Mount News Fall 2016

MOUNT NEWS MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY | FALL 2016

DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE

School of Education graduates mend lives as they enhance learning page 12

UP CLOSE AND PROFESSIONAL Research projects broaden academic and career opportunities page 17

THE LAUNCH OF A LEGACY In 1920, the Mount opened its doors to a new class of scholarly women. Read their story. page 6

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Mount Alumni, The countdown has begun...

This fall, we welcomed a group of Mount students to our campus who represent the Class of 2020! This is, indeed, a significant milestone as we begin preparations to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Mount St. Joseph University. It was in 1920 that the Sisters of Charity had the wisdom, foresight, and divine inspiration to launch Ohio’s first Catholic college for women.

Their mission was—and remains—to advance the great work of their founder, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who dedicated herself to helping others, especially the poor, by using education as a means to improve communities and empower others through learning and service.

The Sisters of Charity have successfully persevered in carrying on St. Elizabeth’s teachings and philosophy. Their ongoing influence, vision, values, and charism ensure that the Mount continues to thrive and graduate professionally trained students, who not only know what to do but also how to do it with humanistic fervor. This issue of Mount News features a story about the founding of Mount St. Joseph University, and is the first of several magazine retrospectives we will share as the Mount begins to celebrate a century of progress and institutional pride.

Also in this issue, you’ll read about the School of Education and its continued commitment to the countless teachers—current and future—who serve communities and help shape lives. Another feature story on our research programs shows how we offer students professional development opportunities that also enrich our and their understanding of the world and lead to the creation of new knowledge, all of which are essential roles of any 21st-century university.

St. Elizabeth would be proud—her philosophy of changing the world through education continues to inspire the Mount community and our graduates.

As we move forward with our 100-year anniversary preparations, we will reach out to you, our alumni, who are fundamentally the substance of our legacy. We want you to be involved in all of the upcoming centennial events honoring the Mount. Your dedication to your alma mater fuels our passion to tell even more faculty and student stories that showcase the power of a Mount degree and its resounding impact on society.

We will keep you updated as 2020 approaches. Until then, on behalf of the entire Mount community, I wish you much joy and a hearty Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Indeed, we wish all of you a world of peace and happiness, and our prayers are with your families and friends during this joyous season!

Best regards, H. James Williams, Ph.D.

CONTENTS

Around the Quad

2

Faculty/Staff Report 20 Lion’s Corner

22

Alumni Updates 24 alumni profile 25 classnotes 26 passages 27

THE LAUNCH OF A LEGACY

6

On Sept. 14, 1920, the College of Mount St. Joseph opened its doors for the first time to a new class of scholarly women. They helped define a culture, spirit, and standard of excellence that endures nearly a century later.

PUBLISHED BY Division of Institutional Advancement Mount St. Joseph University 5701 Delhi Road Cincinnati, OH 45233-1670 msj.edu

MOUNT EDITORIAL TEAM Jessica Baltzersen ’14 Jeanette Bryson Tara Byrd Kathleen Lundrigan Cardwell ’87 Jill Eichhorn Amanda Gratsch ‘15 Greg Goldschmidt ’07 Trevor Griffith Mark Osborne Jim H. Smith Kara Gebhart Uhl

DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE

12

Graduates of the School of Education are more than teachers—they’re changing lives and improving communities.

DESIGNER Natalie Broering ’05

MANAGING EDITOR Michael Schiavetta

CONTRIBUTING COPY EDITOR Arlene Werts All photos by Don Denney, Amanda Evans, and David Slaughter unless otherwise noted. Historical photos are courtesy of the Sisters of Charity. If you would like to contact a member of the editorial team, call 513-244-4871 or 800-654-9314. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please email alumni@msj.edu.

UP CLOSE AND PROFESSIONAL

17

Mount research programs provide essential career-building experiences and lead to a greater understanding of our world.

Cover photo: some of the first women who attended College of Mount St. Joseph in its early years.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION Mount St. Joseph University (“the University”) is committed to providing an educational and employment environment free from discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, or other minority or protected status. This commitment extends to the University’s administration of its admission, financial aid, employment, and academic policies, as well as the University’s athletic programs and other University-administered programs, services, and activities.

The University has designated the chief compliance and risk officer, 513-244-4393, Office of the President, as the individual responsible for responding to inquiries, addressing complaints and coordinating compliance with its responsibilities under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other applicable federal and state civil rights laws. The University has designated the director of Learning Center & Disabilities Services, 513-244-4524, as the individual responsible for responding to inquiries, addressing complaints and coordinating compliance with its responsibilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

FALL 2016 • 1

AROUND THE QUAD

news

EXCELLENCE IN ASSESSMENT AWARD Mount St. Joseph University is among 10 exemplary colleges and universities named as the inaugural class of Excellence in Assessment (EIA) designees. The EIA program spotlights institutions successfully integrating assessment practices across campus, providing evidence of student learning outcomes, and using assessment results to guide institutional decision-making and improve student performance.

“We are proud to have earned the Excellence in Assessment designation—an endorsement from outside experts that the Mount is doing an exemplary job holding itself to high standards,” says Mary Kay Fleming, Ph.D., academic assessment coordinator and professor of psychology. “The Mount faculty and staff are committed to improving students’ opportunities for learning, professional development, personal growth, service, citizenship, and leadership in the years to come.”

NEWS BRIEF: Doctor of Physical Therapy Students Visit the Reds With nearly 48 percent of the Mount’s Doctor of Physical Therapy students having a permanent residence outside the Cincinnati area, it seemed there was no better way to introduce them to the city than a tour of the Great American Ball Park and a history lesson about the Cincinnati Reds. Twenty-nine Class of 2019 students, two students from the Class of 2017, and three faculty members met at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum on June 6, walked through the diamond club lounge, sat in the press box, took a stroll across the field, and piled into the dugout.

The group learned about various Cincinnati Reds ball players and the evolution of the team since their early days as a charter member of the American Association baseball league in 1882.

UMI THE MUMMY VISITS THE MOUNT Umi, an Egyptian child mummy, arrived Aug. 23 from Cincinnati Museum Center for display in the Mount’s Archbishop Alter Library as part of the museum’s Curate My Community initiative. Dating back more than 1,800 years, Umi was approximately four-years-old at the time of his death and was mummified in a traditional Egyptian ceremony that would prepare the body for the afterlife.

Buried with Umi, within the several layers of linen used to wrap the body, are more than two dozen amulets. Using computerized tomography scans, scientists were able to “unwrap” Umi to reveal these concealed treasures and produce prototypes for a closer look. Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Murray, Ph.D., ’86 from the Mount’s Department of Biology, were instrumental in the research surrounding Umi as the mummy offers a detailed look at Egyptian culture, biology, and medical techniques.

NURSING STUDENTS EARN WHITE COATS The Mount’s White Coat Ceremony was held on Oct. 5 for sophomore nursing students. The annual event symbolizes their transition from preclinical studies to clinical rotations, where they interact with patients and gain real-world experiences working in health care facilities.

2 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

CAMPUS RENOVATIONS COMPLETE

GRANT RECEIVED FOR NURSE EDUCATORS

After months of hammering heard around campus, the Mount proudly features four newly renovated spaces: • The offices of President H. James Williams, Ph.D., and his leadership team, Institutional Advancement and University Communications now share space in the Administrative Building.

• The study area in the library has been converted into a library café serving Starbucks coffee complete with grab-and-go food.

• Old lockers from the ground floor corridor and classroom building have been replaced with new furniture featuring USB ports for charging mobile devices.

• The new Physician Assistant Program facilities have moved to the ground floor of the library just in time for final accreditation of the program.

• The cardio room (pictured, top right) in the Harrington Center received advanced treadmills and elliptical cross-trainer machines, in addition to new flooring and paint.

From left: Greg Kathman, district manager for AVI Food Systems; Dr. Williams; and Pete Landrum, Delhi Township administrator.

A HEAVY MEDAL PERFORMANCE Students, alumni, and faculty in the BRW 101 class, a biology class that teaches the science behind making craft beer, took home the gold, silver, and bronze medals in a homebrew competition sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association and sponsored by the Middletown Area Society of Homebrewers. The event was held at Valley Vineyards in Morrow and featured 42 contestants, including several experienced homebrewers.

The Mount has received a federal grant of more than $270,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration to offer additional loan forgiveness opportunities for graduate nursing students who pursue careers training the next generation of health care professionals. As a result, 15 additional students will be eligible for loans that will forgive up to 85 percent of their tuition and fees if they work as nurse educators for at least four years.

“The nursing field faces a significant shortage of faculty in the near future due to increasing retirements projected in the coming years,” says Darla Vale, Ph.D., dean of the School of Health Sciences.

“Financial aid to support nurses’ goals of advancing their degrees is very beneficial to them and to helping the nursing profession.”

WELCOME, CENTENNIAL CLASS!

Specifically, the team won a gold medal for their German Weissbier; Andy Rasmussen, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at the Mount, won a silver medal for his American Wheat; and Tim Lawson, Ph.D., professor of psychology, won a bronze medal for his Belgian Witbier.

Rasmussen and Lawson created the BRW 101 course in 2015. This six-week class teaches a variety of beer styles and brewing techniques, including sanitation, the brewing process, recipe formulation, packaging, and more. Students also visit local breweries where they learn more about flavoring and brewing on a larger scale.

“Our students not only learn about beer styles and the science of brewing, they also get a hands-on experience with brewing during the course, which gives them a much richer knowledge and appreciation of beer,” Lawson says. “It’s been nice to see how our course has helped students get jobs in breweries, bars, and beer distributors.”

“We hope that this class and the success that we have had will help us expand our brewing class offerings in the future,” adds Rasmussen. “We would love to offer a brewing certificate program and have our own small brewery on campus.”

For more information on the brewing courses go to msj.edu/brew.

The Mount welcomed the Centennial Class of 2020 to Welcome Weekend on Aug. 19, where the incoming freshmen enjoyed a variety of activities to kick off their academic year. Beginning with a warm and welcoming ceremony, the students toured the city afterwards and participated in a scavenger hunt until heading to the Aquarium for a Centennial Class celebration.

FALL 2016 • 3

AROUND THE QUAD

news

NEWS BRIEFS: AT Students Earn 100 Percent Pass Rate Congratulations to the Mount St. Joseph University Class of 2016 athletic training graduates, who earned a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the Board of Certification exam and 100 percent employment and admission to graduate schools.

“Through our clinical partners in the tri-state region, we are blessed to enable our students to experience the breadth of opportunities within athletic training, sports medicine, and healthcare in general,” says BC Charles-Liscombe, Ed.D., ATC, chair of the Department of Athletic Training.

