Tower - Winter 2022

+ DIRECTION HOME

Dr. Malloy’s New Book

+ THEATRICAL SOLDIER

From Drama Major to Navy JAG

+ MBA SPOTLIGHT

Designing DFW’s Unique Dining

Educating

Pro-Life

a Generation

WINTER 2022

FIRST WORD

TOWER PRESIDENT Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D. VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Clare Venegas VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Kris Muñoz Vetter SENIOR EDITOR Callie Ewing, BA ’03 MH ’22 DESIGNER Sarah Oates

he University of Dallas is devoted to renewing culture through educational excellence. This is work that we undertake on both an individual and a social level. We dig into the roots of things. We seek not only to uncover what really is the case with regard to human life and the world in which we live but to give an account of why some things are what they are and why one course of action is better than another.

Whether striving to understand the meaning of human existence, our relationship to the world and its author, or those principles that ought to guide our actions, there is no more basic set of considerations than those that fall within that range of concerns that St. John Paul II named “the Gospel of Life.” In his remarkable encyclical Evangelium Vitae, many of the arguments that JPII advances are grounded in Scripture and the theological tradition, but many are not. He addresses not just abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty and other issues of life and death, but also the nature of law, the limits of democracy and the responsibility of citizens. He concludes that the Gospel of Life is not just for Christians but for everyone and asserts that the arguments he advances stand on their own legs. I agree. I encourage you to pick up his text and see if you agree — that’s just what a University of Dallas education enables you to do.

The other feature of Evangelium Vitae that struck me on my latest rereading is the emphasis on positive obligations. One confusion that our culture labors under is that one is only obligated to do something if one has agreed to it. But the tradition that animates our education recognizes that our most basic obligations are woven into the very fabric of our nature as rational and social beings. Some of these obligations are negative: “You shall not kill.”

But there are also positive obligations to do all that we can to promote flourishing lives for all who live within our reach of influence. JPII locates those obligations in the soul of each person. It is on those personal obligations that the grace of charity can perfect our natures as we strive to live out lives in which works of corporeal mercy have a prominent role.

JPII invites us to see the Gospel of Life as being of an expansive scope. Advocating for the lives of the unborn and providing care for indigent mothers and their children is foundational to promoting this culture. But also, parents raising their children well, physicians caring for their patients, lawyers acting in justice and going the extra mile for their clients, and corporate leaders who put the moral well-being of their employees and customers first are all exercising works of mercy in those very activities. So, too, for our faculty and staff who dedicate themselves to nurturing the souls of our students. Evangelium Vitae reveals much of what renewing culture entails.

Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D. President, Professor of Philosophy

To update your address or other contact information, email udalum@udallas.edu.

Send comments and letters to the editor to towermagazine@udallas.edu. Other inquiries can be directed to Clare Venegas, University of Dallas, Office of Marketing and Communications, 1845 E. Northgate Dr., Irving, TX 75062; marcomm@udallas.edu.

Tower magazine is published twice annually by the Office of Marketing and Communications for the University of Dallas community.

Opinions in Tower magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the university. Postmaster: Send address changes to Tower, Office of Marketing and Communications, 1845 E. Northgate Dr., Irving, TX 75062.

The university does not discriminate on the basis of sex in its programs and activities. Any person alleging to have been discriminated against in violation of Title IX may present a complaint to the Title IX coordinator. The coordinator assists in an informal resolution of the complaint or guides the complainant to the appropriate individual or process for resolving the complaint. The university has designated Luciana Hampilos, J.D., as director of the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX. She can be reached at 972-721-5056. The Human Resources Office is located on the first floor of Cardinal Farrell Hall, and the phone number is 972-721-5382. ©University of Dallas 2022. All rights reserved.

PHOTOS: UD ARCHIVES, KIM LEESON, JEFF MCWHORTER. COVER PHOTO: NATHAN DUMLAO.

A Culture of Life

CONTRIBUTORS Julie Abell, MBA ’91 Zannah Buck Peter Burleigh, BA ’21 MA ’22 Daniel Burns, Ph.D. Aaron Claycomb Alyssa Coe, BA ’19 Theresa Guin, BA ’18 Susan Hanssen, Ph.D. Philip Harold, Ph.D. Chris Hazell BeLynn Hollers, BA ’21 Kim Leeson Christopher Malloy, Ph.D. Jeff McWhorter Elizabeth Regnerus, BA ’22 Sarah Sokora, BA ’15 Ken Starzer Shannon Valenzuela, Ph.D., BA ’00 Megan Wagner, MH ’16 Austin Westervelt-Lutz

Inside FEATURES

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Grateful for Philanthropy The generosity of these donors and foundations enriches our pursuit of wisdom, truth and virtue.

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Direction Home

Associate Professor of Theology Christopher Malloy’s new book explores the challenges and opportunities inherent in being faithfully Catholic in today’s world.

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Educating a Pro-Life Generation

Supporting young mothers, praying and witnessing; analyzing history and scrutinizing today’s political climate: UD’s students and faculty are acting on their pro-life convictions.

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You Can Do WHAT With a Drama Degree?

Kelly Anderson is a drama major turned Navy JAG, but she maintains that while she doesn’t have a career in theater, she uses her drama degree daily.

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MBA Spotlight: Jack Gibbons, MBA ’05

If you call DFW home, chances are you know Whiskey Cake, The Ranch, Mexican Sugar or one of FB Society’s other locations. But did you know its CEO is a UD alumnus?

RECURRING 02 05 20 28 32

UD360° Heard Around Campus Diversions Class Notes Last Word WINTER 2022

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NEWSFEED RECORD-BREAKING CLASS. Fall 2021 saw an entering freshman class of 487 students. Representing 295 cities and 39 states across the U.S., the Class of 2025 is both the largest and the most diverse freshman class in the university’s 65-year history, with 47% minority, 32% Hispanic and 25% firstgeneration students.

LEADING FIRST-GEN. Jeanine Dorrough, BA ’22, conceived the idea for First-Gen Ambassadors last fall out of a desire to create leadership opportunities unique to first-gen students like herself who are the first in their families to go to college. Read more at udallas.edu/leading-first-gen.

MENTORING THE FUTURE. Students seeking career advice and UD alumni looking to give back can now take advantage of a new Mentorship Program created by the offices of Personal Career Development and Alumni Relations. Read more at udallas.edu/mentoring-the-future.

COMPUTING CONSERVATION

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By Megan Wagner, MH '16

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omputer science major Clarissa Skipworth, BA ’22, interned with Associate Professor of Cybersecurity Renita Murimi, Ph.D., CISSP, as they launched the blockchain company WildChain last year. Using blockchain technology, they are aiding global conservation efforts.

“What I personally valued most about my internship experience was the freedom to grow in practical software development and to conquer my insecurities as a prospective professional,” said Skipworth, who, when deciding on a major, was torn initially between her passion for languages and the appeal of mathematical logic. When taking a computer science class as a sophomore, she realized it was the intersection of these two loves: a way of communicating logic through programming languages.

“Developing a new prototype with a team involves lots of research of often equally good options,” said Skipworth of her WildChain internship. “At WildChain, I appreciated how failure of one design was framed as a success because it narrowed down our choices and added detail to our project’s vision. Getting to work with Dr. Murimi meant experiencing daily collaboration, mentorship and accountability in a positive environment, which further encouraged me to develop my skills in ways that could best serve our team.”

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TOWER MAGAZINE

ACCUMULATING ACCOLADES. In its 2022 edition, U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” ranked UD No. 6 overall and No. 9 as a “Best Value” institution in Regional Universities West, while The Princeton Review named UD one of the Best 387 Colleges and Best Regional Colleges. UD was also one of only 24 institutions nationwide, and only five Catholic institutions, to receive an “A” grade from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) in its 2021-22 “What Will They Learn?” report.

1 Read more at udallas.edu/ computing-conservation.

2 The idea for WildChain

developed from Murimi’s passion for conservation and interest in finding ways to add tree cover, reduce water usage and protect wildlife. WildChain was born out of a long time reflecting on these issues.

PHOTOS: WILDCHAIN.IO, KIM LEESON, JEFF MCWHORTER, PETER BURLEIGH, COURTESY OF AUBREY WIEBERG.

Comp Sci, Cyber Join to Launch Blockchain Startup

UD360

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+ ‘Love Our Neighbors’ “The Big Event was a direct manifestation of what we learn in the classroom here at UD. In every class, we learn how to love God, how to love ourselves, and how to love our neighbors,” said Aubrey Wieberg, BA ’24, of the November event she organized in which UD students, alumni, faculty and staff gave back to the Irving community, mowing lawns, raking leaves and painting sheds. Read more at udallas.edu/love-our-neighbors.

Trending

+ $100 Million Strong

For the first time in its 65-year history, UD’s endowment reached the $100 million mark in September. This success is partly attributable to the university’s increased focus on endowed giving, including new funds that support student scholarships and faculty excellence. Read more at udallas.edu/100-million-strong.

+ Seriously Playful Gregory Roper, Ph.D., BA ’84, is UD’s new dean of students. “I am excited to begin this new role at my alma mater and my professional and vocational home,” said Roper, who has served as a full-time faculty member in UD’s English Department for 20 years. “At few other schools is the academic life so carefully intertwined with the student experience. I look forward to fostering more of the ‘playfully serious and seriously playful’ spirit that represents UD student life at its best.” Read more at udallas.edu/seriously-playful.

WINTER 2022

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STEM SUCCESS

UNDERGRAD EXPERIENCE FUELS ALUMNA’S ENGINEERING CAREER For electrical engineer Jennifer (Coyle) Byrne, Ph.D., BS BA ’85, perhaps the greatest benefit of her University of Dallas education was that it taught her to seek truth and answers to big questions.

“UD inspires a natural curiosity, asking 'Why does it work, how does it work?' It helps you to form an approach to things using analogues and mental models,” she said. “I may not be a subject-matter expert in all the technical areas I’ve been responsible for, but I’m able to work across a great swath of engineering because I’m able to ask good questions, spot patterns and synthesize, which are all things UD taught me.”

The community she found at UD has also had a deep influence on Byrne’s life, recently leading her to help establish the Class of 1985 Endowed Scholarship with other members of her class.

“We all gave what we could afford, each of us generously in our own way,” she said. “The scholarship was a shared experience that we created for each other — the most important thing was that we did it together, and it made us even closer as a class.”

Read more about Byrne’s career and journey to UD at udallas.edu/ stem-success.

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TOWER MAGAZINE

LOVING UD

NAB Fosters Communication and Engagement uring Alumni and Family Weekend in October, the National Alumni Board welcomed and engaged alumni. This additional role did not hamper their own enjoyment of the celebrations; as NAB member Sara (Gentry) Werth, BA ’99, proclaimed, “What a weekend. I have never seen such a packed house at AFW. My favorite part was seeing old friends, making new memories, laughing, toasting and overall loving UD!” The NAB seeks to foster communication and engagement in the alumni community. As part of these efforts, in the past year the board has revamped the Class Agent program, adding Regional Representatives as well.

Class Agents help gather their classes back to campus for events such as AFW (pictured above), while Regional Representatives focus on events in particular areas where there are large concentrations of alumni, such as regional Groundhog celebrations.

“Of all the people I have known in my life, UD alumni are the most interesting, fun and intellectually stimulating,” said Werth. “If through this new program, more alumni are able to connect, interact, celebrate and learn from each other, then it is a success.”

