of the Incarnate Word community.”

The following are a few snapshots of the students, faculty and staff that make UIW such a diverse place.

“UIW is truly a global university,” said senior biology student Cherie Pineer Huff, “and it does a fantastic job at giving its students every tool possible to feel that they are a part of that global community.”

Huff was born in Bluefields, Nicaragua but grew up on the Bluff, a small island just south of Bluefields located on the Atlantic/Caribbean Coast. She was raised primarily by Cherie Pineer Huff her maternal grandparents until moving to Rockport, Texas at age 14 to live with her parents. Her first language is “Creole” English, known as Patwah throughout the Caribbean.

Her religious background revolves around the Unitas Fratrum Church more commonly known internationally as the Moravian Church. Growing up in a very conservative and religious family, Huff aspired to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother by becoming a born again Christian at age 11.

Her journey to UIW began while visiting schools in San Antonio. She was undecided on a college until a chance recommendation that she look at Incarnate Word. After visiting the campus, she knew the university was where she wanted to study.

“In a few minutes, I felt I belonged here, the campus was small yet big enough, the classroom sizes were perfect and after seeing the diversity on campus there was no doubt that Incarnate Word would be my alma mater,” she explained.

Assistant professor of business administration, Dr. Sishu Zhang, is Chinese and came to the U.S. in 2005. She earned her MS and Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University.

Her road to the university began after a chance encounter at the American Economics Association Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga., where UIW had a booth.

After the conference, Zhang said she was praying at church to find a Dr. Sishu Zhang teaching position and UIW entered her thoughts. She sent her teaching evaluations to UIW, interviewed, and was hired in 2010.

“After three years, I like everything about the university: the culture, the atmosphere, the students, faculty and staff,” said Zhang. “It accommodates diversity and offers colorful and diversified student and faculty activities.”

Last semester, she said faculty met to discuss ways of teaching to a diversified student body.

“I have students from Europe, Asia, Africa and Arab countries.

What I find important is to respect each student’s culture and customs through communication,” said Zhang. “We are all human, so

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we have many things in common.”

Amira Alsareinye, a junior biology student, was born and raised in San Antonio. She is a practicing Muslim. Her father is from Syria and her mother from Mexico, but it is Alsareinye’s own spiritual journey that has made her who she is today.

And part of that journey led her to UIW. “For a long time I didn’t know what I wanted to do, all I knew is I wanted to make God happy,” said Amira Alsareinye Alsareinye. “I asked him for a sign, I dreamt I was a student here, so I decided to come here.”

Alsareinye wants to pursue a career in health care and hopes to eventually be accepted to the Feik School of Pharmacy. She is president of the Interfaith Student Organization that plans events year round to bring awareness to the different faiths on campus.

Recently, she led the UIW community in a prayer service in response to the tragedy in Syria.

Alsareinye believes that through her interfaith organization as well as UIW’s dedicated and committed faculty members, she has seen many ways of educating others about the different faiths at UIW. She said students are very open-minded and inquisitive.

“I carry my faith on my sleeve, or perhaps my head I should say. Wearing the hijab or Islamic covering allows everyone to know that I am Muslim, which means I get asked a lot of questions,” she shared. “I always make sure people have enough information about what my faith truly teaches, because we live in a world where so much misinformation is being spread.”

Dr. Noah Kasraie, assistant professor and coordinator of the Dreeben School of Education’s doctoral program, was born in Philadelphia but spent most of his life overseas and speaks multiple languages.

While his family is originally from Iran it also has Persian, Georgian, Arabian and Turkish roots.

Kasraie, who joined UIW in 2008, is involved in many interfaith efforts. He’s a member of the planDr. Noah Kasraie ning committee for October’s Season of Peace and Justice activities. He also established the Peace Month Research Symposium and co-chaired the International Conference of Cultural and Social Aspects of Research in 2012.

“UIW not only acknowledges and respects diversity, we celebrate our diversity,” said Kasraie.

Rev. Fr. Justin Udomah, a Catholic priest from the Southeastern part of Nigeria, belongs to the Ibibio tribe, one of many minority tribes in the country. He is a doctoral student at UIW with a concentration in organizational leadership. He attended college and did his priestly formation in Ibadan, an ancient city in Yorubaland, in Southwestern Nigeria. As a priest, he spent two years

doing missionary work in the predominantly Muslim country of Chad in Central Africa. He has also served culturally diverse parishes in the U.S. Udomah said what led him to UIW was not only the doctoral program, but the faith-based dimension of the university.

“The university respects individuals’ religious and cultural beliefs and by that respect, it enables every student to feel safe in upholding his or her legitimate cultural and religious values,” he said.

Rev. Fr. Justin Udomah Udomah said he has had the opportunity to be involved in interfaith activities on and off campus. Over the summer, he accompanied the Cardinal Community Leaders, an initiative of UIW’s Center for Civic Leadership, during their orientation and spoke to the students about Catholic social teaching.

“The university welcomes and supports activities that showcase the rich cultural roots of various people on campus,” said Udomah.

A third year student at the Rosenberg School of Optometry (RSO), Ohio native Yasmeen Awada graduated with a degree in biology from the University of Toledo in 2011. A first generation Lebanese American, her father was from Lebanon and mother from Sierra Leone; they met in Africa and moved to the U.S. in 1984.

UIW’s Mission is the primary reason Awada chose to continue her graduate work at the university.

“The Mission is centered on professional and personal development with a commitYasmeen Awada ment to the service of all humanity at its heart,” she said. “As an optometry student, this allows me the opportunity to serve people from all types of backgrounds and cultures with a focus on pride and professional excellence, a quality rare among any other university.”

Awada is a member of the National Optometric Student Association (NOSA), a multicultural organization focusing on diversity and the importance of a multicultural experience both in San Antonio and across the nation.

“Both in the classroom and on campus, the cultural experience is incredibly rich at Incarnate Word,” she expressed.

Unity through Diversity

A number of faculty members of UIW’s professional programs hold diverse international backgrounds as well, the RSO being one of many examples.

Dr. Srihari Narayanan, associate professor of optometry and director of Cornea and Dry Eye Service at the RSO, has been with the university for two years. Born in Chennai, India, he is a practicing Hindu whose mother tongue is Tamil. He has practiced optometry in India and Bahrain in the Middle East.

After earning a Ph.D. and OD from the University of Houston, he was interested in moving to San Antonio.

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“UIW was already featured in The Chronicle’s Great Colleges to Work For the year I interviewed here,” explained Narayanan.

“It sounded like a diverse university that was tolerant of all faiths.”

Narayanan is involved in various religious holiday activities at RSO and believes many students come to RSO due to the faithbased education.

“I have the opportunity to talk with students about my beliefs and culture. We are doing a great job of promoting one of the tenets of our Mission—faith,” said Narayanan, “even before students join our campus.”

Originally from Spain, Dr. Lourdes Fortepiani, assistant professor of optometry, lived in the Canary Islands during her youth, and found it commonplace to see people from India, China, and Africa because of its location on the Atlantic Coast of Africa. She had not encountered such diversity again until moving to the U.S. Fortepiani is Catholic and feels blessed to have been raised in a famDr. Lourdes Fortepiani ily that lived their Catholicism in a life of service. She has an aunt who has been a cloistered nun in the North of Spain for almost 50 years.

Fortepiani, who joined UIW in 2009, uses the RSO Interfaith Room during reflection time once a week. She believes interfaith to be a vital component that sets UIW apart from any other university.

“Every country has their different faiths and beliefs that make them unique and we are all proud to share with the rest of the UIW community and feel at home,” she said.

“American students and professors are very friendly,” said Qianbo “Brendan” Guan, who hails from China. Guan’s three-year experience with the UIW community has been one of embrace and support. “If I have questions or problems, I can ask them and they help to solve the problems as soon as possible and this helps me very much.”

The junior accounting major, who hopes to pursue a master’s degree Qianbo Guan at UIW, enjoys the many activities available to students. He also appreciates the community service requirement for graduation as it provides international students with social experiences they might not otherwise have.

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Freshman Midori Henderson is from Texas, but was raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. She is a double major in music industry studies and communication arts and has Japanese, African American, Indian and German roots.

Henderson chose UIW for its sense of community and its incorporation of all faiths.

“Being an individual with many different backgrounds, it is very imMidori Henderson portant to me to maintain cultural diversity in my life,” said Henderson.

UIW has more than 120 international sister school relationships for reciprocal education in 43 countries. As the university expands its reach internationally, so does the access it provides its students; UIW Online is a key example of this access.

Grazie Acosta, who is studying psychology, is set to graduate in December. She maintains dual citizenship, American and Italian, yet her family lives in Italy.

“The UIW Online program has been convenient because with my husband who is active duty military, we are stationed overseas in Ankara, Turkey, and I am able to continue my education even if in another country,” said Acosta.

As the university heads ever long into the future with an emphasis on providing an enriched global experience for students and the community, the many members of the home we call the University of the Incarnate Word celebrate and stand unified in diversity.

UIW plans to open school of osteopathic medicine

By Margaret Garcia

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ver the last 10 years, the growth at UIW has been nothing short of phenomenal. The creation of the Feik School of Pharmacy, Rosenberg School of Optometry and School of Physical Therapy all conceived and opened during this time are examples of how UIW and President Louis Agnese continue to look to the future while serving the Mission of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that by 2016 the university could be accepting students to a UIW medical school.

