‘Summer baseball returns to Worcester’

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

BaseballFieldSummer baseball is officially returning to Worcester—more specifically to Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field this weekend. Last fall, the College of the Holy Cross announced the new partnership with the City, local business owner John W.S. Creedon Jr., and the Futures League, to bring summer baseball back to the Worcester community.

The Bravehearts, members of the 10-team  Futures Collegiate Baseball League, include four Holy Cross varsity baseball members: infielder Quinn Moynihan ’17, pitcher Sean Gustin ’16, first baseman Shane Sandoval ’16 and pitcher George Capen ’17.

The Bravehearts will take on the Pittsfield Suns  in their home opener on Thursday, June 5, to what general manager, David Peterson hopes will be a full stadium. His high hopes extend to what he thinks will be a more “hands-on” ownership of the Bravehearts by  John Creedon Sr. and Jr.  Peterson asserts that having the Creedons, who own a local catering and tent rental company, “means a lot because they’ve been in business here in the city for 30 years now, and they understand the fabric of the Worcester community.” John Sr.’s plans to work the Bravehearts owned concession booths himself, to ensure “the food is prepared properly and the lines aren’t too long.”

On June 6, Central Mass rival, Wachusett, visits, followed by a post-game fireworks display, and two-time FCBL Champion, Nashua, comes to town on Saturday, June 7. The opening weekend will be capped off with an afternoon game on Sunday, June 8, against the Seacoast Mavericks from Portsmouth, N.H.

Related information

Media Coverage

June 5 MassLive: Worcester Bravehearts bring baseball back to the city this weekend

This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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English Professor Draws Link Between Shakespearean Play and Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Joao Vickttor De Carvalho '15

LeeOserA popular question in Shakespearean studies today is whether or not Shakespeare grew up Catholic. And if he did, were there Catholic texts that influenced his writing?

These questions are of particular interest to Lee Oser, professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross, and the subject of an essay he authored that was recently published in Literary Imagination, a peer-reviewed journal published by Oxford University Press.

In the essay, “Imagination, Judgment, and Belief in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’” Oser draws a connection between a passage in The Spiritual Exercises (1548) of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, and a famous speech on imagination by Theseus in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Oser examines a specific passage in The Spiritual Exercises where Ignatius instructs retreatants to subject the length, breadth, and depth of Hell to the eyes of the imagination. Oser goes on to say that Shakespeare seizes on this implicit defense of imagination and makes that a question in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through Theseus’ speech. This question asks whether imagination is something people should believe in, or whether it is a kind of gull, a deceiver, of the mind.

Oser’s essay builds on the work of scholars such as Garry Wills and Stephen Greenblatt, both Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, who have connected Shakespeare to Jesuit circles in England. It is this body of scholarship that supports Oser when he points to five specific areas in Theseus’ speech that very closely parallel Ignatius’ writings in The Spiritual Exercises.

When asked how he discovered the connection, Oser mentioned that he had Theseus’ speech fairly well memorized, but it was really because of his daily regimen of reading Latin that he was able to make the link between these two distinct texts.

The essay isn’t Oser’s only foray into Catholic literature. He brings a Catholic perspective to his second novel, “The Oracles Fell Silent,” which was released earlier this year. He spoke to Telegram & Gazette about the new book earlier this year.

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‘Top 100 most influential UK and US universities on Twitter’

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Tulips on campusThe College of the Holy Cross was recently ranked for its Twitter presence in a list of the top one hundred universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, by the Times Higher Education. Considering how many people follow each university on Twitter and how many the institution follows, as well as the number of tweets sent out by the institution daily and how many of those are retweeted, Holy Cross fell among the top fifty most influential higher education accounts in America. In the company of large research universities, the College’s “social authority” ranking tied with that of Colgate University, and was surpassed by only two liberal arts schools.

“We believe our success on Twitter can be attributed to the wide range of engaging stories the College has to share — from ground-breaking faculty scholarship to student research to beautiful imagery of campus,” says Christian Santillo, associate director of college marketing and communications for college web communications.  “Our followers, many of whom are members of our student body or loyal alumni network, are enthusiastic about Holy Cross and are eager to retweet and share our content with their followers.”

