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St. Edward’s University Magazine Winter 2012

Page 1

’ St.Edward s UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE WINTER 2012

VOLUME 12

ISSUE 1

WINNING SHOTS

8 STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHERS CAPTURE THE DRAMA OF TEXAS HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL

FRUITS OF HER LABOR HOW A FORMER MIGRANT WORKER BEAT THE ODDS AT ST. EDWARD’S

MEET AUSTIN 62 WAYS TO GET REACQUAINTED WITH OUR FAIR CITY


3001 SOUTH CONGRESS AVENUE AUSTIN, TEXAS 78704-6489 512-448-8400 | WWW.STEDWARDS.EDU FOR THE EDITOR: 512-448-8775 FRANNIES@STEDWARDS.EDU

EDITOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS DESIGNERS

STAFF WRITER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER CONTRIBUTORS

PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT

Frannie Schneider Rick Ramos Mischelle Diaz

Joanie Cahill Betsabe Rodriguez ’11 Natalie Stott Hannah Hepfer Jessica Attie ’04 Alex Davy Stacia Hernstrom MLA ’11 Elizabeth Hilberg Lauren Liebowitz Erin Peterson Robyn Ross Gregory J. Scott Lisa Thiegs George E. Martin, PhD Paige Booth

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS: CHAIR VICE CHAIR

John Bauer ’62 J. William Sharman Jr. hs ’58

TREASURER

F. Gary Valdez MBA ’78

SECRETARY

Reverend Thomas O’Hara, CSC

MEMBERS: Graham Hughes Abell Brother Donald Blauvelt, CSC ’67 Brother James Branigan, CSC Thomas Carter Margaret Crahan Brother Richard P. Daly, CSC ’61 Judge Wilford Flowers Carolyn Gallagher Timothy F. Gavin ’76 Ellie Ghaznavi ’89 Brother Richard B. Gilman, CSC ’65 Monsignor Elmer Holtman Kevin Koch ’80 Regina L. Lewis EX OFFICIO: George E. Martin Mary Rist TRUSTEES EMERITI: Charles A. Betts Edward M. Block ’50 Guy Bodine hs ’68 Leslie Clement Fred D. George ’69

Edward E. Leyden ’64 Joseph A. Lucci III Sister Amata Miller, IHM John E. Mooney Patricia Munday Kevin O’Connor ’73 Marilyn O’Neill ’74 Theodore R. Popp ’60 Jim Smith Ian J. Turpin Duncan Knapp Underwood ’95 Donna Van Fleet Melba Whatley Pete Winstead

Kay Arnold ’04, MLA ’06 Vianney Becerra III ’12

Bill Renfro Gregory A. Kozmetsky ’70 Isabella Cunningham Most Reverend John McCarthy, Bishop Emeritus

St. Edward’s University Magazine is published three times a year by the Marketing Office for alumni and friends. © 2012, St. Edward’s University. Opinions expressed in St. Edward’s University Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the university.

18

Going Pro

Eight photocommunications students spent a year photographing Texas high-school football. Here’s an instant replay of how they went from college kids to professional photographers whose work has graced the walls of one of Texas’ top museums.


> I N E V E RY I S S U E <

02 News What’s for Dinner? • Taking Sci-Fi Into the Future • A Three-Minute Love Affair • Band of Brothers • It Takes a Village • Sew What?

06 Culture

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The Dreamer in the Fields

Associate Professor of History Christie Sample Wilson takes a new look at old facts. Visiting artist Tulu Bayar asks what the value of a dollar is.

From migrant worker to med-school hopeful, Anabel Rodriguez ’14 is using her CAMP experience at St. Edward’s to create a better life for herself and her family.

08 Ideas Professor of Art Walle Conoly tells us what he’s learned.

09 Giving A chance meeting at a Tex-Mex joint leads an Austin couple to the St. Edward’s University chapel.

10 Future Forward

24

Bound

The victims of human trafficking are often invisible — nameless faces lost in the crowd. Their plight is frequently unrecognizable. St. Edward’s University faculty and students are trying to change that by bringing attention to the issue.

Thanks, in part, to a man with a vision, the St. Edward’s campus keeps getting better with age.

12 Changing Courses The Supplemental Instruction program gives students a chance to improve their grades before a tough class gets the best of them.

32 Alumni Q & A 34 Class Notes

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Hello, My Name Is … Austin

Sure, Austin’s changed over the years. But it’s never too late to reacquaint yourself with the city St. Edward’s calls home.

35 Chapter News and Events


NEWS

Band of Brothers

Taking Sci-Fi Into the Future

Who says there’s no money in publishing? Not James Wade MBA ’07, MSCIS ’11, who wowed a room full of real-life, seen-it-all, bottom-line-loving investors at the School of Management and Business’ fifth-annual Business Plan Competition this past spring with an idea for an innovative science-fiction, gaming-fan magazine. Sound like some dreamy sophomore fantasy? Nope. Wade’s an accomplished grad student, who has also spent 25 years working in the informationtechnology field and recently taught a class on cloud computing.

The next-best thing to seeing Brother Muller and His Brothers live is checking them out on YouTube. • Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”: http://bit.ly/seugold • Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”: http://bit.ly/bmhbpuk • St. Edward’s Fight Song (written by Muller): http://bit.ly/seufight

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Sci2Fi

Brother Gerald Muller, CSC, isn’t the likeliest rock ’n’ roller. A classically trained octogenarian monk, he has spent his musical career singing operas, conducting choral groups and studying the works of Bach — not to mention his 33 years teaching music at St. Edward’s. But sit him down behind an electric keyboard, and he can blast power chords with the best of them. That’s exactly what Pasquale Mattozzi ’13 did. When he and four other undergraduates on the rugby team — Hugh Devore ’12, Spencer Robinson ’12, Phil Oates ’13 and Brady Faglie ’12 — realized they still needed a keyboard player for their newly formed band, Mattozzi immediately thought of Muller. “I was thrilled to be asked,” Muller says. “I’m 85. Old people are always thrilled when young people still think they have juice left in ’em.” Mattozzi was equally thrilled that Muller accepted. “I was elated because not only is he a great piano player, he is also just a great person to be around.” The band’s repertoire couldn’t be further from classical music. Their signature number is Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.” The group has become a campus staple and has even expanded into the greater Austin area, playing a gig at Thrice and two shows at Stomping Grounds. “I love it!” Muller says. “I had no idea rock music was so simple and fun to play. It’s wonderful.” He pauses for a moment. “We do clean up the lyrics, though.”

Wade’s idea involves both a print and an online edition of the magazine (working title: Sci2Fi), which promises to bridge the worlds of science fiction and science fact. As Wade puts it, “We’ll have authors and fans, but we’ll also have working scientists. Our community will explore tomorrow’s reality as it’s imagined today.” And Wade’s serious. He put his $2,000 in prize money toward setting up a Delaware C-corporation and hiring a web-development firm. He’s already got an editor-in-chief lined up, and he’s developing the website sci2fi.com to show investors. But aren’t publications everywhere struggling to make money? True, Wade says, but he’s got some comp-sci tricks up his sleeve, including leveraging advertising programs like Google AdSense and OpenX for revenue. He’d say more, but the rest of the business plan is confidential. That’s how serious he is.


Sew What Hedda Gabler, orphan Annie and Jar Jar Binks walk onto a stage. For Austin Rausch ’12, it wasn’t the setup for a joke but an opportunity to do professional-level costume design for the Mary Moody Northen Theatre. The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, the first show of the 2011–2012 season, imagines a world where the protagonist, lifted from Henrik Ibsen’s 1890 play Hedda Gabler, tries to alter the fate that’s been written for her. She encounters other characters from a range of texts, cultures and time periods along her journey. This wide range of characters poses a challenge for a costume designer. “With most theatrical pieces, you’re looking at one specific time period and you’re designing all the characters to be cohesive with each other,” Rausch explains. “With this show, it’s the complete opposite.” Instead of researching one time and place to design appropriate costumes, he had to research dozens. What’s more, some of the characters are icons, making elements of their costumes nonnegotiable. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz isn’t Dorothy without a blue, checkered pinafore and sparkly ruby slippers, so Rausch had to obtain both. But there were costumes, like Hedda’s dress, that gave Rausch more freedom to create. After collecting images of fashion from 19th-century Norway, he drew a rendering of the dress and had an inexpensive mock-up made. Once he’d approved, stitchers in the costume shop made the final version: a rich, burgundy Victorian bustle gown Rausch said brought him to tears.

And then there was Jar Jar Binks. Yes, the bug-eyed comic sidekick from the Star Wars saga makes a brief appearance in the play. It was a challenge to create a likeness of such a recognizable character, so Rausch and his team ordered a mask online, later adding padding and paint to make it more convincing. It’s been a good experience for Rausch, who is considering both graduate programs in costume design and moving right into the profession. His aspirations are to design for the grand opera, Broadway shows and perhaps for university theaters. “I’ve definitely gotten a sense of the professional world,” he says. “It’s been a huge undertaking and privilege to get to work on something like this show, especially as a student. For the first time in my life I get to see my imagination come to life on stage.”

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Theater Arts program at St. Edward’s and catch a glimpse of some of Austin Rausch’s costume designs at http://bit.ly/seu_sewwhat

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NEWS

It Takes a Village

“When I first came to America, I cried myself to sleep every night,” says Awad Abdelgadir, the Arabic-language instructor at St. Edward’s University, who arrived in the States in 1984. Life as an English-language learner at the University of Minnesota was such a jarring contrast to life in his native village of Zawrat in Sudan that Abdelgadir felt shell-shocked. In one particularly surreal moment, the skinny, young student came face to face with William “Refrigerator” Perry, the 382-pound Chicago Bears linebacker, at a bar in downtown Minneapolis. “I had never seen anybody so big in my life. I didn’t know it was possible to be that big. It was overwhelming,” Abdelgadir says. “In my village, we had nothing — no electricity, no running water. Here, there is everything.” Bit by bit, however, things are changing in Abdelgadir's native village. Thanks to the efforts of the Mother Maryam Foundation, a nonprofit organization started by Abdelgadir and named in honor of his mother, Zawrat

now enjoys clean and safe drinking water, an elementary school, and access to vegetable seeds for farming and gardens. The foundation’s crowning achievement is a brand new, bright sea-green clinic where once there was only dirt. The clinic brings modern medical services to Zawrat for the first time. Previously, the nearest facility was in the provincial Dongola, more than 25 kilometers away and almost impossible for most villagers to reach by foot. The $143,000 project was financed by a number of local groups, including Sudatel Corp. and the Austin and Westlake Rotary Clubs, as well as profits from Abdelgadir’s business, Nile Valley Herbs. He’s also had a lot of help from the St. Edward’s community — particularly from Associate Professor of Biology Fidelma O’Leary and her students, whose fundraising efforts brought in several thousand dollars to support the clinic. The work didn’t end with the clinic, though. This past December, Abdelgadir traveled back

to Sudan with Kyle Overby ’09. They installed computer labs at schools in three villages, making them the first public schools in the entire country to have computers, according to Overby.