According to UIW Chancellor Dr. Denise Doyle, the discussion of a medical school began “about a year and a half ago… when Dr. Agnese first started to question the idea of whether or not we could have a medical school at UIW.” The first definitive action came at a University Planning Commission meeting in 2012 when the group voted to move forward with a feasibility study.

A group of capstone students from UIW’s H-E-B School of Business and Administration were tasked with completing the study and were the first to come up with the idea of an osteopathic medical school.

“They felt that it best fit the Mission of the university because of its threefold practice of well body, well mind, well spirit and the integration of treating the whole person,” said Doyle.

There are currently 29 schools of osteopathic medicine in the United States. Only one is located in Texas at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. In addition, there is just one private medical school in the Southwestern U.S., the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, this practice provides all of the benefits of modern medicine but also offers the added benefit of hands-on diagnosis and treatment.

It also emphasizes helping each person achieve a high level of wellness by focusing on health promotion and disease prevention.

Upon completion of the study conducted by the students, UIW Provost Dr. Kathi Light created a task force to study osteopathic medicine and what it would mean for UIW. That process culminated in March 2013, when a consultant was hired to educate the UIW community and discuss the possibility of the medical school through a series of presentations. UIW representatives also went out into the San Antonio business and medical communities to discuss and gain support for the project.

Though some in the community may question UIW’s ability to open a medical school, Doyle believes UIW has a proven track record.

“I am pleased to say that our pharmacy school was accredited right after its first students graduated,” said Doyle. “Our school of optometry was also accredited without any issues just after grad-

uating its first class, so even though there are people in the community who might ask ‘can Incarnate Word really pull this off?’ as a matter of fact we not only can, we have. We have made major commitments to those professional schools and to those students and through those students to the people of South Texas.”

In June, UIW’s board of trustees unanimously voted to move forward with the feasibility study that could lead to the opening of a $50 million osteopathic medical school by 2016. As part of the process, a second official feasibility study must be conducted by the dean of the school who is a doctor of osteopathic medicine. The audited results of the study are then presented to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA). This body serves the public by establishing, maintaining and applying accreditation standards and procedures. According to Doyle this study must be completed and presented before candidacy can even be considered by COCA. A nationwide search has begun for a dean.

“We are hoping that we will bring someone on in early 2014,” said Doyle, “to do the feasibility study and in the best of all possible worlds that person will immediately begin to hire their administrative staff, academic support, associate deans, etc… and then gradually the faculty…bringing in our students in 2016.”

Doyle noted that “a founding dean is not walking into something existing. They have to have a vision and they have to build it from the ground up. You really want the person who not only builds the school but makes sure that school is organically connected to the University of the Incarnate Word, to the Mission of the university and to the Sisters. This is not just any osteopathic school this is the University of the Incarnate Word School of Medicine.”

Agnese has investigated four possible locations for the school including a UIW-owned facility on Datapoint Drive that also houses the Rosenberg School of Optometry; the unused sports fields at Fox Tech High School, a San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) health-professions school located downtown; Brooks City-Base; and an area located at I-35 and Walters. The Fox Tech location has been a forerunner as it could become the anchor for a downtown medical center. If approved, the partnership with SAISD would benefit the university as well as the students and faculty of the school district.

“Dr. Agnese is extremely visionary. He sees the life…and the future of the university as being driven by and built on the capacity to keep growing,” said Doyle. “Dr. Agnese’s vision is one that is not always comfortable for everybody. It generally means a lot of work for some of us and yet it is the thing that will keep all of us moving forward.”

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An example of a finance lab courtesy of University Finance Lab.

H-E-B School of Business set to open finance lab

By Ashley Festa

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IW will soon install a barber pole at the Gorman Business and Education Center. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

“When you see a barber pole, you know where you are,” said Dr. Forrest Aven, dean of the H-E-B School of Business and Administration (HEBSBA), who started the position in July.

“When you see a stock ticker, you know exactly where you are.”

The new ticker will establish an iconic landmark for the finance lab and trading room, which is in the final planning stages for the HEBSBA. The stock ticker is only one of the exciting features of the new lab, which has been a hot topic among business faculty for a few

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years and soon will become reality for more than 600 undergraduates and more than 200 graduate business students. The lab will provide students with real-world, hands-on training, making them more competitive in the job market after graduation.

By spring, Aven expects construction to be underway, with a functional lab complete by Fall 2014. Because the Gorman Building will need a technology update, Aven anticipates a $100,000 price tag for the new lab. Despite the initial sticker shock, Aven believes donors will be eager to help fund the project once they learn the many ways students will benefit from the lab.

For example, finance students will be able to add a new accomplishment to their résumé: investment fund management.

Already, business students have the opportunity to create a portfolio and trade stocks. “But they’re only creating it on paper,” said Dr. Alicia Rodriguez de Rubio, assistant professor of finance and director of the financial planning program.

Because the experience is simulated – “it’s basically Monopoly money” – students are less invested in the outcome of their decisions, Rodriguez de Rubio said.

Business faculty hope to change that perspective with the creation of a student-managed investment fund, which will use real dollars and generate real profits and losses. Aven hopes to procure $20,000 for the student fund in an effort to spark finance majors’ enthusiasm and motivate them to do their best work. To show their dedication to the project, faculty will be able to contribute to the fund through the Employee Campaign.

With the added pressure of using real money, students hope to keep their investments in the black. Profits likely will be reinvested in the beginning, though later as the fund grows, its possible earnings could be used to subsidize other HEBSBA programs.

With the students’ increased responsibility, they will also have increased capability. “We’ll have more robust databases so students can do their research, instead of using Yahoo! and Google to find information,” Rodriguez de Rubio said.

The new software, which Aven says will allow students access to in-depth company insights not available to the general public, will cost about $30,000 a year and be comparable to what’s used by financial institutions and businesses. Having experience with applicable software and technology will give students a leg up in the job market, especially because they can hit the ground running as a new hire, minimizing time and training expenses for their employer.

Though the software will provide up-to-date information, students will not make trades on the fly. “Students manage the account, and they’ll research and make recommendations to a group or team leader or the professor,” said Dr. Philip Gibson, assistant professor of finance. “Based on that information, they’ll make trades. It’s a controlled environment.”

It’s also an environment for students to discover and master other skills needed for a successful career in finance. For example, students must hone their presentation skills to state the case for their recommendations. Not every trade proposal will be accepted, so students must present solid research to support their conclusions.

“We’ll put them in a professional environment and pull them out of their comfort zones and hopefully raise their game,” Aven said. “Students will have 24/7 access to necessary financial information to better understand their profession.”

Not only will the finance lab and training room raise the students’ game, but also that of the HEBSBA. As UIW graduates become more competitive in the job market, Incarnate Word becomes a more desirable university for prospective students.

The finance lab is the perfect complement to the UIW business school’s already growing finance program, said Dr. Jose Moreno, MBA director and associate professor of finance and

banking. This year, faculty developed the finance concentration for the MBA program, and students began taking courses this fall. In 2010, the finance faculty developed the BBA in finance with emphasis in financial planning.

“The finance lab fits perfectly in this effort to improve the learning process of our students and the quality of our graduates,” Moreno said, “because they will have access to a real work experience in this area.”

(Pictured L-R) Dr. Jose Moreno, Dr. Alicia Rodriguez de Rubio, and Dr. Philip Gibson stand in one of the Gorman Building classrooms that may be converted into a finance lab. Moreno, Rodriguez de Rubio, and Gibson will play a significant role in the lab’s design and development.

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Historic events highlight UIW students’ Roman adventure

By Crystale Lopez

Andrea Cervantes takes a once in a lifetime opportunity to skydive over the Swiss Alps during the students’ trip.

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hen Alejandra Echavarria, international business major at the University of the Incarnate Word, recruited her fellow classmates and friends - accounting major Alexa Serna, economics major Mario Canales, and nutrition major Andrea Cervantes - to study abroad at John Cabot University in Rome, she had no idea of the adventure that lay ahead for each of them.

“I always wanted to travel to Europe but was never able to do so,” Echavarria said. “When I read that I could travel abroad as part of my major, I got really interested and started talking to my friends about going too.”

The students connected with Alanna Taylor, study abroad coordinator at UIW, who guided them through selecting a school, planning and preparation. “I thought it was more complicated, but UIW

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made the process really easy for us and helped make it all happen,” Cervantes said.

“Out of all the schools available, we chose John Cabot because it is very well located to travel around Italy and the surrounding countries,” Echavarria said. “Another UIW student had also shared how amazing his experience was while he was there.”

So the group packed up for a semester abroad from January to May unaware of the historical events set to take place.

“My roommate woke me up in late February telling me the pope had resigned,” Canales said. “The pope resigning was something that had not occurred in hundreds of years and we were just 15 minutes away from where it was all happening.”

Canales explained the group gathered with thousands of others

at the Vatican, carrying Mexican flags to share their heritage with everyone.

“We grouped together with others who carried the Mexican flag, too,” Cervantes said. “We were singing and chanting Pope Benedict’s name so we attracted a lot of media.”

“There was so much going on and many questions as to why Pope Benedict resigned and the television stations like CNN and Univision started pulling us aside to interview us,” Echavarria said. “We were famous for a day!”

