FALL 2018
NURTURING THE MERCY MISSION SISTER LISA MARY McCARTNEY P. 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: MERCYHURST COLLABORATIONS BENEFIT ERIE COMMUNITY P.2 STUDENTS SERVE ‘BEYOND THE GATES’ P.6 UNIQUE CYBER EDUCATION CENTER OPENS P. 16 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS P. 30
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
In today’s hypercompetitive higher education ecosystem, universities that are tentative in the face of change will fail to prosper. Mercyhurst University has changed in many ways since I took ofce in 2015, evolving and innovating to better meet the needs of our community of faculty, staf, students and alumni. Mercyhurst’s student experience – long among the region’s best – has become more robust, especially with this fall’s grand opening of the new amenity-rich sophomore residence, Ryan Hall. We also expect to open an Irish-themed pub on campus in January that will further enhance the residential experience while creating a safe environment for our students to socialize. As a result of our eforts to attract more underrepresented minority students to Mercyhurst, our student population has grown more diverse. In support of that progress, we established a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force aimed at fostering a more hospitable and compassionate community of learners. We know that student success relies heavily on advising and support systems that take into account the developmental and academic needs of our students. To that end, we are bringing all our student support eforts – from Learning Diferences to the Honors Program – under one umbrella. As we seek to deliver positive outcomes, like graduating on time and helping our students get good jobs, we are also reinventing our Career Services program to better accomplish these goals and meet the expectations of students in today’s global marketplace. Perhaps nowhere is change more evident than in our academic programming. From our distinctive foray into the felds of cybersecurity, data science and risk management, supported by our new MCPc Cyber Education Center, we expect to produce highly skilled and sought-after graduates. Our Ofce of Distance Learning is working diligently to improve students’ access to learning through these new technologies and we have every confdence that it will propel us into the online
market in a big way. We are also holding true to our roots in educating the whole person through REACH; this newer core curriculum ofers our students both fexibility and choice in pursuing their interests.
While we are busy on the campus-front, we have sought to use our community’s talents in partnership with others in academia, business and government to enrich our city. Through the Mercyhurst-led Erie Innovation District (EID), we are helping to deploy smart-city technology in Erie and recently brought nine new startup companies to town for the EID’s accelerator program. Accomplishing these many changes has been the handiwork of a dedicated and determined Mercyhurst community. Many years ago, during her Mercyhurst presidency, Sister Carolyn Herrmann described Mercyhurst as “a vital, alive college in which there is no room for complacency or for satisfaction with less than the best...” I believe she’d be pleased with how we are staying true to that message.
Carpe Diem .
Michael T. Victor, J.D., LL.D. President, Mercyhurst University
ON THE COVER: Sister Lisa Mary McCartney, RSM, Ph.D. ’71, who stepped down in May from her full-time position as vice president for mission integration, is pictured in front of Egan Hall. With the number of Sisters of Mercy in the Erie community dwindling, Sister Lisa Mary has spent the past decade working to ensure that the spirit of the founding Sisters of Mercy continues to thrive at Mercyhurst. (Photo by Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07)
The Ofce of Marketing and Public Relations publishes Mercyhurst Magazine twice a year.
Magazine Editor Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 scorbran@mercyhurst.edu 814-824-2090 Design Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 jhewitt@mercyhurst.edu 814-824-3022 Contributing Writers Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 Joseph Cuneo Sean Cuneo Elizabeth Eidnier ’12 Jennifer Smith Deborah W. Morton
INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2
MERCYHURST PARTNERSHIPS BENEFIT ERIE COMMUNITY
Contributing Photographers Ben Friesen
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STUDENTS BROADEN HORIZONS WITH SERVICE ‘BEYOND THE GATES’ MERCY EMISSARIES COMMIT TO FOSTER MERCY MISSION EARLY BLACK STUDENTS REFLECT ON EXPERIENCES AT THE HURST ROBERT MILLER’S LEGACY LIVES ON AT MERCYHURST NORTH EAST
Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 Angela Zanaglio ’16
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Director of Alumni Engagement Lindsay Cox Frank ’12 ’14M lfrank@mercyhurst.edu 814-824-2330
INNOVATIVE CYBER LAB INSPIRES STUDENTS MIAC EXTENDS STREAK OF SELLOUT SHOWS SIX HONORED AS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
ALUMNI PROFILES: SUKI FULLER ’05; SCOTT DONNELLY ‘88
ATHLETES INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME
LONGEVITY OF LAKER COACHES UNIQUE IN DIVISION II IN THE NEWS BROWN EARNS TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD MARY HOFFMAN ‘74 RECEIVES ROMERO AWARD BRAD DAVIS NAMED ATHLETIC DIRECTOR MNE LAUNCHES PROGRAM FOR SINGLE MOTHERS ADMIRAL KOHLER GIVEN HONORARY DEGREE JOSEPH NECASTRO ’78 LEADS INNOVATION DISTRICT BOARD MASS OF THANKSGIVING HONORS SISTERS OF MERCY RILEY-BROWN NAMED HAFENMAIER DEAN
Send changes of address to: Alumni Relations Mercyhurst University 501 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16546 alumni@mercyhurst.edu
If you haven’t been receiving the bi-monthly Alumni eNewsletter, Mercyhurst does not have an active email address for you. Visit mercyhurst.edu/alumni/update to update your information and reconnect. We’d love to hear from you. Send your story ideas, suggestions and comments to scorbran@mercyhurst.edu .
