usd magazine summer 2008
TRANSCRIPT
University of San Diego University of San Diego
Digital USD Digital USD
USD Magazine USD News
Summer 2008
USD Magazine Summer 2008 USD Magazine Summer 2008
University of San Diego
Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/usdmagazine
Digital USD Citation Digital USD Citation University of San Diego, "USD Magazine Summer 2008" (2008). USD Magazine. 51. https://digital.sandiego.edu/usdmagazine/51
This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USD News at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in USD Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected].
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S A N D I E G O / S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
USD MAGAZINET
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Sing out loud.Sing out strong.
Your planned gift to USD can help him hit the right note. By designating a University of San Diego scholarship fund as a beneficiary in your will, living trust, insurance
policy or IRA, you enhance the lives of future Toreros and help them realize their dreams. To learn more,
contact the USD Planned Giving Office at (619) 260-4523 or go to www.sandiego.edu/plannedgiving.
Knowledge doesn’t just happen.
U S D M AG A Z I N E2
D E P A R T M E N T S
A R O U N D T H E PA R K
6 / A Place to Call Their Own
Kickoff celebrates the new Student Life Pavilion,
which promises to “change the life of every
student at the University of San Diego.”
8 / Best Intentions
All across campus, the push to adopt green practices that
support sustainability are changing the way things have
always been done into the way things should be done.
10 / Everybody’s House
The United Front Multicultural Center provides a space where
all students are free to explore their identity.
12 / Wanted: Justice in Mexico
David Shirk, director of USD’s Trans-Border Institute, puts a high
priority on advocating reform for justice in Mexico, the institute’s
signature project.
TO R E R O AT H L E T I C S
14 / The Drive to Succeed
Golf coach Tim Mickelson is determined to bring a national
championship to USD. In the meantime, he’s living the life.
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S A N D I E G O / S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
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USD MAGAZINE O N T H E C O V E R
P O I N T O F V I E W
18 / The Lives of Scholars
and Soldiers
One man’s journey: Excerpts
from the blog of Daniel Akech
James ’04, who has returned
to Africa to “rebuild the
youth, rebuild the nation.”
2 8 / T H E O D D S - B E AT E R
Student-athlete Gyno Pomare helped bring USD to the Big
Dance. What happened before that — a win at Kentucky, a
delirious run through the West Coast Conference Tourna-
ment and a dramatic upset of Connecticut — represented a
seismic shift in the fortunes of USD basketball. And it’s hard
to imagine any of it happening without Pomare.
ON THE COVER:
Illustration by
Christina Ung
N E V E R K N O W T O O M U C H .
B E A S T U D E N T T O T H E E N D O F Y O U R D AY S .
C L A S S N OT E S
32 / On Top of the World
Hanging out with celebrities and going to
glitzy parties is all in a day’s work for MTV
event planner Matthew Van Houten ’04.
39 / Competition is Her Middle Name
What makes Tara Ardalan ’02 leap out of bed with a smile
on her face and a spring in her step? Horses, of course.
46 / Budgets Without Borders
Is there such a thing as a glamorous career in number-
crunching? You bet. Just ask Jason Orlando ’94, interna-
tional budget nerd.
C L A S S N O T E S D R E A M J O B S A R E N O A C C I D E N T .
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S U M M E R 2 0 0 8 3
A LU M N I U P DAT E
16 / That Attitude of
Gratitude
Forging a connection
between alumni and students
benefits both, leading to a
synergistic give and take.18
T H E S T O R Y A L W A Y S O L D A N D A L W A Y S N E W .
2 2 / P U P I L P O W E R
A glimpse into the lives of
wildly disparate undergradu-
ates proves that variety is
the spice of life. Meet Sum-
mer Buckley, who takes an
active STAND on campus
against genocide; Joshua
Hamilton, the comeback kid
who’s overcome illness and
turned his attention to help-
ing others; and Hiermona
Tesfamicael, a go-getter who
thrives on multi-tasking.
2 0 / T H E WAY T H E B A L L B O U N C E S
Ruminat ions on this grand and glor ious season, when
the men’s and women’s basketbal l teams kept Torero
spi r i t a l ive across the nat ion and we were a l l so proud
we thought we just might burst. And don’t miss our twin
cut-out WCC trophies on the inside front and back covers.
CO N T E N T SF E A T U R E S
C H A M P I O N S
20
[ e d i t o r ]Julene [email protected]
[ a s s i s t a n t e d i t o r ]Kelly [email protected]
[ s t a f f w r i t e r ]Ryan T. [email protected]
[ a r t d i r e c t o r ]Barbara [email protected]
[ p r o o f r e a d i n g ]Fawnee Evnochides
[ f e a t u r e p h o t o g r a p h e r s ]Allan DeckerBrock Scott
[ i l l u s t r a t o r s ]Allan BurchChristina Ung
[ w e b d e s i g n ]Michael [email protected]
[ w e b s i t e ]www.sandiego.edu/usdmag
[ p r e s i d e n t ]Mary E. Lyons, Ph.D.
[ v i c e p r e s i d e n t o f u n i v e r s i t y r e l a t i o n s ]Timothy L. O’Malley, Ph.D.
[ a s s i s t a n t v i c e p r e s i d e n to f p u b l i c a f f a i r s ]Pamela Gray Payton
[ u s d m a g a z i n e ]is published by the University of San Diego for its alumni, parents and friends. Editorial offices: USDMagazine, University Communications,University of San Diego, 5998 AlcaláPark, San Diego, CA 92110. Third-classpostage paid at San Diego, CA 92110.USD phone number (619) 260-4600.
Postmaster: Send address changes to USD Magazine, University Communi-cations, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110.
USD Magazine is printed with vegetable-based inks on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper.The FSC supports environmentallyappropriate, socially beneficial andeconomically viable management ofthe worlds forests.
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S A N D I E G O
USD MAGAZINE
ou’re strolling along, minding your own business, then, bam! A realization hits you
like a cartoon anvil dropped from a high-rise. Much like falling in love or being
unceremoniously thwacked on the head, discovering where your real passion lies can
strike when you least expect. For me, it came early. I still vividly remember that third-grade
English assignment. We were given a real book jacket and told to write a story that went
with the cover. Mine, as I recall, was all teal and indigo with a picture of a submarine diving,
surrounded by bubbles. I wrote and rewrote until late at night, more than a dozen pages, twice as much as any-
one else in the class, a meandering tale of treasure lost and found. I, of course, was the hero.
“Maybe you’ll grow up to be a writer,” my mother remarked when congratulating me for the shiny gold star.
“Really?” I was incredulous. There was an actual job called “writer?” Sign me up.
It took me a while to get there, with lots of twists and turns, detours and meandering, in part because I believed the
naysayers who periodically chimed in to tell me how unrealistic my dream was. But once I gained actual employment
at a newspaper and my byline started appearing with some regularity, most of the doom-and-gloom crowd melted
away, presumably to find someone else’s dreams to thwart.
One of the most exciting parts of coming to work every day at this university is being surrounded by people
who have found their true calling. From philosophers to scientists, athletes to altruists, reformers to artists, USD
overflows with smart, focused scholars whose enthusiasm for their own particular passion is infectious, and they
have a knack for bringing out the best in one another.
Those of us who have the privilege of coming in contact with our students every day already know that they
skew toward the awesome end of the spectrum. Whatever their passion is, they pursue it with boundless gusto
and laser-sharp focus, and they have no doubt that their contributions truly can change the world. Neither do I.
In a familiar ritual, yet another graduating class leaves Alcalá Park this spring. The campus will seem quieter
(much quieter) and parking spaces will be plentiful (much more plentiful). Yet I know that those of us left behind
will have a nagging itch that something vital is missing, a sense that our work isn’t quite real without all those
energetic young people, that it’s just not the same without the school year’s bustle and flow. But in truth, even
when they’re gone — whether they’ve traded classrooms for courtrooms or switched from locker rooms to board
rooms — their legacy echoes throughout the university year after year.
I hope you feel their power, their impact, their energy in every page of this issue, which is built around the
theme of students. In a way, telling their stories is the answer to my own question, the one about what I wanted to
be when I grew up. I hope we did them justice.
— Julene Snyder, Editor
U S D M AG A Z I N E4
D R E AM W E AV E R SThe first step to figuring out the correc t answer is to ask the right question
[ e p i p h a n y ]
E D I TO R I A L L I C E N S EE D I TO R I A L L I C E N S E
U S D M AG A Z I N E
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Best Issue EverJust finished reading the Spring2008 issue of the magazine. It is one of the best, if not thebest, I have ever seen. Enjoyedall the articles and especiallythe notes from alumni. Earlier I had received the 2007President’s Report and this alsowas exceptional. The first time I ever actually read every wordin a business report! Congratu-lations on a job well done onboth publications.
— Beatrice F. Knott ’88 (M.A. ’91)
We Miss You, TooAs the mother of young chil-dren, I rarely read anythingcover-to-cover (other thanGoodnight Moon). But when mylatest issue of USD Magazinearrived, I couldn't put it down.From “But Now I See,” (how dothey grow up so fast?) to “Garden Is A Verb” (USD's beauty spoke to me as a highschool junior) to “The WitchCreek Sisterhood” (I, too, tookan eclectic collection of itemsfor my first fire evacuation), Ifound myself thoroughly enjoy-ing the Spring 2008 issue —and thoroughly missing SanDiego and USD.
— Kelly (England) McElwain '90
S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
Wr i t e u s . . .
We welcome letters to the
editor about articles in the
magazine. Letters may be
edited for length and content,
and must include a daytime
phone number. Write: Editor,
USD Magazine, 5998 Alcalá
Park, San Diego, CA 92110.
E-mail: [email protected].
An Encouraging WordInstead of reading tax law whilehooked up to my I.V. of coffee thismorning at Aromas, I read theSpring 2008 USD Magazine. Out-standing! Loved your inspirationaleditorial, “But Now I See”; I'll defi-nitely keep my eye out for theyoung actress referenced at futureawards shows. My kudos to all ofyour writers; I think each is fantas-tic. Additionally, I thought the storyon Darlene Shiley (“Meet MadamChair”) was warm and fun. It'suplifting to me to see you encour-aging readers to support this uni-versity. Consistently promoting aculture of philanthropy is vitallyimportant to the future of USD stu-dents. And finally, many thanks forgetting the Mankey story told tothe masses (“A Life Lived in Ser-vice”). Excellent job all around!
— John PhillipsSenior Director, Planned Giving
Flora Simply Wrong?A word about grammar in yourSpring 2008 USD Magazine: Ibelieve that the word “flora,” asused on the postcards (“Theschool's stunning flora is nearlyas renowned ... “) requires theplural form of the verb to be. Thesentence should read “Theschool's stunning flora are ... “
This is admittedly a bit odd,
because flora is singular in Latin(the plural is florae), but themeaning of flora is not singularin English. The word means “theplants of a certain area or period”(or, sometimes, along with fauna,”the microorganisms inhabitingthe human body.”) There may besome precedent for your singularuse of flora, but I believe that it isdistinctly unusual, and likely tobe considered simply wrong byreaders who pay attention to thissort of thing. The same error, if itis an error, occurs on page 1 ofthe magazine: “ ... USD's flora hassomething to offer ... “ The point,I suppose, is that flora refers nei-ther to a single object, nor to acollection of objects, but to theobjects themselves considered asa group. Compare “The floweringplants of the Anza-Borregodesert bloom (not blooms) onlyafter the winter rains.”— Alastair Norman Mcleod, ’98 (J.D.)
According to Frederick Utech,adjunct professor of BiologicalSciences at the Flora of NorthAmerica Project at CarnegieMellon University, the word “flora”is singular, and requires the singu-lar form of the verb “to be.” Whilethat may sound odd to the ear, westand by our original usage. — Ed.
Daniel, RevisitedWe are writing to give you anupdate on Daniel Akech James‘07, who appeared on the coverof the Fall 2005 USD Magazine(“Finding Daniel”). We are par-ents of three USD alumni; Daniellived with us during severalsummers while he was in schooland we are very involved withhim in a new project he hasstarted in Sudan. He is takingkids from the Kakuma RefugeeCamp in Kenya, where he first
[ c o u n t e r p o i n t s ]
L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO RL E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R
received schooling, and puttingthem into secondary boardingschools outside Nairobi. He isdoing this with his own moneyand the help of friends here. Hehas always been so appreciativeof the opportunity he was givenat USD to get an education andsees himself in these kids. Henow has 12 students enrolled,with 89 more starting in April. Itis really amazing to see what hehas accomplished in a very shorttime while waiting to start hisown graduate program.
We will be helping him in thefuture to provide for these stu-dents. His goal is to eventuallybuild a secondary school forthem there. Thank you again fordoing such a great story on him.
— Jerry and Kathy Moser
Find excerpts from Daniel’s blogas this issue’s “Point of View,”which can be found on page 18.
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U S D M AG A Z I N E6
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It was a moment frozen intime: A crowd of 300thronged around a giant
yellow backhoe on a graded dirt lot, smiled for the photogra-pher perched on a ladder andlooked into the future of stu-dent life at Alcalá Park.
When the four-story, 50,000-square-foot center opens in Fall2009, that particular image fromthe March 27 kickoff for the Student Life Pavilion will be ondisplay. It makes for a perfect fit,as the photo not only has a his-
toric pedigree — echoing a1949 picture of Bishop CharlesBuddy and Mother Rosalie Hill at the original USD constructionsite — but it captures a celebra-tion in which excitement aboutthe new campus hub wasequaled by elation over theNCAA Tournament appearancesof the men’s and women’s bas-ketball teams.
Situated east of the HahnUniversity Center, the pavilionwill boast stunning views, wire-less Internet access and an out-
door performance amphitheater.“It will change the lives of
every student at the Universityof San Diego,” Associated Stu-dents President Matt Thelen toldthe gathering. “It will offer stu-dents a place to relax, gatherwith friends and cheer on futureTorero victories.”
Every aspect of the pavilion’sintricate design reflects studentdemand for a building all theirown that will create a palpablesense of community. “The keyword is ‘transparency,’” said
A PLACE TO CALL THEIR OWNMaking history at the future site of new Student Life Pavilion by Kate Callen
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“Students saw the need,”recalls Zackowski. “The commit-tee went out to 35 differentmeetings, and the studentsmade the presentations. Overthe years, a lot of space insidethe Hahn University Center wasset aside for specific programsand reasons. But a student cen-ter is supposed to be a placewhere you come for no reason.With this new pavilion, we’re trying to bring that back.”
Designed by Hom & GoldmanArchitects, the Pavilion will cost$36 million to build. An estimat-ed $21 million will be coveredby general obligation bonds,with the remaining $15 millionto be raised by private supportin a drive that Cosgrove is com-mitted to. “I’ve been here 35years, so I’ve made a lot of con-nections with alumni,” he says.
At the kickoff, Thelen remarkedthat, even though he will gradu-ate before the pavilion opens, “I will enjoy it as an alumnus. I’m very excited for future genera-tions of Toreros.” Through dona-tions to the pavilion, he added,“we can set a trend of giving andsupporting our university, andleave a lasting legacy here at theUniversity of San Diego.”
Darlene Marcos Shiley, chair ofthe Board of Trustees, appearedat the ceremony in a radiant bluetunic (“I pawed through myclothing this morning looking for Torero blue, and I found it!”she quipped) and summed upthe mood of the crowd. “If there’sanything we’ve proved in the last couple of weeks, it’s this: It’s all about heart.”
To learn more and see the photo fromthe kickoff, go to www.sandiego.edu/ucexpansion.
Opening in the fall of 2009,
the new Student Life Pavilion
will be a campus hub that
promises to change the lives
of every student at the
University of San Diego.
7S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
Thomas Cosgrove, associate vicepresident for student affairs anda prime mover behind the capi-tal project. “Students want tosee and be seen. The mercadowill overlook the main diningarea, and the main dining areawill pour out onto the plazamayor. This will be a very excit-ing facility.”
Cosgrove and Greg Zackows-ki, executive director of theHahn University Center, headedup a 14-member committee thatbegan studying the prospectsfor a new student union in 2004.Enthusiasm for the project wasso strong that an April 2005 student referendum to helpfund the center through a feeincrease won 76 percent of the vote.
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[ s y l l a b u s ]Course: Introduction to American PoliticsInstructor: Casey Dominguez
DESCRIPTION: “What does it mean to you to be a citizen of the Unit-ed States? What are your rights? Your responsibilities? What do youneed to know to fulfill those responsibilities? This class will considerthese questions as we examine how politics and government inAmerica work.”
DOESN’T-BODE-WELL DEPARTMENT: “I hope I don’t fall asleep inthis class,” says a student with rumpled bed-head. “I slept through mylast class, and now my notebook has all these squiggly lines, like whenyou fall asleep holding your pen.”
BUELLER? BUELLER? Today’s class is built around the problem of get-ting people to participate in politics. When the professor asks, “What’sgoing on in the news right now?” crickets can be heard chirping. Finally,one student mentions the scandal du jour regarding a certain East Coastgovernor’s unseemly behavior. Whew. That was a close one.
DÉJÁ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: “So, why is participation important?”the instructor asks gamely. The response? Resounding silence and 18 blank faces. Finally a student offers an answer: “We need people to participate in order for democracy to work.” A few minutes later,the Red Bull and coffee appears to kick in, when actual give-and-takeoccurs between students and teacher, and doesn’t let up for the next45 minutes.
TIME SURE FLIES: One eager student launches into a story but hits astumbling block. “There was this thing in the car,” she says. “We used it tolisten to my grandma’s oral history. I don’t remember what it was called.Some sort of tape I think.” Uh, I’m guessing it was a cassette tape? Goodthing class is over, because I have just officially become so decrepit that Ineed a nap. Immediately.
— J.S.
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8 U S D M AG A Z I N E
ractice what you preach.From student life to trans-portation, there’s a concerted
effort at USD to reinvent institution-al habits into more thoughtful, eco-friendly behavior.
You want specifics? How aboutcups made out of corn? Foodthat turns into water? Coffeebyproducts that morph intocompost? The intensive movetoward embracing sustainabilityseems to be happening all atonce, all across campus.
“Every step of the way, youhave to walk the walk,” says HarryRyan ’92. He’s a passionate advo-cate of making a green impacton campus through his compa-ny’s partnership with the univer-sity. Ryan Bros. Coffee — whichbegan in the ‘90s as a 6-foot cartselling refreshments at USDsporting events — providesorganic, fair-trade coffee and teasto the university, and is commit-ted to helping the campusimprove sustainability.
“The quality of the organicshas been getting better and bet-ter, because the farmers are get-ting rewarded for it,” explainsRyan, who runs the business withhis brothers, including youngersibling Carmine ’93. “It’s notabout huge estates, it’s about thesmall, higher-altitude farms thatproduce the organic, sustainablecoffees and teas.”
The company has partneredwith USD’s Dining Services tolaunch its own coffee roaster pro-
P
BEST INTENTIONSThe drive toward sustainability is reflected all across campus
by Julene Snyder
[ g r e e n i f i c a t i o n ]
gram at Aromas. This is not onlyunprecedented (the university isthe first in the nation to have itsown on-site roaster), but eco-friendlyon a number of levels. Besides saving resources and materials, theprogram is estimated to save morethan 10,000 metalized polyestertube bags and provide campus gardens with more than 4 tons ofcoffee compost annually.
But that’s just one aspect ofthe campus-wide response toUSD’s Sustainability Initiative,created last fall by PresidentMary Lyons. “We have a greendocument that’s a commitmentas an organization,” says AndréMallié, USD’s new executivedirector of auxiliary services.
“We’d like to get to the pointwhere we buy everything within a150-mile radius,” says Mallié, whoearned his degree in culinary artsand management in Bordeaux,France. “All products: seafood,vegetables, meat. We want tosupport the local farming indus-try and local producers.”
He’s been researching all sortsof cutting-edge products. “Ourcold cups look like plastic, but are made of 100 percent corn,” hesays. “And almost all of our plastictableware looks like plastic but ismade out of potato.” While theshift toward more eco-friendlyinstitutional consumption has itschallenges, technologicaladvances are helping such effortsmake sense in the real world.
“The momentum of sustain-
ability is everywhere, and themomentum is not going away,”says Mallié. “It’s the right thing todo, it’s the right direction.”
USD is heading down thatroad on a number of fronts.Seventy five percent of the uni-versity’s cleaning products aregreen products. The Main DiningRoom is now “trayless” on Fri-days, with a goal toward goingcompletely without trays by July 2009. Mallié explains thatstudents tend to overload theirtrays, causing much of their mealto end up in the trash.
He’s also excited about a newproduct that turns leftover foodand waste into a useful resource.“We’re installing this new technol-ogy — it looks like a big dishwash-er — that you put all your wastein. It tumbles all night and thenext day it’s 100 percent water.Then you can take the water andship it to gardening. It reduces the number of garbage bags,reduces all the landfill. It was justinvented last summer, and ourswill be the first one installed on aWest Coast campus.”
There’s more. Much more. Talkof building a fleet of Zip Cars thatcan be rented by the hour. (“Wewould park them right here, forstudents, staff, faculty, you pay bythe hour. It will reduce the carbonfootprint, help with campus park-ing, it’s very affordable.”) A plan tohave a student-run herb and pro-duce garden that would supplyvegetables to Dining Services.
A R O U N D T H E PA R K
(“We would buy them the seed,and use the product in our opera-tion.”) Talk of a green roof for thenew Student Life Pavilion. (“Theplants will help cool the build-ing.”) Emphasis is on making surethat philosophies mesh. (“Wewant to make sure we believe in
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Harr y Ryan ’92 is a passionate advo c ate of mak ing a green impac t.
S U M M E R 2 0 0 8 9
what our vendors are doing. Whatis their practice, their philosophy,their product?”)
And, of course, there’s coffee.That on-site roaster at Aromas iscapable of roasting 250 pounds ofcoffee a day. “It saves a lot of pack-aging, but it also brings education
and connection to the world tothe students,” says Mallié. “And thequality of the product is fantastic,how much fresher can you be? It’sright on the spot.”
Ryan agrees. “The whole pro-gram, the attention on the farm,
the attention on the process of get-ting it here, the emphasis on whatfair-trade and organic is all about,has started an awareness. It’s teach-ing me. Each step of the way, youhave to find the next way to con-serve. It’s pretty exciting.”
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Darlene Marcos Shiley, chairof USD’s board of trustees, alongwith her husband Donald,pledged $1 million to the newhome of the School of Leadershipand Education Sciences, MotherRosalie Hill Hall, capping off theinstitution’s historic $206 millionCampaign for the University ofSan Diego. This gift bookends thecampaign’s earliest leadership giftof $10 million made by the Shileystoward the construction of theDonald P. Shiley Center for Scienceand Technology.
