St. Xavier Magazine Fall 2010

FALL/WINTER 2010

Greater Cincinnati’s Jesuit High School

Men for Others

ALSO: DIGITAL DIMENSION • ST. X IN SERVICE SPECIAL INSERT: 2009-2010 Honor Roll

WHAT WE ARE WHAT WE WERE WHAT WE STRIVE TO BE

A M D G

PSSST… C’MERE. Yeah, you. Over here.

Shhhh. I may have lost my man card.

Do you think you can help me find it?

I’ve looked all over, but think I dropped it somewhere between 30-Minute Meals and The Barefoot Contessa. No, I’ve never grown my own herbs or made my own flower arrangements. In fact, I wave the man card around like a Zippo at a Zeppelin concert for Triple D. You know, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. There’s not much more manly than hitting the back roads in a convertible and chowing down on grub that doesn’t know the meaning of the words “low in fat.” Any Bobby Flay grilling show works the same way because fire and red meat are uniformly manly. Couldn’t have lost it during Iron Chef (either the badly dubbed original or the stylized American version), because competition is involved. So is fire most episodes. Truth be told, I’d voluntarily hand in the man card for Rachel Ray, whose sunny disposition makes Glinda the Good Witch seem like Leona Helmsley during tax season.

Rationalizations aside, in some people’s eyes I watch way too much Food Network to be considered strictly good for the safety of my man card. But the shows are instructive in ways not entirely gustatorial. For example, a good dish rarely requires more than five or six ingredients.

Simplicity is important. Too many ingredients muddle the meal, steal focus from what’s important on the plate. Herbs and sauces are meant to compliment, not dominate. Simplicity starts with the raw materials. Fresh ingredients make a dish pop.

The Society of Jesus begins and ends with such simplicity. St. Ignatius preached and lived a life of indifference to sickness or health, wealth or poverty, long life or short. His Spiritual Exercises strip away the herbs and sauces of life and focus on what’s important—our relationship with God. Jesuits are renowned the world over for taking men of talent and putting them in a position to use those talents for the greater glory of God. That Jesuits are doctors, attorneys, scientists,

FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD

musicians and photographers—in addition handling to more traditional priestly duties like pastor, teacher, chaplain, theologian—should come as no surprise.

Any Jesuit endeavor, therefore, has a simple mission. Take the best raw materials and make a simply spectacular end product. To carry the food metaphor into a school setting, look at the students as the main course. St. Xavier is fortunate to be able to pick the best and brightest across the city. We are blessed to have chefs— excuse me, teachers—who are both skilled and passionate in their preparation and presentation.

“With expert skill and tireless dedication our faculty and staff members form boys into a community of men,” said President Fr. Thomas Merkel S.J. of Creighton Prep in Omaha, Nebraska. He was speaking of his own school, but articulated what St. X and other Jesuit schools across the country do exceptionally well.

“They prod and shape, encourage and discipline our students to become their best.”

Gratitude is the secret ingredient. None of what St. Xavier accomplishes occurs in a vacuum.

We are grateful to God for the opportunities He gives us every day. Those of us who work here can never say thank you enough to the parents who entrust us with their sons. Neither can we say thank you enough to the alumni, friends and benefactors who support the efforts of the school.

“We season our students with nothing other than the example of Jesus and the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola,” Fr. Merkel said. “The result of this shaping is a group of men ready to set the world on fire, seeking God and His greater glory.”

Simple. And there’s fire. Maybe the man card isn’t lost after all.

MARK D. MOTZ, ’87 EDITOR MMotz@stxavier.org

CONTENTS fall/winter 2010

VOL. XXXIX, NO. 1, FALL/WINTER 2010

COVER FEATURE

“He who carries God in his heart bears Heaven with him wherever he goes.”

—St. Ignatius Loyola

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Fine Arts Part of a Fine Education

by Grace DeGregorio

St. X in Service to Wider World

by Mark D. Motz (’87)

departments 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 3 WE ARE ST. X 9 PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Digital Dimension

St. X Expanding its Social Media Presence

14 VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 15 BUDGET REPORT 22 ALUMNI X-CERPTS

Digital Dimension, page 20.

CONTRIBUTORS Rev. Dennis P. Ahern S.J., ’56 Cheryl L. Asper Sylvia M. Betz Grace DeGregorio Richard P. Klus Heidi B. Eveleigh John Schrantz, ’96 Mark D. Motz, ’87 Ralph A. Nardini, ’77 Michael A. Sadouskas, ’74 Anthony E. Schad, ’81 Jynefir D. Slusher Catherine Smith Paul J. Zook, ’57

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mrs. Beth L. Basil Mrs. Ann M. Berger Mr. David J. Cassady, ’75 Mr. Robert J. Davis, ’84 Rev. Joseph D. Folzenlogen S.J., ’58 Mr. Thomas A. Gill Rev. Michael J. Graham S.J. Mr. Richard A. Haglage, ’73 Mr. Steven L. Hils, ’71 Dr. J. Richard Hirte Rev. Timothy A. Howe S.J., Ex Officio Mr. Michael K. Keating, ’73, Board Chair Mr. Lawrence A. Leser, ’53 Rev. Patrick E. McGrath S.J. Mr. Michael S. McGraw, ’73 Dr. Gerri S. Mosley-Howard Mr. William J. Mulvihill, ’65 Rev. Edward L. Pigott S.J., ’55, Ex Officio Mrs. Patricia P. Robertson Mrs. Bettina Ross Mr. Timothy J. Schroeder, ’75 Rev. William L. Verbryke S.J., ’71

features To Give and Not to Count the Cost

ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER June Pfaff Daley

ADMINISTRATION Rev. Timothy A. Howe S.J., President Mr. David B. Mueller, ’72, Principal Rev. Ed L. Pigott S.J. ’55, Rector

Cover Story, page 16.

Recent graduates Spencer West (’10) and Trevor Keating (’10) created this mural decorating a stairwell in the fine arts wing.

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In the Eye of the Beholder

St. Xavier students have a variety of visual art options, including a print-making studio.

PHOTO BY JAY BACHEMIN, ’73

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cover story

EDITOR Mark D. Motz, ‘87

24 X-PEDITIONS 28 BACK PORCH 29 CALENDAR

PRINTING Joseph Berning Printing Company St. Xavier Magazine is published three times a year by the alumni, development and public relations offices.

St. Xavier High School 600 W. North Bend Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45224-1499 Phone (513) 761-7815 ext. 121 (513) 761-7600 ext. 121 Fax (513) 761-2586 http://www.stxavier.org e-mail mmotz@stxavier.org Alumni Hot Line 1-800-572-5340 ext. 114 Direct all Letters to the Editor, address changes, or other correspondence to the above address.

Postmaster: Send address corrections to: St. Xavier Magazine, 600 W. North Bend Road, Cincinnati, OH 45224-1499.

PRESIDENT’S

MESSAGE

BY TIMOTHY A. HOWE, ’72

T

he founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius Loyola, encourages us to “seek God in all things.” We look for Him everywhere we go: in relationships, in our work, in nature.

If our eyes—and more importantly, our hearts—are open, God makes himself known to us. How do you see God? In a very literal sense, you can see him in the fascinating Le Christ by Georges Rouault, the newest painting in our growing collection of fine art (see more on this painting in our cover story on page 16).

In this artist’s portrayal of the face of Christ, God is eminently human.

Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel paints a scene for us of the final judgment. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (vv.31-32) When God thanks the righteous for taking care of him, they are confused and ask when it was that they did so. Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me, he replies. The face of Christ manifests itself in the many faces of the hungry and the thirsty, the

stranger and the ill.

I had the opportunity to live and work with some of our brothers and sisters this summer on a mission trip to Peru. St. X students and I—as well as a chaperone and students from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago—were immersed in a culture radically different from our own.

After a month living in the mountains surrounded by rural poverty, we learned that the least of our brothers in many ways are actually the greatest. They lived simply—unencumbered by American material trappings—and offered us daily examples of generosity and kindness. I saw examples of family life and spiritual devotion which challenged and inspired me. I saw, in them, the face of Christ the teacher who continues to show me how to love.

I see the face of the compassionate Christ in you, the many benefactors of St. Xavier High School. You are the people who have opened your hearts to our students for nearly 180 years. You help us achieve educational excellence in all of its dimensions— academic, social, athletic, artistic and spiritual. You constantly discern the needs of our students, faculty and staff, and then you share your time, talents and treasure with

“You help us achieve educational excellence in all of its dimensions— academic, social, athletic, artistic and spiritual.”

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them. You assist us in forming leaders and men for others, men who will go into the world and continue seeking the face of Christ in all they do. The effects of your generosity last a lifetime and beyond, continuing in the subsequent generations. I’m deeply moved and sincerely grateful for all you do to ensure the continued success of St. Xavier High School.

May the face of Christ continue to smile on you always.

We Are... St. X

NEWS AND NOTES AROUND THE ST. XAVIER CAMPUS

2014 Most Diverse Class in School History THE FRESHMAN CLASS already owns a leadership role at St. Xavier High School.

Statistics about the makeup of the class paint an encouraging picture for the future of the school. Among the 408 students in the class of 2014, 57 of them (14 percent) are ethnic minorities.

The significant minority numbers in the freshman class helped the school lift the number of minority students across the board to 11 percent.

“We’re very excited about this number,” said Rod Hinton, director of admissions. “This is the first time we’ve been legitimately over 10 percent minority. We’ve been right around 10 percent for a while, but now we’ve crossed that threshold.”

“I think it speaks well to our efforts to make St. X an option for everybody,”

said President Fr. Tim Howe S.J. “We’re not where we want to be—a place where the diversity of the St. X population mirrors the population at large in Greater Cincinnati—but we’re getting closer to that point.

“We want young men who come here to look around and see other people who look like them. We want students feeling like this is home for them, not that they are going to somebody else’s school.”

