Holy Family University Magazine - Fall 2010

Healing the hurt and homeless in Haiti

Walking with Saints

fall 2010 University Magazine

HOLY FAMILY UNIVERSITY

Giving Through Your Will

You can set aside a specific dollar amount, leave a percentage of your estate, or leave assets left over after providing for your family. Or you can leave financial investments, such as stocks, bonds, or CDs. These gifts may provide tax savings.

Giving Through Life Insurance

By designating Holy Family as the beneficiary of life insurance or by giving the University a paid-up policy, you can provide a significant gift while reserving other assets for other purposes. You also may receive tax benefits.

Legacy gifts are easy to arrange, will not alter your current lifestyle, and can be easily modified to address changed circumstances or needs. For more

information on legacy giving, contact

Bob Wetzel at [email protected]

or 267-341-3428.

“My parents absolutely loved Holy Family. When the

college first opened in 1954, they encouraged me to enroll.

They have since passed on, but they left me a life insurance

policy, which I gave to the University on the occasion of

their 75th wedding anniversary. I, like my parents before

me, want Holy Family to continue providing opportunities

for students to learn and lead meaningful lives.”

MarY GIndHarT ’59

Leaving a gift to Holy Family University

through your will or life insurance policy

allows you to make a meaningful contribution

to the next generation of students, yet costs

you nothing today.

HOpEKNOwLEdgEOppORTUNITIES

LegacyCREATE A LASTINg

[email protected]

In this issue

FALL 2010 1

contents

18Playing for Laughs

Forty years after doctors said he wouldn’t live past his 30s, comedian Tim Grill ’05 is

lighting up the stage and keeping audiences in hysterics throughout the Delaware Valley.

By Richard Rys

24Prison BossAs head of the Philadelphia Prison System’s correctional industries, Eleanor Simpson Doherty ’81 provides incarcerated men and women with real-life job skills and alternatives to a life of crime. By Kristen A. Graham

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34The Tigers Turn 25

From moving into the Campus Center to joining the NCAA’s Division II, Holy Family

Athletics have come a long way, baby.By Steve Lienert

cover Photo by Thony Belizaire/GettyImages

2 FirstWord A message from the President

4 BrieFlyNoted Out and about on campus

32 1000Words A visual slice of life

at Holy Family

39 tigertales Reports from the court, track,

and field

40 FamilyreuNioN News for the alumni community

44 memorylaNe A nostalgic trip back in time

46 givingBack Making a difference on campus

48 lastWord Q&A with Bruce Boxer M’07,

co-author of the new book Creative Solutions to Enhance Nursing Quality

DePArtMents

FeAtUres

10Walking with SaintsSeven days after a massive earthquake shook Haiti to its very core, emergency room physician Keith Lafferty, MD ’89 boarded a plane bound for the devastated country and an experience that would indelibly change his life. By Barbara Link

holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine

A message from the President

FALL 20102

FirstworD

In many ways, the Holy Family University experience is one of constant evolution. There are countless ways to catalog how we have changed over the years: from

a locally oriented commuter college to a comprehensive university offering modern res-idence halls; from a single building to a thriving campus complex and three suburban

sites; from no intercollegiate athletics presence to a competitive Division II program.

Speaking clearly and cogently about these changes is vital, for if we cannot define ourselves with precision and clarity, we cannot expect others to do so. During these competitive times in higher education, allowing outdated perceptions to remain unchallenged can lead only to failure.

That is why Holy Family is presently engaged in a reposition-ing and rebranding process. Probing deeply into who we are and what we stand for, and then communicating that to all of our constituencies, is the best way to ensure that the most accurate description of the University is given to the public.

Thanks to this initiative, we are better positioned to articulate our identity than at any other time in our history. With renewed

confidence, we are communicating the essence of Holy Family University: + We are a faith-inspired, values-oriented community of thinkers

and problem solvers+ Our faculty and students act with purpose toward excellence and success+ We demand mastery in teaching and diligence in learning so that our graduates are

certain to achieve outcomes of professional influence and successFor proof about the quality of our graduates, you need look no further than the pages

of this issue of Holy Family University Magazine. Here you will read about Dr. Keith Lafferty ’89, who headed to Haiti to work in a field hospital after the earthquakes that devastated the impoverished country in January; about Tim Grill ’05, a comedian who incorporates his struggles with spina bifida into his act; and about Eleanor Doherty ’81, who oversees Philacor, the Philadelphia Prison System’s correctional industries, which prepares inmates for post-release life by equipping them with transferable job skills and positive work ethics.

One of the greatest things about Holy Family is that alumni such as Keith, Tim, and Eleanor are not exceptions. On the contrary, they are wonderfully representative ex-amples of our graduates. In other words, they are like you—men and women prepared to lead with passion and wisdom, mercy and insight, throughout the world, wherever there is a need. Holy Family is indeed proud of all its alumni!

God bless you and your families.

Sincerely,

Sister Francesca Onley, CSFN, PhD ’59President

GreenchArtthese savings were achieved by the use of postconsumer recycled fiber for the cover and text pages of Holy Family University Magazine

Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator. For more information visit papercalculator.org.

27 trees

preserved for the future

10,549 gallonswaste- water flow

saved

1,173 pounds

solid waste not

generated

4,431 pounds

net greenhouse

gases prevented

13 million BTUsenergy

not consumed

Editor Jennifer Zamora

Art Director Jay soda

Contributing Writers thomas W. durso Paul Gornowski

kristen a. Graham Naomi Hall

suzanne libenson steve lienert Barbara link

Bob Macartney richard rys

kathy Warchol Marie Zecca

Contributing Artist daniel adel

Contributing Photographers susan Beard design Michael Branscom

Bob Macartney John Mckeith anne McNulty

kathleen Migliarese sabina louise Pierce

Current AwardscuPraP-the association

of communicators in educationFeature Article - Silver

Holy Family University Magazine is published biannually by the division of institutional advancement. Please address all correspondence to:

editorHoly Family university Magazine 9801 Frankford avenue Philadelphia, Pa 19114 [email protected]

the opinions and views expressed in Holy Family University Magazine do not necessarily reflect the official policies of Holy Family university. every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published information.

© 2010 Holy Family university

UnivErSiTy MAgAzinE

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BrieFlynoteD


“Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world,’” she told WPVI-TV. “I really want to see change in the world, especially for people with spinal cord injuries and paraplegics.” – Thomas W. Durso

Out and about on campus

FALL 20104

c hilly temperatures and daylong drizzle weren’t nearly enough

to dampen the spirits of Holy Family University’s Class of 2010, whose 800-plus members received their degrees in dual ceremonies held May 18 at the Kimmel Center, in Center City Philadelphia.

This year’s honorary degree re-cipients were John Prendergast, Cofounder of the Enough Project, a global initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity; Sister Janice Fulmer, CSFN, PhD, former Superior General of the Congrega-tion of Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth; and Timothy Flanagan,

Holy Family Sends Off the Class of 2010the visionary Founder and Chairman of the Catholic Lead-ership Institute, a nonprofit lay association of the faithful head-quartered in Wayne, Pennsylva-nia. Prendergast addressed the undergraduate commencement ceremony, held in the after-noon, while Flanagan spoke to graduate degree recipients at the morning gathering.

While the speakers delivered their insights with passion and eloquence, the most inspira-tional and moving moment came while students were receiving their degrees. Jisha Mathai, a Psychology major and student leader who had been wheelchair-bound since

an accident at age nine, used a walker to make her way across the stage and receive her diploma. That short jour-ney, the first time Mathai had walked in public since her injury, elicited a standing ovation from her classmates, the assembled faculty and administra-tion, and the audience who packed the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall.

After a combined 155 years of service to Holy Family, the following professors retire from the University: (left to right) Regina Hobaugh, PhD, Thomas Lombardi, PhD, Susan Miovech, PhD, Cathleen Jenner, PhD, S. Johanna Gedaka, SSJ, PhD, and Thomas Brown, MBA.

Jisha Mathai (above) walks in public for the first time since an accident at age nine left her wheelchair-bound. John Pendergrast (top left), Sister Janice Fulmer, CSFN, PhD (bottom left), and Timothy Flanagan (center) receive honorary degrees at Holy Family’s 53rd commencement ceremonies.

[email protected] FALL 2010 5

B eginning in September 2010, eligible students in the School of

Business Administration will have the option to complete an undergraduate degree in just three years.

The three-year program is open to students seeking a bachelor of arts in Business Administration with the following concentrations: Accounting, Computer Management Information Systems, Finance, International Business, Management-Marketing, and Sport Management-Marketing.

Holy Family is the first university in the city to offer an innovative three-year undergraduate degree that isn’t part of a five-year gradu-ate degree program. The University attracted national media attention in March when news of the program was announced in the Philadelphia

new Three-year Degree Option to Save Time, CostsInquirer, Inside Higher Education, and USA Today.

Students earning a degree through this option will pay the same yearly tuition as a typical business under-graduate but save one year of tuition, time, and room and board, less the cost of summer courses. The option requires students to carry 18 credits per semester and take 12 credits over two summers, enabling them to earn the required 120 credit hours of instruction for a baccalaureate degree a year earlier.

A personal advisor will work with three-year option students to help schedule classes and monitor their progress. Students must follow the three-year course sequence for the duration of the program.

The three-year option is suited for

First Doctoral Program in University History to Launch in 2011

holy Family will kick off the new year by adding a doctoral degree to its growing portfolio of graduate programs.

the new degree, a doctor of education in educational leadership and Professional studies, is a research-based program designed to develop innovative and ethical school and community leaders.

the four-year program will begin in January 2011 and initially enroll about 25 students. grace O’neill, EdD, currently the Graduate Pro-gram co-chair, will serve as acting Program director.

the commonwealth of Pennsylvania department of education ap-proved the 60-credit program in May 2010.

