MUHS Magazine Summer/Fall 2014

MUHS MAGAZINE Vol. 58 Summer/Fall 2014

Carlos Torres ’06: From Mexico to med school Success stories of six young MUHS grads

For Alumni, Parents, Students and Friends of Marquette University High School www.MUHS.edu 1

Guiding Words

By Rev. Frank Majka, SJ

Most Americans don’t have a coat of arms, but if you are curious, you can probably find out if your ancestors did. I discovered that my mother’s family (Ryan) had one and my dad’s (Majka), too, though I’m a little skeptical about the Majka one.

If I were to design my own coat of arms, I’d put some symbols on it, perhaps a chalice to represent priesthood and a stylized Golden Gate bridge since I was born in San Francisco. But I’d also want to include some words or a motto. I’ll share three that I like, all from recent times.

The first comes from Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the United Nations, who wrote in his journal: For all that has been, Thanks; for all that will be, Yes. He’d seen much of life, including war and suffering; but, as he looked back, he found something to be grateful for in all of it, which let him face the future with hope. That attitude is certainly a gift from God. The second comes from the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber who wrote: All real living is meeting. He reminds us that we are truly alive if we respond to the people who enter our lives and if we build relationships between them and us.

After all, God has put us together on this earth as one human family. He wants us to meet one another on some level if we are ever really going to be alive.

My final motto comes from an unknown source: A lot of life has to do with being available. Sometimes we want to stay with what we know well and feel comfortable with. But if we wish to be available we need to be free so that if we suspect that God may be asking something new from us, we are willing to listen and respond. It’s not about being without commitments or responsibilities; it’s about having the same attitude Mary had when she told the angel, “I’m the Lord’s handmaid. Let it be as you say.”

These are just three mottos that I like. Maybe you might ask the Holy Spirit to suggest to you some words or a motto that will describe what guides your life and belongs on any coat of arms you would create for you or your family.

Rev. Frank Majka, SJ is alumni chaplain at Marquette University High School. He also has a spiritual blog, “The Bridge,” www.frankmajka.com.

Success Stories

Dear MUHS Friends, This summer I celebrated my Golden Jubilee as a Jesuit (1964–2014).

As I look back on my 50 years as a Jesuit, what fills me with gratitude is the difference I’ve been able to make in people’s lives and in the world as a Jesuit. I feel my life has meaning and significance – that it has mattered. The 24 years I’ve worked at Marquette High have been an important part of that.

I think Marquette High makes a difference in students’ lives in two important ways. First, a Jesuit education at Marquette University High School is a life-transforming experience for our students. We hear over and over from students, parents, alumni and spouses of alumni what a difference Marquette High has made in their lives – truly forming them into Christ-like men for others. Marquette High strives to form Christian leaders of integrity, faith and values for the world. That is truly significant.

Second, Marquette High over the years has provided financial scholarships to students of middle- and low-income families so all young men, regardless of their financial background, can have access to a Jesuit education.

We have taken many boys from disadvantaged or at-risk backgrounds and given them the opportunity

to lead lives of significance and hold great promise for future success. Quite honestly, there are hundreds, even thousands, of such stories. That’s why it’s important for us to continue to be able to make a Marquette High education accessible to students from all socio-economic backgrounds. Marquette High truly is a significant part of the solution to helping young people from all backgrounds lead successful, productive, meaningful lives. Thank you for your help to make this possible.

to lead a successful life. It is important to note that there are many ways of being successful.

Many Marquette High graduates are financially successful as business leaders and professionals and give back to the community with their time, talent and treasure. Other types of success include many different forms of service as educational leaders, teachers, doctors, priests, and through other service-oriented lives and professions. And, of course, many end up being wonderful fathers and husbands.

This issue showcases several success stories of students who received financial aid in order to be able to attend Marquette High.

These alums, while young in their careers, have already gone on

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Warren Sazama, SJ ’64 President

Contents

5

MUHS NEWS

4

News Briefs

8

Class of 2014 next destination SPORTS

12

Ski finishes third at State FEATURES

20

16

Fond Farewell Doug Harder, Jeni McLaughlin retire

20

Taking the title

26

Success stories of MUHS financial aid recipients Carlos Torres ’06, Andrew ’05 and John ’08 Bender, Teng Yang ’07, Eric Wolffersdorff ’07 and Karl Sona ’09

26

38

Continuing the MUHS connection

40

MUHS Jesuits serving at Creighton University

ALUMNI UPDATE

43

Alumni Award Winners

44

Class Notes

48

Milestones THEN AND NOW

52

The evolving Marquette High campus

40 Editor

Contributing Writers

Photography

Design

MUHS Magazine is pub-

Julie Felser

Victoria Temple

Peter Beck

Jena Sher

lished twice a year for and

Editing Assistance

Joe Costa ’88

Joseph Ferraro

Printing

community. As always, we

Kristen Scheuing

Jacob Heinen ’15

Pat Goetzinger

The Fox Company

appreciate hearing from

cover: Harvard Medical School graduate Carlos Torres ’06 evaluates five-day old baby Sophia who has a mild fever.

Max Loos ’07

Geoff Johnson

you and welcome your com-

Photo by Joseph Ferraro

Frank Majka, SJ

Michigan State Athletic

ments and suggestions. Please

Bonesho

Ben Megna ’16

about the Marquette High

Jim Fackler

Communications

send your feedback to the

Warren Sazama, SJ ’64

Kent Sievers

editor at felser@muhs.edu

Jake Youngblood ’16

Pete Souza

or MUHS, 3401 W. Wisconsin

Madeline Zukowski

StanfordPhoto.com

Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53208.

Evan Tobin ‘15 University of Notre Dame Media Relations VIP Photography Steve Woltmann

opposite: (From left to right) Alex Klar ’15, the Scarecrow; Eric Carlson ’14, the Tin Man; Theresa Linn, Dorothy; and Sam Pickart ’15, the Lion, perform in the spring musical The Wiz. Photo by VIP Photography

MUHS NEWS

Robotics wins Wisconsin Regional again

Rev. Mark Carr, SJ crosses the street

Jake Youngblood ’16

Jacob Heinen ’15

The Marquette High Robotics team managed to bring home a win at the Wisconsin Regional for the second year in a row. The competition among the 60 teams was stiff, and like many of the matches, the final decision came down to the very end. After conferring, the referees declared MUHS the winner, to the boisterous cheers of the team. The team also found success at the Midwest Regional event, which hosted more than 50 teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The team won the Chairman’s Award which recognizes the selected team for being the best representation of FIRST [First Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology] and a model to other teams.

Rev. Mark Carr, SJ has cut his commute time to work in half.

Instead of walking from the Pere Marquette Community, located on 34th Street, to Marquette High, he will now cross the street to serve at the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus.

Team members began training late last summer with preliminary planning and recruiting of Marquette High and Divine Savior Holy Angels students. “That planning proved effective and laid the groundwork for us to efficiently and effectively move through the training, build and tournament seasons,” says Ernst Arnhold ’14, team co-lead.

Carr is leaving his post as assistant principal for academics at Marquette High for his newly appointed position as socius, or executive assistant, to the provincial of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus. He will be replacing former MUHS grad Rev. Pat Burns, SJ ’50, who is returning to Holy Rosary Mission/ Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to help in the advancement and finance offices.

“I look forward to dealing with a broader array of Jesuit ministries, across the Province and around the globe, and the people involved in those ministries,” Carr says. “It’s a different perspective on the Church and the Society of Jesus.”

In April, the Hilltoppers traveled to St. Louis to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship. Although the team did not place or finish as well as they wanted, leaders of the team were able to focus on the highlights of the season.

Carr has been a member of the MUHS community since 1999, first teaching U.S. History and International Relations from 1999 to 2002 while serving as a regent. He then returned in 2009 to serve as assistant principal of instruction and theology teacher. He has held his position as assistant principal for academics since 2012.

“Robotics is being able to have a good time, while learning various skills,” lead programmer Ben Schwabe ’14 says. “Not only engineering skills, like how to build a robot, but also life skills: how to lead a group of people efficiently in a task.”

Although his new position as socius removes him from Marquette High administration, he will continue to be a member of both Marquette High’s Board of Directors and Corporate Board, and has offered to help with sacramental work when needed.

Joe Gabler ‘15 (left) and Sam Pirkey ‘15 disassemble a chassis form a previous year’s robot. Photo by Peter Beck

4 MUHS Magazine

Rev. Mark Carr, SJ is named socius to the provincial of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus. Photo by VIP Photography

Hilltopper Highlights News Jacob Heinen ’15

The Society of Chemical Industry in partnership with American Chemical Society have recognized faculty member Mike Chaney ’63 as an outstanding educator. Chaney was nominated for this recognition by Henry Potter ’11, who is currently studying chemical engineering at UW–Madison and finished a summer internship with Chevron in Houston. Chaney recently received a professional development grant from Milwaukee Area Technical College and spent five weeks at Hydrite Chemical, where he learned the new OSHA-mandated Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling Chemicals. A part-time instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College during the summers, he then spent a week relaying this information to chemistry students and instructors.

College Counseling coordinator Gail Sahagun received an Honorable Mention for the Wisconsin School Counselors Association’s Outstanding Support Staff Award.

Mary Francis Maloney has been hired as assistant principal for academics. She previously served as a theology teacher, Theology Department chair and soccer coach at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., and taught English and theology at Nazareth Academy, a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

As part of his regency, John Roselle, SJ will teach theology at MUHS for 2014–15 school year. He previously taught theology and served in campus ministry at Red Cloud High School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Joining the Theology Department, faculty member Erik Anderson previously served as theology teacher and director of mission and identity at Nativity Jesuit Middle School.

Colin Dillon and Matt Jaques ’02 have joined the math department.

Dillon taught mathematics and coached football at St. Thomas More.

Jacques served as an MUHS Alumni Service Corps teacher seven years ago and previously taught mathematics at Fairfield College Prep.

Kyle Pollard ’06 has been hired for a one-year assignment, teaching English 1 and expository writing. He previously taught at Brookfield Central High School and is a cross-country coach at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. Five MUHS alumni will serve in the ASC program.

Michael Franczak ’10 will teach biology. Mike Herbers ’10 will teach U.S. history. Jack McNally ’10 will serve as an assistant in the Doerr Library. Jerome Murray ’10 will teach creative writing. Matt Waldoch ’10 will serve in Campus Ministry and co-teach theology classes.

Ben Malewicki ’15 with his new friend in Quito, Ecuador.

Faculty members Javier Reyes, Alexis Cazco, John Azpell and former ASC member Sean Koscielak ’08 traveled with 22 students on Somos Amigos mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Quito, Ecuador. Somos Amigos (meaning “we are friends”) seeks to aid the less fortunate by providing both physical and educational support to underserved populations.

Social studies teacher Chris Lese ’92 led a group of five faculty members and 16 students on a Civil War trip through Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. This year’s trip included sleeping in slave cabins, camping on the Chickamauga battlefield and visiting an 18th-century Charleston jail.

The MUHS Math Club finished second out of 53 high schools in the Wisconsin Math League. Tyler Nettesheim ’15 finished in second place, John Heffernan ’15 tied for 11th place and Connor Bachman ’15 tied for 22nd place out of more than 1,000 participants.

The team also participated in the American Mathematics Competitions, with Nettesheim tying for ninth place in Wisconsin out of 577 participants in the AMC 12 exam and Christopher Povinelli ’16 tying for 21st place in Wisconsin out of 443 participants in the AMC 10 exam. Nettesheim qualified for and took the three-hour American Invitational Math Exam. He placed 10th out of 24 Wisconsin qualifiers and solved five of the 15 mind-boggling problems.

www.MUHS.edu 5

MUHS NEWS

The MUHS Student Conclave headed a school-wide food drive entitled “Can the Jesuits” and collected more than 5,000 canned goods and non-perishable items for the Hunger Task Force. As a result, Jacob Boddicker, SJ shaved his beard; Brian Taber, SJ dyed his hair green; Rev. Frank Majka, SJ painted his head; Rev. Mike Marco, SJ temporarily tattooed his face; and Al Taylor replaced Rev. Warren Sazama, SJ ’64 as president for a day. As part of the annual Trash 4 Pizza service project, Freshman Conclave students recruited more than 100 freshmen to help pick up trash in the Merrill Park neighborhood before enjoying a pizza lunch.

Retired MUHS teacher Jim Greenwald helps with Trash 4 Pizza.

In its inaugural year, the MUHS CyberPatriot Team took third place in the state of Wisconsin. The team, comprising Evan Tobin ’15, Andrew Cayen ’15, Chris Gummin ’14, Kevin Mikolajczak ’15 and Ben Schwabe ’14, was challenged to solve real-life cyber security situations in a virtual environment.

The MUHS Key Club attended the Key Club Wisconsin–Upper Michigan District Convention, where the Hilltoppers won the Single Service Award–Gold Division for the MUHS Christmas Basket Project and received the Club Spirit Award for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year. Individual awards included Joey Maranan ’14, Distinguished Club President; Bobby Rice ’14, Distinguished Club Vice President; Peter Frommelt ’15, Distinguished Club Secretary; Peter Schelble ’15, Distinguished Club Treasurer; and Armando Ramirez ’16, Outstanding New Club Member. Ramirez was elected Lt. Governor for Division 6, replacing Mike Nordness ’14, who received a Michael Brukwicki Memorial Scholarship for his outstanding service and leadership. In February, Key Club held its annual blood drive in partnership with The Blood Center of Wisconsin and collected 171 donations, 30 more than last year.

In January, the Hilltoppers Defending Life club attended the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., to protest the controversial decision of Roe v. Wade. Rev. Mark Carr, SJ and Jacob Boddicker, SJ joined nine MUHS students in the rally despite a snowstorm and frigid temperatures.

Faculty members Jacki Black and Beth Piper accompanied members of the Orgullo Latino homeroom to Latin@Youth Summit, hosted by St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco.

The Summit brings together students from high schools across the nation to explore Latino/a identity, share experiences and participate in workshops. The homeroom also hosted the fifth annual Expresate, an open-mic-style talent show followed by a social and dancing.

The Make A Difference homeroom, moderated by Rev. Tom Manahan, SJ, hosted the Change Wars fundraiser, a school-wide competition between the faculty and the four grade levels to raise the most money by dropping quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies into water jugs. The total amount raised was $611.42 for St. Rose and St. Leo School. The seniors won the competition with donations totaling $207.02.

Signatures, moderated by Ginny Schauble, was awarded the rank, Superior–Nominated for Highest Award, from the National Council of Teachers of English. MUHS was one of only four high schools in Wisconsin to receive this recognition for its literary magazine.

As part of Model UN moderated by Victoria Bonesho and led

by Negassi Tesfamichael ’14, a group of 15 students competed at the Wisconsin High School Model United Nations conference in March. Saul Lopez ’15, Antonio Rosales ’15, Peter Feider ’15, Murad Jaber ’16, Jordan Sylvester ’14 and Richard Imp ’15, comprising the Romanian delegation, won Outstanding Portrayal of Country awards. In addition, Rosales, representing Romania, and Connor Schuller ’14, an Estonian delegate on the Human Rights Council, won Outstanding Position Paper awards.

