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The Ties That Bind: Building Healthy Relationships with the Local Community Your gift to the Annual Fund makes the difference. Imagine that your gift… Helped a young woman attend Saint Mary’s… Where she aspired to transform her life… And was empowered to join a research team… Which encouraged her to explore new ideas... That led to an alternative fuel source… And she helped change the world… One drop at a time. You make the Annual Fund. The Annual Fund c Educating Women, Transforming Lives Gifts to the Annual Fund help provide fi nancial aid and scholarships to Saint Mary’s students. Nine out of ten Saint Mary’s students receive some form of fi nancial support. Please support the Annual Fund by making a gift online at www.saintmarys.edu/give or by calling (800) SMC-8871. Or, use the envelope in this issue of Courier to mail your gift. Volume 81 — Number 3 Contents Fall 2006 Courier (USPS 135-340) is published four times a year by Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. Features Periodicals postage paid at the Post Office at Notre Dame, IN 46556 and at additional mailing offices. 36 Within Our Reach POSTMASTER: Send address changes by Elizabeth Station to Alumnae Relations, Saint Mary’s College, 110 Le Mans Hall, Notre The number of Saint Mary’s partnerships in the Dame, IN 46556-5001 local community is impressive. As part of its Copyright 2006 Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame, IN 46556. mission, the College cultivates a sense of social Reproduction in whole or part is responsibility in students. But as outreach efforts prohibited without written permission. The opinions expressed are those of blossom, so does a clearer sense of what kind of the authors or their subjects and are not necessarily shared by the College approaches best serve both sides. or the editor. Shari Rodriguez Vice President for College Relations 38 Meeting Emerging Needs: [email protected] Social Work Page 45 Courier Staff: by Elizabeth Station Cynthia Machamer The fi rst in a six-part series on Saint Mary’s Editor [email protected] nationally accredited programs. Elizabeth Station Senior Writer 40 Scoring High Valerie Smith by Susan Guibert Graphic Designer John Eslinger This year, Saint Mary’s once again earned high Production Coordinator marks from the Higher Learning Commission, Contributing Writers: the evaluating arm of the North Central Susan Guibert Mary Hendriksen Association of Colleges and Schools. Kara Kelly ’96 Letters: 42 A Calm in the Storm Departments Send letters to the editor to: Courier Editor by Cynthia Machamer Saint Mary’s College Through her work as a medical social worker, 303 Haggar College Center 2 Inside Saint Mary’s Notre Dame, IN 46556 Maureen Donovan ’00 brings hope to many or e-mail [email protected] forgotten people in inner-city Chicago. 3 Letters to the editor Class News: Send alumnae class news to: 4 Avenue news Alumnae News Editor 44 Reunion 2006 110 Le Mans Hall 8 Development news Saint Mary’s College by Mary Hendriksen Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001 10 Page turners e-mail: [email protected] Alumnae Association Staff: 11 Belles athletics Barbara Butler Henry ’85 Director of Alumnae Relations 12 Published and presented [email protected] Michelle Poeppe Egan ’93 14 Faculty profi le Assistant Director of Alumnae Relations [email protected] 16 For the record The Mission Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic, 18 Club news residential, women’s college in the liberal arts tradition. A pioneer in the 21 Class news education of women, the College is an academic community where women 22 Excelsior develop their talents and prepare to make a difference in the world. 48 Viewpoint Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic On the cover: appreciation, religious sensibility, and social responsibility. All members of Saint Mary’s builds healthy community relationships through (clockwise from upper left-hand the College remain faithful to this corner): a penpal program with local fourth grade girls, student involvement at the Early mission and continually assess their Childhood Development Center, joint projects with the Charles Martin Youth Center, and tutoring response to the complex needs and at Marquette Primary Center. challenges of the contemporary world. InsideSaint Mary’s High Energy, High Ambitions by Carol Ann Mooney ’72, President When I was a student at Saint Mary’s in the late sixties, I seldom left campus. None of my friends had a car and an adventure into the city of South Bend was a rare treat. Things have changed. These days our students not only drive to shops and restaurants, but their