Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

FALL 2007
Connecting Seattle University Alumni and Friends
Assessing How We Define Diversity
Also inside
BEACON OF HOPE

STAFF
Editor
Tina Potterf
Creative Director
David Balzer
Graphic Designers
Terry Lundmark, ’82; Diana Riesenberger
Photographer
Anil Kapahi
Contributing Writers
Nick Gallo; Bryan Miller;
Julie Monahan; Cheryl Reid-Simons; Mike Thee
Editorial Assistant
Chris Kissel, ’10
Copy Editor
Sherri Schultz
c ontents
Proofreader
Geri Gale
ADMINISTRATION
President
Stephen Sundborg, S.J.
Chancellor
William Sullivan, S.J.
Vice President for University Advancement
Mary Kay McFadden
Associate Vice President for
University Advancement
Mark Burnett, ’84
Assistant Vice President for Marketing
and Communications
Soon Beng Yeap
Assistant Vice President for Development
Sarah Finney
Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations
TBD
Assistant Vice President for
Advancement Services and Annual Giving
Linda Hulten
Seattle University Magazine (ISSN:
1550-1523) is published quarterly in
fall, winter, spring and summer by Print
Communications, Seattle University, 901
12th Avenue, P.O. Box 222000, Seattle, WA
98122-1090. Periodical postage paid at
Seattle, Wash. Distributed without charge
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USPS 487-780. Comments and questions
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Magazine, Print Communications,
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Read more Seattle University Magazine
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6 13
FEATURES
16 Beacon of Hope
Khaled Jaraysa, ’08, is on a mission to
improve the lives of children traumatized
by violence and war.
20 Dissecting Diversity
The university is assessing its diversity,
from our students to classes and from
programs to campus life.
24 True Crime Writer
Mark Lindquist is a noted prosecutor
in Pierce County who has carved out a
second career as an author who explores
the underbelly of society in vivid detail.
Seattle University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual or
political orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled
veteran in the administration of any of its education or admission
policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletics; and other schooladministered
policies and programs, or in its employment policies and
practices. All university policies, practices and procedures are administered
in a manner consistent with Seattle University’s Catholic and Jesuit
identity and character. Inquiries about the non-discrimination policy
may be directed to the university’s EEO Officer and Title IX coordinator,
Phil Irwin, University Services Building, room 107, (206) 296-5869.

Volume 31 • Issue Number 3 • Fall 2007
M A G A Z I N E
16
24
28
DEPARTMENTS
ON THE COVER
2 Letters / A tribute
3 People
New immersion program explores
similarities and disparities of
justice systems in the U.S. and
South Africa; anthropologist
studies history and impact of
women surfers; female boxer
comes out swinging in
professional debut.
8 Campus Observer
Quinton Morris hits a high note;
Catholic-Jesuit identity awareness
grows with minor; SU strengthens
its commitment to humane labor
practices in the apparel industry;
students market clean water in
Nicaragua; MPA student brings
attention to human trafficking via
YouTube; student-athletes score
national honor.
13 Faculty Research
Communication professors examine
the role of skin color and beauty in
Indian marriage and courtship.
28 Alumni Focus
For many alumni, Calcutta
Experience is life transforming;
education reform focus earns Paul
Hill prestigious honor; O’Brien
brothers brighten the holidays for
families in need; Marta Bennett
finds a fulfilling life and a family
in Africa.
31 Events
37 Class Notes
42 In Memoriam
45 The Good Word
At Seattle University, diversity is
part of our institutional fabric—it’s
interwoven into the mission. But
the university is taking a closer
look at the depth of diversity, and
how it is reflected in our students
and administration, courses and
extracurricular offerings.
Cover illustration by Tim Cook
Letters
Seattle University Magazine welcomes letters
to the editor on subjects raised within the
pages of the magazine. Letters may be edited
for length and clarity. Please include a name,
address and daytime telephone number with
all correspondence.
Letters Editor, Seattle University Magazine
Print Communications, Seattle University
901 12th Avenue, PO Box 222000
Seattle, WA 98122-1090
Fax: (206) 296-6137
E-mail: sumagazine@seattleu.edu
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 1

In Memoriam
Our colleague and friend,
Nick Gallo, a frequent
contributor to Seattle
University Magazine, died
suddenly on October 11,
2007, while on a personal
travel writing assignment
in Athens, Greece. He
was 57.
An award-winning travel, news and features writer,
Gallo left a lasting impression on both his readers and peers
through his passion for his craft and as a gifted storyteller.
For more than 20 years he worked as a Seattle-based
freelance writer and editor whose byline appeared in some
of the most prominent local and national newspapers and
magazines. In March 2004, he was hired as a contract writer
for Seattle University, and instantly made a mark on the pages
of this magazine with stories about the 10th anniversary of
the Chapel of St. Ignatius; 30 years of presidential leadership
at SU with Fathers Sundborg and Sullivan; and former U.S.
Attorney John McKay, among many others. His versatility
and ability to write about disparate topics, from sports to
religion, education to excursions, allowed him to connect with
audiences near and far.
When not covering the news and events of SU and our
alumni, he was often jet setting across the globe as a writer
who penned more than 350 travel articles for publications
including Alaska Airlines Magazine, Travel+Leisure and
Carnival Cruise’s Currents Magazine.
A fondness for Mexico took Nick to the country many
times and his articles on the people, food and culture twice
earned him the prestigious Pluma de Plata, a national award
for best travel writing, presented by Mexico President
Vicente Fox.
Additionally, his work was among selections chosen for
inclusion in four anthologies, including the Travelers’ Tales
series. He was also a contributor to Seattle Metropolitan
magazine, the Seattle Times, People magazine, Men’s Health
and the New York Times.
While many came to know Nick through his stories
of world travel, he was also an accomplished journalist
in consumer news, and earned a national award for a
consumer-health article for Better Homes and Gardens.
Earlier this year he received an award from the Washington
chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for
the feature, “Opening Doors,” which appeared in the fall
2006 issue of Seattle University Magazine.
Nick is survived by his wife, Laurie Brown; sons, Alex
and Noah; mother Rose Gallo; sisters, Lory Gallo and
Mandy Krantz; brothers, Alex Gallo and Matt Gallo, and
many loving friends and colleagues. In lieu of flowers,
donations may be sent to the Nick Gallo Memorial Fund,
6312 23rd Ave. N.E., Seattle, WA 98115.
Several stories by Nick appear in this issue of Seattle
University 2 | Letters Magazine. He will be greatly missed.
—Tina Potterf, editor
letters
Don’t Overlook Achievements of Science
and Engineering Grads
I was pleased to see the recognition you gave to our recent
fellowship and scholarship winners (“Scholarly Pursuits,”
Summer 2007). The accomplishments of these students
show that Seattle University is on the right track in its
pursuit of leadership and academic excellence. However,
I was disappointed that you neglected to mention our
recent National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship winners. Extremely competitive and highly
prestigious, these fellowships are awarded to seniors or
first-year graduate students and cover full tuition and
books, and a support stipend for up to four years of
graduate study in science or engineering at the school
of the winner’s choice. About 50 or so are awarded each
year in each discipline, and students who win them can
generally expect to be accepted into any graduate program
they wish. Furthermore, they are almost always awarded
to students from Research I universities and virtually
never to those from primarily undergraduate institutions,
with the exception of a few science and technology
powerhouses such Harvey Mudd and Cooper Union. So
it was noteworthy when Dan Strickland, ’05 (mechanical
engineering, now at Stanford), became the first SU graduate
to win one in 2006. It was nothing short of stupendous
this year when not one but two alumni, John Ulmen, ’06
(mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, also at
Stanford), and Jock Bovington, ’06 (physics and electrical
engineering), both won—John competing in mechanical
engineering and Jock in environmental engineering. Martin
Kearney-Fischer, ’07 (physics and electrical engineering,
attending Ohio State University), won honorable mention
in mechanical engineering. These students deserve all the
recognition they can get, and their accomplishments place
our mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and
physics departments right up there with the very best in
the nation.
Paul Fontana, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physics
Seattle University
Correction
Peter Goldman is married to Martha Kongsgaard, president of the
Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation. Both are 1984 graduates of the
School of Law. An article in the summer 2007 issue (“Environmental
Cause”), about an award given to them by the School of Law and
the Women’s Law Caucus, mistakenly said Goldman was married to
co-recipient Patti Goldman.

People
PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI
global law
International
Justice
Law Professor Ron Slye provides U.S. law students with an up
close look at the justice system in South Africa.
For many college students,
study abroad is an important
part of the college experience.
Seattle University offers
abundant opportunities to transfer
what is taught in the classroom to
a learning environment in another
country through its international
study programs.
One of the latest additions to the
slate of education abroad offerings is
the Johannesburg Summer Program
in South Africa, an initiative of the
School of Law launched in summer
2007. The four-week course, led
by Associate Professor Ron Slye,
emphasizes social justice, global
advocacy and human rights in
international law.
The program is a partnership
with the Mandela Institute of the
University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits) Law School in Johannesburg.
Designed as an equal collaboration
between the two institutions, it brings
together law students from the United
States and Africa to learn more about
the similarities and disparities of
the two legal systems. Faculty from
the United States and Africa teach
courses in constitutional law, legal
writing, the law of armed conflict and
international criminal law. Jonathan
Klaaren, director of the Mandela
Institute and professor at the Wits
Law School, serves as co-director of
the program with Slye.
“By focusing on human rights laws
and making educational opportunities
available to both U.S. and African
students, the Johannesburg Summer
Program fits squarely with Seattle
University’s mission,” Slye says,
“which is grounded in the Jesuit
tradition of open inquiry, social
responsibility and personal growth.”
First- and second-year law
students—12 in total from SU—
joined five students from other U.S.
law schools for the first immersion
trip. The students attended legal
courses and events with 25 African
law students; their willingness to share
differences of opinion and examine
the intricacies of the legal system in
the States and South Africa led to
engaging class discussions, Slye says.
South Africa, like many countries,
has large gaps in its legal system, but
it also has a strong constitution.
“If you are poor in South Africa, the
legal system is not great,” Slye says.
“From an educational point of view,
it’s important to show students this.”
To provide a well-rounded
educational and cultural experience,
students visited the Magistrates
Court in Johannesburg, the Apartheid
Museum and Constitutional Hill.
For historical perspective into South
Africa’s legal system they heard from
guest speakers including Arthur
Chaskalson, the former president of the
South African Constitutional Court.
Law student Jake Humphreys, ’09,
was interested in the program because
he wanted to study and learn more
about the justice system in South
Africa and issues involving human
rights and amnesty.
“I learned so much in such a short
period of time, and the experience
renewed my resolve to work outside
of my comfort zone and my country,”
he says.
With the Johannesburg Summer
Program Slye hopes law students
will continue to educate themselves
about law and culture in other parts
of the world.
“It’s important today for our
students to understand other legal
systems,” Slye says. “When you are
exposed to other ways of doing things,
it gives you insights not only into
other approaches to law, but also into
the assumptions underlying our own
legal system.”
—Tina Potterf
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 3

People
surf’s up
PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI
Catching
Waves
Anthropologist studies culture,
history of female surfers
Liz Strober wants to make a
movie about women surfers.
But her documentary isn’t
Blue Crush: The Next Wave
and it won’t be set to the Beach
Boys or other music synonymous
with summer and surf fun. Banish
those images of impossibly tiny,
blonde, bikini-clad women holding
surfboards from your mind.
The story that Strober, an
anthropology instructor at Seattle
University, wants to tell is about real
women, real surfers and their real
struggle to be acknowledged as both
athletes and equal partners with men
in the history of surfing.
“People will just about die when
they see a grandma of 17 who is 57
years old get up on a surf board and
shoot Pipeline,” Strober says gleefully,
referring to a beach on Oahu’s North
Shore that is legendary among surfers
as the most dangerous in the world.
Strober herself—though not a
grandmother and at 38, nearly two
decades younger than the subject of
her documentary film—isn’t exactly
what you envision when you think of
women surfers. A college instructor
in anthropology with a doctorate and
a 3-year-old son isn’t supposed to
spend her free time surfing anything
but the Web. But she does.
Liz Strober aims to show the historical and cultural footprint of women in the world of surfing.
Strober came to the sport 13 years
ago while working on her dissertation
for a doctorate in anthropology at the
University of Washington.
As a medical anthropologist
Strober focused her research on issues
of culture and mental health. She
found herself on Oahu, Hawaii, in a
predominately native community.
To get involved with the culture
she was studying, she began surfing
with the women of the region.
“Native Hawaiians use surfing as a
healing modality,” she explains. “For
them surfing is bound up in healing
and spirituality and myth. When
you are surfing you are connecting,
visiting your ancestors.”
The female surfers Strober met
while working on her dissertation
were a revelation.
“It’s an inversion of what you are
fed by the media of what a surfer girl
is,” Strober says. “It’s not a ’go-outthere-and-shred-the-waves’
bimboin-a-bikini.”
The women also nearly derailed her
research. “I wanted to stop working on
4 | People

my dissertation and start looking into
what surfing is and what it means to
women,” Strober says. Although she
stayed on track, she made a mental
note to return to the theme.
In the years since women’s surfing
has exploded into a global and
commercial phenomenon. “There are
women surfing what had previously
been men’s big wave areas,” she says.
“Women participated in the X Games
surfing competition for the first time
this year.”
But the growth in the women’s
sport didn’t translate into equity
in terms of competitions,
prize money and
sponsorships.
Increasingly, professional
women surfers
are being pushed out of
the picture in television
and print ads. Instead
of portraying the actual
athletes, sponsors are
using slender, white models in
advertising.
It’s not so surprising to find gender
biases—after all, in virtually every
professional sport women earn less
money, in salary and endorsements,
than men. But surfing should be
different, Strober says, because
women aren’t newcomers to the sport.
They are co-founders.
Strober points to the earliest
etchings of people riding waves while
standing atop boards, showing queens
and princesses who were clearly
expert surfers. Queen Ka’ahumanu,
favorite wife of Kamehameha the
Great, was one of the all-time great
surfers and a true pioneer of “tow-in”
surfing because she would ride out
on a canoe then jump out with her
surf board to surf waves too big to
otherwise catch.
Giving surfing legends like
Ka’ahumanu as well as contemporaries
their due prompted Strober
to start working on a documentary
about women and surfing.
“There’s kind of this pantheon of
men’s surf films out there,” Strober
says. She chose film as her medium
“to get into popular culture the correct
socio-historical background of women
in the sport.”
The documentary will look at the
origins of surfing, when surfing was
a sport and even a courting ritual that
both genders participated in equally.
One of Strober’s collaborators on
the film is Franny Palama, a native
Hawaiian community leader and
surfer. They met two years ago online
“It’s an inversion of what you are
fed by the media of what a surfer
girl is. It’s not a ‘go-out-there-andshred-the-waves’
bimbo-in-a-bikini.”
Liz Strober
after Strober posted a query on an
anthropology listserv.
Palama, 57, is featured prominently
in the short trailer that has been
produced to help stir interest—and
funding—for the documentary.
“I’m fluffy,” Palama says referring
to her size. “I’m about a size 18.
There’s the image that you’ve gotta
have a flat belly to surf,” she says,
breaking into laughter.
But Palama quickly eliminates any
doubts about whether a voluptuous
woman can surf. She tells a story
about when she took five of her
grandsons with her to surf Oahu’s
famed and treacherous Pipeline. The
waves were only about two to four
feet high at the time, but just knowing
the legend of Pipeline was enough to
frighten the youngest, who is 7 years
old. “He said, ’But Grams, this is
Pipeline!’” she recalls. Soon enough,
though, he was paddling out with his
grandmother.
“I told them, ’Your parents buy you
rash guards and shorts, that’s $100.
They buy you a board, that’s $500 to
$800. But surfing Pipeline with your
grandma, that’s priceless.’”
Palama says she agreed to help with
the film because Strober understands
and respects how meaningful surfing
is to native Hawaiian women. “She’s
really setting the record straight about
women surfers,” Palama says.
Dan Tripps, director of the Center
for the Study of Sport and Exercise
at SU, says he thinks Strober’s film
will fill a gap in the surfer film
genre. “It’s clearly an intriguing
story first of all from
a cultural perspective,”
Tripps says. And
Strober’s focus on
surfers such as Palama
challenges the notion
of what an athlete
is. “She’s showing the
engagement in sport
of people not normally
considered to be athletes.”
Besides working on the film,
Strober is incorporating her interest
in the subject into her SU courses
such as Anthropology of Gender
and Sport.
“I’m incredibly lucky to be at
Seattle University,” says Strober,
who’s taught here for five years. “I’ve
been blessed by the interdisciplinary
and social justice focus.”
Strober hopes to enlist the help of
alumni and the university community
as she continues to develop her film.
“I know we have a lot of alumni
from Hawaii,” Strober says. “I’d like
to invite them to participate.”
To learn more about Strober’s
documentary, or if you are a female
surfer and want to share your story,
contact her via e-mail at strobere@
seattleu.edu.
—Cheryl Reid-Simons
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 5

