News

WORCESTER, Mass. – Singer/songwriter Howie Day will open for hip-hop group the Roots at this year’s Spring Weekend Concert at Holy Cross on Tuesday, May 4. The concert will take place in the Hart Center. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for Holy Cross students with an ID (limit two tickets per student), $18 for students in the Worcester Consortium and $20 for the general public. They are available at the Holy Cross Bookstore. (Tickets are not being sold by phone.)

Howie Day is a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from Bangor, Maine. Inspired by the music of Richard Ashcroft, U2 and Jeff Buckley, Day’s songs prove he’s not afraid to wear his broken heart on his sleeve. His first album, “Australia,” released in 2000, earned a 2001 Boston Music Award for “Best Debut Album by a Singer-Songwriter” and a 2002 award for “Best Male Single Songwriter.” Day’s performance at Holy Cross will feature songs from his debut album in addition to possible selections for a second one. “The new songs are more personal and intense than before. I’m looking forward to showing the people what I can do now,” shared Day.

The Roots are a hip-hop group from the “cultural melting pot of Philadelphia.” Together since 1992, they started out by freestyle rapping in the street. They later moved to the club scene, and ultimately went on tour. A group that knows how to rock crowds and get people truly excited about their music, the Roots aim to have the “complete sound experience.” In addition to high energy and exciting concerts, the Roots have produced popular albums. Their newest release, “Phrenology,” was recently certified Gold and nominated for a GRAMMY award this year.

The Roots have performed around the world and are visiting Holy Cross as part of their “Phrenology” tour.

WORCESTER, Mass. –

WHO: Students from Holy Cross, South High School and Doherty Memorial High School

WHAT: Legislative Simulation: Students will participate in mock sessions of the “House of Representatives,” where they will question witnesses and debate proposed bills. Massachusetts state representatives Karyn Polito and John Binienda will be attending the simulation to offer advice and comments on the proceedings.

WHERE/WHEN: College of the Holy Cross, Saturday, April 3
Stein Hall, Room 212, 11 a.m.
Rehm Library, 4 p.m. (Final session of the “House”)

WHY: Voter apathy and disenchantment with American political institutions have become significant problems in our political system. In fact, the American Congress, arguably the most important legislative body in the world, continues to receive low marks in public opinion polling for legitimacy and competence. The goal of the simulation is to allow college and high school students to personally experience the legislative process and thereby gain a greater appreciation for the skill and knowledge that is required to introduce bills and transform them into laws.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Nearly 250 Holy Cross students, alumni, faculty and staff will take part in the seventh annual ‘Holy Cross Cares Day’ on Saturday, April 3. Showing their appreciation for the Worcester community, participants will spend the day performing service-oriented activities, such as cleaning, painting, cooking and doing yard work at several Worcester community sites.

The day will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Fieldhouse, with a prayer and brief remarks by Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., Holy Cross president, and a keynote address. The keynote speaker for this year’s event is Joanne McClatchy ’79, executive director of the Nativity School of Worcester. At 11:00 a.m., buses will transport participants to numerous sites around the city. Participants will work all day and return to Holy Cross shortly after 2 p.m. for a community picnic.

Mary Beth Ryan ’05, a co-chair for the event says the day is ‘about building unity among different groups on campus and the Worcester community. It’s a day of reflection, service and fun ‘ but most importantly, it’s a building block for other service projects and volunteer work in the future, both at Holy Cross and beyond.’

Among the 19 sites slated to be part of ‘Holy Cross Cares Day’ are: Cookson Park, St. Stephen’s School, the Boys and Girls Club of Worcester, and the Central Mass. Shelter for Homeless Veterans, where students will be preparing and serving lunch.

WORCESTER, Mass. – WHO: Men, women and children of all ages in Worcester – specifically students and members of the elder population.