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CLASS NOTES
IN MEMORIAM: DR. RANDY HOWARTH
FUNDRAISING YEAR IN REVIEW HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
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MERCYHURST GALVANIZES CHANGE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP By Deborah W. Morton Basketball great Michael Jordan once said “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Whether creating internal partnerships between colleagues and departments, partnerships between academia and industry, or traditional town-and-gown collaborations, harnessing the skills of others is one of the most strategic ways to solve complex challenges. Things change when everyone on the team is equally invested in the overall purpose and goal. Consider Mercyhurst’s involvement in the ERIE INNOVATION DISTRICT . By partnering with regional academic institutions, government and business, the university is leading a plan to transform downtown Erie into a destination for digital-economy jobs, particularly in the robust felds of cyber security and data science. “Together, we are discovering new ways of driving innovation to provide our students with internships and job opportunities, to provide businesses with a highly skilled workforce, and to strengthen our community in terms of economic growth and global competitiveness,” said Mercyhurst University President Michael Victor. But, that’s just the latest in the university’s longstanding commitment to collaboration and the power of many. The following is an abbreviated look at a few of Mercyhurst’s many partnerships and the results they are reaping.
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Sam Krahe ‘14 works with young clients at Harborcreek Youth Services.
THERAPEUTIC ARTS INITIATIVE A partnership between Mercyhurst University and Harborcreek Youth Services designed to provide experiential learning for university students while ofering research-supported expressive arts therapies for HYS clients. The longstanding relationship between Harborcreek Youth Services (HYS) and Mercyhurst University, once focused solely on experiential learning for students in the Criminology and Criminal Justice programs, has evolved over time, most recently through a partnership called the Therapeutic Arts Initiative – a mission-driven project overseen by Dr. Maria Garase, associate professor of Criminal Justice and vice president of the HYS Board of Directors. Through the use of expressive therapies like music, art and movement, the program aims to help Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable youth – those who have experienced abuse, neglect and childhood trauma. “Trauma has been called ‘the great thief,’’’ said Mercyhurst Music Therapy Director Craig Stevens, who has been instrumental in leading the initiative, assisted by Sam Krahe, one of music therapy’s frst graduates. “Most of these young people have extreme difculty trusting and connecting with another person; most have never experienced unconditional love and, because of their experiences, live in a world that does not feel safe. We are now looking at how early childhood traumas can afect not only psychological health, but also physical health, neurodevelopment, and virtually every other aspect of a functional life. Through arts therapy techniques combined with counseling, we are able to address goal areas such as self-esteem, self-worth, emotional expression and social skills development.” Together, Mercyhurst students and HYS youth have built trust and rapport by working on a number of local initiatives, including the Weed Warriors at Presque Isle project, the Therapeutic Foster Care Family Outreach Initiative and the National Water Dance.
Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie Civic Institute Director Amy Eisert, Erie Mayor Joseph Schember and Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny MERCYHURST CIVIC INSTITUTE A college-community partnership dedicated to the social, educational and civic well-being of the Erie region and state of Pennsylvania. One of the most exciting results-driven programs coming out of the Mercyhurst Civic Institute in recent years is the Group Violence Reduction Strategy, originally brokered by institute director Amy Eisert. Eisert learned of the strategy through an out-of-town training program, and subsequently shared it with local law enforcement authorities. With buy-in secured, she further assisted in writing the grant that netted $1.2 million from the United Way and Erie Community Foundation to implement the Group Violence Reduction Strategy. Through the initiative, local law enforcement, concerned residents and social service providers meet with individuals who are identifed as high risk for involvement in group- or gang-related violence. During what is termed a “Call-In,” participants are ofered resources like education and employment in exchange for stepping away from crime and gang violence. If they choose to ignore the ofer and engage in violence, the participants are informed that they will receive focused attention from all levels of law enforcement. Since the Call-Ins began in April 2017, Eisert said there has not been one gang-related homicide. Further, thus far in 2018, the city has had only three homicides, the result of two incidents of domestic violence. Other violent incidents, such as people shot, shots fred and robberies, have also been dramatically reduced.
MERCYHURST-FLAGSHIP NIAGARA PARTNERSHIP A developmental partnership between Mercyhurst University and the Flagship Niagara League designed to create special opportunities for both organizations. Don’t be surprised if someday you spot a Mercyhurst University fag waving in tandem with the stars and stripes of the U.S. Brig Niagara. Thanks to the initiative of Cal Pifer, vice president for external relations and advancement, Mercyhurst is an “Ofcial University Partner” of the Niagara. The development sponsorship creates a number of special For Mercyhurst’s contribution, it means potential dockside receptions for donors and alumni at cities like Bufalo, Cleveland and Rochester along the Niagara’s sailing route. On the fip side, Mercyhurst ofers its guests promotional opportunities for both organizations.
Reconstructed in 1988, the Niagara is a replica of the square-rigged sailing warship that fought in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. For the past two summers, it has served as the centerpiece of a three-credit history course ofered by Mercyhurst professor Ben Scharf and enjoyed by nearly 20 students who spend two-and-a-half weeks on board Besides lessons in seamanship and maritime history, students acquire a deeper understanding of the seafaring culture, including sailing terminology, physical skills and familiarity with the social structure of shipboard life. “The Niagara represents a foating extension of Mercyhurst, serving as a marketing platform around the Great Lakes,” Pifer said. “We consider it a wonderful opportunity.” learning traditional seafaring skills. items from the Flagship Niagara League, and provides support for a number of the league’s existing programs.
Erie alumni socialize at the Niagara.