A Three-Minute Love Affair Monica Caivano ’99 took up tango when she was a teenager. Caivano’s family moved to Austin from her native Buenos Aires while she was in high school, just in time for her to choose St. Edward’s for college. After St. Edward’s, she danced with Austin’s Aztlan Dance Company before founding the Latin dance studio Esquina Tango in 2008 with Gustavo Simplis, her partner in tango and in life. Here, she reflects on this most romantic of social dances, just in time for Valentine’s Day. If you can walk, you can dance tango. Of course, to be able to improvise, you’ve got to learn the vocabulary: ochos, the cross, the grapevine. Tango is actually very improvisational, and you don’t have to follow a particular rhythmic pattern. That’s also why it looks very intricate and different from any other dance. The communication that happens between dance partners, even without words, can be very intimate. Most songs are three minutes long, and you usually dance with a partner for a four-song set called a tanda. You have those four songs to go through the whole process of falling in love, and at the end, you say thank you and goodbye. Traditional tango music is from the ’30s and ’40s, and there are only so many orchestras and songs. You could dance to

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the same song, but it could be a different experience because of the person you’re dancing with and how you connect. Many times women dance with our eyes closed. You’re not thinking as much, you’re

feeling — which ultimately is what you want. When you open your eyes and you don’t know exactly where you are is kind of nice. You get lost in the dance.


What’s for Dinner?

When it comes to healthy-eating hotspots, university dining halls generally don’t come to mind. But Elvin Lubrin, head chef for Bon Appétit at St. Edward’s, is changing that. His 600-calorie meals give students, faculty and staff a nutritious alternative to standard cafeteria fare. A typical meal might include a hearty stew and two side dishes. The “Simple 600,” according to Lubrin, has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Favorites include chicken Parmesan made with wheat bran and panko breadcrumbs, served with whole-wheat pasta. Another popular, if somewhat unexpected meal is the vegetarian quinoa salad. “People think they want meat, but they’re surprised how full of flavor something like that can be,” Lubrin explains. Want a taste of what’s on the menu? Here’s a family-sized recipe for one of Lubrin’s favorites: LEBANESE TABBOULEH Makes 6 servings 1 cup bulgur 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground allspice 1 red onion, finely chopped 1/8 tsp. kosher salt 1 3/4 cup boiling water 1 1/2 tsp. olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped 1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped 2 1/2 medium tomatoes, chopped 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper 1. In a large bowl, combine bulgur, cinnamon, allspice, onion, salt and water. Cover with plastic wrap and let bulgur steam for 15 to 20 minutes or until bulgur is soft. 2. In another bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, parsley and mint. Add tomatoes and pepper. Combine with bulgur mixture and serve. Portion size is 3/4 cup, less than 150 calories per serving, vegan

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stacia Hernstrom’s article in the fall issue. The pictures are awesome. The colorful houses along the rocky road remind me of a very old town I used to visit in Mexico when I was a child. She is indeed living a great adventure! When I lived abroad many years ago, I too missed the Tex-Mex cuisine, and my mom used to send me care packages filled with Texas goodies. I hope there is someone here looking out for her and doing the same. Terri Bomberger ’93 Dear Editor, I just read Stacia Hernstrom’s article. I applaud her and her husband’s decision (and courage) to take on such an adventure with their family and to share it with so many others. The story was marvelous, inspiring and simply thought-provoking. I've been to Western Europe several times, both to vacation and study. But even just last year, on a week-long business trip to Vienna, I longed for home (and always have when I’ve been abroad). But through all that discomfort, there’s real growth going on inside — growth that I believe cannot be achieved without living abroad. Thanks for sharing such a great story! Best wishes to the Hernstroms as they experience a life full of riches. Godspeed and blessings to every precious soul in Romania! Dustin Manhart MBA ’04 Editor’s Note: The Hernstroms are nearly three-quarters of the way through their Romanian adventure and continue to savor their time abroad. Hernstrom returned to her Austin roots in this issue, when she came up with 62 things that are great about the city. Check out the story on page 28. St. Edward's University Magazine invites letters on its content. Send your letters to frannies@stedwards.edu or Attn: Frannie Schneider, CM 1029, 3001 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78704.

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C U LT U R E

From Austin to Angers

A New Look at the Old Facts

By Lisa Thiegs

Christie Sample Wilson goes back in time with her new book on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Christie Sample Wilson, associate professor of History, loves sharing her passion for European history with her students, which is why she jumped at the opportunity to teach at the St. Edward’s campus in Angers, France. “The idea of teaching and having the country as my classroom really brought the cultural foundations of history to life in a way we don’t often get to do,” Wilson says. At the same time Wilson was bringing history to life for her students in France, she was also reviving a small snippet of history in the form of a book. The recently published Beyond Belief: Surviving the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France sheds new light on Protestant and Catholic relations in the small southeastern French town of Loriol between 1650 and 1715. The book, which grew out of her doctoral research, looks at a contentious time in history. This small town managed to avoid some of the religious strife and demands of Louis XIV as members of the community made compromises to shield the town from royal force. While some of the details of this time period were recorded in journals and personal accounts, much of the information had to be pieced together from numerous sources. “Even when people don’t tell you in a diary what they believe, there are indications about their beliefs in how they live their lives and in the choices they make,” Wilson says. “People often make the needs of their community a priority.” Before teaching in Angers, the Dallas native spent several summers in France, supplementing her doctoral research with archival resources available on-site. Although it took intensive scrutiny and a lot of balancing between the book research and her teaching career, Wilson is pleased with the final product. “It is a different approach to this period,” she notes. “There’s a body of literature out there that focuses on the suffering of Protestants at the hands of royal forces and the Catholic church. Beyond Belief challenges the standard understanding of those years by enlightening readers about one specific community that found a way to maintain its core beliefs without significant conflict with religious authorities.” 6 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Wondering what’s been happening in Angers? Here’s an update. In addition to the St. Edward’s students studying abroad, 13 students from francophone countries are participating in this year’s First Year in France program. Although the study-abroad and FYIF students take different courses, they live together, socialize and learn from one another. Students in both the fall and spring study-abroad programs volunteer at the American Library or at the Ste. Agnes School, where they help secondary students with English classes. “I think we all appreciate how much we are gaining by living here,” says Associate Professor of History Mity Myhr, who taught in Angers during Fall 2011. “It’s good to have opportunities to give back.” Assistant Professor of Management Pauline Albert, who also taught in Angers in Fall 2011, used LifeSize video-conferencing technology to teach an international business-administration class and a specialtopics class to Austin-based students while there. “It feels like we are in a room with a long conference table that extends from Austin to Angers,” Albert says.

St. Edward’s University students studying abroad in Fall 2011 take a break at the Louvre in Paris.


FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH

By Lauren Liebowitz

Visiting artist Tulu Bayar asks the university community to think about the value of a dollar.

You can still get a lot of stuff for a dollar. Besides a smattering of fast-food menu items, one dollar will buy you an hour of street parking in downtown Austin, a song on iTunes or a year’s worth of work from the CEO of Google. Last fall, visiting artist Tulu Bayar installed a collaborative art exhibit that asked the university community to think about the value of a dollar. Bayar, who worked with the Art program and the Kozmetsky Center on the project, invited students to submit their answers on a seven-by-seven-inch piece of paper, using the medium of their choice. Bayar then created a work of art from 110 answers she received. We caught up with Bayar when she was on campus to install the exhibit. What inspired you to ask the question? We are all quite taken by the economic difficulties of the moment. Maybe [the economy] doesn’t affect us directly, but many people are losing their jobs. I was curious to see what kinds of responses this new, upcoming generation had and how they would interpret the question. And what about the student responses? Did they surprise you? Some of them really surprised me. There is a blank piece; it’s just a seven-by-seven piece of paper. Artistically, you might say it’s a lazy piece. But conceptually, it’s a loaded piece — you can get nothing with a dollar. There are the more common answers I expected: a McDonald’s burger. But there are also some more worldly responses: One dollar is worth so many meals for children in Africa. How do you approach an exhibit when you have only a few days to complete it? We put the exhibit together in one week, but it started at the beginning of the fall semester with the submission call. The students did the work, and I came [in] at the end. The nature of a collaborative project is that you need to start early; otherwise, it would be rushed. How does working on a collaborative project differ from a solo project? No one can take ownership of a collaborative project. That’s the beauty of it. The way the exhibit was put together may have been shaped by me, but the submissions really informed the end result. My original idea of putting together the submission in a grid format didn’t work. We needed to let the work take over the space and flow freely. This approach is more interactive for the viewer — they might have to climb up on a chair or bend down to see a piece — and it has an organic quality. This sculpture very much has a social-justice component to it. Are you interested in motivating people to think or to take action? If the viewers take action, that would be awesome. But taking action doesn’t just mean doing something in a rigid way. Even to raise consciousness about a certain issue or make people think about things differently is a good start. If this piece just opens up a little door to a big topic and people get curious and do a little bit more research about the subject, then it means the piece is successful to me.

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IDEAS

What I’ve Learned Walle Conoly, professor of Art, St. Edward’s University, age 74

As told to Hannah M. Hepfer

I was 28 years old when I started teaching art at St. Edward’s. I won’t tell you what I got paid, but they promised me a studio that I still maintain now. And they fed me. Kids today are picky about campus food, but I was grateful. I had a 1965 red Volkswagen bug and a small apartment with its own garden that cost me $51 a month. Man, I thought I had it made! Art has the power to move the hell out of you. My wife sings opera, and I’m not even a huge opera fan but some arias can simply bring you to tears. You can’t help but respond. I wish young artists would not be so hard on themselves. I appreciate students who aren’t art majors and sign up for a drawing class. Most work very hard at it and appreciate how difficult it is. They show up with the attitude of, “Here I am, mold me.” They’re not too attached to the outcome. Some strike out, but they do it lovingly. I ’ve seen students who possess exceptional talent — the kind that can’t be taught — but who don’t excel because they’re not willing to do the work that it takes to develop their craft. Their grandma told them they had talent, and that’s good enough for them.

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It takes a special kind of student to become an art major. You know parents are wondering how their kids are going to pay the bills after graduation. You have to be careful not to become too much of a pal to your students because you have to grade them. I tell them it’s like the mafia: It’s nothing personal when I give you a bad grade. It’s just business. I took two semesters of life drawing taught by sculpture icon Charles Umlauf. He was very tough. He said, “When you’re drawing, you’re not touching paper; you’re touching the skin of your model.” To create art, you can’t focus on anything else going on around you. One of the sweetest moments in teaching is when I connect with a student, and we realize we both appreciate the same nuances in a piece of art. It’s that feeling that our love of art is affirmed by one another. You want to run around yelling, “It’s valid! It’s valid!” The great thing about art is you’re constantly searching. There’s that carrot dangling out in front of you, and you don’t understand why you’re chasing it. But through the creative process, it becomes clearer.


Life’s Twists and Turns

A chance meeting at a Tex-Mex joint leads an Austin couple to the St. Edward’s University chapel. By Lisa Thiegs Corina Scoggins will attest that life pulls you in directions you never would have thought possible. As an adult, she converted to Catholicism and became very involved in a church in Kansas City, which she called home at the time. On a trip to Austin to see a University of Kansas basketball game, she and a friend found themselves at the Iron Cactus, which often serves up a side of music along with its Tex-Mex fare. During the band’s break, Corina was asked to dance by a man she later learned was the band’s guitar player, Willie Scoggins. Fifteen months later, the two married. While visiting Willie, who lived across the street from St. Edward’s, she attended Easter Sunday Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel. Later that day, Willie proposed. The small, cozy, white chapel at St. Edward’s instantly felt at home to her, Corina says, and she and Willie were married there. “It was a very warm, embracing, simple chapel,” she says. The couple felt welcome there in a way they didn’t at other parishes, she adds, even though they have no direct connection to the university.