6 MUHS Magazine

MUHS students at the March For Life in Washington, D.C., (left to right) Andrew Naumann ’14 (green pants), Spencer Von Rueden ’14 (gray hoodie), Redmond Tuttle ’14 (green hat) and Kevin Reardon ’14 (holding MUHS sign).

The Engineering and Technology homerooms hosted the Rexnord Day of Engineering event. Rexnord engineers Paul Gantz ’80, Joe Hamann ’96, Joe Labermeier ’01 and Steve Jordan ’07, talked to students about their projects at Rexnord and led an interactive discussion about engineering careers.

Frank Geiser ’14, Hasaan Munim ’14 and Jacob Lubenow ’14 qualified for and participated in the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Tournament in Overland Park, Kan. Geiser participated in the category of Humorous Interpretation, Munim in International Extemporaneous Speaking, and Lubenow in United States Extemporaneous Speaking. Policy debaters Quin Furumo ’16 and Thomas Van Bibber ’15 and Public Forum debaters Brian Butler ’15 and Lukas Foy ’16 qualified for and participated in the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Chicago.

Nick Klar ’14 received the Jesuit Secondary Education Association Award at the 2014 commencement ceremony. The JSEA Award is presented to the graduate who most closely resembles the grad-atgrad ideal: a well-rounded person who is intellectually competent, open to growth, religious, loving and committed to justice in generous service to the people of God. Other JSEA finalists from the Class of 2014 were Steve Gilpin, Patrick O’Grady, Angelito Tenorio and Ben Zellmer.

Jacob Youngblood ’16 took second place in Western Michigan University’s writing competition, “The Best Midwestern High School Writing: A Celebration and Recognition of Outstanding Prose,” in the journalism category for grades 9–10. His entry, titled “Possible Schedule Changes Revealed,” will be published on Western Michigan University’s Scholarworks website.

(From left to right) Christian Wimmer ’14, Kyle Madigan ’14 and Blake Howard ’15 performing in the winter play Great Expectations. Photo by VIP Photography

Six students received National Scholastic Art awards for their artwork, which was put on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum in March. Henry Bauer ’15 received a Gold Key in the category of Painting, Oliver Bestul ’16 received an Honorable Mention in Drawing, Colton Gingrass ’15 received a Gold Key in Photography, Jack Gorski ’14 received a Silver Key in Ceramics, Colin Mitchell ’15 received a Gold Key in Sculpture and Christian Wimmer ’14 received an Honorable Mention in Digital Art. Patrick O’Grady ’14 was selected as one of two of Wisconsin’s top high school youth volunteers for the 2014 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. As a state honoree, he received a $1,000 award, medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. He also qualified for the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his commitment to serving the community and country.

Matt Schlidt ’15 received numerous awards for his work on a personal science research project entitled “Cell Phones – The Invisible Danger,” in which he conducted experiments testing the effects of electromagnetic radiation from cell phones on planarians. Matt entered numerous science fairs, earning the MU Alpha Theta Award at the Capital Science & Engineering Fair, and placing second in the Health & Medicine category at the Waukesha County Science & Engineering Fair. In the Badger State Science & Engineering Fair at UW–Milwaukee, he placed second in the Biology category, received a $24,000 scholarship to Marion University, and was awarded both the American Nuclear Society Award and the Society for Optical Engineering Award.

Rev. Warren Sazama, SJ ’64 with JSEA award winner Nick Klar ’14 and Jeff Monday ’82.

Photo by VIP Photography

www.MUHS.edu 7

MUHS NEWS

Class of 2014 Acceptance list Members of the Class of 2014 were accepted to approximately 175 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada and received $7.3 million in merit scholarships for freshman year.

Northeast Boston College Boston University Brown University Champlain College Colby College University of Connecticut Drexel University Emerson College Fordham University College of the Holy Cross Juniata College Lehigh University Middlebury College New Jersey Institute of Technology New York University Northeastern University Pennsylvania State University Providence College Rochester Institute of Technology University of Rochester Rutgers University at Newark Saint Joseph’s University Salve Regina University Sarah Lawrence College The University of Scranton Seton Hall University Syracuse University United States Military Academy Ursinus College University of Vermont Villanova University Southeast The University of Alabama Belmont University Catawba College The Catholic University of America

University of Central Florida Clemson University Elon University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - FL Florida Gulf Coast University

Columbia College Chicago Concordia University Wisconsin University of Dayton

Purdue University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology College of Saint Benedict/

University of San Diego

Xavier University

University of San Francisco

West

Santa Clara University

Drake University

Saint Louis University

Arizona State University

Seattle University

Drury University

Saint Mary’s University

University of Arizona

South Dakota School

of Minnesota

Fontbonne University

St. Norbert College

University

Greenville College

University of St. Thomas

Georgetown University

Gustavus Adolphus College

Saint Xavier University

Louisiana State University

Hillsdale College

School of the Art

Loyola University

Kent State/Northeast

University of Miami

Ohio Medical University Illinois State University Indiana University at Bloomington

Institute of Chicago Southern Illinois University University of Toledo Truman State University

University of California, Davis University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Valparaiso University Viterbo University

Colorado College

University of North

Lawrence University

Washington University

Creighton University

University of South

Marquette University

in St. Louis Western Illinois University

Miami University, Ohio

Winona State University

Spring Hill College

Michigan State University

University of Wisconsin,

Tulane University

University of Michigan

Vanderbilt University

Milwaukee School

Carolina

Wake Forest University

of Engineering

Warren Wilson College

Minnesota State

Midwest

University of Minnesota,

University, Mankato Anderson University Augustana College Beloit College Bradley University Butler University Calvin College Cardinal Stritch University Carleton College Carroll University

Duluth University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of Missouri Columbia Missouri University of Science and Technology North Iowa Area Community College

Carthage College

Northern Illinois University

Case Western Reserve

University of Notre Dame

University University of Chicago

Ohio State University Ohio University

Eau Claire University of Wisconsin, Green Bay University of Wisconsin, La Crosse University of Wisconsin, Madison University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh University of Wisconsin, Platteville University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point University of Wisconsin, Stout University of Wisconsin, Waukesha

University Stanford University Texas Christian University

Boulder

University of Iowa

Loyola University, Chicago

California Southern Methodist

University of Colorado,

Iowa State University

Lewis University

University of Southern

Texas A&M University

Morehouse College

University of Richmond

of Mines and Technology

Colorado State University

University of Mississippi

Carolina, Asheville

St. John’s College - NM

Wright State University

St. Cloud State University

The George Washington

College Park

Regis University

DePaul University

Edgewood College

University of Maryland,

Whitewater

Saint John’s University

Florida State University

New Orleans

University of Wisconsin,

United States Air Force Academy Whitman College Willamette University

University of Dallas

International

University of Denver

University of British

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - AZ

Columbia McGill University

Gonzaga University University of Houston University of Kansas Lewis & Clark College Loyola Marymount University University of Missouri, Kansas City Montana State University, Bozeman University of Nebraska, Lincoln University of Nevada, Las Vegas North Dakota State University University of North Dakota University of Oklahoma University of Portland

www.MUHS.edu 9

MUHS NEWS

Class of 2014 The next destination Members of the Class of 2014 will be attending the following colleges and universities.

University of Arizona

Colorado State University

Kent State University

Shea, Patrick

University of Missouri,

Thoma, William

Caragher, Conor

and Northeast Ohio

Sherman, Alexander

Columbia

Floyd, Kelly

Medical University

Sung, Ryan

Gebhardt, Thomas

Augustana College

Koppa, Luke

Anonuevo, Nathan

Vega, Ricardo

Obscherning, Sam

Grassmann, Evan

O’Connor, John */**

Walker, Adam

Reiman, Patrick **

(JHS)

Zellmer, Benjamin */** Belmont University

Creighton University

Lehigh University

McGibany, Sean

Biever, Nicholas

Byrne, Patrick * (JHS)

(JHS) Zingale, Anthony

Beloit College

Rowen, Quin * (JHS)

Loyola University

McGill University

Enes, Joseph

Schultz, Robert

Chicago

Sustar, Charles **

University of Dayton Diffley, Nolan **/t

(JHS) Rice, Robert **

Matzuk, Ryan

University of Nebraska Dowler, Jacob

Maranan, Joseph * Dunne, Patrick (JHS)

Science and Technology Jolitz, Corey

Nuñez, Edmund (JHS)

Boston College

Missouri University of

University of Miami, Florida

University of Nevada,

Hushek, Joseph **

Las Vegas

Boston University

Pelant, Thomas

Marquette University

Achs, Maximilian

Pope, Jared

Braun, Juan

Michigan State

Weiss, Jackson

Schilter, Ryan **

Brielmaier, Samuel **

University

New York University

Brown, Atinuwa

Kesseler, Joseph

Steinhafel, Jeremy *

Brown University

University of Denver

Dobbs, Peter

English, Quinn

Luedtke, Henry

Donovan, Timothy (JHS)

Middlebury College

Dorff, Joseph */**

Sanders, Benjamin

University of Califorina,

DePaul University

Fuller, John *

Davis

O’Callaghan, Joseph

Gabaldon, Drew (JHS)

Edgar, David

Oklobdzija, Petar

Gorski, Thomas

Milwaukee Area

Tarantino, Salvatore

Grgic, Adam

Technical College

Holbach, Michael

Kodaski, Brian

Cardinal Stritch

Kim, Daniel

(JHS)

(JHS)

North Dakota Cappon, Samuel Ziebert, John */** North Iowa Area Community College

University

Drake University

Harkins, Luke

De Leon, Eduardo

Mason, Chandler

Holton, Riley **

Milwaukee School

Jarosz, Daniel * (JHS)

of Engineering

Lopez, Daniel

University of

McLees, Nicklaus */**

Murillo, Salvador

Emerson College

Jimenez Gonzalez, Luis

Andryk, Braden

University of Notre Dame

Torres, Eliazar

Madigan, Kyle

Johnson, Matthew

Gummin, Christian

Kerschner, Alexander

Klusmeyer, Luke

Luenig, LonJay Yorke, Papa Kwesi

Carroll University

Fordham University

Konicke, Connor **

Daniel, Travis

Carlson, Eric (JHS)

Mora, Frederick

Riley, Daniel (JHS) Seward, Stephen (JHS)

Mueller, Matthew *

University of Minnesota,

Juniata College

Munim, Hasaan

Twin Cities

Niezgoda, Jonathan

Muth, Charles */**/t/tt

Gilpin, Steven (JHS)

University of Oklahoma

Pauly, Ryan

Sylvester, Jordan (JHS)

L’Empereur, Timothy Case Western

(JHS)

Reserve University

(JHS)

Tuttle, Redmond (JHS)

Sprenger, Benjamin

Indiana University,

Naumann, Andrew

Bloomington

Nelsen-Freund, Ryan

University

Barbera, John

Nordness, Michael (JHS)

of Chicago

Basham, Alexander

Pasternak, John

University of

Kramer, Joshua

Cole, Grayson

Piszczek, Mitchell

Mississippi

Purdue University

Lewis, Jack

Reardon, Kevin * (JHS)

Mulvey, Michael

Paulsen, Eric */**

Boldt, Nathan (JHS)

(JHS)

10 MUHS Magazine

(JHS)

University of Portland Smith, Gregory

Regis University

Santa Clara University

University of Wisconsin,

McGourthy, William

University of Wisconsin,

De Leo, Anthony

Nakata, Michael **/t

Eau Claire

McMillen, Drew (JHS)

Stout

Borden, Alexander *

McNamara, Kevin

Delaney, Brian *

Wangard, Michael

Moy, Jeremy

Neuburg, Jacob

Treacy, Evan ** Wiesen, Michael

Sarah Lawrence

Mulhaney, Michael */**

College University of Rochester Ninomiya, Mark

Wimmer, Christian */** (JHS)

University of Wisconsin,

Mullooly, Ian *

University of Wisconsin,

La Crosse

Nelson, Logan

Waukesha

Coogan, Jack

Nogalski, Alexander

Mintner, Samuel

Saint Louis University

School of the Art

Courtney, Max

O’Connell, Ryan

Aasen, Eric *

Institute of Chicago

Gagliano, William */**

Sheehy, Conor

University of Wisconsin,

Christenson, William *

Gral, Michael */**

Gorski, Jack

Spaeth, Michael

Whitewater

Schuller, Connor *

Stowe, Jonathan **

Barnes, Dexter

Williams, Bennett

Tenorio, Angelito

Goetz, Matthew

Conlon, Emmett Davison, Ethan

Stanford University

Hilbert, Michael

O’Grady, Patrick ** (JHS)

(JHS) University of Wisconsin,

Hussey, Hayden

Tesfamichael, Negassi

Hill, Ethan McLaughlin, Kamien

Judd, Bennett

Syracuse University

Madison

Kispert, John

Doucas, Samuel *

Baumgartner, Joshua

Visser, Nicholas (JHS)

Welch, Mitchell

Boesen, Theodore

Von Rueden, Spencer *

Witkowiak, Michael **

Zagloul, Hassan

Witkowiak, Timothy **

University of Wisconsin,

Xavier University

Koch, Benjamin Mellin, Henry

Texas A&M University

Mikhailov, Alexander (JHS)

Kent, Alexander

(JHS)

Mosley, Antwon

Bolles, Andrew ** (JHS)

Nelson, Erik

(JHS)

Ries, Tyler

Texas Christian

Buske, Timothy **

Milwaukee

Geiser, Frank

Schwabe, Benjamin

University

Carroll, Richard

Arnold, Ernst

Gonzalez, Alan

Sniatynski, Parker

Crevoiserat, Matthew

Daley, Roger

Barron, Armando

Graff, Hunter (JHS)

Devine, Ryan

Coplan, Joseph **/t

Herbers, Richard (JHS)

Truman State

Didier, John

Cornejo, Alexander

Herman, Alexander *

Weeks, Corwin

University

Duffy, Colin */**/t

Cotter, William

Jordan, Brian **

Wojcicki, Benjamin

Vassel, Jordan

Enriquez, Eduardo

Flores, Lorenzo

Mardanus-Budiono,

Felser, Jack

Johnson, Christopher **

United States

Giese, Jacob

Johnson, DeMarcus

Vander Heyden, Joseph */**

(JHS) Wright, Brendan

Austin Morse, Timothy

Air Force Academy

Hartnett, Aidan

Johnson, Deshawn

St. Norbert College

DeMeulenaere,

Hoffmann, Joseph (JHS)

Krull, Jacob

Gap Year

Berens, John

Augustine (JHS)

Hughes, Jacob

Novak, Joseph **

O’Callaghan, Michael

Klar, Nicholas ** (JHS)

Rilling, Nicholas

(deferred at Colorado

Fortune, Andrew **

United States

Klein, Tyler

Roeske, Mitchell

State University)

Kostos, Logan

Military Academy

Kozicz, Matthew (JHS)

Sanchez, Carlos

Laszkiewicz, Matthew

Smith, Halsey (JHS)

Kraker, Joseph

Schwanke, Aaron

Biever, Patrick

Lemke, Nicholas

Singh, Harmeek

Vanderbilt University

Lieb, Timothy (JHS)

Volpe, Duke

Balistreri, Robert *

Llaurado, Patrick (JHS)

Waldoch, Joseph */**

Waldoch, Aaron */** (JHS) University of St. Thomas Burbach, Matthew **/t

(JHS) Ogunkunle, Daniel

Crowley, Kevin Elliehausen, Christian

Viterbo University

Ogorek, Tyler

Radke, Peter

(JHS) Jesuit Honor Society * Son of alumnus ** Grandson of alumnus t Great-grandson of alumnus tt Great-great-grandson of alumnus

Lubenow, Jacob Lundeen, William (JHS)

University of Wisconsin,

Malas, Bilal

Platteville

McCormack, David

Giunta, Benjamin

(JHS)

Olson, Nicholas

www.MUHS.edu 11

12 MUHS Magazine

SPORTS SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Ski Team takes conference, third at State Ben Megna ’16

For the first time in 14 years, the MUHS ski team won the conference title — the best finish for the team since Cash Masters ’93 took over as head coach in 2000. The Hilltoppers continued their success at the State ski meet at Mount La Crosse, taking third place, just eight points out of first place.