Not only were the students in Rome for the historical announcement but also for the election process to appoint the new pope. “The day Pope Francis was elected we stood watching for the smoke,” Echavarria said. “First we thought we saw black smoke, but then saw it was white and everyone went crazy yelling, ‘There is white smoke! We have a new pope!’”

As for the day Pope Francis was inaugurated, the students agreed being there felt like a dream. “It was such an emotional day,” Serna said. “I just could not believe we were right there watching it all happen before our eyes.”

Cervantes said they all had the rare opportunity to see Pope Benedict and Pope Francis extraordinarily close-up. “We saw them riding in the popemobile,” she said. “Pope Francis did not want the protective shields around him, so he was just right there in front of us.”

Echavarria said being there in person made each historical event much more meaningful. “We were there from the beginning of the resignation, through the selection process, and then saw Pope Francis come out for the first time,” she said. “It was amazing.”

Although the historic papal events were a surprise, what didn’t come as a surprise was the travel the students experienced while studying in Rome.

“Our first travels were throughout Italy to Florence, Venice, Verona, Pisa and Bologna,” Serna said. “Our biggest trip was one we planned ourselves to visit six countries in 11 days during spring break.”

UIW students take part in the last general assembly of Pope Benedict XVI, held at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Pictured back row (L-R) UIW students Alexa Serna, Alejandra Echavarria and Mario Canales. Bottom left Andrea Cervantes, and far right Gabriela Acosta.

The students met the other two girls in the photo while visiting the Square.

Serna, Cervantes, and Echavarria started their trip in Budapest and continued on to Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, and Brussels. “One of the most memorable experiences was getting to ski and skydive over the Swiss Alps,” Serna said. “We jumped out of a plane about 15,000 feet with the temperature at negative 20 degrees.”

“Seeing mountain after mountain covered in white was breathtaking,” Cervantes said.

Visiting Marrakesh in Morocco also proved to be a unique voyage all its own. “We went camel riding, canyoning, saw the spice markets, and had dinner with a local family who made bread and honey for us,” Serna said. “The culture was very different from any country we visited.”

The students agreed their time in Rome enhanced their overall learning experience at UIW. Back at home, Cervantes is taking Italian language classes.

“Living in Rome and experiencing the language first-hand has really helped me grasp the language,” Cervantes said.

“I got to see world events happen before my eyes and see them from a perspective other than my own and the way I was brought up,” Canales said. “I had never done anything like that before and now I cannot wait to go back.”

For more information on the UIW Study Abroad Program, visit www.uiw.edu/studyabroad.

Pictured (L-R) Mario Canales and Gabriela Acosta, from UIW; a fellow student studying at John Cabot University; and Jose Luis Bernal, Alejandra Echavarria, Alexa Serna, and Andrea Cervantes, also from UIW, after riding the gondolas in Venice.

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Ricky Williams joins UIW football coaching staff

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By Raul Dominguez, Jr.

niversity of the Incarnate Word (UIW) football fans, ing something or doing something I think, ‘What am I doing?’” there is great news. The Cardinals’ backfield is blessed Williams said. “I’m so much happier when I’m productive.” with players who are more athletically gifted than Ricky That has resulted in a week-long schedule, which brings a smile Williams. to the boyish-looking Williams.

The Ricky Williams who won the 1998 Heisman Trophy to cap He is with the Cardinals from Sunday through Thursday aftera stellar four-year career at the University of Texas and rushed for noon, when he drives to Austin to prepare for his other job as an 10,000 yards in 11 seasons in the NFL? Yes, that Ricky Williams. analyst for the Longhorns network. That doesn’t leave much down Senior fullback Matt Bass and freshman tailbacks John Oglesby, time, but Williams said being at UIW is how he relaxes.

Junior Sessions and Broderick Reeves are superior athletes than “With what’s going on in Austin right now, it’s not very relaxing Williams ever was, at least according to Williams himself. to go up there,” Williams said of the Longhorns, who opened the “I assure you he’s lying,” Bass said, season with two losses. “It’s funny; the last chuckling at the comment. “He was a two weeks have been real rough losses for great athlete. Obviously his study of the the Longhorns and real big victories for the game and knowledge of the game made Cardinals. It’s nice on Sundays or Mondays him a better player, but he was a great to come down here and be around winathlete.” ners.”

But that is what Williams truly The running game is a big reason why believes. Now it’s his job to ensure that UIW is winning this season. potential comes to fruition for the CarThrough the first four games, the dinals.

Cardinals have 10 rushing touchdowns, Williams is working with UIW’s backsurpassing last season’s total of seven. UIW field in his first season as an assistant is averaging 159.8 yards rushing compared coach with the team. to 116.3 last year, which has enabled the “I actually think the running backs Cardinals to double their scoring output that I’m coaching are better athletes,” from 16.2 points to 30.2 this season.

Williams said. “They haven’t played as Bass had five touchdowns through four much football as I have, and so the real games, and he credited Williams’ patience teacher is experience. I’m just kind of a UIW Head Football Coach Larry Kennan announced with helping him read defenses better and guide to show them how to learn from improved footwork. that former NFL star and Heisman Trophy winner their experience and just to facilitate the Ricky Williams had been hired as an assistant coach “I see a lot of coaches get frustrated with process.” the coaching aspect, but I’m in no hurry,” at a press conference on Aug. 15.

Cardinals Head Coach Larry KenWilliams said. “I enjoy it. You see that the nan quickly added the former two-time guys get it when they get it. It’s so much All-American to his staff after a mutual friend informed him of about repetition. Because the first time the guys hear what I say, a Williams’ desire to coach. lot of times it’s the first time they have ever heard anything like it.

The hiring reverberated throughout the football world. Few So it might take them, five, six, 25 times before it really starts to knew Williams held coaching aspirations and, given his impressink in.” sive credentials, many more were surprised his entry came at a Williams also speaks of a greater work ethic, but he doesn’t college program only in its fifth year. scream about it or force his players to do as he did. Williams al“First thing that came to mind was disbelief,” Bass said. “To ways responded when coaches allowed him to make mistakes and have someone that well-known coaching for my team and espelearn from them, so he is giving UIW’s backfield the same leeway. cially my position … I was shocked.”

That understanding is critical given how young the Cardinals are.

It shouldn’t be too surprising. Williams has always seen himself “Working with three freshmen, I see the big picture,” Williams as just another humble soul walking the Earth, which is evident said. “I’m excited to see how they work, how they improve and in how he genuinely enjoys retreating to a UIW dorm room after what changes I’ve seen in just about a month. It’s really amazing, working with the Cardinals instead of living in a luxurious townand it gets me excited about the rest of this season and definitely home or condo. about the future.”

A mercurial spirit forever seeking greater understanding, WilThat’s right, Williams is thinking about a future at UIW. He liams’ entry into coaching was born of boredom. It was tough to speaks excitedly about helping the Cardinals with their offseason keep the 5-foot-11, 240-pound running back down on the football workouts and is looking forward to a greater role in recruiting. field, and it’s even tougher still to keep him off it.

Williams believes he will be a better coach than a player. For a “I’ve always been such a creative person, that if I’m not creathumble sort such as Williams, that’s quite a statement.

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UIW installs Bronze Cardinal A new bronze Cardinal adorns the entranceway to the Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium. The statue, designed by Larry Stevens with Stevens Art Foundry in Bulverde, Texas, was installed on June 28. There were approximately 10 miniatures that incorporated ideas and design directions that Stevens kept refining until coming up with the final product.

Steven’s group created the initial full size clay model. From that point, they made plaster molds, then silicone rubber molds and poured the bronze version in multiple pieces. The pieces were welded together to form the final product and finished by grinding the weld joints and putting the patina on through heat application and chemical reaction. With the new Cardinal begins a new tradition—Cardinal athletes and fans tap the bird’s beak for luck before entering the stadium for game time. Go Cardinals!

UIW bids farewell to Synchro Coach Kimberly Wurzel-Lo Porto Kimberly Wurzel-Lo Porto, who built UIW’s Synchronized Swimming program from scratch and served as head coach for 12 years, left the poolside to pursue a career in real estate.

During her tenure at UIW, she won a total of eight South Collegiate Regional Championship titles, was named the 2012 United States Synchronized Swimming Coach of the Year, and placed seven swimmers on the Senior National Team to represent the U.S. Her team was the third best collegiate team in the nation within four years of the program’s inception in 2001 and continued to achieve top finishes under her direction.

A 2000 Olympian, Wurzel Lo Porto brought a superlative level of excellence to her sport and her accomplishments as head coach has left an inimitable legacy on the Synchronized Swimming program and at the university as whole. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

UIW’S ATHLETICS WEBSITE HAS A NEW LOOK UIW’s athletics department has a new website design. The new layout is intended to be more fan friendly with a fresh, updated look. Visit www.uiwcardinals.com for the new Cardinals online experience.

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Above: Amanda Gaytan’s bronze medals from her winnings in track, 4x400 meter relay and the 4x100 meter relay, at the 19th World Transplant Games.

Right: Gaytan (second from left) and the other athletes from Texas Children’s Hospital take a picture with the World Transplant Games sandcastle.

Every scar tells a story

By Rebecca Esparza ’99 BA & ’03 MBA

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manda Gaytan believes her scars are an important part of who she is today.

