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WORCESTER, Mass. — Six graduates of the College of the Holy Cross have received the Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree recognition bestowed by the College on an alumnus or alumna. The 15th annual presentation of the awards took place on Friday, May 4.

This year’s recipients are:

Francis M. Carroll ’60, legendary figure skating coach
Three of Carroll’s skaters have won the World Figure Skating Championships: Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan, and Evan Lysacek (who also won the men’s Olympic gold medal in 2010 in Vancouver). Carroll, a former competitive skater himself, won the bronze medal on the junior level at the 1959 U.S. Championships, and the silver medal in 1960).  He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame and was the 1997 Olympic Coach of the Year.

John F. Castellano ’71, legal advocate for poor and vulnerable
An attorney who has dedicated his life to advocating for the poor, mentally ill, and homeless, Castellano has worked since the 1990s as the attorney and director of the Mercy Advocacy Program (MAP), a legal services program which provides free legal services to people living in poverty on Long Island.  In November of last year, he played an important role in Mercy Haven receiving a $2.5 million state grant to develop new housing for homeless families.

Marian F. Earls, MD ’76, pioneering pediatrician
Earls is medical director at Guilford Child Health in Greensboro, N.C.  For the past 22 years, she has spearheaded efforts to recognize the complex developmental and emotional challenges faced by young children and their families, coordinating critical services, support, and advocacy. Her studies have documented, translated, and expanded knowledge about the best practices in the subspecialty of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics to a national audience and via the American Academy of Pediatrics.  A member of the first class of women at Holy Cross, she holds a master’s degree in theology from Harvard Divinity School and an M.D. from University of Massachusetts Medical School.

James E. Mulvihill, DMD ’62, advocate for improved health care and policy
Trained in dentistry, Mulvihill has held teaching and administrative positions at Harvard, SUNY Stony Brook, and the University of Connecticut. He has served as chairman of the Travelers Health Company; senior fellow in health policy at the Association of Academic Health Centers; and president of the Forsyth Dental Center.  During his tenure as president of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, he doubled annual program revenues and expenditures to support research.  He continues to be involved in a host of nonprofit health care organizations, including The First Tee, a national youth development program.

Richard J. Santen, MD ’61, leading authority in breast and prostate cancers
Recognized worldwide for his discoveries and research in the field of reproductive endocrinology, Santen has worked for 30 years to increase the understanding of hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers.  As professor of medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, he has taught and mentored scores of young doctors and researchers. Widely published, he has been active on scientific review groups at the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization.

Lisa M. Taylor ’96, federal civil rights attorney
At the Department of Justice, Taylor enforces education rights. She successfully corrected the over-identification of black students in special education in Louisiana; and addressed the failure of an Alabama school district to hire black teachers and to offer advanced placement classes to black students.  A former Naval Officer, she developed the USS Tarawa’s first harassment program, and at the University of Georgia Law School, she led the Mothers in Jail Project.  She has been honored with the National Bar Association’s “Nation’s Best Advocate” recognition (2010) and Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship (2011-12).

ABOUT THE SANCTAE CRUCIS AWARDS: The Sanctae Crucis Awards were established in 1998 to recognize the distinguished achievements of alumni. “The primary goals of the Sanctae Crucis Awards are to honor outstanding alumni and in so doing recognize and celebrate the distinctive mission of Holy Cross,” says Frank Vellaccio, senior vice president, who presents the awards to recipients. The Holy Cross Mission Statement is the foundation for the awards program, which honors alumni who are leaders in business, professional or civic life, who live by the highest intellectual and ethical standards, and who are committed to the service of faith and promotion of justice.

Past recipients have included: Erin Boyd ’99, a nutritionist and humanitarian relief worker with USAID and UNICEF; Jay A. Clarke ’88, a curator at the Chicago Institute of Art and the Clark Art Institute; John Higgins ’76, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times; Paul La Camera ’64, former general manager WBUR Radio in Boston; and John A. Zaia, M.D. ’64, a pioneering researcher and physician, City of Hope National Medical Center.