DPT Student Publishes Paper in Physical Therapy Journal Physical therapy student Alesha Williams ‘18 was a part of a research group investigating High Intensity Interval Training in patients following stroke. Their paper, titled “High-Intensity Interval Training and ModerateIntensity Continuous Training in Ambulatory Chronic Stroke: A Feasibility Study,” was published in the April 2016 issue of Physical Therapy, Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Nursing School Among Top Performing Programs A new survey by the Nursing Schools Almanac ranks the Mount’s nursing program at 34th in the nursing schools in the Great Lakes region (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin).

The methodology included each institution’s academic prestige and perceived value, the breadth and depth of nursing programs offered, and student success on the NCLEX national licensure exam.

MOUNT HOSTS TRI-STATE MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS AWARENESS DAY There are 100,000 people listed as “missing” on any given day in the United States, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), as well as an estimated 40,000 unknown persons in the United States.

Approximately 20 of those cases were discovered in the Cincinnati area since 1970 and remain unidentified today.

To raise awareness of these staggering statistics, the Mount, in cooperation with NamUs and several local law enforcement agencies, hosted the Tri-State Missing and Unidentified Persons Awareness Day on Oct. 15 in the Seton Center.

Visitors learned how to prevent crimes such as abduction and how to recognize the signs that someone is at risk of becoming a missing person. Hands-on displays demonstrated a variety of types of forensic evidence, such as microscopic traces that could help investigators follow a trail of evidence.

“Our goal is to help people know what to do in the event that their lives intersect with a missing person investigation,” says Elizabeth Murray, Ph.D., ’86 forensic anthropologist and professor of biology at the Mount. “This is the kind of information you hope you never need, but it’s important to know in case a loved one or neighbor ever disappears. Learning more about how victims are identified will also help people understand the data that’s necessary to give a name to an unknown person.”

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM ACCREDITATION UPDATE The developing Physician Assistant Program underwent an accreditation review in November as part of the application for provisional accreditation. The site visitors thoroughly reviewed the program’s curriculum, facilities, and institutional support to assure compliance with accreditation standards. If granted provisional accreditation, the Mount will proceed with interviews of applications to fill the 32 student slots available.

photo copyright: istockphoto.com

4 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

COMMUNITY SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS EARN NATIONAL HONOR

STUDENTS TAKE ON NYC

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a U.S. agency that helps millions of Americans improve their lives by encouraging volunteer work and service to others, named the Mount to its President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. According to the CNCS, this represents the highest level of federal recognition an institution can receive for its commitment to community, service learning, and civic engagement.

“Service and community engagement are both at the heart of our mission as a university,” says Keith Lanser, service learning coordinator at the Mount. “We live and study in a region that has many problems, ranging from childhood poverty to high rates of obesity. These problems won’t be solved unless community leaders get involved to make this better. That’s what we do at Mount St. Joseph University—we train students to change their communities for the better.”

Highlights of the Mount’s service learning program include 52 education students completing more than 1,920 hours tutoring and mentoring with youth in urban school settings throughout the academic year; 14 students serving more than 420 hours by completing health- and wellness-related programs with clients aged 5 to 85; and 12 students completing service learning experiences with five community partners that complemented United Nations’ development goals.

THE MOUNT EARNS TOP MARKS

RUNNING AWAY WITH VICTORY

U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Mount among the top 50 Regional Universities for Veterans in the Midwest category. The magazine also ranked the university 79th in its annual list of the Best Regional Universities in the Midwest category.

For the second consecutive year, the Mount won first place in the annual Warrior Run College Challenge, a 5K run dedicated to promoting education that raises awareness and reduces stigma for mental illness and suicide prevention. The student club, Veterans in Communities (VIC), participated in this year’s run and raised $1,452, recruited 41 race participants, and completed 110 volunteer hours, all of which contributed to their top placement.

Challengers included area universities such as Xavier, University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, and Cincinnati State.

To be ranked among the top universities for veterans, institutions had to be certified for the GI Bill, participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program, had to be in the top half of its Best Colleges ranking category, and have 20 or more students receiving GI bill benefits to fund their tuition and fees.

All of the VIC funds raised will be used for mental health programming at the Mount and scholarships.

Nine Mount students traveled to New York City in August to learn about the role that non-government organizations play in helping the United Nations achieve its Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. These goals include reducing poverty and hunger, promoting optimal health and quality education, fostering clean energy and economic growth, reducing climate change, and other global initiatives.

As part of their studies in the Big Apple, the students, along with Jim Bodle, Ph.D., professor of psychology, and Elizabeth Bookser Barkley, Ph.D., professor of English, volunteered at a sustainable, educational garden and composting site in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The visit was part of an honors course that introduces students to the history and goals of the United Nations. Students were given firsthand experience at Red Hook Community Farm, an urban garden that integrates education and work experience for teens and promotes community-supported agriculture.

Mount students harvested almost 200 pounds of food, including cucumbers and peppers.

FALL 2016 • 5

The first women who attended College of Mount St. Joseph in its early years lived and studied in the building now called Marian Hall in the Motherhouse.

The Sisters of Charity were forward thinking in their desire to open a college for women in the 1920s.

THE LAUNCH OF A LEGACY In 1920, the Mount opened its doors to a new class of scholarly women

By Kara Gebhart Uhl

This fall, Mount St. Joseph University opened The 1920s signified political and social change its doors to nearly 2,000 women and men, and for women. The 19th Amendment was ratified, welcomed its centennial class, which will granting women the right to vote. graduate in 2020.

The League of Women Voters was First, some history: In 1854, the founded. Locally, Cincinnati City Sisters of Charity opened Mount Council elected its first woman.

“May we, St. Vincent Motherhouse in And on Sept. 14, 1920, the class of ’24, Cincinnati. In 1906, the Sisters the College of Mount St. be truly valiant women, of Charity opened Mount Joseph opened its doors and may we ever live St. Joseph Academy (at the for the first time to according to the noble Motherhouse), a four-year 20 women. traditions and ideals of As the first Catholic college for high school that also offered our alma mater.” college-level classes, equivalent women chartered in the state of —Mary Ellen Malone ’24 to one year of college credit. In Ohio, the Mount has empowered 1919, the Sisters of Charity sought students throughout the decades, state recognition for the Academy, continuing the legacy it launched and inquired about a college rating. almost 100 years ago. Its mission, The State of Ohio granted the College of emphasizing values, integrity, and social Mount St. Joseph’s charter on April 10, 1920, responsibility, has remained largely unchanged.

1920

1921

1923

The College of Mount St. Joseph opens.

The Mount is placed on the Catholic University of America’s list of affiliated colleges.

The Mount receives National Catholic Education Association accreditation.

6 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

extending the powers granted to Mount St. Vincent Academy.

The first women to attend College of Mount St. Joseph lived and studied in the building now called Marian Hall in the Motherhouse, sharing space with Mount St. Joseph Academy students. In the October 1926 issue of The Mother Seton Journal, a student writes: “Mount St. Joseph still is echoing the shouts of workmen, the tapping of hammers, the shrieks of whistles, the unloading of bricks, the roaring of trucks—all of which indicate that sometime the new building will be completed.” Seton Hall, on the old campus, opened in 1927.

The Sisters of Charity were forward thinking in their desire to open a college for women in the 1920s, as contemporary societal opinion on higher education for women varied. In 1922, elevator manufacturer Alonzo B. See wrote a scathing letter to Adelphi College, then an all-women’s college in Brooklyn, N.Y., saying if he had his way, all women’s colleges would be burned and that, “Of all the fool things in the world I think the college for women is the worst. When they graduate from college they cannot write a decent hand.

And 100 years later, in fall 2016, the Mount welcomed a new class of freshmen who will represent the Class of 2020.

They know nothing about the English language. They have their brains twisted by a lot of stuff not only useless, but absolutely harmful.”

The letter, printed in The New York Times, received national attention, with many men and women coming to the defense of women in school. In an article that appeared in the Nov. 24, 1922 edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ella McCalleb, then dean of Vassar College in Arlington, N.Y., is quoted as saying, “College women have a great deal of common sense, and are willing to work. He evidently does not know many college women because if

he did, he would feel very differently.

They have proved themselves in every community worthy of good education.”

As support of women in college grew, so did the Mount, in all areas— enrollment, faculty, building size, and course offerings. And as growth occurred, faculty stayed true to its founding mission, which states, in part, that “the college aims to inform the mind, to train the heart, to stimulate the will so that the result will be a true woman ready to take her rightful place in the social, the business, and the religious world.”

1924

1926

1927

The Mount awards first degrees to nine graduates (seven women and two Sisters of Charity); six students receive their teacher’s certificates; Alumnae Association established.

The Mount’s nursing program begins, in cooperation with Good Samaritan Hospital.

Seton Hall opens, with five floors that included classrooms, labs, a library, offices, a reception area, and student housing.

FALL 2016 • 7

THE LAUNCH OF A LEGACY

THE MOUNT ACADEMIC BULLETIN: 1920 EDITION • Number of 1920 full-time faculty: 10, including three Sisters of Charity and seven Cincinnati Archdiocesan priests.

• Tuition: $400/year, including board and laundry; $100/year for day students.

• 1920s graduation requirements: a major in each of two subjects of study, or a major in one and a minor in two others.

• 1924 class colors: scarlet and gray.

As support for women in college grew, so did the Mount, in all areas—enrollment, faculty, building size, and course offerings.

Sr. Nancy Bramlage, SC, ’67, director of mission and ministry, says the Mount’s mission can be traced back to 1809, when Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity, started a school for young girls in Baltimore, Md. “We were involved in education from the beginning,” she says. Today, Bramlage adds, those involved in the students’ educational endeavors constantly think about how a Mount education not only fits today’s societal standards but also respects its roots.

“How do we carry out those core values that were part of our foundation 100 years ago?” she asks.

The Mount’s current mission statement strives to answer that question while emphasizing five values: excellence in academic endeavors; the integration of life and learning; respect and concern for all persons; diversity of cultures and beliefs; and service to others.

It’s a mission that, nearly 100 years later, students still find attractive. “I was

inspired to choose Mount St. Joseph University because of the overabundance of service opportunities, family atmosphere, small class sizes, and the expertise and attention from professors,” says Joey Piazza, a member of the Class of 2020 centennial class.

Samantha Gavin, also slated to graduate in 2020, chose the Mount while a senior at Seton High School.

“I decided on Mount St. Joseph University not only because it has an excellent nursing program but also because of its past. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity, just like my high school was. I knew that it would continue on the mission of the Sisters that I so strongly agree with. And to be graduating in 2020 means so much.