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This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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Blog: Holy Cross President Reflects on Ignatian Pilgrimage

Posted on June 2, 2014 by

WHAT Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., president of the College of the Holy Cross, will lead a pilgrimage to visit sites in Spain and Rome that are significant in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

WHO ELSE IS GOING Fr. Boroughs will be accompanied by about 30 members from the College’s Board of Trustees, Advisory Board, and senior leadership team, some of whom will also be sharing their thoughts in this blog.

WHY THEY’RE GOING The pilgrimage — which dozens of Holy Cross faculty and administrators have previously embarked upon — is designed to enrich the understanding of the College’s Jesuit mission, and provide new perspectives on the distinctive place of Holy Cross in higher education today.

WHEN June 9-16

WHERE Through Northern Spain, the pilgrims will follow Ignatius’ path from Loyola Castle, the site of his birth and conversion while recovering from battle wounds, to the cave at Manresa where he lived for nearly a year, praying and practicing what would become his Spiritual Exercises. The pilgrimage continues with visits to the monastery at Montserrat, the birthplace of St. Francis Xavier and the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Then, in Rome, they will visit Ignatius’ home, the church he founded, and the sites of other early Jesuit ministries.

Read the blog, “In the footsteps of St. Ignatius” »

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  • Check out our admissions and photo blogs, along with many of our other online journals at me.holycross.edu  FrBoroughs_RS57480_rjFB812059ret-lpr
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‘Not a VA Scandal, But a War Scandal’

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Schneider1In a recent article for Dissent Magazine, Jack Schneider, assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross, discusses the current issues surrounding the Department of Veteran Affairs. Various VA hospitals have recently been exposed for using unauthorized waiting lists to hide the realities of the veterans who wait months to get care—a scandal that has brought forth what the public understands as being new issues, but which veterans and their families know to be decades old.  “The core issue in this unfolding scandal is not one of corruption, of bureaucratic dysfunction, or of administrative incompetence,” Schneider says. “Instead, the problem is rooted in how we calculate the cost of war, which has consistently and dramatically underestimated the price of caring for the wounded.”

As we continue to participate in war, the demand of care for the wounded continues to grow,  in turn overwhelming VA hospitals, which remain continuously understaffed. Schneider, who witnessed this first hand as his veteran father had to navigate this system, explains that “these men and women suffered because their collective needs were too numerous to be adequately addressed by the existing system—something most Americans, and even many of our political leaders, are unaware of.” While the current scandal comes as no surprise to Schneider, he asserts that least surprising of all “is how this latest tragedy is unfolding—as a scandal rather than as a call for action.”

This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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Students Learn About Life in Russia Beyond the Stereotypes Through Pen Pal Project

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

You could call it To Russia, With Love.

As political tensions increasingly define relations between the United States and Russian governments,  18 Holy Cross students in a Siberian literature course this semester were busy learning about real life in today’s Russia through an electronic pen pal project with 19 students at a Russian university.

Students in the Fire and Ice: Siberia in Fiction course, taught by Amy Adams, associate professor of Russian, were communicating with students from the Baikal International Business School at Irkutsk State University. Students in the Holy Cross course explore the natural and ethnographical history of the region, the idea of Siberia as a land of freedom, exile and captivity, and the great themes of Siberian fiction.

In addition to an online discussion forum, students talked with their Siberian peers through email, Twitter and Facebook (and the Russian equivalent, VK). They even held a webinar at the end of the semester. Because of the 13 hour time difference, students gathered at Holy Cross at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night, while their pen pals were in their 9 a.m. class on Wednesday morning.

The idea for the project took shape when Adams’s former student Drew Cummings ’13 won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Russia last year.

“I was looking for ways to make Siberia seem more real to students and contacted Drew,” Adams says. “He put me in touch with professors there in the international business school whose students were looking for ways to improve their English and learn more about American culture.”

From there the project heated up — and helped melt some of the icy stereotypes that plague Russia. Students on both sides were fascinated with each other and shared lots of information, pictures, MP3 files, and more, says Adams.

“The Irkutsk students are extremely well read and want to discuss American literature, but often tell our students about their world travels and their recreational activities, which include things like sky diving, scuba diving and surfing — not what you think of when you think about Siberians! This information, I think has prevented my students from forming stereotypical ideas about Siberia. Instead they tend to think of Siberia as a place rich in future possibilities,” she says.