The Honorable Stephanie Bascon, BA '88, is the immediate past president of the National Alumni Board. She is also the parent of a current student and is married to UD alumnus Fabius Bascon, BA '88.

Become a Class Agent or Regional Representative at udallas.edu/ class-agent.

UD360

NEWSFEED PARTNERING WITH POLICE. Irving Police supervisors are building practical leadership skills through a new training course offered by the Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business in partnership with the City of Irving. The training, developed through the college’s Center for Executive Education, began in September. Read more at udallas. edu/partnering-with-police.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF JENNIFER BYRNE, JEFF MCWHORTER, PETER BURLEIGH, KIM LEESON, KEN STARZER, COURTESY OF UD ATHLETICS, COURTESY OF PIA SEPTIEN.

ATHLETICS ALL-AROUND. Richard Strockbine, now athletics director emeritus, retired July 1. Over 26 years, Strockbine transformed the Athletics Department from NAIA to NCAA Division III. Strockbine’s successor is Jarred Samples, BA ’01, who previously served as head coach of men’s basketball for 13 seasons, the second-longest among active UD coaches in the department and longest for men’s basketball. Meanwhile, with his 161st win in October, men’s head soccer coach David Hoffman became the winningest head coach in UD Athletics history.

HEARD AROUND CAMPUS Lately, our focus has centered on community and the culture we create together — one of faith, laughter, camaraderie, and our common pursuit of truth and beauty. In the following words and moments, this focus has especially shone through.

“These were excellent presentations of the fundamental concepts of a UD education.

I appreciated having professors from multiple disciplines involved, and each did an exceptional job. These videos are wonderful for UD.”

“It was like a glimpse of heaven … the party I have been dreaming of all during the pandemic. From debates on the virtues of hobbits to discussions on Pope Benedict XVI and Winston Churchill … art fairs, wine tastings and TONS of children [infusing] the entire campus with their joyful giggles — UD celebrated life in all her magnanimous glory!” “[Monsignor] has brought countless UD students into the Catholic faith … memorable and Dean, Direccrystal-bright moments in tor and VP [his] ministry … set against a of the Rome Campus luminous background of good Peter Hatlie, deeds, trustworthy guidance Ph.D., at and examples of the faith the farewell dinner for that [he] has shone forth longtime Rome with for … a very Campus Chaplain long time.”

Monsignor Thomas Chris Geddie, P ’24 ’25, of Alumni and Family Weekend in October.

Fucinaro.

Gregory Dodd, BA ’75, of UD’s TV series The Quest (see p. 25).

CELEBRATING SERVICE. Pia Septien, Freeman Professor of Sacred Scripture and coordinator of Spanish language programs for UD’s Neuhoff Institute for Ministry and Evangelization, received both an Outstanding Service Award and the Partner of the Year 2021 from Catholic Extension for her work on the pontifical society’s calendars, both the Spanish and English versions, with which she began helping a decade ago. A major fundraiser, these calendars support Catholic Extension’s work in low-income dioceses across the U.S. “They are beautiful,” said Septien of the calendars. “I love Catholic Extension; the work they do is amazing!”

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Phillip Volkert, BA ’22, of the work of Student Foundations.

“Laughing is good for your health. If you never stopped laughing you’d never die. That’s not quite true, but at least you’d die laughing.”

Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King’s College, in his lecture “A Philosophy of Humor” in November.

WRITING AS LIFE SKILL “There’s this fundamental life skill that one can acquire through keeping a diary or a journal,” said Professor of English Scott Crider, Ph.D., as a guest on the Renovatio podcast. Crider explores how writing for ourselves helps us relate to and write for others. Listen and learn more at udallas.edu/writing-as-life-skill.

WINTER 2022

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Grateful for Philanthropy

Read more at udallas.edu/ academicand-humandevelopment.

CONTRIBUTING TO ACADEMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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TOWER MAGAZINE

CREATING ‘COLLEGE CITIZENS’ This summer, in partnership with the Teagle Foundation’s Knowledge for Freedom Initiative, UD will launch the First-Generation College Citizens Program.

The three-week program will invite first-generation high school students in Dallas/Fort Worth to experience the richness of a liberal arts seminar course before their senior year, taught by Associate Professor of Spanish José Espericueta, Ph.D. College Citizens builds upon UD’s Core Curriculum, asking students questions at the heart of the liberal arts tradition: What responsibilities do we have to others? How can we pursue a moral and ethical life? What does it mean to search for the truth, and what challenges arise when attempting to live as responsible citizens?

The Teagle Foundation’s Knowledge for Freedom Initiative gives high school students the opportunity to undertake college-level work in the humanities while building meaningful relationships with college faculty and students and cultivating civic skills. In launching this program, UD joins a cohort including Columbia University, Yale University and Boston University. This model has a proven record of improving college readiness and admission prospects as well as college graduation persistence while building a lifelong interest in the liberal arts, humanities and civic engagement.

PHOTOS: JEFF MCWHORTER, KIM LEESON.

Matt Spring, PhD '15, is UD's director of Academic Success and the Seven Arts of Language; he cowrote the College Citizens grant with Jose Espericueta, Assistant Professor of Education Carmen Newstreet, Ph.D., and Assistant Director of Development Theresa Guin, BA '18.

The idea for the Alumni Fund for Faculty Development emerged when the Class of 1988 was planning their 25th reunion. At that time, the class raised funds to support the heart of UD’s academic community, which allowed faculty members to attend workshops to hone their skills in teaching Shakespeare, write books on Henry Adams or Plato’s Republic, and travel to consult unpublished manuscripts and present their research at international conferences. For the class’s 30th reunion, members of the class stepped forward to permanently endow the Alumni Fund for Faculty Development in recognition of the indelible impact of UD faculty in their lives. The fund is unique in that faculty members through the Center for Teaching and Learning determine the best use of the funds spent each year, and it has already provided great benefit for professors across campus: For example, faculty engage in weekly lunches, which are excellent opportunities to improve their teaching and research skills through peer discussion, and participate in the Fruits of Sabbatical speaker series and Faculty Writing Group.

The Class of 1988 had always hoped for the Alumni Fund for Faculty Development to become an important way in which all alumni can give back and support the faculty who invested so much in them as students. So far, these efforts have been very successful, as alumni from classes as wide-ranging as 1975 to 2015 have contributed to the fund in gratitude for the faculty’s substantial contribution to their academic and human development.

“On behalf of all alumni, I am proud to publicly thank the faculty for all you have done, and will continue to do, in assisting students to uncover and more deeply understand the very meaning of our lives. I can’t think of a more important job than that,” Charlie Baumann, BA ’88, told UD faculty at the endowment ceremony celebrating the establishment of this fund.

Join us March 28. corchallenge. udallas.edu

25% BY '25

Forging Our Future

By Kris Muñoz Vetter

ast year, the Class of 1985 banded together to establish a new endowed scholarship to support continuing students at the university. When Vince Pawlowski, BA ’85, heard about the effort, he generously gave a $100,000 matching gift and challenged the entire class to make some contribution.

Through the leadership and organization of Class Agents Linda (Derdeyn) Jackson and Gina (Bonanno) Morrison, who helped move everything forward, the class responded by raising over $300,000 in six weeks and, most importantly, raising the class participation level from 24% to 46%. The Class of 1985’s success in radically increasing participation among their fellow classmates is the inspiration for UD’s new Forging Our Future initiative to challenge 25% of our UD alumni to make a gift of any size annually by 2025. Alumni participation is critical for UD’s success and inspires our current students to give back as well, even as they enjoy the intellectual nourishment provided on campus.

“Our alumni passionately believe in the impact a University of Dallas education has had in their own lives,” said President Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D. “As we embark together on a new era of growth in the university’s history, we need all hands on deck to propel the university forward. I am tremendously grateful for the many alumni who have made a gift this year in support of our university, and I want to invite the many other alumni who are making a difference in their communities to join us.”

“No matter the gift amount, this initiative is about alumni coming together to make a meaningful difference in the life of a current student who is walking the same halls and reading the same great books that formed them into the people they are today,” said Dean of Students Gregory Roper, Ph.D., BA ’84.

Wonderful things can happen when UD alumni classes come together in support of our current students. Here are two ways to participate:

COR CHALLENGE 2022 This year will feature some exciting matching challenge opportunities for the alumni classes with the highest and most improved participation, so mark your calendars for the week of March 28 - April 2, when you can double your impact and earn bragging rights for the next year! As Pawlowski said when he made his lead gift to create the Class of 1985 Scholarship Fund, “We need to ensure the type of education we all benefited from at UD endures for future generations.” Read more about the Class of 1985 Scholarship at udallas.edu/a-personal-pledge.

CLASH OF THE CLASSES STUDENT COMPETITION This spring, led by UD’s Student Foundations leaders Phil Volkert, BA ’22, and Maddy Narduzzi, BA ’22, students will once again have an opportunity to practice the virtue of charity, directed toward on-campus beautification projects. Each class of current students (’22, ’23, ’24, ’25) will be competing to see who can raise the most money for their chosen campus improvement project, and the winning class will receive an additional financial prize toward the project, funded by several generous UD alumni helping to incent the winning class.

Give at the level you can this March, and be one of the 800 alumni we are asking to help us reach our $300,000 goal this year. To learn more or sign up early to make a matching gift that will directly benefit current UD students, please contact Austin Westervelt-Lutz at awesterveltlutz@udallas.edu.

Kris Muñoz Vetter serves as the vice president for Advancement, whose team includes Alumni Relations, Advancement Services, Development and University Events, and can be reached at advancement@ udallas.edu.

At the root of the word nostalgia is “nostos,” the Greek term for a heroic return. Will you make your own heroic return to our campus community this year and join your fellow UD alumni in unity with our current students?

WINTER 2022

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By Christopher Malloy, Ph.D.

This book was published

by Sophia Institute Press in 2021; this excerpt is from the preface, pp. ix-xii.

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TOWER MAGAZINE

HOME Excerpt from False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth

PHOTOS: AARON CLAYCOMB, KIM LEESON, COURTESY OF ANGELA KNOBEL, ARTWORK BY FRA BARTOLOMEO.

cial doctrines from the past not articulated by s a professor of theology, I the council. But the genuine conversational hear regularly from unskills just mentioned call for completion with dergraduate and graduate already taught doctrines in the great tradition. students, friends, and Now, modernists call for a completion of the acquaintances of all ages that wrong kind. They call for a completion of things Catholic are confusing. Even bright sturevision. For the modernists, Vatican II was dents feel bewildered. Many want to hold the the beginning of a revolutionary break from Catholic Faith, but they are getting different the great tradition. Both those who take their messages. This person says this; that person sole orientation from the texts of Vatican II, says that. On top of it all, certain media, forgetting crucial truths of the Catholic tradirenegade theologians, and confused theolotion, and those who champion the “event” of gians are twisting out of context soundbites the council as a radical rejection of the past from Pope Francis and other recent popes are mistaken. Vatican II does not warrant and defending strange claims foreign to the either the forgetting or the renunciation of Catholic Faith. doctrine and tradition. Rather, it requires the So, what should we believe? Is everything remembrance of both, as Paul VI expressly up for grabs? Is the Catholic Faith changing? noted only a month after the council.