The team, which included Ben Judd ’14, Jordan Sylvester ’14, Robbie Balistreri ’14, Peter Ullrich ’15, Jack Brooks ’16, Jack Coakley ’17 and Matt Malone ’17, had the best finish since taking third in the 2011 state competition. Coakley placed seventh overall this year, followed by Judd in eighth place.

“When one guy stumbled or didn’t get the best time he was capable of, the next guy stepped up and really picked up the team,” Chris Sosnay ’94, assistant coach, says.

After the giant slalom run on the first day, the Hilltoppers ended up in third place. On day two, the team was boosted by a secondplace finish in the slalom, an event that had been elusive at previous state ski meets. In what Masters called the “the most exciting run of the past 14 years,” Coakley finished fifth and Sylvester, Judd, and Ullrich all finished in the top 25 in the super G. “Unfortunately, we are losing our top two guys next year,” Ulrich says.

“However, we gained two incredibly talented freshmen this year in a solid lineup; we have our sights set on a top-five finish next year.”

“Overall, I am looking forward to next season and building on the team,” Master says. “Having Sosnay back for a third year and coach Billy Zlotocha back for a second year, the coaching staff will be able to build on the success of this season.”

Masters plans to emphasize the importance of pre-season weight training to ensure the team’s top condition and performance through the latter half of the season and into the State meet.

Malone is looking forward to a repeat of this year’s success, plus the camaraderie the team shared. “I enjoyed hanging out with my teammates on and off the hill. It was also fun to watch my teammates race and to cheer them on.”

Jack Brooks ’16 Photo by VIP Photography

www.MUHS.edu 13

SPORTS SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Hilltopper Highlights Sports Jacob Heinen ’15

The MUHS varsity baseball team finished its season as Greater Metro Conference Tournament champions and with a record of 25-6, winning 19 straight games before being knocked out of the state tournament by Sussex Hamilton. Baseball players Steve Gilpin ’14 and Alex Kershner ’14 received Academic AllState honors. Outfielder Connor Kimple ’16 and utility player Parker Sniatynski ’14 were named First Team All-State. Additionally, Sniatynski was named Summer State Player of the Year.

The MUHS varsity lacrosse team went undefeated in conference play and won the Classic 8 Conference Championship. The Hilltoppers were defeated in the State Semifinals by Verona Area High School, who went on to win this year’s state championship.

Joey Kesseler ’14 and Nolan Diffley ’14 were named First Team All-State by the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation and All-American

by US Lacrosse. Kessler was named Player of the Year by WFL.

Joe Schubert ’17 makes MUHS history by winning first place in both the 100 Wheelchair and 400 Wheelchair events at the WIAA State Track and Field meet.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association awarded Harmeek Singh ’14 and Jacob Hughes ’14 with its 2014 AllAmerican Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year Award, which recognizes student-athletes who demonstrate dedication

to strength training and conditioning. In the Wisconsin High School State Powerlifting Championships, Eliazar Torres ’14 placed second in his weight class, Papa York ’14 placed third, Singh placed fifth, Eduardo Marin ’16 placed 12th and Hughes placed 23rd.

Casey Kowalewski ’98 has been named head basketball coach.

He currently serves as dean of students and has been a member of the school’s academic administration since 2003.

The varsity golf team won its regional and sectional tournaments and tied for fifth place at State, with Harrison Ott ’17 finishing in 14th place and Connor Konicke ’14 finishing in 22nd place.

Andrew Naumann ’14, Evan Hussey ’16 and Louis Williams ’16 received Academic All-State honors. Ott was named Second Team All-State. David Keane ’16 and Konicke were named Honorable Mention All-State.

Three MUHS players in the Bavarian Soccer Club signed letters of intent in February. The MUHS players are in back, (left to right) Quinn English ‘14, Danny Jarosz ‘14, and Jackson Weiss ‘14 officially signed their Division 1 Soccer scholarships on Signing Day in February.

English will play for Brown University, Jarosz for Marquette University and Weiss for Boston University. Other Hilltopper D1 athletic scholarships include Gus DeMeulenaere ‘14 playing soccer for U.S. Air Force Academy and Conor Sheehy ‘14 playing football for UW–Madison.

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Joe Schubert ’17 won the state championship in the 100 Wheelchair and 400 Wheelchair events at the WIAA State Track and Field meet. Jack Heinrich ’15 placed sixth at the WIAA State Track and Field meet in the 800 Meter Run and broke an MUHS school record with a time of 1:54.80. The 800 Meter Relay team of Kevin Crowley ’14, Michael Thompson ’15, Lorenzo Flores ’14

David Keane ’16 golfing in the State Golf Tournament. Photo by VIP photography

and Ian Glynn ’16 placed eighth at State with a time of 1:29.12 and also broke an MUHS school record.

Swimmer Zach Wiesen-Jones ’15 received All-State honors for his performance in the 100-yard breast stroke.

The varsity tennis team won regional and sectional tournaments, however lost in the State tournament semifinals to Brookfield East, the 2014 state champions. Brothers Austin Budiono ’14 and Ethan Budiono ’17 finished in third place in the Individual State Doubles tournament. They were named the Greater Metro Conference Doubles Team of the Year and First Team Doubles All-State.

Alex Rokosz ’15 was named Second Team Singles All-State.

The MUHS ski team out raced 16 other schools to become the Midwest High School Ski conference champions. The team went on to take third at State. Jack Coakley ’17 went on to Nationals and finished in 35th place in the Super G. The MUHS rugby team took third place at the State tournament.

www.MUHS.edu 15

FEATURES

Longtime teachers Jeni McLaughlin and Doug Harder retire Victoria Temple Bonesho

In honor of its 125th anniversary this year, the Wall Street Journal asked some of its contributors this question: If you could propose one change in American policy, society or culture to revive prosperity and self-confidence, what would it be? Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools and founder and CEO of StudentsFirst, said that we should set this one goal: “A great teacher for every child.” One hallmark of a Marquette High education is its cadre of great faculty members. Last spring, the school community applauded the contributions of two outstanding teachers, Jeni McLaughlin and Doug Harder, who have a combined 75-year effort of providing the best for Marquette High students.

Undoubtedly, her most popular class was the senior elective Prayer and the Spiritual Journey. Alumni consistently speak with fondness about the meditation exercises, the individual prayer journals, the yoga classes and the quiet way that she encouraged others to “speak with Jesus.”

McLaughlin’s presence has also been felt in the library as a prefect for the last several years. Each morning and evening, students who struggled with paper jams, missing assignments and last-minute research papers were countered by McLaughlin’s spirit and sense of humor. She can chide, prod, joke and reprimand with the best and no one can pull the wool over her eyes. The irony is that the students know it, yet still relish her presence and hearing her exclaim, “Gentlemen!” in an effort to restore a quiet library.

In addition to her humor, McLaughlin exudes the personality traits of joy and acceptance, which was perhaps best reflected in her Kairos message. Through the Kairos Retreat, students bonded with McLaughlin and her message of the need to be open and forgiving in a non-judgmental manner. She has never been one to judge.

JENI MCLAUGHLIN

Jeni McLaughlin celebrated her 36th year at Marquette High during the 2013–14 school year. She is known for her laughter, honesty, sincerity and commitment.

Following several years in religious life and teaching at Messmer High School, McLaughlin came to Marquette High as a theology teacher and guidance counselor. Johnna Papin, former MUHS director of counseling services, describes McLaughlin as “my mentor, my friend and my sounding board.”

During her tenure, McLaughlin was known for her candid and forthright responses to questions of morality, God, the Church and the individual’s role in creating a better world. Sophomores who took her Morality course remember the honest way she incorporated Church teachings with modern issues of faith and human relationships. Long before sex education curriculum was developed in high schools, McLaughlin encouraged students to ask questions while still providing a message that was consistent with the Catholic Jesuit mission of the school.

16 MUHS Magazine

Jeni McLaughlin in 1981

Jeni McLaughlin teaching Church History during the 2013–14 school year. Photo by VIP Photography

Outside of the classroom, McLaughlin displays an enviable physical energy and a youthful enthusiasm. She has chaperoned the annual Irish Adventures trip to Ireland with Jim Kearney, checking that all the boys are safe and accounted for. She recently traveled to the Holy Land where her love of history and the Judeo-Christian tradition deepened through visits to the shrines of her faith. This summer, she went on the Civil War trip with other faculty members and students, “roughing it” in tents and visiting battlegrounds.

Joseph Bartoletti ’12, recipient of the 2012 JSEA Award, recalls the impact of McLaughlin on his own life: “Through her relentless

wit and resounding energy, ‘Sister McLaughlin’ embraced each day as an opportunity to more deeply connect with the Christ inside other people, allowing for experience to be the tangible foundation for a deeper relationship with God.” Although she is retiring from teaching, McLaughlin plans to stay involved at Marquette High. During the 2014–15 school year, she is serving as a library prefect, assisting students with their work while still greeting them each day with her famous smile and sense of humor. McLaughlin relishes every opportunity to “work with such a gifted and talented faculty that goes above and beyond to help and care for each other and the students.”

www.MUHS.edu 17

FEATURES LONG TIME TEACHERS

Doug Harder helping Joe Valentyn ‘15 with his math homework. Photo by VIP Photography

18 MUHS Magazine

DOUG HARDER Doug Harder retired this year after 39 years as a math teacher at MUHS. Harder started his career at St. John’s Cathedral High School, and he still talks about his “luck landing a position at Marquette.”

Harder has consistently brought humor and empathy to each lesson, whether he is talking about the quadratic formula or the FOIL method of factoring. No Senior Follies has missed the opportunity to include a scene of Harder throwing an eraser or squirting a water bottle at an unfortunate student.

Beyond his math classroom, Harder has coached basketball and assisted Nativity Jesuit Middle School students at summer camp.

He is proud of his involvement in the College Prep Program, which reflected his desire to ensure that the Marquette High experience would be open to all students.

His fondest memories are those that demonstrate his call to serve.

Harder was an active participant and chaperone in the Appalachian

service trip, an important component of the Senior Shared Life Program. He relished the opportunity to travel with students and offer lessons of hope and faith to those who had less.

Undoubtedly, one of Harder’s most significant contributions has been his involvement with the Kairos program.

Like McLaughlin, Harder speaks from a deep sense of friendship with Christ and an abiding love for his family. When Harder tells his story, others listen. His voice is one of simplicity and gratitude for the many gifts he has been given. His message as he shares his faith on this important retreat is consistently, “You buddy me; me buddy you.”

Students know he has worked each day to enhance their chances of success. His close friend and college roommate from St. Norbert’s, Terry Kelly, graciously described Harder’s many contributions saying, “He has touched the lives of countless people, both at Marquette High and in various other settings. When you have that kind of impact on so many people, you have had a marvelous career.”

Upon his retirement, Harder still feels a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to teach at Marquette High.

“I really like the people I taught with over the past 39 years. There were many very talented and special people. So many of them influenced my life and helped me to become a better person.”

Harder plans to spend his retirement with his wife, Carol, their four children and nine grandchildren at their cottage in northern Wisconsin, a setting that he has often shared with members of the MUHS community. He also plans to spend part of the winter in a warmer climate and longs to visit Pearl Harbor.

At the celebration last May, the faculty, staff and administration expressed their friendship and gratitude for the multiple gifts of Jeni McLaughlin and Doug Harder. The “red-haired wonder” and the “eraser thrower” will long be remembered among the growing group of Marquette High’s great teachers.

Doug Harder in 1983

www.MUHS.edu 19

Taking the title in collegiate athletics Joe Costa ’88 20 MUHS Magazine

FEATURES

For four young alumni, Patrick Hodan ’12, Peter Hutz ’12, Mark Scarpinato ’11 and Conrad Kaminski ’12, achieving excellence beyond the classrooms and practice fields of Marquette University High School did not come easily.

However, in 2013–14, each celebrated national athletic prominence at the highest level of NCAA competition. Hodan’s University of Notre Dame soccer team won a national championship. Scarpinato, a defensive lineman for the Michigan State Spartans, tasted victory at the Rose Bowl. Hutz keyed Loyola University to its first NCAA national title in volleyball defeating Kaminski’s Stanford Cardinal in the final match. As each individual notes, the road to success requires more than ambition, talent and hard work.

PATRICK HODAN ’12 For all of Notre Dame’s proud athletic history, it took two goals from Patrick Hodan ’12 in the national semifinals against New Mexico to send the Fighting Irish into its first soccer title match in school history. Two days later, the team won the College Cup with a 2–1 victory over Maryland, and Hodan was named to the All-Tournament team.

“The moment the final whistle blew was probably the happiest moment of my life,” Hodan says, but quickly credits his coaches and the “brotherhood” of Notre Dame soccer for both his own success and the team championship. “No matter whether it was a game, practice, lift or even a pick-up game, everyone worked extremely hard. We had very good chemistry on and off the field,” he says.

In soccer, the on-the-field chemistry is paramount, but for every Division I athlete, the rigors of balancing academics, travel, intense practice schedules while managing the expectations of coaches, teammates and the university requires a dedicated team of support staff.

“Our coaches, academic advisor and the athletic department spend countless hours coordinating our schedules to make certain we do not miss too much school and can succeed both on and off the field,” Hodan says. “In addition, our academic advisor makes sure that we are on top of our schoolwork and get ahead in classes. When we travel, our coaches set aside time every day for us to study.”

An Academic All-American, Academic All-District and member of UND’s Dean’s List in each semester of his college career, Hodan certainly has proven his ability to achieve balance. Along with numerous athletic accolades, Hodan has accomplished a great deal in just two years.

Academic All-American Patrick Hodan ’12 is a starting midfielder for the Fighting Irish.

