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The Online Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Siena Heights University
[clearboth] From Black Hawk Pilot to Motivational Speaker,
Elizabeth McCormick ’93 is Charting New Territory for Women
By Doug Goodnough
If you’re going to shatter a glass ceiling, why not do it flying a Black Hawk helicopter?
Elizabeth Vasher McCormick ’93 was one of the rare females to make it through a male-dominated U.S. Army flight school and become a helicopter pilot. After serving her country with honor for seven years, including flying peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, an injury ended her career as a Black Hawk pilot. However, it began another career path. Now, as an author and a motivational speaker, McCormick travels the world sharing her story of perseverance and personal success.
It Started at Siena Heights
After graduating from Siena Heights with a degree in art, McCormick intended to pursue a career in architectural engineering. However, as a 23-year-old “Army wife” living in Fort Polk, La., she said she soon felt another calling.
“I decided to put my degree to use in service to our country,” McCormick said of enlisting in the Army. “Because of my degree from Siena Heights, I knew I could go into the Army as an officer and that I had the potential to do and be anything.”
Mary Small Poore, President—Alumni Association Board of Directors
Falling in Love All Over Again
I am very excited to be the newest President of the SHU Alumni Association. After graduation, I stayed connected to Siena for nearly a decade before drifting away…life just seemed to get in the way. But in 2006, I attended Sister Peg Albert’s presidential inauguration—and I have been drawn back ever since. You might say I fell in love with Siena all over again. The more time I spent on campus, the more I remembered what drew me here in the first place: the people and sense of community.
If you attended Homecoming 2013, you know about the excitement on campus and the incredible happenings that continue here. I consider myself blessed to be a part of this growing university. As I reflect on Homecoming, I can’t help but think it is the culmination of many small, meaningful connections that made the weekend so spectacular. And these connections, in turn, are what make this a spectacular university. Let me share a few observations:
My old college baseball coach used to say, “You get better or you get worse; you don’t stay the same.” That phrase has stuck with me through my professional career, including my time at Siena Heights University.
After nearly eight years and 15 issues of being the editor of Reflections Magazine, it was time to take a fresh look at what we do with the magazine. It was not an easy decision. The reader feedback we have received on the magazine has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, there has been no clear evidence that we need to do anything different with the magazine.
So, why did we change? We recognize the University has changed quite a bit over the past few years, and we want to be able to change with it. Our readership continues to change (and grow), and today’s readers have different preferences and patterns. For instance, last year we added an on-line version of the magazine to allow our more tech-savvy readers to access content in a more mobile and convenient way.
