Michael & Elisabeth Augustine
QUICKSTARTER HELPS CHEFS START NEW THAI RESTAURANT Chefs Michael and Elisabeth Augustine took their passion for South Asian cuisine and their entrepreneurial spirit into the realm of social media when they sought to raise $4,000 to help fund a new local restaurant – Like My Thai? The campaign launched Nov. 4 and topped its goal just a day later. By the time it ended 15 days later, the Augustines had raised more than $12,000 to help make their dream a reality. At the helm of their Facebook/Kickstarter campaign was Mercyhurst intelligence studies professor Kristan Wheaton, who has netted a $10,000 grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners to support regional entrepreneurial ef orts through his own crowd-funding knowhow and an initiative he calls “Quickstarter.” Wheaton began Quickstarter, which essentially is his strategic plan for conducting Kickstarter campaigns, after meeting with success on several of his own campaigns, among them funding games he designed and sending a liturgical dance team from Mercyhurst to Jerusalem to perform last year. “Quickstarter is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs in the Erie region who need funds to launch their ideas and potentially turn those ideas into businesses,”Wheaton said. “The more successes we can generate through Quickstarter, the better opportunity we have to produce a culture change for Erie as an idea hub.”
CHAPEL RESTORATION TO BEGIN Mercyhurst’s Christ the King Chapel will close for the frst quar ter of 2015 to allow for some much-needed restoration work. Msgr. David Rubino, Ph.D., vice president for external afairs , said more than $400,000 has been donated to fund the updates, with many gifts coming from alumni with fond memories of daily Masses and other celebrations in the chapel. The entire project will be funded by gifts and grants from generous donors, including a 50 th anniversary gift from the Class of 1964. No signifcan t changes are planned to the architecture or overall look of the chapel, which was dedicated in 1933, but it will get a coat of paint. The original pews and choir stalls will be refnished and r einstalled allowing extra leg room, and the mosaic will be illuminated by its own lighting system. Daily Masses will be held in Prince of Peace Chapel from January through March, while Sunday Mass will move to Taylor Little Theatre. CAMPUS POLICE TO BE ARMED Mercyhurst University campus police are expected to be armed by spring semester 2015, according to a new policy adopted in May by the university’s Board of Trustees. “Following a careful assessment of school, college campus and marketplace incidents of violence around the nation, we came to the conclusion that in order to ensure the safest environment possible for our students and employees, our police ofc ers must be equipped to properly function as frst r esponders,” said Board Chair Marlene Mosco in announcing the board’s decision. “We have always believed that access to deadly force should be proportionate to the risks facing us,” said Mercyhurst President Tom Gamble, Ph.D. “Until recently, that calculation had us stopping short of arming our police ofc ers. In our most recent review, the balance tipped the other way.” Mercyhurst already maintains a department of Act 120-certifed polic e ofc ers and, through its Municipal Police Training Academy, trains the majority of police ofc ers in the region. “We’re confden t that Mercyhurst police not only are well trained, but represent the best of the best by virtue of our preeminent role in police training and public safety,” Gamble said.
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