Alma Matters
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ALMA MATTERS SPRING/SUMMER 2007 Publication for the Marianopolis College Community Special This is a moment of my life, Good-ByeIssue I could have passed it by, like all the rest yet didn’t. This is a moment, I’ve seen my life, my time, This is a moment, Someday they’ll ask and I’ll remember This Epiphany. This is a moment, soon to be represented in movies, in books as the past. This is a moment, for me now. This is a moment, I Côte-des-Neiges Campus 1975-2007 feel my convictions, my n 1975 when we first opened our doors at 3880 lege in the Quebec CEGEP system. Like Peel Street be- songs and melodies. Côte-des-Neiges, we knew that this new location fore it, Côte-des-Neiges has been a happy place, but This is a moment, Iwould be a wonderful home for the College. After we have outgrown our 19th century-designed home; 32 years, the time has come to leave this building and this building that we know and love. We need more Remember when...? move to a campus where Marianopolis held classes space and better facilities if we wish to stay on the cut- from 1926 - 1944. We are, in fact, returning home. ting edge. You might say that our family needs a big- And I will. The College has moved many times in its nearly 100- ger home. Reprinted from the 1977 yearbook with permission from year history, but it remains the same Marianopolis be- Since the initial decision to move was taken by the Maria Mamfredis ’77 cause of the people who make up our Community. Board of Directors, the Marianopolis Community has Over 20,000 students have called this campus home planned and worked very hard to ensure that our since 1975. A lot of living and learning and growing newest campus will be every bit as welcoming as the up took place here and Marianopolis is proud to have one we now leave behind. Join us on May 18th to say been a part of our students’ personal histories. This one last Goodbye, to walk the halls and enjoy the com- FEATURES... will be our sixth move and, as with all change, it is pany of friends and colleagues on our Côte-des-Neiges Memories of Marianopolis 2 an opportunity for new beginnings. campus. On Campus 4 The Côte-des-Neiges building is a magnificent As we close this chapter of Marianopolis history, we Student Services 6 architectural structure, and for over 30 years, Mari- look forward to an exciting future as we return “home” Moving Hearts and Minds 7 anopolis has been identified with this building. But to 4873 Westmount Avenue and look forward to Tribute to Faculty 10 it is important to remember that Marianopolis is more welcoming each and every one of you in the fall. than bricks and mortar; it is a community of people Alumni News and Notables 13 undertaking an important academic mission. We Françoise Boisvert Marianopolis will miss 14 have great people here, carrying out the work that Françoise Boisvert ’58, CND Student Services 14 makes Marianopolis what it is, the number one Col- Director General Alumni Events 15 Memories of Marianopolis Getting to School Peter Megoudis ’82 BY J ANICE R OSEN ’78 eter Megoudis ’82 came back for his first attendedGetting Marianopolis is not my most enlightened to time of day, it did- Petervisit to the campus since graduating. It took from 1976-1978, spe- n’t occur to me to look for one. So I decided the Phim a while, but soon some long repressed cializing in Arts, espe- fastest way to get to class would be to scale the memoriesMegoudis got jogged. For example, he talked to I Dr. Aniko Lysy, in whose Chemistry class he strug- cially Anthropology. When steep slopeSchool leading up to the lawn. I think of the Côte-des- This might not have been such a bad idea in Neiges campus my fondest memory is of those the abstract, but more or less following the fash- deep window seats overlooking the lawn and the ions of the times, I was dressed that morning in southern skyline of the city. I had always wanted a calf-length peasant skirt, a poncho, and wooden to live in a house with window seats one could clogs. I was also overbalanced by a shoulder curl up and read in, so seeing them sold me on bag full of books. And perhaps I should add that attending the College long before I knew about physical coordination and stamina have never its academic reputation. been my greatest assets. So in short order I However, the campus-related incident that found myself hanging desperately onto a tree has remained with me the