Several national news outlets, including Bloomberg, reported last week that Joanna Geraghty ’94, a sociology major at Holy Cross, has been named president and chief operating officer of JetBlue Airways Corp. In this role, Geraghty will run the day-to-day operations and oversee the airline’s commercial team, while reporting to chief executive officer Robin Hayes.
The promotion will make Geraghty “the highest-ranking woman at a large U.S. airline,” according to Bloomberg. Geraghty joined JetBlue in 2005 as a director in the litigation and regulatory department and rose through the ranks to the most recent position of executive vice president for customer experience.
Geraghty, who has remained in close connection with the College and the city of Worcester throughout the years, was on hand to celebrate the launch of JetBlue’s very first flight out of the city on January 26, 2014, according to NECN.
If there’s one word to describe the Class of 2018 at College of the Holy Cross, it’s ready — ready to take the world by storm after four years on Mount St. James.
The graduating seniors took a moment out of their busy final semesters to reflect on how they’ve changed from their first year, what they’ve learned about themselves, and how they feel stepping out into a world full of possibilities.
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Jennie Germann Molz, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at the College of the Holy Cross, shares her thoughts on volunteer tourism or “voluntourism,” one of the fastest growing trends in travel today.
In an article for The Times of India, Molz, who has done extensive research on this matter, says that voluntourism is becoming increasingly popular because it promotes a sense of closeness and bonding within families and allows parents to provide valuable lessons to their kids.
“Parents also see volunteering away from home as a way of preparing children for an uncertain future. Voluntourism equips youngsters not only with CV-worthy skills, but also emotional competences that will prepare them for the future,” explains Molz.
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In a Q&A interview with Boston Globe Magazine, former head speechwriter for President Barack Obama and Holy Cross alumnus Jon Favreau ’03 talks about his overnight success in the world of podcasts and political commentary.
Along with two other former Obama staffers — Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor — Favreau launched what the Globe calls “the scorchingly irreverent political podcast ‘Pod Save America'” and the company behind it, Crooked Media, in January of 2017. The twice-weekly podcast, which averages about 1.5 million listeners per show, offers a conversational — often cheeky — breakdown of the week’s political news and features politicians, activists and journalists who offer expertise from their particular vantage points.
“When we started Crooked Media and ‘Pod Save America,’ the other thing we hadn’t seen media do on the left or the right is actually tell people what they can do about the news that they’re seeing, reading, or hearing,” Favreau explains in the Q&A. “And so we wanted to make sure that on ‘Pod Save America,’ when we talk to people about news stories, that we say, ‘OK, if you don’t like this, you can go contribute to this candidate. If you are worried about Congress ripping away your health care, here’s a way to contact a member of Congress. Here’s a way to organize a rally or a town hall.'”
On the heels of their audial success, Favreau and his co-hosts have introduced several spinoff podcasts as well as live shows, performing in sold-out venues across the United States and Europe. Most recently, “Pod Save America” secured four one-hour HBO TV specials slated to air this fall covering the midterm elections.
Favreau, a political science major at the College, co-founded the communications and speechwriting firm Fenway Strategies before these new-age media ventures. In 2014, he returned to Holy Cross to offer the commencement address, and was awarded a Doctor of Public Service honorary degree.
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Abby Corrigan ’19, a physics and economics major, and Sarah McGuire ’19, a mathematics major with a minor in computer science, have been named recipients of the competitive Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship for the 2018-19 academic year.
The scholarship, which covers the students’ tuition and fees, is awarded to two women entering their fourth year at the College of the Holy Cross and majoring in the physical sciences, including mathematics, computer science, physics and chemistry. The College also supports the Clare Boothe Luce Scholars with paid research fellowships during the summer prior to the start of their senior year.
Taylor K. Pels ’18 has been selected to deliver the Class of 2018 valedictory address at the Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 25.
Pels is a chemistry major in the Health Professions Advising Program, is a member of both Phi Beta Kappa and the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, and is a Sheehan Scholar. She is from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
While at Holy Cross, Pels has been very involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program of Central Massachusetts where she has mentored a young girl in the Worcester community. For the past two years, she has conducted research in the organic chemistry lab of Brian Linton, associate professor of chemistry, and also participated in toxicology research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine last summer. She has served on the planning committees for Holy Cross Dance Marathon benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Holy Cross’ second annual Women in Science Day, a conference celebrating the involvement of young female students in science. She was both a Peer Assistant Learning tutor and STEM+E tutor, and worked as a teaching assistant in introductory chemistry labs. Pels was also a member of the Holy Cross cheerleading team and served as a fall orientation leader.
