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It was November 2008 and Rodney De Leaver ’74 had an epiphany while sitting in the Hogan Ballroom.

On campus to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Black Student Union, he was watching a “fireside chat” between the late president emeritus Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J. ’49 and writer Diane Brady, who had written a Businessweek article about Brooks’ 1968 drive to recruit students of color and begin diversifying the nearly all-white college.

“It was a great, energy-filled room,” De Leaver remembers. “I’d spoken to everyone in that room at some point between my graduation in ’74 and that evening. We all have a common thread being John E. Brooks and the College. I looked around and saw all of these people I had gone to school with and had met subsequently as an alum, and I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could capture the presence in this room?'”

Brady turned her article into a 2012 book, “Fraternity,” and returned to campus after its publication to discuss the novel with Fr. Brooks and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ’71, one of the men recruited by Fr. Brooks and profiled in Brady’s book.

Once again, De Leaver felt that familiar tug to do something to capture the magic in the room, but this time he had a concrete idea: ‘I’ll have everybody sign a copy of the book — every chance I get.’

Now seven years later, De Leaver has been doing just that ever since, creating a physical representation of the College’s efforts and commitment to diversity.

Since that spark, De Leaver has had hundreds of students and alumni of color, as well as administrators, deans, faculty, staff and others, sign “Fraternity” as well as “Thy Honored Name,” the College’s official history written by the late Rev. Anthony J. Kuzniewski, S.J., professor of history and unofficial College historian. Signatures are organized by class year and include past College presidents, such as Fr. Brooks, many of those profiled in “Fraternity,” and founders and early members of the Black Student Union. De Leaver has also compiled a necrology in the back of the books, containing the names of alumni of color who have died without getting a chance to sign their name.

“I was introduced to Fr. Brooks in 1969, so my time at Holy Cross has always been tied to him,” De Leaver notes. “With Father’s passing, it dawned on it me that I would then be asking alums to sign the book who had not had the opportunity to have met him, but who will have received the benefits of his work by being able to attend Holy Cross through the legacy and continuation of the College’s efforts toward diversity.”

De Leaver visits campus several times a year, always with the books in tow. “I usually have the books with me every time I’m on campus because someone will be on campus who hadn’t gotten an opportunity to sign them, but would have heard someone who said, ‘Don’t forget you’re going to sign De Leaver’s books the next time you see him.'”

Thanks to his tabbed organization system, De Leaver says he won’t run out of room and will continue to gather signatures every chance he gets. He adds one important note with a laugh: “I learned over time I should ask for a legible signature.”

“I’m 66 now,” he says. “It’s been an interesting effort for me, to say the least. I’m hoping to be able to carry this on in the footsteps of guys like Joe Reilly ’55 [the late chairman emeritus of the Bishop Healy Committee and special assistant to the president and to the vice president of student affairs and dean of students], who was able to provide some assistance and service to the College and to students of color and the efforts of diversity. Either on Father’s 100th birthday or my 100th birthday, I’ll donate the books to the school as a written testimonial to the lives Fr. Brooks touched.”

Written by Melissa Shaw for the Summer 2019 issue of Hole Cross Magazine.

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Holy Cross Magazine (HCM) is the quarterly alumni publication of the College of the Holy Cross. The award-winning publication is mailed to alumni and friends of the College and includes intriguing profiles, make-you-think features, alumni news, exclusive photos and more. Visit magazine.holycross.edu/about to contact HCM, submit alumni class notes, milestones, or letters to the editor.

Related Information

• Black Student Union Celebrates 50 Years at Holy Cross
• For Us, For Others, For Action: Alumni Reflect on a Half-Century of the Black Student Union

For Operation Gratitude CEO Kevin Schmiegel ’89, each morning breaks with a cup of coffee and some reading. “I start each day reading emails from service members who have received our care packages,” he says. “They express gratitude and astonishment to learn that people across America appreciate their service and understand their sacrifice — it’s incredibly powerful.”

The retired Marine lieutenant colonel understands the impact of appreciation expressed. He experienced it firsthand during his two decades of service in the United States Marine Corps and has encountered it many times since returning to civilian life. And it’s the reason he has chosen to spend his post active-duty life serving members of the military and first responders. “We have to say thank you to all who serve,” he notes, simply.