Students in the course say it is among the best experiences they’ve had at Holy Cross.

“The pen pal project was one of the most enjoyable endeavors I have had during my first two years at Holy Cross,” says David Grillo ’16, an economics major and Russian minor, who will be taking part in the College’s study abroad project to Moscow this summer.

“It brought learning out of the classroom and made me realize just how small the world we live in really is. In a way it makes me realize that the things we fight over and go to war over are in fact trivial. At the end of the day, all we really have is each other. My pen pal Christie helped me realize that, and I can’t wait to visit them this summer.”

Adams says she was delighted to walk into class to hear excited updates about new Russian friends amid all the tough talk between the U.S. and Russian governments.

“I give students full credit for taking to the idea so readily and for being so open and positive about the project,” she says.

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Holy Cross Receives STARTALK Grant for Third Year in a Row

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Jacqueline Smith ’15

Startalk Holy Cross has been awarded a  $90,000 STARTALK grant to convene a 10-day summer residential program on literacy development in Chinese as a foreign language (CFL).  This is the third year in a row that the College has received STARTALK funding for this program.  STARTALK programs are a component of the National Security Language Initiative, aimed at expanding and improving the teaching and learning of ‘critical languages,’ strategically important world languages that are not widely taught in the United States.  The program will run July 21-31, 2014.

The proposal was authored by Claudia Ross, professor of Chinese in the department of modern languages and literatures, and she will serve as the program director.  The leadership team also includes Baozhang He, associate professor of Chinese in the department of modern languages and literatures, who will serve as the program coordinator, and Dr. Meng Yeh, associate director of the Center for the Study of Languages at Rice University, who will serve as the instructional lead. The program will begin with workshops led by two leading researchers in the field of Chinese literacy development, Dr. Michael Everson, professor emeritus at the University of Iowa, and Dr. Helen Shen, associate professor of Chinese at the University of Iowa.

“STARTALK grants are very competitive, and we are thrilled to have received funding three years in a row,” says Ross. “Holy Cross is one of only 40 STARTALK-funded Chinese teacher training programs in the country and the only one in the state of Massachusetts.”

Literacy acquisition is the most challenging part of learning Chinese says Ross. There are three main difficulties. Characters: the unit of Chinese writing, the character, reflects meaning rather than systematic pronunciation, and learners have to know 5000-7000 characters in order to read a newspaper.  Word boundaries: most Chinese words consist of two or more characters, but in a Chinese text, characters are evenly spaced on the page so that word boundaries are not apparent.  Spoken-written divide: formal written texts use vocabulary and grammatical features that do not occur in contemporary speech.  Learners cannot simply transfer over what they know about the spoken language when they read a Chinese text.”

There have been many studies of Chinese literacy acquisition among first and second language learners of Chinese, but the findings have not made their way into the CFL classroom in any systematic way.  The goal of the Holy Cross STARTALK literacy program has been to use research findings to develop ‘best practices,’ effective instructional strategies for teaching students how to read Chinese.

As in the past, participants at this year’s program will be 25 Chinese language teachers representing U.S.-based Chinese programs from kindergarten through college. Together, they will study research on literacy acquisition among first and second language learners of Chinese, they will apply research findings to develop best practices in Chinese literacy instruction for learners at different grade-level groups, and they will design teaching modules that illustrate the application of these practices in the classroom.  These modules, as well as reading lists and summaries of research on Chinese literacy acquisition and recommended best practices in literacy instruction will be located on the project’s website.

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‘Men’s Anger, Women’s Fear — How Do We Change These Scripts?’

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

CohenthumbA regular contributor to WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Leah Hager Cohen, W.H. Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, and acclaimed nonfiction writer and novelist, offers her thoughts on what we do and do not say when it comes to issues of gender inequality in response to the recent murders at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Recalling her emotions as a 16 year old not wanting to kiss a boy in a school play, Cohen explains the lengths she went to in order to avoid doing so, saying she remembers thinking she “was responsible for not letting him feel bad.”

“We live in an era some people blithely call post-feminist. Even the language we attach to certain types of male behavior (‘caveman,’ ‘Neanderthal’) suggests that sexism is, quite literally, a thing of the past,” writes Cohen. “I think my silence around this subject, then and now, is linked to a confused sense that acknowledging any fear regarding what men are capable of would be regressive, shameful. That it might set us back as women. That it might hurt the men we are close to. But of course, I realize as I write this: speaking truth never really sets us back, no more than covering up truth can ever really protect us.”