“We seek to foster candidates who can make significant contribu-tions to the field through applied research,” says Leonard Soroka, edD, school of education dean. “By emphasizing research, along with interdisciplinary studies and ethical decision making, our program is poised to become a regional leader in doctoral education studies.”

three fields of study will prepare students to work in schools, agen-cies, and universities. they include educational leadership, which will prepare candidates to assume positions as superintendents or princi-pals; literacy leadership, which will prepare candidates for leadership roles in the field of literacy within schools and at the university level; and professional studies in leadership, which will prepare candidates for leadership roles in focused areas such as special education.

the program is flexible and designed for working professionals. courses will be offered during the evening and summer sessions, and some online and weekend courses will be available. – Jennifer Zamora

highly motivated students, including transfers and returning veterans. Students who do not maintain a minimum grade point average will be transferred to the traditional four-year program. - Naomi Hall

holy Family University will open its newest location in Quaker-

town this fall. It will be one of two locations

hosting the University’s Accelerated Hybrid MBA program. Classes will be held inside the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott, located at 1930 John Fries Highway, just minutes from the Penn-sylvania Turnpike’s Quakertown exit.

Building on the University’s suc-cessful Accelerated MBA program, the hybrid format blends face-to-face classroom interaction with the convenience and flexibility of the online learning environment. Each eight-week course meets in the classroom one Saturday per month, with all other coursework conducted online. - Bob Macartney

Hybrid MBA Expands to new Quakertown Location

BrieFlynoteD



FALL 20106

Criminal Justice Professor Takes SAS reins

the new Dean of Holy Family’s School of Arts & Sci-ences (SAS) brings considerable familiarity to the role.

Michael W. Markowitz, PhD, was in his second stint as a University faculty member when he was tapped to replace Regina Hobaugh, PhD, who concluded more than four decades at Holy Family in June.

Dr. Markowitz taught Criminal Justice at Holy Family from 1991 to 1994 before departing for a variety of fac-ulty and administrative positions at Widener University and Cabrini College. He also held an American Council on Education fellowship at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He returned to the University as a Professor of Criminal Justice in 2009.

As Dean, Dr. Markowitz oversees faculty and curricula in a variety of disciplines, many of which are required educational components, regardless of a student’s major.

“Like the University, SAS is poised to begin a process of academic strengthening and growth—one that will further advance the mission of the institution and continue to meet the needs of our students in challenging and dynamic ways,” he says. “This is an ex-citing time for SAS, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

Dr. Markowitz holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Jus-tice from Richard Stockton State College, master’s degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Rutgers University and Temple University, respectively, and a doctorate in Sociology from Temple, where he focused on criminology and the sociology of education. – Thomas W. Durso

Folio, the University’s literary journal, celebrated the unveiling

of its 33rd edition in April during the annual Folio Night celebration at the Campus Center.

It was a bittersweet farewell for longtime Folio advisor Thomas Lombardi, PhD, Professor Emeritus, and his wife, Victoria P. Lombardi, a Lecturer at Holy Family. Dr. Lom-bardi retired from the University in May after 45 years of teaching in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Folio Night, which features writers and artists reading excerpts of their

Bittersweet Farewells Said at Folio nightoriginal work as it appears in the journal, was marked with somber yet inspirational reflections and a spirit of sincere gratitude. Former students and colleagues paid tribute to Dr. Lombardi by sharing per-sonal memories of him. Some simply thanked him.

“It is my hope that Folio’s new standard bearers will continue to be guided by the time-honored tradi-tions,” Dr. Lombardi said.

Folio is now advised by Associate Professor John Woznicki, PhD, Division Head of Humanities, Arts

and Communications. He served as the master of ceremonies.

Professor Patricia Michael, PhD, said, “For four decades Dr. Lombardi has made sure that the creative spirit and love of letters have played a central role in Holy Family life.”

Dr. Michael, also gave a special tribute to Nicole Schiavoni, Co-editor of Folio 33 alongside Meredith Kahn, MA.

Schiavoni battled serious illness, yet persevered through her studies and graduated with highest honors in December 2009. She was one of seven students among the December 2009 graduates to earn her under-graduate degree with the summa cum laude distinction.

“When I think of Nicole, I think of words like integrity, dignity, and decency,” Dr. Michael said.

A fellow student and friend, Susan Ewart, read two of Nicole’s works to the audience that evening.

Schiavoni died in June.Folio Night ended with Dr. Lom-

bardi and Dr. Woznicki leading a toast to the release of Folio 33, and the cutting of a celebratory cake for Dr. and Mrs. Lombardi. – Naomi HallSusan Ewart, Dr. Thomas Lombardi, and Rev. James Collins reminisce at Folio Night.


Professor Publishes Book of Literacy Lessons

l inking language arts lesson plans with literacy standards can be a challenge for time-strapped teachers. With the release of her

new book, Literacy Lessons K-8: Connecting Activities to Standards and Students to Communities, associate Professor of education Helen Hoffner, EdD, has made the task a bit easier.

Published by corwin Press in august 2010, the clear and concise book features classroom-ready lesson plans—complete with literature lists, directions, forms, assessments, and adaptations—that connect literacy learning with students’ lives and the community. it is intended to be a helpful resource for elementary teachers, group leaders, and those planning community events.

dr. Hoffner is the author of several education titles, including The Elementary Teacher’s Digital Toolbox, Writing and Reading Mysteries Grades 4-8, and A Look at Realistic Fiction. – Jennifer Zamora

the graduate student stood center-stage in the classroom dressed as

a half-ton Japanese sumo wrestler, waiting to give her lesson. Profes-sors sat behind aligned desks with evaluation documents before them, a scene reminiscent of the hit TV show “American Idol.”

But this wasn’t a contest or a variety show act. This was a graded project for the graduate education program.

“All of our graduate classes do interactive role play and look for con-nections between culture and other themes they’re teaching,” says Educa-tion Professor Lynn S. Orlando, EdD.

Education majors learn that inno-vation and creativity enable students to make connections among the top-ics they learn.

Dr. Orlando says that many gradu-ate education students are transition-ing into the teaching field from other careers. She encourages them to incorporate their knowledge outside of the classroom into the lessons they prepare for their future students.

From Sumo Wrestlers to yoga, grad Students Learn to innovate and integrate

A little piece of early 20th century history is tucked away on

Holy Family’s Northeast Philadelphia Campus—one of the few remaining markers dotting the Lincoln Highway.

Established in 1913, the Lincoln Highway is America’s first cross-country automobile road. On Septem-ber 1, 1928, it was officially marked and dedicated by groups of Boy Scouts, who placed approximately 3,000 concrete markers along the route to assure motorists that they were on the right road. The

One project she assigns is the alphabet project, in which students design an original language arts activ-ity that shows an understanding of visual literacy and uses the alphabet as a primary tool.

Graduate student Julie Martino, a certified yoga instructor, created a book called A Yoga Alphabet: A Story about Yoga, You, and the A, B, Cs.

She is seeking a publisher for it.“I was not going to write this book

Concrete Marker Tells Historical Talesigns carried the Lincoln Highway insignia, a bronze medallion (“This Highway Dedicated to Abraham Lincoln”) and a directional arrow.

The Lincoln Highway stretched from San Francisco to New York City, passing through Holy Family’s campus at modern day U.S. Route 13 (Frankford Avenue). The highway was a precursor to the interstate highway system established by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. – Jennifer Zamora

before Dr. Orlando assigned the alphabet project. Once I got into it, I was just so excited about it,” Martino says. – Naomi Hall

BrieFlynoteD



FALL 20108

the second installment of the 2010 Holy Family University-

Glen Foerd on the Delaware History Speaker Series took place on Friday, April 23. Dr. Kenneth Wolensky discussed the garment industry in the 20th century, emphasizing the main manufacturing centers of Philadelphia, Scranton, and the Lehigh Valley.

A large crowd attended the free event, which was held in the Educa-tion & Technology Center (ETC), to hear Dr. Wolensky tell about the struggle women garment workers faced as they tried to organize in rural Pennsylvania beginning in the 1930s.

A historian and the author of Fighting for the Union Label: The Women’s Garment Industry & the ILGWU in Pennsylvania, Dr. Wolensky serves as the Public History Program Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. – Bob Macartney

Speaker Series Touches on garment industry

reverend William J. Byron, SJ, PhD, former President of Catho-

lic University of America and the Uni-versity of Scranton, received the Holy Family University Presidential Award at the Presidential Award Dinner on Tuesday, May 25.

Father Byron entered the Society of Jesus in 1950 and became an ordained priest in 1961. He

noted Catholic Scholar receives Presidential Award

Expansion rejuvenates Tiger Café

Put aside previous notions about what constitutes “cafeteria food.” When students returned to campus this fall, a brand new food

service area greeted diners at the campus center’s tiger café. the expansion nearly doubled the size of the university’s main

dining hall, and new options reflecting the tastes and preferences of students and staff are on the menu. some highlights include:

a vegetarian station featuring whole grain pasta, tabbouleh, and couscous

a pizza/stromboli/calzone station an enhanced pasta station offered at lunch

and dinner an all-day breakfast grill with omelets made

to orderNew charbroil grill featuring favorites like

cheesesteaks, burgers, fries, and onion ringsNew soup offerings with gourmet breadsenhanced entrée and carving stationstwo new deli stations to replace the current onea panini grill deli two new areas for grab-and-go items like packaged sandwiches,

yogurt, and fresh fruit a new beverage bar featuring bottled and fountain optionsa coffee-shop-style stationFruit smoothiesa variety of fresh baked david’s cookies and the daily dessert

offering of cake and piesa soft-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt station with sundae bar

renovations began last May, and the remodeled café opened for service in august. the expansion was necessitated by year-over-year growth in the residence life Program. – Jennifer Zamora

holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Maryland, two mas-ter’s degrees from Woodstock College

in Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree, licentiate in phi-losophy, and master’s in economics from Saint Louis Univer-sity. He has authored 10 books, currently writes a bi-weekly syndicated column entitled “Looking Around” for the Cath-

As part of its commitment to eco-friendliness, Holy Family converts used cooking oil to bio-fuel for use at a local farm. Dining Services estimates that it converts more than 250 gal-lons per year.