Following graduation, Pels plans to spend a year doing clinical or biomedical research prior to pursuing a medical degree and career as a pediatrician.
Pels was selected as valedictorian from a group of academically outstanding members of the senior class, each of whom submitted speeches for consideration. The Valedictorian Selection Committee — composed of students from the senior class, faculty members and administrators — reviewed the submissions, and the final selection was made by Margaret Freije, provost and Dean of the College.
As Amazon courts cities across the U.S. to determine the location of their next headquarters, a new proposed tax in Seattle has halted planned expansion of existing facilities. The tax would charge every large company $500 per employee to fund the city’s affordable housing initiatives, and some experts claim Amazon’s hesitation to pay may scare off finalists for the new headquarters.
In an article for TheStreet, Robert Baumann, professor of economics at Holy Cross, dismisses these concerns saying, “They are a unique company. There aren’t many companies that bring the type of bargaining power to the table that Amazon does.”
According to Baumann, this bargaining power will likely outweigh any fears municipalities may have, especially considering most cities have enticed Amazon with tax breaks and other incentives. “I can’t see this affecting the level of interest from the HQ2 finalists. It’s hard to deny bringing in thousands of six-figure paying jobs if you are an elected official in these municipalities,” Baumann said.
Professor Baumann’s comments were also featured in POLITICO’s Morning Tax, a morning run-down of the day’s tax news. He has been a sought-after expert for the media on this topic, as well as the issue of Amazon’s marketplace dominance, having been quoted by TheStreet in multiple articles.
Once dubbed “America’s Fastest Growing Sport,” NASCAR has been struggling with diminishing attendance at its adrenaline-filled events over the past few years, leading the owning France family to consider a sale of a majority stake in the sanctioning body.
Called upon by Reuters to weigh in on the issue, Victor Matheson, a sports economics expert and professor at the College of the Holy Cross, said “We’ve seen the price for pro U.S. sports franchises skyrocket but NASCAR’s fortunes have not been as good as the other sports leagues.”
“As recently as 10 years ago we were starting to talk about maybe NASCAR as the fifth major league in the United States and nowadays no one is talking like that anymore,” added Matheson. According to him and other analysts, the change in ownership could be a positive step for the NASCAR franchise, given its ongoing efforts to appeal to a younger demographic.
In February, professor of history and social movements expert Stephanie Yuhl participated in a WGBH BostonTalks event titled “The Sixties,” focusing on movements of the 1960s, including rock ‘n’ roll music and women’s activism.
Yuhl presented on the portrayal of 1960s feminists as “bra burners” and how the label has survived to the present day. She explained how the 1968 “No More Miss America” protest in Atlantic City was covered by a satirical New York Post article describing the protesters as “bra burners,” even though the protest “was a very serious critique of American culture and women’s voice and place and bodies,” said Yuhl.
In closing, Yuhl argued that “if we can question why we hold onto things to alienate, marginalize, and disenfranchise serious political critique, we would be in a much better place, and I believe it is just as important now as it was in 1968.”
You can watch the entire discussion above, or at WGBH BostonTalks.
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While plastic surgery is widely available in Brazil’s public hospitals, and in most cases free or low-cost, “the ‘right to beauty’ has a darker side to it,” says Holy Cross assistant professor of anthropologyAlvaro Jarrín. In an article for The Conversation, Jarrín describes the development of a culture in which “beauty is perceived as being so central for the job market, so crucial for finding a spouse and so essential for any chances at upward mobility that many can’t say no to these surgeries.”
Jarrín has spent years studying the expansion of plastic surgery amongst low-income patients in Brazil, the second-largest consumer of plastic surgery in the world, and has found that many patients felt like guinea pigs for medical residents learning and practicing their trade, with some surgeries having resulted in permanent disfigurement.
