Winter 2008 The Revolution of Residential in the Digital Age imaginea stronger community Sarah Dalton ’09 has already made a diff erence and she’s just getting started. as a fi rst-year Led Circle K at Saint Mary’s, a student service group as a sophomore Encouraged students to serve the community as a junior Raised $60,000 for Riley Hospital for Children as a senior Plans to pursue a graduate degree in counseling Saint Mary’s students are dynamic women determined to change the world. Saint Mary’s provides the academic foundation and spiritual focus they need to build a better tomorrow. Read more about Sarah at saintmarys.edu/sarah-dalton You can give them the scholarships and fi nancial aid that sets it all in motion, just like you did for Sarah. you make education possible for our students. Please make a gift to the Annual Fund for scholarships and fi nancial aid. Visit us online at saintmarys.edu/give or call 800-SMC-8871. The Annual Fund Volume 83, Number 4 tableof contents Winter 2008 The Saint Mary’s College Courier (USPS 135-340) is published four times a year by Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. Periodicals postage paid at the Post Offi ce at Notre Dame, IN 46556 and at additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alumnae Relations, Saint Mary’s College, 110 Le Mans Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. Copyright 2008 Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without written permission. The opinions expressed are those of the authors or their subjects and are not necessarily shared by the College or the editor. Shari Rodriguez Vice President for College Relations [email protected] Page 4 Page 10 Karen Zagrocki McDonald ’76 Acting Assistant Vice President Integrated Marketing Communications [email protected] Courier Staff: Scot Erin Briggs Editor features [email protected] Natalie Davis Miller Staff Writer 4 Spes Unica: Plugged 12 Part of a Community ... Shannon E. Brewer ’03 In and Part of a Even After You Leave Staff Writer Joya Helmuth Community Alumnae Kim Holly Maher ’05 and Graphic Designer The new technology in Spes Unica Ashley Thornburg ’05 carry on the Saint Mary’s tradition. Matt Cashore Hall is bringing students and Janet Graham professors together—and moving Zara Osterman Photographers them into the future. Letters: Send letters to the editor to: departments Courier Editor 6 Going Where We Saint Mary’s College 303 Haggar College Center Are Needed Notre Dame, IN 46556 Saint Mary’s new communicative 2 Letter from the Editor or e-mail [email protected] disorders major offers students a Class News: new career option. 17 Avenue News Send alumnae class news to: Alumnae News Editor 110 Le Mans Hall 20 For the Record Saint Mary’s College 8 Crosses of Spes Unica Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001 23 Club News or e-mail [email protected] New artwork evokes mission Alumnae Association Staff: and future. 26 Class News Kara O’Leary ’89 Director of Alumnae Relations 28 Excelsior [email protected] 10 Thoughts That Count: Jessica Stuifbergen ’99 12 Days of Christmas Assistant Director of Alumnae Relations [email protected] Saint Mary’s students, faculty, and The Mission staff look at the causes of poverty and Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic, what can be done. residential, women’s college in the liberal arts tradition. A pioneer in the education of women, the College is an academic community where women develop their talents and prepare to make a difference in the world. Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s promotes On the cover: a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic appreciation, religious sensibility, and Offi ce for Civic and Social Engagement organizers of the Twelve Days social responsibility. All members of of Christmas project. See story on p. 10. the College remain faithful to this mission and continually assess their Photo by Matt Cashore response to the complex needs and challenges of the contemporary world. The Alumnae Association letterfrom the editor Board of Directors Honorary President Carol Ann Mooney ’72 President MarilynElizabeth Wolter Bermingham Laboe ’61 Lacy ’66 360505 EastWelwyn Hurd Road Road Monroe,Richmond, MI VA48162 23229-8105 (734)(804) 243-3345741-5301 • [email protected]@courts.state.va.us Vice President HollyLisa Maxbauer Rieger Curley Price ’80 ’99 2326363 Sealund Mora Road Glen Drive LosQuincy, Altos MA Hills, 02171 CA 94024 (650)(917) 948-8598518-4345 • [email protected]@yahoo.com People Make the Difference Secretary JudyMary MardoianSue Dunn GavoorCurry ’85 ’76 10305434 SirFlowering William Dogwood Lane Lane LakeCharlotte, Forest, NC IL 28270-3729 60045 This issue focuses on the modern residential college experience. In what has been dubbed (847)(704) 235-2759814-7967 • [email protected]@carolina.rr.com a digital age, when college students can take classes online and information can be delivered Directors at nearly the speed of light, the benefits of a residential experience merit a second look. As Sheila Conlin Brown ’56 7251 2390 East Street my staff and I began planning the stories we wanted to tell, we had to ask ourselves in what Princeton, IL 61356 (815) 659-3040 • [email protected] ways students benefit by moving away from home to live with roommates they’ve never met, by walking to an actual classroom everyday taught by an in-the-flesh professor, or by getting Jill Moore Clouse ’99 3202 North Paulina Street, 2S involved with philanthropic efforts when they could just make a donation online? Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 348-2124 • [email protected] The answers emerged gradually as we interviewed people. Even more revealing than what MaryNora BarrySue Dunn Fischer Curry ’73 ’85 they told us about projects and ideas near and dear to them, was the way they told us. 5434U.S. Post Flowering Office Dogwood and Courthouse Lane For one story, I went to speak with Professor Phyllis Kaminski, chair of the Religious Studies Charlotte,700 Grant NCStreet, 28270-3729 Suite 5260 (704)Pittsburgh, 814-7967 PA 15219 • [email protected] Department, about iconography. I asked her what happens when you begin combining sacred NoraLinda BarryKawecki Fischer ’79 ’73 symbols from different cultures. “Ah!” she said and picked up a book that was lying open on her U.S.6948 Post Lakeshore Office Driveand Courthouse 700Dallas, Grant TX 75214-3550Street, Suite 5260 desk, Lift Every Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside, flipped to find the Pittsburgh,(214) 327-9355 PA 15219 • [email protected] right page, and handed it to me, as if she had just been pondering that very question. Sara Bateman Koehler ’70 Afterward, I went to the library to look up a word in the Oxford English Dictionary when 944 Spannwood Road Indianapolis, IN 46228 Librarian Bob Hohl came over to offer his assistance. When I told him what I was looking for, (317) 253-4494 • [email protected] he too responded with, “Ah!” He picked up a Greek etymological dictionary and looked up the ElizabethLeeAnn Franks Bermingham McConnell Lacy ’85 ’66 word in its language of origin. I always knew Bob’s knowledge was encyclopedic, but I was still 5051006 Welwyn Eastland Road Drive Richmond,Sturgis, MI VA49091 23229-8105 amazed to find out he is fluent in Greek. When I said so, he just smiled and shrugged. (804)(269) 741-5301651-9955 • [email protected]@yahoo.com Another feature took me to visit Carrie Call, director of the Office for Civic and Social LeeAnnKathryn FranksWiedl Mettler, McConnell M.D. ’85 ’63 Engagement, to ask her about the Twelve Days of Christmas program she coordinates and what 1006715 Registry Eastland Lane Drive NE Sturgis,Atlanta, GAMI 4909130342-2865 the response has been from Saint Mary’s community. “Oh!” she said. “They love it!” Call went (269)(404) 651-9955262-7454 • [email protected]@bellsouth.net on to recount that she began the program at the College because she wanted to replicate a KarenAdriana Zagrocki Garces McDonaldPetty ’01 ’76 P.O.1615 Box Altgeld 87 Street program that she had seen blossom at a church she had pastored in New Jersey. UnionSouth Pier,Bend, MI IN 49129 46614 It didn’t stop there. As we talked to people about the new technology in Spes Unica, the new (269)(574) 469-9625514-3237 • [email protected]@saintmarys.edu academic building, they lit up. The same happened when we interviewed the faculty of the new AdrianaDawn Parker Garces Santamaria Petty ’01 ’81 16152 Gravel Altgeld Hill Road Street communicative disorders major and the families that had been impacted by it. SouthAsbury, Bend, NJ 08802-1347 IN 46614 (574)(908) 514-3237735-6716 • [email protected]@tallshipunicorn.com Excitement was recurrent throughout and the benefits of a residential experience became apparent. Students at Saint Mary’s move away from family and in with roommates who begin LisaSusan Maxbauer M. Suchy Price ’89 ’99 Post9225 Towers South Clifton Park Avenue as strangers and end up as life-long friends. They walk to class everyday in an atmosphere 75Evergreen West Street, Park, AptIL 60805-1508 2B New(708) York, 636-5915 NY 10006-1791 • [email protected] intentionally designed to remind them of how their education is distinctive and what they are (917) 518-4345 • [email protected] called to do with it. They are met along the way by staff members eager and able to help them. Kimmi Martin Troy ’00 Susan14644 Stonington M. Suchy Court ’89 They are taught by professors who spend a lot of time pondering big questions and important Granger,9225 South IN 46530Clifton Park Avenue (574)Evergreen 271-8588 Park, IL• [email protected] ideas and who walk into their classrooms impassioned.