summer2015
COLLEGE MAGA ZINE
The Inspired Explorer How Place Affects the Creative Mind
Also: The Rome Experience • Commencement 2015 • Relief in South Sudan
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COLLEGE MAGAZINE
VOLUME 10 SUMMER 2015
Features Unbound • 9 One fine arts professor brings a popular children’s book to life.
Statue Story • 10 Explore the story of this unique Hall of Fame artifact.
The Inspired Explorer • 11 Can place inform creativity?
Special Photo Feature: Commencement 2015 • 14 Celebrate the class of 2015!
Departments
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Monk POV • 4 A roundup of some of our favorite posts and an alumna reflects on SJC’s Portland days.
In Brief • 5 The facts of a campus-wide LED conversion are illuminating, and other news from SJC.
Numbers • 8 A recent survey of alumni looks at the numbers behind engagement.
Faculty Thought: Catholic Social Teaching • 20 David Hammond discusses response versus reaction
Sneak26Peek in the Catholic faith.
In/Outside the Classroom: The Rome Experience • 22
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Experience life outside of the hall, with Steve Bridge
Profile: 3 Questions With… • 24 Meet Theresa Hendrix ‘15, three-sport student-athlete
Profile: Hope in South Sudan • 25 Curtis Tyler ‘01, agent of change in this new African country
Alumni Highlights 2015 Alumni Awards • 26 Continuing a Legacy: The Dessaults • 28
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From the Chair • 29
Class Notes • 29 summer 2015 | 1
FEELING THE LOVE
For our 2015 Alumni Survey conducted via email, we heard from 866 undergraduate alumni to find out more about how you interact with the College. What did we discover? You like us, you really like us! Let’s break it down further, shall we?
A recent survey of alumni finds a continuing connection with SJC.
How do you like to stay informed?
74%
44%
43%
e-newsletter
magazine
28%
social media
FAVORITE WAYS TO RECONNECT campus visits
133 92
402
30 34
35
25 24
156
164 3788
12
95
19
40
89 94
69
27 141
38 68 413
67 53 75
728
229
175 100 605 105 202 28 87
900 52
415 405 401
187 209 902
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reunion
884 1540 129 482 555 45 377
athletic events
For those not visiting campus? 59% cited distance as the only hold-up, and 28% want to become more engaged with regional alumni events. The Alumni Association’s reach includes all 50 states—so whether you’re one of the 902 alumni living in Florida or one of the 134 in Washington, there are plenty of grads in your state to organize a chapter. Contact the Alumni Office to start the conversation today.
PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS SULLIVAN
Unbound
PHOTO COURTESY OF CIVIL AIR PATROL NATIONAL HISTORY PROGRAM
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wo days a week, Chris Sullivan, assistant professor of fine arts, gets the chance to take the lessons he teaches to his students and give them real-world application through his work creating exhibits and installations for the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine in Portland. Sullivan’s most recent project is an interactive outdoor display based on the children’s book Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee by beloved Maine author Chris Van Dusen. Billed as “Chris Van Dusen’s Down to the Sea: An Outdoor Adventure,” the exhibit marries the 2-D world of Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee with 3-D models and play areas. The museum’s mission calls for its young members to have a safe environment in which they can explore their senses and push boundaries. In the new space, the plot of Down to the Sea leaps off of the page at each station, where sections from the book are presented next to real-life counterparts, including a whale pond for water play and a shipwreck jungle gym to promote gross motor activity. “The exhibit is a good example of utilizing both traditional and new media,” says Sullivan. “A student’s tool kit will change over time, which is why as an educator, I try to impart the skill set of a critical thinker. It’s this philosophical approach that makes the art degree program at Saint Joseph’s so effective.” Sullivan’s well-worn motto—“When art’s done well, it’s always a collaborative process”—informed the exhibit’s connection with the community. Working with a Maine author and a team of local builders, design volunteers, and museum col-
Fine arts professor Chris Sullivan brings Chris Van Dorsen’s cherished children’s book to life.
BY LIZA DARVIN
leagues, Sullivan tried to imbue a sense of history into the exhibit through collaboration. The shipwreck jungle gym, for instance, is based off of a real wreck that lies off the coast of Wiscasset, Maine. Saint Joseph’s College even had the chance to have a hand in the creative process, donating the sapling that sits as the focal point of the exhibit.
“Good exhibits are open-ended. They’re a conversation that is fluid through time, space, and history,” Sullivan waxes philosophically. But for all the high-minded concept work and attention to detail that went into “Down to the Sea,” he’s quick to bring the conversation back to one of the most important aspects for a successful children’s exhibit: enjoyment. “Because it’s hands-on and interactive, it’s just plain fun!”
To get more information on “Down to the Sea” and to plan a visit to the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, see their website at kitetails.org.
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history
Statue Story We pull back the glass to get an insider’s look at what’s described as SJC’s original monk.