Patrick Hodan ’12 helped the University of Notre Dame win its first national soccer championship in school history. Photo by University of Notre Dame Media Relations

Academics and athletics aside, Hodan says the most meaningful and rewarding opportunity of his college experience has been performing community service. “We get to work with young children in the South Bend area. We visit local schools and hold soccer clinics,” Hodan says.

“This summer our team traveled to Zimbabwe for three weeks. A significant portion of the trip was dedicated to teaching young children about AIDS prevention in conjunction with Grassroots Soccer. I even rode on an elephant. It was an experience of a lifetime.”

With Hodan’s academic prowess at one of America’s premier academic institutions and his blossoming career as one of the best collegiate soccer players in the nation, Hodan’s experiences and opportunities have only just begun.

MARK SCARPINATO ’11

Mark Scarpinato ’11 describes his football career as a long, sometimes arduous, but rewarding journey. Before he won a Rose Bowl, before he played a pivotal role on the line for the #1 ranked defense in college football, Scarpinato won a state title at MUHS in 2009, an experience that, in his words, began a year earlier.

Photo by University of Notre Dame Media Relations

www.MUHS.edu 21

“My sophomore year when we lost to Homestead in the state playoffs.

I never wanted to have that feeling again,” Scarpinato explains.

“So I trained to win a state championship. I worked as hard as I could.”

That experience would prove invaluable at MSU as Scarpinato fought through two shoulder surgeries, massive rehabilitation, red-shirt status, scout team duty, and, once healthy, a disappointing 7-6 season. “We knew that we had to do something different,” Scarpinato says. “So we always trained for an extra rep. It is all about being able to finish the games when they come down to the wire.”

The Spartans, expected to finish fourth in the Legends Division of the Big Ten, won the conference title and earned a trip to Pasadena for the 100th Rose Bowl. A 24-20 win over Stanford gave MSU its fourth Rose Bowl victory in school history, and for Scarpinato, the peak of his football journey.

Before stepping foot in East Lansing, Scarpinato had two goals – to win a Rose Bowl and graduate. And graduate he did – in just three years, with academic honors, and as the Class of 2014 commencement speaker.

So with a year of athletic eligibility remaining, Scarpinato made the difficult decision to forego his final football season and pursue a new goal – to become a physician – a decision brought about partly because of his athletic experiences.

22 MUHS Magazine

Mark Scarpinato ’11 graduated in three years from Michigan State and served as commencement speaker. Photo by Michigan State Athletic Communications

FEATURES TAKING THE TITLE

“Football has given me a great platform to help others,” Scarpinato says, “being able to go to a school and see the kids’ faces light up because you are a football player was a great experience. Hopefully I made an impact on people along the way.”

Accepted into the Medical College of Wisconsin, Scarpinato has returned to Milwaukee to begin his new journey – helping others – in the fall of 2014.

PETER HUTZ ’12 Ask Peter Hutz ’12 about Loyola University’s run to a volleyball national championship and he will tell you about his family.

“I love my family so much and I cannot give them enough credit,” Hutz says.

“From my mom playing [volleyball] with me when I was eight, to my dad waking up at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, to my sister talking me up to all of her friends and our extended family,” Hutz says.

He gives special credit to his brother, Michael Hutz ’06. “My brother is the one that got me into the sport,” Peter says. “He always played with me whenever I wanted. He got me my scholarship at Loyola, tirelessly begged and pleaded the coach to give me a chance.”

Michael, perhaps the most accomplished volleyball star in MUHS history, and a four-year Loyola Rambler captain, paved the way for his little brother’s persistence as a player. “He has grown leaps and bounds over the last two years,” Michael says, “and has developed not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.”

Peter’s sister, Danielle, is equally impressed by her brother’s growth and commitment. “It’s such hard work to stay on top of your game and Peter makes it look easy. He made the Dean’s List the semester they won the national championship; how he found the time to study still amazes me. Although he’ll always be my baby brother, I’m the one looking up to him now!”

Peter, a setter, led Loyola to a 42-4 record in 2014 culminating in a 3-1 victory over Stanford – and MUHS classmate Conrad Kaminski ’12 – in the finals. At these competitive heights one would expect a little boasting among Hilltoppers, but the affable, modest Peter is quick to compliment Kaminski’s efforts.

Peter Hutz ’12 playing in the national championship volleyball game against Stanford University and former Hilltopper teammate Conrad Kaminski ‘12 (player #4).

Photo by Steve Woltmann

www.MUHS.edu 23

FEATURES TAKING THE TITLE

Conrad Kaminski ’12 was named second-team All-American by Volleyball Magazine and Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Photo by stanfordphoto.com

“It was awesome playing against Conrad. He has developed tremendously especially within the last two years. It was really cool playing someone I am good friends with to this day,” Peter says.

Kaminski echoes Peter’s remarks. “It is not too often that high school teammates square off against each other in a national championship, especially teammates from Wisconsin,” Kaminski says. “It was phenomenal to have that representation for Wisconsin volleyball and for Marquette High.”

Both just sophomores, perhaps the two will meet in another final.

As for Peter, 2014 was a breakout season. He was named to the MIVA and NCAA All-Tournament teams and finished third for the Setterof-the-Year award; his leadership on the court was invaluable, a skill he honed at MUHS. “Setting is much different than any other position on the team because it is the most direct extension from the coach,” Peter states.

24 MUHS Magazine

“Leading Kairos gave me the opportunity to see what it was like for others to look directly to me for guidance and I became comfortable showing them the ropes.”

Luckily for the Loyola Rambler volleyball team, leadership, guidance, perseverance and support are Hutz family qualities.

CONRAD KAMINSKI ’12 Conrad Kaminski ’12 sees everything as a learning opportunity.

Although disappointed with the outcome of the national championship match, Kaminski’s accomplishments on and off the court in 2014 are irrefutable: All-MPSF 2nd Team, AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, Volleyball Magazine 2nd Team All-American, Most Improved Player (voted by Stanford teammates), Academic All-MPSF and his Stanford squad finished the season 24-9 with a No. 2 national ranking.

Kaminski doesn’t focus on the loss, but, instead on a rewarding season of perseverance. “The journey to the national title game was certainly long and difficult,” Kaminski says. “Despite our ultimate loss in the championship match, the journey taught us a lot about ourselves, as volleyball players, as Stanford studentathletes and as men.”

Kaminski approaches his off-the-court endeavors at Stanford in much the same manner. “Adjusting to college life in the midst of adjusting to a new team and busy athletic schedule was certainly difficult during my freshmen year,” he says. “I initially fell below the curve both athletically and academically. Luckily, Marquette taught me to work hard and keep a strong faith in God, both of which were crucial to finding success as the year progressed and in the present day.”

Kaminski points to many MUHS experiences as particularly influential.

“I could go into detail about every part of Marquette High and how it specifically helped me,” Kaminski says. “Naturally, everything added to the incredible experience there, and that incredible experience is why I continue to have so many wonderful opportunities today.”

He reflects fondly on Marquette High’s volleyball coach Eric Sullivan’s passion, tutelage and patience and his teachers’ attentive care. “I’ll always hear Mrs. Bonesho in the back of my head, saying that ‘you turkeys can’t be afraid to challenge people,’” Kaminski says.

“Neither will I forget Mr. Chaney, telling me ‘You’re too tall to be a chemist!’ Mr. Chaney serves as a great example of how Marquette High teachers sincerely care about their students’ interests and well-being,” Kaminski says. “He’d ask me about volleyball every chance he had, just one small example of how he truly cared about my spiritual, academic and athletic growth.”

Like Hutz, Kaminski cites his senior Kairos retreat as a pinnacle event with lasting impacts. “While life at Stanford is often pretty far from the Kairos experience, LTF keeps me on track when the grind is its toughest. Sometimes, I just have to take it day by day, making each moment AMDG. Those usually turn out to be my best days.”

MUHS’ NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AND ROSE BOWL WINNERS

Hodan, Scarpinato and Hutz join an impressive list of Hilltoppers who have gone on to play for Division I championship teams.

Peter Hutz ’12 Loyola University Volleyball 2014 Mark Scarpinato ’11 Michigan State University Football 2014 (Rose Bowl) Patrick Hodan ’12 University of Notre Dame Soccer 2013 Jake Erschen ’10 University of Wisconsin Cross Country 2011 Greg McThomas ’90 University of Michigan Football 1993 (Rose Bowl) Mike Huwiler ’90 University of Virginia Soccer 1991, 1992 Tim Williams ’86 University of Michigan Football 1989 (Rose Bowl) Bob Probst ’86 Duke University Soccer 1986 Gary Rosenberger ’74 Marquette University Basketball 1977 Bill Neary ’72 Marquette University Basketball 1977 Greg Stack ’72 Marquette University Basketball 1977 Don Rodenkirk ’73 University of Notre Dame Football 1973 (National Championship) Mark Madden ’75 University of Notre Dame Football 1973 (National Championship) Terry Brennan ‘45 University of Notre Dame Football 1946, 1947 (National Championship) Jim Brennan ’44 University of Notre Dame Football 1946, 1947

When not on the court, Kaminski is studying mechanical engineering at Stanford University.

(National Championship)

Photo by stanfordphoto.com

www.MUHS.edu 25

Success Stories of MUHS financial aid recipients

FEATURES

Although Carlos Torres ’06, Andrew Bender ’05, John Bender ’08, Teng Yang ’07, Eric Wolffersdorff ’07 and Karl Sona ’09 come from different backgrounds, these young men all received financial aid to attend Marquette University High School. Now, years later, these aspiring professionals are making a name for themselves not only in their field of study, but with those they serve.

DR. CARLOS TORRES ’06 FROM MEXICO TO MED SCHOOL Julie Felser

As a third-year Harvard Medical School student, Carlos Torres ’06 was on his final pediatrics rotation at Boston Children’s Hospital when a 4-year-old girl was airlifted in after being mauled in Bolivia by four Rottweiler dogs. “It was very traumatic,” Torres says.

The girl, whose story received national attention, arrived at the hospital to receive extensive medical care and reconstructive plastic surgery not available in her home country. But once she was stabilized Torres spent more time with the girl’s Bolivian father, who was distraught by his daughter’s condition and overwhelmed by the language and cultural barriers he faced in an American hospital.

Torres felt great compassion for the girl’s father, too. “I saw my family in that father so treating him how I would want my family to be treated was really important,” he says. “Even though the girl was the patient, I felt we had to do more for the dad than the girl on many levels,” he says.

This experience, along with many others he had at Boston Children’s Hospital, led Torres to pursue pediatric medicine. “I really like the partnership you have with the parents. The parents many times become the advocate for the child and I love that,” Torres says.

“And, babies are really cute. Many of the kids remind me of my nieces and nephews,” he adds with a laugh.

Torres graduated from Harvard Medical School in May and is now completing his residency in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston.

While the promising young doctor could boast about receiving his medical degree from one of America’s most prestigious universities, Torres instead exudes humility, compassion and a genuine care for others.

“He is so aware of others,” says Larry Siewert ’59, former MUHS principal and Nativity Jesuit Middle School administrator who met and mentored Torres at Nativity. “There is never a time when I have talked with him or exchanged emails when he doesn’t ask about how I am or my wife is doing. He is very sincerely interested in other people.”

While Torres’ character and actions personify Marquette High’s ideals of a man for others, his life story exemplifies the American Dream.

The youngest of 10 children, Torres was born in a small farming town in Buenavista, Mexico. His parents and siblings worked hard on their farm, growing corn and raising livestock. Despite their efforts, the farm didn’t generate enough income to support the family, so Torres’ father, Agustin, became a migrant worker, picking crops in California a few months of the year during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 allowed Agustin to apply for residency in America for him and his family. Eight years later, they finally received their green cards and, with the exception of three of Carlos’ sisters, the family eventually moved to Milwaukee to be close to relatives and seek employment.

Dr. Carlos Torres ’06 treats five-day-old baby Sophia for a mild fever. Torres is completing his pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Photo by Joseph Ferraro

At the time, Torres was 10 years old when he arrived to his new home on 14th and Lincoln in Milwaukee. Unable to speak any English,

www.MUHS.edu 27

FEATURES SUCCESS STORIES

he started fifth grade at Forest Home Avenue School and was enrolled in the school’s English as a Second Language program.

The following year he applied to Nativity Jesuit High School. “When Carlos came to Nativity as a sixth-grader, he spoke very little English,” Siewert says. “We almost didn’t take him because of that.”

However, Torres began to flourish at his new middle school. “He was quiet and shy in the beginning. But shortly after he was there, it was clear that he was very bright and he did very well in classes,” Siewert says. “Other students quickly found out he was very bright and, because he was also very self-effacing, he was accepted and well liked.”

Siewert encouraged Torres to apply to Marquette High. “Carlos was the best in his class and we wanted him to get the full benefit of what MUHS offers,” he says. “Also, his family wanted him to attend [Marquette High] because it was the closest of the Catholic schools – an easy bus ride” from their home.

Torres looked at other Catholic high schools, however Marquette High was his first choice because it was the “most academically rigorous and I knew it would better prepare me for college,” he says.

However, he did have concerns. “I felt at the time MUHS was a bit out of reach since my English wasn’t that great.”

He eventually came to MUHS and vividly recalls meeting MUHS faculty member Al Taylor in the library on the first day of school.

Torres was sitting at a table, talking with new acquaintances during quiet-study time. “We had just gotten our IDs and within five minutes, they were confiscated [for talking]. We were terrified

we would never get them back,” he says, now able to laugh about the incident years later. “We didn’t know the rules, but Mr. Taylor was sure to remind us.”

Changing to a more serious tone, Torres shares the difficulties he experienced moving from Nativity to Marquette High. “It was one of the hardest transitions ever. More so than high school to college or college to med school,” he says.

“I think it was challenging for different reasons,” he says. “First, culturally. All the families at Nativity are Latino. At Marquette High, the majority of students were Caucasian. I felt I didn’t have much in common with my classmates. It made it hard to get to know them. And, it was very challenging academically. So, in the beginning I felt a little lonely.”

One of the first people Torres met was English teacher Ann Downey, who eventually became his advisor and helped him acclimate to his new academic environment. “She was always there to show me the ropes and give me advice and just talk, which was wonderful.”

Downey remembers Torres as “exceptionally gentle, especially for a high school boy. He also has an easy laugh and we would sit for whole periods talking about his family in Mexico,” she says.

“Carlos was a very good student. He didn’t say much in class, but he was thoughtful and deep.”

Fluent in Spanish, Downey regularly communicated with Torres’ mother, Pachita, about his academic progress and would answer questions about MUHS. “She spoke many, many times to my mom in Spanish, which was so wonderful to hear. My mom just felt really comfortable with that.”

To his credit, Torres forced himself outside his comfort zone and into social events to make new friends. He attended football games, dances and other informal gatherings.

Slowly, he began to acclimate. “You could see Carlos growing on MUHS and MUHS growing on him,” Taylor says.

“He had great leadership qualities. He was always polite and always willing to help – he never said no.”

Carlos Torres is joined at his graduation from Harvard Medical School by his family (from left to right: uncle Jose, sister Elena, brother Tori, sister Rosalinda, brother Jose, father Agustin, Torres ’06, mother Pachita and brother Jorge.

