Finding My Place That Was Then, This Is
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ST. MARY’S COLLEGE of Maryland SPRING 2015 ST. MARY’S: 175 YEARS THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW This Place Where We Are [ PAGE 6 ] FINDING MY PLACE at the Monument School: A Current Student Reflects on the College’s History [ PAGE 14 ] ST. MARY’S COLLEGE of Maryland SPRING 2015, VOL. XXXVI, NO. 2 www.smcm.edu/mulberrytree Editor Lee Capristo Alumni Editor Kathy Cummings Design Skelton Design Photographer Bill Wood Editorial Board Karen Anderson, Cheryl Bates-Lee, Lee Capristo, Kathy Cummings, Elizabeth Graves ’95, Missy Beck Lemke ’92, Nairem Moran ’99, Karen Raley ’94, Gary Sherman, Lindsey Siferd ’13 Publisher Office of Advancement St. Mary’s College of Maryland 18952 East Fisher Road St. Mary’s City, Maryland 20686 The Mulberry Tree is published by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Maryland’s public hon- ors college for the liberal arts and sciences. It is produced for alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, the local community, and friends of the College. The magazine is named for the famous mulberry tree under which the Calvert colonists signed a treaty of friendship with the Yaocomico people and on the trunk of which public notices were posted in the mid-1600s. The tree endured long into the 19th century and was once a popu- lar meeting spot for St. Mary’s students. The illustration of the mulberry tree on the cover was drawn in 1972 by Earl Hofmann, artist-in- residence when St. Mary’s College President Renwick Jackson launched the magazine. Copyright 2015 The opinions expressed in The Mulberry Tree are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the College. The editor reserves the right to select and edit all material. Manuscripts and letters to the editor are en- couraged and may be addressed to Editor, The Mulberry Tree, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 18952 E. Fisher Rd., St. Mary’s City, MD 20686. Photographs and illustrations may not be reproduced without the express written consent of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. CONTENTS SPRING 2015 ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND July 1, 2014 — June 30, 2015 FEATURES ALUMNI COUNCIL BOARD OF TRUSTEES PAGE 6 Executive Board Chair That Was Then, Danielle Troyan ’92, Ms. Gail Harmon, Esq. This is Now President Vice Chair Todd Purring ’86, Ms. Cindy Broyles ’79 “This Place Where We Are,” by Vice President Angie Harvey ’83, Treasurer professor Jeffrey Hammond. Secretary Mr. John Chambers Alice Arcieri Bonner ’03, Wobensmith ’93 PAGE 14 Parliamentarian Secretary Jim Wood ’61, Treasurer Dr. Lawrence “Larry” E. Finding My Place Leak ’76 Elected Voting Members [ PAGE 6 ] A current student reflects on the Emily Brown ’10 Trustees Camille Campanella ’12 Mr. Carlos Alcazar value of the College’s history. David Cribbs ’74 Mr. Arthur “Lex” Birney, Jr. Donna Denny ’81 Mr. Donny Bryan ’73 PAGE 28 Barbara Dinsenbacher ’56 Ms. Peg Duchesne ’77 Laurel Tringali Eierman ’84 Ms. Elizabeth Graves ’95 Mark Fedders ’74 Rear Admiral Timothy Memorabilia Kate Fritz ’04 “Tim” Heely, USN Retired from the Archives Chris Holt ’86 The Honorable Missy Beck Lemke ’92 Sven Erik Holmes A snapshot of St. Mary’s Ryan McQuighan ’05 The Honorable Laurie Menser ’01 Steny Hoyer in earlier times. Jeremy Pevner ’09 Captain Glen Ives, Allan Wagaman ’06 USN Retired Jayson Williams ’03 Mr. Gary Jobson Ms. Molly Mahoney DEPARTMENTS Student Member Matthews [ PAGE 14 ] Jemile Safaraliyeva ’15 Mr. John J. McAllister 2 President’s Letter Ms. Ann McDaniel 3 College News Chapter Presidents Mr. James P. Muldoon Annapolis: Mr. Michael O’Brien ’68 24 Alumni Connection Erin O’Connell ’91 Ms. Katharine Russell Baltimore: Ms. Taylor Schafer ’15 32 From the Archives Dallas Hayden ’06 Ms. Danielle Troyan ’92 Boston: Kyle McGrath ’11 D.C. Metro: Matt Schafle ’10 Denver: Alisa Ambrose ’85 New York: Christelle Niamke ’05 Philadelphia: Emma Prasher ’09 [ PAGE 28 ] San Francisco: Micah Cupid-Benons ’09 Southern Maryland: COVER: Cathy Hernandez Ray ’77 Alex Bird ’16 holding a photograph of Mrs. Theodora Western Maryland: (nee Anderson) Norris, who attended St. Mary’s Kristi Jacobs Woods ’97 Female Seminary in the early 1850s. From Monument School of the People: A Sesquicentennial History of St. Mary’s Staff College of Maryland 1840–1990 by J. Frederick Fausz. David Sushinsky ’02 Photo by Howard Korn Beth Byrd OPPOSITE: Lawrence MacCurtain ’11 “Bedtime for the Class of 1945” by Maxine Slyder Angle ’45jc. Courtesy College Archives St. Mary’s College | THE MULBERRY TREE | spring 2015 | 1 A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT A LETTER TO M. ADELE FRANCE “ here is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire Editor’s Note