News

Carlos Eire

Carlos Eire, acclaimed author of Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy (Free Press, 2010) and Waiting for Snow in Havana (Free Press, 2004), will speak on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. Following his talk, Eire will sign copies of his book, Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy, which was the common summer reading for Holy Cross students entering their sophomore year.  Books will be available for purchase at the event, which is free and open to the public.

As his two well-known memoirs detail, Eire was born in Havana in 1950, but fled his homeland of Cuba in 1962. He and his brother, Tony, were two of 14,000 children airlifted by Operation Peter Pan, unaccompanied by parents and guardians. After living a life in and out of foster homes in both Florida and then Illinois, he finally reunited with his mother in Chicago in 1965, but never saw his father again.  Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy details the heartache of his adjustment to life in the U.S. but also his resilience.

“The book serves as an inspiration to all who have faced obstacles but have found the strength to continue and be reborn,” says Esther Levine, dean of the class of 2014.

The “refugee boy” grew up, and earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1979. Eire then taught at St. John’s University for two years and at the University of Virginia for 15 years. He is currently the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He resides in Guilford, Conn., with his wife and three children.

Eire’s keynote lecture is the culmination of Holy Cross’ Second-Year Opportunities Program (2YO).  The program, one of the few of its kind in the nation, provides opportunities for sophomores to reflect on their academic goals and progress in order to make the most of their three remaining years at Holy Cross. Through a common reading, advising, and a keynote address to the sophomore class, 2YO introduces students to the value of the College’s rich curricular electives, including minors, concentrations, study away and abroad, special academic and advisory programs, internships, college and departmental honors programs, and post-baccalaureate opportunities.

Related Information

• The Boston Globe (Sept. 3, 2011)
  A new focus on sophomores, academia’s sometimes forgotten child

tree

On Saturday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. – noon, Holy Cross will host a free tree giveaway with the Worcester Tree Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring the region’s urban trees which have been lost to insects and other forces. 

Anyone interested in obtaining a tree should meet just off McKeon Road, behind the College’s softball field.  Instruction will be provided on how to plant and care for the trees.  As part of the event, a tree will be planted on McKeon Road. 

Several types of trees will be available, including White Fir, K. Juniper, White Pine, Colorado Spruce, Serviceberry, Dogwood, Crabapple, Cherry, Hornbean, Hophornbean, Yellow wood, Honeylocust, Sweetgum, Tulip Tree, Blackgum, Pin Oak, Red Oak, Linden, Larch, Dawn Redwood, European Beech, White Fringe Tree, and Carolina Silverbell.  The trees are four to six feet tall, so please plan accordingly for transportation.

Worcester Mayor Joseph O’Brien and Holy Cross President Michael McFarland, S.J., will be in attendance.  Refreshments will be served.

Steven Levitt

Steven D. Levitt, co-author of the bestselling books FREAKONOMICS and SUPERFREAKONOMICS, will deliver the 46th Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. Following his talk, Levitt will be available to sign copies of his books, which will be available for purchase prior to the lecture at the Holy Cross Bookstore, as well as at the event.  Levitt’s talk is free and open to the public.

Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. In 2004, he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, which recognizes the most influential economist in America under the age of 40. More recently, he was named one of Time magazine’s “100 People Who Shape Our World.” Levitt received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1989, his Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1994, and has taught at Chicago since 1997.

FREAKONOMICS (William Morrow, 2005) hit the bestseller lists on its first day in print and has sold over four million copies worldwide. The book demonstrates different economic theories and the title itself has become a catchphrase spoken everywhere from college campuses to corporate boardrooms. “The best thing someone could take from our books is the realization that he or she has the power to make better sense of the world,” explains Levitt. “Most of what we do is pretty simple, but we start by asking different questions, or looking at problems differently.”

SUPERFREAKONOMICS (William Morrow, 2009) offers a new set of economic theories, which dives into issues including healthcare, terrorism, global warming, and the financial crisis.

The popular blog (Freakonomics.com) recently made Time magazine’s Top 25 List of “Best Financial Blogs;” and a feature-length FREAKONOMICS movie spent its first weeks among the Top 10 iTunes film downloads.

The annual Hanify-Howland lecture honors the late Edward F. Hanify, a 1904 graduate of Holy Cross and a Massachusetts Superior Court justice for 15 years, who died in 1954. The series was started by Hanify’s friend, the late Weston Howland of Milton, Mass., board chairman of Warwick Mills, Inc., who died in 1976.

Since 1965, the Hanify-Howland lecture series has brought to the Holy Cross campus a series of distinguished speakers on public affairs who have exemplified in their own work the spirit of public service that the series was established to encourage. Past speakers include Retired Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, USAF; Hon. Clarence Thomas ’71, Supreme Court justice; Ruth Wedgwood, director of the Program in International Law and Organizations at Johns Hopkins University; and investigative journalist Bob Woodward.