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Torres joined the cross-country team, Orgullo Latino and eventually traveled to Quito, Ecuador, through the Somos Amigos program, which he described as “the best two weeks I had at Marquette High.

I traveled with amazing people who loved working with others,” he says.

Torres applied to numerous medical schools, including Harvard, which he thought was a long shot. He not only was accepted to Harvard, but was also honored with a National Medical Fellowship Scholarship and the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Even while in medical school, Torres continued to serve the community. He co-founded and continues to serve as curriculum coordinator of Seeds of Hope, a program for middle and high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds to consider a career in the health sciences.

He also served as an HIV counselor and tester in a Spanishspeaking clinic, which he recalls as his favorite community service experience.

Photo by Joseph Ferraro

During his senior year, Torres helped his father pass the citizenship test, which meant he, too, was granted American citizenship.

Torres graduated from MUHS with a cumulative GPA just shy of a 4.0 and went on to attend UW–Madison, where he received a fulltuition scholarship as a Chancellor’s Scholar and Gates Millennium Scholar. In 2010, Torres graduated from UW–Madison Phi Beta Kappa with a 3.96 and a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

While at UW–Madison, Torres co-founded the Professional Association for Latinos for Medical School Access (PALMA) with Consuelo Lopez-Springfield, assistant dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, as a way to help Latino students connect with healthcare professionals and develop mentoring relationships.

Torres explains that many of his pre-med classmates had parents who were doctors or family connections in the medical field.

“I didn’t have anyone I could talk to so I went to Dr. Lopez-Springfield, who was wonderful, and she shared some of these same feelings with me,” he says.

The pair worked together to set up guest speaker and panel events, professional shadowing opportunities, mentor-mentee relationships and fundraisers to help Latino students interested in medicine gain greater access to the healthcare field. They also helped to raise awareness of health issues affecting disadvantaged communities with an emphasis on the Latino community.

“Latino physicians from the community were interested in helping us out as well as non-Latino physicians who saw that representation of Latinos and other minority groups in medicine was very low,” he says. “We formed a nice, tight-knit community that is still around today.”

“I worked with awesome people who love their jobs.

They are invested and passionate about helping others, especially those who are disenfranchised.

It reminded me why I went into medicine.”

He also appreciated the autonomy of the experience and interacting with patients throughout the entire session, from collecting medical information and drawing blood to sharing the results and counseling the patient as needed. “It really made you feel like a health care provider,” he says.

Today, Torres is living in the moment and hasn’t made any firm plans for the future. He is looking forward to spending time with his family in Milwaukee and is uncertain if he will pursue a primary care pediatric practice or a specialty.

He does know he wants to be teaching. “I think that’s going to be an integral part of my career,” he says. He reflects fondly on his Jesuit education and describes his middle and high school teachers as “amazing. Their creativity and their passion is just so real.

Even my teachers in medical school don’t compare.”

One thing is for certain, Torres is and will continue to change the lives of the children, and their parents, he meets.

Downey’s not surprised Torres is a pediatrician. “I knew he’d be a great doctor. When we were in Ecuador [on the Somos Amigos trip], Carlos was rocking babies and helping the little ones figure out how to use the toilet,” she says. “He would get down to the level of the children and speak with them eye to eye. He had a sincere compassion for the people he served. He’s just an exceptional young man.”

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FEATURES SUCCESS STORIES

ANDREW ‘05 AND JOHN ‘08 BENDER BROTHERS IN BUSINESS Max Loos ’07

He made some suggestions to the head of the department and a few other school officials, and while there wasn’t much interest in revamping the process, they were interested in one of John’s ideas. He said that he could develop an electronic model to facilitate the process for students and administrators.

In the summer of 2009, John Bender ’08 approached his brother Andrew ’05 with an idea he hoped would amount to a year’s tuition at Concordia University.

John was given the green light to develop a prototype. There was just one problem: he wasn’t a software developer. But he knew one – his brother Andrew.

Already a resident assistant supervising college coeds, John was involved in the university’s annual Room Draw process – the highstress event when students draw for dorm room assignments in person. After going through one “Black Friday,” as draw day is referred to by the Residential Life department, John thought there had to be a better way of doing things.

Andrew was just about to start a graduate program in computer science at UW–Madison when his brother pitched his plan. “I was surprised Concordia was still doing it all by hand and wasn’t using some kind of software already,” Andrew says. “I immediately started imagining some cool things we could do to make it work really well, like the digital floor plans and some other pieces behind the scenes.”

He also recalls thinking, “I don’t have time for this project.” But his interest in the project eventually overcame his time constraints.

The brothers, along with friend Jordan Arentsen, began transforming early renderings into reality. Once they had the prototype, the trio knew they had a product that could be implemented at universities, colleges and boarding schools across the country.

SimpleCampusHousing is a web-based tool that allows students to choose their preferred room via a real-time lottery. Onscreen, the display is like what a customer sees when choosing a seating preference on an airplane, just with beds to click on instead of seats. Housing administrators can also follow the process, watching live as residence halls fill up.

John never did get the free tuition he dreamed about, but after a few years and innumerable all-nighters, he and his partners have managed to create a profitable digital business venture. John supports himself and his family – wife, Samantha, and children, two-year-old Sarah and newborn Jacob. Andrew also draws his primary income through SimpleCampusHousing. Working with family, there was a large amount of trust and familiarity right off the bat. It also didn’t hurt, when the business was first starting, that family members will often work for cheap.

Andrew Bender ’05 (left) with brother and business partner John Bender ’08 Photos by Peter Beck

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John and Andrew Bender are not particularly alike. In fact, their business relationship is something of a study in contrasts. John is irresistibly personable and unabashedly ambitious. He is innately skilled at building relationships and he seems very comfortable in his role as the face of the company.

Andrew is more comfortable working behind the scenes. As a software developer, he thrives on the challenge of puzzles, projects and problem-solving. He speaks with less bravado than his brother, but he has a true talent for explaining complex technical issues through analogy. And while he does his fair share of day-to-day operations during normal business hours, he often gets his best work done late at night, when he knows that he can delve uninterrupted into the abstract world of coding.

“I’m kind of a night person,” Andrew says, “If I’m in the middle of making something work, I just keep working.” John is well aware of his brother’s work habits. “I try not to wake up Andrew before 11 or 12,” John says, “unless it’s necessary.”

Andrew’s job really does seem to require an extraordinary amount of time and space. He designs software solutions for customers’ needs, often when those customers don’t yet know their needs.

John tends to draw inspiration from the few moments in his life when he was told he wouldn’t succeed. “Challenges or negativity from other people usually push me to work harder,” he says. He still holds on, for example, to a formal rejection letter from a college CIO who insisted that SimpleCampusHousing would never be a viable business. “That letter will be framed at some point,” he says.

It is their differences, though, that make John and Andrew such an effective team. To put it very simply, Andrew says: “I build things, and he sells them.”

Really, the process is pretty collaborative.

“We each have strengths that contribute to the business goal,” Andrew says.

The brothers insist they never planned to go into business together, but they admit that perhaps it was bound to happen. After all, both have always had entrepreneurial streaks, even going back to high school, when John was interning at Direct Supply and Andrew was constantly starting new web ventures.

The brothers also see their time at Marquette High as crucial in building one enormously valuable skill: the ability to learn. They attribute this to a number of their teachers. “Mr Kearney teaches you to think critically about the concept of story and the threads that unify their various incarnations while also managing to be singularly entertaining,” Andrew says.

He also speaks fondly of Mike Donovan, Rev. Charley Stang SJ, Jean Morrell and “Mr. Griesbach’s nerdy enthusiasm and ability to make you understand math concepts better than you even realized.”

When it comes to lessons learned in leadership and work ethic, the brothers say Al Taylor is first in class. “Mr. Taylor’s leadership outside the classroom provides a role model for young men particularly with the work grant program,” Andrew says.

As the digital world continues to evolve, the brothers know there are many more opportunities for them out there, however they don’t offer much more than hints. “I definitely could see us doing something else together,” John says, adding that they have talked about bringing on one more Bender brother, Paul ’03.

Sometimes, when it works out this well, it’s hard not to keep it all in the family.

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FEATURES SUCCESS STORIES

TENG YANG ’07 Max Loos ‘07

It’s a complex task, but for Yang, the need is glaring. “We are basically losing out on a population of people who are not meeting their full potential,” he says. “I see college access work as something that is incredibly important and urgent.”

Teng Yang ’07 doesn’t work as a college counselor in Harlem, N.Y., because he has nothing better to do. In fact, when he finished his AmeriCorps position in the summer of 2013, he had options – lots of options.

Yang is, among many other things, a dedicated and driven idealist.

But while many of his generation grow discouraged when they realize that they can’t change the entire world, Yang has learned from his work that what really allows a person to effect change in the world is a sense of scope.

AGENT OF CHANGE

The Brown University graduate had just been accepted to acting school at the American Repertory Theater in Boston – a good fit, given his successful run in theater while at MUHS. At the same time, he was also mulling over a consulting job in Boston. And on top of that, he had just been offered a Fulbright Scholarship that would have taken him to Laos, the land his family fled when he was a small child.

There were deep, compelling reasons to go in each direction. In the end, though, Yang felt that he had important and pressing work to do as a college counselor, advocating for students without access to privilege and advantage, helping them find their way to education and opportunity.

He knew that this was a chance to make an immediate and positive impact on the lives of others. And ultimately, that’s what matters to Teng Yang.

Yang is a college advisor with National College Advising Corps, a selective AmeriCorps program that places recent college graduates in high-need public schools.

Advising wasn’t a new role for Yang. During his summers in college, Yang served as an ESL teacher through Harvard University’s Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment program and as a teacher at Breakthrough Collaborative, a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit dedicated to increasing educational opportunities for middle school students. He also was an intern for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Today, Yang’s work as a college advisor is not particularly easy – nor straightforward. Yang must have a thorough understanding of the community he works in, a deep personal relationship with the students that he works with, and extensive knowledge of the architecture of college admissions. “In many ways, I see myself as a marketing firm,” he says. “I take a student, I learn all of their educational history, I learn their personal histories, I learn their hopes, their dreams, and I get to market them to colleges.”

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“I try to see the realistic ways in which I can build communities, a better space, better opportunities for people,” he says. “I don’t need to save the nation, I don’t need to save the state. I need to save the five students who might get to college and whose lives might change. It’s fulfilling and it’s invigorating,” he says.

Yang also happens to be quite good at his work – so good, in fact, that in 2012 he was selected to meet with President Barack Obama to discuss a variety of college access issues. Yang, along with a few other people, spoke to the president for 45 minutes about the state of the college admission process in the U.S., the ways in which promising young people often lack the institutional support they need to fulfill their potential, and how certain communities suffer more than others from the gaps in the system.

Yang also added something else to the conversation. “I spoke to the president about the importance of public service, and getting more young Americans involved with those programs,” he says.

That passion for service, and that steadfast belief that it can be a transformational force for individuals and communities, is something that Yang really started to discover during his time as a student at MUHS. “Marquette High School instilled in me a deep sense of gratitude and a deep sense of purpose when I do service,” he says.

Yang gained a somewhat deeper perspective than your average MUHS student on the impact that service work can have on people’s daily experiences. He recalls volunteering to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys to low-income families – and realizing that his family would be one of the recipients.

“It put me in this very unique situation where I was like, ‘Oh, I can be an agent of change . . . and I’m learning so much from this intellectual process called service while I’m performing good deeds.’”

Looking back, Yang appreciates that MUHS made room for selfdiscovery. “I will always be grateful for . . . the many spaces that Marquette High afforded me to really reflect and engage with myself as a growing individual,” he says. He took full advantage of

Teng Yang ’07 met with President Barack Obama in 2012 to discuss college access issues. Photo by Pete Souza

the Examen, the retreats, and most of all, the chapel. “I remember spending so many hours in the chapel,” he says. “Having that sacred space to myself, to just reflect on who I am – it’s so rare that young people get that space to really sit with themselves and explore who they are.”

In fact, many of Yang’s most vivid memories from high school are of the feelings he had during moments of constructive solitude.

“I remember the feelings of being alone,” he says. “I remember the feelings of what it was like to pray. I remember the feelings of asking myself ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ I remember the feeling of challenging my hopes and dreams, or wanting hopes and dreams for myself. Those are the things that will last.”

Yang finds it immensely powerful and worthwhile to exercise that kind of critical examination in his work and in his life. “I’m critical because I should be,” he says. College access work, he says, often involves pointing out where students’ needs are not being met.

“Unless we call out what is necessarily uncomfortable, we are unable to challenge the ways in which we educate in the 21st century,” he says.

Of course, he doesn’t see criticism as an end in itself. To Yang, criticism is a tool, a useful technique in the ongoing and unending process of creating a better world. “The good fight is only done when people are fighting it in a thoughtful way,” he says. “I think good is only good if you’re examining the way in which you impact communities.”

For now, Yang isn’t entirely sure what the future holds for him, or what his next step will be. But he’s also not particularly worried about it. “I have no idea where this is going to take me, but I do know that I feel really strongly about where I am professionally and personally,” he says. It’s helpful, he says, when you’re doing something worthwhile. “I’m 25,” he says, “I know that I’m doing good work and helping a lot of students.”

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FEATURES SUCCESS STORIES

ERIC WOLFFERSDORFF ’07 THE STRATEGY OF STRUGGLE Max Loos ‘07

Eric Wolffersdorff ’07 will be the first to admit that he had never really imagined himself as an English teacher. As is the case with many teachers, the profession found him more than he found it.

“I’m a very introverted person,” Wolffersdorff says, which is why he didn’t expect that a career at the front of a classroom would be a good fit for him. But after a few fortunate college courses and a bit of actual experience, he knew what he wanted to do.

“I want to earn what I earn,” he says. “My parents raised me to work hard. My dad works in a factory; he’s been laid off three times, so we know the value of a dollar, we know the value of hard work.”

At the same time, he felt that his time at Marquette High gave him an opportunity to apply that work ethic in new and challenging ways.

“You had to work hard to do well there,” Wolffersdorff says. He recalls specifically the classes of Adam Laats and the freshman basketball coaching of Tom Persin, but the work that MUHS made him do spiritually was especially important and formational for him.

“Mr. Wolffersdorff” has been an English teacher for three years at St. Thomas More High School in Milwaukee. And in many ways, it seems he is just getting started.

“Spiritually they made us work hard,” he says.

“The retreats challenged you head-on with a lot of things you hadn’t thought about as a know-it-all arrogant 16-year-old.”

The first few years of teaching are notoriously very difficult. And, things don’t seem to be letting up yet for Wolffersdorff. This year he will be teaching seven sections of English with four different preps, as well as an online course for gifted middle schoolers. There is no break once the bell rings, when he heads off to coach basketball and moderate a number of after-school activities. When he gets home, there is a lot of grading that needs to be done. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask him how he finds time to eat.