Knowing that it is the 100th year that the Mount has existed is so mind opening—to know that 100 years ago there was a class, just like ours, who went out and did wonderful things and we will follow in their footsteps.”

1928

1929

1930

Enrollment at the Mount exceeds 100, with students arriving from eight different states.

College awards its first honorary degree to writer Willa Cather.

The Mount becomes a member of the Ohio College Association.

8 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

HOW IT WAS One of the first Mount students, Mary Agnes Doorley Brandewie ‘24 majored in music and mathematics, and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. She taught for 10 years until 1934, when she married and raised three children. Twenty years later, Brandewie resumed teaching, and, in 1962, obtained a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Detroit. She taught until she was 85, winning several awards, and passed away in 1995. Each year, a student at Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney, Ohio, receives a mathematics scholarship in her name.

Inside the Mount’s archives is a typewritten note written by Brandewie, one that provides some fascinating insight into what it was like to be a student of the Mount’s first graduating class.

1. The lights went out each evening at 9 p.m. We often studied by flashlight.

2. Mass each morning at 6 a.m. (I loved this) 3. Lived in a dorm with at least six others, heavy white curtains could be drawn around each cubicle.

4. Everyone in college had to take physical education, speech, and religion.

5. We had extraordinarily good professors. I have never felt inferior when in meetings with graduates of other colleges, large or small.

6. When we went to town, we were inspected for hats and gloves. We had to at least start out with them on.

7. Several of us were in plays in Music Hall in Cincinnati. We walked down the hill and took the Sedamsville trolley so as to save money.

8. We did not keep money with us but had a passbook. We would have to beg for a quarter if we wanted to walk over to the country store.

9. We usually had tickets to the Cincinnati Symphony.

10. There were no radios but we made one in Physics Lab and could get the Cincinnati station on it.

11. There were no washers or dryers. Our soiled clothes were washed and returned to us in a bundle. We could go to Sr. Mary Winifred to use an iron.

12. We were not allowed to smoke, but, of course, we would sneak out to the cemetery to do so, even if we didn’t care about it.

13. When in town, we took the Elberon car to the end of the line and Fred met us there with the limousine.

1931

1932

1933

The Mount becomes a member of the Association of American Colleges and the American Council on Education.

The Mount earns accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Mount’s enrollment exceeds 250, with 40 full-time faculty.

FALL 2016 • 9

THE LAUNCH OF A LEGACY

AN EDUCATION THAT RUNS IN THE FAMILY Since 1920, several generations of families have walked the Mount’s hallways and classrooms, gaining valuable life experiences while earning their degrees.

As we head toward our 2020 centennial celebration, Mount News will profile families whose connections run deep throughout the university’s history.

When Christopher Ballweg graduates with an M.B.A. from the Mount in 2018, he’ll be keeping up with a family tradition.

For five generations, his family had been connected to the university, beginning with his great grand-aunt, Sister Julia Farfsing, SC, who worked at the Mount in its earliest years and passed away in 1981 at the age of 92.

“I always knew my family had a connection to the Mount,” says Christopher, who is an internal auditor at Great American Insurance in Cincinnati. Though he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, he prefers the personalized, small-classroom experiences and flexible academic programs available at Mount St. Joseph University. “I do lots of traveling during the week, so the Mount’s Saturday M.B.A. program works great for me.”

His mother and aunt, Julie Wilger Ballweg ’85 and Meg Wilger Jung ’83, respectively, both attended the Mount as well. Julie recalls visiting her big sister at the Mount on weekends

while she was still in high school. “I remember having fun times with her and all her friends,” she says. “It felt like a good fit for me, too.”

Julie’s decision to attend the Mount was also because of its strong nursing program and—echoing her son’s preference—its small class sizes ensured that every student received personalized support from their professors.

“I started working at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center soon after graduation,” says Julie. “The Mount gave me a good overall nursing education that I’ve built upon through work experience. I’ve been at Cincinnati Children’s at least part time ever since, working in emergency services and currently in ambulatory orthopedics with spine surgery patients.”

Meg, who runs an art studio in Newport, Ky., has memories of the Mount that date back to her childhood when she’d play the piano for “Aunt Julia” while on campus. “I had a familiarity with the Mount in grade school,” she says. When it came to

looking for universities to attend, Meg adds, “I don’t think I really even applied anywhere else.”

Her memories of the Mount include the sophomore revue and contributing to fundraisers, hanging out with friends, and writing letters to her classmates during the Christmas break to keep in touch (Meg adds that she has saved all of her friends’ correspondence from her Mount years).

“It was a good education and a fun growth experience,” she says. “I was a late bloomer and very shy in high school. Once I got to the Mount, I was able to become myself.”

Julie’s and Meg’s mother, Ann Murray Wilger ’59, attended the Mount when the campus was located at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, before it was relocated in 1962 to its current address on the corner of Neeb Road and Delhi Avenue. In those days, discipline was a bit stricter under the Mount’s first president, Sister Maria Corona. But as it turns out, Ann enjoyed breaking the rules … just a little.

From left: Sister Marjorie Farfsing (center); Meg Wilger Jung ‘83 (bottom left) with her classmates; and Kathryn Murray Westerling ’88 as Snow White.

10 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

“I was sort of a troublemaker,” she says. “We’d have parties in our rooms. We danced and jumped up and down over a priest’s room but he never complained.” The dress code was much stricter as well—knees had to be covered at all times and women could not wear slacks. Whenever Ann and her friends left campus, they’d often change clothes in the backseat of a car.

Despite her adventurous attitude, Ann is grateful to the Sisters of Charity for the education she received. By far the most significant impact the Mount had on Ann’s life was the opportunity to meet her husband, Jim, at a Sunday night mixer. He had been a student at the University of Cincinnati, and had never visited her college until a friend urged him to come along.

“His mother was so excited that he would meet a nice Catholic girl,” says Ann, who actually didn’t want to attend the mixer—she had better things to do than wait for guys to speak with her.

She’d decided to only hang out for five minutes. “Two minutes before I left, Jim

walked up,” she recalls. “His line was corny. My roommate said he’s going to ask you out. It was history after that.”

And Jim’s mom—Ruth Daly Wilger, who also attended the Mount—was very happy he was marrying someone from her alma mater.

Westerling ’88, attended the Mount in the early 1960s but left before finishing her degree and moved out of Cincinnati. Years later, she returned to finally finish her Mount education and got a full-time teaching job in Cincinnati (she retired in 2011 and now lives in Hidden Valley, Ind.).

When she is not traveling the world with her family, Kathryn enjoys needlework, gardening, walks with her husband, and tending to her two dogs.

One of her favorite Mount memories was playing Snow White in a children’s play in 1964, earning her the nickname “Snow” among her classmates.

Interestingly enough, the oldest living member of the family has one of the most recent connections to the Mount. Sister Marjorie Farfsing, SC—

Ann and Kathryn’s aunt—taught at the school from the mid-1980s into the 1990s helping students with dyslexia.

At 94 years old, she remains as sharp as ever and grateful to the miracle 20 years ago which overturned a cancer diagnosis that gave her only six months to live.

“God had work for me to do,” she says simply. “Today, I love life and being where I am.”

For this single family—the Ballwegs, the Wilgers, the Murrays, and the Farfsings—the Mount has been a connective tissue that has helped create powerful memories, passions, and relationships across five generations.

According to Kathryn, it all started with the “great Aunt Jules” decades ago. Attending the Mount, she adds, “was something we did in our family. I felt like I always had a home here.”

Does your family’s connection to the Mount span generations?

Let us know at alumni@msj.edu.

SCHOLARLY PURSUITS Throughout the Mount’s history, a commitment to giving and helping others has defined the campus culture, beginning with the Sisters of Charity and extending to the donors whose generosity and philanthropy continues to ensure that the university provides top career opportunities for students, advanced learning facilities, professional development experiences, and world-class faculty.

Scholarships and grants are especially helpful as they provide financial support to students without any requirement to pay the money back.

This support includes funds that help pay for tuition, supplies, room and board, and other essentials of college life. It is especially significant and celebratory to the Mount community when our alumni create their own scholarships.

Jean Frolicher ’52 and her sister, Pat Frolicher ’51, created the Elsie and Harold Frolicher Scholarship in 1978 after their father passed away.

“Neither of our parents went to college,” says Jean. “But our father always brought up that education was important.” Over the years, she has had the opportunity to meet several Mount students who were recipients of her family’s scholarship.

“It’s always a revelation to see what they’re doing,” adds Jean, who also received scholarship support as a Mount student.

Mary Joan Blum ’41, who turned 98 this past fall, created a scholarship in 1975 because, “I felt I should give back to the Mount what they gave me.”

She used her bachelor’s degree in math right after graduation when the U.S. Army was looking for women with college degrees to serve as “computers” (a job title in 1941) during World War II. Hundreds of these educated women solved complex equations and provided crucial data that helped U.S. soldiers abroad deal with variable weather and other battlefield conditions.

“I received lots of assistance when I was a Mount student,” says Mary Joan. In addition to a scholarship, she received additional financial support that helped pay for lodging and school supplies. “I would tell other alumni to think about what the Mount has done for them, and consider that maybe it’s time to give back,” she notes.

As the Mount approaches its 100-year anniversary, look for announcements about scholarships specifically honoring this milestone. If you are interested in learning more about our centennial scholarship program, please contact alumni@msj.edu.

Mary Joan Blum ‘41 (left) and Jean Frolicher ‘52.

FALL 2016 • 11

DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE Graduates of the School of Education are doing more than teaching—they’re changing lives and improving communities

By Jim H. Smith

When Ann Brinkley ’02 completed her undergraduate work in English literature at the University of Cincinnati in 1995, she wasn’t sure what to do next. “I turned to my advisor,” recalls Brinkley. “I asked a lot of questions.”

The advisor’s counsel to pursue a teaching career led her to Mount St. Joseph University, where she earned her master’s degree in education.

The scholarship Brinkley received helped pay for supplies and books, and enabled her to take the time to earn her graduate degree.

She also landed a paid position as a resident coordinator in one of the Mount’s residence halls. And she worked as a counselor in Project Scope, a summer program designed to help promising minority students successfully transition from high school to college.

It was all good experience to prepare her for a career that commenced with eight years as an educational aide, followed by four years of teaching and 10 years in academic administration after earning her Mount degree. Currently principal North College Hill High School, located in one of many Cincinnati neighborhoods experiencing poverty, Brinkley is quick to acknowledge the importance of her education at the Mount in preparing her for her successful career.