Maria Jaroszewicz ’12, of East Longmeadow, Mass., has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Poland, where she will teach English to Polish students. Her grant begins in October.

A classics major and a visual arts studio minor, Jaroszewicz has already devoted time to teaching English as a second language. For the past two years, she has worked as a substitute teacher in the English Learners Program in the West Springfield Public School system. Through her work, Jaroszewicz has learned that ESL students learn English best when the grammar and vocabulary are taught in conjunction with culture.

Jaroszewicz was born in Poland and moved to the United States when she was 2 years old.
When she arrives in Poland to do her Fulbright, she plans to immerse herself in the Polish culture so that she may better understand the history and society of the country and her relatives. She hopes that her experience will help her bridge the culture gap between her American upbringing and her Polish roots.

“I will teach the English language at a Polish university and relay my experiences as a Polish-American to help improve the caliber of the education. Since the region, people, and history of the United States mold the language, I hope to offer all that I have learned and acquired as a Polish-American raised in the United States to these students and, in turn, discover more about the culture of my ancestors,” she says.

Jaroszewicz hopes to continue her education in graduate school upon completion of her Fulbright experience. She is considering becoming a teacher of Latin and ancient Greek, but she is keeping her options open for opportunities and ideas that the Fulbright may afford her.

“Though I have a tentative plan with respect to a career after my Fulbright, I believe that that opportunity will undoubtedly shape my next move and may open doors and reveal unconsidered possibilities regarding my future,” she says.

At Holy Cross, Jaroszewicz serves as secretary on the executive board for the Campus Activities Board and has been the co-chair of two CAB committees for the past two years. She is also a member of Eta Sigma Phi, the national classics honor society.

Each year approximately 1,000 college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange. Fulbright grants are made 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 — chosen for their leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions.

Read about this year’s other Holy Cross Fulbright Grant recipients: Joseph Cavanaugh ’12, Mattea Cumoletti ’12, Caroline Galiatsos ’12, Daniel Geiger ’11, Eliza Gettel ’12, Heidi Grek ’12, Jaeyeon Lee ’12, Courtney Lesoon ’12, George Matthews ’12, and Peter Renehan ’12.

Michelle Oviedo ’12 knew the academics at Holy Cross were going to be challenging, but believed that she would succeed with hard work and the strong support network available at the College. Not only was she right, but encouraging faculty members also helped her pursue her passion. Oviedo’s academic, cocurricular, and service-based experiences at Holy Cross have reinforced her goal to become “a doctor of the globe” and help provide people in need with medical care.

Here are five interesting facts about Oviedo.

• Oviedo lives in Lawrence, Mass., where she was born and raised, but has spent most of her summers living in the Dominican Republic. She cites her stays in the Caribbean nation, where she witnessed the need for improved access to health care, as the impetus behind her choice to pursue a career in biomedicine.

• The premed psychology major has been involved in 10 diverse cocurricular activities during her college experience — all while being in the rigorous College Honors Program. She has been a member of Student Programs for Urban Development where she tutored students at the Belmont AME Zion Church in Worcester; a student worker at several offices at the College; an ambassador for the Study Abroad Program; a member of the novice crew team; a senior interviewer in the Office of Admissions; a member of the American Medical Student Association; and participated in the Spring Break Immersion Program three times.

• Saint Andrews was Oviedo’s home during her junior year abroad. Her study abroad experience in Scotland helped her become more independent and gave her the opportunity to grow personally, a process that she says began almost immediately after arriving to Holy Cross.

• Oviedo has met her commencement speaker. She and Paul Farmer, founding director of Partners In Health, met last month at Harvard University’s Biomedical Science Career Program, which is designed to provide students of every race, ethnicity, gender, and financial status with the support and guidance needed to enter the field of biomedical science. Oviedo was also accepted and attended the conference in 2010. Daniel Bitran, professor of psychology and science coordinator, encouraged her to attend both times. “I think that shows a lot about the faculty here at Holy Cross that he would continue to have me in mind though I just had him for one class,” Oviedo says.