Trustee Richard K. Davisand his wife Theresa pledged$250,000 to support USD’semerging Center for CatholicThought and Culture, adding to $150,000 contributed byStephen G. Julesgaard, bringingthe total contributed so far tothe center to $1.25 million.
With a generous response to a special challenge grant fromthe Ackerman Foundation, thedonor-directed Orca Fund at the San Diego Foundation haspledged $200,000 to SOLES’Non-Profit Leadership andManagement Program.
The Fred J. Hansen Founda-tion contributed $190,000 insupport of the Joan B. Kroc Insti-tute for Peace & Justice’sWomen PeaceMakers program.
The estate of the late WilliamA. Moller provided more than$241,000 to establish theMoller Endowed ScholarshipFund in the School of Law.
At last month’s 2008 AlumniHonors gala, Bert Degheri ’61 washonored as the charter memberof USD’s newest donor recogni-tion level, Order of Alcalá, as thefirst graduate to have contributed$10 million in total gifts during hislifetime. Since 1984, Bert and hiswife Patti have generously donat-ed to a wide variety of campusprograms and projects.
GIFTSA T W O R K
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director of the UFMC from August1997 to June 2007.
United Front’s genesis can be traced back to the spring of1993, when five student organi-zations submitted a written pro-posal to then-Dean of StudentsThomas Burke for a multiculturalcenter. As it grew, United Fronttook a leadership role for a moreinclusive and diverse community. For example, the group lobbiedto have anti-hate crimes lan-guage added to USD’s harass-ment policy in 1998. United Front also pushed to have sexualorientation added to USD’s dis-crimination policy in 2000, andadvocated for the addition ofethnic studies to the curriculum.
“(United Front) has been verysuccessful in bringing forwardyoung women and men who arereally engaging. It’s helped thembecome potential leaders notonly on campus, but also in ourcommunity,” says Albert Pulido,director of ethnic studies.
New leadership will play a rolein UFMC’s future. Women’s CenterDirector Erin Lovette-Colyer is itsinterim director. Dean of StudentsDonald Godwin says a search firmwas finding candidates in April soUSD could interview candidatesin May, allowing students to havea voice in the hiring process.
Corona, now director for Latino/a initiatives at Alliant Inter-national University, is excited aboutthe next wave of students.
“There’s a new generation ofwhat we call ‘millennium stu-dents.’They’re much more pro-gressive, much more inclusive,and they’ve been raised in anenvironment where a diverseand global economy is moreprevalent. It will bring diversityto a whole new level.”
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the center’s assistant director. The center opened Nov. 14,
1997; an informal 10th anniver-sary celebration took place lastNovember. A formal event on Feb.15 welcomed attendees with spir-itual words representing differentcultures, an exotic dinner menu,and students performed tinikling(a Filipino folk dance), spoken-word poetry and a moitai (martialarts-like) demonstration.
“Students pushed the universi-ty to a level that promoted a cam-pus where people feel safe,included and can express theirviews and perspectives,” saysGuadalupe Corona ‘97 (M.A.),
Chris Wilson grew up in apoor, black neighborhoodin Detroit, but the United
Front Multicultural Center at USDwill always be home.
“The UF gave me a place I foundcomfort in,”says Wilson ’03. “It was aspace for people of color to let ourguard down. I owe UF a lot for help-ing me find my place in the world.”
Wilson, USD’s first Ethnic Studiesgraduate and first African-Ameri-can Associated Students president,also takes pleasure in recallingthose he met inside Room 128, aground-floor space in the HahnUniversity Center. “The UF createdpeople who care,” he says. “It
EVERYBODY’S HOUSEA decade of the United Front Multicultural Center
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sparked my knowledge. It’s nottechnically a classroom, but it wasa classroom.”
The center’s dynamic is immedi-ately welcoming. There’s an inspi-rational mural covering the leftwall, with colors and symbols rep-resenting student organizations.Three comfortable couches serveas a social hotspot. Behind thecouches are the office spaces of 11 student organizations.
“To me it’s a space where all students are welcome and feel safeenough to explore their identity andreally grapple with some of the strug-gles that come with some of thoseidentities,”says Kimberley Fernandes,
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U n i t e d Fr o n t M u l t i c u l t u r a l
Ce n t e r A s s i s t a n t D i r e c t o r
K i m b e r l e y Fe r n a n d e s ( f r o n t
c e n t e r ) i s s u rro u n d e d by t h o s e
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c e n t e r i s t h e i r h o m e.
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THE NEXT STEPIPJ founding director Joyce Neu joins U.N. mediation teamby Barbara Davenport
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work in the world and its contribu-tions to the university.
“Our most important audienceis the students,” Neu says. “I’ve triedto build programs that wouldmatch teaching with action.”
That convergence is evident inthe IPJ’s peacebuilding projects inNepal and Uganda, where staffhave worked tirelessly to head offviolence. Neu’s favorite project, theWomen PeaceMakers program,sponsors four women peacemakersfrom war-ravaged countries for aneight-week, on-campus residencyeach year, where they present theirwork and have it documented.
Men and women from the frontlines of international peacemakingcome to campus to speak eachyear at events that are free andopen to the San Diego communi-ty. That visibility has led to the IPJbecoming one of the more influ-ential entities at USD.
Confirmation comes from
T his spring, Joyce Neu,founding director of theJoan B. Kroc Institute for
Peace & Justice, left the organiza-tion she started in 2000 to join theUnited Nations as head of its newlycreated Standby Mediation Team.
In her new position, the seasonedinternational mediator and in-the-field problem solver will lead a teamof experts in international and con-stitutional law, human rights, securi-ty and other aspects of conflict reso-lution. The group will serve as arapid-response force that can travelsingly or as a group anywhere in theworld to consult with U.N. peaceenvoys, as well as advise govern-ments and other groups working to resolve conflicts.
Neu is short and slender, with anintense gaze. Her IPJ office is moreworkroom than showplace, withonly a few mementos from a life-time of travel. She leans forwardwhen she describes the institute’s
May 17Commencement Law School graduates will receivetheir degrees on Saturday, May 17at 9 a.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion,while the rest of the university’sgraduate students march acrossthat stage a week later, at 1 p.m. onSaturday, May 24. Undergraduatecommencement is on Sunday, May25 at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. For moredetails, go to www.sandiego.edu/commencement.
June 2-Aug. 10Sports CampsThe university hosts more than adozen summer sports camps foryoung athletes ages 6 to 18. All-Sports Camp provides a chance tolearn soccer, basketball, baseball,archery, capture the flag and Fris-bee golf. Those with an interest inindividual sports can focus onbaseball, basketball (boys andgirls), football, tennis, soccer (boysand girls), softball, swimming orvolleyball, or take a crash course instrength and conditioning. Adultscan sign up for masters swim andtennis camp. Alumni receive a 5 percent discount. Call (619) 260-2999 or go to www.usdcamps.com.
June 30-July 1Creating Safe SchoolsSponsored by the SOLES CharacterDevelopment Center, this summerconference focuses on “charactereducation,”the umbrella term for avariety of programs that addressthe need for safe school and class-room environments. Subjects to bediscussed include peace education,violence prevention, peer media-tion, conflict resolution and angermanagement. Teachers, principals,counselors, administrators, parentsand others are invited to participateby either recommending presenters,attending the conference or pro-moting the event. To learn more, goto charactermatters.sandiego.edu or call (619) 260-2250.
SAVET H E D A T E
Denise Dimon, director of theAhlers Center for InternationalBusiness. “We have students andfaculty who’ve chosen to come toUSD because of the IPJ,”she says.“The IPJ deals with problems andmoral issues that our people feelare important, and they want to beat a school that’s addressing them.”
Neu sees the institute’s successas a story of generous collabora-tions. “It’s been an amazing honorto create this institute,”she says.“So many people have helped, allover campus. Not only faculty —I.T. and finance and the library,every department has helped us.”
School of Peace Studies DeanWilliam Headley summed up thefeelings of those who’ve been for-tunate enough to work with Neu:“We will miss your capacity toinspire those of us who workedwith you in the cause of peace,and your steadfast commitment togive more than was asked.“
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the discussion,”Shirk says. “We havethe best law program in San Diegoand, by working in Mexico on ruleof law issues, we’re establishingconnections with institutions, stu-dents and practitioners that pro-mote the reputation and prestigeof (USD) in Mexico.”
The School of Law co-sponsorsTBI’s law-focused events and pro-vides continuing legal educationcredits for members of the barwho attend. Mexican Legal Span-ish is new to its Fall 2008 curricu-lum. Administrators will go toMexico City to discuss potentialpartnerships with leading lawschools, says School of Law DeanKevin Cole.
Conferences associated with theproject have been held at USD andin several Mexican states. The most
within society under the law;accountability of the state and itsrepresentatives under the law; andaccess to justice through the law.The project’s staff is making bigstrides.“It’s been very encouraging,”says project coordinator RobertDonnelly.“We’ve had a goodturnout for our events in Mexico.We bring together researchers, aca-demics, students and judicial actors— lawyers and judges — to discussand debate criminal justice reformand its effective implementation atthe state level in Mexico.”
Funded by the William and FloraHewlett Foundation and the TinkerFoundation, the Justice in MexicoProject boosts the university’s pro-file.“It has brought in capacity andresources to USD and helped con-vene people and bring people into
V icente Fox’s elevation topresident of Mexico in2000 had all the makings
of a Hollywood movie, completewith a happy ending for the candi-date’s National Action Party. Put-ting a halt to more than sevendecades of rule by the InstitutionalRevolutionary Party was viewed asa major move forward for thecountry. While Fox’s victory mayhave looked like it wiped the slateclean, it didn’t erase Mexico’s pastproblems, particularly when itcomes to reform.
David Shirk, director of USD’sTrans-Border Institute, has doneextensive research and reportingfor the institute’s signature task, theJustice in Mexico Project. “We start-ed this project six years ago. Theidea of seeing the reform packagewe see now wasn’t unimaginable,but the climate was totally differ-ent,”Shirk says.“There weren’t alarge number of Mexican scholarsmobilized around this issue, activelypromoting or advocating reform.”
Fox’s six-year term ended in2006. In 2004, he submitted anambitious judicial reform plan forMexico that included consolidatingthe nation’s police forces and givingofficers more power to investigatecriminal activities and holding pub-lic, oral trials. It didn’t pass.
Mexico’s “public insecurity,” asShirk termed it in a 2007 Web logentry, “is significantly related toMexico’s recent political transfor-mation ... In addition to concernsabout providing economic stabili-ty and reducing levels of poverty
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and inequality, the Fox administra-tion was met by a growing publicfrustration and alarm about theproliferation of crime, corruptionand violence.”
Felipe Calderón succeeded Foxas president in late 2006 and onceagain, progress in judicial reform isgaining steam. In March, Mexico’sSenate voted 71-25 to approve aseries of judicial reforms, includingpublic, oral trials and to guaranteedefendants a presumption of inno-cence. The constitutional amend-ment still needs the approval of atleast 17 of Mexico’s 31 states beforeit officially becomes law.
Shirk optimistically calls it a“breakthrough.” If it becomes law,it will be an overdue reward forShirk and his staff at the Justice inMexico Project. Shirk took owner-ship of the project in September2005 from Wayne Cornelius, apolitical science professor at theUniversity of California, San Diego,and director of the Center forComparative Immigration Studies.
“Wayne asked me to make con-tact with scholars who were work-ing on justice issues in Mexico,”recalls Shirk. “We pulled togethergroups already doing research.Many were dealing with theirissues, but they weren’t talking toeach other. Criminologists weren’ttalking to public security officials.Sociologists studying prisonsweren’t connected to people deal-ing with judicial reform.”
The project focuses on the rule oflaw through three components:regulation of individual behavior
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WANTED: JUSTICE P r o j e c t s e e k s t o s o l v e i s s u e o f j u d i c i a l r e f o r m i n M e x i c o
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reports and scholarly researchpapers on rule of law issues inMexico. In short, Mexico’s leader-ship has information available tohelp its country thrive.
“You can’t really have a func-tioning democracy without therule of law or vice versa,” Shirksays. “I really think the peoplewe’re talking to on the ground,especially students, will experi-ence an incredible transformationin the next 20 years. It’s a greathonor for us to be part of the dis-cussions, to work with people who100 years from now will be lookedback on as having made a majorchange in Mexico.”
To learn more, go to www.justicein-mexico.org.
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USD President Mary Lyonswas elected chair of the board ofthe Association of Catholic Col-leges and Universities this spring.Lyons attended Pope BenedictXVI’s address at the CatholicUniversity of America in Washing-ton, D.C., in April; there the pontiffspoke about the important role ofCatholic education to more than400 university presidents anddiocesan education leaders fromaround the country.
The School of BusinessAdministration has namedDavid F. Pyke incoming dean,effective Aug. 1, 2008. Currentlythe associate dean of the MBAProgram at the Tuck School ofBusiness at Dartmouth College,Pyke has helped to develop Tuckinto one of the nation’s top busi-ness schools. . USD’s undergradu-ate business program, for the sec-ond straight year, is ranked byBusinessWeek as one of the top 50programs in the nation.
USD’s Chemistry andBiochemistry Departmenthas been awarded more than $2million from the National ScienceFoundation and other privatefoundations. Assistant Professorof Chemistry Peter Iovinereceived the prestigious$475,000 CAREER Award fromthe National Science Foundation.Associate Professor of ChemistryDavid De Haan received a majorresearch grant of $310,000 fromthe NSF, funded through theResearch in Undergraduate Insti-tutions Faculty Research Projectsprogram and NSF’s Directorate ofGeosciences. The Chemistry andBiochemistry Department wasalso awarded a $500,000 Depart-ment Development Award fromthe Tucson, Ariz.-based ResearchCorp. that will be matched byfunds from USD for a $1 million-
plus investment in science. Final-ly, the department received near-ly $600,000 from the Henry LuceFoundation to establish the ClareBooth Luce Professorship inchemistry and biochemistry.
The 35th annual San DiegoCrew Classic in Mission Bay was a“home”event for USD men’s andwomen’s rowing teams, but it wasalso the site of a special shell dedi-cation. The “Karen L. Cosgrove”shellwas named for the late wife of TomCosgrove, associate vice presidentof student life. Tom Cosgrove start-ed USD’s crew program 30 yearsago in 1978. The new shell waschristened and is being used by themen’s program.
Quarterback Josh Johnsonwas selected in the fifth round bythe Tampa Bay Buccaneers in theNational Football League draft onApril 27. Johnson, who threw 43touchdown passes and only oneinterception in 2007, was the160th overall player selected. Therecord-setting senior posted a 30-4 mark in three years as the start-ing quarterback. He leaves asUSD’s all-time passing leader formost touchdown passes (113),completions (724), attempts(1,065) and passing yards (9,699).
The Office of AlumniRelations is seeking nomina-tions for the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Award, which recog-nizes outstanding service to theUSD community, and the BishopCharles Francis Buddy Award,which is bestowed for outstandingservice for humanitarian causes.Go to alumni.sandiego.edu or call (619) 260-4819.
Find current stories about student achievements, facultyresearch and special events at Inside USD, a new Web site devel-oped by the Office of Public Affairs.From academics to athletics, peacebuilding to sustainability, up-to-date campus news is atwww.sandiego.edu/insideusd.
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recent one at USD, on April 21,examined national and local initia-tives and, in the wake of recentdevelopments, the conversationshould be valuable. “(The reforms)will fundamentally overhaul theadministration of justice in Mexicoin very significant ways over thenext eight years,”Shirk says. “Manyreforms have already been imple-mented in states we’ve been study-ing. We’ll benefit from a betterunderstanding of what’s going onat the federal level and how statesthroughout Mexico have experi-mented with components of thereform package.”
The project’s collection of infor-mation, available online, is crucial.It has produced books, a mono-graph series, monthly news
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USD’s David Shirk spearheads the Justice in Mexico project.
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by Ryan T. Blystone
Gazing out at the lush andvery private Del MarCountry Club golf course,
feeling the heat of the sun alongwith a slight Santa Ana wind, TimMickelson appears to be living thelife. Unlike thousands of San Die-gans stuck in traffic, this man —looking sporty in his Pebble Beachcap and wraparound sunglasses— is happy to be just where he is,even though it’s well before 8 a.m.on a Monday morning.
In truth, the 30-year-old is liv-ing the exact scenario he pitchesto University of San Diego golfrecruits as the school’s fifth-yearhead coach. “Weather and loca-tion are important and, obvious-ly, at USD you’re going to get agreat education. It also helps thatthe three major golf companies— Titleist, TaylorMade and Cal-loway — are 30 miles away, mak-ing it easier to get equipmentfaster. And our guys can get fitprofessionally at their test cen-ters.”
The Toreros’ roster proves theeffectiveness of those sellingpoints. “We have kids here fromall over the Pacific Northwest andone from England. We’re bring-ing in a kid from Hawaii and onefrom South Africa next year andpossibly one from Finland. Whilewe could just recruit locally, we’revery global with our recruiting.”
Going international at USD fits inwell, especially with San Diego’scurrent golf scene. From June 12-15, Torrey Pines’South Course in LaJolla will host Tiger Woods, PhilMickelson and the world’s other
top golfers in the U.S. Open. It’s thefirst time one of professional golf’sfour major tournaments will beplayed in San Diego.
Torrey Pines also hosts thePGA Tour’s Buick Invitational, anannual event where Mickelsonhas continued a USD golf tradi-tion started in the 1990s. Teammembers serve as locker roomvolunteers during the PGA event.“They clean golf shoes, deliverpackages, pick up dry cleaning,
take stuff to the players’ cars,basically anything the pros needfor their day to go a little better.”
Dale Smith, a USD sophomorefrom England, is enthusiasticabout the experience: “It’s achance for us to see a little bit ofwhat life is like on the PGA Tour.It’s definitely motivating to seethe players. The type of lifestylethey lead shows that if you reallywant it, you have to go after it.”
Mickelson, a member of Ari-
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zona State’s 1996 NCAA nationalchampionship team, a record-setter at Oregon State where hegraduated in 2000, and an assis-tant coach when San Diego Statereached the 2003 NCAA Tourna-ment, wants to get USD’s pro-gram to the top level. “My wholereason for coaching is to win anational championship. I wouldnever take a job at a schoolunless I thought there was achance of that happening.”
W h e n Ti m M i c ke l s o n w a s h i r e d
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THE DRIVE TO SUCCEEDGol f coa ch T im Mickelson’s desire is to bring a national champ i o nship to USD
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Winning conference titleswithout sacrificing academicintegrity is a goal USD Director ofAthletics Ky Snyder holds for allteams, but Mickelson’s desire tobring a national title to USD cer-tainly also garners his approval.“Tim takes it one step further ...he believes it can happen. Tim isstill building the golf programbut he has the ability to makethat happen on this campus.”
Mickelson’s main prioritieshave been to get players morepractice opportunities, bettertournament competition andmore money, Along with enlist-ing older brother and widelyacclaimed pro golfer Phil to conduct an annual clinic, heensures that the team has maximum number of scholar-ships allowed by the NCAA torecruit better student-athletes.His influence is making a differ-ence. The program won its firstWest Coast Conference team title this year, earning an auto-matic berth into the NCAARegional Tournament on May 15-17. Jake Yount, a junior, wasthe medalist (first place overall)in the WCC Tournament, winning a sudden-death playoff.
Since 2003, USD has also been WCC runner-up in 2007 and qualified for the 2006 NCAAWest Regional. Darrin Hall quali-fied for the NCAA West Regionalas an individual last year. Mickel-son was 2005 co-WCC Coach ofthe Year, and his golfers haveearned All-WCC honors for golfand academics.
Bucky Coe, who graduates thismonth, was part of Mickelson’sfirst recruiting class. The Encinitasresident credits Mickelson as onereason he chose to play for USD.“He makes you feel important.He’s a very personable guy. Onceyou know him, it’s hard not towant to come here because he’sa coach who truly cares. It’s notall about winning. It’s about try-ing to develop your game, helpyou become a better person andto be prepared after college.”
er adult to come to for advice. Hismother, Sheila, has survived twobreast cancer scares. And while hisfather, Andy, has been a big influ-ence, living up to a parent’s expec-tations can pile on the pressure. Astar high school pitcher — the SanDiego Padres made him a 15thround pick in 2006 and reportedlygave him a six-figure offer —Romanski chose college insteadbecause USD lets him pitch andplay in the outfield. The decision,however, also meant facing atougher academic landscape thanhe was used to in high school.
“When Josh got here, it was areal culture shock,” Eppler recalls.“Not only being away from home,but also learning to budget histime. He realized how important it was that he was in class doinghis assignments. If you’re not turn-ing in assignments, you don’t getgrades, you don’t stay eligible andyou won’t play.”
While she’s good at dishing outtough love, Eppler’s abiding pas-sion is for baseball. She’s a regularat USD home games. As a mother,she equates mentoring with open,honest communication. “I try to bea sounding board and talk to Josh.When I ask him how he’s doing inschool, I want the truth. I tell him, ‘Idon’t want to hear what you thinkI want to hear.’”
Mentors are asked to serve asrole models. Practically, this meansholding a monthly meeting withtheir student-athlete, counselingand guiding the player’s transitionto college, working in conjunctionwith coaching staff to provide asystem of checks and balances, and assisting with nuts-and-boltsadvice on etiquette, wardrobe andeffective communication skills.
Hill, who’s built USD into anationally ranked team, says thementor program is an effectiverecruiting tool. “When you’re talking to parents and talkingabout developing their son atUSD, this is one of the thingswe’re going to do for them,” hesays. “It’s a way to ensure that theirkid develops and flourishes.”
by Ryan T. Blystone
It’s the ninth inning. JoshRomanski is pitching. There aretwo outs. Only Harvard’s Matt
Vance stands between a Universi-ty of San Diego win and, for thefirst time in 12 years, a no-hitter by a USD pitcher. Vance makescontact, but when the fly balllands safely in centerfielder KevinMuno’s glove, the celebrationbegins for Romanski and his teammates. Their excitement ismatched — possibly even exceed-ed — by that of Judy Eppler, whois up in the stands watching. Shehas tears running down her face.
“I was saying under my breath(in the ninth), ‘I know you’ve hadsome tough times, but I knowyou’re going to make it. This is forall the times people doubted you
and you doubted yourself,’” Epplerrecalls. “When the team rushedonto the field, I can’t tell you howhappy I was for him. I was crying.”