The morning after his engaging lecture, as part of a creative residency with members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company at the College of the Holy Cross, legendary choreographer Bill T. Jones held an intimate discussion with students, majoring in everything from chemistry to theatre, to delve into a different kind of dance — the reality of mortality, the importance of ambiguity in art and how his personal life has been reflected in his work.
“Art does for me what religion traditionally did — organized semblance to the universe,” Jones shared, seated in the middle of 25 students.
In an interview with Jared Bowen, host of WGBH’s Open Studio, held after the discussion, Jones spoke more broadly about his relationship with art throughout the years.
“Art was something that felt good coming out — terrifying, and oftentimes I found that when I looked at the people who were looking at me, something happened between us that I was hungering to have happen. I felt a closeness, ‘simpatico.’ I felt potential. I felt loved. I think art did that.”
Jones approached his conversation with Holy Cross students with the same type of openness, pushing them to consider their own relationships with art, and how they might answer the questions they were asking of him.
While discussing his iconic work, like “Still/Here,” about people living with life-threatening illnesses, and the more recent “Analogy” series, about the stories of four different people, both fictional and non-fictional, one student asked if Jones thought one his “Analogy” characters was a good person.
“Are you a good person?” Jones asked in return. “What the hell is a good person? Have you thought about it? I won’t ask you — that’s between you and your God. But an artist like myself has got to make work that suggests all the possible answers to that. Art is not standing and telling you that ‘I believe in good and evil.’ Art has got to show you ambiguity.”
Throughout the conversation, Jones asked students questions that challenged them in more ways than one.
“I think the first couple times he did that, people were really uncomfortable,” says Katie Santoro ’19, a chemistry major. “But it underscored that he’s not an all-knowing person. Even if you see someone as an inspiration, which I think Bill is, you can’t turn to someone like that and expect them to have all the answers. You also have to reflect within yourself. Bill could have given answers to every question that was asked of him, but he understands the power of a question or the power of being asked a question.”
Jones is used to both asking and answering difficult questions. “Still/Here” came to life after Jones lost his longtime partner, Arnie Zane, to AIDS and he came forward with his own HIV-positive status. When Americans were struggling with the realities and stigma of the epidemic in the late 1980s and early 90s, Jones was creating work to thrust the public into dialogue.
With Bowen, Jones recalled how one student asked him how he’s kept going, with everything he’s been through and as he’s getting older.
“I quoted the great Georgia O’Keefe when they asked her, ‘Well, how do you keep going?’ and she said, ‘Out of spite.’ It isn’t always harmony and all. Sometimes it’s just the way you push against the world when the world is at its most daunting, mediocre, brutal and uncaring. Then you have to stay with your art and just push against. Because there’s your meaning — there’s your life.”
As part of the creative residency sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders and the department of theatre and dance, two members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company spent the semester teaching a course with Jimena Bermejo, director of the dance program at the College.
“The students and I got exposed to some of the creative practices that Bill uses in the development of his work — and working with two dancers from outside campus also brought new expectations and ideas to the classroom. The students really opened up and tried everything, even if some of the concepts were challenging.”
World-renowned composer Osvaldo Golijov, Loyola professor of music at the College of the Holy Cross, is working on a project for soprano Nora Fischer and Silkroad Ensemble, according to the New York Times.
The daughter of Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer, Nora Fischer is renowned for creative interpretations of classical works. And if the name “Silkroad Ensemble” sounds familiar, it’s because the Grammy Award-winning group founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma has recently embarked on a three-year residency on campus.
Other projects by Golijov include “Azul,” a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony; the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Youth Without Youth;” “Rose of the Winds,” commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and “Kuai Le (Joy),” premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at the opening of the 2007 Special Olympics in Shanghai.
Hundreds of current and former student-athletes, alumni, community members, friends and family gathered at College of the Holy Cross on Saturday to celebrate the dedication of the College’s newly expanded Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex.
The new facility gives all Crusader student-athletes a world-class collegiate, competitive experience, and puts Holy Cross a step above its peer institutions. The new indoor practice facility named in honor of Saint Ignatius of Loyola includes a 100-yard turf field and 64,000 square feet of space for use by all varsity teams, while the Coach George Blaney ’61 Gymnasium serves as a top-notch practice court for the basketball and volleyball programs. Both are also available for general student use, club sports and intramural sports during designated hours every day. In addition, the Carol and Park B. Smith ’54 Sports Performance Center features 9,500 square feet of space for the strength and conditioning needs of all varsity sports.