Corina is now a senior investment manager with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Willie is still a musician and also owner of Baldillo Music, a production company in Austin. Although Willie isn’t Catholic, both he and Corina are inspired by the university’s Holy Cross mission. Knowing that the chapel and the community it houses needed support, they committed a major gift to the planned renovation of the chapel. The renovation will support the university’s growing faith community and Campus Ministry’s increasing work with the student body. In addition, they’re supporting programs for students at St. Edward’s University who are seeking international service opportunities through Campus Ministry. “That appeals to both of us because it involves learning about the bigger world,” Corina says. “Personal experience for me is paramount to being a better human being,” says Willie. “You can’t get that point of view in a classroom.”

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FUTURE FORWARD

CHANGING PLACES

Thanks, in part, to a man with a vision, the St. Edward’s campus keeps getting better with age.

By Frannie Schneider Illustration By Steve Lewis You might think that when Joe Hibbard, a landscape architect with Sasaki and Associates, creates a design, he’s most concerned about the botanical — plants, trees, flowers. Yet the man charged with developing and maintaining the master plan for St. Edward’s University says his job is all about people. “The design of a campus and the way we think about that campus is really about the design of the human experience,” Hibbard says. “Understanding what that experience should be is the real focus.” Hibbard began working with the university in 2002, when he was charged with creating a landscape master plan. That project was followed by a facilities master plan in 2005, which was updated in 2010. “The master plan is a way of systematically thinking about the whole [campus]. It’s a guide document,” he says. Hibbard has seen — and guided — a significant amount of change in his 10 years of working with the university. As St. Edward’s enters another major construction phase, we asked Hibbard what areas of campus he thinks have changed the most and what changes are still to come.

Dujarié and Moreau Halls, the Casa, and the Village When Hibbard first set foot on campus, he noticed that all of the existing residence halls were on the periphery of campus. With the construction of several new residence halls right in the heart of campus, Hibbard feels increased energy on campus. “I think that’s partly because the number of people has increased, but the organization of the campus buildings has also played an important role in creating a positive sense of community,” he says.

John Brooks Williams Science and Technology Center What’s now a parking lot will soon become the John Brooks Williams Science and Technology Center – South Building. State-of-the-art classrooms and plentiful lab space are at the heart of the project, but the outdoor courtyard will be a classroom in and of itself. It will be both “educational and a demonstration of environmental sustainability,” says Hibbard. Plants will be drought-tolerant and native to the Hill Country. The pavement will be permeable, so when rain falls, it will be restored into the aquifers rather than going down the drainpipes. Construction is set to begin in 2012.

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Moody Hall Moody Hall is one of the busiest buildings on campus, but the area outside the west wall wasn’t always the hub it is today. Hibbard designed the trellis and sitting area that replaced an empty lawn. “It’s an opportunity to spot people and be seen,” he says. “The area now encourages social interaction.”


The West End

Library and Learning Commons

A grove of trees will extend west from Trustee and Andre halls to the new Library and Learning Commons. The area between Andre and Fleck halls will also benefit from additional landscaping. “When we’re done, [this area] will feel much more part of the fabric of campus,” says Hibbard.

When the construction fence goes up around the Scarborough-Phillips Library next fall, it won’t be to create space for more books. The new Library and Learning Commons will cover the north and east sides of the current library and transform the entire library into a gathering space with multimedia areas and high-tech study rooms. “The library will become more of a center for education and group study than it ever has been,” says Hibbard.

Chapel The little white chapel on the hill isn’t going anywhere but is getting a face-lift and some much-needed amenities (a bathroom, for example). Mang House will be replaced with a new Campus Ministry building. The addition of a meditation garden will provide a place for spiritual reflection for people of all faiths.

Sorin Oak Not all that long ago, the area surrounding Sorin Oak was overgrown. “There were so many shrubs and small trees that, from some locations, you could barely see Sorin Oak,” he says. The area was cleared and simplified, and benches invite students to read, chat or just spend some quiet time thinking.

Holy Cross Plaza Hibbard points to Holy Cross Plaza as one of the areas of campus that best exemplifies the success of the landscape master plan. It used to be two lawns with a medallion in the middle. Now it’s a social space, where ceremonies take place and students gather.

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CHANGING COURSES

Making the Gr de By Elizabeth Hilberg The Supplemental Instruction program gives students a chance to improve their grades — and their confidence — before a tough class can get the best of them. Just about everyone has a story about a challenging class they took in college. But instead of struggling in silence — or worse, dropping out of a course entirely — students at St. Edward’s have a better option: working with a supplemental instructor (SI). Targeting difficult classes, particularly those taken by first-year students within their major, the Supplemental Instruction program gives students who have done well in a particular course the opportunity to teach those who want a little extra help. An SI’s job entails reviewing the material, offering alternative ways to think about the subject matter and administering practice tests. SIs also provide one-on-one help to their peers during regular office hours and sometimes end up offering advice on which courses to take for specific majors or even sorting through internship opportunities. Biology major Paloma Reinoso ’13 took the job as an SI for biology and analytical chemistry courses because she has a knack for explaining the subject matter. “In Biology 1307 [the first class that freshman majors take], it can be really hard because students are still transitioning from high school to college,” she explains. “Sometimes students might be intimidated when asking for help from professors, but we’re a lot more approachable.” Carley Little ’13, a Chemistry major, works as an SI in organic chemistry. “Helping them helps me,” Little says. “It really cements the knowledge for me, too.” Of course, working as an SI has its challenges. “It’s definitely not the easiest thing to teach people a subject, especially people your age. You can’t act like you’re older or better,” Little says. “It teaches you to choose your words, to make sure you are paying attention to how you act. Really it’s a lesson in life for how to treat other people.”

Carley Little ’13

Reinoso, who loves her job as an SI so much that she has her sights set on becoming a professor, has reaped the benefits of reaching out, as well. “I feel such satisfaction when a student is struggling and [after working with them] they tell me they’re doing well,” she says. “Nothing beats that feeling.”

HOW TO GET HELP Visit http://bit.ly/supplementalinstruction Visit http://bit.ly/supplementalinstruction to learn more about the program and get a list of current classes with SIs.

12 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Paloma Reinoso ’13


from migrant worker to med-school hopeful, anabel rodriguez is using her camp experience at st. edward’s to create a better life for herself and her family. By Erin Peterson

F

or many kids, summer is three freewheeling months of swimming pools, parks and playtime. But for kids of migrant families, it’s a far more grueling season. When Anabel Rodriguez ’14 was growing up, April was the start of the grape harvest. As the mercury climbed in her hometown of Rio Grande City in southern Texas, Rodriguez’s mom, dad and three older siblings piled into the family’s Astro Van and drove west until they arrived at the grapevine fields near Bakersfield, Calif. Once there, the six of them settled into a small, two-bedroom house in a migrant camp and prepared for the long, hot summer. Each day started at 4 a.m., when Rodriguez’s mom, Maria, made breakfast: flour tortillas filled with eggs and ham, or perhaps potatoes and chorizo. They packed their leftovers for lunch then headed to the fields, where they spent close to 60 hours a week picking and packaging grapes under the sweltering sun. Their only day off was Sunday — or when the temperature topped 110 degrees.

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The Long Road to Success

Clockwise, from top left: Anabel at age 15 with her mom; Anabel’s parents, Francisco and Maria; Maria (left) with her childhood friend, whom she met working in the fields; a five-year-old Anabel (left) with her dad and three siblings at a California migrant camp

“It’s hard work,” says Anabel. “You get sticky. You cut yourself. You get stung by bees. But my parents told me it’s actually much better than it used to be. At least now they have porta potties and water. They don’t spray as many pesticides around the camps.” For her parents, who are from Mexico and don’t speak English, the money was good. She and her family were frugal those summers and piled up extra cash to sustain them through the winter once they returned to Texas. It’s a peripatetic life that most can’t even imagine, but for Anabel and dozens of other 14 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

St. Edward’s students supported through the College Assistance Migrant Program, it’s the way they grew up. And for many migrant families, the cycle will continue for generations. For those who find CAMP, there is a way out. These days, Anabel pours the drive and discipline that got her through 10-hour days among grapevines into her studies as a Biology major and Religious Studies minor. She has excelled in her classes and dreams of becoming a doctor. But without the university’s long-standing dedication to CAMP, she wouldn’t be here.

Anabel spent four summers working in the fields. But long before she was old enough to work for pay, she helped her family in other ways. During the summers when she was too young to work, she stayed home by herself at the camps, washing clothes at the camp’s laundry room, cleaning up dishes from breakfast and preparing food so that her mom could cook dinner when the family returned home. And though the experience was exhausting, it wasn’t all bad, Anabel remembers. “It was comfortable enough,” she says of the tiny camps they lived in. “There was a play area and a park, just like a neighborhood. When you grow up in something, it seems normal. But then I started questioning.” By the time she was 15, Anabel realized that her life looked different from those of other kids. She knew that she didn’t want to harvest grapes her whole life, and she also knew that she needed to start making changes quickly — and cheaply. “My parents always told [my siblings and me] that they didn’t want us to go through this, but we needed the money,” she says. “We told [my parents] that we were glad they did, because it showed my siblings and me that we didn’t want to be [in the fields]. We wanted to get an education. We wanted to be different.” With a little digging, she discovered free classes offered nearby at South Texas College, where she could earn both highschool and college credit. Before long, she was stacking up college credits like so many boxes of grapes: American history, algebra, trigonometry, composition. By the time Anabel reached high school, her parents had landed full-time jobs — her mom as a custodian, her father as a bus driver — so she could stay in Texas through the summer and focus on her coursework. When she wasn’t at school, she volunteered at Starr County Memorial Hospital or played center field for the Lady Rattlers, her high school’s softball team. Despite her extremely full schedule, she finished first in her high-school class. Anabel isn’t one to leave much to chance, but not everything went according to plan. Her parents’ income for the family


of six hovered near $35,000, which was enough to nudge them over the poverty line and prevent them from getting access to many forms of financial assistance. It was not enough, however, to cushion the blows that occur when life goes awry. “One year during the softball season, I split my knee open while I was playing,” Anabel says. “[The gash] was about three inches long and deep enough to get stitches.” Her family couldn’t afford to pay the hundreds of dollars in doctor’s bills, so they called in her godmother, who had a bit of nursing experience, to tape up the wound. Years later, she still gets pains in her knee. For whatever she and her family have lacked in financial resources, Anabel has more than made up for in drive. Her top grades, volunteer work and college credits opened up options for her, but her financial limitations often felt overwhelming. She wanted to go to college in a big city with small classes, and one day, while she was online, she came across a small school in Austin called St. Edward’s. She connected with CAMP admissions counselor Rosie Rangel, who saw enormous promise in Anabel. “She’s so self-motivated,” Rangel says. “Many CAMP students need to be walked through the [application] process, but she was able to take care of all of it herself.” When Anabel received the letter that told her not only that she’d been accepted at St. Edward’s but that her tuition and expenses would also be covered for her entire time at the university, she was bowled over. None of the other schools she had applied to had promised anything like it. She couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. At other universities, CAMP, which is funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, covers tuition for the first year of college. St. Edward’s CAMP students receive tuition plus fees, books, living expenses, transportation, health insurance and even a modest living stipend for the first year. They’re asked to pay just $2,000 during the first year. Brother Stephen Walsh, CSC, ’62, who was president of St. Edward’s University when CAMP was first established, often said that providing migrant farm workers with a college degree was just the right thing to do. That’s why CAMP students at St. Edward’s

receive a financial-aid package that covers tuition for up to five years. Although state and federal grants help cover part of that cost, the university commits its own funds to ensure CAMP students reach graduation. Anabel’s parents, though thrilled for her success, were reluctant to send her to a school more than 300 miles away. Although her siblings also had attended college, they had stayed closer to home. Her brother, Alex, wasn’t surprised. “She’s always been an overachiever,” he says. “She wanted to be like us — but she also wanted to surpass us.” Anabel also credits her parents for helping her see a world beyond the one she lived in. “I know a lot of parents in the valley who tell their kids, ‘Why go to college? You were born to be a gardener, a cook, a maid,’” she says. “They put down their kids’ dreams before they even try.”

