News

A Holy Cross philosophy professor and priest in the Greek Orthodox Church has participated in two important events in recent weeks that advance his personal and scholarly work.

EAST-WEST SCHISM
On June 29, Rev. John Panteleimon Manoussakis, Edward Bennett Williams Fellow and assistant professor of philosophy, represented His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and parts of Connecticut, to the vespers for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Needham.

The representation mirrors on the local level the exchange of visits between the Holy Father and the Ecumenical Patriarch on the patronal feasts of the two churches, Rome (June 29) and Constantinople (Nov. 30).

During the vespers, Manoussakis offered remarks stressing the need to commit to the ecumenical dialogue between the two churches. A schism between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church developed about 1,000 years ago, in part because of disputes over papal authority and doctrinal disagreements.

“This exchange of visits goes beyond ecclesiastical formality: there are real, visible tokens that affirm in the most unambiguous way our desire and commitment to be united again in perfect communion,” he said in his remarks. “They are signs that profess in the clearest way our respect for each other’s traditions; they remind us of everything that we held in common during the first millennium and we continue to hold in common; and they encourage us to overcome the differences that so sadly separate us. Differences that should and must be overcome, Your Excellency, so that the Church’s witness may remain strong and beyond any reproach, such that our divisions might invite from those who haven’t yet embraced Peter’s confession: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Mt. 16:16).”

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Boston, was unable to attend but was represented by Auxiliary Bishop Walter Edyvean of Boston and Fr. David Michael, St. Joseph Parish’s reverend.

Two members of the Class of 2011, Matthew Clemente and Will Hendel, accompanied Manoussakis and spoke with Bishop Edyvean about their studies at Holy Cross and their future plans.

Although he did not attend, O’Malley commented on the event in his blog, writing “Let us pray that the Lord may grant us the gift of full communion with our Orthodox brothers and sisters” (last item).

Manoussakis has made it his life’s work to heal the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Last year, he participated in a symposium titled “The Church of Christ & Ecumenism — 10 Years After Dominus Iesus” held at the University of Scranton.

Read the full remarks Manoussakis delivered during the vespers [PDF].

ORTHODOXY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
In early June, Manoussakis attended a conference on Orthodoxy and Higher Education, in his capacity as a member of the steering committee. The conference, held at St. Vladimir’s theological Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., brought together Orthodox academics who work in American institutions of higher education to discuss the possibility of and issues involved in establishing an Orthodox college in North America.

He gave two presentations based, among others things, on his teaching experience at Holy Cross, which were broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

ABOUT MANOUSSAKIS
Born in Athens, Greece, Manoussakis earned a doctorate in the philosophy of religion at Boston College. He is the author of “God After Metaphysics: A Theological Aesthetic” (Indiana University, 2007) and of several articles including, most recently, a treatment of the respective understanding of Old Testament theophany by St. Augustine and St. Gregory Palamas, published in Modern Theology. He has also written on papal primacy in light of recent development in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue.

Shiva Marvasti ’08, of Stoneham, Mass., has been named a 2011 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow. The Pickering Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State, will provide support for her completion of a graduate degree at Georgetown University as she prepares academically and professionally to enter the United States Foreign Services.

Administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation for the U.S. Department of State, the Pickering Fellowships develop a source of well-prepared men and women whose academic background fulfill the skill needs of the Department of State and who are dedicated to representing America’s interests abroad.

At Georgetown, she will pursue a master of science in foreign service at the university’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She hopes to pursue a long-term career with the Department of State.

Pickering Fellows participate in one domestic and one overseas internship. They commit to three years of service as a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State, contingent on their passing the Foreign Service examinations. The Foreign Service, a corps of working professional who support the president of the United States and the Secretary of the United States Department of State in pursuit of the goals and objectives of American foreign policy, are “front-line” personnel who can be sent anywhere in the world, at any time, in service to the diplomatic needs of the United States.

Marvasti immigrated to the United States from Tehran, Iran, at age 14. “Living in two distinct cultures at a young age shaped my interest in international affairs and strengthened my resolve to make a difference based on my unique experiences,” she wrote to the fellowship foundation.

Since graduating from Holy Cross, Marvasti has pursued her interest in government and business by completing the Financial Management Program at GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric. She is currently working as part of GE’s Corporate Audit Staff.

A political science major, Marvasti interned with several financial and international institutions while at Holy Cross, including the Fidelity Capital Markets and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., where she worked on issues pertaining to the Middle East. She was co-chair of the College Democrats, senior interviewer for Admissions, and representative on the Student Government Association’s Judicial Council.