• After graduation, Oviedo intends to work as a research assistant in a hospital or for the government to gain experience in the biomedical industry. She will then apply to medical school and continue her path toward helping members of the global community lead healthier and happier lives.

Related Information:

• Health Professions
• Psychology

Daniel Geiger ’11, of Maple Plain, Minn., has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Sri Lanka, where he will teach English to Sri Lankan students. He leaves for the country in October.

A sociology major with both an African Studies and an Asian Studies concentration, Geiger is familiar with teaching English to non-native speakers. When he was in high school, he spent a year teaching English as a second language to elementary school students. During his time at Holy Cross, he volunteered as a tutor teaching English to Vietnamese adults at the South East Asian Center through Student Programs for Urban Development.

Geiger also spent his junior year in Sri Lanka at the University of Peradeniya through the Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education program, where he came to understand the role that the English language played in Sri Lankan culture and social interaction.

“I met many brilliant Sri Lankan minds, but it seemed that a fluent grasp of English, often achieved through education abroad, united the most successful of those I met and marked the marginalization of the others I encountered. Through sharing my language with the next generation of brilliant minds, I plan to do my part to assist in the future success of each community by turning language from an obstacle to an asset,” said Geiger.

Upon completion of his Fulbright, Geiger intends to enroll in a master’s or Ph.D. program in order to begin his career in international development work, which he hopes will eventually take him back to work with people in Sri Lankan communities.

Each year approximately 1,000 college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange. Fulbright grants are made 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 — chosen for their leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions.

Read about this year’s other Holy Cross Fulbright Grant recipients: Joseph Cavanaugh ’12, Mattea Cumoletti ’12, Caroline Galiatsos ’12, Eliza Gettel ’12, Heidi Grek ’12, Maria Jaroszewicz ’12, Jaeyeon Lee ’12, Courtney Lesoon ’12, George Matthews ’12 and Peter Renehan ’12.

Nelson Place School

At a press conference on April 23, the Nelson Place School in Worcester honored the College of the Holy Cross for spearheading the Colleges of Worcester Consortium Intercollegiate Government Association’s effort to donate $5,318 for its new automated library system. 

Mayor Joseph Petty, Holy Cross Director of Government and Community Relations Edward Augustus, Superintendent of Worcester Public Schools Melinda Boone, President of the Nelson Place School Parent Teacher Organization Beth Proko, city officials, parents and students from Nelson Place School, and representatives from the Colleges of Worcester Consortium Intercollegiate Government Association, gathered at Nelson Place School to recognize the students’ efforts.

“The Intercollegiate Student Government Association wanted to give back to the community and this seemed like a perfect fit,” says Mayor Joseph Petty. “The students worked collaboratively, raised the necessary funds and volunteered their time to get the system up and running. I am impressed with the commitment and sense of community these students have brought to Worcester.”

The current card catalog at Nelson Place School library (which is operated by parent volunteers on part-time basis) is outdated, making it impossible for students and faculty to find specific books.

“There was little disagreement that an automated library management system would be a wonderful asset to our library, yet the cost and the challenge of entering thousands of books were huge deterrents,” explains Proko.

Members of the Holy Cross Student Government Association led the effort to raise money for the purchase of the Alexandria Library Management System, an automated system supported in other Worcester Public School libraries. Through the Colleges of Worcester Consortium Intercollegiate Government, Clark University, Becker College, Anna Maria College and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences all helped to raise money on their campuses. 

From April 24-27, students from the five colleges will add bar codes to all the books and catalog them on the shelves, so students and staff can locate books more easily.

“This generous donation of time and monies for the installation of the Alexandria System at Nelson Place is incredible,” says Proko. “The students will now be able to locate specific books they are interested in and our volunteers will be able to work with the school staff to evaluate what we have for books and where we can best increase our choices to support the students’ reading levels and project focuses.”

Holy Cross student organizer Kenneth Calemmo ’12 says engagement in the community is central to the College’s Jesuit mission, which seeks to create a sense of accountability and direct investment in Worcester. “The Nelson Place Library project provided the perfect venue for the Colleges of the Worcester Consortium to come together in an unprecedented way and make a small positive impact in the lives of others,” he shares. 

