Saint Michael's College Magazine, Fall/Winter 2018

Saint Michael’s SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE | FALL/WINTER 2018

Innovation and Tradition: NE W L IF E F OR OLD WORDS

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President Sterritt’s school spirit shoes

FOUNDERS HALL 2 A Letter from President Lorraine Sterritt STORIES 3 She’s Everywhere: Saint Michael’s Welcomes Dr. Lorraine Sterritt

by Susan Salter Reynolds 8 Innovations in Admission

by Susan Salter Reynolds 12 Carlos Vega: Road Warrior

by Susan Salter Reynolds

16 Patrick Standen: Philosophy, 42 Bradley Anair: Innovation, and Determination Scholarship, Soccer, and

by Susan Salter Reynolds Serendipity

by Danielle Joubert ’20 18 Go Deep: A New Curriculum

by Susan Salter Reynolds 44 The Emeritus College

by Lauren Read 26 Circle Power: Restorative Justice: Innovative 45 Learning to Learn: Conflict Resolution A Reminiscence

by Susan Salter Reynolds

by Richard P. Ingham, O.D. 28 Faith in Our Future: A Surge in Grants Is a Hefty Vote of Confidence in Our Mission

by Mark Tarnacki 30 Learning How to Change the World

by Lauren Read

14 Magic 101: Jeremy Mikaelson ’19

by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04 32 Innovation Opps: Saint Michael’s New Outdoor Classroom by the Winooski River

by Susan Salter Reynolds 36 Not Your Grandmother’s Radio Station (But She Would’ve Loved It)

by Madeline Hughes ’17 38 Smoke on the Field: Taylor Smoke ’09

by Gail Callahan ’86

46 Faculty and Alumni Works 48 Honoring Our Family: Planned Giving

by Pham Phung 50 SMC Connects

by Lauren Read 52 Father David Cray: Branding Tradition

by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04 53 Letter from the Alumni Board President

by Craig Duffy ‘06 54 Class Notes 60 In Memoriam

40 The Roundup

by Josh Kessler ’04

SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE Fall/Winter 2018/2019 Volume 18, No. 2 smcvt.edu/magazine EDITOR Susan Salter Reynolds CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mark Tarnacki Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04 Kaylee Sullivan ’16 Lauren Read Phung Pham Danielle Joubert ’20 Gail Callahan ’86

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER Jerald Swope DESIGN Harp and Company Graphic Design Douglas G. Harp Jennifer Fisher MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD Angela Armour ’99 M’09 Alessandro Bertoni Jennifer R. Conetta ‘09 Lindsay Damici Rev. Raymond Doherty ’51, S.S.E. Sarah M. Kelly Josh Kessler ’04 Jerald Swope Mark Tarnacki

Saint Michael’s College Magazine (ISSN 0279-3016) is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications twice a year. The views expressed in the Saint Michael’s College Magazine do not necessarily represent the official policies and views of Saint Michael’s College.

POSTMASTER Please send address changes to: Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439

EDITORIAL OFFICE Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439 802.654.2556 SMCMagazine@smcvt.edu ©2018. All rights reserved.

Cover Photo of President Sterritt: Ethan Simmons

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FOUNDERS HALL 2

Letter from Founders Hall

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ear members of the Saint Michael’s College family:

The snow is falling as I write this letter, and I am delighted to be embarking on my first Vermont winter. As I mentioned in my inauguration speech, I am here to serve, and I am also on a mission to build new bridges between higher education, civic life, and meaningful careers for our students.

Like our founders, the Edmundites, I believe in the beauty and the purposefulness of a liberal arts education. I believe in preparing students for careers and lives of service. I believe that Saint Michael’s students enter the workforce prepared to find solutions, to think creatively, and to honor the great thinkers in generations past who have faced the challenges of their time.

Institutions of higher education must honor and maintain the best of the past, and they must also be innovative in light of changing times and changing needs in society.

In this issue of the Saint Michael’s magazine, we reveal the many ways in which creative innovation and time-honored tradition coexist on our campus: innovative solutions in Admissions; innovations in the curriculum; innovations in the way we use our physical space; innovations in the way we think about service and contribution; innovations in the ways students learn and participate in this community.

Each new idea builds, in many ways, on the past.

Philosophy Professor Patrick Standen has turned life in a wheelchair into a daily adventure. Faculty and students have worked together to create a new curriculum that better prepares students for 21stcentury life. Standout athlete Taylor Smoke brings his Iroquois heritage and his Saint Michael’s experience to the ancient game of lacrosse.

The Saint Michael’s Admissions team finds new ways to make college accessible for talented students. Jeff Vincent, Assistant Dean of Students/Coordinator of Community Standards & Student Conduct and his team find new ways to resolve conflicts on campus.

Professors from all disciplines are excited to find new

ways to use our beautiful property on the shores of the Winooski River. It’s happening every day on this campus.

Change is inevitable. As the first female president of Saint Michael’s College, I am walking evidence of change. I use my iPhone to stay connected to students, faculty and staff members, trustees, and alumni. I have, in the course of my career, relied heavily on my liberal arts background to appreciate beauty, to find practical solutions, and to bridge divides.

True innovation does not spring ex nihilo, that is, from nothing. It builds on tradition. It finds new ways to meet goals. True innovation takes the threads of a life well and thoughtfully lived and weaves those threads into something new.

We are all privileged to be on this path of discovery together.

Lorraine Sterritt President

SHE’S

EVERYWHERE Saint Michael’s Welcomes Dr. Lorraine Sterritt

by Susan Salter Reynolds

L

orraine Sterritt is everywhere.

The cafeteria, the library, Student Government Association

meetings; in Boston, New York, and

Washington, D.C., with alumni; soccer games, the Chapel, events, lectures, athletic events, classrooms, and Saint Anne’s Shrine. To those who follow her on Facebook and Instagram, it seems that she has not stopped moving since she arrived on campus last summer. And she hasn’t.

“I’M ON A MISSION.”

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SHE’S EVERYWHERE 4

“I’m on a mission,” she explains, enviably composed on a chilly fall day, but full of warmth and sparkle—there’s humor and passion in almost everything Sterritt says. The effect is engaging, inspiring, and comforting. We live in tough, polarized times, and Sterritt is familiar with tough times. She knows how to bring opposites together. This is her contribution. This is her form of innovation.

between what is intrinsically worthwhile and what is useful, between arts and sciences on the one hand and financial realities on the other.”

various sectors tell her this: “You teach them how to think, and read, and write, and we’ll teach them what they need to know for the job.”

These divisions form the moat around the ivory tower. They are what separates higher education from civic life. Lorraine Sterritt is determined to bridge these divides. “Colleges need to do a much better job of explaining

In today’s job market, vocational and technical skills change constantly.

A liberal arts education lays the foundation that allows students to be flexible, to ride the waves, to create their own job descriptions, to find meaningful work that brings all their joys and talents to bear. “These four years are not preparation for a single job,” Sterritt says with a smile. “They are preparation for any job, for a lifetime of work, for a lifetime of satisfaction.”

As for the students, she feels keenly how precarious their future can feel in today’s intimidating job market. “But

“I’M A BOTH/AND WHEN IT COMES THE WHOLE IS G President Lorraine Sterritt and her husband Bert Lain at the International Festival held in Tarrant Recreation Center in November.

it’s going to be OK. Our students are in charge of their futures.”

“My education was art for art’s sake.

No one ever asked me what I would ‘do’ with a French major. That was the tradition I grew up with. I believe in it.

More recently, I’ve also felt a need to articulate the deep connection between education and career. There is an assumption that a dichotomy exists

In four short months (and, by the time this magazine goes to press, rest assured there will be more ideas and innovations), Sterritt has supported the creation of new majors in Public Health and Health Science, as well as a new minor in Health Care Administration.

the connection between liberal arts and careers,” she says. A liberal arts education, she believes, is the very best career preparation we can give students.

During her years as dean at Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania, during her years as president of Salem College in North Carolina, she repeatedly heard successful leaders in

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President Sterritt with VP of Finance Rob Robinson

PERSON, NOT AN EITHER/OR PERSON. TO FINDING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS, REATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.” These constitute, as she puts it, “a win-win-win-win, since they are rooted in rigorous study, they provide service to humanity, they lead to gainful employment, and they will help us to attract students.” The Board of Trustees voted in favor of the new majors and, in a resounding show of support, pledged a challenge gift of $1 million dollars from their personal resources to help fund the new programs.

Sterritt has made several trips to get to know Saint Michael’s alumni and has been impressed by how much they love the school. Her successful “Nominate a Knight” campaign challenged alumni and students to nominate prospective Saint Michael’s students.

This campaign ran from October 15 to November 15, producing 512 nominations. In the end, the students won with 218 eligible nominations to the alumni’s 174 nominations. The

incentive for this campaign was a drawing valued at $2,500 awarded to a randomly selected nominator from the winning team. The lucky winner will receive $2,500 toward their spring tuition. (To learn more, go to smcvt. edu/nominate) Finding new markets for students and increasing enrollment numbers is a challenge facing all colleges and

SHE’S EVERYWHERE 6

“I SAW HOW I COULD MAKE A CONTRIBUTION.” universities. Sterritt is an enthusiastic supporter of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, an alternative to traditional high school curricula. “The IB is academically rigorous, and it makes it easier for us to welcome foreign students—transferring credits is easier.”

Also on the horizon: finding new ways to bring technology into Saint Michael’s classrooms. “Immersive reality has enormous potential in education,” she says, just back from a virtual reality exhibit of the Tomb of Christ at the National Geographic Society. “I love the time-tested ways of teaching, but we have to think about new ways to educate students who have grown up in a world that is very different from the one we grew up in,” she sighs, one hand on her iPhone. “I’m addicted to it,” she admits.

How will she navigate the competing interests of a college president’s stakeholders—faculty, staff, students, administration, Board of Trustees?

Sterritt is a middle child and proud of it.

“I’m a both/and person, not an either/or person. When it comes to finding innovative solutions, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Sterritt is a fan of brainstorming. But she also has a sense of balance and fairness. “We have been talking a lot about science recently, but I also want the humanities faculty to be recognized,” she says.

“These are people who have dedicated their lives to these subjects because they believe in their value.” A scholar of Renaissance French literature, Sterritt believes deeply in the value of the humanities.

Many interviews with the 17th president have raised the importance of women in leadership roles. Sterritt was particularly pleased when Bishop Christopher Coyne of the Diocese of Burlington told WCAX-TV that having “a laywoman in a position of such importance within a Catholic institution is the right direction. We need to do more of that. And women absolutely need to be in places of authority.

Not just as faces around the table, but in places of real authority within the church. That’s the only way we can really move forward in a positive way in this day and age.” Sterritt emphasizes that it’s critically important that young women have female role models in leadership positions and that women have equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work. She also reminds her listener that “both sexes must work in harmony for the greater good.”

There she goes again, the middle child, bridging gaps. “I’m a linguist, but I love math,” she says. “Or rather, I’m a linguist, and of course I love math.”

Looking back, Lorraine Sterritt sees how she got to this job, at this time, and in this place. Throughout her career she observed a widening divide between the academic interests of an institution and the financial interests. We need people who speak both languages, she says with a twinkle in her eye. “When I was at Stanford, the penny dropped,” she laughs. “I saw a niche for my career.

I saw how I could bring these two interests together.

“More importantly, I saw how I could make a contribution.”

To follow President Sterritt on Social Media, visit smcvt.edu/magazine

This is her form of innovation.

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President Sterritt with Don “Pappy� Sutton and students from Fire and Rescue at the Green Mountain Dining Room in Alliot Hall.

INNOV ATIONS IN ADMIS 8

“You give us your two most precious assets,” Sarah Kelly, Saint Michael’s VP for Enrollment and Marketing tells prospective parents, “Your children and your money.

We are equal to the task.”

by Susan Salter Reynolds

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Admission counselor Jacob Pelletier speaking with prospective students at Lindenhurst Senior High School in Lindenhurst, NY.

K

elly says this to put parents and applicants at ease, but she knows the process is far more complicated. Admissions in higher education today is a high-pressure, high-stakes game, requiring creativity, empathy, and above all, innovative problem solving. The front gates of academia are opened and closed by some of the most creative, responsive minds in the business. These are the people who must understand changing demographics and changing needs, as

well as economic stresses on applicants and their families. They build the college community student by student; they believe deeply in the value of higher education at a time in our culture when more people are asking: Just how valuable is a college education?

“Selling liberal arts has never been more difficult,” Kelly admits, citing the 2008 economic downturn as a pivotal point. “People know in their hearts it’s the right way to go, but we still need to convince them.” Understanding the fears and hopes of 17-year-olds who most often don’t know exactly what they

want from higher education, explaining loan options to families, talking to them about their investments—these are just a part of what Kelly and her staff do every day. Every school is struggling, she explains, and this can make for a predatory playing field, but Kelly feels strongly that her job is making sure students land in the best place. Recently, when a prospective student was offered a full scholarship at another school, Kelly advised her to take it. The student ended up coming to Saint Michael’s.

I N N O VAT I O N S I N A D M I S S I O N S

extremely successful so far—73 percent of the seniors who have taken the course enroll at Saint Michael’s.

NOMINATE A KNIGHT

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VP Sarah Kelly with Student Government Association President Jake Myers ’19 reviewing new enrollment materials.

The “Nominate a Knight” campaign challenged alumni and students to nominate prospective Saint Michael’s students. “The great part of this reinvigorated initiative,” Kelly explains, “is that we now reach out to a high school senior in a very particular way. It’s not Saint Michael’s e-mailing you, it’s ‘Hey—you’ve been nominated by X— that cool senior from last year—who thinks you’ll be a great addition to our school.’ That has an impact.” From October 15 to November 15 students and alumni nominated over 500 high school students to be Purple Knights. It was a close race with the student team nominating 218 seniors and the alumni team nominating 174 potential future Knights. Since the students won, a

SMC FI RS T C LASS

NO MIN ATDE E GRE A E KINN IGHT THREE

A C CELERAT E D S UMME R C O L L E GE Another issue facing Admission staff in today’s economy is retention—students who want to stay but find they are unable to afford tuition or keep up with the work. “We want faculty to come to us,” says Kelly, “if possible before the students are overwhelmed with one foot out the door.”

Kelly and her staff employ several innovative strategies for attracting students and making their education at the College doable for their families. “As a college,” she says proudly, “we are doing more with less and working together.”

SMC FIRST CLASS

In the spring of their senior year, interested high school seniors who apply early and are admitted to the College can take a free four-credit course. Saint Michael’s is offering six such courses this year.

High school seniors want nothing more than to see themselves as first-year college students and this helps them do it!

In the spring of their senior year, interested high school students can take a free, for-credit online class (a $4,500 value) at Saint Michael’s. They come to campus for a residency, meet potential classmates, and get an opportunity to “kick the tires.” The program has been

random drawing from among nominators will determine the winner of a $2,500 grant toward his or her spring tuition bill. If the alumni team had won, one lucky graduate would have been awarded a $2,500 credit toward an alumni trip to Ireland led by President Sterritt. (For more information, go to smcvt.edu/nominate) DEGREE IN THREE

The Degree in Three Program means significant savings and a fast track to a career or graduate/professional school.

“We are looking for students on a trajectory, many of whom may not have peaked yet. Something happens here that will get them to that point. That’s what we are looking for.”

— Sarah Kelly, Saint Michael’s V.P. for Enrollment and Marketing

With Degree in Three, students in some of the College’s most popular majors can take advantage of accelerated sessions, online courses, and personalized academic advising to complete their studies early and still have the extraordinary St. Mike’s experience.

ACCELERATED SUMMER COLLEGE

Students pursuing a three-year degree can take advantage of Saint Michael’s Accelerated Summer College (ASC), an opportunity to earn up to 16 credits a summer. Students can take residential or online courses. In the blended, residential program, students can choose from 10 plus courses and earn up to eight credits (two classes) in just six weeks.

constrained by the rigid requirements of the AP tests, she explains. IB teachers adapt their curricula to their students.

Their classes emphasize theories of knowledge, including the Socratic method, intensive writing, and the importance of learning a second language.

Students applying to Saint Michael’s with a high school IB diploma are awarded 32 credits, which allows them to graduate in three years. “That’s how confident we are in these students’ skills,” Kelly says. By finishing in three years and two summers, students shave $70,000 off their tuition. The International Baccalaureate organization is so pleased with SMC’s approach that Kelly has been invited to sit on the IB College and University Relations Committee and represent liberal arts colleges.

by the Bloomberg Foundation. These 110 colleges (chosen on the basis of how well they support low-income, highly talented students) have bonded around the mission to make higher education accessible to talented low-income students.

The goal is to make it possible for 50,000 students to attend top colleges by 2023.

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THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

Wholistic review is a critical evolution in Admissions. The admissions process at St. Mike’s is constantly evolving in a more wholistic direction, away from what Kelly and others call “the corporatization of admissions.” Testing (SAT and ACT) is optional, and while many schools farm out their application reading to paid professionals, at Saint

TH E INT E RNAT I O N A L B A C C A L A U R E AT E

TH E AME R ICAN TALEN T IN ITI ATI VE CERTIFICATES

This program is also an incentive for students transferring to Saint Michael’s.

THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

Many high schools are turning from traditional curricula and college prep, including APs, SAT, and ACT prep, to embrace the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Kelly is a fan. “The IB is being used in some of the finest, most diverse high schools in the U.S. Sixty percent of the students in American IB high schools are ALANA students (African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American).” People feel

CERTIFICATES

Saint Michael’s is increasing its offering of certificates students can earn during their college years. Currently, a Microsoft Office Specialist certification, a certificate in Adventure Sport Coaching, and an Emergency Management certificate are available.

THE AMERICAN TALENT INITIATIVE

Michael’s each application is read by two different readers. The five-part review is an effort to, as Kelly puts it, “understand the whole person. We are looking for students on a trajectory, many of whom may not have peaked yet. Something happens here that will get them to that point. That’s what we are looking for. This is a college that is truly transformative.”

For more information on Admission to Saint Michael’s College visit smcvt.edu/admission

Saint Michael’s is also part of the American Talent Initiative (ATI), a group of highly selective schools supported

Carlos Vega:

by Susan Salter Reynolds photo by Brandon Bielinski ’19

Road Warrior C

arlos Vega, Associate Director of Admission for Multicultural Enrollment and Athletic Liaison, is on the road for much of the year, 90 days, visiting high schools and talking with guidance counselors, prospective students, teachers, and parents. He’s in charge of recruiting all of the boroughs of New York City, Puerto Rico, Boston, and North Carolina. He also works on recruiting athletes for all 21 varsity sports at Saint Michael’s.

Carlos loves his work. While the research is important— stats, demographics, College Board data—it’s the human interactions, the relationships, which really matter in the business of enrollment. As he puts it, “weaving connections.”

