Summer 2005 COURIER online

On Saturday, May 14, 350 graduates and their family and friends formed rank inside the Angela Athletic Facility instead of outside in front of Le Mans Hall due to threats of showers for commencement 2005. It was the first time since 1990 that the ceremony was forced inside.

Janet Endress Squires ’72, M.D., director of the division of child advocacy for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and a professor of pediatrics at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine, delivered the commencement address. “When you work with sickness and tragedy on a regular basis, you have to develop a certain degree of toughness to make it through the day,” says Squires. “But empathy, spirituality, and perspective are also very valuable to me, my patients, and my students. Not only did Saint Mary’s prepare me intellectually for my life as a physician, but it helped me become more emotionally intelligent as well. I am a more effective doctor and person because of my Saint Mary’s education."

Addresses were given by co-valedictorians Julia Adams, biology, and Dawn Eschenauer, English writing and philosophy. The college also conferred two honorary degrees upon Sister Marian Teresa Gomes and Heifer Project International. During related activities in May, several faculty and student awards were presented.

Maria Pieta Award

Professor Julie Tourtillotte ’82 received the 2005 Maria Pieta Award for commitment to excellence in undergraduate education. Tourtillotte has been a member of the Art Department faculty since 1986.
Tourtillotte’s approach to teaching has been compared to the approach of the Japanese craftsmen toward their discipline: “the thing shines, not the maker.” Tourtillotte is this type of quiet craftswoman, helping her students to shine. She encourages her students to use their course projects to address issues of interest to them; by doing so, she cultivates in her students a sense that they have a vital place within their department and the College community.

One of Tourtillotte’s students describes her as “a model for the type of person I wanted to become. She taught courses with an eagerness that made me want to continue and constantly encouraged me to think independently.” According to one colleague, Tourtillotte is a “rare breed,” someone who is “extremely gifted, extremely generous, and extremely humble, all at the same time.”

Spes Unica Award

The College presented its prestigious Spes Unica Award to biology professor Thomas Fogle. The award recognizes outstanding service to the College over an extended period of time. Spes Unica is Latin for “One Hope.”

Fogle chaired the Biology Department for six years, served on the committee on rank and tenure, and played a leading role in the College’s mentoring program for new faculty, administering the program for four years.

As a scientist, Fogle has always been at the forefront of his field. He has been internationally recognized for his contributions to the philosophical and ethical implications that arise from the study of biology. At the same time, he skillfully communicates the complicated details of his discipline to students in the classroom and the lab. During trips to Europe and Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands, he has shared his enthusiasm for his work with students, colleagues and alumnae. Fogle has been on the faculty since 1979.

Outstanding Senior Award

Kathleen Larsen, a communications studies major with minors in business administration and sociology, and Donna Lubbers, who majored in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry, both received the Alumnae Association Outstanding Senior award. They were nominated by classmates for exemplifying the spirit and values of Saint Mary’s and distinguishing themselves in scholarship, leadership, and outstanding dedication to the College through participation in curricular and co-curricular activities.

Larsen is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Association undergraduate honor society. She was active in Campus Ministry all four years, and was a dedicated volunteer for ECDC, the Boys and Girls Club and the Hope Rescue Mission. After studying in Rome, she participated in the Rome Big Sister Program and the Italian Club. Larsen spent her senior year as a resident advisor and led her residents in service projects and social activities. She chaired the fall 2004 Oktoberfest, a run/walk on campus, which raised over $2,000 for breast cancer awareness. As a senior, she chaired the Appalachia Task Force. Larsen has been accepted to the Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education program at the University of Portland and will teach at an inner-city school this fall.

Commencement 2005

Lubbers was active on campus all four years. She volunteered for Campus Ministry, and became the student director of SURV, now the Office of Civic and Social Engagement. She coordinated the placement of students in service projects, both on and off campus. Last October, she was named the Outstanding Undergraduate Student by the National Association for Campus Activities Mid-America Region. Lubbers was one of two students selected to speak at the Academic Symposium held during President Carol Ann Mooney’s inauguration in January. This fall, Lubbers will join the nation’s top-ranked program in medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas. She was one of six selected from an applicant pool of 1,800 for this prestigious doctoral program.

President’s Medal

Sister Jean Klene ’59, CSC, who has educated and inspired countless students during the course of her 35-year tenure as an English professor at Saint Mary’s, received the President’s Medal. The President’s Medal is given to honor exceptional contributions to the life of the College and the community.
Klene began teaching at her alma mater in 1970 after earning a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Toronto. For decades, Klene has been synonymous with Shakespeare (see her book review on Page 14), a course at the center of the Department of English.

Among the many honors Klene has garnered are a yearlong NEH Fellowship at Hofstra University to study comedy in Chaucer (1977–78), an NEH Summer Seminar with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England (1980), another NEH Summer Seminar at Princeton on Virgil and the Renaissance epic (1983), a Lilly Faculty Fellowship to prepare slides for classroom use (1985–86), and from Saint Mary’s College the Spes Unica Award (1981) and Maria Pieta Award (2000).

Sister Klene wrote the entry on Lady Anne Southwell, a Renaissance poet neglected by scholars, for the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Published as The Southwell-Sibthorpe Commonplace Book, Klene’s edition won the Josephine A. Roberts prize for the best edition of 1997, awarded by the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women.

Klene retired at the end of this school year.

Commencement 2005

Honorary degrees conferred

A humanitarian non-profit agency and a college president received honorary degrees during commencement.

Heifer Project International has worked since 1944 to supply food, agricultural training and income-producing animals to millions of resource-poor families in 115 countries. This grassroots project began nearby in Elkhart, Ind. Heifer’s aim is to help people improve their circumstances by giving them livestock. The organization trains partners in environmentally sound, sustainable agriculture practices. Saint Mary’s students who took part in the Honduras Service Project through the College have worked directly with Heifer International. Heifer was the winner of the 2004 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s largest humanitarian award. Donna Jared, vice president for development, represented the organization.

Sister Marian Teresa Gomes, CSC is the area VIII coordinator for Holy Cross Sisters and president of Holy Cross College in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Holy Cross College was recognized in 2003 as the best university in Bangladesh. It serves a largely Muslim population. She received a bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross College in Bangladesh in 1960 and a master’s degree from Dhaka University in 1968. Sister Marian Teresa has been in education her entire ministry.

Lumen Christi Award

The Lumen Christi Award is presented each year to a member of the senior class who is recognized by the College community as an outstanding Christian woman and who has excelled in leadership and loyalty to Saint Mary’s College. The Lumen Christi Award is the highest award the College confers upon a student. Mary Beth Swygart was this year’s recipient.

Swygart worked with the Christ Child Society organizing volunteers to assist the agency to be open on weekends and to clothe 225 children from 75 families. She was active in Student Government as the mission commissioner.

Swygart was active for four years in liturgical ministry and for two years as the Mass coordinator. She served as a peer minister and has been one of the leaders of Bible study and small faith groups.
President Mooney said, “Truly she is a woman who represents the qualities that we each should strive to possess in our spiritual lives.”