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The Mercyhurst Empowerment and Prevention Project team: Mercyhurst Police Chief DJ Fuhrmann; Residence Life Director Megan McKenna; Attorney Greg Grasinger with SafeNet; project coordinator Rianna Bartlett; project manager Ariel Dodick; Dr. Judy Smith, executive director of wellness; Alice Agnew, Title IX ofcer; and Amy Blackman, director of prevention and education for the Crime Victim Center. ‘IT’S ON US’ MOVEMENT A partnership among Mercyhurst, law enforcement and social service groups to raise awareness and to fght against sexual assault on college campuses. Thanks to a $300,000 “It’s On Us” grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Mercyhurst has created an All-Campus Violence Prevention Project in collaboration with the Erie County District Attorney’s Ofce, the Erie Police Department, the Crime Victim Center and SafeNet. “The key word here is ‘comprehensive’ in that we are working together as partners to create for our campus the best possible education and response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking crimes,” said Dr. Judy Smith, executive director of wellness at Mercyhurst, who wrote the grant and serves as project director. Ariel Dodick has been hired full time as project manager and Rianna Bartlett as part-time project coordinator. Both are Mercyhurst alumnae. The frst phase of the three-year grant, which began in October 2017, focused on planning and training. The second phase, which will begin this fall, is implementation, while the third will concentrate on sustaining the project. “We are hoping that together with our partners we can build a program that will make a lasting diference in shifting the culture on college campuses, starting with our own,” Smith said. “We are committed to keeping our students safe and in healthy relationships that respect both men and women.” The grant enables Mercyhurst to create a Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) with the goal of expanding victim services and advocacy, prevention education, and staf training at the Erie and North East campuses as well as the Booker T. Washington Center. The Crime Victim Center intends to augment Mercyhurst’s eforts by providing access to support groups, accompanying victims through the legal system and helping with victim compensation. SafeNet provides prevention education, particularly in how to sustain healthy relationships, sheds light on the early warning signs of controlling behavior, and assists victims with Protection from Abuse orders.
Elisa Belfore reads to a class at St. Gregory Preschool.
EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS DRIVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Early on, the Mercyhurst University Education Department recognized the value of partnerships between K-12 schools and universities, both in better preparing the educators of tomorrow and in increasing the academic success of today’s youth. From the university’s pioneering Carpe Diem Academy to its contribution to autism education in the Erie School District, it has opened new pathways to creativity, expression and achievement among young people. The university’s graduate special education program continues to celebrate the success of two longstanding partnerships: one with the R. Benjamin Wiley Community Charter School in Erie, and one with St. Gregory Parish School in North East, both in existence for more than 10 years. Leaders of both institutions said their partnerships with Mercyhurst have played an important role in driving student success. Last year, for example, elementary teachers at the Wiley charter school partnered with Mercyhurst graduate assistants in a concerted efort to heighten reading levels across the population. As a result, the majority of students behind grade-level expectation were able to increase their reading levels to grade-level expectation or above. At St. Gregory’s, educators credit Mercyhurst not only for helping to drive high student achievement but also for keeping the doors open. Enrollment has climbed each year, starting with 72 students in 2013-14 to 97 students in 2017-18. In addition, 6th and 7th graders ranked among the highest nationally on the 2017 TerraNova standardized tests in reading, language and math. And, for the past three years, 8th graders have scored in the 80th percentile in all content areas on the TerraNova standardized tests when compared to the rest of the country. The common denominator in both cases, said Mercyhurst Education Professor Phil Belfore, is that the schools employ master’s-level Mercyhurst students, most of whom are already certifed teachers. “The Mercyhurst partnerships demonstrate the pedagogical leadership role graduate departments of education should be taking within K-12 education,” Belfore said. “With these partnerships, we seek to improve education through our graduate students, who are taught current evidence-based practices, and our professional involvement at each school site.”
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But with Riesmeyer, it’s a bit more personal. His daughter, Megan, is an AIM student. And he’s familiar with the research that shows as many as 85 percent of college grads afected by autism are unemployed. “Having a child on the spectrum you come to know that long-term career success is very difcult,” Riesmeyer said. While unemployment and underemployment are high, Riesmeyer said it is not a result of the autistic person’s lack of ability, but often of the interviewer’s inability to understand this unique demographic. “Our goal at this point is to establish a bridge between AIM and Wells Fargo that we can leverage over time as students matriculate college,” Riesmeyer said. In 2008, Mercyhurst introduced AIM to meet the unique needs of the growing numbers of college students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). AIM focuses on building a foundation of self-advocacy, social skills and sound academic progress. The program has grown considerably in recent years, particularly with the addition of a career services component to help AIM graduates be productive and successful beyond college. “We are very excited about our collaboration with Wells Fargo and are looking forward to this partnership,” said AIM Director Brad McGarry. “The AIM program continues to identify collaborations that will beneft our students and, in turn, we can beneft Wells Fargo’s eforts to develop diversity in their workforce and strengthen their ability to engage autistic adults for long-term meaningful employment.” SHARING PIECES OF THE PAST
Lights over Lake Erie CITY, MERCYHURST TEAM UP FOR FUN, SMART BIZ Under the leadership of Erie Mayor Joe Schember and Mercyhurst President Michael Victor, the city and the university are partnering on a number of initiatives this year. Long famous for its Old-Fashioned Fourth of July celebration and freworks display, Mercyhurst stepped up as chief sponsor of the city’s holiday freworks – Lights Over Lake Erie – on July 3 from the Bicentennial Tower at Dobbins Landing, and as a presenting sponsor for the Celebrate Erie summer festival Aug. 16-19 in downtown Erie. On a more serious note, the Erie Police Department contracted with Mercyhurst’s Municipal Police Training Academy at North East to conduct Civil Service Act 120 testing. Instead of taking a separate exam for the city, as had been the case previously, ofcer candidates can now take one exam that qualifes them for 26 police departments throughout the region. In announcing the partnership, Mayor Schember said the move would save the city time and money, allowing it to focus on minority recruitment. And, through Mercyhurst’s leadership of the Erie Innovation District comes the Secure Smart City™ pilot project taking shape on State Street, between 6th and 12th streets. The project makes way for:
Mercyhurst University geologist Scott McKenzie has delighted in sharing his love of digging up the past with thousands of fans. Partnering with the late Michael Sincak and his wife, Barbara, was the beginning of acquiring a collection of casts, fossils and collectors’ pieces that ultimately became the Sincak Natural History Collection at Mercyhurst University.