Is Vermont a hard sell? “Only until you visit,” Carlos laughs. “Once prospective students get here, often, they don’t want to leave. We involve everyone in the visit—faculty, staff, financial aid counselors, and students all meet with prospective students when they visit.” Saint Michael’s offers a $500 travel voucher for students visiting from outside the Northeast.

For the past several years, Carlos has been working on his PhD. The subject? How Latino student-athletes’ performance on the field affects their performance in the classroom. Diversity is a mission for the entire Admissions department, and Carlos plays a big role in recruiting students of color. “I am bilingual, so I will often visit Latino families at home and talk with the entire family about the college decision.” He also connects them with other students of color, and encourages them to ask what campus life is like.

When he’s on the road, Carlos often visits three to five schools a day. He wakes up, works out, and hits the road. How does he choose which schools to visit? “It helps if we have had graduates, and alumni in the last five years, but again, it also boils down to my relationships with the counselors. They know what we are looking for. There is so much camaraderie in this profession. A counselor might say, ‘I. have the perfect St. Mike’s student.’”

Sometimes the kind of recruiting that Carlos does requires him to go above and beyond. A few years ago, Carlos learned that the mother of one of the students he had recruited, had unexpectedly passed away. This student was a first-year, first-generation student who had never been away from her home for long.

Feeling understandably lost and depressed, the student contemplated dropping out, in order to help pay for the funeral costs. When getting word about the student deciding to drop out, he got together with the Center for Multicultural Student Affairs to see how they could get this student back on campus. Carlos understood that the hopes and dreams of this student relied on her getting back to campus, where she could be supported and focus on her future.

Carlos got in a car, along with a current student from New York City, and drove down to the student’s home in New York City. They loaded her and all her belongings in the car and drove her back to campus.

That student graduated last year as top student, brimming with confidence and academic accolades.

The student recognized that story at her senior awards banquet, and hearing how big of an impact this action had on her life, brought Carlos immediately to tears. “It is probably the most rewarding and feel-good moment of my career, to know that I was able to impact someone’s life so heavily.”

Carlos doesn’t feel that he is competing for students.

“We all work together to find the best college for the students. Am I disappointed when I lose a student?

Of course. But I want the best for them, too.”

“It is,” Carlos admits, “emotionally draining work.

My favorite day is move-in day. I see the students I’ve connected with on the road, often with their entire families. They know they can come and talk with me anytime.”

To read more on Carlos Vega visit smcvt.edu/magazine

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Magic

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101: Jeremy Mikaelson ’19

by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04

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f you hear about a magic show on campus in the coming months and have an opportunity to attend, make sure to shake Jeremy Mikaelson’s hand afterward. This senior Theatre major loves to connect with his audience after a performance.

Jeremy started studying magic at 10 and came to Saint Michael’s College from Fuzhou, China. He chose to attend college in the United States to get closer to his lifelong dream of having his own magic show in Las Vegas. The small class sizes and robust Theatre program at St. Mike’s helped clinch his decision.

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The location was also a bonus, as Mikaelson took up skiing during his first year.

“I still remember the very first time that my friend took me to the mountain and taught me how to ski,” says Jeremy. “It feels so good that I can ski better and better every year. It’s so satisfying.”

Jeremy’s senior year has been a triumph so far. In July, he won an international magic competition sponsored by the Society of American Magicians, and this fall, he performed in a famous magic show called Monday Night Magic in the Players Theatre in New York City.

“Last month, I did my very first one-hour magic show on campus and it turned out to be a huge success,” says Jeremy. “People really enjoyed it and laughed all the way through. Seeing the smile on people’s faces is really a rewarding experience for me.”

With graduation just around the corner, Jeremy is exploring ways to live out his dream. He hopes to find a job in the theater industry that can coexist with his ambition to travel and expand his audience worldwide.

“I want to pursue a career as an actor and a magician at the same time, but I also realized how challenging it would be,” says Jeremy.

“But I am confident that I will be able to do it.”

To visit Jeremy Mikaelson’s website visit smcvt.edu/magazine

Patrick Sta P Philosophy, Innovation, and DETERMINATION

by Susan Salter Reynolds

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atrick Standen teaches philosophy, which means he thinks a lot about what’s real and what’s not; about the mind and the body; about the things that matter in the long run. But being a professor means embracing intangible benefits. “Professors and teachers don’t see the results of our creation,” he says, “the way a builder looks at his product. The mind is an invisible thing. You get an e-mail—something you said stuck, or a student gets a Ph.D. at Oxford and they might say ‘you inspired me.’

I see myself giving dangerous tools to my students—not least the ability to think creatively.” Standen tries to keep it simple. “You should be able to translate sublime ideas into the dialogue of the streets,” he says. “Great ideas must be made accessible to your students.”

Standen “got hit by the philosophy bug” in high school. At UVM, he really fell—Descartes on the mind/ body problem—studying under Charles Guignon senior year in continental philosophy. “It was what I wanted.”

He “did time” at Harvard, studied psychoanalysis with Hans Gadamer at Boston College, and went to Harvard Law School. “Like most naive idealists,” he grins, I wanted to either teach or buy a farm and write.”

But there were other challenges. A car accident in high school left him with a spinal cord injury that took the use of his legs. He’d been an athlete before the accident, and he was determined to be an athlete after the accident. Ten Ks, professional sailing, downhill skiing, biathlons, triathlons, sled hockey; Standen did them all. Where did he get the determination? “From philosophy. If anyone was determined,” he laughs, “it was Socrates. He could have shut up and saved his own life, but he didn’t.” Spinoza, Karl Marx,

To see Prof. Patrick Standen’s online profile visit smcvt.edu/magazine

Bertrand Russell, Sartre—“people who risk their lives for their ideas. These are my moral heroes.

“I had to learn to advocate for myself,” Standen says, leaning back in his wheelchair. “When I was at UVM I realized there was a great library upstairs that no one had ever mentioned to me. I’d be late to class because an elevator was broken.” Standen formed the Disabled Students’ Union. He became the disabilities coordinator. He became an activist. And he was in good company.

“Socrates was the first rabble-rouser,” he says. “I think there is a natural bridge between philosophy and advocacy. This may have something to do with inquiry.

Asking questions is a way of disturbing the peace.”

Advocacy and academia formed the tracks Standen raced along. He taught at Castleton, then Trinity College in Burlington, before coming to Saint Michael’s.

He competed in marathons, swam, skied, traveled the world, climbed mountains. In the mid-1990s, he started a nonprofit, the Northeast Disabled Athletic Association, an organization devoted to giving disabled people opportunities to pursue competitive sports. Vermont was the perfect place—a large number of outdoor enthusiasts, a wide variety of competitive sports across seasons. Adaptive sports like wheelchair racing changed kids’ lives. Standen watched students develop confidence and learn teamwork, communication skills, and many other qualities needed for success in life. Learning he could still be physical and compete post-accident was huge for Standen, and he has seen the realization have similar life-changing effects on the people touched by his organization.

Talking with Standen, it doesn’t seem as though the wheelchair exists at all. It doesn’t seem relevant, and yet he has built a life of advocacy, motivating students and disabled athletes around it.

nden 17

Professor Patrick Standen conducting a class in the Teaching Gardens.

GO DEEP: A New Curriculum

by Susan Salter Reynolds

Change is good. Change is hard. Change is imperative in institutions of higher learning if faculty, staff, and students hope to understand and participate in meaningful ways in the world.

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This fall, an innovative new Liberal Studies curriculum was introduced at Saint Michael’s; it was debated, created, and coaxed into being by the entire community over the last several years. The goals? Intellectual depth and breadth. More students doing research. An increase in student engagement. Topic and point-of-view diversity. More insight into the world beyond the College. The process was long and sometimes difficult, but, by all accounts, transparent, innovative, and responsive.

The players we talked with for this story were proud to be a part of it.

New Major and Minor: Statistics Statistics has been a growing academic and employment area for many years. Concepts and methods in statistics are useful in many areas, including biology, business and economics, environmental science including weather and climate change, health care and medicine, government and politics, and news and sports. Data Science is a recent incarnation of the intersection of mathematics, statistics, and computing. Both allow students to contribute tremendously to society through the study of economic, environmental, and human health.

— Michael Larsen, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics

New Majors: Health Science and Public Health New Minor: Health Care Administration Saint Michael’s graduates have a long history of successful entry into health care and human services professions.

In response to both changes in the job market and student needs, we decided to build on the College’s strengths to create and launch new majors in Health Science and Public Health, as well as a minor in Health Care Administration. Our hope is that these programs will prepare students for direct entry into the workforce as well as provide preparation for acceptance into health care professional schools for those graduates who wish to pursue further education in this field.

In addition to preparing graduates to enter a fast-growing sector of the job market, these majors and minors will do so in the contexts of the breadth afforded by a liberal arts context and the signature service ethos of the College.

— Donna Bozzone, Professor of Biology

“The new curriculum allows students to build Breadth and Depth New this year, the Core Curriculum includes four courses that all students must take: First-Year Seminar; Fundamental Philosophical Questions (PH 103); Study of Christian Traditions and Thought (RS 100-level); and Junior Seminar. (Students must also take a higher-level course with the designation of “Catholic Intellectual Tradition”—many of these may fall outside Religious Studies, in, for example, Physics or History.) And all students will take a course designated “Engaging Diverse Identities.” These courses are designed to give students the intellectual foundation to explore questions of global citizenship; stewardship of the earth; moral responsibility; and socially conscious citizenship.

All students will take Intellectual Exploration courses in Arts & Literature, History & Society, Scientific Inquiry, Quantitative Reasoning, and a Second Language (after much debate, only required for students pursuing a B.A., not a B.S.). These courses are designed to expose students to the breadth of disciplinary learning and the various ways of looking at and understanding themselves and the world. All majors emphasize the following competencies: Ethical Decision Making, Information Literacy, Oral Communications, and Written Communications.

The breadth and depth of these and other courses in the new curriculum are also great for faculty development. The integrative nature of the new curriculum allows faculty to stretch and design new, creative, cross-disciplinary courses.

There is also more student input in the curriculum. Junior Seminar is, says Jeff Trumbower, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the College, and Professor of Religious

a mix of qualitative and quantitative skills.”

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New Master of Arts in Teaching The Master of Arts in Teaching MAT will provide an innovative and intensive program that attracts bright and passionate candidates from diverse backgrounds to be agents of change in the field of education. The MAT is an accelerated one-year program that is competitively priced and leads to licensure and a master’s degree. The program features multiple field placements with expert teachers, a rigorous and comprehensive course sequence, and a cohort model culminating in a transformative capstone experience. The MAT is designed as a fifth-year option for undergraduates as well as a stand-alone licensure and master’s degree program.

The MAT offers concentrations in special education and art, elementary, and middle and secondary education as well as possible additional endorsements (in early childhood education, for example). The Vermont setting provides diverse opportunities to explore the progressive educational practices for which the state is known.

— Claudine Bedell, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Education

GO DEEP 22

New Minor: Crime and Justice I had students who were coming to me saying, “I want to be a cop like my uncle or mom or dad,” often students of color. Even though I’m a pacifist, I believe that good policing has to be a part of any keeping of the peace. In my classes, we talk about good and bad policing, because that’s one of the issues that many communities of color are facing. I want our students, those with an interest in law enforcement, to be thoughtful, self-critical peacekeepers.

It’s putting students’ interests and Vermont’s resource as a pioneer in restorative justice together with student life. And of course it works perfectly with the Edmundite commitment to community and service and respect for the whole person, including violators.

— Robert Brenneman, Professor of Sociology, Sociology and Anthropology Department Chair

Studies, a “highly innovative piece.”

Students will be deeply involved in choosing content, readings, and subjects for discussion. Another important feature of these courses will be the art and practice of civil discourse.

Reenergizing the Creative Curriculum “The new curriculum gives students more academic flexibility,” says Professor Jo Ellis-Monaghan, Mathematics and Statistics Department Chair. “Courses are broader and deeper, and the requirements around the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Emerging Identities help us to better realize our mission.” As with church, Ellis-Monaghan says, “it’s not enough to show up once a week. Faith permeates our lifestyle. Seeing our mission in

action across a wide variety of settings brings it alive and opens opportunities for people to become actively engaged.

It’s part of what sets us apart.” EllisMonaghan notes that quantitative courses can have a strong place in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition: mathematicians like Kepler and Galileo viewed mathematics as “the language God used to describe the universe.”

“Our new majors/minors like Statistics and Data Science dovetail with new initiatives and majors/minors in Health and Environmental Science, Public History, Crime & Justice, and Business.”

Ellis-Monaghan is also proud of the availability of new minors: “These can really open doors for students. Jobs in the modern world require a broad range of skills. The new curriculum allows students to build a very competitive mix of qualitative and quantitative skills.”

“We are not reinventing who we are.

We are building on who we are.”

In the Spirit of Scholarship Patrick Walsh, Associate Professor of Economics, and Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo, Director of the Neuroscience Program, Associate Professor of Psychology, were also involved in the process of changing the curriculum.

“The new curriculum is more student-centered, it allows more time for scholarship, and it increases the spirit of scholarship,” Tomasulo agrees.

“It is more purposefully designed with the personal development of each student in mind.”

Garlesky is most excited about the choices for requirements in the new Catholic Intellectual Tradition designation and the Engaging Diverse Identities designation. “This is a divisive time in our culture. A lot of the issues that come up require new skills. How do we talk about these issues? I think the new curriculum represents a first step toward the school’s commitment to diversity,” says Garlesky.

“This has been a very transparent process, which is extremely important for the students,” she adds. The size of St. Mike’s, she feels, makes it easier First Year Seminars allow new students and even more important for students to hit the ground running and adjust to to have a voice in changes in the life in college—to see how writing, curriculum. The Saint Michael’s faculty, critical thinking, and reading in college Monaghan reports, have been “heroic” are different than they are in high school. during the process. She believes it Junior and Senior Seminars will allow shows “how committed they are to students to design their own projects, the excellence of the institution.” perhaps exploring more contemporary issues—problems, solutions, and “We are not reinventing who we are,” multiple perspectives. “There will be says Walsh. “We are building on who less lecturing and more discussion,” we are.”

Walsh says.

Amy Garlesky ’18 double majored in Political Science and Philosophy. As one of the student representatives in the curriculum change process and as the Student Association’s Secretary of Academics, Garlesky was responsible for bringing student opinion to proposals. “Everyone wanted some sort of change. We designed a survey on how students felt about the existing curriculum and got 700 responses.”

What did the students say? Too many requirements. The General Education requirements created too many additional requirements for students in the hard sciences and students trying to double major.

To see a video on the new curriculum visit smcvt.edu/magazine

New Major and Minor: Data Science Data science is a very new and exciting field. With the advance of technology in the past decade or so, there has been a boom in accessible raw data online, along with the availability of open-source software and more powerful computers. In order to unlock and make sense of what is hidden in these raw data, one needs skills from statistics, computer science, and mathematics. In our Data Science Program, 23 we give our students the necessary skills to move forward with data-driven projects that they are interested in—in sports analytics, data journalism, or environmental studies. But analyzing data is only part of the whole story: being able to communicate one’s findings with others, whether in written form or in a presentation, is key.

The liberal arts curriculum at Saint Michael’s helps students become better data scientist by making them better communicators.

— Amir Barghi, Professor, Mathematics and Statistics

My niece went there and got a great education, was accepted to law school. She also met her husband there who designs shoes for Nike, another great education and great career.

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Fantastic! My 30+ year healthcare career started with an internship in writing for a hospital as an SMC Journalism/English major. The liberal arts approach is such a valuable foundation for work in public health, primary prevention, and healthcare administration. I am excited to learn more about this ‌ and the internship possibilities!

Go Sox and Go President Lorraine Sterritt!

It was great to finally meet you! :)

Hearty Congratulations. You’re taking over a magic place.

An educational institution, yes.

But also, an amazing, living community which remains within us and is a part of us for the rest of our lives.

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What a wonderful and holy place.

Lots of really great people and good things happening up there!

It was such an honor to meet you President Lorraine. Wish you all the best. SMC will always be my family and my home.

The Shrine is a special place— and the SMC, Edmundite, and Fr. Brian connections reeeally add to it for us. So glad you were able to visit. Welcome to the SMC family!

Woooow..... Those shoes are just are incredible.

Follow President Lorraine Sterritt by visiting smcvt.edu/magazine

CIRCLE “ I T ’S ABO UT RE F RAM IN G TH E IS S UE , AWAY FROM U S /T H E M AND TOWA RD W E .”

— Jeff Vincent

Members of the student affairs staff participate in a restorative justice training session led by Jeff Vincent (top of circle) during a recent staff meeting. Vincent and other Residential Life staff members are implementing restorative justice techniques to build community, repair harms and address campus climate issues.

POWER RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: INNOVATIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION

by Susan Salter Reynolds

D

awn Ellinwood, Vice President for Student Affairs, is the kind of person who can lift a bad mood in under five minutes. She’s vivacious, cheerful, and energetic. And she’s been working in student affairs for 30 plus years. In that time, she says, our world has changed dramatically, and sitting in her office, a listener thinks it must have gotten better.

Which doesn’t mean that college campuses don’t face challenges—internal, cultural, personal. How has her job changed? “I have more contact with parents than I used to,” she laughs. “I see more students struggling with anxiety and depression. Students struggle more openly with issues of identity and race.

I feel that our campus is richer and more interesting than ever. Walking alongside our students as they confront issues that we may not have experienced in our own lives either personal or professional, we have to be supportive, creative, and innovative. How can we relieve stress? What is the best way to optimize the student experience?”

One of the most exciting developments on the Saint Michael’s campus is the use of the restorative justice process to deal with issues that arise in a collaborative, non-punitive way.

Jeff Vincent is the Coordinator of Community Standards and Student Conduct and Assistant Dean of Students. He’s been studying restorative justice for several years and has been instrumental in using the process, which was first used in New Zealand to resolve conflicts with indigenous people, to resolve conflicts at Saint Michael’s. The process aligns, he says, “with my personal beliefs about how we should treat each other.” It also fits the needs of a community like Saint Michael’s. “At a big school,” Vincent says, “you might get a letter in the mail after an infraction. Here, we work toward real resolution.”

This is not, Vincent explains, a top-down model. There is accountability, but there is also support. The people involved sit around a table in a circle. Two questions are asked at the beginning: What harm has been done?

How can we repair the harm? These questions serve immediately to take the sentiment out of the situation.

Vincent describes two recent examples: an intoxicated student who caused damage to property a faculty member lived in; and a suite of eight roommates who could not resolve a conflict on their own. In the first case, an apology was called for. In the second, the roommates were able to focus on the 98 percent of the relationship that was good, rather than the impasse. In both cases, students and faculty felt heard and recognized their responsibility in the situation.

“It’s about reframing the issue,” Vincent explains, “away from us/them and toward we.”

The resulting resolutions are much more robust. “My goal is to infuse students with this process in a low-risk setting.”

Vincent is a big believer in the power of the circle. Restorative justice, he says, dovetails with the Catholic ideals of forgiveness and the belief in the dignity of the human spirit. He says, “I’ve never seen anyone open a cell phone or a laptop in a circle.” Why? Because the circle requires real presence, attention, and respect.