Anabel’s intense drive and relentless work ethic make her a staple in the university library.

By the time she was 15, Anabel realized that her life looked different from those of other kids. She knew that she didn’t want to harvest grapes her whole life.

For Anabel, the path to med school begins with her science courses at St. Edward’s. Here, she examines the synchronous dilation and constriction of the pupils with her lab partner in her human physiology course.

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Anabel discusses her independent project, which examined the knee-jerk relfex, with Associate Professor of Biology Fidelma O’Leary.

New World, New Skills

In her human physiology lab, Anabel tests the patellar reflex, also known as the knee-jerk reflex, on her lab partner for her independent project.

16 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Anabel wasted no time making her mark in the classroom once she arrived at St. Edward’s. She used every resource available to propel herself to the top of the class, says Associate Professor of Biology Trish Baynham, who had Anabel as a student in two of her courses. “She attended Supplemental Instruction sessions, studied consistently and intensely, and organized herself well. She wasn’t afraid to ask questions.” She happily took advantage of CAMP’s many support services, from free tutoring to informal advice from CAMP staff members. Anabel’s curiosity, intelligence and work ethic were among the many reasons Baynham chose her to participate in a summer research project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Anabel will present the results of her research, which examined wash treatments designed to make contaminated spinach safer, at least one conference this year. CAMP director Esther Yacono has similar praise for Anabel’s work ethic — though she occasionally presses her to take an afternoon or two to relax and enjoy the full college experience. “She’s upbeat and self-sufficient, but she’s so focused on her studies that she sometimes forgets to take time for herself,” Yacono says. “She’s so good

and so smart that I just want to remind her that it will be years before she becomes a doctor, so she needs to make sure she doesn’t burn out.” Anabel simply doesn’t want to miss any possible opportunity. “I haven’t always made time just to hang out,” she admits. “I’m serious about school. But sometimes I might watch a movie.” Academically, Anabel was prepared for anything her professors could throw at her, but she realized right away that school was much more than books and blackboards. Campus served up some serious culture shock along with its academic requirements. “I’d been accustomed to being around Hispanics. I’d never been around other minorities, other majorities,” she says. She couldn’t understand, for example, how there might be anyone who would take school less seriously than she did or why some students were paid by their parents for good grades. And while the differences were jarring at first, she spent time listening to fellow students’ perspectives and sharing hers. It wasn’t long before she began sharing more than just her opinions. When her parents visited her at school last year, her mom agreed to cook a meal for the students who lived in her hall. Anabel taught her hall mates some “Tex-Mex” vocabulary that she and friends used back home. And she patiently taught Baynham how to make homemade tortillas, a skill Baynham has since used to wow others. “My husband and I were dining at a restaurant recently, and he insisted that my tortillas were better than the ones we were eating, and this is thanks to Anabel,” she says. Anabel is doing more than bringing her hometown vernacular and authentic Tex-Mex cooking to campus. She’s started to build a pipeline that’s sending promising students from her hometown to St. Edward’s. Last fall, she went back to her high school, Rio Grande City High, and gave a presentation about St. Edward’s. Her speech was so compelling it convinced Melissa Olivares ’15 to jettison her plans to go to another school. “She’s one of the best students I’ve ever met, and after she told me about how great the people were and how beautiful the campus was, it made me want to go there,” says Olivares.


Looking Ahead and Giving Back Anabel’s work in the classroom has ensured that she’ll have an array of options to choose from upon graduation. But it’s her work as a volunteer that has helped give her direction. As a volunteer for S.E.R.V.E. Austin, she spends two hours most weeks at Casa Marianella with immigrants and refugees, helping them with job applications. Talking with these men and women, who remind her of the struggles her parents have gone through, made her realize that it wouldn’t be enough to work as a doctor, which has long been her career goal. She began to realize during her freshman year that she wanted to set up a nonprofit clinic in Rio Grande City. It will help families like hers, she says, who simply can’t afford to add another expense to their already-stretched budget. “We’re all human, and just because people don’t have a way to pay doesn’t make it OK to say ‘no,’” she says. She has begun to lay the groundwork for her future plans, and not just through her classes. Through an informal network of St. Edward’s students who come from “the valley,” the border area that covers the southern-most tip of Texas, she’s lining up future assistance for her venture. She’s already extracted promises from students who plan to go into pharmacy and dentistry to be part of the clinic as employees or sponsors. Anabel admits that her goal of becoming a doctor came in part because of her desire to help her parents financially in retirement. But St. Edward’s, with its deeprooted commitment to social justice, has had a strong influence as well. “I might have still become a doctor because I want to care for people, but I don’t know if I would have thought about a nonprofit clinic,” she says. In some ways, Anabel is straddled between two worlds. She loves her family, her hometown and her culture, and she feels closely connected to them. At the same time, she deeply respects the professors and students who will help her build her intellectual strength and pave the way for her to succeed beyond what her parents ever could have expected. She’s seeing things in new a light and starting to realize her true potential. She will bridge these two worlds when she returns home. Her life’s path will give her a chance to help those who have stayed in Rio Grande City, but she hopes it will also be a model for those who hope to go beyond the town’s borders. “It’s good to go out and learn new ideas,” she says. “But it’s also good to come back to the community and teach others what you’ve learned.”

Anabel spends a few hours each week at Casa Marianella, where she talks with adult immigrants. Here, resident Don Jose shares with her that he’s been feeling sick, and Anabel talks with him about flu prevention.

40 YEARS OF CAMP “If St. Edward’s was going to go down, it was going to go down doing the right thing,” said Brother Stephen Walsh, CSC, ’62, the president of the university at the time the College Assistance Migrant Program was established. The university was experiencing a severe financial crisis, and taking on a program like CAMP was both a social and financial risk. In 1972, St. Edward’s was one of just four schools in the nation offering the program. Now in its 40th year, CAMP has grown to support 35 students annually at St. Edward’s and some 2,000 others at more than three dozen schools across the nation. But the road hasn’t always been easy. Keeping the program running — and growing — for 40 years at St. Edward’s has taken the labors of many. In 1995, when the federal government was going to discontinue funding for CAMP, the campus community wrote letters to senators and legislators supporting the continuation of the program. Walsh testified in front of Congress with data showing the success of CAMP students. Despite economic ups and downs, the university has continued to provide its own funds to offer up to five years’ of tuition for CAMP students. While the program and its students have thrived at St. Edward’s, that hasn’t been the case at other schools around the country. Three Texas schools recently lost their funding and no longer offer the program; St. Edward’s is now the only school in central Texas offering CAMP. The university’s CAMP director, Esther Yacono, attributes the success at St. Edward’s to the perfect fit between the program’s goals and the mission of the university. “We make a [financial and academic] commitment to the students for the entire time they’re here, even though [CAMP funding] is only for the first year,” she says. “It’s important to us to serve underserved populations. CAMP, to me, perfectly captures the mission of St. Edward’s.” According to Yacono, the program’s outcomes have been remarkable. Graduation rates among CAMP students are similar to those of the rest of the student body, despite the distinct challenges that these students face. And the success stories are plentiful, with most CAMP graduates going on to professional careers. “Our alumni are teachers and doctors,” she says. “We have a neurosurgeon, a politician and a treasury agent.”

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GOING PRO By Hannah Hepfer

18 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY


Eight photocommunications students spent a year photographing Texas high-school football. Here’s the replay of how they went from college kids to professional photographers whose work has graced the walls of one of Texas’ top museums. It’s Friday night, and Briley Dockery ’13 pulls her car into the parking lot of another high-school football stadium. Last week it was Clarendon; this week, Amarillo. She hustles to collect her photography equipment — it’s a bit cumbersome and heavy — but she hears the crowd erupt in cheers as the home team scores, so she moves even faster to make her way to the field. The smells of Frito pie and popcorn hit her nose, and she squints under the bright lights of the stadium as she weaves through the throngs of people. She approaches some parents working the side entrance and is quickly waved into the game. There’s a lot of work to do, but Dockery takes a moment to soak it all in. She’s grown familiar with the scene: a pristine, green football field flanked by animated fans who all want a taste of a true Texas tradition. The players, now in the thick of the game, are small specks on the field. A mother next to her wears a sweatshirt in gold and black, her son’s school colors, and stares stoically out at the game. Dockery takes out her camera and captures the expression on the woman’s face. Nearby, the Sandie Steppers, Amarillo High’s award-winning dance team, share a compact mirror and reapply their red lipstick. It’s another good shot, and Dockery

snaps away. She can see that the marching band — a moving, unified block of gold and black in the bleachers — is getting ready for its halftime performance, so she heads down to the field in hopes of getting that one great picture. The night is ripe with poignant moments, played out each Friday night around Texas every fall. The games are different, but the emotion and heart are always the same. During the fall of 2010, Dockery and seven of her classmates spent Friday nights like these capturing that emotion and heart on camera as part of a photocommunications course taught by Professor Bill Kennedy. But this course was more than an exercise in sports or lifestyle photography: Kennedy had partnered with The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, which was preparing for its first major exhibition on high-school football in Texas, and the students were challenged to take photographs for possible inclusion in the exhibit. Here, we turn back the clock and follow Dockery, Kennedy and Rebecca Kinnison ’11 as they are immersed in the colliding worlds of football and museums.

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“There’s nothing as inclusive as high-school football in Texas. All our differences vanish when we walk into the stadium.” – Joe Nick Patoski, exhibit curator

SEPT. 10

JULY 1, 2010 Bill Kennedy, professor of Photocommunications, develops a course for Fall 2010 in which students will photograph Texas high-school football and possibly have their work included in an exhibit about Texas high-school football at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Kennedy has joined forces with Joe Nick Patoski, author and former staff writer at Texas Monthly and keen authority on all things Texan, who has signed on to guest curate the exhibit.

JULY 18 Briley Dockery ’13, a former editor of the yearbook at Tascosa High School in Amarillo, learns of the upperlevel course and asks Kennedy for entrance, despite being a sophomore. If there’s ever a course that appears tailor-made for a student, this is it. Dockery cut her teeth on sports photography when she began shooting high-school football at Tascosa and became hooked on the energy of the Friday night games. “I loved how the whole week at school would lead up to that one game,” she says. “And once you’re there, it’s just the rowdiest crowd of your life.” To Dockery’s delight, Kennedy grants her entrance to the course.

20 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Kinnison shoots her first game at her alma mater, John B. Connally High School. Though she’s nervous, she learns to get over her fear of putting a camera in someone’s face. She soon finds she’s drawn to small-town football. “It doesn’t have the flash, and it’s simpler,” she says. As she drives through small towns, she discovers that seemingly everyone in town is at the game, and that every radio station broadcasts the game. “It’s kind of like a being in a ghost town [during a game],” she adds.

JULY 22 Rebecca Kinnison ’11, a former band member at John B. Connally High School in Austin, sees posters promoting the course. Her lack of knowledge of sports photography gives her pause, and she reaches out to Kennedy for advice. Kennedy encourages her to use her inexperience as a way to capture the moments in sports rarely seen by “looking where no one else is looking” and “shooting until you can’t shoot anymore.” Determined to find success in the midst of unfamiliar surroundings, Kinnison enrolls.

