Regis Today | Fall 2020

THE MAGAZINE OF REGIS COLLEGE Fall 2020

Navigating a Pandemic

Regis takes a proactive and strategic approach to overcoming challenges and ensuring student success in unprecedented times

BE SOCIAL Regis College Alumni Regis College

@regis_ma @regiscollegealumni

@regiscollege_ma

regiscollegeweston

Regis College

regisma

Alexis Baum Senior Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations Editor | alexis.baum@regiscollege.edu

Board of Trustees 2020 Chair John J. Tegan Jr., MEd

Kristen L. Walsh Managing Editor | kmwcreative.com

Members

Ashley Starr Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Contributing Editor | ashley.starr@regiscollege.edu

Wael Al-Husami, MD, FACC, FACP

Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN

Marian Batho, CSJ, ’70 (Secretary)

Lee Hogan, CSJ, ’61, PhD

Anita Brennan-Sarmiento ’77

Kristin Hokanson, SNDdeN

Rosemary Brennan, CSJ, ’70, MEd, MDiv (Interim Treasurer)

Kathleen S. Jose ’87, ’94, MSN, RN (Vice Chair)

Meyer Chambers, MLM

Judy M. Lauch ’68 (CSJ Liaison)

Hans Christensen, MBA

Mary Ann Walsh Lewis ’74

Kevin C. Conroy, JD

Paul A. Lonergan

Joanne Crowley ’74, MS

Jacquelyn McCarthy, CSJ, MA, RN, LNHA

Lilly Pereira Designer | aldeia.design Regis Today is published twice a year. © 2020, Regis College, Weston, Massachusetts. All rights reserved.

The opinions expressed in Regis Today are those of the authors and not necessarily of Regis College.

Please send address changes to: Office of Institutional Advancement, Regis College, 235 Wellesley Street, Weston, MA 02493-1571 or call 781.768.7220 or online at alumni.regiscollege.edu.

Camille Ferazzi ’69 Joe-Ann Fergus, PhD, RN John M. Gray, MBA, JD

Kathy McCluskey, CSJ, ’71, PhD Eileen Ng, MBA Thomas P. O’Neill III, MPA Maylin S. Truesdell ’05, ’06, MS

Cover photo: Luis Velasco

regıs g inside

Features

In comedy a key factor is your originality and being authentic, and if people can believe who you are, then they’re endeared to you and then they are coming along with you and your ride.

14 A North Quincy Girl Walks into a Catholic College…

Comedian Kathe Feeney Farris ’91 uses the power of humor to inspire positivity.

18 Do Better

Regis makes a commitment to listen, learn, take accountability, and be anti-racist.

22 Navigating a Pandemic

The Regis community comes together to ensure a healthy and safe campus and an enriching academic experience amid COVID-19.

Photo: Holly Redmond

K AT H E F E E N E Y FA R R I S ’ 9 1 ( PAG E 1 4)

Departments Dear Neighbor 02 Navigating the challenges of 2020; campus repopulation plans in the spring semester; the historic presidential election.

03

08

The fifth annual gala goes virtual this year, raising critical funding to support student scholarships while honoring Regis health care heroes.

In My Own Words Justin Résil ’18 shares personal and professional experiences as a nurse during the pandemic.

Taking Action 10 Award-winning journalist, television producer, and coauthor of Outbreak Culture Lara Salahi, EdD ’19 gives insights from her book about how the world responds to infectious disease crises.

Tower Views Father Paul celebrates 50 years; Diverse Educators Program; new vice president of institutional advancement; High School Journalism Collaborative; partnerships create opportunities; new trustee and cabinet member; Autism Center pivots during COVID-19.

30 Let It Shine

12 32

34

Alumni Together Throwback edition.

News of the classes.

In Memoriam 46 Remembering alumni who passed away.

47

Academic Innovation Kyle Oatis, MSOT ’18 is using his occupational therapy degree to help fight the opioid crisis.

Class Notes

48

Alumni Spotlight Triple alumna Jennifer Tagarelis Ostayan ’06, ’11, EdD ’16 shares what kept her coming back to Regis for her degrees and how she’s navigating the pandemic as a teacher in Waltham Public Schools.

Hearts & Minds How Janie Lausier ’19 found the courage to face a cancer diagnosis, finish her degree, and achieve her dream career as a dental hygienist.

dear

2 REGIS TODAY

“ Today’s students are tomorrow’s heroes, and our community coming together to support their dreams and support their continued success ensures a brighter future for us all.”

What a year. While Regis has seen its fair share of challenges just like everyone else, each one of those challenges presents a new opportunity—to reflect, to learn, and to grow as an institution. We are not letting the challenges define us; instead, we are embracing that opportunity to learn how to better serve our students under any circumstances.

Since March we have tackled the pandemic head-on—safely, strategically, and proactively—to ensure our community continues to thrive. Strong enrollment at all levels this fall—with an increase in both graduate and online numbers—has proven that Regis has successfully provided students with an enriching and innovative academic experience despite much of the work happening remotely.

As we look toward the spring semester, we aim to have in-person learning experiences for all students, with residence halls operating at 50 percent capacity and housing approximately 400 undergraduates all in single rooms.

After successful on-campus COVID-19 testing during the fall semester, Regis is prepared to expand its on-campus population under the same effective and safe protocols. Read more about how Regis has adapted during the pandemic on page 22, and visit regiscollege.edu/covid-19 for the latest information.

These challenges have not and will not slow us down. In October we celebrated our annual Let It Shine Gala virtually (read more on page 30), raising more than $400,000 for student scholarship support while honoring the thousands of Regis health care heroes who are on the front lines risking their well-being every day to ensure the safety and good health of others. We continue to take action to promote racial equity on our campus. The university’s plan—“Beginning to Address Systemic Racism”—is outlined on page 3 and the full story on page 18 shares a glimpse of what Regis has achieved thus far as we continue important conversations and create purposeful action steps to hold ourselves accountable and make a real difference.

The challenges of 2020 have highlighted the best and worst of our country as we continue to see divisiveness and anger plague our society. Regardless of where you stand, this presidential election certainly marks a turning point for our country. I am proud that Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’ groundbreaking election shows women and girls in the United States that their dreams, passions, and determination are valued. As an institution founded by women for women, we should all be incredibly proud that our country elected its first female vice president. The empowerment of women is—and will always be—a core value that is of the utmost importance to who we are as an institution and who we are as a community.

As a campus community and as citizens we must collectively build on those values we share. We must champion respect and unity as we move forward. And above all else, we must continue to keep our students at the center of everything we do. Ensuring our strategies and decisions and institutional priorities are made through the lens of the students has been a hallmark of my presidency, and that fundamental idea has successfully guided us through many challenges in 2020.

And as we look toward a new year, I am hopeful. I am optimistic. I am grateful.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s heroes, and our community coming together to support their dreams and support their continued success ensures a brighter future for us all. I wish you and yours a happy and healthy 2021.

Sincerely, Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN PRESIDENT

Photo (left): Brian Smith. Illustration (right): Sundry Studio

neighbor

INSTITUTIONAL ACTION PLAN TO ADDRESS RACISM Regis developed an action plan— “Beginning to Address Systemic Racism”—that outlines ways the Regis community will accomplish the goals set forth in the president’s “Commitment to Do Better” statement issued on June 10, 2020. It will also serve as the framework for a longer-term Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence. Progress reports will be shared with the community at six months and 12 months.

3 FALL 2020

• Expanded and required diversity, equity, and inclusion learning and professional development for faculty and staff •A ffirmatively hiring for diversity •R eview of course content and outcomes • I ncrease student participation in institutional decision-making

•D ocument and make public the experiences of Black students at Regis •U pdate and make more accessible Regis bias response protocols •D iversify the Alumni Council and build an Alumni Affinity Group for alumni of color •S upport or grow identity-based spaces for students •B uild a Founders’ Day planning committee, incorporating various constituencies, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff

For full details on the action plan, visit regisma.me/action.

See page 18 to read the full feature.

Q&A with Staci Shea

VP of Institutional Advancement

Photo: Kathleen Dooher

With more than 15 years of experience in higher education, Staci Shea worked in a variety of roles at institutions in Greater Boston before coming to Regis in 2018 and being appointed as vice president in October 2020.

4 REGIS TODAY

Father Paul Kilroy Celebrates 50 Years of Ordained Ministry Congratulations to Regis College Chaplain Father Paul Kilroy on 50 years of ordained ministry. Referred to as “PK” by many members of the Regis community, he has offered Sunday evening Mass, sacramental preparation, mentorship, and so much more for Regis students for more than 12 years. He is known by nearly everyone on campus for his casual, easygoing nature, astute wisdom, and sharp sense of humor.

“I have been blessed in these 50 years with more than half of them in higher education campus ministry,” Kilroy says. “I am so grateful for the support, love, and encouragement I receive from all—from the new first-year students to our beloved alumni. Regis is a special place where we experience God’s love together, and my heart is filled with gratitude.”

DIVERSE EDUCATORS PROGRAM

Angel Castillo Pineda ’24 (pictured left) was the first Boston Public School (BPS) student to receive the Regis College Diverse Educator (RDE) Scholarship, which supports students committed to the field of education and to serving underrepresented populations in education, and supports the university’s commitment to diversifying the education profession.

Castillo Pineda is part of the second RDE cohort; the program enrolled its first group in fall 2019. As part of the university’s new partnership with BPS, two RDE scholarships are for qualified students from the BPS beginning with the fall 2020 cohort.

Also last fall, Regis launched a partnership with BPS to provide BPS employees with tuition discounts on graduate programs at the university and full-tuition scholarships to current BPS students who are interested in pursuing a major in education. Additionally, Regis provides one full-tuition scholarship to a BPS employee accepted in the university’s new Master of Education in Student Success program.

What are your top priorities coming into this role as vice president? I want to continue sharing the inspiring stories of our students—to show how their Regis experiences shaped them personally and academically so our donors can truly see and feel the impact of their giving and be proud of their investment. I also want to grow alumni engagement—our community only gets stronger as more members are actively engaged.

Why are you passionate about working in higher education? As a scholarship recipient myself, I know firsthand how the generosity of others can impact someone’s life. Higher education can be a transformational experience for students, particularly if they chose the right school—and Regis is undoubtedly one of those places. Students are deeply connected to faculty, staff, and peers and immediately become part of a family that is unified in common values and a belief in the collective good.

How does the Regis mission resonate with you?

I am continuously impressed by the overwhelming commitment of the entire Regis community to the values of the Sisters of St. Joseph of service and social justice—not just on campus but around the country and globally. Instilling in our students the desire to not only excel professionally, but to have compassion for others and do good in the world, is critically important.

What are some of your favorite things to do when you are not working? My 4- and 6-yearold daughters take up quite a bit of my time, in the best way possible. When I’m not consumed with art projects or dance parties I love to spend time on the golf course with my husband.

To learn more about Shea and read the full Q&A, visit alumni. regiscollege.edu/shea.

THE POWER OF WORDS High school senior Nola Minogue says she is passionate about using writing and words to help people. The New England High School Journalism Collaborative (NEHSJC) held virtually in June 2020 was a great opportunity for her to pursue that dream. The program, which just completed its 33rd year, introduces high school participants to the field of journalism through workshops and programs, including working directly with professional reporters, photographers, and editors.

“I learned how to properly format a news article, and the differences between writing news articles and essays for school,” Minogue says.

“My favorite part of the program was the hands-on learning about the news industry and what it’s like to be a writer for an established paper.

My school newspaper has no funds, half a dozen staff members, and limited recognition within my school. It was the first time I felt truly supported writing and could have my work edited by Boston Globe editors.”

The workshop was co-founded in 1987 and directed by the late Carole Bocasky Remick ’54, who once declared, “Regardless of color, creed, or nationality, this program will continue to serve as a platform for students from many communities so that all different cultures will be represented in the media.”

According to Colleen Malachowski, PhD, associate professor of communication and Regis’ Carole Remick Endowed Director in Communication, Remick’s legacy “is always tied into the program in special ways.” For example, Remick introduced a welcome package for students that includes a Starbucks gift card, and that tradition lives on today.

“This year, the Remick Foundation gave a college scholarship to an outstanding high school senior in the

program at the closing banquet. This new scholarship will help this student to start their college career, especially in a time of crisis,” Malachowski says.

Though the collaborative is typically held on the Regis campus for one week during the summer, this year’s program was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily Zoom sessions included topics such as journalism 101, photojournalism, sports journalism, multimedia journalism, and journalism on Facebook. Students also worked independently on their stories and interviews. During the evening, resident assistants from different schools in the Northeast met with the students via Zoom for some fun time, games, and discussions, while their stories were edited by teachers and Boston Globe members.

“Although the virtual format did not allow students to bond and connect as much as usual, it did improve our final digital newspaper, as all stories required a digital component,” Malachowski says. “The virtual format really helped us to advance our program into the future by allowing us to experiment with different digital platforms.”

“Whatever I end up doing, it will most likely revolve around writing and research and helping people,” Minogue says. “After college, I plan on attending law school, and beyond that, hopefully going into immigration law. I’m first-generation American, and I saw the differences between my mother getting her U.S. citizenship as a white woman from France, and several of her coworkers and friends—most from Brazil—having to jump through so many hoops to get theirs. It’s not fair, and I hope to help those at a disadvantage in our immigration system.”

—Kristen Walsh

F E L LOWS I N J O U R NALI SM In August 2020, Regis announced a $40,000 gift from the Carole Remick Charitable Foundation that will provide financial support for students pursuing a career in journalism. Additionally, the Foundation has given $5,000 to create an emergency transportation fund for Regis students—a cause near and dear to Remick.

The Carole Bocasky Remick ’54 Fellows in Journalism will support students majoring in communication and interested in journalism.

A selection committee comprised of Regis College Student Affairs staff and faculty in the Marshall M. Sloane School of Business and Communication named four students as fellows for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Remick fellows will immerse themselves in the field and explore reporting and storytelling across platforms in the media landscape.

As part of the Now We Fly campaign, the Remick Foundation established the Carole Remick Endowed Director in Communication in Regis’ Sloane School, a position held by Associate Professor of Communication Colleen Malachowski, PhD. “The Foundation’s investment in journalism, communication, and writing is critical during this time of social unrest, when these skills are needed more than ever,” says Malachowski.

5 FALL 2020

Photo courtesy of the Carole Remick Charitable Foundation; photo (left): Holly Redmond

High School Journalism Collaborative

C AROL E B OC AS KY RE MIC K ’ 5 4

Carole Remick ’54 devoted her adult life to teaching English and journalism and helping students thrive in their educational environments.

To learn more about the New England High School Journalism Collaborative, visit: caroleremickfoundation.org/nehsjc.

Partnering Toward Change

6 REGIS TODAY For a complete list of Regis strategic partners, visit: regisma.me/ partnerships.

Regis recently announced new cost- and time-saving partnerships. One with Saint Joseph Preparatory School in Boston will increase accessibility to college-level courses for high school students.

“This partnership allows motivated high school students to earn college credits early and get a head start on their bachelor’s degree,” says Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. “Saint Joseph Prep is similar to Regis in that we both have a commitment to academic excellence, access, and opportunities for our students, which makes for a wonderful partner.”

An agreement with Suffolk University Law School and the University of Massachusetts School of Law (in addition to an existing partnership with Western New England University School of Law) enables Regis students studying law the opportunity to complete their undergraduate and legal degree in six years as opposed to the traditional seven years.

“During these uncertain and challenging times, being able to save time and money while pursuing a law degree is a tremendous opportunity for our students,” says Hays. “I am thrilled to expand Regis’ 3+3 offerings at Suffolk and UMass Law, two premier law universities in New England.”

A renewed affiliation with New England College of Optometry provides students entry into a doctor of optometry program after successful completion of three years of Regis’ pre-medicine or pre-veterinary medicine program. The affiliation agreement represents a commitment to provide students with exceptional educational and career opportunities while eliminating one year of tuition and shortening the time to become a practicing optometrist.

Partnerships with Brewster Ambulance Service and the Watertown Health Center provide opportunities for employees to receive preferredtuition reduction for eligible Regis graduate, doctoral, and certificate programs. Additional benefits include free job, internship, and field placement postings to Regis’ CareerLink website accessed by students and alumni, and access to interviewing, recruiting, and employer information resources.

REGI S COLLEGE AND MASSAC H U S E T TS NU RS E S ASS OC IAT ION

SC HOL A R SHI P I N HON O R O F COV I D-1 9 N U R S E S A partnership between Regis and the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) offers a full-tuition undergraduate scholarship for the dependent of a nurse who passed away from COVID-19, as well as two $5,000 scholarships for single parents wishing to pursue a master’s degree in nursing or a second bachelor’s degree in nursing. Eligible students must pursue a degree in nursing or health sciences and begin as a first-year student in fall 2021.

“The experiences that many people have endured during this health crisis have been traumatic,” said Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. “I am proud that Regis is offering a full-tuition scholarship to a deserving dependent of a front line worker who sacrificed their life to care for others.”

The partnership includes discounted tuition for Regis nursing programs for MNA members and their immediate families, as well as a waived application fee and no GRE requirement.

To learn more visit regiscollege.edu/scholarships.

NEW TRUSTEE

Wael Al-Husami, MD, FACC, FACP, has more than 25 years of experience in the medical field as a physician, executive, and teacher. He is an interventional cardiologist, medical director of international health, director-international medical education, and a senior member of the Executive Health team at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. In addition, he is an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a faculty member at BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Al-Husami is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and interventional cardiology. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Jordan. He completed his residency in internal medicine through Cornell Weill Medical College affiliate hospital and completed his fellowships in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center followed by Vascular Medicine and Endovascular peripheral intervention fellowship at St. Elizabeth Medical Center through Tufts University School of Medicine.

NEW CABINET MEMBER

Rich Kelley, MBA, was appointed vice president for finance and business and chief financial officer in November. Kelley joined Regis earlier this year as associate vice president for finance and business.

He will oversee the university’s strategic financial vision and business operations.

With more than 20 years of strategic financial operations leadership, Kelley most recently served as associate vice president for finance at the University of New England. He has also served in the finance divisions at Merrimack College, Salem State University, Tufts University, and Bentley University. He has an MBA from Bentley and an Administrative Management Certificate from Cornell University.

+ Focus on Health

Staying On Course Proactive planning helps Regis Autism Center continue services during COVID-19 “We had to figure out ways to keep our very young clients engaged with us over a screen while teaching caregivers how to implement our teaching procedures,” Julia Rose, ABA ’20 recalls of pivoting to telehealth sessions. “We worked on learning skills through play just like we do at the center. We read books, watched videos, played games, and interspersed learning opportunities throughout.”

Rose adds that she is grateful for the resources that so many companies made free and available for teachers during the pandemic. “I spent a lot of time on the PBS Kids game page and a digital library website called Epic.”

Collaborative Effort On May 18, the Autism Center reopened following a detailed reopening plan developed by Dwyer with guidance from Dean of the School of Health Sciences Laura Burke, ScD, MPH, and staff members from Regis Community Health Services, as well as public health guidelines. The transition to inperson sessions was gradual and included specific room assignments, personal protective equipment, and disinfection procedures.

Dwyer, who would typically be in an adjoining office during normal operation, is virtually present during each session. She is quick to credit the success of telehealth and the transition back to campus as a collaborative effort.

“I applaud the graduate students; they were the ones who did not allow for the lapse in service for children

PA R TN E R S H I P S In July 2020, Regis announced two strategic partnerships with organizations aimed at helping children with autism reach their full potential. Employees at Trumpet Behavioral Health and The New England Center for Children can apply to receive a preferred-tuition reduction for eligible Regis graduate, doctoral, and certificate programs, including the Applied Behavior Analysis program. Additional benefits include free job, internship, and field placement postings to Regis’ CareerLink website accessed by students and alumni, and access to interviewing, recruiting, and employer information resources.

7 FALL 2020

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, Brianna Dwyer, MS, BCBA, LABA, clinical director at the Regis Autism Center, didn’t wait to start planning for a possible statewide shutdown amid new and emerging state and national public health guidelines. She was on the phone with health insurance companies getting preapproval for telehealth sessions for clients. She put together assignment binders to send home with parents. She met with the Regis graduate students who worked directly with clients.

“I knew that I had to be proactive in order to minimize a lapse in service and also follow strict safety guidelines,” Dwyer recalls.

The Autism Center at Regis works in collaboration with the Regis Children’s Center and provides Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services for young children along with the potential for integration with their peers. Dwyer knew that a disruption in the routine could cause setbacks for clients.

When Massachusetts did mandate a statewide shutdown on March 23, Dwyer says it was just two weeks later that the Autism Center began providing telehealth services. “Since we had preapproval from the insurance companies, we were able to hit the ground running.”

Parents were ready to go, binders in hand. Graduate students were trained remotely and had accessed online activities to keep their clients engaged. And the remote sessions began.

with autism,” she says, adding that parents have been on board from the get-go. “I love seeing the growth of the children; they seem to learn something new every minute.”

That’s the reason that Rose decided to pursue an ABA graduate degree.

“While working as a behavior therapist in home services, I had already seen the incredible progress my clients made and the effect the application of this science had on the individuals we worked with and their families,” she says. After completing the ABA master’s program at Regis in May and passing the licensing exam to become a board-certified behavior analyst, Rose started working at Boston Behavior Learning Centers in Newton, Massachusetts. “This field is a very cool combination of science and helping people and I enjoy figuring out how to teach in a method that is best suited to the individual learner and seeing the incredible progress each child makes in the time we have to work with them.”