BY LIZA DARVIN
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ucked between the jerseys, bats, and photographs that fill the cases in the Athletics Hall of Fame in the Sablone Alumni Room, sits a rather simple wooden sculpture. Dubbed “The Original Monk” by a plaque at its base, the figurine is cradling a Bible in two hands and smiling serenely. Even surrounded by other memorabilia, this piece stands out, almost as an archeological find—and in many ways, the keepsake is just that, dating back to the College’s early days as the Monks. The monk moniker fits well with the College’s Catholic identity and symbolizes many of the attributes student-athletes strive for: togetherness, self-sacrifices, discipline, and comradeship. Yet, the mascot came to the College purely on happenstance when, in 1970, the former director of athletics, Chris Kiernan, was tasked with starting a varsity division on a shoestring budget. Knowing that the beleaguered Assumption Prep in Worcester, Massachusetts, was soon to close, Kiernan asked to have their old uniforms—jerseys that were emblazoned with the school’s nickname, The Monks. It obviously stuck, and was an immediate hit with the president at the time, Bernard Currier. So much so, that, during a trip to Ireland shortly thereafter, friends of the College thought to purchase a small, wooden replica of a monk as a souvenir, which sat on Currier’s desk for the remainder of his presidency. Though the official Monks mascot has gone through many interpretations, “The Original Monk” has remained a treasured fixture and symbol for the College’s Athletics Department. “There is a sense of pride among our students who wear the unique name of Monks on their uniforms,” says Brian Curtin, the College’s athletics director. “The name provides students a unique bond and a sense of strength, both when they compete and when they leave here as alums.”
To learn the story behind these shoes and other Hall of Fame items, visit sjcme.edu/magazine.
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Fast Fact Saint Joseph’s is the only college team in any NCAA division (I–III) and in any college athletics association (e.g., NAIA, NJCAA, USCAA) with the Monks name.
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INSPIRED EXPLORER What happens when you transcend your ordinary? It changes your world. STORY AL ANNA CONN PHOTOS BY SCOTT FULLER
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ast summer, seven Saint Joseph’s College students—ranging in majors from environmental science to fine arts—headed to Logan International Airport in Boston. Their suitcases, packed tight with wetsuits and waterproof cameras, wheeled along behind them. They were off to Isla Mujeres, an island eight miles off the coast of Cancún, Mexico. They weren’t going for the beaches, but the sharks. Not just any sharks. Whale sharks. This summer excursion was led by fine arts professor Scott Fuller, and was facilitated by professional natural history filmmaker Mauricio Handler. The goal of their trip was to make photographs— more specifically, underwater photographs of whale sharks, the largest living fish species known. And though the students did that, the trip produced more than photographs; it inspired creativity.
“Everyone was there to build documenting skills,” says Fuller. “We worked hard to produce quality footage, both still and moving. Beyond that, we asked the students to be open to creative possibilities, and to realize something new within their creative practice.”
Eight miles off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, SJC faculty and students dived into the world of the whale shark with guide Mauricio Handler.
Cultivating Creativity For years, Mauricio Handler worked for National Geographic magazine as a member of its underwater photography team. Now, the Chilean native produces documentaries, teaches, and leads photography expeditions on both land and sea. (His production company is called Aquaterrafilms.) “We do four to five expeditions a year,” says Handler, “including two 20-day trips to Papua New Guinea, back to back. In the coming year, we’re planning to do Sipadan Island, Malaysia, and ham-
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feature merhead, tiger sharks, and wild dolphins in the Bahamas. We usually cater to small groups of no more than eight participants.” Small groups comprised of skilled professionals. His typical clients have thousands or tens of thousands of dollars invested in equipment, and they publish books of their photography. So for Handler to lead an expedition of Saint Joseph’s students, most equipped with no more than GoPros and swimsuits, was new for him. “My other clients are after the pictures. “After a week swimming with If they don’t get the whale sharks,” says Fuller, shots, we’ve got an “you get inspired.” issue. These students, though, they were just floored. The photos didn’t matter as much—it was the experience. It altered their planet, I think.” On Deck: Nate Winter ‘17 Handler’s got good reason for thinking that. married his music with the Most psychologists agree that openness to experiocean, filling his guitar with seawater while entertaining ences is the personality trait most closely associhis shipmates with song. ated with creativity. “The richer your catalog of reallife experiences,” says Saint Joseph’s psychology professor Joshua Schoenfeld, “the more ingredients you have for your imagination.” The students certainly tested out new ingredients. “We were on the boat by 7 a.m. every day,”
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says Kaye Peabody ’15, a business communications major. “We’d spend about six hours in the water, swimming with and photographing whale sharks. When we got back to the island, we’d have the rest of the day to explore. We’d eat at a different restaurant every night.” “It was a foreign country, foreign food,” says Handler. And even that—just the experience of eating new food—can have a profound effect on an individual’s mind, says Schoenfeld. “We use the term plasticity, which refers to the fact that the brain isn’t fixed—it’s a living organ, just like any other organ. It reorganizes and responds to stimulation no matter the age. Even something psychological like a memory, the axiom goes, is a biological event. It changes the brain at the biological level. So students’ minds, after going on a trip like this, won’t be the same.” The students themselves can confirm that. For one, they became better photographers on Isla Mujeres. With hundreds of whale shark encounters over the course of the trip, they had plenty of opportunities to hone their technical skills. Yet beyond practicing underwater photography, the students explored their imaginations—sometimes for art, other times for entertainment.