SEPT. 2 Fall semester kicks off on the hilltop, and the eight students enrolled in the course meet with Patoski and the Bullock curatorial staff to discuss the project. Their challenge is laid in front of them like a sprawling football field: Successfully capture the social phenomenon that is Texas high-school football. A year later, they could be gazing at their photos hanging in one of the state’s premier museums.


Amarillo, Texas: by Briley Dockery ’13

OCT. 29

Shockley Stadium, Johnson City, Texas: by Rebecca Kinnison ’11

Dockery travels to the 50th anniversary of rival teams, Amarillo High versus Tascosa High. When she arrives at the big game, she finds the competition is fierce, and the photo opportunities are everywhere. She’s busy taking pictures, but not too busy to notice how heated the game got. “It was intense,” she says.

DEC. 9 Fall semester ends, and so does another season of high-school football. The once-roaring stadiums are quiet, but for Kennedy and his students, the work is just beginning as they take on the next critical step in producing exhibit-worthy photos: editing.

Dick Bievens Stadium, Amarillo, Texas: by Briley Dockery ’13

NOV. 19 Dockery shoots Brenham Christian Academy playing West Columbia Charter. It’s a trying night. “I was freezing and tired from a long week,” she says. 21 But the effort was worth it; Dockery ends up getting one of her best shots the whole season — a father walking his son off the field after a devastating loss.


THE ROSTER

The eight students whose work hung in the hallowed halls of The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for more than five months are: Allison Crain ’14 Christian Ryan Criswell ’12 Briley Dockery ’13 Megan Ewert ’12 Rebecca Kinnison ’11 Megan Russell ’11 Gabriel Helio Sanchez ’12 Hill Taylor White ’12

MAY 12 Rebecca Kinnison ’11 with Professor Bill Kennedy

JAN. 1–MAY 1, 2011 The students confront the daunting process of editing their collection of images — more than 32,000 photos among the eight students — down to 15 each. According to Kennedy, proper time and attention paid to the editing process is what separates great photographers from satisfactory ones. “It’s where the tire meets the road,” he says. “It’s repetitive and intuitive and very challenging. A good photographer is never done editing.”

Dockery, Kinnison and the rest of the students gather at the photography lab in the Fine Arts Building to present their final photos to Patoski and five representatives of the Bullock curatorial staff in a formal presentation that would make any professional sweat. One by one, they showcase more than a year of hard work in just a few minutes. For Dockery, the experience is especially terrifying: “We had to be eloquent, and everyone was staring at us.”

MAY 13–AUG. 5 The students wait, and wait some more, to hear if their photos made it into the exhibit. Kinnison, through her internship at the Bullock, sees the exhibit go up and discovers that a whopping 9 of her photos were selected.

Rebecca Kinnison ’11

Bobcat Stadium, Comfort, Texas: by Rebecca Kinnison ’11 Connally High School, Austin, Texas: by Rebecca Kinnison ’11

“You have to see it to believe it.” – Bill Kennedy, on Texas high-school football 22 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

MAY 25 Kinnison lands an internship at the Bullock museum and gets an inside look at the museum world. When she applied through the Texas Preservation Board, she specified that she wanted to work at the Bullock museum. Thanks in part to the real-world experience she gained in Kennedy’s course, she got the job.


AUG. 5 “Texas High School Football: More than the Game” opens. Though Kinnison got a sneak peek of the exhibit, Dockery has no idea if any of hers will be included, though she hopes “one little one might end up in a corner somewhere.”

Hill Taylor White ’12 (right), with the tuba player he photographed

Dockery gets much more space than a little corner. “I walked in, and the first thing I saw was one of my photos blown up three feet wide. Then I saw another one! And then another one! I looked at my mom and both of us — just tears,” she says. As Dockery and her mother continued through the exhibit, the evening took on a surreal quality as she discovered 11 of her images made it into the exhibit. For Kennedy, the entire project is beyond fulfilling. “I am so proud of them,” he says. “The hundreds of emails attending to the details and nuts and bolts of the project, the exhibition itself, and then the photography, editing and printing process on top of it all — that’s a kind of learning that you can’t simulate in a classroom. Their idea of what it means to be a working, professional photographer changes,” he says.

Allison Crain ’14

SEPT. 23 “Fridays in Focus,” a separate exhibit devoted exclusively to the photography of the eight students from St. Edward’s, opens at the Bullock museum. Family, friends and visitors of the museum gather to hear the students interviewed about their experience by Patoski and Kennedy. A corresponding 45-page book is for sale in the museum bookstore showcasing the student’s best photos and brief biographies.

Briley Dockery ’13, who was contacted by a museum patron, wishing to purchase a copy of this photo

OCT. 15 Three weeks after opening, the student exhibit closes.

JAN. 22, 2012 “Texas High School Football: More than the Game” closes. The experience, however, lives on for those who devoted more than a year to making their dream a reality. Kinnison — inspired by her experience as an intern with the Bullock and the project — plans to take a year off after graduating and then pursue Museum Studies in graduate school. For Dockery, who plans to pursue sports photography after graduation, her success was the confirmation she needed. “It was like being told I was on the right path,” she says. “I’ve found my niche.” Check out the Fridays in Focus book at http://bit.ly/fridaysinfocus.

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BOUND THE VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING ARE OFTEN INVISIBLE — NAMELESS FACES LOST IN THE CROWD. THEIR PLIGHT IS FREQUENTLY UNRECOGNIZABLE. ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND STUDENTS ARE TRYING TO CHANGE THAT BY BRINGING ATTENTION TO THE ISSUE. By Hannah Hepfer

*Names changed to protect sources. 24 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY


O

n an ordinary, overcast afternoon, a 10-year-old girl named Dawn* packs a duffle bag to stay with her father for the weekend. Home is nothing short of grim: Her mom is in the hospital again, this time for a week, and she has a restraining order against Dawn’s father, a violent drug addict and alcoholic. But Dawn is sent to stay with him anyway. Her small, weak frame contrasts that of her father’s broad, large body as she carries her bag inside his house in a nondescript suburb. The wind twitches the trees nearby, yet a stillness hovers in the air. It’s a pivotal moment in Dawn’s life. That weekend, her father will sell her to a pimp, the man who would possess and prostitute her for the next 30 years. “I remember money being exchanged and a piece of paper being signed,” recounts Dawn, now 42. “Just like he sold a car, he sold his daughter.” Dawn, a white, all-American girl, became a victim of human trafficking that day. It’s a label she didn’t know applied to her until a few years ago. “I thought [human trafficking referred to] people coming across the border in trucks,” she says. “I didn’t know you could be trafficked in your own country.” According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, human trafficking, also called modern-day slavery, is the fastest growing crime in the world. Experts define it as someone working against their will, typically with the use of force, fraud and coercion. A common misconception is that trafficking doesn’t happen in the United States, and if it does, its victims are limited to young women in the sex industry who came here illegally, says Kay Firth-Butterfield (Burrough), a barrister-at-law and assistant professor of Global Studies at St. Edward’s. Trafficking happens in the United States, and its victims are factory and construction workers, nannies, maids, janitors, and waiters, to name but a few. “Until you know what you’re looking for, it’s invisible,” says FirthButterfield, who also serves as the North American ambassador for the Consortium of Street Children and leads human-trafficking workshops on campus to educate students about the issue. “Students are stunned that slavery still exists today, but there are more slaves now than in the Atlantic slave-trade years,” she says. Firth-Butterfield’s commitment to bringing awareness of the issue to campus is driven not only by the heinous nature of the crime but also because its victims often include society’s most vulnerable — children, the poor and immigrants. “This is absolutely a social-justice issue with a global impact,” she says. Dawn returned to her mom’s house after her father sold her, but her pimp, Randy*, became a constant presence. “He would watch me, know where I was at all times,” Dawn says. “Even if he was gone for a few weeks, he’d have people take pictures of me and my family and show me later so that I would know I was being watched.” Randy threatened to kill her little brother and mom if she ever tried to disobey him. It was this threat that ultimately kept her under his control for years. He paid her friends to say that she’d been at their house when she was with him, even buying one of her friend’s a used car. When she was 15, she attempted suicide and left home a year later. A high-school dropout with no money and nowhere to go, Dawn was prostituted by Randy regularly. Dawn soon became a reluctant expert in the underground world of prostitution. She was the “assistant manager” to Randy, who was called

“Daddy” by his stable of girls. She helped manage the money, trained other girls, refined her street smarts and learned how to identify cops. Randy didn’t do drugs himself, but he did increase dependency in the women by shooting them up with drugs. They’d come off their high and beg him for more, reinforcing that he was their savior. He didn’t let them get too addicted, though. “A pimp doesn’t want a bunch of strung-out women — not a good one, anyway,” says Dawn. This was business, which is why Randy kept himself in top shape, working out every day, eating a vegetarian diet, and avoiding alcohol and cigarettes. “He was very rigid,” says Dawn. “Immaculate.” She started to understand that the business of running women — 50 to 80 at a time, each required to make between $800 and $1,200 a night — is extremely lucrative. According to the Austin Police Department, the average pimp in Austin makes $100,000 a year from each sex slave, says Firth-Butterfield. “Trafficking a person is much more profitable then trafficking a drug,” she says. “A drug you sell once, and it is gone. A [person] you can sell over and over. There is less of a limit to how much money you can make on them.”

“I thought [human trafficking referred to] people coming across the border in trucks. I didn’t know you could be trafficked in your own country,” says Dawn. David Silva ’11, a New College graduate and detective in the Sex Crimes Unit for the APD, has arrested many prostitutes while on patrol. But it wasn’t until he attended a lecture on human trafficking at St. Edward’s last spring that he realized just how many of them were being trafficked against their will. “I thought they wanted to be out there, but now I see that many are working for fear of their lives or their children’s lives. They have no choice,” he says. Silva, a 15-year police veteran who has seen the “devil at its best,” was struck by the prevalence of trafficking in Texas. “After the lecture, I thought, ‘This is a lot,’” he says. He spent a year researching the crime in preparation for his capstone project. Through the process, he became aware of the need for more education on the topic among law enforcement. “It’s an unspoken crime, even in my own department,” Silva says. He approached the human-trafficking unit and advocated for more training. Despite being understaffed — the APD gets more than 2,000 calls a day — the department agreed that it needed to be a priority, and the first eight-hour, human-trafficking training was held in June 2011. Silva remains committed in his advocacy for awareness of human trafficking. “It’s a crime similar to domestic violence,” he says. “Years ago, there wasn’t a collective understanding of what that was like there is today. But with proper public education, billboards and public-service announcements, that changed. That’s what we hope will happen with human trafficking.”

25


 Kay Firth-Butterfield (Burrough) and David Silva ’11 each work to raise awareness of human trafficking and its victims.