Restorative Justice is being used in governments, bureaucracies, schools, hospitals, and other institutions around the world. “If we train enough people,” Vincent says, leaning back, tired but inspired, “we can make a real difference in the way people handle conflict.”

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Faith in Our Future

A Surge in Grants Is a Hefty Vote of Confidence in Our Mission

by Mark Tarnacki

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T

he past financial growing season for Saint Michael’s College researchers and academics has produced a bumper crop of mission-affirming grants from private foundations and federal funding sources.

Headlines from just the past two years have included the largest scholarship grant in Saint Michael’s history from the National Science Foundation (NSF) of nearly $1 million; new Freeman Foundation scholarships for student programs in Asia; a surge in Fulbright awards for Saint Michael’s students—both coming to and going from campus—and significant private regional Davis Foundation funds for faculty support as they adopt a new curriculum.

Angela Irvine, director of foundation relations and sponsored programs for the College, says every grant, scholarship, and gift is a hefty vote of confidence in any institution receiving funding, given that the “deciders” on such awards are established national leaders and experts in higher education or specific fields.

“Foundations do their homework, and it has almost a snowballing effect if they see you’ve been successful in attracting other awards,” Irvine says. “They really care about the stewardship of their resources, and that makes you accountable. So you know you have your ducks in a row if these awards start coming in the way they have at Saint Michael’s recently because in the external world, there’s a level of scrutiny that people pay attention to.”

THE NSF GRANT

FULBRIGHTS

Saint Michael’s College President Lorraine Sterritt recognized the strong message that such awards send when news came of the major NSF grant in late August. “I am delighted by the news of this grant because of the opportunities that it affords academically talented students to study at the highest levels in the STEM fields at Saint Michael’s College,” she says. “It is further evidence that a small college like Saint Michael’s is exactly the place in which to study STEM. Caring and involved professors are walking with students every step of the way.”

The grant will fund faculty from mathematics/statistics, biology, computer science, and chemistry for a five-year project titled “Developing a Life Sciences Workforce with Strong Quantitative Skills.”

Two 2018 graduates have begun their teaching assignments as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) in Spain and Indonesia. According to Trish Siplon of the College’s political science faculty, who primarily steers the Fulbright application process on campus, two more female recent graduates are still in the United States, and will fly to Malaysia and Brazil, respectively, to begin their ETA positions in early 2019. In other Fulbright news, Siplon says Saint Michael’s nominated 13 applicants in October for this year’s competition and will learn about any semifinalists in late January. “We are starting a campus Fulbright Association this year,” says Siplon, adding that this group had its first potluck meeting in October with strong turnout and good energy.

FREEMAN F OUNDATION GRANTS

More money is also coming into the humanities and social science fields. Last year, five Saint Michael’s College students were awarded scholarships from the Freeman Foundation to participate in two-month professional internships in their specified area of study in Hong Kong, with four eventually being able to take full advantage and participate. International Politics Professor Jeffrey Ayres says connections among faculty on the Freeman Foundation board helped put the College on their radar, and the initial grant for last year was $40,000.

Since it went so well, Saint Michael’s recently reapplied and received $70,000 for this coming year.

Ayres is tapping into another first-time funding source related to his specialty area studies of Canada-U.S. relations: He learned in recent months that he will be part of a team of researchers from Canada and the U.S. provided $290,000 (Canadian) in funding over the next four years by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The research project—“Transnational Civil Society Linkages in North America”—will study the evolution and character of civil society domestic and transnational linkages between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico since the early 1990s, focusing on human rights, migration, and labor.

DAVIS GRANTS

In 2017, the New England–based and New England–focused Educational Foundation awarded Saint Michael’s $158,000 for “A Faculty Development Program for the Vision 2020 Strategic Plan.” This involves support for faculty as they deliver a new Liberal Studies curriculum and a new advising and mentoring program at the College.

Mahmoud Arani of the Applied Linguistics Department reports that eight students have come to Saint Michael’s from around the world to study English on Fulbrights at Saint Michael’s this year—among them are natives of Iraq (two), Bahrain, Vietnam, Russia, El Salvador, Indonesia, and Nicaragua. Another Fulbright student from Azerbaijan is studying in the Education Department.

DIRECT GRANTS TO FACULTY: NIH, VGN, EPSCOR

Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Professor Jeffrey Trumbower explained that grants made directly to faculty for their research (rather than directly to Saint Michael’s as an institution) are another key source of funding at Saint Michael’s to benefit students, citing as an example the major National Institutes of Health Grant announced in the summer of 2017 to fund well-publicized research on nicotine and e-cigarettes

by Professor Ari Kirshenbaum of the psychology faculty. This is the first NIH grant received by the Psychology Department and Neuroscience Program at Saint Michael’s and is supporting three years of research in Kirshenbaum’s long-established psychopharmacology laboratory.

CAMPUS COMPACT

In the fall of 2017, Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, announced 40 college and university recipients of grants to bring people together across lines of difference from its Fund for Positive Engagement, including Saint Michael’s College. The award for Saint Michael’s is being used to cover stipends for student fellowships and to bring speakers and specialists for trainings, overseen by Moise St. Louis, Ph.D., associate dean of students/ director of multicultural student services.

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by Lauren Read

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Kyendamina Cleophace Mukeba (right) talks with a woman during a trip to the Congo in 2012.

LEARNING HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD

I

n 2011 Kyendamina Cleophace Mukeba ’12, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, decided he wanted to start a nonprofit to help women who suffered from sexual violence in his native country.

Saint Michael’s, where Mukeba was a student at the time, immediately stepped forward to help one of its own.

“Saint Michael’s commitment to our mission is the essence and the existence of the organization itself,” Mukeba says. “I attribute the growth of Ibutwa to Saint Michael’s support.”

In addition to making a monetary donation, members of the College community joined Mukeba’s cause, and the Vermont Ibutwa Initiative was born.

The organization, which aims to help victims of sexual violence with medical care, mental health support, and economic aid, has helped 28 women and 145 children in its seven years and seen seven children graduate from high school in that time.

“We are in a place that supports social justice, so it’s a natural fit,” Clerfeuille, who is a member of the Ibutwa Project Managament Committee, says. “We [want to] promote different cultures and efforts to understand and value these cultures and to be an active participant in the community.”

Global Studies) are all heavily involved in the organization.

“These are professors who have a heavy workload, and yet they continue supporting Ibutwa every semester, year after year for about 7 years. We meet twice a month, they provide not only a meeting place, but they bring their heart and soul to this mission,” Mukeba says.

“They provide valuable expertise in terms of writing, critical thinking, connections, guidance and orientation so that Ibutwa does not fall apart.”

Clerfeuille, who sits on the Project Management Committee for Ibutwa, developed an internship for her French students in 2014, hoping to give SMC students hands-on work with their French skills and help a worthy cause in the meantime.

the translations can be difficult and give Saint Michael’s students plenty of opportunities to stretch their skills.”

Sometimes students don’t realize that they are learning precious skills. “Don’t think you are taking classes to take classes,” Clerfeuille tells them. “You can go farther. What you are getting here (at Saint Michael’s) is an education to help you change the world.”

Three students have taken advantage of the internship opportunity and Clerfeuille plans on taking on another in the spring semester. Students are required to be in at least a 300-level French course and must be open to pretty much anything, from last-minute translations to organizing events to support Ibutwa.

“The goal of the internship is to make you aware of things that you didn’t know existed and to give you the curiosity to “They do it, not just because they want an continue teaching yourself,” Clerfeuille says. internship, but because it really matters,” “Maybe you think you don’t know that Clerfeuille says. “It’s inspiring for students.” much but you can do it. You can make a “Students spend most of their internship difference, you can make things happen.” translating documents that come from the Congo, whose official language is French, into English for members of the organizaFor more inforamtion on the Vermont Ibutwa tion to read. Because of the variety of Initiative visit ibutwa.org languages spoken in the African nation,

From start to finish, Saint Michael’s has played a large role in Ibutwa—four professors sit on the Board of Directors and Project Management Committee, which now extends to students studying French.

In addition to Clerfeuille, Professors Laurie Gagne (Peace and Justice), Patricia Siplon (Political Science), and Katherine Kirby (Philosophy and

Kyendamina Cleophace Mukeba (second from right) dances with women in a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a trip in 2015.

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Saint Michael’s New Outdoor Classroom by the Winooski River

by Susan Salter Reynolds

R

ichard Kujawa, Professor of Geography, Department of Environmental Studies and Science chair, and Declan McCabe, Biology Department Chair and Professor of Biology, and Natural Area Coordinator, can barely contain their excitement.

And it’s infectious. With a beautiful drone shot/map of Saint Michael’s property by the shores of the Winooski River (acquired in three parts from 1930 through the 1950s) rolled out on a lab table, the two professors describe the beauty and potential of these 365 acres. “The scale is dramatic and inspirational,” Kujawa says, one hand sweeping across the map.

“This isn’t just a corner of the campus.

It’s an opportunity for real experiential learning.”

McCabe, a self-described “insect guy,” has set up 20 cameras on trails on the property. The cameras have picked up coyotes, bobcats, fishers, red and gray foxes, turkeys, and many other species of birds and mammals.

While it has been used by the College for some classes and for hiking on a limited number of trails, Kujawa and McCabe are studying the land’s potential for habitat restoration, reclamation, phosphate reduction, and wetlands

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Professor Declan McCabe (left) working with students Risa Berman ’20 (center) and Lauren Dunn ’20 to set up motion sensing cameras to capture wildlife images in the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area.

restoration—all work that Saint Michael’s students could conceivably participate in, gaining firsthand experience, not to mention pleasure.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to do course-based research,” says Kujawa.

The land includes several acres of sandplain forest, the rarest wildlife habitat in Vermont, typically a pitch pine-oak-heath mix, and is home to at least 23 rare plants that depend on the sandy soils and open canopy. Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and

Science Laura Stroup had her students rake organic material from this site to expose the sandy soil and encourage pitch pine germination. The youngest of the pitch pines are 40 to 50 years old and are being gradually replaced by white pines. There are wetlands, floodplain, an organic farm, ponds, fields, and forests. It’s hard to believe that at some point in the 1960s, McCabe says, someone floated a proposal for a golf course on the property.

In other areas, Trevien Stanger’s students in ES 201 have planted trees to establish a riverside buffer. Winter rye was recently planted as a cover crop in

areas that have been planted with corn for many decades. A process of tree regeneration has begun in areas that were formerly planted in corn—willows, box elders, silver maples, and dogwood will return in areas that have been conventionally farmed using fertilizers, herbicides, and sometimes pesticides.

An organic garden provides volunteer opportunities for enthusiastic students.

Parts of the floodplain must also come out of production and be restored. It is the policy of the state of Vermont, explains Kujawa, to allow rivers to move through floodplains, where they slow down, drop sediment, and create habitat.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to do course based research.”

I N N O VAT I O N O P P S 35

The possibilities are endless: students can help with the selective removal of invasive species; with studies on ash trees (before the anticipated invasion of the emerald ash borer); with geomorphic assessments; and with maple trees and the quality of syrup. Then there are the recreational possibilities: cross-country skiing, walking, bird watching, camping. The property could be used for events like faculty meetings and student organization events.

Kujawa and McCabe, and many other faculty members, are excited about the teaching and research possibilities, and also about collaboration with federal agencies like the Natural Resources Conservation Service and with other colleges and universities.

These possibilities extend well beyond the sciences: Classes and symposia in environmental policy, water resources, map-making, field surveys, history (Ethan Allen’s widow once owned some of the land), and art are all part of the vision. Professor Brian Collier, an ecological artist; poet Greg Delanty, and Valerie Bang-Jensen, Professor of Education, are all excited to use the land for their work and their classes.

“When something like this is hiding in plain sight,” Kujawa says, “there has to be an educational entrepreneur, a leader who helps people to recognize the opportunities. What we have now is an encouraging constellation of relationships—faculty, students, and the community, which makes it very exciting. Our jobs as faculty are, in part, to think proactively about the next generation. By the time many of these projects come to fruition, I’ll be pushing up daisies!” Kujawa laughs.

McCabe is upbeat about funding for these projects. “It’s all about the resources you have,” he grins, “not about the resources you wish you had.” In an era when so much of higher education is in a defensive mood, Kujawa points out, this property is cause for optimism.

“It’s tonic for the troops.”

To see a video and images caught by the nature camera’s visit smcvt.edu/magazine

usic plays in the background as students sit and chat with friends, studying, playing ping-pong or pool on the second floor of Dion Student Center. Now and then a pool player breaks out her cell phone to put in a request to the DJ at WWPV 92.5, “The Mike.” The phone in the DJ’s booth, just a few feet away, rings.

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Originally started in the 1950s by Edmundite priests, “The Mike” became fully student-run in the 1970s. In 1988 the station moved to the main campus, and in 1999 the station started to broadcast 24 hours a day. The Mike moved to its newest location, Dion Student Center, in 2014, about a year after the building was completed.

The new location for the student-run radio station allows DJs the opportunity to breathe new life into the station. Instead of being on the second floor of St. Edmund’s Hall, tucked away from students’ extracurricular activities, the Dion-based station is in the middle of the action on campus. The DJ booth is separated from student activity by a wall of glass. Students get to see who is hosting the show, and the DJs see how people who are listening over the loudspeaker in the next room react to the music. “The large windows allow for a fishbowl effect,” says Paul Stumpf ’19, station manager. “Not only are DJs able to see students, but the students see how DJs operate in the station.”

Stumpf was originally drawn to the station because the move to Dion created an opportunity to upgrade, repair, and get creative with the equipment. He was able to try new ideas while paying tribute to the station’s past. Now students can decide which media—vinyl, CD, or streaming—they want to use in the show.

When Stumpf became station manager in 2017 he knew he had one year to make a difference. He worked on the website, upped the station’s social media presence, and worked with the college radio application RadioFX. Listeners who download the application can stream the live radio station, call or text in requests, follow along on social media, or even schedule shows to follow.

“Listeners can chat directly with the DJs, and be more involved,” Stumpf says. “Everything I do is an effort to be more user friendly and create something for the future. Hopefully I can use technology to broaden our reach and make the station more interactive.

Then future students can build on what I’ve done.”

Sophomore Marlon Hyde (right) has been really excited by the new application, which allows his family members to listen to his show. “I have family in Jamaica who get to listen to my radio show because it’s internet-based,” he says. Hyde’s vision is to make the station even more interactive with students in Dion.

“Maybe we can have an electronic display for artwork to go along with the music,” he says. “The sky’s the limit.”

To listen to WWPV 92.5 ‘The Mike’ visit smcvt.edu/magazine

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Not Your Grandmother’s Radio Station (But She Would’ve Loved It)

by Madeline Hughes ’17

by Gail Callahan ’86

T

aylor Smoke, a 2009 Saint Michael’s College alumnus, grew up watching his father play sports, especially lacrosse. His early love for lacrosse became a lifelong commitment that took him to Vermont, Saint Michael’s, and beyond.

38

In July, Smoke helped the Iroquois Nationals take third place during the Federation of International Lacrosse World Lacrosse Championships, held in Israel. Smoke’s team was among 46 squads that competed, besting Australia 14-12 to grab the bronze medal. He

was among nearly two dozen players selected for the Iroquois Nationals.

“It (Israel) was really a beautiful place,” says Smoke, who has roots in the Mohawk Nation of Akwasasne, N.Y. This isn’t the first time athletics opened the door for Smoke to travel internationally. After graduation, Smoke played lacrosse in the Australian Premier League, in Germany, and in Latvia.

Michael’s College campus. “I liked the tightness of the community that Saint Michael’s offered,” says Smoke.

“Some of the classes were really small, so you got a lot of attention from the professors.”

Smoke’s world expanded when he became a Saint Michael’s student.

“I really didn’t see a lot of diversity until

Smoke majored in History and thought he would work in education. Turned out, he found another way to serve his community: “I thought I’d be a teacher, and instead, I became a cop,” Smoke says.

Smoke is a father to two small children with his fiancé Chloe, who is also a

SMOKE ON

TAYLOR SMOKE’S LIFE IS BUILT ON THREE I went to school at Saint Michael’s,” he says. “It was great to see other people’s culture. You really got to see what other people bring to the table.”

recent graduate of Saint Michael’s, and serves his community as a sergeant on the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department.

Smoke—who attended Vermont Academy in Saxtons River—was no stranger to small academic settings when he arrived at the lush Saint

He’s been honored for his commitment to working on traffic safety and is also a K-9 officer. Smoke’s voice takes on an added gentle cadence

“Lacrosse is a medicine game.

It’s still revered by us as a medicine game and helps the community to come together.”

To learn more about the meaning of “medicine game,” and the origins of Lacrosse, visit iroquoisnationals.org.

when he speaks about his family and his K-9. “I’m allowed to keep my K-9, which is great,” says Smoke.

“The dog is pretty protective of the little ones.”

During his years at Saint Michael’s as a Division II lacrosse player, Smoke saw action in nearly 60 games when he donned the Purple Knights uniform, recording an impressive 93 ground balls as a long-stick midfielder and defender, causing 25 turnovers. The training regime can test a player’s mettle.

“You played fall ball and then you’re in

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THE FIE L D the weight room during the winter and you play in the spring,” Smoke says.

Given Smoke’s Native American heritage, his decision to play lacrosse comes as no surprise. The sport marries his athletic drive with his pride in his heritage. “Lacrosse is large in our area,” says Smoke. “There’s some cultural significance. Lacrosse is a medicine game. It’s still revered by us as a medicine game and helps the community to come together.”

Smoke’s father, Doug, modeled commitment to family and sports for his youngsters. Doug Smoke recalled his children attending his athletic games and playing in the yard with his young

photo: Gilda Rottman

PILL ARS: FAMILY, SERVICE, AND ATHLETICS.

family. He was also involved in coaching athletic competitions, and the elder Smoke remembers when an indoor arena was built in his hometown.

Retired from the New York Power Authority, Doug Smoke says he’s hopeful his young grandchildren will follow the family tradition and hit the playing field. If they do, Doug Smoke is ready to attend and maybe even coach their games.

Doug Smoke also notes that his own parents set a supportive example to follow as they purchased athletic equipment for him as well as driving him to practices and to games.

“I absolutely got that from my parents,” he says. “I carried that on to my children.”

THE ROUNDUP

Katy Konow ’21

by Josh Kessler ’04, Director of Athletic Communications Photos by James Buck MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Saint Michael’s nabbed 13th place at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, coming within 13 points of 11th. KEVIN JETER ’20 paced the Purple Knights in 51st, his best finish at a league meet, while NATHAN TERRY ’19 was next. Four of the Purple and Gold’s next five harriers were first-years, with each recording a PR. At press time, Saint Michael’s had yet to compete at the NCAA East Regional Championship, capping a season that included a second-place finish at the Vermont Intercollegiate Championship.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

ABBY FRENCH ’20 became

the first Purple Knight to earn all-conference since

2014 by placing 14th— out of 144 runners—at the NE10 Championship, continuing a fall that saw her place among the top 10 five times and win the Vermont Intercollegiate Championship. She and each of the Purple Knights’ top seven at NE10s set PRs, with the final five all running their first 6K races. Saint Michael’s took second during the state meet and third at the Aldrich Invitational at Middlebury College.