People
hit machine
Pugilist Packs a Punch
Clara de la Torre, ’95, enters professional boxing ring
Clara de la Torre has the
makings of a champion.
She trains hard—a
rigorous and regimented
six days a week—and can hold her
own against formidable opponents.
In a sport once dominated by men—
boxing—de la Torre has fought her
way from amateur status to the
ranks of professional boxer.
Coach Mario Montoya, who has
trained de la Torre,
34, for more than two
years, has full faith
that his fighter will
be a titleholder and
world champion in the
foreseeable future. In
de la Torre he sees the fire necessary to
be successful in the competitive sport.
It was de la Torre’s palpable spark
and drive that first caught Montoya’s
eye when he saw her spar with other
boxers in a gym in Santa Fe, New
Mexico more than two years ago.
For years de la Torre has studied
martial arts, starting in the Muay
Thai style of kickboxing.
Often during her days of kickboxing
and training she would be
asked to step in the ring to spar
with boxers.
One day when de la Torre was
sparring a male competitor Montoya
came into the gym and saw her hold
her own while getting roughed up
good by the other fighter. Though
she was left black and blue from the
pummeling, de la Torre never backed
down. She quickly gained the respect
of the longtime coach.
That day was a turning point for
de la Torre, who soon found herself
“As a boxer, there’s something inside
of them that drives them to do this.
And Clara is a champion inside.”
Mario Montoya, coach and trainer
with a coach and trainer.
“Clara is tremendously focused and
trains really hard and listens well,”
Montoya says. “As many years as I
have been training, 30 years on and
off, I have never trained anyone with
her intensity and focus.”
That fateful meeting with Montoya
propelled her into the world of
traditional Western-style boxing.
“I had never thought that when
I grow up, I’ll be a professional
boxer,” says de la Torre, who is
represented by Infinity Boxing of Las
Vegas. “Someone else saw that in me.
I thought if there was a chance I could
make it in boxing I would try.”
As a boxer de la Torre, who works
as a full-time caretaker at an estate
in Santa Fe, has surpassed her own
expectations of her athletic abilities.
She always considered herself a
middle-of-the-pack athlete, so
to succeed in such a competitive
and physically demanding sport is
especially gratifying.
The path to professional
boxing was an
unconventional one for
de la Torre, originally
from Cle Elum, Wash.
After she graduated
from Seattle University in 1995 with
a sociology degree, her interest
in a summer job outdoors led her
to what became a seven-year job
fighting wildfires. Then she moved
to Santa Fe, with travels to Calcutta,
India, and the Czech Republic in
between.
In New Mexico she became involved
with martial arts—specifically,
Muay Thai martial arts—as a way to
stay in shape. Muay Thai martial arts
is akin to Western-style boxing as
it involves using the entire body as
6 | People

PHOTO COURTESY OF LORENZO VIGIL WITH ENZOPHOTIX
Clara de la Torre scored a victory—with a TKO, no less—in her first professional boxing match.
a target and one’s limbs as weapons.
In the gym de la Torre honed her
martial arts skills and boxing acuity,
and gained invaluable experience
through sparring runs with both
male and female boxers. As a sparring
partner she’s gone toe-to-toe with
“heavyweights” such as current world
champ Monica Lovato and former
world titleholder Jackie Chavez.
In her amateur career she fought
15 USA Boxing sanctioned bouts—
and six non-sanctioned—and placed
second in her weight class at the
2006 Title World Championship
Amateur Desert Showdown. In
May 2007 de la Torre entered the
professional arena as a featherweight
at 126 pounds.
Ironically, de la Torre’s first
amateur fight was in many ways more
memorable than her pro debut.
“It was big for me, my first real
boxing match,” she says. “I felt
ready and really excited, ready to get
in there and test my boundaries to
find out if I could really do this.”
By contrast, her first professional
fight, on May 23, 2007 at Tingley
Coliseum in Albuquerque, was, by
her account, anticlimactic. Previously
lined up pro fights had been scrapped,
so when it was time to make her
debut, she felt a sense of relief.
The fight, although brief—it ended
with a TKO after two minutes—was
a victory made extra sweet for de
la Torre because her parents were
among the spectators.
“After it was over I had a feeling
of pride and happiness, just to know
that whatever happens from here on
out I made it to this level,” she says.
“I fought a professional athlete and
that is huge.”
While there isn’t a lot of money
to be made early in a professional
boxer’s career, the women fighters, de
la Torre says, do well at the world level
and with each fight. Getting on a fight
card, however, can be challenging as
there are many contenders vying for
the same spot.
The long wait in between fights—
she had her second professional fight
on Nov. 3, 2007, nearly six months
after her debut—occasionally leads
de la Torre to question how much she
wants it.
“There are days when I’m really
excited but I go back and forth. Along
the way I’ve had a lot of self-doubt,”
she says. “I think I held professional
athletes at a superhero status.”
But del la Torre has never thought
about quitting. And at 34 years
old, she says she is stronger and
healthier than ever. “That’s a great
feeling—to wake up every day and
feel that way.”
Ultimately, she is eyeing a shot at
a world title. “I want to test myself at
that level and see how far I can take
it,” de la Torre says.
It’s a goal that coach Montoya
believes de la Torre will achieve.
“I have no doubt in my mind that
Clara will be a world champion. She
trains like one,” he says. “As a boxer,
there’s something inside of them that
drives them to do this. And Clara is a
champion inside.”
—Tina Potterf
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 7

Campus
O B S E R V E R
pitch perfect
Music Major
Quinton Morris to direct chamber and instrumental music
Quinton Morris is a multihyphenate
in the world of
music: notable violinist
and chamber-musician,
t e a c h e r - c o n d u c t o r ,
artistic director and founder of a
nationally recognized octet.
This fall he added another role to
his expansive résumé: instructor and
director of chamber and instrumental
music at Seattle University.
It’s a homecoming for Morris, who
hails from Renton, Wash. In the years
since he first held the
violin Morris has made
his mark on national and
international stages and
with the Young Eight.
The Young Eight is an
octet he put together in
2002, during his senior
year at North Carolina School of the
Arts, to showcase classical musicians
of color.
Morris was just 8 years old when
he picked up the violin, and more
than 21 years later it remains his
instrument of choice.
“I didn’t grow up in a musical
family, but I was influenced by my
environment,” he says. “My friends
played violin, so I started to play
violin too. …One reason I kept going
was because I was told I could get a
scholarship to college.”
While today he’s known for his
achievements in chamber music,
Morris’ career path could have been
very different had he followed his
early aspirations. Out of high school
his plans were to become a lawyer,
and he took prelaw classes at Xavier
University. After three years, though,
he changed course and decided to
“Anyone can learn, anyone can
play an instrument and anyone
can know music.”
Quinton Morris
focus on music as a career. He’s never
looked back.
In addition to teaching and
conducting, the graduate of the
North Carolina School of the Arts
and the Boston Conservatory is
working on his doctorate, which he
expects to complete in spring 2008
at the University of Texas, Austin.
While a student in Boston and Texas,
Morris got his first taste of teaching,
something that was initially not part
of his long-term goals. But it has
bloomed into a passion, underscored
by a simple philosophy rooted in
music: “Anyone can learn, anyone
can play an instrument,” he says,
“and anyone can know music.”
Now 30, Morris is taking his
musical career in a new direction
with an opportunity to build on the
music offerings at the College of
Arts and Sciences.
At SU, Morris will
wear multiple hats: in
addition to directing chamber
and instrumental
music, he is in charge of
putting together different
musical ensembles, will
teach core classes in
music, and develop opportunities
for private music lessons and more
live performances by students and
touring ensembles. Down the road
he would like to create a degree
program in jazz voice or instrumental
music.
“Seattle University is a very unique
and distinguished university and
with that, I feel we should have a
8 | Campus Observer

PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI
CATCH MORRIS AND
THE YOUNG EIGHT
Quinton Morris will perform
as the guest soloist with the
Seattle Symphony at 10 and 11
a.m. on Jan. 16, 2008, at Pigott
Auditorium. Morris will perform
Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 3
in G Major. Admission is free.
The Young Eight will make its SU
debut at 8 p.m. on May 3, 2008,
at Pigott Auditorium. To learn
more about the Young Eight,
visit www.theyoungeight.com.
Violinist Quinton Morris and his Young Eight
octet have been instrumental in exposing diverse
audiences to classical music. Young Eight is the
artist-in-residence at SU for 2007-08.
very good music department,”
Morris says. “My position will be to
put Seattle U’s music on the map, and
that’s a challenge I’m up for.”
College of Arts and Sciences Dean
Wallace Loh says Morris brings
vision and excitement to the position.
“This is a major step in restoring the
music major in the SU curriculum,”
Loh says. “I’m also delighted that
his string chamber group, the Young
Eight, will be in residence at the Lee
Center for the Arts. It will bolster
SU’s connections with the broader
Seattle community.”
In addition to his full plate at SU,
Morris will continue his role with
the Young Eight, which will be the
artists-in-residence at the university
for 2007-08.
With the Young Eight, the focus
is on education and outreach, Morris
says, and a drive to expose string
players of color and classical music to
various communities.
“We are geared toward reaching
those not accustomed to classical
music,” he says.
Members of the Young Eight hold
impressive musical credentials from
some of the top music and arts schools
in the country, including the Boston
Conservatory, Julliard, Manhattan
School of Music and the Peabody
Conservatory of Music. Since its
formation, the Young Eight has graced
stages in New York City, Seattle, Los
Angeles, Miami and Austin. Although
members are based in different cities,
the group gets together monthly for
performances.
A huge jazz and classical music fan,
Morris is inspired and influenced by
artists such as singer Shirley Horn
and violinist Gil Shaham, as well as
contemporary hip-hop and the music
of one of his favorites: pop music
sensation Beyoncé.
The potential to reach young
people through music and to educate
them about different musical genres
is especially gratifying to Morris.
“What I enjoy most about being a
young artist is the accessibility I have
to reach an audience that is young,” he
says. “I think it’s extremely important
for young people to know that you
don’t have to be an older person to
enjoy classical music. I especially
enjoy being able to reach out to
various communities and to see how
people are touched by our music.”
—Tina Potterf
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 9

Campus
O B S E R V E R
catholic identity
PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI
Connecting Catholicism
and Curriculum
Robert Deltete looks to bring greater awareness
to the Catholic-Jesuit identity of SU.
For the first time in its
116-year history, Seattle
University offers an undergraduate
minor dedicated
to Catholic studies. The program
encompasses a deep exploration
of Catholic social, spiritual and
intellectual traditions in the context
of contemporary challenges
and life.
The program addresses one of
the significant changes Robert
Deltete’s witnessed at the university
since his days as a student here in
the 1960s.
“Our sense of identity has changed,”
says Deltete, philosophy professor
and director of the program. “Our
identity is diffused; we no longer
put the same emphasis on being a
Catholic and Jesuit university.”
The minor came about after two
years of discussion and planning
initiated by Wallace Loh, dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Wallace saw the need for an
integrative program that had as its
core the Catholic intellectual and
cultural tradition,” says Peter Ely,
S.J., who served on the program’s
design committee, lead by Russell
Lidman, a professor in SU’s Institute
of Public Service.
Most Catholic colleges in the
United States have had similar
programs for decades, which
poses the question: Why is SU
implementing one now?
“We can no longer take for
granted the Catholic character of the
university,” says Father Ely, who is
also rector of the Jesuit community
at SU. “The university, as Catholic
and Jesuit, needs to celebrate its rich
tradition of intellectual and cultural
activity and pass on the habits
that have led to scientific as well as
philosophical, theological, literary
and artistic achievements.”
The program, says Dean Loh,
“speaks volumes about the ecumenical
ethos of SU that an Episcopalian dean
of the College of Arts and Sciences
would ask a Jewish professor to chair
a committee composed primarily
of Catholic colleagues, including
Catholic theologians, to create a
Catholic studies program.”
Loh envisions the program as
a logical extension of curricular
changes made to the university’s core
in recent years. Before those changes
were implemented, Loh says, “it was
possible for students to take two
required courses in theology and
religious studies and graduate from
SU with no exposure to this tradition,
or even to Christianity.”
The program’s curriculum integrates
a range of core and major
courses already in existence, from
the English department’s Catholic
Themes in Literature to the theology
and religious studies course, Catholic
Traditions, which is also the program’s
sole required offering.
As director, Deltete’s short-term
goal is to promote and recruit for
the program.
When asked what kind of students
might be drawn to Catholic Studies,
Deltete suggests several possibilities.
“I can see it hooking up with a number
of things in addition to philosophy
and theology. I could imagine an
international business major who
wants to do their work in a Catholic
country, like the Philippines, or a
student in business management
who wants to know that businesses
can be more successful if people care
about their clients.”
The plan is to expand the program
from a minor to a major as student
enrollment increases.
—Bryan Miller
10 | Campus Observer

fair trade
In Good(s)
Conscience
SU strengthens commitment to workers’ rights and humane
working conditions in the apparel industry
This summer, Seattle University
joined about three
dozen universities in signing
on to the Designated Suppliers
Program (DSP), an effort
to ensure that apparel bearing the
trademarks of participating schools
is produced under humane working
conditions. In signing on to the
program, SU becomes part of the
program’s working group, which
means the university will have a hand
in hammering out the details of what
could be an unprecedented approach
to protecting the rights of workers in
developing countries.
The university representative
on the working group is Dana
Gold, director of the Center on
Corporations, Law & Society at the
School of Law.
“Serving on the DSP Working
Group,” says Gold, “is a great
opportunity to apply the work of
the center, which wrestles frequently
with the role law and policy can
and should play in protecting
social and economic justice while
supporting business enterprise.”
The university’s involvement
evolved out of its longstanding
interest in protecting workers’
rights, a commitment that
intensified five years ago when
the university established the Anti-
Sweatshop Committee. Around that
time, the university also joined the
Worker Rights Consortium (WRC)
and the Fair Labor Association
(FLA), organizations focused
on working conditions in apparel
factories overseas.
The DSP was initiated as a
concept by United Students Against
Sweatshops (USAS) and adopted as
a working document by the WRC in
2006. The idea behind the program
is that participating universities
can persuade vendors to offer
workers living wages, safe and clean
workplaces, and the right to organize.
Joe Orlando, director of Jesuit
Mission and Identity, says SU’s
students played an important role in
the university’s decision to sign the
DSP. “Our students have really kept
this issue at the forefront,” he says.
One of those students, sophomore
Sean O’Neill, is a member of the
Anti-Sweatshop Committee. O’Neill
calls the university’s decision “a step
in the right direction.”
That doesn’t mean the next steps
will be easy. The DSP is “one of
the most complex things you’d ever
want to put together,” says SU Senior
Vice President Tim Leary. Ensuring
verifiability is critical, he says, as is
avoiding unintended consequences,
such as vendors pulling out of
factories instead of complying with
DSP standards.
There are legal questions too. The
working group has asked the U.S.
Justice Department for an opinion
on whether the broad outlines of the
program might be in violation of
antitrust provisions.
Selling responsibly produced
goods on campus is by no means
uncharted territory for the university.
The bookstore currently sells “sweatfree”
T-shirts from a cooperative
in Nicaragua that adheres to fair
labor standards, as well as lines of
merchandise such as jewelry and
pottery from artisans in Central
America and Africa. Bon Appétit,
which contracts with SU to provide
the university’s food service, has been
selling fair trade-certified coffee for
15 years and more recently added
fair-trade chocolate and bananas to
its menu.
—Mike Thee
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 11

pure and simple
PHOTO COURTESY OF BETSY GILBERT
Safe Drinking Water
Students assist Nicaraguans in marketing filtration system
The problem: About onethird
of the people in
Nicaragua, one of the Western
Hemisphere’s poorest
countries, don’t have clean drinking
water. A promising solution: The development
of an inexpensive, effective
ceramic water purifier.
Enter a team of Seattle University
students. Last year Peter Raven,
director of international business
programs at the Albers School of
Business and Economics, set up
an independent-study project in
which four students would partner
with Potters for Peace, a nonprofit
organization founded in Nicaragua
to make beneficial products.
A group of SU students and faculty are striving to make clean
water accessible to all Nicaraguans.
In Nicaragua, the flagship filter
manufacturer, Filtron, has survived
without any formal marketing or
distribution plan.
The SU team, which included
Jennifer Sorenson, assistant professor
of chemistry, three business graduate
students and one undergrad, spent
the 2006–07 academic year doing
research and preparing a marketing
plan, says Steve Sack, a master’s
candidate in international business.
Sack was a Peace Corps volunteer
in Nicaragua during the late
1990s, so he understood some of the
challenges facing Filtron. The nation’s
transportation and communications
infrastructure and limited resources
handicap the production
factory, located outside
Managua.
But what it does have,
Sack says, is a good
product—a low-cost,
easy-to-make, easy-touse
filter. Made of terracotta
clay and resembling
a flowerpot, the filter
costs $10 to $15 and is
coated with colloidal
silver bactericide. Field
tests show it eliminates
99.9 percent of the
most troublesome waterborne
bacteria.
“It’s not just about
selling more widgets but
helping people get access
to potable water and
improving the quality of
their lives,” Sack says.
The group identified target
markets for the ceramic filter and
provided strategies for promotion,
production and pricing. Members
traveled to Managua to present their
marketing plan to leaders of Potters
for Peace and Filtron.
The plan recommends developing
three primary markets: nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs),
Peace Corps volunteers and private
consumers. It also advises Filtron to
invest time and resources to build a
network of business relationships and
target 12 new NGOs every year for
the next five years.
Additionally it recommends
marketing filters to the Peace
Corps, and launching direct sales
to individual Nicaraguans, who are
increasingly concerned about water
quality and willing to buy bottled
water. Ceramic filters are just as
effective as bottled water, and they’re
less expensive and produce less
environmental waste.
Although the marketing plan was
developed specifically for Nicaragua,
Potters for Peace believes it could be
useful worldwide. “We can use this
research in all 24 of our factories,”
says Ron Rivera, international filter
coordinator for Potters for Peace.
The project helps students apply
classroom learning to the real world,
Raven says. “These students got a
chance to do something hands-on to
help impoverished people.”
—Nick Gallo
12 | Campus Observer