Romanski’s achievement meansa lot to Eppler, his mentor since hecame to USD in 2006. That was thefirst year of baseball coach RichHill’s Championship Mentors pro-gram, which pairs freshmen withuniversity staffers and communitymembers. “Coach Hill did it sofreshmen have someone they cantalk to about adapting to college,”says Romanski, now a junior.“(Judy and I) have developed agreat relationship. She’s like mymom away from home.”
Eppler, USD’s director of donorrelations, has been a “beacon, our star mentor,”Hill says. As for Romanski, he’s glad to have anoth-
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Yousko, who was Mike’s friend,helped create this scholarship forstudents pursuing studies in sci-ence, nursing and counseling.“Scholarships are a tangible wayfor alumni to give back to theuniversity and know that it’sgoing toward something verynear and dear to them — theeducation of future students,”says Yousko. How does it feel to donate? Fantastic, he says.“When we direct money to Kyle’s
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W e all know it’s better to give than toreceive, but did you
know that giving can alsoincrease your own sense of hap-piness and well-being? That’sthe conclusion of a recent studypublished in the journal Science.That data is definitely worthtaking into account when itcomes to helping out the uni-versity. Writing a check is oneway to give back; other ways
U S D M AG A Z I N E1 6
include mentoring students on careers, their study abroador just helping them surviveanother round of finals.
As a member of the USDNational Alumni Board for the pasteight years, Rich Yousko ’87 hasbeen trying to get more alumniinvolved. “Ninety percent of thestudents that go through USD hada phenomenal time. They got thebest education ever and walkedaway with great friends for a life-
time, but when it comes to actual-ly making a donation, there’s a dis-connect,” he says. “We need tochallenge our alums to make thatconscious decision to give back.”
Toward that end, the boardhas created scholarshipsendowed specifically by alumni,like the Kyle O’Connell MemorialScholarship. Kyle — the son oftwo alums, Mike ‘87 and Julie ‘88(Belfiore) O’Connell — lost hisbattle with brain cancer in 2005.
THAT ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDEFinding the connection between alumni and students reaps benefits for both by Carol Cujec
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scholarship at USD, we know it’ssomething that will give backover a long time. Who knows,maybe someone who receivesKyle’s scholarship will make ahuge difference in the world.”
Each time Ashley Farrell ’97returns to campus, she recalls hoursspent chatting with friends overcoconut smoothies in the deli.“Some days, it feels like I never left,”she laughs. As a member of thealumni board’s Outreach Commit-tee, Farrell enjoys attending manystudent/alumni events on campus,such as Take a Torero to Lunch, inwhich alumni answer student ques-tions about careers and transition-ing into the workforce.
Like an A-list celebrity, Farrellrecently found herself with a lineof students waiting to talk to herabout her experiences workingin marketing for UPS. “I know Ihelped steer them in the rightdirection,” recalls Farrell. “It mademe feel really good to give back.”She encourages others to cometo campus and simply feel theenergy. “I always say, ‘Just try one thing, and it’s addictive.You’ll make time because it’s so rewarding.’”
Arika Wells ’02, a new alumnivolunteer, recently reconnectedwith USD after working out ofstate for four years. She served up some tasty grub to anxiousundergrads at the most recentFinals Feeding Frenzy. “I could seethe stress on their faces, and I wasthinking, ‘Oh to be young againand just have the stress of finals.’”
As a black student, Wellsremembers being one of the fewminorities at an event or in a class.One of her goals is to show otherminority students that they’re notalone. She describes her alumniinvolvement as a blessing. “If noth-ing else, it’s a blessing to me, and I hope it’s a blessing to somebodyelse too.”
To learn more about volunteeropportunities, call (619) 260-4819or send an e-mail to [email protected].
But Megan Fonseca ’01 has acompletely different take on find-ing your bliss. The assistant light-ing director for the Old GlobeTheatre says that landing her jobwas a bit of a fluke. “If it wasn’t fora former professor’s offer to makea call to a USD alum to see if theyhad any openings, I wouldn’t haveeven thought of working at theOld Globe.”
This year’s keynote speaker,Rebecca Smith ’93, was eloquent inaddressing attendees. “Beyond net-working, let’s think about buildingcommunity,”she said. “Let’s notthink about what we can get, butabout what we can give.”Smithalso talked about the need forauthenticity, boldness and compas-sion by students. “What I loveabout USD is that we care, andcompassion is about bringing ourpassions to others.”
“It’s wonderful to hear studentssay how much they’ve beenimpacted by an alumnus they metat an SAA event,” says Sarah Even-skaas ’97 (MBA ’03), associatedirector of Alumni Relations. “Andalumni enjoy the experience aswell. They like to come back tocampus. They really feel likethey’re making an impact withcurrent students.”
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ALUMNI IN TRAININGS A A c o n n e c t s U S D ’s p a s t w i t h i t s f u t u r e
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K athleen Holloway ’08 wasintimidated when shejoined the Student Alumni
Association as a freshman. “I used toput alumni on a pedestal,”she says.But since then, she’s come to findtheir perspective invaluable. “Backat Alumni Honors in 2006”, shesays, “an alumna gave me someadvice that’s stuck with me. Shetold me: ‘Just jump. Even thoughothers might be against it, if youthink it might make you happy, justjump and learn from there.’”Withgraduation looming, Holloway’sseriously considering heading off to Italy to teach English, at least inpart because of that guidance.
USD’s Student Alumni Associa-tion takes a proactive stance inconnecting current students withalumni. Witness the annual Take aTorero to Lunch event, whichbrought together 20 alumni with 60 students this March. Many ofthem were looking for practicaladvice. For example, how do youfind your dream job right out ofcollege? The main challenge lies ingetting organized, according toSean Coughlin ’89. “Make a list ofyour short-term, medium-term andlong-term career and life goals,”headvised USD students. “Look at thelist at least once per week.”
Dear alumni and friends,
This is a special issue of USD
Magazine. Students are at
the heart of everything we
do as an alumni association,
which is reflected in our
vision statement to “engage
alumni on behalf of stu-
dents.” For those of us on
campus, we are amazed
every day by the exceptional
students we meet. Not just
for their intellect, but for
their values, creativity and
concern for the community.
Every year, hundreds of
USD alumni volunteers give
of their time and expertise
to support current students.
Our alumni bring their per-
sonal and professional
expertise back to the class-
room, volunteer at student-
alumni events, review schol-
arship applications and help
students network for intern-
ships and jobs. In addition,
thousands of alumni give
back financially to students,
whether through support-
ing scholarships, student
services and facilities, or
academic enrichment. As we
reflect on our students in
this issue, I encourage you
to help us in our mission of
supporting our wonderful
students. Your participation
and support will give our
students the knowledge,
opportunities and experi-
ences to succeed in their
endeavors.
If you want to get more
involved with your USD
Alumni Association please
contact us at alumni@
sandiego.edu. I hope to
hear from you.
— Martin Kaplan
Director of Alumni Relations
LETTERF R O M H O M E
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UN gives the 12th graders thisyear to graduate, the 11th gradersare kicked out from school in thecamp because all of the Sudaneseare going back to their country. TheSudan scholarship will help the11th graders to finish their highschool education in Kenya; perhapswe will take some 10th and 9thgraders if we get more funding. Thescreening process begins. I pick 33high-achieving applicants. This isthe number we can afford to sendto boarding schools in Kenya.
Feb. 6, 2008The recent post-election violencehas made some Kenyan roadsunsafe for traveling. Some gangsambush vehicles and set them onfire when there are no policearound. I am traveling to Nakurufrom Nairobi. I inform the hotelmanager of my traveling to Naku-ru. “You will not make it,” he says,scaring me. Despite the warning, I go to the bus station and buy aticket because I am in Kenya tosee the scholars in Nakuru. Thebus takes off. We are passingthrough Naivasha, where moredeadly violence is occurring just amile away from the road. It is verysilent on the roadside. Our eyesare rolling in terror. The bus arrivesin Nakuru. The number of theinternally displaced people is highin Nakuru. I rush to meet mymother and relatives. The scholarsgo to school 5 miles away fromNakuru town. I get a taxi and visitthem, then return to Nairobi.
Daniel Akech James was featuredon the cover of the Fall 2005 issue ofUSD Magazine. To read more of hisblog — which is excerpted above —or to learn more about the SudanScholarship Foundation, go tohttp://sudanscholarship.com.
U S D M AG A Z I N E1 8
Jan. 27, 2008When I left Kenya in 2001, theSudanese living there would findit difficult to travel because nearlyall of them were undocumented.The Kenyan police would takeadvantage of the situation by charging them extra moneywhen traveling. So if you were aSudanese and you looked Kenyan,the police would not notice youand they would not harass you.Being among the shortestSudanese at six feet tall, it is hardto tell whether I am a Sudanese or Kenyan. This allows me to getthrough security check withoutdifficulty. Now I am an invisibleSudanese. I look Kenyan — that isnot something to be proud of atthis moment of killing in Kenya.
I am staying in Nairobi and I want to go to Nakuru. We havesome students going to highschools there; my mother, brotherand sister are in Nakuru. I get outfrom my room this morning to get my breakfast. It is one of thosesilent mornings when the countrysees another moment of shame.Kenyans are standing in the cor-ners of buildings reading and discussing a news headline whichreads “Nakuru erupts.“ I have tocall my mother and check on thescholars we have in three differentschools in Kenya, but all of theshops that sell calling cards remainclosed. I get the newspaper andstart reading the first few lines: “15people are dead in Nakuru andthe whole town is burning.” I goback to my hotel and dial mymother’s number.
“Hallo, Daniel.”I ask how they are doing and
she says they are doing okay. Sheadds, “Make sure you do not cometo Nakuru until we tell you it issafe. The Kalenjins have attacked
three villages that belong toKikuyu and killed six people. The police are fighting with theattackers and the death toll is rising. We are trapped in the house.The shops are burning and there isnowhere to go and buy food.”
I call Joseph who is in contactwith the schools where ourscholars go and he tells me thatthe schools are safe. The armedforces are pursuing the attackers.
Jan. 31, 2008I am going to Kakuma refugeecamp to recruit new scholars for theSudan Scholarship Foundation. Theflight takes between 45-90 minutes,then I board a taxi, a small four-door Honda Accord. There areseven people in the car, with twopassengers sharing a seat. No one is wearing a seat belt. There arethree police stations on the Loki-Kakuma road. The car must stop ateach station for security checks. All six passengers are Kenyans butme. Remember I look like one ofthem. So when the police look atour faces, we are all Kenyans.
The taxi stops near the UN com-pound. I step out and ask if theyhave a place I can spend the nightsince it is not safe where therefugees stay; local tribes attackrefugees at night. They ask me togo to the district manager’s office—four miles away from the UN com-pound — to get an approval letter.I’d rather go to the refugee campand stay with refugees. I walk to therefugee camp and stay in my for-mer group, number 46.
I ask two former classmates tohelp and send flyers out, telling9th, 10th and 11th graders tomeet me at my former elemen-tary school in Kakuma at 8 a.m.The attendance is poor. Somekids ignore the notice. While the
OF SCHOLARS AND SOLDIERSDaniel Akech James ’04 recounts the daily challenges of hisreturn to Africa to “rebuild the youth, rebuild the nation”P
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Through it all there were so many nail-biting moments that we
sometimes worried that our hearts couldn’t take the excitement.
When the women’s team toppled Gonzaga — the top seed, no less —
in the WCC finale and earned a slot at the next level, we jumped
around like maniacs and yelled so loud we hurt our throats and
slapped complete strangers on the back. And we’ll never forget that
magic day, the one where De’Jon hit a fade-away jump shot in over-
time to get the upset over Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA,
when the town crackled with the kind of electricity that only comes
from having the national spotlight squarely focused upon you. It was
all thrilling, even that uncertain time when the rumor was everywhere
that Coach Grier had been offered the big bucks to take a job in Ore-
gon, and we didn’t know what would happen next. When we finally
found out that he’d be staying here, our sigh of relief was loud
enough to hear three counties away.
It took our collective breath away, this glorious season. And if we
were, as they say, a Cinderella story, well then, we all got a chance to
go to the ball, the Big Dance, the national stage. And when you did
your thing, playing your hearts out, you showed us what it looks like
to really give something your all. And we were so proud, so awed, so
glad to be a part of it, that we just want to let you know how much it
meant to all of us.
Thank you for taking us to the ball. It was amazing.
W hen you’re the underdog, maybe it’s easier. At least there’s
less pressure coming at you from the outside. On the
inside though, it’s a different story. Just because other people don’t
have great expectations doesn’t mean that you don’t. You do. Every
beat of your heart reinforces that desire, that drive, that determina-
tion, the thing that keeps you sharp and your focus on the win. In
your head, in your heart, in your gut, you want it and you fight for it
and you hardly have time to think about anything else. That’s OK. It’s
what you do, you play ball and this year, this particular year, you sur-
prised a whole lot of people.
And it was thrilling, all of it. Opening the newspaper day after
day and finding stories about USD, about our teams — our men, our
women, our student-athletes — made us, the ones who, of course,
aren’t on the court, still feel a very personal satisfaction. “Hey! That’s
us! They’re talking about us!” The astounding one-two punch of win-
ning West Coast Conference titles for both men and women gave us
bragging rights, made us pay closer attention to the talking heads on
television, gave us reason to shush conversation when the sports
update came on the radio, made us learn what it feels like to really
get behind a team. We found out how to rally together and show
school spirit and how to wait in line half the night for tickets and to
spontaneously applaud when we saw Brandon or Amanda or Gyno
striding across campus.
the
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i l l u s t r a t i o n s b y
[ C h r i s t i n a U n g ]
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able to just sit down at the piano and not have a problem at all. Myfather looked at me, and he just said, ‘You don’t look like the same per-son anymore.’ After that point, I just got better and better exponentially.”
When he finally started to come out of this deadly illness, he says, “I wasvery blessed and very, very lucky.”
Now Hamilton’s life has returned to normal. That’s not a given for theWest Nile form of encephalitis — a brain hemorrhaging disease thatusually causes irreparable brain damage. The only lingering problemshe has are severe headaches.
There have been unexpected positives. When he needed to get control ofthe tremors in his hands, he turned to the piano. And learned to play it by ear.
And his near-death experience helped him learn to take the focus offhimself. He says the toughest part of his illness was seeing the toll ittook on his friends and family.
“It really helped me to take the whole situation ... and focus on oth-ers and keeping their spirits up and trying to be in a good mood andlearning not to be so focused on myself, and to appreciate others andwhat I could do for others.”
An Eagle Scout, Hamilton now juggles serving as Alcalá Club presi-dent with his volunteer work and leadership of several fraternity com-mittees, among other commitments.
“I guess I’ve always been busy,” he says. “My parents filled my life witha lot of things that were worthwhile, and I’ve had a very structured life— gotta go to school, lessons, practice. It’s been a full life and a lot ofopportunities, that’s for sure.”
What drives him to succeed? Well, as the oldest of eight, he’s clearlyaware of his role as firstborn.
“It’s been a challenge,” he says. “When you have so many eyes on you,it’s a lot of pressure to not screw up, you know?”
When it came time for college, Hamilton chose USD over Harvard — inpart because of the accommodation of his mission schedule. That wasn’tan easy decision for someone who had wanted to be a lawyer since hewas 5. But he’s learned a lot about life in the years since he started at USD— including a leave that was to be for his mission, but turned into recov-ery time. He’s decided a law career may not be the best fit. A senior in thefall, he’ll later go to graduate school and likely pursue an MBA.
“I want to do something that’s worth something — something ofvalue that I can hold myself to the highest standards. I want to give ofmyself whatever I have to give to improve whatever situation or organi-zation I’m in — something to make a real difference.”
If providing an up-close-and-personal look at grace under pressurecounts, Hamilton’s already there.
S U M M E R 2 0 0 8 2 3
[ c o m e b a c k k i d ]
H i s o w n h e a l t h o n t h e m e n d , J o s h u a H a m i l t o n t u r n s h i s a t t e n t i o n t o h e l p i n g o t h e r s .
Joshua Hamilton was supposed to die.The odds of beating the deadly brain virus he contracted were put at 20
percent. His chances of coming out of it essentially fine, as he has, wereestimated at only 2 percent. But Hamilton is quite an overachiever, andthat apparently extends to his health.
To back up a bit, the first indication he had that something was reallywrong was in the summer of 2004. That’s when he collapsed as he triedto get up from his study desk. An ambulance trip to the emergencyroom was followed by weeks in the hospital, paralysis, Parkinson’s-likeshakes and a couple years of recovery.
“I lost control of my hands. I lost control of my fingers, my facialexpressions and my voice. I could only talk in a whisper,” Hamiltonremembers. “It was intense.”
It was six months before doctors figured out he had West Nile virus,likely contracted in Utah, where he’d been preparing for a mission abroadwith the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It took a year and ahalf of rehabilitation and therapy before he started to come out of theworst of it. The virus sapped his energy for all but a few hours a day. But Hamilton, back in San Diego during his recovery, put those hours to good use by speaking about his illness at meetings and conferences.
“I spent a lot of time sharing my story and listening to other people’sstories,” he says.
That likely provided good training for his current volunteer work atRady Children’s Hospital, which he began a few years ago when his illnessabated. He goes to the Hematology/Oncology Care Center every Wednes-day and plays games, reads or just sits and watches a movie with the kids. “A lot of them don’t have hair, they may have staples in their head or inci-sions. Some children are actually there for years. It’s tough,” he says, hisvoice quieting. “But you know, you kind of get over that, and you get theopportunity to see them have fun.”
It was the support and love he felt when he was fighting West Nile virusthat spurred Hamilton to make a connection with these children who arefighting for their own lives.
“When I was sick, so many people did so many great things for me,” heremembers. “I just want to do something of that nature (for others). It wasamazing how much support I got. I love doing it, and those kids are justso wonderful, and they really fill my life with something positive.”
With no real cure for his own illness, his doctors’ strategy of treatinghis symptoms with L-dopa began paying off a year and a half afterHamilton fell ill. Everyone noticed the changes when the medicationfinally reached the right level.
“My posture was better, I started to talk a little louder. One day I was
b y K e l l y K n u f k e n
THE POSITIVE THINKER
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THE GO-GETTER
U S D M AG A Z I N E2 4
[ o v e r d r i v e ]
Hiermona Tesfamicael scarcely has t ime to breathe. And that ’s just the way she l ikes it.
Later, there’ll be plenty of time for fun. Not so much right now,but sometime in the future there may well be enough unscheduledminutes to watch an entire television show. And yes, one day itcould very well come to pass that Spring Break might involve a tropicalparadise. Perhaps a time will come when eight hours of sleep will notsound like an impossible dream.
Someday, maybe, but not now. And probably not next year either. Orthe year after that. Could be the case in three years or so, but no prom-ises. It’s just that at this moment, and for the foreseeable future, Hier-mona Tesfamicael ’09 is busy.
For one thing, she’s actually supposed to be Class of 2010, but Tesfami-cael — a double major (finance and business administration) with a minorin accounting — is in overdrive, on track to graduate a full year early.
“My friends always say, ‘You always walk so fast, and every time I seeyou, you never have time to talk!’”The 20-year-old shrugs. What can youdo? “But when I’m studying, I do keep my AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)on. I’m a good multi-tasker. I keep in contact with my friends that way.”
A strikingly pretty young woman, Tesfamicael’s smile lights up herface. While her days at USD have been jam-packed, she relishes exceed-ing the challenges she’s set for herself, not least because of the purposethat powers all her hard work. “I want to help my family back home,”she says with quiet certitude.
Though Tesfamicael was born in Queens, New York, her mother andfather come from Eritrea, an East African country bordered by Sudanand Ethiopia. “My parents came to New York in 1979 with nothing, and they worked from the ground up.” Each of them left large numbers of siblings behind in the troubled country. Tesfamicael has more than 100 Eritrean cousins — many of whom she got to know over anextended visit one childhood summer — and their living situation inthe politically volatile region worries her. A desire to ensure her extendedfamily’s well-being, coupled with the example provided by her parents,is what fuels her breakneck pace.
“When you come from nothing, it can’t get any worse,” she says. “Theonly place you can go is up, and that’s pretty much how my folks saw it.They took every opportunity they saw in America to make their life bet-ter. That’s why I want to help back home, because family is all you have.”
She remains extremely close to her parents — who live in ChulaVista, Calif. — and sees her father, a radiation therapist, and hermother, a nurse, as role models. “The first thing they did when theygot established was send money back home,” she recalls. Tesfamicaelhopes to get to the point where she too is helping those relatives asmuch as she can. The need among her Eritrean kinsmen is great: for
homes, for better amenities, for an education, for a better life. But first, she’s got a few other things on her plate. For example, in
addition to 19 units worth of classes she’s taking this semester, she’s got tutoring, lab hours, working at the United Front Multicultural Cen-ter and serving as president of the Resident Hall Association. “I’ve beena hard worker since kindergarten,” she says. “I always looked up to myparents and would see them working hard, so I work hard too.”
In high school, Tesfamicael took Advanced Placement classes in addition to belonging to “countless organizations” such as the ASB, the Black Student Union and MEChA. She was vice president of her junior class, tutored younger students through the YMCA and tutoredher peers in algebra.
“I love interacting with people,” she says, flashing that killer smile. “I like to give them the go-getter attitude that our family gave us. I have a passion for working with people.”
That’s a sentiment that’s soundly seconded by Rick Hagan, USD’s direc-tor of housing. He gets together with Tesfamicael every week in her capac-ity as president of the Residence Hall Association. “I always look forward toit,” he says. “She is so positive — even with her course-load and the seri-ousness with which she takes academics — that at the end of our meet-ings, I always wind up being more energized than before.”
Tesfamicael wound up at USD because of the communal environ-ment and small class size. Though she lives with a pair of roommates inthe Bahia apartments, it wasn’t necessarily her parents’ first choice forher to live on campus. “My mom definitely wanted me to stay at home,”she recalls. “It was hard for my mom and dad to understand why I want-ed to live on campus.” But in truth, she had good reason. “For one thing,I don’t drive. I have my job here, my home here, my classes here and myfriends here. I don’t need to go off-campus. And if I do, my friends andfamily will take me.”
While she spends much of her rare downtime with family, she canforesee a time in the future when she’d enjoy traveling. Of course,there’s also grad school to be considered — she plans to pursue anMBA — and then a career, and perhaps, one day, a family. Though shesays her dream job would be in human resources for a medical or edu-cational firm, she also thinks that it would be fun to open a restaurantwith her mom, serving traditional Eritrean food. Oh, and being a CEO is also at the top of her wish-list for the future.
One thing for certain is that right now, for Hiermona Tesfamicael,there’s no time for chit-chat. She’s got to get moving if she’s ever goingto finish all she needs to do. There will be time to rest later.
Much later.