In addition to its racial makeup, the class of 2014 has a distinct geographic diversity. The 408 boys arrived at St. X from three states and about 90 different schools.

Some of the traditional Catholic parish schools continue to produce lots of Bombers. St. James (White Oak), St. Ignatius (Monfort Heights) and St. Mary (Hyde Park) finished 1-2-3 as feeders. Yet Mason Middle—a public school in the northern suburbs—was number four on the feeder list.

Northern schools like Sacred Heart (Fairfield), St. Susanna (Mason) and both St. Columban and St. Margaret of York (Loveland) mixed among more traditional east-west institutions like St. Ursula Villa (Mt. Lookout), Visitation (Western Hills) and St. Vivian (Finneytown) to round out the top 10.

Religiously, the class of 2014 is 84 percent Roman Catholic, 14 percent other Christian denominations, one percent Hindu and one percent Muslim.

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We Are... St. X

Seven New Faces on Faculty

The newest members of the St. X faculty include four graduates of the school.

FRESHMEN AREN’T the only fresh faces in the St. X family photo this fall. Seven new members of the faculty joined the Bombers; four of them are graduates of the school.

“I’m excited to have the new people here,” said Principal Dave Mueller (’72). “I look forward to helping them get acclimated to St. X and for them to start helping our students learn and grow.”

Andy Holmes (’96) joins the St. X guidance department after a four-year stint as a counselor at Ursuline Academy. Anne Johnson also joins the guidance department, where she will serve as Dave Coffman’s replacement when he goes on sabbatical in the second semester.

Fr. Rick Milburn S.J. (’86) will teach religion. While his most recent stop with the Jesuits was in the province office in Chicago, he has taught at Loyola Academy in Willmette, Ill., and Brebeuf in Indianapolis. Matt Erickson comes to St. X to teach religion after his recent teaching experience at Dallas Jesuit in Texas.

Tom Broe (’04) joins the math department after previously teaching in the Little Miami School District. Dan Dery joins the foreign language department as a Latin teacher. His previous teaching stop was at St. John’s, the Jesuit High School in Toledo.

Jason Kamp (’98)—who already served as a hockey and lacrosse coach at St. X—teaches freshman and sophomore English.

“Speaking from experience, I know how special it is to teach at your alma mater,” Mueller said. “We’re very fortunate to have all seven of these new faculty members, but having four more graduates joining our faculty is especially nice.”

Pop Culture, Science Collide in Chemistry Class

THE VIDEOS WENT viral four years ago. Millions of YouTube hits later—to say nothing of appearances on shows ranging from The Simpsons to MythBusters—dropping Mentos candy into a two-liter of cola remains a fascinating sight.

Chemistry teacher Jamie Laughlin used the phenomenon to introduce his sophomore chemistry students to the scientific method.

“We treat it as sort of a mini research project,” Laughlin said.

“The students come up with a hypothesis, they experiment, they measure, they draw conclusions and make theories. Then we take all that and compare it to the literature and background data we have.”

Plenty of variables, too. Students used Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero as test liquids, dropping in both regular and fruit Mentos as catalysts. Some dropped whole Mentos, some used frozen candies and others ground them up. They manipulated the beverages —warming, cooling, flattening—for an even wider range of possibility.

In the end, six Mentos in a two-liter launched foam an average of about 18 feet high and 12 feet out. Laughlin said Coke Zero and regular Mentos produced the most powerful gushers.

“It’s a cool way to teach something that requires a lot of good science,” Laughlin said. “They have to be precise in their preparations and measurements to get good results and theories.”

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NEWS AND NOTES AROUND THE ST. XAVIER CAMPUS

Spirit Guides the Call to Leadership ST. XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL celebrated its annual Mass of the Holy Spirit Sept. 10 with the passion and verve due the occasion. As the spiritual start of the school year and a chance to formally welcome the freshmen into the brotherhood of the institution, the entire community voiced its desire to be Spiritfilled for the coming year.

From the opening ovation as the Class of 2014 entered the Berning Gym to the final echo of “No Longer Strangers” as the recessional exited, the room engaged fully in the Mass.

President Fr. Tim Howe S.J. celebrated with deacon and alumni parent Max Schellman. The homily dealt with kings and prophets. The former were born or elected to power and anointed with oil in ancient times; they had a special charge to protect the weak of their kingdoms.

Prophets, on the other hand, were neither born nor elected to power, yet still became leaders.

“Leadership at St. X is not limited to a few kings,” Fr. Howe said in his homily.

“We’re all called to be prophets and to call on the Holy Spirit to be good leaders. The mission statement of our school says it. We are here primarily to educate young men as leaders and men for others. The Spirit guides that education.”

All of St. X’s Jesuits—Fr. Ed Pigott S.J. (’55), Fr. Denny Ahern S.J. (’56), Fr. Fran Daly S.J. and Fr. Rick Milbourne S.J. (’86)—concelebrated with Fr. Howe.

Also on hand were Jesuit board members Fr. Joe Folzenlogen S.J. (’58) and former president Fr. Bill Verbryke S.J. (’71).

Parish priests included Fr. Michael Cordier of St. Andrew/Elizabeth Seton, Fr. James Reuter of Our Lady of

Victory, Fr. Robert Obermeyer of Christ the King, Fr. Martin Bachman of St. James White Oak, Fr. Tony Tozzi of St. Susanna, Fr. Dennis Jasper of All Saints, Fr. Tom King of Guardian Angels, Fr. Jack Wehman of St. James of the Valley, Fr. Tom Kreidler of Immaculate heart of Mary, Fr. Tom Bolte of St. Theresa, Fr. George Kunkel of St. Vincent Ferrer and Fr. Jim Kiffmeyer of Holy Family.

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We Are... St. X

Video Now Part of Bomber Webcasts

St. Xavier High School took the video plunge this fall when the school web site—www.stxavier.org—added streaming video to its heretofore audioonly athletic webcasts. The historic first video webcast aired Sept. 3 when the football Bombers beat Indianapolis Cathedral 28-24.

“It’s really exciting,” said Tony Schad (’81), director of development services, who serves as the play-by-play voice on football webcasts. “It’s just the next step for us. We hope it’s something our alumni and families and fans will enjoy.”

St. X received approval for the addition of live streaming video from the Ohio High School Athletic Association over the summer.

OHSAA rules allow for live video on school websites provided at least half the production team consists of students. Brennan Kelly (’13) and Ryan Greenwell (’13) serve as camera operators and play-byplay spotters for the webcast.

“This is our sixth season doing webcasts and we’ve built a great following online,” said Ralph Nardini (’77), vice president for development, who is the football color man. “This is just one more way for us to bring St. X off North Bend Road and to meet our people where they are.”

While video likely will be limited to home games this season, Ralph Nardini (’77) and Tony Schad (’81) call the action for Bomber football games both Cincinnati-area fans who don’t want to go online have enjoyed online and over the air on 1360 AM. the chance to listen to St. X football on Fox Sports Radio 1360 AM for every game; the radio station simulcasts Tony and Ralph’s call for every game of the 2010 season.

St. Xavier Community Tackles One Book

One book. One school.

The entire St. Xavier community—students, faculty, staff, administration, parents, alumni, friends— will explore a single book together over the course of the school year.

“It’s purely voluntary,” said Julie Conlon, the school librarian, who is one of the faculty committee members organizing St. X’s inaugural One Book, One School initiative. “A number of universities have done this. And —with there being different versions of the book we’ve chosen—some groups as young as kindergarten have done it.”

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The book in question is Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin’s Three Cups of Tea. “The goal is simply to encourage as many as possible from our school community to read Three Cups of Tea,” said Matt Kemper (’91), director of community service. “All are encouraged to read the book. It’s a quick read in that it really draws you into the story.”

The story is right in line with Jesuit teaching and practice. Mortenson is a warrior for the poor while advocating peace through education. He’s founded more than 100 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years or so. His schools serve—in particular —girls and young women traditionally denied an education by the Taliban.

The school will host regular discussion groups— with varying times to accommodate different schedules—for any interested parties.

“Just read the book,” Kemper said. “You will most likely be glad that you did.”

NEWS AND NOTES AROUND THE ST. XAVIER CAMPUS

Dr. William Barrett (’78) shows off what cigarettes can do to human lungs.

Cancer Doctors Head to St. X Classrooms ST. XAVIER WAS the first high school in Cincinnati to participate in an innovative new program—Cancer Clear and Simple: Hard-Won Pieces of Advice for the High School Student. It’s the work of University of Cincinnati Barrett Cancer Center Medical Director Dr. William Barrett (’78) and Olympian Julie Isphording. This innovative community outreach program—one of the first of its kind in the nation—includes a 25-minute dynamic presentation from Dr. Barrett followed by a question-and-answer session with students, faculty and staff.

“We believe young adults—through inspiration, education and entertainment—can understand cancer more clearly and affect change in their lives and the lives of their family and peers,” Dr. Barrett said.

At St. X Dr. Barrett spoke about life lessons learned from patients, riveting real-life stories about miracles, resilience, fear, death, hope and courage. He used props like cigarettes and X-rays to show

the devastating effects of lung cancer. He read from a letter received from a dying cancer patient and brought a Harvard football jersey from one courageous patient.

Isphording and Barrett designed the program with three important outcomes: • Teaching experientially the preventative measures students and teachers can take to reduce their risk of cancer and at the same time learn life lessons on leading healthy, confident, courageous and fulfilling lives.

• Reach the parents of these children by introducing important, impactful real-life stories to start conversations at home and lead to action on behalf of an older generation.

• Motivate the school to create its own cancer education programs with a leave-behind grant. (Students/schools will be recognized for their own innovative use of the funds.)

Each school gets a grant to fully integrate the message through its own school

activity, program or presentation.

Barrett and Isphording believe they will see energy, innovation and creativity to raise cancer awareness and spread the word of healthy living.

