After the resignation of national security advisor Michael Flynn, Cynthia Hooper, associate professor of history and director of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, offered her expert insight in an op-ed for Fortune on the intensifying Trump-Putin controversy, and how the rockiness of the Trump administration is benefiting Putin.
Read the full article at Fortune.
For the second year in a row, the College of the Holy Cross ranks No. 2 among the 10 best Roman Catholic colleges in the country, according to USA Today College.
In the article, the College is praised for its devotion to “providing an undergraduate liberal arts education,” and “giving students the opportunity to work closely with faculty members in order to promote innovative thinking across numerous disciplines.”
Holy Cross is surpassed only by the University of Notre Dame which ranks No. 1, and is followed by Georgetown University at No. 3 and Boston College at No. 4 on the list.
The ranking also highlights that Holy Cross gives “students the knowledge and skills needed to make a difference in the world,” and notes that the College is “highly selective and accepts only a handful of applicants so if you want to attend this school, it’s important to hit those books.”
Read the article at USA Today College.
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From the layered landscapes of the Grand Canyon to the beauty of the human body, 13 Holy Cross students explore the intersectionality of art, science, and identity through original artwork on display at the 13th Annual ArtsWorcester College Show. The juried show, which runs through Friday, March 3 at the Aurora Gallery, features 38 diverse pieces from local college students and recent graduates.
Members of the Holy Cross community participate in the I Love HC, 24 hour, giving challenge.
This past Feb. 14 was a Valentine’s Day for the books. The record books, that is! For 24 hours, the Holy Cross community was challenged to show its love for the College in the form of a fundraising challenge, ‘I LOVE HC.’ The goal was ambitious and the stakes were high. If, within the 24-hour duration of the challenge, the College received gifts from 4,000 donors, an anonymous group of alumni would contribute $1 million to the Challenge.
The Challenge was launched at midnight on the 14th, as students were invited to a “midnight breakfast,” a bounty of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and heart-shaped, red bagels — served up by the members of the Advancement and Athletics staff.
Students arrived in droves and led the early donations until sun-up, when the rest of the Holy Cross community began opening emails, texts, and tweets devoted to the ‘I Love Holy Cross’ event. As expected, the competition between classes immediately heated up. Along the way, “milestone” donors—such as the 1,000th, 2,000th, and 3,000th contributors — received special “digital” thank-yous, including videos of flowers and chocolates delivered by Iggy, the Crusader himself, and a reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29, by faculty favorite, Professor Helen Whall.
It was clear by late afternoon that the goal would be reached and surpassed, and the $1 million bonus attained. The question then, according to Fr. Boroughs, became this: How many donors beyond the original goal could be counted by midnight?
The answer was unprecedented: 6,111 donors contributed $1,848,787, results that shattered the previous donor record at a liberal arts college, set by Colgate in 2013. An analysis of the Challenge statistics revealed a number of key highlights: Younger alumni, for example, were particularly interested in the Challenge, as 61 percent of all donations came from the classes of the 1990s through the 2010s. Student participation was extraordinary, with 49.4 percent of seniors participating — making the Class of 2017 the top-giving class. The Challenge clearly struck a chord with senior-athletes, a group that ended the day with a 100 percent participation rate.
“The results speak volumes,” said Tracy Barlok, vice president for advancement. “Prior to the Challenge, we actually wondered if our goal was too ambitious. But apparently, you cannot overestimate the loyalty and support of the Holy Cross community. Donations came from alumni, faculty, students, staff, and friends of the College. And non-alumni parents of current students were very involved and generous, as well. Our results speak to the way people feel about Holy Cross.
“The Challenge was aptly named,” she added. “People clearly love this College.”
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Whose America is it? How does one become American? What does it mean to be a full citizen? And what are our responsibilities to one another as individuals living side by side?
These were just some of the questions tackled by 13 Holy Cross faculty members who participated in Friday’s “immigration teach-in,” an event that sought to bring the national conversation around immigration to campus. Presenters offered six-minute deep dives from their respective disciplines in rapid-succession, challenging the students, faculty, and staff that filled Rehm Library to consider the historical, political, economic, sociological, and ethical questions and contexts surrounding the issue.
From understanding the psychological challenges of undocumented immigrants to exploring literary and pop culture representations of immigrants in America, faculty presented the immigration debate as not simply a political issue, but one that can be understood through multiple academic lenses, says Amit Taneja, the associate dean for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer.