News Coverage

• WCTR/Channel 3 (April 23, 2012)
  College Students Honored at Nelson Place School

Peter Renehan ’12, of Cheshire, Conn., has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Indonesia for next year. A chemistry major with concentrations in both the premed and Environmental Studies programs, Renehan will teach English in a rural high school.

Under the Fulbright grant, Renehan plans to foster in his students an appreciation for the important relationship of the humanities to the sciences that he has discovered as an undergraduate at Holy Cross. As a chemistry major, Renehan made the decision to pursue an honors thesis in English, a move that corresponds to his advocacy for intellectually risky academic and extracurricular pursuits.

“I think it’s really important for people to throw themselves into situations that challenge their conventional, ‘comfortable’ center of focus,” he says.

As a secondary objective, Renehan will explore herbal medicine and the deep-rooted ties between medicine and religion. He plans to attend medical school after his year in Indonesia.

At Holy Cross, Renehan was the 2010-11 Beckman Scholar, which funded two years of his bioinorganic research with Joshua R. Farrell, Thomas E. D’Ambra associate professor of chemistry. The Beckman Science Research Scholarship aims to promote undergraduate involvement in primary research in the biological and chemical sciences, thereby cultivating interest and opportunities for research careers in the sciences.

Renehan also cofounded the Holy Cross First Responders Club, the College’s first recognized student organization for emergency medicine. Currently, he serves as co-chair for both the Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture Committee and the American Medical Student Association.

Each year approximately 1,000 college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange. Fulbright grants are made 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 — chosen for their leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions.

Read about this year’s other Holy Cross Fulbright Grant recipients: Joseph Cavanaugh ’12, Mattea Cumoletti ’12, Caroline Galiatsos ’12, Daniel Geiger ’11, Eliza Gettel ’12, Heidi Grek ’12, Maria Jaroszewicz ’12, Jaeyeon Lee ’12, Courtney Lesoon ’12 and George Matthews ’12.

Eliza Gettel ’12, of Merrimack, N.H., has received a Fulbright grant to pursue a master of arts in social archaeology at the University of Southampton in the U.K. next year. Before commencing the one-year postgraduate studies program, the classics major will travel to London for a three-day Fulbright orientation in September.

“Social archaeology uses material culture to study interpersonal relationships and the connection between people and objects,” she says.

During her Fulbright year, Gettel, who is in the College Honors Program, will build upon her two undergraduate theses and study the influence of antiquity on modern Greek politics. In addition, she will continue her work with odea, ancient roofed theaters, which she has researched in Athens and Rome during academic year abroad programs. Gettel has also spent time abroad on archaeological projects in Bir Madhkur, Jordan and Athens.

After her year at the University of Southampton, Gettel will return to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in classics and ancient history at Harvard University, where she has already been accepted.

Gettel plans to become a professor of classics, which will allow her to teach about the ancient world and its modern legacy.

“I aspire to become a professor who integrates historical and archaeological evidence to gain greater understanding of the ancient world and what it means to modern society,” says Gettel.

At Holy Cross, Gettel is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an academic honor society that celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and is an executive member of Eta Sigma Phi, the national honorary collegiate society for students of Latin and Greek. Gettel serves her peers as a trained tutor in the on-campus Writer’s Workshop and also works with first-year writers as a Writing Fellow through Montserrat. In addition, she is an active member of the Purple Key Society, a service organization that fosters school spirit, loyalty and enthusiasm through campus events.

Each year approximately 1,000 college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange. Fulbright grants are made 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 — chosen for their leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions.

Read about this year’s other Holy Cross Fulbright Grant recipients: Joseph Cavanaugh ’12, Mattea Cumoletti ’12, Caroline Galiatsos ’12, Daniel Geiger ’11, Heidi Grek ’12, Maria Jaroszewicz ’12, Jaeyeon Lee ’12, Courtney Lesoon ’12, George Matthews ’12 and Peter Renehan ’12.