In a nutshell, no; dogmas and infallible We need to affirm the entire truth. Comteachings do not change. There is legitimate munication is sharing truth so as to form development in doctrinal expression, and friendships. Friendships are built upon shared there are legitimate differences in the undertruth, in which friends take mutual delight. standing of the mysteries, but the Faith is one Christian friendships are centered on the and does not change. This theological study Truth who sets us free. Therefore, a full strataddresses these concerns and anxieties in an egy of communication requires — eventually accessible way. Though it is not an academic and in the right way — that we come around book, there are plenty of supporting notes for to certain difficult truths that our interlocufurther research. tor rejects and that have been unexpressed We face a new modernism that has been for some time. But the modernists interpret wildly successful. The new modernism has its silence on a portion of the truth as denial of leaders, its unwittingly supportive laborpast doctrine, ambiguity as an opportunity to ers, and others caught in the undertow of reject the Church’s precise definitions, the abconfusion. The leaders allege that a doctrisence of condemnation as approval of errors nal revolution is warranted by the Second long condemned, and wordiness as an excuse Vatican Council, adducing as supposed to forget doctrine. evidence doctrinal developments and certain Besieged by the success of the new pastorally chosen changes in communication modernists, we have become dizzy and strategy. Now, legitimate developments do disoriented. In imitation of the Good not constitute revolution, nor do prudential Shepherd, we went out, searching for lost changes in communication strategy. Examples friends so as to bring them home, conversing of prudential changes include addressing with them in a friendly manner. All the while, magisterial documents to the world and not we employed these methods of invitation. But just to Catholics; treating part but not all of our memory, being weak, has at length failed the truth on this or that topic; employing many of us; we have forgotten perennial less precise language; including few if any teachings. As a result, we have ourselves condemnations; identifying the elements of become like these truth in heretical or lost friends, like lost erroneous teachings; Vatican II does not warrant either sheep. As if speaking issuing lengthy texts; prophetically, Leo and treating renethe forgetting or the renunciation XIII exhorted, “Let it gades with remarkof doctrine and tradition.

Rather, it be far from anyone’s able patience. These requires the remembrance of both. mind to suppress policies can be seen for any reason any as part of a strategy doctrine that has been handed down. Such a to foster conversations with non-Catholics policy would tend rather to separate Catholics and to inspire loving obedience in Catholics. from the Church than to bring in those who In conversation with a stranger or someone differ” (Leo XIII, Testem benevolentiae, art. unfamiliar with or recalcitrant toward the 6). Today, we need refreshment. We need Faith, it can help to start with common direction home. We need the whole truth. We ground, not to be too incisive or technical, to need clarity. We need errors pointed out and evoke interest in further conversation, and rejected. We need rebels to be disciplined so forth. lest, as ravenous wolves disguised as Some theologians take as their sufficient models of virtue, they seduce the young and point of departure the documents from the impressionable away from the Catholic Faith.

Second Vatican Council and thus forget cru-

But there is hope. We can be Catholic today.

We can confess the full Faith. We do not need to take the word of errant theologians as Gospel truth if their word contradicts the deposit of faith. Their footnotes are no bulwark against dogma. Contrary to the rebels, silence is not denial, recent ambiguity does not annul prior precision, and lack of condemnation is not approbation. The Church has weathered great and terrible storms before. She can weather this storm too. The gates of Hell will not prevail against her.

Christopher Malloy, Ph.D., is an associate professor of theology at UD. He approaches the theological vocation with the conviction that philosophy and theology, faith and reason, serious intellectual research and fidelity to the full deposit of Catholic faith work harmoniously toward one end — the contemplation and love of truth.

MORE FROM OUR FACULTY Many of our faculty have published books lately. One of these is Aquinas and the Infused Moral Virtues

by Associate Professor of Philosophy Angela Knobel, Ph.D., exploring St. Thomas Aquinas’ thinking on and framework for studying virtue. “Reading Aquinas’ thinking on the virtues … changed the way I practice my religion and the way I think about growing in my faith,” said Knobel. “When it comes to cultivating Christian virtues, I think we don’t talk enough about the role of grace and the Holy Spirit, and this does a disservice to our faith. My hope for the book is that it spurs a renewed appreciation for the role grace plays in Christian virtues.”

Read our interview with Knobel about her book at udallas.edu/ infused-moral-virtues, and discover more on our faculty book page, udallas.edu/faculty-books.

WINTER 2022

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Educating

a Generation

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TOWER MAGAZINE

By Clare Venegas

eing pro-life is woven into the fabric of the University of Dallas, not only as a Catholic institution, but in its fundamental understanding of the human person, worthy of dignity and protection as a creation of God. This belief is made manifest in the many students who participate in Crusaders for Life (CFL), a student-run organization that hosts activities both on and off campus to educate and serve a variety of pro-life causes.

“Most UD students are pro-life,” said Hailey Guth, BA ’22, senior theology major and current president of CFL. “Our goal is to give students a number of ways to put those pro-life beliefs in action.”

Those opportunities include volunteer work with Dallas-area nonprofits as well as hosting informative talks on campus with prolife speakers. Just this fall alone, the group hosted several talks, one on the racist beliefs of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger cohosted with Student Leaders for Racial Solidarity, and another featuring Tricia Roos, an author and speaker who is a mother and pro-life advocate. They also partnered with Students for Life of America to host a table on the Mall to educate fellow students about the Texas Heartbeat Act, during the same week that the Dobbs case was being heard by the Supreme Court.

Guth and her core group of club officers — Veronica Lang, BA ’23, Susan Brady, BA ’23, Sarah DeKay, BA ’23, Madeline Clements, BA ’23, Billy Barvick, BA ’24, Isabella Flynn, BA ’23, Emily Dietrich, BA ’24, and Gerardo Canedo, BA ’23 — also organize volunteer opportunities for students.

Whether that’s peacefully praying in front of the abortion clinic located adjacent to the BirthChoice pro-life clinic in Dallas or helping clean and organize the kitchen at In My Shoes, a maternity home in Dallas, Crusaders for Life is constantly looking for ways to help students understand the practical side of being pro-life. “Being pro-life also means we should focus on supporting women after the birth of a child,” said junior politics major Isabella Flynn.

Left: The Crusaders for Life make a strong showing at the Austin March for Life in January. Sidebar: Courtesy of Ivanna Bond, BA '14 ML '20, CFL president 2012-14.

MOVED TO ACTION A contentious debate about abortion in her high school government class convinced Guth to do more than just claim to be pro-life. “I was just shocked at how so many of my classmates were on the other side,” said Guth. “I had to get more involved.”

Although she came from a Catholic, pro-life family, she hadn’t considered actively participating in the pro-life cause until that day.

“My father is an OBGYN, and my mother is a psychologist who volunteered as a counselor at the local pro-life clinic, but that experience [at school] really had an impact on me,” she said.

She and her older sister went on to start a Students for Life chapter at the public high school she attended in Louisiana, and when she arrived at UD as a freshman, she knew she would continue to stay involved in pro-life activities at UD. “At UD, where most people are pro-life, the mission of Crusaders for Life is not only to affirm the convictions already held by our pro-life students but to truly activate these beliefs by serving in our community both on and off campus,” Guth said.

SUPPORT FOR PREGNANT STUDENTS Last spring, the group began to think of ways to provide direct support to students who might be facing an unplanned pregnancy. They organized a baby shower to collect diapers, wipes and other baby items and then began to work with UD’s Office of Advancement on establishing a scholarship.

“We wanted to do something that would directly support students who might be facing an unplanned pregnancy, or support those who might have a young child and are still committed to pursuing college at UD,” said Guth.

Susan Brady, a junior English major who spearheaded the scholarship effort, said the first one was awarded through Financial Aid to a UD student this past fall. “The recipient’s

name is kept private, but we hope to send them baby items and a card so we can establish a relationship with them,” she explained.

In addition to funding the scholarship, they raised funds for a trip of 40-50 students to participate in the March for Life in Austin in January in support of the Texas Heartbeat Act and for future UD students to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. “With the real possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the near future, we have to get the word out that there is support for women available through pro-life clinics and providers,” Guth noted. “It’s deceptive to think that the fight would be over; it’s really going to be the beginning of our work to convert hearts.”

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

SCHOLARSHIP FOR PREGNANT, PARENTING STUDENTS

Thanks to the generosity of many, the student group Crusaders for Life recently started a $5,000 scholarship to assist UD students who are either pregnant or parenting a child.

Awarded anonymously through the financial aid process, the scholarship fund is also supported by ongoing fundraising efforts of the Crusaders for Life.

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The Texas

A Historic Moment for the Pro-Life Movement

Heartbeat Bill

By Susan Hanssen, Ph.D.

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PHOTOS: PETER BURLEIGH, UD ARCHIVES.

This article was originally published in Crisis Magazine on Sept. 6, 2021. eaching is a profession that can age you quickly. The generations of students fly by every four years, not in decades. I have found myself repeatedly asked to give a talk on “The History of the Pro-Life Movement” to high school and college students who are ardent in their concern for women in difficult pregnancies and devoted to praying every week outside of their local abortion clinics. They want some sense of perspective. As the Texas Heartbeat Bill goes into effect, the celebration can be a moment for looking back and taking stock of all that the pro-life movement has come through.

The pro-life movement that emerged in the 1970s, in response to the legalization of abortion with Roe v. Wade in 1973, is ancient history to millennials. The early movement was characterized by the ways that it grew out of the Civil Rights Movement. It was a scrappy, countercultural movement. It took its tactics and sometimes its leaders from the 1950s movement for desegregation in the South following Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and the 1960s desegregation in the Northern cities following the Civil Rights Act (1964).

Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s example, the movement adopted the tactics of civil disobedience and sit-ins, as in the work of Operation Rescue. Father Richard John Neuhaus had worked with Martin Luther King; and Father Robert Hagerty, the first priest to lead a busload of parishioners from the Chicago area to the pro-life march, had sung “We Will Overcome” arm in arm with King in Soldier Field.

Part of the lore of my own school, the University of Dallas, is that the famous and flamboyant Professor “Fritz” Wilhelmsen took the entire student body to a sit-in in front of the first abortion clinic to open in Dallas — the city where the Roe v. Wade case was initiated. Wilhelmsen was a famous scholar of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, a proponent of the passage from St. Thomas that Martin Luther King Jr. had cited in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail: “An unjust law is a law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” The conversion testimony of prominent abortionist Bernard Nathanson and the use of incredible, graphic footage of an abortion in process in The Silent Scream was common in early pro-life literature and presentations.

As there were in the Civil Rights Movement, there were fringe terrorist elements in the pro-life movement — those who tragically advocated violence and even encouraged

shootings of abortionists and bombings of clinics. Early pro-lifers were not welcome in Catholic parishes or mainline Protestant churches. They were considered fringe elements with a bee in their bonnet. Their warnings about the effect that legalizing abortion would have on promiscuity, the destruction of marriage and family, increased child abuse, and the turn of our culture toward legalizing and normalizing sodomy and pedophilia went unheeded … as did similar warnings by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae.

Then came the Reagan Revolution in 1980.

Fusionist conservatism, the coalition of social and moral conservatives with fiscal conservatives, limited government advocates, and anti-Communists swept Ronald Reagan into office with the largest Republican majority in American history. Certainly, there were still plenty of well-placed pro-life Democrats in the 1970s, like Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, and Joseph Biden … but they were a dying breed, many of whom progressively caved on the pro-life issue as the platform of the Democratic Party became more vehement and radical on sexual issues.

But a new kind of Republican Party emerged from the rise of the Moral Majority, the Silent Majority, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, and Beverly LaHaye’s Concerned Women for America. Immigrant Catholic families who had traditionally voted Democrat and Southern Evangelical Baptists and Methodists who had historically voted Democrat recognized that their party had abandoned their cherished moral values.