He was also particularly impacted by the experience of working with Al Taylor to satisfy his work-grant commitment, a service requirement of all MUHS financial aid recipients. Before Taylor made him a squad leader for one of the work-grant “summer camps,” Wolffersdorff had never been in charge of people outside of an academic or sports setting. He credits Taylor with giving him the chance to develop the confidence and leadership abilities that he relies on every day as a teacher.

“I make time for myself, but not as much as it normally would be,” he says. “But I figure now is a good chance to take advantage of these opportunities because I plan on having kids someday, and I won’t be able to do as many of these things that I can do right now.”

That seems to be how Wolffersdorff operates: he does as much hard work as possible today, so he can make room for some hard work that he knows he wants to do in the future.

That’s not to say that he isn’t enjoying himself, though. “When you like what you do, it’s not as much work,” he says. “I don’t mind spending 13 hours a day on it. I can have a beer in my hand, the game’s on and I’m doing some schoolwork.”

Wolffersdorff picked up that work ethic at a young age. As a student at MUHS, he took the bus to school every day from the south side. At Marquette University, he took as many credits as allowed and worked as many hours as possible in the admissions office.

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Eric Wolffersdorff ’07 is an English teacher at St. Thomas More High School.

Photos by Peter Beck

To that end, Wolffersdorff wants to make sure that there are no easy answers to the questions and problems that he poses in his classes.

He wants his students to grapple with their texts, feel challenged, and then work their way through to their own conclusions.

“The power of struggle is so important, because you’re going to have struggles in school, in life, in theology, and whatever it might be,” he says.

“Instead of giving them the answer, I want take a longer approach that might frustrate a lot of people. You might feel a bit lost, but you’ll hopefully get to a better, stronger place by the end of the class.”

In that way, Wolffersdorff is an old-fashioned English teacher, one who believes that exposure to great literature can produce great character.

“At the end of the day, what matters?” he says. “Is it that they’re really good at English, or that they’re a good person?” Whether or not his students remember Huck Finn declaring, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell,” doesn’t matter to him as long as he feels that they are equipped to make their own courageous stands of conscience.

“If it’s not about life, then what’s the point of doing it?” he says.

Wolffersdorff will be getting married next summer. His plans, between then and now, are both characteristic and commendable: work on the wedding, and continue to work on becoming a better teacher.

It comes as no surprise, then, that Wolffersdorff aims to be a teacher who hopes to instill life lessons through class lessons. “I don’t care if they forget Grendel from Beowulf, but I do care that they went through that process of developing the analytical nature of the brain, which I hope will help them be ready when they encounter something in the real world.” Wolffersdorff wants his students to have bigger brains, but, just like his education at MUHS, it goes beyond that. “The list doesn’t stop there,” he says. “I want them to develop a good work ethic, so that they’re fit for whatever they need to do.”

“You can always find something to improve upon. Where do you ever say ‘That’s enough?’” he says. “You don’t. That’s the madness of it, but that’s your job. That’s why it’s hard, and that’s why I like it.”

“I want them to develop . . . an appreciation and understanding of English, and of rhetoric especially, and how we use rhetoric, how rhetoric uses us, and then that way they can become better people, better citizens, better Catholics, better whatever it might be, because they can think for themselves,” he says.

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FEATURES SUCCESS STORIES

KARL SONA ’09 DEVELOPING PERSONALIZED CARE FOR CANCER PATIENTS Julie Felser

Karl Sona ’09 loves to talk.

That’s one reason he was able to really connect with the patients he met during his nursing rotation at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes–Jewish Hospital, a requirement of his bachelor’s degree in radiation therapy at Saint Louis University.

“I really liked making new relationships and being a positive coach to get them over the treatment hurdle,” he says of his patients, all who have cancers of the neck and head.

This clinical experience gave Sona the opportunity to see firsthand the adverse effects of radiation treatment and the difficulties these cancer patients endure. “It allowed me to step back as a clinician and really understand their struggles, not only physically, but emotionally,” he says. “Not only are they dealing with a recent cancer diagnosis, but many are dealing with a host of physical conditions and unable to complete simple functions, such as swallowing water or food.”

Sona found that many patients will prematurely stop treatment because of the awful side effects. That’s when, he says, “it hit home” for him and he started asking doctors what could be done to make treatments more tolerable.

It also compelled him to continue in his studies in radiation therapy and learn more about personalized medicine, which involves better understanding a patient’s genetic makeup to deliver more highly specialized and targeted treatment in hope of increasing effectiveness while minimizing harmful side effects.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in radiation therapeutics from SLU in August 2013, Sona was one of only three applicants accepted into the school’s recently created graduate program in molecular imaging and therapeutics.

Through the program’s intensive research opportunity, Sona worked alongside Dr. Maria Thomas, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the Center for Clinical Imaging Research at Washington University School of Medicine.

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“I decided to focus on MRI because that’s where the field is going with hybrid imaging and diagnostics for proper treatment delivery,” Sona says. Under Thomas’ direction, he conducted a clinical research study at Siteman Cancer Center on the new ViewRay linear accelerator that uses real-time MRI guidance for treatment delivery.

Today, Sona is considering various job prospects but thinks that he’ll eventually return to school to pursue his Ph.D. “My ultimate goal is to have my doctorate and be working in research and development in private industry,” he says. “I would like to use my clinical and scholastic experiences to contribute to innovative technology being developed to better deliver personalized medicine.”

Although research scientists aren’t known for talking as much as he likes to, he believes he could make a difference in the lives of cancer patients.

As a student at Marquette High, Sona knew he wanted to help others but wasn’t quite sure of his career path. MUHS faculty member and guidance counselor Nathaniel Gillon recalls Sona expressing an interest in medicine so he could “go somewhere to give back.”

Gillon witnessed Sona’s generous spirit and “giving back” nature with the students at St. Rose Catholic School, where Sona tutored as part of Gillon’s Christian Discipleship class. “To those kindergartners, Karl, who is over 6 feet tall, was quite an imposing figure,” recalls Gillon. “But Karl was so genuinely caring and engaging that the students just gravitated toward him.”

And, Sona genuinely wanted to help the classroom teacher by assisting with disruptive or difficult students.

“He would take the initiative to approach the teacher and ask if there was someone in particular he should work with,” Gillon says. “I remember him as always wanting to be the best he could be.”

Gillon saw Sona display these same characteristics among his MUHS classmates. “He made a conscious effort not to be a member of any one particular clique,” says Gillon. “He had many friends, a mix of suburban and urban youth. He has a gift of being able to interact and make friends with people from all circles of life.”

Sona admits, “I’m a pretty sociable guy.”

Gillon would concur. “Karl engaged in all aspects of MUHS. He was dedicated to going to homecoming, prom and other Marquette

social events,” he says of the St. Mary’s Parish School in Menomonee Falls graduate.

While “giving back” may be inherent to him, he also heeded the many man-for-others lessons he learned at MUHS. “That theme is pounded into your head,” he says with a laugh.

The message remains a guiding principle in his life today. “It is such a simple, pure way to live. It’s the way I try to carry myself,” Sona says.

“I’m here to use my talents, or whatever God has blessed me with, to help those around me.”

Sona cemented his commitment to service at SLU, where he volunteers as a Big Brother at Big Brothers Big Sisters and as a team captain for Relay for Life, a fundraising benefiting the American Cancer Society. However, his interest was sparked at MUHS, where he had leadership roles in Marquette High’s Big Brother program, Kairos and Somos Amigos. “Those were character-building moments that were very influential and have made me who I am today,” Sona says.

His Somos Amigos experience in the Dominican Republic was especially impactful. “It was a true test of character to get up on those super hot days, hike five miles to your site and then start digging holes for latrines,” he says.

“The camaraderie on that trip was just phenomenal. It was a bonding experience not only with the Marquette High guys, but the village people we were serving,” Sona says. “It really gave you a different perspective on how all human life is connected. It was amazing.”

Sona often looks for those human connections, a task made easier because he is an excellent listener, according to Gillon. “Karl is a reflective spiritual guy who always looks at the larger context of life.”

Karl Sona sitting in Washington University School of Medicine’s Center for Clinical Imaging and Research at Barnes-Jewish Hospital where he conducted a clinical trial for his graduate studies.

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FEATURES

Continuing the connection with MUHS ’76 classmates Kevin Coakley, Jim Frings, John McDermott and Steve Mueller history, was very demanding, but very helpful. He, more than anyone else, taught me how to write long, arduous research papers.

Father Doug Leonhardt could be a principal with a strong hand but a soft heart. Father Majka always had impactful stories for every issue that came up; it was if he conversed in parables.

JOHN MCDERMOTT It’s hard to single out just one teacher.

However, there were two teachers who played an important role in my career choice. My senior year, I had Father Stang for physics and Mr. Lazowski for calculus. Both of these courses gave me insight into what I really enjoyed doing and laid the foundation for my choice of engineering.

Kevin Coakley ’76 (left) and Steve Mueller ’76 Photo by Evan Tobin ’15

Long after they have tossed their graduation caps, MUHS alumni continue the strong friendships they forged during high school. And, many continue to support their alma mater with words of gratitude and financial gifts. Meet four 1976 classmates who reflect on the importance of their MUHS experience and learn why they give.

Which MUHS teacher had the greatest impact on your high school education?

KEVIN COAKLEY Mr. Horlivey. He was a really cool guy. He made Composition/English cool and the good Lord knows that ain’t easy.

JIM FRINGS It’s hard to limit it to one. I can pick out five people

who are on the top of that list. Mr. Greenwald had a humbleness about him. He taught Latin, but he taught a lot about life as well.

I had Father Benzinger for advanced math. He would spontaneously pull out his stole and hosts and we would have a 25-minute Mass right there in math class. Father Brennan, who taught European

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Two other teachers had a meaningful impact on my life. After my freshman year, my family moved to Jackson, Miss., and I spent sophomore year and half of junior year at St. Joseph’s High School in Jackson. I rejoined MUHS for the second semester of my junior year. The move back was not an easy one and Father Driscoll and Father Majka provided great personal support.

STEVE MUELLER There were three I really enjoyed – Father

Gannon, Father Driscoll and Father Bernbrock. I had Father Bernbrock for an elective English literature class my senior year.

He was very understanding of young guys and knew their different

Jim Frings ’76 (left) and John McDermott ’76 Photo by Evan Tobin ’15

interests and skills. And, he never forced anything upon you.

Instead, he made the subject matter interesting and engaging. You wanted to learn about what he was presenting.

What is your fondest MUHS memory?

KC At the pep rally watching Joe and Eddie Weir in the finals of

the no-hands pie-eating contest. Definitely a classic!

JF The time in the Blue and Gold room and in study hall with my buddies. To this day, most of my closest friends are Marquette High guys and there really is a bond there.

JM My fondest memory is being a member of the football team.

We had a great senior year and won the state championship. Many members of that team have remained lifelong friends.

SM One of my best memories was our Senior Follies. But right after that in our senior year, kids who had a musical talent put on a concert called “Sound Waves.” It was great – we could see our buddies up on stage in the auditorium trying to be rock stars.

Those of us who couldn’t play an instrument were in the audience being rowdy and having fun watching our classmates who really knew what they were doing.

Why do you financially support MUHS? KC MUHS is a very well run private school that needs, and is worthy

of, our financial support, especially for scholarship money for those students who otherwise could not afford to attend MUHS. JF When I reflect on my MUHS experience, I think about Marquette High students, Jesuits, teachers, even the people serving lunch, and realize I learned something from each one of those people. And, even with all my faults, I think they have made me a better man. I would hate to see any boy not be able to come to Marquette High because of money.

JM While in high school, I didn’t realize how many people volunteered and contributed to my experience. Over time, I realized that without those contributions, Marquette High would not exist. I feel it’s now up to us to ensure that today’s students are able to get the same MUHS experience that we had.

SM I think a Marquette High education is an extremely valuable experience that lacks the normal distractions of a coed school. I want to make sure the institution stays strong so that other young men can have the same Jesuit experience I did. It’s more than an academic education, it’s creating a well-round individual who cares about others.

www.MUHS.edu 39

MUHS NEWS

Creighton University Jesuits formed at MUHS Madeline Zukowski

A 19-year-old Larry Gillick, SJ ’58 got into his twin-size bed in his tiny dorm room on the St. Norbert College campus one night, feeling confused and lost. His roommate could sense his uneasiness.

“A week before I was supposed to go to Notre Dame, I went to my buddy, Ed Mathie’s, SJ ’55 going away party,” Doll says. “He was leaving for the Jesuits the following morning. I couldn’t sleep all night.”

“What’s wrong with you?” the roommate asked.

“I’m restless,” Gillick replied.

“About what?”

“It’s just . . . not enough.”

“You’ve got everything! You have more friends in this dorm than I’ll ever have. You have better grades, you have a wonderful girlfriend, and you’re on the football team. What more could you want?”

After that sleepless night, he called his Jesuit counselor at Marquette High, Rev. Francis Fahey, who asked Doll if he wanted to join the Jesuits. Instead of starting a new life at Notre Dame, Doll started his new life in the Jesuit Novitiate in Oshkosh, Wis.

“I know that I do have it all,” Gillick answered.

“And I know that it’s not enough.”

Gillick’s feeling of unfulfillment would lead him to join the Society of Jesus. At some point in their young adult lives, Rev. Dennis Hamm, SJ ’54; Rev. Don Doll, SJ ’55; and Rev. Greg Carlson, SJ ’59 would also answer the call to priesthood. And, although their vocation stories differ, all four Jesuits, now working at Creighton University, began their journey at Marquette University High School.

Like Doll, Carlson joined the Society of Jesus right out of high school. He had formed a close relationship with one of the Jesuits at MUHS during his junior year and that Jesuit captured [Carlson’s] imagination. “When I came to be a senior, the question of what I would do with my life was not listing six different possibilities, it was ‘Am I going to be a Jesuit or not?’” Carlson says.

Doll joined the Jesuits in the fall of 1955, Carlson joined in 1959, Hamm joined after his graduation from Marquette University in 1958, and Gillick joined in 1960, after his sophomore year at St. Norbert College.

Although they would all answer the call to become a member of the Society of Jesus, each of them had a typical high school experience that parallels the Marquette High experience of today.

Although Gillick realized in high school that the Jesuit life was for him, he decided to pursue the college experience. Now celebrating 53 years in the Society of Jesus, he knew in that moment of confusion during his sophomore year in college that it was time to enter the community of Jesuits.

“I knew I wasn’t ready to leave home,” Gillick says. “I knew I was going to be a Jesuit, and I had even talked to some Jesuits about it . . . I knew I wasn’t ready and I was happy I went to college for two years.”

When Gillick was a freshman at MUHS in 1954, Hamm was a senior.

“My interest [in the Jesuits] started in high school, but I had this hunch that I needed to do more growing up,” Hamm says.