“This generation knows how to educate each other and to share that education and influence with their families and friends,” said Isphording.

“The classroom experience can truly make a difference in many lives and ultimately change our world.”

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We Are... St. X

NEWS AND NOTES AROUND THE ST. XAVIER CAMPUS

Women’s Club, X-Travaganza Join for Scholarship FORMER XTRAVAGANZA Director Margo Locaputo would have left a big mark on St. Xavier even had she never come to work at the school She served as Mothers’ Club President, a two-time X-Trav general chair and moved into an active role with the Women’s Club before joining the development team. She spent 15 years shaping the annual dinner auction, as well as cultivating on-going relationships with both Mothers’ Club and Women’s Club.

The Women’s Club recently decided—with blessing from Margo’s widower John Locaputo—to name its endowed scholarship effort in her memory.

“This is something Margo would have loved,” said Ralph Nardini (’77), vice president for development. “Her first thought was always for the boys and this scholarship will help boys for a

long time to come.”

The newly named Margo Locaputo Women’s Club scholarship fund got a shot in the arm from 2010 Magis Award recipients Denny and Lois Doyle— who seed scholarship efforts at Catholic schools all over Cincinnati, including several at St. X. The Doyles made a $30,000 gift to help grow the new scholarship toward full endowment.

“John Locaputo and Denny and Lois are excited to work with Women’s Club on this,” said d Dick Klus, long-time St. X devel-opment officer and Locaputo family mily friend. “It’s a great fit for the Women’s’ Club and for anyone to remember all Margo did for our students.”

Margo Locaputo was Director of X-Travaganza for 15 years.

Newest Ballboy Living a Dream

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Assistant football coach Tim Banker (’95) poses with ballboy Nate Aug (’21).

TOM AUG ’83 CARRIES his St. X heritage with him around the world.

The attorney and Army reservist deployed with his JAG unit to Afghanistan’s Kanduhar Air Base in July. Not long after, his 7-year-old son Nate attended the Bombers football camp.

“Tim Banker (’95, varsity special teams coach) runs the camp for the little guys and he told me about Nate and his father being deployed,” said head football coach Steve Specht (’86). “I wanted to meet his mom. When I did and heard her name, I realized she was married to Tom, who had been a quarterback my freshman year. We played together. We had a great time with Nate and he had a great time with us.”

Even nicer was the opportunity for Nate to be on the sidelines Sept. 10 when the Bombers hosted Louisville St. Xavier.

“This is great,” Nate said. “It’s fun down here.”

The Our Lady of Lourdes second-grade student looks ahead to his senior year when he hopes to play for the Bombers. “I play all over now—running, blocking—but I think I might be an end. I can sack people.”

Nate’s mom Elise Aug said growing up in Philadelphia, she didn’t originally understand the loyalty of Cincinnatians to their high schools.

“I didn’t get it originally—it’s unique—but being in Cincinnati for about three years now, I’m going along with it,” she said. “The reputation St. X has academically and in sports, it’s exciting to be part of that. Coach Specht and Coach Banker and the players have really taken Nate under their wing. We’ve been all over the country, but we’ve never had anything like the welcome we’ve gotten here.”

PRINCIPAL’S

MESSAGE curriculum (in the classroom) or co-curriculum (with clubs and teams) most likely to guide the student to truth in subject areas and life experiences. I say “aspires” because it takes heroic effort and expertise for a teacher to attempt this level of tailoring for the 125 students with whom a teacher typically works each day. Yet there are clear signs that despite all odds, parents and students experience this personal care that is the legacy of the Spiritual Exercises. Frequently graduates tell me that a faculty member “turned me around” or “turned me on” to an interest. Parents tell me they are grateful for stunning changes of heart and academic growth in their sons.

As principal I have the great privilege of observing teachers make choices about ways to guide the learning of individual students as they: • Attend early morning staffings about the needs of individual students.

• Confer with previous teachers and guidance counselors about how to guide students.

• Collaborate with colleagues to analyze test results in order to decide which students need more help on which topics.

• Tutor students.

• Design lessons and assessments geared to different ways of learning.

• Confront students who need redirection.

BY DAVID B. MUELLER, ’72

I

gnatius discovered that the more he realized and accepted God’s will for his life, the more meaningful and joyful he felt. He discovered that turning toward his Creator required him to make himself indifferent to his preferences for the life he was inclined to create for himself. To try to achieve this indifference, he put himself through a series of ordeals that would appall Survivor survivors: begging, living in a cave, being arrested and jailed, walking away from wealth and status, even learning Latin grammar. The ordeals prompted him to reflect, and he took notes on the reflections that worked best to clear away whatever kept him from perceiving and acting on God’s will for him.

We now know this collection of notes as the Spiritual Exercises. I’ve tried the Exercises. They’re hard. I keep getting stuck on particular exercises that make me feel like the rich young man in the Gospel —liking the idea of following Jesus but hesitating to go all in. This is where a spiritual advisor steeped in the Exercises makes all the difference—a personal trainer who, having taken time to know me, sets up a personal spiritual training plan for me.

Teachers in Jesuit schools try to emulate the role of the spiritual director in their relationship with their students. Just as an Ignatian spiritual director arranges the personal experience of the Exercises most likely to guide the retreatant to the Truth of God, the Ignatian teacher aspires to arrange personal experiences of

• Give individual feedback on assignments.

• Interact with individual students during long hours spent at team practices, retreats, mission trips, service projects, field trips, club projects.

• Invite individual petitions during classroom prayer.

• Chat with students as they arrive for class or hang out in the cafeteria.

Like good spiritual directors, Ignatian teachers work on disciplining themselves to be indifferent to their own preferences about ways of teaching and to make instructional decisions based on evidence about the ways in which students most effectively learn. Ignatius would be proud that the men and women who work at St. Xavier strive to carry on his project of caringly guiding individuals, one soul at a time. I am grateful for their dedication and skill.

“Teachers in Jesuit schools try to emulate the role of the spiritual director in their relationship with their students.”

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To Give

St. X students are involved in a wide array of service opportunities, including tutoring younger students from city schools, working with physically and mentally challenged children, housing rehab, Big Brothers/Big Buddies and summer mission trips.

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and Not to Count the Cost ST. X IN SERVICE TO WIDER WORLD

W

ords often have more than one meaning. Many are more than one part of speech. For example, school is both a noun—an institution for teaching children; a building housing such an institution—and a transitive verb—to train somebody in a particular skill or area of expertise in a thorough and detailed way. St. Xavier is and does both, especially in the verb sense of the word when it comes to “thorough and detailed.” More than the traditional three Rs, St. X offers its students a comprehensive education whose best lessons are often outside the traditional classroom. Some of the most important come in the form of service to others, a mandate of Jesuit education around the world.

Former Superior-General Fr. Pedro Arrupe S.J. discussed the concept of service while addressing Jesuit alumni in 1973.

By Mark D. Motz (’87) “Today our prime educational objective must be to form men and women for others; men and women who will live not for themselves, but for God and his Christ,” he said. “Men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for their brothers and sisters is a farce.”

“Arrupe really shocked people when he said what he did,” said Matt Kemper (’91), the St. X director of community service since 1999-2000. “Here were these Jesuit alumni, kind of business types who were ready to hear all was good, that math and science and language and history were what we needed, and he completely blew

that out of the water.”

St. X has a long tradition of service— the annual canned food drive alone dates back to the 1920s—and was among the first Jesuit high schools to have a department devoted exclusively to community service, beginning with Paul Lammermeier in 1976. And while the school never required participation, about 80 percent of the students volunteer their time for a wide array of service opportunities (see sidebar). “To the institution’s credit, the school has always put resources into community service,” Kemper said. “More than resources, the school community buys in. The fact students can see their teachers canvassing with them for the Canned Food Drive or that we have dozens and dozens of parent mentors in various

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Why serve?

Students develop relationships with the people they serve and learn to count their blessings.

programs with them, that’s very important. They see service isn’t just limited to their time at school. It’s a lifetime pursuit.”

“We definitely want St. X students to extend themselves and reach beyond their comfort zones,” said St. President Fr. Tim Howe S.J. “When we talk about being leaders and men for others, community service is exactly what we mean. All the opportunities the guys have—locally, regionally and even internationally—it’s a great way for them to become servants to their fellow man.”

According the St. X website, “Community service programs are instrumental in providing the type of transformative experience that is the hallmark of Jesuit education. In developing relationships with people different from themselves, students begin to appreciate the struggles of the poor and the disenfranchised. These experiences call students from their comfort zones and challenge them to examine their lives in terms of Christian justice. As a result, students begin to acknowledge their many blessings.”

Senior Neil Mullen concurs. He is in his third year of community service and is most active in the after-school CAP program, where he tutors fourth-grade students at North College Hill Elementary. Mullen took a summer mission trip to the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago this past summer. He was a Canned Food Drive coordinator last year, serves on the community service leadership board and is a student development team member and Annual Fund phonathon chairman.

“I would say community service has opened my eyes to everything outside of my little box,” Mullen said. “Not everyone else has it like I have it. Helping people makes me feel good about myself and the things I do. It’s not about how many people you help or how much money you raise, but it’s more about making relation-

Lots of Options ST. XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL tries to live up to its motto of being men for others, offering students many community service opportunities.

What follows is a list of programs run by the St. X community service office.

Advent Canned Food Drive After School C.A.P. • Big Buddies • CRC Saturday Programs • Housing Rehab Program • Junior Big Brothers • Mission Collection • Service Retreats • S.O.A. Vigil • Summer Mission Trips • Summer Service Opportunities • •

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Complete information on each program is available on the St. X web site (www.stxavier.org) under the Campus Life tab.

In addition, students often under take their own service projects (like Donuts for Dafur, profiled in the summer 2010 edition of St. Xavier) or get involved in service activities through their parish or other organizations like Boy Scouts.

ships with people and giving them some kind of hope for something better, showing them they aren’t alone. The relationships built from these experiences I’ve had have really made me who I am today.