FIELD HOCKEY Behind a .815 save percentage in NE10 play, good for second in the league, the Purple Knights held 12 opponents to two goals or fewer while playing 14 contests decided by two goals or less.

Saint Michael’s put a scare into two-time defending

Matt Johnson ’20 national champion Shippensburg during a 2-1 loss in September. ANNA HURLEY

’20 (2.07 GAA, .777 SV%) and HANNAH WILMOT ’21

WOMEN’S SOCCER Goalkeeper LIZ VALLATINI ’21 emerged as a star in net, tying for third in the NE10 in save percentage (.833) while authoring a shutout of nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University, the eventual NE10 champion.

EMILY DURETTE ’19

potted three goals, including tying markers in a pair of conference ties, while GRETA RICIGLIANO ’20 and TARYN MANNA ’21 also netted three tallies. MADELEINE MORSE ’20 scored twice and added two assists.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Caroline Sumner ’20 (1.37 GAA, .829 SV%) minded the net, while defender CLAIRE KONDROTAS ’19 had six defensive saves. MORGAN JOHNSTON ’19 scored eight goals, and SHELAGH FLUHARTY ’21 added eight points.

MEN’S GOLF Saint Michael’s competed well against a bevy of 2018 NCAA Tournament qualifiers all fall, which included two of the four lowest round scores in program history and a sixth-place finish among 12 schools at the Le Moyne College Fall Invitational.

MATT JOHNSON ’20, who broke 80 nine times in 11 rounds, twice shot 142 at a tournament, the best figure by a Purple Knight since at least the mid-1990s. Johnson, TUCKER BUTEAU ’19, COLIN GAUNT ’19,

CONNOR MORSE ’21, and OWEN O’MALLEY ’22 all

carry sub-80 scoring averages heading into the spring segment of the season.

MEN’S SOCCER Eight rookies played major roles on a squad that lost eight outings by two goals or fewer. JACOB VON GIEBEL ’20 scored seven goals, while defensive anchors BRADY CHANNELL ’19 and JUSTIN D’ORLANDO ’20 netted two apiece. LELAND GAZO ’21 started 11 of 16 games in net, recording a 2.26 GAA. The Purple Knights’ challenging schedule included setbacks against six teams that qualified for their conference tournament semifinals. BRADLEY ANAIR ’19 landed Google Cloud Academic All-District honors.

The Purple Knights were in postseason contention until the latter portion of the season, competing in close matches all fall. All 11 players on the team had at least one win in singles and doubles play, led by MARGARET DE PONT ’19 pacing the squad with 11 victories between the two. ABBY RAMSAY ’20

Jake Bannon ’20

and MELISSA WOOD ’21 both netted 10 wins, and rookie BRITTANY KATZ ’22 had seven.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Under first-year head coach KIM LISSINNA, a green team experienced a season of growth, with TANNER BARTON ’20 leading the way with 102 kills, 225 digs and 13 aces thanks to appearing in various positions. ALLIE STATILE ’20 (74 kills, 21 blocks) and GRACE FORNABIA ’22

(78 kills, 17 blocks) patrolled the middle, while KATY KONOW ’21 added 316 assists, 126 digs, and 13 aces.

The versatile GABBY RATTE ’19 finished out her career with 69 kills, 100 digs, 11 aces, and 13 blocks.

To read more visit smcathletics.com

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Bradley Anair:

Scholarship, Soccer, and Serendipity

by Danielle Joubert ’20

BREAKING

NEWS:

COLCHESTER,

V T.

Saint Michael’s College men’s soccer senior Bradley Anair (Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) was selected for Google Cloud NCAA Division II Academic All-District 1 honors on November 8, 2018, chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

T

he life of a student-athlete can be hectic.

Athletics and academics each require intense focus and commitment, making high achievement in both areas extremely difficult. But some have what it takes to maintain excellence across the board. Bradley Anair ’19 is case in point.

Over his four years at Saint Michael’s, Bradley has maintained a nearly 4.0 GPA as a Biology major while playing varsity men’s soccer, most recently as team captain. “Brad was one of the top soccer players in Vermont in 2015,” says Wade Jean, head coach of the men’s team, who recruited Bradley out of high school. “It was a no-brainer for us to go after him.”

Bradley had previously played for Jean’s club team, making the transition to the Purple Knights an easy one.

And that’s not all. Bradley’s father, Rick Anair, was Wade’s teammate at Johnson State College (which merged with Lyndon State College to become Northern Vermont University on July 1, 2018).

“We’ve always held St. Mike’s in very high regard academically,” Rick says. “I was honored when Wade recruited Brad.” The two have been good friends since their time at NVU-Johnson in the 1980s, as have their wives and fellow NVU-Johnson alumnae Suzanne Anair and Marcy Jean.

For the Anairs, soccer has always been a family affair. “Before I could even walk he was rolling soccer balls at me,” Bradley says of his father’s efforts to spark his interest in the sport. Luckily for Rick, Bradley took to it quickly. He began playing at the age of 4 and never quit.

“It seemed to click almost from the start,” Rick says. “Soccer has given us a lot of time together that can’t be easily replaced.”

Rick enjoyed coaching Bradley throughout his childhood and pre-college soccer career. All the way up to Bradley’s final season this fall, his parents have done their best to attend every one of his games. The two are from Bennington, VT and have had Saint Michael’s in mind for a long time. In a way, they’ve become part of the Purple Knight family as well. “Both Rick and his wife Sue have been so gracious to our team over the last four years, providing team meals and help whenever possible,” Wade says.

Rather than seeming overwhelmed by the juggling act of his college career, Bradley credits soccer with helping his academic discipline. “You have to be really focused and I think soccer has helped me with that focus. Just about every minute of every day is going to something important, whether it’s school or soccer. Definitely when you’re in season you just have to find time during the day to make things happen.”

And soccer isn’t the only thing to run in the family. Rick and Suzanne Anair both work in health care administration, he as the director of a medical group and she as a nursing home administrator. Many of their friends are physicians, some having given Bradley a chance to shadow them.

But for Bradley, working in medicine is a goal entirely of his own. Rick insists that his son outshines him as both a soccer player and a student. “My wife and I joke that his GPA is probably ours combined from when we were in college,” he says.

While his parents work as administrators in the health field, Bradley wants to work as a physician. He has a general passion for the sciences and sees medical school as the best way to apply it.

“Both of my parents work in health care but neither of them really from a clinical standpoint … I think that definitely had an influence, but I really just like that I can still do the science aspect of it that I’m interested in and also apply it toward helping people and making a difference,” he says. So far, his path to med school seems clear.

This summer, Bradley joined the on-campus summer research team of Professor Ruth Fabian-Fine, which involved studying the nervous systems of Central American hunting spiders.

He also spent two weeks observing at a hospital in Lithuania during his sophomore year and has completed internship experiences at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center and Green Mountain Antibodies.

While Bradley hasn’t settled on a medical specialization yet, he thinks that this wealth of experience will be a major factor in helping him decide. “I think it’ll definitely help make me a better physician in the future, too,” he points out. For now, he awaits news on his medical school applications, eager to see where his education will take him next.

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Professor Nick Clary (left) and Father VanderWeel talk at a lunch of Emeritus professors at the Green Mountain Dining Room in Alliot Hall. Professor John Hanagan and Professor Tim Whiteford (right) chat at the same lunch in June.

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The Emeritus College

by Lauren Read

W

ith about 200 years of collective teaching experience sitting around a table in the Green Mountain Dining Room in Alliot Hall, the conversation predictably turned to what has changed at Saint Michael’s College.

The late 1960s and early 1970s brought about change, with the first lay person being appointed president and women being admitted to the College for the first time.

“The first women came on campus in the 1970s. I had some in my ShakeProfessor Nick Clary joined former speare class,” Professor Clary, who Saint Michael’s professors John Hanagan, taught English, says. “Now the women Tim Whiteford, Josh Van Houten, Don outnumber the men.”

Rathgeb, and Father Richard VanderWeel S.S.E. to chat about their time at Those changes brought about the College, the legacy they hoped to a shift in culture that Clary and the leave, and the new Emeritus College. other professors note has continued through to this day.

“In 1965, we would sit on the porch at Austin Hall, looking out over a field Clary notes a shift away from a where Father Dupont might be hitting strictly humanities-focused curriculum some golf balls and maybe there would to include a more science-based be a touch football game,” Rathgeb, academic focus. “Back when we started, who joined the College’s faculty in 1965 four courses of philosophy were before retiring in 1997. “Then you required and four courses of religious would look across this dirt road (what studies were required,” says Hanigan, is now Route 15) and see the cows who taught philosophy at the College and then the valley.” for 27 years. “That has really changed.”

Beloved Emeritus Professor Don Rathgeb passed away this past November, for more information please visit smcvt.edu/Rathgeb.

Though the professors note that there were lots of changes to Saint Michael’s in the years that they spent on the Colchester campus, there is one thing that certainly has not changed.

“The weather,” Fr. VanderWeel says, with a laugh.

All the former Saint Michael’s professors hope that they leave the same legacy: making a difference for their students.

“One of the things about the faculty here is that there is an impact on the students,” Rathgeb said. “They have been risen. We helped take some students and make them better and they are appreciative of that.”

The professors hope to continue that legacy now that they are retired, with the creation of the new Emeritus College at Saint Michael’s.

Any retired professor is invited to join and is offered a space on campus to continue research or to meet with students.

Or maybe to meet for a regular lunch in the Green Mountain Dining Room, to chat about curriculums and classes and what has changed over the years.

WORKS

Selected Delanty

by Greg Delanty (Un-Gyve Press)

46

A 2018 Vermont Book Award Finalist, this book of poems and translations by Greg Delanty was chosen and is introduced

by Archie Burnett. In Delanty’s work, a world in constant transition (the “simultaneous going and comings of life”) is realized in a vocabulary and variegated tonal register that displays language itself in the process of being re-made.”

— Terence Brown

100 Great War Movies: The Real History behind the Films

by Robert Niemi (ABC-CLIO) This cinematic guide to war movies spans 800 years in its analysis of films from those set in the 13th-century Scottish Wars of Independence (Braveheart) to those taking place during the 21st-century war in Afghanistan (Lone Survivor).

World War II has produced the largest number of war movies and continues to spawn films such as Dunkirk. This book explores those, but also examines films set during such conflicts as the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, World War I, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Morta Las Vegas: CSI and the Problem of the West Nathaniel Lewis and Stephen Tatum Morta Las Vegas considers Las Vegas and the problem of regional identity in the American West through a case study of a single episode of the television crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Delving deep into the interwoven events of the episode titled “4 × 4,” but resisting a linear, logical case-study approach, the authors draw connections between the city—a layered and complex world—and the violent, uncanny mysteries of a crime scene.

In this intellectually and spiritually demanding sampler, philosopher and Christian mystic Weil (1909–1943) addresses love, beauty, suffering, and idolatry. Weil studied and taught philosophy in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, where she was also politically active, writing for union movements and the anarchists during the Spanish Civil War. Gagne’s introduction explains the context of the pieces, but she largely refrains from analyzing Weil’s often inscrutable prose: “She leaves us with no simple answers, but her encounter with God’s love can leave us filled with wonder and hope.” This beguiling book is a fine introduction to Weil’s work.

Understanding Microbes

by Donna M. Bozzone, Ph.D. (Enslow Pub Inc.)

A great deal of what is known about genetics and inheritance has been learned by studying microbes. Supporting the Next Generation Science Standards on heredity and inheritance of traits as well as the structures and processes of simple and complex organisms, this book introduces all of the various types of microbes found on Earth, and in and on human bodies.

Through engaging language that simplifies complicated concepts, students will learn about the discovery, evolutionary history, and roles of microbes in health, disease, and the functioning of our planet.

Educating Refugee-background Students: Critical Issues and Dynamic Contexts Edited by Shawna Shapiro, Raichle Farrelly, and Mary Jane Curry (Multilingual Matters) This collection of empirical work offers an in-depth exploration of key issues in the education of adolescents and adults with refugee backgrounds residing in North America, Australia, and Europe. These studies foreground student goals, experiences, and voices, and reflect a high degree of awareness of the assets that refugee-background students bring to schools and broader society. Each chapter includes a discussion of context, researcher positionality, and implications for educators, policy-makers, and scholars.

WORKS

FA C U LT Y A N D A L U M N I

Love in the Void: Where God Finds Us

by Simone Weil, edited by Laurie Gagne (Plough)

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At his 50th Reunion, Dr. Frederick C. Barrett ’43 committed to a legacy gift to his alma mater, Saint Michael’s College. After Dr. Barrett passed, his wife Elizabeth kept the legacy gift in her estate, ensuring that her family’s wishes would be honored. She instructed her executor to deliver on this intention after her passing.

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Today, the Frederick C. and Elizabeth B. Barrett Fund provides unrestricted scholarship to keep a Saint Michael’s liberal arts education accessible to students and their families. The Barrett family planted a legacy of opportunity for the next generation. It was their family’s wish that this legacy gift would inspire others to give generously to the College.

Join Dr. and Mrs. Barrett’s challenge to do good with your legacy gift and ensure that a Saint Michael’s education continues to educate tomorrow’s service leaders.

For information on how to make your legacy gift, contact Ms. Phung Pham at 802.654.2646 or ppham@smcvt.edu.

Or visit: smcvt.edu/giftplanning

Honoring Our

by Pham Phung

49

Family:

PLANNED GIVING

ST. M IK E’ S AL UMNI COVER NO RT H AM ERIC A AND BEYO ND. Y OU N E VER K NOW WHEN YO U’LL BUM P IN T O O N E! ( CO UN T S BE L OW )

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by Lauren Read

M

ichael Tougias and Christy Ottaviano have spent years working together, pairing up as author and publisher to release best-selling books. But it wasn’t until years into their working relationship that Tougias and Ottaviano found out they shared a deeper connection - they are both Saint Michael’s alumni.

“I was reading my alumni magazine and saw a photo of Mike alongside his most recent book release—A Storm Too Soon, which we had published together— and made the connection that way,” Ottaviano says.

“It was a lovely moment.”

Tougias, a 1977 graduate of St. Mike’s, is the author of several books and decided to team up with Ottaviano to produce young reader

adaptations of some of his titles, like The Finest Hours and A Storm Too Soon.

“Christy is a demanding editor, but that is a good thing,” Tougias says. “I’ve worked with almost two dozen book editors/publishers ... but Christy stands out.

Not just with her ideas but in her communication skills and sensitivity.

“I’d like to think that the environment at Saint Michael’s fostered that sense of teamwork and thoughtfulness.”

Ottaviano, who runs her own publishing imprint, Christy Ottaviano Books, also credits Tougias’s skills as a writer for their success.

“He is always open to direction to make his work the strongest it can be,”

Ottaviano says. “He combines his research with a warm and inviting narrative style that is incredibly propulsive. Reading his books, and certainly working with him on them, is a true pleasure.”

The partnership has paid dividends for the duo, with one of their books hitting the New York Times bestseller list last year and three more books in the works forthcoming in the next few years. Into The Blizzard, an adaptation of Ten Hours Unil Dawn about a rescue attempt at sea during the Blizzard of 1978 will be released this spring.

That success isn’t a surprise to Tougias and Ottaviano, a 1989 graduate—after all they come from a similar background.

“I think it makes perfect sense,” Ottaviano says. “Saint Michael’s College has always been a nurturing environment for students interested in immersive study. I’m not sure if Mike was an English major but during my time at SMC I learned so much about writing and reading analysis through the college’s stellar English program and especially through Will Marquess’s mentorship.”

That training extends to Tougias’s success as a writer, even coming from the Business program at St. Mike’s instead of the English one.

“The entire environment at Saint Michael’s helped foster my sense of wanting to dig into a subject I was interested in and learn more,” Tougias says. “I was a business major but I took a wide variety of courses.

“I think a liberal arts college gave me that well-rounded background to enjoy the research part of writing.”

As Tougias and Ottaviano continue their working relationship, they love knowing that their college experience at St. Mike’s links them further.

the St. Mike’s connection seems like one in a million,” Tougias says.

Though their post-SMC careers have surprisingly converged, Ottaviano is not at all surprised that they both spent their college years at Saint Michael’s.

“Mike and I are both avid outdoor adventurers,” Ottaviano says. “It’s not surprising to me that we both chose to go to college in such a beautiful part of the country with lots of mountains and outdoor activities available to us.”

“While it doesn’t surprise me that two alumni would in the same field, the odds of us becoming author and editor/ publisher on a series of books and not know about

51

To visit and sign up for SMC Connects visit smcvt.wisr.io

C NNECTI NS MATTER. SMC students want career advice.

Y U help? smcvt.wisr.i Will

Father David Cray:

BRANDING TRADITION

by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04

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R

ev. David Cray, S.S.E., a member of the Saint Michael’s College Class of 1968, was elected July 12 to be the new superior general of the Society of Saint Edmund.

Though his travels and assignments have, at times, taken him far from Vermont, he has stayed connected to the Saint Michael’s community.

“Even while I was assigned to ministries in Quebec, Alabama, and Louisiana, I have been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1985 with gaps of a total of perhaps six or eight years off, spaced between a series of terms when I was on the Board,” says Fr. Cray. His new role as Superior General will bring him back to campus, physically, though he will be commuting to Saint Michael’s from his duties as pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Charlotte and of Saint Jude the Apostle Parish in Hinesburg.

“Every four years the Society holds a General Chapter, a sort of convention where we assess where we are, plan where we want to go, and decide whom we want in the leadership to move us in that direction,” explains Fr. Cray.

“The General Chapter is the highest authority in the community, and we all have the vow of obedience, so one would have to have a very compelling reason to refuse election, whether he wants it or not.”

Fr. Cray says the Chapter has directed the new administration “to develop and implement a marketing program to support the vocation’s initiative and publicize the good works of the Society.”

What will a marketing campaign for a group of priests look like? Fr. Cray says the group’s initiatives will focus on a “unified brand” and “unified public relations approach,” perhaps even with a new logo. Agreements with other religious orders and Church structures would enable even laypeople to collaborate with the Edmundites to help carry out the order’s missions and raise awareness. The group, small but mighty, has a good foundation for these initiatives.

“While we are small numerically at this time, we are still engaged in or sponsor apostolates from Saint Anne’s Shrine in Isle La Motte, Vermont; to Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont; to parishes in Vermont; to Saint Edmund’s Retreat in Mystic, Connecticut; to the Edmundite Southern Missions centered in Selma, Alabama,” says Fr. Cray.