which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and T beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.”1 My, how you embodied this! agazine editors employ Many would have walked away if a fire destroyed their main building just days before readership surveys as a means the semester was to begin, but not you. You said, “We shall carry on!” and without missing M to gauge whether or not a magazine is robust. a beat, you managed to rally the “troops” and open the school within a month. How Last summer we conducted a Mulberry you were able to live in the Trinity Rectory during those four weeks with 30 other adults Tree readership survey with alumni. We sharing one bathroom I’ll never know. asked readers 20 questions about what You led the institution through the Depression and had the grit to spend 18 months they enjoy most about the magazine, what refuting what could have been the death knell for the institution when the Marbury section they go to first, what they’d like to see that isn’t there and if they think it Commission recommended its closure! You knew that small class sizes and a liberal arts represents the institution truthfully. We also curriculum were essential for success. asked if the magazine called them to action They still are. Thank you for all you did on behalf of their alma mater. Here are the I wonder what would be your to help us get here. You details of what the survey revealed: • Of 8,750 solicited, 541 responded (equal- reaction if you were to walk onto have my word that I will ing just more than a 6% response rate). campus today. We are still working to work as hard as you to • Eighty-nine percent of those responding keep the College affordable and, like facilitate the long-term read most or all of each Mulberry Tree maga- you, I came aboard recommending zine and hang on to their copies for more that we not raise tuition and the stability and viability of than a month. A full 90% of respondents prefer a paper copy to an online magazine. board fully supported that request. this wonderful institution • Mulberry Tree readers are interested in a Our modern-day Marbury report is on the banks of the river. range of subjects appearing in the maga- the popular press and not a month zine, with slightly higher interest (46% to goes by without our hearing of the 53%) in class notes; campus facilities demise of liberal arts. If you were and growth; student research/academic experiences; student achievements; faculty to spend a day with me, you might think that things have not changed much since you selection, promotion, retirements. Less presided over the College’s centennial anniversary but that assessment would be incorrect. interesting (less than 40%) to readers are When you refuted the Marbury report, the College was the only post-secondary school faculty publications; athletics; fund-raising in Southern Maryland. Although that has changed, there still is none like us in the area. efforts and stories about donors; admis- sions policies and results; Commencement; The College now has 42, not two, buildings. Our campus has a racial and ethnic diversity and alumni in their personal lives. that I am certain you never imagined. The curriculum remains grounded in the liberal arts • The magazine’s readers admit to tak- and has grown to be quite interdisciplinary, a necessity in the 21st century as we prepare ing the following actions as a result of our students to be as successful as your foundation led them to be in the 20th century. reading the Mulberry Tree: of roughly 200 This year we celebrate our 175th anniversary. Thank you for all you did to help us get respondents, 78% submitted a class note; 75% made a donation to the college; 74% here. You have my word that I will work as hard as you to facilitate the long-term stability contacted a classmate or friend; and 74% and viability of this wonderful institution on the banks of the river. recommended St. Mary’s to a potential student or family member. Thank you to all who responded to the survey. Your feedback helps us know what’s working and what to strive for in future Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan, President, St. Mary’s College of Maryland issues. With this 175th anniversary issue, we think we’ve put together a magazine 1 An excerpt from Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book (1819) you’ll want to keep! Lee Capristo, editor 2 | St. Mary’s College | THE MULBERRY TREE | spring 2015 Harkonen to COLLEGE Direct CSD Maija Harkonen has been named NEWS executive director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, effective March CAMPUS & COMMUNITY NEWS Kern Selected 10, 2015. Harkonen comes from for International Helsinki, Finland, where she served Institute as director of strategic partner- ships for the Finnish Consulting Lily Kern ’15 (anthropology, Group International, Ltd.