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Broadband Wi-Fi access across Perry Square.
• Energy-efcient LED lighting on an estimated 66 existing poles to connect traditional street lighting, increase efciency and reduce costs. • Video surveillance capabilities in Perry Square to enhance security and automatically alert authorities to potential threats. AIMing FOR EMPLOYMENT Mercyhurst University wants to help graduates of its autism program get jobs after college, and has long sought out prospective employers to engage autistic adults for meaningful employment. This year, in an about- face, world banking leader Wells Fargo came to Mercyhurst, sending fve representatives, from Boston and Pittsburgh, to the Erie campus to discuss career paths with students of the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM). The April 20 session included mentoring, résumé review and mock interviews with the goal of preparing students for possible employment opportunities at Wells Fargo while helping Wells Fargo learn how best to interact with people on the spectrum. “Wells Fargo is committed to a diverse work force,” said Wells Fargo Senior Vice President Michael Riesmeyer. “I think a lot of companies realize
Rich Reislund and Scott McKenzie speak at Brown’s Farm Barn.
For years, the university opened its doors for the public to experience the exhibits until they became too vast in size. Then teaming up with the Tom Ridge Environmental Center allowed even more Erie people and tourists to view the collection’s larger samples, like a cast of the teenage T-rex whose fossilized remains were unearthed from northwest South Dakota in 1998. This summer the university partnered for the frst time with Asbury Woods Nature Center to share even more unique fnds, these local in origin. Erie area resident Rich Reislund and his two sons, Jonathan, 12, and David, 10, discovered an extraordinary fossil on undisclosed private property in McKean Township. Upon examination, McKenzie confrmed it as evidence of what is arguably the most terrifying creature of the Devonian Period – Dunkleosteus – a powerful prehistoric fsh with thick armor plating and a bite rivaling that of T-Rex. “This is the frst time that we have found evidence of several of the big fsh at one place in Pennsylvania and that’s very exciting,” McKenzie said. “Records show that another collector found one at the same place over two decades ago. All three fnds are of the same bone of the shoulder armor, so we could be dealing with a Dunkleosteus graveyard.” In all, McKenzie said, more than 350,000 people have viewed parts of the collection at one exhibit or another since 2006.
that creating a diverse community of employees helps us better engage the diverse community of people that we serve.”
President Michael Victor greets Wells Fargo representatives Susannah Geletko, Michael Bohley, Eugenia Tibamanya and Michael Riesmeyer.
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SERVICE WITH A DISTINCTLY MERCY FLAVOR By Sue Corbran
Lauren Abbott at Neighborhood Art House
- “As much as our students are giving, they’re receiving just as much in return,” Hurley observed. “The experience can be life changing, because they’re opened up to a whole new worldview.” Some students head across the country or around the world on service trips, but most work with one of more than 30 Erie-area nonprofts serving the hungry, the homeless, at-risk youths, refugees or the elderly. Each community partner refects Mercyhurst’s Core Values and the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and each assignment calls for person-to-person interaction with people in need. Like the Sisters of Mercy who left the cloister to work directly with those in need, students literally go beyond Mercyhurst’s iconic front gates. But they’re also challenged to go beyond some internal gates, to overcome anxieties and fears that may have held them back from engaging with “the other,” people who are diferent from them in some way. On paper, it’s a requirement. Mercyhurst students must earn one credit – out of the 121 credits they need to graduate – through a service-learning experience “Beyond the Gates.” But Director of Community Engagement Colin Hurley prefers to think of it as an opportunity – a chance for students to challenge preconceived notions, broaden their horizons, and perhaps even be changed for the better.
Hurley and Assistant Director of Community Engagement Bethany Brun spend months coordinating the placements. They have to balance the needs of the community agencies with the academic, personal and career interests of the students, and then work around each student’s unique weekly schedule. A series of written refections helps students to assess where they started, where they fnished, and how they were transformed by their work. About 550 Mercyhurst sophomores completed their Beyond the Gates (BTG) experiences during the program’s frst year. With each spending at least 12 hours in the community, that’s well over 6,000 hours of direct service. Just as important, though, was what the collegians took away from the experience. Larry Staub’s BTG assignment took him to the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, where he spent most of his time in a special unit for those with dementia. Sometimes he was the bingo caller, other times the “pin-setter-upper” for some hallway bowling. He particularly liked helping with music therapy. Each patient has his own playlist of familiar music, he explained. “It was breathtaking to watch. Once they recognized a song, it seemed to fip something in their brains. They’d smile, or sing along, and sometimes even dance.”
- Lauren Abbott, an Erie native majoring in intelligence studies, found herself in a familiar setting for her BTG placement: the Inner City Neighborhood Art House. She spent many summers there as a child, taking part in creative arts and crafts. Today the Art House provides classes in the visual, performing and literary arts and a safe, caring environment for at risk children. Lauren assisted the teachers or helped improve literacy with Hooked on Books. Once she even got to fll in for the ailing dance teacher. “This experience really let me see how we embody the Sisters of Mercy and their mission as a university,” she said. “I can apply what I’m learning and actually make a diference in people’s lives.” “It was disheartening to see vets who’ve done so much for our country now being able to do so little. But it was so rewarding to see them experience the music,” Larry added. He’s a business management and marketing major from Rochester, New York. Logan Ford mentored and tutored students in an after-school program at Erie’s Quality of Life Learning Center. He particularly remembers working with a young woman nearing graduation from high school who hoped to become a nurse’s aide. To reach that goal, she had to quickly complete several math courses.