Dawn would occasionally try to break free from Randy’s control, but the punishments were brutal. She was locked in cages and given electric shocks. Runners — men who were Randy’s eyes and ears — bound her ankles and hands and put her in a car trunk to “think about why she wasn’t making money.” After one particularly vicious beating, Randy knelt down to clean up her blood, then held her and stroked her brow. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered gently. “I love you so much I have to discipline you.” For Dawn, those words held more power than the beatings. “It was a euphoric high. Somebody loved me. I thought it was the only love I would have in my life. Ever,” she says. Dawn’s eventual escape from Randy took eight years. She returned a few times to him before breaking away for good. After her first unsuccessful escape, she was driving to a friend’s house and bright lights shone in her rearview mirror. Randy’s runners pulled her into a grocery-store parking lot and beat her. Then they just disappeared. “That was their way of letting me know it wasn’t OK to leave him,” she says. Some friends believed her, but others didn’t, saying, “It doesn’t add up — they just left you?” Dawn felt even more hopeless and returned to Randy. Although human trafficking can take many different forms, the feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and despair are the same whether the victim is in a nondescript suburb in the United States or on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa. Seven students from St. Edward’s traveled with Firth-Butterfield to Cape Town last summer and heard firsthand from former child soldiers. These victims of human trafficking were illegally recruited or kidnapped for labor or sexual exploitation in conflict areas. Collin Phillips ’12, a Communication major, met with a young man who escaped from Zimbabwe to South Africa after being forced to become a child soldier at age 12. “When I spoke with him, I was shocked to learn that his long-term plan was to return to Zimbabwe to raise an army. It was disturbing,” says Phillips, who is interested in studying law with the ultimate goal of becoming an advocate within the United Nations. He’s applied for a Fulbright scholarship to return to South Africa. 26 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

St. Edward’s students were exposed to the issue of human trafficking en masse last year after Firth-Butterfield and Mity Myhr, associate professor of History, facilitated eight human-trafficking workshops for more than 800 students. The response was overwhelming, says FirthButterfield, who now frequently meets with students interested in learning more. When Jardin Telling ’12, a Global Studies major, attended an on-campus screening of Cargo: Innocence Lost, a documentary about sex trafficking, she was startled to discover its frequency in Texas. “At the filming they talked about how trafficking was going on at some construction sites close to St. Edward’s. When it’s in your own backyard, it really makes you slow down and think,” she says. Telling chose trafficking as her capstone subject and will spend the spring semester assisting Firth-Butterfield with a book on the topic. After attempting to escape a second time, Dawn returned to Randy. His beatings contained all the “anger and rage of several years packed into one weekend.” That attempted escape left her close to dead and barely able to walk. She went to a doctor, despite her deep fear of them. After reading her file, the doctor challenged Dawn’s claims. Dawn left the clinic, still bleeding and holding back tears. She didn’t eat for a week. Eventually, though, she found a doctor who worked with women trying to escape their pimps. “She said, ‘We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to,’” Dawn says. The doctor noticed burn marks on her arms and instantly knew it was from the electrical shocks. Dawn started crying. “She was the first person [to whom] I didn’t have to explain my life.” Dawn finally fled across the country with the help of a friend who had previously escaped prostitution. Randy followed her cross-country, letting her know he was still there. “He takes ownership [of] me still to this day. When he calls, I freeze. It hurts his pride that after 32 years, someone would walk away,” she says. The road to healing hasn’t been easy. “It’s like when you have a nightmare, and you wake up and your heart’s pounding. Why don’t you come out of it right away? You know you’re safe, but it takes time to believe it. I literally have to remind myself to breathe,” she says.


After escaping, Dawn met with a lawyer to press charges against Randy. But when she found out human trafficking is a federal crime, she decided not to pursue it.

A CALL TO ACTION Students and faculty at St. Edward’s University are heeding the call to raise awareness about human trafficking. Through a variety of courses, programs and lectures, they’re increasing

“It can cost [the victims] money to go to court, and with all the trouble and inconveniences, the testifying and interviewing they just say, ‘I’ll deal with this on my own,’ much like the victims of sex crimes that I see. It’s a constant uphill battle,” says Silva. At St. Edward’s, the legal component of human trafficking will be explored in a new course offered this spring, titled “The Law and Politics of Human Rights.” The course will be taught by FirthButterfield. Faculty from the schools of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Management and Business, Education, and Humanities, as well as staff from Campus Ministry will guest teach. Together, they will explore how economics drive many of the issues surrounding human-rights abuses with human trafficking as an example. Students will learn the politics behind human-trafficking protection as well as how to raise awareness and engage social-justice interventions. Human-trafficking awareness is growing in Texas as state officials work to make the state hostile territory for traffickers, Silva says. A new law, which took effect last September, increases penalties for traffickers and adds human-trafficking offenses to the list of crimes for which a life sentence is automatic when a trafficker is convicted a second time. Even so, it continues to be an extremely difficult crime to prosecute, according to Firth-Butterfield. “People don’t understand the complexity of this crime. It requires an attorney who understands all the layers of the issue and bravery and support of the attorney general’s office to [prosecute] a new law,” she says. Firth-Butterfield is using her expertise to address this problem. She’s working with the state’s assistant attorney general — who was appointed by the attorney general to handle all trafficking cases in the state — to teach all municipal judges in Texas about human trafficking. Last December, she also taught her local Inn of Court, a legal mentoring organization for attorneys and judicial members, about the issue. Traffickers — pimps, in the case of prostitution — are growing in Austin due to its vibrant economy, diversity, tourism and location. Interstate 35 provides easy access in and out of the city, says FirthButterfield. In the past three years, approximately 60,000 calls were made to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline and about 20 percent of those came from Texas.

understanding of how devastating human trafficking is for its victims — and how to become part of the solution.  Kay Firth-Butterfield (Burrough), an assistant professor of Global Studies, took seven students to Cape Town, South Africa, on a study-abroad program last summer that focused on street children and human trafficking. They worked with child soldiers, street children and at-risk kids.  During Human Trafficking Awareness Week last September, University Programs presented “I, Too, Have a Story: Voices of Human Trafficking.” Storytellers for Social Justice and the Hilltop Speakers presented stories of enslaved people and those who worked to free them. Student Life and the Women’s Empowerment Group presented a movie screening of Cargo: Innocence Lost with guest speaker Dottie Laster from the Austin-based Bernardo Kohler Center, which has one of the best records in the country for obtaining T visas for humantrafficking victims and was founded by David Walding ’00.  In Spring 2012, all undergraduate students will attend a workshop that focuses on the Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations. The goals were established to meet the needs of the world’s poorest, and the workshops at St. Edward’s will include an element about human trafficking.  Also in Spring 2012, the course “Law and Politics of Human Rights” will examine human trafficking as a way to understand human rights. Firth-Butterfield and Tina Miranda, assistant professor of Criminal Justice, will also teach a research class on the law of human trafficking. Students in this course will contribute to a book to be published in June 2012 called The International Law

Currently, Dawn is living with a friend and rebuilding her life. She has post-traumatic stress disorder and difficulty walking due to nerve damage from the shocks. Each day she takes a bus to a pool where she does physical therapy. Because she decided not to pursue charges and is not a refugee, there are few resources available to her. Despite the pain of her past, Dawn says her experiences have not been for nothing. She serves as a mentor to young women in prostitution and encourages them to get out. “My whole life, I never felt like I had a voice,” she says. “I finally feel like I have a voice.”

of Human Trafficking.  The School of Behavioral and Social Sciences is offering a study abroad “May-mester” in London, which will focus on human-rights issues, including human trafficking, and be led by Firth-Butterfield.

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ALUMNI NOTES

Hello, My Name Is … Austin SURE, AUSTIN’S CHANGED OVER THE YEARS. BUT IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO REACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE CITY ST. EDWARD’S CALLS HOME. By Stacia Hernstrom MLA ’05 FLASHBACK TO 1962. Students pack up their books and head across South Congress to El Gallo for cold beer and hot tamales. They pile into someone’s Mercury Comet to catch The Hustler at the drive-in off Ben White. On the weekends, they crowd into favorite honky-tonks like the Top Hat before rushing back to campus to make curfew (an early 10 p.m. for freshmen, but relaxed until 1 a.m. for the more trusted upperclassmen). Fifty years later, the skyscrapers dotting downtown are just one sign that Austin has changed. But at heart, it’s still the same fun, relaxed, quirky, entertaining, beautiful city it’s always been. To honor the class of 1962, which celebrates its 50th reunion at Homecoming this year, we present 62 ways to get to know today’s Austin. Pinball, pancakes, geotagging, stargazing — there’s something for everyone. Even a drive-in.

EAT

1. EL GALLO Beer’s still cold. Tamales are still hot. And there’s a mariachi band in the evenings. 2. CHUY’S Tex-Mex at its finest. Don’t miss the “Big As Yo’ Face” Burrito. 3. THREADGILL’S Collard greens and chicken-fried steak, just like Mama used to make. 4. TACO SHACK Build-your-own breakfast tacos (and more). 5. TRUDY’S Home of the famous Mexican Martini. 6. SOUTH CONGRESS CAFE Carrot Cake French Toast. Need we say more? 7. KERBEY LANE CAFE Pancakes, migas and all-natural burgers — all day and all night. 8. FREDDIE’S PLACE Turn the kids loose on the playground while you dine on the outdoor terrace. 9. FOOD TRAILERS From all-vegan to all-pork to all-crepes, the food trailers stationed across downtown will not disappoint your taste buds.

28 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

10. BLUE STAR CAFETERIA Food on a tray? No way! It’s a cafeteria like you’ve never seen. 11. HOME SLICE PIZZA New York–style pizza right on South Congress. (Try the salads, too.) 12. P. TERRY’S Fries, shakes and burgers — ethically raised and served.


SAVOR

13. HEY CUPCAKE! Follow the scent of frosting and look for the silver Airstream trailer, owned by Wes Hurt ’05.

23. BASS CONCERT HALL Hear everything from violinist Joshua Bell to Wicked. Your ears will thank you.

14. PARAMOUNT & STATESIDE THEATRES Both are nearly a century old and still going strong. Savor the history — and the eclectic performances.

24. BOGGY CREEK FARM Carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, eggs and more — right in the heart of East Austin.

15. AMY’S ICE CREAM Try the famous Mexican vanilla or another scrumptious homemade flavor. Don’t forget the crush’n!

25. CABO BOB’S BURRITOS The flavor of the Baja peninsula comes to Austin, compliments of John Stepan ’07.

16. WATERLOO RECORDS Voted Austin’s best record store 28 years in a row. 17. MOZART’S Sip coffee roasted on-site on the banks of Lake Austin. 18. AUSTIN FARMERS’ MARKET Sample the year-round bounty of local fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats and more. 19. HOLY CACAO Find out what a cake ball is at this food trailer on South First. You can even have ’em shipped. 20. BLUNN CREEK GREENBELT Twelve acres of trails, parks and picnic tables. 21. 360 BRIDGE OVERLOOK One of the best views of the city skyline. 22. NORTH BY NORTHWEST A silo with 25,000 pounds of barley — and beer brewed right on-site. Sample a pint and stay for the food, live music and “Beer School.”

PLAY

26. ZILKER ZEPHYR All aboard! See Zilker Park aboard this miniature train. (Conductor overalls optional.) 27. AUSTIN CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Math, science, fish, trains, construction projects, arts and crafts — perfect for an afternoon with the kids. 28. LAKE TRAVIS ZIPLINE ADVENTURES Gather your bravest friends for the longest zipline in Texas. 29. PLAYLAND SKATE CENTER A whopping 27,500 square feet of Hokey Pokey goodness. 30. DART BOWL From bumper guards to enchiladas, Dart Bowl “spares” nothing for fun. 31. PINBALLZ ARCADE Save your quarters for 100 pinball machines and scores of classic video games including Pac-Man and Q*bert.