To read more on Rev. David Cray, S.S.E. visit smcvt.edu/magazine

Letter from the Alumni Board President

T

his past August, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Lorraine Sterritt at a Boston Red Sox Alumni Event, shortly after she joined Saint Michael’s in July. Her enthusiasm and excitement for being part of the community is contagious! She has truly hit the ground running, documenting her experiences both on and off campus on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. Our September Alumni Board meeting

coincided with Dr. Sterritt’s inauguration, allowing many of our board members to attend the ceremony. It was a wonderful occasion to be back on campus as we welcomed our newest leader on the perfect early-fall day.

students. A hearty thank you to those who submitted names! Though the challenge is over, I’m sure the Admissions Office would still love to hear from you if any new names of prospective students come to mind.

I hope you participated in our first-ever Nominate a Knight Challenge where the alumni community faced off against current students to see who could nominate the most prospective

If you haven’t had the chance to create an account and log in to SMC Connect, I encourage you to do so.

SMC Connect is a new social media platform for current students and alumni that allows connections to form based on geographic location, industry, or shared interests such as academic majors, athletics, or organizations on campus you may have participated in. The personalization of the connections made within SMC Connect is what sets it apart from other platform, such as LinkedIn, and makes introductions and networking easier. Whether you are seeking career advice or willing to give it, we invite you to join our SMC Connect community by creating an account at smcvt.wisr.io.

For questions or assistance, please contact Angie Armour ’99 M’09, director of alumni engagement at aarmour@smcvt.edu.

Lastly, I’d like to acknowledge outgoing Alumni Board President Annie Rosello, Class of ’94, for her 10 years of service to the Board.

Annie started her tenure with the Board as the Washington, D.C., club rep, then as a Director, Vice President and President. Annie is one of the finest examples of a Saint Michael’s alumna: one who gives time, talent and treasure to ensuring current and future students and alumni have the best possible experience at each stage of their affiliation with the College. We will miss Annie’s laughter and smile at our meetings and wish her the very best as she begins a term on the Board of Trustees.

Craig Duffy ’06 smcalumnipres@smcvt.edu To see Craig Duffy’s ‘06 full profile visit smcvt.edu/magazine

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1951

1958

THOMAS MAYO, Consho-

The College’s Institutional Advancement Office reports that a gift has been made to Delta Epsilon Sigma by the Knight family in honor of HARRY R. KNIGHT, Saint Michael’s College Class of 1958 and former Saint Michael’s faculty member.

Starting in 2019, a monetary gift from the Harry R. Knight Service Award Fund will be given each year to a student traveling abroad in service to others. Harry died in 1988.

hocken, PA, writes, after learning news of a classmate, “Please express my congratulations to Father Ray Doherty on his 60th anniversary as an Edmundite. He is dedicated to his religious life and an outstanding individual.

Although I only met him a few times, our conversations were very pleasant and friendly.”

1953 LEO O’BRIEN JR. and his brother Daniel J. O’Brien were named Citizens of the Year by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce on October 10, 2018.

1954 FRANK QUINLAN, Burling-

ton, VT, had a satisfying chance alumni meetup and conversation recently (see 1998 notes and photo).

1956 GLENN GOOD, Houston, TX, won four gold medals in the 2018 Vermont Senior Games Association Track and Field State Championship.

Glenn competed and won his medals in the 1500-, 800-, 400-, and 200-meter events in the 85–90 age group.

1961 PETE CULHANE, Boynton Beach, FL, shares a freshly jogged memory: “I recently received a newsletter with information about the ski team and the Winter Carnival held at Smugglers’ Notch. This took me back to my days as captain of the SMC ski team in 1960 and 1961. We had a Winter Carnival in each of those years with the alpine events held at Jeffersonville, now Smugglers’ Notch, and the Nordic events held on the campus. In 1959 a ski jump was built on campus property across the road from Old Hall, in the woods beyond the railroad tracks. A 15K cross country track was also laid out on the property. We had teams from all over the Northeast competing in this EISA-

sanctioned meet.” Pete attached a clipping from the Michaelman student newspaper of that era describing the ’61 event — including news that “SMC captured team honors in the jumping half of the Nordic combine. Pete Culhane notched individual honors by sailing 71 feet off the 22-meter jump. He also won the event last year.”

1963 BOB PARKER, San Antonio, TX, along with three other members of the Class of ’63, paid a “surprise” visit to College president Dr. Lorraine Sterritt (see photo).

1978 SHARON STRAIGHT PEARCE, Ocean View, DE,

writes, “My husband and I are now retired and living at the Delaware beach. We love the area and have become involved in church, charities, and lots of fun things like enjoying good books on the beach, gardening, biking, and walking. We invite any of our fellow alumni to visit if they’re in the area.”

JOHN COLLIGAN, Troy, NY,

saw his alumna daughter, Kathleen Colligan ’08, get married in the campus Chapel in October 2018 (see 2008 notes for details).

1979 GEORGE KEADY, Long-

meadow, MA, was given the 2017 Distinguished Advisor in Philanthropy Award by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, in partnership with the Estate Planning Council of Hampden County and the Pioneer Valley Estate Planning Council, on January 10, 2018, in Springfield, MA. George and his wife, Jackie, have three adult children, Caroline, Cameron, and Tara, and George serves on the Board of Directors of Bay Path University and the Phoenix Charter Academy, and was a cofounder of LEEF (Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation). The Community Foundation presented Keady with a plaque and a $1,000 grant to recommend to the charity of his choice. George is currently serving on the Saint Michael’s College Board of Trustees.

1983 JAY LENOX, Reading, MA,

owns a printing company and manages many projects for Tufts University’s Alumni Relations, Special Events, and Advancement and Development Departments (see photo of him with some classmates at reunion).

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday the selection of Daniel J. O’Brien P’91 P’95, right, and Leo O’Brien ’53, left, founders of O’Brien Brothers (real estate developers and managers), as the 2018 Citizens of the Year. Leo and Daniel were to be celebrated at an awards dinner on Thursday, December 6, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel (formerly known as the Sheraton) in South Burlington.

From Paul Galbraith ’78 about the above photo: “It was such a great 40th Reunion back in June. I was able to see so many friends and especially four professors who gave me the education and inspiration to succeed in life as an actor/ singer: Doctors Donald Rathgeb, William Tortolano, Paul LeClair, and Nick Clary, who unfortunately was missing in action at UVM Hospital.”

Four members of the Class of ’63 held a mini-class reunion in early September. Writes Bob Parker, “In addition to several days of touring, good food, and recalling and embellishing college stories, we visited the campus and paid a ‘surprise’ visit to College President Dr. Sterritt. She was most gracious taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with us.” Alumni present for the meeting were Mike Sweeny ’63, Jim Pawlowski ’63, Bill Thompson ’63, and Bob Parker ’63.

Bill Dougherty ’81 of Rockfall, CT, sent this photo with the note identifying the alumni in this picture as: “Bill Dougherty ’81, Mike Degnan ’81, Pat Cronin ’81, Meghan Rhae ’06 at the Wequassett Inn, Harwich, MA, on July 15, 2018, celebrating the wedding of Mike’s daughter, Sarah.”

It was Senior Week in 1983 when this group of roommates in Townhouse 310 posed for the black-and-white photo. They are, from left, George Sherman, Niall Campbell, Jay Lenox, and Dean Allen. They recreated the moment when back for their 35th Reunion in June.

1986 CLASS NOTES

TOM CARON, Framingham,

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Rich Gallerani ’86 has completed this beautiful carving of a bust of St. Benedict for the 150th anniversary of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, NJ, where he has been teaching for the past 16 years. “I volunteered to carve the piece in anticipation of the anniversary,” Rich writes, “and it took more than 100 hours over a nine-month period to complete.” This carving took first place at the 34th Annual Northern NJ Woodcarvers Show in October.

On June 30, Tom Caron ’86 was honored with a “bobblehead night” by the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field in Portland, ME. After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, Tom met up with his Townhouse 319 roommates Paul Buckley, Ted Morris, and Michael Cloyd (all from the Class of ’86).

Andy Whipple ’86 assisted in many aspects of the ministry at St. Anne’s Shrine this summer, reports his classmate Rev. Brian Cummings, shrine administrator and director of campus ministry. “We were delighted to minister alongside Andy!” says Fr. Brian. This photo shows Andy with Rev. Richard Berube, SSE ’66 after serving the last daily Mass of the 2018 summer season at the shrine.

Carol Adams ’89, Lyme, CT, writes in class notes about her son Charlie and his band Brazen Youth (shown in this photo), which is playing Friday of this year’s Alumni Weekend at the Monkey House in Winooski. Read more from Carol in Class of 1989 notes about the band and the Alumni Weekend gig.

MA, on June 30, was honored with a “bobblehead knight” by the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field in Portland, ME. After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, Tom met up with his Townhouse 319 roommates Paul Buckley, Ted Morris, and Michael Cloyd (all from the Class of ’86.) “TC” is in his 25th year at the New England Sports Network (NESN) in Boston, where he serves as pre-game and post-game host of the network’s Boston Red Sox baseball coverage. Earlier in the month Tom won a New England Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Reporter — Sports. In August he was named New England’s Favorite TV Sports Personality for the seventh consecutive year in the Channel Media and Market Research New England Sports Survey (see photo).

DEBRA CORBETT,

Brooklyn, NY, in August was named program director of Senior Products Clinical Services for Tufts Health Plan. Before joining Tufts Health Plan, Debra served as program director at Beacon Health Options, where she oversaw the clinical, account management, and quality departments for the Emblem Health Account in New York City. In her role at the organization, she will lead initiatives designed to improve cost, quality, and population health management effectiveness. Debra majored in psychology at

Saint Michael’s and studied clinical psychology at the University of Nebraska.

RICH GALLERANI, Roseland, NJ, has completed a beautiful carving of a bust of St. Benedict for the 150th anniversary of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, NJ, where he has been teaching for the past 16 years. “I volunteered to carve the piece in anticipation of the anniversary,” Rich writes, “and it took more than 100 hours over a nine-month period to complete.” Also this summer, Rich and his woodcarving hobby were featured in a long profile story from a news website in East Longmeadow, MA, where Rich grew up, though he now lives and works in New Jersey. His Benedict carving won first place in an October woodcarving show in New Jersey, too (see photo).

ANDY WHIPPLE, Brewster,

MA, assisted in many aspects of the ministry at St. Anne’s Shrine this summer, reports his appreciate classmate REV. BRIAN CUMMINGS, who is the shrine administrator and director of campus ministry for Saint Michael’s College (see photo).

1989 CAROL ADAMS, Lyme, CT, writes, “Looking forward to our 30th!” She adds “Fun fact. My son Charlie, age 20, is playing Friday of alumni weekend at the Monkey House in Winooski. His band is the Brazen Youth

1990 DEBORAH GRIFFIN, Kingston, MA, has joined Boston-based Nickerson Real Estate Partners as director of operations. She will oversee sales, leasing, and property management services. Prior to rejoining

Nickerson, Deborah held positions with Peabody Properties Inc., Avalon Bay Communities, and Nickerson People Relation. While with these companies, she oversaw property management of luxury rental and condominium communities, directorship of residential sales sites and sales teams, rentals and lease-ups, budgets, branding, and marketing. She was an English major at Saint Michael’s and has been a licensed Massachusetts real estate salesperson since 2006.

In her spare time, she enjoys hiking the White Mountains, triathlons, the beach, and family time. In 2017, she spent five and a half months hiking 1,700 miles of the Appalachian Trail as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association to honor the memory of both her parents. She also is active in many professional groups.

1997 ARMAND MESSIER,

Swanton, VT, owns Northern Vermont Aerial Photography as one of his business enterprises, and recently produced an aerial video of St. Anne’s Shrine, which is run by the Society of St. Edmund.

CHRISTINE WHELAN SHARP, Saratoga Springs, NY,

is owner with her husband of High Peaks Event Production, formerly known as High Peaks Sound. A business magazine recently featured an article about High Peaks building a new facility. “You can check out one of the events we do at Sugarbush in June,” Christine writes. “It’s called Friendly Gathering. We provide the stages, lights, sound, and technicians. I’ve run lights on the main stage for the last six years. We work with SPAC, the Palace Theater, the Egg, and colleges and municipalities all over the Northeast. Artists we have

On May 6, 2018, members of the Class of 1995 got together in Mattapoisett, MA, to run the Nicole Podkowa 5K. Two years ago, John Podkowa ’95 lost his wife Nicole to cancer. As a way of honoring her memory and kind spirit, John helped to establish the Nicole Podkowa Patient Family Caregiver Fund. The fund is dedicated to helping patients diagnosed with cancer with financial assistance. The motto of this 5K is “Nobody Does This Alone.” With true Saint Michael’s spirit, John’s college family came together to support this worthy cause, John, and his two sons. In the photo, from left: Sean Murphy, Patrick Davis, Christine (Sullivan) Acunto, Brandon Lockyer, Christine Maselbas, John Podkowa, Justin O’Shea, Dianna (Leahy) Kobayashi, John Acunto, Chuck Tiernan, Michael Marnell, Christine (Fisher) Richardson, Brian Ritchie, and Sue (Murray) Byrne, all from the Class of 1995.

worked with include the Chainsmokers, Matisyahu, Indigo Girls, Ziggy Marley, the Wailers, the Commodores, [and] many others!”

1998 JEFF LABONTE, Essex

Junction, VT, a member of the Saint Michael’s Alumni Board of Directors, met Frank Quinlan ’54 at a May event in Burlington (see photo).

2003 SUZANNE SHREKGAST,

New York, NY, married Erin Carr on June 3, 2018, at the Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield, CT. A mutual friend, Alexander Magliozzi, officiated the ceremony.

Suzanne works as the digital strategist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and Erin is the assistant controller at the NoMad Restaurant in

Jeff LaBonte ’98, a member of the Saint Michael’s Alumni Board of Directors, met Frank Quinlan ’54 at a May event in Burlington. He describes the circumstances: “I met this fellow Michaelman … at the Hotel Vermont Fifth Anniversary Party.

His name is Frank Quinlan — what a great guy!”

CLASS NOTES

(of course) and they are on tour across the whole country with Spend Time Palace (a surf music band from California). All of the members of both of the bands are either 19 or 20. So young and fun. I do think they will have a good crowd because they did last year when they played at the same venue, but I thought it would be a fun fact to let people know that a son of an alum is coming to rock the town.

They travel in my business van which has the Ashlawn Farm Coffee logo all over it.

Best and lots of love, Carol.”

(See photo.)

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Suzanne Shrekgast ’03, New York, NY, married Erin Carr on June 3, 2018, at the Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield, CT. Read Class of 2003 notes for more details.

On September 1, 2018, Jill Dalfonso ’08 married John Lydon in Portland, ME. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Marcel Rainville, SSE ’67, and the following 2008 graduates (or onetime classmates or future Saint Michel’s graduates) attended: Danielle Gagnon Hunt, Alex Monahan, Rory Kelleher, Molly Riendeau Kelleher, Bride, Groom, Fr. Rainville, Katie Herbert Fraser, Silas Fraser (future SMC), James Fraser, Ronan Fraser (future SMC), Elise Hubert Klug, Winnie Klug (future SMC), Dan Klug, and Iza Socha.

Eric Mitchell ’09 married Suzanne Hulick on July 14, 2018, in New Boston, NH. Alumni present included (from left) Michael Sugrue ’09, Arthur Dionisio ’09, Patrick Kelly ’09, Christina Kelly ’09, Suzanne Hulick, Eric Mitchell ’09, Ryan LeBlanc ’09, Janine Griggs ’09, and Vasilios Kostakis ’09.

Shelby Superneau ’11 married Nick Gale this summer on July 21 in Adams, MA. Here is a photo taken that day from Saint Michael’s English Professor Emeritus Nick Clary.

Left to right: Emme Hughes ’11, Abby Meachem ’11, Shelby Superneau (the bride), and Katie Healy ’11. Nick writes, “The bride and these three bridesmaids graduated in the same class. They became fast friends as first-year students and were roommates in a townhouse as seniors. I worked with three of them in my First Year Seminar: Drama and Culture, and all four more than once in other courses.

Shelby was president of the Honors Program her senior year.”

Denise Belanger ’12 and James Watson ’12 were married on September 24, 2016. Alumni and Saint Michael’s community members in attendance included Wallace Anctil ’61, Jim Watson’s Uncle Paul Reiss and Aunt Rosemary Reiss (Paul is president emeritus of the College), Peter Soons ’82, Kate Soons ’92, Leslie Lindquist ’05, Patrick Mager ’08, Katie Berry ’09, Alex Hill ’09, Bridget Mager ’10, Sarah (Watson) Sawyer ’10, Thomas Sawyer ’10, Mike Lapan ’11, Tim Hackett ’11, Erik Haversang ’11, Elizabeth (Morono) Haversang ’11, Thomas Farragher ’11, Danielle (Cheever) Potter ’11, Kyle Potter ’11, Megan Flanagan ’11, Denise (Belanger) Watson ’12, Jim Watson ’12, Ben Granja ’12, Matt Tivnan ’12, Christian Ortiz ’12, Rebecca Belrose ’12 (to become Rebecca Ortiz 6/2/18), Michael Buttimer ’12, Sean Mannion ’12, Lauren (Haley) Fennelly ’12, Richie Fennelly ’12, Kyle Craven ’12, Michael Roberto ’12, Sarah (Cino) Noyes ’12, Kaitlin McCarthy ’12, Chris Eldridge ’12, James Seamus McLaughlin ’13, Andy Virnig ’13, Alex Remy ’13, Thomas Beaudoin ’13, Caitlin Dugan ’14, Mary Hall ’14, Amy McGann ’15, David Weiss ’15, Sam Johnston ’15, Mark Flowers ’15, Emily Polo ’15, and Rebekah Balch ’16.

Miles MacArthur Logan was born on April 5. His parents are Derick Logan ’14 and Maggie Burkart Logan ’14. Note the purple and gold Saint Michael’s hat that is keeping Miles’s head warm!

midtown Manhattan. The couple met online in 2015 and adopted a dog from Puerto Rico in 2017. They plan to honeymoon in Vietnam in January 2019 (see photo).

2008 KELLIE CAMPBELL, Georgia, VT, has been appointed by the Senate Committee on Committees to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women. She is associate dean for online learning and non-traditional programming for Saint Michael’s College, and directs hybrid and online programs for the Accelerated Summer College.

She is an active committee member of the Boston Club, one of the largest communities of women executives

and professional leaders in the Northeast. She also is on the Executive Board for Vermont Women in Higher Education (VWHE).

She recently completed her doctorate in Education, focused in higher education administration, in 2018.

KATHLEEN COLLIGAN, Middlebury, VT, married Erik Paul Lowell on October 20, 2018, in the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel. Rev. Lino Oropeza, SSE, officiated. Kathleen’s dad is John Colligan ’78.

JILL DALFONSO, South

Portland, ME, married John Lydon on September 1, 2018, in Portland, ME, and will go

by Jill Lydon. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Marcel Rainville, SSE ’67 (see photo).