The $95 million facility includes:
138,000 square feet of renovations, including updates to the Hart Center Arena and Hart Center Rink
A 64,000-square foot indoor practice facility with a 100-yard turf field for use by all sports
Auxiliary gymnasium for basketball and volleyball practice
3,000 square feet of new space for sports medicine
9,500 square feet of new space for strength and conditioning training and equipment
10 new or updated team-dedicated locker rooms
Offices, recruiting spaces and meeting rooms for all programs
Exterior plaza for events
The facility was supported by many donors, with a $32.5 million lead commitment from John Luth ’74 and Joanne Chouinard-Luth, D.M.D. Their gift is the largest in College of the Holy Cross history.
The project, designed by Sasaki Associates, got under way with site work beginning in December 2015. Renovations of the Hart Center began in April 2016, with the updated arena and rink officially opening for the start of the 2016-17 winter seasons. This fall, the Luth Athletic Complex became fully available for use by most staff and administration, with the opening of the Indoor Practice Facility (October) and the coaches’ suites (January) capping off the project.
After the speaking program and formal ribbon cutting, individual dedication ceremonies were held across the complex Saturday for spaces named after Holy Cross alumni and donors to the project, including the Bill Doran ’77 Auditorium, Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Atrium, the Moriarty and Scott Equipment Room, and the William P. Maloney ’59 Football Office Suite.
College President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., blessed the new facility and all in attendance. He told the assembled crowd that the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex would be an important space for both student-athletes and the Holy Cross community.
“This facility will enhance the experience of every student-athlete at Holy Cross and is the cornerstone upon which all of our athletics successes will be built for many years to come,” said Boroughs. “The Luth Athletic Complex is also an important gathering place for creating and expanding that sense of spirit and pride that is fostered through athletics — within our campus, and among the alumni and broader community.”
Senior field hockey player Maureen Connolly spoke about what the facility means to Holy Cross’ nearly 700 student-athletes and 27 varsity teams.
“When student-athletes step through the doors of the Luth Athletic Complex, they are immediately invigorated by the transformed space,” Connolly said. “With more practice space, state-of-the-art equipment, and permanent locker rooms, to name just a few of the many impactful additions, Holy Cross student-athletes are given an even bigger platform for success.”
Athletics Director Nathan Pine said the facility puts Holy Cross in elite company.
“This facility is a game-changer for Holy Cross, raising the profile of our athletics program and our entire institution,” Pine said. “What we now have at Holy Cross exceeds the athletics facilities of so many of our peer institutions and even some of the top programs in the country in certain areas.”
Learn more about the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex:
Over the course of four days, more than 470 students spanning all class years presented the results of their independent, creative and intellectual endeavors during the 2018 Academic Conference.
The celebration of academic life at the College of the Holy Cross came in the form of performances, poster sessions and presentations that showcased work across academic disciplines and highlighted the role professors play as mentors and model teacher-scholars for Holy Cross students.
“If I’m not speaking to you as an expert on guns, then I’m speaking to you as a human being,” Joseph Lawrence, professor of philosophy, said to a room full of students at the start of a conversation about the weighty, but timely, topic. “And if I speak to you as a human being, I would hope that would make it easier for you to respond to what I have to say as the human beings that you are.”
Lawrence was speaking at “Guns: Transcending the Partisan Divide,” one of two events sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Student Government Association aimed at addressing the issue of guns, gun violence and gun control in a respectful and understanding way.
In an effort to humanize the issue and catalyze dialogue, Lawrence shared his own narrative of growing up deep within gun culture in the hills of Kentucky. “I got my first BB gun when I was five or six, graduated to a .22 rifle when I was 12, got a 410 shotgun by the time I was 14 and by the time I was 16, that went up to a 20-gauge shotgun — I shot guns a lot.”
One of 15 children, Lawrence was especially close to his older brother, Allen, who died by gun suicide shortly after graduating high school.
“That,” he shares, “was my introduction to philosophy. That was my introduction to the idea that you actually have to think about things seriously. That was my introduction to the idea that the world of thought is not some kind of parlor game in which people banter about their opposing ideological positions.”
Based on his experiences with guns, Lawrence told students he truly believes the gun issue is one that can transcend the partisan divide.