Hopefully I’ve influenced the people I was with and benefited them and improved their lives even a little bit from what we did.”

“I think all the programs are good, but there is no substitute for being with people,” Kemper said. “I’m partial to the mentoring programs because I think they impact the kids the most. Both ways. It helps the low-income kids our guys mentor and it helps our kids put a face on poverty and understand how good most of them have it in their lives.”

Lifetime learning Fr. Howe, though only in his second year as St. X President, has a long history with service at the school. As a regent in the early 1990s he took students on mission trips to Ecuador. When he was pastor at St. Procopius in Chicago, he hosted Bomber volunteers on their mission trips to Pilsen. This past summer he was on the month-long Peru mission trip.

“For a lot of guys the St. X community service program is a gateway to a lifetime of service,” he said. “They see early on they can make an impact on somebody else’s life and they want to continue that in whatever communities they find themselves in after graduation.”

Joe Herbers (’06) is just one of many who fit that profile. Herbers began his community service senior year as a volunteer assisting the Cincinnati Recreation Commission in its wheelchair athletic program. CRC invited him to continue working in its rehab program that summer and he’s not looked back. “That summer was neat because my vacation didn’t match their schedule so I was basically a sub in all the programs,” Herbers said. “I settled down the next year in their therapeutic day camp and was the director for the camp the next year.”

Herbers graduated from Xavier University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in social work and is enrolled in an accelerated master’s program at the University of Cincinnati. He continues his work with CRC and now coordinates the wheelchair bowling program where St. X students volunteer. “The St. X volunteers are great,” he said. “I love the fact they do it and I love the fact the volunteers are not required.

The seeds planted in community service often blossom into a lifetime of altruism.

How Did Community Service Hit Grads?

IN KEEPING WITH outreach to graduates via social media (see page 20), the St. Xavier High School Alumni page on Facebook recently posed a question about community service to graduates. Here’s a sampling of responses.

What’s the best service program you did at St. X? Or that you’re doing now?

Matthew R. Lafkas (’00): Give Back Cincinnati (now as a young professional).

That brings more motivated people to volunteer. There are a few who I could see doing this long term.

“It’s very part time now—just five hours a week on Saturdays—but I’m still doing it and I love it. I got the impression when I was a student it wasn’t very popular. I think a lot of people are put off by disability, but I saw I was comfortable and I saw a need that wasn’t being met.

To me there’s something refreshing in the simplicity of the interaction. A lot of the people have physical handicaps, but also mental handicaps. These people see the world very differently. It’s refreshing to step out of our self-centered world and just do simple recreation with people who have a very different world view.”

Agents for change and justice “I have a huge file folder of organizations who call us looking for help,” Kemper said.

“That’s the problem, though, we’re not a social service agency, we’re a school. We just don’t have the resources to provide staffing and aid to everyone in need. In a perfect world we wouldn’t need the Canned Food Drive or any of the other programs, but we do. The question I ask these kids is ‘What can we do to change the structures that lead to poverty?’ It’s one of those core Jesuit teachings that we educate agents of change and agents of justice in the world. Ultimately that’s what

we want, enough people out there who will fundamentally change the societal structures.

“I think what we’re doing, we’re doing well. But community service in the future—where we have an opportunity for growth—is in service learning. We have courses now where history and religion and service are together, but we can do more of that across the curriculum. Here it’s easy. We’re right here in front of you.

Whether you want to or not you have to go to the assembly and hear about community service. When you leave, you have to work a little harder, but there are lots of guys making that effort on their college campuses and when they get out into the world.”

“Community service is a great experience and you’ll get a lot out of it,” Mullen said.

“There’s no reason not to get involved. You just give it a try. I definitely want to do this in college and after college, all through my life. It’s become an important part of me. There are plenty of opportunities. It’s just a matter of what you can do with your time.”

“My work with community service definitely influenced my decision to be a social worker,” Herbers said. “What I would say is service is something I almost passed up and it’s now a huge part of my life. It would have been a huge loss for me if I didn’t volunteer. I think maybe people don’t know how good it can be.” X

Ian Hennessey (’00): Big Brothers.

Believe it or not, I’m still in touch with my little. He was 6 when we were paired and now he’s 18. Canned Food Drive was another great one (we’ve even adapted the idea down here for the Knoxville Bar Association). What was great about St. X was that it totally sparked all the service I’ve been involved with ever since by getting me (finally) out of my shell.

Anthony L. Lorenz (’66): St. Vincent de Paul.

Rick Mason (’00): Canned food drive!

Delivering the goods to our sponsored family was an eye-opening experience and you could see the appreciation on their faces. It was definitely an experience I will always hold with me.

Clayton Schroer (’07): Mission trip to Rosebud Lakota Reservation. Possibly the most spiritually influential and insightful experience in my life.

Scott Stephens (’84): Mission trip to Peru in 1983. Changed my life, my relationship with God and my future. Lead me on my path to become a social worker and work for the poor in this country.

Will Meurer (’95): Canned Food Drive.

Saw parts of Cincinnati that I probably never would have ever seen when delivering to the needy. Gave me a perspective on poverty that was real, at an early age.

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VICE PRESIDENT

FOR DEVELOPMENT’S

MESSAGE

BY RALPH A. NARDINI, ’77

I

f it’s a Friday night in the fall, I must be behind a microphone.

We began broadcasting St. X football games on stxavier.org during the state championship season of 2005. Five years—and many different sports beyond football—later and we’ve added video to this football season’s webcasts. A radio station (Fox Sports 1360 AM, to be specific) simulcasts our broadcasts both over the air and on its website.

Calling games is fun, a nice perk at the end of the week. We have the opportunity to describe the good work of our students to people who might not otherwise have regular contact. More than mere sports, though, the broadcasts have become a very real connection to a place so many of you love so well. I’ll never forget a tournament basketball game a few years back. A particular senior player’s father was away on business in South America and couldn’t attend what might have been his son’s final game in person.

But the Bombers won and the boy played exceptionally well. We had him on the broadcast for a post-game interview. The first thing he did, unsolicited, was tell his dad he loved him because he knew his father was listening. People still make comments to us about that moment.

If I harbored any doubt about the value of the webcasts, they were quickly erased by that father-son connection.

Similarly, I’ll get letters and messages from alumni military personnel stationed

around the world who long for a taste of home. Here are young men in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan who stay up into the wee hours to listen to high school football.

Again, it’s more than mere sports. Their stories make me realize just how deeply St. Xavier is ingrained in its graduates.

Our school’s mission statement declares we are here to educate leaders and men for others. We do so with the guiding principles of the Graduate at Graduation in mind. We expect our young men to be intellectually competent, open to growth, religious, loving and committed to doing justice. Students leave St. Xavier ready for college because of superior skills in math, science, English, foreign language, fine arts, social studies and religion. They leave ready for life because they go with an idea of service—locally and globally— and of generosity. They leave with a brotherhood and with the knowledge they are part of something bigger than themselves, something that that will nurture and sustain them all their lives. Just ask the two graduates from the class of 1930—now more than 80 years removed from high school—who have been to school for different events in recent months what St. X will mean over a lifetime.

Then ask one of the young men who received tuition assistance last year —28 percent of our student body did—how much the extreme generosity of all the

“With your continued help, we can share your story—all of our stories—in meaningful ways for many years to come.”

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people listed in our Honor Roll of Donors means to St. Xavier right now. The need for tuition assistance continues to grow. We can never thank you enough— especially in an economic climate that continues to be difficult—for assisting us in our mission. Your support does make a tangible difference to our students every day. If you’re not one for generalities, I invite you to become part of the new Loyola Club and directly sponsor a student who needs tuition assistance. I welcome the opportunity to tell you how and to help you create very specific and meaningful bond with a student and with your school. With your continued help, we can share your stories in meaningful ways for many years to come.

That’s always a good call.

Financial Report Audited Report of Revenues and Expenses for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2010

REVENUE Tuition and Fees Development Income Investment and Endowment Other Income

OPERATING REVENUE Tuition and Fees 16,785,000 Investment & Endowment Income 2,176,000 Other Income 16,000

TOTAL REVENUES

18,977,000

DEVELOPMENT INCOME APPLIED TO OPERATIONS

2,599,000

77.8% 12.0% 10.1% 0.1%

EXPENSES Educational Program Plant Operations Administrative Aux. Enterprises & Activities

64.3% 23.9% 7.5% 4.3%

OPERATING EXPENSES Educational Programs Administrative Aux. Enterprises & Activities Plant Operations

TOTAL EXPENSES

INCOME $21,576,000

13,874,000 1,624,000 924,000 5,154,000

77.8% Tuition and fees 12% Development Income

21,576,000 10.1% Investment and Endowment

DEVELOPMENT INCOME REPORT

0.1% Other Income

Annual Fund X-Travaganza Walk for X Student Fundraiser Endowmnet Fund Gifts (Restricted and Unrestricted) Capital Fund Gifts (Restricted and Unrestricted) Other Annual Gifts

1,755,123 837,812 102,897

EXPENSES $21,576,000

1,606,637

64.3% Education Program

TOTAL

4,785,602

23.9% Plant Operations

254,422 228,711

7.5% Administrative 4.3% Aux. Enterprises & Activities

St. Xavier Financial Assistance Dollars Awarded $2,500,000 $2,300,000

$2,375,572

$2,105,378

$2,000,000 $1,703,952 $1,557,144

$1,500,000 $1,000,000 $877,323

$1,387,681

$1,307,138

$1,271,465

2002 -2003

2003 -2004

$975,042

$500,000 $0 2000 -2001

2001 -2002

2004 -2005

2005 -2006

2006 -2007

2007 -2008

2008 -2009

2009 -2010 FALL/WINTER 2010

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St. Xavier has a growing collection of fine art on display in the school; students like Evan Grothjan (’11) hope works like the landscape he’s painting someday adorn the hallways as well.

