SHU Family Legacies
With a 100th Anniversary theme of “Legacy,” a Siena Heights education has been a family affair for many over its distinguished history. Reflections Magazine asked alumni to submit their family legacy stories, and the response was fantastic! Over the following pages, learn about how “The Siena Effect” impacted the lives of these families in so many ways.
Chi Family
Legacy names: Margaret Chi ’82 (aunt); Jane Chi ’82 (aunt); Maurice Chi ’84 (nephew); Jacob Chi ’85 (nephew).
Our Siena Heights legacy: from Maurice Chi—The Chi legacy started with my Aunt Margaret Chi, who received a full scholarship from Siena Heights College in 1948. It was her dream! But because of the civil war in China at the time, she was not able to obtain the passport. Soon after when the country changed its political system and shut off from the world, so did her dream. It was not until 1978, thirty years later, did she finally have the courage to write to Siena Heights College. The sitting president, Dr. Louis Vaccaro, welcomed her not only with her scholarship reinstated, but also granted her sister, my other aunt Jane, a full scholarship. Together they came, and both pursued their Master’s degree in education. They graduated in 1982. Then in 1981 my brother Jacob and I also attended SHC. I completed a double major in math and CIS with the Outstanding Male Student Award in 1984. Jacob received his B.A. in music a year later. Without the generous financial support from the college, none of these would be possible. We built successful careers thereafter: Jacob held the baton for the Pueblo Symphony and led other orchestras across the continent, and I became an IT professional in corporate Americas like IBM and Thomson Reuters. We are forever grateful to the college for the knowledge, the friend-
ships, the fulfillment, the value of being, the faith to God, and the love from the Dominican Sisters who enlighten us all.