This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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Judd Lattimore Named Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach

Posted on May 27, 2014 by College of the Holy Cross

Judd LattimoreJudd Lattimore has been named the new head coach of the men’s lacrosse program at the College of the Holy Cross, director of athletics Nathan Pine announced. Lattimore joins the Crusaders after spending the last two seasons as the top assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of his coaching career, he has helped lead four different schools to NCAA Tournament appearances at the Division I level, in addition to coaching in two NCAA Division II championship games.

“I am excited to welcome Judd Lattimore and his wife, Bonnie, to the Holy Cross family,” said Pine. “Judd is a highly accomplished coach who has been successful at multiple institutions, he has played important roles in all facets of running top collegiate programs. Judd has an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing top-level talent and I am confident he is the perfect person to take Holy Cross Lacrosse to new heights.”

As the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator on the staff at Penn, Lattimore played an instrumental role in the team’s success over the past two years. In 2014, he helped guide the Quakers to an overall record of 11-4, the Ivy League tournament championship and the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Penn previously posted an 8-5 mark during the 2013 campaign, for an overall record of 19-9 during Lattimore’s two seasons on the staff. The Quakers also led the nation in goals against average in 2013, despite playing a schedule that ranked second nationally in terms of strength.

“I am extremely excited to become part of the community at Holy Cross, and I would like to thank Nate Pine and everyone in the athletic department for the opportunity,” said Lattimore. “I look forward to joining such a prestigious academic institution and having the chance to work with the outstanding student-athletes who are a part of the program. Holy Cross athletics has a great history and I look forward to building upon that outstanding foundation.”

Read the entire article on GoHolyCross.com

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Holy Cross Awards 675 Bachelor of Arts Degrees During Commencement Exercises

Posted on May 23, 2014 by

In his impassioned address at the College’s 168th Commencement Exercises held on May 23, Jon Favreau ’03, former director of speechwriting for President Barack Obama and co-founder of Fenway Strategies, told members of the Holy Cross Class of 2014 to choose hope and optimism over cynicism.

Under cloudy skies on Fitton Field, a total of 675 men and women were awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees before family and friends of the graduates, Holy Cross faculty, administrators, staff and honored guests.

Favreau returned to the Holy Cross Commencement stage where he delivered the valedictory address just 11 years earlier. In his speech to graduates, Favreau, who also received an honorary degree, imparted advice about career choices they will make, the importance of family and friends in their lives, and the world that they now have the power to change.

A political science major at Holy Cross, the 32-year-old told graduates that he was planning on attending law school when, about 12 hours before his graduation, he received an offer to be the press office assistant on John Kerry’s presidential campaign. A few years later the North Reading, Mass., native became director of speechwriting for President Obama from the beginning of his term as a United States Senator through early 2013.

After watching the recent “NBC Nightly News” piece that profiled students who took part in a large community service project throughout the city of Worcester, Favreau was reminded how seldom it is to come across a news story about the selfless devotion that motivates people around the world.

“Never forget that such devotion exists,” he implored graduates. “Never lose the palpable faith in human progress that is the greatest gift of a Jesuit education from Holy Cross. … My wish today is that you choose to hope – hard and risky as it may be. My wish is that you choose to give others the same presumption of good faith that you want to be given. My wish is that despite all the sound and logical reasons not to, you choose to try.”

Favreau said Holy Cross has prepared the graduates to meet the inevitable obstacles they will face in their lives.

“Life is a wonderful struggle. And we are all very lucky that this special place on a hill has prepared us to live it well – with grace, love, patience, and above all, hope.”

In his valedictory address, graduating senior Jeffrey Reppucci, of Newburyport, Mass., urged his classmates that, in addition to pursuing their vocational aspirations and personal ambitions, they continue to stay aware of social justice issues and live lives of service. During his undergraduate career, Reppucci, a Russian major and member of the men’s hockey team, established several major community service projects both in the U.S. and abroad. Earlier this week, he was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Argentina for the 2014-15 academic year, and plans to launch another community service project while he’s there.

“Service is taking the time to notice and reflect on the needs and injustices in our society and to act on them,” he said.