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They created a short film. They played baseball with juggling sticks and hacky sacks. One student, business and fine arts double major Nate Winter ’17, wrote and performed songs. At one point, he filled his acoustic guitar with seawater and let his classmates, Fuller, and Handler document while he strummed a tune and the Caribbean came cascading out, literally. Later, he smashed the same guitar rock star-style against a pile of rocks on the shore. It took five hits and less than six seconds to obliterate it. “After a week swimming with whale sharks,” says Fuller, “you get inspired.”
back trips to Isla Mujeres, and a new set of students will grow their catalogs. “My hope is that the students, after going on a trip like this, can look at a problem—in their lives or in society—and find creative solutions to it,” says Fuller. “This expedition should be a catalyst for transformation.”
“Students’ minds…won’t be the same,” says psychology professor Joshua Schoenfeld, after going on a trip like this one to film whale sharks.
Going Beyond “Creativity depends on imagination,” says Schoenfeld. “The most creative people are the ones who can see beyond what’s most obvious, beyond what’s right in front of them.” That’s exactly what the whale shark trip did for these students, and what travel in general can do. It enriches the mind’s catalog of experiences. This August, Fuller and Handler will lead two back-to-
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feature For the Class of 2015...
Seeing is Believing
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“Take advantage of everything.” #GradsofSJCME
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feature On May 9, 2015, Saint Joseph’s College held its 102nd Commencement exercises, welcoming 561 accomplished individuals from across the country— and the world—into the College’s Alumni Association. Page 15: What did Commencement mean to our grads? We took to the pavement on the big day and asked soon-to-be alumni for their reflections. Find them all on Instagram with the hashtag #GradsofSJCME. Pages 16–17: Ever wonder how you change? We’ve got that covered. This triptych captures the class of 2015’s portrait from their first year on campus and their last days—complete with a mortarboard toss! This spread, clockwise from top left: Students and their friends and family gathered on campus the day before Commencement for the baccalaureate Mass. This year’s honorary degree recipients included Mary Dempsey, co-founder of The Patrick Dempsey Center for Hope & Healing; Sister Mary Sullivan, RSM, from the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas—New York, Pennsylvania, Pacific West Region; and Elizabeth McLellan, RN, MSN, MPH, president and founder of Partners for World Health. Students shared their year’s research with visitors at the annual Research Fair on the eve of Commencement. To learn more about their research, visit sjcme.edu//magazine.
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legacy
A Decade of Building Florence Dussault’s Legacy
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decade since the passing of Florence Godfrey (“Flo”) Dussault ’96, family and friends have kept her legacy going strong by founding and raising funds regularly for the Florence G. Dussault ‘96 Endowed Scholarship for a nursing major. The scholarship is for a nursing student from Massachusetts who demonstrates a strong commitment to community service, academic achievement, and athletics. Florence’s husband, Paul, and three daughters worked tirelessly to create a celebration marking the tenth year of her passing, raising money annually to reach their goal. This spring, nearly 100 supporters gathered at the Oliver Wight Tavern in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, for an evening to celebrate the memories of Flo and participate in a silent auction to support the scholarship. To the surprise of everyone, a $5,000 check was presented by Vince and Bianca Wilfork, of the Vince Wilfork Foundation. Thanks to this year’s event, an additional $14,000 will go to support the endowment, which now has a current market value of more than $100,000. This wonderful effort by the Dussault family and friends created moments of shared joy and compassion while continuing Flo’s legacy and making possible additional scholarships for deserving Saint Joseph’s nursing students.
TOP TO BOTTOM: Thanks to many generous contributions from those who loved Florence, the Florence Godfrey Dussault ‘96 Endowed Scholarship saw an additional $14,000 added to the endowment, which now has a market value of more than $100,000. This memorial gathering for Flo included fond recollections of her legacy and fun times.
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Going Strong in Westbrook
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hen Matthew Rairdon’s life ended tragically in 2013—the same year he graduated from the College and got a job as a nurse in the emergency room of Mercy Hospital in Portland—his family rallied supporters to kick off the Westbrook Strong 5K, a walk/jog/run event in downtown Westbrook, Maine, that was held this summer on July 18 for its second year. The 5K, which saw 354 participants this year, raises funds for the Matthew Rairdon ’13 Memorial Scholarship, a fund that recognizes a nursing student from Maine who has the same passion that Matt had for his profession. This year, despite passing storms on race day, the 5K raised more than $16,000 to support the endowed scholarship, ensuring that Matt’s legacy and passion for nursing will continue. In gathering hundreds of friends, family members, classmates, neighbors, and SJC alumni, Westbrook Strong has given comfort to the Rairdon family, while making it possible to invest in the life of nursing majors now and for the future.
Gary and Laurie Rairdon (top and bottom right) honor their son’s passion for nursing by raising funds for the Matthew Rairdon ’13 Memorial Scholarship. The 2nd Annual Westbrook Strong 5K—the fundraising event for the endowment—raised more than $16,000 this year.
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