—Kristen Walsh

words

in my own

In This Together

BY J U S T IN R É S IL ’1 8

8

Justin Résil, FNP-BC, APRN, CME, TNCC, ENPC ’18, began his undergraduate journey at Pensacola Christian College in Florida as a studio art major—but ended up changing paths and graduating with a degree in biology in 2013. Soon after, he enrolled at Regis in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Master of Science in Nursing program with a concentration in family practice. Now he is a family nurse practitioner at his family’s clinic, Résil Medical Associates, as well as a volunteer at the Boston Hope Center. Here, Résil shares his experiences—personal and professional—as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

REGIS TODAY

We all have a story about how our individual worlds changed in similar and dissimilar ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the virus originated in Wuhan, China, many questions and concerns arose among clinicians and lay people alike regarding the virulence of the disease. I commonly engage with patients of color. In many circumstances, these patients, especially Black patients, are the ones most affected by illness and disease due to a multitude of factors—including inadequate funding, lower levels of education, and inability to access the health care system due to area of habitation, lack of transportation, and lack of significant health insurance.

Because I work with clients who immigrated to the United States, there is also a language barrier.

Many of my clients had questions and some did not understand the severity of the pandemic, as several of the major news outlets were delivering the stories in English. As their health care provider, it fell to me and my co-clinicians to address the knowledge deficits that our patients possessed.

But this virus has not limited itself to affecting my professional life; my personal life also changed. I was unable to attend my church, which I view as an extension of my family. My mother has health issues that make her more at-risk for a violent reaction to the virus, and I had to enact a quasi-quarantine from her. I have a cousin and an aunt who contracted the virus—and although they quickly recovered, I lost an uncle to COVID-19 and nearly lost another who remained in the intensive care unit for

several weeks before slowly recovering. This virus has no qualms about who it takes, nor the devastation it has left in its path.

PROVIDING HOPE As the pandemic extended into March and April, I felt the need to take a more active role, so I began looking for emergency sites that needed aid. I found a commission by the Boston Hope Center that was looking for local medical providers and health care professionals to help assist and treat homeless patients in the Greater Boston area who had been affected by the virus. During my first floor meeting, I had a chance encounter. I looked across at another teammate whose voice sounded familiar, but given that all the workers were in full PPE (personal protective equipment) with N95 face masks, facial barriers, gloves, and hazmat suits, it was difficult to identify who anyone was. I looked at the clinician’s name tag and saw that her name was Ana. When I asked her to confirm her last name, she was startled but inquisitively replied “Yes.” I realized that Ana was my former classmate from Regis. Both of us were overjoyed to have met up again after not seeing each other in more than two years. Together we addressed the needs of hundreds of patients that not only included the short-term treatment of COVID-related symptoms, but also the mental health and social issues that were affecting our patients. Despite our best efforts, one of our patients had no place to go after discharge from the

JUSTIN RÉSIL ’18

facility. Another patient was able to get clean from IV drug use but was afraid to leave the center and be on his own. Collaboratively, the team endeavored to acquire accommodations for him and we were able to enter him into a drug recovery program.

STAYING UNITED As this crisis continues to unfold, it will fall on nurses to continue to reach out to their communities. We must address the deficiencies in knowledge with evidence-based practice. We must continue to advocate for the needs of our patients, our coworkers, and ourselves. The long-term impacts

of this virus are far-reaching and it will likely take years to fully surmise the extent to which it has affected humanity on this planet.

Nevertheless, we must never shy away from our responsibilities. We make our future and if there is one thing that this virus has taught us it is that our future will be made by working collaboratively, taking the time to understand each other, reaching beyond our differences, and holding to the things that bring unity rather than the things that divide.

I end with this quote from Dr. Leo Buscaglia: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

(Nurseslabs.com) Let this never be said of us. We are the world, and we are in this together.

9 FALL 2020

“ We make our future and if there is one thing that this virus has taught us, it is that our future will be made by working collaboratively, taking the time to understand each other, reaching beyond our differences, and holding to the things that bring unity rather than the things that divide.”

action

taking

Outbreak Culture How planning and readiness can change pandemic outcomes I N T E RV IE W B Y KR IS T E N WAL SH

10

Lara Salahi, EdD ’19 is an award-winning journalist and television producer, assistant professor of broadcast and digital journalism at Endicott College, and co-author of the book Outbreak Culture: The Ebola Crisis and the Next Epidemic (Harvard University Press, 2018). The book—which warns about the potential for an airborne epidemic—uncovers a pattern of dysfunctional response for infectious disease outbreaks that is reflective of today’s COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of many resources used in a new interdisciplinary Regis course that examines the pandemic through multiple lenses.

REGIS TODAY

What inspired the book? As a health reporter I had previ-

ously covered major infectious disease outbreaks, and when the Ebola outbreak hit in 2014 I was introduced to Dr. Pardis Sabeti, a scientist at Harvard who had sequenced the genome for Ebola during the outbreak and had also researched other infectious diseases. I originally planned to write a story about her work, but our conversations grew into the idea of working on a book together.

There were interesting things happening during the Ebola outbreak that had nothing to do with the virus itself. We wondered if this had also happened during other major infectious disease outbreaks.

What is the recurring pattern of response to outbreaks?

We surveyed more than 200 Ebola responders, many of whom had also responded to other infectious diseases.

Some of the patterns we saw during the Ebola outbreak are being repeated during the COVID-19 pandemic: downplaying the severity of the outbreak; not having enough personal protective equipment and medical supplies to adequately respond; and inconsistent health messages that are supposed to protect us. These lead to a delay and inconsistencies in response.

How does this impact public safety? Given the inconsistencies in messages, there are ideas that trickle down to the public level about adhering to certain prevention measures. For example, the call for social distancing, mask wearing, hygiene, a possible vaccination, and other prevention measures are met with levels of skepticism.

It’s really interesting because human nature is very universal and uniform. During the Ebola outbreak there

were stories published in American media that criticized those living in the hardest-hit countries for not complying with particular health messages that would fundamentally change their way of life, including not attending funerals or isolating themselves. But now that it has happened in the United States, there’s a role reversal.

What is the reason behind this toxic outbreak culture?

Our research shows that these are dysfunctions by design.

The current culture of handling outbreaks time and again has been to choose response over readiness, even though experts have sounded the alarm again and again that something more widespread and catastrophic is coming.

The fact that politics is driving decision making is part of that dysfunction by design.

Were you surprised by the information you discovered?

I wasn’t surprised but I did feel disappointed. There are so many chances between each epidemic to do better; you’ve got to seize that quiet moment to do the bulk of the work to build up your capability to respond. That did not happen.

After the Ebola outbreak ended in 2016, so many policy reports and guidelines were released—ways to be betterprepared for the next epidemic. Much of those recommendations were not followed. It gets more difficult as it’s happening to try to catch up to a fast-moving and novel virus.

Aside from the direct result of contracting a potentially deadly virus, what are some fallouts from pandemics and epidemics? A virus is more than just a pathogen; it

changes our sense of normalcy. We will continue to see

your life, and you never fully understand a person’s circumstances.

How do you incorporate your book and your expertise into your courses and conversations with students? When the book was published,

I was teaching a health reporting class so it seamlessly incorporated. This semester I’m teaching an honors course on politics and the press and there’s a unit on the politics of pandemics. But no matter the course, as a journalism professor I see more than just the topic or issue. There’s always the pervasiveness of research, interviews, and writing— the whole journalistic process of approaching a nonfiction piece of work. That’s an important lesson for students.

In addition to your passion for journalism, you thrive on teaching and learning. How does your Regis Doctor of Education (EdD) degree come to life through your work?

an upsurge in the incidence of mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use. This outbreak has affected every facet of life, from social and emotional to economic. You don’t need to contract coronavirus to be affected by it.

What is the most interesting aspect of the coronavirus response? How quickly outbreak fatigue has set in. We’re

not even a year into this outbreak and yet we are tired.

We’re treating this as a sprint when this is a marathon.

This outbreak is not going away and yet there’s a real push to bring things back to normal.

Photos: Holly Redmond

What will help people push through the outbreak fatigue?

Trust the public health experts and those on the front lines. Let their directives drive your level of personal risk and response; that will vary depending on your individual situation based on many health and lifestyle factors.

To avoid playing into the toxic culture of outbreak response, don’t blame others—leadership, agencies, your neighbor—for their choices. Their life is different from

You come from a family of medical providers.

What was their reaction to your book? My family

is always my primary support and they’ve championed my book. My dad is a retired physician and very quiet person, but he has a presence; you know when you’ve done good work. At my book launch, I think he bought out the store and sent copies to all of our family members.

What does Outbreak Culture signify for you?

The relevance of it is so important to me. As every journalist does, I hope that the work I do effects change in some way.

When you have such a dysfunctional response to a pandemic, there is going to be a cost. The virus is this deadly backdrop, and people’s lives are the collateral damage. We must empower communities to act; the first and foremost goal is to protect our front line workers and ensure that they have the proper equipment to adequately respond in an outbreak. They are the true heroes.

11 FALL 2020

The EdD program was a critical catalyst for where I am in my career in higher education. I don’t think it would have been possible without that. I was a journalist before I entered Regis; I understood and lived the craft and lived it every day. But to translate that into a classroom is a very different dynamic.

Understanding proper pedagogy—both the principles and the practice of teaching—is something the program has helped shape for me. This is particularly true when it comes to crafting my teaching philosophy, understanding the way that students learn, and identifying how I can help them through that process. Those were eye-opening experiences for me.

ınnovation academic

Fighting the Opioid Crisis Kyle Oatis, MSOT ’18 uses occupational therapy to provide a nonpharmacological alternative to manage pain

BY KR IS TE N WA L S H *

12 REGIS TODAY * Adapted from blog post

by Kyle Oatis, MSOT ’18

When Kyle Oatis, MSOT ’18 chose to become an occupational therapist, he wasn’t thinking that his work would help impact the opioid crisis. But after about a year on the job—treating hands and upper extremity injuries like broken wrists, elbows, and fingers—he was invited to attend an American Occupational Therapy Association meeting to advocate for the importance of including occupational therapy in the new legislation regarding essential services for nonpharmacological care. And that got him thinking.

“Prior to speaking with my local senator, I reflected on the impact I have on my patients regarding this issue and I realized how invaluable it was,” recalls Oatis, who works at nMotion Hand and Physical Therapy, an outpatient clinic in Marietta, Georgia.

“As an occupational therapist treating hand and upper extremity, a large bulk of my patients present to the clinic with high pain levels. Some conditions such as post-surgical pain, chronic conditions like arthritis and tendonitis, and traumatic accidents leading to sprains and fractures leave patients with not only increased pain levels but also decreased abilities with performing the daily activities they consider to be essential.”

Many of Oatis’ patients try to avoid taking stronger prescription drugs for their hand and wrist, even if they are prescribed. Of particular concern is the risk of developing an opioid addiction or relapsing from a substance use disorder. It’s not surprising, given that the opioid crisis has been called the most perfect illustration of the cure being worse than the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as many as one in four patients receiving long-term opioid therapy in a primary care setting struggles with opioid addiction.

Oatis provides an alternative, utilizing modalities, manual techniques, education on compensatory

strategies, adaptive techniques, and graded activities to assist patients with pain reduction and help them return to the activities that are most meaningful to them such as shaving, making it through a yoga class, and playing the guitar.

“Having patients tell me about their successes,” Oatis says, “brings me immense purpose to work and also reminds me as an occupational therapist that I have an important and unique role in the rehab process.”

In 2018, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act included occupational therapy as a non-pharmacological pain management treatment.

BUILDING CONFIDENCE Oatis first took an interest in treating injuries during high school. As a defensive tackle on the Parkview High School football team in Lilburn, Georgia, he wasn’t only concerned with rushing the passer or blocking a running play.

“I would watch our team therapist assess injuries and help get my teammates back on the field, which led me to want to learn more about rehabilitation,” Oatis says. “I had the opportunity to shadow a hand therapist in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who introduced me to occupational therapist and I fell in love.”

It was shortly after that he met Marvin Williams, a school-based therapist and pediatric practice owner in Madison, Mississippi, who became his mentor. “I quickly realized how wide my scope could be as an occupational therapist and I decided without a doubt that it was the profession for me.”

Oatis moved to Boston after receiving a job offer to work in a long-term acute-care hospital where he could gain more experience and knowledge. While

“ Having patients tell me about their successes brings me immense purpose to work and also reminds me as an occupational therapist that I have an important and unique role in the rehab process.”

KYLE OATIS, MSOT ’18

13

Photo: Michael Quiet

FALL 2020

exploring occupational therapy programs, he met Michael Roberts, OT, OTD, associate professor and director of the Regis master’s program in occupational therapy. Ten minutes later, Oatis says he was sold. “Dr. Roberts had a vision for the program that placed an emphasis on turning out practitioners who were self-aware, compassionate, and educated.”

It’s something that informs Oatis’ work at nMotion. He uses techniques he learned at Regis to help patients gain strength and confidence.

Grading tasks, for example, entail increasing or decreasing the difficulty of an activity to meet that patient’s capabilities: starting with light weightlifting activities (one to two pounds)—carrying boxes and pushing carts—and adding a few pounds every week. He also uses modalities such as TENs (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), which utilizes low voltage electrical current to provide pain relief.

“During the treatment process, I always make sure to check in with patients’ pain levels to respect and adjust anything out of their comfort zone,” Oatis says.

Roberts, who is host of the widely respected I Love OT Podcast, isn’t surprised at Oatis’ success, including his appointment to the executive board of the Georgia OT Association.

“Kyle’s potential as a leader and model practitioner was evident from the first time I met him,” Roberts says. “He has always balanced professionalism with an accessible and caring personality. As our first student OT association president, I was equally proud to introduce him to leaders in our profession at the national American Occupational Therapy Association conference and to see the way he worked to bring our diverse student body together.”

The pair share a mutual respect. “I will never forget Dr. Roberts’ emphasis throughout the program to always look at our clients holistically,” Oatis says.

“Everyone is a sum of our perception, our environment, our character, our roles, our abilities, and our dreams, and all of these things directly play into our function. This helps me daily to remember to always make my work client-centered and meaningful for whomever I come in contact with.”

It also informs something that Oatis continually asks himself: “As an occupational therapist, what’s my role in the opioid epidemic?”

His answer: “Though we may not be considered to be on the front lines as health care practitioners in the opioid epidemic, occupational therapists play an immensely large role in helping serve the community when it comes to combating opioid addiction.”

Comedian Kathe Feeney Farris ’91 is who and what we all need now STORY BY NAOMI KOOKER, MA ’14 P H O T O S B Y H O L LY R E D M O N D

15 FALL 2020

A North Quincy girl walks into a Catholic college…

16 REGIS TODAY

Kathe Feeney Farris ’91 remembers exactly where she was when she fell in love with Regis College. She was wrapping up a theater course her freshman year.

“I was in the black box theater,” says Farris, speaking via Zoom from her home office in Medfield, Massachusetts. “We were in the middle of doing some kind of debriefing on the class and the instructor asked people, ‘So, what do you remember the most about this class?’ And 90 percent of it was something that I had contributed to the class.

“Afterwards, he took me aside and said, ‘Were you surprised by this?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I had no idea,’ and he said, ‘I’m not.’ It was just the first moment that it clicked, like, ‘Oh wow—this is something.’”

That something is what this mom of two and wife has developed into a career as stand-up comedian. It’s the something Farris exercised as comic relief in her financially strapped family growing up. And it’s what her Regis classmates saw from the getgo—a funny, easygoing person whose “super friendly” ways had the power “to corral and just include everyone,” recalls Adrienne Hammel ’91. And it’s Farris’ then-and-now powers of observation that allow her to find humor in just about anything.

Take the coronavirus pandemic.

Farris, who not only performs but also teaches stand-up, has not been busier.

“It’s so heavy right now—for that reason, people really do see a need for humor and for comedy and at the same time our industry is—” Farris pauses, sighs. “I don’t know where it is. I mean, we’re on Zoom now. Our whole medium, our whole performance—we’re not even literally standing up—has been crazy. But I do feel people are looking for humor and finding ways to find the funny.”

Farris is a comic-in-residence at Somerville’s Comedy Studio. She was a finalist in Boston’s Comedy Festival and she has headlined at Boston’s renowned Nick’s Comedy Stop. Her workshops have been a staple at the Women In Comedy Festival and she has taught all levels of experience through Boston Comedy Chicks, Improv Boston, and The Comedy Studio.

Like all of us, she has had to pivot in the pandemic. Her live show, “Farris and Friends Comedy Hour” on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., where she features veteran comics such as Jane Condon as well as rising stars including Matt Kaye, is a “Boston Globe’s Critics Choice.” (See Farris’ website, kathefarris.com, for details.)

Her Comedy Bootcamp workshops on Facebook sell out.

Earlier this year, Regis was looking for new ways to engage its alumni virtually amid the pandemic. Farris collaborated with her alma mater to create OutREGIS, a Zoom series where she peppers her

conversations with Regis alumni with humor. Her first guest was her friend Hammel, a former communication major who is now a freelance TV producer of lifestyle shows.

This fall, Farris and her youngest daughter, Jesse, 21, a senior at Stonehill College (she does comedy on the side) are launching “Be A Funny Girl,” an online comedy workshop for anyone who identifies as a girl, ages 13 to 17. (Kendra, her oldest, is 24.) The weekly program, hosted with The Comedy Studio, is designed to get more women into comedy and offer a novel online option to keep teens engaged.

“I tell my students all the time: When you’re taking experiences and having a really emotional response to it and usually it’s a negative response, being able to find the humor in it gives you control back,” says Farris. “That’s really the power of humor. You know they say that laughter is the best medicine.

Absolutely.”

Farris will be the first to say she came to comedy later in life, at 44.

Instead of seeing that as a setback, however, Farris embraced it.

“I thought, ‘You know, Kathe.

There is no shade of lipstick or cardigan sweater set that’s going to make you any younger than you are.

So why don’t you just embrace who you are?’ … Because in comedy, a key factor is your originality and being authentic, and if people can believe

FUN NY GIRL IN T H E MAKI NG

Farris grew up finding the funny.

One of six girls, she loved to dress up and make her mother laugh. Her father told jokes, though he wasn’t very good at it, Farris says. “But he really loved humor and my mother was funny.” Her parents, her “biggest supporters,” passed away too young.

Though she attended Regis College begrudgingly at first (she had her heart set on an art school, but the

KATHE FEEN EY FA R R IS ’ 91

from being a stay-at-home mom and staying in the house—you know, ‘thriving under house arrest.’ And now we’re all in the same shared kind of experience.”

Over the summer Farris played to a drive-in crowd at a parking lot outside of Gillette Stadium. “It was scary at first,” says Farris. “You lose all your laughs. And as performers you kind of feed off those.” She has quickly learned not to depend on them to deliver her material.

Farris has fought stage fright to do what she does. “I would pray before a show that whoever’s there [they] get the laughs they need that night—and take it off myself.”

It’s what her mother taught her.

“And that really helped. I still do that,” says Farris. “I’ll be blessed if it goes great—but it’s the people who need to laugh and forget about what’s going on—that’s the blessing.”

17 FALL 2020

who you are, then they’re endeared to you and then they are coming along with you and your ride. It’s really helped me be more comfortable in my skin.”

Her “Housewives of Medfield” look—blonde feathered bob, (sometimes) glasses, jeans, and a cardigan sweater set—is her reality. So, when she delivers one-liners like “The best part about being a mom is throwing away the art” (an early joke that took Farris two weeks to perfect; sometimes they take two years), one is bemused and left slightly off kilter, the way good comedy leaves you.

Rick Jenkins, owner and founder of The Comedy Studio, calls Farris an outlier. “It usually takes [a long time] for people to develop their own voice and their own perspective,” says Jenkins. “[Kathe] started with one.”

Regis financial aid was “too good to pass up”), it’s where Farris found her voice and “started to build a backbone.” She majored in graphic design (“I can make a really good birthday party announcement.”) and minored in communication. Though she had been in plays as early as fifth grade, it was that fateful Regis theater class and subsequent drama classes that fostered this performer. She credits Laura Fahey ’91, her friend and roommate, for turning her on to the likes of comedian Elayne Boosler. “Humor drew us together,” says Fahey.

In their junior year, Fahey rewrote a popular “Saturday Night Live” skit about the Sweeney Sisters, an overthe-top lounge-singing duo, using Regis-centric lyrics. Kerry Grant ’91 and Farris performed the act with such aplomb the dean of students asked them to perform it at Regis’ Christmas banquet.

“Laughter is contagious,” says Farris, underscoring that the typical low ceilings and dark, smaller rooms of comedy clubs “really make for amazing show energy.” All the more reason the pandemic has forced comics to pivot.

As Massachusetts slowly allows for more public venues to open under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Farris keeps working—and working harder.

“The pandemic actually has taken a lot of my material from me,” she says, “because a lot of mine came

I would pray before a show that whoever’s there [they] get the laughs they need that night—and take it off myself ... I’ll be blessed if it goes great—but it’s the people who need to laugh and forget about what’s going on—that’s the blessing.

Illustration by Tissen

“As part of the broken education system, you are supposed to support your students, but this is how they feel. Do better,” Willander wrote.

She is not alone in her passionate call to address systemic racism. Following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, the voices of anti-racist advocates around the world were loud and clear. Protests and marches. Social media posts and statements of solidarity. But, what happens after—publicly and behind closed doors—is what truly matters.

“Performative allyship is sharing your concern through a statement or a post on social media with a hashtag but not creating actions beyond those words or following through with them to further this movement,” Willander shared in a written statement she prepared for the “Community Dialogue: Racism in America” virtual event for Regis alumni that took place on June 5, 2020. The program was run by the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations and cosponsored by the Center for Inclusive Excellence and the Center for Ministry and Service.