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b y R y a n T. B l y s t o n e
THE DARFUR GIRL
S U M M E R 2 0 0 8 2 7
[ h e l p w a n t e d ]
S u m m e r B u c k l e y t a k e s a n a c t i v e S T A N D o n c a m p u s a g a i n s t g e n o c i d e .
If you didn’t watch your step, you might trip over a dead body.Prone forms were sprawled on the grass in front of the HahnUniversity Center, causing passers-by to tread carefully. Althoughthese students were, in fact, still breathing and not actual casualties ofthe strife in Darfur, each one represented 10,000 of those who have losttheir lives since 2003.
The startling spectacle was Summer Buckley’s idea. The junior sociologymajor coordinated a “die-in” event to raise awareness on campus aboutthe Sudanese government’s sponsoring of attacks against its own, result-ing in 400,000 deaths and displacement of 2.5 million (according towww.standnow.org). Buckley formed a USD chapter of the national Stu-dents Taking Action Now: Darfur organization last October.
In addition to the symbolic war casualties, the die-in also featuredsmiling young girls performing a traditional Sudanese dance in nativedress and women from the Southern Sudanese Community Center inCity Heights serving their native cuisine.
“The die-in was the most amazing event because it also looked atthe culture, beauty, dances, music, food — and then it looked at death,”Buckley says. “When people see the beauty, it’s encouraging and it showsit’s just not Africans being killed, it’s an entire culture.”
Nearly four years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell defined theSudan violence as genocide. Buckley’s first exposure came a year later,when she watched the film Hotel Rwanda, the story of the 1994 Rwandangenocide told by of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who shelteredmore than 1,200 civilians from rebel forces. Actor Don Cheadle, who gotan Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Rusesabagina, later co-wroteNot On Our Watch with activist/author John Prendergast. The latter was20, Buckley’s age, when he first looked at the world beyond the U.S.
“People who don’t even have an interest in Darfur will read Not OnOur Watch because it shows the compassion, the motivation and energythat can be infused into anything. It shows the power of one individ-ual,” Buckley says. “John saw the famine in Ethiopia and said, ‘I’m goingthere to see what’s happening.’ He read about it and said, ‘This is wrong.I want to end this.’You look at where he’s gone. He worked in (Bill) Clin-ton’s administration. He wrote books. He’s lived the life for people whowant to follow in his footsteps.”
When Buckley arrived at USD in 2005, she wasn’t happy. “I was lost. Ididn’t know what I was doing in San Diego. Sure, the weather is beautiful,the beach is amazing and people are cool, but I felt empty.” She consid-ered a transfer. “But I stayed, and part of it was because I knew I couldfind something.”
That something was the Sudanese center. Buckley had a friend who
worked there as a class requirement. It sounded like a perfect fit. “Ineeded a place to go that wasn’t USD or work.” (She waits tables in arestaurant in the Little Italy area).
Now Buckley tutors children and edits grant proposals. She alsoorganizes slumber parties for the center’s teenage girls. “It’s the reasonI’m still here. I fell in love with the people. I feel like part of the family.You watch (Hotel Rwanda) or (God Gave Up on Us) and, in those stories, Isee the faces of the kids I tutor. I hear their stories. I was talking withone of the little boys. He was born in Kenya and half of his uncles aredead because of war, poverty and injustice.”
Buckley purchased a $300 plane ticket with money earned from extrarestaurant shifts and attended the national STAND convention lastSeptember in Washington, D.C. “I fell in love with STAND. I fell in lovewith the people behind it, the motivation and empowerment. There’s acharge of energy you get when people come from all over the countryand they’re here for the same reason.”
Initially, convincing USD students to support STAND worried Buckley.“There’s a fear that our school is full of apathy, that you see an atrocity onthe front page of the newspaper, say ‘That sucks’ and go on with your cof-fee, your book for class, continue your day and don’t do anything about it.”
Buckley showed the documentary film Darfur Now at the IPJ Theatre.A standing room-only crowd renewed her faith. “People were sitting onthe stairs ... I had chills,” she says. “I was worried only five or 10 peoplewould show up, but to have an amazing turnout — 90 percent werestudents — made me realize people do want to do something. Thisschool is full of committed, active, energetic beings.”
Many of STAND’s members are underclassmen. At a recent meeting,Buckley spoke from the front of the room, but soon asked, “Can wemove the desks into a circle? I don’t want to be the leader. This meetingis about encouraging action and to hear what everyone else has to say.”
Prendergast, who was a Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies Scholarin Residence this past spring, praises Buckley’s efforts. “When I metSummer in Washington, D.C., there wasn’t a STAND chapter here, andthere wasn’t any organizational effort on campus. Less than a year later,not only is there a strong and vibrant chapter, but it has also infectedthe local community,” he says. “Summer’s efforts have engaged a num-ber of activists to become more involved.”
Darfur is never far from Buckley’s mind. Between helping at the center,on-campus activism and satisfying requests from students who interviewher for a class assignment, she is willing to see everything through. “Call me ‘Darfur Girl’; I don’t care. It’s all I talk about every single day,because I want what’s happening there to end.”
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U S D M AG A Z I N E2 8
THE ODDS-BEATER
U S D M AG A Z I N E2 8
[ m e g a w a t t a g e ]
Student-athlete Gyno Pomare helped bring USD to the Big Dance. Now he can’t wait to go back.
Next year. It’s less a literal designation of chronology than auniversal salve that sports fans apply to stinging pride after theirteam falls short of aspirations. It’s renewed promise. It’s a fresh pairof socks. It’s “new car scent” hanging on the rearview.
There’s always next year. Just wait until next year. You’ll see. Junior Gyno Pomare spent “three” next years — one as a redshirt —
with the USD men’s basketball team, only to watch each season endunceremoniously before the madness of the NCAA Tournament began.
“At some point,” Pomare says, “you start to wonder how manychances you have left.”
That is, until this year.It started in Honolulu on Nov. 9, when Pomare sank a game-winning
free throw against Hawaii. It ended in Tampa, Fla., on March 23, whenPomare scored 20 points in a losing effort against Western Kentucky inthe second round of the NCAA Tournament.
What happened in between — a win at Kentucky, a delirious runthrough the West Coast Conference Tournament and a dramatic upset of Connecticut — represented a seismic shift in the fortunes of USD basketball. And it’s hard to imagine any of it happening without Pomare.
Four days before the Toreros’ first NCAA Tournament game infive years, the 6-foot-8 (6-foot-11 if you count his mini-mushroom cloudof hair) forward could barely contain his excitement about not joininghis fellow students for Spring Break.
Instead, Pomare was running sprints and muscling for positionunderneath the basket at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. A week earlier, thearena had been filled with more than 5,000 fans screaming themselveshoarse as the Toreros stunned WCC kingpin Gonzaga in the champi-onship game of the conference tournament.
“That was a golden moment, just seeing that ‘00:0’ on the clock afterbeating Gonzaga and having everyone storm the court,” Pomare says,basking in the memory. “That’s something that I’ll always remember.”
Now the gym is eerily quiet. The stands are empty. The only soundcomes from squeaking shoes and the exhortations of first-year headcoach Bill Grier. In four days, the team will be in Tampa to play Con-necticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The odds arestacked heavily against the Toreros — just the way they like it.
“We knew from the start that we could beat anyone that we had on our schedule,” Pomare said. “Toward the end of the year, we reallystarted to show that we could.”
During this St. Patrick’s Day practice at the JCP, the gravity of the
task ahead is tugging Grier’s mouth down at the corners. Pomare is adifferent story.
“I think the guys on this team gravitate to him,” Grier says. “He’s got agreat personality, he has a really witty sense of humor and he’s just a lotof fun to be around.”
While the two-time All-WCC selection exudes quiet determination onthe court, it doesn’t take much to spark his megawatt grin. Toward theend of practice, junior guard Brandon Johnson fires a pass to Pomarenear the three-point line. He lofts a high-arcing jump shot that sailsthrough the net with a definitive snap.
Pomare sprints to mid-court, then stops and points to the emptystands, acknowledging the roar of a phantom crowd. His teammateschuckle. Grier just shakes his head.
“I like to push the envelope sometimes and see what I can get awaywith,” Pomare says with a mischievous grin. “That just comes from beinga laid-back guy. I love to laugh and have fun, but I can definitely getserious when I need to.”
When it comes to stoicism, Pomare — who likes to listen to musi-cians whose monikers begin with “Lil’” (Jon, Scrappy, Wayne, et al.) topump himself up before games — was an Easter Island statue duringthe WCC Tournament.
The Toreros’ season appeared doomed late in their semifinal gameagainst St. Mary’s on March 9. That’s when Pomare and Johnsonsparked a jubilant celebration by carrying the team to a thrilling dou-ble-overtime win.
“Never at any point of that game did I say, ‘This is over,’” Pomare says.“But we knew we had to turn the game around or our season wasdone. Me and BJ just kept our cool, the team came together and wefought back.”
Less than 24 hours later, the pair was mobbed once again by apowder-blue maelstrom of fans after helping ignite the Toreros’ upsetof Gonzaga. The duo was suddenly thrust into the media spotlight inthe days that followed as conversation turned from celebrating theWCC win to how Pomare and USD could possibly compete with Con-necticut and Hasheem Thabeet, the Huskies’ hulking 7-foot-3 center.
“7-foot-3, 8-foot-3” I don’t care — I’ll post him up,” Johnson (whoneeds high tops to break the six-foot barrier) told reporters with grin-ning bravado. Pomare was more measured, saying he’d do whateverhe could to contain Thabeet and help the Toreros win.
“Brandon is a vocal leader, a nonstop talker,” Grier says. “Gyno ismore of an E.F. Hutton type. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t saymuch. But when he does, they listen. He also leads through example,
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especially the way he played in the last few games of the season. Whenpush came to shove and we needed to make a big play, he alwaysstepped up and elevated his game.”
Up until March 21, the closest Pomare had ever come to theNCAA Tournament was playing NCAA March Madness in the campusdorm room he shares with teammate Chris Lewis. (“I always play asUSD,” Pomare says, “and I always put myself in the game.”)
After March 21, Pomare was the understated linchpin of the firstUSD team to ever win a game at the Big Dance. It was sophomore
guard De’Jon Jackson who hit the game-winning shot in overtime to beat Connecticut, but it was Pomare — who held Thabeet to 14 points while scoring a game-high 22 points himself — that setthe stage.
“Gyno, I thought, was the key player in the game,” Connecticut headcoach Jim Calhoun said afterwards. “He gave them confidence whenthey needed confidence.”
Calhoun had previously referred to USD as “Gonzaga South” in hopesof ensuring that his team did not overlook the Toreros. It’s a compli-ment, in its own way, but Pomare is hopeful there will be a day whenGonzaga is referred to as “USD North.”
“When you look in the media guides, it’s always ‘WCC regular seasonchampions: Gonzaga, Gonzaga, Gonzaga,’” Pomare says. “Then you lookat the [WCC] Tournament champions and it’s always ‘Gonzaga, Gonza-ga, Gonzaga.’That’s what I want our program to become.”
As a standout player at El Camino High School in nearby Oceanside, Pomare had his choice of schools. He was recruited by USD,Boise State, Portland and Cal State Fullerton before he ultimately decid-ed to stay close to home.
“I think I made the right choice,” Pomare says with a chuckle. “I’mvery happy and blessed to be here at USD. I wouldn’t change it foranything.”
Not that it’s always been easy. In his four years at USD, Pomare haswitnessed the ebb and flow of attendance at Torero games, and theups and downs of the team’s win/loss record, as well as a “USD who?”response from the national sporting press.
“We’ve seen every scenario there is, in terms of the number of fansand the kind of media attention we get,” Pomare says. “We just try tokeep ourselves grounded and focus on playing hard and playingtogether with the expectation that good things will eventually comeour way.”
When the season first began, it looked like good things might be along time coming. The team was just 6-8 when it arrived in Lexingtonto play the University of Kentucky on Dec. 29. But then the teamracked up a monumental 81-72 win.
“Playing at Rupp Arena in front of 23,000 people — probably thebiggest crowd we’ll ever see — was big,” Pomare says. “Winning atRupp Arena in front of 23,000 people was huge. We knew that if wecould keep our composure and play with poise there, we could do itanywhere.”
But it wasn’t until the Toreros began storming through the confer-ence tournament — and left Connecticut in the dust — that the teamstarted to become the proverbial Cinderella story.
“It’s nice to see USD on SportsCenter every once in a while,” Pomaresays. “We’ve proven a lot this year, I think. But we don’t take what wehear — positive and negative — and let it affect us. We just work hardand play ball.”
When he isn’t playing ball, Pomare is cheering on the Lakers(“I’m a big-time Kobe fan”) watching movies (The Bucket List is a recentfavorite), playing video games (“A lot of the guys on the team thinkthey can beat me,” Pomare says, shaking his head) or inhaling Italianfood (“I can eat just about anything, but I love pasta”).
Pomare’s towering frame can also frequently be found sprawled out on the bleachers at other Torero sporting events. He talks aboutfellow USD teams with the zeal of a diehard fan. In fact, hours beforethe WCC semifinal against St. Mary’s, Pomare was giddily rushing thecourt to celebrate the women’s basketball team punching their ownticket to the NCAA Tournament after knocking off Gonzaga. “We have a lot of great programs here,” Pomare says. “A lot of themdon’t always get the recognition they deserve, but we try to supporteach other as much as we can.”
Lewis, a redshirt sophomore, credits Pomare with helping him adjustto college life after he came to USD from Bedford, Texas. Pomare tookLewis under his wing both on and off the court, offering him pointers inpractice and showing him around San Diego. Not that there isn’t theoccasional downside to rooming with Pomare. “He snores really loud,” Lewis laughs. “One time when we were on theroad I took out my cell phone and recorded it for a good 10 seconds.Then I played it for him when he woke up.”
Beyond any laments about how Pomare can best improve his sleep-ing etiquette, Lewis has nothing but praise for his roommate’s skills onthe basketball court.
“He’s not bigger than a lot of guys, but he’s very active and hasgreat instincts around the basket,” Lewis says. “If he gets position onyou, it’s hard to get around him. He’s tough to guard too, especiallyaround the basket. If he can create space and get a shot off, he’s pretty automatic.”
Pomare is hopeful those skills will eventually translate into a profes-sional basketball career, either in the U.S. or overseas. As a communica-tions major and business minor, Pomare anticipates his eventual voca-tion will be in sports marketing or sports advertising (“Something todo with sports”) but he isn’t in any hurry to put down the ball and pickup a briefcase.
“Education is always first. That’s why I’m here — to get that degree,”he says. “But I love to play basketball, and I want to keep playing as longas I can. When that crossroads comes, I’ll have to make a decision. Rightnow, I’m just looking forward to another year of school and basketball.”
The Toreros finished the season at 22-14 after finally runningout of gas against Western Kentucky. USD fans can find solace in thefact that the team will essentially return its entire roster next season.But the team’s success also means the Toreros will have to transitionfrom being the hunter to being the hunted.
“I think it’s natural for people to look at this team and say they have achance to do all this again next year,” Grier says. “But this is going to bemore of a marked team. People are going to want a bigger piece ofthem because of what they accomplished. Our players will have to ele-vate their game or people will pass us by.”
But while Grier is cautious about the Toreros’ prospects for 2008-09,Pomare is confident the team can meet heightened expectations.
“We have everybody coming back, and I think that makes us verydeadly,” Pomare says. “We know that we can step up and play in thesebig games. As long as we continue to improve and are hungry to win,this program is going to be in great shape.”
In other words, just wait until next year.
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that I’m a type-A personality,” hesays. Given his rapid-fire vocalstyle — doubtless fueled bymany cups of high-octane coffee— that’s a trait that appears self-evident. “First, I jumped into theMTV temp pool,” he says withmile-a-minute delivery. “Then I got hired by Viacom to doevents, and then moved backover to MTV as event planningcoordinator, and then got pro-moted to manager of all corpo-rate events.”
While it sounds like a great fit,particularly with his energylevel, but there surely must be a down side.
“It’s absolutely a dream job,”Van Houten says. He’s probablynot kidding. In just the past fewmonths, he and his team haveput together events rangingfrom an intimate show withsinger/songwriter John Legendto movie premieres and screensfor the likes of Eddie Vedder,Jeremy Piven and Susan Saran-don to “Choose or Lose” openforums with then-candidatesObama, Clinton and Guiliani.
Though he admits that he’snot as star-struck over proximityto celebrity as he once was, he will allow that he still feels the occasional moment of fris-son. “I was definitely thrilled,blown away even, by being inthe same room as Jerry Seinfeldwhen he was promoting BeeMovie,” Van Houten says. “Thesedays, it’s all in a day’s work, butI’m a big fan of his.”
Nonetheless, he still gets acharge out of watching howexcited the newbies get over all the star-power that frequents1515 Broadway, the buildingoverlooking Times Square where
MTV is housed. “When I look out the window, we’re on the35th floor of a 53-story building.I’m definitely on top of theworld here.”
Of course, it’s not all super-stars and martini ice sculptures.With more than a thousandevents a year to manage, VanHouten is quick to point outthat rubbing elbows withcelebrity talent is just one ofmany aspects to his job. He alsoorganizes event budgets, coor-dinates security, arranges forfacilities, lines up bodyguards,gathers special props and dealswith dozens of other details thatgo into making an event lookeffortless. Given the long hours,he’s fairly certain that his girl-friend would like to see more ofhim. Especially now that he’sgoing to school at night to gethis MBA, he would recommendhis current lifestyle to only themost manic sorts.
And yet, there are most defi-nitely perks. “This job is like a golden ticket in a lot of ways,”he says. “New York is all aboutwhat you do and where you work,and as far as those sorts of thingsgo, it doesn’t get much betterthan MTV.” As a bonus, the atmos-phere is casual — “lots of tattoosand piercings” — and the corpo-rate culture makes for a vibrant,creative workplace.
As for the future? Well, thingsare pretty sweet right now, butVan Houten can definitely seehimself back on the West Coast,maybe in Santa Monica, maybeeven in San Diego, running hisown concert hall.
But no hurry, really. “Fromwhere I sit right now, every day isa cool day.”
3 3S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
ith the ink barely dryon his 2004 diploma,Matthew Van Houten
was ready to take on the BigApple. Since his political sciencedegree from USD had helpedhim land a job at the UnitedNations working with the Italianconsulate, the decision to swapcoasts was a no-brainer. Clearly,great things were on his horizon.
Once he’d found an apart-ment through the online net-work Craigslist — one that camewith a modicum of glitz at that;a roommate who was tour man-ager for the indie rock band MyChemical Romance — thepieces for a fabulous new lifeseemed poised to fall into place.
Except that things started tofall apart almost immediately. Itturned out that the new apart-ment was in a bad neighbor-hood (“dangerous, dangerous,dangerous”). And that fundingfor the U.N. job had fallenthrough. And that Van Houtenwould likely have to give up hisdream of making it in New Yorkafter all.
“There I was sitting down tolunch with my aunt telling hermy sob story,” he recalls. “Icouldn’t believe it, just when Iwas getting settled, everythingfell apart.” That’s when a womanat the next table apologized for eavesdropping. “She said,‘You seem like a nice youngman. I have a relative at Nick-elodeon who’s hiring. Youshould give her a call.’”
Turns out that was a reallygood idea. More than 475 peo-ple applied for the job that VanHouten was ultimately offered, a fact he tends to downplay.“I just fell into it. It probably helps
W
ON TOP OF THE WORLDH a n g i n g o u t w i t h c e l e b r i t i e s i s j u s t p a r t o f t h ej o b f o r M T V e v e n t p l a n n e r M a t t h e w V a n H o u t e n
by Julene Snyder
[ p e r k c e n t r a l ]
TIM
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U S D M AG A Z I N E3 4
ily reunions in Virginia and Maine.“My work in gerontology researchencourages me to stay active atchurch, in the choir and at Habitat for Humanity,” she adds.
[ 1 9 6 6 ]EDWARD BRENNAN (J.D.) prac-tices estate planning, tax and trustlaw at Newham, Fitzpatrick, Weston &Brennan in La Jolla.
[ 1 9 6 7 ]JOHN VALDEZ (B.A., M.A. ’02)is chair of the Multicultural StudiesDepartment at Palomar College inSan Marcos, Calif. He was nominatedto present papers on diversity at Lincoln College, Oxford University, inMarch 2006 and 2007. John’s daugh-ter, Micaela, is a published poet andartist. She teaches at Thurgood Mar-shall High School in San Francisco.John’s son, Joaquín, is a soccer player,trainer and coach, and is doing grad-uate studies in sports psychology.
[ 1 9 6 8 ]LUCINA (SANDOVAL) DALE(B.A.) lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. She iswidowed, and has a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, who all livein Scottsdale.
PATRICIA (RUSSELL) JOHNSON(B.A.) is a Realtor with McMillin Real-ty in San Diego. Her husband, WilliamJohnson, passed away. “I think USDMagazine is the very best!” she writes.
[ 1 9 6 9 ]WILLIAM BUCKLEY (B.A.)received his Ph.D. in British and Ameri-can literature, and rhetoric, from MiamiUniversity in Oxford, Ohio. He is a pro-fessor of English at Indiana Universityand is the editor of Critical Essays onCéline and the author of LadyChatterley’s Lover: Loss and Hope.He is an internationally published poetand artist: By the Horses Before the Rains(best chapbook from Modern Poetry in1997), Sylvia’s Bells, Lost HeartlandsFound and On Heartland Soils. Williamis the founder of the first journal ofstudies on Sylvia Plath, 20th centuryAmerican poet.
CHRISTINE SCHANES (B.A.)reports that in 1986, her children,Chrissy and Patrick, ages 8 and 6 atthe time, founded Children HelpingPoor and Homeless People. “Pleasevisit our Web site at www.chphp.comfor further information,” she writes.
[ r e u n i o n r e m i n d e r ]
[ 1 9 6 2 ]COL. WILLIAM AMBRE (B.A.) isretired and spends time with hisgrandchildren in San Diego andFlower Mound, Texas. He is activewith the Knights of Columbus.
PAT (YOUNG) WILLIAMS (B.A.)reports that she is still working. She isa substitute teacher in local Catholicschools. Pat also enjoys spendingtime with her daughter, Reina (Wil-liams) Robinson — who graduatedfrom USD in 1995 — and her grand-sons, Sam and Ian. “Would love tohear from some of my former class-mates!” Pat writes.
[ 1 9 6 3 ]BEVERLY (TURSE) JUMP (B.A.)is a professional artist in the PacificNorthwest. She paints with acrylics,and her work is represented by theRoby King Gallery on BainbridgeIsland, Wash.