In addition to Favreau, honorary degrees were also conferred on Rochelle M. Bard ’98, a critically acclaimed soprano, and Rev. John W. Padberg, S.J., an internationally recognized scholar and author.
Favreau_CAN20826

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‘Leah Hager Cohen: By the Book’

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Cohen2The New York Times sits down with critically acclaimed nonfiction writer and novelist, and the Jenks Chair of Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, Leah Hager Cohen to talk about books—books that have made her furious, inspired her, and even ones that have yet to find home on her night stand. “There has been no period in my life when I didn’t guzzle books,” says Cohen. With years of being read to as a child as her foundation—books from “The Fools of Chelm” to “D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths”—Cohen makes her close connection with books evident. She notes Lewis Hyde’s “The Gift,” as the last great book she has read, calling it a “generous, unsettling, chimerical work.” Cohen is not as generous with “The Da Vinci Code,” saying that although she typically has a kind of “allergic reaction to water-cooler books,” this one somehow managed to slide past her “fortifications,” sucking her in, but in the end leaving her irritated at how “unbelievably bad” it was. Cohen also shares some of her literary heroes, like Iona Opie and Peter Schumann, as well as literary oversights, like Milton and Conrad.

After responding to a question about hosting a hypothetical literary dinner party, Cohen proposes her own hypothetical party:  “Now might I pretend you asked the same question about fictional characters?” says Cohen. “Because I have a fantasy of doing something similar with Mrs. Ramsay from “To the Lighthouse” and Ellen Fairchild from “Delta Wedding.” I think they would find each other kindred; they are both so lovely and mysterious, full of sad beauty and lightly worn grace. And there’s so much we never get to learn about their lives! I would tempt them with lemonade and cake and settle in the grass at their feet, all hope, all ears.”

This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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‘In India, Modi is everywhere’

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Mat SchmalzIn light of his most recent travels to India, Matthew Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, wrote an op-ed for Worcester’s Telegram & Gazette on Narendra Modi, India’s newly appointed prime minister and a very controversial figure. Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, announced he would be standing for parliament from Varanasi, considered one of the most sacred cities for Hindus, as well as being a part of India’s most populated and politically influential state. Although there is concern for Modi’s potential push of a Hindu nationalist agenda, religious tensions were eclipsed by the excitement surrounding the announcement.

Economic growth is among the positive outcomes expected from Modi’s appointment. “It is true that Indian economic growth has slowed in recent years — especially in urban areas like Varanasi,” writes Schmalz. “While Modi does have a strong Hindu nationalist constituency, his support was quite broad and cannot be reduced to simple jingoism. He himself worked at his family tea shop in his youth and his rags to riches story has a strong resonance for many Indians hoping for a society that increases opportunities for all Indians, not just those for those in the political class.”

Read the article on the Telegram & Gazette website.

This is a “Holy Cross in the News” item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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Holy Cross Produces Nine Fulbright Scholars

Posted on May 22, 2014 by

Eight members of the Class of 2014 and one member of the Class of 2012 have been awarded Fulbright grants to work and teach abroad during the 2014-15 academic year. Since 2005, Holy Cross has received a total of 70 Fulbrights, and has consistently been among the nation’s top producers of Fulbright students at the undergraduate level.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is widely recognized as the most prestigious international exchange program in the world. The highly competitive grants are awarded on the basis of academic merit and professional promise.

This year’s recipients are headed to Argentina, England, Germany, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

“We had another strong Fulbright year with nine recipients — six English teaching assistants and three research grantees,” says Anthony B. Cashman, director of Distinguished Fellowships and Graduate Studies at the College. “For the English teaching assistants, the countries are quite spread out and include Kyrgyzstan, where Kyle Olsen will be the first-ever Holy Cross Fulbrighter. For the research Fulbrights, Michael Daly ’12 will pursue a master’s in security studies at the University of Sussex in England. Martha Walters ’14 will study organic farming in Indonesia, and Christine Roughan will use her classics training to learn about the burgeoning field of digital humanities at the University of Leipzig in Germany.”