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STILL LIVING MERCY Students who complete the Beyond the Gates experience will be ready to go forward and lead with conviction – frst as students and later as graduates. It’s clear that the call to service still lives in Mercyhurst alumni, wherever they are. Below, see a few snapshots from recent service projects completed by alumni chapters in Erie, Cleveland and New York City.
Above: Larry Staub at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home Right: Students Monica Tinsley and Tessa Sayre play games with English language learners at Pfeifer-Burleigh School.
- BTG gave Logan, an Erie resident who’s double majoring in intelligence studies and political science, a chance to experience the diversity of his hometown. He added, “I fnd it hopeful that so many people are excited to engage the community and give back. We’re both giving and receiving that Mercy mission at the same time.” For Kailee Gorczyca, working with the Gliding Stars program was a natural choice. She’d been fgure skating since she was 6 and, even though she was no longer competing, she found herself missing it. She spent Monday nights throughout her freshman year at the Mercyhurst Ice Center helping special needs individuals of all ages enjoy her favorite sport. She expects to do her BTG experience there this fall. “She didn’t have a good foundation to do the math,” he recalled, “and the courses were online, which made it 10 times more difcult.”Together, they worked through each problem on her practice tests, and she completed three classes with his help. Besides developing special relationships with the skaters she was paired with, she also taught them life lessons – like how to fall and then get back up again. “Our motto was ‘I can do it. I can skate,’ which was really empowering for these kids,” she said.
- Tessa Sayre acknowledged she was very nervous when she started her placement at Pfeifer Burleigh Elementary School. “I can be really shy and wasn’t sure the kids were going to like me, plus there was a language barrier to overcome,” she said. “I wasn’t very experienced socializing with diferent types of people.” To help English language learners at the school, Mercyhurst volunteers brought in a tub of board and card games. Playing Uno, Chutes & Ladders, Connect Four and Jenga helped students hone their language skills and learn colors, numbers and shapes, all while having fun. “We were living the Mercy Mission in a class,” she added. “I still can’t believe I get to be part of it.” A Cleveland resident, she’s majoring in sports medicine and pre-med. “The unexpected was a little scary,” she added, “but I realized that kids, wherever they come from, are just kids.” With fve years of Spanish study, she was able to ask one of her students questions in his native tongue. “I was reaching out halfway, and I think it got him to trust me a little bit.”Tessa’s a psychology major from Albion, Pennsylvania.
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IT TAKES A VILLAGE... EMISSARIES ENSURE MERCY SPIRIT ANIMATES CAMPUS By Sean Cuneo Since Sister Lisa Mary McCartney frst came to Mercyhurst as a cadet student more than 50 years ago, Mercyhurst has experienced a number of milestones. The frst lay college president. The move to coeducation and the frst class of men. The frst graduate program. McCartney’s retirement in May, however, marked another important frst for Mercyhurst: For the frst time in the institution’s 92-year history, Mercyhurst does not have a Sister of Mercy employed full time on campus. “When I came to Mercyhurst, the president was a Sister, the dean was a Sister, Sisters worked in food service, every residence hall had at least one Sister. It was a diferent world,” McCartney said. With the numbers of priests and women religious declining on college campuses, faith-based institutions increasingly turn to newly established “mission ofcers” to safeguard their founding ideals. In 2008, Mercyhurst joined the ranks, naming McCartney as the frst vice president for mission integration and charging her to assimilate the university’s educational mission, Catholic identity and legacy of the Sisters of Mercy. “I determined that the role of the vice president of mission would be to tend to employees,” she said. “If the employees get the mission, it is they who will pass it on through teaching and daily interactions with students.” In her frst years on the job, a campus-wide survey found that most people did not think Mercyhurst’s mission could continue without the Sisters of Mercy.
“Immediately, I thought that’s a perception we’ve got to change,” she said.
Following a series of discussions with a key group of administrators and faculty—“people who couldn’t say no to me,” she said—the decision was made to establish a voluntary employee Mercy Mission training program, which would become known as the Mercy Emissary Program. Loosely modeled on the Mercy Associate program of the Sisters of Mercy, the program—which is open to employees of all faith backgrounds— consists of a series of monthly gatherings throughout the academic year. The frst semester addresses Mercy while the second focuses on Catholic higher education. The training concludes with a daylong retreat. Alumni President Dr. Melanie Titzel and President Michael Victor present Sister Lisa Mary with the Sister Carolyn Herrmann Award, Mercyhurst’s highest alumni award. Natalie Koons presents a gift to Sister Lisa Mary on behalf of the Class of 2018, which endowed a scholarship in her honor as its Senior Class Gift.
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Sister Lisa Mary McCartney is surrounded by many of the faculty and staf who have completed training as Mercy Emissaries.
“We wanted to make it as available as possible,” McCartney said. “It’s important to understand the Mercy Emissary Program as a work of community, and not another committee.” Employees on the Erie and North East campuses responded with enthusiasm. During the frst year in 2015-16, about 40 individuals completed the program, with about 20 employees taking part in each of the past two years. With fewer Sisters at Mercyhurst than there once were, the Mercy Emissaries have seized the opportunity to preserve the Mercy Mission. They do so by volunteering at community events, planning retreats and prayer meetings, establishing ongoing programs to promote understanding of the Mercy Charism, and organizing welcome receptions for new U.S. citizens following naturalization ceremonies in Erie, to name a few recent activities. Notable for McCartney is the role the Emissaries play in keeping students’ well-being front and center at all times. This philosophy, grounded in a sense of community responsibility, is a characteristic of the Sisters that McCartney remembers from her own days as a student.
