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From the Editor:

Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor
Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor

Alumni, Keep Those Stories Coming!

I continue to be amazed at the alumni of Siena Heights University.

During the most recent Homecoming Weekend, I had a front row seat for both the alumni awards ceremony and the athletic hall of fame banquet. Those who were honored had some astounding stories to tell.

Katie Guilbault Decker, ’89 was honored with an alumni award for her work in transforming a struggling inner-city school in Las Vegas into one of the most successful in Nevada. In her acceptance speech, she talked about how the Adrian Dominicans made her Siena Heights education happen. Not able to afford the tuition, she spoke through tears about how the Adrian Dominicans stepped in and paid for her tuition, allowing her to earn her degree in teacher education, and go on to become the award-winning principal she is today.

Then there’s the story of small-town boy Adam Hartle ’06. A promising pole vaulter from the tiny farm town of Homer, Mich., he was garnering some Division I attention before he suffered a broken back. After doctors advised him that he should never compete again, most of the schools who were recruiting him left the picture. Not Siena Heights. Again, through a tearful Hall-of-Fame acceptance speech, Hartle talked about how Siena Heights and coaches Tim Bauer and Mark Dooley believed in him. The payoff: Hartle went on to become a national champion pole vaulter for the Saints. And most importantly, he earned his degree and is a successful and productive member of society.

Read more . . .

From the Editor:

Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor
Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor

Who Made a Difference in Your Life at SHU?
Let Them Know!

Even with social media and its sometimes-exasperating ability to instan-
taneously connect with people anytime, anywhere, at times it’s still difficult keeping in touch with friends and others who have impacted your life.

Today’s college students have the tremendous advantage of using social media to keep in touch with classmates regardless of geographical distance, especially after they graduate. That certainly wasn’t the case for us “old-timers” of the pre-Internet era.

Most of the time, unless it was something like a Homecoming or a random phone call, it was extremely challenging to keep tabs on the people you once saw on a daily basis and who were a huge part of your life during the college years.

Then Facebook hit, and it all changed. Suddenly, high school and college classmates roared back into the picture in excruciating detail, giving me more than I ever wanted to know about their lives, families, careers and sports fan tendencies. I felt like more like a bystander actually, watching lives passing by, occasionally virtually “waving” to them.

Read more . . .

From the Editor:

Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor
Doug Goodnough, Reflections Editor

Dominican “Daisies” In Bloom at SHU

“The memory of Mother Augustine Neuhierl lived on in the prophetic words spoken to the professed nuns gathered around her bedside during her last hours on this earth. She told them of the ‘daisy field,’ her vision of a peninsula in the West dotted white with Dominican foundations; and she reminded them that, though they were contemplatives, their active work would take them into the schools awaiting them.”
— From “Amid the Alien Corn,” Sister Mary Philip Ryan, OP.

I love history. I’ve learned from my personal and professional experience there are few things that put the present in perspective and help map the future better than studying the past.

So, not long after I arrived at Siena Heights, I had a chance to read “Amid the Alien Corn,” a 1967 work chronicling the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, which, of course, includes the founding of St. Joseph College, now Siena Heights University.

I found the above passage of Mother Augustine fascinating. The title of the chapter was aptly named “The Prophecy.” Her vision of this “daisy field” that she shared with her fellow Sisters, some of whom would eventually travel from New York to Adrian, Mich., has stayed with me during my time here. Even though I did not know very much about Siena Heights at the time, I couldn’t help but wonder if Mother Augustine was referring to—at least in part—present-day developments.

Read more . . .