Scene Magazine Spring 2015

The Magazine of St. Ambrose University | Spring 2015

Diversity: A St. Ambrose Core Value ALSO INSIDE: Bringing the World to Campus

Scene The Magazine of St. Ambrose University

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Spring 2015 | Volume XLIII | Number 1 Managing Editor

Contributing Writers

Linda Hirsch

Steven Lillybeck

Editor Craig DeVrieze Staff Writer Jane Kettering Staff Assistant Darcy Duncalf ’12

Emilee Renwick ’14 Dustin Renwick ’10 Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04 Designer Sally Paustian ’94 www.sau.edu/scene scene@sau.edu

Photo and illustration credits: Dan Videtich: cover, page 5, 28; Greg Boll: page 8; John Mohr Photography: page 1, 5, 9–11, 14–17, 22, 25; Putnam Museum & Science Center, Davenport, IA: page 18.

Scene is published by the Communications and Marketing office for the alumni, students, parents, friends, faculty and staff of St. Ambrose University. Its purpose is to inform and inspire through stories highlighting the many quality people and programs that are the essence of St. Ambrose’s distinguished heritage of Catholic, values-based education.

Circulation is approximately 30,000.

St. Ambrose University—independent, diocesan, and Catholic—enables its students to develop intellectually, spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically and physically to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.

St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803.

3 2 Under the Oaks Adult learners are on the move; SAU men’s soccer is a worldly game; a student group expands the campus culture; a retiring professor learned washing brains can be a good thing; and a Spanish teacher got a cold lesson in cultural differences.

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12 Features 12 Diversity: Our Legacy, Our Future

Alumni Profile 24 A Champion for Diversity

As our campus grows more diverse, we more effectively

Jim Collins spent his working life committed to the

serve our mission to ensure the God-given worth and

cause of diversity. As a trustee emeritus and driving force

dignity of every person. But like the great granddaughter

behind the SAU Diversity Work Group, he is building a

of a QC civil rights icon knows, we have a lot to live up

legacy of service.

to at St. Ambrose.

14 All Unique, Each Diverse Diversity is everyone and many things, and at St. Ambrose, it lives in the people who come here, learn here, teach here, work here, live here and leave here.

Meet the faces of diversity among St. Ambrose students and alumni.

18 A Rich History in the Fight for Civil Rights

26 Alumni News Eight recent Fulbright Scholars from St. Ambrose set out to impact a corner of the world, and each came back changed by the experience; lessons in mentoring from the late Freeman Pollard help an alumnus change lives a quarter of a century later; and an interest in the lives and culture of his hosts opened doors to an alum for business opportunities in Communist China.

Our rich history stands as a testimony to the worth and dignity of all. It is a history written through the actions

30 Class Notes

of justice-minded priests like the O’Connor brothers, Msgr. Marvin Mottet, the Revs. Francis Duncan and Jack Smith and by alumni such as Charles Toney, John Crocitto and many others.

21 A World of Difference With 94 degree-seeking students from 24 foreign nations on campus, and another 130 domestic students studying abroad this year, St. Ambrose is building a learning experience that better prepares its graduates to live and work in a global environment.

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Get a Head Start on Law Career Since St. Ambrose began offering a pre-law

general education courses at St. Ambrose

curriculum 15 years ago, seven graduates

and will be able to take classes that fulfill

have enrolled in the University of Iowa

requirements within their chosen major

College of Law.

during their first year at Iowa.

Starting in the fall, St. Ambrose students intent on earning a law degree at Iowa

works with us to get prepared, we want this

will have an opportunity to complete

to be an option,” said Joseph Hebert, PhD,

their schooling and start their careers a

pre-law director and professor of Political

year sooner through a 3 Plus 3 agreement

Science and Leadership Studies at SAU. “This

between the two schools.

is a valuable partnership.”

Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD,

The program will allow interested SAU

Adult Learners Benefit from Additional Campus Opportunities

students to apply to the Iowa School of

president of St. Ambrose, agreed. “We are

Law as juniors. If accepted into the 3 Plus 3

tremendously grateful to the University of

program, they can combine their first year of

Iowa for helping us provide this significant

law school with their senior undergraduate

option to our students,” she said.

year, providing they have completed required

Learn more about Political Science and Leadership Studies at sau.edu/scene

Expanded course offerings, an increased pool of instructors and convenient access to the library and food court will be among the benefits St. Ambrose adult learners enjoy when adult evening classes are relocated to the main campus next fall.

Director of Adult Learning Kathleen Andresen, RN, DNP, is overseeing the transition from the 54th Street facility, one she said will improve the learning experience for working students and adults.

“This is an opportunity to grow, adjust and improve our adult-learning programs in a time when more working adults are seeing the worth of obtaining a St. Ambrose degree,” Andresen said.

St. Ambrose will continue to offer flexible, nighttime class schedules and accelerated undergraduate degree programs. The move to campus also will provide adult learners access to a new “one-stop shopping” approach to student services at St. Ambrose, along

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“For the student who is thinking ahead and

This is an opportunity to grow, adjust and improve our adult-learning programs in a time when more working adults are seeing the worth of obtaining a St. Ambrose degree. with greater connections to academic departments, professors and other students on campus.

In addition, the adult-learning program will be able to make greater use of learning formats offered on campus, such as weekend, hybrid and online classes.

In the past 20 years, more than 1,000 students have earned degrees through St. Ambrose adult learning programs. The 54th Street facility will continue to house the Master of Social Work program.

Learn more about adult-learning degree programs at sau.edu/scene

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Grandma Put Runner on Right Track

haquille Jones often hears the voice of his late grandmother Gloria Jones as he goes about his business on a St. Ambrose campus he is certain she would have loved.

“She was a huge advocate for a one-on-one education in a smaller environment, to keep me concentrating on getting the fullest education I can,” Jones, an SAU sophomore, said of the woman who raised him nearly from birth. “I know she would have loved this school.

She probably would have volunteered here.”

In 2010, Jones was a ninth-grade student living on the south side of Chicago when his grandmother died after a lengthy battle with cancer. He had never met his father and was long estranged from his mother, and, so, Jones quickly found himself among a growing number of teenagers who fit the legal definition of homeless.

Unwilling to leave Chicago to join siblings who were living with an aunt in Kentucky, Jones briefly stayed in Chicago with a friend of his grandmother. Eventually, he did what many homeless young people do—surfed from one friend’s couch to that of another.

Ultimately, he found long-term shelter thanks to his late grandmother’s insistence that he prepare for college by applying to the Link Unlimited Scholars Foundation. The foundation matched him with mentors who would pay his tuition and expenses to attend Seton Academy, a private, Catholic high school in South Holland, Ill. The school offered the college prep curriculum on which his grandmother insisted.

When those mentors—Kai Bandele and Bernette Braden—learned young Shaquille had no home, they

took him in for the duration of his high school years.

“Grandma arranged Seton Academy,” Jones said.

“I wanted to go to a public school. But it is amazing how it all played out. I don’t think I would be here if it hadn’t been for her making sure I got into that school.”

It was during a college fair at Seton Academy that Jones, a three-time prep state qualifier in track and field, encountered then St. Ambrose admissions counselor Marcus Simpao ’09, MCJ ’11, himself a former Fighting Bees track athlete.

“Without ever seeing Shaq run, Marcus told me he was a kid who could help our program,” said Dan Tomlin, ’05, ’10 MBA, head track and field coach.

“Shaq is such a positive person. He is a leader. He is someone who has all the reasons in the world to have a chip on his shoulder and he doesn’t.”

Jones said he thanks God daily for his good fortune, but he also takes a little credit himself for overcoming adversity. “Every once in a blue moon, I get down,” he said. “But I’m pretty positive. It’s hard to put me down. Really hard.”

Perseverance is a trait he learned from his grandmother, who he said earned a master’s in criminal justice while working as a janitor at Chicago State University. The more he experiences life, the more Jones appreciates what his grandmother instilled in him.

“I am starting to see everything from her eyes now,” he said. “She left me with a lot, mentally and spiritually. I know she is watching. That’s why I have got to keep my act straight.”

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MACA Expands the Campus Culture Some increasingly popular events on the campus social calendar are the Mr. SAU Contest, Gospel Fest, the Multi-Cultural Fashion Show and Soul Food night.

It’s no coincidence that each event is sponsored by the Multicultural Affairs Community Action (MACA) group, which has enhanced diversity within the campus community through events that promote cultural difference.

“Our events really get students involved,” MACA Adviser Ramona Amos said. “The past two years we’ve had more than 300 in attendance at Mr. SAU. It has grown into one of the most wellknown events on campus.”

This year’s Gospel Fest will include four local church choirs and special guest Drew Chambers from Sunday Best, while the annual fashion show earlier this year added special guests and entertainment that showcased the growing group of international students on campus.

“A couple of students from China wanted to do a program for intermission last year,” Amos said. “They did such a great job we asked them back again this year, with a couple Saudi Arabian students all in their traditional dress.”