Faculty
R E S E A R C H
Dating Pool
Research looks at skin color and beauty myths in online dating
If the Brothers Grimm lived
today, their Wicked Queen
would probably dispense with
the magic mirror and turn to the
Internet to scope out the competition.
And in looking for the fairest
woman, she would have a lot of
company.
That’s the intriguing finding of two
Seattle University professors in their
study, “Looking for Love in All the
White Places: A Study of Skin Color
Preferences on Indian Matrimonial
and Mate-Seeking Web Sites.”
The study began when Sonora
Jha, assistant professor of journalism,
gave a guest lecture in a cross-cultural
communication course taught by
Mara Adelman, an associate professor
in the communication department.
Jha’s lecture was on the “beauty myth”
and beauty pageants, and provided
anecdotal evidence that Indian men
looking for brides online preferred
lighter-skinned women.
Jha’s report about the Indian
websites struck a particular academic
nerve with Adelman.
Adelman was one of the first
scholars to seriously look at “mediated
mate selection,” such as dating
services and personal ads compared
with more traditional tactics.
“I was stunned by the discrepancy
regarding skin tone in mate selection,”
she says. “I felt strongly that this needed
to be documented and critiqued.”
Jha, who is Indian, and Adelman,
who is white, approached the topic
together and found that each brought
a necessary perspective. What they
found by looking at photos of “success
story” marriages on Indian dating sites
was astonishing. Although there were
dark-skinned women listed as “looking
for a mate,” they rarely appeared in the
photos of couples. Men rarely chose
brides darker-skinned than they were
and most selected women who were
significantly lighter-skinned.
And while most men on the sites
indicated no preference in skin tone,
the way they described their ideal
mate tended to indicate preference
for lighter skin. The findings suggest
that women with dark-skin need
not bother looking for a mate online,
where physical appearance is a factor
in making a connection.
The response to the research has
been strong and largely, but not
universally, positive. Some members
of the Indian community have
expressed concern that Jha’s study
was a betrayal—“like blowing the
whistle on my own community.”
Jha and Adelman presented their
findings at an SU conference, “Issues of
Race and Gender: (Re)examining the
Family” this past spring. “Invariably
students would say, ‘Oh, it’s so terrible
that happens in India,’” Jha says. “But
it’s really just a case study.”
Preference for light-skinned women
is seen in countries and cultures around
the world. And with technology, the
pressure to be fair-skinned, thin and
tall is intensifying because the images
of female “perfection” are so pervasive
on the Web and other media.
Jha says she doesn’t want the study
to be used to condemn the men who
desire lighter-skinned women.
Rather, she hopes others will
think about their own color biases.
“We should take ownership of it
and ask ourselves, ‘What role do I
play in this?,’” she says. “It’s going
to have to be individuals making
changes, not a big revolution.”
—Cheryl Reid-Simons
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF CORBIS
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 13

Campus
O B S E R V E R
public policy
YouTube as a Social
Change Agent?
MPA student’s video focuses spotlight on human trafficking
Can a website where
viewers watch people
crash bikes into walls
or witness the latest
celebrity slipup really help change
the world?
That was the question Patrick
Bell pondered when he considered
entering a YouTube contest sponsored
by the National Association of
Schools of Public Affairs and
Administration (NASPAA). The
contest, called “Change the World
in One Minute,” asked master’s
of public administration (MPA)
students to produce a 60-second video
on an important social issue. Bell, an
MPA student at Seattle University’s
Institute of Public Service, knew his
topic immediately.
Bell works with John Miller, a
former Seattle congressman and
now a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute, a nonpartisan public policy
think-tank, where Bell is assistant
to the president. Miller is a leading
voice in the modern neoabolitionist
movement against human trafficking.
From Miller’s inspiration came
Bell’s YouTube video, “Modern Day
Slavery: Slaves Among Us.” It won
third place last spring and has since
been viewed by several thousand
YouTube visitors.
“I was startled by the sheer number
of people estimated to be in the bonds
of slavery,” says Bell. The antislavery
group Free the Slaves puts that
number at 27 million. “It’s startling
that it’s happening here in modern,
industrialized countries,” Bell says.
“It’s not just a Third World problem.”
According to the United Nations,
victims originate from as many as 127
countries, though most come from
Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania,
Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and the
Ukraine. After being captured or
tricked into enslavement, they may
be forced to work almost anywhere
in the world, but the majority end
up in India and in African countries,
according to Free the Slaves. “This
isn’t just something you see on Law
& Order,” Bell says.
The NASPAA contest offered
Bell a chance to make an important
global issue more real to potentially
millions of YouTube viewers. To
create his video, Bell compiled images
and statistics from sources such as
Harvard University and the U.S.
State Department. He then added
narration and a haunting soundtrack
contributed by a co-worker at the
Discovery Institute. “I hope my
video will drive people to get on this
agenda,” he says.
Laurel McFarland, executive
director of NASPAA in Washington,
D.C., says videos by Bell and the
other entrants help raise awareness
In “Modern Day Slavery” (video stills shown) Patrick
Bell presents powerful images of human trafficking.
of the power of a master’s in public
administration or public policy.
It was a deliberate choice to have
YouTube broadcast that message, she
says. “We saw it as a way of allowing
these students to use the modes of
expression for their generation.”
Limiting entrants to just 60 seconds
for their weighty subjects was also a
conscious decision. “It’s characteristic
of the digital space,” McFarland says.
Jon Hickey, a University of
Washington MPA student whose
Continued on top of next page
14 | Campus Observer

topic was immigration reform
garnered first place with his video;
Jenny Frasco, an MPA student at
Grand Valley State in Rockford, Mich.,
who entered a video about the Iraq
War received second-place honors.
Winners received gift cards or cash
prizes, and the opportunity to show
their videos at the NASPAA’s annual
conference in Seattle in October.
Civic engagement has been an
important part of Bell’s life since his
undergraduate days studying political
science at Pacific Lutheran University.
He has volunteered for Washington
state gubernatorial and Senate
candidates and is working on global
warming issues for his MPA class.
Bell is also preparing his application
for a Fulbright Scholarship with the
U.S. State Department.
Choosing SU for his graduate
studies has been pivotal in maintaining
his commitment to social justice
and public policy, Bell says. “Seattle
University attracts a certain caliber of
students and people who want to be
active. There are so many opportunities
on campus to pique their interest.”
Bell is passionate about raising
awareness of human trafficking and
sexual slavery, but on a personal level,
his work has taken his education and
career in a surprising professional
direction. He’s become the resident
digital video expert at the Discovery
Institute, creating more YouTube
videos for institute projects. He also
volunteers as an adviser to YouTube
aspirants, including fellow classmates
and friends.
—Julie Monahan
MAKE YOUR OWN
YOUTUBE VIDEO
Here are the necessary steps to
produce your own YouTube clip
that could be the next Web
sensation:
· Digital video editing software,
such as Windows Movie Maker
· A webcam or digital camera
· Digital audio files
It’s also good to have an
identifiable topic or subject matter
that appeals to a broad audience.
These simple yet powerful tools
help meld communications
technology with public policy. “If
you can master both,” Patrick Bell
says, “you can move mountains.”
View Bell’s YouTube video
at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=3rE2AJTIzyo%20.
SU Wins GNAC Academic All-Sports Award
Athletics resurrects tennis, baseball and other programs
Seattle University’s studentathletes
continue to be on
top of their game. Our
athletes combined to post
one of the top two cumulative grade
point averages in six sports to earn the
2006–07 Great Northwest Athletic
Conference (GNAC) Academic All-
Sports award. It’s the second Academic
All-Sports award for SU, which earned
its first in 2001–02.
“This honor is an indication of the
academic excellence our studentathletes
share along with their athletic
talent,” says Provost John Eshelman.
GNAC commissioner Richard
Hannan said, in an e-mail statement,
“The entire athletics department
should share in the accolades for the
academic performance your athletes
have brought to the department and
the institution.”
The Academic All-Sports standings
are based on the cumulative grade
point averages of all the athletes on
the official team rosters. Of the 10
SU teams competing in the GNAC,
nine posted cumulative grade point
averages above 3.0, including women’s
basketball (3.189).
Members of the Great Northwest
Athletic Conference include SU, the
University of Alaska–Anchorage,
University of Alaska–Fairbanks,
Central Washington University,
Montana State University–Billings,
Northwest Nazarene University,
Saint Martin’s University, Seattle
Pacific University, Western Oregon
University and Western Washington
University.
In other news, the athletics
department recently announced
it would add baseball and men’s
and women’s golf and tennis to the
department over the next two years.
The addition of these sports will
increase the number of intercollegiate
varsity offerings to 19.
Coaches for golf and tennis will
be hired in January 2008, with the
intention of building the teams to
begin play at the start of the fall 2008
season. The university will hire a
baseball coach in July 2008, giving
that coach a full year to bring together
a squad to begin varsity competition
in the 2009–10 academic year.
All five sports were previously
offered at Seattle University, with
several nationally known studentathletes
such as John and Ed O’Brien
in baseball, Janet Hopps and Tom
Gorman in tennis, and Orrin Vincent
and Pat Lesser Harbottle in golf.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 15

Beacon
of
H pe
O
by Tina Potterf
Khaled Jaraysa, ’08,
Strives to Make a Better Life
for Youth Scarred by Trauma
When Khaled Jaraysa sees the pain in a child’s eyes, he
understands. When he encounters a young person who
struggles to speak and is tormented by nightmares, he
empathizes. When he hears stories colored by fear and
heartache, he offers comfort.
Trauma is indiscriminate in its cruelty, and for many kids
the scars it leaves behind are deep and slow to heal. But
Jaraysa wants to reverse that through his support of the
Holy Child Program, a special school in Bethlehem that
helps and heals children who would otherwise be lost.
For the children of Palestine injured—both physically and
emotionally—by war and haunted by visages of destruction
and death, Holy Child and Jaraysa offer hope.
16 | Beacon of Hope

Khaled Jaraysa, ’08, is providing hope and a healing presence to traumatized children in his home country.
Born near Bethlehem, Palestine, Jaraysa, ’08, is intimately
aware of what young people in his home country experience daily
while living in the crosshairs of ongoing conflict. He is proof of
the benefits of the Holy Child Program, and the role outreach and
compassion have in the healing process. The Holy Child Program
is a school for traumatized children operated by the Franciscan
Sisters of the Eucharist that uses intensive therapy to improve
the lives of its students. The school provides hope for young
people who often have very little. If not for Holy Child, Jaraysa
says, many of them would end up institutionalized because of
physical and emotional disabilities.
Jaraysa, 32, knows all too well what these children are going
through, and the often long, painful road to recovery. When
he was 13, he lost his arm in a machinery accident at a bakery
where he worked. His recovery and rehabilitation began at
the Holy Family Care Center, a therapy and schooling facility
also operated by the Franciscan nuns. As he began to get
better through rehabilitative courses and counseling at Holy
Family, he came to know the work and results of the Holy
Child Program.
Once he was improved and came to terms with his injury, he
wanted to give back to the nuns for all they’ve given him, and
help heal others who experienced trauma.
“I’ve been through trauma before in my life. Losing my arm,
my father died when I was 16 and seeing my friends killed in the
fighting,” says Jaraysa, who ended up working at the Holy Child
Photography by MEL CURTIS
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 17

“These Okids, when they dream,
it’s of death. They don’t have hope.
I want to bring something back to them.”
Khaled Jaraysa
Program for more than five years. “If I didn’t have help from the
Franciscan nuns I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Earlier this year, Jaraysa created the Children of Peace
Foundation, which aims to help in the healing of children and
families affected by war, violence and conflict in their native
Palestine. “When they tell me they have pain, I know how they feel.
When they are scared, I know what they feel,” he says. “If we make
them feel safe, they’ll think there is no other way of living.” With
the support of his friends, faculty and alumni at SU, along with
his American host family, Jaraysa is on a mission to raise money
through the foundation to assist in maintaining the current
operations of the school and to make it accessible to more
children in the Bethlehem area.
As the only specialized program of its kind serving
traumatized children in the region, the challenge is providing
the resources to sustain the Holy Child Program and expand its
capability to accept more children—currently there is a waiting
list of more than 300 applicants.
The benefits of the program are manifold. Many are suffering
from debilitating conditions when they arrive. Some are unable to
speak and can verbalize emotions only through screams and wails.
Others, Jaraysa says, are too frightened to make eye contact or
accept human touch. After working with specially trained teachers
and therapists who employ intensive therapeutic techniques that
involve music analysis and play, they start to open up, become
animated and feel safe to be themselves—and be happy.
The ways the children change during their time at the school
is nothing short of remarkable, he says.
After two years at Holy Child most are well enough to return
to a traditional public or private school.
“It’s a great feeling—this transformation when you see one
kid smile, it’s a big thing,” Jaraysa says. “Most of the kids spend
all their time in the house because of curfew and violence, so
when you see them at school playing, laughing and smiling, it’s
a great thing.”
Another goal of the foundation is to raise money to build a
therapeutic center for healing children and families.
Nancy Roach is one of several people whom Jaraysa credits
with helping him to get the foundation off the ground. An
educator in Eastern Washington, Roach knows a thing or two
about what it means to take a big idea from concept to reality. A
vision to build a school in the Tri-Cities area was realized 12 years
ago thanks to the work of Roach and others in the community.
When she met Jaraysa at St. Patrick’s Parish in Pasco,
Wash., in August 2006, and learned of his desire to help the
Holy Child Program and expand its reach, Roach offered her
insight and resources.
“I encouraged him [saying] that this is not an unrealistic
goal, that it is possible that he should pursue it,” she says. “He
just needed some guidance, legally, about what avenues were
available to him to begin collecting funds for this school. So I
went back 12 years to when we were getting our school started
and the first step was to create a legal entity.”
Roach connected Jaraysa with her brother-in-law, SU grad
Dan Roach, ’80, an attorney in Walla Walla, Wash., and an
accountant friend who provides free services to Jaraysa.
“You don’t very often meet people who have the kind of charisma
Khaled has. It’s so authentic and there is a certain purity about his
spirit,” Nancy Roach says. “He’s so sincere and genuine.”
Having someone believe in you is an important part of
healing, and something Jaraysa has experienced many times
over since coming to Seattle in 2001.
Originally, the purpose of the trip to the United States was to
receive a prosthetic arm at the University of Washington. But the
seeds of his new life in the United States were actually sown a year
earlier when he met Diane Rzegocki, her daughter Gwynedd and
son Walter at World Youth Day in Rome, Italy. With the family’s
financial and emotional support, Jaraysa was able to come to the
United States to live permanently and attend college. (Jaraysa lives
with Rzegocki and her family in North Seattle.)
18 | Beacon of Hope

Khaled Jaraysa with his Seattle host family (top, left to right) Diane, Jim and Claire Rzegocki.
At SU, he’s found clarity and a greater determination to use
his education to improve the lives of others.
When SU President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., met Jaraysa last
year for the first time, he was instantly struck by his passion,
disarming smile and desire to help others.
“The remarkable thing about Khaled is that he is a student
of ours who is a Christian Catholic from Bethlehem who is
working with traumatized children at the place in the world
where Christ was born,” Father Sundborg says. “He exudes
compassion.”
After he graduates, Jaraysa plans to attend grad school and
then return home to focus his energy on Holy Child and the
foundation. He’s already purchased a small piece of land that he
hopes someday will be used to expand the function of the school
and serve as a secondary site for therapy.
The dream, Jaraysa says, is for the therapeutic services
offered by Holy Child to serve as a model for programs that can
be used in schools and centers in other countries torn by war and
violence. Through his efforts he wants to replace the nightmares
that shatter the innocence of so many children with possibilities
of brighter days.
“These kids, when they dream, it’s of death. They don’t have
hope,” he says. “I want to bring something back to them.” SU
How You Can Help
To learn more about the Children of Peace Foundation or to
make a donation, visit http://childrenofpeacefoundation.org, or
contact the foundation at PO Box 55148, Seattle, WA 98155;
e-mail: info@childrenofpeacefoundation.org.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 19