At just 20, she has been through more medical tribulations than most people endure their entire lives. Yet, the UIW junior has already made her mark in the world in more ways than one.

Gaytan was just 14 years old and an avid athlete (basketball, volleyball, soccer, cross-country and track) when she began to notice unusual swelling in her ankles.

“Sometimes they were swollen and sometimes they weren’t.

I just thought I was allergic to something affecting my ankles. I never had any pains, never was sick, I just had swollen ankles,” she recalled.

One Saturday morning, her mother decided the swelling was particularly severe and decided to seek medical help right away. Gaytan’s pediatrician did a simple urine test. The results were alarming.

“My doctor was really worried, so we were sent immediately to the emergency room. My blood pressure was sky high, my levels were completely off…my body was just a disaster,” she said. “I got admitted into the hospital where they did more tests and we all waited to get the results.”

With her entire family by her side, she learned the diagnosis: stage four kidney failure.

“My mom broke down in tears and I just had a blank stare on my face,” Gaytan remembered. “I was diagnosed December 8, 2007, a few weeks shy of my 15th birthday. Two days after my diagnosis, I went into surgery to have my peritoneal catheter put in my lower abdomen. I began dialysis immediately and stayed in the hospital for about a week.”

Although her dialysis treatments were administered in the comfort of her own home, they lasted eight hours and she endured them every night for almost two years. She received her medical treatments at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital in San Antonio until a kidney donor was found. As it turned out, her own mother would give her life once again this time by donating one of her kidneys on June 17, 2009.

“I give all my thanks to my mom who gave me a second chance at life. Before my transplant, I would feel very weak and tired all the time, even giving up sports because I couldn’t handle it. After my transplant, I feel amazing,” she marveled.

“I’m always up and doing things, going to school, working, and even picking up sports again.”

Gaytan and her group share a photo with a German athlete at the games.

Gaytan and teammate Leslie Meigs get ready to take a cart ride at the beach in Durban, South Africa.

The San Antonio native was one of seven chosen by Texas Children’s Hospital to represent the hospital and Team USA at the 19th World Transplant Games in Durban, South Africa. The Games take place every two years, bringing awareness to the need of organ donation, as well as to demonstrate the physical success rate of transplant surgery.

Gaytan found out about the opportunity to represent San Antonio in March of this year and was thrilled at the prospect of getting back into sports.

“I talked with people from around the world who had a transplant and we connected,” she said, adding that her most memorable moment during the games this summer was winning a bronze medal in both the 200 and 400-meter races.

“When I stood on the stage, an American flag wrapped around me and was awarded my bronze medal…I will never forget that for the rest of my life!”

The computer graphics arts major, with minors in art and marketing, has already received nationwide recognition for her design work. One of her designs was chosen by the Sharpie brand for a television commercial. One day, she hopes to work for Pixar or Sony.

Meanwhile, facing her mortality at such a young age has made her realize a few life lessons.

“Scars are what made me…without these scars I wouldn’t be here,” said Gaytan.

“When I was first diagnosed back in 2007, I was near death,” she explained. “I had about a week to live because that’s how bad my body was. I could have had a stroke, a heart attack or even died because my body was loaded with poisonous toxins. For a year and a half I was being kept alive by a machine and now looking at my transplant scar, that’s what truly makes me. Having this scar shows how much I’ve been through, the obstacles I overcame and my second chance at life.”

Gaytan added she refuses to let the gold medal elude her.

“I plan to attend the United States Transplant Games in the summer of 2014 in Houston and the World Transplant Games 2015 in Argentina. Going to these games has made me realize how much I missed sports and I want to continue with running. Hopefully, my training will lead to a gold medal one day.”

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The inaugural group of Cardinal Community Leaders visit San Antonio’s Eastside as part of their Center for Civic Leadership orientation over the summer.

UIW’s new Center for Civic Leadership continues a tradition of service

By Brance Arnold ’10 MA

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he University of the Incarnate Word’s (UIW) tradition of cultivating tomorrow’s leaders to be concerned and enlightened citizens is deeply rooted in the Mission of its founders, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. And UIW’s new Center for Civic Leadership (CCL) is reflective of the university’s many efforts in perpetuating this strong tradition.

In partnership with CHRISTUS Health, the CCL was established in the spring of 2013. It is designed to facilitate UIW’s faculty and students and CHRISTUS associates by serving as a clearinghouse for community contacts and expanding ways of becoming more socially aware of local and global community needs. The CCL aims to support the continuous efforts of UIW and CHRISTUS Health in meeting profound, social needs of communities. The center will facilitate not just main campus but UIW programs including ADCaP, the professional programs, and UIW’s locations in Mexico and Germany.

“It’s built on the service learning opportunities that have been actively offered here for almost 20 years,” said Dr. Dorothy Ettling, CCVI, CCL director. “Many faculty instituted community, field-based activities as part of their classroom experience and a lot of policy developed around those efforts.”

Ettling indicated that in the past there lacked an infrastructure

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for supporting student service initiatives. The task of monitoring the activities has been the responsibility of faculty or Campus Ministry with oversight by the Office of the Registrar. Because it was dispersed over several departments, it’s been difficult to consistently track student service. Eventually, Campus Ministry assumed the role of overseeing the service requirement. However, as enrollment continues to increase, so does the responsibility of coordinating and monitoring service opportunities.

“It was getting very big and Campus Ministry is responsible for many things that happen at the university to strengthen the spiritual climate, service being one aspect,” said Ettling. “So there was a need for some additional support, not to centralize but to offer coordination and facilitation.”

Over the last few years, the initiatives to better track and coordinate the service requirement eventually evolved into creating a center of excellence, in line with the University Planning Commission (UPC). In 2012, UIW Provost Dr. Kathi Light appointed an advisory committee made up of administrators and faculty in order to establish and develop what is now the CCL. During the committee’s planning stages, the idea of partnering with CHRISTUS seemed a logical extension of the initiative.

“Somewhere in the discussions emerged the realization that

the congregation sponsored not only a strong institution of education both locally and globally, but we also sponsored a strong health care system, CHRISTUS,” said Ettling.

“UIW contacted us to assess our interest in a joint effort around developing the next generation of leaders in our communities,” said George Conklin, SVP and CIO of CHRISTUS Health and CCL board member. “This is a unique extension of the relationship from our traditional health care co-ministries into education and leadership development.”

Conklin said the partnership extends their efforts significantly by providing CHRISTUS associates the opportunity to work directly with the CCL and UIW, outside of a traditional educational relationship, in meaningful community projects.

CHRISTUS currently holds two board seats on the CCL and is active in program development. Though CHRISTUS provided some seed funding, the CCL team seeks outside endowment for sustainability. UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese, who recognized the need for the CCL and initiated its implementation, has agreed to match endowment funds.

One of the first initiatives by the CCL’s advisory committee was to create something that would provide the center some visibility from the onset and establish a core of students that would represent what the center was about. Thus, the Cardinal Community Leaders program was born.

In the spring, a call for applicants was sent out to all first year students. Criteria was based on previous leadership experience and an ability to articulate the importance of being involved in the program and consisted of an essay and interview process. A pilot group of 16 was chosen.

The students participated in a weeklong summer orientation. A team including Dr. Tanya Stampfl, assistant professor of English, and two doctoral students assisted the pilot group during the orientation.

“Throughout the week we had discussions about Catholic social teachings, social justice, and leadership,” said Monica Cruz, who joined the CCL as associate director in July and is a UIW adjunct faculty member. “To connect them to the community we decided to start on the Eastside, near the UIW Bowden Clinic.”

The CCL reached out to a number of non-profits on San Antonio’s Eastside, including the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio, the Ella Austin Center, Second Baptist Community Center, and the Healy Murphy Center, and coordinated a visit to the area where the students learned about the history and some of the social concerns of the Eastside. They were then asked to select one of the non-profits to work with throughout the remainder of the academic year. The students formed groups and chose a group leader who would act as the primary communicator with their respective organization.

The Cardinal Community Leaders were issued iPads to document and reflect on their service experience by creating iMovies, posting blogs, and using the technology to assist them with research and logistics.

“During our summer orientation, we made movies reflecting the weeklong experience that were then presented to some faculty members,” said Alixandra Pena, sophomore and Cardinal Community Leader. “That was an awesome experience to show them what we learned over the week and what our next steps would be in servicing the Eastside.”

Cruz stressed the importance of experiential learning and reflection in the community leaders’ experience. “The idea of

reflecting about those issues that are important makes the service more meaningful,” expressed Cruz. “Our hope is that when they graduate they are aware of the world around them and continue with a life of service.”

Ettling said the plan is for the Cardinal Community Leaders to have a local experience this year and prepare for a global experience in the summer, most likely to be coordinated with UIW’s campus in Mexico, Centro Universitario Incarnate Word (CIW).

“It is such an honor to be a part of the first Cardinal Community Leaders organization,” shared Pena. “To be able to help build this organization from the ground means so much more because we build the traditions of the CCL and not just be a part of them.”

Pena also points out that the Cardinal Community Leaders want to open their community service projects to the rest of the student body. “When it comes to big projects we may need more hands to help and students can earn service hours,” she said.

Ettling said that research is showing that students enter college extremely excited and motivated about making a difference in the world but that idealism seems to decrease while they continue on to graduation, perhaps being that those ideals have not been nurtured while attending college.

