From the Alumni Association:

Mary Small Poore, President—Alumni Association Board of Directors

Harness Your Potential

I have had the privilege of participating in the SHU First Year Experience (FYE) dinner-and-book discussion for the past four years. Annually, FYE students are instructed to read a particular book over the summer and write a paper in response. During Welcome Week, the students meet in a faculty home with their FYE instructor to share dinner and their thoughts on the book. Alumni have been invited to participate the past several years—and this is one of my favorite alumni activities. Not only do I feel like a college student again () but this experience re-energizes my faith in younger generations. These students give me so much hope for the future! They never fail to impress me with their thoughts, insights and energy. This year was no exception. It also warmed my heart to see their interest in meeting me and hearing my alumni story. They recognized that many alumni have given time, talent and treasure to make Siena Heights the university it is today. I have never heard so much gratitude from incoming students. I was humbled.

I share this because I want you to know the difference you can make in the lives of our current and prospective students. Try something simple like wearing alumni gear in your community or using a Siena coffee mug in your office; you’ll be surprised at the conversations you spark and the SHU ambassador you become. You could serve as an active Alumni Association Board member, coming to campus several times a year to promote activities that engage alumni with their alma mater. You might connect with former faculty or staff and offer to be a mentor to current students, or speak to a class about how Siena Heights has influenced your experience, personally and professionally. Perhaps, as you look to hire someone, you would consider contacting the SHU Career Development Office—where you might find that graduating senior who is a perfect fit for your business.

From the Heights—Fall 2014 Campus News

Siena Heights Spanish Students Featured in Chicago Tribune

A group of SHU Spanish students and “Maestro” (A.K.A. Associate Professor of Spanish) Nick Kaplan (below) were featured last spring in the Chicago Tribune after completing the Fox River Taco Challenge. Maestro Kaplan and Siena alumnus Lee Rincon invented the challenge based on an article written by Tribune writer Kevin Pang. Following a map of taquerías (taco restaurants) along the Fox River (west of Chicago), the students ate one taco at each of the 11 restaurants before returning to Siena.

Siena Serves Group Travels to Jamaica

A group of five students and two advisors from Siena Serves traveled to St. John Bosco Home for boys in Jamaica in May. Bosco is a home for orphaned and homeless boys. Karin Barbee Has Two Poems Published Assistant Professor of English Karin Wraley Barbee recently published two poems, “The Young Pictographer” and “Diving Lessons,” in the Spring 2014 issue of “Natural Bridge: A Journal of Contemporary Literature.” Natural Bridge is a publication of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Rickinger Named New Director of Residence Life

SHU named Rachel Rickinger as its new director of Residence Life. Rachel previously served as a residential learning coordinator at Valparaiso University. She began at SHU June 16.

Scholar and Mentor, Prankster and Philosopher, Counselor and Friend

Memories of Sister Pat Hogan, OP

By Jennifer Hamlin Church

Pat Hogan, OP, aka Sister John Mary, began teaching philosophy and history at Siena Heights College in 1966. She went on to chair the philosophy department from 1979 until her un-expected death March 13, 1991, while at home in Chicago on sabbatical.

Pat Hogan’s legendary impact on students was never more evident than at the 2009 Alumni Awards ceremony, when three honorees—Tod Marshall ’90, now a poet and English professor at Gonzaga University; Jacob Chi ’85, now conductor of the Pueblo Symphony Orchestra and professor at Colorado State University; and Gabrielle Davis ’85, a lawyer specializing in women’s rights—all credited her with helping them find the right road to their future.

Tod Marshall remembered goofing off and skipping the reading for his independent study with Sister Pat—until the day he found her in the library “bent over her notes and poring over what we were going to talk about that day.” Startled to realize how much time and effort she was putting in “for me—just for me,” Tod reshaped his attitude. Knowing how committed she was to his education, he said, he “never again dropped the ball” on his studies.

Jacob Chi was a 28-year-old violinist, without funds and or a place to stay, when he arrived from China to attend Siena Heights in the early ‘80s. Sister Pat opened her home, as well as her heart and mind, to the talented musician. “There is no one in my entire academic life as important as Sister Pat,” he said recently, and “no other universities (as important) as Siena Heights.”