Suddenly, pro-lifers were welcome inside the Beltway. Instead of dressing like Civil Rights-era hippies, they started dressing in heels and pearls for big-fundraiser dinners to fund pro-life candidates for office. The President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan himself, addressed the ever-growing National Right to Life March on the Washington Mall. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was invited to the National Prayer Breakfast and spoke clearly and movingly about the value of every human life and the poverty of a country that believes that “a child must die so that I may live as I wish.” Pope St. John Paul II spoke clearly of the moral evil of abortion during visits to the United States, and parishes began hosting pro-life offices. Soon, each diocese had a pro-life coordinator and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took up the issue.

The hope of the 1980s was that Ronald Reagan would appoint enough conservative Supreme Court Justices that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. It was 1989: The Berlin Wall was coming down; the Cold War was ending in victory for the liberal democratic West. The pope, the president, and the prime

minister had pushed back the force of Soviet domination behind the Iron Curtain, and Communism had disgorged Catholic Poland.

Yet, in the midst of the 1989 celebrations, our American patriotism was stained by the shame of Roe v. Wade — the legalized killing of millions of innocent children annually. We survived the “Borking” of Judge Bork and looked to Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia to overturn a court case that had ignored the democratic, legislative process and the laws against abortion that are still on the books in states across the continent.

One of the last of the great, well-placed pro-life Democrats, Governor Robert Casey, oversaw the case that made its way to the Supreme Court in 1992. Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania would test the powers of the Reagan-era conservative judges.

Disaster hit. The majority — including Reagan appointees — upheld Roe v. Wade.

I had just started college at the time. I recall going to a pro-life conference where we were told by pro-life law professors like Hadley Arkes that the fight must now return to the states. The pro-life movement would have to follow the patient path of bitby-bit litigation, returning to the people and to the state legislative process. Roe v. Wade — law by Supreme Court fiat — would not be overturned by Supreme Court fiat.

1990s. 2000s. 2010s. State after state, local legislative effort after local legislative effort.

Returning the issue to the people. Returning the issue to the legislatures. Returning the issue to the states.

It is only as the culmination of that long and patient history that the Texas Heartbeat Bill can truly be grasped as the immense victory that it is. The bill even appeals not to criminal law but to civil suits by private individuals and private groups for enforcement. It is truly a masterpiece of American legal effort, putting into play all the complexities of a balanced government of localism and federalism, checks and balances, separation of powers … and ultimately appealing to the people.

At a time when American patriotism might be at its lowest ebb since the 1970s Vietnam War era, the Texas Heartbeat Bill should make Texans … and Americans across the country … proud that we live in the land of the free.

Susan Hanssen, Ph.D., is an associate professor of history at UD. With research interests focused in British and American history, she has written frequently about G.K. Chesterton and is well known for the historical timelines she creates for her students and for her ability to relate contemporary politics to history.

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PRO-LIFE POLITICS

If Roe Falls

This excerpt is taken from an interview originally published

by Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute, between Associate Professor of Politics Daniel Burns, Ph.D., contributing editor at Public Discourse, and Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and National Review film critic, on Oct. 12, 2021. It is reprinted here with permission.

Ross Douthat: For the long term, [the reaffirmation-of-Roe scenario] … would leave the pro-life movement’s political strategy in a certain kind of disarray. I think the pro-life movement has made certain political and moral compromises in its alliance with the Republican Party, which is an inevitable part of politics, and in its alliance with Donald Trump, which I think has been a more extreme form of moral compromise. And to make those kinds of compromises and gain nothing would be a pretty sweeping defeat.

DB: How do you think that the pro-life movement, in general, would be behaving differently if it were more cognizant of [its new structural weakness relative to 50 years ago]?

RD: My basic take on pro-life strategy is always just that the pro-life movement is asking for a world whose implications require more interventionist government policy to help women with unwanted or unexpected pregnancies.

Read more at udallas.edu/ if-roe-falls.

And the fact that the pro-life movement has ended up allied with the more libertarian political party is a challenge for making that case.

The day you pass pro-life legislation, if you’re trying to win people over, should also be the day that you are passing new spending bills to support adoption, to support pregnant mothers — to support not just crisis pregnancy centers, but crisis first-two-years-of-life centers! And that doesn’t have to mean bureaucratic welfare-state spending.

But it means some kind of spending …

[A]ny consciousness of pro-life weakness points very quickly to the need for the movement to present itself as offering a suite of pro-family policies, not just regulation and restriction. … [P]oliticians don’t like talking about abortion, for understandable reasons. … [But] what you actually need to do is talk about it in a holistic way … highlighting the things you were doing to help people with unexpected pregnancies. … Even the “liberal media,” as we say, harbors some doubts about abortion … and is open to the idea of a pro-life movement that is somewhat distinct from Republican politics as usual.

Our landscape encourages indifferentism, generally. It encourages checking out a bit from visions of the good life, whether they are liberal or conservative, pro-life or pro-choice. But it presents a different kind of opportunity for the pro-life side than the world of 1971 did. … Does the pro-life movement itself succeed in framing this as part of a vision that is actually better for women, families, human happiness, in the long run?

[T]o end on an optimistic note … I think that if you just look at the polls and do some quick and dirty political analysis, you would say that overturning Roe leads to very modest pro-life gains in a very modest number of states. … There are lots and lots of people who are lukewarmly pro-choice who know that abortion is wrong. And that means that if you create a new legal and political landscape overnight, not knowing what’s going to happen means that there are real opportunities that offer reasons for optimism. So not knowing what’s going to happen is, in certain ways, really good news for the pro-life side.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CRUSADERS FOR LIFE, MARIA OSWALT, JEFF MCWHORTER, KEN STARZER, PETER BURLEIGH.

Daniel Burns: Right now, in October 2021, where are we in the history of the American pro-life movement?

And what is that going to mean for the future of the conservative movement more generally?

ALBUM

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Alumni & Family Weekend

Two years in the making, AFW 2021, held Oct. 15-17, emanated a feeling of community and joy. “AFW reaffirmed for me that UD is my home,” said Lisa (Fougerousse) Mobus, BA ’90.

1 - The student and alumni band Screwtop performs Friday night following the welcome tailgate dinner.

2 - Constantin Dean Philip Harold, Ph.D., moderates the faculty debate: “This House Considers That Hobbits Are Vile Creatures.” Associate Professor of Politics Daniel Burns, Ph.D., argued the affirmative, while

Associate Professor of History Susan Hanssen, Ph.D., maintained the negative. Both playful and intellectual, the debate showcased the spirit of UD, with Hanssen ultimately triumphing.

3 - As always, the bounce houses were popular with future Crusaders.

4 - National Alumni Board members Stephanie (Strange)

Bascon, J.D., BA ’88, and Beth (Bride) Blute, BA ’83, review throwback yearbooks during the Golden Crusaders’ reunion.

5 - Alumni in classes ending in ’0s, ’1s, ’5s and ’6s celebrate their class reunions, the ’0s and ’5s postponed from 2020.

6 - Sara Werth, BA ’99, Joshua Skinner, BA ’00, and John Wilcox, MA ’96, mingle on the Mall (possibly discussing the Class Agent program). Throughout the weekend, the Mall was a hub of activity and community, with the first annual Alumni Business Festival on Saturday featuring 14 businesses, along with food trucks,

student performances and Class Agent signup (not to mention bounce houses and games for all of the children present).

7 - The annual Students versus Alumni rugby game resulted in a 35-21 win for Alumni.

8 - Class Agents Vince Terracina, BA ’91 MBA ’93, Amanda Halisky, BA ’98, Lisa Mobus, BA ’90, Maria Labus, BA ’19 MA ’21, Linda Jackson, BA ’85, Gina Morrison, BA ’85, and UK Regional Representative Jennifer Byrne, BS BA ’85, helped gather their classmates back to Irving for AFW.

9 - David Atkinson, M.D., BS ’99, David Lamberti, BA ’01, Selena Anguiano, BA ’99, and other teammates await the final score of the AFW Trivia Game.

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LOVE, EXCELLENCE THE UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS

By Aaron Claycomb undreds gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the University of Dallas’ 10th president, Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D. — accomplished professor of philosophy as well as former Constantin College dean and university provost — at a special Mass on Oct. 1, 2021, celebrated by Diocese of Dallas Bishop Edward J. Burns.

Since relocating to Irving, Texas, in 2015 with his wife, Rebecca, and their children, President Sanford has dedicated himself to a vision of growth and optimism for the university’s future while remaining committed to its rich tradition. Reflecting on the simple opening lines of Plato’s Phaedrus, “one of the most fascinating and significant dialogues in Plato’s corpus,” President Sanford’s inaugural address began with the two simple but profound questions: “Where has the University of Dallas been? Where is it going?”

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The following are excerpts (sorted in no particular order) from his inaugural address, titled “Love, Excellence & the University of Dallas.” Read the complete inaugural address at udallas. edu/inaugural-lecture.

“Where you intend to go and how you intend to live reveals your loves by laying open your heart. As with our beginnings, so with our ends, the question of God and his role in where you have come from and whither you go emerges as we press on to the supernatural depths to which this question directs us.”

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE Following UD’s 10th presidential inauguration in November, President Sanford announced a complementary series of events — “Arete,” named after the Greek word for excellence and virtue — over the next year centered around the theme of cultural renewal through the pursuit of educational excellence. The inaugural series will feature lectures by leaders in academia, business, public policy and the arts. Learn more about the next event at udallas.edu/inaugural-series.

“Still further, through the education we provide at the University of Dallas, our students uncover and more deeply understand the very meaning of their lives and learn to listen to those callings that become their vocations.”

CULTURAL RENEWAL Distinguished leaders from across the world will participate in the university’s new dialogue series, called “Veritas: Renewing Culture Through Pursuing Truth.” Launched in October 2021, the series of civil engagements is aimed to encourage the joint inquiry into our fundamental truths through timely topics — the same pursuit on which our UD students embark in the classroom. The first discussion on religious freedom featured Archbishop Matti Warda of Erbil, Iraq, and other faith leaders and is available at udallas.edu/VeritasDialogues.

“There is another way to approach these fundamental questions with the University of Dallas in mind, one in which we think of it not just as a point of intersection and formation for many lives, but as itself a sort of living entity, an institutional being with a life of its own.”

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CORE DISCIPLINE

You Can Do WHAT With a Drama Degree?

From Drama Major to Navy JAG

By Callie Ewing, BA '03 MH '22 Kelly Anderson, BA ’14, changed her major a few times before ultimately settling on drama because of the senior studio project: “I was interested in the ability to create something out of my major, particularly in adapting my own play,” she said. After teaching fine arts and American history for a year, she went to law school at the University of Notre Dame, leading to her career as a Navy judge advocate general (JAG) currently stationed at the U.S. Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia, located on the atoll Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. In this interview, she reflects on how her Bachelor of Arts in drama prepared her for this role.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

I serve as the staff judge advocate (SJA) on my base.

No day is ever the same. I cannot count the number of days so far in my short career when I’ve gotten a call with a question I would never have predicted or anticipated. Military law issues are really as varied as military operations. We’re pretty far out here in Diego Garcia, and it’s a very unique opportunity to support those missions in a remote location with all the constraints and responsibilities that go with that remoteness.