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ALUMNI NOTES

32. COW PARADE It’s a bovine invasion! Check out the cow statues herded into town to benefit Dell Children’s Hospital. 33. BMX & SKATE PARK Practice your half-pipe on 30,000 square feet of ramps, rails and concrete pyramids. (Or sit back and watch.) 34. TERRA TOYS From Whirly Pops to Chinese Checkers, these toys are sure to delight your inner child. 35. DISC GOLF Pack your Frisbee and aim high at one of Austin’s four disc-golf courses. No caddy needed. 36. TRAPEZE AUSTIN Hang on tight! Choose from one- or two-hour classes. 30 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

LEARN

37. BOB BULLOCK TEXAS STATE HISTORY MUSEUM Three floors chock full of exhibits, memorabilia, movies and more tell the story of Texas. 38. ELIZABET NEY MUSEUM Meet the woman who sculpted European monarchs and Texas heroes alike. 39. ZILKER BOTANICAL GARDEN Stop and smell the roses (along with 31 acres of native plants). And don’t miss the dinosaur in the Children’s Garden. 40. BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART The largest collection of art in central Texas, from Rubens to Whistler. 41. TEXAS STATE CAPITOL It’s 15 feet taller than the national Capitol and made of sunset-red granite. How can you resist?

42. LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER Lady Bird herself said it best: Plants “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.” 43. TEXAS MUSIC MUSEUM For music lovers of all kinds, whether you prefer ZZ Top or the New Austin Polka Band. (And it’s free.) 44. CLAYWAYS POTTERY STUDIO Want to sling mud? Take a class or watch a demo. 45. TEXAS MILITARY FORCES MUSEUM It takes 45,000 square feet to make room for the tanks and helicopters at Camp Mabry. (Free!)


SERVE

RELAX

46. CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK Drop off nonperishables, sort donations or staff a mobile food pantry.

53. CAPITAL METRORAIL Ride the rails from downtown to Leander and back.

47. CARITAS Prepare and serve a meal in the Caritas Community Kitchen.

54. LADY BIRD LAKE Walk. Run. Bike. Kayak. Rest. And don’t forget to stop by the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue.

48. YELLOW BIKE PROJECT Sort parts or fix bikes for this all-volunteer effort to get Austin riding. No experience required.

55. BLUE STARLITE URBAN BOUTIQUE DRIVE-IN THEATER Drive in, bike in or walk in.

49. AUSTIN PARKS GEOTAGGING PROJECT Help put Austin’s parks on the map — literally — by collecting longitude and latitude data with your iPhone.

56. BOOKPEOPLE Find out why Austinites have voted it their favorite bookstore the past 20 years.

50. AUSTIN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY It’s as easy as 1-2-3: 1. Register online. 2. Pick a job site. 3. Show up.

57. WHOLE FOODS HEADQUARTERS Take a cooking class, talk to a healthy-eating specialist or just browse. Then see what’s happening on the cool rooftop plaza.

51. PROJECT TRANSITIONS Volunteer your time (and truck) to pick up donations for the Top Drawer Thrift Store.

58. WILD BASIN WILDERNESS PRESERVE Hike from sunrise to sunset. Then join the Austin Astronomical Society for a stargazing tour.

52. BULL CREEK FOUNDATION Get some fresh air and help clear the trails while you’re at it.

59. STUBBS BAR-B-Q Three words: Sunday Gospel Brunch.

60. LA ZONA ROSA Live music. Two stages. Good stuff. 61. RUTA MAYA Organic, shade-grown coffee beans from Chiapas, Mexico. Yoga and live music, too. 62. MOUNT BONNELL Find out why the 105 stairs rising 190 feet to the top are so very worth it. Editor’s Note: Want to learn more about any of these? Google the name plus “Austin,” and voila!

HILLTOPPERS TAKE AUSTIN Snap a photo of yourself at any of the above 62 locations and share it with fellow hilltoppers on our Facebook page (facebook.com/stedwardsuniversity). Bonus points if you take your magazine with you and get it in the photo, too!

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ALUMNI NOTES

CLASS ACTS DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS TELL US WHAT IT TAKES TO PLAN A HOMECOMING REUNION. By Lauren Liebowitz

CLASS OF 2002

CLASS OF 1972

STEPHANIE BAZAN ’02 Major: English Writing and Rhetoric Place you call home: Austin Most interesting job you’ve ever held: I worked at a chocolate shop in York, England. It was a timberframed cottage built in the 1300s, and it had a ghost called Emily. Dream job: The job I have now — tee marketing officer for Shirtster Apparel. I’m running my own business, and I get to write, design and construct. How are you connecting with a class that’s spread out all over the country? We set up a Facebook page to spread the word. We created two email blasts, and we’re going to send another email reminder before Homecoming. Individually, we’re reaching out online to people we know. Is social media an important part of how you’ve kept up with your classmates? Yes! I think it makes it really easy to see what people are doing these days, even if they’ve moved from Austin. Seeing everybody in person is still hard, though, since we’re in so many different places. I’m really looking forward to us being in one area at the same time again at Homecoming. What do you think will be most surprising to classmates who haven’t been back on campus in 10 years? The new buildings. The old cafeteria is the Fine Arts Building. Ragsdale Center was built while we were students. Fleck Hall has been renovated, and there’s a new science building, too. I used to watch friends play lacrosse and soccer where Moreau Hall and other residence halls are now. I live in Austin, so I get to see the changes happening, but it’s weird to remember doing something in an area that’s not there anymore! What’s your favorite memory from being at St. Edward’s? I have one really good memory of studying for one of Brother John Perron’s tests. My friends and I were sitting in the library, and one by one, our other classmates came into the library until it felt like my entire class was there. We got a little loud. The librarians had to quiet us down. We were all dreading this test, but it turned into a fun study session.

PAUL SEALS ’72 Major: Economics (although I had more hours in history) Place you call home: Austin, since 1956 Current job: Shareholder with the law firm of Guida, Slavich & Flores, PC. How would you describe yourself? Thoughtful, a team player and fair. When you think back to your time on campus as a student, what stands out in your mind the most? Just about any class taught by Tony Florek. It was worth the price of admission just to watch him. I took an art history class from him, and he pretended to be this prehistoric man in a cave painting, hiding under his desk in class. He was quite a character! You attended St. Edward’s on a basketball scholarship. Have you kept up with your old teammates? Definitely. You get really close with practice every day, all that travel, late nights playing cards, sweating in the un-air-conditioned gym. We had good times. There was even a Holy Cross Brother on the basketball team — Brother Rich Kelly. Brother Rich was such a good player that arrangements were made for him to play on our team even though he was a member of the brothers’ community. We played on the team together and graduated the same year. Anything you’d like to say to classmates who might be on the fence about coming to Homecoming? Whether you go to Homecoming for one event or the whole thing, I really think you’re going to enjoy yourself. We had a lot of good times between 1968 and 1972, and we can have good times again. I’m not sure we’ll have a keg party at Collegiate Beach — the spot down by Blunn Creek — like we used to, but we’ll have a lot of fun.

BIRTHS To Kristin (Lilli) Stork ’02 and husband Brian ’02, son Chase Thomas and daughter Emerson Lilli on May 26, 2011

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To Allyson Schaeffer ’03, MBA ’10, and husband Erik ’03, lead web developer, son John Martin on Sept. 9, 2011

To Crystal Baker MAHS ’07 and husband Nathan, son Noah Kirby on July 11, 2011

To Mark Anthony Olivo ’07 and wife Denise, daughter Alexandra Vargas on May 10, 2011


This Homecoming, five university classes and one class from St. Edward’s High School are celebrating significant reunions. Reunions like these require dedicated teams of volunteers, who organize events and recruit their classmates to attend. St. Edward’s University Magazine spoke to a representative from four of these classes about what it takes to put together a reunion that’s one for the yearbook.

HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1962

CLASS OF 1962

JOHN BARAJAS HS ’62, ’66 Major: History Place you call home: Pflugerville Job title: Retired Air Force officer; currently a part-time tennis instructor for young students Fun fact: I’ve been an extra in several movies, most notably Bernie with Jack Black. What inspired you to get involved with your 50th highschool reunion? When the 2011 All-Class Reunion for St. Edward’s High School was being planned, I offered to help out. I started talking to classmates that spring. Some came out for that event. But a good majority stated that while they couldn’t make it then, they’d come to our 50th reunion. I hope they do. What would you say to people who haven’t been to Austin in a while or haven’t seen the changes on campus? The special time and place that we all remember is gone, but so much of campus is the same. We can go back there for a weekend, reconnect and laugh about things that were difficult at the time but funny in hindsight. These days, you sometimes work as an extra in movies. Were you involved in the theater program at St. Edward’s? I didn’t take a theater class, but my senior year of high school, I was in a play with several of my fellow ’62 classmates. We traveled to Corpus Christi to perform in a competition together. It was a great experience. I’m sure you’ve heard of Brother Dunstan Bowles. He was one of the great drama and theater teachers at that time, and I was fortunate to be in one of his plays. What are you most looking forward to at Homecoming? I hope that we can rekindle our “tiger spirit” by gathering as many of the Class of 1962 as we can. We had folks from all over, but it was a real solid mesh of students. As a member of St. Edward’s High School, you were equal regardless of who you were or where you were from. That was a special time — a true melting pot — and I’m looking forward to sharing that again with my classmates.

MARRIAGES Jillian Scheumack MBA ’03, of Pordenone, Italy, to Andrea Cudin on Aug. 20, 2011

JIM MCDERMOTT ’62 Major: Physical Education Place you call home: Austin and Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (to escape the Texas heat) Most interesting job you’ve ever held: I was an FBI agent for 28 years. How would you describe yourself? Loyal, punctual (to a fault) and a great sense of humor. What kind of activities do you have planned for the reunion? We’ll be inducted into the Golden Guard. We’re planning a golf outing for Thursday before the actual reunion, and we’re hoping to play with members of the men’s and women’s Hilltopper golf teams. And the Maloney Room is going to be a central meeting place for the Class of 1962. Do you have any fun stories to tell about your time on the hilltop? I don’t dare tell some of them! I was at the university when students put a car in the library, and another time when they put a cow in the library — or when the statue of St. Edward was unveiled with a six-pack of Lone Star in his hands! I didn’t really get into much trouble myself. Some of my personal favorite memories are of crossing Congress Avenue to go to Trek Café. You could get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie there. We’d meet there every night to just talk about things. Do you stay involved with St. Edward’s? What do you think of campus 50 years later? I come to campus a lot to cheer on the Hilltoppers. I think that the people who haven’t been back to St. Edward’s in a number of years will be pleasantly surprised with the developments and the new buildings and everything that’s happening on campus. Holy Cross Hall is now an office building! What are you most looking forward to about Homecoming? I’m looking forward to seeing classmates I haven’t seen in 50 years. I’m sure there will be some dramatic changes. I hope I recognize some of them, and I hope they recognize me.

IN MEMORIAM April A. Matetszchk ’10, of Taylor, to Justin David Knapek on Aug. 6, 2011

Frederick Lewis Jr. ’40, of Catlett, Va., on July 11, 2011

Frank Hanacek ’44, of La Grange, on Nov. 30, 2010

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ALUMNI NOTES

1970s

1990s

Kenneth F. Tedesco ’71, of New Orleans, was president and CEO of De La Salle High School in New Orleans from July 2003 to June 2011. He is currently the associate director of Alumni Affairs for Tulane University.

Kevin Patrick Archambault ’99, of Red Hook, N.Y., directed and choreographed a production of A Chorus Line at the Center for the Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, N.Y., in August 2011.

1980s Dwight J. Luckett Sr. ’80, of Canton, Miss., was elected president of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents for the 2011–2012 school year. Alexander J. Gonzales ’80, of Austin, was selected as a Texas Super Lawyer for 2011. Gonzales is the managing shareholder of Winstead PC’s Austin office. Patsy M. Spaw ’84, of Elgin, the long-time secretary of the Texas Senate, has been elected staff vice-chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures, a trade association for lawmakers across the country. Renate Voelcker ’85, of Sutter Creek, Calif., recently published a new book, My Father’s Iron Cross. The book contains 23 letters written by a young soldier to his family during World War I. It is available at amazon.com. Jacob Fraire ’87, of Austin, received the 2011 Walter O. Mason Jr. Award, which honors outstanding educational-opportunity professionals who exemplify Mason’s sense of leadership and ideals. Fraire is the vice president for Student and Institutional Success at Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation.