“Words mean nothing. Actions mean something,” Willander continued.

Regis Associate Vice President for Inclusive Excellence and Chief Diversity Officer Audrey Grace, JD, MEd, agrees. Practicing criminal defense law in Boston before joining higher education, Grace is hard-pressed to remember a day when she did not see systemic racism in the justice system.

“With my Black and brown clients, I recognized that I came into their lives during one point in a continuum of repeated indignities, disenfranchisement, and discrimination,” Grace says. “I saw how my clients were treated differently because of their race. But the law is structured so that it is difficult to seek racial justice while also ensuring the least harm to your client.”

A COMMITMENT TO

N E T S I R K Y B

DO

19 FALL 2020

W A

L

S

H

“DO BETTER.” Two words, written to Regis by Teresa Willander ’18 on May 31, 2020, were a challenge to the university to publicly acknowledge that racism has happened on campus. A call to apologize for its mistakes.

To listen to truths. To make change now—and keep making changes.

S P E AK I NG O UT

20 REGIS TODAY

It was one alumna’s story that had particularly struck Willander—that of Emily Josephine Melo ’12. A firstgeneration college student, Melo arrived at Regis in 2008 with big dreams as a double major in Spanish and biology. But like many college students, she decided to change majors, dropping biology and enrolling in the education program. She comes from a long line of teachers in her family.

She was excited about the move. But that all changed quickly when she met with an administrator.

“I was told, ‘This program is going to be hard for a person like you.’ I was made to feel that I wouldn’t be successful,” Melo shared in a post on the Regis Facebook page on June 1, 2020.

But she was determined to be successful, working hard to keep her grades up. She was also active on campus, including serving on executive boards and as Class of 2012 secretary, a resident assistant, an orientation leader, and a member of the dance team.

Things took a turn, however, during senior year. That’s when Melo says she was abruptly dismissed from the education program for “not meeting benchmarks.” That benchmark was not passing one of her MTELS (Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure); yet she says her white peers who had not passed were allowed to continue.

“I shrugged my shoulders, cried a little, and stayed silent since 2011 because I never wanted to use ‘the racist card,’” recalled Melo, who was born in Boston and is Dominican.

(Fast-forward several years and despite not feeling supported, Melo has put her Spanish degree to good use—as a Spanish teacher at Boston Public Schools.)

Unfortunately, Melo’s story reflects the systemic racism that happens at universities, companies, institutions, and agencies across the nation.

“It’s important for us to understand these experiences—good, bad, or indifferent—because that helps inform the work moving forward,” Grace says. “As always, the mission of Regis is to care for the dear neighbor and what that

“ IF YOU SAY SOMETHING THAT’S WRONG AND SOMEONE SHARES A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION TO MAKE IT BETTER, THAT’S WHEN YOU MAKE CHANGES. ACTIVELY LISTENING IS HOW WE MAKE CHANGES AND LEARN.”

really means, and how we can truly care for the dear neighbor without distinction in what we do and make that true and real as opposed to just something that we say.”

“Students, alumni, faculty, and staff of color shared the struggles they have endured at Regis and beyond,” Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN, shared on June 10, 2020, in a statement “A Commitment to Do Better.” “Let me say I hear you, I see you, and I am heartbroken. There is no question that as an institution, Regis in some cases did not fulfill its mission to love, serve, and respect each other without distinction.”

“As we have learned, we have to use our voices and say something,” Willander says. “Many people are afraid to say the wrong thing, but this is the time for making mistakes and people need to be okay with that. If you say something that’s wrong and someone shares a comment or suggestion to make it better, that’s when you make changes. Actively listening is how we make changes and learn.”

MOV IN G AH E AD

Given the unfolding of events and long overdue public outcry against racial injustice, Grace is thankful for community support.

“We are talking about race and racism; we are having conversations about anti-Blackness; we are being

TERESA W I L L AN D ER ’1 8

honest with others and ourselves about the ways in which we have caused pain or where we still need to heal because of racial oppression,” Grace says. “Real, systemic changes require that we reach out to one another, engage in a dialogue, and look critically at how we can embrace a more socially just and equitable world. This work is an ongoing, lifelong commitment, but we know that it is essential.”

Regis developed an action plan— “Beginning to Address Systemic Racism”—that outlines ways the Regis community will accomplish the goals set forth in the president’s “Commitment to Do Better” statement.

It will also serve as the framework for a longer-term Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence. Progress reports will be shared with the community at six months and 12 months. (For details, see page 3 or go to regisma.me/action.)

During the summer, Regis held several dialogues on racism in its community and beyond. “We heard from Black and brown students, alums, faculty, and staff who shared the daily indignities they go through just to be themselves,” Grace says.

“But we did more than listen because our community needed more and demanded more.”

The Administrative Council and the Student Affairs and Enrollment leadership teams engaged in an in-depth

Dimitri Stewart ’22—a global business major and men’s volleyball player—on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, during the first-ever Regis College Civil Rights Pilgrimage this past spring break.

The Drifting Heartbeat

BY DIM ITR I STEWART ’22

racial healing experience over the summer, using a combination of readings, reflections, and conversations to better understand their racialized selves and how they can work to build racial justice communities in their work, according to Grace.

In September, Regis launched the “30-Day Challenge,” a month-long educational campaign during which the entire university community could “watch, read, or do” activities each day to be better equipped in its ongoing efforts to end systemic racism.

Developed by Denise Mashmasarmi, associate director for the Center for

Inclusive Excellence, content focused on a different aspect of race, equity, and diversity—from learning about the impact of bias to having effective conversations about race to educating children about racism.

“These initiatives are just a start, but they are not enough,” Grace says. “We need to make tangible steps toward systemic change as opposed to ‘check box’ items. As an institution, we have to make sure that we do what we say we’re going to do in this plan. We recognize that we haven’t been perfect in the past and that we need to do better for our

21 FALL 2020

The natural beat is even and calm, it carries life and strength Bu-bump, Bu-bump.

As they grab you, shove you and push you down, it beats faster Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump Each beat is more frantic and desperate, rising in intensity As they hold you down, you plead that you’ve done nothing wrong Bu-bump! Bu-Bump! Bu-Bump! Bu-Bump! Bu-Bump! Bu-Bump!

Your chest tightens as fear takes hold of your heart, BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! BU-BUMP! Choking it, tightening its deadly, poisonous grasp Each breath gets weaker, begging, desperately for air Bu…bump…Bu…bump…Bu…bump “I…can’t…breathe…I…can’t…—” and you drift off slowly…Bu To an eternal sleep…Bump…

students and for our entire community in the future.”

As part of the university’s action plan to address racism, this year’s Founders’ Day program, held on September 24, was a day of community dialogue on racism, equity, and social justice.

“The past year has shown how important it is to speak up about injustice,” said Founders’ Day panelist Dimitri Stewart ’22. “We must always take the risk for what is important and right because that is how we bring about balance and peace.”

“Founders’ Day is extremely important to me because I believe a reflection within myself is a way to recognize the ways I can improve, which is essential to growth,” Rashell Mezquia ’23 said. “The change starts with us, the small things we say or do can be enough to have an impact on others. We cannot change the entire world at once but we can do our part in blossoming within ourselves … Not being racist is not enough; we need to actively be anti-racist.”

Jenny Vernet ’18, senior staff assistant at State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, was also a Founders’ Day panelist.

“I’m a dark-skinned Black woman and I grew up in a predominantly white area for a majority of my life.

When I got to Regis, I finally saw other folks who looked like me, and what happened was that I became insecure in my Blackness because of the experiences I had. I’ve had to really think about the ways that I’ve been socialized to think about myself and about folks who look like me.

It’s been a long journey and is still a continuous journey, but truly it’s been an experience of affirming and realizing my Blackness.

“I want folks to be held accountable, I want folks to get the justice they deserve, and I want folks to be treated humanely. For the [Regis] alumni, our experiences are real and I know Regis has made moves to allow space for us to talk about that.

We have to heal, and what Regis can do is to continue that process of healing; because if you don’t heal, you can’t save anybody else.”

Regis takes a proactive and strategic approach to overcoming challenges and ensuring student success in unprecedented times

O

n a crisp September afternoon, President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN, strolls the Regis walkways in a mask donned with the

BY K R I S T E N WA L S H

Photo: Holly Redmond

university logo. Normally she would be walking alongside a group of students. But like most universities, the campus is drastically different amid a pandemic. Seventy students—those who require in-person labs or clinical—returned to campus; they are tested for COVID-19 weekly. Under an outdoor tent, 51 nursing students are fit-tested for PPE equipment. The athletic fields, normally buzzing with energy on a typical fall day, are quiet. Still, Hays hasn’t lost her optimism because she knows that the Regis Pride is anything but quiet.

23 FALL 2020

Navigating a Pandemic

“O

24 REGIS TODAY

n the other side of this crisis, Regis will be even better and even stronger,” says Hays. “Faculty and staff have done an incredible job adapting to ensure our students continue to have an enriching educational experience this semester. And students—despite the disappointment that many are not on campus—are taking the situation in stride and continuing to excel in their remote classes and connect with classmates and faculty virtually.”

The “noises” on and off campus are different now, but not any less powerful. In July, the melodic beeps of a 3D printer mark the making of face shields to protect students in health sciences programs. In the virtual world of Zoom, the excited voices of professors are heard planning for a virtual exchange music course with a university in Mexico. At a student’s home, the rustle of a package being opened reveals an anatomy and physiology lab kit to conduct at-home dissections. Things are different, but moving forward.

The Protocol: Health and Safety The decision to slow down the pace of Regis’ phased reopening this fall semester with primarily remote courses and limited access to residence halls came in August. As the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the country was escalating, health and safety were driving factors.

Since the pandemic began in March, there has been a continuous process of safety procedures and a constant revisiting of federal, state, and local guidelines related to the virus. After careful review of all factors, the decision was made to split the fall semester into two, eight-week terms, with most full-time students taking three courses in the first term (August 17 to October 11) and two courses in the second (October 13 to December 6). The goal was to provide flexibility to ensure that faculty and students could switch between remote and on-campus learning should circumstances shift.

Limiting on-campus residential capacity ensured that the students

living on campus all had a singleoccupancy room. These 70 students required in-person and clinical experiences (all under appropriate safety guidelines) to make academic progress in nursing, dental hygiene, diagnostic medical sonography, and nuclear medicine. Only some courses in those undergraduate programs, as well as the graduate program in occupational therapy, met in person in a classroom or clinical setting this past fall.

Students, faculty, and staff who return to campus are subject to ongoing testing and safety protocols.

Those living and working on the Regis campus are required to complete a daily symptoms screening.

Regis Community Health Services (RCHS) will continue to operate with safety protocols in place. This

includes no walk-in appointments and telephone triage prior to any scheduled onsite appointments.

RCHS also provides telehealth medical appointments and collaborates with local urgent care facilities and Newton-Wellesley Hospital for after-hours and weekend care. The RCHS team continues to work in partnership with the Weston Board of Health regarding the ongoing COVID-19 testing program.

“Our goal at Health Services is to keep the campus safe and healthy. In order to do this, we need the participation of everyone on campus—this is a group effort,” says Associate Dean and Medical Director Dianna M. Jones, DNP ’11, CNP, FNP-BC. The Counseling Center provides individual counseling, groups, workshops, sports psychology counseling,

Left: Soccer player and biomedical engineering major Santiago Pedraza ’23 on the quad. Top: Regis President Toni Hays gets her weekly COVID-19 test at Health Services. Bottom: Biology major Emily Blanchard ’21 performs a sheep kidney dissection using an at-home lab kit.

and medication evaluation and management, all currently conducted by telehealth.

“I think most students would prefer to meet in person, but they find video counseling is nearly as good and has some advantages,” says Director of Counseling Kathryn Klickstein, LICSW. “With telehealth we do not have office space constraints. It allows students a lot of

Hands-On, from Afar Regis faculty spent the summer taking best practices and lessons learned to develop a fall semester curriculum unlike any other. For courses that are more hands-on, such as labs, faculty worked to make sure students fulfill the lab components and achieve the course objectives.

“Some students conducted experiments at home with lab kits, others utilized online interactive labs, while others critically analyzed experiments that faculty conducted on video,” says Leslie Bishop, PhD, chair of the STEM Department and a member of the remote lab task force.

Physics labs, for example, used PhET (physics education technology) simulation to help students understand concepts through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulations, sliders, and radio buttons. Though PhET isn’t something new for Regis, during remote learning it helped make data collection and the quantitative exploration of physics concepts more efficient.

“This system was a boon to both students and instructor, especially when Regis had to switch to online learning last spring,” says Professor of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics Santhosh Mathew, PhD. “Since Regis students were already exposed to PhET, the transition to online learning was smooth and quick. The independent nature of these resources guaranteed easy access to all of our students regardless of their physical locations.”

Anatomy and physiology (A&P) students conducted organ dissections with lab kits sent to their home. The kits supplied the preserved organ and dissection tools, instructions and diagrams, safety gear, and materials for proper waste disposal.

“The kits have dissection instructions, but I have the students follow along with their lab manual dissection instructions as they would do if they were in a lab on campus,” says Jeannine Foley, PhD, assistant professor of biology and coordinator of anatomy and physiology. Students in A&P had a sheep brain and cow eye; A&P II students had a sheep heart and kidney.

Biology major Emily Blanchard ’21 dissected a heart and kidney. “I recorded myself during the dissection, cutting and pointing to the aorta or left ventricle in the heart and the kidney’s ureter or renal cortex. It’s cool to see an actual organ rather than just a diagram on a computer screen. I plan to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant, so this really sets me up for anatomy clinicals I’ll experience in the future.”

Seizing Global Moments The move to remote learning has also provided a reason to continue building the virtual learning exchange that Megan Gibbons, PhD, director of the Center for Global Connections, was passionate about long before the pandemic. Globally connected classrooms feature a teaching method known as COIL (collaborative online international learning). Since Gibbons has spent the last five years working as a COIL faculty trainer, she was also able to support Regis faculty through the design phase of their work and connect them to their cohorts abroad to create the pilots by the fall.

“Virtual exchanges [VE] are technology-enabled, sustained, peopleto-people education programs that employ a wide variety of platforms and educational pedagogy,” Gibbons says. “VE connects people to one another by designing activities that are collaborative in nature and often project-based. The work completed by students is, therefore, connected explicitly to learning outcomes predetermined by instructors or facilitators.”

According to Gibbons, virtual exchange can be embedded into classes that are face-to-face, hybrid,

25 FALL 2020

Photos: bottom right: Fabyanno Furbino ’21; left and top: Joe O’Connell

flexibility. For some students it has made it easier to keep their appointments and meet more regularly. Over the summer, we provided three times the normal amount of counseling appointments. This spring semester we will continue to offer remote services with in-person options as well.”

H E AT H E R J O S S E LY N - C R A N S O N , PhD, Sister Margaret William McCarthy Endowed Chair of Music

REGIS TODAY

or fully online, which makes it flexible. It also is dependent upon technologies—learning management systems, video conferencing software, and file-sharing, for example—that most institutions already use regularly. About 80 percent of virtual exchange work is asynchronous, an important consideration when multiple time zones are involved.

During the first term of the semester, Heather Josselyn-Cranson, PhD, Sister Margaret William McCarthy Endowed Chair of Music, taught Global Music, paired with a class at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico. Students explored the significance of music in different cultures. Among the assignments the Regis students completed with their peers in Mexico was an activity that asked them to examine recent chart-topping songs from both countries and discuss the accuracy of the respective cultural representations. The final COIL project was an exploration of the ways that music relates to family, education, government, or religion.

“With COIL, my students interacted each week with peers from Puebla, so they had a longer and deeper exposure to people from

another culture than they would have if they attended a one-time event,” Josselyn-Cranson says.

“They were able to ask questions and also be opened up to others’ perspectives on U.S. culture, which is a good thing.”

That kind of interaction was one of the favorite parts of the course for humanities major Noah ToumayanMiller ’21. “It was nice to meet students from another country, learning about the history and culture of their music firsthand rather than just reading about it. We took a global journey where we learned background information about each of our destinations looking at the history and geography. We then looked at religious and cultural considerations, the history of the music styles, the instruments, the singing styles, and the purpose of the music.”

Assistant Professor of Humanities Jennifer Potts taught the virtual exchange course Exploring Humanities, teaming up with a course at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain. Students studied the state of immigration in both countries, including a project using a chosen medium, such as a brochure, children’s book, or podcast, to share

and explain different viewpoints about immigration.

“During this pandemic experience when students do not have the opportunity to study abroad, I believe that it is more critical than ever that students understand that they are part of an international community and that they develop the cultural competencies necessary to live and work in a global world,” Potts says.

“We want this to impact the way they think about the world.”

A New Presence The dental hygiene program operated hybrid this fall, with remote didactic courses such as dental anatomy and pharmacology and in-person labs and clinicals in the Regis Dental Center in Waltham to complement theory with practice.

Photos: Joe O’Connell

26

“ With COIL, my students interacted each week with peers from Puebla, so they had a longer and deeper exposure to people from another culture than they would have if they attended a one-time event.They were able to ask questions and also be opened up to others’ perspectives on U.S. culture, which is a good thing.”

Top: Students treating patients at the Regis Dental Center in Waltham. Bottom left: Children’s Center teacher Bridget Narpiel ’17, MEd ’18. Bottom right: The Regis campus has been updated with signage, plexiglass, and other safety measures and equipment. This social distancing reminder appears on the floor of the main dining hall in the Student Center.

Uncovering Pandemic Truths A Regis course launched in fall 2020 examines the COVID-19 pandemic— and the social disparities it has highlighted—through multidisciplinary lenses, including virology, communication studies, public health, and art.

The idea for the course—Living and Dying in the Pandemic—came from Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary Erina Driscoll, PhD. Mary Lou Jackson, PhD, special assistant to the president for mission, spearheaded the initiative with faculty representatives from all four schools—the School of Arts and

27 FALL 2020

Donned in PPE at the Dental Center, students in Dental Hygiene Clinic I, for example, worked on typodonts (models of the oral cavity) to learn practices such as proper positioning and using periodontal instruments. The center opened for patients in August.

“These are unprecedented times, but our students stepped up and did a great job,” says Karen D. HalliseyPesa, DMD, program director and associate professor of dental hygiene.

“A silver lining of COVID-19 is that our students were even more appreciative of their time in the clinic, especially given how quickly everything stopped back in March.

Students have really made learning a priority and understand how precious it is to have that time in the lab and clinic.”

“Instructors are trying really hard to make sure that we all feel safe and protected,” says dental hygiene student Karolina Urbe ’21 of being in the clinic. “It was hard getting used to wearing additional PPE and it does cover us from head to toe— masks, gloves, hair covers, loops, face shields, booties, and special lab jackets, for example. There are so many things we need to think of before we do anything, whereas before the pandemic it was a natural process. The “new normal” really feels different, but I believe we all are doing well in getting used to it.”

The pre-licensure nursing department was fully engaged in clinicals this fall, according to Donna Glynn, PhD, RN, ANP, associate dean of pre-licensure nursing and associate professor.

“The hospitals reopened to students in July so our accelerated BSN/MSN students were back in the hospitals in July,” Glynn says of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. “Seventy students were placed in their preceptorship for the fall. To prepare, we performed mask fittings for students with Dan Scanlon, paramedic and EMT supervisor at Fallon Ambulance.”

Although no student nurses were assigned to COVID-19 patients during clinical, they completed all of the COVID-19 requirements from the hospitals.

“This experience was different because masks and face shields were previously not involved in giving care, and now it feels wrong that we did not wear them before,” says nursing major Alexa Petkewich ’22 of the clinical experience at Lahey Burlington. She also works as a patient care associate at Mass General Brigham in Boston.

Kayla Volkov, who completed her Regis BSN in 2016 and is working

toward an MSN (nurse practitioner), has had many different classroom experiences at Regis over the years: in-person, online, and hybrid courses. But she says she really felt the effects of COVID-19 on the learning environment during the summer.

“I was enrolled in Advanced Health Assessment and despite not being able to meet in person to practice physical exams, we made the best of it,” Volkov recalls. “My husband was my ‘patient’ and via Zoom, my professor was able to give me guidance and make the experience a good one.”

In June, Volkov participated in a simulation lab on campus for a one-on-one experience. “I was able to safely learn how to do a speculum gynecology exam with a simulation manikin. My gynecology preceptor said how impressed she was with how well I was doing and my comfort level independently performing the exams.”

She looks forward to more inperson simulations. “I thrive on learning in person and interacting with my professors and peers because it is so important to get as much hands-on learning as possible.”

Petkewich, who lived on campus this fall, says that resident assistants held events to help students stay connected, and that the dining staff “was incredible.” “Even though there was not as much happening on campus as there was pre-COVID, the small group of people who were there still had the same spirit.”

“ The course has delivered more than I expected, particularly regarding the vital importance of public health professionals not just in the U.S. but worldwide.

Countries that quickly acted with the guidance of public health professionals have been able to contain the virus.”

M A R I S A C A R R A S Q U I L L O ’ 2 2 , a public health major at Regis North in Lawrence

28 REGIS TODAY

Sciences, the Marshall M. Sloane School of Business and Communication, the School of Health Sciences, and the Young School of Nursing—as well as staff from the Center for Global Connections, the Center for Ministry and Service, and the Center for Inclusive Excellence.

“I’m grateful to Mary Lou, who brought together a talented group of faculty over the summer to create a course that offers an in-depth examination of the pandemic using multiple perspectives,” Driscoll says.

“It’s exactly the kind of missiondriven, intellectually rooted effort that’s possible when you have the rich resources of faculty expertise and creativity that Regis enjoys.”