WE rECyCLE

250gALLOnS PEr yEAr

+ Did you Know?

olic News Service, and is the author of the monthly “What Would You Like to Know?” feature for Catholic Digest. – Bob Macartney


ten students from the Accelerated Degree Program’s Global Seminar were among thousands of people

stranded overseas last April due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Led by Assistant Vice President of Extended Learning Philip Moore and Student Support Coordinator Maura McConney, the students left April 10 for an eight-day educational trip to London, where they took behind-the-scenes corporate tours and interviewed managers.

Their British Airways flight was scheduled to return Sunday, April 18, but was among the 95,000 flights can-celed after an Icelandic volcano began spewing ash into the air four days prior. European flights were grounded because of concern that the ash would harm jet engines. Honour Moore, Associate Vice President of Extended Learning, kept in touch with the group through e-mail. The University funded the extended hotel stay so the group had a safe place to sleep while they waited for a flight home.

The Intelligencer and The Philadelphia Inquirer covered the students’ plight.

the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), launched by the

School of Business Administration in September 2009, is nearing the halfway mark of its $20,000 goal. Thanks to generous donations and the hard work of the Business Executive Advisory Board, the fund has more than $8,000. An investment account was established with TD Ameritrade last year.

Once the account is funded at the $20,000 level, SMIF students will begin making decisions about how to invest the money. The $20,000 minimum will allow for investment diversification, so that students can see how some investments perform compared to others.

Cao Jiang, PhD, advisor for the group, wants to get the word out that the Student Managed Investment Fund is not just for business majors.

global Seminar Trip to London Hampered by Ash Cloud

Student Managed investment Fund Seeks Diversification of Funds, Majors

While monitoring their options for their return trip, the students visited Pictet Group, an international private banking and asset management firm based in Switzerland; LaBranche & Co Inc., a stock-trading operation; Commis-sion Junction, an online advertising and affiliate marketing company; and CNN International, the global division of the news network.

Flights resumed late Tuesday night, and the group returned home the evening of April 21.

Each year the Accelerated Degree Program offers the Global Seminar course, which is open to the program’s undergraduate and MBA students. – Bob Macartney

“We’re basically trying to get as many students involved as possible,” Dr. Jiang says. “Actually, if you take a look at a lot of people working on Wall Street, a lot of times their [academic] background is not in finance per se, but double majors like political science and arts.

“You have to have a broad knowl-edge. It’s not just about the stock market, but how to associate the knowledge you’ve learned and make a profitable endeavor,” Dr. Jiang says.

Finance majors and students in the Investment Club are automatically involved in the SMIF, which is open to all students.

Dr. Jiang says that he and Jan Duggar, PhD, Dean for the School of Business Administration, envision enough student participation for SMIF to organize committees that make investment recommenda-tions and an investment executive committee that would ultimately be responsible for SMIF investment decisions. – Naomi Hall

holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine10 FALL 2010

[email protected] 11FALL 2010th

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Seven days after a massive earthquake shook Haiti to its very core, emergency

room physician Keith Lafferty, MD ’89 boarded a plane bound for the

devastated country and an experience that would indelibly change his life.

By Barbara Link

Walking with Saints

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I t was on January 12, 2010, when the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck haiti. an estimated 230,000

people lost their lives, and another 300,000 were injured. more than one million people were left homeless. in the days that followed, Keith Lafferty MD ’89 watched cnn from his home as the gravity of the situation unfolded.

then he received a call. gulf coast medical center in fort myers, florida, where Dr. lafferty practices medicine as an emergency physi-cian, was constructing a team for a mission to haiti—a team that could provide desperately needed medical relief. Would he be interested in go-ing? Without a moment’s hesitation, without even talking with his wife, his answer was “yes.”

“like everyone else, i was so sad, and i wished i could do something,” says the father of three young chil-dren. “i’ve always wanted to do medical missionary work, but life had gotten in the way. i was fortunate enough to get that call.”

A Special Connectionmany of the staff members at gulf coast medical center belong to sum-mit church in fort myers. for years, summit church has provided finan-cial support to mission of hope haiti. in operation since 1998, mission of

hope haiti runs the church of hope, the school of hope, the hope house orphanage, and the clinic of hope.

When disaster struck in hai-ti, it seemed only natural that the staff at gulf coast medi-cal center would extend their support for summit church and mission of hope haiti by sending a medical team to provide assistance.

“i didn’t know anything about haiti,” says Dr. lafferty. “i quickly came to learn that even before the earthquake, it was already a desperate situ-ation. one in five kids born in haiti don’t make it to the age of five. pre-earthquake, there were 250,000 orphans. now, there are nearly 500,000 or-phans. how do you deal with 500,000 orphans? the lucky kids are the ones that live in the orphan houses. other-wise, they become slaves to another family, or they live on the streets, or they die on the streets. i’ve done work in the inner-city, but never in a third-world country. the poverty is like nothing you see in the u.s.

“mission of hope does extraor-dinary work in haiti,” explains Dr. lafferty. “the hope orphanage

has about 20 homes, with about 20 orphans in each home. every home has an orphan mother, and the older kids help to take care of the younger kids. there’s also a school for 1,200 kids, grades K through 12. the school is beautiful—the kids even wear uniforms. and there’s a clinic and a church. that mission exists to give these orphans a chance at life.”

A Country in ChaosDr. lafferty was among a team of 10 from gulf coast medical center—in-cluding other emergency physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatri-cians, and nurses. With the airport in the haitian capital of port-au-prince closed to all commercial travel, the team attempted to fly with mission-ary flights international (mfi)—an organization with the sole purpose of transporting medical personnel to third-world countries. but mfi’s

Above: Physicians from Gulf Coast Medical Center board a truck bound

for a functioning, but woefully understaffed, hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Right: Post-earthquake, up to 10 patients and their families crowded into rooms that typically hold one to two patients.

________ “There were thousands of people surrounding the airport. They were homeless, they were screaming for doctors. The country itself was in chaos. Three quarters of the hospitals were wrecked. Many of the doctors had died. Medical care, already poor before the earthquake, was being done in the streets.” - Dr. Keith Lafferty________

FALL 201012

existing fleet of Douglas Dc-3 planes was booked solid with medical teams and supplies.

in stepped nascar giant hen-drick motorsports, owner of four rac-ing teams, including defending sprint cup champion Jimmie Johnson’s. hendrick sent the company’s private jet and flight crew to pick up the gulf coast medical team and transport them safely to their destination.

they landed in port-au-prince seven days after the earthquake.

“there were thousands of people surrounding the airport,” recalls Dr. lafferty. “they were homeless, they were screaming for doctors. the country itself was in chaos. three quarters of the hospitals were wrecked. many of the doctors had died. medical care, already poor before the earthquake, was being done in the streets.”

mission of hope sent a truck to pick up the gulf coast team for the hour-long ride to its onsite clinic. they were planning to transform the clinic into a fully func-tioning emergency facility and operating room. Dr. lafferty and one of his col-leagues quickly set up their sleeping tent, and prepared to get to work. no sooner did they arrive that they learned there was a full-functioning community hospital with hardly any medical staff located in the heart of downtown port-au-prince. the team immediately jumped on the back of the truck to make the reverse journey.

Hope Amid Devastation“When we got there, there were hundreds and hundreds of people in the street,” says Dr. lafferty. “their homes were destroyed. they had no money, no clothes, no food, nothing. some were living in old cars, some were living under sheets and sticks. they were missing limbs. there were a lot of screaming babies. one lady who had just delivered twins walked towards us, carrying one dead baby, and another close to death. she was bleeding.”

the team wasted no time getting inside the hospital, which had only one orthopedic surgeon, one obstetri-cian, and a few nurses staffing the en-tire facility. they quickly developed a plan, starting with a triage system. in almost no time, the emergency and operating rooms were fully function-al, although there was only very basic anesthesia available.

as word got out that the hospital was up and running, the hundreds of gatherers outside turned into thou-sands. translators began to show up, and more and more help arrived, including medical teams from Korea, france, and the university of miami.

“in the wards, we had 10 patients in each room—rooms that would typically hold one or two patients,” recalls Dr. lafferty. “patients were ly-ing on mattresses and on cardboard. they were surrounded by family members, holding hands and sing-ing songs. it was quite a beautiful

Dr. Keith Lafferty '89 (above) was touched by the love and fortitude of Haitians during his medical mission. He plans to return to the stricken country once every three months.

experience to see how much these people loved each other. they have tremendous family values. on that first day, we didn’t leave the hospital for almost 24 hours.”

Dr. preston chandler, a retired surgeon from texas and a fellow member of the medical team, recalls a particularly moving moment during their first shift.

FALL 2010 [email protected]

“it was the middle of the night—about 4 am—when the people in the street began singing the most beauti-ful hymn. it was incredible. there was so much hope and fortitude among all of the devastation. our team was in the trenches, and there had been no time to slow down or become emo-tional. but at that moment, i stopped and took it all in. it was the first time i sort of broke down,” chandler says.

The Second QuakeDuring the next 30-hour shift, Dr. lafferty was taking a nap upstairs when the second earthquake hit.