[ 1 9 6 4 ]FRED COVER (B.A.) recentlytoured France and made his fourth tripto Estonia in July and August 2007. Hepreviously visited Estonia in 2002, 2004and 2005. Fred also has traveled to Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Austria, England, Ireland,Scotland, Wales and the Netherlands.
PAUL MAJKUT (B.A.) is a full professor at National University, wherehe teaches graduate English and phi-losophy. He was a Fulbright TeachingFellow (Argentina, 2003), a NationalEndowment for the Humanities Schol-ar (Cambridge University, 2006), andFulbright Senior Specialist (Finland,2007). He has been invited to speak onmedia, literature and philosophy atuniversities in Brazil, Hungary, Mexico,Peru and Uruguay. He has also beeninvited to speak by groups in Australiaand Germany. During the 1990s, Paulwon many journalism awards from theGreater Los Angeles Press Club, theSan Diego Press Club, the Society ofProfessional Journalists, and theNational Conference of Christians andJews for investigative journalism, polit-ical commentary and film reviews.
[ 1 9 6 5 ]AGNES WEST-KOHLER (B.A.)writes, “As I approach the magic datefor retirement, I can hardly wait tomove back to San Diego. My childrenare dispersed in New York City, Hele-na, Montana, and San Francisco.” Lastsummer, Agnes attended partial fam-
[ 1 9 5 7 ]SISTER VIRGINIA RODEE (B.A.,M.A. ’74) is assistant vice presidentfor mission and ministry at USD. Sheserves as chaplain to the USD AlumniBoard and as moderator for the Alum-nae/i of the Sacred Heart. Sister Virginiaalso serves on the board of trustees forSt. Madeline Sophie’s Center for adultswith developmental disabilities; theKraemer Endowment board of trustees,which secures funds for St. MadelineSophie’s Center; and the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters committee, whichdistributes funds to religious congrega-tions in all parts of the world.
[ 1 9 5 9 ]PETER JUNGERS (BBA) is retiredfrom his position as a district managerfor the San Diego Park and RecreationDepartment. “I attended last season’shomecoming football game,” he writes.“I was honored along with many of my1956 teammates. We were the school’sfirst football team. It was great seeingold classmates. The athletics depart-ment did a great job for us, and hasdeveloped a very excellent sports program.”
STEWART TAYLOR (BBA) isretired from Bank of America and is amember of the Bonita, Calif., KiwanisClub. In 1958-59, Stewart belonged tothe USD Circle K Club, which was spon-sored by the San Diego Kiwanis Club.“Vice President Richard Nixon handedme my diploma,” Stewart remembers.
[ 1 9 6 0 ]TIMOTHY WILBUR (B.A.) isretired and lives in the Ocean HillsCountry Club neighborhood inOceanside. Timothy’s wife, Molly(Breen) Wilbur, who attended the Col-lege for Women from 1958 to 1960,passed away in 2002. Molly was theowner of M.T. Wilbur Graphics.
[ 1 9 6 1 ]ELIZABETH F. BRADLEY (B.A.)and her daughter, Elizabeth L. Bradley,also a USD alumna, are partners in thebusiness litigation law firm of Bradley& Bradley in Los Angeles. “Visit our vir-tual home at www.twobradleys.com,”writes Elizabeth F., who practices lawas Elizabeth Franco Bradley.
[ 1 9 7 0 ]ERNEST PAONE (M.A.) is retiredafter teaching for 20 years at PotterJunior High School in Fallbrook.
LT. COL. ALBERT SARNO (B.A.,M.A. ’71) is retired from the U.S. AirForce. He writes, “I am a 100 percentrated, combat-related, service-con-nected disabled veteran, havingserved with honor during the WorldWar II, Korean and Vietnam eras. I amtherefore trying hard to stay alive andcontinue to enjoy my family andgrandchildren.”
[ 1 9 7 1 ]DONALD RUSH (B.S.) and hiswife, Janie Ponteprino, live in SanDiego. Their son, Matthew, is a fresh-man at St. Augustine High School,where he played linebacker for thefootball team, forward in basketballand earned a 4.0 grade-point aver-age. “Just like his dad!” Donald writes.
[ 1 9 7 2 ]DAVID CROSS (J.D.) retired after34 years as a prosecutor, the last 23years as the district attorney of TrinityCounty, Calif. He now lives on Whid-bey Island in the state of Washingtonand spends a lot of time aboard hissailboat, “Island Time”.
ALAN RABINOWITZ (J.D.) retiredin 2007 after 34 years as an attorney. Hislast positions were in Immigration andCustoms Enforcement, Department ofHomeland Security (2003-07), and asdeputy chief counsel with the Immigra-tion and Naturalization Service, Depart-ment of Justice (1973-2003).
[ 1 9 7 3 ]THOMAS MILLER (B.A.) and hiswife, Mary, live in Lodi, Calif. Theirdaughter, Meridith, graduated from USD in 2005 and is finishing law schoolat the University of San Francisco.
[ 1 9 7 4 ]SHARON (LOUGHLIN)BOLLINGER (B.A., M.A. ’75) is a professor of history at El PasoCommunity College in Texas. Shehas revised and edited two volumesof Mapping America: A Guide toHistorical Geography.
CHRISTOPHER REDO (B.A.,MBA ’78) was appointed the globalhead of development and alumni
1970s1950s
1960s
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2008Alumni Honorees
Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill AwardMichael J. Maher ’70 (B.A.)
Senior Vice President-Investments, Merrill Lynch
Bishop Charles Francis Buddy AwardMary E. Caffery ’80 (B.S.N.)
Program Coordinator, UCSD Mother, Child and Adolescent HIV Program
Chet and Marguerite Pagni FamilyAthletic Hall of Fame
Susie Erpelding ’98 (B.A.), ’00 (M.A.)
Academic All-American, Women’s Basketball
Author E.HughesCareer Achievement AwardCOLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Liam E. McGee ’76 (B.A.)
President, Global Consumer & Small Business Banking, Bank of America
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Lowell C. McAdam ’83 (MBA)
President and CEO, Verizon Wireless
SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP AND EDUCATION SCIENCES
Rabbi Laurie E. Coskey ’00 (Ed.D.)
Executive Director, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County
SCHOOL OF LAW
The Honorable Thomas J. Whelan ’61 (BBA), ’65 (J.D.)
Judge, United States District Court
HAHN SCHOOL OF NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCE
Col. Mary T. Sarnecky ’90 (D.N.Sc.)
Colonel, United States Army (Retired)
Congratulations are in order for this year’s eight outstanding University of San Diego Alumni Honors recipients,whose accomplishments were celebrated on April 26, 2008. The honorees were recognized for their professional career
achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes, extraordinary athletic success and exemplary service to USD.Please join the university community in making note of their extraordinary accomplishments.
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U S D M AG A Z I N E3 6
DEBORAH (LAWRENCE) TULLY(B.A., M.Ed. ’80) is working on adoctoral degree in educational lead-ership at Washington State Universi-ty. She is the director of eveningteacher certification at WhitworthUniversity in Spokane, Wash.
[ 1 9 8 0 ]XAVIER BAEZA (B.A., J.D. ’84)has a law office in San Francisco andis opening a second office in SanJose. Xavier’s area of practice is crimi-nal defense.
ROBERT CAVALIER (B.A.) lived inSpain for six weeks before attendingUSD. “Once I saw a few Alcalá Parkcampus buildings in a brochure, apply-ing for admission was preordained!” hesays. “I am profoundly grateful to USDand regret being unable to visit thecampus or volunteer.”
MARY PAT (McCABE) SHEP-PARD (B.A.) writes, “Life is good. Ilove my job teaching at a communitycollege in the inner city.” She has twochildren in college on the East Coast,one in high school and a secondgrader. “I hope to see some USD palsin Chicago. It’s a great city!”
MARY (CLARKE) STEVENS(B.A.) is doing well in the Washing-ton, D.C., area. Mary’s oldest daugh-ter, Sara, is a senior at Virginia Tech.“She was affected by the terribletragedy at Tech last year,” Mary writes.“She, as well as all of us, would like tothank the entire USD community fortheir many thoughts and prayers.”
CARLA (BURGERMEISTER) SUT-TON (B.A.) has been teaching spe-cial education in Battle Ground, Wash.,for 23 years. Carla has been married toWes Sutton, who also attended USD,for 30 years, and they have two grownchildren: Ryan and Carey.
[ 1 9 8 1 ]EDNA BENNETT (B.A.) was anadministrative officer for Mesa VistaHospital from 1964 to 1987. She tookretirement in 1987 and then became apart-time salesperson until 1996. From1990 to 1998, Edna traveled to westernCanada, Alaska, England, France, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic,Austria, Belgium, Panama, Bolivia, Peru and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
affairs at Insead, ranked among theworld’s leading graduate businessschools, with campuses in France, Sin-gapore and Abu Dhabi. He relocatedwith his wife, Dawn, and sons, Liamand Aidan, to Fontainebleau, France.
[ 1 9 7 5 ]BARBARA (WASCAK) BURNAP(M.Ed.) has taught a medically frag-ile class of multiple-handicapped stu-dents in New York for the past sevenyears, which combines her interest ofboth medicine and teaching. In March2007, Barbara and her husband, Art,became grandparents for the firsttime. Their granddaughter, Madeleine,lives with her parents in Chelmsford,Mass. Barbara still keeps in touch withtwo alumnae: Linda (Harbin) McMor-ran and Angela (Marese) Boyle. “I hadthe chance to see firsthand thechanged but still beautiful USD cam-pus in June 2002,” she writes.
DAVID EDSON (J.D.) retired a fewyears ago as senior trial attorney forChevron Corp. in San Francisco. Henow lives in the Sonoma Countywine country and travels frequentlyaround the world.
[ 1 9 7 6 ]MARY GEORGOPULOS (B.A.)and her husband, Michael, have beenmarried for 29 years. They have fivechildren, ranging in age from 28 to 19.“After spending 18 years at home rais-ing children, I worked as the businessmanager for nine years at the Alliancefor Character in Education, a nonprofitcorporation that oversees the opera-tion of two single-sex schools in Chica-go,” she writes. She retired and enjoysbeing back in volunteer positions forCatholic causes. Mary visited USD andsaw close friends, and attended theUSD-Marist football game.
JOHN JAKUBCZYK (B.A.) and hiswife, Petra, are raising 11 children:one has graduated from college,three more are in college, two are inhigh school, four are in grade schooland one will start school in the fall.“Every day is exciting and a bit of anadventure,” says John. He is the pastpresident of Arizona Right to Life andis current president of Life Education-al Corp., and helped to promote thefilm Bella. He also spoke on the sub-ject of fatherhood at the MarylandCatholic Family Expo.
DAVID PIERCE (B.A.) is retiringfrom Cubic Defense Applications but
is a temporary employee for CubicApplications Inc. He does Eucharisticministry volunteer work at SharpMemorial Hospital.
SUSAN (WONG) QUAN (M.Ed.)has taught for 37 years and plans tomove to Carlsbad when she retires. “Ihave really enjoyed my 37 years ofteaching in the El Centro ElementarySchool District,” she writes. “Teaching4- to 5-year-old kindergarten stu-dents has been very rewarding. I loveteaching.” When she retires, Susanplans to become more involved inthe USD Alumni Association.
TERESA TICO (J.D.) is traveling toAntarctica and the South Pacific, pro-ducing films about the environment,coral reefs, melting ice shelves andrising sea levels. She handles com-plex environmental cases and wasnamed a finalist for the Public Justice2007 Trial Lawyer of the Year awardfor winning a large coral reef case.Her Web site is www.teresatico.com.Teresa also windsurfs and kite boards.
[ 1 9 7 7 ]GLENDA GERDE (B.A., M.A.’83) was named principal of LomaPortal Elementary in Point Loma. Atthe age of 53, Glenda is beginningpointe work in her ballet class. “Haveyou ever met a ballet dancer whoneeded a facelift?” she asks.
MAJOR KENNETH ZEBAL (B.S.)retired from the work force andmoved to Tucson, Ariz. He will serveas a consultant to the space industryfor the next few years.
[ 1 9 7 8 ]TIMOTHY CROMWELL (BBA) hasthree very active boys who keep himbusy in youth sports. He is the direc-tor of business development for R.D.Olson Construction in Irvine.
RICHARD DANIELSON (B.A.) is a microbiologist and vice presidentfor Biovir Laboratories. He earned hisPh.D. from the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley, and is a summerinstructor at the university. Rick andhis wife, Belinda, who attended USDfrom 1974 to 1976, were married atThe Immaculata in 1980. They visitedUSD during their 25th weddinganniversary with their daughters:Christina, a student at the Universityof California, Davis, and Janette, 13.The Danielsons live in the San Fran-cisco Bay Area.
AILEEN FOLEY (B.A.) is presidentof California Connections, a govern-ment and public affairs consultingfirm in Sacramento. California Con-nections recently sponsored a trip byJohn Bruton, European Union ambas-sador to the United States and formerprime minister of Ireland, to meetwith California business leaders andmembers of the state Legislature.
DANIEL LEETCH (B.A.) wasordained to the permanent diaconateon Aug. 3, 2007, for the Diocese ofPueblo, Colo.
COL. ROY PEARSON (BBA, MBA’97) plans to retire in June 2008 with 32 years of service to the U.S.Marine Corps. He will begin flying asa captain on the B-767/757 for DeltaAir Lines.
SUSAN WINTERS-BROWN (B.A.,M.Ed. ’79) returned to workingdirectly with students as a resourcespecialist, providing reading inter-vention. Susan had served in admin-istration for the last 10 years. She justmoved into a house with a view ofSequoia National Park, and her son,Terran, is in the fifth grade.
[ 1 9 7 9 ]THOMAS MARTIN (B.A., J.D.’82) has gone from minimum billingrequirements, dress codes and theattitudes of a large law firm world toopening his own practice in RanchoSanta Margarita, Calif. He is closer tohome, can spend more time with hisfamily, and loves his clients and hisprofession. “I have decided to meldmy passion and my profession byfocusing on representing motorcy-clists in civil litigation and trials,”Thomas writes. “I love running theshow and having the ability to cometo work in a T-shirt and shorts when I am not meeting with a client.”
WARREN THEFELD (BBA) and his wife, Julieta, have been marriedfor 20 years, and they have two sons:Marcus, 15, and Matt, 9. Marcusattends St. Augustine High School,and Matt attends Stella Maris Acade-my, both in the San Diego area.
ROBERT TRENTACOSTA (J.D.)became the criminal supervisingjudge at the courthouse in down-town San Diego in January 2008. Heis also president-elect of the USDSchool of Law Alumni Board.
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MARK FENICK (BBA) and his wife,Eileen D’Eon, live in Sammamish,Wash., with their three boys: Ethan, 6;Noah, 4; and Liam, 2. Mark is theinternational buyer for Costco Whole-sale in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and theUnited Kingdom.
ROSEMARY GOODYEAR (Ed.D.)serves as chair of the International NursePractitioner/Advanced Practice NurseNetwork of the International Council ofNurses in Geneva, Switzerland.
DONALD JAMES (BBA) lives inLafayette, Calif., with his wife, Melin-da Teutschel, daughters, Olivia andLexi, and son, Leyton. Donald openeda business office for James GroupInternational in Wellington, NewZealand, and is spending more timein his homeland. “I really miss SanDiego, but have become acclimatedto 4/3 wetsuits and the cold surf inNorthern California,” he writes.
MAUREEN (McDONALD) LEGG(B.A.) writes, “I’m a mom (aka taxiservice), part-time marketing consult-ant and newly appointed service unitmanager for Girl Scouts. I recently tookour kids for a ride on the coaster at Bel-mont Park, which was my first datewith my husband, Bill, 16 years ago!”
THOMAS MORTENSEN (BBA)and his wife, Michelle, have beenmarried for 10 years and they havethree children: Billy, 9; Abby, 8; andMaggie, 5. Thomas is a commercialloan officer for Santa Barbara Bank &Trust in Santa Barbara.
LYNETTE PATTON (Ed.D.) saysthat her educational leadershipdegree opened up new areas for herin health care and academia. Lynetteand her husband, Jack, a family prac-tice doctor, have been married for 47years, and they have four marriedsons and three grandchildren.Lynette and Jack are active in South-east Asian ministries and live in theCentral Valley/Fresno area. They areco-owners and trustees of a familybusiness, Patton Industries.
ANTHONY SMITH (Ed.D.) is theauthor of The Taboos of Leadership: 10 Secrets No One Will Tell You AboutLeaders and What They Really Think.Anthony is the co-founder and a managing director of the LeadershipResearch Institute and he has been aconsultant for more than 20 years inthe areas of organizational change,
CAROLYN (JACKSON) BOWEN(BBA) and her husband, Jerome,were married in 1986 and live inRiverside County, Calif. They havethree children: Christyn, 20; Camille,15; and Jerald, 13. Carolyn hasworked in advertising sales and man-agement for the past 20 years andnow works for AT&T in Riverside.
NICHOLAS CROCE (BBA) and his wife, Laurie, have been married for20 years and have five children, ages 7to 19. Nicholas has owned his business,N.J. Croce Co. (www.njcroce.com), for 26 years. He designs and manufactureslicensed toys and collectibles such asPeanuts, Elvis, The Simpsons, Futurama,Betty Boop and several others, whichare shipped to markets around theworld.
KIRK FISCHER (B.A., MBA ’85)lives in Castle Rock, Colo., with hiswife, Stephanie (Leshin) ’82. Kirkworks for Great West Healthcare. Heand Stephanie have four children.Their oldest just graduated from col-lege and their second oldest is at theU.S. Military Academy at West Point.
VIRGINIA INFANTINO (B.A.,MRE ’85) retired as diocesan direc-tor for evangelization and catecheti-cal ministry for the Diocese of SanDiego. She has served the diocesesince 1977 in various ministries.
STEVEN VASQUEZ (BBA) and hiswife, Debbie, have been married for 23 years and they have four children,ages 22, 20, 18 and 14. “I really enjoyedcoming back to USD last year for my25th reunion celebration,” he writes. “Itwas great to see old friends and class-mates.” Steven runs a financial servicesbusiness and in his free time enjoyssurfing with his son and competing intriathlons with one of his daughters.
[ 1 9 8 2 ]ANNE (KOLLAR) DENNIS (B.A.)completed a master’s degree in psy-chology and 3,000 clinical hours forlicensure as a marriage and familytherapist. Anne has three children:Katie, 22; Stephen, 18; and Lauren, 15.
IVAN EVILSIZER (J.D.) has beenpracticing telecommunications lawfor 20 years, and he recently pur-chased a new home in the HelenaValley in Montana. His children are incollege: Tyler at Carroll College inHelena, and Laura at Whitman Col-lege in Walla Walla, Wash. Recently,
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of San Diego’s Commission on GangPrevention and Intervention.
[ 1 9 8 5 ]EMILY SCHELL (B.A., Ed.D. ’03)is the provost at Health Sciences Highand Middle College, a new charterhigh school serving students through-out San Diego County. The school wascreated in partnership with a team ofSan Diego State University professors,Sharp Healthcare and San Diego Com-munity Colleges.
CYNTHIA (BARTEL) VILLALO-BOS (B.A.) lives in San Antonio,Texas, with her husband, Joe ’83, amaxillofacial prosthodontist at Lack-land Air Force Base in San Antonio.Their son, Peter, was born in Decem-ber 2006, joining four older sisterswho are all homeschooled. Their oldest daughter, Nicole, is seriouslyconsidering applying to USD for the2009-10 academic year.
[ 1 9 8 6 ]ELISE (MOE) GLASNER (B.A.)and her husband, Daniel, are thedesigners and owners of FranciscanLandscape in Sonoma, Calif. Elise andDan design and install gardens, andthey are winning awards for theirwork, including first place for large residential installation in 2006 for theCalifornia Landscape Contractors Association and first place for mediumcommercial installation in 2007. Theirwork has been featured in several localpublications. Elise and Dan also maketheir own wine and have two children:Haley and Marina.
[ 1 9 8 7 ]GREGORY ARMSTRONG (B.A.)is national sales manager for Galder-ma Laboratories. He and his wife,Susan (Piasecki) ’87, live in Southlake,Texas, where Sue is a school boardtrustee. They have two children: Sami,a freshman in high school, andBrooks, in the sixth grade.
AUDIE De CASTRO (BBA) is thesole shareholder of de Castro P.C., aSan Diego law firm specializing incorporate and business law, securitiesand real estate. He is also involved inseveral business ventures. Audie andhis wife, Thelma, have two sons.
DEBORAH (DAVIS) DOUGLAS(B.A.) and her husband, David, livein the Kingdom of Bahrain with their6-year-old twin sons.
he has enjoyed boating and fishingon the three lakes near Helena.
[ 1 9 8 3 ]GEORGINE (ARON) BRAVE(J.D.) has a standing offer for herclassmates: “If you visit our office, I will take you to lunch at Rainwa-ter’s.” Georgine is with Brave, Weber & Mack in San Diego.
KAREN (MOORE) MORRIS (BBA)and her husband, Robert, have beenmarried for 22 years and they havefour daughters. Their oldest, Kate, is a student at USD. Karen is a direct-hire recruiter for Devon & DevonCareer Professionals. “Recent gradu-ates should look me up if they needhelp finding a job in Orange County,”she says. “I’ve already placed severalUSD graduates.”
TIMOTHY SCHULTZ (BBA) livesin Los Angeles, where he foundedSouthland Surgical Associates, a com-pany specializing in the sales andmarketing of lasers for the cosmeticsurgery industry. He is married toKaylene, and they have two children:Tyler, 15, and Tatum, 13.
DAVID STOKES (BBA, MBA ’86)recently joined MySQL AB as a devel-oper and lives in the Fort Worth,Texas, area. The company developsand supports database products.
CMDR. LYNNE SEIBEL WHIT-LOCK (BSN) earned a master’sdegree in public administration fromTroy State University in 1994 and theCEO award at Sentara Obici Hospital in2006. Lynne is director of medicaloncology at Sentara Obici in Suffolk,Va. Her son is a mechanical engineer,and her daughter is a real estate agent.
[ 1 9 8 4 ]CATHY (LARSON) GERMANN(B.A.) is an area business managerfor Par Pharmaceuticals, selling vita-mins, minerals and skin care prod-ucts. She and her husband, Mark,recently bought land in Oregon.
RICHARD MATHEWS (B.A.)retired from corporate training workand now teaches online full time forseveral colleges and universities. Heis working on his third master’sdegree as a student of classical andancient history.
