News

WORCESTER, Mass. – Dwayne Henclewood ’04 captured the Jamaican National title in the discus event at the country’s National Track and Field Championships June 18 – 21, with a throw of 52.90 meters.

“Dwayne had one of his best throws ever, in one of the biggest meets of his life. To win the Jamaica national championship in front of his family, friends and high school coaches was outstanding,” said Holy Cross track and field coach Jim Kavanagh.

“Dwayne did a great job competing. It was a proud moment for Holy Cross, and Holy Cross track and field in particular.”

Henclewood, who battled a hip injury last season, placed second in this year’s Patriot League Championships and in the New England Championships. He was named Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week during the week of February 3, 2004.

Prior to coming to Holy Cross, Henclewood set a national junior record in the discus event at the Central American and Caribbean Games (C.A.C.). In the summer of 2000, he competed in the CARIFTA Games, an annual junior athletic competition for members of Caribbean countries, where he broke the record in the discus for young men under 20, and came in first place in the shot put event.

A native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, Henclewood is one of the first two students to attend Holy Cross as recipients of the Archbishop Samuel Carter, S.J., Scholarship. The award provides full tuition to a student from St. George’s College High School in Jamaica that has been accepted at the College.

“I must admit, it is hard to believe that it was approximately four years ago that I was flying off to live in a land I had only visited, in search of success. And four years later, I found the right path leading to that success. I believe that I walked away from Holy Cross with an acute sense for academia and a passion for community development,” said Henclewood.

“Looking back on my tenure at Holy Cross, I am extremely grateful to those who aided in getting me there and those who helped me through the gates. To these individuals I would like to say a big ‘thank you.'”

While at Holy Cross, Henclewood served as the publicity chair for Caribbean African Student Assemblage (CASA), and as a resident counselor for the Odyssey Program, a week-long orientation program for ALANA (African-American, Latin American, Asian-American and Native American) and international students. A physics major, he was also a member of the Society of Physics Students (SPS).

WORCESTER, Mass. – Thomas A. Maher, a 1984 graduate, gave $100,000 to the College of the Holy Cross, for the establishment of the Jeanne R. Maher Scholarship Fund/Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Named after his late mother, the fund will provide scholarship assistance to Holy Cross students who are residents of Lawrence, Mass. and who are graduates of Lawrence High School or Central Catholic High School.

“The goal is to give students from Lawrence the chance to attend Holy Cross. Lawrence students have great aspirations. Some may just need the opportunity – from a financial standpoint – to pursue their goals,” says Maher.

“It is my hope that this scholarship will provide students from Lawrence with a level playing field and an exceptional educational experience at Holy Cross.”

Interested in helping to bring the towns of Andover and Lawrence together, Maher and his wife, Nancy, have been active in a number of community initiatives, including providing financial support and serving as tutors to elementary school children at an after-school program at Grace Church, and volunteering at Fidelity House, a nonprofit organization providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities, where they have been involved for the past 14 years.

In addition, Maher is currently working with a committee to examine the benefits of establishing a middle school in Lawrence modeled after the Jesuit Nativity schools, which seek to educate and motivate inner-city middle school students in a supportive and disciplined environment.

A member of the President’s Council, Holy Cross’ premier giving society, Maher’s latest gift represents the second scholarship fund he has established at Holy Cross. In 2001, he endowed a fund, also in memory of his mother, to assist students from his high school, Xavier High School in Manhattan, who want to attend Holy Cross. The fund was established with a gift of $125,000.

Maher is a principal of Eastern Development, LLC, of Woburn, Mass., a real estate, investment and development company. He resides in Andover, Mass., with his wife and their children, Peter and Colleen. His sister, Mary Jane (Maher) Higgins ’88, is also a graduate of Holy Cross.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Edward T. O’Donnell, associate professor of history at the College of the Holy Cross and author of Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Broadway Books, 2003) is available for comment on the 100th anniversary of the General Slocum steamboat fire on June 15. The disaster was New York’s deadliest tragedy prior to Sept. 11.

An expert on the General Slocum fire of 1904, in which over 1,000 of New York’s Lower East Side residents perished, O’Donnell has written the only book available on this chapter in New York’s history. Ship Ablaze draws on first hand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high, how the city responded, and why this event failed to achieve the infamy of the Titanic’s 1912 demise or the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

Active in the field of public history, O’Donnell has curated several major museum exhibits on American history and has appeared in several historical documentaries. He has provided historical insight and commentary for PBS, the Discovery Channel, ABC World News Now, National Public Radio, the BBC, Bloomberg Radio, WOR Radio, FOX TV, and VH-1. From 1998 to 2001 he was featured on WNYC Radio (the local NPR affiliate in New York) as a commentator during NPR’s “Morning Edition” and as a regular guest on “On the Line.”