MACA began as the Minority Affairs Council in 2003—merging the Black Student Union and Latinos United. It was renamed MACA in 2005.

“What drives us is the way we represent ourselves in the community, on and off campus, and the values that we all believe in,” said current President Lauren Taylor, a senior. “Our common goal is to bring awareness to other cultures.”

The core goal of MACA is to get people talking about diversity.

“Many people get turned off by the word multicultural,” said senior Avalon Sorensen, the club treasurer. “But it’s essential that students understand everyone has a culture, everyone has a story that defines them and makes them who they are.”

Learn more about MACA at sau.edu/scene

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A House Where Culture Can Thrive The St. Ambrose Culture House is currently under renovation across from campus on West Locust Street. When ready in the fall, it will provide a homelike atmosphere where students of varied ethnicities and backgrounds can bond.

“It’s a place to give groups on campus a space to do some programming that they currently can’t,” Multi-Cultural Community Action Group Adviser Ramona Amos said. “We would love for it to be the ‘it’ house.”

In addition to providing a meeting place for MACA members, Culture House will be used by Intercultural Life, Promoting Respect in Sexual Minorities (PRISM) and the student disabilities organization ADAPT. Tutors from the Student Success Center also will work with students there.

“It will serve as both a study place and a great social atmosphere,” Amos said.

To help students feel more at home, they also will be consulted on interior changes, including selecting paint colors and furniture.

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‘Brainwashing,’ Rites of Passage and No Dull Moments Retiring faculty members share a few memories

Associate Professor of Social

“My memories of St. Ambrose

“I work with students who

Work Michael O’Melia, MSW,

will be about all the interesting

either have struggled with

LCSW, can’t remember a day of

individuals with whom I have

math or don’t really want much

teaching where something good

worked all these years,” said

to do with it,” said Kathleen

didn’t happen. “I remember

Phil Hall, PhD, professor of

Potter, assistant professor of

one very engaged student

managerial studies. “My friends

mathematics and statistics. “My

who told me that her husband

and colleagues have been most

goal is to show them they can do

believed I had brainwashed

engaging and entertaining;

math and hopefully find some

her,” said O’Melia. “At first I felt

there was never a ‘dull moment.’

of the beauty in it.” Recently,

defensive—but as I thought

St. Ambrose has been a good

Potter ran into a former student

about it, I knew it was true.

home for me.”

who took Potter’s general

Washing someone’s brain with

education math course as a

evidence and professional values

first-year student. “Instead of

in order to displace assumptions

the quiet and unsure young

and biases? I’m all about that.

lady I had come to know, here

That’s what teaching is. When I

was a confident senior, ready

see my students shift to a social

to graduate. She told me that

justice perspective, that is a

she just got her first credit card

memorable experience each

and during the process could

time.”

hear my voice from class telling her what she needed to know.

She asked herself, ‘What would Kathy say?’ What else could a

Also retiring in May are George Bailey, PhD, professor of chemistry; Janet Enslein, PhD, professor of nursing; Richard Dienesch, PhD, professor of managerial studies and organizational leadership; Barbara Walker, PhD, professor of kinesiology; and Richard Hanzelka, PhD, professor of education.

teacher ask for?”

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The World Through Studying abroad as a St. Ambrose student just about seeing a new part of the an Ambrosian Lens isn’t world. It’s about experiencing different cultures and discovering common ground.

In the past several years, SAU students have circled the globe, studying in 30 foreign countries and coming home with a more global sense of themselves. Oh, and they return with pictures. Lots of pictures.

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Soccer Brings the World to St. Ambrose and the St. Ambrose men’s soccer team a World Cup.

has run across former English high school teammates on the

More than half of Coach Jon Mannall’s varsity and junior

born Bees provides a certain comfort level, it is the challenge

varsity rosters last fall featured Bees from beyond the US borders. That amounted to 26 players total, representing seven foreign nations.

The international flavor makes sense when you consider

college pitch and while the large number of fellow foreignof gaining a St. Ambrose education that he values most.

“I guess what attracted me most about St. Ambrose was that it was a relatively large small school,” said the journalism major. “It has the best of both worlds.”

that soccer is the world’s most popular game, and also when

Mannall believes the broader world view provided by

you factor that Mannall left his native London in 1997 to play

Heath and other international students on campus makes

basketball and soccer for the former Marycrest International

St. Ambrose better still.

University in Davenport.

“It just kind of opens eyes to the world being smaller,” he

“I had the experience of coming to the US to play, and

said. “The more diversity that is represented on campus, the

it gives me great joy to extend the opportunity to others,”

broader the outlook students are going to get. I think that’s

said Mannall, who joined SAU as an assistant coach for the

important for the cultural development of the university and

women’s soccer team in 2002. He became women’s head

for the educational experience as well.”

coach a year later and then also took the reins of the men’s

Learn more about Fighting Bees soccer at sau.edu/scene

program in 2010.

As a player, Mannall said he was a part of the “first wave” of international recruits on NAIA men’s soccer squads. He said the numbers have grown considerably over the past 15 years.

“I think there has been an increase everywhere of students attending colleges outside their home countries,” he added. “The world has gotten smaller, and the option to travel and study abroad has become more and more feasible.”

Last fall’s Fighting Bees men’s squads featured 18 players from England, two from Germany and one each from Mexico, Scotland, France and Australia. The men’s soccer players are among a growing number of international students at St. Ambrose, and athletics are part of the push.

An additional 10 foreign athletes are competing in other SAU athletic programs this year.

Mannall said many top-level NAIA men’s soccer programs are rich with international players. That is because boys’ soccer has yet to fully achieve widespread popularity among American youth, although, Mannall added, “The popularity is increasing all the time here.”

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Sam Heath, a senior from Northhampton, England, said he

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“We live in a diverse world and need to learn how to interact with individuals who may have different views or who may look different.”

A juggling act Coordinator of Intercultural Life Ramona Amos is a busy bee. “I actually hold three positions,” said Amos. Besides serving as Coordinator of Intercultural Life, Amos also is Coordinator of Leadership Programs and supports Student Activities and its initiatives. And she’s a member of the university’s Diversity Work Group.

Enjoying the ‘aha’ moments …

Who is SAU? Ramona Amos

So what is Intercultural Life?

Intercultural Life is dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of cultural differences. According to Amos, this means enhancing cultural awareness on campus through programming, speakers, poets and the like. “We live in a diverse world and need to learn how to interact with individuals who may have different views or who may look different.”

Motherhood and silliness Although her mother always told her she had a silly and outgoing side, Amos couldn’t see it herself. At least not until she became a mother. “I find myself swinging my arms and singing along to Dora the Explorer and Doc McStuffins — alone, by myself in the car, without my 2-year-old daughter, Ramya.

Either my daughter has had a real effect on me by hogging the television or I am a secret fan of Dora and Doc. I am loving motherhood.”

Whether tutoring students in algebra during high school, mentoring young Ambrosians engaged in SAU Leadership Programs or the Multicultural Affairs Community Action group, or simply facilitating an individual student’s self-reflection, Amos has always enjoyed watching others have their “aha” moments.

… and the ‘ha-ha’ moments, too Amos is learning from the students, too, but concedes she is not nearly as in tune with advances in app technology as the younger generation. She also confessed she is not a quick study and, though she is among the younger staffers on campus, “I may not be as ‘cool’ as I’d hope.” Wait a minute. “Does anyone ever say cool anymore?” Aha.

More Ramona > Amos was a Gates Millennium Scholar. > Her master’s degree from Marquette University, Milwaukee, is a mouthful: Education Policy in Leadership with an Emphasis on College Student Personnel. > When not on campus, Amos can typically be found with her “high school sweetheart,” husband Quentin. And, of course, Ramya, whose name is Hindu for elegance and beauty. (Bet the students didn’t know that. So who is cool now?)

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More than a century after “The Melting Pot” became a popular description of a United States that welcomed immigrants from across the globe, Arturo Meijide-Lapido, PhD, believes a different cooking metaphor might be more appropriate.

‘Language can totally Change Your Life’

by Craig DeVrieze

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“‘The Melting Pot’ is a bit of a myth,” said Meijide, a native Spaniard in his 10th year as a full-time US resident and his fourth as an assistant professor in the St. Ambrose Modern Languages and Cultures Department. “The US is more of a Caesar salad. You can leave out what you don’t want. There is diversity, but it is a little bit compartmentalized.”

Europe isn’t necessarily different in that regard, Meijide said, but it is more aware of its compartments. “That narrative of integration doesn’t exist in Europe,” he said.

Meijide said a culture centered on enriching lives and developing students makes the St. Ambrose community readymade to embrace difference. “I think it is a pretty diverse campus,” he said. “And I think St. Ambrose is very inclusive.”

The department Meijide chairs provides a window to the greater world. Studying abroad is a requirement for all SAU students who major in languages, and Meijide said students who view another part of the world through an academic lens invariably return with a broader understanding of what diversity truly means.