A recent study commissioned by the Department of Education showed that among first-year students, 43.3 percent strongly agreed that their campus actively promoted awareness of global social, political, and economic issues, but only half that number of seniors strongly agreed.

Ettling believes that this strengthens the importance of the CCL as a need in higher education today, along with the essential roots of the center in the Mission and legacy of UIW, CHRISTUS Health and the Sisters.

“There has been a real call to higher education to educate concerned and enlightened citizens in the context of safeguarding our democracy,” said Ettling. “It comes from the heritage of our Mission and our country.”

(Pictured L-R) Cardinal Community Leader Alixandra Pena; CCL Director Dr. Dorothy Ettling, CCVI; Cardinal Community Leader Astrid Tapia; and Cardinal Community Leader Tenna Montana pose for a photo at the Center for Civic Leadership open house on Aug. 22.

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Setting the Scene

By Rudy Arispe

E

mily Ferry, had arrived for work as production began on the set of “Just Cause,” the 1995 crime drama starring Sean Connery, and stepped into an elevator only to find the mega movie star standing there. He stretched out his hand and said, ‘Hello. I’m Sean Connery.’ ” “I couldn’t open my mouth,” Ferry, recalled, laughing. “I was absolutely star-struck. I just kept thinking, ‘I’m in an elevator with James Bond.’”

Ah, but such star encounters are all in a day’s work for the Hollywood property master, who, after three decades in the industry, admits she still is in awe to this day of the movie stars gracing the films of which she’s been hired.

Now with some 43 films to her Internet Movie Database (IMDB) credit, along with working with practically every major star under the sun – including Jack Nicholson, Jane and Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Robert DeNiro, Jessica Lange, Keanu Reeves, Uma Thurman and the late River Phoenix, among a galaxy of others – Ferry is one of Hollywood’s busiest working property masters.

And not just any property master. She was one of the first women in Tinseltown history to become one.

“When I moved to Hollywood in ’71 to be in the movie business, I started working in the Property Department illegally in non-union films because there were no women working as property masters in the union,” Ferry said from her cell phone outside the soundstage of the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City.

There she’s working on her first TV series, “Welcome to the Family,” a NBC comedy starring Ricardo Antonio Chavira ’96 BA, which debuted in October. “I had a union officer tell me once, ‘You can’t do that because you’re a girl.’ It was very much a male-dominated field.”

But that was before equal opportunity took effect, and by 1978 Ferry was hired as a property master for her first union film, “Uncle Joe Shannon,” starring Burt Young.

Don’t think that Ferry didn’t have aspirations of appearing in front of the camera when she first arrived in LA. She did.

“I went with the intentions to act, but I realized I didn’t have what it takes to be an actor,” she said. “You have to have a really strong belief in yourself that is constantly challenged by rejection. I’ve always been interested in what happens behind the scenes. I discovered this better suits my personality.”

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As a property master, Ferry is responsible for “everything that the actor touches,” which includes weapons, food, briefcases, eyeglasses, and license plates on cars. There are the small props and then there are the oversized, such as a NASA training capsule she had to locate and borrow for “The Right Stuff,” (1983) with Sam Shepard and Dennis Quaid based on a best-selling novel about test pilots training to be astronauts.

“I get a script, break it down and meet with the director and production designers to find out what they want or how (the film) should look,” the former Incarnate Word College student and member of UIW’s Verbum Society said. “Then I rent, borrow, buy or have it manufactured.”

Just like she did when Ferry had a property shop manufacture Cindy Lou Who’s record player and the Grinch’s answering machine in the 2000 Jim Carey blockbuster “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” And her search for the perfect prop has carried her across the globe to a Japanese swap meet, for instance, to purchase an antique ice shaver for “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005). She’s also found herself atop the Mexican pyramid of Chichen Itza during the filming of “Against All Odds” (1984) starring Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward, as well as the isolated, backwoods of New Hampshire while on location for the Academy Award winning “On Golden Pond” with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.

“They were Hollywood icons and the most professional I’ve ever worked with,” Ferry said. “Katherine Hepburn did her own makeup behind a sheet in the woods. We were out in nowhere, and there was no place for trailers.”

For Ferry, who worked on the Billy Bob Thornton directed picture, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car,” released in September, she doesn’t have to worry much about finding her next Hollywood gig.

Besides, she has cut her teeth in the industry since leaving San Antonio, and has earned a reputation as one who can get the job done no matter how big or small the movie or TV project.

“I’ve been really lucky and blessed,” she said. “I’ll sit by the phone, and before I start to starve, it rings. And I am very grateful for that.”

Update your email with the alumni office!

Have you missed a few alumni events recently and wish you had known about them? If so, please update you contact on the Cardinal’s Nest at www.uiwalumni.org You can login for the first time by clicking on ‘first time login’ finding your last name and then entering your old student ID number. If you don’t remember it, call us at (210) 829-6014 and we can help get you signed in.

Alumni Events

International Day of Service Save the date Saturday, March 22, 2014 and take part in UIW’s first International Day of Service! No matter where you are in the world, the Department of Alumni & Parent Relations is calling on all Incarnate Word alumni to block off this date and serve your community while wearing an Incarnate Word shirt. Afterwards, send in pictures to the alumni website with a brief description of your service. Make sure to visit the alumni website at www.uiwalumni.org for more information!

UIW Alumni Theatre series Join UIW alumni for our “Broadway Across America” series at the Majestic Theatre as we plan to watch: Ghost - Jan. 21, 2014 Wicked - March 12, 2014 Evita - April 29, 2014 Sister Act - June 24, 2014 Save the dates above and keep checking back at the Cardinal’s Nest to purchase tickets at www.uiwalumni.org

Save the date for

4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Save the date for Saturday, April 12, 2014 and bring your kids and grandkids out to enjoy the UIW campus!

Over 600 alumni and friends of UIW joined us for the 3rd Annual UIW Community Easter Egg Hunt that partnered with the Brainpower Connection schools. Kids ages one through 10 had the opportunity to hunt for Easter Eggs as well as participate in numerous fun activities such as face painting, coloring, cascarón painting, making bunny ears and chalking. For those who missed out on the fun last year, make sure to join us. If you are interested in helping make this event an even bigger success, email Steve Hemphill, assistant director of alumni relations, at hemphill@uiwtx.edu A N N U A L R E P O R T | F A L L 2 0 1 3 33

university collective Dr. Adrienne Ambrose, assistant professor of religious studies, received a research grant from the Wabash Center for her project “Made in the USA: Marian Holy Cards, 1930-1950.” The grant funded a week-long visit to study the holy card collection at the Marian Library at the University of Dayton, as well as time to begin drafting an article for publication.

Dr. David Foglesong, professor of biology, gave an invited talk entitled “Environmental Sources of Pathogenic Microbes and Antimicrobial Substances” at the 6th Oxford Round Table Forum on Critical Public Issues held at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. from July 28 through August 1.

Dr. Christopher Choat, assistant clinical professor of optometry, has been recognized as the American Academy of Optometry’s 48th Low Vision Diplomate at the

academy’s most recent meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. According to the American Academy of Optometry, the low vision section sets a high standard of clinical, education and research competency and knowledge for optometrists concentrating in the area of low vision via the Diplomate Program.

Attaining Diplomate status is a rigorous process, requiring multiple years of low vision case reporting, optics testing, ocular disease testing, a practical examination, and an oral examination. Forty-eight optometrists worldwide have attained this distinction, with only two in the State of Texas.

Sr. Dorothy Ettling, CCVI, director of the Center for Civic Leadership and co-founder of Women’s Global Connection, and Dr. Jessica Ibarra, assistant professor of biology and founder of FIGHT (Families in Grief Healing Together), were honored by the San Antonio Business Journal as prominent women in leadership.

James Borders, assistant professor of art, exhibited his cast metal sculpture entitled “Smooth Bolus Series #27” at the K Space Contemporary Gallery as part of the Texas Atomic Iron Commission’s

Cynthia Escamilla, UIW general counsel, has been named one of San Antonio’s best lawyers by S.A. Scene. As a result of a peer review survey for S.A. Lawyers: Best of 2013, Escamilla appeared under the category of In-house Counsel.

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iron show in Corpus Christi, May 3-June 21. He was invited

by Elizabeth Kronfeld, program and graduate director at Borders’ alma mater Rochester Institute of Technology, to participate in an iron pour at the Keen Foundry in Houston in July. Borders also partnered with craftsmen from Louisiana and Arkansas in a collaborative project to create ornamental molds to symbolize local Louisiana/Arkansas culture.

Dr. Renea Fike, assistant professor, Dreeben School of Education, co-authored two articles published this fall: “A Multilevel Analysis of the Association of Class Schedule with Student Outcomes in Community College Developmental Math,” published in “Community College Journal of Research and Practice,” by Fike, D.S. and Fike, R. (2013); and “Qualities of an Ideal Teacher: The Student Perspective,” published in “The Texas Forum of Education,” by Zhang, S., Fike, D.S., and Fike, R. She will be presenting at the College Academic and Support Programs (CASP) conference in Amarillo, Texas in October. The presentation is “The Benefits of First Semester Enrollment in Developmental Mathematics.”