“It was very valuable,” says Brinkley, whose longstanding relationship with her alma mater is so important that she accepted an invitation to become a member of the School of Education’s Advisory Board. “I developed proficiency in both my subject matter and my craft, but it was the intimacy of the school that made a particularly strong impression. I wasn’t limited to a single advisor. I had several professors who served as mentors, and my relationships with them transcended my formal education. Even after I graduated and began working, they were still there for me. I have often turned to them for advice.”

“Family” is the word Brinkley chooses to describe them. “The atmosphere in the Education Department was, ‘We care for you. We want you to succeed and we’re here to make sure you do.’

It was a very nurturing place.”

12 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

Thanks to her Mount degree, Ann Brinkley ‘02 serves as principal of schools in Cincinnati’s North College Hill neighborhood.

READY TO SERVE

The wellspring of that sense of family and nurturing, says Assistant Professor Laura Saylor, Ph.D., director of the School of Education’s graduate-level inclusive early childhood program, was the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, and it was forged into the school’s mission and vision. “Along with nursing, education is one of the Mount’s legacy programs,” she notes. “It has been part of the university since it was founded by the sisters in 1920. The school’s mission is to prepare ‘highly qualified, collaborative, caring, and reflective educators who uphold the tradition of social responsibility, academic excellence, and ethical leadership’ of the Sisters.”

Since 1955, the Mount has graduated about 3,400 teachers. Their impact, and that of the teachers who came before them, has been felt in schools throughout the region. “All of them are products of a program whose aim has always been toward developing teachers who are both highly skilled, prepared, and deeply compassionate,” says Associate Professor Jim Green, Ph.D.

expected to do such training in a “Our focus is wholly on preparing number of different kinds of schools teachers.” and communities.”

Indeed, the School of Of special interest, Education’s formal vision however, are Cincinnati’s clearly states that it is communities “grounded in the “The school’s experiencing service-oriented mission is to poverty and the tradition of prepare ‘highly qualified, schools that the Sisters of collaborative, caring serve them.

Charity and and reflective educators According the Catholic to 2014 intellectual who uphold the tradition estimates tradition of social responsibility, by the U.S. of free and academic excellence and Census open inquiry ethical leadership’ of Bureau, in search of the Sisters.” approximately truth. Through — Laura Saylor, Ph.D. 44 percent our innovative assistant professor and of children in programs, we program director Cincinnati live nurture educators in poverty, double who are knowledgeable, the national average. collaborative, ethical, and Some local projections supportive of diversity.” suggest it is even more dire, exceeding “The Mount’s focus has consistently 50 percent. However severe, it is a been on training teachers to understand situation that manifests itself in unique and support diversity,” says Green. challenges for educators, and it is never “A large part of our students’ training far from the minds of the School of is in real-world experiences, student Education’s faculty. teaching, and practica. Students are

National board certified teacher Nancy Flickinger ‘97 is founder of the Teaching Professions Academy at Taylor High School in the Three Rivers Local School District. She credits the Mount with her ability to connect with students.

FALL 2016 • 13

DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE

THE PROBLEM SOLVER Craig Hockenberry ’95 grew up in Malvern, a town in northeast Ohio that had a population of 1,189 in the 2010 census. A high school football player, he arrived at the Mount in the autumn of 1989, looking forward to experiencing the collegiate gridiron and unsure about what else to expect from the academic experience.

Hockenberry, now superintendent of schools in the Three Rivers Local School District, says, “What I found was that all the resources I needed for success were available in the education department. The faculty interaction with the students was very one-on-one. There was a lot of personal attention.”

He also met a lot of students just like him ... “small town guys who had learned some very important lessons about life and success on the football field,” says Hockenberry. “We were very competitive. We pushed each other in the classroom. But we also watched out for and supported each other.”

When it came time for him to choose a school in which to perform a practicum, he selected a parochial school in a suburb, where he would spend a week.

“I got there, and honestly it didn’t feel right,” he says. “It wasn’t the kind of setting in which I wanted to teach. I was looking for something else.” What he was seeking, however, wasn’t entirely clear.

The school he chose for his next practicum was an inner-city school. “It was old and in poor condition,” he recalls. “I was shocked.”

But it turned out to be precisely what he needed. “At the inner-city school, I was required to solve problems all the time. And I got better at what I was doing every day.”

Those problems included kids with short attention spans, rudeness, fighting, anxiety issues, and lack of parental involvement. “After that, I did practica at several more inner-city schools,” says Hockenberry. “Some were really hardcore.

But they were the places where I discovered what I wanted to do with my life.”

Although he knew inner-city schools were his calling, Hockenberry admits he could not have foreseen the immense challenges he would tackle as principal of Oyler School, Cincinnati’s only predominately white, inner-city school. Its 800 students were living in a neighborhood experiencing severe poverty, filled with violent crime, drugs, and incarcerated families, among other issues.

What Hockenberry came to realize was that there was no way to make educational progress without addressing the broader issue of poverty within the community. “It was the root of all the problems,” he says.

How he transformed Oyler—which included introducing health clinics, recruiting a physician, and creating an early learning center—is documented in a riveting film called Oyler: One School, One Year. His inspirational work is considered a model within the Mount’s School of Education, where Hockenberry is a member of the Advisory Board.

“The way I ran Oyler,” says Hockenberry, “was patterned after the Mount. I went into the community and met people and built relationships. I dug in. We didn’t change things overnight, but piece by piece we proved that it is possible to change a community and improve the quality of life.”

14 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

“Our undergraduates serve as student teachers in many inner-city schools where they come face-to-face with the challenges teachers in those neighborhoods face on a daily basis,” says Green. “But Greater Cincinnati comprises some 45 to 50 suburban districts as well. Some are affluent, but not all. Many are middle class and some semi-rural. Students hone their skills in a variety of settings. The idea is for them to have had a broad range of hands-on experiences by the time they graduate, preparing them to quickly adapt to the needs of any school or community.”

Students commence their field training experience as sophomores, and the result, says Carla Good, student services coordinator in the School of Education, is that “they are welcomed in area schools and school districts because the Mount has a longstanding reputation for producing quality educators.”

“When cooperating teachers in area schools evaluate our student teachers, they consistently affirm that our students are well-prepared and ready to serve from the moment they arrive,” says Green. “No one needs to hold their hands.”

And that, in turn, means that the School of Education enjoys a high placement rate for its graduates. In 2015, an impressive 91 percent of its graduates found jobs in Cincinnatiarea schools. Approximately 70 percent end up finding employment in public schools, says Green. The remaining 30 percent choose to work in Cincinnati—the nation’s sixth largest Roman Catholic school system— or other types of private schools.

METICULOUS MONITORING

“While students are here at the Mount we strive to develop the right mindset for teaching,” says Harrison Collier, who taught for 30 years in the Cincinnati school system before becoming director of clinical experiences and assessment coordinator at the School of Education.

“Leadership is an immensely important quality. Sometimes a teacher is the most stable person in a student’s life. We try to inspire that capacity in our students.”

The Mount’s School of Education faculty includes: (from left, front row) Amy Murdoch, Ph.D.; Laura Saylor, Ph.D.; Diana Davis, Ph.D.; Harrison Collier, M.Ed.; (from left, back row) Jan Maltinsky, M.Ed.; Beth Corbo, Ed.D.; Carla Good, M.S.; Jim Green, Ph.D.; Michael Bindis, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Bayfield, M.Ed.; Cindy Shibinski, M.A.; Chris Monte Calvo, M.Ed.; and Angela Kinney, Ed.D.

According to Collier, “meticulously and consistently monitoring the progress of students’ development is central to the success of the students and of the school. That is accomplished in several ways.”

For starters, there is the ongoing evaluation of students’ individual and collective academic work. Then there is the review of their performance in the field, measured by both faculty members and teachers who oversee their work as student teachers and in practica in area schools.

“Ohio’s value-added data system provides information on student academic gains,” notes Collier. “When Mount graduates teach in public schools in Ohio, the state measures the yearly academic growth of their students and publishes it as a value-added metric.

The measure tells us if our graduates are helping students grow academically from year to year, thus helping us to see one part of our graduates’ success once they’re in the field.”

While Collier is quick to note that it’s not a flawless analysis, he says, “This measure does allow us to understand how well our alumni are doing, and it helps validate our belief, and the widespread belief of other professionals, that we are training knowledgeable, caring, and well-prepared teachers.”

INNOVATION: READING SCIENCE PROGRAM While the ethics of the School of Education are firmly grounded in a nearly 100-year-old tradition of service-oriented teaching, the school is also home to one of the nation’s most innovative and highly regarded reading science programs. Headed by Associate Professor Amy Murdoch, the Reading Science Program is one of the first in America to be accredited by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).

The fully online program was launched in 2008, and has grown steadily since then. Starting with 10 students, it currently has 138 students from 26 states and two other countries.

“Our program comprises different tracks,” explains Murdoch. “We offer a master’s degree, a dyslexia certificate, and the Ohio Reading Endorsement. Students learn instructional approaches to teach reading, writing, and spelling.”

The programs use a scientifically based reading research model. Course work includes LETRS (Language Essentials in Teaching Reading and Spelling) and Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Reading.

Graduates work in public and private education settings in such roles as literacy/ reading specialists, classroom teachers, special educators, directors of centers for children with dyslexia, IDA branch presidents, speech pathologists, and private tutors.

Students Enrolled in Online Reading Science Program 2008 (First Year)

10 students

138 students

2016 0

30

60

90

120

150

FALL 2016 • 15

DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE “The Mount thoroughly prepares its Academy at Taylor High School in the students for the demands of teaching Three Rivers Local School District. “He In addition to extensive field practice, in the widest range of settings,” adds was a powerful role model, and the another key to students’ development Brinkley. “In a community like ours, example he set for me has spilled as professionals is the robust giveeffective teaching demands more than over into everything I do. I and-take of the School of merely an understanding of one’s subject always strive to connect Education’s classroom matter.” with my students and experience, and “I developed The Mount’s students are always show them that I students’ freedom prepared for the rigors of teaching care about them. proficiency in both to shape that in inner-city schools, she adds. “They It has made experience to my subject matter come to our schools knowing what to an enormous accommodate their and my craft, but it was expect and are prepared to deal with difference in how individual interests the intimacy of the school it. They know that kids in our schools I do my job and and goals. that made a particularly have often been disappointed. Many how successful “Because of strong impression.” have been abandoned by the adults in I am.” the Mount’s size, their lives. They don’t trust easily.”