VICTOR TORRES (B.A., J.D. ’88)was appointed a member of the City
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ERIC NASLAND (B.A.) lost hismother, Sheila Kelly Nasland, to pan-creatic cancer on May 20, 2007. Hisson, Jesse, is expected to graduatewith honors from La Jolla HighSchool in June 2008. His son, Jack, 2,enjoys attending Torero footballgames and plans to be a member ofthe 2027 graduating class. Eric wasinducted into the 2006 USD LacrosseHall of Fame.
SUSAN (EDWARDS) WILLIAMS(BBA) and her husband, Delmar ’94,have four children: Alyson, 8; DelmarJr., 7; and twins Ben and Jack, 3. “I ama strong, healthy breast cancer sur-vivor!” she writes.
[ 1 9 8 9 ]BRIAN ANDERSON (BBA) is westregion sales manager for Jostens. “I con-tinue to stay in touch with Charlie Wick-strand, Richard Grossman, Tim Lectureand Lionel De Morst,”he writes. Brianand his wife, Cathy (Ackerson) ’90, live inRohnert Park, Calif., with their two chil-dren: Julie, 11, and Jack, 7.
STEPHANIE (MORAND) Di IORIO(BBA) lives in Boston with her hus-band, Gerry. “I recently spent a week-end in Vegas with Kelley (Jewell) Bale,Katey (Potts) Flanagan, Anna Patz-man, Cathy (Cogliandro) Alioto,Christy (Minton) Hall and Nancy(Near) Lawton, all of us celebrating amilestone birthday this year. Viva LasVegas!” she writes.
VICTORIA MCFARLAND HILL(BBA, J.D. ’92) and her husband,Chris, recently celebrated the fifthanniversary of their company, Rain-maker Staffing, as well as their 15thwedding anniversary and the thirdbirthday for their daughter, Cassidy.
MONICA (FOLTZ) PARSONS(BBA, MBA ’03) is a project man-ager for Solar Turbines I.T. Develop-ment. She has been with Solar for 18years. Monica and her husband, Jack,are the proud parents of Devon, 9,and Savannah, 6. Monica enjoys trav-eling with her family and participatingin sports activities with her kids.
DEANNA SCHULTZ-HOWELL(B.A.) and her husband, Tim, wel-comed their fourth child, EricaCatherine, in April 2007. Erica joinstwo big sisters and a big brother.Deanna hopes to return to elemen-tary teaching in the next few years.
AURORA (RODRIGUEZ) SERVIN(BBA) and her husband, Arturo,have been happily married for 15years. They have three boys, ages 13,12 and 4, who keep them busy. Auro-ra has worked for General Atomics inLa Jolla for 10 years, where she ismanager of government accounting.
ANNA PATZMAN UMSTADTER(B.A.) and her husband, Karl, weremarried on a bluff at Cabrillo NationalMonument on Sept. 15, 2007. “We hon-eymooned in Italy for two weeks, and itwas fabulous!”she says. Karl is a physi-cist working in fusion research at theUniversity of California, San Diego. Annahas been selling residential real estatein San Diego for five years.
[ 1 9 9 0 ]RICHARD DORN (B.A.) and hiswife, Erika, welcomed a son, George,in 2007. George joins older brother,Henry, 5, and sister, Mary, 2. Rich is anofficer with Wells Fargo Financial andthe family lives in Edina, Minn.
SUZANNE (JUSKO) PURNELL(M.Ed.) has four boys, ages 15, 13,10 and 8, and has been working as amiddle school counselor for 12 years.
MELL UNDERWOOD (B.A.) andhis wife, Susan, welcomed their thirdchild, Matthew Daniel, on April 9, 2007.Matthew joins sister Brooke, 5, andbrother Cameron, 3. The family lives inScottsdale, Ariz. “Hello to all!”Mell writes.
[ 1 9 9 1 ]MARC DUGGAN (BBA) publishedan anthology of his poems atwww.poetryforyou.com. Severalpoems, including Carpe Diem, werewritten as a student at USD while wait-ing for classes outside of Olin Hall.
SAMANTHA (GARTON) GALE(BBA) lives in Vail, Colo., with herhusband, Michael, and her twodaughters: Brennecke and Macken-zie. She works in real estate develop-ment, is the president of the ParentTeacher Organization for her daugh-ters’ school, and hopes to meet upwith alumni at a homecoming soon!
JOHN OHANIAN (B.Acc.) wasnamed CEO of 2-1-1 San Diego inSeptember 2007. The free phone serv-ice connects residents with health,
executive development, and leader-ship training and design. His book’sWeb site can be found atwww.taboosofleadership.com.
ANN STRUVEN-REHL (B.A.) andher husband, Alan, have been mar-ried since 1993 and have three chil-dren: Wyatt, 12; Garrett, 9; and Molly,6. The family lives in Rancho SanDiego. Ann has been teaching ele-mentary school for the San DiegoUnified School District since 1989.
CYNTHIA VOLPONE (B.A.) teach-es the fourth grade gifted and talentedprogram at Ocean Beach Elementary inSan Diego, incorporating the core cur-riculum through both state standardsand marine biology . Cynthia worksclosely with Seacamp San Diego to pro-vide marine studies and underwateradventures during the school year.
SHANNON (MULLIGAN) YONTZ(B.A.) and her husband, Robert, celebrated their one-year anniversaryon Dec. 30, 2007. Together, they runTrue North Fitness and Health in Ven-tura, Calif., and they have a daughter,Carley, 11. Shannon received the Top3 Personal Trainer award for VenturaCounty in 2006 and 2007. Shannonand Robert also have a radio show:www.get-fit-radio.com.
[ 1 9 8 8 ]ROBERT BERNSTEIN (J.D.) joinedold friends Steve Shewry and MichelleVan Dyke in 2005, practicing construc-tion defect litigation in San Diego. Athome, Robert and his wife, Robyn, areoccupied with their children: Destinee,13; Chance, 12; and Kaden, 3.
GERARD HUMMEL (BBA) and his wife, Lucia, were married on July7, 2007, in Campinas, Brazil. Theyenjoyed their honeymoon in thesands of Muro Alto, just south ofRecife, Brazil. Gerard is a revenuegrowth advocate for IBM in Atlanta.
MARY (KOENINGS) JENKINS(BSN) earned an MSN degree fromWayne State University in Detroit.Mary and her husband, John, havetwo grown children: Trevor, 27, andEric, 24. Mary works for Toledo Chil-dren’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio.
DAVID LA PUMA (BBA) played inthe 2007 World Series of Poker in LasVegas, where he finished 1,600 out of6,300 players.
community and disaster resources andservices. John’s previous positionsincluded vice president of finance,operations and planned giving for theAlzheimer’s Association and systemsconsultant and associate director forthe San Diego Jewish CommunityFoundation. John and his wife, Andrea,also recently celebrated their 15thwedding anniversary. They have twochildren: Samantha, 12, and Micah, 9.
JENNIFER (WHELAN) WALKER(J.D.) and her husband, Jim, live inNewport Beach, Calif., with their twodaughters: Amanda, 9, and Allison, 6.Jennifer is a corporate counselor forOlympic Wire and Equipment Co.,also in Newport Beach.
[ 1 9 9 2 ]STEVEN BAUM (B.A.) and hiswife, Susana (Navarro) ’92, welcomeda daughter, Abigail, on July 23, 2007.Steven is a principal in the San Mar-cos Unified School District in SanDiego County.
JENNIFER CARTER (B.A., M.Ed.’97) teaches a preschool Special DayClass in La Mesa, Calif. Recreationally,she plays soccer and trains for runningevents. “I’m meeting up with Kristin(Ingrao) Rude, Maria Galvin, Cara(Downs) Betts and Mary Ann Myers atthe races, for lunches, spa days and‘Grapple’ tastings!” (A Grapple is anapple injected with grape juice.)
MARNI (VIGIL) HAYMAN (B.A.)is a certified specialist in planned giving and was reaccredited as a cer-tified fundraising executive. She isthe associate director of planned giv-ing for the Girl Scouts of San Diego-Imperial Council. Marni, her husband,William, and two young daughterslive in Chula Vista.
ANTHONY NEILLY (B.A.) lived inTaiwan for 11 years, where he workedas an English teacher and owned agelato shop, bar and language school.
JENNIFER (ROE) SPENGLER(B.A.) and her husband, Michael, havetwo daughters, Mila and Kyra, and ownStudio M/Michael Spengler Photogra-phy, a portrait photography studio.“Michael is successfully following hisbliss, and I enjoy handling the studio’smarketing and public relations dutieswhen not hanging with my girls, volun-teering at their school or running,”saysJennifer. See their work online atwww.studiomlajolla.com.
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he lock rattles against thedoor. Baloubet, waitingfor his daily workout,
continually pokes his head out ofthe hay-filled stall and pushesthe lock. The six-year-old geldingis as relentless as a toddler look-ing for parental attention. Near-by, a woman tries to ignore theclanging, but it’s no use. Shebends her left arm toward thehorse and is rewarded with aplayful lick of her hand.
“He wants to be a part of this,”Tara Ardalan says with a laugh. Herwide smile shows how glad she isto be an equestrian who works ather parents’Caspian Stables in Val-ley Center. “I was born with it. I’m asecond-generation horseperson.The day I was brought home fromthe hospital my dad probably putme on a horse.”
Ardalan ‘02 trains and sellshorses and relishes the daily taskof caring for 35 horses of all sizes,colors and attitudes. “The hardestpart is falling in love with a horseand having to sell it. I don’t mindwaking up early in the morning. Idon’t mind picking up a pitch-fork and mucking a stall. None ofthe labor, none of the work thatgoes into it, is hard for me. Ienjoy doing it.”
Her parents, Arsia and Dee,have been powerful role models.Her father, who’s still a competi-tive show jumper at age 55,molded his daughter’s passionfor horses. “Because I’ve grownup in this business, I reallyrespect the rider who is also agreat horseman. I don’t know ifthere’s anyone I have greater
respect for in this business thanmy dad, because he’s an excep-tional horseman.”
Dee is Tara’s driving force out-side the business. “My momtaught me patience and graceand is incredibly supportive. Shemade sure I got a proper educa-tion. I think it’s very easy to growup in the horse world and neverventure out of it.”
The daughter of Iranian parents,Tara had her first pony at age 3.“Topol — which is Farsi for ‘chubby’— was a chestnut with white paint.He was a good pony. I had him twoyears before we sold him.”
She graduated from ribbons togold medals, earning seven aboardher all-time favorite, the late WitchBroome Wizard. “The only one Inever sold. I had him for more thanhalf my life. At his age, (12) whenothers thought his show jumpingcareer was finished, they werewrong. He was just getting started.”
When she was 16, that horsehelped Ardalan become theyoungest female to win individ-ual gold at the 1992 North Amer-ican Young Riders’ Championship.She subsequently won individualand team gold in 1993. “He wasthe horse I traveled all over theworld with and took to the (2000)Olympic Trials,” Ardalan says. “He’s really the horse that taughtme how to be competitive andbecome a winner.”
Perhaps Ardalan’s greatestachievement occurred at the1998 Asian Games. Her dual citizenship status enabled her tobe the first female to representIran in the show jumping event.
“It opened opportunities forother girls who wanted to ride.I’m very proud of that.”
Despite her international résumé,there’s something missing: “Since Iwas in kindergarten I’ve wanted togo to the Olympics.”
She was the Iranian runner-upat the trials in Sweden, but didnot qualify. She ended up ridingher favorite horse when Raylyn,her main horse, was injuredshortly before being shippedoverseas. “I took Witch BroomeWizard, who was 21. He shouldhave been well into retirement,
but still loved what he wasdoing.”
Ardalan, 31, hasn’t bid for theOlympics since 2000, citing spon-sorship difficulty and the need tohave just the right horse. Currentlyriding Flying Lady, a 9-year-oldmare, and training other prospects,Ardalan wants to go to London in2012, but it’s clear that if it doesn’thappen, she’ll be fine.
“I get here in the morning, pullthe horses out, groom, ride and give them a bath. I ride all day. I’mextremely fortunate that my passionin life is what I do for a living.”
COMPETITION ISHER MIDDLE NAMEW h e n i t c o m e s t o e q u i n e s , Tara Ardalan is a galloping success
by Ryan T. Blystone
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[ 1 9 9 3 ]EDWARD BECK (B.A.) and hiswife, Amanda, welcomed a son, LucasSpencer, on Feb. 8, 2007. Lucas joinssister Madeline, 9, and brother David,6. The family lives in West Virginia.
CHRISTINE (THOMPSON)BLAKE (B.A.) published her firstnovel, Woman Redeemed, a bookabout Mary Magdalene. Her Web siteis www.womanredeemednovel.com.
DEBORAH VIDOSIC BRESKO(B.A.) reports that in the last 10years, she resigned from the U.S.Navy as a lieutenant commander,earned a teaching credential at SanDiego State University, taught inMonterey and Escondido, got mar-ried in Founders Chapel at USD, hadtwo boys: Daniel and Matthew, andmoved to the Midwest. “Now it’s bon-fires and soccer practice,” she says,“and I couldn’t be happier.”
HEATHER (SCHROEDER) COOK(B.A.) and her husband, Rory, cele-brated the birth of their third child,Scarlett Kate, who joins brother Riley,6, and sister Emma, 4. Heather spendsher time between motherhood andpart-time work as an optometric physi-cian in a large ophthalmology group inPortland, Ore., with her husband.
CHONA (TAYCO) FOUCH (B.A.)and her husband, Michael, welcomeda second son, Lucas Godfrey, on Feb.11, 2007. Chona is taking a breakfrom broadcast news to raise Lucasand his brother, Samuel, 3. Michael isa director for NBC News. The familylives in Chula Vista.
MATTHEW HORECZKO (B.A.)and his wife, Deborah, have twodaughters: Grace, 4, and Clara, 2. “I’mstill practicing law in Long Beach andloving time with all three of my girls,”Matthew says.
JENN MESSINA (B.A.) and herhusband, Josh Deitch, celebrated thearrival of their second child, JensenThomas, in August 2006. “His 5-year-old sister, Jordan, was delighted,”Jenn writes. They still live in Mill Val-ley, Calif., own a wellness centercalled Café of Life, and remodel andbuild homes as a hobby.
CHRISTINA (STANLEY)NEUMEYER (B.A., M.A. ’95) hasbeen working with children and fami-lies for many years and recently
opened an office to begin privatepractice as a licensed marriage andfamily therapist. She is a breastfeed-ing educator, a 4-H youth groupleader and teaches religious educa-tion at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church inCarlsbad. Christina practices dailymeditation and occasionally sneaksoff to yoga, when her two youngsons and husband permit.
AMY JO (MATTHEWS) TALARI-CO (B.A.) and her husband, Ross,recently celebrated the birth of theirfirst child, Elsa. Amy is now back atwork as a litigation attorney for Mor-gan Lewis in San Francisco.
SUSAN TORREY (BBA) has herown communications consulting busi-ness. She and her husband, TedTheocheung, welcomed their secondson, Dylan Michael, on Nov. 14, 2005. Hejoins big brother, Aiden. Susan trainedfor the Nike marathon in San Francisco.
CAROLINE WALTHER-MEADE(B.A.) was named a partner in theGlobal Project Finance Group at Mil-bank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy inNew York. Caroline is a member ofthe firm’s Latin America PracticeGroup and has extensive experiencein cross-border financing and inter-national project financing and devel-opment. Caroline is fluent in Spanishand Portuguese and spent a year anda half at Milbank based in São Pauloand Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
JENNIFER (GARDNER) WIEDEL(B.A., M.Ed. ’95) and her husband,Courtney, moved to the South Islandof New Zealand in November 2007,where they plan to fulfill their dreamof opening a bed and breakfast. They’dlove to have many USD visitors!
[ 1 9 9 4 ]BRIAN BALISTRERI (B.A.) andhis wife, Michelle, live in the San Fran-cisco Bay Area with their two daugh-ters: Alexis Rose, 7, and Annika Rae, 4.Brian has been with Cisco for eightyears and Michelle is a third-gradeteacher in a local school district. Brianand Michelle celebrated their 10thwedding anniversary in 2007.
ROBERT BARDIN (B.A.) and hiswife, Joanne Pasternack-Bardin, arethrilled to announce the timelyarrival of their daughter, Kira Rose,who was born on Sept. 23, 2007 —her due date — in Mountain View,Calif. Robert is a corporate sales man-
ager for Printroom.com, overseeingsports-related accounts.
SHERRI BLISS (B.A., MPH ’04)joined Helio, a start-up mobile virtualnetwork operator, in Los Angeles inFebruary 2007. Sherri and her hus-band, Christopher Huie, are still fixingup the 1920s Spanish-style housethey bought in 2003.
NATHAN CARR (B.A.) earned histeaching certificate from the Univer-sity of Massachusetts, Amherst, andthen went to Japan to teach English.On Dec. 21, 1998, Nathan was hit by acar in Kawasaki, Japan. He suffered asevere brain injury and was in a comafor eight months in hospitals in Tokyoand Boston. After more than sevenyears of recovery, Nathan now volun-teers as a teacher’s helper in a localspecial needs elementary school. “Hehas full long-term memory of his col-lege days and wants to teach again.His dream is still alive!” reports hismom, Vicki Carr. “Nathan has someshort-term memory loss and is in awheelchair, but his will to live a full,productive life again is very strong!”
LAURENCE KALDOR (M.A.)made his debut as a director with theindependent film, Redirecting Eddie,which also marks the productiondebut of his Kaliber Films label. Thefilm, about a novice director who mustovercome numerous hurdles to finishhis project, participated in the 2007American Film Market in Santa Monica.Ironically, as a director, Kaldor had toovercome hurdles of his own as pro-duction on his New York-themed filmwas thrust into a six-year hiatus by theWorld Trade Center attacks.
MARIA (RAMOS) LaBELLE(B.A.) lives in Hermosa Beach, Calif.,with her husband, Robert, and their twochildren: daughter, Luna, 12, and son,Zidane, 9. “I am a full-time mommy, butstill manage to work a few jobs a year asa wardrobe stylist,”Maria says. This year,she and her son will both receive theirblack belts in Tae Kwon Do.
AMY MEAD (B.A.) teaches sixthgrade at Villa Academy in Seattle,where she lives with her 4-year-olddaughter, Sophia.
JASON ORLANDO (B.A.) lives inCosta Rica with his wife, Amy (Powell)’94, and their 3-year-old daughter,Sophie. Jason works for the U.S.Department of the Treasury. Their first
overseas assignment was in the formerSoviet Republic of Georgia from 2004to 2006. “Although we miss our friendsand family in the U.S.A., living abroadhas been a wonderfully enlighteningexperience,” Jason says. See story onpage 46.
DEB PRESSON (B.A.) marriedBrad Howard on July 21, 2007, inManhattan Beach, Calif. Two alumniwere in the wedding party: RobMcGarry and Eileen (Peaper) Krock.Other alumni guests included MarkDaquipa, Chris Stafford, Tanya(Lugliani) Stewart and Chad Stewart.Deb and Brad had an adventuroushoneymoon in Alaska. Brad is anaccountant, and Deb teaches Spanishat Peninsula High School in PalosVerdes, Calif.
LT. CMDR. KEVIN SCHULTZ(B.A.) graduated from the submarinecommand course and the commandleadership school in December 2006,then flew to England to meet his boattwo months into a six-month deploy-ment, in which they visited Plymouth,England; Rota, Spain; and Lisbon, Por-tugal. Kevin is the executive officer ofthe USS Minneapolis Saint Paul. Afterthe deployment, the ship changedports from Norfolk, Va., to Pearl Harbor,Hawaii, and along the way had a portof call in San Diego. “My wife, Amy, andour two boys — Brian, 6, and Greg, 3— just moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,and we’re getting used to the aloha-style of life,” he writes.
CYRIL VIDERGAR (B.A., J.D.’03) and his wife, Stephanie Beckord’95, have a daughter, Amelia, 2.Stephanie’s web design and graphicsdesign firm is in its fourth year andhas national clients such as L.A.’sMoondance Film Festival and organiconline retailer Vitamin Cottage. Cyrilis with a new law firm, White, Bean &Ankele, which concentrates on spe-cial district and land use law.
MATT “FUZZY” ZELLER (B.A.)has been in private family practice inLaguna Niguel/Mission Viejo, Calif.,for about four years. He and his wife,Diane, welcomed their first child, Eliz-abeth, in August 2007.
[ 1 9 9 5 ]NAOMI HAZELTON-GIAMBRONE (B.A.) writes, “I’m sohappy to have a view of the oceanevery day!” After graduation, Naomitraveled from Africa to Europe and
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2005. They welcomed a daughter, Lucia,in December 2005. Esteban teachescommunication studies at USD, and Alicia teaches communications at theUniversity of California, San Diego.
CHRISTOPHER MOORE (B.A.)and his wife, Julie, are busy raising twosons: Hayden, 1, and Bruce, 4. Chrisexpanded his production company,Blue Cactus Pictures, to Salt Lake City.USD alumnus Mike Greiner joined thecompany as executive vice presidentand runs the Salt Lake City office.
MATTHEW RUDAR (BBA) isowner and operator of two business-es, a screenmobile franchise, whichhe has run for 10 years in SouthOrange County, Calif., and PerfectPatios, a patio cover design and con-struction business using Alumawood.
KRISTEN (DEFAZIO) SCHMIDT(B.A.) is in her 11th year of teaching.She changed districts last year andchanged levels this year to middleschool for the first time. Kristen’s hus-band, Jason, received his bachelor’sdegree in December 2006 and hissommelier diploma in May 2007.They have a 2-year-old son; the familylives in Aurora, Colo.
DIANNE (RICHARDSON) SERIVA(B.Acc.) founded Beau Coup Cup-cakes with another stay-at-homemom in November 2005. They pro-vide cupcakes and pull-away cakesfor special occasions such as birthdayparties, baby showers, weddings andmore. The company’s Web site iswww.beaucoupcupcakes.com.Dianne and her husband, Edward,celebrated their 10th weddinganniversary in February 2007, andthey have two children, ages 8 and 5.“Life is good!” Dianne writes.
ANNE (HARBISON) WEBBER(B.A.) and her husband, Jason, wel-comed a son, Matthew Richard, on April5, 2006. Matthew joins Elise, 4, wholoves her new role as big sister. Anne isa consultant to the Huntington BeachCity School District in California, provid-ing inclusion support to teachers andstudents. Jason is busy running histhird-generation family business.
KATHERINE (STEWART)WILLIAMS (B.A.) and her husband,Dennis, were married in August 2002.They have two children: a daughterborn in 2004 and a son born in 2007.The family lives in New Jersey.
2005. They welcomed a daughter, Lucia,in December 2005. Esteban teachescommunication studies at USD, and Alicia teaches communications at theUniversity of California, San Diego.