“Definitely, the study abroad experience is a turning point in their careers,” he said.

Meijide serves SAU’s largest minority student group as adviser to both the Spanish Club and an SAU chapter of the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society. He also is working with students to establish a League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) chapter on campus.

facultyPROFILE

The Spanish Club is attempting to reach out to a rapidly growing segment of nonEnglish-speaking Hispanic immigrants in the Quad Cities, ideally by providing essential translation for legal issues as well as support to ease the transition to a new country.

Meijide himself got a cold, hard lesson in one stark difference between the Spanish culture he’d known for 28 years and that of the US when he came to the University of Kansas in 2004 to pursue a master’s and then a doctorate in Spanish.

“I needed to buy stuff for my apartment and was told a Wal-Mart was five minutes

away,” he said. Through a 45-minute walk in the cold and snow, the newcomer gained a keen understanding that Americans typically measure time and distance from behind the wheel of an automobile.

What’s more, he said, people always seem to be on the go in the US. That’s not to say European cultures de-value work, he stressed: “But I think the whole society is more relaxed. They think, ‘OK, you’re busy but now you’re going to disconnect for a couple of hours.’ Here, I just think that disconnect is not there.”

Meijide mostly speaks Spanish in his classroom, where he teaches courses

in Hispanic literature, culture and film in addition to language. The Modern Languages and Cultures Department offers similar curricula in French and German.

Meijide would like to see the department become a more integral piece of every student’s education. “Sometimes we don’t realize how easily simple barriers can be scaled,” he said. “I would like to see our department become a bridge to other cultures in the world and to other cultures in our community, too. Language can totally change your life.”

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures Department at sau.edu/scene

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Diver This is the third in a series in which Scene magazine will examine the Core Values that define St. Ambrose University: Catholicity, Integrity, The Liberal Arts, Life-long Learning and Diversity. In this edition, we investigate Diversity.

Diversity We believe in the inherent God-given dignity and worth of every person.

Therefore, we strive to develop an understanding of human cultures, achievements, capabilities, and limitations to promote justice and peace and use our talents in service to others and the world. We welcome people from other countries and cultures to study, learn and work at St. Ambrose.

Likewise, we encourage Ambrosians to teach, learn, engage in scholarship, and serve abroad.

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Director of Diversity Ryan Saddler and Breanna Toney

rsity …part of our legacy and future Breanna Toney is well aware that her great grandfather

St. Ambrose education, our Diversity Work Group, the

was an iconic figure in the historic fight for civil rights in

Center for International Education and numerous student

Davenport and across the state of Iowa. More than once,

organizations will remain at the forefront of efforts to

she proudly has posted to her Facebook wall a picture of

enhance, welcome and celebrate difference under the

Charles W. Toney ’75 (Hon) standing shoulder-to-shoulder

oaks.

with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Until recently, however, she did not know that Charles

Meanwhile, Ryan Saddler ’96, ’05 MEd, SAU’s first director of diversity, can happily report that each

Toney is believed to have been the first black student

succeeding generation of Ambrosians arrives more

to enroll at St. Ambrose. Nor was she aware that many

tolerant of difference and, in many cases, eager to engage

of his staunchest allies in his civil rights mission were

within a fully diverse campus culture.

priests and students on the very campus where Breanna,

Hence, a barrier of language was the lone concern

a sophomore accounting major from Coal Valley, Ill., now

for Matt Filipski, raised Catholic and home-schooled in

studies and lives.

St. Charles, Ill., when he learned last summer that his

St. Ambrose has a proud and enduring history in the service of its core value mission to ensure the God-given dignity and worth of every person. That is why Breanna

first-year roommate would be Habib Dahar, a Muslim and a native of Muscat, Oman.

Dahar’s main concern, conversely, was that his future

Toney carries more than her family legacy forward as she

roommate owned a black belt in tae kwon do. “I expected

walks today on an SAU campus that is more diverse than

this really big guy to walk in and be really bossy,” he said.

ever before.

Since the fall of 2004, the number of self-reporting

For the record, Filipski weighs 170 pounds dripping wet, Dahar is fluent in English and their cross-cultural

minority students on campus has more than doubled,

relationship took Dahar to suburban Chicago for

from 301 to 700. The St. Ambrose experience also has

Thanksgiving while Filipski is planning a summer trip to

grown more global both in look and outlook, with 94

Oman.

international students pursuing degrees here this year while 130 SAU students are studying abroad.

This progress is the result of an intentional, institutional

This is growth Charles W. Toney would have welcomed, but always with the caveat that we can do more. As the first direct descendant of her great grandfather to attend

commitment to diversity. But, of course, any progress is

St. Ambrose, Breanna Toney knows this, too. “I have a lot

never enough.

to live up to,” she said.

Certainly not in this cause.

Given a long line of Ambrosian social justice lions

Definitely not in this moment.

leading a rich and lasting dedication to diversity, so do

Because exposure to people with different thoughts,

we all.

ethnicities, nationalities, histories, predilections, issues and beliefs must always be an essential piece of a 1313

D

DIVERSITY AT ST. AMBROSE:

A Wonderful Clash of Cultures iversity is more than DNA.

by Craig DeVrieze

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It is more than skin color, ethnic background, religious affiliation, more than gender and all that might imply. It is more than nationality, age, health, physical ability and economic status.

Diversity is more than any of the boxes you may check on a tax form or visa application.

Diversity is everyone and many things, and at St. Ambrose it lives in the people who come here, learn here, teach here, work here, live here and leave here.

“Diversity is a cultural clash of people acknowledging differences and accepting those differences,” said Elijah Anthony Grant, a 22-year-old senior from Urbana, Ill. Grant is a dual major in business management and marketing, a Dean’s List student and a former resident adviser who has participated in such varied campus organizations as the Campus Activities Board, the Multi-Cultural Affairs in Community Action group (MACA), the Art Club and the Diversity Work Group.

Grant is black and said he came to St. Ambrose “assuming I wouldn’t meet anyone who looked like me or who came from a similar background. Many of these assumptions were based on stereotypes taught in my community about Iowa. I came to St. Ambrose fully prepared to be the only minority on campus.”

He, of course, was not.

St. Ambrose continues to work to grow more diverse. Yet, that wonderful clash of cultures that Grant described most certainly exists here today, along with the even more essential acknowledgment and acceptance of difference.

Elijah Grant Diversity at St. Ambrose shines in the face of Xiao “Michelle” Chen ’14, one of more than 25 students who have come to campus from the People’s Republic of China in recent years. She graduated in December with a Master of Accounting degree and is hoping to become a Certified Public Accountant and find employment in the United States.

At St. Ambrose, she co-chaired the Campus Activities Board and was a graduate assistant for the International Admissions office. She shared the beauty of Chinese culture on campus through dance performances. Her St. Ambrose peers taught Michelle the power of positivity, she said, and she is grateful for the help she received in adjusting to college and to life in a new country.

Chen’s suggestion to better serve our core value of diversity? “Bring more international students to

Xiao ”Michelle” Chen

Leonard Cervantes

different clubs,” she said. “We can learn something new through teamwork, right?”

Diversity lives in the rich life experience of Leonard Cervantes ’70, ’05 (Hon), a senior partner in the St. Louis law firm Cervantes and Associates. He has been a member of the St. Ambrose University Board of Trustees for nearly a quarter of a century and was one of two Mexican-Americans who enrolled here in 1966.

“I have to say, I didn’t give a lot of thought to being a quote-unquote minority student at the time,” said Cervantes, a second generation American who grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, and was followed to St. Ambrose by all six of his siblings.

Cervantes will concede, though, that minority struggles—as well as lessons in social justice learned from St. Ambrose instructors like the Rev. Francis Duncan—were on his mind when he began his law career. As president of the Lawyers Association of St. Louis 20 years ago, he helped launch a Black History Month dinner in partnership with another bar association group comprised mostly of minority attorneys. That dinner continues today, a small, but important bridge in a city very divided along racial lines.

Celeste Raya

“Social justice has always been important to me,” Cervantes said. “Of the schools I attended, St. Ambrose shaped my values the most.”

Diversity grows at St. Ambrose through Celeste Raya, a Mexican-American from East Moline, Ill. A 21-year-old senior majoring in elementary education, she will be the first SAU student to earn an endorsement to teach English as a Second Language this spring.

At St. Ambrose, Raya has been an all-conference pole vaulter for the track and field team, a Spanish and history tutor in the Student Success Center and a participant in Habitat for Humanity, the Student Alumni Association, Dance Marathon and Phi Eta Sigma.

Difference shines in the faces of students and alumni “We each possess different qualities that shape our community,” she said. “We can learn so much from those around us if we are willing to give them the time. I believe that diversity should not just be viewed as the color of our skin, but as the ideas and different attributes that are brought to our table.”