“The United States’ international representatives must have dedication, initiative, integrity, cultural adaptability, ability to communicate well, and a thorough intellectual background,” according to the press release announcing the 2011 Pickering Fellows. “The 40 new Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellows named this summer have demonstrated promise across this range of areas crucial to United States Foreign Service Officers.”

The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program is named in honor of one of the most distinguished and capable American diplomats of the latter half of the 20th century. Pickering held the rank of career ambassador, the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service. He served as ambassador to Nigeria, El Salvador, Israel, India, and the Russian Federation, finishing his career as under secretary of state for political affairs.

Related Information

• “Stoneham Resident Named 2011 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow” – Stoneham Patch (July 12, 2011)

To honor one of the first supporters of Holy Cross, the College recently celebrated a new tree planting on the hill beside Smith Hall and adjacent to the Jesuit cemetery.

A gathering in June paid homage to Tobias F. Boland (1795–1883), an Irish immigrant who made his reputation as a reliable leader able to recruit, train and keep construction workers needed for the heavy projects in the 1820s and ’30s: construction of the Blackstone Canal and the Boston and Worcester Railroad in 1831. When Rev. James Fitton, S.J., pastor of the Irish immigrants in the Worcester area, purchased 52 acres on a hill to create a small school for boys in 1836, Boland stepped in with contributions to include a wooden cottage to serve as a rectory for the priests who would be the academy’s instructors.

A few years later, when Bishop Fenwick visited the property and began the process of founding the College of the Holy Cross, he turned to trusted friend of the diocese Boland to build the first stone structure on campus, Fenwick Hall. Boland came to the aid of the College again after the devastating fire of 1852.

Boland’s great-granddaughter, Margaret Boland, and Thomas L. Rooney (who were both in attendance at the planting), wrote “The Irish Pioneer” (Magnolia Mansions Press, 2009), a historical novel about Tobias Boland’s adventures in family and professional life, including his vital contributions to the founding of Holy Cross.

“It was a pleasure for me to participate in the event and to meet members of the Boland family, descended through time,” says Rev. Anthony J. Kuzniewski, S.J., professor of history and author of “Thy Honored Name, A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843-1994” (The Catholic University of America Press, 1999). “The dedication provided an opportunity to acquaint those present with an entry from the diary James Healy kept during his senior year at Holy Cross, 1848-49.” (Healy was the College’s first valedictorian, and the son of a slave.)

“Healy’s sisters had been sent north from Georgia for schooling and boarded in Boston with Tobias Boland and his wife, who was the sister of Bishop Fitzpatrick,” Fr. Kuzniewski shares, then noting an entry from Christmas Day, 1848. “There was church, visits with family and friends and a joyful family evening with the bishop present, when the younger members of the family took turns trying to break a suspended bag of candy amid great merriment. Healy ends the entry with the observation that he had been ‘very negligent in my [religious] devotions this day.’ ”

The Boland-Ellis Memorial Tree itself is a Royal Raindrops Crabapple, which will grow to about 20 feet high and a spread of 15 feet. It is a unique ornamental addition to the Holy Cross arboretum, which already contains a wide variety of plantings. Through the hot summer months, the Royal Raindrops Crabapple will keep glossy deep purple leaves that turn orange, bronze and lighter purple in the fall. Winter wildlife will discover the tiny crimson berries that linger through the snow season. In the spring, deep hot pink blooms cover the branches.

“I am delighted that the tree and plaque dedicated to Tobias F. Boland are situated in close proximity to the Jesuit Cemetery where Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, the second bishop of Boston, is buried,” says Rev. Paul F. Harman, S.J., special assistant to the president. “Tobias Boland worked on many projects for the Bishop and very much shared the Bishop’s joy in the founding of the College of the Holy Cross — named after the Bishop’s cathedral in Boston — in Worcester.”

Read an excerpt of “The Irish Pioneer” on the Holy Cross Magazine website >>

Photography by Dan Vaillancourt

The walls of Oxford University’s libraries did not limit what Melissa Browne ’12 learned while studying abroad this year in England.

A classics major from Drexel Hill, Penn., Browne articulates the most important lessons she learned while studying abroad in a prize-winning essay, “A Year at Oxford University: Studying in the City of Dreaming Spires.”

Browne is a runner-up in the 2011 Student Travel Writing Contest sponsored by the web-based publisher Transitions Abroad, which hosts an annual student writing contest on educational travel abroad. The essay offers a detailed guide to life in Oxford while recounting Browne’s personal story along the way.

“I am not at all surprised that Melissa received recognition for her writing,” says Brittain Smith, director of the Study Abroad Program at Holy Cross. “Melissa is a terrific student who takes full advantage of her opportunities both at Holy Cross and abroad. It is characteristic that Melissa found out about the essay contest on her own and that she used it as an opportunity to reflect on her study abroad experience. Putting yourself out there, pushing yourself to experience new and challenging cultures and environments is what study abroad is all about.”