— Ann Brinkley ‘02, principal of we’re really able to North College Hill High School As a principal, she follows the THOROUGHLY adapt to individual same philosophy of nurturing that PREPARED students,” says Saylor. she encountered as a Mount student.

Students’ confidence “We’re small and “Teachers’ roles and responsibilities gets a real shot in the nimble and we’ve been extend well beyond the classroom. arm, says Bindis, when they able to incorporate hands-on, They play pivotal roles in keeping take the state of Ohio licensure inquiry-based learning into many families informed and helping them examination. A final rite of passage of our programs. It’s one of the most help their children to succeed.” for students at many colleges and important ways we prepare our students “Our aim is to educate the whole universities, passing the exam plays a for success when they graduate.” teacher and, in that sense, the School of greater role at the Mount. Before they Assistant Professor Michael Bindis, Education remains true to the original can student teach, Mount students must Ph.D., joined the Mount’s faculty mission of the Sisters of Charity,” says pass the examination, even though their in 2013. Previously a high school Diana Davis, Ph.D., interim provost education is ongoing and they have not chemistry teacher, he came to the and former interim dean of the School yet graduated.

Mount in response to its search for of Education. “The students we “Area schools know that when a faculty member with a special skill graduate are compassionate, they accept one of our students, set: someone who could teach middle well-informed, and fully prepared. they don’t need babysitting,” says childhood education (grades 4-9) while Our reputation is on the line with Bindis. “They arrive prepared and also having a K-12 teaching license in every student we graduate, and ready to make a meaningful mathematics. Bindis, who had been our graduates consistently live up contribution. It’s one of the School working on a Ph.D. in chemistry to that reputation.” of Education’s hallmarks.” education, says that he’d always had an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, but discovered an abiding interest in teaching while completing his graduate work.

“I did my undergraduate work at a small liberal arts college,” he says.

“When I came to the Mount, it was like returning to that sort of environment, and I found it very inviting. There’s a lot of faculty camaraderie. It is rewarding to see how our students develop in this sort of close, nurturing environment—how they grow as educators, but also as human beings.”

In turn, the faculty’s holistic investment in the school’s students is reflected, again and again, in the students’ professional work. “My faculty advisor and mentor could not have been more interested in and supportive of my work,” says Nancy Flickinger ’97, national board certified teacher and Laura Saylor, Ph.D., director of the School of Education’s early childhood program, with Mount freshman founder of the Teaching Professions Toria Black.

INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

16 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

photo copyright: tonefotografia, istockphoto.com

UP CLOSE AND PROFESSIONAL Mount research programs lead to knowledge creation as well as the development of essential career skills

By Jessica Baltzersen ’14 Under the glossy green leaves of a sweet birch tree in Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Lancaster, Ohio, lie shed exoskeletons of periodical cicadas. These delicate outer skins, collected by a naturalist at the preserve, are sent to a lab where senior biology major Zachary Dickman meticulously studies them underneath his dissecting microscope. Their work is part of a research project Dickman is working on with Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., Mount biology professor and department chair, who has been researching periodical cicadas for more than 40 years.

This particular project came about in 1999 when the cicada skins were first collected. Seventeen years later, the cicadas appeared again under the same tree, and a new sampling of insect skins became available to compare. They are analyzing the samplings from 1999 and 2016 to determine what differences have emerged across the 17-year period.

“Comparing the skins will enable us to see if the proportions of the different species changed between two

consecutive emergences,” says Kritsky.

“We know the different species like different ecological conditions. So if the proportions are different, then something must have changed in the area where skins were collected.”

Dickman is one of many undergraduate Mount students heavily involved in one-on-one research projects who work with expert faculty members to produce thorough, thought-provoking, and distinguished work, preparing students for graduate school and their future careers as scientists and researchers.

Undergraduate research opportunities are invaluable to a student’s academic success. The Association of American Colleges and Universities reported findings based on a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) 2010 survey.

Results indicated that “most research experiences enhance intellectual skills such as inquiry and analysis, reading and understanding primary literature, communication, and teamwork.”

As a result, undergraduate researchers gain a better understanding of the research process within their field and increase self-confidence and independence in original thought and work.

“More graduate and professional schools are looking for students with research experience,” says Kritsky.

“The Mount has been providing students with research experience for years, which has contributed to the success of our graduates.”

SOLIDIFYING CAREER PATHS

Junior psychology major Anthony Winters aspires to earn a graduate degree in childhood psychology as a pathway to a professional career working with children. After taking a Childhood and Society course last spring with Assistant Professor Nazneen Kane, Ph.D., and learning about Kane’s own interest in the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies, he inquired about possible research opportunities.

FALL 2016 • 17

UP CLOSE AND PROFESSIONAL

After taking a Childhood and Society course with Assistant Professor Nazneen Kane, Ph.D. (left), junior psychology major Anthony Winters joined his instructor to research ways in which different childcare programs market themselves on the web as well as provide insight on the benefits of play-based approaches in early childhood education. Photo courtesy of Nazneen Kane, Ph.D.

It was perfect timing—Kane was “I love children and strive to be a beginning a new project examining good role model,” says Winters. “It early childhood programming. was rewarding to be gathering Winter’s aspirations, interests, information on a topic I’m and experience working truly passionate about. at the Boys & Girls I knew for graduate “I think it is Club of America as a school I had to have impor tant to gain program leader for research experience. research experience the K-2nd grade This project not with a faculty member group made him an only helped me ideal fit for learn how to because it teaches the project. research, but it you lessons that you Winters was helped solidify my don’t experience in tasked with decision that a classroom lab.” creating a database I’m going into of about 100 early the right field.”

— Zachary Dickman, senior biology major childhood programs in Cincinnati and Washington, MENTORSHIP D.C. Through qualitative OPPORTUNITIES analysis, Kane and Winters are Professor Emeritus Lynda Crane, examining the ways in which different Ph.D., and Associate Professor Tracy childcare programs market themselves on McDonough, Ph.D., created The the web as either play-based or academicSchizophrenia Oral History Project based to attract potential customers.

(TSOHP) to tell the life stories of While they are still completing the people suffering from this mental project, they hope to provide insight on disorder. McDonough created a new the benefits children gain in play-based practicum at the university for Mount approaches in early childhood education. psychology majors that gives them the They also hope to present their research opportunity and freedom to conduct at a regional or national sociology independent research connected to conference and to publish their research the project while working under the in an academic journal.

18 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

mentorship of an expert faculty member.

Prior to taking the practicum course, students take a prerequisite class with McDonough to gain foundational knowledge about schizophrenia and its related stigmas, oral history methodology, and social justice issues. Students are also assessed to identify their personal leadership strengths. At the end of the foundational semester, students submit a written proposal of a project that they will implement the following semester (for the practicum) that both benefits TSOHP as well as builds upon their strengths.

“The practicum is designed to expand the opportunities for student involvement in this unique project,” says McDonough. “Nowhere else in the country is this kind of work being done, and it is important to allow students to benefit from working on groundbreaking scholarship.”

Rachel Jackson, senior psychology major, became interested in TSOHP and is currently working alongside McDonough through the practicum as a student research assistant.

“I greatly value Dr. McDonough’s mentorship, as she has helped me with a lot,” says Jackson. “This has opened my eyes to psychology on a much deeper level.”

Some of Jackson’s work includes TSOHP is an ongoing practicum securing a radio interview about and will continue to expand, says the project on WVXU as McDonough. “I would like well as transcribing parts the project to become of a Spanish interview more well-known “I greatly value that McDonough and for the project Dr. McDonough’s conducted (Jackson to grow even is proficient in more with the mentorship, as she Spanish). Jackson involvement has helped me with a lot. also proofread an of Mount This has opened my eyes article authored by students,” to psychology on a McDonough that she adds. is based off a 2015 much deeper level.” presentation the LESSONS — Rachel Jackson, associate professor senior psychology major LEARNED gave at an Oral History Back in the Mount Association conference. biology department The article will be translated in Science Building room and published in a Chinese 209, Dickman sets up his WILD academic journal, The Oral History M5 stereomicroscope with its mirror Studies, in December. attachment. He gets out the population In addition, Jackson is working on of cicadas to observe. Carefully taking directing and producing a documentary one out at a time, he puts them under on homelessness and mental illness for the microscope. He determines their her practicum experience. Screening sex then ascertains what species they of the documentary is planned for the are by using the mirror attachment to Mount’s Celebration of Teaching and measure the length of their legs and Learning Day in April 2017. mouthparts.

After graduation, Jackson intends “I always thought how cicadas to pursue a master’s degree followed emerged every so many years in a by a Ph.D. in educational studies with particular spot was fascinating,” a concentration in community action says Dickman. “I wanted to learn research. Her ultimate goal is to work more about them and there is no one with Hispanic and immigrant populations better to learn from than Dr. Kritsky. to improve the health care and educational He is very well known all over the support within their communities.

Tracy McDonough, Ph.D., and psychology major Rachel Jackson are working to better understand patients who suffer from schizophrenia.

They are also writing an article on the topic to be published in a Chinese academic journal, The Oral History Studies.

world for his work, so having the chance to work with him is truly an honor.”

Dickman’s assessment of his professor is spot on. In addition to serving as professor and chair of the Biology Department at the Mount, Kritsky is adjunct curator at the Cincinnati Museum Center and editorin-chief of American Entomologist. He has authored a dozen books and more than 150 articles in scientific journals and academic publications.

As Kritsky and Dickman identify the cicada species and compare the two groups from 1999 and 2016, they hope their analysis will lead to a published peer-reviewed article or provide content for a new book on periodical cicadas.

The Mount senior aspires to attend medical school next year and eventually become a physician.

“I think it is important to gain research experience with a faculty member because it teaches you lessons that you don’t experience in a classroom lab,” says Dickman.

Sometimes, he adds, things don’t always go as planned—and that in itself is a powerful lesson.

“I’m able to adapt and learn,” he says.

Senior biology major Zachary Dickman studies two cicada emergences that span 17 years. He hopes to shed light on the ecological conditions that have changed in the Ohio area as evidenced by differences in the insect’s outer skins.

Photo courtesy of Gene Kritsky, Ph.D.

FALL 2016 • 19

FACULTY & STAFF UPDATES

accomplishments

Robert Bodle, Ph.D., associate professor of communication and new media studies, coedited Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising (Routledge 2016) that includes his chapter, “A Critical Theory of Advertising as Surveillance: Algorithms, Big Data, and Power.”