Dr. Stephanie Grote-Garcia, assistant professor of teacher education, recently received an award for her teaching practices from CREATE. CREATE is a consortium of The University of Houston System, The Texas State

University System, and The University of Texas System and works toward providing opportunities for professionals to explore issues related to teacher preparation. Grote-Garcia will be recognized for this achievement in Austin during the November CREATE conference.

Margaret Mitchell, professor of theatre arts, has been appointed to the Publications Board of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). She also has been appointed vice chair for publications for the International Commission of USITT. She co-chaired the session “Shakespeare at the Sewing Machine” at the World Stage Design (WSD) Conference in Cardiff, Wales in September.

Her designs for UIW’s production of “The Tempest” were displayed in a digital exhibition and published in the WSD 2013 catalog.

Dr. Lopita Nath, professor of history, has been selected to participate in the sevenday Eleventh Orientation Course on Forced Migration Studies, December 8-14, in Kolkata, India.

Dr. Osman Ozturgut, assistant professor of doctoral studies, Dreeben School of Education, conducted two workshops on developing cultural competency during the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Summer Training Institute in June. He conducted a webinar this summer for AEA, and will be conducting an eStudy on the same topic. His co-facilitator is Dr. Cindy Crusto, associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.

university collective Ozturgut also facilitated a workshop on Action Research for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Conference in Chicago.

His co-facilitators included Dr. Marcos Oliveira, associate professor of pharmacy instruction, Feik School of Pharmacy, and Laura Fox, assistant dean for professional and student affairs and professor of pharmaceutics at Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy. Ozturgut in addition co-authored a chapter with Dr. Deborah Stiles of Webster University, “The Personal aspirations and cherished ideals of Muslim adolescents living in Norway and Singapore” in an edited book published by the University of Hong Kong and Information Age. His book chapter, “Chinese-Foreign Joint Ventures in Education,” has been published in Education in China: An Encyclopedic Handbook of Educational History, Models, and Initiatives.

Dr. Eula W. Pines, associate professor of nursing, received the Jewels with a Purpose Award for her work in the commitment to serving people infected with HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS at BEAT AIDS, a communitybased HIV/AIDS organization.

Commissioner Paul Atkins presented Pines with the award on Aug. 23 at a community event. In addition, Pines presented “Outcomes of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Reducing the Impact of Traumatic Stress in HIV Positive Women with Histories of Childhood Trauma” at the United States Conference on AIDS in New Orleans, La. Vincent Rodriguez has been named Chief of Staff at UIW. Rodriguez will be the primary

point of assistance and principal professional aide to the president while continuing to manage the communications flow of the President’s Office. He will work closely with the president and executive council to shape and manage the strategic agenda for UIW, including developing presidential action plans and objectives, tracking related projects, and advising the president on their status. He will also direct the day-to-day operations of the President’s Office. Rodriguez joined UIW in 2000 as Assistant to the President/Communications.

In January, Dr. Michael Risku, professor of teacher education, and Dr. Letitia Harding, assistant professor of English, published a book entitled “Education for Tomorrow: A Biocentric, Student-focused Approach to Education Reform” through the international academic publishing house Sense Publishers.

Dr. Patricia Sanchez-Diaz, assistant professor of optometry, has been published in the Summer Edition of the “Journal of Optometric Education.” The title of her article is “Integration of Student-Centered Instructional Strategies in the Clinical Anatomy Laboratory: Insights from a Pilot Study Involving Optometry Students.”

This study evaluated the effects of different interactive strategies in student motivation and in learning outcomes within the context of the clinical anatomy laboratory.

Each year, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) names 30 Academic Leadership Fellows and five dean facilitators from a nationwide pool of applicants. For 20122013, AACP named Dr. Lucinda L. Maine (left), AACP executive Sushma Ramsinghani, vice president and CEO, and Dr. Arcelia assistant dean of PharJohnson-Fannin (right), founding dean of maceutical Sciences, a the FSOP, present a program certificate fellow. The program is to Ramsinghani (center). Photo by Dr. designed to develop the Johnnie Early nation’s most promising pharmacy faculty for leadership roles in academic pharmacy and higher education.

Ramsinghani received a certificate for program completion at the AACP Annual Meeting in July. She was additionally recognized with a commemorative globe at the fall Feik School of Pharmacy (FSOP) all-school meeting on Aug. 1.

Dr. Amanda Sharpe, assistant professor of pharmacy instruction, published “Rats Selectively Bred for Differences in Aerobic Capacity Have Similar Hypertensive Responses to Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia” in the “American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology,” 305:H403-409, Aug. 1. Co-authors were Sharpe A.L.; Andrade M.A.; HerreraRosales, M.; Britton, S.L.; Koch L.G.; and Toney GM. She also published “Food Restriction Increases Glutamate ReceptorMediated Burst Firing of Dopamine Neurons” in the “Journal of Neuroscience,” e-published ahead of print, Aug. 2. Co-authors were Brach, S.Y.; Goertz, R.B.; Sharpe A.L.; Pierce J.; Roy, S.; Ko, D.; Paladini, C.A.; Beckstead, M.J. Sharpe attended the 2013 American College of Clinical Pharmacy (AACP)

Teachers Seminar in Chicago, Ill., on July 13. She volunteered as a Summer Reading Buddy with San Antonio Youth Literacy, June-August.

Dr. Shishu Zhang, assistant professor of business administration, co-authored with doctoral student Shuenn Hae Ou the article, “The Effect of Inflation on Domestic Migrant Worker Households in China,” which was presented at the Western Social Science Association 55th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colo., April 10-13. She has also published, “Health Status and Portfolio Choice for Elder People, in the “Journal of Business and Economics,” issue 4, 302-319, 2013.

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C lass

notes

The window of UIW’s success stories!

Submissions: alumni@uiwtx.edu

Photos submitted for Class Notes may be included on the online alumni community site.

1970s Col. (Ret) Larry J. Keller ’75 MA retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years of military service. He continued to serve his country as a manager during Decennial Census 2000 and again during Census 2010.

He served on the City Council of China Grove for over 10 years and was the Mayor Pro-tem during his last year of service. He also served as chairman of the Building and Renovation Committee at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church during the construction of the new sanctuary and directed the Holy Redeemer Men’s Chorus for over 13 years.

He also served on the building committee at St. Jerome Catholic Church and currently serves on the pastoral council and sings in the choir at St. Jerome.

Mirella Kennedy ’76 BA has been named director of public relations for a world class organization, Maximized Living Health Center.

Wanda Thomas Littles ’77 BA recently completed a memoir of UIW alumnus, Dr. Gerald Sseruwagi ’13 Ph.D. The book entitled, “A Desperate Faith,” tells the story of his courage and invincible faith in God while dealing with the horrific struggles he faced growing up in Uganda. For more information, contact him online at gerald@impactleadership.org or Wanda at 1poetnow@gmail.com.

Mary Dugi ’78 BSN was named one of the 10 top nurses in San Antonio by the San Antonio Express-News.

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Janet Royder Bunge ’79 BSN has been providing care as a corporate chaplain in Lexington, Ky. through Marketplace Ministries since 2007. Three of her four children are married, and her third grandchild was born Sept. 12, 2013.

Michael Wood ’99 BBA received his Master of Science in Project Management from Colorado Technical University and is now the project/cost account manager for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas.

1980s

Allison Davis ’99 BA was recently recruited

by Teach Away Inc. which is the official service provider of teachers in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates and will be teaching English in Abu Dhabi for the next two years.

Grace Elizabeth McGill ’81 BSN recently completed her studies and is a practicing nurse practitioner.

Veronica Vela-Whitacre ’81 BA was elected to the City Commission of McAllen, Texas.

Gilbert Olivarri ’85 BA was recently hired as the new principal at St. Peter Prince of the Apostles School. He has been involved in education as a social studies composite teacher, assistant principal, principal, and director of curriculum and special programs at several school districts in and around the San Antonio area prior to his appointment.

Lisa Ginapp ’85 BSN, MSN, RN is an independent nurse practitioner, working in collaboration with Infectious Disease and Wound Care physicians to provide in-patient consultations and care for patients with complicated wounds at facilities in Galveston County.

She works in the Mainland Medical Center Outpatient Wound and Hyperbaric Center two days a week to see outpatients.

1990s Larry Appel ’91 BA, and his wife Lucy are expecting their first child, a son, in February 2014. Appel has also been promoted to the position of senior sales representative for a local fire protection company, Impact Fire Services.

Jennifer Elliot ’98 BA recently opened a new business in Austin and New Braunfels called PubCrawler. To learn more, visit: www.pubcrawlerofnewbraunfels.com Sophia G. Hebert ’98 BS is currently working as a secondary science specialist with the Galena Park Independent School District in Houston, Texas.

Mike Dockal ’99 BS and his wife Gina are trying to grow their charitable non-profit organization in honor of their daughter, Zoey Isadora Dockal. Please visit http://www.zoeysangels.org for more info.

2000s Richard Farias ’00 BA was named director of student activities in May 2013 at San Antonio College (SAC). Prior to being promoted to this role, he served for six years as a tenure-track English instructor at SAC. William Carbonara ’01 BBA was recently appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Board of Directors. He is an account executive at JHC Insurance Agency and serves as a board member and treasurer of the Cuero Development Corporation, and a member and past board member of the Cuero Rotary Club.

Myra Garza ’01 BA is currently working at the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services-Division for Blind Services. She recently completed five years of service.