“Everyone on this team is so collaborative and intelligent in their fields,” says Assistant Professor of STEM Shannon Hogan, PhD. “They all have a deep understanding of how what they do has a global impact and interacts with each other’s disciplines.”

The course includes open forums that move across disciplines. One gives students the chance to read personal narratives related to the mental health impact of the pandemic.

“In the Humanities Department, we created a field of study for students who want to focus on medical humanities, which is an emerging field that considers traditional

humanities disciplines in the context of medical education and practice,” says Jonathan Fitzgerald, PhD, assistant professor of humanities and general education. “I felt that a medical humanities perspective would be essential to the formation of the course.”

For Professor of Public Health Leslie Mandel, PhD, the course not only brings more attention to her field, but also takes a hard look at the social disparities and inequities that COVID-19 highlighted. “The pandemic brought more attention to an already bad situation. We want this to be a jumping-off point for students so they can learn how, through policy and advocacy, they can make constructive change.”

Marisa Carrasquillo ’22, a public health major at Regis North, says she enrolled in the course to learn about pandemics from the experts.

“I wanted to learn how to navigate during COVID-19 and explore ways I could impact this kind of work in the future as a public health professional,” says Carrasquillo, who is an analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and also volunteers with underprivileged members of the community. “The course has delivered more than I expected, particularly regarding the vital importance of public health professionals not just

in the U.S. but worldwide. Countries that quickly acted with the guidance of public health professionals have been able to contain the virus.

Germany is a great example of how policymakers and public health professionals can work together during a pandemic efficiently and effectively.”

Shielding the Front Line Assistant Professor Brian Plouffe, PhD, founder and undergraduate director of biomedical engineering, received a unique summer project assignment this year. With access to a new 3D printer in the WatsonHubbard Science Center thanks to generous gifts from Board of Trustees Chair John J. Tegan Jr. and Board member Paul Lonergan, Plouffe was asked if he could print face shields for health sciences students.

The face shields were distributed to diagnostic medical sonographer students, occupational therapy students, and others in the health sciences programs who were enrolled in clinicals during the fall semester.

“I am truly proud of the collaboration this summer between the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Health Sciences,” Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Kathryn Edney, PhD, says. “The work that Brian is doing exemplifies everything that Regis stands for, as well as the value of interdisciplinary thinking, especially during these unprecedented times.”

A 3D printing novice, Plouffe said he went through three different design templates before he found the one he felt worked best. The shields are made of polylactic acid, one of the most common materials used in 3D printing. Since July, Plouffe was able to print about 30 face shields.

“I come from more of a chemistry background,” Plouffe said of his learning curve. “But there is a lot of information out there and readily available.” He video-recorded the shield-making process to share with students for future assignments.

When it is not creating face shields, the 3D printer will be used by biomedical engineering students for their senior-year final project,

B12 PLAN

Renato Capobianco, head coach of the Regis men’s soccer team and director of strength and conditioning, created the B12 Plan to help student-athletes succeed academically while working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plan, prepare, prioritize. Use Sunday evenings to get an overview of the upcoming week.

Determine what will require the most time and what resources you will need (study sessions, tutoring sessions, meeting with the professor) to get that task/assignment accomplished.

Create your work/study environment. Find a place that is quiet and conducive to getting work done and is free of distractions.

Lilyana Nunez ’22 practices using an ultrasound machine on fellow diagnostic medical sonography student Lina Gonzalez ’22 in a College Hall lab. Both are wearing face shields made on campus by Assistant Professor Brian Plouffe, PhD, using a new 3D printer funded by Regis trustee donors John J. Tegan Jr. and Paul Lonergan.

Photo: Joe O’Connell

which includes working with doctors, patients, and other end users in the health care industry to develop a product to solve a problem.

Previously, students would only be able to sketch out their ideas and explain a product’s potential impact.

Now, students will be able to print out models and demonstrate their capabilities.

“Having an actual object has much more impact on learning outcomes,” Plouffe explains. “It gives the students ownership.”

Game Plan NCAA regulations prevent formal student-athlete training without medical clearance that’s usually reviewed by a college’s athletic trainers—a hurdle for many during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regis coaches have encouraged their teams to be creative and provided some strategies to stay on task while they’re working remotely.

“The biggest thing that coaches can do while we are remote during the pandemic is to help student-athletes create their study environment and develop good study habits, even though they aren’t in a classroom,”

says Renato Capobianco, head coach of the Regis men’s soccer team and director of strength and conditioning.

Capobianco developed the B12 Plan to help (see sidebar). Its guiding principle: Plan to get your responsibilities done before noon. The afternoon can then be used to finish up leftover tasks and allow for personal free time before heading into the evening’s study sessions.

“How a player behaves off the field is probably how they are going to behave on the field,” Capobianco says.

“Playing sports is about learning to overcome adversity. If players can learn how to deal with this health crisis, it’s going to be easier when they get back on the field—because they did what they were supposed to do in the most challenging of times.”

—Contributor Joseph O’Connell

As Regis looks toward the spring semester, the university is currently in the process of finalizing its plan for continuing to repopulate the campus with additional students, faculty, and staff under the same strict testing and safety protocols.

Read more at regiscollege.edu/covid-19.

Create the “Daily To Do List.” Check off tasks as they are completed and (if possible) don’t stop until all the tasks are done. Tip: Date your lists for better tracking and start each morning by checking the prior day’s list to see if there is any unfinished business to complete.

Have a clear understanding of the task/ assignment. Know exactly what is needed to complete the task/assignment. Know exactly what the “finished product” should look like.

Follow through. Getting a task started is easy; but making sure it’s completed is the ultimate goal! Once you take on a task, you are responsible for making sure it has been accomplished.

Eliminate distractions. Your phone and its access to social media is by far your worst enemy. Get in the habit of only opening/ responding to emails that will assist you in getting your tasks completed. All other emails/ texts will eat up your valuable time.

Develop and stick with your routine.

The key to staying on task is creating a comfortable routine to put you in the best environment for success. Don’t try to multitask or set unrealistic daily goals. Be disciplined about getting your “Daily To Do List” done before noon, day in and day out.

LET IT SHINE

Let It Shine Gala Honors Health Care Heroes Virtual Let It Shine Gala honors all Regis health care professionals and raises more than $400,000 for student scholarships.

30 REGIS TODAY

Special thanks to our top sponsors PRESENTING SPONSOR

Regis College Board of Trustees

The fifth annual Let It Shine Gala, celebrated virtually on October 28, 2020, raised more than $400,000 from 250 supporters and participants—bringing the total raised through Let It Shine galas throughout the years to nearly $4 million.

The virtual gala included appearances by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh; Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN; student scholar Alexa Petkewich ’22; several health care heroes; Sister Lee Hogan ’61, CSJ, Regis Board member and president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston; Regis Board members Kathleen S. Jose ’87, ’94, MSN, RN, and Joe-Ann Fergus, PhD, RN; and Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley. Let It Shine was once again emceed by Kelley Tuthill, EdD ’20.

INSPIRED LEADER SPONSORS

Dr. Ali Shajii and Dr. Haleh Azar P’21 Regis College Former Trustees CHANGE MAKER SPONSORS

Anonymous Bank of America Century Bank

“

Marshall/Glocker Family Bill and Jane Mosakowski

To watch the complete virtual gala video and the honoree video, please visit alumni.regiscollege.edu/letitshine.

HEALTH CARE HERO SPOTLIGHT

Working on the front lines has been very humbling—it has opened my eyes to how vulnerable people can be and how much they rely on not only educated professionals, but compassionate humans … I feel so fortunate to be able to be one of those people. To the Regis community, thank you for imparting your wisdom upon me and making me the nurse that I am today.”

KAIT LY N COWDE N, RN, B S N ’1 8

STUDENT SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT Alexa Petkewich ’22, Sister Thérèse Higgins, CSJ, Scholar and undergraduate in the Young School of Nursing, was the featured student speaker at the virtual gala. The following includes excerpts from Petkewich’s speech; to watch the gala and her full speech, please visit alumni.regiscollege.edu/letitshine.

Regis gives students a voice and that has really helped me build connections and challenge myself.

When not on campus, I work as a certified nursing assistant at Brightview Senior Living and as a patient care associate at Mass General Brigham Hospital. As an employee at the assisted living facility for two years, I have learned to be patient and aware of others. As for Mass General Brigham, I began working there thanks to a professor at Regis during the COVID-19 outbreak. I was trained on the COVID-19 floor, the OB-GYN floor, and orthopedics floor. My favorite part about working on the COVID floors was when the public address system announced “Operation Hope.” Anyone who was available could go to the reported area to cheer and give support to patients who recovered from COVID-19 as they left the hospital. I was overjoyed to have played a small part in helping the patients return home safely. I must admit I was frightened to work on the COVID floor; I had no idea what to expect.

But the nurses and other PCAs helped me and gave me the confidence and encouragement to spark my true potential. Taking time out for others—my Regis life lesson.

As for the future, I intend to further my career and be a physician assistant. Regis has provided me with the right tools to seek out whatever health care career path I choose. With a degree in nursing and neuroscience, and the network of connections that my professors have and that I have already built, the possibilities are endless.

I am proud that my Sister Thérèse Higgins scholarship makes it possible for me to attend Regis College and pursue my passion. It truly is a gift that keeps on giving, especially during these most uncertain times. I will be forever grateful and will continue to make Regis proud. Go Pride!

Read more about Alexa Petkewich ’22 (pictured above) and other Regis student scholars: alumni.regiscollege.edu/stories.

HEALTH CARE HERO SPOTLIGHT

“ During the pandemic, I am motivated by my patients and their families … Regis taught me that even with limited resources, you can save lives.

C H ARL E NE C .

H OL L INS , MS N, F NP - C ’1 9

“

I have wanted to work in health care since I was young, and when my grandfather’s Alzheimer’s disease worsened, I became a nursing assistant in a nursing home because I wanted to be there for people in their most vulnerable times. I graduated from Northeast Metro Tech, a vocationaltechnical high school, where I earned a certified nursing assistant license while balancing academics and a co-op program.

These experiences really confirmed for me that I wanted to pursue nursing in college, and I was so happy when I was accepted to Regis’ highly reputable nursing program and received a scholarship.

After participating in the Regis Summer Scholars Program, I knew for sure it was the school for me. While still in high school, I took two accelerated college courses, earned college credits, lived in the Maria Hall suites at Regis, used library resources, and met with very nice professors, staff, and fellow students. I observed Pride Guides and orientation leaders help students, address concerns, and answer questions. This all influenced my decision to be a part of the Regis Pride and to become a pride guide student tour guide and orientation leader myself.

As a freshman, as I embarked on my Regis journey, I learned a lesson that I will take with me as I move on in my career: Take the time to talk to others. By doing so, I was inspired to join clubs and be involved on and off campus. I tutored children at Bethany Hill, helping them in their studies and sponsoring social events for them. I went on service immersion trips in New Orleans and Appalachia with the Center for Ministry and Service and Health Services, which were eye-opening experiences economically and socially. I am thrilled to be a part of the tight-knit Regis community and to help those in need.

together alumni

Throwback Edition 1

4

32 REGIS TODAY

1 The Class of 1989 at the “89 Day Party� at Tower Tavern celebrating 89 days until graduation.

2 Members of the classes of 1975 to 1977 at the Father-Daughter Dance in 1974.

3 The Class of 1951 forming the Regis College initials before the hoop rolling contest.

2

4 The Class of 2011 celebrating at the Senior Wine and Cheese Event in the Fine Arts Center. Left to right: James Guaragna, Alycia Murray, Caitlyn Masiero, Elizabeth Duca, Nathan Fagundo, Sarah Sylvia, Yash Shah, Tanya Young, Mary Kate Alibrandi.

5 The Class of 1992 at the MotherDaughter Dinner in 1991 at the Newton Marriott. Clockwise from

5 3

top left: Elizabeth Kowaleck, Sharon Mulcahy, Gabrielle Wylie Menezes, Cindy Joyce, Susan Ryan Shalhoub.

6 The Class of 1942 at their 20th Reunion in 1962.

7 The Class of 1969 at a German Club event. Left to right: Susan T. Dunnigan, Jackie Rogers Cleary, (accordion player), Mary Vodoklys Finn, Karen Buckley Gelineau, Ruthann Iovanni Bates, Jean Billingham.

8 The Class of 2000 at the traditional Christmas dinner, where the sophomores served dinner to all of the classes, followed by singing carols in the foyer of College Hall and the official tree lighting.

6

Upcoming Events Join us at an upcoming virtual event for alumni and friends to stay connected while we are physically distanced. Visit our website for a full list of events: alumni.regiscollege.edu/events.

Virtual Party in a Box Party boxes include a virtual space for up to 20 people via Zoom on a scheduled day and time, assistance with the digital invitation and guest list, and virtual Regis backgrounds for you and your guests to use during the event. A member of the Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations team is available to kick off your event and offer a brief welcome and Regis update. The event host will be mailed festive party essentials to use on the night of their event. Learn more at alumni.regiscollege.edu/partybox.

Reunion 2021 7

8

Alumni from classes ending in 1 or 6 are celebrating Reunion in 2021. Given the uncertainty related to the pandemic, Regis has not yet set a date for inperson reunion events this spring. After the new year, Regis will reassess based on current public health guidelines with the hope of offering an in-person event in late spring or early summer. We will be in touch with reunion classes as soon as possible as circumstances change and as plans are made.

As always, we are committed to offering fun and engaging virtual reunion experiences, and will continue to host virtual events for reunion classes throughout the year. Please join us!

To see Reunion updates and virtual events, learn more about ways to get involved with your class, and take a survey to help us plan, visit: alumni.regiscollege.edu/reunion21.

notes class

1947

✒ Elaine Richardson, daughter of Phyllis

Brosnahan Richardson, elaine.richardson. ma@gmail.com, 781.862.6262 ¶ Resilient.

34 REGIS TODAY

It’s the only way to describe the women of 1947. Many of you described how challenging the COVID-related living restrictions have been, yet everyone is optimistic and happy to share news of great-grandchildren, family weddings, and other stories of hope. A class of strong, independent, optimistic women still. Eleanor Consentino Feuer is finishing up a short-term rehab stretch to regain strength and balance after a minor cardiac condition. Eleanor is a proud new great-grandmother, having welcomed Alexi into the family in July. Her daily joy includes keeping up with her three sons and their global families who send pictures and FaceTime from Amsterdam, Berlin, and several states. She also reports the recent 102nd birthday celebration of her cousin in Plaistow, NH. Frances Durkee O’Neill has mastered today’s technology of Zoom and FaceTime with her great-grandchildren—of which she has six with one more on the way. She is enjoying a return to in-person visits with her family. Frances feels blessed by the love and support of her family of six sons, daughter Mary (Regis ’75), 12 grandchildren, and soon-to-be seven great-grandchildren. We send our prayers for a full recovery to Frances’ son, who is making progress at rehab after a brain injury. Marjorie Dimento Magrath spent the first half of 2020 in Los Angeles, CA, with her granddaughter and great-grandchildren. Marjorie is now back at the family homestead in East Boston, where four generations have lived. Her three children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren remain the center of her universe.

Her two daughters and granddaughters help in the house so Marjorie can remain in the home she has always known. Daughter Gail reports Marjorie has had some good, and other not so good, days with various medical conditions but was able to enjoy the recent family gathering to celebrate her 95th birthday. This update was received as of July 2020 and since then Marjorie has passed away as noted at the end of this update. Dorothy (Dot) Mahoney McKenna enjoys her new apartment in Sharon, MA, and being closer to her two sons. Not a fan of the visiting restrictions, Dot finds a way to add humor while describing the visits with her sons, calling out from her living room window as they reply from lawn chairs down below. The McKenna family gathered over the holidays, and Dot was thrilled with the chance to spend several days with her two daughters who live in

Florida. Gertrude (Gert) Breen Alfredson misses her status as our most active world traveler yet understands the importance of remaining vigilant during these months.

Gert spent most of the spring actively spring cleaning, and by summer Gert was tending her gardens at her Newton, MA, home and enjoying the occasional socialdistancing lunch with family and friends.

She misses the chance to attend Mass in person, playing golf, and especially her favorite Regis program—LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College). Our other world traveler, Marguerite (Peg) Donovan, was enjoying her usual winter getaways to Aruba in January and St. Maarten in March when COVID-19 hit. Peg recounted quite a tale of abandonment by the airline, having to scramble to find another way home. A serendipitous search identified an “unscheduled/ghost” AA flight that routed them via New York but got them back in the U.S. before the nationwide shutdown.

Taking the safety and social distancing very seriously, this year Peg’s usual cast of Cape visitors has been limited to area friends and neighbors who enjoy sitting around the pool while bringing their own snacks and beverages. Virginia (Ginny) Demeo Prieto reports she’s doing well in Valencia, CA. David and Diane, her son and daughter-inlaw, keep tabs on her at her assisted living community. Ginny misses her weekly Bible study groups and daily walks along the pathways. She expects limited in-person visits with David soon. Son Tom has moved to the D.C. area for an exciting new job while his twin Patty lives in Scottsdale, AZ. And of course, her four grandchildren keep her up to date with their changing lives.

Phyllis Gallinelli Campbell continues to enjoy summer months in Marshfield, MA. Phyllis reports being the matriarch of 28, including seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. “They are all beautiful and smart, but they wear you out!” A strong faith keeps Phyllis going these days; too many friends having Alzheimer’s. Phyllis remains quite active, still doing a little driving and food shopping. Her knitting has taken a vacation during these hot summer days.

Sadly, the class lost a few members including Catherine Pattavina (9/19/2019), Alice Noonan Cote (1/15/2020), Marjorie Dimento Magrath (8/13/2020), and Catherine Gately McGunigle (6/2/2020). Please remember their families in your thoughts and prayers.

“It was great to speak with everyone, and these conversations help me to miss your classmate and my mum, Phyllis Brosnahan Richardson, a little less. As Phyllis would always close…stay happy and healthy!

1948

✒ Joan Mahoney, 32 Surrey Lane, Fairfield, CT 06824, joanmahoney1927@gmail.com ¶ This is probably going to be my last year doing Class Notes. Regis very nicely sent me the phone numbers and addresses of the 36 “girls” we still have left in our class.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get in touch with many of you. So, if anyone from our class did not get a call from me, please let Regis know and provide your new number. Now, for the fun part and the news from those I was able to speak with.

Good old Josephine (Jo) Dimauro-Demers wrote me a beautiful letter detailing many of the “phases” in her life. She has traveled to Spain and continues to live in her stepmother’s home. She keeps extremely busy, enjoying gardening and photography.

Gloria Faretra has been living for over 40 years in an apartment in Queens, NY, which overlooks the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Although she uses a cane, she gets out quite frequently. The global pandemic forced Marie Fisher Lee to stop playing the organ for Mass, as her local parish church was closed. However, she is very proud of two granddaughters! One is a specialist in neurology at Yale New Haven Hospital and the other is in her last year of medical school. I spoke with Mary Connell Hayes’ daughter, who shared with me that she died in May 2019 after having spent two years in a nursing facility. It was nice to hear that Mary maintained her independent spirit throughout. I commuted to Regis with Claire Glennon Brown and she still sounds as bright, cheery, and chatty as she did on the train back in those days. A few days after I spoke with her, I received a thoughtful phone call from her daughter, Alice, thanking me for calling her mother.

Speaking of daughters, I spoke with Marie Kelly Creedon’s daughter, Bernadette. She explained that she had moved in to care for her mother. She is looking forward to being able to share this article with her mom to help bring back memories of Regis. What a blessing she is! I had a nice talk with Elinor O’Neil Bowers. We discovered we have a lot in common—both of us are now using walkers and still living in our own home.

After 69 years of marriage, Mercedes Yennaco Casey lost her husband this past year. She continues to live in the Washington, D.C., area and she still drives!

I am very lucky to be able to continue my special friendship with Ann O’Hare Smith over the phone as we haven’t been able to gather up at her cottage in Maine this year.

Our dear friend and class poet, Jane McGrath, passed away recently. We will miss her. In her honor, it seems appropriate

class to close out this column with one of her poems: Elegy. I was trying to write a sonnet/ In the meter and rhyme of a poem/About waves of sadness/On a summer day/And a mighty wind/Roaring in from the sea/A fierce bereavement hymn/Destroying giant trees/But the ragged edge of grief/Disrupts the meter/When it ruptures the heart

1952

✒ Marie Rizzo, 136 Warren Street,

1954

✒ Patricia Cronin Huie, 781-834-7134, pchuie@comcast.net ¶ Dear classmates, I hope you and your family are well and virus-free. It was a strange summer; never have we experienced anything like this. I sit on my deck on Humarock, MA, thinking about our wonderful carefree days at Regis and wondering where my classmates are and how they are doing. So, I made some phone calls. I do have good news to report.

An alert from Mary Roche Sullivan told me to read page 35 of the spring/summer issue of the Regis Today. Our very own Regina Seales Caines was honored in February at the Mass Partnership for Diverse Educators (MPDE) event where Chair of the Regis Education Department Priscilla A. Boerger, EdD, announced the creation of the Regina Caines Distinguished Educator Award. The annual award will be presented to an alumnus who has made outstanding contributions to and achieved excellence in the field of education. What an accomplishment! We are so proud of you, Regina. More good news, Mary’s summer home in Scituate, MA, is now up and framed! What a thrill, Mary, to see it go up.