There’s no gap in Americans’ appreciation for the men and women who serve this country, he notes, but rather, “It’s a gap of understanding. There’s a civilian-service divide. People don’t have everyday interactions with those who serve, so they don’t understand what it entails.”

In response, Schmiegel has dedicated his life to changing that. After retiring from the Marines, he joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as chief of staff, traveling the world to meet with senior executives. It was fascinating work, but something was off. “I missed serving my country and serving others,” he says. “In my meetings, I repeatedly heard CEOs say that they liked hiring former service members.”

That observation led Schmiegel to leave his position and found Hiring Our Heroes, a program designed to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment. In no time, he realized he was onto something: “A young man came up to me at a hiring fair in Chicago and said, ‘You changed my life…I got a job.’ He didn’t realize it, but that day he changed my life, too.”

He equates problems facing active-duty military and veterans to a national security imperative. “For example, when I started Hiring Our Heroes, veteran unemployment was at 12.1 percent,” he says. “I saw that as a national security issue because if men and women who serve in the military don’t feel valued and don’t have a path to a career after service, it hurts our nation’s ability to recruit for our all-volunteer force.”

Over the next two years, Schmiegel and his team helped more than 120,000 veterans and military spouses find employment; today veteran unemployment stands at 4 percent.

In December 2017, he joined Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit that connects civilians and service members through gifts and handwritten letters. “Operation Gratitude offers me the opportunity to have a much broader impact on men and women in uniform, as well as on ordinary Americans who want to make a difference and give back,” he says.

Leading the organization, Schmiegel continues to focus on closing the civilian-service divide. “There’s a big disconnect between the general populace and service members because Americans don’t understand the jobs these people do or how to thank them for their efforts,” he says. “Gratitude is very important to those who serve, and it’s more than just saying ‘Thank you.’ Those who serve appreciate receiving snacks and hygiene items, but it’s the handmade-with-love items that mean the most. They’re not just a symbol of gratitude, they’re an actual expression of gratitude that volunteers make with their own hands, and they mean so much.”

Operation Gratitude has offered citizens a vehicle for saying thank you since its creation in 2003, delivering 2.3 million care packages and counting to servicemen and women. Schmiegel now wants to build on that foundation and serve other populations, as well. “For the first decade, the organization only served deployed service members, but now we’re serving our heroes at home as well, from veterans and military families to first responders, a cohort that is equally important to me,” he notes.

He’s also giving volunteers the chance to put a personal spin on their participation by allowing them to deliver care packages, rather than just assemble them, and expanding outreach through grassroots initiatives. Schmiegel encourages those looking to help narrow the civilian-service gap to find hands-on volunteer opportunities where people can interact with and get to know service members and first responders.

“When they have that opportunity to say ‘Thank you for your service’ and express gratitude face to face, they can take the next step and ask them questions about their service, the challenges they face every day and the sacrifices they and their families make,” he says. “That is the best way to create understanding and bridge the divide. We are all called to serve in different ways. And when you are called, you have a responsibility to answer.”

One was looking for a community of faith. Another was mourning the death of his wife of more than 50 years. And a third, juggling grad school and a full-time job, just needed time to breathe.

Their reasons are as individual as their lives, yet dozens of alumni are looking to — and heading back to — Holy Cross for alumni retreats as a way to find direction, rest or enrichment.

Dentists are all about preventive care, says Joanne “Jo” Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D, MPH, M.S. She spent 30 years in practice embracing an approach of preventing and mitigating disease, and now she’s using that same tactic in her philanthropy, promoting health and wellness as a way to help people avoid chronic illness and lead long, healthy lives.

Chouinard-Luth is one half of a dynamic couple dedicated to supporting recreation and wellness at Holy Cross. She and her husband, John E. Luth ’74, made the largest single donation in Holy Cross history. Their $40 million gift supported the renovation and expansion of the Hart Center and the creation of the Luth Athletic Complex for varsity athletes, which opened in 2018.

Now they have turned their attention to the wellness of all Holy Cross students, as part of their historic donation will fund the new Joanne Chouinard-Luth Recreation and Wellness Center, dubbed “The Jo” in honor of Chouinard-Luth and her commitment to holistic wellness.

While not an alumna, Chouinard-Luth — and her personal crusade — are responsible for providing the College with a new home for fitness and fun, a facility for which Holy Cross has been longing for more than 60 years.