O’Donnell earned his B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and his Ph.D. in American history from Columbia University. The author of 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish-American History (Broadway Books, 2002), he is currently completing a social biography of Henry George due out later this year.

O’Donnell will be in New York next week, where he will attend several memorial services and special presentations related to the Slocum disaster. He may be contacted by cell phone at 508.826.1572 or by e-mail at eodonnel@holycross.edu.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The following members of the Holy Cross faculty have been promoted to the rank of professor, effective at the beginning of the 2004 – 2005 academic year:

Lorraine C. Attreed, of the history department, earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1986, she has served on the Finance and Planning Council, the Committee on Graduate Studies and Fellowships, and as director of the Medieval-Renaissance Interdisciplinary Minor. Specializing in medieval England, urban history and constitutional history, she is the author of The King’s Towns: Identity and Survival in Late Medieval English Boroughs (Peter Lang, 2001), and The York House Books, 1461-1490, (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1991), as well as several scholarly articles and book reviews.

Thomas R. Gottschang, of the economics department, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1987, he has served as department chair and as a member of the Asian Studies committee. Gottschang’s research interests include the economies of China and Vietnam, economic development and comparative economic systems. He is the co-author, with Diana Lary, of Swallows and Settlers: The Great Migration from North China to Manchuria (University of Michigan, 2000). Gottschang is a resident of Worcester.

Philip C. Rule, S.J., of the English department, received a Ph.D. from Harvard University. A member of the faculty since 1980, he has served on almost every major College committee. Fr. Rule specializes in 19th-century British literature (Romantic and Victorian), the bildungsroman, women’s fiction and religious thought. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews and scholarly papers, and the recent, Coleridge and Newman: The Centrality of Conscience (Fordham University Press, 2004). Fr. Rule is a native of Cleveland, Ohio.

Nicolas Sanchez, of the economics department, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. A member of the faculty since 1977, he has been involved with the First-Year Program and the College Honors Program. Specializing in property rights analysis, his publications have appeared in numerous economics journals in the United States and abroad, including Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv and Cuadernos de Economía. Born in Havana, he has also published articles on Cuban affairs. Twice elected president of the Cuban Cultural Center of Boston, Sanchez supervised a Holy Cross student trip to Cuba in 2003. He lives in Framingham, Mass., with his wife and two daughters where he has devoted his time to public service.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Dwayne Henclewood ’04 captured the Jamaican National title in the discus event at the country’s National Track and Field Championships June 18 – 21, with a throw of 52.90 meters.

“Dwayne had one of his best throws ever, in one of the biggest meets of his life. To win the Jamaica national championship in front of his family, friends and high school coaches was outstanding,” said Holy Cross track and field coach Jim Kavanagh.

“Dwayne did a great job competing. It was a proud moment for Holy Cross, and Holy Cross track and field in particular.”

Henclewood, who battled a hip injury last season, placed second in this year’s Patriot League Championships and in the New England Championships. He was named Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week during the week of February 3, 2004.

Prior to coming to Holy Cross, Henclewood set a national junior record in the discus event at the Central American and Caribbean Games (C.A.C.). In the summer of 2000, he competed in the CARIFTA Games, an annual junior athletic competition for members of Caribbean countries, where he broke the record in the discus for young men under 20, and came in first place in the shot put event.

A native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, Henclewood is one of the first two students to attend Holy Cross as recipients of the Archbishop Samuel Carter, S.J., Scholarship. The award provides full tuition to a student from St. George’s College High School in Jamaica that has been accepted at the College.

“I must admit, it is hard to believe that it was approximately four years ago that I was flying off to live in a land I had only visited, in search of success. And four years later, I found the right path leading to that success. I believe that I walked away from Holy Cross with an acute sense for academia and a passion for community development,” said Henclewood.

“Looking back on my tenure at Holy Cross, I am extremely grateful to those who aided in getting me there and those who helped me through the gates. To these individuals I would like to say a big ‘thank you.'”

While at Holy Cross, Henclewood served as the publicity chair for Caribbean African Student Assemblage (CASA), and as a resident counselor for the Odyssey Program, a week-long orientation program for ALANA (African-American, Latin American, Asian-American and Native American) and international students. A physics major, he was also a member of the Society of Physics Students (SPS).