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Peter Ly Diversity is broadened by Peter Ly, 25, a Chinese Cambodian-American from Savage, Minn., and a second-year student in the SAU Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Ly graduated with distinction from St. John’s University in his native Minnesota.

“A lesson I have learned at St. Ambrose is the concept of the ‘culture of one,’” Ly said. “Each individual has unique perspectives, values and customs they can share with one another.”

Diversity at St. Ambrose is strengthened by Mohammad Buaysha, Angela Lawrence Mohammad Buaysha a 25-year-old business management president of sales for Nationwide Insurance in Atlanta. major and one of 36 current SAU students sponsored A Davenport native, she earned her undergraduate by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Theirs is a campus degree at Jackson State, an historically black college community that is growing both in number and that she said “provided a nurturing environment that visibility, the latter thanks in large part to Buaysha’s catered to the needs of African-American students.” creation this past year of the Saudi Student Association.

“…diversity should not just be viewed as the color of our skin, but as the ideas and different attributes that are brought to our table.” —Celeste Raya “My reason for creating this association is to present and share some of our culture,” he said.

“But, more importantly, it is to address some of the misconceptions people might have about Saudi Arabia and its people, especially after 9/11—how people see Muslims and Arabs and how the media is presenting us in a very negative way.”

Very little about his St. Ambrose experience has been negative. The campus community, Buaysha said, “has been extremely friendly and kind to us international students and specifically we Saudis. We have been welcomed with open arms and feel like we are among family and friends.”

Diversity is enhanced at SAU by Board of Trustees member Angela Lawrence ’94 MBA, an associate vice 16

Lawrence valued every bit as much her experience in the St. Ambrose MBA program from which both of her parents also graduated. She found true and instructional diversity within the life and work experience of the students with whom she studied. “I was fresh out of undergrad,” she said, “so for me it was helpful to learn about real-world experiences and how you can apply an MBA. It was more than a textbook environment.”

More diversity among the faculty and administration, Lawrence suggested, would help to increase diversity within the student body. “Students will want to come where they feel comfortable and feel that the leadership and their professors have something in common with them,” she said.

Amanda Gullang Diversity blossoms in Amanda Gullang ’14, who overcame the learning disabilities of dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology this past December. She praised the St. Ambrose Office of Student Disability Services for its work with a sometimes under-served group.

“St. Ambrose is probably one of the most welcoming campuses to students with disabilities that I visited,” said the 22-year-old from Algonquin, Ill. “Having a learning disability and going away to college can be very intimidating. They showed me I could do it like anyone else and that I wasn’t alone in this battle.”

Diversity is deepened at St. Ambrose by Andrea Rivera, 21, a senior majoring in theatre who came to Davenport from Caguas, Puerto Rico. She defines diversity as “respect,” something she has found in abundance at St. Ambrose.

“I have had a lot of people ask me about my culture and my background and I love talking about that,” said Rivera, who has been active with SAUtv, Residence Life, admissions, MACA and much more and was a member of the 2014 Homecoming Court.

“I have learned so much about different cultures. My sophomore year, I lived on an internationally themed floor and it was amazing. I was able to learn the significance of being an individual and being proud of where you come from.”

Diversity at St. Ambrose is not captured entirely, nor even remotely, by the stories of nine diverse

Andrea Rivera students and alumni. Behind each of these nine faces of diversity stand 100 more, each with their own vast and beautiful differences—in color, creed, life history, belief, choice, gender and genetics. And behind those 900 stand thousands more still, all joined together to form a curious, compassionate and compellingly diverse community.

In many ways, Elijah Grant cautioned, St. Ambrose is not yet the widely diverse place he believes it can be. Yet, upon his arrival and through his intervening years, he said, “I was happy to learn that many of my assumptions about the lack of diversity were overexaggerated. I was happy and surprised to meet people from across the globe and to see that many of my professors came here from different countries.”

Diversity, Grant concluded, “is about creating opportunities for people to meet and educate one another to reduce ignorance. The most significant lesson I have learned is that each individual has a story unique to themselves.”

Indeed, all unique and each diverse. In that way, Ambrosians are all the same.

Learn more about Diversity at sau.edu/scene

17

A RICH HISTORY OF

Standing Up for the Dignity of All

by Steven Lillybeck

left to right: The Rev. Francis W.J. Duncan; Iowa Lt. Gov. Robert Fallon, Charles Toney, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Msgr. Paul D. Moore at the 1965 Pacem in Terris award ceremony, where Rev. King was honored; Fr. William O’Connor

18

For more than a century, St. Ambrose faculty, students and alumni have been resolute in advancing the core value and guiding principle of diversity.

In the 1950s, students and faculty lobbied for better living conditions at Cooks Point, a Latino community in Davenport without running water. They even built new homes, complete with plumbing.

From the earliest stirring of a local Civil Rights Movement, St. Ambrose priests and faculty worked closely with Charles Toney ’75 (Hon), who is believed to have been the first black student at St. Ambrose when he enrolled in 1932.

In 1965, four St. Ambrose students accompanied Rev. Francis Duncan to Selma, Ala., for the March on Montgomery, led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They were among a number of St. Ambrose students who marched and worked for civil rights in the south.

Msgr. Marvin Mottet ’52, ’82 (Hon) was an activist in the labor equality and civil rights movements and was instrumental in honoring Rev. King as the third recipient of the Pacem in Terris Award created by the Diocese of Davenport in partnership with St. Ambrose.

These are but a few people and moments in a rich history of promoting social justice and enhancing the God-given dignity of every man and woman. It is a story heavily documented in A Great and Lasting Beginning, an exhaustive history of St. Ambrose authored by Rev. George McDaniel ’66, professor emeritus of history.

Fr. McDaniel said social justice at St. Ambrose began to find its voice prior to the first World War, when Msgr. John Augustine Ryan, a prominent moral theologian and social justice advocate, arrived on campus for the first of many visits. Msgr. Ryan’s long commitment to exposing national labor problems planted seeds for activism in pursuit of justice in the St. Ambrose community.

“When you look at the work of the American Catholic bishops and Fr. Ryan, you discover that the general attitude of the Catholic Church was an issue of justice,” said Fr. McDaniel.

St. Ambrose No discussion of St. Ambrose and civil rights can take place without including Rev. William O’Connor ’29 and Msgr. Edward O’Connor ’21, natives of Davenport’s hardscrabble west end.

The two brothers made significant contributions to St. Ambrose’s steadfast and very public campaign for social justice, including the establishment of the first NAACP chapter on a Catholic college campus in 1947.

Among the countless students they inspired was Toney, who provides an extraordinary tale of racial and social justice activism in Davenport, in Iowa and across the country.

Four years after leaving St. Ambrose, Toney landed a job with John Deere, where he worked for 42 years, becoming, among other things, Deere’s first welder of color, a manager of minority relations and, finally, the company’s first black executive when he was appointed as director of affirmative action in 1972. In the latter role, Toney initiated one of the first voluntary affirmative action plans in the nation. The Deere plan served as a model for what would eventually become mandatory under federal laws.

was just alive with a pursuit of social and racial justice.

During the course of his eventful life, Toney also would become president of the Davenport Chapter of the NAACP, chairman of the Human Rights & Employment Practices of the Iowa Association of Business & Industry and a commissioner on the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

One of Toney’s most notable actions was a discrimination lawsuit he filed in 1942. That year, Toney and his future wife, Ann, decided to stop for ice cream at the Colonial Fountain on the corner of 12th and Harrison in Davenport after attending a movie together. They were refused service because of the color of their skin. Toney filed a complaint, and three years and two trials later, an all-white jury found that the Toneys were the victims of discrimination.

The O’Connors and other activist St. Ambrose priests and students supported and expanded on Toney’s efforts.

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In 1951, a group of St. Ambrose students, with the consultation of Fr. William O’Connor, formed the League for Social Justice. Although the League lasted only a few years, its successor organization, the Catholic Interracial Council (CIC), still exists. Toney was vice president of the former and president of the latter.

In 1949, Msgr. Edward O’Connor organized the Industrial and Human Relations Council, which focused primarily on labor, interracial and economic issues. Using St. Ambrose students as information collectors, surveys were conducted throughout the Davenport community to more clearly discover the plight of the less privileged.

One such survey was conducted among Hispanics living in Cook’s Point. Beginning in 1925, Hispanic families had begun populating Cook’s Point, living in shacks with no running water, electricity or sewer system. For 27 years, the Cook’s Point community remained largely invisible to an indifferent community at large.

In 1952, the Cook’s Point landowner wanted to develop the property and evicted the nearly 300 people living there. The wider community that had ignored Cook’s Point residents now resisted integration of those residents into their own Davenport neighborhoods. Hispanics looking for a place to buy or rent faced open discrimination.

The residents’ plight became a cause for the O’Connors, the League for Social Justice and a group of students, who quickly organized and pursued solutions. One of the latter resulted in 24 St. Ambrose students and seminarians donating their time and labor to help build houses in which former Cook’s Point residents could live.