Torry Cornett, M.Ed., academic advisor and instructor, presented the “Brother 2 Brother” Retention Initiative at the Mount in April. Cornett also joined the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative as a volunteer mentor in May. Mary Ann Edwards, D.B.A., associate professor of business, presented the paper “Integrating Literature into a Marketing Course: Using Pride and Prejudice” at the Academy of Business Research Conference in New Orleans, La., on May 17.

Terri Hurdle, Ed.D., director of diversity and inclusion, received the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Award Tower of Strength Award from the University of Cincinnati.

Keith Lanser, M.A., coordinator of service learning, chaired the second annual Greater Cincinnati Service Learning Network Community Partner Training Day and delivered a presentation entitled “Exemplary Service Learning Case Studies” at the event. He also joined the advisory board of the Ohio Campus Compact.

Sally Le Cras, D.P.T., P.T., P.C.S., adjunct instructor of physical therapy, coauthored “Commentary on Effect of Knee Orthoses on Hamstring Contracture in Children With Cerebral Palsy: Multiple Single-Subject Study” in the fall 2016 issue of Pediatric Physical Therapy.

Tracy McDonough, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, presented “Using Oral Histories of Persons with Schizophrenia to Enhance Student Learning of Mental Illness” at the annual meeting of Ohio-Project Kaleidoscope in Columbus, Ohio, in May 2016. In addition, she and Lynda Crane, Ph.D., professor emeritus, were interviewed about The Schizophrenia Oral History Project for The Other Side of the Mic podcast at Amplify: The Oral History Podcast Network.

Elizabeth Murray, Ph.D., professor of biology, organized the first Tri-State Missing and Unidentified Persons Awareness Day on Oct. 15. Beth brought in law enforcement experts to educate the public on bringing awareness to missing and unidentified persons, offering children’s fingerprinting services through the Mount St. Joseph University and Delhi Township police departments, to help prevent crimes such as abduction.

Kate Lassiter, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious and pastoral studies, was honored with the Emerging Scholar Award at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in April.

BC Charles-Liscombe, Ed.D., ATC, associate professor of athletic training and Erin Lewis, M.Ed., ATC, assistant professor of athletic training, were invited to participate in the “Utilizing Standardized Patients in Athletic Training Education” workshop hosted

by Indiana State University in June. The department intends to expand on its use of standardized patients in assessing athletic training students’ clinical assessment, communication, and critical thinking skills.

In addition, Charles-Liscombe and Brian Lewton, M.S., ATC, head athletic trainer, served on the medical staff of the Flying Pig Marathon. The duo supervised a group of six athletic training students at the finish line and provided emergency care for half, full, and marathon relay competitors.

Lastly, Charles-Liscombe also presented “Interprofessional Strategies for Integrating the Social Determinants of Health Into the Allied Health Curricula” at the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions annual meeting in New Orleans, La., in October.

Kim Hunter, M.B.A., director of instructional technology, and Mary Kay Fleming, Ph.D., academic assessment coordinator and professor of psychology, presented a workshop entitled “Rating course-embedded student artifacts using Blackboard Outcomes” at the annual conference of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education in June in Milwaukee, Wis. Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., professor of biology, had his book, The Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt, selected for the 2016 Books by Banks Book Festival that was held Oct. 15 at the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincinnati.

20 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

FAMILY BONDS Faculty Spotlight on Eric Johnson Associate Professor Eric Johnson, Ph.D., had an attraction to the Mount before he was even born. His grandmother, Mary Ellen (Moser) Huller ’38, was among the first women to be educated at the Mount when the students were housed in the Motherhouse and nuns taught many classes.

“It really means something to me that my grandmother was a student here,” says Johnson, who teaches chemistry. “I always knew how much she loved the Mount.”

Grandmother Huller, who will celebrate her 100th birthday next year, wanted to be a lawyer when she came to the Mount from her childhood home in Ft. Mitchell, Ky. A graduate of Villa Madonna Academy in Villa Hills, Ky., she was so bright that she skipped a grade, Johnson adds, and ended up getting her Mount degree in education.

After teaching a few years, she went to work for a general during World War II. When the war ended, Huller went back to teaching English, French, and Latin in Kenton County before she retired.

The Mount always had a special place in Huller’s heart, according to one of her daughters, Carol Foltz. “My mom relished her years at the Mount,” she says. “She received a prayer from a nun and gave it to all of her kids and grandkids. My mom was so happy when Eric became a professor at the Mount, too.”

Huller and her “Mounties” classmates that she stays in touch with were honored by cheering fans at Schueler Field during halftime at a Lions football game.

“That was the first time she had been back to the Mount in a long time,” Johnson says. “I think she liked all of the changes.”

Craig Lloyd, M.F.A., associate professor of art, had work included in two recent exhibitions: “Invitational Landscape Exhibition,” at the University Club in Cincinnati, and “The View,” at the All-Ohio Landscape Competition, Rosewood Art Center, Kettering, Ohio. Both exhibits ran from May through July.

NEW HIRES

Stephanie Madura, athletic training

The Mount welcomes new faculty and staff members:

Alexei Nakonechnyi, instructional services

Bill Lonneman, D.N.P., R.N., associate professor of nursing, will serve as a visiting associate professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., in spring 2017.

Maria Brown, biology

Tim Lynch, Ph.D., professor of history, published “Whether Trump Wins or Loses, the GOP Has to Change” on History News Network (historynewsnetwork.org).

Angelina Kolomoytseva, instructional services

Susan Johnson, Ph.D., R.N., professor of nursing, presented “Leadership in 10: Ten Strategies for Teaching Leadership to Nursing Students” at the Ohio League for Nursing Education Summit in Columbus, Ohio, this past spring.

Kirsten Lambert, buildings and grounds

Kathy Ray, M.Ed., tutor with Project EXCEL, presented “The College Search for Students With Learning Differences” at the National College Fair, sponsored by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, at the Duke Energy Center on Sept. 11.

Jamal Rashed, Ph.D., M.B.A., served on the selection committee for the Cincinnati Business Courier’s CFO C-Suite Awards.

Drew Shannon, Ph.D., associate professor of English, spent part of the summer on a Mount Summer Research Grant at the Berg Collection of English and American Literature at the New York Public Library in New York City, studying the original manuscripts of Virginia Woolf’s diaries for his forthcoming book, The Deep Old Desk: A Biography of the Diary of Virginia Woolf. In addition, he spent the summer working on the 2014 and 2015 official bibliographies for the International Virginia Woolf Society, for which he is the historian/bibliographer; he was assisted

by Joshua Zeller, a senior English major, as part of a new course, Research and Bibliography. The bibliographies will be published on the International Virginia Woolf Society website.

Raye Allen, institutional advancement Jonathan Beiser, physician assistant Lori Bonomini, career and experiential education Heather Charles, biology Thomas Gooding, athletic training Jaclyn Hoeffer, buildings and grounds Lisa Kobman, human resources

Ronald Kuker, fiscal operations Kimberly LaChance, wellness

Bryan McKiddy, buildings and grounds Robert Pennington, religious and pastoral studies Charissa Qiu, mission and ministry Jenny Rebennack, children’s center Autumn Richards, admission Nicole Rottmueller-Jones, career and experiential education Brennan Ryan, athletics and recreation Michele Schwendenmann, health sciences Colin Smith, athletics and recreation James Snyder, buildings and grounds Montez Sorrells, upward bound Kayla Werner, human resources

A CAREER THAT BUILDS CAREERS Staff Spotlight on Linda Pohlgeers As director of the Mount’s Career and Experiential Education Center, Linda Pohlgeers helps students start their career paths, but she still can’t believe how her own journey began.

“I turned down a job at Procter and Gamble to work in education,” she says incredulously. “I mean, who does that?”

Teaching wasn’t even on Pohlgeers’ radar when she went to the University of Cincinnati in the 1970s to study electrical engineering. After a few years, she had a change of heart and transferred to Cincinnati State. A gifted mathematician, she tutored classmates struggling in calculus, which caught the attention of the school dean and landed her a teaching job. Pohlgeers earned a bachelor’s in mathematics and a master’s in education administration and worked her way up the ladder at Cincinnati State until, she says, Maggie Davis, Ph.D., the Mount’s associate provost for academic support, “stole” her.

“It was time for a new adventure,” she says. “And I love to help grow people.”

Since coming to the Mount, Pohlgeers says she is most excited about expanding opportunities for students. The Career Wear service, where people donate gently used business apparel for students to wear, continues to grow. In addition, the Talent Opportunity Program is helping students build professional development skills so they are career ready when they graduate. Her next project? Ways to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset in a 21st-century global marketplace.

But Pohlgeers’ favorite project is her family; she has three grown children— Leah, Allison, and Michael—and is now a proud grandmother to two-year-old Elle.

“She calls me Nana,” she says proudly. “Nana visits one night a week and one day on the weekend and helps out. Nana even bought her a pair of cowboy boots to match her own.”

FALL 2016 • 21

LION’S CORNER

athletics

WOMEN’S LACROSSE STARS NET GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Sophomore midfielders Maria Sams (pictured right) and Kara Marshall (pictured below) were selected to represent the United States by USA Athletes International, a program that selects athletes from Division I, II, and III schools to compete in 10 sports in 25 countries.

Marshall and Sams traveled with their team to Berlin, Germany, and Prague, Czech Republic, spending four days in each city. Their first game was played against a German club team as a warm-up for the Prague Cup. During the Prague Cup, Marshall and Sams helped lead the team to a 5-2 record against opponents from Latvia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and another team from the United States.

“Overall, it was truly incredible,” says Marshall. “Seeing other cultures and how they are so different from ours is something that I will always remember. Being able to play against other women from around the world creates a bond not only on the field but off as well.”

“I’m so thankful that I was given this opportunity,” adds Sams. ”It was an amazing experience and I loved everything about it. I would go again and again if I had the chance.”

SPORTS BRIEF: New Turf on Schueler Field On Sept. 3, the Mount held an official dedication during the opening game of the 2016-2017 Lions football season to recognize its new state-of-the-art premium turf. The field is named after Mike Schueler, long-time supporter of the Mount and former Board of Trustee member.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SCORES AVCA AWARD The women’s volleyball team was honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) team academic award.

This year, a record-high 762 teams won the AVCA team academic award, including a total of 140 Division III institutions.

“I am always proud of the way we compete on the court and of the overall accomplishments of our volleyball program,” says Head Coach Jon Bennett. “However, I am even more proud and impressed by the hard work and dedication that our student athletes have been showing in the classroom. As a coach, it’s a great thing to see.”

Bennett’s team finished the 2015-2016 season with a team GPA of 3.5.

“I think this speaks volumes to the type of student-athletes we have in this program,” adds Bennett. “I am very proud of them.”

