From the President:

Becoming Our Authentic Selves

Heartfelt greetings from Siena Heights University!

The theme chosen for this academic year was authenticity. The freshmen read for the summer was “My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change,” by Sam Bracken and Echo Garrett.

The theme of authenticity was quite prevalent throughout the book. Basically, a young man from challenging beginnings decides to be and become his true self through his own reflections, persistence and the aid of others. The students loved the book and could relate to it well. We also had some great presentations on authenticity at our Common Dialogue Day in late September. Students, faculty and staff all participated as presenters and/or participants.

When I think about authenticity, I tend to go to a spirituality of authenticity.
I ask myself many questions:

Is becoming authentic a process?
Who did God create me to be?
Am I striving to become who God created me to be?
Can I live in this world that calls all of us to be so many things and remain authentic?
How does prayer assist me in being authentic, and how does my membership in a community (in this case, the Siena Heights community) assist me in being authentic?

Iron Will

Stacey Kozel Doesn’t Let Partial Paralysis Prevent Her from Walking the Appalachian Trail

There was a time—actually, a few times—that Stacey Kozel ’15 didn’t know if she would walk again.

After a high school soccer injury to her spinal cord left her paralyzed, she was diagnosed with lupus—an inflammatory autoimmune disease. That means Kozel has been in and out of the hospital most of her adult life. After a life-threatening car accident and a severe lupus flare up left her wheelchair-bound and paralyzed in both legs in 2014, she pondered her next move.

“I’ve had to learn how to walk more than once,” she said of her post-accident condition. “I remember the second or third time laying in the hospital and looking up and thinking, ‘God, what are you trying to tell me here?’ No one should learn how to walk more than once.”

Class Notes—Fall 2015

Notables:

Carolyn Alford ’08 (Battle Creek) received the Kalamazoo YMCA Lifetime Woman of Achievement Award in May 2015. Alford, a longtime official and community leader, is “a devoted member of the Kalamazoo community and has spent her life working toward the betterment of others through services,” according to the award description. “As a mentor and advocate for so many individuals, Carolyn’s dedication to those impacted by poverty, racism or any other form of social or economic marginalization has served as an example for all to follow.” Alford served on the Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education for 16 years, and also served four terms on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. She is also past recipient of NAACP Humanitarian of the Year Award (2010) and the YMCA Woman of Achievement Award (2007).

Tod Marshall ’90 was named to a two-year term as Gonzaga University’s Robert K. and Ann J. Powers Professor Chair of the Humanities. The Powers chair is awarded to “an outstanding teacher-scholar in the area of history, philosophy, language or literature,” according to the university. Marshall was also the 2015 recipient of the Humanities Washington Award, which each year honors two individuals or organizations whose efforts “reflect the spirit and programs of Humanities Washington.” His book of poetry, “Bugle,” won the Washington State Book Award. Marshall, who is in his 16th year of teaching at Gonzaga, founded and continues to curate the university’s visiting writer’s series. He said, “I know that much of my success if due to the blessings I received at Siena from Sister Hogan, Sister Schnapp, Sister Hall, Mary Weeber, Mark Schersten and others. I love that place; I love the people.”