On my search for more news, I called my roommate, Elizabeth (Betty) Morrissey Neal, in Charlotte, NC. Betty was on her way to

her outdoor exercise class at the YMCA. She misses her swims at the YMCA, which were canceled due to COVID-19. I did forget to ask Betty about bridge. She is an avid bridge player and plays with people all over via her computer. You are amazing, Betty. On my search for more news, I called Marianne (Sandy) Sanderson Shay.

Sandy had just come in from golfing. Her finger has healed and although a little stiff, she can still play golf. That is important!

Sandy’s life revolves around golf. After our call, Sandy was going for a swim.

Obviously, Sandy is as active as ever and loves life on Cape Cod. Before COVID-19, I, Patricia (Pat) Cronin Huie was in Florida and had lunch several times with Norma McNamara Quinn. We visited Rosemary Denmark Murphy, who is in a retirement home in Jupiter, FL. As always when together, our conversations were about our days at Regis, the fun we had, and the great education we received. Norma left Florida in early March. Hopefully we will have more luncheons with them next year.

I also talked to Joanne Hickey Johnson, who is in Vero, FL. We were making plans for lunch, but all plans were canceled because of COVID-19. Instead, we were making plans to return home, Joanne to Connecticut and I to Massachusetts. I did enjoy, however, my chats with everyone. It was nice to visit and talk with old friends.

They are the best. I left Florida on June 5 for home. I had many flights canceled but finally arrived home safe and sound. There is no place like home. It was a strange experience to fly home. Everything was so different, so quiet. The airport was especially quiet. Also in the good news section for me, was the birth of my fifth great-grandchild, Riley Marie. My granddaughter, Elisabeth Stevenson, attended Regis this fall as a nursing major. She is my third granddaughter to attend Regis!

Also, in retirement homes are Cornelia (Connie) Murphy Davidson in Shrewsbury, MA, Margery Roche O’Keefe in Falmouth, MA, and Patricia Bellini Cruise with her husband, Frank. Mary Roche Sullivan just sent me a beautiful write-up on the passing of our classmate Margaret (Peggy) Rowe Dreger in February. Peggy was an English major at Regis and did her master’s work at Springfield College. She held numerous professional positions, taught school, and raised six children with her husband, Neil.

Peggy, rest in peace, your life was one of service to your community, your family, and to God. My dear classmates, I wish you and your families much health and happiness. Please stay in touch by phone, text, or email. Many thanks to those who took my phone calls. Be well.

35 FALL 2020

W. Medford, MA 02155, 781-396-9835 ¶ Well, here it is again—the hot news about the Class of ’52. I guess I used the correct word thanks to the intolerable hot summer we had this year. I hope you enjoyed your summer homes down the Cape, sipping cool margaritas by the pool. I promise I won’t tell Sister Maria if you wore a bikini. Patricia Waite Petrilli, our wonderful classmate, has given up the job as class treasurer, an office she has held for over 40 years. It is difficult to adequately express our sincere gratitude and admiration to her. She did an exemplary job. Thank you, Patricia, for being so faithful to our class and keeping us from not being in the “red.”

Also, Pat may hold the title of the classmate with the most great-grandchildren at 13. She told me she has kids all over the country and to quote her, “No more husbands and no more babies.” Here is some good news relevant to our treasury.

Sally Finnerty Tully, Pat, and I thoughtfully discussed and came to a decision. Our class had $500 from the contributions made by our generous class members over the years, and we decided that this money will be put in a special fund to be named the “Spiritual Fund.” With this fund, memorial Masses and prayers will be said for the members of our class, both living and dead.

Amen. To lighten the tone of this news, I shall share with you a funny incident that happened to me. (This old relic ha ha.) I was exiting Macy’s wearing a fall suit, which was my usual attire, especially when working as a principal. As I exited, a middle-aged man held the door open for me and said, “You look like a woman from another century.” Please, just soft laughter and no funny remarks. I ask, “What did that mean?” Dorothy Holley Connors is wearing a smile these days because she has a temporary male house guest. No scandal here. Her son, Bobby, has moved back from California because he has a new and very important executive position in a well-known Boston firm. Congratulations, Bobby, and welcome home. Kudos to our brave and wonderful Class President Sally Tully. There are no words to describe her determination, courage, and faith. She is recovering from a serious operation and when I speak to her, she is always cheerful, optimistic, and positive. She is indeed worthy of admiration and inspiration because of her fervent faith. We love you, Sally, and know you are in our prayers. Yours truly experienced disappointment and almost despair when last October I attended the Golden Tower Luncheon. What a shock

to discover that I was the only one there from the Class of 1952. I almost walked away, but the young lady who collected the ticket recognized my situation. She sat me at the prestigious table with Regis College President Antoinette Hays and the guest speakers. I hope I made a good impression representing our class. I tried to behave and not say anything too ridiculous or funny. Dare I say, I was treated with great respect. Was it because I was the oldest at the table? I guess age has its rewards.

Patricia McNerney Kelliher boasted of having family gatherings in the spring that were rather large. Her family included children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren— adding to almost 60 people. Patricia lives in Fredericksburg, VA. Now, the hardest part of writing the class news, reporting the passing of our dear friends. Our condolences are sent to the families of our beautiful classmates who died this year: Patricia Hogan (March 31, 2019), Anne Givern Kavanaugh (December 2019), Jean Madden (April 28, 2019), and Nancy Smith (March 10, 2020). I am confident that we have saints to whom we can pray. Our classmates not only are looking and smiling down at us from heaven, but they are there to champion for us when we need help. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have anything to share. Maybe you have won the megabucks or have been asked to model for the latest geriatric magazine.

Seriously, remember we represent the best of Regis. Our faith needs to be alive during this unchristian time. God bless, keep cool, and enjoy each day that is a special gift from God—which is the reason it is called “the present.”

notes

1955

✒ Janet Condrey Beyer, 52 Authors Road, Concord, MA 01742-2607, 978-369-4828, Jbeyer1126@aol.com ¶ My topic for this column is how the isolation has changed you, what you learned, and how are you are keeping yourselves amused. Ann Gallagher

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

36 REGIS TODAY

Deignan fell a few months ago and broke a leg. That took care of any decisions about activities. After rehab, she went to Lenox to her daughter’s house. Facebook photos show her washing windows and sweeping the porch. Jacqueline (Jacqui) Cyr Lewis says that until recently her residence community had meals delivered, no walking in the halls, and the silence was deafening. One really learns to call on that inner self to cope! She began to write poetry and hoped to make a quilt for a new great-grandchild but developed tendonitis in her right hand, so that’s on hold. Barbara Kelley Kelley is back in her renovated house in Reading, MA, and has Zoom meetings each week for prayer and one to provide help for a hospital in Haiti. She reads mysteries and attends to current events of racial inequality. Things that give her great joy are faith, family, and friends. Barbara Gilmore Stitts is in Florida with her sister, Betty Ann, on what was supposed to be a three-month visit but turned into seven. She was disappointed that we all could not gather this year but hopes it will happen next year. She is staying well and notes the silver lining is they have had a wonderful time being together and have managed to keep busy despite most activities being closed. Estelle Ferraro Misto writes that life is no different in Rhode Island than most places. She is doing well and has much to be thankful for. She thanks God every day. She just completed caning a chair, which kept her busy while distancing from others. She will be working on an afghan shortly.

Elizabeth (Betty) Uhlinger Miles has lived in Valley Forge, PA, for 51 years. Music is a big part of her life, noting that nearly 50 years ago she helped start a choir at her church and sang when the Pope visited Philadelphia. She enjoyed teaching art and music as a volunteer, was a market research analyst for 20 plus years, and since retirement, she volunteers at Valley Forge National Park and a local hospital.

The virus has curtailed these activities, so she is reading, gardening, and starting to sift through her children’s piles of memorabilia. Staying busy has not been a problem, but she misses close contact with her children and friends. Margaret (Peggy) Vincent Kelley sold her Edgartown home on the Vineyard and returned to Silver Spring, MD. She has her own quarters in her daughter’s house and is hoping to find a book club. Anne O’Brien Temple says she has always been an independent person, so her life has not changed a great deal.

She gave away 100 books and says she is not going to buy any more. She took a trip to Cuba in February and was impressed by the old Spanish city that is Havana.

Rosalie L’Ecuyer writes from Fairbanks that life has not changed much with the virus. She doesn’t drive and keeps busy in her home. I, Janet Condrey Beyer, play Words with Friends, watch TV at night, and have gotten to like Zoom. One night a week I play Zoom trivial pursuit. For the

first time last week, I was on the winning team. I just finished the Splendid and the Vile, a book about the Churchill family in the year 1940, and I am about to start Midnight Circus, a magic realism book I would not have chosen. Please send me your email address so we can include everyone in our Regis news.

1956

✒ Geraldine Dowd Driscoll, 7 Conant Road

#50, Winchester, MA 01890, 781-729-7823, gerrydriscoll@comcast.net ¶ As of August,

the news is dominated by the pandemic.

Our prayers are with all members of the Regis family, especially those who have suffered illness and/or the loss of loved ones. These notes, written as we entered our sixth month of the pandemic, were gathered from those of us who have not been directly affected by the virus except for the extended period of isolation. Thank you for sharing your activities during this unique time in our lives when the quarantine has limited travel and large gatherings, activities have become virtual, and Zoom has become our new meeting place. Your classmates have reported a variety of activities that occupy their time.

These include the compulsive cleaning of closets, emptying the basket of clothes to be ironed, binge reading, and too much Facebook. The more talented write poetry and share it with friends! Mary Lou Rawson was sewing masks for family and friends.

She recommended Every Note Played by Lisa Genova and Sweetness of Forgiving

by Kristin Hamel, which I have added to my long list of “must-reads.” Mary Regina (Jeanne) Getzfread Sullivan was working on the daunting task of downsizing. Two of Mary Jeanne’s granddaughters had to postpone weddings as a result of the pandemic restrictions. Mary Keenan and I were able to enjoy our annual vacation in Naples, FL, in March, returning just in time for the quarantine. We missed Regis participation in the Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the annual Mass and brunch, which were canceled.

Sorry we missed seeing Kathleen O’Rourke Valente and Virginia Crago Roberts, who had planned to attend. Carole Settana Scollins visited The Holy Land, returning home just before the virus arrived in Massachusetts. Carole spent some of the quarantine working on a painting for her first great-granddaughter’s nursery who arrived in September. Such talent! Marie Vasaturo White canceled trips to Mexico and Italy because of the virus. Dorothy Harrington Winrow was providing psychotherapy via telehealth. I’m impressed! I hope as you read this that the pandemic is behind us. Marie White reminded me that we have our 65th Reunion coming up!

As always, we continue to remember each other in prayer. Let me know by email if you request prayers so I can notify our classmates in a timely fashion. God bless!

1957

✒ Judy Sughrue, 47 Rosewood Drive, Stoughton, MA 02072-4958, 781-344-3357, 1nettiedog@verizon.net ¶ Who would have

thought that after 63 years we would all be sharing the same experience in the pandemic? I must say that from your stories, we have done well adjusting to the challenges. First, I should clarify a mistake that I made in our last column. I noted the matriarch of a very impressive family was Barbara Goodhue Beecy, while the true matriarch is Barbara Gorham Lenox. I must confess that I mixed up those names when we were at Regis. Barbara Lenox has another lawyer in the family and is one of only two classmates to have a member of her family go to Regis, her granddaughter.

Many thanks to Ruth (Spud) Sanderson Kingsbury for her years of service to Regis on the board of trustees. One of the losses during the pandemic has been those wonderful food-travel essays by Isabel Long Chesak. She could not enter restaurants and flying over to Alsace-Lorraine was not possible. Her luncheons with Carol Hurd Green, Nancy Swendeman Loud, Mildred (Mimi) Iantosca Costa, and Alice Murphy Toomey had to be suspended. Carol Noonan Driscoll has bought an apartment and walks the corridors and stairs for her exercise. Down South, Martha Ford Collier is delighted that the swimming pool has been reopened. She lives in Virginia Beach in a private senior complex, which has been helpful during this crisis. Her sons come by to give her supplies. Jane Denmark Maher has also been pleased that the swimming pool has reopened. She also walks a mile and a half a day. Jane has homes in Florida and North Carolina. She has been in North Carolina, where her two daughters and twin grandsons live. One of her daughters has an interesting combination of engineering and law degrees. In California, Judith (Judy) Lawson Selsor lives in a senior complex similar to Martha’s. Judy now must meet with her neighbors outside. Elly Zarotschenzeff Doyle, as of this writing, is very ill. I know we must be getting old when Suzanne (Suzy) Treacy McGovern no longer drives by herself between her family in Virginia and New York. A family member rides with her. We lost one classmate to the coronavirus, Marion Feeney. Also, we pray and remember Marguerite Lunny Dolan, Gloria Ricker Gramaglia, Rosemary Weidner Mahoney, and Patricia (Pat) McCarron Pettersen.

1958

✒ Joan Meleski Kenney, P.O. Box 33, Hyannis Port, MA 02647, kenneyjo@aol.com ¶ Lea Toto Dmytryck shares that staying home during this pandemic doesn’t mean being isolated, thank goodness. She sees her family often and revels in the growth and development in her 2-year-old greatgranddaughter every time she sees her.

She is still involved in community theater, but much of it is by Zoom or virtual. She

class Although they missed the trip to Colorado, they won first place. Like all school-aged children across the country, my six grandchildren in California have been out of school and missing it terribly. Most of my volunteer work (for three organizations) is back-burned because of COVID-19. But I can continue proposal writing from home for much-needed funding for Belonging To Each Other, a Falmouth organization assisting the homeless. Hoping and praying for safer, virus-free days ahead.

1959

✒ Maureen O’Connell Palmer, 101 Country Road, Hanover, MA 02339, 781-561-1016, maureenpalmer59@hotmail.com ¶ I hope

everyone is getting through this pandemic.

(How?) I’m at a loss for a suitable adverb.

I recently spoke with Rosemary (Bunny) Catalucci Hughes. She has been joining her daughters in New Hampshire on the weekends. She is still involved in civic matters in Everett, MA. I’m sure that her knowledge and interest is greatly appreciated. Elizabeth (Liz) Russell Bilafer spent some time at her son’s house on the Cape. She has enjoyed outdoor visits with her little grandson in the backyard in Arlington, MA. Audrey Bowen Criado and I talked on a day when it was as hot in Massachusetts as it was in Florida. Audrey does water aerobics in the morning. She hopes to go on a Caribbean cruise in December. Carol Donovan is in good health and serving on the Regis Alumni Council.

This summer they made calls to the Class of 2020 to welcome them to the Regis alumni community. Janice Canniff McCall and Bill plan to get together for dinner with Ellen McSwiney Shea, hubby Richie, Mary Shea Doyle, and Bob. This has become a special summer tradition at the Cape.

Brenda Meade Doherty is planning to come to Massachusetts from Florida this summer to visit family and friends. Personally speaking, living through this pandemic with my daughter, son-in-law, and four young-adult grandchildren has been interesting for many reasons. It’s a good thing I like sports. The food consumed is epic, so I’ve had to resurrect my cooking skills. My grandson, Jon, and I walk the two dogs. As of today, it’s been 136 days. Maybe I will write a book! Speaking of books, I’ve been reading Andrea Camilleri, author of great Italian mysteries—really very interesting!

Please remember in your thoughts and prayers our classmates who are dealing with health issues.

1961

✒ Kate Martin Hawke, 4 Rockland Road,

Marblehead, MA 01945-1316, 781-639-3492, kfhawke@comcast.net ¶ Dear classmates,

even though we have been unable to see each other for our traditional lunches and celebratory weekends, thanks to Zoom we have been communicating more now than ever before. I imagine that you “see” your

siblings, children, grandchildren, and distant friends more frequently since March.

Our lives have been pared down to the essentials and keeping up connections with friends and family has proved to be a joy in a time of isolation and anxiety. Nobody is sharing news of cruises, trips to exotic spots, or big changes in residences. At the end of November 2019, a group celebrated our 80th birthdays at the Daniel Webster Inn in Sandwich, MA. The birthday ladies included the usual suspects: Eleanor Mikulski Collins, Mary Doane Cassidy, Ellen Donahue Foley, Brenda Kulisich Gomez, Barbara Hoyle Healy, Catherine (Cathy) Ross Bettencourt, Joan Murray, Carroll Beegan Follas, Judith Powers, Judith (Judy) King Weber, and me. There were lots of stories

and laughs, toasts to absent friends—more every year—and earlier bedtimes than in the past. Going to bed at 10:00 p.m. brought us full circle to the lights out and good night wishes from the Sister who was the proctor on the floor in College Hall. I hope that some of you will take this opportunity to send me some news of yourself, Regis memories, or family events. We are lucky to have the Regis connection and should use it. Best wishes for good health in the coming year.

1962

✒ Margaret Wheeler, 41 Magazine Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, 781-570-6812, miggiewheeler@hotmail.com ¶ Thank

you, Class of 1962, for the response to our hard-working Class President Mary McCauley Higgins. She still spends time in two states with children and is active at Regis when back home. She and Ann McManus Joyce attended the Memorial Liturgy in November 2019 to honor deceased classmates. Nancy Clemons Dennis was honored and was the only 1962 classmate that passed away that year.

Ann spent an extended time in Aruba but has canceled for 2021. It seems to be the theme of class—stay put until COVID19 is under control. Our 60th Reunion is in two years. I hope we can all travel freely again. Many classmates on are the move as age 80 seems to be a downsizing year. Dorothy (Dot) DeNave Rossi left her home of 50 years to live with her son in Colorado. Domenica (Dee) Fiumara Pedulla sold her house in Winchester, MA, to move into a condo. Dee and Lucille (Lucy) Manoli Bourque live on the same street in Florida. Joan Serino Shute is in Colorado and is not doing her usual trips due to the pandemic. Agnes McCarty Harrienger had a drive-by birthday party in Dennis Port, MA, and was cheered on by her husband, Tom, and their two children. Kathleen (Kathy) Sheahan Falvey hit the big 80 and in attendance were her six children and 19 grandchildren. I, Margaret Tierney Wheeler, downsized two years ago. My three sons are nearby and are so handy for us all. Good wishes to everyone! If I haven’t been in touch for a while, contact

37 FALL 2020

is currently in a movie to be shot at a friend’s house in late August and early September. The play she was to direct in June of this year is now scheduled for the last three weekends of April 2021. They have received the rights and are just keeping fingers crossed that they will be able to mount Lost in Yonkers. The set is built, and the cast is raring to go! Lora LoConte Stosez notes that one of the many good things at Brooksby Village is their TV channel. Recently the residents recorded a Zoom presentation titled Laughter and Light Verse, the humorous poetry of Ogden Nash, Pam Ayers, Martha Gilfeather, and Dorothy Parker. Theater at the Pond presents plays written by the residents annually. They are working on a Laugh In type show next. After 37 years of living in San Francisco, Nan McGuire sold her condo and moved temporarily to Mill Valley. A friend in Mill Valley offered her house to live in while she visited her grandchildren in Alaska. Nan packed up their belongings after 20 years in the same place and put them in storage. She doesn’t recommend that to anyone! They moved to Berkeley, CA, 18 months later. A long-time best friend lives in Berkeley along with several other close friends. Nan is six blocks from the north side of the UC Berkeley campus in an area called “Holy Hill.” She learned this from her next-door Jesuit neighbor who is a resident in the Santa Clara Jesuit Theological Seminary where they train the Jesuits for the Bay Area. In the sixties when no one wanted to join fraternities, her neighborhood was where they were located, and they all moved out. They sold their buildings, which were bought up by numerous religious organizations, including the Jesuits. They are very considerate neighbors who every few years have their groundkeepers trim space between the branches of their very large redwood tree so that owners on the back of the building can see the Golden Gate Bridge when there isn’t any fog on the bay. After 34 years together, Jim and Nan decided to get married in the Tulip Garden of Golden Gate Park. Most friends were surprised as they all assumed we were married. Hope all are well and wearing a mask during these dangerous times. Dorothy (Dotty) Madden Cannon is fortunate to be sheltering-inplace on beautiful Cape Cod. She hopes you and all our classmates are staying well.

She missed seeing you all since there was no in-person Cape Cod Luncheon this year.

The pandemic separated Dotty from her kids’ families in Virginia and Los Angeles, CA. Sadly, it caused the cancellation of her trip to Virginia in May for her grandson Mitch’s graduation from James Madison University (JMU). He and his brother, Evan, a freshman at VA Tech, successfully completed their second semesters online.

Mitch and a JMU team were selected to compete in June in Colorado against teams from eleven other universities in a Department of Energy Wind Energy Competition but had to compete virtually.

notes

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

old friends on Mary’s list. We would love to hear from you all.

1963

✒ JoAnne DuFort, 24 Notre Dame Avenue,

Allenstown, NH 03275-2120, 603-485-5014, joduf@juno.com ¶ What a year! I hope

38 REGIS TODAY

most of you are surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily I have, but I have been careful and wear a mask. I did not get any news, so this will be brief. We have lost a few classmates: Kathleen McNally Cushing, Margaret Meckel Eakin, Joan Osgood Lawrence, and Rosanne Belz Withington.

Our deepest sympathy goes out to their families. Also on a sad note, Janet Lydon O’Sullivan’s husband passed on. Our deepest sympathy to Janet and her family. I, JoAnne Dufort, am in York, ME, at my trailer. We cannot have visitors, which puts a damper on things. I had two trips canceled, one to Croatia and the other to Portugal. I did manage a trip to Mexico last fall to Baja and Copper Canyon. I loved them both. Copper Canyon was so awesome and bigger than the Grand Canyon.

We traveled by train along the canyon.

Hopefully next year will be a better time.

Let me hear from you.