22 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

WINNING WORDS FROM NEW HEAD COACHES The Mount announced three new head coaches for its men’s volleyball, men’s lacrosse, and wrestling team.

ARGUETA GETS HIS FUTBOL ON Men’s Head Soccer Coach Rudy Argueta was asked to be part of the coaching staff for Futbol Club (FC) Barcelona’s soccer camp this past summer.

Located in Cincinnati, the camp features professional coaches who have worked with many players from the club’s teams in Spain.

“The FC Barcelona Soccer Camp is an exclusive opportunity to learn the methodologies of the unique Barça style,” says Argueta.

“FC Barcelona coaches come from all over the United States to conduct the training sessions and teach you the techniques of one of the most successful soccer academies in the world.”

Argueta took four of his Mount players to serve as assistants to the Barcelona coaches.

“This is a unique opportunity to be a part of this extremely important camp in the United States,” says Argueta. “I am humbled, honored, and thankful to be a part of this coaching staff as I can keep learning about the game and ways of teaching the game to my players.”

For the past seven years, Christina Webb served as an assistant to John Bennett, coaching the women’s volleyball team at the Mount, and as a strength and conditioning coach for the student-athletes. She has also coached two junior Olympic national championship teams and is the first coach in the Ohio Valley Region to win an Open National Qualifier.

“I am lucky enough to remain in the place that has become my home and stay near my volleyball family,” says Webb. “I thank Coach Bennett for his belief in me and for bringing me in all those years ago.”

From 2013 to 2015, men’s lacrosse Head Coach Colin Smith served as the assistant men’s coach at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., where he coached nine all-conference players, served as the academic mentor, and was closely involved with recruiting and game-planning. He also runs Attack U, a lacrosse training company in Wilmington, N.C. “We are going to build the program around family, academics, and an up-tempo brand of lacrosse, and I look forward to sharing that message with our current team members and future members of the Mount lacrosse program,” Smith says. “Our goal year in and year out will be to compete for the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference Championship and the automatic NCAA tournament bid that comes with it.”

Visit msjsports.com for the latest sports news and schedules.

Wrestling Head Coach Brennan Ryan served as the team’s assistant coach at the Mount from 2007 to 2011, which were some of the best years in the program’s history. During this time, the program won four HCAC conference titles and finished in the top five at the NCAA Regionals four times. Following the 2009-2010 season, Ryan was voted the NCAA Mid-States Conference Assistant Coach of the Year. “I am excited to be returning to MSJ after being away for five years,” Ryan said.

“This program has a rich tradition over the last couple of decades, and with that comes a responsibility to bring the program back to competing on a national level on a consistent basis.”

SPORTS BRIEF: Fundraising “Fore” a Good Cause The 18th annual Lions Football Golf Outing took place on Aug. 6 at the beautiful Aston Oaks Golf Club. The event raised money for the Lions’ football program with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly toward benefiting the players.

Join Us to Honor Lauren’s Lasting Legacy The Second Annual Mount Madness will be held on Jan. 28, 2017 to benefit the Forever 22 scholarship named in honor of the late Lauren Hill ’15, a former Mount women’s basketball player who raised awareness for pediatric brain cancer.

At the event, the women’s basketball team will face the Manchester University Spartans at 3 p.m., followed by the men’s game against Manchester at 5 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Forever 22 scholarship.

FALL 2016 • 23

ALUMNI UPDATES

news

FROM THE OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Dear Alumni and Friends of the Mount, It is with great pride and purpose that I join the Mount as its new vice president of institutional advancement. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and briefly share how I came to be connected with this great community. Before joining the Mount, I spent 17 years as director of major gifts and leadership giving at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. I like building organizations and strengthening their ability to provide opportunities that help others. I’m proud of the work I did at the United Way, but after nearly two decades, I decided I was ready for a new journey.

I N A U G U R AT I O N W E E K E N D

April 27, 28, and 29, 2017 PRESIDENTIAL ALUMNI SYMPOSIUM AND SPRING FEST Thursday April 27, 2017 Symposium – 2:00 to 3:30 P.M., Mount Theatre Reception – 3:30 to 5:00 P.M., Mount Theatre Lobby Spring Fest, hosted by Campus Activities Board 4:00 to 7:00 P.M., Quad

INAUGURATION CEREMONY FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017 Inauguration of Dr. H. James Williams – 10:00 A.M., Mount Theatre

MOUNT JUBILEE AND INAUGURATION GALA FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017 Burnham Hall, Renaissance Hotel, Cincinnati – 6:00 P.M. All proceeds benefit the Mount Scholarship Fund

COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY Saturday, April 29, 2017 Locations and times to be announced

I was attracted to the Mount since my first visit to campus but I clearly recall the moment that “sealed the deal” in my decision to join. A student ambassador gave me a tour of campus and stopped in one corner of the Classroom Building. She started talking excitedly about the Mount psychology professor who had so moved her that she found her life calling­—to work with autistic children. It was an almost tangible energy that you wanted to hug. It was then I knew that the Mount was something I had to be part of. The passion and spirit that flows throughout this campus is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Though I’ve only been with the university a few months, it is already clear that a great part of the Mount’s reputation and legacy of success is due to the tremendous achievements and incredible support of our alumni and valued partners. Your generosity has helped build state-of-the-art learning facilities and fund valuable scholarships that support our students. Enclosed in this issue is an envelope that makes it simple to support the Mount—even the smallest of gifts can make the biggest difference in the life and education of a student.

I look forward to speaking with you again in future issues of Mount News.

Under the leadership of President Williams, and with your valued support, I know we will take the Mount to new levels of academic excellence, build more rewarding student life experiences, and create more avenues of professional development that lead our students to successful 21st-century careers.

Sincerely, Raye Allen Vice President for Institutional Advancement raye.allen@msj.edu 513-244-4611

Please check msj.edu/inauguration for updates and hotel information.

24 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

ALUMNI UPDATES

profile

THE ARTFUL BUSINESS LEADER building our businesses,” Meyer says.

“Any business will tell you that the single biggest reason behind growth is talent. That is to say, you go where people want to be.”

Nine companies from the Fortune 500 list chose Cincinnati as their headquarters, she says. That doesn’t happen without a sophisticated arts community that connects people and gets the support of local businesses.

At the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Meyer’s role is to represent the interests of nearly 4,000 member businesses. She finds ways to help them thrive and adapt to the rapid pace of the 21st-century marketplace.

Jill Meyer ’93, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, addresses the Class of 2016 at the Mount’s commencement ceremony in May. During the event, she also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for her devotion to the university, extensive service to the community, and deep compassion for the arts and city of Cincinnati.

More than a few people thought Jill Meyer ’93 was crazy.

That’s what happens when you leave a successful career—nearly 20 years—at Frost Brown Todd LLC, one of the biggest law firms in the Midwest, to take over a massive Cincinnati arts campaign.

But Meyer was ready for a change … and a challenge.

As president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber since 2015 and co-chair of the 2016 ArtsWave Community Campaign (along with her husband, renowned concert pianist Awadagin Pratt), she rallied Cincinnati’s business community to help raise a record-setting $12.45 million for the nonprofit arts advocacy group.

“ArtsWave is the oldest and biggest arts community campaign in the U.S.,” says Meyer. “It is the envy of other communities from coast to coast.”

Cincinnati, she adds, is a very philanthropic town. “It’s crucial

that we keep the vibrancy of our arts community as strong as it can be,” says Meyer. Her outstanding work with ArtsWave earned Meyer a Women Who Mean Business Award from the Cincinnati Business Courier in October 2016.

“I never dreamed I would leave my practice at Frost Brown Todd,” she says. As an attorney at the firm, Meyer worked on several projects that put her in touch with local executives and community leaders who, like her, were determined to build Cincinnati’s economic development.

Then, in summer 2015, when the opportunity presented itself, she ArtsWave supports more joined the Cincinnati USA than 100 arts and Regional Chamber community as president and “I realized that I organizations CEO. It was the throughout had the chance to help perfect role—one the Greater tell Cincinnati’s story. that matched Cincinnati region. her skills, The development This includes experiences, of this city and the performing arts and interests. surrounding region is groups such as the “There’s a heck my absolute passion.” city’s Shakespeare, of a lot going on orchestra, opera, — Jill Meyer ’93, president and CEO, Cincinnati USA in this town,” Meyer theater, and ballet Regional Chamber says of her decision companies, as well as to leave a stable legal art museums, festivals, position after two decades. “I restaurants, and other realized that I had the chance to help local attractions. tell Cincinnati’s story. The development “The strength of our arts community of this city and the surrounding region and cultural offerings that set is my absolute passion.”

Cincinnati apart is important to

FALL 2016 • 25

ALUMNI UPDATES

classnotes

1960s

2000s

2010s

Elizabeth Bass Okresik ’62 of Dayton is a local director of the Child Evangelism Fellowship, an international Christian nonprofit organization with a purpose to evangelize children to promote Christian living.

Kenneth Crooks ’05, ’14 of Toledo, Ohio, has joined the law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, as the chief operating officer.

Megan Pena Ferral ’10 of Tempe, Ariz., married Joseph Ferral on Feb. 27 in Phoenix, Ariz. Megan Seta’ 11 was the maid of honor and Peggy Kehayes ’10 was a bridesmaid.

Siobhan Ryan ’10 also attended the event.

1970s Veteran Catholic educator Susan M. Gibbons ’78 is the director of educational services and superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

“Susan Gibbons has devoted her entire career to Catholic education in our archdiocese,” said Archbishop Schnurr. “She will be a steady hand as superintendent, just as she was as interim superintendent, insuring that the strong forward movement of our schools will continue.”

1980s Julie Biermann ’80 was a winner at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, North Central Division, Buckeye Fuel Wars, at National Trails Raceway. She and her husband, crew chief Tim Gillespie, own a ’68 Pontiac Firebird Stocker, as well as a ’33 Ford Roadster that he races in the Super Gas category.

Cathy Cola Perkins ’81 joined Jones, Troyan & Perkins as an attorney after a 32-year career in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and the Ohio Department of Transportation, where she served as chief legal counsel and deputy director.

Lisa Gick ’87 serves as a coach for WE Succeed through the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. The three-month program is designed help female business executives develop leadership skills to advance their careers and help build their companies. Gick brings 25 years of corporate experience to the role, most recently as vice president of employee engagement for Macy’s Inc.

Eric Johnson ’03 of Kingsburg, Calif., is the lead service coordinator and vocational coordinator of the Dream Catcher Program, which provides job opportunities for individuals living with disabilities, including mental health disabilities.