“The Sisters were always concerned with the students. It was nothing for a Sister in a residence hall to talk directly to the president with a concern about a student,” she said. “Rather than people just working in their own areas, we need that fuidity for the sake of the students.” Looking ahead to Mercyhurst’s future, change is inevitable. But McCartney is optimistic that thanks to buy-in from the university leadership, the Mercy Mission will continue to make Mercyhurst special. “The essential mission identity will protect Mercyhurst from becoming just another mid-size liberal arts college,” she said. “With a clear, vibrant mission identity, Mercyhurst can evolve while remaining distinctive, and be efectively nimble.” In addition to the Mercy Emissary program, the university has demonstrated its strong commitment to the Mercy Mission by weaving it into academics through the REACH core curriculum and into campus life with projects like the Door of Mercy to mark the Year of Mercy in 2016, to name a few recent initiatives. McCartney sees this as a testament to the way those working at Mercyhurst today seem to absorb the Mercy Mission and perpetuate the “mist in the halls,” as she calls it.
“Something in the atmosphere catches people here,” she said. “It doesn’t just attract people who are Catholic; it attracts people who have a depth and spirituality, and a sense of faith and service that animates them.” For now, though, Mercyhurst is still fortunate to have a few Sisters working part time on campus in various capacities. And as Greg Baker, former director of campus ministry, steps into the role of vice president for mission integration, McCartney still expects to have a presence on campus, visiting with students and employees and attending sporting events and performances. “It lets those on campus know the Sisters are still here, we still care about the place,” she said. “It also shows my confdence that I really do believe the Mercy Charism will be carried on by people of faith, service and goodwill.” As McCartney is often fond of saying, “the Sisters of Mercy don’t have a ‘lock’ on mercy. There is certainly a crying call worldwide for people to be merciful.” Thanks to her pioneering eforts, Mercyhurst employees and the growing ranks of Mercy Emissaries are rallying to answer that call.
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The Mercyhurst group at Peggy Fox’s wedding in 1975: (from left) Beverly Miller, Sharon Ford Watkins, Carol White Mohamed, Val McLaughlin, Karen Gallo Maragolio, Rochelle George Wooding, Sandy Sanchez, Kathy Duda Newman, Peggy Fox Lape and Wendy Hackinson Fitzmartin. TRAILBLAZERS: FIRST BLACK WOMEN AT HURST BONDED TO COPE WITH ISOLATION By Sue Corbran
A quick scan of Mercyhurst yearbooks of the 1950s and ‘60s quickly makes it clear: the student body was just about exclusively white. That began to change in the late ‘60s as more black women not only enrolled, but soon made their presence felt on campus. The frst cluster of black women arrived in 1966, and included Alicia King Redfern ’70, the late Beverly D. Miller ’70 and Rita Hazel Johnson ’71. They were soon followed by Carol Blue ‘71, Sharon Ford Watkins ’71, Rochelle George Wooding ‘71 and Carol White Mohamed ’73. Though they weren’t the only, or even the frst, black women at Mercyhurst, many of these women gravitated together, forging friendships that have endured to the present. Being black in a predominantly white environment was nothing new for several of these women. Carol (Mohamed), Alicia and Sharon had all attended mostly white high schools and weren’t fazed by being trailblazers at Mercyhurst. Rochelle’s high school, John F. Kennedy High School in Cleveland, was virtually all black, but she said she was actually excited by the prospect of studying with white students. “I thought I was pretty smart, and I wanted to see if I was as smart as white people,” she added with a laugh.
It was Dr. Barbara Chambers, her high school chemistry teacher and a 1960 Mercyhurst graduate, who encouraged Rochelle to check out Mercyhurst and arranged for her to visit the campus. The two remain close friends today. Peggy Fox Lape, on the other hand, was white and had virtually no experience with black classmates before she arrived at Mercyhurst and was assigned to room with Sharon. The two hit it of and roomed together for four years. Peggy became an integral part of the black women’s circle. “They were really my center,” she said. “I had white friends, but I developed so I had more black friends during the four years. “When we walked into the room we were sharing, I was a little excited. But my father walked in, put down my suitcases, turned around and walked out. Mom said he just wasn’t expecting … well, at that point we called them Negroes.” But by the time her dad returned for Father-Daughter Weekend the following spring, things had changed. “He ended up being dad for all of us. I told him, ‘See Dad, they’re just like me.’ He got to love them all, and all of them came to my wedding,” she said.
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INTENSE BONDING All students tend to gravitate toward others like themselves, but for these black women, the bonding was even more intense. While none of them recall facing any open hostility or overt racism, all agreed that they felt very isolated at Mercyhurst. “I think mainly there was some passive aggressive behavior but little overt hostility,” recalled Sharon. Alicia said, “I didn’t feel hostility or negativity, but I did feel isolated. Coming from D.C., it was lonely at Mercyhurst. Erie was very, very diferent. It may have been more of an adjustment to Erie than to Mercyhurst.” “I did not feel discriminated against, but socially we were isolated unless we found a way to make our own fun,” Carol (Mohamed) said. “I didn’t experience bigotry, but sometimes there can be some racism just from a sense of superiority. Like, ‘I feel sorry for you because you are in a minority race.’” “There weren’t situations at Mercyhurst that nurtured social life for minority women. There would be mixers, but the people who attended them were majority race,” Carol (Mohamed) noted. Rochelle agreed, “They were dating. We weren’t dating – who would we date?”