“it lasted seven seconds, and it sounded like a freight train,” he

remembers. “i didn’t know cement could wiggle like that.”

like everyone else, preston ran for the doors. but he took a wrong turn and ended up in the basement. “perhaps a good place to be during a tornado,” he laughs, “but not for an earthquake.” for the remainder of the trip, he became known to his colleagues as “basement” chandler. “Dr. lafferty was nicknamed ‘hol-lywood,’” says preston. “We gave him some grief. but really, he’s a sweet-heart of a man and just as sincere as they come.”

With that second quake, everyone in the hospital had moved outside, except for one. “right before the sec-ond shift, there was a baby born that

was dehydrated, sick with a fever,” explains Dr. lafferty. “the medical team had to surgically put a line in this kid’s belly button. there was no ventilator in the hospital, so we put a breathing tube down his lungs, and volunteers took turns every hour bagging this kid—breathing for this kid. When everyone cleared out of the hospital, the last volunteer stayed there, bagging this baby. i found out two days later that the baby had been transferred to university of miami medical center tent hospital and was doing fine. remarkable.”

Dr. lafferty also witnessed incom-prehensible tragedy.

“the first baby that was handed to me, we tried to resuscitate. that baby died in my arms,” he says. “later that day, i watched as a 21-year-old kid who was paralyzed—who couldn’t breathe—i watched him die. i saw a 70-year-old man who shattered his pelvis and was carried for miles by his family on a home-made stretcher to reach the hospital. there was nothing we could do for him, except give him pain medication and place a catheter in his bladder. it’s not like we could send him to a nursing home or a rehab facility.”

FALL 201014 holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine

When Dr. Lafferty returned from Haiti, his focus turned to unfinished business. For many years, Dr. Lafferty and a group of lifelong friends from Holy Family University had talked about creating a scholarship. They wanted to remember a dear friend and classmate who had passed away. They wanted to honor the professors who guided them. And they wanted to provide financial support for other motivated students who shared their passion for science and math.

“As a student, I loved science,” explains Dr. Lafferty. “But I always thought I’d become a professional hockey player. Then I met some great people and professors along the road who believed in me, who took the time with me, who saw something in me I didn’t know existed. They helped me realize what could be possible. My group of friends, we were all in the same boat—financial-ly challenged but extremely motivated. We knew what we had at Holy Family—we had lightening in a bottle. When I returned from Haiti, I called my friends and told them—it’s time.”

In the fall of 2010, the inaugural Science is Beautiful Scholarship will be presented to a promising young student at Holy Family. The annual award is funded by Dr. Kimberly Heyer-Cuesta ’89, Vincent Frascatore ’90, Dr. Prem Rabindranauth ’90, and Lafferty. It honors the memory of Dr. Susan Nowak and the extraordinary guidance and encouragement this circle of friends received from the Holy Family faculty and staff, particularly Dr. Lynda Micikas, Sister Grace Kuzawa, Dr. Thomas McCormick, Dr. Arthur Grugan, and George Haynes, to name just a few.

“Keith is part of a very special group of alumni who challenged each other, and in doing so, exceeded their own expectations,” says Bob Wetzel, Major Gifts Officer. “They had a remarkable experience here, and all have enjoyed continued success in the medical and pharma-ceutical fields. Now, they’re making a difference in the lives of future students who share the same fascination with math and science. We’re very proud of them, and we’re very grateful for this gift and for their partnership.”

Footsteps to Follow In

______________ “Their homes were destroyed. They had no money, no clothes, no food, nothing. Some were living in old cars, some were living under sheets and sticks. They were missing limbs. There were a lot of screaming babies. One lady who had just delivered twins walked towards us, carrying one dead baby, and another close to death.” - Dr. Keith Lafferty______________

Bringing it Homeby week’s end, the facility was treat-ing hundreds of patients a day. on the last night there, the gulf coast team was gathering their belongings and preparing to have a meal. a medi-cal team from texas would soon be replacing them.

“a lady comes in and asks if we would mind taking a look at a five-year-old boy she had found on the street—she thought he had bruised his leg,” says Dr. lafferty. “We went out to see him—it turns out he had broken his femur and needed surgery. the woman—Danita—had traveled three hours from her own mission in haiti—an area that was not hit—to search for abandoned children to bring back to her orphanage. she had originally come to haiti 11 years ago, and upon seeing the need, left her lucrative career as a cosmetics representative, sold everything she owned, and started an orphanage. today, Danita’s chil-dren provides a home to 130 orphans, a school for nearly 300, a medical clinic, a church, and 18,000 meals a month.

“the whole week we were in haiti, while we realized what we were do-ing was a good thing, we knew that it was nothing compared to what some people do—people like Danita,” Dr. lafferty reflects. “i met extraordinary individuals who get the big picture in life. i saw this whole other world

i didn’t know existed—people who have dedicated their lives to help-ing others. it cannot help but change your life.

“When we landed back at fort pierce, my wife was waiting for me on the other side of the fence. i told her i couldn’t say anything just yet—it’s too

much right now. there was no time to process any of it while in haiti.

“When i began telling her about it, i lost it totally. We gave a lot, and did a lot of good there. seeing these families stick together, seeing life at its most basic element, seeing the love of these people—all of us really feel like they

gave us so much more than we gave to them.”

since that first mis-sion in January, Dr. lafferty has returned to haiti—staying for another week. he’s committed to return-ing for a week at least every three months.

“you see the poverty and the an-guish,” says Dr. lafferty. “and then you see the extraordinary work of the missions. you see what can happen when people donate their time and their money. it’s happening and it’s real. i can’t wait to bring my wife and kids there.”

Lives Forever ChangedDr. lafferty’s mission to haiti touched countless lives back at home. he gave numerous talks, including a recent presentation at holy family university. he shared his experi-ence with his family, his friends, his colleagues, his children’s schools, and the community. his daughter’s girl scout troop made quilts for the haitian orphans.

“my kids have seen haiti though my eyes. they’ve seen our video and our pictures, and they’ve cried. my oldest—she’s 10—wants to go there with me and help out, putting the kids to bed, playing ball with them, helping with meals.”

for Dr. lafferty, the impact has been profound.

“i grew up in the housing projects with my mother and my sister,” he ex-plains. “When i started at holy fam-ily university, i was very idealistic. i decided to become a doctor for all of the right reasons. i never wanted to lose my roots in the projects. then

FALL 2010 [email protected]

The team from Gulf Coast Medical Center treats shattered bones, paralysis, crushed organs, and hundreds of other life-threatening injuries during their weeklong mission to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

_________ For more information about Mission of Hope Haiti and Danita’s Children, please visit www.mohhaiti.org and www.danitaschildren.org. _________

ha

bit

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ph

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os:

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FALL 201016 holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine

this happens, and that happens. and there’s financial motivation. What haiti did for me—it made me feel like a freshman at holy family again—back to all of the reasons why i chose to practice medicine. it’s given life a new meaning.

“it’s become a priority for me to do missionary medical work,” Dr. lafferty continues. “ignoring it now is impossible. gone from my fam-ily’s list of priorities are the profes-sional and financial milestones. gone from our minds are the problems we

thought we had in life—planning for retirement, the stock market. that all seems very minor now, even petty. at the top of the list is going back more and more to haiti, giving more and more of ourselves to these children. there is a lot that has to change there, but there are so many people doing so much good. you help one kid, it means everything.

“it was a blessing to go to haiti. people said it would change my life. it more than changed my life. and my wife and kids’ lives. in haiti, i just

In February 2010, a group of 22 students from Holy Family University traveled to Spokane, Washington, on a mission of their own. The students opted to spend their Spring Break working with Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization committed to building safe, afford-able homes for people around the world.

The Alternative Spring Break Service Trip at Holy Family is a tradition that began in 2007, when 10 stu-dents joined forces with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Dana Dobrowolski ’10 was a freshman at the time. She remembers her English class writing letters to the Holy Family volunteers.

“I was so moved by what the students were doing in New Orleans,” recalls Dobrowolski. “When applications came out for the 2008 service trip, I was right on it.”

In her sophomore year, Dobrowolski accompanied the group to Miami, Florida. As a junior, she joined the trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, and this past year, Spokane. On the past two trips, she served as a Student Leader, assuming significant responsibility for organizing the students, arranging air and ground transportation, and directing fundraising activities throughout the year.

“The travel cost for each student is about $1,000,” explains Matt Thomas, Assistant Director of Student Activities, who provides guidance to the students over

the course of the year and serves as one of the trip chaperones. “Holy Family provides partial funding, and the students need to raise the balance.”

Fundraising activities for the Spokane mission included a letter-writing campaign, a raffle drawing, and four dances for local grade-school students, each with a $5 admission charge. The weeklong trip requires a yearlong commitment.

“The entire experience is awesome,” says Thomas. “The students are able to give something back, and learn a lot about themselves in the process. Building the house actually becomes one of the minor things. The growth and maturity that occurs in these students—their ability to expand their boundaries and their comfort zones—is incredible.”

For Dobrowolski, each of her three trips has been special and unique in its own way.

“When we arrived in Spokane, there was just a con-crete slab for a duplex,” she recalls. “By the last day, the framework was built, and part of the roof was finished. We got to meet both of the families who would live there. I feel like I’m a part of those families’ homes. It was so meaningful to us and to the families. I absolutely loved everything about my experience.”

Michael McNulty-Bobholtz, Director of Student Ac-tivities, sums it up perfectly.

“The Alternative Spring Break Service Trip is an op-portunity for students to live the mission of Holy Family University in a real-life situation. It’s tangible. It puts flesh to the mission.”