Jeffrey Niederhausen ’03 of Cleves, Ohio, is the chief financial officer of Tech Knowledge Associates, LLC, a startup biomedical/clinical engineering company, based in La Palma, Calif.

Joseph Hartkemeyer ’04 of Cleves, Ohio, is the director of junior tennis for Western Tennis & Fitness Club.

He is a certified U.S. Professional Tennis Association professional with experience teaching junior and adult players of all skill levels.

Jason Umberg ’04 of Franklin, Ohio, is the assistant principal at Bishop Fenwick High School in Middletown, Ohio. Jason and his wife, Katie Goldschmidt Umberg ’04, have two children—Drew (6) and Elsie (4).

Jennifer Kidder ’05 of Mainville, Ohio, and her husband, Jason, gave birth to their first child, Chloe Ann, on Aug. 18.

Megan Schlomer Baird ’06 of Cincinnati and her husband, Nick, welcomed their first child Maximus (Max) Giovanni Baird on Jan. 3.

Theresa Bill Mongan ’07 and Thomas Mongan ’08 of Cincinnati welcomed their first child, Thomas Hupp Mongan III, on June 8.

Natalie Fedasch Postell ’07 of Fairfield, Ohio, and her husband, Mike, welcomed twin boys on Feb. 23.

Joshua Michael and Theodore (Theo) Roy join their sisters Madison (7), Emily (4), and Sophia (3). Postell works at Bethesda North Hospital.

26 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

Colin McSharar ‘11 is interim head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Franklin College in Franklin, Ind. The former Lions goalie holds the Mount record for goalie wins in a season and total goals against average.

Stephanie Spenny ‘12 worked as the technical officials and International Federation services coordinator for goalball at the 2016 Paralympics Games in Rio. She oversaw scheduling, transportation, and other logistics for the referees. “It was incredible,” Spenny says. “I met and worked with people from all over the world. Being able to work on such a big event was literally a dream come true.” Back in the U.S., she works as an adaptive cycling program assistant for Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program, a nonprofit that helps people with physical disabilities through sports, fitness, and recreation programs.

Collin Brown ’13 of Dayton received his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Dayton in 2016. He is now a physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, an NBA Development League team affiliated with the Indiana Pacers.

Erin Bueker Grote ’13 of Cincinnati married Jonathan (Jon) Grote ’11 at St. Williams Church on June 24.

Olivia LaRosa ’16 of Cincinnati is a preschool teacher at The Children’s House located in Bridgetown. The Children’s House is a Montessoriinspired preschool, daycare, and kindergarten with a mission to care for children as young as six weeks and up to sixth grade.

ALUMNI UPDATES

passages

ALUMNI Martha Ann Conley, SC, ’39 Virginia Hughes Wildes ’44* Olive Klingler Kavalac ’45 Mary Virginia Dietz Redlin ’45 Virginia Bolton Callahan ’47 Estelle Topmoeller ’47 Marguerite Miles ’48 Jean Vorbroker Schuerman ’50 Patricia O’Connell Doud ’53 Alice Rankin VonBuelow ’53 Dorothy Pax Stoermer ’54 Rosemarie Haney DaPuzzo ’56 Rae Janke Koberna ’57 Ann Martin Klee, SC, ’58 Alice Cannon Fitzgerald ’60 Barbara Sonnenberg ’60 Mary Ryan Stenger ’60 Gloria Cordova ’61 Teresa Margaret Hurr, SC, ’61 Margaret O’Connor, SC, ’61 Helen Pater ‘62 Jean “Jeanie” Pazar Bennetch ’65 Catherine Mary Cohara, SC, ’66 Kateri Maureen Koverman, SC, ’66 Kathleen Whiting Darst ’70 Mary Ann Rodkey Panichelle ’72 Ted Bowling ’79 Melinda Boedeker Brean ’84

Debra “Debbie” Dimiduk Belilsle ’85 Mary Lou Bellingham Lyons ’85 Jean Hyde Frable ’89 Johnie Holmes ’90

FATHER OF Kathleen Sheridan ’69 Patricia Kelly ’70 Sharon Dooley Ross ’81 Lisa Mahon Fluegeman ’82 Elizabeth Gibbs Weil ’83 Amy Gibbs Groh ’90 Susanne Parzer Janson ’91, ’09 Timothy Savage ’91 Andrew (AJ) Savage ’96 Maura Simon Cutter ’00 Amy Blyth Bauknecht ’02, ’03 Jennifer Stolze ’08

MOTHER OF Jane Hierholzer Loomis ’71 Kathleen Vitt ’72 Sharon Maier Kaczmarczyk ’80 Connie Hierholzer Voss ’83 Alicia Gray Sparks ’84 Jennifer Hudepohl ’93 Karen Broshears ’95 Denise Lorfida ’04 Judy Streicher Levy ’06 Kaitlyn Herder ’15

HUSBAND OF Irene Bouchez Broering ’53 Mary Vennemeyer Williams ’57 Joyce Hasselman Westerkamp ’58 Janice Feldhaus Savage ’61 Margaret Wagner Gibbons ’63 Grace Graham Chaney ’65 Phyllis Platfoot Lea ’67 Ayo Parrish Strange ’13 Delora Heile (former employee)

SISTER OF Anna Thernes ’53 Ruth Pater Muench ’60 Lillian Jeanne Pater ’66* Ann Wolf Maddox ’67

BROTHER OF Irene Bouchez Broering ’53 Braden & Eileen Ennis Mechley ’62 JoAnn Burwinkel Brausch ’78, ’12

SON OF Mary Joan Stiene Blum ’41 *Social Class Year Passages listed are current as of press time.

Kateri Maureen Koverman, SC, ’66

Paula Gonzalez, SC, Ph.D., ’52

Former Mount faculty member, alumna, and Sister of Charity Kateri Maureen Koverman, SC, ‘66 passed away on Oct. 5. Among her many callings, she spent five years in Vietnam in the 1970s working with orphaned and abandoned children. Sister Kateri worked to evacuate many of them from Saigon and secured homes in the United States through Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services (later known as Operation Babylift).

“Live simply, so that others may simply live.” These words

by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity, are words that Sister Paula Gonzalez, SC, ’52 lived by. Sister Paula died on July 31 at the age of 83 following a brief illness. She was an internationally known futurist, environmentalist, and educator, and a member of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati for 62 years.

Decades after her work in Vietnam, Sister Kateri worked with many vets who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. She also founded the nonprofit group, Them Bones Veterans Community, for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Sister Kateri was my teacher, mentor, and friend,” says Sally Aker O’Hearn ’84. “She worked tirelessly for what she believed in, honoring the people she worked with, and pushing the limits, believing all things were possible with God. The spirit with which she lived her life has made the world a better place and made my life richer. Dear Sister Kateri—blessings on you as you journey home.”

Sister Paula taught biology at the Mount and, upon retirement, broadened her expertise to become an environmentalist and promote sustainable living. With the belief that you have to model what you teach, she converted an old chicken barn near the Motherhouse (in Delhi) into a solar house—La Casa Del Sol—where she and another sister have lived since 1984. Sister Paula also converted a Neeb Road garage into a 21st-century resource-efficient building that will run on solar energy.

In addition, she served on many environmental committees and was honored by several organizations, including an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Mount.

FALL 2016 • 27

ALUMNI UPDATES

HOMECOMING WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS The 2016 Homecoming welcomed alumni, faculty, students, friends, and family for a weekend of great food and fun. On Oct. 22, the MSJ Alumni Association sponsored a tailgate party on the top level of the parking garage. Later, attendees enjoyed watching the Lions defeat Anderson University 51-7. What a weekend!

28 • MOUNT ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY

EXPANDED WEB EXCLUSIVES Can’t get enough Mount News?

Visit msj.edu/mountnews for web exclusive material and digital editions of this and past issues.

HALL OF FAME HEROES

TELL US A STORY

On Oct. 21 at the Seton Center, the Mount inducted four new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame: Julie Franz Pieczonka ‘83 (basketball); Karen Jackson ‘87 (volleyball); and Tanya Fasnacht Jolliffe ‘88 (volleyball). In addition, the Champion Award went to Charlie Wrublewski, the Lion’s “No. 1 fan” and a longtime Mount employee.

Got married? New job? We want to hear from you! Share your personal and professional accomplishments with the entire Mount community in an upcoming issue of Mount News.

You can submit stories and photos online at msj.edu/classnotes.

Top left: Mount Super fan Charlie Wrublewski greets his fans, (from left) 2015 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees Betsy Owens Jones ‘02 and Libbey Spiess ‘88 Top right: 2010 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee T. Jean Dowell (left), retired Mount athletic director and basketball coach, congratulates Julie Franz Pieczonka ‘83.

Bottom: (From left) Tanya Fasnacht Jolliffe ‘88, former Mount head volleyball coach and 2011 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Mary Biermann ’71, and Karen Jackson ‘87.

FALL 2016 • 29

DECEMBER 2 MSJ Band Holiday Concert 4 Westside Community Band Concert 8 Fall Semester Ends 8 Commencement 23-26 Christmas Break (University Closed) 30 New Year’s Holiday (University Closed)

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID CINCINNATI OHIO PERMIT NO 7116

IMPORTANT DATES

JANUARY 2 16 17 17-Feb. 17 28

New Year’s Holiday (University Closed) Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (University Closed) Spring Semester Begins Alumni Excellence Art Exhibit Mount Madness Forever 22 Scholarship Event

FEBRUARY 20 24

Discovery Day Mid-Semester Holiday (University Closed)

MARCH

APRIL 8 Get Acquainted Day 13 Celebration of Teaching and Learning 14-17 Easter Holiday (University Closed) 27-29 Presidential Inauguration of Dr. Williams, including Mount Jubilee and Inauguration Gala 28 MSJ Band Spring Concert

MAY 13

Commencement

JUNE 2-4

Reunion Weekend

Division of Institutional Advancement 5701 Delhi Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45233-1670

1-Apr. 9 Alchemize: Mark and Jan Wiesner Art Exhibit 11 Rhythm of Dance (River Dance) Concert 31-Apr. 2 St. Ursula Spring Musical

For complete calendar listings, visit msj.edu/calendar.

For Mount Lions schedule, visit msjsports.com.

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MISSION STATEMENT Mount St. Joseph University is a Catholic academic community grounded in the spiritual values and vision of its founders, the Sisters of Charity. The University educates its students through interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional curricula emphasizing values, integrity, and social responsibility. Members of the Mount community embrace: excellence in academic endeavors; the integration of life and learning; respect and concern for all persons; diversity of cultures and beliefs; and service to others.

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