“If you’re a good democrat, you’re going to be convinced that in order to feel safe in the world, the world has to do a better job of regulating guns. If you’re a republican, you’re going to feel equally strongly that if you want to feel safe in this world, you should have a gun so you can protect yourself against the bad guys. Both sides frame the issue solely in terms of safety. Both sides frame the issue in terms of fear.”
After some opening remarks, Lawrence engaged the student in active dialogues. One student asked: “When we, in the name of fear, want to prevent dangers that we might encounter, do you think we as human beings go too far, to the point where we become ridiculous in trying to protect our lives?”
“The consensus on both sides of the political debate is, ‘We just have to find the best way to stay safe,'” Lawrence replied. “From a philosophical position, you can’t make the world perfectly secure. Staying alive cannot possibly be the goal of a fully human life given that each of us will die in the end. The real problem with guns is not that they do a poor job of protecting us, but that they empower us in a way that contributes to our moral corruption, making us see enemies even where there are none, making us willing at any moment to destroy another human being.”
In addition to this conversation, roughly 100 students, faculty and staff also attended a fishbowl on guns that used interactive live polling to gauge personal opinions on gun-related issues.
Amit Taneja, dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, who moderated the fishbowl, said it was helpful to establish from the get-go that the vast majority of participants were interested in reducing gun-based violence.
“A shared common goal can help us understand that those with different approaches and ideas are not our enemies, but that we all wanted similar outcomes. The common goals prevent us from dismissing others without hearing them first.”
“While the discussion did get tense for a short period over the perception of certain guns — namely the AR-15 — it remained a respectful atmosphere that valued open communication rather than debate,” said Austin Bosworth ’18, a political science major. “The biggest takeaway for me was the need for greater research on gun violence, and the way in which students recognized the connections between mental health, other forms of violence and gun deaths. It’s important to have these discussions because it breaks down the ‘us vs. them’ mentality by humanizing the other side of the debate.”
Taneja notes that he never imagined students would leave either conversation with a consensus on how to solve the issue of gun violence. Instead, he sees both events as an opportunity for deeper discernment, a foundational principle of Jesuit higher education.
“My hope is that students learn the tools necessary to engage in dialogue and reflection with others that they deeply disagree with. If we could solve the pressing problems of the world by yelling matches and debates alone, we would have world peace by now.”
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Samuel Habein ’17 and Professor and Department Chair Tomohiko Narita build a cosmic ray telescope during Summer Research 2015.
In an interview for Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Tomohiko Narita, associate professor and chair of the physics department at the College of the Holy Cross, answered questions about his current work with semiconductor radiation detectors, his journey to a career in astrophysics, and SpaceX’s new launches. According to Narita his work in semiconductor radiation detectors fascinates him because “it’s the science at the intersection of astronomy, Einstein’s theories and high-energy physics.”
Narita discovered his passion for astrophysics during his graduate studies after his first project, a neutrino detector, experienced structural issues and “sank to the bottom of the ocean.” SpaceX’s recent space launch of a Tesla Roadster and their aspirations for a mission to Mars were also a discussion topic, and when asked whether he would like to be on SpaceX’s mission to Mars, Narita said, “Maybe, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”
Over the course of 24-hours, thousands of Holy Cross Crusaders came together to show their support for the College of the Holy Cross, raising a record $2.5 million. The roughly 6,000 donors — made up of alumni, current students, parents, faculty and staff — raised more in 24 hours than ever before in College history.
On this year’s day of giving, April 6, Mount St. James was buzzing with excitement as students visited giving stations across campus, enjoyed donuts and festivities, which added another layer of fun for the campus community.
The overall outpouring of support went far beyond campus, with Crusaders across the country reaching out to make gifts. Holy Cross alumni showcased their commitment to the College, and parents were more engaged than ever before. The Bishop Healy Emergency Fund, which annually provides support to students of color on campus for emergency needs, raised four-times the amount of funds it received last year, and senior-athletes closed the day with a 100-percent participation rate.
The success of the day will benefit Holy Cross students of today and tomorrow, who will continue to be inspired, challenged and supported by the College as they pursue their passions and apply their talents on campus, in their communities and across the globe.