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T

he halls of St. Xavier High School long have reverberated with the sounds of young men changing classes, chatting with teachers and friends or dashing to activities. The halls now also reverberate with visions of vibrant colors, historic landscapes and eclectic artistic images.

The school dedicated its new Fine Art Gallery—currently located in the hallway behind the Principal’s Office—in March.

Comprised of artwork donated by alumni, friends of the school and artists’ relatives, the budding gallery displays a dozen pieces representing styles, techniques and genres from traditional to abstract.

Bob Greiwe (’50) conceptualized the endeavor and spearheaded the initial acquisitions for the gallery. He contrasts his experience as a student with a flair for art at St. Xavier downtown with that of present-day students on North Bend Road.

“In 1950 on Sycamore Street, St. Xavier High School had no art department and one small poster art club with a total of eight members working out of a large closet,” Greiwe said. “Today St. Xavier has an art department with three full time teachers (Mary Ann Meyer, Ted Mechley (’89) and Dennis O’Brien) and about 100 students per teacher each semester. (They have) options to study painting, sculpture, metal work, woodcut, photography, graphics, etc. With such a strong education in the arts today, it was only fitting to start a permanent display of fine art for all.”

Greiwe couldn’t do much with his artistic side until he got to the University of Cincinnati Design Art and Architecture

TEXT BY GRACE DEGREGORIO PHOTOS BY JAY BACHEMIN, ’73

Program. He graduated and became an interior designer honored by the American Society of Interior Designers. He also creates oil and watercolor paintings, has authored two books (the most recent, Life on Thin Ice, includes anecdotes from his St. X years) and is an accomplished tennis player. His vision of establishing a fine art gallery at his alma mater prompted him to donate some of his own work and to approach other artists and collectors for donations.

“Subject, size and color are not as important as the quality of the work and the reputation of the artist,” Greiwe said.

The planned process for acquiring additional pieces includes an art committee whose members will view the art, photograph and measure it, and report information back to the rest of the committee to determine if a piece is appropriate for the school. Any accepted art will be appraised —with a copy of the appraisal sent to the donor for tax purposes. The school will inFALL/WINTER 2010

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Jon Wilson (’14) and art teacher Ted Mechley (’89) work on drawing technique in the Visual Arts Studio 1 class.

sure the work and secure it to the gallery wall accompanied by a brass plaque designating the title, artist and donor.”

To enhance viewing the artwork, the walls along the gallery hallway are painted flat taupe and special pinpoint lighting has been installed. Greiwe hopes as the collection grows and larger pieces are included the gallery will outgrow its current space and move to another area of the school.

“Fr. Tim Howe has been my key partner in helping to develop the gallery,” Greiwe said, stressing how much he appreciates support from the St. X President. Fr. Howe, in turn, expressed his gratitude for Greiwe’s efforts and enthusiasm for the creation of the gallery.

“The school has made an investment in the infrastructure of our art studios and the kids produce amazing work,” Fr. Howe said. He emphasized the priority placed on 18

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displaying student and faculty art in the art wing, the front lobby display cases and other areas of the school. Greiwe suggested “each year one or two students have a piece of art chosen to be on display in the fine art gallery for the following year.” The idea of incorporating select student art among that of noted professionals fits well with Jesuit ideals of education.

It’s Academic “The objective of Jesuit education is to assist in the fullest possible development of all of the God-given talents of each individual person as a member of the human community,” wrote former Jesuit Father General PeterHans Kolvenbach in 1986 for The Characteristics of Jesuit Education. “Particular care is given to the development of the imaginative, the affective and the creative dimensions of each student in all courses of study. …They are

essential in the formation of the whole person and are a way to discover God as He reveals Himself through beauty. For the same reason, Jesuit education includes opportunities—through course work and extracurricular activities—for all students to come to an appreciation of literature, aesthetics, music and the fine arts.”

Such a characterization firmly supports the introduction the fine art gallery.

“The gallery will help in the integral development of every dimension of our students,” Fr. Howe said. “They should grow here in all ways —spiritually, intellectually, artistically, playing sports, and so on. The gallery says to the kids, ‘We value this. We think it’s important.’ If you take seriously the left brain/ right brain connection, you want to nurture the development of the intuitive, the problem-solving, the conceptualizing.”

Senior art students Devin Bostick, Jay Jansen and Evan Grothjan echoed Fr. Howe’s observations. “St. X places importance on artwork and does a great job keeping the arts in focus. So having professional artwork on permanent display at the school places even more emphasis on it,” Jansen said. “Having artwork like this in the school is inspirational for our own artwork,” Grothjan added.

For Bostick, “Art helps you resolve problems. You take an idea and see or express it in different ways, as well as are able to focus on a single thing. This helps you in life.”

Art teacher Mary Ann Meyer said, “We want the students to be intellectually competent. In art, there is not one right answer and the kids explore things in a lot of different ways. The arts are part of the mission of the school, bringing you to the spiritual, the act of creation.

Exposing yourself in creating

St. Francis Xavier is represented in piece of Portuguese art donated by the maritime museum in Lisbon.

art is an act of trust and love.”

Fellow teacher Ted Mechley (’89) said, “Art is a personal connection and a whole as the sum of the parts. Here at St. X art is the summation of religion, science, literature, etc. The gallery is part of the Long Blue Line, something that lasts forever.”

Bostick, whose mom collects and displays art at home, said, “With art you’re being a man for others, sharing a part of you with other people.”

“Art gives me excitement for life,” Grothjan said. “It’s cool to be going into something that will make me happy.”

“I see the gallery and art as challenging us to be open to growth,” Jansen said. “The art helps put your own twist on what you do and helps others appreciate things even if they don’t necessarily like it. Art has a different level of importance for everyone, but even if you’re not artistic, you can still take something from it. I feel the gallery gives a different gift to everybody. Art is not interpreted by everyone in the same way.”

“There’s a long history of Jesuits and the arts,” Meyer said, “There’s a renewal of

tradition here at St. X with this gallery. I’m hopeful it will grow. I want to tell Mr. Greiwe how thankful we are.

He has given us a tremendous teaching tool.”

The Art Gallery visitors should enjoy the diversity of work on display and may recognize the artists whose works hang in the Cincinnati Art Museum, as well as other museums, galleries and private collections.

The most recent addition is Le Christ by Georges Rouault, known for his religious subjects painted as stained glass with black outlines on the facial features.

It occupies the first spot on the gallery wall and offers a striking image of the face of Jesus. The piece was given

by Rev. Francis Sahlfeld, his sister Mrs. Rita Sahlfeld Hirn Riddell and her family.

Excellent examples of the impasto technique—using a palette knife to apply paint thickly—are the abstracts Grecian Village by Paul Chidlaw (donated by his brother-in-law Carson Smith) and Water Reflections by Jack Meanwell (donated by his wife Mary Ann Meanwell).

Both Chidlaw and Meanwell are renowned Cincinnati artists.

A unique piece and favorite of Greiwe’s is the high quality ink-jet photo of an original rare oil painting hanging in the Museu De Marinha in Lisbon, Portugal. He worked a long time with the foreign museum to reproduce and donate the image of St. Francis Xavier descending a ship to the waters. Was he doing so to de-salt the water for drinking or to calm stormy seas?

That’s one of the mysteries of both art and faith. For his part, Fr. Howe is fond of a more contemporary interpretation of the Holy Family with African-American subjects painted by a priest.

Other works include a large Lewis Henry Meakin landscape (donated by the

C. James Meakin III (’47) family/Mrs. Donna Meakin), Leo Lippert’s Fountain Square 1929 donated by son Tom Lippert (‘50), and an oil-oncanvas contemporary triptych view of downtown Cincinnati as seen from Kentucky done in blues (donated by Dr. and Mrs. Elmore A. Kindel Jr.).

Hopefully the collection one day will include paintings, lithographs, sculpture, metal works and other media.

Tax-deductible donations of fine artwork are welcome from anyone committed to cultivating the education of students while providing a permanent, secure and appropriate setting for art to be enjoyed.

As Mary Ann Meyer said, “Art puts you close to the essence of beauty. There’s joy in it.” X

Le Christ by Georges Rouault

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R

St. X expanding its social media presence ecorded history began with stone etchings on a cave wall. Papyrus marked with ink arrived much, much later. Still later, the printing press further expanded the realm of the written word. Typewriters. Mainframe systems.

Modems. Personal computers. Wireless connectivity. Cell phones. Smart phones. Technological advances in the creation and sharing of the written word took the word further from the wealthy and elite and brought it closer to the masses. Never in human history have so many people had so much access to information, not only as consumers, but as providers.

“The groundswell trend is not a flash in the pan,” said authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff in their book—wait for it —Groundswell. The subtitle “winning in a world transformed by social technologies” offers insight to the rising tide of messages and messengers in the marketplace. “This is an important, irreversible, completely different way for people to relate to companies and to each other,” Li and Bernoff continued.

“The groundswell comes from the collision of three forces: people, technology and economics. …These three trends— 20

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people’s desire to connect, new interactive technologies and online economics—have created a new era. …Not only is it here; it’s evolving rapidly, creating an incredible challenge for corporate strategists.”

School strategists, too. People are talking about St. Xavier High School online. Rather than be reactive to what they say, the school wants to be proactive. Give people topics of conversation. Establish connections to the school. Present useful and exclusive information. Offer prizes. Listen and respond to what people are saying. Engage.

“A lot of what we’re doing online is counterintuitive to me as somebody educated and trained in print media,” said Mark Motz (’87), director of communications and publications. “At the same time it’s exciting to work in a different medium, exciting to learn and attempt new things, exciting to engage our communities in ways we’ve never tried. The Jesuits are famous for their flexibility and adaptability. We’re simply following in those footsteps while we learn a new game with new rules.”