As one of the many international sites offered through Holy Cross’ yearlong study abroad program, Mansfield College at Oxford University gives students in their third year the opportunity to take two rigorous academic tutorials per term over three terms under the guidance of an Oxford advisor. Outside the classroom, students immerse themselves in the Oxford culture, whether it is joining one of the Oxford Blues’ many sports teams or — as Browne writes — going to a pub to continue academic discussions “over a pint.”

“I was very apprehensive about attending Oxford, but in the process of settling into a new city, academic system, and culture, I have learned that I can face a daunting challenge head-on,” she writes. “The opportunity to come to Oxford is not one which many people can say they have experienced, and in embracing that opportunity, I have found in myself a new sense of my own strengths, an acute awareness of my weaknesses, and an appreciation for what it took to step on the plane to come to Oxford in the first place.”

Browne, a member of the College Honors Program, will return to Holy Cross this fall for her senior year. She will compose a thesis dealing with a 10th-century manuscript of Homer’s “The Iliad.”

Read Browne’s essay.

Related Information:

• Study Abroad Program

• Read several Study Abroad blogs on me.holycross.edu

• Holy Cross Tops Baccalaureate Institutions in Long-Term Study Abroad Participation

Holy Cross professors are not only teachers and mentors to their students. They are leaders in their fields.

Over the last year, the 252 members of the Holy Cross faculty produced or were involved in more than 300 pieces of professional work, including books, articles, exhibitions and musical performances.

Each year, the Dean’s Office compiles a list and celebrates the contributions that Holy Cross professors make to their fields of study. This on-going scholarship and advancement of their fields also serves to benefit the top-tier classroom teaching, student advising and mentoring that is a hallmark of a Holy Cross education.

Simply adding up the number of works produced in the past academic year is impressive:

•    25 books
•    3 edited journals
•    2 compact discs
•    12 abstracts
•    110 articles
•    36 chapters
•    55 encyclopedia and dictionary
•    17 exhibitions
•    6 musical performances
•    18 grants and awards
•    46 reviews

For all the details on the work by Holy Cross faculty, view 2011 Celebration of Faculty Scholarship [PDF].

Relay for Life

On June 17, the College of the Holy Cross hosted the American Cancer Society’s 2011 Relay For Life Worcester. The 24-hour fund raising event drew over 900 participants, including 149 cancer survivors, and raised over $170,000.

“Relay for Life is something my family and I have been doing for 13 years,” says Pam Ahearn, director of the Summer Internship Program at the College and one of the organizers of the event. “Relay is a great way to remember those who have died from cancer and those who have beat the disease. It really is a celebration.”

If you are not familiar with Relay For Life, in these overnight events, participating teams camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Team members register to participate in the Relay, and money raised goes directly to the American Cancer Society.

Administrators from higher education institutions across the region attended a town-gown roundtable at the College of the Holy Cross on June 7 to share and discuss promising practices in building relationships among neighbors, city and college officials, students, parents and property owners. The event was sponsored by Holy Cross and the Colleges of Worcester Consortium.

Paul Irish, assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs at Holy Cross, initiated the event. Irish is a key liaison between students living off campus and the College’s closest neighbors. He convenes regular meetings of the Holy Cross Community Alliance and also participates in the work of the College Hill Civic Association. He hopes the event, the first of its kind in central Massachusetts, becomes an annual gathering of institutions in the central and western parts of the state and beyond.

“One of the great things about working in higher education is the willingness of colleagues to share their challenges and successes,” Irish said.

Held in the College’s Hogan Campus Center Ballroom, the meeting attracted 80 participants from 21 colleges and universities in the region, as well as members of the College Hill Civic Association. Mark Bilotta, the chief executive officer of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, welcomed the group and introduced Worcester Mayor Joseph C. O’Brien who spoke about the important collaborations and vibrancy that colleges and universities bring to a city.

Presenters and panelists included representatives from Boston College, Holy Cross, Salve Regina University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

In addition to Irish, representatives from Holy Cross included Jacqueline D. Peterson, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students, and Rev. Paul Harman, S.J., special assistant to the president.

Guest presenter Richard Campbell, an attorney and founder of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy, spoke on social host liability, the legal term for the criminal and civil responsibility of a person who furnishes liquor to a guest.

Other topics at the round-table meeting included:

• “Campus and Community Coalitions: Maintaining Momentum in Changing Times”

• “Campus and Community Teams: Using an Environmental Management Model to Build and Sustain Town-Gown Relations”

• “Reducing Off-Campus Student Offenses Through Community Collaboration: A Nine Year Study”

Related Information:

• For Our Neighbors website

• Colleges of Worcester Consortium