1964

✒ Virginia McNeil Slep, 508-358-2478, virginiaslep@comcast.net ✒ Sheila Dineen

Queenan, 603-881-8528, saqueenan@ comcast.net ¶ To begin, I’d like to send condolences to the family of Louise Marie Melanson, who passed away a while ago.

Louise Marie was an English major from New Brunswick, Canada, and a nun who lived in the Regis convent. She later left the convent and became a school principal. It was a delight to see her at our 50th Reunion back in 2014. Condolences also to the family of Louise Brennan Murray who passed away in May; to Regina Milette Frawley who lost her sister, her aunt, and her nephew to COVID-19; to Loraine Brophey Mitchell on the death of her husband, John Mitchell; and to Regina Quinlan Doherty ’65 on the passing of her husband, Gerard Doherty, in June. May they rest in peace. Most of us have been quarantined to some degree since March, and many classmates told of plans changed, trips canceled, and greatly reduced activity. However, many reported notable events before the virus cramped our style. Several of us gathered in the College Hall Foyer last December for a class luncheon. It was so nice to be together again and to hear in detail about the changes in our beloved Regis. Margaret Fermoyle Flagg and her husband, Jeff, were featured in an article in the April issue of Boston College Magazine. The article, “What We’ve Learned: Jeff and Margaret Flagg,” covered a variety of topics including the importance of studying languages, partnership, the value of studying the French language, and love. Mary Carroll

Epperlein went on a river cruise on the

Seine with her sister, Anne, last winter and a cultural and spiritual journey to Oaxaca, Mexico. She met Mary Ann Serra in New York City to go to an opera and visit the MOMA. Maureen Burns Gropman reported going on a wonderful South American cruise in late January. She said it was an amazing adventure. Regina Milette Frawley was elected constable in the city of Brookline, serving subpoenas and putting up legal notices. She also continues to serve as a member of the town meeting for over 26 years. Mary Ann Serra has been active in several gatherings in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, something she says she fervently believes in and is doing what she can to help other people during this time of need. Karen Johnson Celi and her husband managed to get their boat in the water this summer and take short trips without any particular destination. Ann O’Sullivan visited Judith (Judy) Machaj Susanin in Vero Beach, FL, before the virus set in. Barbara Bye Murdock has been hosting family gatherings at her home in Little Compton, RI. Shelley Hackett Phipps reports the heat in Tucson, AZ, has been intense ... triple digits, coupled with an intense wildfire near the city and no rain for months. She has stayed active playing tennis, entertaining friends on the patio, and walking her dogs. Thanks to Sheila Dineen Queenan and Susan Baker Olson for checking in, even just to wish all our classmates well. I, Virginia McNeil Slep, am grateful for all our gardens and our two greyhounds. They keep me busy and happy to stay at home. I’ll be teaching my creative writing class in the LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College) program at Regis online, so I’m learning how to host a Zoom meeting. I still write my bi-weekly column for the North Reading Transcript, and I’m hoping to resume my clinical hypnosis practice sometime soon. Stay well, Class of ’64, and please let Sheila and me hear from you ... even just to say hi!

1965

✒ Anne Marie Fontaine Healey, 54 Stacy

Street, Randolph, MA 02368, 781-963-6964, annemariehealey@comcast.net ¶ What an

unusual year! Surely unprecedented times, but as a local sign says, “This is tough, but so are you.” Who would think our biggest adventure would be trying to buy groceries? Our yards and gardens have never looked better. Some of us are clearing out a half-century of accumulated “stuff,” while others have decided to leave it for the next generation. Virtual book clubs are alive and well, and many use Zoom to connect with family and friends and do yoga and fitness classes. Gail Hoffman Burke has been quilting, Janet Comeau Moriarty made an afghan using yarn from her stash, and Kathleen Henighan has made numerous face masks for friends and neighbors, many with fabrics themed to their interests.

Walking is a big activity. Gail and Walter

enjoy their home island of Martha’s Vineyard, Janet and Al walk and also take long drives exploring their adopted state of New Hampshire, Nancy Brown walks with friends in South Portland, ME, and Mary Margaret Wolohan Griffin and John enjoy the Arnold Arboretum and Emerald Necklace Greenway in their Jamaica Plain, MA, neighborhood. Mary Margaret looks forward to resuming her Boston tour company’s activities. (Future class excursion, anyone?) Katherine Moynihan McGovern and Bernie left home in Florida for Connecticut at the end of June as the virus hit the crisis stage. Kathy is hopeful that we will be kinder and more appreciative when things get back to a new normal. Susan (Sue) Valente Winters is doing well in Tucson, AZ, as is Sally Daily Buckler in South Carolina, and Kathleen (Mixie) McCaffrey Ford sends good wishes from Westwood, MA. Lida McMahon Harkins has been collecting and trying new recipes and then making them for some local friends who are isolated from their families. She is planning to copy them all, compile a “Recipes I collected during Coronavirus” scrapbook, and give one to each of her eight granddaughters. Lida is still working full time for Massachusetts Secretary of State William Francis Galvin, with proper social distancing in her own office. Anne Marie Fontaine Healey looks forward to resuming meetings of the “Cookin’ the Books” cookbook club in which members read and try recipes from the chosen cookbook each month. They meet at the Randolph library to discuss the book and enjoy a feast with everyone sharing the food they prepared from that month’s book selection. Kathleen Frawley Phillips has a new grandson in South Carolina and looks forward to seeing him. Other grandchildren and their dad came to visit Kathy on Martha’s Vineyard after she was injured from a fall. They fished and cooked blue crab and fish from Vineyard Sound.

Kathy also had a visit with her Regis roommate, Anne Herron Healy. Carole Groncki McCarthy and Ken have been spending a lot of time at her family farm in upstate New York, enjoying fresh produce. They had hoped to have a family celebration for the barn’s 120th birthday. Carole is still doing environmental consulting work. Our sympathies go out to the families of deceased classmates: Earlene McInnis (January 2019), Catherine Alexander Nief (September 2019), and Judith Cusick (October 2019).

Barbara Doran Sullivan shares these thoughts, “These are uncertain times. I’ve been observing the quarantine and social distancing for months. It has given me a lot of time to listen and think. Our country is in chaos. It will never be the way we felt at Regis in 1965. Normal is no more.

So, my classmates, let us move forward, mindful of the moment, but not afraid of it. Let us be mindful that there is so much to learn and unlearn. Let us be mindful that most of us really do not know what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes, much less live in their skin. I know each of

class

A Reminder us has had different life experiences. We came together at Regis from many different worlds and found common ground and made lifelong friends. Let us listen and find a way to bend. Everyone wants love, order, and peace. Let’s affirm that we will all work to that goal. We will stand tall, speak out, and together as classmates of the world, move humanity forward.”

1966

✒ Elizabeth Burns Griffin, 38 Pine Lane,

Framingham, MA 01701, 508-877-8826, betsygriffin@verizon.net ✒ Connie Alexander Giorgio, 658 Main St., Harwich, MA 02645, 508-432-4645, connie@ thegiorgios.com ¶ We are sorry to note the deaths of two classmates. M. Sherrin O’Brien Langeler died on February 8, 2020.

News may be submitted to your class reporter or directly to Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations by emailing classnotes@regiscollege.edu or by mail to 235 Wellesley St., Box 30, Weston, MA 02493.

in 2015. Ferguson’s mayor and police chief are both Black women. Kathleen (Kathy) Bailey was grateful that her little dog got her out every day but is worried she will not be able to volunteer at a school library this fall, an activity she has enjoyed. Anne Boyle Tatum spent her quarantine alternating between her home in Tucson and her cabin in northern Arizona. Adding to life’s stress, a forest fire started by lightning threatened their Tucson mountainside neighborhood and evacuation threatened.

Anne reported “a shift in attitude” toward possessions as they packed a few important items and waited. Fortunately, the fire changed direction. Mary Lou Scanlon noted she was happy for a second chance at advancing civil rights, since “I was too self-absorbed during the sixties to participate in protests.” She wore a Black Lives Matter face mask after George Floyd’s death and made masks for others. Mary Lou retired as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in January 2020 and began teaching ESL. About the pandemic she said, “It’s torture not to be able to snuggle with my grandchildren,” which is a widespread sentiment. Mary Lou saw Mary Jo Mead Zaccardi with her family in Falmouth, MA, in July. Joanna Cahill Carr missed the wedding of her oldest grandson due to quarantine. She reported her family was listening to Dr. Fauci, wearing masks, and keeping social distance. She also attended weekly peace and justice vigils to support the Black Lives Matter movement in Canaan, NH. Joanna could not be prouder to be a Regis graduate after reading “The We of Now We Fly” in the spring/summer 2020 edition of Regis Today. Constance (Connie) Alexander Giorgio said she and husband Peter reminded themselves how good it is that they like each other. She mentioned Francine Bailey Osenton, Ann Bernson, and Nancy Greene Barry love the card game Hand and Foot. Connie’s computer-guru son developed an online version so they could keep playing with people in Hawaii, California, New Jersey, and New Hampshire, plus neighbors and family. Eleanor McCarthy Bouvier became a

year-round resident of Falmouth, MA, last spring. Elizabeth (Betsy) Burns Griffin reads voraciously, especially on racism and white supremacy, and made bread for the first time. Mary Louise (Mary Lou) Collins wrote from Washington, D.C., “My city block has become a true neighborhood in a way we had not been.” She has two book clubs that meet outdoors. Since you’re getting this column in December, we wish you healthy, happy holidays of comfort and joy.

1967

✒ Carolyn Sammartino Moran, 105 Kittredge

St. #1, Roslindale, MA 02131, 617-921-5759, cmoran6@comcast.net ¶ Rosemarie Melloni Dittmer is recovering from back surgery,

doing physical therapy from home with guidance from a computer, and visits with grandchildren at empty restaurant parking areas so they can be socially distant. Her husband, Myron, a pharmaceutical consultant, has been working on a COVID-19 treatment and has brought Rosemarie on excursions that have helped her recuperation. Get well wishes also to Miriam (Mim) Riley Flecca, recovering from surgeries last fall and winter. Her sons are first responders, and we pray for them and all our front line workers. Patricia (Patti) McCurry Morley has stayed put in Waltham, MA, enjoying her deck. She reads on Facebook Messenger to grandchildren Maggie (8) and Brendan (12)—they enjoy Anne of Green Gables, which my children’s literature book club also loves. Patti reads on her Kindle and has been cooking and baking, including a fresh strawberry pie that I could almost taste when we spoke!

Paula Dempsey Beauregard spent the winter at The Villages in Florida and returned early to arrange an Easter egg hunt in her backyard for daughter Danielle’s four children. It was hard not to hug and kiss them! Paula and Jim have alternated between Millbury, MA, and Harwich Port, MA, enjoying gardening at both homes.

In Eastham, MA, Frances Waht Lewis also gardens, and said this is her best garden ever has been. “Master Gardener” Frances volunteers with others, meeting on Zoom and taking turns keeping green spaces in Eastham beautiful. Frances spent time in Brittany, France, with daughter Amanda and family in February and went to the snowy mountains. She was happy she could see her grandchildren since they were unable to make their usual summer Cape visit. Susan Lang Abbott has returned to working part time at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Voyage at the Seaport, Boston. She’s had backyard gatherings with her family and “it is so hard not to hug the grandchildren,” she says.

Daughter Amy got the family involved in the Medford 2 Medford Virtual Road Race, from Medford, OR, to Medford, MA. The charity event was organized by Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray.

Team Abbott is doing Mississippi to Medford, MA. They started at the

39 FALL 2020

Described in her obituary as “whip-smart but also famously ditzy,” Sherrin was a Peace Corps teacher in Nigeria, then a nurse and nurse-midwife who delivered thousands of babies during her career. We heard belatedly of the death of Frances Aversa on December 9, 2017, in Medford, OR. Fran’s work history included the College Board, the Children’s Television Workshop, and the evaluation of television learning at the University of Mid America, a pioneering program in television distance-learning administered by the University of Nebraska. She also opened an Italian restaurant serving her mother’s recipes. We extend sympathy to family and friends of Sherrin and Fran. We asked for experiences during the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement this year. Kathleen Sullivan, an avid environmentalist, wrote she’s discovered she’s “just a one-crisis girl during this great unraveling;” recycling and composting will wait. Nancy Lewis Hennessy was safe in the Outer Banks of North Carolina until tourist season opened, but the gift of quarantine was time to finish her first solo book, A Blueprint for Reading Comprehension: Helping Students Make Meaning of Text, published this fall. Elizabeth (Beth) Lewis Bowen appreciated the Wyman Lake Neighborhood website serving Westminster, MA, with sheltering tips and information. As June ended, she had visited a store in person only once, thanks to a local grocer putting bags directly into her trunk. Mary (Molly) Lahnston Ford and John celebrated his birthday in June with a “surreal” dinner out amid masked staff and patrons. It was their first time in a restaurant since December 2019, and she didn’t know what to wear but then mused that perhaps people always thought she didn’t know what to wear. In South Carolina in mid-May, Elizabeth (Libby) Chamberlain Houlihan celebrated her birthday dinner with friends in her driveway. As the Black Lives Matter movement sprang to renewed life in June, Nancy Corcoran, CSJ, reported from Ferguson, MO, that some progress toward equality has been made in the site of Michael Brown’s death

Class Notes are published once per year in fall issues of Regis Today, which means the next column of notes will be due in August 2021. The specific deadline will be communicated to class reporters as it approaches.

notes

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

40 REGIS TODAY

Mississippi River in Iowa and log their miles walking, running, or biking. Her whole family is participating, including son John from Los Angeles. As of July, they are in third place out of 11 teams. She enjoys the motivation to get away from online lectures and seminars and out the door.

Since Phyllis (Pam) Carberry Mueller had her plans to be “out the door” changed with the September river cruise on the Rhine and land tour to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, canceled, she has taken up ancestry research. While her husband, Joe, enjoys doing artwork, Pam has been doing genealogical research on her father’s Irish roots and mother’s Italian ones. She has been able to get some pictures online and has heard from distant cousins. In 2019, she and Joe took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and now finds readings during Mass so meaningful when there is mention of Palestine and Israel.

Mass, for now, is on television or online for many of us. Frances Hogan has been assisting her parish in Everett, MA, to return to Mass in person, which involves much detail and empathy to meet all the requirements while still recognizing people’s feelings.

She continues to practice law in the office but works from home when necessary.

Fran much prefers to be with people and said we are social beings, so being back in the office has been good. When Barnes and Noble reopened, she was there to replenish her reading supply, which she relishes each night until the wee hours of the morning.

Attorney Ellen Kearns is also back in the office now full time and said she uses Zoom often for conference calls. Ellen says it is amazing how much of legal practice can be conducted online, including mediations and arbitrations. We have all had a technology upgrade in our skills thanks to the present situation, and our participation has been greatly enhanced thanks to the younger generation who are willing to assist us.

This story from our daughter in Italy reflects how some of us have been feeling.

Confined for over three months, our granddaughter, Sophia (6), dropped a sock her mother was hanging on the clothesline just so our daughter, Eva, would bring her outside of the house to retrieve it. Stay well!

1968

✒ Patricia Nelson Cross, 200 Paseo Terraza

#306, St. Augustine, FL 32095, 904-8053222, tricia.cross915@gmail.com ¶ Sad news to report. Francine Leary Anderson

died April 8, leaving behind her loving husband Richard, two children, and two grandchildren. Maureen Driscoll Wolter died April 17. Maureen is survived by loving husband Larry Wolter, four children, and six grandchildren. Our sincere condolences to their families. Jo Sullivan writes “I am at home; my sons do my errands and leave groceries on the porch. Salem school friends have Zoom breakfasts, and it is great to see each other.” Shirley Lee Zao and husband William spent most of

2020 in the United States due to events in Hong Kong and COVID-19. They returned home in July and quarantined in a hotel for three weeks before seeing family. Marion Marascio Voorheis lives in Vermont and recently enjoyed seeing daughter Alexis and granddaughter Addison for the first time since Christmas. Alice Murray Fay and husband Dick are staying home, although she delivers Meals on Wheels, surplus foods, and Starbucks goodies to shelters.

Joanne McKeough Eldred and husband Emmett sold their Savannah, GA, home in January and now live in Asheville, NC, full time. Both are doing well, enjoying golf and daily walks but can’t wait to hug their children again. Rita Famiglietti Lash and husband David had a virtual dinner with Grace Previte Meo and husband Peter on FaceTime, cooking the same menu and “it almost felt normal.” They’ve also joined birthday, retirement, and graduation parades to celebrate milestones of family and friends. Ellen Grimes Aamodt was hoping to take a course at Oxford on WWII in September but was canceled due to the virus. Martha Mooney has left her Cambridge, MA, digs and has settled into Belmont Manor. Martha would love to hear from classmates. Martha and Ellen discovered a mutual interest in Winston Churchill and made another history connection with Nancy Zamierowski. All three are reading The Splendid and the Vile about Churchill’s days in 1940! Maryanne Skeiber Burtman and husband Tim are visiting with the family if they keep their distance and wear a mask! They started to clean the basement but quickly gave it up when the weather was good to garden, walk, and play pickleball. Some classmates extended stays in Florida due to COVID-19.

Sheila Brown Healy was in Florida from late January, returning mid-April “sleeping in our car for one night! Exhausting!” Three months became five months for Jeanne Gianturco Jaroszewski arriving home in mid-June. Jeanne has big family news: Son Adam got married in September! Jeanne met Katharine (Kathy) Lilly Engle in Fort Myers, FL, for a fun lunch. Kathy was visiting family on both Florida coasts. Her vacation lasted five months instead of five weeks! Judy Murphy Lauch and husband Bill stayed an extra month in St. Augustine, unsure of safety conditions driving North.

Judy recently enrolled in the Master of Education in Student Success at Regis and is grateful to have such an educational outlet online. Mary Beth Govoni Cormier welcomed her first grandchild, James Rory Vella Cormier (aka Rory), on September 20, 2019, bringing so much love and joy!

Dawn-Marie Driscoll spent isolation cleaning out her house of 40+ years and moved to a beautiful new condo in Fort Myers, FL, on the river. “New place, new view, new start!”

Elizabeth (Tish) Brush Petzke says, “Things here are corona-conditional, and we are cautious.” She misses the grandchildren but is thankful for FaceTime. They walk, try new recipes, and hike with friends,

keeping distance. Grace Previte Meo Zooms to keep in touch with her busy family. This summer, her husband planted a raised veggie garden, and she planted a perennial garden. They have also become very amateur bird watchers! Linda Murphy’s children are working from home or in essential positions, which includes her work as a nonfarm animal caretaker which she enjoys very much. However, her husband had a minor stroke a year ago and has lingering lung issues, so she opted not to work from March 17 to May 18, to not bring home any potential contamination. We wish him well Linda! Carol Battiston O’Connell is loving the Jersey Shore, spending summers there since 1987. Her family is down, including grandchildren, who are the fifth generation enjoying the beautiful New Jersey beaches.

Sandra (Sandy) Kowalski Diaferio lives on 40 wooded acres in Vermont, so social distancing is no problem! Sandy and her siblings are cleaning out their parents’ home of over 50 years, who rarely threw anything away. It is exhausting, both physically and mentally. Linda Gaioni Dranchak is a retiree with a husband who “joined the Navy and saw the world.” They are happy to stay at home and read. They have been living in Maine for years and still discover beautiful hiking trails. She enjoys making bread and has made dozens of face masks for friends.

Mt. Auburn Hospital nurse in radiation oncology, Virginia (Ginny) Giuliani Davis, sent a lovely tribute to her friend and colleague who volunteered to replace Ginny after her first grueling day on the COVID-19 floor causing incredible physical and mental strain, especially since she had been away from patient care for 20 years. Her younger friend continued working the long hours, nights, and weekends. “Bravo to all health care workers like Chris on the very front lines. They are all heroes!”

1972

✒ Janet Wilhelm, 8 Brookside Drive,

Stratham, NH 03885-2129, 978-335-5575, Janetwilhelm029@gmail.com ¶ Your class

reporter kept busy during this pandemic summer! As some of you know, two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It was a terrifying time for me; one I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

However, thanks to faith, friends, and family, I was given a clean bill of health after surgery and radiation therapy, and I persevered and was able to “ring the bell” after my sessions were done! Now, I spend my time communicating with other women about “what happens next” in terms of treatment and its after-effects. “Cancer” is a very scary word and one that none of us are ever prepared for. I realize I’m just one of a HUGE network of survivors, all of us willing to “pay it back” to those who follow. I’m also very fortunate that my grandchildren live nearby. It’s a thrill to see them growing and maturing! Now, as for everyone else, all is on hold; we can only wait to see what the future holds. As a retired teacher, I expect

class

How to Submit Class Notes Regis would love to know what’s new with you. Regis Today is a great way to stay in touch with your classmates and friends.

Share news about babies, jobs, marriages, vacations, activities, anniversaries, and grandchildren.

Contacting your class reporter is the best way to submit a note. If you’re unable to get in touch with your reporter, please send your notes directly to the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations by emailing classnotes@regiscollege.edu.

Thanks for keeping in touch; we look forward to hearing your news!

1974

✒ Grace Murphy, 6 Colony Road, Lexington, MA 02420, 781-861-3914, gracemurphy52@ gmail.com ¶ Everything was going so well.