most over all these branch half way up the slope, seriously won- years, and one which I re-visit every time I go dering if I was going fall right off this cliff and From L to R: Dr. Aniko Lysy, Peter Megoudis ’82, along Atwater Avenue, is of the day I embarked down to the pavement, never getting to class and Dr. Arnold Ludwig on a most misguided mountain-climbing expe- at all. dition en route to class. My recollection goes blank after that moment, gled, and informed her that he had told her, a week It was at the beginning of my time at the Col- memory leaving me forever hanging onto that before the final exam, that he had a nightmare of lege, and I was running late one morning as I ap- tree. But I must have somehow got to the top, failing her class and she reassured him. He also re- proached the campus from the south, along since I made it through the rest of my two years members being converted to communism for a Chemin St-Sulpice. There must have already there, and graduated, and have even tackled a week by Ted ‘The Red’ Skaperdas, before realiz- been a staircase there in 1976, but, as morning few steep hills since, albeit in lace-up shoes. ing Ted was really a CIA plant sent to identify sub- versives (or something like that). He also remem- bers the students being quite older and the teach- Laurie Betito ’83 ers being younger. The building, however, looks he 2 years I spent at the college were probably the most significant for me exactly the same as he left it 25 years ago, right down Laurieas they set me on a path to higher education and to the career I chose. I re- to the ‘Peter was here’ carving on the cafeteria table. Tmember with great fondness several of my teachers who had a significant im- pact on me (most notably Dr. Paulos Milkias, Humanities professor and Jean Côté, Psychology Betitoprofessor). These teachers, who were clearly passionate about their sub- ject, did a wonderful job of transmitting this passion. It was in CEGEP that the seed for my future was planted. I fell in love with psychology and went on to pur- sue post graduate work in the field. Recently I had the opportunity and pleasure of returning to the school during Sexual Health week to give a lecture. I got goose bumps walking into the building, and I was flooded with a wave of very pleasant memories. My time at Marianopolis will always be cherished. Marianopolis Buddies! BY M ARIAN AND R ANDY P INSKY ’03 arianopolis gave us a fantastic opportunity to become involved in a variety of charities MBuddies!and volunteer organizations, and we were thrilled at the responsiveness and enthusiasm of the From L to R: Vivian Kong, Amy Chuang, students. Not only did we get the chance to make super Sze Wan Sit, Cammy Huynh, Ariane Chan-You, friends who we still keep in contact with, but the so- and Sonia Dargan. All Class of 2000 cial action aspect of Marianopolis especially during our years of 2001-2003 was really something special and ering pyramid of cans?) something to be proud of! In fact, we were even awarded the Sister Elizabeth Along with our friends, including Stella and Kainat, Mahoney Volunteerism Prize in recognition for our we had a terrific time being involved in the numer- extensive involvement and commitment to the ous fundraising groups, including Kids Can Free The From L to R: Randy Pinsky, Kainat Shahid, many fundraising and volunteering groups at Mar- Children (we were notorious for supplying our class- Marian Pinsky, and Stella Paradisis. ianopolis. This was a funny repeat of history, as this mates with candy from our ever-accompanying fish- Graduates of 2003 & 2004 award had been created and given to our sister, bowls!), Dans La Rue (a chapter which we initiated), and food and clothing drives (remember our tow- Donna, at her graduation in 2000! 2 MARIANOPOLIS COLLEGE Memories of Marianopolis Middle-Eastern Day MemoriesBY S HIRA K OGUT ’00 n the last night of the war, Sunday August 13, 2006, my husband combined work of the Arab Students Society, Hillel and the Armenian Club. and I sat between the main ffloor and the ffirst ffloor of our building People said it could not be done, that we could not overcome the intense Oin Haifa, Israel like we had many times in the last few weeks. It was political debates that ran between our peoples and make the only spot without external walls or openings in the building. We sat, a beautiful waiting for the warning siren and incoming booms of falling Katyusha rock- ets to stop.