2009 ERIC MITCHELL, Wakefield, MA, married Suzanne Hulick on July 14, 2018, in New Boston, NH (see photo).

2011 SHELBY SUPERNEAU, Adams, MA, married Nick Gale on July 21, 2018, in Adams, MA, with several classmates in attendance (see photo).

2012 REBECCA ANN BELROSE and CHRISTIAN GIOVANNI ORTIZ, Essex Junction,

VT, were married on June 2, 2018, on campus in the Chapel of St. Michael the

Archangel. Rev. Michael Carter, SSE ’12, performed the ceremony.

MICHAEL WOOD SPRAGUE, St. Albans, VT,

married Olivia Ellen Spaulding on campus in the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel on May 26, 2018.

Rev. Michael Carter, SSE ’12, performed the ceremony.

2014 DERICK LOGAN and MAGGIE BURKART LOGAN, Colchester, VT,

welcomed a son, Miles MacArthur Logan, on April 5, 2018 (see photo).

754 donors | $176,522 | in 24 hours Thank you to our alumni, trustees, faculty, staff, parents, friends, and students for making thanksgiving a success! smcvt.edu/ia | giving@smcvt.edu | 802.654.2557

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ROBERT THIEFELS M’98, Hinesburg, VT, who completed the former Saint Michael’s graduate theology program and taught religious studies as an adjunct for several years, in June shared word of his recent book and an event in the greater Burlington area surrounding its release. A book signing for Bob’s newly released work Standing in the Midst of Grace: Essays on Living in Christ Consciousness, was held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Hall in Charlotte (a parish administered by Rev. David Cray, SSE ’67).

L E TTE RS TO T HE E DI TOR Absolutely loved reading every page of “Jack.”

Saddened to read the passing of Mike Gianni, chemistry professor. So many great memories of his passion to instruct me.

Glenn Roy, Ph.D., SMC B.A. chemistry ’75.

I recently read the SMC Magazine. This current edition touched me personally with four articles.

1. Preaching 2. Doctor T. 3. The library 4. Memorial Preaching, brought me back to the years preceding my graduation. Fr Doherty was the new Spiritual Advisor in 1967. He replaced an icon, Fr. Ziter. Fr. Ziter’s talent was putting names and faces together. He knew the incoming freshman’s names from snapshot photos. You could be walking on the campus during Freshman Orientation Week, encounter him for the first time, he would address you by name.

Amazing! Nickname, “Zippy”.

Fr. Doherty engaged the students differently. He engaged us in the gym and on the athletic field. He cut nobody any slack. He was a go to guy to converse. He

was a good preacher among many good preachers in the late ’60’s. He is an Edmundite. They are teachers.

If a preacher does not teach they are not doing their job.

Fr. Carter preached this summer at St. Ann’s Shrine.

He is cut from the same cloth as Fr. Doherty.

Dr. T., as a freshman I was recruited into the Glee Club by John Byrne, a member of the Crown and Sword. I could not carry a tune in a bucket. John persuaded me with this argument. This is a male organization. We perform with female clubs.

Do you want to meet girls?

I was so motivated I passed the audition. As a freshman to make the trips, you had to sing in the choir at Sunday mass. Dr. T. took attendance.

I went to mass, I met girls.

In 1966 – ’67 I had a student job at the library, an old army building. The new library was completed. The librarian for the new library was named Joseph Popecki. I think he was a musher, thus the dog sled reference.

You did not mention how the books got from the old library to the new library.

We passed them, in a long line, hand to hand, down the street from old to new.

Memoriam and Class Notes are the first place I go when the magazine arrives.

Each of the three deceased Michaelmen had a spot cut out for themselves on the campus. Larry and John were well known to everybody.

Bill was special. He was more recognizable, he was Black.

One of three Black men I remember on the campus at the time. That was very special in the ’60’s, ... in Vermont.

I especially remember two things about Bill. First was his huge, infectious smile. Next, was an oral presentation he made as a requirement for a ROTC course. He stopped the clock!

It was news all over the campus. The delivery established, Bill had guts and humor.

I enjoy your magazine.

Mike “Brick” Philbrick ’70

C AL L F O R L ETTE RS T O TH E ED I T O R Send us your thoughts, reactions to stories, memories, dreams, and reflections. We’ll get back to you, and let you know if we’d like to publish them.

In Memoriam 1948 WILLIAM WELLINGTON, Rockville, MD, died May 4, 2018. Bill was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, serving with the First Air Commando Group stationed in Burma. For meritorious service in the war, he was awarded various medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. In 2016 these medals were officially conferred on him in person by Secretary of State John Kerry at a private ceremony in Secretary Kerry’s office. After the war he graduated from Saint Michael’s before earning his master’s degree in economics at Catholic University and going to work for the Department of Commerce and at the CIA as an economist for almost 30 years. Bill also was a renowned ice hockey player and founder and former captain of the Geri-Hatricks, a team of Washington, DC-area men and women age 60 and older.

At age 79 he was captain of a team from that group that won a gold medal in the 2000 Winter National Senior Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY. Bill was raised in Detroit. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. A son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Gloria,

a brother, three sons, two daughters, and extended family.

1950 DANIEL D. BERRY JR.,

Tierra Verde, FL, died May 17, 2018. A President’s Medallion supporter of the College, Dan took a particular interest in scholarships for students, and established the Daniel & Kathleen Berry Endowed Scholarship, while hosting or attending many alumni events. He served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. Prior to his retirement, Dan was the owner of DDB, a company that makes custom fishing rods and flies, located in Easthampton, MA, and before that he worked as senior marketing executive for Dow Chemical and also worked for Uniroyal and Union Carbide, achieving an international reputation in the rubber and plastics arena in both R&D and manufacturing. He served on several boards of directors for organizations and companies.

Dan enjoyed trout fishing, boating, gardening, music, and reading (especially history). He and his wife, Kathleen, at least once renewed their vows on campus during a reunion (they’d lived in “Miketown,” married student housing, in his college years). A past alumni survey showed he

had three sons and three daughters. His very brief public death notice had no official word of survivors.

JAMES P. DURKIN SR.,

Clinton, MA, died June 25, 2018. He served in the Navy during World War II before coming to Saint Michael’s. After College he began his career in finance with the National City Bank in New York City before accepting a position with the Clinton Savings Bank, where he remained for more than 25 years, serving as assistant treasurer. He then worked with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Town of Clinton Office of Economic and Community Development and was later elected to multiple terms as Clinton’s assessor. He was very active in the Clinton community, including Community Chest, his parish council, and Toastmasters International.

James enjoyed travel and was an accomplished golfer. His wife of 58 years, Eleanor, died in 2012. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, a brother, and extended family.

BERNARD KASPAROVICH,

Springfield, VT, died May 6, 2018. “Peanut” was a star athlete in high School, after which he joined the Navy and served aboard a patrol craft escort in the Pacific during World War II. After the service he attended

Saint Michael’s on the GI Bill and acquired his prized Studebaker convertible. After college he worked at Bryant Grinder in Springfield until his retirement, and built his own home. His wife, Margaret, died in 2005. Peanut is survived by four daughters and extended family.

ARTHUR L. REED, Silver

Springs, FL (previously of Easton and Plainfield, MA), died December 29, 2006, the College learned recently.

An Army veteran of the Korean War, he lived in Easton until his retirement as a government auditor for Perkin-Elmer. His wife, Doris, predeceased him. In 2006 he was survived by two sons, two daughters, and extended family.

1951 REV. MSGR. WENDELL H. SEARLES, Burlington, VT,

died October 20, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he graduated from St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1955 by Bishop Edward Ryan.

He was parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Burlington, in 1955 and appointed assistant principal at Cathedral High School in 1956. He studied at Columbia University summer school in 1958, and from

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IN MEMORIAM 62

1960 to 1966 he was principal at Mount Saint Joseph High School in Rutland. He then was appointed principal at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington from 1966 through 1975. He was appointed to Holy Cross parish in Colchester from 1977 to 1980, was pastor there 1980–84, and was pastor at St. Augustine in Montpelier 1984–95. His diocesan jobs included president of the Priest’s Senate and consultor of the diocese, director of religious education (1975–80), and special ministry diocesan director of pastoral planning (1995–2003). He served on the Diocesan Administrative Board, Personnel Committee, Presbyteral Council, and Board of Consultors, and was appointed episcopal vicar for education, Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Office of Safe Environment. Monsignor Searles served as vicar general (1998–2006) before being granted senior priest status. He subsequently served as chaplain for the Sisters of Mercy, administrator of St. Stephen Parish, Winooski, and chaplain at St. Joseph Home in Burlington.

He received the title of Monsignor in October 2005.

He is survived by extended family.

OWEN P. SHEVLIN SR.,

Glens Falls, NY, died June 4, 2018. He attended Siena College before graduating from Saint Michael’s in business. After college he joined the Marines, was honorably discharged, and entered the papermaking industry. He worked for

International Paper in Glens Falls, Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, and Corinth, NY, then for Mohawk Paper in Cohoes, NY, retiring in 1991. He was active in the K of C, the Elks, his parish, and paper industry groups, and was president of the Corinth PTA. He also coached youth baseball and basketball, and was a hockey fan. Owen loved golf and was a driving range attendant.

He also enjoyed family vacations on Cape Cod and in Florida, and a trip to Ireland.

A son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Helen, two sons, four daughters, and extended family.

1952 DR. FRANCIS J. DURGIN, Syracuse, NY, died July 24, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he served in the Army during the Korean War as a chaplain before attending the University of Vermont School of Medicine. Upon his graduation there in 1958, he moved with his wife to DeWitt, NY, practicing in the Syracuse area for the duration of his long medical career. He served as the director of psychiatry at St. Joseph’s Hospital in downtown Syracuse and was named a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association. He retired from medicine in 2015 at age 85 after a career spanning more than 55 years.

He loved books and reading, and he was a licensed pilot, an avid painter, and a civil rights champion who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., in Selma, AL. He also enjoyed

travel and summers on Cape Cod and other sunny locations. His wife of 58 years, Patricia, died in 2015. He is survived by two daughters, a sister, a brother, and extended family.

HOWARD V. MORRISSEY, Canton, MA, died May 9, 2018. He was an Army veteran of World War II and worked as an insurance agent and financial planner for the K of C in Canton for many years, and previously worked as a salesman for Motorola. He loved golf and music, and had lived in Canton for much of his adult life — more than 40 years. His wife, Jeanette, and a daughter predeceased him.

He is survived by a daughter and extended family.

RAOUL R. WELDON, Chicopee, MA, died September 17, 2018. He served in the Navy during World War II aboard the USS Rochester, and lived in Chicopee for the past 58 years. He began his career with the Springfield Newspapers as a teenager and worked there for 52 years, retiring as paymaster in 1992. His wife of 58 years, Beverly, died in 2008. He is survived by four sons, five daughters, and extended family.

1953 OWEN J. MURPHY, Worcester, MA, died May 18, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned a master’s degree at the College of Journalism at Columbia University and was a reporter at the Worcester Telegram before entering the Army during the 1950s, and

for nearly two years was editor of Hell on Wheels, the newspaper of the Second Armored Division, in Germany. After the service he became the editor of the Catholic Free Press, newspaper of the Diocese of Worcester, during the interesting years of the Second Vatican Council and its outcomes. He was a prolific writer, published widely, and in 1990 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Saint Michael’s College. In 2000 at the invitation of the Worcester bishop, he authored a history of that diocese for its Golden Jubilee, and he co-wrote another book, Harvard to Harvard, about a raucous student center in Cambridge that became Benedictine monasteries for men and women. Two daughters, including Mary Ellen Murphy Stidham ’80, predeceased him.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Eleanor, a daughter, two sons including Michael J. Murphy ’89, and extended family including daughter-inlaw Josephine Murphy ’91 and niece Kristina Parker ’82.

WALTER F. NADOLNY SR., Franklin, MA, died June 25, 2018. He served in the Marine Corps during the end of World War II and was stationed in China. Walter worked in the Bellingham, MA, school system for 34 years. He was a teacher for 14 years, principal of the Keough School, and vice principal of the South Bellingham School District. Summers he worked at Dean College painting the dorm rooms for over 20 years.

He was a gifted athlete and played baseball, basketball,

EDWARD T. SPEIGHT, East Longmeadow, MA, died August 3, 2018. Along with his Saint Michael’s business studies, Ed graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston before joining his father, Leo, in the family business. Ed was a builder and developer as owner-operator of Ed Speight and Co. starting in 1968, building hundreds of homes in East Longmeadow and surrounding communities.

He was active in the Lions, K of C, and Jaycees, and with a regional builders’ professional group. His wife of 45 years, Judith, died in 2017. Ed is survived by three sons, two sisters, and extended family.

1955 BRUCE J. BRENNAN,

Homosassa, FL, died September 14, 2018, of complications after a fall. He enrolled in ROTC at Saint Michael’s and joined the Air Force upon graduation, with squadron assignments across the U.S. and Europe.

He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and his service included several rotations to Southeast Asia.

Upon leaving the Air Force, he settled with his wife in Orlando and had a 20-year career there as a mail carrier.

In retirement he enjoyed socializing on his porch or out and about with friends. His wife, Marilyn, died in 1982, and he met and courted “Miss Carolyn” in Homosassa after 1996. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Bruce is survived by a son, two brothers, and extended family.

JOHN BYRON LAWRENCE,

Kyle, TX, died October 12, 2018. He attended Saint Michael’s with the intention of becoming a priest in the seminary program, but he enlisted during the Korean War in the U.S. Army National Guard and served two years, and met his future wife when he returned. He returned to Saint Michael’s to complete his undergraduate degree. He was a teacher and basketball coach in Olmsteadville, NY, from 1955 to 1960, then returned to Burlington to start a building maintenance company. In 1965 he was state vice president of the Jaycees in Vermont and worked for the State. He then

entered the University of Texas master’s degree program for special education in Austin, TX, and upon graduation became state coordinator for the Texas Department of State Health Services / Mental Health / Mental Retardation at the State School for the Blind.

Later work included mid-level management at various food chains. He and his wife moved to Kyle, TX, in 1990 and he became a school bus driver before retirement. He was very active in his parish as a deacon and with the K of C. His wife, Patricia, died in 2012, and a daughter predeceased him. John is survived by a brother and extended family.

ARTHUR F. MCCORMACK,

Oxnard, CA, died October 10, 2018. He served in the Army from 1955 to 1957, followed by service in the Reserves, with assignments including Fort Dix, NJ, and Heidelberg, Germany. Art was a Reunion volunteer, a class agent, and a faithful annual donor to the College at the President’s Medallion level. Art’s work career included working for Rheem (Far East) Ltd. as a sales representative (industrial closures for steel shipping containers), and earlier as a marketing manager with American Flange & Manufacturing Company. For years, Art enjoyed travel to Northern Ireland to visit his artist daughter living there, and he enjoyed his golden retrievers.

He is survived by his wife, Rita, a daughter, and extended family.

JOSEPH A. PIETROWSKI,

Port Huron, MI, died July 12, 2018. He served in the Army in Korea from 1950 to 1953.

After that he studied from 1955 to 1957 at Iona College in New York, earning a B.B.A. (business degree); he also studied for a time in the mid-1960s in the Kent State University MBA program while living and working in northeast Ohio. Joe had worked at the Diamond Crystal Salt Company and Akzo Salt Company. He was a member of the American Marketing Association, served on the board of Port Huron Hockey, and was past president of Port Huron Northern Booster Club. He was active in his parish, and enjoyed golf and antique collecting / refinishing. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, three sons, two daughters, a brother, and extended family.

ALAIN J. TESSIER, Bronx,

NY, died August 26, 2018, of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after surviving two forms of lung cancer. Alain, aka “T-Boy,” earned a master’s degree in literature from Notre Dame after Saint Michael’s. His career started in the production department of the Chicago Tribune and continued with a period at the American Research Bureau (later to become Arbitron); from there he served as the vice president, director of client services at Target Group Index (TGI), prior to its merger with Simmons. In 1979 he co-founded New York-based media research specialist Magazine Research Inc. with TGI founder

IN MEMORIAM

and football from high school through his time playing on the Saint Michael’s football team. He coached basketball at Bellingham Junior High for many years, and also coached Franklin youth baseball and basketball and won many championships; he also coached his sons. He was an avid fan of the Boston pro sports teams, Boston College and Merrimack hockey, Duke basketball, and the PGA golf tour. He was active at his parish as a lector and altar server, and a member of local rod and gun clubs and the Massachusetts Retired Teachers’ Association. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, nature, vegetable gardening, music (country, polka, and big band), and the Lawrence Welk Show. His wife of nearly 54 years, Antoinette, died in 2010. He is survived by two sons and extended family.

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IN MEMORIAM 64

Timothy Joyce and Philip Wenig, and the firm became known as Mediamark Research Inc. in 1981, when it added the measurement of advertised goods and services usage to its survey. MRI (now GfK MRI) continues to thrive under standards that Alain and Timothy established at the start. Alain loved boating, good food, wine, vodka, travel, music, art, poetry, and adventures. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. His first wife of 50 years, Rosemari, died in 2007. In 2010 he married his longtime professional colleague and friend Merle. A son died in 1999. Alain is survived by Merle, two daughters from his first marriage, and extended family.

1956 NORMAN L. BESSETTE, Fair Oaks, CA, died August 3, 2018. A veteran of the Air Force who achieved the rank of major with postings that included Bangor, ME, he later earned an MBA from Indiana University in 1967 after studying economics as an undergraduate. At one time he worked as a contract administrator for Sacramento County in California. Norman enjoyed golf, bridge, and reading history and biographies, and was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife, Janet, two daughters, and extended family.

THOMAS P. GALLINI,

Wilbraham, MA, died October 10, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned a master’s degree from Springfield College. Tom was a trust investment officer for Fleet and Bank of America for more than 25 years. He was active in his parish, as a volunteer at Baystate Medical Center and for Big Brothers, and with the Lions Club.

His wife of 59 years, Joan, died in 2015. He is survived by a son, a daughter, and extended family.

WILLIAM H. SANDS, Evansville, IN, died April 13, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University, and from there taught English literature as a faculty member at the University of Southern Indiana. He enjoyed reading, travel, and photography. His wife of 60 years, Helen, died in January 2018, and a son died just after that son’s college graduation in a tragic accident. William is survived by two daughters and extended family.

1957

1958

MARTIN H. BELL, North Palm Beach, FL, died October 8, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he attended the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine before enrolling in the Navy as a dentist and living for a time in Beaufort, SC. In 1963 he and his wife moved to Palm Beach County in Florida, where Martin started a dental practice that lasted 42-plus years with his wife working as the office manager for more than 20 years. His interests included running, his Dalmatian dogs, reading U.S. history, and following the stock market and his children’s sports teams. After retiring in 2004, he and his wife traveled a lot, including cruises to Alaska, trips across the U.S., and visits to a second home in East Amherst, NY. His wife, Susan, died in 2015. Martin is survived by two sons, a daughter, a sister, and extended family.