WORCESTER, Mass. – Cristina Ballantine, assistant professor of mathematics at the College of the Holy Cross, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research at the University of Muenster/Germany during the 2004-2005 academic year.

She will collaborate with Peter Schneider, of the University of Muenster, to study questions pertaining to number theory (representations of groups) using tools from algebraic topology.

Ballantine is one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries for the 2004-2005 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Established in 1946, the program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields.

Originally from Romania, Ballantine received her diplom from the University of Stuttgart in Germany and her master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the Holy Cross faculty in 2002, she taught and conducted research at the University of Wyoming, Bowdoin College and Dartmouth College. Before that, she worked as a software developer in Germany.

The author of several journal articles, Ballantine specializes in number theory, specifically in the theory of representations and automorphic forms.

She resides in Holden, Mass., with her husband and two daughters.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross presents Recent Acquisitions/Drawings, Photographs and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection from Monday, June 14 through Friday, July 30, 2004.

The exhibit will feature recent gifts and purchases of fine art added to the Holy Cross and Cantor Art Gallery collections over the past four years. Since 2000, more than 50 historical and contemporary artworks have been received as gifts from alumni, friends of the gallery and faculty members.

In addition, several purchases were made possible by funds donated by alumni. The most significant to the College is the recent purchase of a c. 1831 portrait of Holy Cross founder and second bishop of Boston, Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J., by American artist, James Bowman, 1793 – 1842. The Bowman portrait had been in the possession of the Ursuline nuns in Quebec since the time of its painting, after Bishop Fenwick had given it to them as a gift. It was later given to the Ursuline nuns at Ursuline Academy in Dedham, Mass. The portrait of Bishop Fenwick will be on display at the Cantor Art Gallery during the month of June. The painting and its original frame then will undergo conservation treatment before being permanently mounted on campus.

Other recent gifts to the Cantor Art Gallery include a collection of 23 drawings and paintings on paper by American artist Robert Beauchamp, 1923-1995; a monotype by Holy Cross faculty member Michael Beatty; an etching by Rembrandt van Rijn, “Artist’s Mother,” printed posthumously in c. 1850; an 1861 still life etching by French artist Francois Bonvin, 1817 – 1887; and contemporary prints by Lita Albuquerque, George Miyasaki and others.

Over the past 20 years, the Cantor Art Gallery has been given a number of important works of art, beginning in 1978 with a generous gift of 10 August Rodin sculptures from Iris and B. Gerald Cantor and the Cantor Foundation. Since that time, over 400 objects have been added to the growing collection by friends and alumni of the College.

The summer hours for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery are Monday–Friday, 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; closed weekends, and July 2 –5. Located in O’Kane Hall, 1st Floor, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, Mass., 01610. Admission to the gallery is free.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Olivia-Thao (Libby) Vo, Holy Cross Class of 2004, is among countless college seniors graduating this month. But the road she traveled to get here, and the road she’ll follow away from here, at least temporarily, is certainly a road less traveled.

Vo came to the United States from Vietnam when she was just four years old, after having spent two years in various refugee camps. Traveling with her parents and an aunt, the family settled first in Seattle, Washington, for two years, before moving to Worcester, where they have remained.

“My earliest childhood memories are of crowded rooms, powdered milk, and bunk beds. Although I was born in Da Nang, Vietnam, my family and I escaped when I was barely two. I do not remember much of the journey because as my mother tells me, I was drugged into a deep sleep, to prevent me from crying or making noise,” writes Vo in her personal narrative application essay for the Fulbright Fellowship.

Now, after nearly 18 years, she will be returning to her native Vietnam, on a prestigious Fulbright scholarship, to conduct fieldwork on the effects of children with congenital birth defects or developmental delays on Vietnamese family life. Currently tens of thousands of Vietnamese children are afflicted with congenital birth defects. Vo’s research will examine how Vietnamese parents, especially mothers, respond to and cope with their children’s disabilities.

While in Vietnam, Vo plans to spend time at the Friendship Village orphanage to examine how the presence of children with birth defects or developmental delays — possibly due to Agent Orange exposure — disrupts family life and balance in Vietnam.

“I want to show others how the mistakes of the past, such as Agent Orange, should not be repeated and it is with compassion that we must move forward into the future. While the atrocities of war are evident, there is futility in bitterness and peace reconciliation is possible,” she says.

Vo brings a unique perspective to her research, not only because of her Vietnamese roots, but also because she has a developmentally disabled younger brother, who she has helped care for.