SPRING OF 1968 All the women mentioned spring of 1968 – following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. – as a tough time for black students on campus. Sharon said, “I vividly recall MLK’s assassination and how a number of us were gathered in the dorm lounge watching TV and were devastated by his death and the riots that followed. And I also remember the insensitivity of one individual in particular who said out loud as we watched, ‘I’m so glad my family lives in the suburbs and away from all that.’ A heated discussion followed and I’ll leave it at that.” Rochelle’s memory is even more wrenching. As images of burning cities flled the newscasts, she says a white classmate asked her, “If they told all black people to start killing white people, would you do it?” Peggy said she noticed a change in her friends during their sophomore year when their identities as black women were becoming stronger. “It was hard on me because I didn’t understand why I felt alienated from them,” she explained. “I wanted things to be the way they were. I didn’t think there was anything wrong, which shows just how naïve I was coming from my background.” It fell to Alicia – who described herself as the militant of the group – to try to explain the situation to the university as a whole. “The university was attempting to become more sensitive to issues going on in America, and that was one you couldn’t overlook,” she said. In a speech to the college community, she tried to relate what Dr. King’s death meant to African-Americans, and why riots were breaking out in so many metropolitan areas. Before Alicia arrived at Mercyhurst in 1966, she said, administrators polled the cadet teachers who were on campus that summer to see if there was someone who wouldn’t mind rooming with an African-American. Candy Sporer volunteered and the two got along well, sharing a room for two years until Candy left campus for her full-time teaching assignment. “If there was anyone described as being militant, it would have been me,” Alicia said candidly. “I gave all my professors a hard time because I didn’t think they were emphasizing the black experience enough.” When her art survey course failed to mention African-American artists, she did her own report on Henry Tanner, one of the frst African- 11
around more African-Americans. She organized the Association of Black Collegiates (ABC), which included students at Gannon and Villa Maria colleges as well as her friends at Mercyhurst. ABC sponsored social events; hosted an Erie appearance by comedian and activist Dick Gregory; did tutoring and other service projects in Erie’s inner city; and even staged a production of Jean Genet’s provocative drama The Blacks for the Mercyhurst Drama Festival. LEAVING THEIR MARK AT MERCYHURST Though their number was small, the black women were making an impact at Mercyhurst as well, including Rochelle, who was elected the frst African-American president of Mercyhurst student government in 1970-71. At that time of growing student activism, the government was known as RUS – the Representative Union of Students – and had a voice in the College Senate. “Mercyhurst had a way of wanting us to experience certain things, to be an ofcer, to be involved in politics, to be a leader, and to be responsible for someone other than yourself,” Rochelle mused. “They encouraged us to run for ofce and I really found out about politics – about how things could get done if the right person said the right thing to the right people.” She noted that her white classmates encouraged her to run and supported her in the election. Sharon recalled, “Mercyhurst truly developed and cultivated my complete love of theater to this day. The Blacks was the frst time I was involved with and actually acted in a play. I would go on to be involved in several other theater productions, both onstage and working behind the scenes while there. My interest in politics and voter registration issues also began and fourished there.” Carol (White) Mohamed recorded another frst – the frst African-American student to receive the Carpe Diem Award, the highest award presented to a graduating senior.
At times they felt overlooked, even invisible.
In a piece for the Merciad , Rochelle tallied the number of images of black students in the 1968 yearbook. “Out of 312 pictures in the yearbook, black girls were only in 3,” she wrote. “And out of eight of us on campus, at that time, only 4 managed to qualify for ‘candid’ photos.” She added, “Just for the record, we read books in the library. We sleep in class. We talk with teachers. We participate in Italian Night. Polish Night. Halloween Night. We lay on our beds in our rooms and study. We wear curlers in our hair. We laugh – we cry.” Alicia came up with one solution to the isolation she felt at Mercyhurst and to her need to be
At a 2013 lunch in Washington, D.C.: (from left) Alicia King Redfern, Peggy Fox Lape, Sharon Ford Watkins, Carol White Mohamed, Carol Blue.
DEEP-ROOTED CONNECTIONS All of the women enjoyed successful careers after graduation. And all of them have maintained relationships with at least some of the others. They’ve attended each other’s weddings, celebrated birthdays together, and helped their friends through childbirth, medical crises and more. “I have to say that Rochelle has been the one who actively worked to keep us connected through the years,” Sharon said. “The group made a point of getting together every few years through the decades since we left Erie. Clearly Mercyhurst created a very special bond among us.”
American artists to gain international acclaim. “Every time you saw me, you knew what my conversation would be about,” she added. “I was in touch with African-American students throughout the United States and constantly bringing news of what was going on and what we could do to members of the ABC.” Alicia said that, while the other black people with whom she has talked over the years said they had enjoyed their college years, her own experience was diferent. “For me it was a battle every day. … My greatest disappointment was because I became so involved with the ABC and trying to make the student body and city of Erie aware of what was going on in America with African-Americans, I kind of let my studies fall and did not graduate with honors which I should have.” Alicia was Mercyhurst’s last Latin major.