In keeping with the traditional practice of the Hanify-Howland Series, Levitt will also conduct two seminars on campus, which will allow students to interact with the speaker in an intimate and intellectually exciting environment.

Related Information

• Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture Committee
• Listen to Levitt on The Jim Polito Show on WTAG

cancer walk

Students, faculty, and staff from the College of the Holy Cross will join thousands of people from Central Massachusetts on Sun., Sept. 25 for the 13th annual UMass Medicine Cancer Walk.

The College is a flagship sponsor of this unique fundraising event, which over the years has raised millions of dollars to support cutting-edge cancer research and build the UMass Memorial Cancer Center, the world class research center in Worcester.

Last year, nearly 250 students, faculty, and staff from Holy Cross participated in the walk and raised approximately $15,000. This year, the College hopes to exceed those records.
Many in the Holy Cross community are already gearing up for this year’s walk.

“I am planning to do the walk because I believe that supporting cancer research work is the most important way we can help move toward the effective treatment of all forms of cancer,” says Robert Bellin, associate professor of biology a Holy Cross.  “UMass is a world-class medical research institute that deserves as much support as we can give it to aid in their important research work.”

Bellin performs research here on campus. His most recent work advances techniques for modifying cell growth and controlling cell adhesion, which has implications for the treatment of numerous diseases including cancer.

The Walk to Cure Cancer begins and ends at UMass Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, and follows a five-mile (or optional one-mile) loop around Lake Quinsigamond. Every Holy Cross walker will receive a purple T-shirt. 

Holy Cross participants can meet on campus the day of the walk or drive their own vehicle. The bus will leave the Hogan Campus Center, Hogan Main Lobby (3rd floor), at 9 a.m.   Important note:  because Holy Cross is a flagship sponsor, Holy Cross community members do not pay a separate registration fee.

Registration and t-shirt pickup is as follows:

• Sept. 19 – 22, Hogan Campus Center, Room 503, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• September 23, Hogan Campus Center, Lobby Table 2, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• There is no registration on Sunday

You can pick up a registration and sponsor brochure located in Hogan and Kimball Dining Halls, Post Office and Bookstore.

If you’re not available to walk, but would still like to participate, please contact Chris Gemme to volunteer or if you have any questions.

For more information about the walk visit www.walktocurecancer.com.

Todd Lewis

Todd Lewis, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, has received the 2011 Toshihide Numata Book Prize from the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  Lewis shares the award with Subarna Man Tuladhar, for their co-authored book Sugata Saurabha: An Epic Poem from Nepal on the Life of the Buddha by Chittadhar Hridaya (Oxford University Press, 2010).

The newly-created Toshihide Numata Book Prize in Buddhism is awarded on an annual basis to an outstanding book in the area of Buddhist studies. Sugata Saurabha was selected by members of an outside committee who praised the authors for their English rendering of Chittadhar Hrdaya’s complex poetic vernacular. In the words of one of the committee members, “Sugata Saurabha’s great value lies in the fact that not only is it a contemporary life of the Buddha written in a vanishing classic style, a text that has been translated in painstakingly careful fashion, it is a marvelous introduction to the rich textures of Nepali religious culture in general.”

Lewis noted, “Subarna Man and I worked for over 25 years on this translation, feeling the responsibility of doing justice to this extraordinary masterpiece of 20th century Nepal’s literature.”

“Professor Lewis’ accomplished work as a scholar complements and informs the imaginative and challenging courses he offers for our students,” commented Timothy Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “In helping those unfamiliar with Buddhism to appreciate the richness of that faith tradition, he also continues the long tradition of interfaith scholarship on Jesuit campuses.”

Lewis and Tuladhar will be presented with the Toshihide Numata Book prize on Nov. 4 in Berkeley, Calif., and will be honored at a ceremony next winter in Kathmandu, Nepal.  At both events, Lewis will give a public lecture on the book’s themes, which will be followed by a panel discussion for leading scholars in Buddhist studies from North America.

Lewis is one of the world’s leading authorities on the religions of the mid-montane Himalayan region and the social history of Buddhism. The recipient of numerous awards and grants, he was most recently named a Guggenheim Fellow in April 2011.  In addition to scholarly books and articles published in leading academic journals, he has shot, directed and produced films for classroom use and co-authored a textbook, World Religions Today (Oxford University Press, 2008), which is widely used in college courses.  He is editor of a forthcoming book series, The Buddhist World Today.  Over the past 10 years, he has become one of the leading academics involved nationwide in the continuing education of K-12 teachers on the cultures and religions of Asia.

Lewis received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Columbia University and his B.A. from Rutgers University.  He has also been a research associate in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University since 1999.  A resident of Holden, Mass., he has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1990.