Each year approximately 1,900 U.S. college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, awards grants to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 300,000 participants — selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.StJosephFenwickRS10191_IMG_1356

This year’s recipients are:

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Four Holy Cross Students Accepted into Teaching Assistant Program in France

Posted on May 21, 2014 by

Four members of the Holy Cross Class of 2014 have been accepted into the Teaching Assistant Program in France, a seven-month assistantship that will have them teaching English to French-speaking students. The program is sponsored by the Higher Education Department of the French Embassy in the United States.

Alexandra Constantine, of Commack, N.Y., is an English major and French minor with an environmental studies concentration. She will be teaching in the school district of Créteil. She is considering a career in teaching, and has a strong interest in dealing with food security. She is going to use this experience to gauge her interest in education, but she also has strong aspirations to use her writing and  communication skills to support an equitable food system. Her long-term goal is to publish a novel.

Jessica DeVito, of Andover, Mass., is a French major in the health professions advisory program. She will be teaching middle school/high school students in the school district of Reims. She is considering teaching or a working in the health professions.

Kristina Kutsukos, of South Glastonbury, Conn., is a French and religious studies double major with a peace and conflict studies concentration. She will be teaching at a high school in the school district of Marseille. She is considering a career in education, and is looking to explore her passions uniting religion with political issues and working for peace.

Lily Meehan, of Wayne, Pa., is a French and art history double major. She will be teaching in the school district of Dijon. She plans to go to graduate school for decorative arts design as well as art business. She would like to work in an auction house or art gallery.

Each year, more than 1,100 American citizens and permanent residents teach in public schools across all regions of metropolitan France and in the overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion. Participants gain excellent teaching experience and first-hand knowledge of French language and culture.

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Reppucci ’14 Awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Argentina

Posted on May 21, 2014 by

Jeffrey Reppucci ’14, of Newburyport, Mass., has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Argentina where he will teach English to high school students during the 2014-15 academic year. The announcement caps Reppucci’s remarkable undergraduate career at the College of the Holy Cross which will end on May 23 when he delivers the valedictory address during Commencement Exercises.

A Russian major and member of the men’s hockey team, Reppucci has made a significant impact on campus, in the City of Worcester, and in communities around the world. In Argentina, Reppucci plans to launch a community service project replicating the success of numerous projects he executed over the past several years by combining his passions: working with kids, sports programming and infrastructure, and wellness and recreation.

Reppucci is the co-founder and president of the 501(c)3 non-profit organization Students Helping Children Across Borders. Along with the help of other Holy Cross students, the organization brings recreation and wellness opportunities/education to underdeveloped communities abroad. He has led the organization to design, fundraise and execute more than $200,000 worth of infrastructural development projects and community programming in five different countries (United States, Russia, Argentina, Haiti and Uganda). He designed and implemented a $22,000 community-building project in Suzdal, Russia, centered on fighting alcoholism in children through sports/recreation infrastructure and programming. Reppucci raised funds for and built a $5,000 home for a family in an underdeveloped neighborhood through a partnership with an Argentinian NGO and many student groups. He also developed wellness resources for the children in the community. Reppucci launched a $12,000 youth empowerment program at the IDEJEN School in Jeremie, Haiti, where 80 Haitian students are working together to build a commercial soccer field and launch the community’s first organized youth soccer league.

He is also the co-founder and executive director of Working for Worcester, where Holy Cross is located. Last year the project mobilized 540 college students from seven Worcester area colleges and universities to construct more than $62,000 worth of infrastructural improvements at 12 of the city’s recreation spaces. This year’s project mobilized more than 1000 volunteers, raised more than $100,000 and renovated 20 community recreation sites in the city. The effort was featured on “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” on May 6.

Reppucci is a 2013 Truman Scholar, a 2013 Rhodes Scholarship finalist, and 2014 recipient of the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award. A three-time member of the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic team, he won a 2012 Katherine Wasserman Davis Fellowship for the Study of Critical Languages, awarded to students who demonstrate a potential for promoting peace on an international scale. He also won a 2012 Davis 100 Projects for Peace Grant, which is awarded for a service project that promotes peace. He earned a 2012-2013 Marshall Fund Grant for community development, awarded for student ambition to promote community development in Worcester. Reppucci also won a $10,000 Desmaris Scholarship for Academic and Community Leadership, a $6,000 Dana Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership and a $3,000 McCarthy Scholarship for Exceptional Academic Achievement.