A Mission of Their Own

practice medicine to help people. and they’re so appreciative. i am a believer in teaching by example, not by words. meeting the people of haiti, and those who have dedicated their lives to helping them, it just humbles you. it makes you want to be a better person. you’re literally walking next to saints.”

Barbara Link is an award-winning freelance writer and President of Link Ink, a full-service communications company.


At Holy Family University, we have the privilege of molding tomorrow’s leaders. Our students have the ability and the potential to make our community, country, and world a better place. You can help today’s students realize the dream of a college education by establishing a named scholarship.

Your scholarship can honor the memory of a loved one or pay tribute to past accomplishments of a friend, while helping today’s students prepare for future success. Funding for scholarship awards may be provided through annual contributions or from the earnings of an endowment, a permanent fund you can create with one or more contributions.

Contact Margaret Kelly at [email protected] or 267-341-3343 to learn how you can establish a named scholarship. Your gift can help ease the burden of financing a college education for years to come.

HONOR THE PAST,

SHAPE THE FUTURE

“Financial assistance has helped

me deal with expenses that

would otherwise be difficult for

my family to afford. Through

the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust

Scholarship, I’m achieving my

dream of becoming a registered

nurse and one day opening

my own health care facility for

the underprivileged.”

Cindy Pagan ’11Scholarship RecipientTreasurer, Students at Your ServicePresident, Environmental Club

HOPEKNOwLEdgEOPPORTUNITIES

FALL 201018

Playingfor

Laughs

FALL 2010 19

Playing

Forty years after

doctors said he wouldn’t

live past his 30s,

comedian Tim Grill ’05

is lighting up the stage

and keeping audiences

in hysterics throughout

the Delaware Valley.

Photography by Sabina Louise Pierce

forLaughs

By Richard Rys

Illustration by Daniel Adel

FALL 201020

It’s less than an hour before his per-formance, and the night has already been a tough one for Tim Grill ’05. He’s waiting to take the stage at the Com-edy Cabaret, a small club at the Ramada Inn on Roosevelt Boulevard where local comics hone their craft. On this Saturday in June, with the shore season in full swing, the room is half-empty, and there’s an air of unease before the first joke is told. Tonight’s headliner is stuck in traffic. Another comic turns up missing when he’s introduced on stage. Then there’s Grill’s legs—they’ve been bothering him lately, and the simple act of walking is a struggle. Grill has spina bifida, and when he was born, the nerve end-ings of his spine were exposed through a hole in his back. From his knees down, there’s no muscle, only bone. That he’s alive at age 40 is astounding enough. But that he’s

doing comedy? Stand-up comedy? Wind the clock back to 1970 and tell his doctors where he’d be today. They’d think you were kidding.

As the chaos swirls around him and his legs ache, Grill does what he does best, what he thinks he was born to do. He turns to the hostess who collects cover charges at the door and tells her how he almost got a ticket on his way to the show tonight. No joke, he says. He was talking on his cell phone and his Bluetooth died. So he kept yapping, holding the phone to his ear, when he saw lights flashing behind him. It was a cop. Isn’t that always the way?

For a minute, the hostess isn’t worried about the empty seats inside the club. As they trade stories about that gut-wrenching feeling of being pulled over, she’s in stitches. Grill already has his first laughs of the night. And he

FALL 2010 21

knows no matter what happens next, there’s nothing in that room—no rough crowd, no hecklers—that could com-pare to what he’s already faced in his life off-stage.

Growing Up “Different”

T he first thing you notice about Tim Grill is the way he walks. We meet at The Dining Car in Northeast Philadelphia for lunch a few weeks before his Com-

edy Cabaret show, and he’s using a cane for support. His legs buckle, as if the joints swing side to side, not forward and back. Dressed casually in jeans and a baseball cap and wearing his Holy Family University ring, Grill says hi to the waitresses. They know him by name and smile when they see him. It’s not out of sympathy. That’s the next thing you notice about Grill. He’s one of those genuinely nice guys with a gift for lifting the spirits of those around him. As we slide into a corner booth overlooking Frank-ford Avenue, not far from the house he grew up in, Grill chuckles at his minor celebrity status here.

“A lot of late-night meals after being out with my friends in my 20s,” he says. “Now I’m here at one o’clock in the afternoon and I need a nap.”

By day, Grill works for a disability help center in Tren-ton, New Jersey, that handles calls from across the state. By night, he’s the “Barely Can Stand Up Comic,” perform-ing in clubs across the Delaware Valley. In his act, Grill addresses the issue of his health early and head-on.

“It’s not all I talk about,” he says, “but if I don’t address it, I feel they won’t listen to me.”

Whether he’s performing a five-minute open mic or a 60-minute headlining set, he makes cracks about his gait (“In case you’re wondering if I’m drunk…”), briefly explains his birth defect, and jokes about how it affected

his childhood (On the “short bus” he took to school: “Great idea! How can we make handicapped kids feel normal? Let’s put them on a bus that’s different from all the other buses!”).

He leaves his audience laughing, with little idea of how serious his condition really is. Of the three types of spina bifida, Grill’s is the most severe. Less than 24 hours after his birth, Grill was in surgery to close the hole in his back. His mother was told that if he survived the operation, he wouldn’t be able to walk, and wouldn’t live past his 30s. The procedure was successful, but he’d have more, averag-ing one a year for the first 10 years of his life. He spent most of that time with casts on his feet or braces on his

legs, and Shriners Hospital for Children became a second home. Still, Grill feels blessed.

“I knew kids that were in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives,” he says. “I got lucky.”

Grill’s parents transferred him out of a special-needs school and into third grade at nearby St. Jerome’s, where he became the school’s first disabled student. In the neighborhood and in the classroom, Grill had plenty of guardian angels—growing up on Draper Street, Grill had 11 cousins who lived within nine houses of each other, and along with his three older siblings, they all attended school together.

Father Judge High, however, was a different story. Grill was on his own there, and his classmates behaved as ado-lescents often do. They mocked his walk. They would wait until he had climbed to the top of the stairs, then knock his books from his hands, so Grill would have to hobble back down to pick them up. He was offered a key to a pri-vate staff elevator, but refused to accept special treatment.

“Anything that makes you different, there’s a bull’s-eye on your back,” Grill says. “It got pretty rough.”

Hitting the Stage

G rill’s friends always said he should be a comedian, considering his upbeat personality and a knack for cracking wise. At age 27, while Grill was home re-

cuperating after three more surgeries on his legs, he saw an ad in the newspaper for a comedy class. It felt like a sign.

At Bonkers Comedy Café in Media, Grill learned the basics of the craft—how to write jokes, how to put an act together, how to work a crowd. The “final exam” was a show for his classmates and guests, and the rehearsals seemed like something out of a bad movie.

“There were crickets in the building, and since we’d already heard each other’s jokes, no one’s laughing,” Grill recalls. “I’d tell a joke and all you’d hear is crickets.”

What Grill later realized was that the cruelty of some of his high school classmates was the perfect crucible to prepare him for his new hobby.

“It gave me the thick skin I need to do comedy,” he says. “I put up with a lot, and to be a comedian, you have to put up with a lot. I know a lot of comedians who are very sensitive. A bad show will rattle them so easily. It doesn’t really do that to me.”

Grill graduated from comedy school in 1997 and made an impression on the local stand-up circuit.

" I once had a comedian come up to me and say, 'Man, you're so lucky you have a disability. It makes you stand out from everyone else.' I have never in my life been told I was lucky to have a disability. Only in comedy."

" I once had a comedian come up to me and say, 'Man, you're so lucky you have a disability. It makes you stand out from everyone else.' I have never in my life been told I was lucky to have a disability. Only in comedy."

FALL 201022

“When I first saw him, what struck me most was the disability,” says Andy Scarpati, owner of the Comedy Cabaret, with clubs across the Delaware Valley. “But when I saw him address it on stage, I was inspired by it. He took a disadvantage and made something positive about it. And on top of that, he was funny. I saw a lot of potential there.”

Appearances on radio’s Opie & Anthony Show and some gigs with other disabled comics on the “Short Bus Comedy Tour” helped establish his name beyond his hometown. But the highlight of his career came during a visit with his sister in Los Angeles a few years ago. After a few evenings spent hanging out at the legendary Comedy Store, Grill made it onstage during an open-mic night—the comedic equivalent of performing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

“All of my idols—guys like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Rodney Dangerfield—stood on the same stage,” Grill

thought to himself. “And here I am.”It was also the first time his sister saw

his act. The guy before him bombed. “I was a nervous wreck,” says his

sister, Diane. With only a few minutes to perform, Grill delivered his best mate-rial. The crowd ate it up. “He owned the stage,” Diane says. “I was speechless.”

Grill walked off after his set and saw a woman in the corner motioning towards him. It was Mitzi Shore, mother of Pauly Shore and owner of the Comedy Store. No one talks to Mitzi unless she calls you over. Grill didn’t know what to think as he approached her. “You’re going places,” she said to him. “You have a future in com-edy.” Grill has met some of his idols, in-cluding Dangerfield and Murphy, but says nothing tops the rush he felt that night.

“It was one of the most incredible mo-ments of my life.”

Dreams Realized

A 75-seat room at a Ramada on the Boulevard is about as far removed from the Comedy Store on Sunset

Boulevard as you can be. But despite the location and all of the pre-show drama, Grill is focused. Moments before he’s introduced, he finds a quiet space to re-hearse. He’s got his cherrywood guitar in tow, which he uses for an Adam Sandler-esque bit at the end of his set; along with his love of comedy, Grill is a music buff.