Matthew Dooley (’02) is helping teach some of those rules. He joined the school’s mission promotion committee largely because of his expertise in social media; he is the social

ST. X HAS HAD TWO official social media presences for about 18 months. Another tool has been active about half a year. The grizzled veteran social media tools are Facebook and LinkedIn.

media strategist for the Midland Company.

“It’s something you can’t be afraid of; it’s already here and it’s not going away,” Dooley said. “The key is to engage people as best as you can because you want conversations with your audiences whenever possible. The kind of instant two-way communication and feedback you can get from social media is very different from the one-way communication of more traditional media.

“The important thing is to decide who you want to engage and how you want to engage them. You don’t want to say ‘Oh, everybody is on Facebook so we better be, too,’ and not have any idea what you want to say to people or have them say to you. You have to have a goal in mind and then pick the tool best suited for that goal.”

To that end, the school is exploring and rolling out several new social media initiatives this school year. Much as Francis Xavier went to India and Japan—taking the Gospel with him and translating it to the language of the land—St. X is reaching out and bringing its message as close to people and in as much of their own language as possible.

“We still want our website at stxavier.org to be a primary resource—calendars, sports scores, photos, news and features on what’s happening a the school—but it’s a static site,” Motz said. “We can’t discuss the stories you see there in real time.

But if we link a story to Facebook or share photos or video from a school event on Flickr or YouTube, we can generate a dialogue. We can draw people into conversations about the school and get their reactions.” X

On LinkedIn, The Bomber Alumni Network is more than a thousand members strong. This site is used primarily for business networking purposes.

On Facebook, St. Xavier High School Alumni are nearly 2,100 strong. The site features several video clips, many photo galleries and a near constant dialogue among its members reacting to questions or participating in contests posted by the school. Additionally, the school has an administrative presence on St. Xavier High School, a Facebook page founded by a student with more than 2,500 fans. This page is primarily used by current students—but with plenty of alumni and parent crossover—who provide the bulk of the content.

Beginning in the spring of last school year, St. X began dipping its toes in the water of Twitter, a popular microblog site allowing information bursts of no more than 140 characters.

The school now has three official Twitter addresses: @stxinfo offers followers general information about the school as it becomes available. @stxsports provides information on Bomber athletics, including quarterly score updates during football games. @stxlongblueline is primarily used by the admissions office to connect with prospective students and their families. Many Twitter followers have messages (tweets) sent directly to their cell phones.

What else can St. X social media fans expect? More from Facebook, for one thing, including St. Xavier High School Parents (for both current and alumni parents) to discuss with one another anything they may need, ranging from car pool advice to going through the college search procedure with their sons.

Look soon for an official St. X channel on the video sharing site YouTube. In addition to content provided by the school, the channel will be a place for student and alumni films, arts and sports highlights, contests and tributes. Similarly, look for still photo sharing with a host like Flickr or Smugmug. Again, not only will official school photos appear, but the site also will be open to submission by Bomber photographers around the web. The school will unveil a series of blogs (a.k.a. web logs or online diaries) written by and for specific constituencies ranging from individual classes to current parents, from administration to alumni.

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Alumni X-Cerpts the 50- and 100-yard backstroke, setting new U.S. records in both. In the 50 and 100 freestyle he was touched out

by Olympian Rowdy Gaines. Proving age is only a state of mind, he swam the 200 freestyle in a time equal to what he swam in 1976 at the state swimming championships.

80s

’81 GEORGE SNIDER III was awarded second place for best screenplay in the Appalachian Film Festival in April 2010 for his movie “The Honeymoon.”

The class of 1960 gathered for its 50-year reunion in September.

50s 60s 70s ’54 KARL LIETZENMAYER reassumed directing the choral club that used to be at Mother of God Church in Covington, Kentucky. It is a traveling group of 30 singers incorporated as The Choral Club of N.Ky. They have sung at several churches and other venues in Ohio & Kentucky while universally being well received. ’58 BOB MEYER retired as emeritus professor of psychology from the University of Louisville, where he published 16 books and 70 scholarly articles. He still plays senior softball and tennis. Bob and wife Peggy spend the winter in Bonita Springs, Florida, and enjoy time with their five grandsons.

Fr. Bob Thul S.J. (’48) and Alumni Chaplain Fr. Denny Ahern S.J. (’56) shared a moment at the annual class of 1948 reunion.

‘66 HENRY TABELING recently retired from private dental practice in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He and wife Vickie spent two weeks exploring the coastline of Maine from Portland to Acadia this summer. ’68 ED BURKETT retired after 38 years in food distribution, including 28 with Kroger and 10 more with Atlas Logistics. He and wife Carolyn live in Roanoke, Virginia.

’68 NORM SPITZIG has a new book, Murder and Mayhem at Old Bunbury, available at Clive Endive Ogive IV’s website: www.CliveEndiveOgiveIV. com. In this follow-up tale of humor and intrigue, President Clive and waitress extraordinaire Esther team up to solve a complicated and gruesome murder at one of the world’s great private clubs: the Old Bunbury Golf Links & Reading Club. Along the way Clive and Esther reacquaint you with many wacky old friends and introduce to some even zanier new ones. ’69 RANDY OVERBECK had his first novel published by Heroic Teacher Press. With more than three decades in the service of children as a teacher, college professor and administrator, he knows schools and his writing has vividly captured the drama of the world of education. The novel Leave No Child Behind, explores that world.

Randy is working on his second novel, Harsh Lessons, a mystery about a rogue drug that kills students in a middle school.

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’70 PAUL MUETHING serves as chair of the Catholic Inner-City Schools Education Fund 2010 campaign. Joining him as co-chairs will be brothers Tom (’74), Stephen (’76), Mark (’77) and Jim (’81). CISE hopes to raise $2.5 million in unrestricted funds. ’73 GARY GRUBER has been promoted to executive vice president of the Great American Property and Casualty Group, where he has worked since 1977. ’75 GREG NIEBERDING is a secondyear board chairman of Community Partners of Dallas. CPD provides resources to ensure safety, restore dignity and inspire hope to abused and neglected children served by Dallas County Child Protective Services. In addition, Greg is a member of the board of directors at Wipe Out Kids’ Cancer Foundation supporting pediatric cancer research at Children’s Medical Center, Dallas. He also is a board member of DIFFA Dallas, which is the local arm of New York’s Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, supporting more than 20 AIDS service organizations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. Finally, Greg invented the Baby B’Air Flight Vest (www.babybair. com) for lap children on aircraft. ’76 RICK KAMMERER was co-captain of the 1976 Aquabombers state championship team and returned to swimming competitively after hanging up his goggles for many years. He is now the top-ranked sprint backstroker in the country in his 50-54 age group with U.S. Masters Swimming. In April at the national championships he won

’83 TOM AUG deployed with the Army Reserves 643rd Regional Support Group out of Columbus, Ohio in July, where he will run the U.S. Garrison at Kandahar AirFied in Afghanistan. Tom is an LTC Judge Advocate. (See more about the Aug family on page 8.) ’83 RUSS FELDKAMP was ordained to the deaconate in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati April 24, 2010. ’86 RICH KLUS is the new associate principal at Seton High School.

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’90 JAMES TOMASZEWSKI joined the Cincinnati law firm of Finney, Stagnaro, Saba & Patterson Co. LPA, where he will concentrate his practice in employment and labor law, general civil litigation, personal injury and wrongful death. ’92 GEORGE STRINGER celebrated 10 years with his firm in May and was promoted from vice president to senior vice president and global accounts executive at Jones Lang LaSalle in June. He is responsible for the outsourced delivery of real estate services to S&P 500 corporations on a global scale. ’95 TOM CROOKHAM now works for Whole Foods as an associate coordinator in the Whole Body department.

Tom will be the Whole Foods account manager for the North East and North Atlantic divisions, based out of Tree of Life’s facility at North Bergen, N.J., just across the river from Manhattan. ’96 MILES GREER earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University in August and was awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Women’s Studies and Literature at Duke University for 2010-2012. “Now,

as always, I feel very grateful for the enormous opportunity St. Xavier offered me to develop academically and, indeed, as a whole person,” Miles said. “My dissertation is Reading Black Characters: Staging Literacy, 1604-1855. It examines the ways that literacy and theatrical performance were used to create meaningful and valuable characters in the Anglophone Atlantic world.” ’96 SEAN MURPHY went to Manchester, England, for the Lacrosse World Games. Although not on Ireland’s national team this time around, he was a player-coach with Ireland’s developmental team in the World Games Festival. His wife, Anne, also played in the festival with the women’s team from Munich. Sean and his father own Celtic Lacrosse and are about to open their third location this month; a Dayton store joins the existing Cleves and Springboro branches. ’98 MATT YEAGER makes his second appearance in the The Best American Poetry book series. The book launch was in New York in September and Matt did a Cincinnati book signing in early October at Barnes and Noble in Kenwood. His poem “Big Ball of Foil in a Small New York Apartment” was selected for the 2005 Best American Poetry collection and was made into a short film last year. ’99 MIKE MENNINGER is an attorney with Wood & Lamping in Cincinnati; he has passed the bar in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and has been named a Rising Star in Ohio’s Super Lawyers publication.

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’01 KEITH JACKSON is working as a dentist for Madeira Dentistry in Cincinnati and getting married to Dr. Laura Kinlaw in July 2011. Keith offers free teeth whitening to St Xavier grads if they schedule an X-rays, exam and cleaning.

The class of 1971 visited campus for its annual reunion and took in a Bomber football game.