Dr. Diana Meneses ’02 BA works at Tulane University as the special assistant to the vice president of development for the School of Medicine. She and her husband, Casey, recently moved to New Orleans, La. after he completed his internship in Biloxi, Miss. for his doctorate in clinical psychology.

Brian Gabriel ’02 BA has been hired as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with oversight of the University of Miami Hurricanes baseball program.

Annette Barnes ’03 BA is serving as backup manager on duty and front end supervisor at Ross Dress for Less.

Elizabeth Worley ’03 BA, ’05 MAA was recently named director of business development and external affairs at “Texas Oil & Gas Magazine.”

Marisol (Espinoza) Yanez ’04 BA was recently named program director at Harmony Home Children’s Advocacy Center in Odessa, Texas.

Marcia Bischak ’04 BBA, ’11 MS currently serves as the deputy to the commander for financial operations for the Corpus Christi Army Depot.

Robert Miranda ’04 BS, ’06 MS earned his Ph.D. in biology from Northern Arizona University in May 2013. He returned to UIW this fall and is now working with Dr. Veronica Martinez Acosta as a postdoctoral fellow in molecular and cell biology.

promoting the learning and leadership of women locally and globally. She also still enjoys teaching graduate courses in leadership and adult learning part-time.

Rebecca Ward ’06 BS, UIW’s first engineering graduate, received a Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Award Cooperation’s Luminary award at the 25th Anniversary Great Minds in STEM Conference, Oct. 3 in New Orleans, La. Letitia Harding ’06 M.Ed., ’00 MA successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled “The Power of Images in Global Climate Change Discourse: A Critical Visual Rhetorical Analysis of Our Changing Planet.” She will graduate with a Ph.D. in technical communication and rhetoric from Texas Tech University in December 2013 and is an assistant professor in UIW’s department of English.

Crystal Garcia ’07 BS was recently hired as a new teacher at Somerset Junior High with Somerset ISD.

JoAnn Valderas ’05 BAAS was promoted to the principal position at Memorial Intermediate School. Prior to working at Memorial, Valderas worked at the alternative school for two years.

Victoria Marshall ’08 BS joined the Action 4 weather team in Laredo at KGNS-TV. She was a founding member of the UIW American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association student chapter, and served as the president for two years. During her years at UIW, Marshall had the chance to intern at KABB Fox-29 and News 4 WOAI, both in San Antonio.

Jennifer Ann Balleza Gonzalez ’05 BA accepted a position with the City of San Antonio as an event coordinator for the Carver Community Cultural Center.

Rachel Walsh ’09 BA has a new position as student services and data manager in the College of Engineering at Northeastern University.

Margaret A. (Alison) Buck, ’06 Ph.D. recently became associate director of women’s economic development and administration for Women’s Global Connection (WGC), a nonprofit organization that is a CCVI ministry and UIW partner

Miguel Ochoa ’09 BA, ’13 MAT recently made his debut on the Woodlawn Main Stage in the role of Usnavi in the musical “In the Heights” at the Woodlawn Theatre. He also directs the youth choir at his church.

Sergio Manzo ’05 BBA is currently working with Q1 Media, a media technology company.

2010s Jo Ann Diaz Jordan ’10 MA, was named director of the Dental Hygiene Division at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Christopher Alvarado ’10 Pharm.D. was recently awarded the 2013 Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award sponsored by Pharmacists Mutual Companies. The award recognizes a pharmacist that has graduated within 10 years for individual excellence and outstanding contribution to their pharmacy association and community.

Juan J. Acuna, Jr. ’10 BS was named the chief meteorologist for KZTV Action 10 News (CBS affiliate) in Corpus Christi, Texas in August.

Roger Perales ’12 BA was recently hired by AT&T as the company’s new senior product marketing manager.

Micaela Chavarria ’11 BA recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary with Frost Bank and was promoted to a Frost administrative officer and statewide consumer banking specialist.

Manny Rios ’12 MAA was named executive of the month by Property Casualty 360 and also currently serves as president of American Modern Insurance Co. Lindsay Mitchell ’13 BA is currently a substitute teacher for Judson Independent School District.

Angus Beaird ’13 BAAS U.S. Army combat medic is serving as an advisor for the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Christina Lake ’13 BA started teaching first grade at St. Helen Catholic School in Georgetown, Texas.

Kristen Girton ’13 BA is a fitness life coach who recently started Power Rawk Fitness and is also enrolled at the International Sports Science Association A N N U A L R E P O R T | F A L L 2 0 1 3 37

pursuing a Personal Training certification.

Damon Cleaton ’13 MAA has been assigned to the NATO International Security Assistance Force Joint Command as an Afghan national security forces medical developer and analyst. During his first six months in Kabul and throughout Afghanistan he helped the Afghan National Army and Police develop a program for first responder training, improve shortfalls in their medical logistics supply chains, and establish a hospital in Helmand Province.

Col. Rhea Sue Anderson ’72 BSN USAF Arlene B Miller ’72 BA Nanette Soderstrom Sheaffer ’77 MA Christopher Lee Poehlmann ’79 BS Barbara R. Rogers ’81 BSN Karen Ann Wilson ’92 BBA, ’07 MAA, adjunct faculty in business Oscar Jesus Valdez ’98 BBA James Paul McCue ’97 BBA Charles O. Kilpatrick, trustee emeritus and benefactor

Frances Elizabeth Zoeller Blaha ’39 BA Mayme R. Monister Burkhalter, St. Peter Prince of Apostles School, ’45 IWHS, ’49 IWC Sr. Bridget Maher, CCVI, ’46 IWC Mary Anne Egan Hermann ’48 BS, ’92 MA Sr. Patricia Kennedy, CCVI ’52 BA Sr. Ann Murphy, CCVI ’57 BA Dolores Lee Dyer ’58 BS, former IWHS coach Edith Wright ’59 BSN RN Santa Rosa School of Nursing Jean Martin Braley, former IWC student 1960, benefactor and volunteer Sr. Kathleen O’Driscoll, CCVI, ’62 BA Vera Pollard Gravley ’63 BSN Browning McKinney Samples, ’65 BS Sr. Mary Ann Seeker, CCVI, ’65 BA Sr. Mary Peter Corcoran PBVM ’66 BA Maxine Lockhart ’68 MA Margaret Hromco Pyndus ’71 BA Lt. Col. Thomas Edward Osborn ’71 BA, USA Ret. Master Sgt. Jerry A. Moore’71 BA ’73 MS USA Ret. Lt. Col. Evelyn Violet Guthridge ’72 BSN USA Ret. Ann Elizabeth Fitzgerald Wetegrove ’72 BA

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Matthew Ramirez ’08 BA and Katie (Louma) Ramirez ’07 BA welcomed their first child, Sofia, on May 6, 2013.

Micaela Chavarria ’11 BA recently had a daughter, Isabella Faith.

Weddings and Engagements Shannon Samples ’12 BS was engaged on May 26, 2013 to Nikolas Botello.

Ben Smyth ’03 BA married Colleen O’Connell in Dayton, Ohio on July 6, 2013. The couple resides in St. Louis, Mo.

Aracely Gonzalez ’13 BBA was recently selected as director of international marketing for Rainbow Play Systems International Corporate Office in San Antonio, Texas.

In Memoriam

Future Cardinals

Sebastian Villarreal ’06 BS and Daniela Oliveira ’06 BS were married in Cancun, Mexico on June 15, 2013.

Paola (Pino) Queipo ’06 BA, ’10 MA and Meraldo Queipo are expecting their first child, Isabella Valentina, in early December 2013.

We are listening...

Jarryd Schieffer ’13 OD recently married Christa Wortmann in their hometown of Hartington, Neb. Thomas Mata ’12 BA, ’13 MAA was engaged in July 2013 to Amanda Aguilar.

Alicia (Caballero) Martinez ’11 BA married Anthony Martinez on Oct. 8, 2012.

Sandra Rangel’s ’05 BBA son, James Cody Rangel, was born on Feb. 2, 2013.

Thank you for participating in our most recent alumni survey of The Word. We appreciate your invaluable feedback as we continue to improve the magazine. We hope you enjoy the changes and please know your voice makes a difference.

Meet the UIW Alumni Board of Directors 2013-2014 The members of the UIW Alumni Association Board of Directors are selected to hold their positions based on demonstrated involvement, support and commitment to UIW. During their three year term, board members serve actively on board committees and task forces; become representatives in their community for the Alumni Association; assist the university in identifying, cultivating and involving alumni in areas such as recruitment, job placement, legislative advocacy, financial support, and fundraising; and identify and implement programming that will enhance the student experience, among many other services to their alma mater.

