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The Online Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Siena Heights University
1995 Tom Martin recently was credited in helping to save the life of an 11-year-old boy due to his autism safety training. Martin, the chief of the South Haven (Mich.) Police Department, received a call about an autistic boy who walked away from his home. Due to his training, he suggested that police check the shore line, since those with autism are drawn to water. Police found the boy on the end of a pier and safely returned him home to his parents. Martin is currently planning additional autism safety training for his entire force.
2003 Sara Morgan Clark is employed as a 911 dispatcher, group leader and CTO with the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Department of Public Safety. She resides in Portage, Mich.
Chad Tackett
SHU—Lansing
2005 Chad Tackett was named the chief of the Texas Township (Mich.) Fire Department in September 2014. He has 13 years of experience working for the Michigan State Police’s Emergency Management Homeland Security Training Center and was the former chief of the Otsego (Mich.) Fire Department.
2014 Nick Kogut recently accepted a position with the Ingham County Child Protective Services.
2007 Jon Campbell was one of 15 members appointed in June 2014 by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to the newly created Indigent Defense Commission. The commission was created as a result of efforts to improve legal representation for low-income criminal defendants in the state. Campbell has been an Allegan (Mich.) County commissioner since 1991 and previously served 27 years as a police officer with the City of Otsego (Mich.). He is a member of the Allegan County Central Dispatch Policy Board, the Michigan Sheriff Coordinating and Training Council Advisory Committee and the State of Michigan 911 Committee. He will represent local units of government on the IDC.
Mark Vroman
2008 Lisa Payne is employed as a resolution specialist for the Marshall (Mich.) Community Credit Union. Her position specializes in repossession, foreclosures and small claims.
SHU—Lansing
2008 Mark Vroman was recently promoted to battalion chief with the Meridian (Mich.) Township Fire Department (right). He also is an adjunct instructor for SHU’s College for Professional Studies.
SHU—Southfield
1994
Trevor Block
Trevor Block was named the Dealer Development manager of the northeast region for Digital Monitoring Products of Springfield, Mo. He will be responsible for developing new sales and providing ongoing service for DMP-authorized dealers in Pennsylvania, western New York, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Block previously was employed as vice president of Field Operations with Guardian Protection Services as well as general manager for ADT Security Services. He currently is the chair of the Installation and Service Professionals Group of the Electronic Security Association. DMP is a manufacturer of intrusion, fire, access control, network and cellular communication products.
Carroll (Mont.) College named Siena Heights Athletic Hall-of-Famer Doug Mello ’86/MA the school’s first men’s soccer head coach in March 2014. Mello has coached a national collegiate record 1,154 soccer matches (men’s and women’s combined) and has won over 700 games (712-384-58 overall). Mello helped start both the men’s and women’s programs at Siena Heights as well as at Luther (Iowa) College. In his six years as the Saints’ men’s coach, Mello led Siena Heights to five district titles, one regional championship and their first appear- ance at the NAIA national championship tournament in 1985. After starting the women’s program in 1986, Mello’s team won three district titles and were nationally ranked from 1986-88. In his final season in 1988, the women’s team was ranked first in the country and made its first appearance at the NAIA national tournament, where they placed third.
Connie Binsfeld
Former Michigan Lt. Gov. Connie Berube Binsfeld ’45, the first woman to hold leadership posts in Michigan’s House, Senate and executive branch, passed away Jan. 12, 2014. She was 89. Binsfeld was a 1945 Siena Heights graduate who got her start in politics by serving in student government during the war years of 1941-45. According to an Associated Press article, Binsfeld championed chil-dren’s issues during her time in politics, serving in the state House and Senate before becoming a two-term lieutenant governor under John Engler from 1990-98. According to the AP, the former schoolteacher was first elected to the House in 1974 and won a Senate seat in 1982. During her time in politics she led the fight to ban surrogate pregnancy for pay, sponsored bills on domestic violence and protection of environmentally sensitive sand dunes and served 10 years on the Great Lakes Commission, according to the AP. She wrote in the 1945 Siena Heights yearbook, “The Valiant Woman,” that, “We face a chaotic world that has wandered far from standards of Christianity, a world where modern sophistication has supplanted virtuous life. The motive of hate has replaced the driving force of love and a greed for power has caused individual and national strife. Man in the shadow of confusion is groping blindly for security. The security he seeks unknowingly is the priceless gift that we possess. We rise to the challenge that is offered and face the future unafraid. We shall go forth with the torch of truth lifted high.”
From The Sites:
SHU—Benton Harbor
2010 Felix Clarke is currently employed as a mechanical planner with Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. He and his wife, Tamara, and their three children live in Great Mills, Md.
SHU—Monroe
2013 Jeff Evans was promoted from fire marshal to fire chief at the Trenton (Mich.) Fire Department in Novem-ber 2013. Evans has worked as a firefighter more than 20 years at the Trenton and Riverview (Mich.) fire departments, and is certified in fire inspection and investigation. He also is a state certified paramedic.