Msgr. Mottet followed the examples of the O’Connors to become a nationally recognized social justice advocate.

“In those years, no matter what class you took at Ambrose you got an education in social justice,” he said. “A lot of the faculty were priests who grew up in working class families with dads who belonged to labor unions. That was the basis of their life.

St. Ambrose was just alive with a pursuit of social and racial justice.

20

“Through St. Ambrose, I met African-Americans and Mexican-Americans,” he said. “They have remained friends for the rest of my life. They left a deep impact on me. I have dedicated my whole life to working for justice.”

Another St. Ambrose professor and CIC founder, Rev. Francis Duncan, also occupies an important position in the history of civil rights at St. Ambrose.

In 1964, Fr. Duncan spent two weeks in Mississippi, working with other activists to register voters in defiance of Mississippi’s deeply racist voter restriction laws. Upon returning from Mississippi, Fr. Duncan urged his students to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Simultaneously, Fr. Jack Smith was sounding a similar call to action from his students.

A year later, a pivotal moment in the American Civil Rights Movement occurred when 600 marchers in Selma, Ala., were violently attacked by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In response, Rev. King organized a second march and called for people from across the country to join him. Four St. Ambrose students—John Crocitto ’66 EdD, Larry Kamin ’66, PhD, John Jablowski ’67 and Don Knapp ’68— accompanied Fr. Duncan to Selma.

On return to campus, the quartet joined with others to re-establish a campus chapter of the NAACP. Crocitto was elected president, beginning a lifetime of working toward justice and action.

Crocitto went on to become a high school counselor and an adjunct college professor at the University of Central Florida and Nova Southeastern University.

What he learned and experienced at St. Ambrose indelibly stamped him, notably the importance of listening to diverse perspectives. Frs. Duncan and Smith had opposite political perspectives, Crocitto recalled, yet both were deeply committed to civil rights.

“St. Ambrose taught me the importance of not only voicing a concern for an injustice, but the importance of backing up that concern with action,” Crocitto said. “It’s great for people to say they support something because it’s popular, but it’s another to actually do something about it.

“St. Ambrose taught me to do something about it.”

A WORLD of

DIFFERENCE

Under the Oaks Popcorn—

really good popcorn, especially—can bridge a divide of cultures spanning thousands of miles.

by Craig DeVrieze

Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, president of St. Ambrose University, was nearing the end of a long mid-January day made longer by airline delays when she saw a young man from the Middle East sitting near a boarding gate at O’Hare International Airport. He was waiting for the last flight of the night from Chicago to Moline, Ill. Alone, visibly travel-weary and looking like he was feeling a little out of place, the young man was munching on the gourmet popcorn that only can be found in hustling, bustling O’Hare along Concourse H of Terminal 3.

“Isn’t that popcorn just the best?” Sr. Joan offered as an opening to a conversation she was reasonably certain would lead back to St. Ambrose.

“Yes,” responded Mohammed Alqattan, a 23-year-old resident of Alhassa, Saudi Arabia. “Would you like some?”

When Sr. Joan asked why he was traveling to Moline, he explained he was headed for a small, private college in Iowa.

“Have you heard of St. Ambrose?’’ he asked.



21

M

ohammed Alqattan is one of 94 students

from 24 foreign countries pursuing a degree at St. Ambrose this spring.

That is a number that has grown

incrementally, from eight in the fall of 2009 to 20 in 2011, and from 55 a year ago to potentially 130 next year. It will grow that high, at least, if Munir Sayegh ’11 hits his target goal for international enrollment.

Since rejoining his alma mater in 2013 as its first international admissions representative, Sayegh has rung up 96,000 frequent flier miles—the near-equivalent of circling the globe four times—while searching for students eager to pursue a post-secondary education at a small, Catholic university in the middle of America.

Sayegh’s hiring was part of a very intentional approach to bringing the world to St. Ambrose while also sending Ambrosians out beyond the US borders. It is a multi-

Aziz Alhussain with Munir Sayegh ’11, International Admissions recruiter

faceted international initiative that was declared a priority by Sr. Joan in her inaugural

education takes place in residence halls,

by a post-graduate year in Egypt as a

address in the fall of 2007.

in classes when you are sitting next to

Fulbright Scholar.

“It was one of those points that I felt was

someone. It takes place in the cafeteria.

Two years beyond his graduation, he

important to signal from the very first days of

It really is the best way to learn about the

returned to a campus more diverse than

my presidency,” she said. “We needed to be

world—by building relationships with people

the one he had left. With the support of the

more active on the international scene. I felt

who are different than you.”

administration, Sayegh has worked tirelessly

that way, and still do, because the students

Embracing difference is at the heart of

we are educating today will work in a global

St. Ambrose’s long-standing core mission

environment.”

value of diversity, but Sayegh said the

In that context, it made sense to help

T

he refers to as “a richer stew.”

campus was less diverse than he expected

domestic students gain a more global

when he arrived at St. Ambrose as a first-

perspective by providing a campus that

year student in 2007.

looked a bit more like the wider world.

to add even more international flavor to what

As the son of a Palestinian-born father

he university’s growth in international

enrollment gained momentum in 2010 when Sr. Joan visited the Saudi Arabian embassy in

who first came to the US to attend college,

Washington, DC, and began a process that

only by sending students abroad,” explained

Sayegh had traveled extensively, and he

led to a number of SAU academic programs

Ryan Dye, PhD, director of the SAU Center

enriched his SAU education by studying

earning the approval of the Saudi Arabian

for International Education (CIE). “A lot of

abroad in Morocco for a semester, followed

Ministry of Higher Education.

“International education doesn’t happen

22

“It really is the best way to learn about the world—by building relationships with people who are different than you.” ­—Ryan Dye, Director of International Education In 2011, two Saudi students enrolled at

St. Ambrose students have been

T

hrough International Student Advisor

St. Ambrose. When they shared stories of a

participating in study abroad programs since

Cathy Toohey and the CIE, the growing

very welcoming SAU environment, seven of

the early 1990s and, this year, more than 130

number of international students at

their countrymen joined them under the oaks

students will earn credit toward their degree

St. Ambrose find ready support for problems

at their government’s expense the next fall.

by visiting—and studying—other parts of

with entry visas, language hurdles, class

Today, 36 students from Saudi Arabia are

the world. By summer’s end, 24 students

schedules and any manner of adjustments

enrolled in 33 ministry-approved graduate

will have spent a full semester studying at a

common to life in a foreign country.

and undergraduate programs at St. Ambrose.

university in another country.

Annual visits to various DC embassies by

The value of the program is reflected in a

Toohey, Dye and Study Abroad Coordinator Stephanie Loncarich also are

Sr. Joan, Sayegh and PJ Foley ’01,’05 MOL,

university initiative to double the number of

easier to find at the Center for International

the university’s director of government and

students studying abroad by the end of the

Education offices, which have been relocated

community relations, also have yielded

decade.

from the third floor of Ambrose Hall to a

official approval of SAU programs from the

“One of the myths about study abroad

highly visible place on the lower level of

governments of Brazil, China, Kuwait and

is that it is glorified tourism,” said Dye.

Cosgrove Hall. In the comfortable lounge

Iraq. Pending are agreements with Oman and

“That’s not what we’re about. We are about

outside the CIE doors, students from across

Qatar.

integrating a study abroad experience into a

campus and around the globe can find

student’s academic program.”

opportunities to mix, said John Cooper, vice

The CIE also is charged with

president for enrollment management and a

Additionally, the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education is reviewing an application to recognize Eastern Iowa Community

internationalizing the SAU curriculum. Since

Colleges as a provider of an English as a

2007, the College of Arts and Sciences has

Second Language program through a unique

added an International Studies program and

is settling in at St. Ambrose, even though

partnership with St. Ambrose.

St. Ambrose also offers majors and minors in

he conceded he had doubts that evening at

International Business and in Languages and

O’Hare. Those quickly were assuaged by his

Modern Cultures.

chance meeting with Sr. Joan, who helped

Of course, not every international student is attending SAU under government sanction. The “richer stew” described by

Beyond the classroom, China in all its

chief proponent of international recruitment.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Alqattan happily

him replace a damaged boarding pass with

Sayegh includes 19 students from the United

complexities was the focus of the annual

another and assured him he would receive a

Kingdom, eight from China, three each

project series in 2011-2012; business students

warm and lasting welcome at St. Ambrose, a

from Australia, Egypt and Tanzania and a

from India spend a month each summer

place she knows quite well indeed.

pair apiece from Canada, India, Venezuela

immersed in the American Business

and Vietnam. There also are students from

Experience; and the Middle East Institute,

students were waiting to drive him to

Argentina, Botswana, Germany, Hungary,

coordinated by Dye, was introduced as a

campus, Alqattan stopped to thank his fellow

Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia,

community resource last year.

traveler for significantly lessening his fear.