’01 SAM BUGG accepted his dream job as manager of Great Lakes Public Outreach for Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. He helps strategically engage people with the message of Great Lakes conservation. ’05 JAKE DENMAN deployed to Afghanistan in October with the U.S. Marines. ’05 JOE BESL is driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile across the country for a year. You can follow the adventures at hotdoggerblog.com. ’06 LIAM CRONIN is a 2010 graduate of Ohio State University and producing artistic director for the Columbusbased comedy group Sketch By Number (www.sketchbynumber. org). The troupe entered its first competition—and won—the yearly Shadowbox Theatre Comedy Sketch Festival in Columbus against troupes from Philadelphia, Cleveland, Jersey City, Columbus and Brooklyn. Liam also serves as associate artistic director of Whistling in the Dark Theatre Company in Columbus. ’06 PAOLO BALBOA did a summer internship at the Cincinnati Enquirer editorial department. He majors in journalism at Ohio University and expects to graduate in 2011. The Enquirer began publishing his work August 2,

with bylines in the feature and arts and entertainment sections. ’10 CONNER CARMAN recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. His brother Brad (’06) also made Eagle Scout. Conner headed to BirminghamSouthern College this fall and will be playing lacrosse for the Panthers. ’10 ALEX JONES fired rounds of 72 and 74 in 108-degree weather to pass his PGA player ability test in August.

Passing the PAT gets Alex his PGA Apprentice card so he can proceed to professional status after completing the PGA professional golf management program and business degree at Methodist University in North Carolina. Methodist won the NCAA National Division III title in spring 2010.

Coach, Steve Conley was the NCAA national coach of the year in 2010. ’10 PATRICK CORONA qualified for the University of Illinois bowling team as a freshman. ’12 JOHN GALVIN was elected earlier this year as the USA Swimming Junior Athlete Delegate for Ohio and represented Ohio Swimming Sept. 14 to 19 at the annual convention in Dallas.

John will move into a Senior Athlete Delegate role next year and will attend next year’s convention in Jacksonville. In addition to being fortunate for this valuable experience, he will be representing a number of St. Xavier AquaBombers who are year-round USA Swimming athletes over the next couple years in this capacity.

WEDDINGS ’72 CHARLIE PERIN and Nancy Friedman, 8/22/09 ’87 GARY TUCKER and Alana Mattar, 7/23/10

The class of 1972 gathered over the summer to celebrate the recuperations of previously ill classmates Dana Bible and Dan Gibboney.

’91 ERIC BROOKS and Mary Ruth Stocker, 5/29/10 ’99 DAVE MATTHEWS and Kari Sanders, 7/25/09 ’99 TIM AVERBECK and Amanda Woolums, 7/31/10 ’00 CHRIS O’BRIEN and Katie Homan, 6/26/10 ’01 SAM BUGG and Carolyn Bidwell, 6/19/10 ’03 BEN HALE and Corey Clark, 8/28/10 BIRTHS ’88 BOB AND CARRIE DRIEHAUS, Samuel Robert, 7/14/10 ’89 BRIAN AND AMY DINEEN, Adrienne Rachel, 1/27/10 ’89 DAVID AND KELLY STENGER, Camryn Marie, 8/24/10 ’91 ANDREW AND HEATHER KARAZIM, Lucinda Best, 4/30/10 ’97 NICHOLAS AND KATIE KLEINHAUS, William Ferdinand Thomas, 12/16/09 ’94 DAVID AND JENNIFER YOUNG, Claire Elizabeth, 5/17/10 ’95 NATHAN AND NATALIE WANSTRATH, Mary Kara, 9/18/09 ’99 CHRIS AND LISA MUCCILLO, Harper Lynn, 11/9/09 ’00 SEAN AND AMY FALLER, Kylie Christine, 4/2/10 DEATHS ’37 EUGENE B. WILGER ’45 WILLIAM H. EVERS ’45 NORBERT E. OVERBERG ’45 ROBERT A. VOLPENHEIN ’47 WILLIAM J. BOEHLE ’48 JAMES T. DUFFEY ’49 ROBERT W. AUSDENMOORE ’50 FRANK M. SOLDATI ’51 WILLIAM E. HALE ’56 WILLIAM J. KROPP ’59 ALFRED H. KLEIN-KREUTZMANN ’60 DENNIS J. MOORE ’65 DAVID C. HONNINGFORD ’66 THOMAS C. CRUMMEY ’69 RIP W. PELLEY

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X-Peditions ON THE GLOBE, the long blue line is the equator. In St. X parlance, the Long Blue Line of alumni and student body appears all over the globe. Bomber blue turns up all over the map and we want the evidence. Send us your pictures wearing St. Xavier High School gear or hoisting a copy of St. Xavier magazine at an exotic locale or local landmark. Maybe a picture of Bombers at the Pyramids of Egypt or posing at the Pit. Either way, let us know where you’ve been displaying your X pride.

Send your high-resolution digital images to mmotz@stxavier.org or mail prints to Mark Motz c/o St. Xavier magazine, 600 W. North Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224.

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1. Three generations of Bruns Bombers enjoyed the beach at Hilton Head this summer. In front are Michael (’87) and Joey Bruns (’10). From back left are John Bruns (’90), holding Sam (’28), Barry (’78), Bernard (’51) and Tom (’93), holding Alex (’25). Bernard’s grandson Johnny Osborne (’11) could not make the trip. 2. Simon Puno (’14) and Matt Kirwen (’14), take a break from summer classes/ camps at St. X to admire the grandeur of this natural rock formation, Rainbow Bridge, at Lake Powell, Utah.

3. Sean Lottman (’97), Brian Obermeyer (’99), Amanda (Woolums) Averbeck, groom Tim Averbeck (‘99) and best man Brent Push (’99) celebrate with St. Xavier in Denton, Texas, for the Averbeck nuptials in July. 4. Kieran (’07), religion teacher Tim, Liam (’06) and Colin (’03) Cronin posed for an ironic photo at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. 5. Brothers Jay (’09) and Nelson (’10) Strietmann posed outside Yankee Stadium in June after a family reunion in ESPN homeland, Bristol, Connecticut, where the guys met famed Irish soccer announcer Tommy Smyth. 6. Dave Bigler (’01) attended the Italy vs. Slovakia game during the World Cup at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, a stadium people may recognize it from the movie Invictus. 7. Andy, Brendan and George (’91) Beluan stopped on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a trip for wife/mom Deirdre’s family reunion.

Family members 56 strong convened on Dunkeld from Australia, Norway, Germany, England, Ireland and the United States. 8. After previous trips to Nashville, New Orleans and Austin, members of the class of 1973 took their fourth annual golf trip to Denver this year. From left to right are Mike Schmerge, Tom Bruns, Jack Kortekamp, Mark Ahern, Greg Buchert, Pat McCafferty, Keith Trautmann and Ed Zenni. 9. Kevin Osterfeld (’82), John Doyle (’82) and Gary Osterfeld (’79) did some salmon fishing on the Kenai River in Alaska while flashing the X sign. 10. Don Deters (’77) enjoys a taste of the tropics with St. Xavier at Nachi Cocum Beach Club, Cancun, Mexico.

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1. Tim Morse (’83), Art Fehr (’83), Gene Reilly (’83) and Sean Kelley (’83) dressed up and brought some Bomber Blue to the wearing of the green at the Friendly Sons of St Patrick’s Dinner. 2. Eric (’10), Mark (’12), John (’12) and Paul (’08) Gruenbacher posed for a photo during a break on a 17-mile kayak trip along the Na Pali coast of Kauai, Hawaii, one of National Geographic’s top adventures in the U.S. 3. The Weber family showed its St. X pride in Newfound Gap in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Bob (’56) and Elaine celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by returning to their honeymoon location and brought the whole family along. Pictured from front left are daughter Beth Mouch, son-in-law Ed Mouch and grandson Bradley Mouch. In back from left are Bob Weber (’56), son Bob Weber Jr. (’80), wife Elaine Weber, grandchildren Ryan and Julia Mouch and Brittany Weber, daughter-in-law Lori Weber, granddaughter Missy Weber and son Tom Weber (’84). Ed (’81) and Ryan (’07) are graduates of Toledo St. John Jesuit. 4. A local family picnic at Swain Park in Montgomery featured from left Mark Kroeger (’06), Daniel Gates (’12), Andy Kroeger (’13), Jeff Kroeger (’14) and Phil Leisring (’12). 5. Andrew Kalthoff (‘07) took a surgical mission trip to Palenque, Mexico, through a third-party organization called Mexican Medical Ministries. Andrew is pictured in front of the hospital with Blanca (native of Palenque, surgical nurse) and Stephen Pupillo (Cedarville University senior). 6. Gabe Albacarys (’12) took a family trip out west and posed at Half Dome Rock in Yosemite National Park. 7. On May 15 of this year, Peter Fritz (’99) graduated with a Ph.D. in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame. He’ll continue working at Notre Dame as a Sorin postdoctoral fellow. 8. The Adams family hiked the Canadian Rockies in August. Pictured from left are Greg, Mary, Colin (’12) and Cam (’11). 9. Todd Dornheggen (’94), Brian Rath (’91) and Chip Hendon (’92) posed in a pub on the Scottish Highlands after a day of golf at St. Andrew’s during a trip with their fathers. 10. Jeff Hildebrand (’93) poses with the Miller High Life Man in Rocky River, Ohio.

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1. The grandchildren of Gene Koesters (’45) gave grandpa a nice Christmas present by donning their St. X jerseys and posing for a photo (in Mason). From left are Patrick, Amy, Tori, Tommy, Sean, Ryan, Gina and Michael Koesters, the children of Mike (’74), Tom (’79) and Todd (’80) Koesters.