Pictured left to right: • Jason Herrera ’08 BBA MS Accountant, Rush • Steve Hemphill Assistant Director, UIW Alumni Relations • Ed Leos ’93 BA CEO, The Hotel Guide • Daniel Martinez ’11 BA Director of Admissions & Marketing, Holy Cross of San Antonio • Hector Flores ’11 BBA MS Accountant, American Medical Direct • Eunice Lopez ’00 BA Systems Analyst, CPS Energy • Tracy Avery ’96 BA ’12 MBA Alumni Association President

Moment for Reflection

By Dr. Keith Tucker, director of counseling

• Malik Jabeir ’13 MBA Analyst, Bexar County Economic Development • Crista Branch ’94 BA Solo Practitioner, Attorney Law Offices of Crista M. Branch • Tina Siller ’04 BS ’07 MBA Student Development Specialist II, UTSA • Dr. Jennifer Cook ’91 MBA Associate Professor, Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing • Johnny Guajardo ’13 BA UIW Student Government President • Laurie Aguillon ’11 BBA Complex Financial Foundations Associate, USAA

• Margie Ytuarte ’07 BBA ’10 MBA Adjunct, San Antonio College • Janell Trevino ’03 BA Senior Project Manager, Tesoro • Lisa McNary ’86 IWHS ’91 BA ’95 MA Director, UIW Alumni and Parent Relations Not pictured: • Patricia Gonzales ’94 BA Vice President William C. Velasquez Institute • Adam Greenup ’05 BA Senior Policy Advisor to the Office of Mayor Julian Castro • Jessica Leist ’09 BBA MS • Amyn Madhani ’12 PharmD. Pharmacist, H-E-B

• Enzo Pellegrino ’02 BBA President, Texas Legacy Wealth Management • Dr. Vu Tran ’13 OD Optometrist • Joe Ryan Urby ’11 BA Intern, AT&T • William Velazquez ’09 BS Computer Specialist, FAA • Elizabeth Worley ’03 BAAS ’05 MAA Director of Business Develop- ment and External Affairs, Texas Oil and Gas Magazine

Reflecting on my years at the University of the Incarnate Word, I find a rather astounding experience.

The impetus towards change with a parade of new programs, becoming a university, the creation of new schools, and the large influx of a culturally diverse student body has been unique. I am grateful to be a part of this expansion.

As I consider this journey, I am amazed at how different it is from the college it was when I started over three decades ago and yet, in many ways, the same. Mission is still the focus, the value of relationship is important, we attend to service and there is an emphasis on the divine. Caring is included in the integral mix of enhanced programs and quality education.

One of the results of an extensive tenure has been witnessing the return of many alumni. They come to visit, reconnect and express. They report their appreciation for persons that mentored them, as well as the excellence of their education. Care often came from faculty, an administrator or staff that made a huge difference in their lives. Being valued as a person is mentioned as a significant trademark. They speak of continuing this heritage in their own lives today.

The CCVI Spirit Award is an example of this value where students and employees alike are recognized for ‘what’ they are rather than ‘who’ they are. By community voice, these awardees are chosen for their caring, their service, their effort to help and their creative vision that promotes a greater community.

Each one of us, students included, can be seen as leaders and followers. Each brings their brilliance and their unique talents and, with appreciation for each other, possibility grows. The gifts of each individual have been woven into a beautiful tapestry that is The Incarnate Word. Always from a gathering of such individuals, growth and learning are inherent, the divine is remembered, and quality is enhanced.

I have been blessed by this gathering of souls, in this work place called the University of the Incarnate Word.

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Healing generations through scholarship

By Brance Arnold ’10 MA John Fagan and Lea Lopez-Fagin established an annual $1000 scholarship, the Lea S. Lopez-Fagin and John E. Fagin Nursing Scholarship.

“S

igue luchando y no te dejes vencer,” which translates to “keep on fighting and don’t ever give up,” is the mantra Lea Lopez-Fagin ’96 MSN carried close to her heart as she made the lifelong journey from living deep in the jungles of Peru to achieving the American dream in San Antonio, Texas.

One of 10 children, two of which passed away at a very young age, Lopez-Fagin was born and raised in the village of Picota. After the loss of her father to a boating accident at age two, Lopez-Fagin’s mother raised the children with the expectation that they would one day set out into the world to expand their horizons. Inspired by her mother’s work as, a curandera or healer who practices folk medicine, she decided to devote her life to the compassionate care of others through nursing.

“I almost died when I was a child of communicable diseases,” shared Lopez-Fagin. “We lost so many children in the village. There were no doctors. You had two choices. Go to the curandera or die. My mother healed me.”

Her mother, born of Jewish immigrants, could not read or write but learned the skills of the curandera from the village elders.

After completing the 12th grade, Lopez-Fagin took a test in order to attend a nursing program in Lima, Peru. Out of 500

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applicants, only 25 positions were available and she was accepted. She boarded a single-engine airplane with no seatbelts destined for Lima. Nearly 50 miles away and the closest city of any substantial size, it could only be reached by plane from her home. While flying over the Andes, she recalled the icy, white blanket of snow below and admitted she lost consciousness at 20,000 ft.

In Lima, her sister and brother-in-law, stationed in Panama with the U.S. Air Force, sent her $20 per month to help fund her schooling. She earned her Associate’s Degree in Nursing and then joined her sister in Panama where she lived for two years. In 1972, another sister and brother-in-law, also military, made it possible for her to come to San Antonio and thus set her on the road to the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW).

Lopez-Fagin, whose native language is Spanish, worked the nightshift at Southwest Methodist Hospital and took courses to learn English and U.S. history. While attending these classes she met her husband John Fagin, who taught in the public school system for 31 years and was an adjunct professor at San Antonio College (SAC) until retiring in 2010.

Eventually, she started a family and began working for the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the University

of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC), but encountered a setback when seeking entry into the master’s program. The university only accepted the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for admission, which was challenging because LopezFagin spoke and understood very little English.

Because of the VA’s close ties to UIW, she chose to apply to then Incarnate Word College. The nursing program not only accepted the GRE but also the Miller’s Analogies Test (MAT) for admission. While reviewing for the MAT, she really began to learn English. She took the exam and was accepted.

Though a full-time working mother of two teenage children, Lopez-Fagin earned an MSN in adult health and graduated with honors in 1996. While at the university, she organized a health fair as chairman of the Education and Health Committee. As a result, she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing for her community leadership. She credits Incarnate Word’s faculty as an indelible source of support and inspiration in helping her to complete the program. In particular, she said Drs. Brenda Jackson, Barbara Herlihy, and Katherine Galia were instrumental in her success.

She believes UIW’s culture of acceptance and nurturing those from all walks of life was the key in the journey to her successes.

“I really feel like Incarnate Word gave me the tools to succeed. Without the caring attitude and approach of the professors, I could not have finished the program,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the caring attitude and philosophy of this school, I would not have become who I am.”

After UIW, she went on to earn a nurse practitioner degree from UTHSC. She worked for the VA for 25 years until retiring in 2003. Lopez-Fagin was then hired by UTHSC’s Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division, where she worked until 2012. An avid writer, she is involved in the arts and literature community in San Antonio. In fact, she is in the midst of writing a memoir, “The Healing Touch: My Mentors’ Gift,” honoring all those who have supported and inspired her in achieving her dreams. She further continues her ‘healing touch’ by working for Doctor at Your Service, PPLC., a company that provides medical services to people in their homes or assisted living.

“It is like the jungles of Peru,” said Lopez-Fagin in reminiscence of her mother’s work healing those in the village by providing care in their homes.

In 2012, she and her husband established an annual $1000 scholarship at UIW, the Lea S. Lopez-Fagin and John E. Fagin Nursing Scholarship, to assist Hispanic undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in pursuit of a nursing degree.

On November 19, 2012, Leticia A. Olmeda, who is currently enrolled in UIW’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, became the first recipient of the scholarship.

Originally from Roma, Texas, located on the border of Texas and Mexico, she is of Mexican American descent. Recently, Olmeda relocated to San Antonio to continue her education at UIW and seek better opportunities for her family.

“It is through the generosity of people like Mr. and Mrs. Lopez-Fagin that students like myself are able to continue their education,” said Olmeda. “When you are a single parent trying to make ends meet and working on furthering your education, every bit helps.”

“With this scholarship, I am hoping to pass on that anything is possible with drive and desire,” said Lopez-Fagin.

“Nursing has a big tapestry and the tapestry has different colors of love, caring and suffering. We must sew this tapestry together like a quilt where we blend and help each other as human beings.”

To learn more about the Lea S. Lopez-Fagin and John E. Fagin Nursing Scholarship, contact UIW’s Development Office at (210) 829-6013.

Fagin and Lopez-Fagin present a check to Leticia A. Olmeda, the first recipient of the Lopez-Fagin Nursing Scholarship for Hispanics.

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID San Antonio, Texas Permit # 1822

University of the Incarnate Word 4301 Broadway San Antonio, Texas 78209

Light the Way Come celebrate

“Christmas Around the World”

at the 27th Annual Light the Way on Saturday, Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m., in the Tom and Gayle Benson Stadium.

Sponsored by H-E-B, this year’s program will feature Tejano Superstar Patsy Torres and performances from the Brainpower schools. The holiday fun will culminate in the official flipping of the switch to illuminate the campus with nearly one million, twinkling Christmas lights. Don’t miss the fireworks display sponsored by Tobin Lofts. Following the lighting extravaganza, a candlelight procession will be led by Mariachis Las Coronelas concluding with a reception on Dubuis Lawn thanks to H-E-B and beverage sponsor Sodexo. We will be collecting for the Elf Louise Project, so remember to share some holiday cheer by donating new unwrapped toys at the drop off tents at the event. If you miss the celebration on Nov. 23, we invite you to visit the campus and enjoy the lights through Jan. 6.

For more information, call (210) 829-6001 or visit uiw.edu/lighttheway.