Dissecting
Diversity
By Nick Gallo
At Seattle University, diversity is more than
a buzzword—it is part of the institutional fabric of
the university. But a new task force is looking at how
we define diversity, how it is part of the SU culture
and ways we can expand our programs
to meet the needs of an increasingly
diverse student population.
At Seattle University, diversity is a defining characteristic, school leaders say.
But diversity is also a broad, amorphous term. It has a feel-good, “We Are the World”
kind of easy appeal. What is diversity, really? How does diversity contribute to academic
excellence and enrich the educational experience? Last January a group of SU administrators,
faculty and students came together to form a task force to explore such questions. The Engaging
Our Diversity Task Force has been taking an inventory of SU’s diversity-related initiatives on
campus and will issue its report in December 2007.
It was born not out of any real crisis but because SU wants to make a meaningful assessment
of diversity, a hard-headed evaluation of how it’s integrated into daily life at the university, says
Robert Kelly, co-chair of the task force and vice president of Student Development. “When some
people think about diversity, they stop at the numbers—the racial or ethnic makeup of people—but
we’re going beyond that to look at how diversity ties into the entire education enterprise,” he says.
“There’s a feeling we’re not doing enough to use our diversity to benefit all students.”
Earlier this year, the task force laid out a framework, first reviewing what researchers call
“compositional diversity”—the mix of people in the SU community, and whether it includes
a significant percentage of minorities. But it’s also conducting surveys to evaluate the campus
climate. Its aim is to examine the behavioral aspects of diversity—such as how members of the
20 | Dissecting Diversity

Real diversity occurs when
Jacob Diaz, assistant vice president of
Student Development/dean of students
people can express differences even from within a particular racial or ethnic group.
campus interact with different groups and one another—and
the psychological ones—how does it feel to be a member of a
minority or majority culture?
The objective isn’t simply to assess, but also to be proactive
in recommending ways for the university to develop its diversity.
Defining diversity
In its broadest sense, diversity alludes to the spectrum of
differences that exist at a university: It refers to people with
different social identities, shaped by such factors as race,
gender, religion, national origin, socioeconomic class, sexual
orientation, age and geography. A diverse university also implies
a welcoming of different opinions and beliefs.
The vitality of intellectual discourse and openness to new ideas
are likely to be greater in a diverse environment, say educators.
In a 1993 study of 25,000 undergraduate students at 217
schools, education researcher Alexander Astin concluded that
an environment that encourages diversity builds cultural
awareness, strengthens commitment to racial understanding
and boosts academic development. His research linked
it to improved critical thinking, general knowledge,
and preparation for graduate school. Michele Murray, assistant
vice president of Student Development, puts it more bluntly:
“We live in a global society, and you won’t succeed if you don’t
know how to deal with people who are different from you.”
Today’s graduates must have cross-cultural skills—that is, they
need to understand, respect and have insight into the cultural
differences they’re likely to encounter among co-workers and
clients. A growing number of companies are telling SU leaders
that graduates must possess this new set of skills to get hired,
says Kelly. Equally important, diversity is intrinsic to the Jesuit
mission to educate leaders for a just and humane world, says
Charles Lawrence, associate provost for Academic Affairs. If
SU seeks to produce leaders who will use their influence and
power in just ways, it must help students gain sophisticated,
culture-savvy skills to address the world’s most entrenched
problems, such as systemic poverty, religious conflicts and
environmental crises, he says.
Numbers game
Such a societal imperative brings the topic of diversity
back to composition as a starting point: How many black
students attend SU? How many faculty members are Hispanic?
What’s the racial or ethnic profile of the administrative team?
Statistics from SU’s Institutional Research office show that in
2006, 57 percent of SU students identified themselves as white.
About 30 percent of students belong to a minority group;
another 5 percent are categorized as international students.
(Seven percent appear as “unknown.”) SU’s minorities are defined
as Asian (17 percent), black (5 percent), Hispanic (6 percent),
Native American (1 percent) and multicultural (1 percent).
Nationwide, 70 percent of undergrads in private universities
and colleges are white, according to U.S. Department of Education
statistics from 2005. Additionally, SU ranks fifth out of 28 Jesuit
universities with the highest percentage of minority undergrads,
according to a 2005–06 survey of Jesuit institutions. While
comparisons are tricky, the data suggest that SU has a more
diverse student body than most universities.
In addition to boosting educational access to minorities, hard
numbers help create a sense of community for minorities and are
likely to reduce feelings of isolation and marginalization, says
Jacob Diaz, assistant vice president of Student Development
and dean of students.
When minority students perceive themselves as “token,”
they’re at a higher risk of dropping out of school before graduation,
studies show.
Strong representation from minority groups also may lessen
stereotyping, Diaz says. “Real diversity occurs when people can
express differences even from within a particular racial or ethnic
group,” he says.
One way SU has attracted well-qualified minority students is
through scholarship programs and financial-aid packages, such
as the Costco Scholarship Fund. It provides financial assistance
to high-achieving, underrepresented minority students at SU
and the University of Washington. (“Underrepresented” refers
to groups less likely than average to attend college, primarily
blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans.) At this year’s Costco
ILLUSTRATIONS by TIM COOK
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 21

We live in a global society and
Michele Murray, assistant vice president
of Student Development
you won’t succeed if you don’t know how to deal with people who are different from you.
Scholars Breakfast Breakfast nearly $2.8 million was raised for
scholarships.
While SU classrooms reflect the diversity of the university,
what about the administration and faculty? In
2001, 96 percent of high-ranked administrators—assistant deans
through vice presidents—were white. Last year’s data, although
collected somewhat differently, suggests things are changing.
Now, 77 percent are white; Asian representation has doubled
from 4 to 8 percent and underrepresented minorities—blacks,
Hispanics, and Native Americans—have increased from zero
to 8 percent.
Similarly, SU’s faculty composition has changed. Last
year, in a survey of faculty members, 79 percent identified
themselves as white. But during the past five years, whites
have made up 68 percent of newly hired faculty members.
Minority representation has crept upward in almost all racial/
ethnic groups during that time period. Asians now comprise
10 percent of the faculty, while blacks and Hispanics tally 5
percent each.
In some SU colleges, the change is dramatic. The College of
Arts and Sciences reports that this year 29 faculty of color are on
track to be tenured, compared to eight faculty of color in 2000.
This year, 49 women are on the tenure track; seven years ago,
there were 23.
Seattle University is making concerted efforts to hire diverse
faculty, says Provost John Eshelman. Several times a year he
meets with deans and department chairs to review searches. “It’s
illegal to use quotas, so we don’t do that,” he says. “But there
are enough well-qualified minority candidates with doctorates
now to include them in final-candidate pools. If we see that a
department consistently fails to do that, then we ask why and
discuss how to change that.”
Classroom initiatives
This year, Mako Fitts and Gary Perry, two SU assistant
professors of sociology, have been conducting a campus-wide
survey to assess diversity. While the results aren’t in yet,
Fitts reports that numerous students say SU has an overall
positive climate for diversity, yet it’s not always reflected in
classroom discussions, curriculum and educational content.
“This is complex because there’s a wide range of things to
consider when you think about faculty members ‘buying
in’ to diversity,” Fitts says. “If you’re a sociology professor,
it’s pretty likely that you’re going to be addressing diversity
issues—racism, sexism, injustices—but how do you
do that if you’re a physics professor? It’s tempting for
some faculty to say, ‘Oh, diversity, that’s not my issue.’”
However, cultural differences arise in almost every
classroom and can affect learning. Two years ago, the
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)
launched regular workshops on diversity to spur faculty’s
professional development. They’ve included topics such
as “Strategies for Enhancing Intercultural Learning and
Teaching.” During the first year, 30 faculty members
attended such sessions. Last year, the number doubled.
The center also provides reviews of research literature for
faculty. It reports that about one-quarter of the requests for
literature reviews from faculty are related to diversity topics.
Diversity is woven into numerous coursework offerings as well.
This year SU introduced a major in Women Studies, adding to a
list that includes International Studies, Global African Studies,
International Business, Asian Studies, Cultural Anthropology
and Modern Languages and Literature. Additionally, the
College of Education recently approved a social justice class
as a requirement for all its degree programs. Students also
engage diversity through service-learning initiatives, which
have become ingrained in the educational fabric of SU. More
than three-quarters of all SU undergrads take a course with
a service-learning component before they graduate, reports
Kent Koth, director of the Center for Service and Community
Engagement. Most of the service-learning opportunities take
place within a few miles of the SU campus, in neighborhoods
with sizable populations of blacks and Asians, says Koth,
noting that such experiences push many students out of their
comfort zone and force them to grapple with issues of race
and class.
22 | Dissecting Diversity

With diversity comes
Monica Nixon, director of the
Office of Multicultural Affairs
possible conflict, so we have to be able to confront that in a safe environment.
Going global
Other SU initiatives point an increasing trend toward
internationalization. As the world shrinks, and the local and
global are increasingly intertwined, educational excellence
requires a global dimension, says Lawrence, associate
provost for Academic Affairs. Already, several programs have
global elements. For instance, students can engage in intensive
international study in countries throughout the world as part
of the undergraduate International Development Internship
Program or graduate Research for Development Fellows
Program. Students also have numerous opportunities to join
Campus Ministry’s immersion programs in places such as
Nicaragua, Belize, Ecuador, Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Now, says Lawrence, it’s time for SU to take the next step
and integrate global learning in a more systematic fashion. “We
have lots of good things happening, but it’s in an ad hoc way that
often depends on a particular person’s passion.”
Engaging diversity
Clearly, diversity has flourished at SU. But how often do
students from different groups go beyond incidental, superficial
contact—sitting across from each other in a classroom—to
have personal, meaningful exchanges with one another?
The 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an
annual nationwide survey of college students, sheds some light
on this. Of students surveyed, 68 percent of SU seniors reported
frequent conversations with students of a different race/ethnicity,
compared to a 57 percent average at Jesuit peer institutions.
When students were asked whether their institution substantially
encourages contact among diverse groups, 67 percent of SU
seniors said yes, compared to 49 percent at other Jesuit schools.
The NSSE survey doesn’t illuminate how engagement
happens. At SU, the process involves hundreds of formal
events yearly combined with daily, informal exchanges among
students, faculty and staff. For example, at the International
Student Center, dozens of annual education and social events
build solidarity among international students and also act as
a bridge to the entire SU community. Similarly, the Office
of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) helps more than a dozen
student groups host events that link minority students to
the larger SU community. Monica Nixon, director of OMA,
is especially encouraged by new student-led initiatives. She
points to the Hui O Nani Hawaii student group, which
celebrates its heritage every year with a highly popular luau that
draws up to 500 people. Concerned that visitors haven’t been
learning enough about Hawaiian culture amid the fine food
and festivity, the student club last year launched a separate,
daylong event to present different aspects of Hawaiian history
and traditions. “If we really want to promote diversity, we need
more opportunities for prolonged engagement,” says Nixon.
Last year, OMA also started “Courageous Conversations,” a
series of open discussions meant to foster intergroup dialogue.
The once-a-month sessions, led by students who have been
trained in diversity issues, focus on controversial topics. “With
diversity comes possible conflict, so we have to be able to
confront that in a safe environment.”
In December, the Engaging Our Diversity Task Force will
make recommendations that will be incorporated into
SU’s new strategic plan. They will likely address ways to
promote diversity inside the classroom and in other areas of
campus life, too, says Kelly. Such efforts are bound to be
part of an ongoing process, says President Stephen Sundborg,
S.J. “In the last five years, I think we’ve made some gains, in
terms of creating an environment where minority students feel
at home here, where they feel this is their university,” he says.
“But we have a ways to go when it comes to asking, ‘How well
do we reach across to one another?’ That’s really what a Jesuit
education is all about, and it will require lots of collaboration
among faculty, staff and students.”
SU
Diversity at SU
To learn more about diversity at Seattle University, including
updates on developments and initiatives proposed by the Engaging
Our Diversity Task Force, visit www.seattleu.edu/diversity.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 23

“One of the things writers and
prosecutors have in common is the
search for the truth.”
Mark Lindquist
Photos by Anil Kapahi
24 | True Crime Writer

T
r
U
E
c
R
i
M
e
Writer
Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor
by Nick Gallo
Mark Lindquist Writes Page-Turners
t
hrough the window of the Pierce County
prosecutor’s office on the 10th floor of the
County-City Building, Mark Lindquist has
a million-dollar view of Mount Rainier,
the Foss Waterway, and Tacoma’s newly revitalized
downtown area. But from the same window, Lindquist, a
1995 graduate of the Seattle University School of Law, can
peer down at dark, narrow alleys used by drug addicts and
criminals. Not surprisingly, his eyes are drawn to the nittygritty
netherworld below.
As the team chief of the drug and vice unit for the
Pierce County prosecuting attorney, Lindquist supervises
a department that prosecutes about 2,800 cases every year.
He also tries several homicide and high-profile cases each
year. This fall, for instance, he prosecuted the young man
found guilty of the shootings at the Tacoma Mall.
At the same time, he is a longtime professional writer
who has published four novels, the latest of which is The
King of Methlehem, a fast-paced, riveting tour of the world
of methamphetamines in the Tacoma area and the cops
and prosecutors who combat it. “I’ve always believed
in the axiom ‘Write what you know,’” he says. “After
working 12 years here, a lot of stories have accumulated
in my head.”
Lindquist, 48, has taken a wild, unconventional path to
the prosecutor’s office, a tale straight out of Hollywood. A
Seattle native, he attended the University of Washington
and then moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend the
University of Southern California. Before long he was
writing scripts for film studios, hanging out at late-night
clubs with movie-biz figures, and becoming friends with
writers who would become famous as the “literary brat
pack”—namely Jay McInerney (Bright Lights, Big City);
Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, American Psycho) and
Tama Janowitz (Slaves of New York).
In 1987 Lindquist entered the book-publishing fray
with his debut novel, Sad Movies, a sardonic take on a
young screenwriter lost in a haze of drugs and alcohol as
he copes with the frustrations of working in Hollywood.
He followed up three years later with Carnival Desires, a
cautionary tale about a burned-out screenwriter and his
friends in their late 20s who are getting too old for the party
life yet aren’t ready to navigate the next passage.
Both novels garnered strong reviews for Lindquist’s hip,
contemporary style and cynical yet tender take on modern
life. A Vanity Fair reviewer hailed his “smart, spare prose.”
The Los Angeles Reader called him “among the most
promising writers of his generation.”
Shaped by his screenwriting experiences, Lindquist
injected a fast-moving, stripped-down style into his novels,
both of which are character-driven page-turners—witty,
crackling, carried by strong dialogue yet containing a
personal voice. Hollywood had noticed his talent, and by
the early 1990s he had written dozens of screenplays for
studios (though none have been made into films). “Then I
hit the wall,” he says. “I had to take a break.”
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 25