“The immigration debate is complex, and there are no easy solutions,” he explains. “Given tonight’s context, we hope participants might be able to consider the issues in a much more in-depth manner that goes beyond the partisan debates currently happening on the national stage.”
The high-energy presentations were interspersed with three Q&A sessions which turned conversational, with students and staff directly feeding off one another to probe deeper into the ideas at hand.
For Olufunmilola Anifowoshe ’17, whose personal interests lie in human rights issues and the politics around immigration policy, the teach-in offered the context to better understand the policies emerging from the country’s new administration.
“I think my main takeaway was that our country’s politics are flawed and will always remain so, but we can learn from our historical and political mistakes should we choose to do so,” Anifowoshe says.
The teach-in was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is a part of the College’s continued effort to engage the campus community in dialogue around the complexity of the issues faced by society and the world.
Explore upcoming diversity and inclusion events here.
Fifteen Holy Cross students — from a range of class years and disciplines — spent a recent Saturday taking on a current hot-button topic: the U.S.-Mexico border issue. As a part of the Presidential Scholars Symposium, the students participated in a simulation where they adopted the roles of Mexican and U.S. government officials and special interest groups to resolve issues of undocumented immigration, drug trafficking, and cartel violence affecting people on both sides of the border. From playing the president of Mexico to the U.S. secretary of homeland security to an environmental protection representative, the students were challenged to intimately explore the real issues faced by both countries while honing their negotiation skills in a high pressure, time-sensitive environment.
From the outside, resolving the border issue seemed manageable, but once they got down to it, students came to understand just how complex the issue is and faced some surprising hurdles. Hear from them below.
An Immersive Experience
“The simulation made the various U.S./Mexico issues much more tangible. Physically being immersed in the mindset of someone with a completely different view as me allowed me to expand my conditioned brain and therefore I started to better understand the complexity of the U.S. and Mexico relations. I particularly enjoyed the sense of power and the differential control groups and majorities that began to form. It really made the situation feel real.” – Christopher Minteer ’17, chemistry major
Understanding the Powers at Play
“I was assigned to one of the more marginalized characters in the simulation, playing the role of Javier Sicilia, a Mexican poet-turned-activist whose son was murdered in an act of gang violence. I found myself frustrated by the fact that in negotiations with people like the U.S. president and Mexican army general, my concerns for peace and human rights seemed trivial in light of national security concerns and economic development proposals. This helped me to experience firsthand the ways that power and status play out in political negotiations.
“I oftentimes have a hard time understanding why those in power do not always stand up for the poor and powerless, and the border simulation allowed me to see that those people are not necessarily ‘evil,’ but rather, have their own competing interests that prevent them from making the changes in the name of social justice. My character’s task was to highlight the ways that the health and safety of the citizens on both sides of the border is indeed in the political interests of all the delegates — a task that I believe all of us at Holy Cross and beyond should be working for.” – Marie Therese Kane ’18, international studies major
Navigating Competing Core Interests
“My role was the environmental protection representative from the Sierra Club, and during my preparation I needed to create a poster on how border walls/fencing have caused serious environmental damage. However, it was only after the simulation started that I started to gradually notice that I was the only one whose interests would be directly harmed by the building of the border wall. For most other players, having a wall with entry points wouldn’t necessarily harm their interests. This made it really hard for me to get allies towards the end, and as I expected, even people I considered as allies eventually compromised to the building of the border wall for their core interests in the project.” – Xinyi Zeng ’17, environmental studies major, geosciences minor
Lessons Learned
“Although I did not leave the symposium with any answers to the border, cartel, and drug problems Mexico and America face, I did leave with an understanding that we need to face them together. By our power and prosperity, America is afforded a privileged opportunity to help those in need. By helping our southern neighbor combat this drug and cartel problem, we help ourselves.” – William Ford ’19, international studies major
The annual symposium provides an intellectually challenging forum for Presidential Scholars, who hold academic merit scholarships, to explore issues of public policy with their peers. Previous topics have included the college admissions process, global warming, U.S. immigration, global health issues, domestic violence, genocide prevention and the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.
This year’s symposium was led by Bridget Franco, assistant professor of Spanish, and facilitated by Susan Elizabeth Sweeney, director of the College Honors Program and the College Scholar Programs, and professor of English.
Thomas Landy, director of the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross, was awarded the Presidents’ Distinguished Service Award by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) for his personal service of exceptional quality to Catholic higher education.
Landy, who has worked at the College for over 18 years and is a lecturer in the sociology and anthropology department, founded and leads research for “Catholics & Cultures,” a web-based initiative to explore the religious lives and practices of lay Catholics in their particular cultural contexts around the world.