Monica D. Caivano ’99, of Austin, was recently featured on Austin360.com. She teaches dance at the Esquina Tango Cultural Society of Austin, a nonprofit organization that she co-founded with her husband, Gustavo Simplis. Chris Kerbow ’99, of Austin, owns the Catfish Parlour in Georgetown. Previously, he held a position in management at Applied Materials.

2000s Tim O’Brien ’01, of Charlottesville, Va., recently published the book The Tycoon Tackle Story: Frank O’Brien, The Tycoon Fishing Rod, and the Gilded Age of Big Game Angling. The book is about his father’s journey building Tycoon Tackle. Dylan Vitone ’01, of Pittsburgh, had a solo photography exhibit at the George Caleb Bingham Gallery at the University of Missouri–Columbia displayed Sept. 12 through Oct. 7, 2011. Vitone is an associate professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Leah Foster ’06, of Houston, has been hired as the University of Houston’s assistant women’s basketball coach. Foster was a four-year letter winner at St. Edward’s and served as captain of the women’s basketball team her senior year. T.J. Chernick ’08, of Chicago, won the Windy City Gay Idol competition, which took place over 10 weeks. He beat more than 22 semifinalists from across the city. Chernick also sang the national anthem at the Chicago Cubs game on Sept. 4, 2011, at Wrigley Field.

Steven Stern ’09, of Austin, met his girlfriend, Marett Hanes ’12, when the two were tour guides at St. Edward’s. When Stern was ready to propose, it made perfect sense to take Hanes on her own “tour of love” around campus. The last stop on the tour was East Hall, where the couple had their first kiss. Stern recruited several of Hanes’ friends to wait behind the building and surprise her just as he popped the question. “I was nervous,” he recalls. “Not only was I proposing, but I had also put a lot of effort and planning into it. I was hoping for the best!” Stern got his wish. The couple is planning to be married in the university chapel, with their wedding colors being blue and gold.

Emsud Horozovic MBA ’98, of Round Rock, returned from scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in September 2011. It took Horozovic seven days to reach the top. “The stars are really something to see above 14,000 feet,” he recalls. Horozovic and his team reached the summit at 6 a.m., just in time to watch the sun rise over the Mawenzi peak. When he’s not climbing one of the world’s seven highest mountains, Horozovic is the forestry manager for the city of Round Rock.

David Leahy hs ’45, of Lakeway, on Aug. 25, 2011

Charles Eby ’50, of Northampton, Pa., on July 2, 2011

Joseph Molloy ’52, of League City, on Aug. 16, 2011

Gerald Fitzgerald hs ’57, of Albuquerque, N.M., on July 9, 2011

Jerry Jeansonne hs ’50, of Ocala, Fla., on April 24, 2010

Adolph Valenta ’50, of Corpus Christi, on May 24, 2006

John Shivers hs ’54, of Fort Worth, on July 21, 2011

Alfred Robinson hs ’59, of Austin, on Sept. 23, 2011

34 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY


Cynthia Glover MSOLE ’08, of Austin, presented at the Scientific Symposium of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Orlando, Fla., in December 2011. Glover is a pharmacist at Seton Highland Lakes.

CHAPTER NEWS PRESIDENTIAL RECEPTIONS President George E. Martin visited the Washington, D.C., and New York City alumni chapters in the fall to share updates on Strategic Plan 2015. Presidential receptions are an opportunity for alumni, parents of current students and prospective students to meet each other and spend an evening with Martin to hear the latest news about St. Edward’s University.

Kari Rote ’08, of Houston, received the Knowledge Award for Excellence in Education or Research at the 2011 AAIDD Texas chapter annual conference. The award is given for significant contributions to the dissemination of knowledge in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities through education or research. Rote is a behavior therapist at The Center.

FOUNDERS DAY SERVICE PROJECTS Every October, the St. Edward’s University community celebrates Founders Day to honor the university’s Holy Cross founders. This year, more than 50 alumni and parents participated in community-service projects across the country. Participating chapters included Austin; Houston; Dallas; Washington, D.C.; and Rio Grande Valley. Alumni participated in a variety of service projects in their areas, including sorting food at food banks and dishing up meals at homeless shelters.

LaTanya Michelle Tatum MSOLE ’09, of Manor, has been appointed to Connected Texas as a program coordinator. The organization is working to make broadband available to all Texans.

2010s Adam DeVos ’10, of Austin, launched Internship Builder, a company that creates meaningful opportunities for interns while ensuring employers benefit from the experience as well. Internship Builder aims to create the structure, metrics and supervision needed for effective internship programs. Michelle Villarreal ’10, of La Feria, is a publicaffairs specialist for Hidalgo County. She recently participated in Operation Lone Star, a collaborative effort with the Texas military forces, the U.S. Public Health Service, Hidalgo County and local organizations. The operation provided free medical services to communities in the Rio Grande Valley. Villarreal served as public-information officer for her site, which provided medical services to more than 1,000 individuals in one week.

EAST COAST REUNION Alumni from Delaware, Ohio, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey gathered in Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 22, 2011, for the annual East Coast reunion. They enjoyed a day at the horse races, including a trip to the Winner’s Circle. The reunion concluded with a dinner at Delaware Park. LOS ANGELES THEATER DINNER After the success of the Theater Alumni Workshop on campus last year, Nate Thomas ’79 and Tim Russ ’77 hosted a dinner for theater alumni in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, 2011, to create connections and celebrate all things St. Edward’s. The 2012–2013 academic year marks the 40th anniversary of the theater program. HILLTOP LEADERS RECEPTION Alumni in Washington, D.C., gathered with the Hilltop Leaders student group on Nov. 10, 2011, to discuss life after St. Edward’s. Alumni had dinner with the students and shared their St. Edward’s stories, along with their work experiences. The Hilltop Leaders student group travels to Washington, D.C., every year to meet with various government leaders.

 KEEP IN TOUCH Send your Class Note and wedding or birth announcement to the Alumni Office at seualumni@stedwards.edu.

HOLIDAY SERVICE PROJECTS Alumni and parents across Texas gathered in December to spread holiday cheer to families in need by volunteering with local charities including the Salvation Army.

Ronald Cinal ’60, of Reston, Va., on Oct. 12, 2011

Donald Williams ’74, of Plano, on July 13, 2011

Jane Hampton ’84, of Austin, on Aug. 11, 2011

Cynthia Valenzuela-Hegemier ’84, of Austin, on Aug. 1, 2011

Fred Mangin ’63, of Cape Coral, Fla., on Sept. 27, 2007

John Lambert ’82, of Austin, on Aug. 1, 2011

Jesse Porras Jr. ’84, of Austin, on Sept. 6, 2011

Anthony Vach ’89, of Northfield, Vt., on June 3, 2001

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ALUMNI NOTES

UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS MARCH 17

New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade

MARCH 27

Laredo Presidential Reception

Learn more about upcoming events with Hilltop.Connect www.stedwards.edu/hilltopconnect

CHAPTER NEWS ACADEMIC PLANNING AND SUPPORT SERVICES PANEL In November, alumni participated in the annual panel for freshmen undecided in their major. The event showcases alumni in varying careers and from various majors to provide insight for students who are unsure of their path. After the general panel, students had the opportunity to speak with the panelists one-on-one during breakout sessions. The event is co-hosted each fall by the Alumni Association and Academic Planning and Support Services. ALUMNI GOLF TOURNAMENT Men’s golf alumni were invited to play with the current team in the annual alumni golf tournament on Oct. 29, 2011. Alumni and parents participated in a two-person best-ball competition at Grey Rock Golf Club, home of the St. Edward’s University golf teams. Activities also included a post-tournament party. BASEBALL ALUMNI WEEKEND Baseball alumni were welcomed back to campus on Oct. 22, 2011, for the annual alumni game, where they took on the current baseball team. Alumni, parents and current players enjoyed a highly competitive game followed by a luncheon provided by Hoover’s Cooking, a local eatery owned by Burke O’Rourke ’55. The alumni game has become a tradition and serves as the last game of the fall season for the Hilltoppers. SOFTBALL ALUMNI GAME AND HIT-A-THON The St. Edward’s University softball coaching staff and team welcomed back softball alumni for the annual alumni game and luncheon on Nov. 5, 2011. Alumni spent the day reconnecting with one another and meeting the current players, as well as new head coach Lindsay Gardner and new assistant coach Cat Osterman. Alumni also watched the current team participate in its annual hita-thon, which raises money for the softball program. DECEMBER GRADUATION Daniel Guerrero MSOLE ’09, the executive director of the San Marcos Foundation and mayor of San Marcos, was the keynote speaker for the New College and graduate commencement ceremony on Dec. 17, 2011. Robert Hilliard ’80, an attorney in Corpus Christi, spoke at the undergraduate commencement ceremony.

IN MEMORIAM Ronya Kozmetsky, faithful friend to St. Edward’s for more than 40 years, passed away Oct. 25, 2011. Kozmetsky was a renowned philanthropist: She and her late husband, George, co-founded the RGK Foundation, which has awarded more than $93 million to advance education, community and health. The Kozmetskys’ support to the university totals more than $6.8 million. The Kozmetsky Center of Excellence in Global Finance at St. Edward’s was established with a $3 million gift from Ronya and George. The center brings visiting fellows and the world’s leading experts to campus to help students take an active role in shaping society. Their son, Gregory A. Kozmetsky, a trustee emeritus of St. Edward’s, says his parents funded the center “because they believe in St. Edward’s and the role the university can play in improving the lives of so many.” Ronya was an educator, an entrepreneur and a novelist. Her true passion was her work to empower women, and she showed a genuine compassion for humanity. Ronya is survived by her son, Greg, and his wife, Distinguished Alumna Award winner and New College graduate Cynthia H. Kozmetsky ’95; daughter, Nadya Scott; seven grandchildren, including alumnus Daniel A. Kozmetsky ’02; and 13 great grandchildren.

Steven Destefano ’92, of Austin, on Oct. 9, 2011

36 ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Pamela Bodouin ’93, of Austin, on June 3, 2011

Nancy Macias ’02, of San Antonio, on July 19, 2011

Kathleen Kelly ’08, of Kingwood, on Sept. 17, 2011

Amanda Peet ’10, of Austin, on Oct. 6, 2011


From the Archives

Football isn’t just a game. It’s a state of mind. And it’s not just high-school football that captures the imagination. College football is another breed entirely, and in its early days, St. Edward’s University was part of the madness with a team of its own. The Tigers — the university’s long-ago mascot — hung up their cleats in 1939, but not before a few photos could be snapped of the team in its glory days. Have you heard stories about the St. Edward’s football team? Share your thoughts with us:

St. Edward’s University Magazine 3001 South Congress Avenue Austin, Texas 78704 frannies@stedwards.edu

Mystery Solved: It’s been a long time… But Tony Golda ’64 remembers. Golda recognized Dick Haller ’64 (with the “11” on his shirt) from our photo and George Dovin ’64, who is in the lower right corner in the dark shirt.

stay in touch

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advancement@stedwards.edu stedwards.edu/alumni 512-416-5845 St. Edward’s University Campus Mail Box 1028 Attn: Data Specialist 3001 South Congress Avenue Austin, Texas 78704-6489

NETWORK:

Search for St. Edward’s University Alumni Association

@SEUAlumni

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