Mark Lindquist has successfully navigated two careers—as a prosecutor and an author, who
finds inspiration for his characters and plot lines in his day job, society and pop culture.
“It’s deeply satisfying to be
doing something to achieve
justice, though you’re just
part of a process.”
Mark Lindquist
DUAL CAREERS
Standing six feet, six inches tall and dwarfing the desk in
his small office, Lindquist cuts a large, chiseled figure. (In
2000, People magazine named him one of the nation’s 100
most eligible bachelors.) He has a forceful, vigilant presence
and cool demeanor that give the impression of someone
always under control. But when he was in his 20s Lindquist
was uncertain about his future. He considered bumming
around Europe but opted to return to the Northwest to act
on a longtime dream. “I’d always wanted to be a lawyer,”
he says. “I went to L.A. because I also wanted to be a writer.
I didn’t know you could be both.”
In 1992, he enrolled in the University of Puget Sound
Law School, commuting from a loft in downtown Seattle. By
the time he graduated three years later, Seattle University
had acquired the law school and Lindquist had honed
his interest in a law career. After clerking at the Pierce
County prosecutor’s office, he knew he wanted to be in
criminal law—“that’s where the stories are,” he says—
and discovered he liked the prosecutor’s side of the aisle.
“One of the things writers and prosecutors have in
common is the search for the truth,” he says. “Both want
to get to the truth of the matter. They’re professions
that attract people who think they can create order out
of chaos.”
In 1995, he joined Pierce County as a deputy prosecutor
and plunged into his work. “I found out pretty quickly I
enjoyed it,” he says. “I liked the camaraderie in the office—
writing is so solitary—and the adrenaline rush of standing
in front of a jury. You don’t get that as a writer.”
He wrote at night, prowling through notebooks he’d
kept on his experiences living in Seattle a few years earlier,
when he’d immersed himself in the then-up-and-coming
grunge-music scene. He’d watched the meteoric rise of
Seattle bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and counted R.E.M.
guitarist Peter Buck among his friends.
In 2000, Lindquist published his third novel, Never
Mind Nirvana. Again, an angst-ridden protagonist is
struggling with a life transition, this time a 36-year-old
26 | True Crime Writer

ex-grunge rocker-turned-prosecutor. Facing his 40s, he
suspects it’s time to settle down and get married, but he’s
still locked into a pattern of carousing and one-night affairs.
The novel’s frequent references to grunge music serve as
a clue to what makes these characters tick and infuse the
novel with the mood and energy of the Seattle scene.
Now Lindquist has turned his writer’s eye on Tacoma,
mining his inside knowledge to construct The King of
Methlehem, a taut, disquieting account of a small-time
“meth cook” pursued by a single-minded detective.
BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS
“I always start books with characters. This one started
with a tweaker [meth user] who is smarter and more
ambitious than most. I wanted a cop who is obsessed with
a ‘white whale,’” he says. “Cops see so many criminals that
they get jaded quickly, but every once in a while a bad guy
crawls under their skin, and I think that’s interesting.”
The backdrop is the modern-day scourge of
methamphetamines, “a drug that’s like putting your brain
in a frying pan,” declares the novel’s prosecuting attorney.
Six years ago, Pierce County was one of America’s notorious
hot spots for meth labs, which are inexpensive to set up
and easy to hide in a rural landscape. In 2001, the Pierce
County drug unit prosecuted 439 meth labs. “It was an
epidemic,” says Lindquist.
Today the number of labs has dropped by almost
80 percent, he says, crediting aggressive policing and
prosecution, community awareness and legislative
changes, such as restrictions placed on the purchase of
pseudoephedrine, used to manufacture meth. “Most of the
meth is shipped in now, but we still have a raging problem
with meth use,” he says. “It’s tied to lots of crime—identity
theft, property crimes, domestic violence.”
Lindquist drew on a real tweaker for his fictionalized
meth cook. He also borrowed from real-life detectives,
prosecutors and judges. “So far, no one seems to have
minded,” he says with a laugh.
So is Lindquist a writer who prosecutes or a prosecutor
who writes?
“Hmm, I’ve never really broken it down like that,” he
says. “I was a writer before I was a prosecutor, so I tend to
look at the world that way,” he says.
He pauses for a long time and then adds, “But I’ve
always wanted to be a participant in things, and being a
prosecutor really gives you a chance to jump in. It’s deeply
satisfying to be doing something to achieve justice, though
you’re just part of a process. I guess I just feel lucky to have
two jobs that I love.”
Being a prosecutor also gives him a strong connection
with his community, a rewarding sense of stewardship
that helps him cope with the inevitable frustrations and
Sisyphean task of combating crime.
“You know, I reread the Camus essay about Sisyphus
after I took office,” he says, referring to the 1942 treatise in
which the French writer Albert Camus analyzed the Greek
myth about a king cursed to push a huge boulder up a hill
throughout eternity. “I realized his point is that while the
rock is going to keep coming back down the hill, there’s a
joy to be found in pushing that rock up the hill again and
again. You don’t have to wallow in existential defeatism.
You can find purpose in going about your task.”
A good motto for prosecutors, writers and most
everyone else.
SU
Read a review of
Lindquist’s latest
tome, The King of
Methlehem, in this
issue’s Bookmarks
on page 36.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 27

Alumni
F O C U S
calcutta club
Cultural Exchange
Alumni of Calcutta Experience reunite
Todd Waller was just 22 years old
when he held the hand of Mother
Teresa. The exchange was, as
one might expect, profound, and
set in motion by Waller’s involvement in
the Calcutta Experience, an immersion
program that began at Seattle University
in 1985.
Waller, ’86, was the
first—and sole—student
to participate in the first
year of the education and
service abroad opportunity,
in which students
volunteer with Mother
Teresa’s Missionaries
of Charity in India. For
Waller, who today is
associate director for
student life at Loyola University’s Rome
Center, the five weeks in Calcutta were
life-transforming. Take his meeting with
Mother Teresa.“She held my hand and
looked me in the eye, the look of a gentle
tiny old grandmother with her soft wrinkled
hands,” Waller recalls. “She said, ‘Simply
go back to your family, love your family, care
for your family. This is where it all begins.’”
Her words were especially prophetic,
as days after he returned to the United
States his grandfather had a stroke. “I
remember spending a sleepless night with
him in the hospital, trying to calm him
when he was crying and confused,” Waller
says. “[Mother Teresa’s] words have rung
true in small and large ways throughout
my life.”
In August, alumni of the Calcutta
Experience, including Waller, returned to
SU for a reunion and a chance to reconnect
Students are witness to abject poverty
and the very sick and dying; they also
see slivers of hope and happiness in
people who have few material possessions
but are rich in kindness.
and share recollections on their service.
The Calcutta Experience was a good precursor
for the service work he would do in
the future, Waller says.
“In the 1990s I was able to spend time
in Bosnia, which was also a life-changing
experience,” Waller says. “Calcutta helped
to prepare me for what I would see and do
while in the Balkans.”
The Calcutta Experience (now known
as the Calcutta Club) was the idea of former
SU professor Neil Young. The mission
of the program was to provide students
with a meaningful service-learning opportunity
in Calcutta. Participants typically
serve for several weeks or months as volunteers
with the Missionaries of Charity’s
organizations.
While most universities offer intenational
volunteer programs, SU is believed
to be the only university with an international
program as structured
and long-standing as
the Calcutta immersion.
The Calcutta Club,
which is built on pillars
of service, community,
culture and spirituality
affords current students
and alumni a place to
share their personal experiences
and provides
glimpses into what dayto-day
life in Calcutta is like.
The Calcutta Club also cultivates
camaraderie among those who have gone
through the program and may experience
a type of reverse culture shock when
they return.
Most participants perform their service
at Prem Dan and Khaligat, homes for the
destitute who are very sick or dying, or one
of the many orphanages in the region.
For many, the experience is at once
difficult and life affirming. Students are
witness to abject poverty and the very sick
and dying; they also see slivers of hope and
28 | Alumni Focus

photo COURTESY OF MEG BEADE
Volunteer Amanda Higgins (left) with Binodini Daas and Meg Beade, ’05, at Prem Dan, a home for the ill and destitute in Calcutta.
happiness in people who have few material
possessions but are rich in kindness.
Nathan Canney, ’06, spent three
months in Calcutta, volunteering at
Khaligat and helping care for people
with conditions from tuberculosis and
malaria to AIDS. Living in a place so
different from where he grew up—Moscow,
Idaho—took some getting used to.
“Calcutta was a very overwhelming
city to me,” says Canney, a structural engineer
at Seattle’s Magnusson Klemencic
Associates. “But it gave me an appreciation
of other cultures and a desire to learn
more and to further my perspectives.”
When Waller returned from Calcutta,
he dealt with a range of emotions. “I felt
much anger, confusion, a sense that I
did not belong. I would watch TV and
nothing seemed to make sense any longer,”
he recalls. “Attempting to process
and integrate all of these encounters was
the most difficult part, and continues to
be challenging for returning volunteers.
This is a lifelong process; how does one
begin to make sense of what we all witnessed
in Calcutta?”
Meg Beade, ’05, became interested in
traveling to Calcutta after she heard about
the trip from a friend. In January 2006 she
arrived for what would be a three-month
stay. During her time as a volunteer at
Prem Dan and Shishu Bhavan, an orphanage
in central Calcutta, Beade says she met
several people who changed her life. When
she left, she took with her a desire to do
more service work with the poor and “to
live authentically,” she says, “in whatever
ways God desires of me.”
At Prem Dan she worked mostly with
disabled and seriously ill elderly women,
and cleaned floors, made beds and distributed
food. From the women, Beade
says, she found real joy.
“If I ever felt close to God, it was in
Prem Dan,” she says. “I fell in love with
those women, and my heart breaks when
I think of the injustice that brought them
there in the first place.”
In 2004 Lucas McIntyre, ’06, went to
India, where he would stay and volunteer
for six months. The first three months he
spent with the Missionaries of Charity;
the second half of the trip was focused
on working with a microfinance group to
address issues of poverty at a systemic level.
No experience could fully prepare him for
what he found in Calcutta.
While volunteering at Prem Dan,
McIntyre developed a close connection
with one patient in particular, Tarachand,
who was severely crippled. McIntyre took
it upon himself to clean his wounds and
check on him daily. When the man died,
he was heartbroken.
“Calcutta is not easy by any means,”
he says. “I feel like I’ve gone through it
as a different person, that I can be more
empathetic and understanding.”
To learn more about the Calcutta Club,
visit www.seattleu.edu/calcuttaclub/.
—Tina Potterf
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 29

Alumni
F O C U S
profile
Paul Hill—Education
Reformer or Razer?
Professor receives Fordham Prize for education reform
‘‘
Igrew up a Catholic in Salt Lake “And the research I did suggested we
City,” Paul T. Hill says. “There needed to think more broadly about why
is no surer way to create an adult schools were failing, and how, in fact,
who feels comfortable being on problems were built into the institution’s
the outside looking in.”
basic structure and incentive systems.”
For Hill, who earned a bachelor’s degree During the past two decades, Hill’s
in political science from Seattle University research has led him to believe the current
in 1965, this “outsider” upbringing helped K–12 educational system is hamstrung
him develop as a researcher, analyst and by too many constraints to allow comprehensive
reform. Certain schools might
award-winning critic of America’s public
school systems.
improve because of charismatic leaders
Earlier this year Hill, a professor at the or innovative strategies, he says, but the
Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs benefit is short-lived.
at the University of Washington, was “Institutions are frozen by bureaucracy,
regulations and contracts,” he says.
named co-recipient of the 2007 Fordham
Prize for Distinguished Scholarship, “The reality is that three forces control
awarded to scholars who have made major schools: the school board, the school
contributions to education reform. district central office and unions. You
His work often leads to debate about can’t make a long-lasting change if one of
how school systems should be governed, those three actors opposes a change, and
and stirs controversy because of its that amounts to just about any change
support for alternatives, such as charter you can imagine.”
schools, voucher systems and decentralized In 1993, Hill left RAND’s Washington,
D.C., office and joined the UW to
decision-making.
During his 17 years as a senior social lead the Center on Reinventing Public
scientist for RAND, a think-tank addressing
policy issues, Hill gained a national school systems and looks at alternatives
Education. The research center studies
platform for his education research. At that challenge the status quo.
RAND he learned a seemingly ordinary “We’re empirical, not ideological,”
but profound lesson, first suggested to says Hill. “We study the alternatives
him during his years at SU: Big problems in hope of formulating new ideas and
can’t be solved by simple solutions. influencing policy, but we don’t have
“When I started to study public pre-conceived answers. We test our ideas,
education, I was naturally skeptical of and if they don’t work, we say so.”
narrowly conceived solutions,” he says. Over the years, Hill has co-authored
Paul Hill, ’65, is a vocal critic of many aspects of the
traditional public school system.
or edited numerous influential books on the
subject of reform, including Reinventing
Public Education: How Contracting Can
Transform America’s Schools. In the book,
Hill proposes that school district boards
stop trying to manage every detail of
school operations and instead oversee
contracts between schools and various
providers to handle curriculum, operations
and personnel.
Many of Hill’s ideas flow from an
early project he did for RAND, in
which he analyzed why a New York City
program that paid for poor children to
attend Catholic schools was more effective
than comparable public schools. Since
then he’s tried to find ways to replicate in
public schools some of the conditions
shared by those Catholic schools—factors
such as a clear course of instruction and
control of funding and staffing.
Hill is the first to concede that the
task is complicated. While the number
of charter schools continues to rise, with
more than 4,000 nationwide, his recent
research suggests that they aren’t working
as well as supporters hope. “It’s much
harder to start a good school than anyone
thought,” he says.
—Nick Gallo
photo BY ANIL KAPAHI
30 | Alumni Focus

Alumni Events
Monday–Wednesday, Dec. 3–5
Preparing Our Hearts for
Mission in the Tradition
and Vision of St. Ignatius
7 to 9 p.m., Chapel of St. Ignatius
Alumni are invited to participate in
this three-day program to reflect on
the life and mission of St. Ignatius.
For more information, contact Magis:
Alumni Committed for Mission at (206)
296-2637 or e-mail magis@seattleu.
edu.
Sunday, Dec. 9
Annual Alumni Advent Mass
and Holiday Reception
4 p.m., Chapel of St. Ignatius
Join fellow alumni, friends and family
for worship during the holiday season.
A reception at Paccar Atrium will
follow the Mass.
Wednesday, Jan. 9
Center for Leadership Formation
Alumni Book Club
5:30 to 7 p.m., Pigott 416
Alumni are invited to participate in
a book discussion on the Harper Lee
classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, with fellow
Albers CLF alumni, faculty and staff.
For more information, contact Steve
Sack at (206) 296-2529.
Saturday, Jan. 26
International Student Center’s
Annual International Dinner
6 to 10 p.m., Campion Ballroom
Alumni are invited to join the Seattle
University community in celebrating
diversity at this annual event, featuring
food and entertainment of the world.
For more information, contact the
International Student Center at (206)
296-6260.
Saturday, Feb. 9
“Labor of Love” Service Day
8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Seattle
Join alumni and current students in volunteer
service opportunities in the Seattle
area. Lunch will be provided.
A second “Labor of Love” is planned for
April 26. For more information, contact
the Magis office at (206) 296-2637.
Friday, Feb. 15
Black Student Union’s Umoja Ball
7 p.m., Campion Ballroom
Mark your calendar for the annual
celebration of African and African-
American culture and heritage, with
soul food, a keynote speaker, entertainment
and a dance. For more information,
e-mail BSU co-president Johnathan
Meade at meadej@seattleu.edu.
Wednesday, Feb. 20
SU Faculty and Staff Alumni
Chapter “Get Connected” Social
5 to 7 p.m., Elysian Brewing Company,
1221 E. Pike St., Seattle
Alumni who work for Seattle University
are invited to the chapter’s quarterly social.
Saturday, Feb. 23
College of Nursing Alumni Brunch
11 a.m. to 2 p.m., LeRoux Conference
Center, Student Center 160
Reconnect with fellow alumni and
friends at the College of Nursing’s
annual brunch.
Thursday, Feb. 28
African-American Alumni
Chapter’s 3rd Annual Reception
6 to 9 p.m., LeRoux Conference Center,
Student Center 160
Join us for an evening of education,
entertainment and networking with
old friends and classmates, in celebration
of Black History Month.
Saturday, March 8
Del Mar Regional Alumni,
Parents and Friends Reception
5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Del Mar, Calif.
Join fellow alumni and friends in
the home of a local alumna. Contact
Alumni Relations for location and
more information.
Saturday, March 15
United Filipino Club’s
14th Annual Barrio Fiesta
5:30 p.m., Campion Ballroom
The SU community and alumni are
invited to this annual celebration
of Filipino and Filipino-American
culture and heritage, with authentic
Filipino cuisine, entertainment and
dramatic performances. For more
information, visit http://students.
seattleu.edu./clubs/ufc/.
Saturday, March 29
6th Annual Alumni Crab Feed
5 to 11 p.m., Student Center
The Albers Alumni Board and
Alumni Relations invite you to the 6th
annual Alumni Crab Feed. The classes
of 2003, 1998 and 1983 will celebrate
their reunions during this event. Table
sponsorships benefit Albers School
scholarships. For more information,
e-mail Susan Clifford Jamroski at
susancj@seattleu.edu.
Friday–Sunday, April 11–13
Golden Reunion: Celebrating
the Class of 1958 and Earlier
Various times, Seattle University campus
Gather for a weekend of special events
at this reunion for graduates of the
class of 1958 and earlier.
Saturday, April 12
Alumni Day of Prayer
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Chapel of St. Ignatius
Pat Twohy, S.J., and Jennifer Kelly,
’85, will preside at the Alumni Day of
Prayer. For more information, contact
the Magis office at (206) 296-2637.
For more information on alumni events, contact Alumni Relations at (206) 296-6127 or visit http://alumniweb.seattleu.edu.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 31