commitment to social justice and experiential learning fi nds them hard at work in homeless shelters, tutoring children in inner-city schools, and painting and repairing homes for Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together in South Bend. With more than half of our students involved in some form of community service, it was no surprise that our accrediting organization, the Higher Learning Commission, singled out a healthy, productive relationship with the surrounding community as one of Saint Mary’s strengths. This issue of Courier will describe the strengths listed in the commission’s recent evaluation, which serves as a 10-year “report card” for our institution. Many things contribute to Saint Mary’s excellent reputation, but one you may not be aware of is that the College is home to six nationally accredited academic programs. In this issue, we begin a six-part series on these outstanding programs by focusing on our Social Work Department. The article shares details about this vibrant program—its growing local and international connections and what social work majors do before and after they leave Saint Mary’s. One of the qualities that I fi nd most invigorating about Saint Mary’s is that it is a place of aspiration, a place that hungers to be better. I sat down to write this letter to you on the fi rst day of class for the 2006-07 academic year. As I listened to our students’ excited voices Photo by Matt Cashore n in the halls of Le Mans, I realized that it is these young women who bring the “With more than half of our place back to its intended state of high students involved in some energy and high ambitions. vice, When our new, fi rst-year students form of community ser and their parents arrived this fall, t our the vitality they brought with them it was no surprise tha was—and still is—palpable. As our the largest incoming class in many years, accrediting organization, on, they are beginning a four-year journey Higher Learning Commissi that will change them, and us, forever. ealthy, I hope Courier helps you to feel that singled out a h you are accompanying them on their e relationship with journey. These are wonderful times productiv for Saint Mary’s College. Thank you the surrounding community as for the part you play in our success. ” one of Saint Mary’s strengths. 2 COURIER | Fall 2006 Lettersto the editor “My beloved Saint Mary’s” could be. Though I went on to major in English, I left math on Dear Editor, a positive note, thanks to him. I certainly wish Dr. Balka all In July, my mother, my two sons, and I visited the Saint the best in his retirement and am grateful for the opportunity Mary’s campus. My mom recollected how confi dent she to have learned from him. was in my decision to attend such Sincerely, a beautiful and welcoming place Melissa Whalen ’02 of higher learning. I remembered Bronx, N.Y. our fi rst class picnic, meeting my lifelong friends and taking pictures Loving tolerance of difference on the grass after graduation, Dear Editor, eyes fi lled with tears and happy I’ve lived abroad for the past 40 years and have kept up anticipation on our young, wrinkle- with SMC news, thanks to the arrival of Courier. I appreciate free faces. the College staff’s efforts to improve women’s education My sons had a much different continually, and your role in accurately reporting the view. They thought the Saint Mary’s highlights. lake, with its ducks and fountain, In the spring 2006 issue, however, there was a letter to the was “cool.” They climbed on editor that I fi nd dismaying. The author chose the subject of benches and crossed the bridge the student diversity board’s mission to express her negative onto the island where the statue and judgmental views on homosexuals, or “non-heterosexual of the Blessed Mother oversees the behaviour,” to be exact. These views were personal, granted, miracle of nature’s perfection. As but they hardly stem from a loving tolerance of others’ we walked past Le Mans Hall, my 7- differences. Nor do they refl ect the general trend among The Barry boys: Kevin, on the left, year-old son, Patrick, equated it to Christians today to go beyond the strict interpretation of and Patrick enjoyed their visit to a castle and we even found a mural church precepts. Mom’s alma mater. of knights sculpted into a wall at Moreover, you chose to publish this letter. For me, it is a the front entrance of Le Mans. Small treasures carved into highly questionable decision, one that does not enhance the the walls of the corridor were made known to me through image of Saint Mary’s as a modern, open-minded college. Patrick’s and Kevin’s (age 4) eyes.

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