Mexico, Moldova, Myanmar, Nigeria and

T Syria.

he work of bringing a more global outlook

to St. Ambrose is not limited to international

Acclaimed Iranian gender expert Hamideh

On arrival in Moline, where fellow

“I was confused about if it was a good

Sedghi, PhD, is on campus this spring as

choice that I made,” he said. “When I met

the Institute’s first visiting scholar. She will

Sr. Joan, I knew it was a good choice. It feels

headline a two-day conference in April, the

like family here.”

first of an annual series.

Learn more about the Center for International Studies and international admissions at sau.edu/scene

recruitment.

23

alumniPROFILE

by Steven Lillybeck

Alum’s Commitment makes things happen Jim Collins,

an SAU trustee emeritus and a retired John Deere executive,

is a champion for all things diverse.

Who better, then, to help lead SAU’s commitment to diversity?

Collins, a 1969 St. Ambrose grad, has held a number of influential positions in the diversity realm. Highlights include: Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator, Deere & Co.; Director, Affirmative Action, Deere & Co.; Director, Community Relations, Deere & Co.; first full-time Director, Rock Island County (IL) Project NOW; former Chairperson, Human Rights & Employment Practices Committee, Iowa Association of Business and Industry; former Commissioner, Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

The list goes on. So, too, does Collins’ list of achievements and involvement at St. Ambrose, where he served as a part-time counselor to minority students in 1998.

In 2007, Collins helped establish the university’s Diversity Work Group at the direction of Sr. Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, SAU’s then-newly inaugurated president. The work group built upon the efforts of a Collins-assisted task force established a few years earlier by Sr. Joan’s predecessor, Ed Rogalski, PhD. “Sr. Joan said, ‘Let’s make some things happen,”’ remembered Collins, who subsequently participated in the university’s longrange strategic planning and almost single-handedly developed a list of 101 strategic initiatives related to diversity that became part of St. Ambrose’s 2020 Vision Plan.

The appointment of Ryan Saddler ’95, ’06 MEd as SAU’s first director of diversity in 2013 was critical among those 101 initiatives and, Saddler said, the group’s work continues with Collins as a partner and lead proponent.

24

My commitment to give back to St. Ambrose is never-ending because the benefits of what I learned at St. Ambrose are never-ending.”

Accomplishments include a steady increase in diversity enrollment numbers; the creation of activities specifically for international and minority students; changes to curriculum; and the development of community partnerships such as creating Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on Davenport’s Marquette Street.

“There are a number of things we have done to keep diversity on the agenda, and Jim has been catalyst for much of it,” Saddler said, adding that Collins has been particularly instrumental in progress toward fully endowing the Freeman Pollard Minority Scholarship program.

Collins is a very committed man, especially in regards to improving his alma mater.

“That’s because Ambrose has done so much for me personally and professionally,” he said. “My commitment to give back to St. Ambrose is never-ending, because the benefits of what I learned at St. Ambrose are never-ending.”

Collins is driven in part to create opportunity for AfricanAmericans, but he also fully understands that a culture of diversity goes well beyond race.

“I’m a black man,” Collins said, “that’s who I am, and that’s my reference. But when you talk diversity you’re talking culture, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender and a lot more.

“All of this is part of what the Diversity Work Group is about: To be able to embrace diversity in order to grow and then be able to go out into a very diverse world with that knowledge. If we don’t do that for our students, we’re not doing them the service they deserve as part of the St. Ambrose community.”

Learn more about the Diversity Work Group at sau.edu/scene

25

alumniNEWS

Ambrosians Changed by

Fulbright Experiences

by Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04

26

J

“As I have traveled to places like India and Ecuador through St. Ambrose programs, I have been the beneficiary of the rich cultures and traditions of people I never

ust days before boarding a plane in January, Erin Larson ’14 knew she would spend the next several months of her life teaching English someplace on the Southeast Asian island of Malaysia.

But that’s all she knew.

“I don’t even know where I’ll be living, or what language I’ll need to learn and speak yet,” she said from her home in Mokena, Ill. “It is most definitely scary, but absolutely exciting. I’m ready for this new adventure.”

As St. Ambrose University’s newest Fulbright Scholar, she has spent the last year researching the educational and political system of Malaysia, the people and their culture, and getting advice from the other seven Fulbright Scholars who have been selected from St. Ambrose over the past nine years.

“When I was applying for the program, Munir Sayegh ’11, who traveled to Egypt on his Fulbright, told me to propose an experience that I would be deeply passionate about—and one that would be completely new to me,” Larson said. “As I have traveled to places like India and Ecuador through St. Ambrose programs, I have been the beneficiary of the rich cultures and traditions of people I never expected to come face to face with. Now, I hope to extend that to others.”

Barbara Pitz, PhD, professor of English and St. Ambrose’s Fulbright application adviser, has been guiding young Ambrosians through the process for more than a decade. She said the Fulbright program, the oldest and most prestigious international exchange program in the US, offers recipients a truly lifechanging experience.

“These students are throwing themselves into new, unchartered cultures—often following the customs of the country in dress, in diet and in everyday life,” Pitz said. “They get a whole different perspective.”

expected to come face to face with.

Now, I hope to extend that to others.”

—Erin Larson

A former Fulbright senior lecturer herself, Pitz taught American and British literature in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. She said the program has the ability to change students, merely by going through the application process.

“Most of the students haven’t written research or grant proposals before,” she said. “I get to work alongside them as they discover what it is they want to do and help them match that to a country that can best put those dreams into practice.”

Samantha (Lee) Barkley ’10 is an industrial engineering graduate who traveled to Trinidad and Tobago to research the continuity of care for HIV patients and determine the effectiveness of a new electronic medical records system. She said the Fulbright became far less about the day-to-day work and more about the cultural experiences she encountered.

“Everything I did there had to do with how people in the clinics adapted to change,” she said. “I came home understanding better how I adapted, too. A lot of the problems we think we have are really ‘first-world problems.’ Too often we don’t understand what it is like to deal with a water shortage, no electricity, or an incurable disease. The ways I approach my life, my work and my relationships today are different because of Fulbright.”

Larson expects to come home changed as well. “I hope I can give to others as much as I’m certain will be given to me just by being there,” she said.

Learn more about SAU Fulbright Scholars and follow Erin Larson’s blog from Malaysia at sau.edu/scene

27

alumniNEWS

Legacy Giving is Timeless

A gift through your will establishes your legacy at St. Ambrose University and strengthens the university for future generations of Ambrosians.

For more information, contact the Office of Advancement at 563/333-6080 or www.sau.edu/advancement 28

alumniNEWS

The Gift of Giving Freeman Pollard Showed Army Officer How to Mentor When Mike Davis ’81 was asked to counsel Focusing on a passion for political science he Quad Cities youths being lured by gang activity in the developed while an activist for voters’ rights over two late 1970s, the Sunday school teacher and then-Army decades, Pollard earned a bachelor’s degree from lieutenant quickly turned to his own mentor: Freeman the University of South Alabama and a master’s and Pollard, PhD. doctorate from Indiana University. He joined the Remembered Davis, who studied political science St. Ambrose faculty in 1979 as a professor of political under Pollard while pursuing his Bachelor of Arts in science.

Psychology degree: “I told him I didn’t know if I could In his brief St. Ambrose career, Pollard influenced do this. He said, ‘Not only can you do it, I’m going to countless eager learners, particularly minority students help you do it.’” like Davis, who is black.

A civil rights activist, military veteran and the first “He taught me there was more you can do,” said black professor at St. Ambrose, Pollard spent just Davis, who retired as a colonel after 26 years in the nine years on campus but his legacy lives through the Army and now lives in Fairfax Station, Va., and serves Freeman Pollard Minority Scholarship fund. Since as the CEO of Davis-Page Management Systems. “He told me, ‘Take what you have experienced and take its inception upon his retirement in 1988, nearly 500 what you have learned at St. Ambrose and in life, and students have received aid from the fund. reach out to help someone.”’

Minority students of any background may apply for scholarship assistance, and “What I found was a source of information, strength and wisdom.

Pollard’s truest legacy lies in a question applicants must He was taking all those things he had lived through answer: When you hear the word and helped me understand where I needed to go.” leadership, what comes to mind?

Davis honors those lessons by changing lives of For Davis, the answer might well be the measured young men and women, some from circumstances yet authoritative voice of Freeman Pollard. not all that different from those he counseled in “What I found was a source of information, strength the Quad Cities. He has established apprenticeship and wisdom,” he said of his frequent meetings with programs at his company for students, as well as a Pollard outside the classroom. “He was taking all those scholarship program that matches major corporations things he had lived through and helped me understand with high schoolers interested in science, technology, where I needed to go.” engineering and math.

Raised in the Jim Crow south in Mobile, Ala., “That’s the type of thing Dr. Pollard instilled in Pollard, who died in 2004, did indeed pack a lot of me,” said Davis. living into his 81 years. He was a US Marine Corps Davis also is a leading donor to the Freeman Pollard veteran of both World War II and the Korean War and Minority Scholarship fund and is active in a campaign carried mail in Mobile for 20 years before a fateful to fully endow the scholarship by raising $1 million by decision to return to college at the age of 48. the end of the decade.