Alumni
F O C U S
profile
Spirit of Giving
O’Brien brothers spread goodwill during Christmas season
photo by ANIL KAPAHI
JWith the Forgotten Children’s Fund, brothers John (left) and Ed O’Brien bring holiday cheer to children and families in need.
ohn and Ed O’Brien will always come true for hundreds of families in
be known to Seattle University’s need in the Puget Sound region.
faithful—and sports buffs—as the It all started in 1976 when a letter
Dream Team. While it’s a moniker addressed to Santa from a boy named
they earned for their athletic heroics, it Craig was mistakenly delivered to a restaurant
in Seattle. The note read, in part:
could just as easily apply to their philanthropy.
Every Christmas Eve for the last Moma said you got lost last year and
three decades, the twin brothers have couldn’t find your way to our house. We
donned their Santa suits to make dreams wrilly mist you aspheshely my little sisters.
Pleas come this year Santa. We are beaing
very good…PS. don’t leav aney thing for
dady becuse he isn’t hear anymore.
The letter bore no return address, so
Dick Francisco, the restaurant’s owner,
enlisted the help of his FBI and police
buddies to try to locate Craig. The boy
was never found, but his letter inspired
Francisco to create the Forgotten
32 | Alumni Focus

Children’s Fund to help provide a true
Christmas for youngsters like the young
letter writer. Soon after, Ed O’Brien was
introduced to the organization through a
friend, and on Christmas Eve 1977, he
started making deliveries as one of the
organization’s first Santas. His brother
John would join him a year later.
Since those early days, the number
of families served by FCF’s Christmas
program has increased
40-fold, and in recent years
the organization has added
to its repertoire a summer
ranch program for disabled
children. As the fund has
grown, so, too, has the
involvement of the O’Brien
brothers. Today, John is
president of FCF’s board
and Ed is intimately involved in various
phases of the operation. Their favorite
part of it all is playing St. Nick every
Christmas.
Ed estimates that in the past 30-some
years, he and John have each visited
about 2,500 kids in 600 to 700 homes.
Last year 50 Santas, covering King,
Pierce, Snohomish, Chelan and Kitsap
counties, and parts of Island County,
joined them in spreading holiday cheer.
But, as the O’Briens explain, the
visit from Santa is just the beginning of
the work the organization does. Behind
the scenes is an elaborate year-round
operation that relies almost exclusively on
the goodwill of volunteers and donors.
The organization squeezes maximum
value out of its $400,000 annual budget.
With the exception of two paid staff
positions that were only recently added
out of necessity, FCF is run completely
by volunteers—1,000 in all.
FCF’s real-life North Pole includes a
volunteer-buyer who begins purchasing
toys as early as January. The buyer also
hunts down other off-season bargains,
such as winter coats in the summertime.
All the accumulated goods are stored in
a local warehouse.
“Everything is new,” says John,
including bicycles. And assembly is
required: “Seven guys come into the
warehouse and spend the entire month
of December putting the bikes together,”
adds Ed. “Then we bring in youngsters
to test-drive the bikes.” Each bike
comes with a helmet.
“There’s something magical
about Santa. I’m going to do this
until they put me in the ground.”
John O’Brien
Meanwhile, the letters keep pouring in.
“Last year, we received 3,000,” says John.
After the letters are read, volunteers
call recipients to find out how many
children live in the house and what their
clothing sizes are. Once the Christmas
lists have been made—and checked
twice—volunteers walk through the
warehouse, which is organized like a
store, pluck the desired items from the
shelves and wrap the gifts—more than
13,000 were prepared last year.
Then comes the real fun. On
Christmas Eve, teams of 10, including
Santa and a supporting cast of elves,
pick up their route maps and head out
with their bundles. A head elf knocks on
the door of each home, makes sure the
children are present, and then motions
to Santa and the other elves. Some gifts
are presented to the family to be opened
on the spot. Others are left behind to
be opened later. “We try not to take
up too much of their time,” says John.
“It’s their Christmas, not ours.” While
a photo is taken of Santa and the family,
the elves discreetly place two boxes of
food in the kitchen. “They often don’t
realize we brought the food until we’re
gone,” John says.
It’s impossible for Santa to get in
and out of each neighborhood without
attracting some notice, so the teams
always bring extra toys. John remembers
being approached by a little girl on the
street. She grabbed his right leg and said,
“It’s OK, Santa.”
“What’s OK?” John asked.
“About the bicycle,” she
said. “My daddy said there
were no bicycles this year.”
John called over to her
father, who was standing
nearby, and after a short
conference and a quick signal
to an elf in the van, the
little girl had a bike. “Her
dad broke into tears,” says
John. “He chased the van, thanking us
over and over again.”
John and Ed estimate that almost 95
percent of their recipients are singleparent
households. “We’re also seeing
an increase in the number of grandparents
who are raising children,” says Ed.
The O’Brien brothers reflect the commitment
to service many of our studentathletes
make, says Athletic Director Bill
Hogan. “They are wonderful examples
of what Jesuit education is all about,”
Hogan says.
Playing the role of Santa is both
“rewarding and heartbreaking,” Ed says.
“For many of the families we visit, this is
the best day of the year for them.”
For John, the joy of seeing the looks
on the youngsters’ faces never gets old.
“I remember one little girl who was paralyzed,
and it’s almost like she became
alive when she saw Santa. There’s something
magical about Santa,” John says.
“I’m going to do this until they put me
in the ground.”
To learn more about the Forgotten
Children’s Fund, visit www.forgottenchildrensfund.org.
—Mike Thee
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 33

Alumni
F O C U S
profile
Education Abroad
Marta Bennett, ’94, finds her calling, family and home in Kenya
photo COURTESY OF MARTA BENNETT
Rev. Dr. Marta Bennett with her children (left to right) Steven, Imani and Justin.
Plenty of college administrators
have stories about student protests—both
inside and outside
the classroom—and dealing
with proverbial “snakes in the grass.”
But in the Rev. Dr. Marta Bennett’s case,
the snakes were real and the protests
were sparked not by campus politics
but by the complete lack of an utter
necessity—water.
And yet, even after more than 13 years
of struggling with the bureaucracy and
organizational challenges of the higher
education system in Kenya, the Seattle
University alumna wouldn’t trade places
with anyone at the most well-manicured,
established and mannered Ivy League
universities in the world.
“I’m much more useful here because
I have skills that people are hungry for,”
Bennett says of her decision to make a
permanent home in Africa.
By the time she completed her doctorate
in educational leadership at SU in
1994, Bennett was on her way to making
the shift from life in Seattle to Nairobi.
It started with a trip to Kenya to
do research on her dissertation,
“Hungers and Habits of the Heart:
North American and African Views of
Christian Maturity.”
“That opened the door,” she says. A
year later, doctorate in hand, she resigned
as director of campus ministries for
Seattle Pacific University and moved to
Kenya. “I just felt drawn here,” she says,
crediting SU’s emphasis on cultural diversity
and global realities in her decision.
An ordained Presbyterian minister,
Bennett, 53, left Seattle for a teaching
position. Before the plane touched
down in Africa, however, she had
been promoted as the first director of
student development for two campuses
of Daystar University.
It wasn’t long before she was faced
with snakes and protests disrupting
the campus. “Here, sometimes student
protests can be very violent,” Bennett
says. “But ours were pretty good.” The
protesters had good reason to be angry—
they had no water, she says.
Bennett eventually became dean
of postgraduate studies before leaving
Daystar for the Nairobi International
School of Theology (NIST), where today
she oversees graduate programs at the
school and specializes in leadership
studies. Her students have included the
daughter of Kenya’s first president and
the senior pastor of a large evangelical
church and lawyers, teachers and other
professionals.
In addition to teaching, Bennett
supervises master’s degree candidates
and develops curriculum for the leadership
program at NIST, a 26-year-old
institution devoted to theological education
of church pastors and lay leaders.
“So in some small way, I can give
input to all different sectors of society,”
she says.
34 | Alumni Focus

Though she is a full-time staff member
at NIST, she doesn’t collect a salary.
Instead, she is supported as a missionary
by the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Christianity has had a presence in
Africa for a long time but is now exploding
across the continent, she says. “The
rest of the world needs to be watching,
paying attention.”
The exponential growth of the church
globally coincides with a deep change in
the African leadership model,
according to Bennett. “I don’t
hear the term ‘big man’ anymore.
… The people are hungry
to learn about leadership, principles,
character and not being a
hierarchical one-man show.”
Professor John Jacob Gardiner,
of SU’s College of Education,
met Bennett as a student but
has come to know her best as
a colleague in the International
Leadership Association, a professional
organization for those
who teach, study or practice
leadership.
“She’s making a difference
in the world, and she selected a place
in the world desperately in need,”
Gardiner says. “Her work is grounded
in the indigenous cultures. There’s a
lot we can learn from that. She’s doing
a great service to Africa, but some of
those models are very applicable for
nonprofits here.”
Bennett agrees that Africa has much
to teach the Western world. “One
aspect I very much value here in the
African context is the assumption that
life is holistic, not compartmentalized,”
she says. “Part of leadership is advocacy
for those who have no voice. And the
purpose of leadership is to enable communities
to develop themselves holistically,
toward a vision of a just and
healthy society.”
Bennett’s ties to Kenya became
unbreakable nearly 10 years ago when
she met a baby boy abandoned by his
mother. “It was one of those things that
just had God’s fingerprints on it,” she
“Part of leadership is advocacy
for those who have no voice.
And the purpose of leadership
is to enable communities
to develop themselves
holistically.”
Marta Bennett
says. “I wasn’t looking to adopt, but
there was a period of time in November
of 1997 when every time I opened the
paper, there would be an article about
abandoned children.”
Confronted with the problem every
day, she began to wonder what she
could do about it. Kenya has very strict
laws and doesn’t do many international
adoptions. But she eventually found
a home for abandoned children where
adoption was possible. The last baby
she met there was a newborn she would
bring home two weeks later. She named
him Justin.
Two years passed and she went to the
home again. She found a little girl named
Imani who had been abandoned at a
public hospital the day before. She was
nearly 3 months old but weighed just
four pounds. “She looked so much like
Justin—they just belonged together,”
Bennett says of her children, now ages
9 and 7.
About six years ago another
boy, Steven, came into the family,
Bennett says. Now 19, Steven is
away at school for all but four
months of the year. “He’s a foster
son, but he’s ours,” Bennett says.
As a single professional,
Bennett says she couldn’t have
imagined raising a family before
she met Justin. “It was right
and there was grace to do it,”
she says. “I can’t imagine life
without them.”
Bennett is committed to staying
in Kenya at least until her
children are grown, and likely
beyond that.
“Seattle is home, but this is home
too,” she says. “I will probably retire
here. My life is here now. My community
is here now.”
And it’s not as if life in Kenya—one
of 52 independent nations on the African
continent—is so far removed from life in
the States. There is a large, progressive
middle class, cell phones are ubiquitous
and modern architecture fills the cities.
“Africa is not all grass huts, snakes
and jungle,” she says.
—Cheryl Reid-Simons
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 35

Alumni
F O C U S
Bookmarks
The King of Methlehem by Mark Lindquist, ’95 (Simon & Schuster).
A conniving, repugnant meth cook—who operates under the aliases of various famous
folks—is the self-proclaimed “King of Methlehem,” an elusive dealer one step ahead
of veteran detective Wyatt James. Unable to nab the dealer, James becomes more and
more obsessed, leading to a tumultuous finale. The King of Methlehem, Mark Lindquist’s
fourth novel, features the author’s trademark fast, free-flowing prose and sharp dialogue.
Telling the story from shifting points of view, Lindquist sets his two main characters on a
collision course and gives the reader a tour through the meth subculture.
Lindquist’s cinematic writing style and portrayal of a likable, determined detective make
the pages fly, but the novel ends too quickly and lacks the proper setup work to deliver
an emotional payoff at its climax; nevertheless, there’s much to like, including numerous
entertaining pop-culture references. Characters quote P.J. O’Rourke and play poker while
listening to Sid Vicious doing a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
Those who call Tacoma, Wash., home will be happy to see an author give props to
T-Town. As Lindquist writes, “Coolness, like freshness, fades, and as it ebbed from
Seattle, it flowed into Tacoma.”
—Nick Gallo
Best New American Voices 2007, edited by Sue Miller, with John Kulka
and Natalie Danford (Harcourt Books).
The latest edition of the Best New American Voices showcases the works of
some of the best young writers and writing programs in the country.
The series, which began in 2000, prides itself on discovering future literary
stars, with a track record that includes writers Julie Orringer, Maile Meloy,
Jennifer Vanderbes, John Murray and David Benioff. And now add Alice
J. Marshall, adjunct professor of English at Seattle University, to that list.
Marshall’s short story, “By Any Other Name,” opens the book and is a
tight, if too brief, piece on shared bonds and unexpected outcomes.
When Mr. Smith notices that his neighbor, Mrs. Martin, has inexplicably
neglected her garden—particularly her cherished roses—he volunteers
his services to tidy things up. When he learns the reason behind the
lapse in care, he is compelled even further to pitch in, though perhaps
Mrs. Martin isn’t as receptive to the gesture as one might expect.
Marshall packs a reasonable amount of detail into a slim 20 pages.
Her conversational style makes this a pleasant read and sets the
stage for a continuation of the story, perhaps? —Tina Potterf
Editor’s Note: If you have a book published, Seattle University Magazine wants to hear about it. We review
*books released within the past two years by alumni, faculty and staff. Send notice to: sumagazine@seattleu.edu.
36 | Alumni Focus

class notes
Richard Greiwe in 2006
43welcomed great-grandson Brian
Harris and great-granddaughter Hailey
Schmidt. Greiwe is also doing well after
undergoing four-way heart bypass
surgery in November 2006.
Michael J. Scott, a member of the
USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame, has
been appointed tournament physician
at the next three World Table Tennis
Championships in China (2008), Japan
(2009) and Russia (2010).
John Koruga is staying active
50 in his retirement with travel
and outreach work in Nicaragua and
Mexico.
Retired Lt. Col. Jim Bordenet
65and Bob Harmon, SU history
professor emeritus, presented a seminar
to ROTC cadets in May 2007 on the
life, military exploits and moral dilemmas
faced by German World War II
General Erwin Rommel. Bordenet
retired from the Army in 1993 following
26 years in active and reserve
duty. His military career included a
combat tour in Vietnam with the First
Infantry Division. In 2000 he retired
as a criminal investigator with the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service, and today he
works as a contract investigator for the
Department of Defense.
Lucy (Edwards) Hochstein
69was granted tenure at Radford
University in Radford, Va., where she
is an associate professor in criminal
justice. Her current research interests
include domestic violence, elder abuse
and public-private partnerships. In
addition to teaching both undergraduate
and graduate courses, Hochstein is
the archivist/historian for the police
section of the Academy of Criminal
Justice Sciences—one of two national
academic criminal justice associations.
Kelly (Francis) Saye, ’05, and Justin Saye, ’04 MBA, married in 2005 and are the proud
parents of Soren Layne Saye. In 2006, Kelly started her own advertising and marketing firm
for baby and family resources. She owns MyCityBaby.com, an online advertising forum for
premium children’s resources for parents in various cities. Justin works as a project manager
for EDS and manages the finances for MyCityBaby.com. The family lives on Bainbridge
Island, Wash.
Michael Mathis has retired
70 from the Navy after 35 years of
service with the rank of rear admiral.
He now lives with his wife, Jannine, in
Tucson, Ariz., where he is the program
manager for the STANDARD Missile-3
ballistic missile defense interceptor
program, which is being co-developed
with the Japanese government.
Bill Dearey, a longtime
73employee of Navy NW Regional
Maintenance, has retired from civil
service with plans to start a business
in green development, energy and
transportation.
Scott Janzen has been named
78 director of public relations for
retailer Eddie Bauer. Janzen is excited
about the opportunities this new position
will offer. “As most of my career
has been in the agency world, I’m
really looking forward to going to the
client side as the next chapter in my
life begins,” he says.
Steve Deering, ’67, retired in
April 2007 from his position as
a regional administrator for the
federal centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services in San Francisco.
Recently Deering returned from
a six-week trip to Asia, where he
worked with the Foundation for
Education of Rural Children in
Chiang Mai, Thailand. The foundation
funds a variety of education
programs for hill tribe and rural
children in the Golden Triangle
area. Deering will do development
work for the foundation and in
2008 take a group of U.S.
volunteers to Thailand.
Jessica Mitchell, ’04, ’07 JD, and
David Giner married on March 10,
2007, at the Bear Creek Country
Club in Woodinville, Wash. Jessica
is a graduate of the College of Arts
and Sciences and the School of
Law, and is presently employed as
a prosecuting attorney. The couple
honeymooned in St. Lucia and
resides in Renton, Wash.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 37