The Orthodox Christian Fellowship, a recognized student organization on campus, organized an evening of prayer, communal worship, and fellowship in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel at Holy Cross on April 11.

The event was the celebration of the solemn liturgy of the pre-sanctified gifts — a work attributed to Pope Gregory the Great that is reserved exclusively for the somber period of Lent. His Eminence Methodios, Metropolitan of Boston, served the liturgy which was attended by Orthodox students and staff, as well as a many non-Orthodox members of the College community.

The ancient rite unfolded through clouds of incense and the chanting of psalms in English and Greek, exemplifying the beauty and the glory of the Byzantine liturgy.

This is the first official visit of His Eminence to the Holy Cross campus. Metropolitan Methodios is the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston that encompasses some 70 communities spread throughout the six states of New England, and is a pioneer of ecumenical relationships between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

As the academic year concludes, the College of the Holy Cross will host its annual Academic Conference from Wed., April 25 through Sat., April 28. The four-day conference provides students with an opportunity to present the results of their independent work and for the entire community to celebrate the relationship between Holy Cross’ liberal arts curriculum and the learning taking place in varied environments — from Study Abroad to the Worcester community; from research labs and art studios to libraries with original source material.

The programs, projects, poster sessions, and performances presented by students at the conference were developed with the guidance of faculty members. The conference showcases the independence, creativity, and intellectual discipline of students, as well as the role faculty have played as mentors and model teacher-scholars.

“The students presenting this year represent but a fraction of the independent and group-project work of our students,” says Margaret Freije, associate dean of the College. “But in recognizing these projects we celebrate the independence, creativity, and intellectual discipline all our students have developed while at Holy Cross and the role members of the faculty have played as mentors and model teacher-scholars. Every presentation in the conference is the result of its author and faculty advisor’s creativity, hard work, and discipline, and together they provide a fitting conclusion to our academic year.”

Almost 300 Holy Cross students from all classes are involved in the conference this year. Academic Conference 2012 is free and open to the public.

The conference includes works from the arts, social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. Students will present an array of topics including:

• “The ‘Power’ of Declaration: The War Powers Resolution and the 2011 Libyan Intervention,” Joseph Cavanaugh ‘12
• “Case Study in Conflict Economics: Mexican Drug Violence,” Casandra Medeiros ‘12
• “Competing Identities: Experiencing Art in Australia,” Elizabeth Geraghty ‘12
• “Does it Pay to Attend an Elite Liberal Arts College?” Paul Maloney ‘12
• “First Down or First Impression? A Study of the Primary Effect in Football Scenes in Expert Players and Non-Players,” Patrick Lowe ‘12
• “Examining Marie Antoinette: A Comparative Historiography Based Upon Visual Accounts of an Outsider Queen,” Mark Weyland ‘12
• “The Social Significance of Alzheimer’s in Everyday Family Life,” Frances Hamilton ‘12
• “Homer’s Brain: Cognitive Connections between Audiences and Singers of Homeric Epic,” C. Daniel Earley ‘12

As part of the conference, many academic disciplines—including religious studies, Spanish, political science, English, French and German—will hold induction ceremonies for their honor societies.  More than 80 students will be inducted.

Other highlights of the conference include:

• On Thursday, April 26, four students from the Sophomore College Honors Seminartitled “Forking Paths: Reading and Imaging Borges” will give special presentations. Team-taught by Isabel Alvarez-Borland, professor of Spanish, and Cristi Rinklin, associate professor of visual arts, the seminar incorporates literary analysis of works by Jorge Luis Borges and studio art portrayals of the Spanish author’s work.
• On Friday, April 27, there will be a Montserrat round-table discussion titled “Pop and Hip-Hop: Is There Such A Thing as Responsible Listening?” led by seven members of the Class of 2015.
• On Sunday, April 28, Danielle Libatique ‘12 (soprano and piano) will be performing her senior recital in Brooks Concert Hall.

The Office of the Vice President and the Dean of the College sponsor the annual academic conference.

Academic Conference Program 2012 [PDF]