CHRISTOPHER MOORE (B.A.)and his wife, Julie, are busy raising twosons: Hayden, 1, and Bruce, 4. Chrisexpanded his production company,Blue Cactus Pictures, to Salt Lake City.USD alumnus Mike Greiner joined thecompany as executive vice presidentand runs the Salt Lake City office.
MATTHEW RUDAR (BBA) isowner and operator of two business-es, a screenmobile franchise, whichhe has run for 10 years in SouthOrange County, Calif., and PerfectPatios, a patio cover design and con-struction business using Alumawood.
KRISTEN (DEFAZIO) SCHMIDT(B.A.) is in her 11th year of teaching.She changed districts last year andchanged levels this year to middleschool for the first time. Kristen’s hus-band, Jason, received his bachelor’sdegree in December 2006 and hissommelier diploma in May 2007.They have a 2-year-old son; the familylives in Aurora, Colo.
DIANNE (RICHARDSON) SERIVA(B.Acc.) founded Beau Coup Cup-cakes with another stay-at-homemom in November 2005. They pro-vide cupcakes and pull-away cakesfor special occasions such as birthdayparties, baby showers, weddings andmore. The company’s Web site iswww.beaucoupcupcakes.com.Dianne and her husband, Edward,celebrated their 10th weddinganniversary in February 2007, andthey have two children, ages 8 and 5.“Life is good!” Dianne writes.
ANNE (HARBISON) WEBBER(B.A.) and her husband, Jason, wel-comed a son, Matthew Richard, on April5, 2006. Matthew joins Elise, 4, wholoves her new role as big sister. Anne isa consultant to the Huntington BeachCity School District in California, provid-ing inclusion support to teachers andstudents. Jason is busy running histhird-generation family business.
KATHERINE (STEWART)WILLIAMS (B.A.) and her husband,Dennis, were married in August 2002.They have two children: a daughterborn in 2004 and a son born in 2007.The family lives in New Jersey.
moved back to the islands to pursue amaster’s degree in corporate commu-nications from Hawaii Pacific Universi-ty. She and her husband, Jamie, weremarried on Sept. 23, 2006, on theisland of Kauai. “We had an unforget-table and truly amazing honeymoon inbeautiful Thailand,” she says. Naomiand Jamie live on Oahu and are co-owners and publishers of three maga-zines: Pacific Edge Magazine, Ko OlinaLife & Style, and Hawaii Home andGarden. They also own Element MediaHI, a cutting-edge media design firm.
LISA HOEHLE (MBA) and BrianMartin proudly announce the birth oftheir daughter, Kayleigh Aerin, onNov. 30, 2007. Kayleigh weighed 8pounds, 9 ounces, and was 20 incheslong. She joins older brother,Johnathan, 3. The family lives inMount Pleasant, S.C.
KRYSLYNN (BRUMBAUGH) LAW(B.A.) and her husband, Matt, wel-comed a son, Kai Matthew, on May29, 2006. Kai joins big sister MayaVianne. The family lives in Carlsbad.
TINA-MARIE (MASSIMINI)LESKO (B.A.) and her husband,Christopher, have been happily mar-ried for three years, and they live inTustin, Calif.
AMY (PYLE) LITTLE (B.A.)expects to complete her emergencymedicine residency at Albany Medi-cal Center in June 2008. She and herhusband, Bill, are looking forward tomoving back to the West Coast.
MARK MAYNARD (B.A.) receiveda master’s degree in creative writing (fiction) from Antioch University in LosAngeles in December 2007. Mark lives inReno, Nev., with his wife and two sons.
GEORGE MONTOYA (B.A., M.A.’97) is program coordinator for children’s outpatient psychiatry atChildren’s Hospital in San Diego.
THERESA PETERSEN-BOZHOR(B.A.) writes, “I’ve been married tothe love of my life, Vadim, since 1998.We have two boys: Dimitrius andDominic. I am aspiring to make tutor-ing available to all students at allschools via Momentum Tutoring. Mygoal is raising people to their poten-tial, just as USD raised me to mine.”
MARY LOU STERR (M.Ed.) hasbeen working for the Internal Revenue
Service for more than five years and iscurrently in the collections department.
TINA (CROWLE) TEDESCO (B.A.)was promoted to executive producerof all media for News10 in Sacramen-to after a successful year of executiveproducing the inaugural programSacramento and Company. Tina andher husband, Chris, welcomed a second son in June 2007, DominickChristopher. “There were some scarymoments, but he’s a blessing,” writesTina. “He was born via emergency C-section. Our son, Michael Henry, is very proud of his little brother. I’dlove to reconnect with old friendsfrom USD!”
[ 1 9 9 6 ]TERENCE BANICH (B.A.) waselected to the partnership at Jenner& Block, a Chicago law firm, in Jan-uary 2007. He has practiced at thefirm since 1999.
SHANNON BILBRAY (B.A.) andher husband, Danny Axelrod, wel-comed their first child, Molly Ann, onValentine’s Day in 2007. The familylives in Las Vegas.
ELAINE (MILLIGAN) BLANKEN-SHIP (B.A., M.A. ’02) and herhusband, Todd, announce the birth oftwins, Kaelyn Cierra and Trey Thomas,on Aug. 5, 2007. Kaelyn and Trey joinolder sister, Emily, 3.
DANIELLE FERRARA (B.A.) is aninvestigator for the San Diego Coun-ty District Attorney’s Office. “My jobis exciting, fulfilling and extremelyrewarding,” she writes. In her sparetime, Danielle enjoys baking, goingto the shooting range, spendingtime with friends and watchingHGTV. She plans to continue hereducation in the law enforcementfield and in the meantime willattend Peace Officer Standards andTraining certification classes.
SEAN FLANNERY (BBA) and hiswife, Jodie (Dawson) ’96, welcomedtheir first baby, Jack Quinlin, on May20, 2007. The family lives in the Dallasarea, where Sean works for TexasInstruments and Jodie works for theCooper Clinic.
ALICIA KEMMITT (B.A.) and herpartner, Esteban del Rio ’95, bothdefended their doctoral dissertations incommunications at the University ofMassachusetts, Amherst, in the fall of
[ 1 9 9 7 ]JENNIFER (RAGAZZO)AHLUWALIA (B.A.) and her husband, Hardeep, were married onMarch 31, 2007, in Newport Beach, Calif.Jennifer and Hardeep met while Jen-nifer was in medical school at CreightonUniversity. USD alumni in the weddingparty included Jennifer Major, Mary AnnOlson-Russello, Ciara Murphy Byars, Roxana Nunez Story and Michael Story.Jennifer and Hardeep live in Durham,N.C., where she is an OB-GYN at theUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,and Hardeep has a vascular surgery fel-lowship at Duke.
ARA ANOSHIRAVANI (B.Acc.)and her husband, Shahram Sohrab,have two children, ages 1 and 3. Thefamily lives in Newport Coast, Calif.
COLLEEN (CRAWFORD) BOEHM(BBA) and her husband, Michael,celebrated the birth of their firstchild, Elizabeth Grace, in August2005. In June 2006, Colleen joinedThe Pampered Chef and in July 2007,she was promoted to director. “I lovebeing at home with our daughterwhile still contributing to our family’sfinances,” Colleen says.
GARY DEBORA (B.A.) and hiswife, LeAnne, welcomed a son, Jef-frey, into the world on Jan. 10, 2006.He joins older brother Jason “Jake,”who is 3. Gary is the assistant princi-pal at San Elijo Middle School.
ASHLEY (ADOLPH) FARRELL(BBA) and her husband, Travis ’98,have two sons, ages 2 and 5 months.Ashley is on the USD Alumni Boardand volunteers with the San DiegoJunior League.
PATRICK FERGUSON (J.D.)writes, “Last year, I ran for Clark Coun-ty district attorney (Las Vegas), butlost in the general election, havingbeen outspent more than 20-fold bythe incumbent, who won re-election.It was gratifying nonetheless to havereceived more than a quarter of amillion votes, representing over 45percent of the ballots cast, despitemy financial disadvantage.” Patrickwas promoted to senior deputy attor-ney general of the insurance fraudunit. Patrick and his wife, JeannieHug, have two children: Spencer, 4,and Sydney, almost 2.
ROBYN (KENYON) KAMMERER(B.A.) and her husband, Mark, wel-
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the Big Bang in Tempe, Ariz. Hereports that he works only threehours a day, entertains 400 people anight, is the center of attention andhas the best job in the world.
ERIN (BUCHANAN) GUNTHER(B.A.) and her husband, Scott, welcomed their second baby boy,Matthew, on March 20, 2007. Thefamily lives in Irvine, Calif.
DEBORAH HUTCHINSON (B.A.)had a first-authored paper publishedas a cover story in the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Sciences.Deborah is a postdoctoral researchassociate in the biological sciencesdepartment at Old Dominion Univer-sity in Norfolk, Va.
MATTHEW KNOTT (B.A.) and hiswife, Jamie, have been married for a year, and they live in San Diego.Matthew and Jamie welcomed a son, Evan Matthew, on Jan. 3, 2008.“When he was born, he came outkicking and screaming, ready to takeon the world,” Matthew says. “My wife and I are loving every minute ofbeing parents.” Matthew is finishing adual master’s and credentialing pro-gram to teach kindergarten throughgrade six. He also is a night bartenderdowntown at the House of Blues. “I expect our son is going to be bom-barded with information, having twoteachers as parents,” Matthew adds.
MATT MASLOWSKI (B.A.) and hiswife, Natalyne, were married on April21, 2007, in Kona, Hawaii. He is aregional sales manager for Mangia,an Italian food manufacturer andimporter. Naty is a paralegal for Ses-sions & Kimball, an employee rightsfirm. “We are loving married life andlooking forward to kids!” Matt says.
MICHELLE (DYE) MATTHIAS(B.A.) and her husband, Robert, wel-comed Alanna Rian on June 9, 2007.Alanna joins siblings Arland, 4, andAdreanne, 2. Michelle is an at-homemom in San Diego, and Robert is a lieu-tenant commander on the USS Boxer.
CHRISTINA (GRAVES) REMICK(B.A.) and her husband, Ryan,recently moved to Rancho Bernardo.They welcomed a son, Peyton, inMarch, who joins older sister, Isabel,3. Christina is a teacher in Mira Mesa.
SARA STRAUHAL (B.A.) complet-ed a master’s degree in community social
Estate provides sales, property man-agement and mortgage services.
LARA (MONTROSS) DREILING(B.A.) and her husband, Jeremy, areproud to announce the birth of theirfirst child, Jacob Jay, on April 11, 2007.The family lives in Centennial, Colo.
CARLA EDWARDS (M.A.) becamea grandmother with the birth ofThomas Alexander Edwards on Sept.10, 2007. Carla is an adjunct counselorwith Cuyamaca College and Southwest-ern College in the San Diego area.
JEFFREY HAUG (BBA) is a busi-ness banking officer for Anchor Bankin St. Paul, Minn. In 2006, he complet-ed his MBA at the University of St.Thomas in St. Paul. His wife, Deana(Fahy) ’98, earned a master’s degreein education and is a second-gradeteacher. Deana and Jeffrey have twosons, Ethan and Andrew.
CAMERON HOOVER (B.Acc.) andhis wife, Jennifer, celebrated the birthof their first child, Caiden Jonathan.The family lives in Irvine.
KAREY (WEBBER) JACQUES(B.A.), welcomed another son,Augustus, on April 25, 2007. Big brotherDrake is 3. “I truly enjoy being a mom,”Karey says. “We feel so blessed.”
DARCY (FARRELL) LEWIS (B.A.),her husband, Jon, and their daughter,Claire, welcomed a son and brother,J.T., in June 2007. Darcy teaches parttime in Huntington Beach, Calif.,where the family lives.
LINDSAY McAULIFFE-HUNDLEY(B.A.) and her husband, Jason, weremarried on July 17, 2005. They wel-comed a daughter, Mallory, on Jan. 20,2007. Lindsay has been teaching sec-ond grade in San Diego for five years.
CARRIE (SCHWARTZEL) O’DEA(BBA) and her husband, Chris, weremarried on July 16, 2005, and theylive in San Francisco.
AMY (WILLMON) REPETTI(B.A.) and her husband, Dominic’00, welcomed their second child,Luca Dominic, on Feb. 1, 2007. Theirdaughter, Gianna Bella, is 3. Dominicis a financial consultant for A.G.Edwards in San Diego and Amy is anindependent consultant for CAbiclothing. The family lives in Carlsbad.
JULIE SHEPHERD (B.A.) is a Ful-bright Exchange Teacher in Londonfor the 2007-08 school year.
TODD VANDERVORT (B.Acc.)sold his CPA business and returned toZimmer Corp. in Carlsbad as a man-ager of financial planning and analy-sis. Todd and his wife welcomed asecond daughter, Amber Brooke, onAug. 21, 2007. Amber joins older sis-ter Hannah, 4.
TRICIA (SPARKS) WALSH (BBA,M.Ed. ’01) and her husband, Dean,live happily in Newport Beach, Calif.Tricia teaches fourth grade and is thedistrict science coordinator. She wasnamed Teacher of the Year and isworking on her administrative cre-dential.
LAURA (SIDES) WOMBOLT(B.A.) and her husband, Brady, havetwo children: Elizabeth and Alexan-der. “Love to travel and visit all myfriends from USD!” Laura says.
[ 1 9 9 9 ]ANTHONY BANNISTER (BBA)teaches U.S. history at Whitney HighSchool in Rocklin, Calif. Anthony andhis wife, Amanda, were married inthe summer of 2006 in Carmel, Calif.Amanda is a language arts teacher atWhitney High.
GIBSEY (PENCE) BECKETT(B.A.) and her husband, Joshua, arepleased to announce the arrival oftheir second daughter, Ava Elizabeth,on Aug. 13, 2007. The family lives inMorro Bay, Calif.
KELLY (DAVIS) BROWN (BBA,M.A. ’04) and her husband, Travis,were married in Maui on June 22,2007. Kelly teaches seventh- andeighth-grade GATE language arts,drama and yoga classes to studentsat Rio Seco Junior High. Kelly recentlyfinished her fifth original folk album,Tribute. Kelly and Travis are veryproud of their beautiful home andthey hope to fill it up with childrenand the spirit of the Lord.
DAVID DUNLOP (B.A.) marriedMeghan O’Shaughnessy on June 27,2004, and their first child, AndrewDavid, was born on Dec. 12, 2006.David is the accounting manager foreEye Digital Security in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
JOHNNY GRECO (BBA) has a full-time job playing rock ‘n’ roll piano at
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comed Benjamin Graham O’Neill onJune 2, 2007. Ben weighed 6 pounds,8 ounces, and was 19 inches long.The family lives in Rowayton, Conn.Robyn is the director of communica-tions for Halstead Property, a residen-tial real estate firm.
SELINA (VALDIVIA) KNUDSON(B.Acc.) and her husband, Jeff ’97,moved to Columbus, Ohio, inNovember 2006 for a job opportunitywith Limited Brands for Jeff. The cou-ple has two daughters — Madelynn,6, and Alise, 4 — and Selina is a stay-at-home mom.
JAMES MALONEY (B.A., IMBA’00) and his wife, Brigid, celebrated thebirth of McKenna on Jan. 22, 2007. Thefamily lives in Tucson, Ariz.
DEBORAH MASTER (B.A.) mar-ried Edwin Medrano on Sept. 9, 2007.They live in Las Vegas, where Debo-rah is a veterinarian. She graduatedfrom the College of VeterinaryMedicine, Washington State Universi-ty, Pullman, in 2001. Deborah alsoserved in the Peace Corps in Ecuador.
AILEEN (YEREVANIAN)McKEEVER (BBA) and her husband,James, are proud to announce the birthof their first baby, Vincent, on June 3,2007. “Right now, I am loving being astay-at-home mom,”says Aileen.
KATHRYN (ROWE) SADA (BBA)and her husband, Jacob, welcomed ason, Andrew, on Jan. 26, 2007. “I’m work-ing part time and enjoying raising ourson,”says Kathryn.
JUSTINE WASSERMAN (B.A.)married Liz Grady in September 2007in Santa Fe, N.M. About a dozen USDalumni attended. Justine and Lizmoved to Stamford, Conn., whereJustin is a partner with Robert H.Schaffer & Associates, a managementconsulting firm, and Liz just beganher career as a clinical social worker.They plan to move to Denver in 2008.
KRISTINA (ZELLER) YANOVER(B.Acc.) and her husband, Scott,welcomed a daughter, Taylor Grace,on June 21, 2007. The family lives inMurrieta, Calif.
[ 1 9 9 8 ]MATTHEW CARMAZZI (BBA)opened his own real estate company,Carmazzi Real Estate, in Sacramentoin March of 2006. Carmazzi Real
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Jim runs their business, It’s a Grind, acoffeehouse in Little Italy.
JENNIFER REMENSPERGER(B.A.) is a small-animal veterinarianand joined Woodland Veterinary Hospi-tal in June 2007, treating dogs and cats.
SHELLEY ROWE-KRUSIC (B.A.)graduated from the California WesternSchool of Law in August 2007.
ANNE (SIMAS) SHAW (B.A.) is aspeech therapist at an elementaryschool in central California. She andher husband, Steven, have a 1-year-old son, Brett Joseph.
KJELLAUG STROOMER (B.A.)and Kevin Rowe ’02 were married onAug. 11, 2007, and they live in Seat-tle. Kevin is a project engineer for theRafn Company and Kjell teaches highschool English.
[ 2 0 0 1 ]CHRIS BOURNE (B.Acc.) marriedChristina Freeman at Auberge DuSoleil in Napa, Calif., in May 2007.Alumni groomsmen included JimFoley, Brendan Horgan, Mark Bradyand Kris Kalmbach. Chris andChristina live in San Francisco butplan to move to Sydney, Australia,where Chris will continue workingat Ernst & Young.
RYAN BUMGARNER (B.A.) ispresident of Shoreline Real Estate inAltadena, Calif.
VICTORIA BURNS (B.A.) teachesseventh-grade math in Atherton,Calif., and she loves every minute ofit. She recently bought a house inFremont, Calif., where she lives withher boyfriend and their three cats.
ANDREA LAIRD COLEMAN(BBA) and her husband, Jamey, weremarried on Aug. 4, 2007, in Coronado.They honeymooned in Jamaica and livein San Diego. Many USD friends attend-ed the wedding, including StephanieYoung, who was a bridesmaid.
ALISON COX (B.A.) recentlylaunched Ali Cox & Co., a marketingand events company in New York.Previously, Ali had successful stints asan Olympic rower and a fashion exec-utive at IMG.
CYNTHIA (WESTIN) CRIST(BSN, MSN ’02) is a nurse practi-tioner for an oncology private practice,
HEATHER CHAIX (B.A.) works forR.E. Chaix Associates Insurance Bro-kers in Irvine.
KELLY YI-YI CHANG (J.D.) mar-ried Scott Rickert in Las Vegas on Sept.8, 2007. They live in Los Angeles.
KRISTI DESUACIDO (B.A.) is ascience and math teacher at Ho‘alaSchool in Wahiawa, Hawaii, and wasawarded a grant from the Toyota Inter-national Teacher’s Program in CostaRica. One of 36 teachers selectednationally, Kristi will observe classes,interact with Costa Rican students andeducators, and explore environmentalprojects. Kristi has been active in theKaiaka Bay Watershed Project.
TONY GLENN (BBA) and Sarah(Cook) ’00 celebrated their five-yearanniversary, and they have two daugh-ters: Sydney, 2, and Ruby, 3 months.Tony is a firefighter/paramedic for Sacra-mento Metro Fire, and Sarah is lucky tostay home with their daughters.
RUDY GUEVARRA (B.A.) earned aPh.D. in history from the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara, in June 2007.He is a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fel-low in the Ethnic Studies Departmentat the University of California, Berkeley.
SHANE HELMICH (B.A.) wasnamed Teacher of the Year for his district in 2007. He is a seventh- andeighth-grade mathematics teacher at Olive Peirce Middle School in theRamona School District.
CHRISTINA HOLMES (MBA) andher husband, Adam ’01, have two chil-dren: Caroline, 5, and Hansel, 2. Adam, alieutenant colonel, completed his com-mand tour of VMGRT-253 in September2006 and is deployed to Iraq, while thefamily is stationed at Marine Corps AirStation Cherry Point in North Carolina.Chris volunteers as a Blue and Gold Offi-cer for the Naval Academy and servesother local philanthropic organizationsin Havelock, N.C.
JENNY NIELSEN (B.A.) is pursu-ing a Ph.D., specializing in nuclearnonproliferation policy, at the Univer-sity of Southampton in the UnitedKingdom.
KARI PARKER (M.A.) and her hus-band, Jim, celebrated their 10-yearanniversary. They have two children:Logan, 5, and Emma, 3. Kari is a coun-selor at San Diego Mesa College, and
IMA Management in San Diego. Shealso teaches in the nursing depart-ment at Grossmont College, is on thespeakers bureau for Genentech, and isan advanced practice nurse at ScrippsMercy Hospital. Cindy and her hus-band, Parker, have two children: Con-nor, 4, and Jackson, 3.
KATHRYN FELICE (J.D.) acceptedthe position of counsel at ABC Inc., asubsidiary of The Walt Disney Co.
ADALID GARCIA (B.A.) marriedCarolina Vargas ’02. They welcomed a son, Aidan, on Aug. 30, 2007.
ANNA (GROBE) HJORTH (B.A.)completed her master’s degree inpublic health from the University ofSouthern California in May 2007.Anna and her husband welcomed ason, Noah Gerald, on Dec. 8, 2007.Noah weighed 9 pounds, 1 ounce,and was 21 inches long.
ROBYN HODGES-RITTER (B.A.)and her husband, Dan ’00, were mar-ried on June 16, 2007, in Kansas City,Kan. USD alumni in the weddingparty included Lucas Smart, DeannaWalcott, D.J. Walcott, Katie McCand-less, Bess (Hodges) Inzeo, SeanMcCarney, Matt Hawkins and XavierBarnett. Robyn completed a doctor-ate in psychology at Forest Instituteand is a clinical psychologist for theKansas Department of Corrections.Dan earned a master’s degree in edu-cation from Avila College and is ahigh school business teacher andfootball coach for the Blue ValleySchool District in Overland Park, Kan.
SISTER SHARON MCGUIRE(Ph.D.) and fellow alumna KateMartin had an article, FracturedMigrant Families: Paradoxes of Hopeand Devastation, published in theJuly-September issue of Family andCommunity Health.
RORY OLSEN (B.A.) relocated tothe Los Angeles area after spendingthree years living and working inremote Aboriginal communities inAustralia.