Alumni
F O C U S
class notes, cont.
SU golf legends Pat Lesser Harbottle,
’56, and Orrin Vincent, ’67, were
honored at the annual O’Brien Open
in September. Vincent, a former PGA
Tour member, shot a hole-in-one, the
19th of his career.
Philip Koro was appointed the
81engineering manager of DTE
Gas Resources at the company’s Fort
Worth, Texas, office.
Cathy (Echon) Haffner is gen-
manager and e-commerce
83eral
leader for General Electric (GE)
Money–Americas. Haffner lives in
Westport, Conn., with husband Noll
and daughters Brittany, Katrina and
Cassidy.
Anita Alokolaro received
84an award from the Fulcrum
Foundation for her work in the community.
Alokolaro is a case manager for the
City of Seattle and works with homeless
and vulnerable adults. The Fulcrum
Foundation provides financial support
to promote and support Catholic
schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Gary Reul, EdD, was selected
87as chair-elect of the national
American Tinnitus Association Board
of Directors. Tinnitus is a phantom
noise that is heard in the head or ears
and affects more than 50 million people
in the United States. Reul retired from
the Northshore School District in 2000,
where he served as director of curriculum
and instruction.
David Lowell and wife Rebecca
88welcomed a healthy baby boy,
who they named Jacob, on July 27, 2007.
J. Benson Porter, Jr., was
92recently named the CEO of
Addison Avenue, a financial institution
serving 135,000 people. Prior to this
position, Porter was the chief administrative
officer and head of corporate
affairs at Washington Mutual.
Lt. Cmdr. Robyn Cross is
94working as an en-route care
nurse at the Surgical Company in Al
Taqaddum, Iraq. She has been serving
at the facility since February 2007.
Clara de la Torre made her
95debut as a professional boxer on
May 23, 2007, at the Tingley Coliseum
in Albuquerque, N.M. It took just
two minutes—and a TKO—for de la
Torre to win her featherweight bout.
She is signed with Infinity Boxing of
Las Vegas and lives in Santa Fe, N.M.,
where she works full-time as a caretaker
of a private estate. See the story on
Clara de la Torre on page 6 in this issue.
Jennifer Kampsula, ’95, married Kevin Wong at the General
George C. Marshall House on Officer’s Row in Vancouver,
Wash., on Aug. 19, 2006. After participating in the U.S.
National Dragon Boat Races in Tampa, Fl.—and winning a
gold medal for their team—the newlyweds honeymooned in
Hawaii. Kampsula practices law in Portland, Ore., with Kell,
Alterman, Runstein LLP. The couple lives in Vancouver, Wash.
Gloria (Ituralde) Alvendia, ’94, her husband, Henry, and her
son, Isaiah, came in from Guam to attend the wedding.
Hutch Haney and Cleo Molina (l-r) with Russian interpreter
Elena Ivanova at the conference in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Cleo Molina, ’99, a graduate of the Educational Leadership
Program, was a co-presenter with Hutch Haney, chair and
program coordinator of counseling in the College of Education,
at the 15th Annual International Conference on Conflict
Resolution in St. Petersburg, Russia. They presented a lecture
titled, “Using the Concept of Co-Cultures for Cross-Cultural
Understanding.”
38 | Alumni Focus

Belize trip
Alumni are invited to engage in service in Belize, Feb.16-24,
2008, or March 1-9, 2008. Since 1992, Seattle University
students, alumni, faculty and staff have traveled to the
Central American country for service and cultural exchange.
Participants will volunteer at various sites based on their
interests; possibilities include a soup kitchen and clinic for
the elderly poor, an elementary school or an AIDS care center.
There will be opportunities for sightseeing and visits to
the Belize Zoo and Mayan sites. The trip will conclude with
a visit to Caye Caulker, an island off the coast perfect for
relaxing or snorkeling. Each trip is limited to a maximum of
eight travelers. Cost: $650 per person, plus airfare. The first
payment of $300 is due Jan. 3, 2008, with the remaining
amount due by Feb. 10, 2008. Payment covers room and
board, in-country travel, speakers, snorkeling and other
costs for the group.
For more information, contact Gary Chamberlain, professor
of theology and religious studies, at (206) 296-5322 or e-mail
gchamber@seattleu.edu.
Dawn Perry, ’88, married Dean Berry on June 30, 2007,
at Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle. Dawn works as a
franchise administration manager for WIN Home Inspection
in Seattle. The couple lives in Shoreline, Wash.
Megan Christine Lemieux and
Shaun Blair Bell, ’97, were married
on Aug. 25, 2007, at the Chapel of St.
Ignatius. The couple lives in Seattle.
Manuel Teodoro completed his
doctorate in public policy and political
science at the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, last spring. This fall he
joined the faculty in the political science
department at Colgate University in
New York.
Susan Mowrey recently began
96a new career as a realtor with
Executive Real Estate, Inc. Established
in 1991, the company has five offices in
the Puget Sound area. Mowrey specializes
in home and condo sales in Seattle
and South King County.
Julie Hiemen Cain and hus-
Erick are expecting their
97band
second child in early 2008. The couple
lives in Salem, Ore.
Jennifer (Corley) Caso and her
99 husband, Antonio, welcomed
son Diego Thomas Caso on July 24,
2006. Diego joins older brother Mateo.
Joshua Babigan is pursuing his
00 master’s degree in policy planning
and development at the University
of Southern California. Babigan
continues to work as an executive for
the assets protection group leader of
the Los Angeles Import Warehouse
Campus with the Target Corporation.
Monica Billiot Tudorache, ’03, and
husband Gabriel welcomed their first
child, Ethan Gabriel Tudorache, on
Dec. 30, 2006. The family lives in
Maple Valley, Wash.
Cheryl Roberts, ’79, ’89
EdD, was selected as the
new president of Chemeketa
Community College’s Board
of Education in Salem, Ore.
Roberts was formerly vice
president of instruction at
South Seattle Community
College.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 39

Alumni
F O C U S
class notes, cont.
Suchamas Pattanamaan works
00as a management associate
with Citibank New York. In her seven
years with the company, Pattanamaan
has traveled to Thailand, Singapore,
Vietnam and Guam for her work.
Earlier this year she moved to Japan.
Sara Anne Taylor married
02Daniel Lee Gilbert on May
5, 2007, at St. Matthew’s Lutheran
Church in Renton, Wash. Taylor is a
fourth-grade teacher in Renton, and
Gilbert is a tugboat captain for Boyer
Towing. The couple makes their home
in Renton.
Jennifer Egbert is pursuing a
03master of public administration
and works in ministry with the YWAM
of San Diego and Baja, Calif. Her
primary ministry is with Homes of
Hope, which places families in need
in homes in Baja.
1967 reunion
Randy Aliment, ’80, was
appointed chairman of the
Board of Governors at City
University of Seattle. Aliment
served as legal counsel for City
University from 2000–2006.
Aliment is a senior partner at
the Seattle office of Williams
Kastner, and specializes in
commercial litigation and
higher education law.
Tate Miller, ’98, married Mia Russell, ’02, on April 27, 2007, at the Wailea
Golf Course overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Maui, Hawaii. Family and
friends, including the bride’s relatives from Japan and Los Angeles, and
the groom’s team members from the 1997 Redhawks soccer squad,
attended the wedding. The couple honeymooned in Maui, and makes
their home in Issaquah, Wash.
Miharu (Morita) ’01, and Hiroyuki
Watanabe, ’01, ’05, welcomed their
son, Leon Watanabe, on Dec. 12, 2006.
In August, members of the class of 1967 returned to Seattle University to reminisce and reconnect with former
classmates and friends for their 40th anniversary. Participants went on a campus tour and attended a special
reception and Mass at the Chapel of St. Ignatius, among other events.
40 | Alumni Focus

Emelissa Baluyot will serve as
05an alumni representative on the
Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) National Board.
Alumni representatives are selected
from 263 BAP chapters nationwide.
Baluyot is the second alumni representative
selected from Seattle University
in three years. (Mindi Waldemar, ’01,
served from 2003–2005.)
Michael Villanueva celebrated 10
years with Boeing in 2006. He received
a Diversity Change Agent Award in
2005 from the aerospace company.
Villanueva also works as a facilitator
with KMA Diversity, where he focuses
on LGBT awareness in the workplace.
Doreen Cato, a graduate of
07the Educational Leadership
Program in the College of Education,
received the 2007 Voices for Children
Award from the Children’s Alliance of
Washington. Gov. Christine Gregoire
recognized Cato’s work as an advocate
for children at the awards ceremony on
June 7, 2007, at Seattle’s Qwest Field.
Robert Rivers, ’00, recently finished
a two-year contract with the European
Commission, where he coordinated
an adult education project focused on
training for peace work and nonviolent
intervention in times of conflict. Rivers
plans to publish a book on his experiences
this fall. In addition, Rivers has
traversed international borders 165
times in the past five years. Earlier this
year he spent six weeks in Israel, doing
an assessment for the country’s largest
peace organization.
Antoinette “Nani” Castor-Peck,
’74, has received the prestigious
Patsy Collins Award, given by
IslandWood, an outdoor learning
center on Bainbridge Island. The
award is for excellence in education,
the environment and the community.
For 33 years Castor-Peck has taught
in the public schools. Considered a
master teacher by her principal and
colleagues, she currently teaches
fifth grade at John Stanford
International School in Seattle.
Tony Pasinetti, ’99, ’03 JD, and wife
Jennifer (Taylor) Pasinetti, ’03 JD,
welcomed their first child, Sofia Taylor
Pasinetti, on June 15, 2007. The
family lives in Lynnwood, Wash.
Class Notes
Seattle University Magazine welcomes
news of accomplishments or changes
in your professional or personal life.
Submit information to:
Andrea (Shiflett) Sutherlin, ’96, married Scott Sutherlin
on July 28, 2007, in Omak, Wash. The couple lives in
the Spokane valley. Andrea is an engineer at Alliance
Machine Systems.
Susan Palmer, ’89, joined her friends from the class
of 1989 for a mini-reunion on Aug. 15, 2007, at Tutta
Bella in Seattle. The occasion for the gathering was Lt.
Col. Susanne Evers’ visit from Washington, D.C. Pictured
(left-right) are Mara Rempe, ’89, associate dean of the
College of Science and Engineering, Lt. Col. Evers, Cathy
(Lyons) Feider, Lynn (Nold) Barashkoff, Susan Palmer,
Monica Alquist, April Carr and Kate Szyperski.
Class Notes Editor
Seattle University Magazine
Print Communications
Seattle University
901 12th Avenue
PO Box 222000
Seattle, WA 98122-1090
Fax: (206) 296-6137
E-mail: sumagazine@seattleu.edu
Include your graduation name
and year, your present name and a
daytime telephone number with
all correspondence.
We will only be able to publish
high-resolution photos as space
allows. Please submit photos
via e-mail.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 41

in memoriam
Nabiha Annan, ’55, died July 16, 2007. She
was 75. Born in Maghadouchi, Lebanon, as
one of nine children, Annan came to Seattle,
where she attended school and became active
in the community. The matriarch of her family,
she loved gardening, bowling, ballroom dancing
and music. Friends and family remember
Annan as a devoted Catholic with a forgiving
heart. For 20 years she worked as a realtor in
the region. Annan is survived by her children,
Melia Nemeyer, Nichola Annan and Tina
Tadena; brothers; grandchildren, William,
Michael, David, Trevor, Ian, Gabriel and Alex;
and five great-grandchildren.
Duane Browning, ’68, died June 8, 2007,
following a prolonged illness. He was 60.
Born in Seattle on Oct. 19, 1946, as the only
child of Dr. John Browning and Ola Browning,
Duane developed a strong interest in music at
an early age. A passion for music led him to
start a band and hit the road, which he did after
graduating from Seattle University. As he built
on his knowledge of the industry, Browning
transitioned from artist to manager, which
led to managing roles with Bob Dylan, Jimi
Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone, among
others. In 1981, Browning married Madgalyn
Broussard and four years later welcomed their
son, Brandon. When he was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in 1981, Browning didn’t let
the disease slow him down; his zest for life was
as strong and infectious as ever. He actively
participated in peer counseling, fundraisers and
group seminars benefiting those living with
MS. Through his outreach he encouraged many
people, particularly African-American men,
to continue to live full lives while living with
MS. He received several awards and honors
for community work, including the Geri
Esten Peer Counselor of the Year in 1991
and the Shevy Healey Outstanding Peer
Award in 2000. Browning is survived by his
wife of 26 years, Madgalyn; son, Brandon;
and mother, Ola.
Mary “Lois” Byrne, ’46, died Feb. 28, 2007.
Byrne attended elementary and high school at
Holy Names Academy, graduating in 1942.
At Seattle University she earned a bachelor’s
degree in medical technology. She enjoyed her
professional career of 43 years, which began
at Providence Hospital, where Byrne was a
hematology technologist and instructor. In
1971, after she worked as a chief technologist at
a private laboratory operated by the Providence
Hospital Pathologists, Byrne went to work for
Group Health in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
In 1989, she retired from Group Health’s
Tukwila, Wash., campus, where she worked in
the microbiology department. Byrne lived her
entire life in the family home on Capitol Hill,
where she always extended a joyful welcome to
folks coming for a visit, a vacation or a lifetime.
She enjoyed frequent cross-country travel by car
or RV with relatives and friends. Byrne was a
competent, content and congenial woman whose
devout faith and devotion guided her life. She
is survived by numerous cousins, godchildren,
neighbors and longtime friends. Her hospitality,
“Irish-ness” and loving way will be greatly
missed. Donations may be made in Byrne’s
name to the Oregon Province of the Society of
Jesus (specify “for the education of priests”), PO
Box 86010, Portland, OR 97286; Sisters of the
Holy Names, Washington Province, 2911 W.
Fort George Wright Dr., Spokane, WA 99224;
or Carmelite Monastery, 2215 N.E. 147th,
Shoreline, WA 98155.
Donald Edward Cain, ’57, died March 6,
2007, in Shelton, Wash. He was 71. Cain grew
up in Madison, Wis., and moved to Seattle
in 1948. After graduating from O’Dea High
School in 1953 and Seattle University in 1957,
he served as a captain in the Army National
Guard. In 1962 he married Mernie in Anchorage,
and five years later they returned to the Seattle
area. For more than 20 years he taught in the
Northshore School District. He is survived by
his wife, Mernie; daughters, Heidi and Beth;
sons, Eric, Galen, Garm and Damien; brother,
Vincent; and 17 grandchildren. Cain was preceded
in death by his mother, Gladys.
Delbert Lee Coughlin, ’66, died June 22,
2007. He was 77. A beloved husband and
father, Coughlin was born in Centralia, Wash.,
and graduated from Onalaska High School
in 1948. A year later he began service in the
Army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant,
Machine Records Unit, 9th Infantry, 6th
Army, at Fort Lewis, Wash. He left the service
in 1958. After earning a bachelor’s degree
from Seattle University, Coughlin worked as
a computer programmer and systems analyst
for NC Machinery in Tukwila until his retirement
in 2005. Coughlin is survived by his
wife, Rosemary; daughters, Candace Lee and
Sheri Eloise; sons, Christopher Collins and
Scot Brian; grandchildren, Patricia, Heather
and Nathan; and great-grandchildren, Kelsey,
Tyler, Garrett and Bryan. He was preceded in
death by his first wife, Joyce Ellen Coughlin.
Margaret Mary Davies, a longtime professor
at Seattle University, died June 17, 2007. She
was 94. Davies was born in Seattle, where she
grew up and where her passion for education
and the academic world was nurtured. Davies
earned a bachelor’s degree in literature at the
University of Washington and later returned
to the UW to earn a doctorate in political science
and economics. In 1945 she joined the
staff of the American delegation at the United
Nations and later moved to Washington, D.C.
Davies became part of a team that went to
Greece to implement the Marshall Plan in the
late 1940s. After returning to Seattle in 1960,
Davies joined the faculty of the SU economics
department, where she taught until her retirement
in 1978—she was the department’s first
female faculty member with a doctorate. Davies
was devoted to her family, friends and teaching,
and gave much to the community through her
involvement in various Catholic charities and
the Council on Aging. Davies is survived by
her sister, Patricia Hertrich; and many nieces
and nephews. She was preceded in death by her
sister, Elizabeth Linden.
Margaret “Peggy” Devney, ’70, died June
5, 2007, after a battle with cancer. She was 59.
Born in Minnesota and raised in Ellensburg,
Wash., Devney earned a nursing degree from
Seattle University and a master’s degree in nursing
from Texas Woman’s University. In 1975
she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where
she began a long career in nephrology nursing.
Devney was respected for her expertise in the
field and as a stalwart of patient advocacy. She
is survived by her partner, Patrick; children,
Scott, Shealan and Sheryn; grandchildren, Cyrus
and Rylee; sisters, Anne and Kiki; and brothers
Patrick and Bill. Donations may be made to the
Peggy Devney Memorial Fund at the UCSF
Foundation, PO Box 45339, San Francisco, CA
94145-0339.
Val Foubert, ’51, died March 9, 2007. He was
82. Born in Wenatchee, Wash., Foubert came
to Western Washington when his family relocated
to Issaquah. Following graduation from
Issaquah High School in 1942, he worked for
the Seattle Port of Embarkation and the Army
Adjutant General–Seattle Port before enlisting
in the Army. He served from 1943–1946
in the Army Transportation Corps and 5th
Engineer Special Brigade during World War II.
Foubert was involved in the Allied invasion of
Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, landing
on Omaha Beach with the 5th Engineer Special
42 | Alumni Focus