Doll had plans to major in chemical engineering at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1955. However, he changed his mind at the last minute.

opposite: Rev. Dennis Hamm, SJ ‘54 is professor and Graff Chair in Catholic Theological Studies New Testament at Creighton University. Photo by Geoff Johnson above: Rev. Greg Carlson, SJ ‘59 is the associate director of the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Creighton University. Photo by Kent Sievers

www.MUHS.edu 41

FEATURES CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY JESUITS

Without the tough academic atmosphere these four alumni faced at MUHS, they probably never would have thought so hard about becoming Jesuits. “I was impressed with the young Jesuits who taught us,” Doll says. “It seemed like a neat life. They all seemed so happy together.”

Rev. Don Doll, SJ ‘55 is professor of photojournalism and Holder of the Endowed Heider Chair at Creighton University. Photo by Jim Fackler

Carlson was involved in numerous extracurricular activities and loved learning. He was part of the debate club. In addition, he lettered in baseball, was the president of the student council and the valedictorian of his class, as well as a member of the Sodality of Our Lady, a community centered around and modeled after Ignatian values.

Doll was, and still is, an avid runner. He ran cross country and track at MUHS and was also on the football team, although he claims football wasn’t his strong suit. “I was terrible,” he says.

Carlson claims that meeting the Jesuits at MUHS introduced him to the “adventure” of being a Jesuit. “The Jesuits impressed me very quickly as wonderful men [and] wonderful teachers leading happy lives and who were very engaged with us as students,” he says.

Gillick, however, saw the young Jesuits as more than just teachers.

“They didn’t seem to be wasting their lives,” he says. “Everyone else seemed to be wasting their lives. Fiddling, not doing anything, making money and piling up stuff and I didn’t want any of that.”

Although times are different now and most of the faculty members at MUHS are now lay persons, Hamm claims the Jesuit mission at Marquette High is visible and active. “[The faculty] maintain a sense of what the Jesuit or Ignatian mission is,” Hamm says. “[The Jesuits at MUHS] have really helped the faculty pick up that spirit.”

Carlson previously taught MUHS president Rev. Warren Sazama, SJ ’64 and knows a few of the Jesuits who teach here.

“I have immense affection for and trust in them,” he says.

“I could only run in a straight line and everybody knew where I was going.” Although athletics were a big part of his high school life, academics were just as important. “I never studied so hard in my life,” he admits.

All four of these alumni realize the importance that high school had in their journey and will have in the journey of other young men. “Where can we have the most influence on young people?” asks Doll. “It is not in college so much, it’s really in high school where you are formed in your faith.”

Although Gillick was the football team manager at St. Norbert, he was not particularly involved in after-school activities at MUHS. Legally blind, Gillick often went home right after school so his mother could help him with homework.

“I certainly am aware that those [high school years] are years of self discovery and nurture that are spectacular,” Hamm commented.

“It’s crucial, and we’re excited about what our high schools – and especially MUHS – are doing.”

“I was involved in surviving,” he said. “I had to go home right after school so my mother could do all my homework with me. There were no tape recorders, no talking computers like I have today, we didn’t have all that. When other kids were out having fun, I was doing my schoolwork and then I was free at night, when other kids were studying after their extra-curricular activities. That was very tough.”

Gillick remembers very clearly getting out of his car after his MUHS graduation ceremony in 1958. His neighbor was sitting on his front porch and Gillick shouted to him, “Eric, I made it!”

“It was just a tremendous thing, graduating from Marquette High,” Gillick says. “In some ways, of all the achievements in my life, that would be the biggest one. That was the hardest one.”

42 MUHS Magazine

Madeline Zukowski, granddaughter of Art Fink ’53, is an undergraduate journalism student at Creighton University.

MUHS ALUMNI JESUITS AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

Rev. Dennis Hamm, SJ ‘54

Rev. Gregory Carlson, SJ ‘59

Rev. Thomas Shanahan, SJ ‘54

Rev. Kevin Kersten, SJ ‘60

Rev. Donald Doll, SJ ‘55

Rev. Charles Kestermeier, SJ ‘62

Rev. Richard Hauser, SJ ‘55

Rev. Neal Wilkinson, SJ ‘88

Rev. Lawrence Gillick, SJ ‘58

Mr. Joseph Simmons, SJ ‘00

Br. Michael Wilmot, SJ ‘58

ALUMNI UPDATE

2014 Alumni Award Winners

At the Alumni Awards Reception in July, Marquette University High School honored distinguished alumni Gary Bettin ’72, Dan Meyer ’79, Jason Allen ’90 and Mike Ganzer ’74. For full biographies of the alumni award winners, please visit www.muhs.edu/alumni.

(From left to right) Alumni Merit Award: Jason Allen ’90, Alumni Service Award: Mike Ganzer ’74, Alumnus of the Year: Gary Bettin ’72, Alumni Merit Award: Dan Meyer ’79.

Photo by Pat Goetzinger

www.MUHS.edu 43

ALUMNI UPDATE

Class Notes Jacob Heinen ’15

Bill Wambach ’43 won

perform 95,000 operations

John Stanchfield ’59 is

the Liberty Tree Found-

John Strassman ’71

the 85- to 89-year-old high

in 15 countries. He also

a nearly retired endocrin-

ation and the Peace Action

is an international race

jump and triple jump

teaches international

ologist in Salt Lake City.

Education Fund. Martin

officer with the Interna-

events at the Midwest

humanitarian surgery at

He lives part time in Teton

has been a delegate to

tional Sailing Federation.

Regional Track Meet in

Stanford University.

Valley, Idaho.

the World Peace Council,

He has been a certified

World Social Forum and a

U.S. national race officer

the high jump national

William Mulligan ’54

Andrew Rajec ’60 was

Non-Governmental Dele-

since 2009. He and his wife,

record, which he set three

received the Lifetime

named Slovak-American

gate to the United Nations.

Ann Gutzwiller Strassman,

years ago, by half an inch.

Achievement Award

of the Year by the Slovak

He is a former fellow of

live in Glendale, Wis.

as part of Marquette

Embassy and the Friends

the Marquette University

Ken Derdzinski ’47 and

University Law School’s

of Slovakia. He is president

Center for Peacemaking.

his wife, Aurora, celebrated

Alumni National Awards.

of the First Catholic Slovak

their 61st anniversary. The

He is a shareholder of

Union of the United

Matt Stano ’67 is president

chief information officer

couple, who live in Musk-

Davis & Kuelthau, S.C.,

States and Canada.

of Stano Landscaping,

at UW–Milwaukee. He is

ego, Wis., has nine children

where he represents in-

Inc. He received a 2013

also a faculty member

and 21 grandchildren.

dividuals, businesses and

Joel Kriofske ’61 authored

Gold Award for Residential

in the UWM Department

local government entities

the essay “My Father the

Landscape Design and

of Political Science. He,

in litigation matters.

G-Man,” which appeared

Construction from the

his wife Bernadette, and

in the January 2014

Wisconsin Landscape

their two children, Alex

Contractors Association.

and Maggie, live in Fox

Kenosha, Wis. He missed

Donald Laub ’53 received the Surgical Humanitarian

Robert Beck ’79 is associate vice chancellor and

Award by the American

Frank Probst ’58 was

edition of Milwaukee

College of Surgeons for

awarded the Alumni Ser-

Magazine, detailing the

his lifetime of service in

vice Award by the College

relationship with his fa-

Pat Dunphy ’69 was

providing surgical human-

of Business Administration

ther, Joseph Kriofske ’28,

named the 2014 Alumnus

Michael Griesbach ’79

itarian outreach to under-

and Graduate School

while in hospice care.

of the Year Award by

is author of the book The

served populations in

of Management at

Marquette University

Innocent Killer, a true-

developing countries. He

Marquette University.

Law School.

crime novel about Steven

is founder of ReSurge,

George Martin ’64 was

Point, Wis.

Avery, who was wrongly

honored with lifetime

an organization dedicated

Larry Siewert ’59 is

activism awards from the

Neal Devitt ’71 is a family

convicted and spent 18

to performing humani-

the 2014 recipient of the

Wisconsin Network for

physician and completed

years in prison. Griesbach

tarian surgical outreach

Distinguished Alumnus

Peace and Justice and the

his 30 year at La Familia

is a prosecuting attorney

and, since its founding,

of the Year Award from

Foundation for a United

Medical Center, a com-

in Manitowoc, Wis.

th

has had a network of

the Marquette University

Front. Currently, he serves

munity health center in

medical professionals

College of Education.

on the national boards of

Santa Fe, N.M. Aurora and Ken Derdzinski ’47 (Left to right): Tre Waldren ’73, Mark Spankowski ’73 and Chuck Strohbach ’73 unexpectedly reunite during a mission trip to Guatemala.

Michael Griesbach’s ’79 new book

44 MUHS Magazine

Jim O’Rourke ’80 received

sional soccer team the

account executive for

Law School’s Alumni

of the Year award at

the 2014 Distinguished

Dark Blues in Dundee,

American Public Media,

National Awards. He has

Marquette University from

Alumnus of the Year

Scotland.

the largest owner and

worked for the NCAA

Alpha Sigma Nu, an

operator of public radio

and the Ohio Valley Conf-

honor society for Jesuit in-

stations.

erence, and is the current

stitutions of higher learning.

Award from the College of Business Adminis-

Jim Villa ’90 is the vice

tration and Graduate

president for university

associate athletic direc-

He is the country represen-

School of Management

relations for the University

Jeremy Gintoft ’93

tor at the University

tative for Catholic Relief

at Marquette University.

of Wisconsin System.

was inducted into the

of Louisville.

Services in Afghanistan.

Wisconsin Cross Country Bill Parsons ’87 won a

Mike Bark ’92 was named

Coaches Hall of Fame.

Mark Tomsyck ’94 is

Joseph Nelson ’98 accept-

fellowship to partake in

to the National Associa-

He is the first MUHS runner

senior project manager at

ed a Ford Foundation

the Teaching Shakespeare

tion of Certified Valuation

to receive this honor.

Mortenson Construction.

Postdoctoral Fellowship

through Performance

Analysts inaugural Top

workshop at the Globe

40 under 40 class.

Theater in London. He is

He received the Daily Re-

at New York University

Peter Kelly ’93 was named

porter’s 2013 Newsmakers

in both the Department

Teacher of the Year

of the Year, Project Manager

of Humanities and Social

a 20-year veteran English

Scott Heritsch ’92 is a

by Hartford Union High

of the Year award for his

Sciences, and in the

teacher and has presented

U.S. Air Force test pilot.

School District, where he

outstanding achievements

Sociology of Education

at both the National Council

Selected from an initial

teaches social studies.

in the construction in-

program.

of Teachers of English

pool of 6,200 applicants,

convention and the Florida

he was one of 20 can-

John Klein ’93 was

Conference on Educa-

didates to advance to

named RugbyMag.com’s

tional Technology.

the final selection round

2013 Women’s Coach of

David Vaughan ’95 is

to U.S. Senator Martin

dustry. He and his family live in Muskego, Wis.

Louis Agnello ’99 is health policy advisor

in NASA’s Astronaut

the Year for his coaching

a member-owner at the

Heinrich of New Mexico.

Tim Keyes ’87 was named

Candidate Program. He

of the Divine Savior Holy

worker-owned engineering

He previously served

one of 22 diocesan school

is currently stationed in

Angels rugby team.

company Isthmus Engin-

as health counsel to

heroes by the Catholic

Washington, D.C., where

eering & Manufacturing,

Congresswoman Doris

Schools Diocese of Austin,

he lives with his wife,

Matthew Banker ’93

which builds automated

Matsui, playing a key

Texas. He is chairman of

Tiffany, and their two

received the Charles W.

industrial equipment in

role in the passage of

the board for St. Gabriel

children.

Mentkowski Sports

Madison, Wis.

the Excellence in Mental

School, an independent

Law Alumnus of the

Health Act. He earned a

Catholic school. He is

Tim Kresse ’92 is senior

Year Award as a part

Bill Schmitt ’97 received

master’s degree in public

also the owner of a profes-

national underwriting

of Marquette University

the 2014 Young Alumnus

health from George

Scott Heritsch ’92 Rev. Warren Sazama, SJ ’64 celebrates with Milwaukee Business Journal Forty under 40 honorees Joe Klein ’01 (left) and Chris Layden ’01.

Thirty alumni participated in the inaugural Alumni Rugby Game and Gathering in June at Hart Park in Wauwatosa, Wis.

www.MUHS.edu 45

ALUMNI UPDATE CLASS NOTES

Washington University

director for Virunga Na-

at Experis, a division

Michael Lueger ’03

MBA from the MIT Sloan

and his law degree from

tional Park in the eastern

of Manpower. He was

successfully defended

School of Management.

the University Wisconsin

Democratic Republic

named to The Milwaukee

his dissertation, “Private

Law School. He and his

of the Congo. He helped

Business Journal Forty

Lives in the Public Stage:

Nicholas Turner ’04 is

wife, Khristine, live in

develop a public safety

under 40 list.

Celebrity and Antebellum

a second-year resident

Washington, D.C.

program that aims to

Theatre,” and received

in combined Internal

provide real-time tracking

Marek Posard ’02 is a

his doctorate degree in

Medicine and Pediatrics

Michael Murrell ’99 is

and mapping of the

summer associate at the

drama from Tufts University.

at Duke University’s

an assistant professor

park, as well as decrease

RAND Corporation in

He teaches theater courses

Medical Center.

with the Department of

security response times

Santa Monica, Calif., where

at Emerson College and

Biomedical Engineering

via a low-cost phone

he conducts research on

Northeastern University

Drake Dettmann ’05

and the Department

and voice-based reporting

gender integration in the

in Boston. He and his

is an account manager

of Materials Science and

solution. The project

U.S. Special Operations

wife, Danielle, live in

at Derse, a Milwaukee-

Engineering at UW–

was one of ten finalist in

Forces.

Melrose, Mass.

based marketing agency.

Madison. He earned his

the Google Impact

doctorate from MIT, and

Challenge and won a

Aaron Radish ’02 earned

Ben Kopecky ’04 graduated

Charlie Fehring ’05

was a postdoctoral

$200,000 grant.

his medical degree and

from the University of

graduated from

fellow at the University of Chicago.

is now completing his

Iowa’s Medical Scientist

Georgetown Medical

Tim Schmitt ’00 is the

family medicine residency

Training Program earning

School. He is completing

development director for

at Carle Memorial Hospital

a medical and doctorate

his surgical residency

Mike Maher ’00 is the

the Cystic Fibrosis Foun-

in Champaign, Ill.,

degree. He is completing

at the Medical College

trumpet player for the band

dation at its Madison,

where he and his wife,

his medical residency

of Wisconsin.

Snarky Puppy, winner

Wis., office.

Shelby, live.

in the Physician Scientist

of the Grammy award for

Training Program at

Heath Hallada ’05 is

Best R&B Performance for

Joe Klein ’01 is the

Scott Winter ’02 is

Washington University

the president and owner

their song “Something.”

principal partner at HKS

an assistant professor of

in St. Louis, where he

of Green Door Valet, a

He studied music at the

Holdings LLC. He was

aeronautical science in

was also a post-doctorate

doorstep recycling and

University of Northern

named to The Milwaukee

the College of Aeronautics

fellow.

waste solutions company.