In 1992, he also founded “Collegium: A Colloquy on Faith and Intellectual Life,” which consists of 65 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, and has been sponsored by the ACCU since 2001. “Collegium” aims to help faculty at Catholic colleges and universities better understand the mission of Catholic higher education, and to prepare them to become leaders in advancing that mission in creative ways.
“The great value that Tom brings to this campus is that he is intellectually curious about a wide variety of things,” said Margaret Freije, vice president for academic affairs and dean of Holy Cross. “He can engage faculty from different disciplines in conversations with him and then with one another, facilitating interdisciplinary conversations about questions related to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, related to social justice, related to our commitment to mission, and related to our Jesuit heritage.”
Landy is editor of “As Leaven for the World: Catholic Reflections on Faith, Vocation, and the Intellectual Life” (Franklin, WI: Sheed and Ward, 2001), and, with Karen Eifler, “Becoming Beholders: Cultivating a Sacramental Imagination in the Classroom” (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2014). He has given keynote addresses for academic events and association meetings at more than 20 campuses in the United States and abroad and has been interviewed by the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chronicle of Higher Education, and America. He is the 2009 recipient of the John Henry Newman Medal, which honors exemplars of Jesuit Catholic education, from Loyola College in Maryland.
In response to president Donald Trump’s comments regarding his plans to repeal the Johnson Amendment — which prevents houses of worship and other tax-exempt organizations from engaging in political campaigning — Mathew Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, joins other experts to debate the pros and cons of the potential repeal. In his op-ed for U.S. News & World Report, Schmalz explains his support of the repeal and criticism of the amendment, citing it as “incoherent as policy and ineffectual as law when applied to churches and other religious organizations.”
Read the full article on Usnews.com.
Dan Kim has been named the new vice president for communications at the College of the Holy Cross. He will assume his responsibilities on April 1, according to Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J., president of the College.
“We are pleased to welcome Dan to Holy Cross in this new role on our executive team,” said Fr. Boroughs. “Dan has deep experience in directing integrated communications and marketing efforts at higher education institutions, professional associations and media organizations, as well as the proven ability to build and lead teams of talented, creative individuals. We look forward to his leadership in effectively telling our Holy Cross story and communicating the hallmarks of the distinctive Jesuit, liberal arts education that we provide.”
Kim is currently the executive director of communications and marketing at University of Michigan College of Engineering. He has been leading strategic marketing communications for more than 20 years in for-profit, nonprofit and higher education organizations, working at his alma mater, University of Michigan, since 2010. Prior to returning to Michigan, he directed news and information for West Virginia University, where he served as chief spokesperson for the university and led strategic integrated marketing initiatives and crisis communications.
A graduate of University of Michigan Law School, Kim served as deputy executive director of the State Bar of Michigan from 1996-2000 and editor and publisher of the ABA Journal for the American Bar Association from 2000-2005. He held a variety of editing, publishing and media-related roles earlier in his career, and worked for two years as a litigation attorney for Clark Hill, one of Michigan’s largest law firms. He began his career in writing and production at WDIV-TV4 in Detroit.
“I am extremely honored to have been selected for this leadership role,” Kim said. “It is an exciting time to be a communications professional, and I am looking forward to bringing my background and experience to Holy Cross. I have been very impressed with the College and with the individuals whom I have met. I simply cannot wait to get to Worcester and get to work.”
Kim will be the first to hold this newly created vice president role at Holy Cross, and will serve as a member of the president’s executive leadership team and cabinet. He will report directly to Fr. Boroughs and will oversee strategic communications and marketing, as well as government and community relations for the College.
Maintaining a cohesive team at the State Department is critical to the agency’s future success, writes Josh Rogin, a columnist for the Global Opinions section of The Washington Post. Much of that responsibility, he says, now falls upon the shoulders of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s new chief of staff, Margaret Peterlin ’93. Peterlin graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science.
Read the full opinion piece on The Washington Post’s site.
Following the recent national outcry over president Trump’s immigration ban, Leila Philip, professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross, wrote an opinion piece that appeared in the Boston Globe on a naturalization ceremony that took place at the Worcester Art Museum. Philip, who attended the ceremony, called it “beautiful and powerful.”
Read the full article at Bostonglobe.com.
The weather may be cold out, but extensive progress continues to be made on the construction and renovation of the Luth Athletic Complex. Construction crews have been busy at work on the facility which will be the cornerstone of Holy Cross’ athletic success for many years to come.