WILLIAM T. GORMAN, Naples, FL, died June 30, 2018. He was a former Saint Michael’s trustee and longtime President’s Medallion supporter of the College.

After his college years at Saint Michael’s, Bill served in the Marines. He started his business career with an oil company, quickly moving on to stocks, and worked on Wall Street for some years. He moved to Branford, CT, in 1968 while remaining a broker.

He started with Algonquin Industries in 1974 and became president in 1983 when the company was acquired by Alcoa. In 1986 Bill and three other Alcoans purchased Algonquin industries and Rea Magnet Wire from Alcoa. Retiring in 1996, he remained a shareholder and member of the Rea Board of Directors until his death. He was a 50-year member and past president of the Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club and past president of the Aluminum

Association. He enjoyed going on coffee outings, following stocks, playing golf, and following sports. The Gorman Vista Deck off the third floor of the Dion Student Center is named for Bill and his wife, Liz. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, a son, four daughters, and extended family.

FRANCIS B. MCCAFFREY, JR., Weston, VT, died

October 27, 2018, of cancer after a diagnosis three years earlier. An all-NYC basketball player in high school in New York, he came to Saint Michael’s and played on the famous “Iron Knights” team that made it to Evansville, IN, for the Final Four (a team recently inducted into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame). In 1984 he received the College’s Colonel Donald Cook ’56 Award. He also had worked as an administrative assistant for former Saint Michael’s president Rev. Gerald Dupont and taught at the College from 1966 to 1969 before returning to practice law, and he served as alumni secretary during his early years of practicing law in New York. He met his wife in 1958 when she was a Trinity College student. After Saint Michael’s, Frank graduated from Fordham Law School in 1961 and practiced law in New York City, Manchester, NH, and Rutland, VT. In 1981 he was sworn in as a Vermont State Court judge. He retired in 2004 as administrative judge and then found the passion of his professional life presiding in the Rutland Drug Treatment

WILLIAM P. WILLIG, Sarato-

ga Springs, NY, died June 3, 2018. After Saint Michael’s, he graduated from Albany Law School in 1962. Most of Bill’s legal career was spent with the Higgins, Roberts, Beyerl and Coan law firm in Schenectady, where he specialized in environmental law. The latter part of his career was spent in private practice in Ballston Spa. He was a member of the Saratoga County Bar Association and the Schenectady County Bar Association, where he served as president.

He was a respected authority

on the history of antique and classic boats and had a replica produced by a craftsman-friend of the 1930 Gold Cup Winner named Hotsy Totsy. He also owned other classic and antique boats and was a past president and longtime board member of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. He also loved golf and was a highly rated amateur in younger years, later having leadership posts at golf and country clubs.

He is survived by his brother, his former wife Renee, and extended family.

1960 ANTHONY L. BOWEN,

Park Ridge, NJ, died July 4, 2018, of pancreatic cancer.

A Naval Reserve veteran, Tony worked alongside his father, mother, uncle, brother, and daughter at Bowen & Bowen, a public accounting firm, for 45 years before retiring in 2008. In retirement he spent winters in Stowe, VT, skiing with family, and summers in Montauk, NY, paddling and fishing. He loved the outdoors. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Eileen, two sons including George Bowen ’92 (vice president of the College’s Alumni Board), a daughter, Jennifer Bartz ’85, and extended family, including daughter-in-law Janet Bowen ’92, grandson Ryan Bartz ’18 and granddaughter Rachael Bartz ’13.

ALBERT D. KELLY JR.,

Waterbury, VT, died July 2, 2018. He studied at Brown University, followed by studies at the New England Conservatory for trumpet.

Drafted into the Army during the Korean War, Al was deployed as a trumpet player to the Ninth Army Band in Fairbanks, AK. With assistance from the GI Bill after the service he majored in philosophy and minored in mathematics at Saint Michael’s and became an instructor in philosophy the year after graduating. Al returned to Foxboro, MA, to teach math at his former high school until 1964, when he was hired by Waterbury High School and moved back to Vermont, transferring to the new Harwood Union High School when it opened in 1966. He taught math and driver’s education until retiring in 1994. He was an inaugural instructor and facilitator for the State of Vermont Project CRASH program in 1973 and taught more than 10,000 participants in 45 years, and was an officer of the Vermont Teachers Credit Union. He also worked as a mail carrier and bus driver. He tutored neighbors and volunteered with the North Central Vermont Recovery Center, sang baritone in choirs and played in bands through his life, and helped with Harwood and community theater productions and family sing-alongs. Al is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Maureen, a son, eight daughters, and extended family.

1961 RICHARD N. COUTURE, South Burlington, VT, died September 30, 2018. He entered the Air Force in 1961 as a Second Lieutenant, serving three years of active duty and resigning his post in the Air Force Reserve in 1973 as a captain. He worked for IBM in Essex Junction from 1965 to 1999, then managed finances for St. Anthony / Christ the King parishes and Christ the King School from 1999 to 2014. He loved camping with his family, was active in his parish, and served Vermont Catholic Charities in leadership posts.

He was an avid sportsman, playing basketball, tennis, softball, ping-pong, and golf.

He also was a dedicated youth sports coach and referee for CYO, high school and junior college teams, and received an award for 50 years of service as an official. The Christ the King gym floor was dedicated in his name. A son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia, three daughters, a son, five brothers, including Bernard Couture ’61 and James Couture ’65, two sisters, and extended family including nephew Dan Couture M’97, and nieces Jean Couture ’91 and Kimberly Couture ’96.

JOHN J. SCHOEN, Venice,

FL (formerly of Port Chester, NY, and Stamford, CT), died March 14, 2018.

For over 40 years he was a member of Washington Engine & Hose Co., No. 4, Port Chester, NY, where his father was a member and

IN MEMORIAM

Court, providing a powerful witness in his belief of God’s presence and goodness in all persons, especially those afflicted with addictions, and he helped many prisoners and former prisoners struggling with addiction. As a volunteer he was a founding member of Serenity House and a training teacher in the Thresholds Decisions Program, teaching people incarcerated throughout the Vermont correctional system. He also was a guiding force in the four Dismas of Vermont homes of transition for men and women returning to the community from prison, and he supported his wife’s ministry with Dismas.

He had a special connection with the Weston Priory near his Rutland home and, with his family, became close friends with the Benedictine monks there. He enjoyed August family visits to Capitol Island in Maine, and had a gift for story-telling and good humor. Frank is survived by his wife, Rita, two sons, two daughters, his mother, and extended family.

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IN MEMORIAM 66

captain (1950–51). He traveled extensively around the world as a business manager for FMC, Olin, and Arch Chemicals, and retired in 2011. He enjoyed swimming, golf, and sports, especially the Yankees. He was active in his parish and with chemical industry professional groups. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Sandra, and a son.

ROBERT F. WILLIAMS, Juno Beach, FL, died April 27, 2018. He served in the Army stationed in France before enrolling at Saint Michael’s.

After earning his business degree, he worked at Vermont Transit as a bus driver, General Electric as a cost analyst, Simmonds Precision Products as assistant personnel manager, and IBM for over 25 years in many aspects of personnel until his early retirement in 1993. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Josephine, a son, a daughter, and extended family.

1964 JOHN E. REILLY, Punta

Gorda, FL, died July 14, 2018.

He was a retired Air Force colonel. He graduated from Saint Michael’s as the Cadet Wing Colonel and Distinguished Military Graduate, bound for pilot training, after which he was assigned to fly the Boeing B-52D Stratofortress and was deployed nearly continuously throughout 1967–69 flying strikes during Operation Rolling Thunder out of Guam and Thailand, including multiple raids over North Vietnam, for which he

was awarded multiple air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross as the youngest aircraft commander in Curtis LeMay’s Strategic Air Command. In 1969 he transitioned to a civilian pilot career with TWA and joined the Air Force Reserves at McGuire Air Force Base, NJ, where he flew the C-141 Starlifter as he progressed through the TWA inventory including the 727, DC-9, and the just barely subsonic L-1011, ultimately retiring as a captain on the B-767.

During his time with TWA and later American Airlines, John also served as the 335th Military Airlift Squadron commander, Air Force Reserve advisor to the commander of the Strategic Air Command, and attended the prestigious National War College in Washington, DC. Following his military career (retired 1994) and airline career (retired 2002), John continued to serve the aviation industry as an FAA aviation safety inspector in New York until 2011.

John was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He moved to Punta Gorda in 2011. He enjoyed his yacht, fishing, crabbing, and sunset cruises, and was an avid reader on science, history, politics, and investing. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, two sons, a daughter, a brother, and extended family.

DR. JOSEPH T. WITEK JR., Hollywood, FL, died June 20, 2018. He had lived in Florida for many decades, with a medical specialty in diagnostic radiology, nuclear

medicine, CT, videofluoroscopy, MRI, and ultrasound thermography. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College.

No official word about survivors was available.

1965 WILLIAM A. FLAHERTY,

Redwood City, CA / Worcester, MA, died June 6, 2018. After Saint Michael’s Bill joined the Marines, was commissioned as a lieutenant, and was sent to Vietnam; he was honorably discharged as a captain. After the war he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where he lived with his dog Vinnie until Vinnie’s death. Bill once was product manager for Raychem in Menlo Park, CA, worked for a time in vice president positions with several technology companies, and later was self-employed as a consultant and venture capitalist. He is survived by a sister and extended family.

1967 BART L. FEDERICI, Naperville, IL, died April 24, 2018. Bart was ordained a Catholic deacon on September 13, 1997, and was a devoted member of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Naperville. He also served as associate director for the Office of Diaconate Formation in the Diocese of Joliet. Prior to his years of service to the Church, Bart worked for the FDIC for 30 years as the regional director of the division of

liquidation in Chicago.

Bart is survived by his wife, Marilyn, two sons, and extended family.

1968 EDMUND J. BOUTIN, Chester, NH, died August 28, 2018. He was the son of the late Saint Michael’s College President Bernard Boutin, the College’s first lay president.

After graduating summa cum laude from Saint Michael’s, Ed obtained his law degree from Georgetown University in 1971. After law school he remained in Washington and served as legislative assistant to Sen. Thomas McIntyre. His next position as associate general counsel at Sanders Associates brought him back to his family’s native New Hampshire, where he would remain for the balance of his life. In 1976, Ed and his partners founded the law firm where he worked for the next 42 years. His clients included Fortune 500 companies, but he most valued helping private individuals and municipalities, establishing long-term relationships. He served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court Professional Conduct Committee for many years, and was involved with numerous civic and community organizations, most recently serving the board of the Sonshine Soup Kitchen in Derry, NH. He enjoyed reading, cigars, nature, fishing, and good conversation. Ed was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Linda, his

mother, Alice, four brothers, five sisters, and extended family. port, NY, died August 8, 2018, from diabetes complications.

He was an Army veteran and served in Vietnam in 1970.

For a long time he was an administrator for the U.S. Postal Service, just recently retiring, and for a time he worked as a stockbroker on Wall Street, and had been an account executive at Bache & Co. and a senior financial analyst at First National City Bank early on. He also at one time taught at Chaminade High School, Mineola, NY, according to his classmate Wallace Kearns. Jim loved to sail, mainly in Long Island Sound and up and down the East Coast a few times, and he was an avid skier. He traveled extensively and was skilled at billiards. He loved spending summers in Ogunquit, ME. He is survived by a sister.

1970 THOMAS M. HEFFERNAN,

Bayside, NY, died July 7, 2018.

After Saint Michael’s he earned an education doctorate from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Tom had worked as an educator at Western Australian Institute of Technology, the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and the Mercer University School of Medicine, and served in the Vermont National Guard. He enjoyed reading. Tom is survived by three brothers, a sister, and extended family.

DOUGLAS D. DUCKETT, Groton, VT, died October 9, 2018, following a diagnosis 15 months earlier of pancreatic cancer. He worked for 28 years for Shaw’s Supermarkets in several different management positions. He loved the outdoors, working in his vegetable garden and perfecting his beach on Groton Pond. He was an avid fisherman, both in Florida and on Cape Cod, especially with his three brothers. He also loved deer hunting in Connecticut. Most of all he loved camp on Groton Pond, anxiously waiting for winter to end in Florida to drive back to Vermont. Doug volunteered for Habitat for Humanity on many projects in Florida and Vermont, and volunteered with the Groton Chicken Pie Supper for several Octobers. He is survived by his wife, Jacky, three daughters, three brothers, two sisters, and extended family.

1972 ROGER R. FESTA, Kirksville, MO, died May 25, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned a master’s degree in agriculture from the University of Vermont, a C.A.S. in administration from Fairfield University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Connecticut. He also did post-doctoral study at Indiana University. First and foremost he was a teacher — of biology and chemistry at Central Catholic High School and

Brien McMahon High School, both in Norwalk, CT. After earning his doctorate he was a chemistry professor at Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, where he recently was named professor emeritus. Roger was president of the American Institute of Chemists (AIC) in 1996–97 and served the AIC board for many years, and later the board of AIC’s supporting foundation. From 1980 to 1990 he was associate editor of the Journal of Chemical Education. His research focused on processes and outcomes of undergraduate chemistry education. He was active with Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and in 1985 helped establish Truman State University’s chapter of the coed professional fraternity in chemistry. He also was involved in many other professional societies and his university’s Newman Center.

Roger was a St. Louis Cardinals fan and enjoyed studying St. Louis history. He is survived by a sister and extended family.

1973 RALPH FRANCIS BYRNE,

Columbus, GA, died July 30, 2018. At one time (according to the 1990 alumni survey), he worked as a division manager for Spectrum Star in Columbus, GA. He had lived in Ohio in the late 1970s, correspondence in his college file shows. He enjoyed sports and was a fan of the New York Mets and Jets. He and Michael Berardino ’73, a classmate from both Ralph’s

Long Island high school and Saint Michael’s, celebrated New Year’s in 1972 and 1973 at the Orange Bowl and Disney, and they spent Mardi Gras together in the mid1970s, according to Mike, who adds, “A Mass is being offered in his good name [at the College) and a donation [made] to my dad’s education scholarship there.” No official word on survivors was available.

1974 PAUL KELLIHER, West Roxbury, MA, died August 2, 2018. Paul was proud to be one of the early members of Saint Michael’s Fire & Rescue after its founding. After 25 years working as a detective for the Brookline Police in Massachusetts, he was promoted to sergeant and worked in the patrol division.

In 1995 correspondence with the College, Paul shared that he was married with three children and had attended three months of training at the FBI’s National Academy in Quantico, VA. No word was available about survivors.

LEO T. LA PRADE JR., Poughkeepsie, NY, died June 26, 2018. For 32 years, Leo was the president and CEO of La Prade Services, Inc., in Poughkeepsie and a proud supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous, and earlier in his work career he was a manager of a Jack in the Box franchise.

He enjoyed playing guitar — on stage whenever possible — including with the New Jersey group Zaire, with

IN MEMORIAM

JAMES J. BURNES, North-

1971

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IN MEMORIAM 68

whom he often sat in. Leo loved golf. He is survived by his wife of nearly 15 years, Lynn, a brother, and extended family.

JOHN D. STEVENSON,

Denton, MD, died July 7, 2018. His work career included sales for Stanley Works in Worcester, MA, and most recently, serving as regional sales manager for Jensen Industries and Auth Florence, retiring in 2011. He loved golf and was a past president of the Caroline Country Club. He also enjoyed the Beatles, the Yankees, and the Giants. John is survived by his wife of 32 years, Kathleen, a daughter, two brothers, a sister, and extended family.

1975 PETER J. MAZEIKO, Middletown, NY, died August 10, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he studied flavor chemistry at Farleigh Dickinson and received his MBA from the University of New Haven (CT). He worked at Nestle as a food scientist, then at PFW, Ottens, Takasago, and Bush Baike Allen with his abilities as a flavor chemist. He loved animals, particularly his dogs.

He was an avid runner and enjoyed sailing and golf. He is survived by his wife, Mary, two daughters, his mother, two sisters, and extended family.

JOSEPH D. MEAD,

Plymouth, MA, died June 24, 2018. He worked for the Napier Company in New York

City (fashion and jewelry) for many years before moving to Plymouth. In 2004 he incorporated the East Falmouth Car Wash, serving as president and treasurer of the new business. He is survived by a sister, two brothers, and extended family.

CHARLES R. VERONNEAU, Northfield, CT, died September 14, 2018. After Saint Michael’s he earned an MBA from the University of New Haven, and he achieved his master electrical license in 1980 and solar certification in 2008. He lived in Waterbury, CT, for many years and moved to Northfield in 2006.

He started Veeco, Inc., in 1983, and was an industrial and commercial electrical contractor. Veeco undertook many industrial and hotel projects, and Charlie completed major solar projects that included Fairfield and Trumbull High Schools. He was active in the electricians’ union (IEC) and was president in 1980.

He was director at IMTI Training School in Waterbury for many years. Charlie loved trout fishing, golf, and camping. He is survived by his wife, Rena, his father, a daughter, three sons, a brother, and extended family.

1976 KENNETH LAPINE, Springfield, MA, died September 7, 2018, of cancer. Ken, also known to friends and family as “Big Ken” or “Dancing Bear,” was a 34-year employee of LEGO in Enfield, CT, where he was a senior buyer.

He also was a lifelong musician, avid “Deadhead,” and dedicated fan of Boston sports. He maintained close ties with Saint Michael’s classmates and had their support through his illness until his death. Ken is survived by his wife, Cathie, daughter Cherise LaPine Threewitt ’04, a son, a sister, and extended family.

1977 MARY GAMACHE, Sandwich, MA, died July 9, 2018. Mary worked as a field auditor for the Office of the Massachusetts State Auditor for over 20 years. She loved the beach, travel, all things Disney, golf, dining out, and cruises. She is survived by her husband, Gerard, a sister, two brothers, and extended family.

1979 RAYMOND J. NEUBAUER, Vero Beach, FL, died May 4, 2018. In 1996 he and his family moved to Vero Beach from Albany, NY. He worked as a wealth advisor for Morgan Stanley in Vero Beach.

Besides Saint Michael’s, Ray was a graduate of St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, FL, and in 2015 he was ordained as a deacon at St. Helen Catholic Church.

He also was active in the Vero Beach K of C. Raymond was a former member of the College’s Alumni Board of Directors. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Jan, two sons, a daughter, and extended family.

MARY STEWART WEISS, San Carlos, CA, died June 12, 2017. Besides California, she also had lived in the Boston area for a time earlier in her life, working in marketing with Fairchild Publications and Avatar Technologies. She shared in a 2003 alumni survey that she was then a self-employed marketing consultant in California. Her Saint Michael’s degree was in fine arts, and she was married to Richard Weiss, a psychologist, and had a son. No official word about survivors was available.