WHAT: Intergenerational Dance, featuring live big band music provided by the Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble, dance exhibitions by the Holy Cross Ballroom Dancers and Joann Warren Studio dancers. Free food, raffles and prizes.

WHERE: College of the Holy Cross Hogan Campus Center, Ballroom

WHEN: Sunday, March 28 from 2 – 5 p.m.

WHY: Sponsored by the Colleges of Worcester Consortium Gerontology Studies Program, the event is a great opportunity to bridge the social gap between elders and students. Last year 250 people attended the event.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will deliver the principal address and receive an honorary degree at the 158th Commencement ceremony at the College of the Holy Cross on Friday, May 28. Holy Cross will graduate 676 men and women during the ceremony, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Fitton Field. In case of rain, the commencement exercises will be held in the Hart Recreation Center.

A theoretical physicist, Jackson received her doctoral degree in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T. in 1973. Her research specialty is in theoretical condensed matter physics, especially layered systems, and the physics of opto-electronic materials. Prior to becoming Rensselaer’s president, Jackson held senior positions in government, as chairperson of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; in industry, as a theoretical physicist at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories; and in higher education, as a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University.

Jackson is president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of Science magazine. Named as one of seven 2004 fellows of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), she is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society (1986), she received the “Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award” from the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2001. She is also a recipient of the “Thomas Alva Edison Award.” Named one of the Top 50 Women in Science by Discover magazine in 2002, Jackson was recognized in a published book by ESSENCE, titled 50 of The Most Inspiring African-Americans. She also was named one of “50 R&D Stars to Watch” by Industry Week Magazine.

Jackson is the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. from M.I.T. in any subject area and one of the first two African-American women to receive a doctorate in physics in the United States. She is also the first African-American woman to lead a national research university. Jackson is married to Morris A. Washington, also a physicist. They have one son, Alan.

The following individuals will also receive honorary degrees:

Rev. Michael J. Gillgannon

Rev. Michael J. Gillgannon is the founder and director of campus ministry for the La Paz, Bolivia Archdiocese. He also serves as chaplain to the State University of La Paz and the La Paz Teachers’ College. Ordained in 1958, Fr. Gillgannon began his career in campus ministry in 1962 at Western Missouri State University. In 1966, he served on the advisory committee of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference for the post-Vatican II reorganization of Catholic Campus Ministry in the United States. Since 1974, he has worked as a missionary in La Paz, serving as pastor of San Antonio Parish, as episcopal vicar of the Eastern Deanery of La Paz, and as national chaplain for Bolivian Campus Ministry.

Alice McDermott
The author of five acclaimed novels, Alice McDermott has won critical praise and a devoted readership with her deft perceptions of love, loss, family and faith. Her debut novel, A Bigamist’s Daughter (1982), announced the arrival of an exciting new talent and her follow-up book, That Night (1987), was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. At Weddings and Wakes (1992), her third novel and New York Times bestseller, was called “a haunting and masterly work of literary art” by The Wall Street Journal. Charming Billy (1998) won the National Book Award. Her most recent novel, Child of My Heart, was published in 2002. McDermott received her bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oswego, and her master of arts degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire. She and her husband, research neuroscientist David M. Armstrong, have three children, Will, Patrick and Eames.

Richard P. Traina
From 1984 to 2000, Richard P. Traina served as the seventh president of Clark University. During his tenure, he oversaw the endowment of three new schools —the Hiatt School of Psychology, the Higgins School of Humanities, and the Carlson School of Chemistry —and the number of endowed chairs for faculty rose from two to provision for 15. It was under Traina’s leadership that Clark helped establish the Main South Community Development Corporation, a vehicle organized to stimulate affordable housing and small business development in Clark’s surrounding neighborhood. A specialist in American diplomatic history, he first served on the faculty of Wabash College (1963-74), spending his last five years there as dean of the college. Subsequently, he served as the chief academic officer at Franklin and Marshall College. The author of American Diplomacy and the Spanish Civil War, he was the co-editor, with Armin Rappaport, of Present in the Past. A frequent lecturer on higher education, he has served as a member of the Council on Competitiveness, as chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts (AICUM), as a commissioner for the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, and as chair of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Heidi Zimmer, a deaf, female mountaineer and adventurer will give a lecture at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 15 in Suites B & C of the Hogan Campus Center at Holy Cross. Her lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be presented in American Sign Language (ASL) with English voice interpretation. Refreshments will be served.