Work inside the new indoor center continues to move forward throughout the winter. Areas for sports performance and sports medicine are advancing ahead, along with new offices, meeting rooms and locker rooms.
View construction progress photos on GoHolyCross.com »
Learn more about the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex on the Become More campaign site »
Moved by the recent passing of Sister Frances Carr, thought to be one of the last known Shaker, professor of religious studies Joanne M. Pierce discusses Shaker legacy and the lessons it offers today’s world. The article was picked up by numerous additional publications, including the Associated Press, RealClearReligion, and the Religious News Service.
Read the full article at The Conversation.
Lynne Myers, director of financial aid at College of the Holy Cross, explains why the changes to the financial aid process, effective for the 2017-2018 academic year, could help early admission students better – and sooner – understand their financing options.
Read the whole article at U.S. News & World Report.
The College of the Holy Cross is one of the nation’s best colleges for students seeking great academics, outstanding career preparation, and generous financial aid, according to The Princeton Review. The publication featured the College as one of 200 schools in its new book, “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck – 2017 Edition” (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review Books, Jan. 31, 2017).
Students told The Princeton Review: “Academics at Holy Cross are ‘rigorous, and the main priority of students on campus’; a caring faculty and administration foster ‘an incredible learning environment for students,’ and through their experiences, students receive ‘a broad-based foundation to be successful in a variety of careers.’”
“No student or family should be dissuaded from applying to Holy Cross because of the price tag,” said the Princeton Review. “Holy Cross is need-blind in its admissions policy, which means the decision to admit students to this highly selective liberal arts college is made without regard to a student’s ability to pay. Additionally, Holy Cross meets 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial need with a combination of scholarship grants, loans, and work-study.”
The Princeton Review chose the schools based on ROI (return on investment) ratings it tallied for 650 schools last year. The publication considered everything from academics, cost, and financial aid to career prospects and job satisfaction.
The College was also included in the Princeton Review’s new ranking, “Best Alumni Network,” which is based on students’ ratings of alumni activity and visibility on campus. Holy Cross was ranked no. 12 out of the top 25 institutions.
“Alumni networking, research and internship opportunities and career planning services all make going to Holy Cross ‘a fulfilling and active experience,’” students told the Princeton Review.
• Princeton Review’s Top 200 Colleges That Pay You Back
• Learn what makes Holy Cross unique on our Points of Pride page
Media Coverage
Even though state and national economies are slowing down, confidence in the business environment is the highest it has been in Massachusetts since 2004, the Boston Business Journal reports. Katherine Kiel, professor of economics and chair of the economics and accounting department at the College of the Holy Cross, lent her expertise in urban economics to explain the spike in confidence, particularly in the realm of manufacturing.
Read the full article at Boston Business Journal.
“It’s hard to understand a moment in history when you’re in it,” said Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King, speaking to the more than 500 students, faculty, staff, and local community members that filled the Hogan Ballroom and Seelos Theatre last Tuesday.
King spent his 60 minute lecture offering examples of slavery, genocide, racial profiling and police brutality to unpack the importance of understanding how injustice fits into human history.
“It is a misconception that because technology has been steadily advancing throughout history, so has humanity,” said King, senior justice writer for New York Daily News and prominent social media figure, invited by the Black Student Union as keynote speaker for Black History Month. “While technology continues to improve, humanity’s path doesn’t follow the same pattern.”
He pointed to two drastically different graphs projected onstage: one illustrating steady growth, and the other showing a series of random peaks and valleys.
The transatlantic slave trade, the Holocaust, and Jim Crow are examples of those valleys, or “dips,” where the world was improving but humanity was declining, he said. No one would argue, he added, that enslaving humans or cultural genocide was “peak humanity,” as a linear progression of humanity would suggest.
This awareness is the first, critical step in recognizing when we are in a dip, which humanity is currently experiencing, he argued. It is only then that humanity can organize in hopes of rising out of it.
After the violence seen throughout the country over the past few years, made exponentially more public and personal through its dissemination via social media, King noticed many people asking the same rhetorical question: “What is this, the 1960s?”
This is exactly the issue with our idea of human progress, King explained.
“It’s not about asking, ‘Who would I have been in the civil rights movement?’ but rather, ‘Who am I tonight?’” he said.
In line with the evening’s theme of social justice and activism, one audience member asked King his advice on how people can work to climb out of this “dip.”