Brigade (amphibious). He also served in several
other major European campaigns, including
Ardennes (“the Battle of the Bulge”) and
actions in northern and central Europe. After
the war, Foubert enrolled at Seattle University,
with aspirations of becoming a teacher. On the
weekends, he supported his family as a professional
drummer. Music was more than a hobby
for Foubert, who was a lifetime member of
the American Federation of Musicians, Union
Local 76 in Seattle. He became a distinguished
musician who played for more than 38 years
with many of the big bands and jazz ensembles
in the Northwest. At the Seattle World’s Fair
in 1962, he was part of jazz great Peggy Lee’s
band. In 1955, he joined the staff at Mercer
Island High School, where he taught English,
speech and humanities. Five years later he was
teaching at Sammamish High School. In 1982
Foubert retired from full-time teaching to work
at Bellevue Community College’s Telos program,
where he met his wife, Agnes Thompson.
Foubert is survived by his brother, Jon Polless;
son, Philippe; daughters, Jeanne, Janice, Patricia
and Michele; grandchildren, Juliane, Amelia,
Travis, Heather, Lea, Laura, Scott and Jared;
and great-grandchildren, Jackson and Hayden.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Agnes.
Lucas Lynn Hagan, ’07, died July 11, 2007,
at his home in Bellevue, Wash. He was 25.
Hagan spent his early years in St. Charles, Ill.,
before moving to Olympia, Wash. A business
graduate of the University of Portland, Hagan
worked as a financial analyst in the Integrated
Defense Systems business unit at Boeing. He
was to complete his MBA at SU in August 2007.
Hagan was known for his excellent skills as a
speaker, and as a musician—he was an accomplished
pianist and guitarist. Sports were also an
important facet of his life. Hagan was a competitive
swimmer and skilled basketball player, and cherished
his time playing football at Olympia High
School.The fitness enthusiast also loved to weightlift
and spend time outdoors camping and fishing.
Hagan was a loving and devoted son and husband.
He is survived by his parents, and his wife, Stacy-
Anne Hagan; sisters, Michele Nenninger, Sarah
Hagan, Heather Hagan and Rachel Hagan; grandfather,
Victor Lapatinskas; and uncle, Charles
Hagan. The family suggests donations to a charity
of your choice in Hagan’s memory.
Grace Eileen Hines (Zembal), ’56, died
July 5, 2007. She was 73. Hines spent most of
her life in Aberdeen, Wash., except when she
came to Seattle to attend SU, where she earned
a bachelor of science degree, and worked at
Harborview Medical Center. For 42 years, until
her retirement in 1998, she was employed as a
lab technologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital (later
Community Hospital). While raising their
five children, Grace and her husband enjoyed
numerous family gatherings at their home and
spending time at their cabin in Mason Lake in
Shelton, Wash. Hines and her family also took
many camping trips throughout the Northwest,
Canada and California. In her retirement she
continued her travels, often heading for warmer
climates and the good company of family and
friends. Later in her life Hines spent winter
vacations skiing and taking lessons with her
grandchildren, whose lives she was actively
involved in. Hines was an active fundraiser with
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
a member of the Beta Club in Aberdeen and
a lifelong member of that city’s St. Peter and
Paul Catholic Church. She is survived by her
children, Lisa Emery, Frederick Jr., and Valarie
Ripley; 16 grandchildren; and her sister, Irene
Stipic. She was preceded in death by her parents;
husband, Frederick Sr.; daughter, Theresa
Marie; and granddaughter, Anna Grace Hines.
Donations may be made to the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N.,
PO Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109.
Mary Patricia James, ’66, died June 25, 2007.
She was 64. For 25 years James, a graduate of St.
Edward Parish School, Holy Names Academy
and Seattle University, worked as a computer
programmer for Boeing. James’ family and
many friends will miss her dearly. She is survived
by her sister, Sheila Pierce; and brothers,
Joe, Mike, Richard and Paul. Donations may
be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Charles Sebastian LaCugna died March 22,
2007. Born in Sicily in 1914, LaCugna passed
through Ellis Island at the age of 6. In 1947 he
moved to Seattle for a teaching job at what was
then Seattle College (now Seattle University)
and was responsible for creating the political
science department at the university. SU was
the start of a 40-year teaching career that went
beyond instruction; LaCugna was known as
an arbitrator, mediator and counselor. He
was also the author of the book Introduction to
Arbitration. LaCugna is survived by his wife of
58 years, Catherine Mowry LaCugna; daughters,
Margaret, Mary, Barbara and Teresa; son,
Joseph; seven grandchildren; and three greatgrandchildren.
He was preceded in death by
his daughter, Catherine Mowry LaCugna.
Julian Laserna, ’06 MPA, died July 29,
2007, at his Seattle home. He was 37. Laserna
was born in Manizales, Colombia, and lived
in Seattle for about 15 years. In the city he
carved out a life of service to others. Laserna
worked with Street Outreach Services, Pike
Street Market Clinic and most recently
Neighborhood House. He is survived by his
grandmother, Ruby, and many loving family
and friends.
LTC (Ret.) Patricia (Switter) McCormack,
’64, RN, MN, died Sept. 27, 2004. She was
62. McCormack graduated from Holy Names
Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree in
nursing from Seattle University and her master’s
from the University of Texas, Austin.
In 1965–66 she served as a missionary nurse
to the Diocese of Nassau, Bahamas. She married
Robert L. McCormack, a forester, in
1967. Sadly, he died six months after they
wed. Patti remained close to Robert’s family
throughout her life. Prior to joining the Army
Nurse Corps, she worked as an ER and school
nurse. Her military assignments—in Munich,
Germany; Denver; El Paso and San Antonio,
Texas; and Fayetteville, N.C.—were in clinical
leadership positions and nursing education. In
1991 she retired from Madigan Army Medical
Center as chief of the Critical Care Nursing
section. After retirement McCormack worked
for eight years as a health-care investigator for
the Washington State Department of Health
before she joined Tacoma Community College,
where she was a respected and beloved instructor
in the RN nursing program. Active in the
community, she served for many years as a
volunteer coordinator of grief ministry at St.
Frances Cabrini Parish in Lakewood, Wash.
She had just retired permanently when she
received a diagnosis of inoperable and metastatic
lung cancer. She remained valiant and
inspirational throughout her final months.
McCormack is survived by her sister and
brother-in-law, Mary Ellen and Zane Estes;
sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Sallee and
Robert Bruce; sisters-in-law Mary Pierce and
Eva McCormack; and many nieces, nephews
and cousins. She will be remembered as a humble,
kind, gentle and faith-filled Irish woman
who always put the needs of others first.
Rena Susan Mulcahy, ’62, died Feb. 2, 2007,
at her home in Bellingham, Wash. She was 67.
A longtime professor in Alaska, Mulcahy spent
her childhood in Kodiak, Alaska, and returned
to her home state after she earned a
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 43

in memoriam, cont.
degree in education from Seattle University.
In 1997, she retired from the University of
Alaska Anchorage as a full professor. An active
member of Natives of Kodiak Inc., Mulcahy
worked with the educational board of Koniag
Inc. In 2002 she moved with her partner, Lois,
to Bellingham, Wash. Rena is survived by
her partner of 16 years, Lois Chanslor; sister,
Mary Kauffmann; son, Patrick; daughter,
Mara; grandchildren, Lila and Samuel; former
husband, Edward; and many friends. She
was preceded in death by her brother, Barney
Corgetelli. Donations in Mulcahy’s honor may
be made to University of Alaska Anchorage,
3211 Providence Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508,
or to the Pride Foundation, 1122 E. Pike St.,
PMB 1001, Seattle, WA 98122.
Venus F.L. Placer-Barber, ’83, died May
5, 2007, from liver cancer. She was 58. Born
in Libacao, Aklan, Philippines, to educator
parents, Placer-Barber pursued a life dedicated
to education. She received a scholarship to
attend the University of the Philippines and
upon graduation in 1968 came to Seattle with
her family. Placer-Barber earned her teaching
degree and credential at the University of
Washington, and taught English and Spanish
at Shoreline High School in 1970. In 1971,
the Seattle School District hired her to teach
bilingual education and English as a Second
Language. After earning a master’s degree
from Seattle University, she became the first
Philippine-born female principal in the Seattle
School District when she took the job at E.C.
Hughes Elementary School; she later worked
at Highland Park and North Beach elementary
schools until her retirement in 2000. While
teaching and family were driving forces in her
life, Placer-Barber was also an avid traveler and
visited 60 countries. Aditionally, she loved arts
and crafts and gardening. She is survived by
her husband, Bill Barber; her father, Rodecindo
Placer; brother, Douglas; sister-in-law, Linda;
sisters, Maria Allen Gamboa, Chiquita
Solidum, Rizalita Placer and Bernadette Placer;
stepchildren, Randy and Karen Barber; and
several nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Donations in Placer-Barber’s name may be
made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box
22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718.
Joan Marie (Champoux) Rude, ’65, died
April 24, 2007. She was 64. Rude was born and
raised in Yakima, Wash., and headed west to
attend Seattle University, where she earned a
degree in medical records science. In October
1965 she married Army 2nd Lt. Peter Rude
and moved to Richland, Wash. She is survived
by her husband, Pete; sons, Major Paul
Rude and Tom Rude; brothers, Rev. Tom
Champoux and Dr. Jim Campoux; sisters,
Carol Penny and Suzanne Lindberg; three
grandchildren; and seven nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Memorials in Rude’s honor may be made to
Catholic Family and Child Services, 2139 Van
Giesen St., Richland, WA 99354, or to the St.
Vincent de Paul Society, 1111 Stevens Dr.,
Richland, WA 99354.
Dr. Edward J. Scharman, DDS, ’50, died
Jan. 12, 2007. After graduating from Franklin
High School in 1942, Scharman went into the
US Navy, where he served aboard the USS
Haven in the South Pacific during World War
II. After finishing his time with the armed
services in 1946, Scharman graduated from
SU and the University of Washington Dental
School. He practiced dentistry for 40 years in
the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle.
Outside his academic and work life, Scharman
was an avid athlete. He was a member of both
the Seattle Tennis Club and the Rainier Golf
and Country Club. Scharman is survived by
his wife, Barbara; his children, Michael and
Paula; his stepchildren, Cameron and Kara;
and his grandson, Blake. Donations may be
made in his name to a favorite charity.
Elizabeth “Betty” Weaver, ’67, died July
6, 2007. She was 90. Weaver was born in St.
Paul, Minn., and at an early age her family
relocated to Tacoma, Wash. The family
was active in their church and community,
which greatly influenced Weaver’s dedication
to helping others and making a difference
through her work as a teacher. While a
student at the College of Puget Sound, she
met the love of her life, Harold, who was
working toward an engineering degree at the
University of Washington. After they married
in 1940, the couple settled in Seattle. While
Harold worked at Boeing, Betty taught at
area private schools. The couple welcomed
son Tom in 1941 and son Jim in 1944. After
she earned her teaching degree at Seattle
University, Weaver taught kindergarten in the
Highline School District until her retirement
in 1985. Weaver was active in various organizations:
she was three-time past president
of the Young Ladies Institute; a member of
the League of Women Voters, and the Des
Moines, Wash., chapter of AARP; and a
Eucharistic minister for St. Philomena Parish.
She will be remembered for her kindness, quiet
inner strength, unwavering faith and deep love
for her family, friends and country. Weaver is
survived by her grandson, James Weaver, Jr.,
and his wife, Jennifer; great-grandson Justin;
sisters, Jane Moosey and Ann-Louise Petrich;
brothers, Paul, Dick and Bill; sister-in-law,
Margaret; and many nieces and nephews and
their families. She was preceded in death by her
husband, Harold; and sons, Tom and Jim.
Collin Williams, ’80 EDLR, died April
22, 2007. He was 73. In 1953 he emigrated
from Belize to Seattle, where he lived and
worked until his death. For more than 30 years
Williams worked in education as a teacher,
principal and administrator in the Seattle School
District. He also was instrumental in developing
and later leading Seattle’s African American
Academy, where he was principal from 1993
to 2000. Much of his career in education was
focused on school integration. Williams was
known as someone who always rooted for the
underdog. During turbulent times in Seattle’s
history, he was a natural and inspirational
leader. The African American Academy named
a library in his honor in recognition of his many
contributions to the community. Williams is
survived by his wife of 47 years, Carole; daughter,
Theresa; son, Collin Jr.; two grandchildren;
three brothers; and five sisters. Donations may
be made in his name to the Collin Williams
Library, African American Academy, 8311
Beacon Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118.
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E-mail: sumagazine@seattleu.edu
44 | Alumni Focus

the good word by pat o’leary, s.j.
Diversity Plays Important
Role in Matters of Faith
Some time ago at a workshop on
Ignatian spirituality a question
posed by the principal speaker,
a Jesuit from India, caught and
held my attention: “How big is your
God?” he asked. The Jesuit’s challenge
arose out of his personal experience of
living his Christian faith within a culture
dominated by other faith traditions. An
environment of religious diversity called
on him as he challenged us to plunge
deeper into the mystery of
God’s creative and redeeming
love. We can so easily
draw the circle of inclusion
sparingly. In doing so, have
we really grasped the passionate
love that is God,
a love that reaches out to
each and to all?
There is a unified goodness
in God’s work of creation and God’s
own redemptive, vulnerable love in Christ.
God is at work healing the fragmentation
caused by sin. But in the tensions among
diverse cultures and the clashes of ideologies,
religious fanaticism and intolerance
can play a tragic part. The narrowness of
our perceptions within our faith communities
and beyond can provide an opening
for conflict and division. In keeping ourselves
centered in truth and open to grace
it is important for us to ponder deeply and
often that question: How big is your God?
How would you answer it? It might
seem, at first, an invitation to pour the
ocean into a thimble—to define the
incomprehensible, to grasp the infinite,
to solve the mystery that holds us all.
Actually, the question intends to challenge
primarily those who follow Jesus.
Amid spiritual and religious diversity and
deep yearnings, faith is to be lived in joy
and with deep conviction, and likewise
with great humility and radical openness
to the creative, redeeming love of
God at work in everyone, everywhere.
The greatness of God became paradoxical
“good news” in the vulnerable
love of God made radically visible
“...the dying and rising of Jesus
‘applies not only to Christians but to
all people of goodwill in whose
hearts grace is secretly at work.’”
in the dying and rising of Jesus. We are
to have among ourselves the same attitude
as Jesus witnessing to the love of
God in service and total self-gift that God
might find a home in the spiritual and
religious longings of the human heart.
The Second Vatican Council testified to
the scope of this vulnerable love in affirming
that the dying and rising of Jesus
“applies not only to Christians but to all
people of goodwill in whose hearts grace
is secretly at work.”
The Jesuits in their last General
Congregation put it this way: “As disciples
of the Risen Lord, we believe that
his Paschal Mystery radiates throughout
the whole of human history, touching
every religion, every culture, and every
person, including those who do not know
him and those who in conscience, cannot
bring themselves to have faith in him. …
How everyone shares in the
Paschal Mystery is known
to God; that they share
in it is what the Church
is led by God to believe.”
There is an urgency to proclaim
the Gospel but an even
greater urgency to live it in a
faith that is passionate and a
love that is compassionate in
manifesting the greatness of the One who
is Love itself. It is with a sense of this
greatness of God that we approach the
reality of religious diversity in a dialogue
of equal partners that opens each to his
or her identity. God’s action is antecedent
to our own. “By dialogue we let God
be present in our midst; for as we open
ourselves in dialogue to one another, we
also open ourselves to God.” (John Paul
II AAS 76, 1986).
This spiritual dialogue expresses the
heart of the Ignatian passion to “find
God in all and all in God.”
Father Pat O’Leary is the chaplain for
Seattle University faculty, staff and alumni.
SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 45

Col. Grace Elaine Munzer supports student scholarships with current and planned gifts.
Her Name Says it All...
Giving with Grace
I have reflected often on how the Jesuits and
Seattle University have enhanced my life.
I have asked myself, “How can I pass on their gifts
to me to coming generations? ”
A few years ago I established an endowed
scholarship fund for Seattle University students.
I add to this fund annually, and after my lifetime
the remainder of an Annuity Trust and a Charitable
Gift Annuity will be added to the scholarship.
In the meantime, the trust and annuity provide
income to me for life. It’s really the best of
both worlds.
I urge my fellow alumni to consider these
pathways to help Seattle University serve
current and future students.
Col. Grace Munzer ’47, ’49
For information on how you can include the university in your estate plans, contact
Jane Orr, senior director of Planned Giving at (206) 296-6974 or orrj@seattleu.edu.
Visit our website at www.seattleugift.org.
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P.O. Box 222000
Seattle, WA 98122-1090