JAG work, whether you’re advising on discipline or operations or serving as counsel — whether trial or defense — for a court-martial, is all about military readiness. Particularly working as an SJA, I find that it requires an adaptability and creativity that reminds me of theater. You’re largely solving problems and dealing in various plans and expectations, and the thing about any kind of plan is that it never quite goes the way it’s supposed to. But in the military, like in theater, when things go wrong, you adapt. The show has to continue, and so does the mission. So it’s the fun of flexing and getting creative to make sure whatever needs to happen still gets done that I really love; it’s solving a problem, and then, when the facts change so that the old solution doesn’t work anymore, it's resolving the problem again. It’s really never boring.

How did your UD education, and especially your drama degree, prepare you for your career in the Navy?

My drama major and my UD education have been extremely useful. Speaking to theater, being an SJA is a lot like being a dramaturge (something I got to do at UD). You do the research, you give the advice, and then the military commander makes the call because it’s his risk to take. In theater, all calls are the directors, so similarly, you lay out your advice and then let the director direct the show. To do my thesis, I was required to pitch it in two minutes to the professors, which is great prep for giving briefs. The skills required to boil down the action to its essence, whether to direct a scene or to pitch it, are really useful in summing up complicated legal issues into manageable advice.

Finally, theater taught me a ton about planning and leading. I’m the emergency management officer for Diego Garcia as my collateral right now, which is an extra job you get assigned in the military. Basically, I manage the Emergency Operations Center whenever it is activated — controlling the room, ensuring all information is collected, facilitating communications and making sure the information gets to the commanding officer so he can make calls to control response. Essentially, this job is stage managing (something I did at UD) but for a very strange play where people might actually die. I’ve shepherded the installation through a variety of drills and one real-world stand-up, and in doing that, I completely relied on my theater degree.

In the courtroom, working with witnesses is a lot like directing, and making a case is essentially putting on a show using a bunch of scenes and words you don’t get to choose. Also, studying the classics gave me a framework through which to process what I’ve encountered in my job, from adjusting to military life to confronting the reality of what I saw as a criminal defense attorney. The classics are great for reminding you that wherever you’re at, someone else has been there before.

If you are considering joining the military — whether Navy, Army, Marines or Air Force — and particularly if you are interested in the JAGC, Kelly invites you to reach out; email udalum@udallas.edu to be connected to her.

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Above left: Kelly Anderson is currently stationed in Diego Garcia. Above right: In law school at Notre Dame, Kelly was part of a production of Pride and Prejudice.

What else would you like to share with the UD community?

To current students, I’d say this: Don’t be afraid to try something and get it wrong. Being able to learn involves a certain ability to accept failure. Theater taught me that — Stefan [Novinski, BA ’92] used to say that everyone fails their thesis. You will get it wrong. Then you learn from it, and the next piece of art is better. Everything I’ve tried, I’ve learned a little bit more about what I’m looking for and a little bit more about what doesn’t work. I wouldn’t have learned any of that if I hadn’t just tried it, if I hadn’t been OK with being wrong about my choice. In the end, the only way you’ll actually know whether you’re on the right path is to take the risk of being wrong.

I’d also say to the artists — it doesn’t have to be either/or, in terms of whether you continue to make art or have a different career path. I did a play my first year of law school with Notre Dame’s Film, Television and Theater Department and worked with third-graders through 12th-graders on Shakespeare plays with the Robinson Shakespeare Company my last year; in D.C., I had a group of friends who would do Shakespeare reading parties, and here I’m doing a theater club. Sure, that’s not pursuing a career in theater, but I’m very happy with what I do now, and I appreciate that theater stayed a part of my life. I think the two (my career and theater) are made richer by the fact that I have both. I would be a less interesting artist if I were not a Navy JAG, and I would not be the officer I am without my art.

All opinions expressed here are those of Kelly Anderson, not the viewpoint of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Navy, and no departmental endorsement is implied.

The Roaring Girl, directed by Associate Professor of Drama Kyle Lemieux, M.F.A., BA '98, ran in April 2019, engaging the campus community and preparing its cast and crew for whatever their futures might hold.

BE DRAMATIC

DRAMA SCHOLARSHIP FOR NON-MAJORS Drama at UD, as Associate Professor of Drama Stefan Novinski, M.F.A., BA ’92, put it, is not extracurricular. “It’s not a club. It’s part of the curriculum, of the culture; it takes over the conversation on campus for weeks, sometimes years. If you get to work on the University Theater, on a mainstage production, you get to bring something to life that becomes part of the culture of the university.”

The Patrick and Judy Kelly University Theater Scholarship, recently established by Nancy Cain Marcus Robertson, MA ’00 PhD ’03, and Sanford Robertson in honor of Professor Emerita of Drama Judy (French) Kelly, BA ’63, and Professor Emeritus of Drama Patrick Kelly, is available to any student who loves theater and wishes to explore and share that love without the necessity of declaring drama as their major.

President Jonathan J. Sanford, Ph.D., said, “One of the remarkable things about our drama program is that it engages so many students who are not drama majors.” He added, “The contemplative dimension of drama is rooted in what it means to be a spectator. You’re wrapped up in the work in a way that grips you, moves you and changes you.”

Read more at udallas.edu/be-dramatic.

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DIVERSIONS

Zelie Beans Coffee The Owners: Victoria (Sequeira) Mastrangelo, BA ’10, and her husband, Joseph Mastrangelo, named their small-batch coffee roastery in Sugar Land, Texas, for St. Zelie Martin. The company’s motto is “Families helping families through specialty coffee.” The Mastrangelos also had a booth at the Alumni Business Fair during the most recent Alumni and Family Weekend.

In a Nutshell: According to their website, “People are at the heart of everything we do.” Zelie Beans Coffee only sources beans from suppliers that provide fair and above-fair prices for the unroasted beans, also seeking sources that invest in women, their families and their communities.

Small Things Print Co. The Makers: Interdisciplinary studies major Clare (Elfelt) Rogers, BA ’14, and her sister Mary Kate Elfelt, BA ’18, a ceramics major, went into business together in January 2020. Clare conceived the idea for their company at a coffee shop after a hard day of teaching in fall 2019.

In a Nutshell: The company’s motto is “small things to encourage great love.” Mary Kate wrote, “I want this company to be able to provide people with comfort and inspiration in tough times — even if it’s something as small as rereading one of our prayers or sharing joy by gifting our stickers and other products.”

Start Gifting: Visit their shop at smallthingsprintco.com and etsy. com/shop/SmallThingsPrintCo.

Seasons: My Journey Through Grief The Author: Retired English, speech and theater teacher (and mother of four grown sons) Ernestine Rose, MA ’00, lost her husband of 41 years, Art, to sarcoidosis. This book evolved out of the 800-page journal she kept from the onset of his illness through her subsequent grief.

In a Nutshell: “Mourning has its own season, and if I’ve learned nothing else … it’s that you have to face your loss head on, and you have to do it at your own pace … you have to follow your own seasons,” wrote Ernestine. “For some, this may take a year, for others, longer. But we all have to endure and survive through our seasons after loss in order to live fully again.”

Start Reading: Buy the book at udallas.edu/ journey-through-grief. It is available in e-book, paperback or hardcover.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SMALL PRINT CO., COURTESY OF ZELIE BEANS COFFEE, COURTESY OF ERNESTINE ROSE, VASILE AND ALINA CHIRIAC.

Start Sipping: Visit zeliebeanscoffee.com.

REAP THE HARVEST

Grapes, Wine and Beauty in Due Santi

By Aaron Claycomb

Students handpick merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes from the Due Santi vineyard each fall in what is called the vendemmia, or grape harvest.

The fertile soil beneath UD’s pristine Eugene Constantin Campus sustains a rich history indeed, where Roman antiquity converges with the present, and where winemaking has been part of life at Due Santi for millennia. Nurtured by ancient soils composed of mostly petrified volcanic ash, the soil lends itself to a high acid structure in fruit, with gobs of tasty minerals to raise the pH and balance the finished wines. In cultivating the lush hillside country, a rewarding bounty has fermented a distinct epoch blend of Due Santi Wines.

If you’re a Constantin alumnus, chances are you went to Rome for a semester — where if so, it probably helped define not only your undergraduate experience but also the person into whom you have grown since.

CellarBrowser is pleased to offer the chance to reconnect with your definitive semester abroad with a variety of vintages directly from the foothills of Rome: 2019 Rosso — a hearty deep red blend of cabernet and merlot.

2020 Cammin — the first sparkling rosé and perfect bubbly merlot.

2020 Rosato — a beautiful amber-tinted merlot rosé aged and matured in stainless steel.

Special Offering: Receive 15% off and free shipping when you order 6+ bottles of Due Santi Wines with promo code TOWER at cellarbrowser.com.

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THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS

UD Education Bolstered First Female MBA’s Political Career

By BeLynn Hollers, BA '21 t was the late 1960s, and Jo Ann (Shoaf) Gasper, BA ’67 MBA ’69, had completed her degree in politics at UD. But when she looked around at the options for a woman with a liberal arts degree, her options did not excite her.

“I got my bachelor’s and started looking for a job, and it was kind of like, ‘Can you type, or do you want to be a librarian?’ In other words, typical female jobs — secretaries, librarians, those sorts of things. And I knew that I didn’t want that,” Gasper said.

Bob Lynch, the founding dean of UD’s Graduate School of Management (now the Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business), suggested that Gasper enroll in the Master of Business Administration program that was being established at UD. This made Gasper not only part of the first cohort but also the first woman in the Class of 1969.

Gasper recalls Lynch’s Price Theory course. Lynch asked Gasper, “Why should women be paid less than men?”

“So I told him the reason why women should be paid less than men. And then, I turned around and told him why women should be paid more than men,” Gasper said.

“As Catholics, we are called to what is right and proper. We are obligated to do the best job we can and provide full measure of value. No matter what one’s chosen field, there will be ethical challenges.”

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Thinking Expanded by Liberal Arts When Gasper entered the university as a freshman at 17, she was the youngest student the school had ever had. Because of her age, Gasper had wanted to begin college close to her home in Grapevine, Texas.

Additionally, her stepfather had worked with the Hungarian refugees coming to the United States after the Hungarian Freedom Fighters were overthrown by the Soviet military. Having Hungarian Cistercians teaching at the university made UD more attractive to her family.

Gasper explained that her background in political philosophy, studying under Willmoore Kendall, taught her to always go to source documents — primary sources. When studying the United States Commercial Code (USCC) in the MBA program, one of her professors, Bob Perry, asked her a question about the USCC. When she answered, Perry said her answer was incorrect. Gasper referred her professor to the primary source, the USCC, to prove she was right. Studying the original sources earned her an A. “Willmoore always said to go to the source documents. Don’t take what somebody else says about something,” Gasper emphasized.

For Gasper, her education at UD through both undergraduate and graduate programs allowed her to flourish.

“The MBA in conjunction with a University of Dallas undergraduate degree in political philosophy provided the practical analytic skills necessary for effective planning, evaluation and program management,” Gasper said.

The most important course for her career that she took during her MBA was Business Law with Perry.

“This course combined with the broad-based liberal arts education enabled me to write regulations and manage a program, the constitutionality of which had been challenged,” she said.

From MBA to a Political Career Gasper served as the Family Policy adviser to the Reagan/Bush presidential campaign in 1980.

“Under the Reagan administration, I was asked to be the deputy assistant secretary for social services policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” Gasper said.

Jokingly, she noted that her father thought she was a typist.

“So I told him that I had the responsibility for a $30 million demonstration project, and then he realized that it was a significant job,” she laughed.