2. Fr. John Ferone S.J. (’71) traveled to Kenya over the summer, where he got a some Maasai giraffes to cross necks for a unique X-Peditions photo. 3. On an annual voyage to McGregor Bay in Ontario, Canada—which is the north end of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron—Ben Spetz (’92) and Nathan, Andy Orth (’92) and Gavin, Jason Von Nida (’92) and Ethan, and Joe Morganroth (’92) and Joey show some father-son Bomber love. 4. Class of 1988 members Greg Schaiper, Kevin Conway, Kevin Dugan, Mike Armbruster, Steve Lohrer, Dan Finke and Andy Park—along with their wives—vacationed together in Mexico the Sandos Resorts Riviera Maya in May. 5. Norm Spitzing (’68) displays his St. Xavier pride on the InterIslander ferry crossing from the South Island (Picton) to the North Island (Wellington) in New Zealand in some a stunningly beautiful country.

6. Former St. X President Fr. Walter C. Deye S.J. (’66) was biking with a Jesuit friend when they stopped at Chicago’s Navy Pier and ran into fellow St. Antoninus and St. X grad Mark Herman (’04). 7. St. Xavier editor Mark Motz (’87) and nephews Joe (‘23) and John (‘21) Waldeck enjoyed a summer vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina. 8. Michael Hazlebeck earned his U.S. Navy wings July 2 in Pensacola, Florida, and celebrated with parents Steve and Janet, brother Ben (’08) and sister Rachel (Mount Notre Dame ’11). He is currently stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, and will fly the Seahawk helicopter. 9. The morning after his wedding, Chris O’Brien (’00) posed in ironically named Bachelor Gulch, Colorado, with his family. Pictured from front left are Cormac O’Brien (‘26) and Colin Dehring (‘25); in back are Callum O’Brien (‘28), Keith O’Brien (‘91), Chris O’Brien (‘00), Aidan Dehring (‘27), Mike Dehring (‘88). 10. Martin Trnovec —an exchange student from Slovakia—and Bob McElroy (‘06) reunited with Mt. Rozsvtec in the background in the Mala Fatra National Park.

X-Cerpts/X-Peditions What is up? You can let us know in a variety of ways— send a photo for our X-Peditions feature or tell fellow Bombers about your wedding, a recent move, your latest promotion, a family addition, your retirement or other news via the Alumni X-cerpts pages. Just fill out and send in the form below. We’re looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Mail the form to: St. Xavier High School (Magazine) 600 W. North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224.

FAX 513-761-2586 or e-mail: mmotz@stxavier.org

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1. Nick Silvestri (’10) calmly peruses St. Xavier at about 5,000 feet after jumping out of an airplane Friday, August 13, at Start Skydiving in Middletown. He jumped with his brother Dan (’03) and both made it safely to terra firma.

2. A St. X contingent took part in the Highlands Sky 40mile trail run in the mountains of West Virginia on June 19.

From left are Eric Scheper (‘91), Ryan Scheper (‘98) and Joe Santangelo (‘91). 3. Brothers Nick (’04), left, and Steven (’06) Trombetta flank fellow St. X grad Kevin Donovan (’99), whom they met prior to the United State vs.

Algeria game during the World Cup in South Africa. They grabbed this photo in their U.S.A. garb, saluting St. Xavier.

4. Thee generations of Bombers gathered in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, in July with St. Xavier. Pictured are Fred Robbins (’67), sons Eric (’92) and Joe (’99) Robbins and grandson Andy Robbins (’23). 5. Mark Williams (’12) and grandfather Gene Timbers pose near the lighthouse during a family vacation to Sanibel Island. Grandad wears his St. X shirt with pride where ever he goes, including on a Sanibel grocery run where a father and son walked up and informed them they were from Elder. 6. Ian (’08) and Connor (’13) McManis hiked on the Na’Pali Coast on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where they vacationed in June with their grandparents. 7. The Sweeny family made a summer Scotland trip, enjoying what the locals called “balmy” and “hot” 55-degree temperatures. Andy (’68) and Diane posed in Ullapool in the Highlands of Scotland. 8. Ben F. Wells Jr. (’04), Joe Wells (’08), Jack Wells (’10), Phil Ross (’04), Ben Wells (’75) and Brian Ross (’76) experienced joie de vivre in Cassis, France. The Wells and Ross families spent a week in Provence, France.

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VIEW FROM THE

BACK PORCH

BY PAUL J. ZOOK, ’57

C

all me defensive or hypersensitive. Whatever the case, I find myself reacting to the constant emphasis on speed as the magic value touted in most ads for phones, computers, web sites and cable providers. Speed is a fine quality in my antacid following a chili dinner. In other areas, however, I have not been a great fan of speed, perhaps because of comments that what I lack in speed afoot or a-brain I make up for in slowness. This admission aside, I cannot help wondering why everything must be faster than or quicker than or more immediate than the competition. I guess people hate to waste time waiting. My question is if people using all this fast stuff are thus saving so much time, what are they doing with all of the time saved?

Do they take a minute to rest? Do they use saved time to savor for just a bit some pleasure or joy? Do they take a minute to reflect on or appreciate the value of their activities? Or do they rush off to do something else and be busy about some other tasks that technology makes it possible to do even more quickly so that they can get on to the next item and the next item on the exploding to-do list?

Those who know me are aware I loathe computers. I only recently and reluctantly entered the 20th century. I know this is the 21st century. I am 100 years behind. However, as I watch the world rushing by, I cannot help wondering if e-mail and texting (especially done while driving to avoid wasted time) is all that much better and human than a phone call that might waste time. I wonder if a hand-written letter or note delivered by (horror!) snail mail does not have a more human feel to it. And it might help keep the post office open.

I wonder why everyone has to shackle themselves to a cell phone to be immediately available to everyone else. Emergencies aside, I cannot believe that all the 28

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people driving by, cell phone to their ears, are dealing with emergencies.

Again I ask what good use are people making of all the time being saved in these modern ways?

I have read in this magazine, “Imagine what St. Ignatius could have done if he had had access to modern means of communication.” As a man of action, the good saint would doubtless have made the best use of all tools at hand. As a man of prayer, Ignatius did demand all his men accompany and drive their activities by prayer and reflection. His men were—and still are—to be men of action with this huge qualification: they were (are) to be in Ignatius’ words “contemplatives in action.” They were (are) to make time in their lives for the prayer and reflection that infuses and brings God to their action. Actions, even apparently good actions, without prayerful reflection, did not cut it with Ignatius.

This theory is fine for Jesuits, but what about normal busy people with jobs and family responsibilities? The secret is not unplugging phones, computers and other media. The secret is adopting a mindset that values reflection and taking

a time out even in busy times. In 2008 St. X Principal Dave Mueller introduced to the school a simple device of St. Ignatius called the Examen or Examination of Conscience.

Once introduced into the busy schedule of St. Xavier, the Examen was warmly received by students and staff who participate. The exercise itself is valuable. However, the most important thing is students and staff are experiencing a reflective attitude that can enrich and refresh their lives beyond the school day.

To understand and, ideally, experience the Examen personally, log on to the St. Xavier website at www.stxavier.org and enter “Examen” in the search box. People today seem to share a common quest for meaning in their lives or to find themselves. The Examen provides an excellent tool to assist searchers. The best part is that the more we reflect on it the more we can realize the truth: Life is good and God is good.

Paul J. Zook (’57) worked at St. Xavier High School for 37 years and has enjoyed living the retired life with his wife Marianne in Pleasant Ridge since July 2005.

“My question is if people using all of this fast stuff are thus saving so much time, what are they doing with all the time saved?”

St. Xavier High School

fall/winter 2010 CALENDAR Alumni Gatherings and School Events Women gathered in August for the first-ever Ladies Nine-Hole Golf Outing to support X-Travaganza.

NOVEMBER

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11:30 a.m. First Friday Mass/ Luncheon at St. Xavier Church

11:30 a.m. First Friday Mass/ Luncheon St. Xavier Church

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7:30 p.m. TX Opening Night/Zombie Prom at Performance Center

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11:30 a.m. Open House at St. Xavier High School

President’s Day/No Classes

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9:30 a.m. Feast of St. Francis Xavier Mass in Berning Gym

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Feast of St. Francis Xavier/ No Classes

24-26 Thanksgiving Holiday/No Classes

10 a.m. Mothers’ Club Boutique/ Fashion Show at Savannah Center

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7:30 p.m. TX Winter Play/ Opening Night in Black Box

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Student artists capture the scenes of the school.

FEBRUARY

7 p.m. Class of ’05 Five-year Reunion in Reynolds Room

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THANK YOU to the classes of 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 for a successful Grand Reunion 2010.

We look forward to hosting the classes of 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001 next fall. To get involved in the planning for your class, please contact Alumni Director John Schrantz (’96) at jschrantz@ stxavier.org, Local phone: 761-7815, ext. 116 Toll free: 800-572-5340, ext. 116 Reunion information always is available on our web site at www.stxavier.org. Click on the alumni tab.

Alumni marching band members get ready to take the field at halftime of the Bombers football game against Louisville St. Xavier.

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage 600 W. North Bend Road Cincinnati, OH 45224-1499 www.StXavier.org

PAID Cincinnati, Ohio Permit No. 5253

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

With you We Can Make Their Dreams a Reality THE ANNUAL FUND MAKES it possible to educate more than 1,500 young men who attend St. Xavier High School. Your gift will help to attract and retain the best faculty possible for our boys while supplying our teachers with the tools needed to educate and prepare our students as they strive for the Magis. Supporting the Annual Fund supports the mission of St. Xavier at its very core because it touches every student, faculty, and staff member at St. Xavier High School.

In short, the Annual Fund is the backbone of our development efforts at St. Xavier, and your gift really will make the dreams of young men a reality.

You can support the Annual Fund through gifts of cash, securities, property, or by a planned gift. Please make checks payable to St. Xavier High School. You can also donate online via your credit card at www.stxavier.org/onlinegiving. You can find out if your company has a matching gift program by going to www.stxavier.org and clicking on Supporting St. X.

For more information regarding the St. Xavier Annual Fund contact Tony Schad (’81), Director of Development Services, at 513-618-3228 or by e-mail at tschad@stxavier.org.