Yet while her passion for this project seems inevitable, Vo says the idea developed only recently, under the guidance and encouragement of her Holy Cross professors.

The admiration is mutual. Ann Marie Leshkowich, a professor of anthropology, who spent the last semester guiding Vo through an independent reading course on contemporary Vietnam, says her exchanges with Vo were ones “in which the professor learned as much as, if not more than, her student.”

“Libby Vo is a true scholar whose creativity, intelligence and infectious curiosity are matched by a passion to understand viewpoints other than her own.”

In addition to conducting research, Vo plans to reunite with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. “I have never seen Vietnam, save for the colorful, glossy pages of National Geographic. I hope to rekindle relationships with my extended family that I have only known through scattered photos. Vietnam is a country that my family was fearful of and fled. I want to return to my birth country and discover it for myself and obtain in the process, a deeper understanding of myself — of who I am and where I came from.”

Following Commencement, Vo will visit local hospitals and institutions that care for disabled children, in order to have a point of comparison for her findings in Vietnam. She leaves for Da Nang in August.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The College of the Holy Cross, the City of Worcester and the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corporation will hold a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, May 20 to announce the start of a collaborative effort to bring about the revitalization of the South Worcester neighborhood. The press conference will be held at the South Worcester Neighborhood Center, 47 Camp Street, at 1 p.m.

WORCESTER, Mass. – George J. White, a 1939 graduate, is donating $1 million to the College of the Holy Cross, which when added to his previous gifts in 1994 and 2001, brings his total lifetime giving to more than $2 million. His generosity has earned him membership in the “Cornerstone Society,” a select group of individuals who have each given in excess of $1 million to Holy Cross.

White and his wife, Eileen, are residents of Holden. He is a charter member of the President’s Council and a lifetime member of the Benefactor’s Circle. Both George and Eileen White are active participants in the 1843 Society (a group of alumni who support the College through their estate plans).

White, a Certified Public Accountant who practiced public accounting for 42 years, has lent his fiscal acumen to Holy Cross over the years as a member of numerous committees. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University in 1941. He taught accounting at Holy Cross in 1977.

“George J. White continues to be a remarkably devoted Holy Cross alumnus, benefactor and class chair,” says Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of the College. “His generous contributions and tireless work for the college over the years have helped to further the mission of the College in many ways. This latest gift is additional testament to his dedication to, and love for, his alma mater.”

White has been actively involved with the Holy Cross Club of Worcester since his graduation and served many terms on the Club’s board of directors. In addition, he has been a class agent for more than 40 years and, since 1989, has served as the chairman of his class. In 1998, White received the In Hoc Signo Award, the General Alumni Association’s highest honor.

A loyal and generous alumnus of the College, White established The George J. White Memorial Scholarship Fund, a scholarship enabling qualified students from Worcester to attend Holy Cross, in 1994, and The George J. and Eileen F. White Professorship in Accounting, in 2001. In recognition of his 2001 gift, the College named the religious studies conference room in Smith Hall in his honor.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The following members of the Holy Cross community recently received prestigious Fulbright awards to teach and conduct research in foreign countries:

Amy Atkocius ’04, a double major in German and sociology, will spend a year at Humboldt Universitaet in Germany studying refugee immigration and asylum. Atkocius is a member of the Dean’s List and Alpha Kappa Delta, the National Honor Society of Sociology. She is a resident of Auburn, Mass.

Edward Butterfield ’01 has been awarded a teaching assistantship in Chile. He will be teaching English classes at the university level and conducting independent research on Chilean and Latin American identity. While at Holy Cross, he was a member of the College’s Honors Program and Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish National Honor Society. He studied in Spain during his junior year. Upon graduation, Butterfield spent a year in Japan teaching English. Since his return to the United States, he has served as the apartment manager at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Chicago, Ill.

Renee Chachakis ’04 has been awarded a teaching assistantship in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, where she will teach English to high school students. A political science major from West Warwick, R.I., she is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, and Delta Phi Alpha, the National German Honor Society. Named to the National Dean’s List in 2003, Chachakis was honored with a German Book Award from the German Consulate in Boston in 2002 and 2003, for excellence in the study of German.

Lisbeth Garassino ’04 will travel to Romania to teach English to high school and college students. An English major, Garassino has held internships in broadcast journalism, including working for the CBS4 – TV Investigative Team in Boston and for Worcester News Tonight. She hopes to become a reporter of international affairs. A resident of Watertown, Conn., Garassino served as a high school English teacher in Bosnia last summer.