Gasper is thankful for the impact UD’s education had on her political career.

“Thanks to UD and the UD education, there were several issues that I was active in that went to the Supreme Court, and the court ultimately sided with my position,” she said. One of those issues was the parental notification regulations proposed by the Reagan administration, which require minors seeking an abortion to notify their parent. “While the Supreme Court declared the regulations unconstitutional, a provision that I had inserted was declared constitutional,” she explained.

As deputy assistant secretary for population affairs, she was responsible for the administration of the National Family Planning Program and the Adolescent Family Life Program.

As a Catholic, she had to adhere closely to Catholic ethical standards while managing a program that was inconsistent with Church teaching regarding contraception. She eventually was removed from her position in 1987 for her refusal, on ethical grounds, to sign a grant to Planned Parenthood. The secretary had not allowed her to review the grant to make sure federal money was not going to be used to promote abortion — an illegal use of the funds.

“As Catholics, we are called to what is right and proper. We are obligated to do the best job we can and provide full measure of value. No matter what one’s chosen field, there will be ethical challenges,” Gasper said.

For Gasper, though, her UD education helped her navigate those tough questions. “A UD education enables a person to recognize the dilemma and find an appropriate response to the problem,” she concluded.

Left: Gasper's MBA was a step toward her work on former President Ronald Reagan's campaign in 1980.

Photo courtesy of the Reagan Library.

Below: Gasper is part of UD's Class of 1967, a class profoundly affected by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy just a few months into their freshman year and his famous words, “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

In this spirit, they later established the Class of 1967 Memorial Scholarship, which now benefits current UD students.

CYBER STARS

GUPTA ALUMNAE BREAK BARRIERS Alexa Reubens, MS ’22, went from entry-level analyst at Citrix to its cybersecurity chief of staff.

UD’s M.S. program has bolstered her theory of "empowered thermoelectricity": “As women in cybersecurity, we often feel additional heat. If this heat starts to bring me down, I convert it to electricity — motivation, energy and gratitude in knowing I have the opportunity to break some stereotypes.”

Dominique West, MS ’19 DBA ’24, started a cybersecurity-focused newsletter and podcast called “Security in Color” to give back to the larger community.

West began her DBA at UD this past fall; she hopes to forward research in cutting-edge technology and future security concerns. She advised, “It is OK to be afraid or overwhelmed by the field, but never to let that stop you from pursuing something.”

Teresa Merklin, MBA ’05, has worked for Lockheed Martin for nearly two decades.

After beginning in software management, she is now a fellow specializing in cyber risk assessment and engineering for cyber resiliency.

Of her UD MBA, she said, “It was the right information, the right education, the right degree at the right time, and it opened doors for me that I didn’t even know I wanted opened.”

Read more about these amazing graduate alumnae and others at udallas.edu/cyber-stars.

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TOWARD SOME GOOD

Independent Thinking in the Light of Truth

By Elizabeth Regnerus, BA ’22 Read more at udallas.edu/ in-the-lightof-truth.

The freedom of independent thought can tend toward a free-floating morality, where one does not truly examine the ends of one’s actions. In the Tradition, we find that free will is not an end in itself. To be free without an end is misery. Rather, every action we freely assent to is ordered toward some good.

In the case of UD’s emphasis on free inquiry, in no way should it point us toward any action we choose. Our university is distinctively radical in the sense that we are deeply rooted in the pursuit of truth, justice and virtue toward which liberal education is ordered.

Liberal education frees us and enables our independence from the deceptions and false promises that the world offers us. The formation we receive gives us the tools to sift through the dust of worldly opinion to find the nuggets of truth that instill us with life.

Our curriculum ought to allow us to put into practice the command of Romans 12:2, to “not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of [our] mind[s].” We encounter the best and the most heinous of men in our curriculum, reading the church fathers alongside Marx, studying Aquinas while examining the First World War, absorbing Dante as we learn about Nietzsche. These great books are given to us to cause deep reflection in our souls, to challenge us to incorporate into ourselves the finest virtues and recognize our most tender wounds.

Prioritizing pure individual will over grounded truth leads down a path of despair. Before we decide what we ought to do, we must plunge into what it means to love truth and justice.

Whatever habits we choose to cultivate while under the mantle of our alma mater, we ought to hold ourselves to this high standard — to understand what the good life is and independently charge our wills with full pursuit of every action that fulfills that eudaimonic end.

Elizabeth Regnerus is a senior philosophy major with a politics concentration. She is a fellow of the Dallas Forum on Law, Politics and Culture and a Ropke-Wojtyla fellow at the Catholic University of America. A cross-country runner, Regnerus also serves as the commentary editor for The University News and as a philosophy tutor for the Office of Academic Success.

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PHOTOS: JEFF MCWHORTER, COURTESY OF ELIZABETH REGNERUS, GREG RAKOZY, KIM LEESON.

The full version of this essay was published in The University News on Oct. 6, 2021.

D is unique among institutions of higher education, both secular and Catholic. We pride ourselves on our delightfully absurd traditions, our incisive education and the eccentric individuals who seem to characterize our spirit.

Our penchant for “independent thinking” is key to our intellectual and spiritual development. However, it seems that we often use this motto to justify nearly all behavior, both good and bad. While independent thinking is crucial, I argue that it must follow after UD’s true mission: to seek truth and justice.

During my time here, I’ve heard students account for a multitude of virtues and vices under the guise of independent thinking. Why do we drink so much? Independent thinking. Why do we feel free to chant expletives against political leaders we dislike? Independent thinking. Why do our outdoor spaces reek of cigarette smoke? Independent thinking!

This might not cross your mind when you choose to do or not do any of the above; however, I’ve heard arguments that critique our norms and values by claiming they constrict our ability to think and act for ourselves, which puts forth an inverted and distorted vision of acting for the Good. My intention is not to condemn or argue specifically against any of the habits above. Reasonable people disagree about the complexities of these issues. Rather, I want us to push ourselves to a rational account for what we practice.

THE

QUEST

INSPIRING COURAGE

The Power of Story

By Shannon Valenzuela, Ph.D., BA ’00 s a writer, I believe that there are stories I am meant to tell. But I also believe that there are stories that we are meant to encounter as an audience. If you’ve ever had the experience of a stranger’s words cutting straight through to your heart like a knifestroke, you know exactly what I mean. … We never know how our words and our witness may touch someone else’s heart.

We might be tempted to think that the only stories that can inspire a moment of recognition, a recommitment to a vocation or even a total conversion of heart are the stories of Scripture or the saints. And so we might be tempted to dismiss all those other stories — the ones about distant galaxies or elf-haunted woods or even stories about our own past — as somehow less important. … But … if a story about a lion, a witch and a wardrobe brings someone to their knees and then back to their faith, is it really less important?

Every story is an opportunity for a moment of recognition. Stories are a mirror — they give us back an image of ourselves so that we can reflect on and recognize ourselves. … And we want to be shown — not told — that change is possible. … [W]hat moves people to change is often not a rational argument or a demonstrative proof.

What moves people to change is an emotional experience that resonates in every fiber of their being. And that’s exactly what stories give us.

In his Grammar of Assent, St. John Henry Newman says, “The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us. Many a man will live and die upon a dogma: No man will be a martyr for a conclusion.” … I think this is why the Scriptures are a collection of stories. … [T]hey are a narrative that shows us who we are as God’s people: fallen, broken, yet worthy of love and capable of change.

Stories transform us because they transport us.

They move us out of ourselves and into a strange other world for a time — a world where we quite literally live through the emotional arc of a character’s journey.

Stephen King once said that “we make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” Our brain doesn’t care that these stories are fiction; neurochemically, narrative transport lights our brains up with oxytocin in exactly the same way that a real encounter with another human being does. We develop emotional resilience, stronger interpersonal connections and greater empathy by “living through” fictional experiences.

Yes, Aristotle, we are rational animals. But we are so much more than that. We are storytelling animals. Stories connect us to one another and foster community. And they inspire us with the courage to make a change in our lives, no matter how hard the road ahead might be.

Discover more at quest. udallas.edu.

Shannon Valenzuela is an affiliate assistant professor of English and the content director for the Liberal Learning for Life Program at UD. She is the writer and director of The Quest, a limited series produced by UD about discovering one’s purpose and living it with courage. It aired on ETWN on Nov. 15.

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ou might not know FB Society, but if you call Dallas/Fort Worth home, chances are you know its brands or have dined in one of their locations: Whiskey Cake, The Ranch, Mexican Sugar, Sixty Vines, and the Legacy Food Hall in Plano, among others.

Creating great dining experiences is something FB Society’s CEO, Jack Gibbons, MBA ’05, learned during his 25-year career with the Pappas Brothers, another successful restaurant group that operates nine restaurant brands, including Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.

But it was the mentorship he gained from UD professors while pursuing an MBA that gave him the confidence he needed to venture out on his own. We sat down with him to talk about his journey, what inspires him, and where he sees the Dallas dining scene heading in the coming years.

FB Society represents some of the most recognized dining concepts in DFW — Whiskey Cake, Mexican Sugar, Ida Claire and more. How was FB Society conceived and born?

It was born from a shared desire to change the hospitality business and dream a little bigger than most! Randy DeWitt, our chairman, and I met while I was working in Houston for the Pappas Group and began discussing our ideas, thoughts and hopes.

Seventeen years later, we’ve traveled the world, dreamed lots of dreams and birthed more than 20 concepts together. We probably learned more from our failures than the successes we’re most recognized for.

Growing up, did you ever imagine being an entrepreneur or in the restaurant business?

I could have never imagined doing what I do for a living. It’s really not “working” at all.

I get to work with incredibly talented and creative people, build experiences that bring joy to people and make visions a reality on the daily. There is no way I could have ever dreamed this would be my real life!

Where did you grow up, and how did you get into the restaurant business?

I grew up in Pennsylvania, then went to the University of Houston for my undergraduate degree, where I majored in business. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and was just trying to figure it out when I got a part-time job first as a waiter. It was the early ’90s, and restaurants weren’t trying to necessarily get people with degrees. But at Pappas, to become a general manager, you had to have a college degree to move up. So I started as a waiter and worked my way up to general manager. I ran multiple Pappadeaux locations in Houston and helped grow that into Dallas and Chicago. I spent 25 years there, so FB is the second job I’ve had.

JACK GIBBONS

By Clare Venegas

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Do you have a role model, or role models, who shape your approach to business and entrepreneurialism?

What motivated you to pursue an MBA at the University of Dallas?

Learning with the Pappas was amazing. I had been working in a senior operations role at Pappas for quite a while and felt it was time to invest in myself to grow beyond the role I was in. The independent thinking that the University of Dallas is known for was most attractive to me.

How would you describe your UD experience? What was the most valuable aspect of the MBA program?

The professors had all been in the trenches.

The program allowed me to gain perspective necessary to help me shape my own career beyond operations. Hearing the professors talk and reading about Peter Drucker and other inspiring people helped me think differently about business. So I’d say it wasn’t one class or experience, but the whole well-rounded education, from accounting and looking at P&Ls to marketing and learning about branding.

Your email signature includes a description of your “superpowers,” which sound like a recipe for an entrepreneur — Ideation, Achievement, Maximizer, Competition, Command. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those in the food and hospitality space?

What are your “kryptonite” traits as a business leader/entrepreneur, and what can others learn from those?

Falling in love with my own ideas is certainly kryptonite, not just for me, but any entrepreneur. It’s critical to gather thoughts and opinions from a diverse group of trusted partners before moving too far down any path.