Others have stayed in touch on a one-to- one basis. Alicia saw Rochelle because of the sorority they both belong to, and met up with Carol (Mohamed) when she visited Pittsburgh for meetings and conferences. “I love all of them today. Chelle and I are in touch all the time,” Peggy noted. “I’m fortunate to have them in my life. They were always there for me. A real sisterhood.” Rochelle coined another name for that sisterhood. When Beverly Miller died, Rochelle wrote a tribute in the form of a prose poem. She signed it: Carpe Diem! The true Sistahs of Mercy , Rochelle, Sharon Ford Watkins, Carol “Blue,” Carol “White” Mohamed, Peggy Fox Lape, Alicia King Redfern
ROCHELLE GEORGE WOODING ‘71
ALICIA KING REDFERN ‘70
Rochelle, who had been diagnosed with MS before arriving at Mercyhurst, fell ill and was hospitalized during her senior year. She had to complete her English degree during summer school in 1971. Married the following spring, she moved with her husband to Maine’s Loring Air Force Base and began substitute
Alicia worked with Erie’s Urban Coalition for a while after graduation, but soon headed to Philadelphia, where she earned both a master’s and a doctorate in educational psychology from Temple University. She later earned a postdoctoral certifcate in gerontology from the College of St. Scholastica. She’s now retired after teaching at the college level for 28 years, most recently at Bloomsburg
teaching. When they returned to Cleveland, she got another teaching job, where some of her former teachers were now her colleagues. Finally, her husband’s career took them to Chicago, where she had a 29-year career with the Chicago Public Schools. Always a book lover, she had already earned credentials in reading, but she then pursued a master’s degree in library science and worked in an elementary school library. She faced new health challenges in 1989, when she had to go on dialysis and eventually needed a kidney transplant. Almost 30 years later, she still has the kidney her sister donated to her. Her MS now confnes her to a wheelchair, but Rochelle stays as active as she can with her church and with Delta Sigma Theta, a historically black sorority that’s involved in community service including tutoring, voter registration drives, and projects to help families. Mercyhurst honored Rochelle with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999.
University, where she’s a professor emerita. During her tenure there, she received the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Outstanding Women of Color Faculty Award, as well as Bloomsburg’s Outstanding Woman Award and Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. Alicia founded the Circle of Sisters, an African-American women’s service organization, in Bloomsburg; is active with Delta Sigma Theta service organization; and served as eastern regional director, vice president and journal editor of the Pennsylvania Black Conference on Higher Education. She’s currently vice president and will soon assume the state presidency of the Pennsylvania chapter of PEO, a philanthropic education association that helps women achieve their educational goals. Alicia’s husband, Dr. Carroll Redfern, is also a professor emeritus at Bloomsburg. The frst African American faculty member hired by the university, he served as a chair of the special education department for 10 years before retiring. They have three daughters and fve grandchildren.
Rochelle George Wooding
During a visit to Aruba in July, Alicia King Redfern chanced to meet 2018 Mercyhurst graduate Ryan Kronmiller.
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CAROL WHITE MOHAMED ‘73
SHARON FORD WATKINS ‘71
Carol took her frst job out of college with Pittsburgh’s Equitable Gas Company as a customer service representative. She used her home economics training to help customers better use their gas appliances. Six
Following graduation, Sharon earned her master’s degree in social work at the University of Pittsburgh, and then earned a fellowship from the National Institute for Mental Health to study drug and alcohol addiction at the Washingtonian Center for Addictions in Boston. Returning to Pittsburgh, she worked for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse for several years. In 1978, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work
years later, she was promoted into the company’s human resources department. In 1990, she was recruited by Duquesne Light, Pittsburgh’s electric utility company, as director of compensation. Late In 1994, she was recruited again, joining the University of Pittsburgh to head up its employment and employee relations divisions. She flled a number of roles at Pitt, but for the last 10 years before her retirement in 2015 she directed the Ofce of Afrmative Action, Diversity and Inclusion for all Pitt campuses. Since the late 1980s, Carol has been active with Lott Carey International Ministries, a global Christian mission community that now works in 26 countries around the world. She is currently president of its women’s unit, Women in Service Everywhere (WISE). She has gone on Lott Carey mission trips to Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, and will travel in October to Nigeria. Working with superintendents who are natives of these countries, she has served in day care centers, orphanages, soup kitchens and food pantries, and provided one-on-one counseling at centers for the addicted and women who have been rescued from human trafcking operations.
for Dorothy I. Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women. That experience instilled in her a love of activism, public policy and politics that would inform the rest of her work career. At the end of December 2017, she retired after 23 years as feld director of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, an organization devoted to ending breast cancer through the power of advocacy and action. She loved her work directing and managing grassroots advocates across the country as the coalition forwarded a progressive public policy agenda that included working for passage of the Afordable Care Act. While working in Washington, she met and married Alex Watkins Jr. in 1987. A Chicago native and Howard University graduate, he passed away in 1994. Since retirement, she’s been spending time with her family in Pittsburgh, and is actively involved in her church (Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia) and in political resistance.
Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, congratulates Sharon Ford Watkins on her 20+ years of service with NBCC.
BEVERLY DIANE MILLER ‘70
An English major at Mercyhurst, Beverly earned a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship, an award that recognized “the most intellectually promising 1970 graduates who plan a career in college teaching.” She went on to earn an M.A. in English Literature, with a concentration
MARGARET (PEGGY) FOX LAPE ‘71
Peggy majored in elementary education and taught for 38 years in the public schools of her hometown, Elizabeth, New Jersey. She received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award for the Elizabeth Public School District in 1998. She retired about 10 years ago. Her husband, James (Jim), is also retired. They sold their former home in Mountainside and now
in African-American Literature, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973 and completed coursework for a Ph.D. in English at Morgan State University. Beverly taught within the Department of English and Foreign Languages at Fayetteville State University for more than 30 years, and also taught at Morgan State University, UNC Pembroke at Fort Bragg, Shaw University at Fort Bragg, Durham Technical Community College and UNC Chapel Hill. She received multiple National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships and was invited to speak in Avignon, France. She was active in the community with Steel Magnolias Inc. and Brother’s Keeper. She died Jan. 8, 2016, after a long, valiant struggle with liver cancer.
live on the Jersey Shore. They’ve been doing some traveling and the next move, she says, will be to California, where both their grown daughters live.
Peggy Fox Lape with daughters Erin and Megan
Beverly Miller and Rochelle George Wooding
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