When it’s finally his turn, he takes the stage, six-string in hand, to mild applause. The stage lights are so bright, he can’t see most of the faces in the crowd. He’s not rattled. Instead, he points at a tarp droop-ing from the ceiling. “You’re standing in

the only comedy club in the world with a colostomy bag,” he says. They laugh and he’s off. For the next 20 minutes, Grill touches on everything from his disability to dating to jury duty (“I get out of it with my jury duty Tourette’s. You just scream GUILTY at every person that walks in.”). By the time he wraps up his song, “She Was a 10 at 2,” and says goodnight, the crowd is howling and clapping.

Sitting by the adjoining hotel bar after the show, Grill rates himself as a six on a 10 scale.

“Tonight was a bit of a struggle,” he says. “My timing was off.”

You wouldn’t know it by the audience’s response, or by what happened as the room emptied. “Good performance,” says a middle-aged man, who pats him on the back. A woman and her friends smile as they pass him on their way out. “Great show,” they say. It’s this

kind of reaction that has led Grill to invitations for moti-vational speaking appearances at fundraisers, health care conventions, and even at Shriners Hospital. On his left wrist, he wears a day-glo green band given to him from a speech at Lower Moreland High School for Disability Awareness Week.

Grill insists he doesn’t want to be defined by spina bifida, despite its presence in every aspect of his life—from his work to his comedy to his continued health problems. His family says he never complains. That’s why no one knew about the daily hell he faced in high school until it came up a couple years ago at a party.

“He could have been so bitter,” says his sister Diane. “But to come away with the sense of humor he has, it’s amazing.”

As inspiring as Grill is, there’s one thing he wants to be known as—funny.

“I once had a comedian come up to me and say, ‘Man, you’re so lucky you have a disability. It makes you stand out from everyone else.’ I have never in my life been told I was lucky to have a disability. Only in comedy.”

Richard Rys is an award-winning freelance writer. His work regularly appears in Philadelphia Magazine.

22nd Annual Holy Family University

Golf ClassicTorresdale Frankford

Country Club

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Proceeds benef t student f n

ancial aid

For more information, please contact Lorraine Borisuk at

267-341-3377, [email protected] or visit holyfamily.edu/golf

FALL 201024

FALL 2010 25

Prison BossAs head of the Philadelphia Correctional System’s prison industries,

Eleanor Simpson Doherty ’81 provides incarcerated men and women

with real-life jobs skills and alternatives to a life of crime.

By Kristen A. Graham

Photography by Michael Branscom

holyfamily.edu/ia/magazineFALL 2010

When the small business she manages hit $1 million in sales, Eleanor Simpson Doherty ’81 was thrilled about the financial milestone. But she was more excited about what it meant for the men and women who work for Philacor, which offers real-life job experiences for adults incarcerated at the Philadelphia Prison System.

“A lot of these guys have never had a success in their lives,” says Doherty, Philacor Director. “In fact, some of our workers have lifelong expectations of failure. Working in our shops, whether building furniture or catering a meal for hundreds, they come to realize what they are actually capable of, they get to experience success first-hand. This helps break the cycle.”

A self-sustaining business that does not rely on taxpayer dollars, Correctional Industries has existed in some form since 1933. In the early days, inmates worked in the laundry, bakery, and kitchen. During the Great Depression, they made clothes for the needy, sewed pillow cases and sheets, and performed laundry services for other city institutions. During World War II, inmates operated a cannery that provided applesauce for the Philadel-phia School District. Eventually, carpentry, printing, and shoe-making shops opened, as well as a working farm at the Holmesburg prison. In 1975, the pro-gram was given a one-time grant of $1,000 to start a revolving fund and expand prison industry services. Using that seed money, the program, which receives no aid from the city, has expanded to its current size. In 1985 the program of-ficially changed its name to Philacor.

These days, Philacor has 200 inmate job slots, 25 staff members, and 11 industry shops throughout the city’s prisons. Most of the workers are men, but women do work in the barricade and culinary arts shops and laundry. Philacor is one of the largest-grossing jail industry programs in the U.S. and produces

goods and services not just for the prison system but multiple city agen-cies. Because inmates are paid $0.50 and $0.60 an hour, Philacor is prohib-ited by legislation from selling to the general public.

Philacor’s workforce is deployed in two areas—shops that provide goods and services just for the prison, and

those that deal with other depart-ments. The prison-only shops are the laundry, which cleans an average of 170,691 pounds of laundry a month, and the general products plant, which produces about 7,564 mattresses, pillow cases, sheets, towels, and washcloths a month. The others are the barricade shop, which turns out the yellow wooden barricades used throughout the city; the carpentry shop, which produces an average of 70 items a month; the finishing shop; the culinary arts program; the dry cleaning plant; the graphics plant, which does printing and engraving; the textile plant, which does embroi-dery and silk-screening work; and the upholstery shop. The graphics plant is responsible for more than 50 percent of Philacor’s sales, with the furniture plant the next-busiest shop.

But each sector is vital, says Doherty.

“If we can train guys and get them out in the world with real job experi-ence, it’s a win for the city and it’s a win for them,” she says.

David Cervino, a Corrections Of-ficer who’s also one of the supervi-

“Some guys are real artists.

Some guys surprise you—they get

on the saw, and they do great.”

- David Cervino, Corrections Officer & Carpentry Shop Supervisor

26

Inmates working in the carpentry and finishing shops produce more than 70 custom items per month.

[email protected] FALL 2010

sors of the Carpentry Shop inside the Philadelphia Industrial Correc-tional Center on State Road, finds real meaning in the work. On a typical day, his shop hums with the sound of tools buzzing. Inmates are excited to be do-ing something meaningful—idleness is tough in the jail. “Philacor’s quality is a full-time commitment,” a sign on the wall reads.

ability. But the look in an inmate’s eye when he hand-crafts a drawer or discovers he’s got a knack for carpen-try is a thrill, Cervino says.

“Some guys are real artists,” he says. “Some guys surprise you—they get on the saw, and they do great.”

Inmates are grateful for the work. “In Philacor, I am learning a trade

for when I leave jail, to prepare me for when I get on the outside,” says Marshall W.

“Working in Philacor has taught me patience and also how to work as part of a team,” Derek C. says.

“The reason I like working at Phi-lacor is because it gives me another personal outlook on the many oppor-tunities afforded me during my time of incarceration,” says Larry M.

As head of Philacor, Doherty has

27

Because of Philacor, the inmates “get the confidence to do other things,” Cervino says. “We try to open their eyes up, tell them they can do things other than stand on the corner.”

He and other supervisors also focus on teaching “soft” skills—showing up on time, listening to a supervisor, get-ting along with co-workers, account-

“If we can train guys and get them

out in the world with real job

experience, it’s a win for the city

and it’s a win for them.”

–Eleanor Doherty, Philacor Director

Much of the furniture produced by the carpentry and finishing shops is sold to the City of Philadelphia. Here, an inmate works on a chair bound for a city courtroom.


plenty of paperwork to do, but she always makes it a priority to get out into the shops.

“I like to see how the inmates are doing,” she says. “I ask them about their experiences. I want their feedback.”

An enthusiastic woman with a ready smile, Doherty leads a visitor into the Philacor showroom and beams.

“Everything in here, we made ourselves,” she says, pointing out a double pedestal desk in oak, a massive cherry cabinet with intri-cate black metal knobs, and a walnut magazine rack.

The furniture is carefully con-structed with solid ingredients—cabi-net-grade hardware, no particleboard

more business with the school district and nonprofits who do business with the city—but the program’s message needs to get out, Doherty says.

Though Philacor inmate-workers get valuable experience, they often have a tough time finding work when they’re on the outside. To spread the word, Doherty would like to hold an employee open house—an event where businesspeople could come into the shops and see the work the inmates do.

“I think most people have a pre-conceived notion of inmate labor and products. If they just saw what we do, it would give the guys a foot in the door. Hopefully, they’ll be willing to give our guys a chance,” Doherty says.

There are tax incentives for busi-nesses that do so.

Studying art at Holy Family, Do-herty never imagined herself in a job that requires her to lock her purse away, walk through a metal detector, and raise her arms for a pat-down search every day. Doherty, who grew up and still lives in the Northeast, thought she might become an art teacher, something she did briefly after graduation. But city work—in a library, in the city’s deeds and mort-gages department, in human resourc-es, and finally in the prison system —proved steadier, and she found a home at Philacor, a program she had admired, in 1996.

“I was familiar with what they did, and I loved what they did,” Doherty says. And yes, she does occasion-ally draw funny looks when she tells people where she works. “You should have seen them when I told them I worked in sales and marketing for a prison,” Doherty says.

That first job, in marketing, was a real test for Doherty. She had no

28

here—and the shops can handle any kind of custom order.

“I think our prices are really com-petitive for the quality you get. It’s not junk,” Doherty says.

If something breaks, a Philacor staffer will go out and fix it.

It’s a challenge to expand the cli-ent base—Philacor would like to get

“In Philacor, I am learning a trade

for when I leave jail, to prepare

me for when I get on the outside.”

- Marshall W., Philadelphia Prison System Inmate

Philacor is comprised of 10 industry shops that teach inmates

not only hard skills, but soft skills such as showing up on time and listening to a supervisor.

[email protected] FALL 2010

Philacor by the Numbers 1 million Average number of impressions created per month by the graphics plant

$1 million Philacor’s annual sales

170,691 Pounds of laundry cleaned per month by inmates

166,517 Inmate hours worked, first three quarters of 2009

140,000 Number of items Philacor produces annually

$83,470 Inmate salaries, first three quarters of 2009

7,564 Number of mattresses, pillowcases, sheets, towels, and washcloths produced per month by the general products shop

2,156 Number of items produced per month by the culinary arts program

1,143 Number of garments produced by the garment plant monthly

962 Number of garments cleaned a month by the dry cleaning shop

637 Number of individual inmate participants, first three quarters of 2009

220 Number of barricades produced annually by the barricade shop

216 Overall job slots

116 Number of items per month completed by workers in the upholstery shop

70 Number of items per month produced by the carpentry shop and finished by the finishing shop

29

experience in the field, but a strong interest in the work.