MONICA ORTIZ (B.A.) works atthe U.S. Department of State in Wash-ington, D.C. Previously, she workedon the 2004 presidential election.
KIPLEY PERELES (BBA) is a prod-uct manager for Nicholas-ApplegateCapital Management and plans to
psychology and continues to work inhigher education as assistant director forstudent and staff development.
ALISON (BALES) TAYLOR (B.A.)and her husband, Derek, live in RollingHills Estates, Calif., with their four boysand their newest addition. The familywelcomed a daughter and sister,McKenna Grace, on Sept. 11, 2007. Sheweighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and was19-1/2 inches long. “After having fourboys in the family, there was pure joyand excitement felt by all when thefirst girl was born!” Ali says. “She is veryloved and especially protected by allher older brothers!”
KRISTINA (ROJO) TIMMONS(B.A.) and her husband, Ché, weremarried on Nov. 28, 2006. Together,they have three children: Sachi, 12;Aaron, 7; and Keir, born on March 24,2007. “We are enjoying our kids andeach other,” Kristina says.
JENNIFER TYSOR (B.A.) marriedTodd McIntosh on Nov. 10, 2007, andthey honeymooned in Cabo San Lucas,Mexico. Jennifer is a first-grade teacher,and Todd is a high school teacher.
[ 2 0 0 0 ]SCOTT BERGEN (B.A.) and hiswife, Nicole (Angle) ’02, celebratedtheir second wedding anniversaryand recently went on a road trip tothe Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zionnational parks as well as five otherparks in the Southwest. “Nicole evencamped outside at the Grand Cany-on!” Scott says. Nicole and Scott livein North Hollywood, where Nicole is the director of research for KCBS/KCAL TV, and Scott has retired fromteaching to pursue a career in sportswriting and broadcasting at CBS andVootage.com.
SARAH (FURAR) BURNS (B.A.)and her husband, Greg, welcomedtheir second child, Leah Marley Gray,on Sept. 28, 2007. The family lives onthe island of Maui.
NANIQUE (JIMENEZ) CASTRO(BBA) and her husband, Robert,were blessed with their first child,Nathan Robert, on Sept. 13, 2006. “He is our everything,” Nanique says.Nanique is a business analyst withAmerican Funds in Brea, Calif.
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ANDREW GANSE (B.A.) was a student-teacher in Poway in the fall of2003 and worked as a junior high lan-guage arts teacher at St. Rita’s CatholicSchool in 2004. From 2005 to 2007, hewas the seventh-grade homeroomteacher and eighth-grade algebra Iteacher at St. Didacus Parish School inNormal Heights. While at St. Didacus,Andrew earned his master’s degree ineducation at Point Loma NazareneUniversity. He writes, “On Aug. 25, 2007,I got married to the most beautifulwoman in the world and precious giftfrom God, Christine Corrigan, at St.Francis of Assisi church in Manhattan,N.Y. We are happily married and nowlive in Bangor, Maine.”
TYLER JOHNSON (B.A.) graduat-ed from dental school at Loma LindaUniversity and is a first-year residentin anesthesia at Loma Linda Universi-ty Medical Center.
CHERYL KURTZ (M.S.) has beenworking at the Space and Naval War-fare Systems Center in San Diego for10 years. Her biggest projects havebeen sinking retired ships as artificialreefs, writing environmental compli-ance documents and assessing theeco-risk of abandoned equipment.Cheryl spends her free time raisingmoney for breast cancer research inmemory of her mother, GeraldineKurtz, who died in April 2006.
MOLLY GARAHAN (B.A.) isstudying school counseling and living in San Francisco.
JENNY MEYER (B.A.) graduatedwith a pharmacology degree fromthe University of Colorado and is anexecutive pharmacist with Target.Jenny lives in Denver.
BLAIR FISHER MULVIHILL(B.A.) and Travis Bode were marriedon Sept. 29, 2007, at the Cathedral ofthe Annunciation in Stockton, Calif.The newlyweds honeymooned onHayman Island and in Sydney, Aus-tralia. Blair is an account manager forKineticom Inc., and Travis is stationedin Washington, D.C., finishing his mas-ter’s degree in international affairs.Blair and Travis live in Alexandria, Va.
KALEIGH ROBINSON (B.A.) wasin northeastern Brazil on a summer fel-lowship and is now working toward aPh.D. in international development atTulane University in New Orleans.
SARA CHIOCCA (B.A.) graduatedfrom Arcadia University in Glenside,Pa., with a doctor of physical therapydegree in February 2008, and thenmoved to Nashville to work. She alsospent two weeks doing pro bonophysical therapy at a clinic in Zacapa,Guatemala.
SIMONA CONSTANTINESCU(B.A.) has been a staff attorney for theSan Diego County Superior Court sinceMay 2006. “It’s wonderful!”she says.
MATTHEW DIGESTI (BBA) graduated from law school in 2005and recently opened a law firm,Heintz, Robyn & Digesti, in San Diego.The firm handles civil litigation, busi-ness law, and sports and entertain-ment representation. The firm’s Website is www.hrdlaw.com.
REBECCA (MILLEA) FABOZZI(B.A.) and her husband, Jacob, weremarried on July 23, 2005, at FoundersChapel. They moved to RiversideCounty, Calif., where they both teachat the middle school level.
BRITA HULST (B.A.) served as aPeace Corps volunteer in BurkinaFaso, West Africa. In June 2007, shereceived her master’s degree inschool psychology at the Universityof Washington. Brita lives in Seattleand works in a nearby school district.
BARBARA (CORCEGA) ILIZALI-TURRI (B.A.) is a professional trans-lator and interpreter, working parttime for the San Diego Unified SchoolDistrict. She also works as an inter-preter for companies and prepareswritten translations for clients on spe-cial projects, including the film OceanOasis, the museum exhibit Return tothe Sea of Cortez, and the books AirQuality in the Mexico Megacity, Wherethe Earth Breathes and Giants are Born,and Oasis of Stone.
PRENTICE LECLAIR (B.A.) hasbeen living for the past four years inBuenos Aires, Argentina, where he start-ed a small business development groupfor Argentine clients and Europeanclients working in Argentina. He recentlyreturned to San Diego to pursue hisdream of teaching at the university leveland is looking for grad schools.
KAY (OLSON) NORTON (B.A.)retired from USD’s registrar’s office inApril 2005. She has traveled to Italy,Greece, the Netherlands, France, Bel-
gium, Luxembourg and Germany.Kay goes to Minnesota once a year,and she volunteers at Mission TrailsRegional Park once a week.
ROGER PEREZ (B.A.) and DeirdreCrampton were married in San Diegoon Aug. 25, 2007. The couple spenttheir honeymoon in Koh Samui, Thai-land. Roger is completing his doctor-ate in clinical psychology from theUniversity of Texas Southwestern Med-ical Center. Deirdre is a portfolio ana-lyst for a global real estate investmentfirm. They live in San Clemente, Calif.
BRETT PETERSON (M.A.) wasnamed principal of High Tech High inSan Diego. He also earned a secondmaster’s degree.
KRISTIN (NOCITA) ROBLEE(BBA) and her husband, Michael,welcomed their first baby, DaneEdward, on May 29, 2007. Daneweighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces, andwas 21 inches long. The family livesin Monrovia, Calif.
CONOR SAMMARTIN (B.A.) waspromoted to director of athlete mar-keting for Priority Sports & Entertain-ment in Chicago.
RICHARD WILLIAMSON (B.A.)and Tiffany (Ardell) ’03 celebrated thebirth of their son, John Derby, onSept. 9, 2007.
[ 2 0 0 3 ]BRIAN BURNS (B.A.) is in his thirdyear at Thomas Jefferson School ofLaw and is interning in the San Diegopublic defender’s office.
KRISTIN (EDELHAUSER) CHESS-MAN (B.A.) married her husband,Ryan, on Aug. 25, 2007, in DanaPoint. Alumni in attendance includedMarissa Burnett, Erin Gabriel, Jenn(Torio) Marquis, Dom Marquis, Erika(Sharp) Powers and Ben Powers.Kristin is a staff writer for Entrepre-neur.com, and the couple lives inIrvine.
AMIE (GARCIA) CORT (BBA) andher husband, Ryan, were married onAug. 4, 2007, in the San Francisco BayArea. They honeymooned in Fiji andlive in Dublin, Calif., with their twodogs, Bella and Bloo.
TIFFANY ROBERTS FISHER(B.A.) is a full-time animal care spe-cialist at SeaWorld.
pursue an MBA soon. She hopes toattend graduate school at USD, as itis her first love. In her free time, Kip-ley enjoys running, going to thebeach and traveling to the Bahamas,where her family has a home-away-from-home. Kipley’s fiancé, RichardMolina, started a wireless-sensingtechnology business, Senseless.
VERONICA SAYDAK (B.A.) is thehead of the English department at aprivate school in Solana Beach. Shecontinues to travel and recentlyreturned from an adventure throughColombia.
LINDSAY SHALLER (B.A.) marriedWilliam Hayden on March 10, 2007, inPasadena, and they honeymooned inthe Caribbean. Lindsay is a real estateagent at Sotheby’s International Realtyin Pasadena. William is regional directorof development/leasing at MajesticRealty Co. in the City of Industry.
[ 2 0 0 2 ]TARA ARDALAN (B.A.) works onher parents’ horse ranch, Caspian Sta-bles, in Valley Center, Calif. Tara rides,competes and trains horses for showjumping, and imports and sells hors-es from Europe. “My job allows me totravel all over the world,” she says.“I’m very lucky that my job is my pas-sion. I still keep in touch with my USDfriends and attended Harry Mooreand Pilar Mendoza’s wedding thisyear!” (See story on page 39.)
MELISSA (KALLAS) BARANIC(B.A.) and her husband, Patrick,were married in May 2005 and theylive in San Pedro, Calif. Melissa hasbeen teaching in Inglewood, Calif.,for five years.
LARA BOLLINGER (B.A.) is anaval officer, commissioned in 2002 atUSD’s NROTC unit. She is a publicaffairs officer in the Navy Chief of Infor-mation Office at the Pentagon. Shespent five years stationed on ships outof Norfolk, Va., and Yokosuka, Japan.“Now I am having the time of my life,applying what I studied in college inthe realm of military public affairs,” shesays. Lara works with national journal-ists and reporters daily, providinginformation on Navy stories via print,Internet and television media.
YVETTE CANABA (B.A.) is in theSchool of Podiatric Medicine at Tem-ple University in Philadelphia.
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U S D M AG A Z I N E4 6
ason Orlando ’94 was alwaysdrawn to an internationalcareer, but he figured over-
seas positions were limited tospies, CIA wonks and militaryfolks. There didn’t appear to be aplace for “budget nerds”like him.
But while working as deputydirector of budget formulation forthe District of Columbia, Jasondiscovered a niche: The U.S. Trea-sury has a division made for thosewho travel all over the world tocrunch numbers and dispensebottom-line advice to foreigngovernments that want help inimproving their financial systems.
Jason was delighted to havefinally found a way to work over-seas using his background andskills in budgeting and publicfinance. In 2004, he scored aninterview and within a month, hewas on a plane to Tbilisi, Georgia,the former Soviet republic south
of Russia, for a preliminary candi-date mission to see if he couldestablish a good working rapportwith the budget officers in theGeorgia Ministry of Finance.
“Before you go as an adviser,they send you in to see if you’rethe right fit,”Jason says. “There has to be good chemistry.”
That candidate mission was asuccess, and in November 2004he returned with his wife, Amy(Powell) ’94, for a two-year assign-ment to assist the government ofGeorgia as a U.S. Treasury residentadviser specializing in budget policy and management.
Moving from a Western cultureto the former Eastern Bloc wasdisorienting at first — from learn-ing the customs and language tonavigating daily life in a countrywith a rocky infrastructure andspotty power and heat.
In the midst of these changes,
Jason and Amy were preparingfor another new chapter; daugh-ter Sophie was born just as theywere getting settled.
The Georgia assignment wasfollowed by the family’s currenttwo-year assignment in CostaRica, where Jason’s minor in Span-ish has come in handy. In bothoverseas assignments, Jason sayshe hit a political sweet spot inwhich the governments had justchanged power and the offices heworked in were ripe for change.Even so, in order to help his coun-terparts strengthen their budgetpolicies and procedures, he has tofirst earn their confidence.
“We probably spend a third ofour time as teachers, a third of ourtime as advisers and a third of ourtime actually doing the work,”heexplains. “You have to have a con-nection. It’s hard to be effective ifpeople don’t like you.”
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BUDGETS WITHOUT BORDERSS p a n n i n g t h e g l o b e , c r u n c h i n g n u m b e r s by Trisha J. Ratledge
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KATIE (LEBENS) SAGRERO(B.A.) and her husband, Miguel ’00,welcomed their second child, Mag-dalena Michelle, on May 20, 2007. TheSagreros live in Los Angeles, where Katieis a doctor and Miguel is a therapist.
MEAGAN (TINKER) SANTOS(B.A.) and her husband, Ricardo,welcomed a son, Nathan Grey, onOct. 21, 2006. The family lives inRedondo Beach, Calif.
LINDSEY SMITH (B.Acc.) is partof the senior housing services groupat CB Richard Ellis, focusing oninvestment sales of senior housingfacilities and portfolios. She also hasher own business, marketing bou-tique wines. Lindsey writes, “I live indowntown San Diego and love it!Great place to live, work and play.” Inthe past year, Lindsey has visitedeight countries. She also enjoysscrapbooking, knitting, cooking,practicing Bikram yoga and playingon a social dodge ball team. Lindseyis the co-chair for the AmericanCancer Society’s Downtown SanDiego Relay for Life and raised morethan $12,000 at last year’s event.
ERIN (BETTINGEN) SORENSON(B.A.) and her husband, Eric ’01, weremarried in May 2007 and honey-mooned in Belize. They live in LaderaRanch, Calif., with their dog, Cosmo.Erin earned a second degree in interiordesign and owns a successful designand event business. Erin and Ericplanned to celebrate their firstanniversary with a trip to Europe.
RYAN STACK (B.A., J.D. ’06) andHeather (Barnes) ’04 moved to ParkCity, Utah, in May 2006. Ryan passedthe Utah state bar exam in October2006 and is an associate city prosecu-tor for Salt Lake City. Heather is in thesecond year of a two-year program tobecome a certified sign languageinterpreter.
[ 2 0 0 4 ]SHAHAB ARIANNEJAD (B.A.)completed a master’s degree in bio-medical sciences at Barry Universityin Miami Shores, Fla., in 2006. He isworking toward a doctor of dentalmedicine degree at Nova Southeast-ern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
KATIUSCIA IACOBELLI (B.A.)has been selling real estate since grad-uation and traveling whenever she hasa spare moment. “I recently moved
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[ 2 0 0 6 ]TOMMY FEITER (J.D.) is in his sec-ond year as assistant state attorney inOrlando, Fla., and is a member of theFlorida State Bar. He has first-chairedmore than 30 jury trials to verdict.
[ 2 0 0 7 ]CHRIS BERG (B.Acc.) won the 18-24 age group at the Nautica Mal-ibu Triathlon, held on Sept. 16, 2007,at Zuma Beach in Malibu. In May2007, Chris finished fourth in the SanDiego International Triathlon. Chris isa tax associate at CBIZ AccountingTax and Advisory of San Diego. Chrisand his dad, Tony, participated in theNautica Malibu Triathlon togetherand raised a combined $8,000 forChildren’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
LT. CHRISTIAN J. HESCOCK(B.A. ’02) was killed in the line ofduty on Sept. 24, 2007.
NED WILLIAMSON (MBA ’97)passed away on July 13, 2006. He isdearly missed.
E-mail your new address to [email protected], or mail it to: Universityof San Diego, Advancement Services,5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego CA 92110
Send class notes to one of the follow-ing addresses and we’ll get them in USD Magazine as soon as possible.Class notes may be edited for space.Engagements, pregnancies, personal e-mail addresses and telephone numbers cannot be published.
E-mail: [email protected] site: www.sandiego.edu/usdmagU.S. Mail: USD Magazine Class Notes,University of San Diego, Department of University Communications,University of San Diego, 5998 AlcaláPark, San Diego, CA 92110
Please note that Class Notes submitted after May 1, 2008 will appear in the Spring 2009issue of USD Magazine.
DANIELLE MACERANKA (B.A.)is an event coordinator at Il Fornaioon Coronado Island.
THOMAS MANTIONE (B.Acc.)studied abroad in the USD Guadala-jara summer program in 2005 andjoined Ernst and Young in the fall of2005. He became a certified publicaccountant in 2007 and also trainedas a liturgical minister at Good Shep-herd Parish in San Diego. Thomasrecently took an 18-day trip throughScotland and England, and is aChargers season ticket holder.
MARIA MASALUNGA (B.A.) isthe broadcast producer at the NerlandAgency, an advertising and publicrelations agency in Anchorage, Alaska.
TARA O’LEARY (B.A.) lives inNapa Valley and works as a chemist atETS Laboratories, a wine analysis lab.
JON SAMPSON (MFA) and Jen-nifer Stewart ’04 were married in LaJolla on Dec. 18, 2005, and thenmoved to New York City. Jen taughttheater courses for various programsand colleges, and Jon signed with anagency and landed two commercials,played Curly in Of Mice and Men atthe Repertory Theatre of St. Louis,and played two scenes opposite KateWinslet in Revolutionary Road, a filmscheduled to open in December2008. “We missed the West Coast,however, and I decided to pursue mytrue passion of information technolo-gy,” Jon says. Jon and Jen have settledin Bakersfield, Calif., where Jon ismanager of information technologyfor Klassen Corp., and Jen is a profes-sor of theater for Bakersfield College.
KATHLEEN SULLIVAN (B.A.)joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corpsafter graduation and worked forCenter City Churches, a nonprofitorganization in Hartford, Conn. Shethen joined the JVC Magis programwith Loyola University in Chicago.Kathleen is working toward a mas-ter’s degree in pastoral studies andworks for the Ignation SpiritualityProject, a small nonprofit that runsretreats for homeless men andwomen in recovery.
SONYA WILSON (BBA) is presidentof the San Diego alumni chapter of BetaGamma Sigma, a national businesshonor society. The chapter has launchedwww.bgssandiego.org, a resource forBGS members in San Diego.
back from living in beautiful Italy for a year — my fabulous home country!”
CLAIRE (SCHIELD) LAWYER(B.A.) and her husband, Adam, wel-comed a son on May 5, 2006. Claire is working toward a master’s degreein secondary education and a single-subject teaching credential in history.The family lives in Pasadena.
NICOLE MONDELLO (B.A., MAT’06) became the first civilian femaleinstructor to teach a community col-lege level course — world civiliza-tions — aboard a deployed CoastGuard cutter (USCGS Munro) inSeptember 2006. She left on a sec-ond trip in December 2006 on USCGCMorgenthau and returned in Febru-ary 2007. Nicole still teaches for Vin-cennes University as an adjunct his-tory professor and works at CoastGuard Station San Diego as well asNorth Island Naval Base.
ARNULFO MORGA (MBA) waspromoted to vice president and man-ager of the North Park financial cen-ter for Washington Mutual. He andhis wife, Georgina, welcomed adaughter, Carissa, on Dec. 7, 2007.Carissa weighed 7 pounds, 11ounces, and was 18 inches long.
JERI RICHARDSON (BBA) is a realestate agent in the San Francisco BayArea. In March 2007, she underwentbrain surgery at Stanford Hospital and isnearing the completion of her recovery.She recently started back to work.
MONICA SANTANA (B.A.) is analgebra teacher in San Bernardino, Calif.
JOSEPH SEPULVEDA (MSSC)received his ASQ certifications as acertified quality engineer and certi-fied manager of quality for organiza-tional excellence. Joseph works forRaytheon in Dallas.
RYAN SWARTZ (BBA) graduatedcum laude from Whittier Law Schoolin July 2007 and is preparing to takethe California and Arizona bar exams.Ryan lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
MATTHEW VAN HOUTEN (B.A.)is working toward an MBA in entre-preneurship and real estate at BaruchCollege in New York City. Matthew isan event planner with MTV Networks,where he has worked since he gradu-ated from USD. (See story on page 33.)
TREVOR WARE (BBA) is anaccount executive with AccreditedHome Lenders in San Diego. In hisfree time, he enjoys traveling, skim-boarding, golfing and playing tennis.
[ 2 0 0 5 ]JENNIFER (HYDE) ATKINS(B.A.) and her husband, Nicholas,were married on Dec. 30, 2007.Nicholas is with the U.S. Army SpecialForces, and the couple is stationed inStuttgart, Germany.
SCOTT BURCAR (BBA) andMelody Morsaint ’04 were married onApril 14, 2007, at The Immaculata.Family, friends and Scott’s USD soccerteammates were present. A receptionwas also held in Scott’s hometown ofGraham, Wash., in July 2007. Scott isa mortgage loan officer for UnionFidelity Mortgage in La Jolla. Melodyis a certified public accountant forDeloitte and Touche. Scott continuesto kick the soccer ball around a bit.
LINDSAY GERBER (B.A.) is afounder and the chief executive offi-cer of Temple Treasures DesignerStaging, an interior design/homestaging company in San Francisco. “I am enjoying the experience of hav-ing my own business and all of theopportunities this has given me,”Lindsay says. After graduation, Lind-say traveled to Africa, where sheclimbed Mount Kilimanjaro, andjourneyed throughout Europe.
HEATHER HILL (B.A.) earned amaster’s degree in mass communica-tion and media studies from SanDiego State University in May 2007.While at SDSU, Heather was areporter for Full Focus on KPBS.Heather is now back at USD teachingpublic speaking for the Communica-tion Studies Department.
STEPHANIE HOWE (B.A.) com-pleted her Teach for America com-mitment and her master’s degree inJune 2007. She moved back to Cali-fornia and is teaching at a small char-ter school and applying for EnglishPh.D. programs.
PATRICIA LAVOIRE (M.Ed.) con-tinued her education in early childhoodspecial education and now works in thefield in El Cajon. “I enjoy spending timewith my husband, my children andthree new grandchildren, attendingPadres games and working on homeprojects,”Patricia says.
In Memoriam
Send Class Notes
Have You Moved?
[ r e u n i o n r e m i n d e r ] S U M M E R 2 0 0 8
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FIVE DEGREES OF GRADUATION It’s been four years since we met ourFab Five, and now the quintet is graduating. Clockwise from front: MarcoMartinez plans to launch his own business; Kendra Hofmann-Curry will beworking on her masters in education; Carmen Gonzalez hopes to beginteaching at the high school level this fall; Matt Rutz is on track to attendmedical school; and as she planned from day one, Brianne Butler is off todental school. We’ll keep you posted as to where they wind up next.
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