In addition, Reppucci was co-chair of the Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture Committee; writer for the Telegram and Gazette’s Worcester Connects site; and summer 2013 intern at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, for Harry K. Thomas Jr. ’78, former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines.

This summer, before he begins his Fulbright, Reppucci will work at Save the Children alongside Mark Shriver ’86, senior vice president for strategic initiatives and senior advisor to the CEO, and, in August, will travel to Tanzania for a development project.

Each year approximately 1,900 U.S. college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, awards grants to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 300,000 participants — selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

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Artist and Former Astronaut Collaborate on Exhibit ‘Our Fragile Home’

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Cristal Steuer

Thought-StreamsThe Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross, will present “Our Fragile Home,” an installation of paintings and sculptural works by artist Pat Musick produced in collaboration with her husband, a former astronaut, Jerry Carr. The exhibition will be on view June 6 – July 25, with an opening reception and talk by the couple on Friday, June 6, from 2 – 4 p.m. in the gallery.

Pat Musick received her Ph.D. from Cornell University and has focused her artistic energies throughout her lifetime on the tensions between man and the environment. “Stone Songs on the Trail of Tears,” one of her more significant projects, involved 23 installations along the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 2002.  Her work is included in many public and private collections throughout the U.S., including the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Arkansas. Jerry Carr is a retired Colonel, USMC and NASA astronaut. Carr was commander of Skylab 4 (third and final manned visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop) from November 16, 1973 – February 8, 1974 and was part of the longest manned flight (84 days) at that time.  Carr logged more than 2,000 hours in space on his mission.

In 1990, Carr was invited along with 40 other astronauts and cosmonauts to participate in an Earth Day celebration at the United Nations. Six were chosen to reflect upon their feelings as they first looked back at Earth from space. In the audience, with a translation headset, Musick noted that the space travelers, speaking in their own languages without translation, all used the same words to describe their responses—beauty, sustain, harmony, nurture, steward, protect, fragile and balance.

It was this experience that prompted Musick to create a body of artwork that might in turn inspire others to reflect on our collective relationship to our planet.

The exhibit consists of several large-scale ink and watercolor paintings on kozo paper and a series of metal and glass sculptural pedestal tables.  The artists use stone, wood and beeswax, materials that represent the natural world, while steel, canvas and paper reflect human elements. Their artistic goals are to express the relationship between mankind and the environment and the tensions we exert upon each other.

Musick and Carr will give a presentation in the Gallery during the opening reception, which will further describe their shared goal of awakening a sense of stewardship of the earth through their work. As Musick states, the words used by those who had the privileged experience of being in space, “challenge us to become guardians and caretakers of our earthly home.”

EVENTS

Friday, June 6, 10 a.m. Exhibit Opens: “Our Fragile Home”

Friday, June 6, 2 – 4 p.m. Opening Reception

Friday, June 6, 3 – 3:30 p.m. Talk by Pat Musick and Jerry Carr

Please note:

Summer hours for the Cantor Art Gallery are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Gallery Information

Founded in 1983 through the generosity of Iris & B. Gerald Cantor, the Cantor Art Gallery serves both as a venue for a changing series of historical and contemporary public exhibitions, as well as a vital resource for Holy Cross faculty and students, linking exhibitions to the broader liberal arts curriculum.

Summer hours for the Cantor Art Gallery are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Located in O’Kane Hall, 1st Floor, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, Mass., 01610.  Visitors needing assistance with handicap accessibility should contact Public Safety at 508-793-2011. Admission to the gallery is free.

For additional information please call 508-793-3356 or visit the Gallery’s website.

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Holy Cross Student Featured as Central MA Standout

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Payton Shubrick '15Payton Shubrick ’15, co-president of the Student Government Association (SGA) at the College of the Holy Cross, was featured as Go Local Worcester’s Central MA College Standout, a weekly feature that profiles college and university students in Central MA.

A political science major with a concentration in Africana Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies, she said, “Political Science drew me because of my natural interest in law and government. I found it fascinating how things function in politics and why certain political institutions have cultural pressures depending on location.”

In the interview, she said she is passionate about “education and empowering both myself and others to make change for the better. I feel that all things are possible with hard work and collaboration.”

In addition to her role in the SGA, Shubrick is also a member of the women’s track and field team and the Black Student Union (BSU).

This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Jacqueline Smith ’15.