“I was winging it,” she laughs. She had big ideas to expose others

to the work the inmates and staff per-formed. First up was transforming a huge empty space inside the Philadel-phia Industrial Correctional Center into a showroom—an attractive space to display the inmates’ work. Despite having no desktop publishing experi-ence, Doherty had a Philacor catalog printed to show potential clients. She threw an open house and invited rep-resentatives from around the city.

“People started getting more famil-iar with us,” Doherty says.

Eventually, she was promoted to overseeing shops, to Assistant Direc-tor, and then to Director.

There are challenges, Doherty points out, sitting at the desk inside her cinderblock office decorated with art prints, photos, and a Holy Fam-ily banner. Most inmates stay in the Philadelphia prisons for weeks, not months or years, while they await

adjudication, and so turnover means that it’s tough to train workers.

“The longer we can keep an inmate, the better it is,” Doherty says. “They get skills, and our product improves.”

Work is often interrupted by lock-downs on the cellblock. And running Philacor isn’t like running a regular business—it’s part business, part social service agency, and a part of the City

of Philadelphia’s massive bureaucracy, which means plenty of red tape.

“It’s not like a regular business where you just have a relationship with the customer. You have to deal with the city’s procurement stan-dards,” she says.

“There’s a lot of things that go wrong, equipment issues and money issues,” she says. “It’s not always

With more than $1 million in annual sales, Philacor is one of the largest-grossing

jail industry programs in the U.S.


Officials say the nation’s local jail population is slip-ping for the first time since the U.S. government began keeping records. But with more than 2 million people behind bars, the U.S. has more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world, and America is building prisons at a rate never before seen. Prison populations began to soar after stricter state and federal sentencing guidelines were imposed in the mid-1980s, and in the early 1990s, when “three strikes, you’re out" laws took away much of the discre-tion parole boards had over when to release inmates.

Studies typically find that imprisoning more offenders reduces crime, and violent crime has dropped in the past 20 years. But the price tag is high—the average cost to house each inmate is about $30,000 annually. In Philadelphia, it costs $97.79 per day to keep someone in prison. With an aver-age population of 9,436, that means the city spends $922,746.44 daily, and $336,802,450.60 per year, housing prisoners. Add to that the additional costs of crime that can be quantified—lost productivity and jobs, judicial and legal services, direct expenditures for police protection, physical and mental health-re-lated costs—and the true cost of correctional services becomes clearer.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger once said: “To put people behind walls and

bars and do little or nothing to change them is to win a battle, but lose a war. It is wrong. It is expensive. It is stupid." Correctional industries, advocates say, rep-resent a chance to instill responsibility, discipline, and a sense of accomplishment in those who need it most.

Nationwide, correctional industries generate $2.4 billion in sales. There are 97 different businesses in all 50 states and at the federal level; they employ 91,043 inmates. Besides the goods and services they produce, correctional industries generate revenue through the purchase of raw materials, supplies, and equipment from the private sector. The work inmates perform helps satisfy a societal mandate that inmates be put to work to pay their debt to society, earning money that can be used to pay fines, court fees, and victims’ restitution. Inmates working in businesses like Philacor also helps to reduce idleness, which poses significant managerial and security problems for jails and prisons.

Bottom line? Prison industries work to mitigate the cost of incarceration, supporters say. Experts calculate that for every person who successfully reenters the community, the city saves about $34,937.80 per year. And in Philadelphia, Philacor “eventually would like to define our success not just by a positive bottom line, but also by our effect on recidivism in this city," says Eleanor Simpson Doherty ’81, Philacor Director.

30

easy to provide work experience that will be relevant for the economy today. We’re always researching new industries.”

Some of the prison jobs—sewing, for instance—just aren’t that useful in a modern economy. Those shops focus a lot on life skills. Plus, Doherty would like for Philacor to work on more disposable products—customers

who purchase pieces of Philacor furniture rarely need to replace them. And as the city has tightened its belt in the past years, the Philacor staff has shrunk from about 40 to 25. Still, the staff has managed to do more with less.

And Doherty relishes the job. “It’s a great place to work,” she

says. “It’s funny how your perspective

The Costs of Incarceration

changes. You forget the cinderblock. You block out the setting. It’s an opportunity to be creative, and it’s an opportunity to make a difference. It’s exciting, it’s always challenging, it’s always fun.”

Kristen A. Graham is an award-winning freelance writer and a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Eleanor Doherty, Philacor Director, shows off some of the furniture

created by inmates.

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A visual slice of life at Holy Family

FALL 2010

1000words

32

Holi Moly! Students lob colored powder on the St. Joseph Hall’s lawn to welcome spring and celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. Traditionally, Hindu devotees and others enthusiastically drop their inhibitions and chase each other in temples and through the streets, playfully splashing colorful paint, powder, and water on each other. Holy Family Resident Advisors Jisha Mathai ’10, Calum Colton ’12, and Nicole Keller ’12 planned the event.

Still Catching Up the Old-Fashioned Way?Upgrade to Holy Family’s new and improved online alumni community! You’ll re-connect in ways you never imagined. Get in touch with old friends, register for events, keep up with Holy Family news, search for jobs, post a resume, or find alumni in your field. Register today and create your profile!

Share. Collaborate. Exchange. Grow.

P.S. Find us on Facebook! Search for “Holy Family Alumni.”

alumni .holyfami ly .edu


34


From moving into the Campus Center to joining the NCAA’s Division II,

Holy Family athletics have come a long way, baby.By Steve Lienert

Photography by Michael BranscomPictured above are

Soccer player Seydou Ba; Cross Country runner Jennifer Andrews; Men’s Basketball alumnus James Schultice ’92; Cross Country runner Latifah Porter; Sandra Michael, Athletic Director; and the Holy Family Tiger (clockwise from left).

holyfamily.edu/ia/magazine36 FALL 2010

Jim Schultice ’92 got a phone call that forever altered his life.

Doctors informed the 38-year-old former star player on Holy Family’s men’s basketball team that he had Parkin-son’s disease.

Last year, as a member of the inaugural class to be inducted into Holy Family University’s Hall of Fame, he announced his diagnosis to his extended family.

This year marks Holy Family’s 25th anniversary of intercollegiate athletics competition sanctioned by a co-educational governing body, and over the course of that time, many players have donned the Tigers’ Copenhagen blue and white uniforms. But once a Tiger, forever a Tiger, as Schultice found out first hand.

“Since that time, the athletic family has been ungodly supportive of me,” Schultice says. “Alumni, players, and everybody in the Athletic Department have been hugely supportive. Not just people in the athletic association, but professors that have taught me in the past, have all reached out to me and have been very supportive. I’m honored to be a graduate of Holy Family.”

It’s the type of atmosphere that Athletic Director Sandra Michael has fostered for 25 years. Encouragement

from her husband and respect for University President Sister Fran-cesca Onley prompted Michael to accept the

job in 1985, and she has piloted the Athletic Department ever since.

It’s been a long journey that started with small steps.“In 1985 when it first started, I thought ‘Let’s go one step

at a time,’” Michael says. “The first thing we did was get into NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athlet-ics). That was something that was unfamiliar to me—I was more familiar with the NCAA than the National Associ-ation—but at the time, this whole area was in a district within the NAIA, so it was a natural fit for Holy Family.”

When Michael took over, Holy Family had just three athletic programs. The men’s and women’s basketball teams were coached by the same person, and the softball team was coached by a maintenance worker. The basket-ball teams played in a girls’ grade-school gym.

“The locker rooms weren’t anything special,” says Michael Glitz ’91, who played with Schultice for three years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame with him in 2009. “There really wasn’t any seating. But for me, it was more than that. It wasn’t just about the basketball. It was about the school and the environment.”

To be considered legitimate, though, Michael believed the University must have legitimate coaches.

“I knew we had to upgrade that and take that seriously,” Michael says. “That’s where I started—with the coaching staff. Then we went out and heavily recruited and year by year we got stronger and started adding programs along the way.”

In fact, Michael assisted in the recruitment of Schultice, and when he arrived in 1989, Holy Family had broken ground for a new gymnasium.

“I remember when I was being recruited they were

Hall of Famer Michael Glitz dunks the ball in the 1985-86 season (left). Hall of Famer Michelle Rubino ’01 goes for a goal during women’s soccer’s CACC championship season in 2000 (above center). Hall of Famer Debbie Schopfer ’91 became the first woman to score 1000 points and grab 1000 rebounds during the 1989-90 season (above right).

[email protected] 37FALL 2010

building a new gym at the time and Sandy Michael said they were building the gym for me,” Schultice says. “It was just a nice thing to hear from the Athletic Director. To see where they are today, it’s an honor to say I played there.”

Michael has a different recruiting memory of Schultice.“I can still remember the first day I met Jim and his fam-

ily,” Michael says. “The most important aspect that his fa-ther stressed was ‘I want my son to graduate,’ and I assured him, ‘He will graduate,’ I said. ‘He will leave here with a very good education, and you will be there on his gradua-tion day,’ and sure enough Jim did excel in the classroom as well as being one of our premiere basketball players.”

Over the past 25 years, Michael has collected hundreds of stories that mirror the same sentiment.

“I appreciate the entire journey,” Michael says. “I appre-ciate what has been afforded to me at the University. This is something that goes way beyond me as a director. I’ve had great support from the Board of Trustees and Sister Francesca every step of the way. I do recognize the growth of the Athletic Department and where we are today and I still have a vision of where I want to be 10 years from now. It’s something you have to appreciate as you go through it because there are so many opportunities where you can just really feel satisfaction, whether it’s at graduation that day for your student-athletes, or whether it’s a big win, or one of your student-athletes says, ‘Thanks, I’ve had a great experience at the University.’