As Holy Cross Crusaders, the mission of being men and women for and with others is vividly illustrated by the strength of our commitment to each other, made especially evident by this year’s day of giving.
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In 1965, McCulloch Motors engineered industrial-grade chainsaws — the choice of professional loggers — that were purported to last 200-plus hours in operation and that, unfortunately, nobody wanted to buy. Beleaguered, the company engaged Marplan Market Research consultant J.D. “Dave” Power III ’53, P93 to diagnose the problem. Power took the question to the customer and learned that most people only use a chainsaw once or twice a year; they wanted something light, simple, reliable and relatively quiet.
The memorabilia on the 44th floor of the News Corp. Building — Emmy statues, the red and black costume of Marvel Comics character Deadpool, even a life-sized stuffed dog in a full body cast (a prop from the film “There’s Something About Mary”) — represent content to Martha Datlen ’09. On a Tuesday afternoon, Datlen explained to Holy Cross New York Semester Program students that as an associate director at Fox Networks Group, she sells such content to media buyers, publishers and advertisers.
The presentation had been arranged by New York Semester Program Director Alison Mangiero, who each week recruits New York alumni to explain where they work, how they got there and what they do. That week, Datlen co-hosted students with Jillian Chudwick ’13, supervisor of video investment at integrated communications agency OMD, and talked about the media landscape: new and traditional platforms, content publishers and producers, programmatic buying and other ad tech, RFPs, integrated budgets and cross-channel strategies. Students in their professional best — slacks and ties, skirts and blazers — listened and munched on pizza and, as they arose, asked questions: How do you sell to a new client? Who’s responsible for writing an RFP? What does it mean that Disney has acquired Fox?
Earlier in the month, students heard from alumni at Inherent Group, which invests in socially sustainable ventures, and also from hedge fund Eminence Capital. The next week, they would spend four consecutive evenings meeting with alumni who work in the entrepreneurial space: founders of startups, marketers and coders.
The goal of these sessions, and the program overall, is to help students understand how to build meaningful careers.
“Business can be a noble endeavor,” Mangiero says. “You can be and should be a sort of intellectual business leader. The way to do that is to continue doing what you basically have done the whole time you were at Holy Cross: You constantly have to be reading, and you have to be a student of the world.”
The New York Semester Program, founded in 2016, drew inspiration from its counterpart in Washington, D.C., which has been offered by the College since 1971. As with Washington, accepted students receive housing — in Arlington for those in the capital, Brooklyn for the New Yorkers — guidance finding and selecting internships, and ongoing mentorship from Mangiero and her colleague, Washington Semester Program Director Gary DeAngelis.
Students take weekly academic seminars to supplement the internships they attend four days a week. They receive lectures from notable alumni, such as political commentator Chris Matthews ’67 and Save the Children President Mark Shriver ’86. At the end of the semester, students submit capstone projects. In New York, they present on a topic related to their internships to Mangiero and to a board of alumni who work in a related industry; in Washington, they write, finalize and defend theses on public policy as it relates to what they learned that semester.
“This is very much at the level of a master’s thesis. It’s 45 to 50 pages from each student,” DeAngelis says. “It gives students the opportunity to spend a whole semester really diving into some pretty serious research.”
This year in New York, students who study English, finance and political science have internships with organizations such as Blackrock, NBC and Cambridge Insurance Advisors.
Kara Cuzzone ’19, an anthropology major, was drawn to a semester away for the opportunities New York offers. “I was interested in publishing,” she says, and landed an internship at Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines. “I assist all of the different editors — transcribing interviews, doing research.”
And, of course, students respond to the allure of New York City, which was on full display that Tuesday evening as Datlen concluded her talk with a tour of Fox Networks. The group explored the space that, in addition to showcasing film and television memorabilia, boasted a coffee shop and a bird’s-eye view as the sky turned pink on an unseasonably warm afternoon. Datlen thanked the group for coming, and the students, in turn, thanked her for her time and advice as they called the elevator to catch the subway. They had work in the morning.
Learn more about the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World and its dynamic offerings below:
Written by Christopher Amenta ’06 for the Spring 2018 issue of Holy Cross Magazine.
About Holy Cross Magazine
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.