After being diagnosed with Usher’s Syndrome, a visual disorder, Zimmer, an avid mountain climber, challenged herself to complete the “Seven Summits,” by climbing the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Since setting her goal, she has become the first deaf woman to reach the top of Denali (Mt. McKinley in Alaska) and the first deaf person to reach the tops of both Mt. Elbrus (in the Republic of Russia) and Kilimanjaro (in Africa). Zimmer has four more mountains to go — (Mt Vinson in Antarctica; Aconcagua in South America; Carstensz Pyramid in Iran Jaya; and Mt. Everest in Nepal).

In addition to her latest mountain climbing endeavors, she participated in the 2000 “Girls on the Move,” event, created by Outward Bound. The program combined a cross-country bicycle expedition with community education celebrating and empowering women.

Her lecture is cosponsored by the Holy Cross Campus Activities Board (CAB), the Deaf Studies Program, the Student Government Association (SGA), Women’s Studies, the Women’s Forum and the ASL Club.

WORCESTER, Mass. –

WHO: Carol Moseley Braun, former candidate for the democratic presidential nomination, first female senator from Illinois and only the second African-American ever voted to the U.S. Senate, only African-American woman to serve as a U.S. senator.

WHAT: Fifteen-minute press conference

WHERE: College of the Holy Cross Hogan Campus Center, Room 402

WHEN: Thursday, March 25 from 6 – 6:15 p.m.

WHY: To precede her public lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom. Her lecture will focus on her personal background, affirmative action and issues facing women.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Judith K. Ockene, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Preventative and Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Medicine at UMASS Medical School, will deliver the annual Katherine A. Henry ’86 Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, April 14, at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library at Holy Cross. The lecture, titled “Promoting Women’s Health,” is free and open to the public.

Ockene is the recipient of numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and has a long history of research in the prevention of illness and disability and the promotion of health and quality of life for individuals and communities. As principal investigator of the NIH-funded Women’s Health Initiative, Ockene has most recently focused her research on women’s health and factors which affect morbidity, mortality, quality of life in older women, and intervention approaches for working with low-income, culturally-diverse populations.

Ockene teaches medical and public health students, residents in training, community physicians, and a variety of other healthcare providers how to help patients make lifestyle changes for the prevention and control of disease and how to adapt to illness. Her work is at the intersection of clinical medicine and public health.

She has over 150 publications in preventive and behavioral medicine and was a scientific editor of two Surgeon General’s Reports on Smoking and Health. Ockene is a newly appointed member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

This lecture is part of the Katherine A. Henry ’86 Memorial Lecture Series on Women’s Health Issues. Henry’s parents endowed the lecture series in memory of their daughter who died in 1997.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The piano concert featuring Sarah Grunstein scheduled for Thursday, April 1 at 8 p.m. has been canceled.

WORCESTER, Mass. – On Thursday, March 25, Holy Cross students will take part in free alcohol screenings. Screenings will take place from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center 1st Floor Lobby.

In conjunction with a lecture on the realities of alcohol dependence by Augusten Burroughs, bestselling author of Dry: A Memoir, on March 24, Holy Cross will hold this year’s alcohol screening day early. Holy Cross joins over 2,000 campus and community locations across the country that will hold alcohol screenings in April 2004.

After filling out a brief anonymous survey, students participating in National Alcohol Screening Day will have the opportunity to meet with a healthcare professional to review their answers. Referrals for further evaluation will be provided when appropriate.