Learn more about the Freeman Pollard Minority Scholarship at sau.edu/scene

29

classNOTES

60

The Sixties

The Hon. Thomas Dunn ’64 was appointed to the Illinois Gaming Board by Gov. Bruce Rauner. Dunn served as an Illinois state senator from 1972 to 1997 and was an associate judge for Will County, Ill., from 1997 to 2005.

Jim TeBockhorst ’65 has relocated from Davenport to Broomfield, Colo., to be close to his family and four grandchildren.

Recently retired after 45 years as a baseball coach and educator, Jim Murphy ’73 resides in Peoria, Ariz.

He is an associate scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and assists with the Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat summer league. In 2004, Murphy was inducted into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

70

The Seventies

Don Schaeffer ’76 has been promoted to Davenport Chief of Police. Schaeffer joined the Davenport Police Department in 1971 and during his 43-year tenure has instituted a number of programs, including the first street crime unit in the Midwest and a Quad City drug and burglary task force.

80

The Eighties

Steven Vandemore ’83 has been named president of Southern Imperial Inc., in Rockford, Ill., which manufactures fixture and display solutions for the retail industry.

Madelyn (Doty) Flaherty ’87 has retired from a 25-year career in social services and family counseling.

Wangard Partners, Inc., a commercial real estate company in the Greater Milwaukee area, has

30

hired Peter Ginn ’87 as senior vice president for industrial investments.

Bettie Truitt ’87, PhD, has been appointed president of Black Hawk College, Moline, Ill. Truitt joined Black Hawk in 1989, when she began teaching mathematics. She also has served the community college as interim dean of instruction and academic support, vice president of instruction and executive vice president.

Michael Aguilar ’89 MBA, president and co-founder of Innocorp Ltd., was inducted into the Missouri University of Science and Technology Academy of Computer Science in October. The academy honors outstanding computer scientists for their contributions to the profession and their involvement with the Missouri academy’s students and faculty.

90

The Nineties

Penny Foy ’90 MBA is the business manager for Townsquare Media.

Foy lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is the financial officer for the Cedar Rapids chapter of the American Association of University Women and is a member of American Heart Association Circle of Red and the Cedar Rapids League of Women Voters.

RubinBrown has named Rob Lewis ’90 as its chief information officer. Lewis will be responsible for aligning IT strategy with the business, developing the technology vision and strategy, and providing innovative thought leadership to senior firm leaders. RubinBrown is one of the nation’s largest accounting and business consulting firms.

David Miller ’91 has been promoted to assistant vice president of special investigations for Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. Since

joining the company in 2002, he has served as workers’ compensation adjuster, special investigator and manager and director of special investigations.

Tricia (Mann) Berry ’92 received a doctorate of philosophy of education and organizational leadership from North Central University. Berry is director of clinical and practicum programs for Kaplan University.

Bryan Hanson ’92 MBA has been promoted to senior vice president of Exelon Generation and president and chief nuclear officer of Exelon Nuclear. As president and CNO, Hanson takes over operational and organizational responsibility for the largest fleet of nuclear power stations in the nation, with more than 11,000 employees and 23 reactors at 14 locations in Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Mary (Krauska) Javoroski ’92 is an online admissions counselor for Concordia University of Wisconsin.

The Missouri Partnership has named Subash Alias ’94 interim chief executive officer. Alias has been the partnership’s vice president of recruitment since 2011. The Missouri Partnership is a nonprofit economic development organization.

Carol Triebel ’94, ’99 MBA has been appointed as an alderwoman for Moline, Ill. Todd Mourning ’96 MPT has been appointed to an aldermanic seat in Lincoln, Ill. NAI Ruhl Commercial Co. announced Chris Wilkins ’96, vice president and director, has been inducted into the 2014 Midwest Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. The award honors those who have the vision and leadership to attain significant achievements in the industry and reshape their

respective communities. Wilkins also received NAI Ruhl Commercial Company’s Top Producer of the Year Award.

HCA announced the appointment of Lyn Ketelsen ’98 as the company’s first chief patient experience officer. Ketelsen will be responsible for leveraging best practices that have been developed at HCA’s 166 affiliated hospitals and other healthcare providers throughout the company. HCA is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services.

00

The Zeros

Tina (Droessler) Rodriguez ’01 is a PT/ATP seating specialist for Mobility Healthcare in Texas.

Derrick Nelson ’02 is the varsity assistant offensive line coach for Rochester High School, which earned its fifth straight Illinois Class 4A state football championship in November. Nelson has taught and coached at Rochester High School for 12 years and resides in Rochester with his wife, Tara (Hanke) Nelson ’02, ’03 MOT, and their children, Brody, Macklin and Braylee.

Great Southern Bank has promoted Stefanie Johnston ’02 to business banking officer and VIP banking manager for the Quad Cities market.

Joe Barrer ’03 is the top assistant coach for Truman State University’s men’s basketball program. He previously was head boy’s basketball coach at Assumption High School in Davenport.

The ALS Group announced Michael Lubben ’03 MBA has joined the firm as chief operating officer. The ALS Group is an independent risk management and insurance advisory firm that serves as a client advocate.

Erin Watson ’03 MSW, a licensed clinical social worker, is celebrating

classNOTES

the one-year anniversary of opening her practice, Watson Center for Wellness in Clinton, Iowa.

Heartland Community Health Clinic announced James Kerns, MD, ’04 MBA-HC has joined its medical staff.

Kerns is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and will serve as the resident training director at the Heartland-Armstrong location in Peoria, Ill. Kerns received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago.

Rachael Padavich ’05 is the manager for River Cities Engineering, Inc., Davenport.

Stephanie (Stapes) Staley ’05 is the president of TIME That Matters in Urbandale, Iowa.

Mary Blick ’06 is the human resource associate for Advanta IRA, a self-directed retirement plan administrator that provides taxdeferred and tax-free investment opportunities.

Amanda Elkins ’06 is an assistant supervising attorney for the Student Legal Services at the University of Iowa.

Catherine Foy ’06 is an English and writing tutor at Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore. Amanda Gregor ’06, ’07 MOT is the owner of Peek-A-Boo Pediatric Therapy in Littleton, Colo.

Bre Scherler ’06 has been appointed the Davenport Assumption High School volleyball coach.

Wendy Klein ’07 MBA is the owner of a lingerie boutique, Bella Ragazza, in Burlington, Iowa.

David Adams ’08, PhD, is a counseling psychologist for dental students and residents at the University of Iowa. He graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., with a doctorate of philosophy in counseling psychology degree in December.

A Pioneer of ChineseAmerican Relations Patrick Welsh ’64 understood early in life that learning another language—or in his case many languages—could open entirely new worlds. And so, as a teenager growing up on the west side of Chicago, he’d often pay visits to a gentleman who ran a bookstore in Chinatown.

“He taught me Mandarin—which I came to learn later was a hillbilly version of Mandarin,” Welsh said from his home outside Atlanta, where he is retired after an international banking career that brought him face-to-face with Chinese leaders during the Deng Xiaoping era.

After graduating from St. Ambrose, he took a job with Prentice Hall, selling textbooks. During a sales visit at the University of Kansas, he met Professor Richard Spear, PhD, the head of the Oriental Languages and Literature Department.

“I was very interested in what he was doing, particularly with the tonal aspects of oriental languages, and soon quit my job and enrolled in the program,” Welsh said.

He graduated in just 18 months, and eventually took a position with Northern Trust Company in Chicago. They were looking for Americans who spoke the languages of countries with which the bank wanted to work. China happened to be at the top of their list.

“I learned how to read credit balance and income statements, and how other countries kept their books—but that was not what established such strong relationships with our Chinese counterparts,” he said. “The Chinese were more open with me because we’d speak

about their culture and politics, and not just the transactions we may have been there to discuss. It developed trust.”

That approach tied directly to his St. Ambrose education. A secondgeneration Ambrosian scholar, Welsh dove into political science, and minored in both German and Russian. It wasn’t until after he left the school—and came face-to-face with some of China’s most powerful leaders —that he understood the value of his education.

“My professors said a lot of things that didn’t really sink in until after I had left Ambrose,” he said. “I’d be in the Far East, and I’d have these moments in which I’d realize, ‘My gosh, they were spot on about history and politics and more.’”

Today, he writes for China Insight, a publication started by Greg Hugh ’64, a former St. Ambrose classmate. He still travels to Asia and spent a semester teaching English at Sichuan University, where prior to giving a speech, he was introduced as a “pioneer of ChineseAmerican relations.”

“The truth is I have always just wanted to learn more from others,” he said.

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Alum Keeps His Eye on the World Matt Golden ’13 keeps his eye on the world as a global incident analyst.