I was reading the countless daily emails Holy Cross students receive when I stumbled across one inviting me to apply for a Summer Ministry Internship through the Chaplains’ Office. Then in my sophomore year, I hadn’t given any thought to applying for an internship. And I certainly didn’t see myself doing one last summer — I thought internships were something only juniors did. However, what was immediately appealing was the fact that finding my internship site was up to me, which meant that I could stay local. That mattered, as hailing from a tiny town in southwestern Vermont, there aren’t too many internship opportunities — in any field — near my home.
I filled out the application, went through the interview process and was notified that I had been accepted into the program. Now all I had to do was find my site, which could be any faith-based organization that was not my home parish. Granted, there aren’t that many faith-based organizations near my home of which I’m not aware, but that’s what Google is for. I quickly learned there were several parishes right across the border in upstate New York, including one named Holy Cross. If that wasn’t a sign, then I didn’t know what was.
I reached out to Jeff Peck, parish life director for the Battenkill Catholic Cluster, of which Holy Cross is a part. Since the cluster consisted of relatively small parishes, I would split my time between St. Patrick’s, Holy Cross and Immaculate Conception. These parishes were linked because the same priest ministered to all three, despite being based at a fourth. Jeff was more than willing for me to intern, because as parish life director he basically performs all of the non-sacramental duties of a parish priest.
Soon after finals ended, I began my ministry. The upstate New York towns I covered were very rural, in many cases farming communities or old factory towns that had not rebounded since the factories left. At all three parishes, people were thrilled to see a college student involved in church ministry. As a result of the small staff sizes in all three locations (at one I doubled the staff — from one to two), I performed various tasks such as teaching Vacation Bible School; making Communion calls to the homebound; setting up and maintaining the myParish app; catching bats that had gotten into the belfry; assisting at funerals; presiding at funeral services; performing interments; assisting in setting up and executing a parish census; cooking community dinners; performing nearly every liturgical role other than priest; helping to facilitate book discussions; helping organize liturgical objects (deciding what needed to be buried and what could be kept); learning how to deal with insurance companies; learning about parish cash flow; and helping with the paperwork needed for the annulment process.
But simply listing the tasks I performed (as varied and interesting as they were) fails to capture the relationships I built with the people with whom I worked and with those to whom I ministered. I visited dozens of homebound elderly who were thrilled to have someone to talk to, and my role as a Eucharistic minister gave them the confidence to talk about their doubts, fears and hopes. This gave me an incredible sense of responsibility; these people barely knew me, yet because of my position they felt comfortable confiding their feelings to me, and this drove me to do my best to live up to what they expected me to be. This sense of responsibility was only enhanced when I was called upon to assist at the school associated with Immaculate Conception. As funny as it was when the kids thought that I was really old, I was in a position in which my actions and words would have a direct influence on their behavior and lives.
I was lucky enough to work with amazing people who provided me direction and inspired me to do my best. As I mentioned before, Jeff Peck was parish life director and the person with whom I worked most closely. He taught me what needed to be done, what should be done, how to deal with the politics that are present in any institution — especially one in a small town — and how to handle it all with faith and grace. Our views on church doctrine and liturgy were very similar, which made for smooth sailing. At the end of the summer, I looked back at my initial interview and remembered that Jeff kept asking me if I would be OK working with a lay parish director. Not only was I OK with it, but I also learned far more from him than from anyone else I ever worked with — lay or ordained — in any function of ministry.
At St. Patrick’s, I visited many of the homebound with Sister Augusta Ann Burgess, or as we called her, Sister Gussie. Sister Gussie is a remarkable woman who devotes herself to caring for others. Whenever I went with her to visit one of “her people,” I could feel the love that she had for them and they reciprocated in kind. Even though she’s in her 80s, Sister Gussie shows no signs of slowing down (at one point, she was teaching me about smartphones). At St. Patrick’s, I also worked with Mary Rosmus, director of faith formation, who taught me how to plan a class and talk about religion with families who were not necessarily “churched” — both essential to my overall ministry.
This internship accomplished its goal in that it exposed me to numerous forms of ministry and allowed me to explore and deepen my interest. The moral of my story for fellow students: Open every school email you get — you never know when there might be one that will help you find direction for your life.
Written by Luke Lapean ’19 for the Spring 2018 issue of Holy Cross Magazine. Lapean is majoring in history with a minor in anthropology and a peace and conflict studies concentration.
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