“Ask yourself, ‘What bothers me the most in this world?’” King responded. “And decide to be the change for that issue.”
This challenge is not foreign to Holy Cross students.
“What Shaun said in his talk had Holy Cross and Jesuit education written all over it,” said Robert Jones, associate director of multicultural education. “It reminded me of our Mission Statement: ‘To participate in the life of Holy Cross is to accept an invitation to join in dialogue about basic human questions: What is the moral character of learning and teaching? How do we find meaning in life and history? What are our obligations to one another? What is our special responsibility to the world’s poor and powerless?’ Here at Holy Cross, we have to ask each other these questions and be engaged with one another. Like Shaun said, it’s about discovering your passion and then asking, ‘How can I really do something?’”
For Elena Ferguson ’17, King’s address offered practical suggestions on how to create change.
“In order to rise to that ‘peak’ of humanity or achieve any goal, one must employ time and effort, but most importantly strategy. These three elements are the type of organization necessary to make change happen,” she said. “I will carry with me post-graduation that no one can tell me to do this type of social justice, that I have to have the passion for it and that is what will sustain me.”
The talk was not only useful for students, but timely.
“After the recent election and the travel ban, the future of our country is uncertain and things are quickly changing,” Nicole Burshan ’17. “I feel like I need to make some sort of difference too, and I left Shaun King’s talk with a renewed sense of hope.”
Read the Telegram & Gazette coverage of the event on their website.
As president and CEO of Danaher Corp, Thomas P. Joyce Jr. ’82, is no stranger to “helping people realize their potential,” according to a recent article by the Telegram & Gazette. Joyce, who majored in economics while at the College, was a guest speaker at the Worcester Economics Club 546th meeting, where he discussed how he strengthened the strategy of the science and technology company after earning the top post in 2014.
Joyce, who is currently a member of the board of trustees for the College, is the son of Thomas P. Joyce ’59, after whom the newly constructed contemplative center in West Boylston is named. The Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center is the new home of Holy Cross’ many retreat programs.
Read the full article at telegram.com.
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‘Eat, pray, study: Holy Cross students learn the language of serenity’
Over a foot of snow fell on Mount St. James on Feb. 9, 2017, and the College’s three campus webcams captured the action in this one-minute time-lapse video. Situated atop buildings across campus, the webcams provide stunning views of the Hogan Courtyard; expansion and renovation of the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex; and O’Kane Hall and Linden Lane.
View all three webcams live on our webcam website.
Video produced by Christian Santillo
Update: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 – 7:30 p.m.
The College will re-open at 11 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, 2017 and will be open tomorrow, Friday, February 10, 2017.
For students: faculty unable to travel to campus may still decide to hold class via remote access, so please check your Holy Cross email for messages and instructions from your professors.
For employees who do not believe they can travel safety to campus tomorrow, please notify your supervisor as soon as possible. Faculty should notify their students if they are unable to get to campus.
Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 – 4:45 a.m.
From: College’s Emergency Response Team
Due to the Winter Storm Warning, with heavy snowfall predicted for this morning and through much of the day, the College will be closed on February 9, 2017.
When the College closes faculty may still decide to hold class via remote access, so please check your Holy Cross email for messages and instructions from your professors.
Hogan Campus Center will open at 5 p.m., however Crossroads and Cool Beans will remain closed on Thursday.
Scheduled campus events and activities on Thursday are cancelled and may be rescheduled at a later date.
Tonight’s performance of A Gun Show by So Percussion, sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders, has been cancelled and rescheduled for tomorrow, Friday, February 9 at 8 p.m. in Fenwick Theatre.
Tonight’s lecture The Crusades and Crusaders: History and Historiography by Kevin Madigan ’82, sponsored by the McFarland Center, is cancelled. Further information will be posted at a later date.
For other evening events, please refer to the Events Calendar.
When the College is closed and all classes are cancelled, employees are not required to report to work, except for Emergency Personnel. Emergency Personnel are those employees whose function is necessary for the continued and safe operation of the College, including employees from Kimball Dining Services, Public Safety and Facilities. Due to the nature of their jobs, Emergency Personnel are required to work their normally scheduled hours during inclement weather, unless notified otherwise by their supervisor. A separate memo will be sent to employees from from Human Resources.
In case of an emergency, please call the Public Safety emergency line at Ext. 2222. For non-emergencies, call Ext. 2224 (508-793-2224).
Please check this website for updates on campus operations, and cancelled events. You will also find updates posted on the Holy Cross Facebook page and Twitter account.