1980 JOHN P. VISCARDI III,

Montauk, NY, died May 6, 2017, of cancer. No information was available about his employment career after college. He loved nature and the outdoors and was an avid skier and fisherman. He is survived by two sons, his mother, three sisters, a brother, and extended family.

1981 ANNE E. DWYER, Kingston,

NY, died October 15, 2018.

After earning her business degree at Saint Michael’s she lived in Forest Hills, NY, and worked at WestLB in Manhattan for many years.

She returned to Kingston about 10 years ago. She is survived by her father, James Dwyer ’51, her mother, a sister, two brothers, and extended family.

1983

1984

for 17 years. Recently, he worked as a tutor at the Tutorial Center and a teacher at the Girls Adolescent Program in Bennington. He was a skilled soccer player from youth, including for Saint Michael’s on the varsity team, an all-star baseball player from Little League through high school–age regional leagues, and later a youth sports coach. Matt also was an artist. He is survived by his wife, Brooke Remington, a son, his parents and grandparents, a sister, and extended family.

2000 DAVID M. GAWORECKI, St. Albans, VT, died May 15, 2018. He worked at Vermont Mutual Insurance and previously spent many years at People’s United Bank as an insurance underwriter. David loved wrestling, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, baseball, movies, comics, and concerts. In youth he was very active in Scouting and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout — one of his proudest achievements in Scouting was building a press box for the Essex Little League field that is still in use today. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, a daughter, his parents, a brother, his grandmother, and extended family.

IN MEMORIAM

to work at the PGA National Golf Club. He later caddied ANTHONY F. AMENTA JR., CHRISTOPHER R. BRYNGA, on the PGA tour and Waitsfield, VT, died SeptemWaitsfield, VT, died March 22, developed lifelong friendships ber 29, 2018, of advanced 2018. He worked for CDI with several caddies and gallbladder cancer. After Saint Professional Services as an players. Upon returning to Michael’s he lived in Warren, e-business practice leader.

Vermont he began a career in VT, for a time before moving From 2006 to 2014 Chris the pharmaceutical industry, back to Connecticut and worked for the Travelers which had been his father’s living in Old Saybrook and Companies, where he became work too. When he was 24, he Guilford along the shoreline, second vice president of received the Carnegie Medal where he got into sailboardinformation technology. Most for his heroic rescue of a ing. He worked as a sailmaker recently he worked as an teenage girl and her dog who and in sales and distribution independent consultant based were trapped under their of sailboarding gear and in Waitsfield, VT, and capsized sailboat in frigid snowboards. He moved to Alexandria, VA. Chris was an choppy water off Valcour Waitsfield in 1999, and in avid skier, serving on the ski Island in Lake Champlain. He 2017 married his girlfriend of patrol for more than 30 years enjoyed hunting and fishing 30 years. He worked for 17 at Sugarbush Resort in (and the camaraderie of years at Small Dog ElectronWarren, VT. He also was a camps), and loved nicknames ics and most recently at Cabot volunteer EMTI with Mad and travel with his uncle, Creamery Co-Op’s Waitsfield River Valley Ambulance Msgr. John McSweeney, offices. Tony was a lifelong Service for more than 10 through Vermont and Ireland. skier and snowboarder, a years, and was a member and He is survived by his wife of Catamount Trail Association chair of the Waitsfield 16 years, Stefanie, his father, trustee and volunteer trail Elementary School Board “Iron Knight” basketball star chief, and a past member of covering 17 years. He enjoyed and Athletic Hall of Famer the Mad River Ridge Runners bicycling and his family‘s Hank Gretkowski ’59, three snowmobile club (serving a Connecticut beach house. He brothers including Steve year as president). He was an is survived by his wife of 37 Gretkowski ’91 (inducted into avid cyclist, particularly years, Denise, a son, two the Athletic Hall of Fame in mountain biking, and a trail daughters including Rebecca October 2018), and extended maintenance volunteer. He Brynga ’06, a sister, a brother, family. loved music — bluegrass, and extended family. (ApoloGrateful Dead, Phish — rode gies for incorrect information Harley-Davidson motorcycles, in the obituary for Christo1999 and went to Laconia and pher that appeared in the last Sturgis rallies. He is survived magazine issue.)

JOHN B. GIACALONE JR., by his wife, Peggy, his mother Winchester, MA, died and stepfather, a brother, and September 29, 2018. He is extended family.

1987 survived by two daughters, his parents, a sister, a brother, MICHAEL J. CLEARY, DAVID J. GRETKOWSKI, and extended family.

Enfield, CT, died July 8, 2017.

Burlington, VT, died August 5, He was employed by Aetna 2018, 17 months after being MATTHEW R. RICE, for 27 years as an information diagnosed with glioblastoma.

Bennington, VT, died June 23, technology (IT) specialist.

A natural skilled athlete, he 2018, of a blood clot. The He enjoyed travel, sports, played on the Saint Michael’s Pittsfield, MA, native began gardening, the theater, and golf team, inspiring his move his career in education right fine dining. His wife, Susan, to Florida soon after college after graduation from Saint died in 2014. Michael is Michael’s, at Mount Anthony survived by a brother, a sister, Union Middle School where and extended family. he taught eighth grade history

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IN MEMORIAM

M A S TE R ’ S DE G R E E G R A DU ATE S

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M1 9 7 0 GEORGE W. LILLYMAN, Tulare, CA, died June 9, 2018.

After college at Stonehill in Massachusetts, he worked in business in the Boston area for a decade before moving to Vermont, where he taught French and English for two years and started his master’s degree in English at Saint Michael’s. In 1966 he moved with his wife to New York, taught for a year, won a scholarship to Fresno State, and moved to Tulare, where he worked for a decade at McGraw-Hill Co., then taught fifth grade and became assistant principal at a rural school. He also taught English at three colleges and at a prison; finally he was hired by the University of Nebraska as a media consultant, and he sold Reading Rainbow in the 10 Western states, retiring in 1999. George was very active with AA and a member for 58 years. He was a big sports fan and follower of Boston’s professional teams. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Fran M’70, three sisters, two brothers, and extended family.

M1 9 7 5 ELIZABETH (BUNNY) TEMPLETON, Middlebury,

VT, died August 2, 2018. She graduated with a biology degree from Middlebury College and obtained her MS degree from Saint Michael’s.

She combined her love of history, art, and antiques with her entrepreneurial talents to create a successful antique business in Cornwall, VT. She was active in the League of Women Voters, volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and for charities, and enjoyed bridge.

She was predeceased by her husbands, Dr. Frank Lane (1991) and Robert Templeton (1995), and two daughters. She is survived by a son and extended family.

M1977 SISTER RHEA BEAN, RSM,

Hartsdale, NY, died on September 26, 2018. She joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1957 directly out of Enosburg Falls (VT) High School. As a sister she studied at Manhattanville College and earned a degree from SUNY Potsdam.

It was during her years teaching in upstate New York that she earned her Saint Michael’s master’s degree. She enjoyed music and made that part of her ministry.

M1981 IRENE T. GORA, Montpelier,

VT, died June 30, 2018. Her work career included starting with AT&T in Manhattan, then studying costume design at Pratt Institute and working for a time for Coats and Clark, including as a zipper tester, which got her an appearance on the TV show What’s My Line? She wrote many sewing books while raising her family.

In 1972 she moved to Montpelier and returned to school, earning a home

economics bachelor’s degree from UVM before her Saint Michael’s MSA degree. She lectured on merchandising and consumer studies and design at UVM from 1976 until retiring in 1987. In retirement she produced countless woven, knitted, or sewn projects. She was active in her parish and the Catholic Daughters. Irene was predeceased by her husband, Edward. She is survived by two sons, a daughter, and extended family.

M1983 BERNICE M. KYTE, Beverly, MA, died April 11, 2010, the College learned recently. She worked for many years as an elementary school teacher in Vermont and New Hampshire, played flute, loved travel, and was dedicated to her Christian faith. She is survived by a son, three daughters, and extended family.

M1996 KAREN L. CUNNINGHAM JOHNSON, South Burlington,

VT, died May 30, 2018, from a rare neurological disease, corticobasal degeneration, with which she was diagnosed in 2010. Her undergraduate degree was from Bates College, and she also had a master’s degree in guidance and psychological services from Springfield College. She moved to South Burlington in 1991, and, while working as assistant director of Spectrum Youth and Family Services, she received a second master’s degree, from Saint Michael’s

in Administration and Management. She retired in 2007. Karen volunteered in retirement at United Way, Fletcher Allen ICU, Flynn Theatre, and Lyric Theatre costumes. Her obituary did not list survivors explicitly, but noted her former husband, Donald, lived in Delray Beach, FL, and that she had a sister.

M1998 JOAN E. TIFT, Wallingford,

VT, died May 29, 2018. She graduated in 1954 from Rutland Business College, earned a bachelor’s degree from Burlington College, and then a master’s degree from Saint Michael’s. She worked for several businesses including Turner Electric, and retired in 2007 from the State of Vermont as a rehabilitation counselor. She enjoyed visiting Maine, walking, and listening to music. She is survived by her husband, Nelson, a daughter, a son, two sisters, and extended family.

M2012 PAMELA J. ARGY, Williston, VT, died May 7. She received her Saint Michael’s master’s degree after earning a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University. In 2008, she retired from IBM as a systems analyst after 32 years. Active at her parish, Pam taught religious education and Bible study, and enjoyed reading, movies, and her cat. She is survived by a brother, her stepmother, and extended family.

FA C U LTY, STA FF, A ND F R IE N DS Leominster, MA, died March 15, 2018. She earned her history master’s degree from Saint Michael’s mid-career, after entering the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1949 and professing vows in 1954.

She received an education bachelor’s degree from Regina Coeli College in Fitchburg, MA, before her Saint Michael’s studies.

She taught at many Catholic schools in the New England states, followed by spending nearly a decade in the field of gerontology. She then was receptionist and sacristan at Presentation Convent, Leominster. She is survived by a sister, a brother, and extended family.

GEOFFREY NOEL BURNHAM, New Bern,

NC, died July 1, 2018. A graduate of Brown University, Geoff taught calligraphy for more than 33 years at Saint Michael’s as an adjunct instructor in the Fine Arts Department until a few years ago. After retirement, he moved to New Bern to be close to his brother. He is survived by a brother, a sister, and extended family.

SISTER VIRGINIA CAIN, RSM, Winooski, VT, died

October 10, 2018. Sr. Virginia earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Trinity College, Burlington, a sociology master’s degree from Saint Michael’s, and her nursing degree (RN) from Vermont College / Norwich

CATHERINE LETTIE DERBY, Colchester, VT, died August 12, 2018. Catherine had a 24-year career working in the Saint Michael’s Admission Office after raising her four children. She was a skilled baker and active in her parish.

Her husband, Roger Derby ’62, predeceased her. She is

survived by three sons including Richard Derby ’89, a daughter, Nicole Derby ’95, and extended family.

CATHERINE G. HURST, Pittsburgh, PA, emeritus professor of Fine Arts / Theater and longtime beloved director of plays at the College from 1994 through 2017, died September 16, 2018, of complications associated with a brain lymphoma. She was co-artistic director for Saint Michael’s Playhouse from 1997 through 2003 and director of more than 50 academic and professional productions, including her original play Cirque du Souffle at the Playhouse in 2000, featuring Equity actors and NECI chefs (Cathy loved to cook).

She received the 2015 Kennedy Center Gold Medallion for Excellence in Teaching. She taught at University of Nevada Las Vegas from 1987 to 1994 before coming to Saint Michael’s. Cathy is survived by her husband, Robert, two stepsons, two stepdaughters, her mother, a brother, two sisters, and extended family.

PATRICIA A. NOWAK, South Burlington, VT, died March 31, 2018. Pat was a mentor and supporter of student interns from Saint Michael’s at her local finance / insurance firm, working closely with Paul Olsen in the Business Administration & Accounting Department, and was an associate trustee of the College in 1999, along with being a strong supporter of the Purple Knights men’s ice hockey program. A graduate

of Salem State College in Massachusetts, she started her insurance career with New York Life in 1979 before (with her husband, Bob) opening Nowak & Nowak Financial Services, an insurance and financial consulting firm in Williston. She won many awards in her field and from business groups. She also held positions with the State of Vermont (Natural Resources Board, Job Expo) and was active in South Burlington civic activities. She is survived by her husband, Robert, three sons, two daughters, a sister, a brother, and extended family.

LUIS R. QUIROZ, Fresno, CA, died September 30, 2018. A native of Bolivia, Luis studied at the American Institute in the Bolivian capital La Paz, and earned two master’s degrees from Saint Michael’s (MAT and M.Ed.) and one from the University of Vermont (in Spanish). An emeritus professor of modern languages and Spanish at Saint Michael’s, he taught from 1962 through 1998. He was particularly connected to Saint Michael’s international students alongside his American students, and organized programs with Central American students in the Junior Fulbright program at the College in the 1990s.

He stayed connected to the College through frequent visits from California even into recent years, supporting students and presenting materials to Durick Library.

Along with his teaching, Luis was known at Saint Michael’s for creating extracurricular

IN MEMORIAM

SR. LILIAN BEATTIE,

University. She entered the Sisters of Mercy on August 15, 1946, and professed her vows in 1949. She taught elementary and high school throughout Vermont in Burlington, Montpelier, Barre, and Middlebury. She then served two decades as a nurse, caring for the elderly and sick sisters at Mount Saint Mary (Sisters of Mercy Mother House) in Burlington and visiting nursing homes and hospitals.

She also spent two years as a visiting nurse in Selma, AL, working with people living in poverty. Through 72 years in religious life, Sr. Virginia also was involved in Mercy-sponsored ministries, including the Trinity College Board and the Institute for Spiritual Development. With other sisters and Mercy Associates she opened a thrift shop on North Street. She volunteered as a mentor to women transitioning from incarceration, and she worked during many summers at Marycrest Camp (27 summers, nine as director). She oversaw justice work and spent time in Jamaica and Haiti visiting homes, hospitals, and orphanages. She was a Red Cross volunteer and a board member of the Chittenden Food Shelf. She is survived by a brother and extended family.

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activities such as the publication of bilingual newspapers, celebration of bilingual Masses, Latin American festivals, and other initiatives.

During his last four years at the College, he had a chance to delve into research that resulted in his major work, concerning the influence of Cervantes’s Don Quijote on Bolivian art, titled Cervantes y Don Quijote en Bolivia, a 950-page compendium published in La Paz: PROINSA, 2009. His wife, Cila, predeceased him. They had two sons. No further official word was available about survivors.

REV. PHILIPPE SIMONNET, SSE, Brienon-sur-Armançon,

France, died July 16, 2018.

He was the last Edmundite serving in France. After completing his religious formation and seminary studies in France and in Randolph, VT, he was ordained to the priesthood in Burlington, VT, on May 10, 1952. Subsequently he served parish ministries and served as vocation director for the Society of St. Edmund in France (1952–56), as an instructor at Saint Michael’s (1956–57), and in a great variety of pastoral ministries in the Diocese of Sens and Auxerre in France (1957–2001). He also was the Edmundite director

of novices in France (1977– 79). Fr. Simonnet was an accomplished organist and a connoisseur of the arts, architecture, and nature, and he climbed some of the highest mountains in Europe, including Mont Blanc.

His ashes were entombed in the Edmundite crypt at Pontigny Abbey, where the Edmundites were founded.

Rev. Marcel Rainville, SSE ’67, represented the Edmundites at the funeral and gave reflections during Mass.

WARREN G. SPARKS, Burlington, VT / Punta Gorda, FL, died May 12, 2018. Warren was a professor of mathematics at Saint Michael’s for 27 years. He served in the Navy during World War II in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters aboard a destroyer and later a landing craft tank, and was in the first wave in Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. After the war he lived briefly in Rhode Island and North Carolina, teaching for the Navy and continuing his education. He earned a master’s degree from Boston University before moving to Vermont and beginning his Saint Michael’s teaching career.

He and his wife become winter residents of Florida in 1990. He was a fan of the Boston professional sports teams and enjoyed music, bridge, travel, nature, and coffee. He is survived by his wife, Fern, a son, and two daughters. His first wife, Jean, whom he married in 1947, predeceased him.

CLIFFORD A. TIMPSON, Island Pond, VT, died October 11, 2018. For many years he worked as a teacher of German at Saint Michael’s.

A lover of both music and languages, he chose to major in German, Russian, and Eastern European Studies at the University of Vermont and earned his master’s degree in German language and literature there in 1988.

He also mastered Latin and had a working knowledge of Czech and Gaelic. A talented trumpet player, he spent one summer in Europe performing with a concert band. Besides teaching at Saint Michael’s, he taught German and Latin at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans for a time. He became a master home brewer, winning many awards for his beer. He also love cooking, exploring the cultures he taught in class through cuisine. He loved all things Tolkien.

In his last year he achieved his lifelong dream of starting his own bakery, the Emerald Isle Bakery in Island Pond, representing his Irish heritage. He is survived by his wife, Leesa, two brothers, and extended family.

ERRAT UM In the Spring/Summer 2018 issue’s Faculty and Alumni Works section, we failed to properly cite site the article in Theoretical Computer Science.

The citation should have read, J. Ellis-Monaghan, G. Pangborn, N.C. Seeman, S. Blakeley ’15, C. Disher ’17, M. Falcigno ’15, B. Healy ’16, A. Morse, B. Singh ’16, M. Westland ’16, “Design tools for Reporter Strands and DNA Origami Scaffold Strands”, Theoretical Computer Science, 671 no. 6 (2017) 69-78.

In that same issue, we also received late notice of another student awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholarship. Emma Barnes ’18, an economics and mathematics double major from Amherst, WI, is teaching in Indonesia and represents the fourth Fulbright Scholar that graduated in May 2018.

AN E XCE R P T F R O M D R . D . E . L ORRAINE STE RRITT’S I N A U G U R AT I O N S P E E C H , SEP TEMBE R 22, 2018 Today, like the Janus figure, we look both to our past and to our future. We look with pride to our past, and we look with optimism to our future. Our vision for the future mandates that we be as bold, as brave, as courageous, and as creative as the Edmundites who founded this college.

We are well aware of the challenges that higher education faces. These challenges are real, but we must not be defined by them. We must fight back.

Just as Saint Michael himself fought and conquered Satan, so must the College that bears his name fight and conquer the challenges confronting higher education today. We must CELEBRATE the idea of education as intrinsically worthwhile AND as preparation for careers. These two goals are not mutually exclusive. They are two sides of the same coin. Every major at Saint Michael’s can and does lead to a career that is satisfying in every way.

As we look to the future, we maintain and steadfastly uphold the dedication to service that brought our college into being and remains at its core today.

We must also put forth our very best thinking in a spirit of creativity, innovation, and imagination to envision an educational program for the 21st century that is second to none, an educational program that is intellectually stimulating AND prepares students for careers. We must also address the issues of our day, such as poverty, access to health care, discrimination, and the sustainability of our planet and the species that inhabit it.

To read full speech visit smcvt.edu/magazine

No n-Pro f i t O rg.

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