FALL 2018 NURTURING THE MERCY MISSION SISTER LISA MARY McCARTNEY P. 8 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: MERCYHURST COLLABORATIONS BENEFIT ERIE COMMUNITY P. 2 STUDENTS SERVE ‘BEYOND THE GATES’ P. 6 UNIQUE CYBER EDUCATION CENTER OPENS P. 16 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS P. 30 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT In today’s hypercompetitive higher education ecosystem, universities market in a big way. We that are tentative in the face of change will fail to prosper. Mercyhurst are also holding true to University has changed in many ways since I took ofce in 2015, our roots in educating the evolving and innovating to better meet the needs of our community of whole person through faculty, staf, students and alumni. REACH; this newer core curriculum ofers our Mercyhurst’s student experience – long among the region’s best – has students both fexibility become more robust, especially with this fall’s grand opening of the and choice in pursuing new amenity-rich sophomore residence, Ryan Hall. We also expect their interests. to open an Irish-themed pub on campus in January that will further enhance the residential experience while creating a safe environment While we are busy on the campus-front, we have sought to use our for our students to socialize. As a result of our eforts to attract more community’s talents in partnership with others in academia, business underrepresented minority students to Mercyhurst, our student and government to enrich our city. Through the Mercyhurst-led population has grown more diverse. In support of that progress, we Erie Innovation District (EID), we are helping to deploy smart-city established a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force aimed at fostering a technology in Erie and recently brought nine new startup companies to more hospitable and compassionate community of learners. town for the EID’s accelerator program. We know that student success relies heavily on advising and support Accomplishing these many changes has been the handiwork of a systems that take into account the developmental and academic needs dedicated and determined Mercyhurst community. Many years ago, of our students. To that end, we are bringing all our student support during her Mercyhurst presidency, Sister Carolyn Herrmann described eforts – from Learning Diferences to the Honors Program – under one Mercyhurst as “a vital, alive college in which there is no room for umbrella. As we seek to deliver positive outcomes, like graduating on complacency or for satisfaction with less than the best...” I believe she’d time and helping our students get good jobs, we are also reinventing be pleased with how we are staying true to that message. our Career Services program to better accomplish these goals and meet the expectations of students in today’s global marketplace. Carpe Diem. Perhaps nowhere is change more evident than in our academic programming. From our distinctive foray into the felds of cybersecurity, data science and risk management, supported by our new MCPc Cyber Education Center, we expect to produce highly skilled and sought-after graduates. Our Ofce of Distance Learning is working diligently to Michael T. Victor, J.D., LL.D. improve students’ access to learning through these new technologies President, Mercyhurst University and we have every confdence that it will propel us into the online ON THE COVER: Sister Lisa Mary McCartney, RSM, Ph.D. ’71, who stepped down in May from her full-time position as vice president for mission integration, is pictured in front of Egan Hall. With the number of Sisters of Mercy in the Erie community dwindling, Sister Lisa Mary has spent the past decade working to ensure that the spirit of the founding Sisters of Mercy continues to thrive at Mercyhurst. (Photo by Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07) The Ofce of Marketing and Public Relations publishes Mercyhurst Magazine twice a year. Magazine Editor Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 [email protected] 814-824-2090 Design Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 [email protected] 814-824-3022 Contributing Writers Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 Joseph Cuneo Sean Cuneo Elizabeth Eidnier ’12 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Jennifer Smith Deborah W. Morton 2 MERCYHURST PARTNERSHIPS BENEFIT ERIE COMMUNITY 6 STUDENTS BROADEN HORIZONS WITH SERVICE ‘BEYOND THE GATES’ Contributing Photographers Ben Friesen 8 MERCY EMISSARIES COMMIT TO FOSTER MERCY MISSION Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 10 EARLY BLACK STUDENTS REFLECT ON EXPERIENCES AT THE HURST Angela Zanaglio ’16 14 ROBERT MILLER’S LEGACY LIVES ON AT MERCYHURST NORTH EAST Director of Alumni Engagement 16 INNOVATIVE CYBER LAB INSPIRES STUDENTS Lindsay Cox Frank ’12 ’14M 18 MIAC EXTENDS STREAK OF SELLOUT SHOWS [email protected] 814-824-2330 20 SIX HONORED AS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI 21 ALUMNI PROFILES: SUKI FULLER ’05; SCOTT DONNELLY ‘88 22 ATHLETES INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME 23 LONGEVITY OF LAKER COACHES UNIQUE IN DIVISION II 26 IN THE NEWS Send changes of address to: Alumni Relations BROWN EARNS TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD Mercyhurst University MARY HOFFMAN ‘74 RECEIVES ROMERO AWARD 501 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16546 BRAD DAVIS NAMED ATHLETIC DIRECTOR [email protected] MNE LAUNCHES PROGRAM FOR SINGLE MOTHERS ADMIRAL KOHLER GIVEN HONORARY DEGREE JOSEPH NECASTRO ’78 LEADS INNOVATION DISTRICT BOARD If you haven’t been receiving the bi-monthly MASS OF THANKSGIVING HONORS SISTERS OF MERCY Alumni eNewsletter, Mercyhurst does not have an active email address for you. Visit RILEY-BROWN NAMED HAFENMAIER DEAN mercyhurst.edu/alumni/update to update 28 CLASS NOTES your information and reconnect. 29 IN MEMORIAM: DR. RANDY HOWARTH We’d love to hear from you. Send your 30 FUNDRAISING YEAR IN REVIEW story ideas, suggestions and comments to 31 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS [email protected]. 1 MERCYHURST GALVANIZES CHANGE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP By Deborah W. Morton Basketball great Michael Jordan once said “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Whether creating internal partnerships between colleagues and departments, partnerships between academia and industry, or traditional town-and-gown collaborations, harnessing the skills of others is one of the most strategic ways to solve complex challenges. Things change when everyone on the team is equally invested in the overall purpose and goal. Consider Mercyhurst’s involvement in the ERIE INNOVATION DISTRICT. By partnering with regional academic institutions, government and business, the university is leading a plan to transform downtown Erie into a destination for digital-economy jobs, particularly in the robust felds of cyber security and data science. “Together, we are discovering new ways of driving innovation to provide our students with internships and job opportunities, to provide businesses with a highly skilled workforce, and to strengthen our community in terms of economic growth and global competitiveness,” said Mercyhurst University President Michael Victor. But, that’s just the latest in the university’s longstanding commitment to collaboration and the power of many. The following is an abbreviated look at a few of Mercyhurst’s many partnerships and the results they are reaping. 2 Sam Krahe ‘14 works with young clients at Harborcreek Youth Services. THERAPEUTIC ARTS INITIATIVE Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie Civic Institute Director Amy Eisert, A partnership between Mercyhurst University and Harborcreek Youth Erie Mayor Joseph Schember and Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny Services designed to provide experiential learning for university students while ofering research-supported expressive arts therapies MERCYHURST CIVIC INSTITUTE for HYS clients. A college-community partnership dedicated to the social, educational and civic well-being of the Erie region and state of The longstanding relationship between Harborcreek Youth Services (HYS) and Mercyhurst University, once focused solely on experiential learning for Pennsylvania. students in the Criminology and Criminal Justice programs, has evolved over time, most recently through a partnership called the Therapeutic One of the most exciting results-driven programs coming out of the Arts Initiative – a mission-driven project overseen by Dr. Maria Garase, Mercyhurst Civic Institute in recent years is the Group Violence Reduction associate professor of Criminal Justice and vice president of the HYS Board Strategy, originally brokered by institute director Amy Eisert. Eisert of Directors. Through the use of expressive therapies like music, art and learned of the strategy through an out-of-town training program, and movement, the program aims to help Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable subsequently shared it with local law enforcement authorities. With youth – those who have experienced abuse, neglect and childhood trauma. buy-in secured, she further assisted in writing the grant that netted $1.2 million from the United Way and Erie Community Foundation to “Trauma has been called ‘the great thief,’’’ said Mercyhurst Music Therapy implement the Group Violence Reduction Strategy. Director Craig Stevens, who has been instrumental in leading the initiative, assisted by Sam Krahe, one of music therapy’s frst graduates. “Most of Through the initiative, local law enforcement, concerned residents and these young people have extreme difculty trusting and connecting social service providers meet with individuals who are identifed as high with another person; most have never experienced unconditional love risk for involvement in group- or gang-related violence. During what and, because of their experiences, live in a world that does not feel safe. is termed a “Call-In,” participants