National Alcohol Screening Day addresses a variety of drinking behaviors including risky drinking and alcohol dependence. The event is designed to raise public awareness about the consequences of drinking, including alcohol’s effect on a person’s general health and its role in specific medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.

In addition to these events, Holy Cross representatives will be in attendance on Wednesday, March 24, when Worcester Mayor Timothy P. Murray reads a proclamation declaring April Alcohol Awareness Month in the City of Worcester.

WORCESTER, Mass. –

WHO: Augusten Burroughs, bestselling author of the novel Sellvision and the memoirs Running With Scissors and Dry: A Memoir.

WHAT: Lecture — “Dry: Living Life Without Booze”
Book signing — Burroughs will be available to sign copies of his books after his lecture.

WHERE: College of the Holy Cross — Hogan Campus Center, Ballroom

WHEN: Wednesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
WHY: In conjunction with Alcohol Awareness Month and National Alcohol Screening Day, Burroughs will discuss the realities of alcohol dependence.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Voter apathy and disenchantment with American political institutions have become significant problems in our political system. In fact, the American Congress, arguably the most important legislative body in the world, continues to receive low marks in public opinion polling for legitimacy and competence.

In response to this, Holy Cross political science students, in cooperation with South High School and Doherty Memorial High School, will host a legislative simulation on Saturday, April 3, beginning at 11 a.m. in Stein 212.

The goal of the simulation is to allow college and high school students to personally experience the legislative process and thereby gain a greater appreciation for the skill and knowledge that is required to introduce bills and transform them into laws.

Massachusetts state representatives Karyn Polito and John Binienda will be attending the simulation to offer advice and comments on the proceedings.

Students will be required to familiarize themselves with a legislative district and to balance the goals of representing district interests and securing the common good of the nation. Students will experience the competing pulls of interest groups, political parties, and committee membership as they play their legislative roles.

Donald Brand, professor of political science, says he “hopes that the students will emerge from this experience with a better understanding of the American political system and will become more actively engaged as citizens.”

After questioning witnesses in hearings, the committees will resume business in mock sessions where amendments to the proposed legislation will be considered. The day will conclude with a brief session on the floor of the “House of Representatives” to debate and vote on two proposed bills.

The final session of the house will take place at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Jackson Katz, a leading American anti-sexist male activist, will give a lecture at Holy Cross on Tuesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom. His lecture, titled “More Than A Few Good Men: Violence Against Women and the Struggle to Reach Men,” is free and open to the public.

Katz’s talk will demonstrate a unique and compelling perspective on the subjects of rape, sexual harassment, and abuse in college dating relationships. Using an interactive and humorous delivery, he will challenge both men and women to reexamine old assumptions and work together towards common goals.

Katz is the author of numerous articles on issues including white masculinity, feminism, violence, advertising and media. He has lectured on hundreds of college campuses and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America and ABC News’ 20/20.

In 1993, he founded the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. The program was the first large-scale attempt to enlist collegiate and professional athletes in the fight against rape and all forms of violence against women. Today, MVP is the most widely-utilized gender violence prevention program in college athletics and the first such program ever implemented in the United States Marine Corps.

Katz attended the University of Massachusetts –Amherst, where he was the first male to earn a minor in women’s studies. He also holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Jean Ferrard will perform an organ concert on Sunday, April 4, at 3 p.m. in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel at the College of the Holy Cross. Part of the Holy Cross Chapel Artists Series, the concert is free and open to the public.

The program will feature German and Belgian music for organ, including the first American performance of an arrangement by Ferrard of J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concert #3 for organ four hands and feet; he will be assisted in this work by organist Naomi Takagi.

Ferrard is Professor of Organ at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Belgium. He has recorded extensively and is the author of several books on the history of the organ in Belgium. In addition, Ferrard serves as editor of Magazine de l’Orgue — one of the most well-respected organ journals in Europe