Texas and co-founded

Business Journal Forty

at Florida Institute of

the group in 2004.

under 40 list.

Technology. He earned

Jake Loos ’04 is the

UW–Milwaukee in 2009

his doctorate degree

manager of baseball

with a bachelor’s degree

from Purdue University.

analytics for the Phoenix

in supply chain operations

Suns. He received an

management. He and

Adam Kiefer ’00 is chief

Chris Layden ’01 is the

scientific officer and GIS

managing director

He graduated from

Mark Maglio ’05 (far left) and his girlfriend, Aisling Roche, with comedian and Flip Trip host, Bert Kreischer.

(Far left) Heath Hallada ’05 exhibiting his company Green Door Valet at a trade show in Austin, Texas.

46 MUHS Magazine

his wife, Crystal, live in

Stony Brook University

from the University of

John Kopriva ’11 was

Austin, Texas.

and is currently pursuing

Notre Dame.

selected to the Atlantic

his doctoral degree in Mark Maglio ’05

music composition there.

appeared on the Travel

10 All-Academic Team John Brennan ’10 earned

for his outstanding

a bachelor’s degree in

academic achievements

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Please email your

Channel’s show Trip Flip.

Mike Fox ’08 and Pat

environmental science

while playing basketball

He and his girlfriend,

Hughes ’08 founded Hyde

from Creighton University,

for George Washington

Aisling Roche, were flown

Expedition Company,

where he served as

University.

to Hawaii and recorded

a manufacturer of water-

founder and president

participating in adven-

safety products and

of Creighton’s first radio

Kyle Schmidt ’12 will

information we receive

turous surprise activities

endurance-sport apparel.

station BLUJ Radio.

attend and play hockey

in the next edition

with comedian and host

Hyde recently received

at Bentley University.

of this publication.

Bert Kreischer.

a grant to scale up manu-

Robert Gregory ’10 grad-

He recently finished his

to felser@muhs.edu.

We’ll publish the

facturing and distribution

uated from the Milwaukee

second season in the

Tim French ’06 is a social

of the Wingman, an

Police Training Academy

United States Hockey

media specialist at Mind-

inflation vest that allows

in January 2014 and is

League playing for the

spike Design/Mindbenders

swimmers to rescue

now a Milwaukee police

Sioux City Musketeers.

Media in Milwaukee.

themselves by pulling a

officer assigned to the

He earned his master’s

ripcord and deploying

City of Milwaukee District

Gabriel Grahek ’13 quali-

degree in leadership

an inflatable bladder. Both

5 police station.

fied for the Junior World

studies, specializing in

Fox and Hughes work

sports marketing, from

and live in St. Louis.

Marquette University.

news and photos

Team trials in wrestling.

Tyler Woloszyk ’10 fin-

He currently attends and

ished 5 in the 1600-meter

wrestles at UW–Madison.

th

Ryan Ackmann ’09 is an

relay and 9th in the 600

Karl Hinze ’06 is a lyricist

actuarial analyst at Towers

at the Big 10 Indoor Track

Jake Dowler ’14 is assist-

and songwriter in New

Watson in Chicago. He

Meet. He also ran on both

ant coach for the 14 Black

York City. His musical, 210

graduated summa cum

the winning 1600-meter

Milwaukee Sting volley-

Amlent Avenue, was

laude with a bachelor’s

sprint medley relay and

ball team, which won the

recently selected for the

degree in mathematics

1600-meter relay teams at

AAU Volleyball National

New York Musical Theatre

and chemistry and

the Disney Open in Or-

Championship.

Festival. He earned his

a master’s degree in

lando, Fla. He runs for the

master’s degree from

computational finance

UW–Madison track team.

Tyler Woloszyk ’10 running at the Big Ten Indoor Track Meet Robert Gregory ’10 (Left to right) Sam Guerin ’10, Mark Scarpinato ’11, Mike Brennan ’10, Michael Trotter ’10, Jeff “Maz” Mazurczak ’82, Peter Heinen ’10 Marcus Trotter ’10, Mike Duehring and Jake Murray ’10

www.MUHS.edu 47

MILESTONES

Weddings Joshua Wetzel ’88 and Jacquelyn Trew September 20, 2013 Jonathan Shuit ’98 and Kelli Mavis August 9, 2013 David Brady ’01 and Re-Anne Joy Fernandez June 27, 2013 2

Eric Dettmann ’01 and Joanna Marker May 31, 2014 Aaron Radish ’02

1

and Shelby Milton June 1, 2013 Michael Lueger ’03 and Danielle Harrison September 8, 2012 David Sajdak ’03 and Vesper Williams May 31, 2014 4

Scott Michaels ’04 and Lauren Bott December 21, 2013 Heath Hallada ’05 and Crystal Fritchen November 11, 2011 3

1. Re-Anne Joy Fernandez and David Brady ’01 2. Douglas Shuit, Kelli Mavis, Jonathan Shuit ’98 and Christine Shuit 3. Vesper Williams and David Sajdak ’03 4. Crystal Fritchen and Heath Hallada ’05 5. Joanna Marker and Eric Dettmann ’01 6. Jacquelyn Trew and Joshua Wetzel ’88

48 MUHS Magazine

5

6

Births Sara and Tim

Emily Carroll and Jon

Noel ’90

Hackbarth ’00

Gretchen Noel

Daniel Carroll Hackbarth

January 21, 2014

July 3, 2014

Ashley and Patrick

Ashley and Nathan

Stroebel ’90

Morrell ’00

Alivia Vaughan Stroebel

Adelaide Reinette Morrell

October 21, 2013

May 9, 2014

Angela and Stephen

Erin and Mike

Rypel ’92

Bernhard ’01

Genevieve Morgan Rypel

Isaak James Bernhard

November 8, 2013

June 17, 2013

Sarah and Patrick

Katie and Elliot

McNally ‘95

Wolters ’02

Miles Dennis David

Peter Rutherford Wolters

McNally

October 4, 2013

1

2

4

July 9, 2014

3

5

Jessica Kasper-Logan Antoinette and Jermaine

and Paul Logan ’02

Jackson ’96

Alexander James Logan

Victoria Elia Jackson

March 18, 2014

April 2, 2014 Sarah and Jozef Emily and Bob

Michalski ’02

Lechtenberg ’99

Lawton Joseph Michalski

Lilianna Emily

February 27, 2014

6 7

8

Lechtenberg October 20, 2013

Diana and Mark Logan ’04

Betsy and Andrew

Flynn Charles Logan

Pease ’99

April 4, 2014

Samuel Neale Pease October 13, 2013

Nicole and Andrew

9

10

Collins ’07 Kate and Brad

Aiden Benjamin Collins

Wolters ’99

December 4, 2013

Elizabeth Cornell Wolters January 31, 2014

1. Adalaide Morrell 2. Isaak Bernhard 3. MUHS registrar Phyllis Logan holds her grandsons Alexander Logan (left) and Flynn Logan. 4. Daniel Hackbarth 5. Elizabeth Wolters (left) with cousin Peter Wolters 6. Genevieve Rypel 7. Aiden Collins 8. Lilianna Lechtenberg 9. Tim Noel ’90 holding newborn daughter, Gretchen 10. Alivia Stroebel

www.MUHS.edu 49

ALUMNI UPDATE

May They Rest In Peace

We extend our sincerest sympathy to the families of the alumni listed here and to any alumni who have lost a loved one.

Joseph R. Weisenburger, Sr. ’42 December 16, 2013

Carl B. Muenzner ’31 February 16, 2014

George A. Adlam ’44 April 1, 2014

Joseph T. Talsky ’32 July 12, 2014

George F. Kraus, Jr. ’44 June 5, 2014

Richard F. Casper, Sr. ’34 January 13, 2014 John D. Kestly ’36 April 8, 2014

John F. Monroe, Jr. ’43 February 22, 2014

Robert B. Fennig ’45 May 20, 2014 Charles G. Panosian ’45 January 18, 2014

Ralph J. Chmurski ’38 May 15, 2014

Thomas H. Cleary ’46 December 29, 2013

John J. Brennan ’39 January 12, 2014

Neil A. Heinen ’46 May 3, 2014

Robert D. Zens ’40 March 12, 2014

James C. Lynch ’46 January 26, 2014

Thomas C. Piekenbrock ’41 March 15, 2014

James H. Weis ’47 February 20, 2014

Robert C. Schauer ’41 February 28, 2014 Henry F. Frustere ’42 May 10, 2014 John J. Koch ’42 June 21, 2014

50 MUHS Magazine

Robert C. Beck, Jr. ’4 April 3, 2014 Alvar Gellings, Jr. ’50 June 20, 2014 Walter J. Pavlic ’50 March 22, 2014

Joseph G. Cibulka ’51 April 29, 2014

Rickard T. O’Neil ’55 January 3, 2014

Christopher M. Fischer ’63 January 16, 2014

Thomas H. Devine ’51 August 6, 2014

Leonard L. Sorce ’55 July 20, 2014

Michael L. Smith ’64 June 1, 2014

Richard E. Foley ’51 December 28, 2013

Terrance N. Touchett ’55 December 15, 2013

Stephen E. Quinn ’65 March 6, 2014

Eugene K. Schiel ’51 March 17, 2014

Raymond J. Annen, Jr. ’56 April 27, 2014

Daniel J. Stupich ’65 May 3, 2014

Stewart D. Hanrahan ’52 December 17, 2013 James R. Johnston ’53 February 2, 2014 John P. Christman ’54 August 9, 2014 Thomas J. Fetherston ’54 January 19, 2014 Michael R. Grellinger ’54 January 8, 2014 James R. Hanley ’54 January 4, 2014 Robert L. Marx ’54 May 2, 2014 William A. Walter ’54 August 1, 2014 F. Thomas Ament ’55 March 10, 2014

James H. Doolan ’56 January 30, 2014 Theodore J. Foti ’56 March 18, 2014 Gerald F. Reinders ’56 June 7, 2014 Frank J. Paulus ’57 May 18, 2014

William D. McKeown ’66 July 7, 2014 Jeffrey L. Peronto ’67 February 25, 2014 Jeffrey D. Bleil ’71 February 20, 2014 Thomas J. Reiter ’71 January 24, 2014

Peter J. Dundon ’59 July 26, 2014

Thomas G. Dellemann ’87 January 6, 2014

William F. Klug ’60 June 12, 2014

Jeffrey D. Honkamp ’89 July 10, 2014

Richard A. Rockhill ’60 July 21, 2014

Peter J. Bausch ’95 August 9, 2014

Donald R. Zurn ’60 January 12, 2014

Andrew F. Boldt ’10 January 21, 2014

Thomas D. Kleczka ’61 April 27, 2014

Gregory M. Von Rueden ’16 January 22, 2014

Remembering Rev. J. Cletus Healy, SJ former MUHS teacher Rev. J. Cletus Healy, SJ passed away April 7, 2014, at St. Camillus, in Wauwatosa, Wis. He was 96 years old, a Jesuit for 75 years, and a priest for 62 years.

A longtime member of the Marquette High community, Father Healy taught sociology and religion at Marquette High from 1953 to 1968. He was the founding moderator of the MUHS Political Science Club, which started during the 1954-55 school year. He remained a member of the Marquette High Jesuit Community until 1992, when he helped start the St. Camillus Jesuit Community.

Father Healy was born in Newton, Iowa, on Oct. 26, 1917. After attending grade school and high school in Newton, he completed one year at Dowling Junior College in Des Moines and a second year of college at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. He entered the Society at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Mo., on Sept. 1, 1938. He studied at St. Stanislaus Seminary, St. Louis University, and St. Mary’s College before being ordained at St. Mary’s on June 14, 1951. After completing tertianship in Decatur, Ill., he pronounced final vows at Marquette High in Milwaukee on Aug. 15, 1954.

Rev. J. Cletus Healy, SJ

Father Healy was known for taking strong stands on politics and issues of Catholic concern. He presided over annual graveside services for Sen. Joseph McCarthy and wrote a meditation text called Stations of the Cross for the Victims of Abortion. All his life, even in his years of declining health and energies at St. Camillus, Father Healy attracted large numbers of devoted friends to whom he ministered with gentleness and compassion. And all his life, especially as he grew older and prepared for death, he was a peaceful and prayerful presence in his Jesuit community, a man both respected and loved by his Jesuit brothers.

www.MUHS.edu 51

THEN AND NOW

The evolving Marquette High campus

Marquette University High School has been an anchor for Milwaukee’s near-west side for the past 90 years. During that time, MUHS has evolved from a single building to an expansive campus covering three city blocks.

In 1925, Marquette High moved into a newly constructed building at 3401 W. Wisconsin Ave. thanks to a gift by Ellen Storey Johnston. In the 1950s, a Jesuit residence was built adjacent to the 1925 building that housed the 50-plus Jesuits who worked at the high school.

The building remained unchanged for more than 35 years, when it received its first of three additions in 1961. A new cafeteria and the Humphrey Gymnasium were built on the land formerly known as the Rock Pile.

In the mid ’80s, MUHS acquired the Humphrey Chevrolet dealership land, located between the school and 35th Street, to create an athletic practice field. This area, now known as Takton Field, was renovated with artificial turf and other facility enhancements in 2013.

The school’s second addition was completed in 1994 and consisted of the Emmett J. and Martha Doerr Library and the Gordon Henke Center, which moved Marquette High’s “front door” from Wisconsin Avenue to Michigan Street. The last addition came in 2008 when the old “Jes Res” was razed for a fine-arts wing, new classrooms and meeting spaces.

In 2011, the Aldine Court Apartments located just east of the school and purchased in 2008 by MUHS, were closed and then razed to make way for future school expansion.

top: This aerial shot of MUHS (looking north) was taken in 1960. To the west (left) of the school was the Humphrey Chevrolet car dealership; to the east (right) an empty lot referred to by students and alums as the Rock Pile; and to the south the Jesuit residence and other neighborhood homes. bottom: An aerial shot (looking south) of the Marquette High campus today, which consists of three contiguous blocks in the Merrill Park neighborhood.

52 MUHS Magazine

A heaviness filled the Marquette High hallways following the deaths of Andrew Boldt ’10 on January 21, and Greg Von Rueden ’16 on January 22. The MUHS community came together to celebrate Mass, gather in prayer, support one another and remember the lives of two MUHS brothers.

www.MUHS.edu 53

Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Milwaukee, WI Permit No. 5299

3401 W. Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53208

BECOME AN MUHS AMBASSADOR!

MUHS alums – are you enjoying your college experience? Or, maybe you have graduated but still live in your college town?

The MUHS College Counseling department is looking for MUHS alumni to serve in its MUHS Ambassador program and talk about their college or university with a current MUHS student and his family. Answer questions, give a campus tour or host a dinner – help a current MUHS student decide if your college is the right place for him.

For more information or to sign up, please contact Annette Cleary at clearya@muhs.edu or 414-933-7220.

MUHS Ambassadors (left to right): Ted Schelble ’12 (Boston College), Will Skalmoski ’13 (Syracuse), Keegan McCarragher ’11 (Dayton University) and Tom Boffeli ’13 (Creighton University)