• Read more about Lewis’ Guggenheim Fellowship

flag

Jeremy Bailey, assistant professor of political science at the University of Houston, will give a talk titled “Mr. Jefferson’s Constitution” on Friday, Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross.  The event, sponsored by the political science department and the Charles Carroll Program, is part of the College’s recognition of Constitution Day on September 17, 2011 (observed September 16, 2011).  

Bailey’s talk will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Donald Brand, professor of political science at Holy Cross; and Benjamin Kleinerman, assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University’s James Madison College, who is also giving a lecture titled “Judicial Supremacy and the Politics of the Constitution” on September 8 at 4:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of La Maison at Assumption College.

All events are free and open to the public

Bailey, the author of Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power (Cambridge University Press, 2007), has a joint appointment in political science and The Honors College. He received his B.A. from Rhodes College and Ph.D. from Boston College. He is currently working on a book titled The Removal Power: Dilemmas in American Constitutional Development.

Kleinerman is the author The Discretionary President: The Promise and Peril of Executive Power (Kansas, 2009). He earned his B.A. from Kenyon College and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.  A former Visiting Scholar in the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, Kleinerman has also taught at Oberlin College and the Virginia Military Institute.

football fan

The College of the Holy Cross has announced a special invitation to Crusader football fans and Worcester area families.

This season, children aged 14 and under accompanied by an adult who has purchased a ticket will be admitted free to all Holy Cross home football games.

The program will kick off with the first afternoon home game on Saturday, Sept. 10, when Holy Cross meets Colgate at 1 p.m.  Four additional home footballs games are scheduled this season:

• Saturday, Sept. 17 vs. Harvard (1 p.m.)
• Saturday, Oct. 15 vs. Dartmouth (1 p.m.)
• Saturday, Oct. 29 vs. Georgetown (1 p.m.)
• Saturday, Nov. 12 vs. Lafayette (12:30 p.m.)

Releasing the details of the special program, Holy Cross Athletic Director Richard Regan said it was inspired by the strong relationships the College has developed in the community, and the connection Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., College president, has to the football team and to Worcester youth.   As announced previously, Fr. McFarland will be stepping down as president at the end of this year.

“We wanted to do something special to honor Father McFarland since this will be his last season cheering on our student-athletes,” Regan said.  “We thought this would be especially fitting since Father McFarland has not only been such a great supporter of our football team, but also of all youth in greater Worcester.  During his 11 years as president, he has had an enormous influence on kids, from the founding of the Nativity School to numerous partnerships with schools and recreational programs in the city.”

For more information on the special program, contact the Holy Cross ticket office at (508) 793-2573.  For more information on Holy Cross Athletics, visit www.goholycross.com.

9-11-Plaque

The Holy Cross community is marking the anniversary of Sept. 11 with prayers for our seven alumni and for all who died and suffered that tragic day.

The alumni lost on 9/11 are:

• Edward A. Brennan III ’86
• Thomas D. Burke ’85
• Neilie A. Heffernan Casey ’90
• John G. Farrell ’91
• Todd A. Isaac ’94
• Beth A. Quigley ’97
• John J. Ryan ’78

A number of services, talks, and events will be held on campus and in the community. The following events are sponsored by the Chaplains’ Office:

• 10th anniversary interfaith vigil on Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m. in Memorial Plaza. The Chaplains’ Office is soliciting names of loved ones lost for a reading of names. Memorial Plaza is dedicated to the members of the Holy Cross community and beyond, who were victims of the tragedy. The vigil is open to the public.

• “How Can I Find God in a Post-9/11 World?” on Sept. 13 at 12 p.m. in Suites A, B, C of the Hogan Campus Center. The event is a take on the popular series of lunchtime gatherings at which members of the Holy Cross community speak about their personal search for and experience of God.

• “Good Grief Support Group” for students who have lost a loved on 9/11. For more information, students should contact Rev. James Hayes, associate chaplain, at jhayes@holycross.edu or call 508-793-2448.

The History Honors Society, with the support of the history department and peace and conflict studies, will host a fishbowl discussion titled “Growing Up in the Shadow of 9/11” on Sept. 9 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in Rehm Library. Panelists and audience members are invited to talk about their experiences on 9/11 and explore how their understanding of the event has changed over time.

“The fishbowl will address how 9/11 has shaped student’s attitudes towards the world,” says Cynthia Hooper, assistant professor of history. “Also, what lessons should be taken from both the event itself, and the U.S. response to it over the past decade.”

In addition, the Holy Cross College Choir, Holy Cross student volunteers and Holy Cross ROTC members, will participate in “Mass Remembers: Voices of Hope” a statewide commemorative event honoring those who lost their lives, sacrificed and responded to the tragedy of Sept. 11. The choir will join professional, community and children’s choruses from across the Commonwealth in song to mark the solemn occasion on Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. at Worcester’s Institute Park.  ROTC members will take part in a Color Guard procession.

Related Information

• Read remembrances of Holy Cross alumni lost on 9/11 from Holy Cross Magazine.