As an employee of Allied Barton Security Services assigned to John Deere, Golden monitors news and information from around the globe that could impact John Deere facilities and its employees.

From small local news events to worldwide terrorist attacks, he stays aware of what is happening wherever Deere employees travel or work. Using a system that tracks their itineraries and contact information, Golden helps them steer clear of danger.

“Any given day, events, big or small, can have an effect on our travelers and facilities,” said the young alum, who tracks real-time news reports and social media such as Twitter and Facebook. “It’s my job to know what’s happening and assess the risk to Deere’s employees and operations.”

Golden found his place at St. Ambrose after attending two other colleges. He said he would have never guessed he would find the right fit at St. Ambrose, especially since his family home is just a few miles from campus.

He credits the St. Ambrose Political Science Department with providing skills he uses every day, noting Professor William Parsons, PhD, the department chair, “didn’t tell us how to think, but more how to digest information.

“Political science was papers and analysis, which is exactly what I do now,” he said. “So by luck or by skill, I ended up with a job that is perfect for what they taught me. I feel very blessed.”

Golden said the reputation St. Ambrose has cultivated within the business community strengthened his resume.

“I’ve found that when you mention you graduated from Ambrose, it carries some influence,” he said. “St. Ambrose professors and staff realize they are here to help you get where you want to be.”

Learn more about the Political Science Department at sau.edu/scene

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Michele Herlein ’09 DBA has joined Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc., as the chief human resources officer. Herlein previously spent eight years with Bridgestone Americas as vice president of talent, organization and culture. Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon, Inc. is a professional services firm that includes engineers, architects, landscape architects and surveyors employed in offices in Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio and Georgia.

10

The Teens

Andrew Benson ’11 is the guest services manager and director of sales at Holiday Inn Express in St. Croix Valley, Wis. Benson was also awarded a two-year artist fellowship with the St. Croix Festival Theatre.

Miles Chiotti ’11 has accepted a position as legislative assistant for Congressman Rodney Davis (D-Ill.) in Washington, DC. The National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Ill., has promoted Bridget LeMaire ’12 to graduate admissions counselor.

Beth Tinsman ’12 MSITM has joined the Northwest Bank & Trust board of directors. Tinsman is the founder of Twin State Technical Services, which provides programming, IT management, website, and online solutions.

Megan McIntyre ’13 MOL has joined the WHBF-TV sales team in the Quad Cities.

Amanda Streu ’13 works as a special education teacher for the Children’s Village West in Davenport.

classNOTES

■

Marriages

Bryce Bender ’97 and Zach Carlton, Des Moines, Iowa Jim Finn ’07, ’09 MBA and Amy Orendorff ’09, Davenport, Iowa Pat Olsen ’09 and Megan Guilfoyle, Long Grove, Iowa

Shalan (Danker) Knapke ’07 and her husband, Kyle, welcomed daughter June on July 8, 2014. June was greeted by her sister, Matilda.

Andrea (Bristol) Gentry ’11 MBA and her husband, Jason, are happy to announce the birth of son Cannon, born on Dec. 13, 2013.

Clark Cox ’58, Coralville, Iowa, Jan. 16, 2015

Joseph “Joe” Guise ’86, ’92 MBA, Davenport, Nov. 28, 2014

Sally (Shade) Johnson ’58, Boise, Idaho, Nov. 18, 2014

Donald Hanley ’88, Brimfield, Ill., Nov. 15, 2014

Edward “Ed” Zack ’58, Davenport, Dec. 14, 2014

Todd Asher ’89, West Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 30, 2014

James “Jim” Malay ’59, Hudson, Ill., Jan. 24, 2015

Fannie (Bobo) Brown ’96, Davenport, Oct. 8, 2014

Sr. Catherine “Katie” McHugh ’59, Dubuque, Iowa, Sept. 25, 2014

Matthew Hoffmiller ’99, ’02 MEd, Rock Falls, Ill., Nov. 9, 2014

Paul Sejnoha ’09 and Rachael Peterson ’10, Huntley, Ill.

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Breanne Christiansen ’11, ’12 DPT and Bill Cinnamon, Kewanee, Ill.

Ruth (Klauer) Voss ’39, Escondido, Calif., June 26, 2014

Richard Hanssen ’60, Blue Grass, Iowa, Dec. 27, 2013

Suzanne Golden ’02 (Hon), Rock Island, Ill., Jan. 23, 2015

Allie McLaughlin ’11 MBA and Joe Conklin ’12 MBA, Davenport

John Curley ’40, Panorama City, Calif., Nov. 21, 2014

Jacqueline “Jacque” (Lambrecht) Rader ’60, Geneva, Ill., Dec. 24, 2014

Former Faculty/Staff

Nakia Schmidt ’11, ’13 MOT and Ben Tuttle ’12, Davenport

John Meenan ’44, Rock Island, Ill., Dec. 27, 2014

Kenneth Brockhouse ’61, Bettendorf, Iowa, Nov. 9, 2014

Camri Wolf ’11 and Tyler McGinn, Westminster, Colo.

Theodore Grevas ’46, Rock Island, Ill., Dec. 10, 2014

Donald Denten ’61, Moline, Ill., Jan. 12, 2015

Erin Gould ’12, ’13 DPT and John Baker, Littleton, Colo.

Joseph Sesbeau ’47, Bettendorf, Iowa, Dec. 20, 2014

Julius Crocker ’64, Peoria, Ill., Jan. 11, 2015

Benjamin Ulfers ’13 and Sara Strever, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Rev. George “Pat” Thompson ’48, Davenport, Jan. 11, 2015

Richard VanDeVoorde ’65, Rock Island, Ill., Dec. 25, 2014

■

John “Bill” Coleman ’49, Stockton, Calif., Oct. 12, 2014

Robert Verdun ’69, Findlay, Ill., Dec. 2, 2014

currently have on record, or if you

Richard “Dick” Froeschle ’50, DeWitt, Iowa, Dec. 15, 2014

James Gibbs ’68, Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2014

know. Contact us at 800-SAU-

David Lanaghan ’50, Davenport, Dec. 30, 2014

Bernard “Barney” O’Brien ’72, West Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 6, 2014

Carlos “Lynchy” Lynch ’50, New Canaan, Conn., Jan. 19, 2015

Jane (Domeraski) Hart ’73, Davenport, Oct. 28, 2014

Charles “Chuck” Ruhl ’50, Bettendorf, Iowa, Dec. 8, 2014

Andrew “Andy” Apathy ’74, Leawood, Kan., Dec. 22, 2014

Shawn ’05 and Alicia (Levi) Giffin ’05 celebrated the birth of daughter Amelia on Oct. 24, 2014. Amelia joins her big brothers, Joe and Levi.

Rev. Wilfred Sheehy ’50, Santa Rosa, Calif., Oct. 21, 2014

Craig Reimers ’75, Dublin, Calif., Jan. 3, 2015

John Sherwin ’51, LeClaire, Iowa, Oct. 5, 2014

David Goetz ’76, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Dec. 29, 2014

Stephanie (Stapes) Staley ’05 and her husband, Rex, are the proud parents of daughter Meredith, born on Dec. 19, 2012.

Russell “Buck” Grundy ’52, Wausau, Wis., Dec. 5, 2014

Douglas Gregan ’78, Terrebonne, Ore., Nov. 1, 2014

Stephen Sherry ’52, Ladera Ranch, Calif., Dec. 23, 2014

Raymond Becker ’79, New Braunfels, Texas, Dec. 25, 2014

Phyllis (O’Brien) Glowacki ’56, Davenport, Jan. 20, 2015

Thu Nguyen ’81, San Jose, Calif., Nov. 24, 2014

Patrick Doyle ’57, Orange, Calif., Oct. 5, 2014

William “Bill” Sherwood ’84, Davenport, Jan. 14, 2015

Births

Jocelyn (Kandl) Metzger ’00, ’01 MOT and her husband, Ron, are happy to announce the birth of daughter Emily on Sept. 19, 2013.

Tina (Droessler) Rodriguez ’01 and her husband, Lenin, welcomed daughter Eliana Grace on Nov. 10, 2014.

Julie (Restarski) Stout ’06 and her husband, Ryan, are pleased to announce the birth of son Holden on Dec. 29, 2013.

Deaths

Vidyapati Singh, Davenport, Nov. 12, 2014

Help us keep you informed The St. Ambrose University Office of Alumni Engagement is eager to keep your contact information current. If you have a seasonal address in addition to the one we have recently relocated, let us ALUM, alumni@sau.edu, or visit sau.edu/scene/newaddress.

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518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803

What’s New? Let us know what you’ve been up to. Drop us a note at Alumni Engagement, St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa 52803, or go online to share updates. Include your full name, class year and phone number or email where we can contact you to verify your information. online extra: tell us what’s new at sau.edu/keepintouch

Wine Festival Preview | April 11

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Fighting Bee Golf | May 29

Homecoming | Sept. 18–20