Once again, the Class of 1974 had our own table at the Let It Shine Gala last October 2019. Joanne Crowley, Nancy Boyd Lennon, Marie Driscoll Hanlon, Deborah (Debbie) Mann MacDonald, and yours truly, plus assorted spouses, enjoyed a night out in Boston and helped put the Now We Fly campaign over the top. Joanne and Nancy had recently attended the wedding of Mary Beth Graham Conry’s daughter Katy, in Washington, D.C. Linda Dunn Dillon, Mary Ellen Carroll-Rogan, Elizabeth (Betty) Rearick MacLellan, and I got caught up

over lunch at Linda’s house. Betty and her husband, Mike, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. In December, Mary Ann Walsh Lewis and husband David, Marie Driscoll Hanlon and husband Harry, and me and husband Ted Wales attended the Christmas in New York City alumni event in December 2019. We also enjoyed a quiet dinner at Lil’ Frankie’s. (Hint: Order the Lemon Pasta. It’s to die for!)

Then, in March, everything went sideways.

Since then, it’s been Zoom cocktails, Zoom lunches, masks, and social distancing.

Many of us have lamented our canceled and drastically changed plans, all the while knowing that we are fortunate, thus far, to have been spared the effects of this

horrible disease. If you have lost touch with your classmates, now would be a good time to check in with them. Here’s hoping for a return to normal life where we can at least meet up in person without fear of infection. Until then, stay safe.

1976

✒ Mary-Christina Mulherin Duncan,

P.O. Box 496, Bradford, NH 03221-7602, 603938-5026, dmcduncan@iamnow.net ¶ Mary Anne Keane McAuliffe shares a reminder

that next year is our 45th Reunion! We welcome any classmates who would like to join the reunion committee. While we are hoping to be together on campus, we look forward to connecting with each other virtually in the upcoming months—email Mary Anne at mmcauliffe@aol.com if you are interested! Also, be sure to email alumni@regiscollege.edu to update your contact information. A dozen of us attended the 40th Reunion and we all had a blast.

We hope to see many more of our class at the 45th!

1977

✒ Karen Driscoll Montague, 9 Erwin Road,

Wayland, MA 01778, 508-358-5130, kdm55@ verizon.net ¶ We hope these notes find

you well and staying safe. I say “we” because a group of us have been keeping our sanity and sense of humor alive through a pandemic email group that Julie O’Connor McGinn started back in March.

Julie enjoyed a summer visit from her daughters, Nora and Bridgette, who live in Washington, D.C., with their foster child, Gabby. Despite the pandemic, grandchildren keep on coming. Kathleen (Kathy) Cove Curley, who retired in January after 25 years running Catholic Education for St. Paul’s School and Parish in Wellesley, MA, welcomed two granddaughters, Josie and Ellen, this past winter. Carol Manning Chicarello (Charlotte) and Jane Lenox Leary also welcomed grandchildren. Jane’s granddaughter, Madeline, is living in her hometown of Medford, MA. Kathy and Carol have something else in common, family members who have or will be Regis alumni. Kathy has been mentoring a young woman named Savannah since middle school, and she recently graduated from Regis’ nursing program in May. Carol’s daughter, Lizzie, received her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont and is started Regis’ Accelerated BS in Nursing (ABSN) program in the fall. In September 2019, Janice (Jan) Rutkowski was inducted into the Regis College Athletics Hall of Fame. It was a wonderful event, where she enjoyed a lot of support including a table of Regis classmates: Nicki Girouard, Jane Lenox Leary, Carol Manning Chicarello, Janet (Jan) Gleason Rogers, Elizabeth (Betti) Mazeiko Abdulla, and Joyce Sullivan Mucci. Look for Jan’s plaque next time you are in the Athletic Center. Betti continues to work tirelessly

41 FALL 2020

to be called on to work with their teachers this year as they ply the unfamiliar seas of remote learning. On a final note, if folks can email, call, or text what’s happening in their lives, I would be very appreciative. Above all else, stay safe and healthy!

Audrey (A.J.) Volckmann Leonard was able to meet up with Mary Lou Wenthe when she came to Chicago for a visit. She still lives in Rochester, NY, and as always, is working on her house! She’s been retired from the pharmaceutical industry for four years and had several trips in planning until the pandemic hit. Everything had to be canceled, but she and her sister have a trip to take in November 2021 to see their 50th state. They were in Alaska last summer, so Hawaii it will be! She and Jack are so happy to spend time with their grandchildren, five of them live in the Chicago area, another in Texas and coming back to Chicago in November. “I love to connect with so many of you through Facebook. It’s wonderful to see all of you and to be able to share our memories! Let’s not forget our class reunion in 2022 … with the pandemic in the rear-view mirrors, it will be a special event! Reunions are such fun, and we should all make a big effort to be there! I can’t wait to see you all then! Remember, May 2022!” Ann McGrath would love to tell you all about her travels during COVID-19, but that’s not possible! Instead, she is trying to negotiate this unsettling new world that has become our new norm. She is fortunate to be living in a semi-rural town in New Hampshire, where she can garden, hike in the mountains, and of course, go to the beach. While she considers herself fortunate to be “one with nature,” this has been a lonely and solitary time for us … no hugs from friends and family make it disconcerting, to say the least! Elaine Waglarz Allessio is now living in sunny California!

During COVID-19, she has been “Zooming” a lot—yoga, spiritual direction, Mass, and book discussion groups. She sees her grandchildren weekly and drives to Lake Tahoe on occasion. She really misses preCOVID life and is eagerly looking forward to the first-ever Regis Alumni Book Club that started this summer. Ann Gargulinski Desmarais is busy, despite the pandemic.

Golfing and tennis get her out of the house and allow her to interact with friends while socially distancing. Last year she and her sister were able to take some great trips.

The first was a cruise to the Norwegian fjords, then there was a trip to Scotland (they have Scottish roots), and finally, to Egypt. That one was incredible! While in Egypt she took a scuba diving excursion to the Red Sea. She also went to Chile on New Year’s Eve. She spent the first week of the year on Easter Island, exploring and diving, then a couple of weeks of horseback riding and hiking in the Torres del Paine National Park. The fine dining and incredible wines in Chile were great! For her “big” birthday, she went to Morocco for golf and tenting on the Sahara. Phew! This year, she promises to stay closer to home! Stay well!

notes

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

42 REGIS TODAY

supporting the troops through her work with Pease Air Force Base and has been busy sewing beautiful masks and painting inspirational rocks with proceeds going to Alzheimer’s research in her mother’s memory. After retiring, Janet Prior sold her home in Andover, MA, and has officially moved to Cape Cod full time. Also on the Cape, Diane Naehle McCarthy continues to work from home for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute during the pandemic. She misses her work friends but not the two-hour commute. Jan Gleason Roger’s daughter, Abbie, married Lyle Zell on a beautiful October day on Martha’s Vineyard in 2019.

Abbie is the director of marketing for South Mountain Co., and her husband is a skilled wooden boat builder, carrying on the Vineyard family tradition of Gannon & Benjamin. Joan Whalen Wilson bought a townhouse in Sandestin, FL, this past winter and summers on Cape Cod. She and Jan have started golfing together. Joan welcomed her sixth grandchild in September.

Her youngest son just completed law school and is preparing for the October bar exam.

Susan Heslin Quish retired after 41 years in the insurance industry. She and her husband, Bill, live in beautiful Old Saybrook, CT. All three daughters are married, and she has four grandsons with another grandchild due in December. Susan, daughter of the former assistant chief of police in Hartford, was elected one of Old Saybrook’s police commissioners! Congratulations to Cynthia (Cindy) Janski McMahon and her husband, Tim, on their 40th wedding anniversary. Cindy has a new running partner—puppy Zena. Sharon Lally Doliber is working at Mass General Hospital in OB/ GYN. Marion Quinn-Jowett is still working hard at the Williamstown Council on Aging.

Carmel Coughlin Donoghue has finally, after 40 plus years, gotten back to painting in oils and watercolors. Carmel, who retired to Camden, ME, welcomes her Regis friends to come and visit. Joanne Ferraro Davies’ husband, Ron, retired in June, and unfortunately, a celebratory trip to Alaska had to be canceled. Carolanne Nissi-Jordan is living in Florida. Unfortunately plans to get together to celebrate our collective 65th birthdays are on hold, but we thank Elizabeth Driscoll Nace for offering to host us at her summer home in Hingham, MA. A group of us celebrated the new year in January—who knew what the year would bring—with brunch at the Concord Inn. In attendance were Anne Marie Hurley, Judith (Judy) O’Brien, Nicki, Betti, Janet, Julie, Carol, Jane, me, and guest of honor …

Sr. Zita Fleming. Sr. Zita is doing great, and it was such a treat to visit with her.

As for me, my daughter, AiLi, is a rising high school sophomore. Although we have no idea what she is rising to with school plans totally up in the air. Sadly, we mourn the death of classmate Christine Leary Driscoll, who passed away in Florida last October 2019. Stay safe everyone and put a reminder in your calendar for next July to send me your news!

1978

✒ Sheila Walsh, 10916 Clovermill Circle,

Raleigh, NC 27617, smbw.walsh@gmail.com

¶ Greetings from the Class of 1978! Deirdre Keough Ball spent winter family holidays in Cambodia, and unfortunately had a motorbike accident there, breaking an arm and a leg, and taking several months to recover. She has a new bio-plastic business on the back-burner due to COVID-19. She and her husband welcomed their second grandson in July and are waiting for open borders between Hong Kong and Singapore so they can meet him in person. She wishes everyone hope and hugs through this difficult time. Paula Bellorado DeAngelis reports that her renovation in Lexington, MA, is complete, and she and husband Rick are enjoying the new homestead. She relocated to a dental practice in Abington, MA, in January and now for the first time in a long time has a real commute.

Her daughter, Jessica, finished her first year at Notre Dame Law School and is doing a remote internship with a judge in Brooklyn, NY; and daughter Bethany is happily employed as a nurse practitioner.

Mary Roche recently completed a seaside renovation of her home in Hull, MA, while Mary Ames Gregory is in the middle of renovating her oceanfront home in Owl’s Head, ME. Lucy DeMarco Grasso, Mary Ames Gregory, Mary Roche, and Paula have been having virtual meetings during the pandemic and enjoying socializing from a distance. Special thoughts and sympathy to Eileen McCormick Langenus on the death of her husband Peter Langenus, who gave so generously of his time as a member of the Board of Trustees of Regis College.

Eileen is now retired and living in Florida.

I’ve been in touch myself with Mary Ames Gregory on Zoom with our mutual Fontbonne friends. I recently ran into Mary Roche at the Hingham Post Office, and we had a great catch-up conversation!

I retired from the Hanover Public Schools in June and relocated to Raleigh, NC, to be near my mother and sister, Eileen Walsh Dowd ’86. I am still teaching remotely for Quincy College and look forward to my next chapter. Hoping you are all well and would love to hear from more of you! Until next time!

1979

✒ Janet Mills-Knudsen, 504 Narvaezi St,

Unit 113, Venice, FL 34285, 781-424-0660, janet@knudsen3.com ✒ Debbie Southworth Howard, 18729 43rd Street, West Des Moines, IA 50265, 515-441-9539, deboo813@ hotmail.com ¶ Cheryl Rodgers and Deborah (Deb) Flaherty-Kizer visited Deborah (Debbie) Southworth Howard in Iowa last

October. They had a wonderful weekend full of memory-making moments and a little wine! Deb Flaherty-Kizer welcomed her second grandchild in April. Grandson Rory joins sister Winry in the Kizer family.

Loretta Salvucci McClary reports that she spent some time in Nantucket recuperating

from this year’s extra-long tax season.

Loretta is an attorney and CPA. She spends her free time enjoying grandchildren Isla (7) and Jameson (5), both are children of her son, Robert, and his wife Jennifer.

Margaret (Margo) Steen Melville’s daughter Maggie and husband Manny had a baby boy at the beginning of June. His name is Connor Alejandro Alcantara. Please keep in touch with your class reporters!

1980

Judith Allonby, 7 Rockland Park, Apt. 2, Malden, MA 02148, 781-324-7735, judithallonby@aol.com ¶ First, condolences

and prayers to all our classmates who have suffered through the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those who have lost loved ones, including Ellen Sheehy, who lost her sister-in-law, Marie Laroque Sheehy ’81, and the friends of Lori Lambert ’81. Sadly, COVID-19 also claimed Clotilde Zannetos, who was extremely helpful to me in tracking down addresses for many of our 1980 classmates during her time in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Regis. In much happier news, Edwina (Wynn) Foley has welcomed her first grandchild, Ayla Annette Fargo; Lisa Tropeano-Tringale has welcomed her second grandson, Anthony; and Toni-Ann Miller Butler will have welcomed another granddaughter by the time you receive this. Of course, our 40th Reunion had to be postponed, but we look forward to hearing what plans Regis has for us.

1981

✒ Susan Clancy Kennedy,

sclancykennedy@comcast.net ¶ Well, 2020 will certainly be a year we will all remember. For many of us, Zoom meetings have become the new normal for business meetings as well as social events. Joanne Lynch Schamberg reported that she has had several Zoom happy hours with Donna Ribaudo Schow, Ann Dowd Goodhue, Charlotte O’Malley Kelly, and Susan Cronin Robinson.

Joanne and Donna continue to serve on the Regis Alumni Council, so I am lucky to see them from time to time. Joanne also celebrated the 15th anniversary of her company, Promotional Solutions (www. yourpromosoultion.com). Congratulations!

Deborah (Deb) Foley Watson recently retired from Fidelity Investments after 37 years of service. Kathleen (Kathy) Rogers is still working at Simmons and is very involved in the town of Arlington where she lives. Kathy was recently appointed to a three-year term to the town’s Human Rights Commission. Her son, Max, is getting married in October. Denise Leydon Harvey’s son, Colin, just graduated from Harvard with a degree in biomedical engineering. Bernadette Connors Powers was recently married in Paris with her family on a midnight cruise down the Seine. Her son, Brendan, was recently engaged. Susan Grady recently moved to

class

1985

In June 2020, Darlene Greco Hayes was elected as a commissioner of the Hopkinton Housing Authority. Also, this past June Darlene graduated from Leadership MetroWest Academy (LMWA), which boasts over 800 alumni fellows who are community influencers. Each year LMWA accepts only 30 fellows, and Darlene was recommended by Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka. Darlene currently serves on the Hopkinton Cultural Council and is a board member of the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce. Professionally, she is the Community Outreach Coordinator for MyFM Media, 101.3 FM out of Milford, MA, which keeps her deeply involved in her regional community. She lives at Lake Maspenock in Hopkinton, MA with her husband, Michael, who she married at Regis. They have two adult children: Andrew, a 2019 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Melissa, a junior at Framingham State University. She enjoys spending time at her family’s condo in Wells, ME. Annmarie Reardon Woods was recently named to Rider University’s Board of Trustees.

1989

✒ Maria Alpers Henehan, 33 Baker Road, Arlington, MA 02474, 781-643-4499, paulhenehan@verizon.net ¶ Dear Regis

sisters, this is not a traditional column filled with news from each of you. Instead, I am writing what I hope will be a distant reminder of the heartache 2020 has brought for so many. As we watch our loved ones miss out on the big events—proms,

graduations, senior year of both high school and college, and even heading off to college—it reminds me how blessed we are to have the memories of our Regis years uninterrupted by a force beyond our control. I cannot even begin to imagine what having our senior year cut short would have meant for us. Would this have left us a more fragmented group? The memories of the previous three-and-a-half years erased by this singular disappointment? Christmas banquets, ring ceremony, semi-formals, orientations, sledding down the College Hall hill, TT escapades, the Pizza Man, lip-synch contests, trips on the Regis van, Harvard Square, Wild Pizza, payphones, impossible room phones, dorm chats— would all of these memories be clouded or forgotten? Not to mention missing the endof-year shenanigans (fill in your own here), senior week alone on campus, senior semi, Baccalaureate, graduation, champagne, laughter, hugs, and tears. I can’t help but think that we may have been a more fragmented group focused on what was lost rather than the bonds and memories we made. The current pandemic has made me realize just how lucky—and blessed—we all are to have had the opportunity to live our four years making connections that have shaped the women we are and the friendships we treasure. Some of us have children who have lost out on a big event due to the pandemic. Some may even have children who will not begin the college experience as we knew it—living away, building friendships and memories to last a lifetime. I sincerely hope that by the time you read this, we are all in a much better place in terms of COVID-19 and that you are all thinking about a Regis friend or two with a smile on your face and love in your heart. Best, Maria.

1991

✒ Rosemary Hughes, rosemaryhughes@ comcast.net, 617-429-6912 ✒ Cat Trainor Froio, nobskama@gmail.com ¶ Where to begin? Our Facebook page is so active that we haven’t had Class Notes in a while—but with another big reunion coming up, we thought it high time to put in some Class Notes. Buckle up! Kudos to Susan Darwin on her amazing exhibit in September 2019 at the Regis College Fine Arts Center, Looking Back: Series Work by Susan Darwin. Sue’s paintings are inspired by reflections of nature and humanity. Well done, Sue! Also on campus last fall was Kathleen (Katie) Sheehan O’Brien’s son, Tim, who started his freshman year at Regis College as a neuroscience major. This was a big year for most of us turning the big 5-0! We have seen numerous celebratory parties, trips, and get-togethers … from a cruise to Bermuda for Nicole Amnott Tongue, Dawn Polito Morris, Margaret (Meg) McWilliams Garvey, Joanne Papangelis, and Deborah (Debbie) Maloney Galvin; New Orleans for Rosemary Hughes, Tara Philbin, Catherine (Cat) Trainor Froio, Paula Ventura, Pattyanne

Lyons, and Jean Lorizio; a gala 50th for Gabriella Lagioia Vigliotta with Rosemary Hughes, Tara Philbin, Paula Ventura, Jodie Zinna; Mona Connolly Casper, Noreen Kelliher Zachem, Lisa White, and Mary Ellen (ME) Gillis DuBois in South Carolina

visiting ME’s daughter; numerous dinners, drinks, and girls nights out—make sure you all post those photos to the FB page!

Don’t forget our “Game Changer” Kathleen Thompson (KT), who was highlighted in the fall 2019 edition of Regis Today for her amazing spirit and selflessness in donating a kidney to former coach Donna Tanner!

You are a special woman, Kathy. Kathleen (Kathe) Feeney Farris (featured on page 14) is lighting it up on the comedy scene and had a virtual comedy series for Regis!

Check it out: outREGIS! E. Erin O’Halloran Gesmundo always has her nails in top shape and she now runs a Color Street business. Get in touch or check them out in one of the outREGIS episodes! Sheron Thorp Doucette is not only teaching and running the drama and theatre departments, but she now has a business with her family that creates sets for productions—a talented family! Kathryn (Kathy) O’ConnorElliott has moved to North Carolina. Annie Verbicky Rutsky is living in New York and making the most beautiful masks to sell on Etsy! Where are our front line COVID-19 warriors? Let us know where you are. Or are you headed back to the classroom or to a Zoom screen soon? Our sincere sympathy and deep love go out to classmate Cat Trainor Froio on the loss of her husband, Jeff, and our prayers and strength to her son, Jack, as he rehabs after a swimming accident in June. Cat and her family are so grateful for the love, strength, prayers, and monetary support that classmates have shown her family over the last two months—certainly the epitome of “lean on me.” Blessed. Our sympathy also goes out to the family of Joan Goldhammer O’Neil, who passed away on December 31, 2019.

Joan was a continuing education student and a member of the Class of 1991. She was an active voice in the classroom and on campus. May you rest in peace, Joan.

Coming this fall to campus is the daughter of Julie Downs-Conover, Maddie, a nursing major, and we hope to live vicariously through her on our Facebook page! Julie had dropped a line to let us know that Noreen Kelliher Zachem hosted a 50th birthday party for Lisa White at her home in Brockton, MA, in December. It was a murder mystery party and Mary Ellis, Lisa White, Erin O’Halloran Gesmundo, and Stephanie Duffy Seeley were there from the Class of ’91. Lisa Rogers Canavan, Jessica Rucci, Lisa Velky, and Julie Downs-Conover celebrated a post-Thanksgiving rendezvous in Connecticut last December 2019. Since then they’ve been staying in touch with one another and Dani Hale through Zoom, Facebook, etc. Our 30th Reunion is right around the corner, so expect to hear from Cat and me about plans and opportunities to get together throughout the year—social

43 FALL 2020

Portsmouth, NH, to start a new position.

She and Deb, who also lives in Portsmouth, have been able to get together socially—at a distance, of course. As for me? I am still working at Regis, running career services.

I see Marianne McMahon Kenney and Joan Desmond Sullivan frequently. My twins just graduated from college and are working remotely—right beside me. Unfortunately, 2020 also brings its sad news. Ann Marie Whelan McCann passed away on June 21, 2020, surrounded by her family after a hard-fought battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her devoted husband, Kevin, and her best friend and loving daughter, Mary Kate Rudden, and husband Kyle.

Anne Marie was someone who collected friends at every stage of her life and will be missed by all. We also fondly remember Lori Lambert, who passed in May. Lori is remembered for her work with the Bridge Fund, a nonprofit that helps prevent homelessness. In recognition of her work, Lori was a recipient of the Angel Award from Oprah Winfrey in 2011. Marie Laroque Sheehey also recently passed away. Marie was an RN in Bloomington, IN. She leaves her husband, Jack Sheehey, and other family members. Please keep them in your prayers. Keep the news coming. Stay well.

notes

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

44

distancing if that is the case. Please stay safe and be well. And let’s get those “Regis Girl” mugs out and show us what you are up to! Please join the Facebook group— there are 84 members now, but I bet we could double that if we tried…wink, wink.

Don’t forget to be awesome today. Peace.

on social media to continue to celebrate special occasions, check in with one another, provide support, and offer suggestions for appreciating the little things that are really big things. Be well.