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‘Sunday Sit-down: Jon Favreau’

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Holy Cross in the News

Jon FavreauIn this week’s ‘Sunday Sit-down,’ Jon Favreau, a 2003 College of the Holy Cross alumnus and former director of speechwriting for President Obama, spoke with the Telegram and Gazette about his upcoming commencement address at the College. Favreau currently resides in Washington, D.C. and continues to work in the speechwriting business with his company, Fenway Strategies, as well as write for the Daily Beast. As he prepares to return to Fitton Field, Favreau recalls his own address as a student in 2003, when Chris Matthews ’67 delivered the commencement address, acknowledging these speeches as “a  time when we can be unabashedly hopeful and give inspiring advice.” Favreau attests much of his own inspirational while on the hill to his professors.

“I say this everywhere I go. I really would not be where am I today without the professors of Holy Cross,” says Favreau. “The benefit of going to such a small school is that I did not just learn from these professors in the classroom. I went to their office hours and got to know a lot of them really well. I think the professor I still think about the most was Professor Stephanie Yuhl, a history professor there. She actually advised me as I was writing my commencement, myself, she helped me on my thesis my senior year as well. I still love her because she taught me so much but she also treated me as an adult and spoke to me like an adult and had debates like an adult and I always appreciated that from her.”

Related News

This is a “Holy Cross in the News Item” by Evangelia Stefanakos ’14.

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Video: Galician Bagpiper Cristina Pato Kicks Off Arts Initiative With Rousing Performance

Posted on May 19, 2014 by

Students, faculty, staff and members of the general public who showed up to the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom recently for the launch of a new arts initiative at Holy Cross weren’t sure what to expect.

Attendees knew the event was intended to launch “Arts Transcending Borders” (ATB), a new initiative designed to infuse the fine and performing arts in students’ academic lives and create new opportunities throughout the curriculum and the community by transcending cultural, geographic and disciplinary boundaries.

They also knew Galician bagpiper, pianist, and composer Cristina Pato, who will be visiting artist in residence at the College next year, was set to perform.

What the standing room only crowd didn’t expect was a performance so captivating — both in Pato’s masterful command of the gaita (Spanish bagpipe) and her riveting band The Migrations — it quickly set the place abuzz and reached a climax when she commanded they join her in traditional Spanish dance.

ATB will examine the theme of ‘Time, Memory, and Identity” with Pato’s residency throughout the next academic year through a series of workshops, master classes, public lectures, performances, and other opportunities for interaction and learning.

In a video interview, which features clips of her performance (and the dancing audience!), Pato shares why she accepted the artist in residency position at Holy Cross, and what she hopes to bring to the College.

Related Information

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Holy Cross Music Prof. Wins Esteemed Composer Award

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Jacqueline Smith ’15

Chris Arrell Chris Arrell, assistant professor of music at the College of the Holy Cross, was recently awarded the distinguished Ettelson Composer Award for his piece “Of Three Minds.”  Arrell was one of two winners chosen from more than 200 applicants.

“Of Three Minds,” written by Arrell for critically acclaimed musicians Tony Arnold and Jacob Greenberg, is a setting of five sections from Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” (1917).  Inspired by Japanese haiku, each of the poem’s 13 sections presents the image of a blackbird as the focal point for a concise study in vivid landscape and nuanced inflection.

“‘Of Three Minds’ is a trio scored for vocalist, pianist, and laptop operator who, during a live performance, alters and augments the timbres, rhythms, and notes of the musicians with the aid of an interactive computer application that I created with the software program Max,” explains Arrell. “I teach this software in my music tech classes and it will also feature prominently in performances by the newly minted Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble, which will give its inaugural concert in the fall of 2014,” says Arrell.

As part of the award, Composers, Inc. will host Arrell as a guest composer and give the West Coast premiere of his winning work in Berkeley, California during their 2014-15 concert season.

The Ettelson Composer Award is given out annually by Composers Inc., a nonprofit advocate for living American composers. Composers may submit an anonymous audio file marked with a pseudonym.  The judges are the artistic directors of Composers, Inc.: Robert Greenberg, Frank La Rocca, Martin Rokeach, Allen Shearer, and Nick Vasallo.

Previous winners include Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higden, and Shirish Korde, professor and chair of the Holy Cross music department.

Media Coverage

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