COVID has decimated so many restaurants and small businesses.

How have you, your partners and your employees navigated through the pandemic?

We worked our ***** off. Honestly, I’ve begun to hate this question because my answer is similar to what I share about success in general in the hospitality business. We had to adapt quickly, identify how to translate each brand’s DNA into a to-go model and then find ways to best support our team and keep them employed. We hosted a daily strategy session with our brand leaders and made fast, continual improvement daily.

From a finance side, we tightened our belts and became as savvy as possible about government plans, and then our CFO, Dan Lawler, worked to quickly ensure our businesses were first in line to leverage available funds. The collective efforts of our leaders and field teams ensured we survived, and the trust built among our leadership team is unmatched.

I have many. I really see every successful entrepreneur as a role model in some way.

I’m an avid learner so I listen to podcasts and read articles and will always find time for coffee or a Haywire “Jack style” [Haywire’s signature whiskey cocktail in which agave replaces simple syrup] to hear someone’s story.

How has the Dallas food scene changed — for better or for worse — over the course of your career?

I love the evolution of the Dallas food scene.

We’ve abandoned the idea that “celebrity chefs” are necessary to build high-volume, over-the-top experiences, and I love the way our dining scene is embracing emerging talent. Chef Skyler Gauthier, our culinary executive at Haywire, is a prime example of the kind of talent we’ve begun to nurture in Dallas.

We’ve also become a destination for bigger brands to thrive. They know Dallasites appreciate incredible hospitality, and they show up to support.

I’m proud of the way folks like Iris Midler [founder of the Chefs for Farmers Food & Wine Festival] have also created food experiences outside the confines of traditional restaurants and really encouraged exploration and discovery. Dallas is a place where you can color outside the lines and experiment — which suits FB Society brilliantly.

If you were a fortuneteller and could summarize the future of food in Dallas and the Metroplex in three words, what words would you choose?

Global, boutique, automated.

Those are actually my top five strengths from Gallup’s Strengthsfinder program. We took the time to assess each FB Society team member and learn their top five, which allows us to leverage each other’s strengths and build diverse and dynamic teams. As far as advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’d say two things: Dream bigger and be prepared to work harder than you have ever imagined.

Top: Inside the silver trailer at Ida Claire.

Bottom: Mexican Sugar's patio.

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Class Notes Welcome to our expanded Class Notes, a section dedicated to sharing your news with the UD community. Share your updates with us via udallas.edu/alumni-portal for possible inclusion in the next issue of Tower.

1970s Paula Sweeney, BA ’78, received the 2021 Lifetime Contribution to the Profession award from the Texas Trial Lawyers.

Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, leading four departments that manage diverse materials science research activities spanning wide band gap semiconductors and devices, quantum materials and devices, ferroic materials, nanoporous materials, 2D electronic materials and energy storage materials. Carlos has been at Sandia National Laboratories for 16 years and prior to that was a tenured physics professor at Texas State University for 13 years.

He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Karen Jakuback, BA ’86, is president of Ursuline Academy of New Orleans and a UD Class Agent.

Mike Corey, BA ’87, is chief development officer of ZIPS Car Wash.

Michael Kramer, MBA ’87, is chief revenue officer of ProntoForms Corporation.

1990s Angie (Tuttle) Michelini, BA ’91, is vice president of legal and government affairs for Gordian, the leading provider of facility and construction cost data, software and expertise.

John L. Kent, MBA ’94, director of supply chain, China initiatives, and clinical professor in the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, was one of two speakers in an informative discussion on current trends and future expectations regarding tariffs and supply chain issues in October, sponsored by the Asia Society in partnership with the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations and spotlighting experts on U.S. and Chinese economic relations.

1980s Mary Zielinski Hellwig, BA ’80, hosted 11 members of the Class of 1980 (and one member of the Class of 1979) in July 2018 at her home in Scarborough, Maine, for a combined reunion/celebration of 60th birthdays. The group is pictured on Higgins Beach (above).

They received a surprise visit on their last day from classmates and guest chefs Frank Hellwig, BA ’80, and Jeff Mitchell, BA ’80, who prepared a dinner of clams and lobster for them.

Alan Berecka, BA ’81, recently published a collection of poetry, A Living Is Not a Life: A Working Title, adding to his growing list of works.

Mike Gordon, MBA ’82, is the 2021 Chief Officer Award Winner: Public Company CISO. Carlos J. Gutierrez, Ph.D., BS ’83, is the senior manager for the Semiconductor, Nano and Quantum Sciences Group at Sandia National

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Wesley Walter, Ph.D., BS ’83, professor of physics at Denison University, was honored with the prestigious Bonar Family Mentorship and Teaching Excellence Award at the college’s faculty awards celebration last May. This award recognizes exemplary mentoring and teaching by a Denison faculty member.

Paul John, M.D., BS ’84, a family physician with a long-standing private practice in Austin, Texas, has enrolled in Concierge Choice Physicians, the nation’s leading full-service concierge medical service provider, in the company’s Hybrid Choice™ program, which provides patients with more time, support and greater connectivity between doctor and patient.

Rob Oshana, MBA ’85, vice president of software engineering and R&D for NXP Edge Processing, was named the 59th Design Automation Conference general chair.

This is the only event devoted to electronic design and design automation of electronic circuits and systems.

​​ Nancy Avedikian, BA ’95, published a book, Saturdays with Dad, “a portrait of family love and … one of the most rewarding books about fathers,” available through all major online booksellers. According to a review, “Like everything the Italians do, the book also shares the elegance, flair and vibrance of Christmas in an Italian home, with servings of salami and a pound of provolone cheese, Italian bread, antipasto, spaghetti, roasted lamb and cannoli.” As a certified Spanish reading recovery teacher,

Nancy taught pre-K through third grade. After retiring, she tutored middle school students, worked part time as a translator for the school district and taught English classes for Spanish-speaking adults. She lives in Texas with her husband of 53 years.

Jeanne Canavan, BA ’99, is principal of Our Lady of Hope School in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

Todd Elms, MBA ’99, is president and chief operating officer of Instant Power Corporation.

Aline Harbison, MTS ’99, is director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center.

Gloria Werthing Reynolds, MBA ’99, is co-founder and CEO of the Werthing Foundation, managing director of Werthing Pathways to Success and Girl Power Academy, university recruiting lead for Korn Ferry and program manager/ recruiter for INROADS. A wife and mother, she is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Links Inc.

2000s Julie (Sheehy) Connally, BA ’00, is a data transcriber at Appen and a freelance writer.

Matt Mehan, BA ’00 MA ’09 PhD ’14, teamed up again with his good friend, illustrator John Folley, to publish The Handsome Little Cygnet, available on Amazon: “Manhattan’s Central Park seems an unlikely place for a family of swans to raise their baby cygnet, but family life is full of surprises, happy mistakes, and mysterious joys.” Matt was featured in Tower’s Winter 2019 cover story with his

CLASS NOTES

experience. Michael joined MP as the vice president of sales in November 2019.

Brad Parrish, MBA ’06, is vice president of university partnerships for the research platform Noodle Tools.

book Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals.

Ashish Bhuskute, MBA ’01, is chief financial officer of TTI Inc., a leading specialty distributor of electronic components.

Kevin Antene, BA ’02, joined KLJ Engineering as a remote content strategist in the marketing and communications department.

Kevin has extensive experience in marketing, content creation and publishing. He will help KLJ create both internal and external content for a variety of markets.

Jeff Bishop, M.D., MA ’02 PhD ’09, received an Expanded Reason Award from the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation for his book Biopolitics After Neuroscience: Morality and the Economy of Virtue, a collaborative project with M. Therese Lysaught and Andrew A. Michel. The book “explores the social philosophy that animates the neuroscientific study of morality, arguing that the philosophical anthropology that animates the scientific questions asked by neuroscience is an impoverished moral anthropology.”

Jeff holds the Tenet Endowed Chair in Bioethics and is professor of philosophy and of theological studies at Saint Louis University.

Terina Martínez, Ph.D., BA ’03, is executive director of both the Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium (D-RSC) and Critical Path to Therapeutics for the Ataxias (CPTA) at the Critical Path Institute (C-Path).

David Raju, MBA ’03 MS ’06, is group chief information officer of Angel Oak, a leading vertically integrated asset manager delivering innovative mortgage and consumer credit solutions.

Laura Tenner, BS ’03, is director for cancer survivorship at Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Mirka Hokkanen, MA ’04 MFA ’06, published a novel, Harmony Humbolt: The Perfect Pets Queen, in August and will publish a graphic novel, Mossy and Tweed: Crazy for Coconuts, in summer 2023, as part of Holiday House’s “I Like to Read Comics” line. Mirka has four more books scheduled for release in 2023-24 with Candlewick and Holiday House. Her book Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book was featured in Tower’s Summer 2020 “Diversions” section.

Donnie Copeland, MA ’03 MFA ’05, had a December exhibit at Justus Fine Art Gallery. According to a news release, Donnie “works primarily with painted paper to produce nonobjective, collaged canvases that emphasize pattern, texture, color and mark. His works are a synthesis of the visuality of landscapes, such as the planted fields and prairie that run along the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, as well as that of peoples and cultures local and distant, rural and urban.” Donnie is an associate professor of visual arts and chair of the Department of Visual Arts at Ouachita Baptist University, where he teaches painting, drawing and art history.

David Fisher, MBA ’05, is cultural arts director of the City of Garland, Texas.

Michael Garcia, BA ’05, is chief revenue officer of MP, a human capital management company headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, and focused on transforming the employeremployee relationship and

Shagronda Traveler, DBA, MBA ’06, is executive vice president leading advocacy, marketing communications, and people and culture for Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas. Shagronda was recognized as the 2019 Community Champion of the Year by the National Black MBA Association and was awarded the International Leadership Excellence Award by Walden University’s board of directors.

Aaron Miri, MBA ’09, is chief digital and information officer at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida. In this newly created position, Aaron will play a key role in creating Baptist Health’s future from an information technology perspective, emphasizing digital strategy, innovation, cybersecurity and integration of technology across the enterprise.

2010s Katie (Ali) Westley, BA ’10, hosted a virtual Q&A after Virgin Galactic’s exclusive virtual tour for Los Alamos ScienceFest participants in July. Katie is the Galactic Unite associate manager for Virgin Galactic.

Stefan Dammen, BA ’11, is a commercial loan officer at United Federal Credit Union.

Torrey Littleton, MBA ’12, is vice

president of finance for The Dallas Foundation, the first community foundation in Texas. Torrey previously served nine years at the foundation in the roles of senior director of finance and controller, during which he fostered deep relationships with many of the organization’s donors and community partners. He brings an unparalleled knowledge of fund management to his new role.

Francis Fast, MA ’13 PhD ’21, is an assistant professor of philosophy at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta.

Alejandra Hernandez, BA ’13, is a fellow of the Kresge Foundation, supporting the Environment Program’s strategy to help cities combat and adapt to climate change while advancing racial and economic equity. She will also work with Kresge’s Climate Change, Health and Equity initiative team to mobilize equitable climate action in low-income communities across the country, collaborating with health care institutions, health practitioners and community advocates.

Nicolas Lee, BA ’14, has joined international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as a Dallasbased associate in the firm’s corporate department, where his practice focuses on private equityrelated transactions.

Kimberly Heil, MA ’15 PhD ’21, is entering prepostulancy with the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan.