1998

✒ Lisa Owen, lowen423@gmail.com ¶ Wow, what a year we’ve experienced! I hope everyone is well and healthy. It’s hard to believe that we’re coming up on our 20th Reunion this spring. The Class of 2001 has a Facebook page, Regis College Class of 2001, and we’d love to see more classmates join. Zoom has also been a fantastic way that classmates are staying in touch.

Margaret (Meg) Morrill has an ongoing Regis group if you’d like to join. Martha Douty is working at Fallon Health Summit Elder Care as a social worker. Her son, William, is in first grade.

REGIS TODAY

✒ Jessica Nowosielski Flaherty, jesflaherty@gmail.com ¶ Sarah Brawley Masciave switched careers, going back to school and completing a master’s in mental health counseling with a specialization in expressive therapy from Lesley University.

She is now working as a behavioral health clinician for Beth Israel Lahey Health.

Dawn Kielbania Brunell is celebrating 20 years working for Kelly Services this year.

Anna Perez McElhenny’s mom passed away last summer, which has been very hard, but her wife and twins keep her busy and are her happy place. Her twins just turned two-and-a-half. She thanks the awesome Regis community for their support and kind words while she navigated the tremendous loss. Last summer they also bought a beach house in Vilano Beach, FL, which has been so great to have during the pandemic. She has also started volunteering for a nonprofit called See the Girl in Jacksonville, FL. The organization helps at-risk young women and youth who identify as female, especially those impacted by the justice system. Pamela Wheeler Johnson spoke to the members of the House and Senate last fall to campaign for the Affordable Care Act. Jessica Nowosielski Flaherty just completed 10 years of teaching science in public schools. She currently teaches advanced eighth-grade science at Hingham Middle School. Mariah Donovan Carter got engaged at Thanksgiving 2019.

Her fiancé, now husband, has been an Army Reservist with three combat deployments and retired in August this year. She ended an eight-year-long career at a wonderful tech firm to be promoted to a new company during the pandemic. She had planned to get married near her mother’s memorial date in November, but she pulled a surprise wedding at the delayed engagement party on July 19. They still plan to celebrate the union in November 2021.

Mischa Parris just celebrated 13 years of her business, The Parris Company. The company has grown with the addition of two positions! Last July she was able to travel to London and Paris with her daughter to celebrate her 30th birthday. They both had a great time and were able to visit the heart of London, Stonehenge, the Roman Baths, the Eiffel Tower, and all of Paris.

1996

✒ Jody Michalski, teacherjmm@aol.com ¶ I hope this finds you all well. Most of 2020 has brought unique challenges, lifestyle changes, and uncertain times. It has been wonderful to see my classmates connecting

2001

2003

Kara Bilotta Amana and her husband Bidiak

welcomed their baby boy Kweku into the world on July 29. Parenting is indeed an adventure but they’re up for the challenge.

2004

✒ Paula Spadea, paulak.power@gmail. com ¶ Hello, Class of 2004! Wow, this year has been interesting, to say the least. I hope you and your families are staying safe throughout this unprecedented time.

Despite being limited in where we can go and what we can do, our classmates have still made remarkable achievements that I am happy to share. Bobbie PaoliniFinocchio is starting her second year teaching at the University at Buffalo. Juliet Forte owns a home in St. Petersburg, FL, with her two dogs. She is a vice president of marketing operations at a software company. Like many of us, she is working from home and needs to reschedule some trips, including a cruise to Alaska and a business trip to India. Hopefully Juliet will be able to enjoy her trips soon. Angelina Mancini Chrisemer and her husband bought a house in Derry, NH, and they love it! Lorick Wash also moved and bought a townhouse in East Bridgewater, MA. Jessica Homer continues to work at Florida Gulf Coast University. She investigates discrimination complaints and provides training to the Southwest Florida community on issues of bias, conflict resolution, diversity, and inclusion. I, Paula Power Spadea, just completed an online course at Harvard Business School Online in data analytics.

I know a lot of our Regis family works in health care as doctors, nurses, and other first responders. On behalf of the Class of 2004, I thank you all for your dedication. To all our educators, I also thank you for your adaptability and doing your best to meet the needs of your students. Make sure you take care of yourselves during this difficult time and find ways to connect with others.

Whether it is texting daily with old college friends or using your time in quarantine to try new foods (like limited-edition flavors of Oreos), practice gratitude, and remember this is only temporary! Stay safe!

2005

✒ Elizabeth DeLise, elizabeth.delise@gmail. com ¶ Kathleen (Kat) Stuart Caldwell has identical twins and is a stay-at-home mom for now. Erin Kesler is in Washington, D.C., working as communications manager for Campaign Legal Center. Kara McGillicuddy completed her PhD in communication at the University of Connecticut. Courtney Murray has rescheduled her wedding to Bob from May to September 12. Kaitlynn Damon Muzrall is working full time as manager of data management at Red Oak Sourcing. Danielle Lewon O’Shea has a toddler and is adapting to teaching preschool children with autism on Zoom. Michelle Class Petersen’s son, Zachary, celebrated his First Communion with Olivia Robinson Kelley’s daughter, Emmaline. Padmini Pillai lives in Davis Square and is a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, where she combines her PhD research in immunology with the field of biomedical engineering to create nanotherapies to force cancer cells to commit suicide and treat chronic inflammatory diseases. She was recently selected as a Young Convergence Pioneer at the World Frontiers Forum and a delegate to the American Academy of Achievement as a scientist and musician. Padmini is hoping that an effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine emerges soon so we can safely resume our daily lives but is encouraging everyone to wear their face masks and social distance in public areas. I, Elizabeth (Liz) DeLise, am living in North Carolina and like many people adjusting to virtual schooling our children. We would have celebrated our 15th Reunion in May, and I know we all look forward to the day we can celebrate together. Until then, stay safe and be sure to visit our class Facebook group if you haven’t yet.

2006

✒ Nicole Collette, nmcollette@gmail.com ✒ Heidi Gomez, heidzgomez@gmail.com ¶ Hello, Class of 2006. Laura Pellitier Clark and husband Brian welcomed their second son, Zachary Alden, on February 19. Big brother Cameron is very excited about his promotion! Erin Campbell has been keeping busy while embracing a new virtual lifestyle. She has been challenging herself to stay motivated and continue her favorite activities, but in a safe way, such as virtual endurance challenges, paint nights, musical bingo, and many other social events.

Nicole Mancini Towns lives in Sandwich, MA, with husband Bob, daughter Isabelle (9), and stepson Jase (11). She is looking forward to celebrating her ninth wedding anniversary this November. She is the assistant store director at Shaw’s in

class Wareham, MA, and has now been working for Shaw’s for 22 years. Sara Wallace Beams welcomed her third child, Francis Joseph on June 1, weighing 8 lbs., 13 oz. She is currently working as a nurse case manager for an insurance company. Fabienne Guerrier is a licensed insurance agent and financial coach and has been working hard to educate families to properly protect themselves, increase their income, and become debt-free. She and her sister, Fabioloa Guerrier, have also started their own catering company specializing in fruit and vegetable carvings and table arrangements for special events. They also plan to launch their own online boutique, selling accessories, art, decor, sandals, and purses that represent their Creole culture.

Melissa Gonzales-Sweeney bought a house in Salem, NH, with her husband and three children—ages 6, 4, and almost 2! We hope you all are staying safe and healthy during this unprecedented time, and hopefully, we can all gather next year for our 15th Reunion. Please be sure to keep us updated with all your life events and accomplishments at regisclassof2006@gmail.com

✒ Kate Daley Fisher, kdale324@gmail. com ¶ Marrissa Gondola Brunetti is working as a licensed realtor specializing in residential and commercial real estate in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and is happy to assist with any and all of your real estate needs. The market is hot right now and it’s a great time to make a move!

When not working, her son is keeping her busy. He turned three this year, and she is enjoying watching him grow into a smart young man—who will also be starting school soon!

✒ Jennifer Thomas, jthomas822@gmail.com and regisclassof2008@gmail.com ¶ I hope that during the global COVID-19 pandemic all members of the Class of 2008 are staying healthy and safe. We send our endless appreciation and gratitude to nurses and other health care professionals working on the front lines. Despite the uncertain times, there is good news to share!

Although the commencement ceremony was postponed to May 2021, I graduated from Regis a second time with an MA in strategic communication, focused on the nonprofit track. I’ve been social distancing in Plymouth, NH, with my boyfriend since March, doing lots of hiking and kayaking.

Maria Jimenez Davis has been promoted to interim principal of Barbieri Elementary School in Framingham, MA. She has worked in the Framingham Public Schools for 13 years, teaching at Cameron Middle School for six years, serving as department head at Framingham High School for three years and most recently serving as vice principal at Barbieri. Maria holds a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education and an MEd in education administration. Paulette Benetti also continues to succeed in her career as a Family Find Social Worker at the Department of Children and Families in Holyoke, MA. Amanda Mauro Curtis joined the Regis Alumni Council, the goal of which is to enhance the quality of service to alumni, increase Regis’ alumni giving and participation, and heighten the lifelong partnership between alumni and the university.

We also have several new family members to welcome! Congratulations to Jennifer Engelhorn, who got engaged to Brandon Foster on April 11. They are planning a wedding for 2021. On March 6, Nicole Lantry Clifford and her husband, Conor, welcomed two little bundles of joy, Merrick Cole and Hudson Rowan, who made their grand appearance two months early! After

WAYS TO G I V E O NLI NE alumni.regiscollege.edu/ regisfund PHONE 781.768.7240 Now more than ever, scholarship and financial aid are critical to undergraduate and graduate students as they pursue their dreams at Regis.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s heroes—and your gift of any amount will go a long way in ensuring a bright future.

MA I L 235 Wellesley St., Box 30 Weston, MA 02493 Thanks to the CARES Act, your gift of up to $300 to Regis could be tax-deductible even if you take the standard deduction. To take advantage of this opportunity, you must make your gift before December 31.

41 days in the NICU at Yale New Haven Hospital, Merrick and Hudson transitioned home and have been enjoying their first summer—including a FaceTime visit with Regis field hockey alumni, celebrating Fourth of July, and visits to the beach!

Caitlyn Fraser Finn, husband Dan, and daughter Madison welcomed their second baby girl, Kinsley, on April 26. The new family of four is doing well! Michelle Samedi DeLucia and her husband Michael welcomed first child, a boy, in early September.

Rebecca Chilton Dunbar, her husband Derek, and soon-to-be big sister Charlotte are looking forward to welcoming a baby boy on November 28 (Derek’s birthday!).

Abby Kuzia and her husband, Mike, are also excited to welcome baby Murphy, who will be making his debut in January 2021! Congratulations to all and please stay connected via social media or email: Regisclassof2008@gmail.com. Although Class Notes is only published once a year, I’d love to hear from you anytime!

2015

Dr. Sadé Callwood recently joined the

Board of Doc Wayne Youth Services, a Boston nonprofit that fuses sport and therapy to heal and strengthen at-risk youth. After graduating from Regis, she earned her Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in African and Caribbean mental health from William James College. She is a post-doctoral fellow and psychotherapist at Commonwealth Psychology in Boston.

45 FALL 2020

2007

2008

notes

A LU MN I TU I TI O N D I S CO U NTS One of your benefits as a Regis alumnus is tuition discounts* on graduate programs, which range from 10-20%.

One of the newest opportunities in the Marshall M. Sloane School of Business and Communication is a Master of Business Administration— which is a unique program that was developed to meet the rapidly growing needs of professionals in non-business fields such as health care, education, social service, communication, and life sciences. The professional MBA program is available exclusively to students who have been accepted into or are currently enrolled in a Regis graduate program, and also to Regis alumni who graduated with a master’s degree.

Learn more about Regis graduate programs: regiscollege.edu/graduate

*G raduate program tuition discounts for Regis alumni range from 10-20% depending on the program. Some exclusions apply. Please contact Graduate Admission for details.

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

In Memory Regis has been notified of the following alumni and friends who passed away.* May they rest in God’s eternal peace.

1943 Mary Kirby Donnelly October 6, 2020 1946 Norma Grassotti Curry June 25, 2017

46

Marilyn Burke O’Rourke August 8, 2020 Marie Fleming Sisk August 20, 2020 Constance Roussin Spann March 5, 2018

1947 Dorothy Mahoney McKenna September 1, 2020

Joan Barrett VanTassel October 29, 2020

Virginia Demeo Prieto September 22, 2020

1953 Marion Riley July 3, 2020

1948 Regina Harrington May 5, 2020

1956 Mary Ann Welch Hawkins August 25, 2019

REGIS TODAY

1949 Mary Breslin August 26, 2020

Ann Flaherty Walsh August 21, 2020

1950 Virginia Blinstrub February 2, 2020

1957 Gabriella Zarotschenzeff Doyle September 12, 2020

Elinor Shinnick Fraser June 9, 2020 Rita Canning Meurer July 29, 2020 Margaret Coppinger Murphy June 20, 2020 Marilyn Luke Poppe June 18, 2020 1951 Alice O’Leary Walch March 12, 2019 1952 Helena Collins Carty November 2, 2019 Jeanne Bowen Delory July 15, 2020 Patricia Hogan Hogan May 31, 2020 Ann Purcell Macdonald July 8, 2020 Nancy Quinn O’Keefe June 18, 2020

*As of November 20, 2020, print deadline.

Beverly Ambrose Murphy July 3, 2020 1959 Edna Soraghan English October 2, 2020 Mary “Trisha” O’Hearn Hilsinger October 27, 2020 Marilyn McDonnell Maguire July 1, 2020 1960 Mary Supple Gustina October 5, 2020

1964 Jean Vezeau Hickey July 30, 2020

1992 Lois Galligani January 18, 2004

Anne Magner September 18, 2020

1993 Denice Sloper McBride September 25, 2020

Norma Swensen McGregor July 22, 2020 1966 Patricia Donahue Bowman September 16, 2020 Susan Proctor October 29, 2020 1967 Arlene Sample June 20, 2020 1968 Maureen Driscoll Wolter April 17, 2020 1969 Kathleen Carrellas Donnelly November 10, 2020 1972 Susan MacDonald September 9, 2020 1973 Marilyn Rooney Soboski July 7, 2020 1979 Virginia Houghton Tierney June 26, 2020 1981 Ann Marie Whalen McCann June 21, 2020

1996 Elizabeth Ann Cabanos September 26, 2020 1997 Margaret Donahue October 27, 2020 2005 Maura O’Shea October 15, 2020 2014 Stephen Coq July 30, 2020 2020 Leah Gathogo November 6, 2020 Kaila Oravec July 8, 2020 Master’s (current) Amanda Ranauro September 2, 2020 Former Trustee Salvatore (Chub) Simeone August 18, 2020 Life Long Learning at Regis College Karen Andrews July 19, 2020

Marie Larocque Sheehy July 7, 2020

Former Faculty Susan Assmann May 30, 2020

Jane Sprogis August 10, 2020

1984 Elizabeth Nawn Pare June 28, 2020

Ana Velilla October 7, 2020

1961 Anne McGovern July 5, 2020

1989 Joan Lynch Desjardins November 4, 2020

Patricia Kiley Murray September 24, 2020

Former Staff Vincent O’Brien July 7, 2020

alumni class notes spotlight What piece of advice do you have for current Regis students?

Cherish the time you have at Regis. Learn from and build relationships with those around you. You wil miss being able to see and talk with them daily.

How has the Waltham Public School system adapted to teaching in the COVID era?

Jennifer Tagarelis Ostayan ’06, ’11, EdD ’16

You are a three-time Regis graduate. What kept you coming back to your alma mater for your advanced degrees?

Regis has always felt like home to me.

When considering other institutions for my advanced degrees, they were always held in comparison to Regis. I actually started my Master of Arts in Teaching degree at another institution and left to come back to Regis after a semester. The requirements and courses were far less rigorous, my professors didn’t take the time to really know their students, and I knew that I would get so much more out of my degree by coming back to Regis. For my EdD, I actually had to wait a few years for the program to begin and I am very proud to have been a part of first cohort of graduates.

Regis degrees: Bachelor of Arts in History and Elementary Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership Current job: Library/Lead Teacher at Waltham Public Schools Current city: Waltham, Massachusetts

47 FALL 2020

Although the mode of teaching during the pandemic is very different, the “how, what, and why” at its core is stil the same. Our youngest grades are attending school in a hybrid model (in school every other week) while our older grades are fully remote.

I teach all grade levels in the library so How did your experiences and your education at Regis shape your life after college? it takes some balancing to make sure Whether it was relationships formed with both in-person and remote students are professors who I am stil in touch with today receiving high-quality instruction. But my to participating in the dance team, those day-to-day pedagogy is stil firmly rooted experiences and lessons learned have stayed in what I learned during my time at Regis: with me to this day. I often find myself in relationships before content. This has become situations at work and think back to what even more critical now, as we balance advice I would have gotten at Regis. students’ safety and social emotional health with rigorous and differentiated instruction.

THE BASICS

What motivates you during these unprecedented times?

Seeing our students thrive despite the circumstances is what keeps me motivated each day. The new safety protocols for our in-person students were overwhelming at first for teachers and students, but a sense of normalcy did eventually return.

There has been a learning curve for remote instruction and learning as well, but we have seen so many bright spots. Education has changed rapidly in the past six months, moving forward in ways that would have taken decades without COVID as a catalyst.

Things are certainly not ideal but our students are incredibly resilient, and at the end of the day, even with a mask, kids are stil kids.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR STORIES TOO! Submit your Alumni Spotlight questionnaire for a chance to be featured in one of our alumni publications: alumni.regiscollege. edu/spotlight

Flag Indicates Reunion Year

mınds hearts &

Finding Courage Janie Lausier ’19 follows her dream amid cancer treatment

BY KR IS TE N WA L S H

48 REGIS TODAY

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2018 when Janie Lausier ’19 got a phone call that she says changed her life forever: a breast cancer diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma.

“I decided to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction,” she recalls. “It was ironic that at the time I was diagnosed, I was working on an advertising campaign for one of my business classes where the proceeds would go to a breast cancer foundation.”

Lausier was four classes away from completing a bachelor’s degree in Regis’ dental hygiene program after transferring when Mount Ida College closed in 2018.

All of her classes were online, and she made a mental commitment to finish as much work as possible before her surgery that was scheduled for a week before Christmas. Her husband Mike, along with classmate Colleen Moroney ’19, helped keep her positive and on track; but that wasn’t always easy.

“Colleen and Mike were unbelievably supportive in my worst moments,” Lausier explains. “It was depressing spending Christmas with four surgical drains coming out of my body and not being able to move or visit family.

I was couch-bound for three weeks following my surgery but between Mike and Colleen, I was never alone. They took turns washing my hair and helping with dinner.”

When January rolled around, Lausier was in the home stretch of her degree and it was time to choose a topic for her capstone project. At the time, she was also curious about how the medication prescribed for her 10-year hormone therapy treatment would affect her oral health— and the topic of her thesis was born (“Oral Effects of Hormone-Positive Breast Cancer Medication”).

Given a lack of recent studies, Lausier says it was a challenging topic. But she found inspiration from Regis faculty member Cynthia Deneault, RDH, MS, MPH. “Cindy was incredible, not only in the clinic but in the classroom. She took so much time to read (and re-read) our research papers and explain how to improve them and see outside of the box. With her help, I realized

that I really enjoy research; I might even look into a career opportunity down the road where I can conduct my own studies.”

Lausier served as a security forces staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force for nearly seven years before deciding to explore a career in dental hygiene. Periodontal disease runs in her family; some of her uncles and aunts had dentures before they were 50. She wanted to know why, and the more she researched, the more interested she became.

Then she took the advice of her favorite cowboy.

“John Wayne said, ‘Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyways.’ Taking responsibility, speaking up, and being a leader all take courage, which is an invaluable trait I picked up along the way in my military career. Courage is also something you need when you decide to chase your dreams.”

After completing a bachelor’s degree at Regis, Lausier helped open a dental practice outside of Boston before landing her current role as a registered dental hygienist at North Shore Centre for Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Swampscott, Massachusetts. She is passionate about the role that oral health plays in other diseases and conditions.

“Oral health is linked to many systemic issues including heart disease, diabetes, premature birth, and rheumatoid arthritis,” says Lausier, who has helped detect disease by completing oral cancer screenings. “By treating patients and stressing good home care, I know I am helping my patients live a much healthier life.”

Reflecting back on her own health—and the fact that her reconstruction surgery was less than two months before she walked across the stage during Commencement— Lausier says that the quote she donned on her graduation cap says it best: “Let your faith be greater than your fear.”

“I was downright terrified when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I worried that I would never earn my bachelor’s degree while dealing with my treatments.

With the support of a professor, a friend, and an amazing husband, I realized that all things are possible with the right attitude.”

“ I was downright terrified when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I worried that I would never earn my bachelor’s degree while dealing with my treatments. With the support of a professor, a friend, and an amazing husband, I realized that all things are possible with the right attitude.”

Photo: Holly Redmond

JA N IE LAUSIE R ’ 1 9

Regis College 235 Wellesley Street Weston, MA 02493-1571 Change Service Requested

Your Legacy. Their Future. “ As a first-generation student, funding my college career was always a stressful thought. I was blessed and forever grateful to receive several scholarships, including the Catherine Burke Scholarship. My scholarships allowed me to pursue a diverse education in a place that truly became my home. Regis was the foundation of my growth, my comfort, my success, my happiness, and my future.”

Photo: Holly Redmond

JULIA JONES ’18 CATHERINE BURKE SCHOLAR The Catherine Burke Society celebrates alumni and friends who demonstrate their deep commitment to Regis by including the university in their estate plans or as the beneficiary of a planned gift.

Learn more about your planned giving options through the Catherine Burke Society: alumni.regiscollege.edu/burkesociety.