JP Bremar, BA ’17, is a commercial property tax manager at Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider and the

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Marvin Moore, MA ’75, died at his home with his wife, Lois, by his side in August. In addition to his career as an editor, Marvin was a prolific author and speaker, writing over 40 books and hundreds of articles. He traveled the world to share his faith in God and his passion for Christian gospel. He is survived by Lois, with whom he spent 44 happy years, as well as his sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Charles Griffin; daughter, Sheri Moore; son, Barry Moore; daughter-in-law, Lisa Joss-Moore; and granddaughter, Mia Moore.

largest firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes.

Prince Giadolor, BA ’18, announced his candidacy for Texas State Senate District 2, which serves Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall and Van Zandt counties and portions of Dallas County.

2020s Abraham Davoody, MBA ’20, is assistant vice president in the banking supervision department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Maria Rossini, BA ’20, is an editorial assistant at Virginia Quarterly Review and an English master’s student at the University of Virginia.

Sarah Goodwin, daughter of Associate Professor of Theology Mark Goodwin, Ph.D., died in June. Sarah attended UD in 2013-14. Certified as an esthetician in Texas, Sarah was deeply sensitive and caring; she loved giving facials because, as she said, it made others feel good about themselves. Sarah was also passionate about art, Japanese movies and caring for her cat, Captain.

In Memoriam

Mary Jo (Lemming) Gorgyca, BA ’78, died in December at her home in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, surrounded by family. Mary Jo spent over 25 years teaching, starting her career as an elementary school teacher in Dallas and later serving as principal in Victoria, Texas. She returned to teaching in Kennett Square after staying home to raise her five children. She is survived by her husband, children and their spouses, granddaughter, mother, brother, sister-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

Carmen Del Rio, BA ’70, a retired Southern University professor, died in August. Carmen was a beloved educator who motivated her students with her tireless passion for the Spanish language, literature and culture. She often hosted students at her home so they could eat the Cuban cuisine she prepared with love, and she enjoyed telling stories and cooking for her niece, nephew and their children. Engraved on Carmen’s

Professor Emeritus of Theology Mark Lowery, Ph.D., died in July.

Before retiring in 2016, Mark was a professor of moral theology at UD for 27 years and the longtime chair of the Theology Department.

Former students and colleagues remain inspired by him. He is survived by his wife, Madeleine, and their nine children and seven grandchildren, as well as his mother and three siblings. Read more at udallas.edu/mark-lowery.

Joshua Nunn, BA ’21, is an editor at Tome App and a freelance filmmaker.

Joe Vondrachek, BA ’21, is an account executive at Intuit and pursuing an MBA at UD.

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heart were the words of Spanish poet Antonio Machado, a mantram that marked her life: “Caminante, no hay camino, / se hace camino al andar”; in English, “Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.”

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Michael Perdue, BA ’01, died in a plane crash in November on Beaver Island, Michigan, while holding his 11-year-old daughter, Laney, tightly in his arms. Laney was the sole survivor of the crash and will make a full recovery. Mike was known for his bear hugs, and his wife, Christie, believes that this last one saved their daughter’s life.

Mike is survived by Christie, Laney, and his and Christie’s other three children, Addie, Henrik and Bo. Peter Ruh, MBA ’82, died in July with his family by his side. Lovingly remembered for his competitive tennis game, outstanding sense of humor, love of international travel and adventure, map-collecting and largesse with family and friends, and as a loving father, husband and friend, Peter is survived by his sons, Kernan Ruh and Brendan Ruh; his ex-wife, Sunaina Gulati-Ruh, and her mother, Saroj Gulati; his brother, Terry Ruh; his nephew, Tim Ruh; and his niece, Sarah Ruh. Kathryn (Sutherland) Ryan, BA ’68, died in July. She was a tireless advocate for education and literacy and is especially remembered by her community in Kyle, Texas, for

her championing of their public library. While raising her children, she taught public elementary school in Indiana and later earned her M.S. in education from Indiana University. Preceded in death by her husband, parents and sister, Kathryn is survived by her five children and seven grandchildren.

Roger Smith, MBA ’81, died in December. Roger spent most of his career at Texas Instruments/ Raytheon, where he had many friends among his coworkers and customers and mentored many in Defense Systems programs before retiring in 2011. A lover of soccer, cooking, gardening, vacationing in Hawaii and collecting recipes, Roger is survived by his beloved wife of 38 years, Johnnie (Marlowe) Smith; adored son and daughterin-law, Stephen Smith and Jamie Russo; and the light of his life, granddaughter Emerson Smith, as well as siblings, siblings-in-law, and many nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and -nephews.

James Shuler, MBA ’86, died in July. Preceded in death by his beloved wife of almost 62 years, parents, brother-in-law and nephew, Jim is survived by his three children, six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, sister and niece, as well as children-, grandchildren- and great-grandchildren-in-law. Jim will be remembered for his independent spirit, unflinching integrity, generous nature with friends and family, servant’s heart for anyone in need, and love, strength and leadership as a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. His lifelong affinity for nature and work as a conservationist leave outdoor spaces that will be enjoyed by many for generations to come.

An alumnus with an inspiration, a chance meeting, a faculty connection to a religious artist, and the generosity and effort of countless benefactors contributed to the creation of UD's Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine. Read more at udallas.edu/ a-vision-realized.

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“Wealth is also of the spirit – to not only give from our modest material means, but in and from that spirit.”

ALSO OF THE SPIRIT

A Legacy of Transformation rom undergraduates to benefactors with UD in their wills, Mike Perkins, BA ’78, and Sharon (Kapavik) Perkins, BA ’79 MA ’89, have watched their relationship with the university evolve. Once, Sharon was a first-generation student at UD on a scholarship; Mike was a legacy student who nonetheless worked 54 hours a week to pay his way. As alumni with careers in ministry, Sharon was a graduate student at UD, teaching there briefly, and Mike ran a capital campaign as a university employee. With three children, money was

tight. They became parents of a student — David, BA ’12 — then of an alumnus.

After years of hard work, they realized they would have the ability to make charitable contributions through their estate. Considering where this money would have a lasting impact, UD was an immediate choice. “You can make a gift that’s transformative at any level and leave a legacy that’s meaningful,” said Mike.

Sharon added, “Wealth is also of the spirit — to not only give from our modest material means, but in and from that spirit.” For the Perkins, UD has shaped their family, enriching both their and their children’s lives with the

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education they received and the friendships they formed. It brings them great joy to bequeath this means of enriching and forming future lives and friendships. Read more at udallas.edu/legacy-of-transformation.

LIFELONG CONNECTION

THE GIFT OF A LIFETIME Champions of the liberal arts and Catholic culture like yourself often ask: “Is there anything else I can do to help?” The answer is simple — leave a gift through your will or a beneficiary designation to the University of Dallas.

An estate gift to UD costs you nothing now and gives you peace of mind knowing that you’re offering the world a bright future in which academic excellence thrives. It’s a great way to protect your loved ones and the institutions you care about most all at once.

When you leave a gift to the University of Dallas, you join our Legacy Society, which provides recognition, tailored event access and a lifelong connection to UD. Thank you to our Legacy Society members for being an integral part of our UD family.

COR CHALLENGE Double your impact and earn your class some bragging rights! Stay tuned for exciting matching challenge opportunities. See p. 7 for more information.

MARCH 28 - APRIL 2

CAMPUS CONSECRATION TO MARY The UD community is invited to this ceremony, performed by Diocese of Dallas Bishop and UD Chancellor Edward Burns, officially dedicating our Irving campus to the Blessed Mother.

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TOWER MAGAZINE

COMMENCEMENT Join the Class of 2022 (both undergraduate and graduate) as they walk the stage at the Irving Convention Center and celebrate the culmination of their hard work.

MAY 15

Learn more at plannedgiving.udallas.edu

PHOTOS: JEFF MCWHORTER, PETER BURLEIGH, COURTESY OF MIKE PERKINS, KIM LEESON, ANTHONY MAZUR.

By Callie Ewing, BA '03 MH '22

LAST WORD

SERVICE TO THE CHURCH

HOMILETICS INSTITUTE TO STRENGTHEN PREACHING

Truth Unstoppable

By Philip Harold, Dean of the Constantin College of Liberal Arts he students at UD are unique and refreshing, and teaching them is a joy for our faculty. Educating the young is not only a spiritual work of mercy; it renews and revitalizes the teacher. Students are in need of knowledge and understanding. Their lack of preconceptions, however, compels those who have long acquaintance with a subject matter to appreciate anew fundamental truths of an academic discipline.

Likewise, their lack of cynicism holds open the possibility for the impact truth can have, even when it seems impossible according to tired, worldly expectations. Just because something has not yet been done does not mean we cannot do it! That was the spirit animating the organizers of UD’s first “Big Event” in the fall, which resulted in over 300 students, alumni, faculty and staff participating in various outdoor volunteer projects around Irving.

It is the spirit of the Crusaders for Life, one of the largest student organizations on campus, and the pro-life movement generally. The truth is an unstoppable force.

Because they learn to think for themselves, students from the University of Dallas can and do have an outside impact on the world, something needed more than ever with the proliferation of assaults on human dignity. This past November, our students attended a conference on human dignity sponsored by the De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, where they heard from a handful of UD faculty presenters and from other scholars from all over the country. The presentations ranged from “Augustine on the Meaning of Human Dignity” by Daniel Burns, Ph.D., “Shakespeare and the Transformation of Human Dignity” by Michael West, Ph.D., BA ’06, and “How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic” by Jessica Hooten Wilson, Ph.D., MA ’06 (pictured above, center). Students heard keynote addresses from Mary Ann Glendon and Alasdair MacIntyre and had breakfast with the director of the De Nicola Center, O. Carter Snead, who shared his thoughts with them about the importance of a Catholic liberal arts education.

The education provided by the University of Dallas is more important than ever for the revitalization of culture. Just as teaching UD students reinvigorates our faculty, our graduates in turn rejuvenate the culture by serving as witnesses to the foundational truth of human dignity.

The Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas is a collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and UD. In her role as founding executive director of the institute, Karla J. Bellinger, M.A., D.Min., works to strengthen the preaching of Catholic priests, deacons and seminarians so they flourish in their ministry.

Beginning with the Diocese of Dallas and moving outward to the broader Church, the institute will build a vision of preaching whose purpose is to bring the people of God into an encounter with the living God. “Listeners hunger for inspiration,” said Bellinger. “People in the pews want to hear a message that gives them life. Clergy thirst for their congregation to encounter Jesus Christ and want to inspire them and see the fruit of a Christian life.

“So many people have given up on preaching as a tool of evangelization.

We can’t give up. The value of the liturgy is that it’s not just the body of Christ that fuels us. It’s the music.

It’s the community. It’s the preaching,” she added. “The purpose of the liturgy is to bring people together as a community and help them to go out and change the world for the better.”

Discover more at udallas.edu/ homiletics-institute.

WINTER 2022

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NOW&THEN S AV E T H E DAT E

MARCH 28 - APRIL 2

COR CHALLENGE udallas.edu/corchallenge

2022. Groundhog will forever be a place where memories are made, from which you head home smelling of bonfire smoke with your heart full of the warmth that comes from spending time with the people who get you. We were happy for alumni and students to celebrate together again this year after the hiatus of ’21!

1980. The world was possibly a little simpler, and Groundhog certainly wasn’t the organized event it is today, but the essentials were still the same: bonfires, beer, music, and good friends gathering. Back then, you were more likely to head home a little muddy but with your heart no less full and well-warmed.