“I’m not foolish enough to go through this journey with-out keeping my eyes wide open. I don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about the past because that’s the heart and soul of me. The past drives my vision. What I focus on is where we’re going because I know there’s much more that Holy Family athletics can achieve.”

Which seems to have been Michael’s thought process from day one: Always look to improve. In 1999, when the University was eyeing a jump to the NCAA, Michael sug-gested Holy Family go Division II instead of Division III.

“There were a lot of Division III schools in Philadel-phia and its suburbs,” Michael says. “We felt we would be best seeded in Division II because we were giving athletic scholarships at the time and we just thought that would be the best fit for us. By that point we were pretty much up and running. I really felt as though we were moving in the right direction, that we were going to have an athletics program that was going to be recognized locally, region-

ally, and nationally, and here we are. I am very proud of the fact that people are aware of Holy Family nationally because of athletics. I feel we are accomplishing our goals year to year.”

Everything at Holy Family seems to be growing at an exponential rate. The multi-story Campus Center is a far cry from the small room that housed a 16-piece universal gym in the 1990s, and the sparkling new residence halls have helped Holy Family expand internationally. And those three athletic programs? They’re up to 13, includ-ing Women’s Basketball, Cross Country, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track, and Volleyball, and Men’s Basket-ball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, and Track.

“We still have local, home-grown athletes in our pro-grams,” Michael says. “Yet we are afforded the opportu-nity to recruit not just nationally, but internationally now. We’re making tremendous strides with contacts through-out the world. We’ve grown in that area and our coaches have accepted that challenge. There’s not a limit on where

we could recruit and there’s no way that would be possible without the residence halls.”

“When I was there, we could only recruit from schools 10-15 miles away,” Glitz says. “The dormitories really opened up the recruitment of who could play there. When I was there, we had to settle for second best because the best players were going Division II or Division I.

“I don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about the past because that’s the heart and soul of me. The past drives my vision. What I focus on is where we’re going because I know there’s much more that Holy Family athletics can achieve.” – Sandra Michael, Athletic Director

The late 1980s and mid-1990s saw the addition of Men’s Soccer (1989), Men’s Golf (1995), and Women’s

Cross Country (1996) to the Athletics roster.

38

Sharon Brown ’99 recently took a trip to IKEA that she won’t soon forget.

She was shopping for a new kitchen when she got a surprise message from her Dad that said she had to return a call from Holy Family Athletic Director Sandra Michael.

“I kind of lost my connection with Holy Family; I moved out to Conshohocken,” Brown says. “I hoped I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Michael informed Brown that she had to be available on April 24,

the day Brown and four other Holy Family stars from the past would be inducted into the Holy Family University Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It’s crazy to think that way, that somebody would look at you as a great player, to put you in the Hall of Fame,” Brown says. “It’s such a great honor. And it’s a great feeling. But it doesn’t hit you until you’re there.”

Brown, a former softball player who currently holds the Holy Fam-ily record for most RBIs in a career with 115, joined Lance DiRenzi ’91

Athletics Hall of Fame Inducts 2010 Class (men’s soccer), Tracey Petner ’90 (women’s basketball), Michelle Rubino ’01 (women’s soccer), and Joe Simko ’96 (men’s basketball) as 2010 inductees.

Among other accolades, Simko is Holy Family’s all-time steals leader with 254 and is second on the school’s all-time scoring list. Still, the call from Michael caught him off-guard.

“It was definitely an honor,” Simko says. “It was a surprise. It was only the second year they did this. I thought I may be going in one day, but I didn’t think it would be that quick.”

DiRenzi played for Holy Family’s first Men’s Soccer Team in 1989. He’s second on the Tigers’ all-time list for career points with 92 and third in career goals with 36. Rubino is the Tigers’ all-time leader in career points (187) and assists (55) for the Women’s Soccer Team. And Petner was Holy Family’s first Women’s Basketball All-American and led her team in scoring all four years she played at Holy Family.

The 2010 class joined the five inductees from the 2009 class: Michael Glitz ’91, James Milligan ’93, Debbie Schopfer ’91, James Schultice ’92, and Michael.

Pictured from left to right are 2010 Hall of Fame inductees Lance DiRenzi, Tracey Petner, Michelle Rubino, Sharon Brown, and Joe Simko.

You had to take raw talent like myself and develop it. But now they have a really good opportunity where they have dorms, they’ve branched out to Bucks County. They’re in different areas now. When I went there, it was just that campus with a couple hundred students. The school has really grown.”

Things don’t seem likely to slow down anytime in the near future, either. Michael envisions a softball complex that hosts national events near campus and hopes to see a pavilion that can hold upwards of 5,000 students for basketball games.

“I just think the sky is the limit for Holy Family,” Michael says. “I’m proud just to be part of it, the entire journey, because it’s a great ride. I don’t see a limit in the future. I see a lot of growth and a lot of success. We want to bring home a national banner. There’s no doubt about it. There’s not one coach I have that doesn’t have that as his or her ultimate goal.”

Even with those grandiose plans, she still makes sure not to lose that personal touch. Schultice, who says he is doing well and taking medication to combat the disease, is a member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Team Fox, which helps raise money for Parkinson’s research. Holy Family has joined Schultice in his fight. Schultice hosts a golf outing every year, the most recent of which raised $12,000 for his cause. Michael had Holy Family jerseys created with “Schultice 55” on the back.

“I’ve gotten a lot of support from the men’s basketball team and the Athletic Department at Holy Family and the school in general has supported the endeavor,” Schul-tice says. “Being a graduate of Holy Family and Catholic schools, its helped deal with life’s fouls a little easier.”

Once a Tiger, forever a Tiger.

Steve Lienert is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.


Women’s BasketballUnder the direction of first-year head coach Mark Miller, the women’s basketball team had another phenom-enal season. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season, including their second-ever appearance in the East Region Final. On January 28, 2010, the team set the NCAA Division II record for most consecutive regular season conference wins by defeating Goldey-Beacom, 64-32. The streak, which is still active, currently stands at 103 games. The Tigers led NCAA Division II in scoring defense for the second straight season. Forward Catherine Carr was named Daktronics Division II Women’s Basketball All-America second team and Division II State Farm Coaches’ All-America honorable mention. The Tigers went 30-3 overall, the seventh time in program history that the team won at least 30 games.

Men’s BasketballForward Justin Swidowski was the story for the team in the 2009-10 season. In just two seasons, he

became the 24th player in Holy Fam-ily history to score 1,000 career points. Swidowski was tabbed as a Division II Bulletin All-American honorable mention selection.

On April 30, John O’Connor was named as the program’s fourth-ever head coach. O’Connor has been at the Division I level for 17 seasons, includ-ing the final three as an assistant at Georgia Tech.

Men’s GolfJonathan Radick became the first golfer from Holy Family to participate in the NCAA Division II Atlantic/ East Super-Regional. Radick, who qualified as an individual, took eighth place in the tournament, narrowly missing a trip to the NCAA Championships by a single stroke. As a team, the Tigers finished fifth at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championships.

SoftballPitcher Jody Searfoss set the single-season (242) and career (656) records for strikeouts. Angela DiBeneditto became the career leader in home runs with 17. Catcher Deanna Myers slugged 13 home runs in 2010, a single-season record. The team finished 24-23 overall, the first time it ended the season over .500 since 2005. The Tigers made their third consecutive CACC Championship Tournament.

TrackFred Tuwei won the 3,000-meter run at the Collegiate Track Conference (CTC) Indoor Championships. June Cain won the 400-meter dash at the CTC Outdoor Championships. Latifah Porter won the 400-meter dash at the CTC Indoor Champion-ships. Tuwei, Cain, and Porter all were invited to participate in the 2010 New Balance Collegiate Invita-tional. They are the first Holy Family runners to participate in the event. The men’s 4x400 relay team of Patrick Monteith, Rashid Gilmore, Mike Grubby, and Brian Davis finished 12th in the CTC event at the Penn Relays. - Paul Gornowski

SPRING SPORTS ROuNDuP

Reports from the court, track, and field tigertales

Women’s LacrosseUnder first-year head coach Sarah Lautenbach, the women’s lacrosse team made the largest improvement, in terms of wins, in NCAA Division II during the 2010 season. The Tigers went 10-7 overall this year. In 2009, the team was 0-16. The team made its first-ever CACC Championship Tournament appearance, and reached the champi-onship match. Midfielder Stephanie McNesby was selected as the CACC rookie of the year.


News for the alumni communityfamilyreunion

40

Class NotesWhat you do is news to your fellow alumni and your alma mater! Tell us if you have moved, changed your phone number, updated your e-mail address, become engaged, married, had or adopted a baby, reunited with a group of classmates, received an award or promotion, changed jobs, or just want to say “hello!” Please forward details to the Office of Alumni & Parents, Holy Family University, 9801 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114-2009. You may wish to fax information to 215-637-2110, e-mail a message to [email protected], or post the note through our online alumni community at alumni.holyfamily.edu.

60sArlene Sablowski Postupak ’63 is a PA Nursing Home Administrator. She savors every moment spent with her children and granddaugh-ters, especially at their villa on Hilton Head Island.

Nijole Salciunas Helveston ’67 spends her winters in North Fort Myers, Florida. Nijole has two chil-dren and six grandchildren.

Joan O’Mara Peterson ’68 retired from the classroom after 30 years teaching French. Joan now owns a tutoring company and divides her time between Michigan, Florida, and five beautiful grandchildren. When Joan’s husband retires, they plan to move to Florida.

80sChristina Wiser Mitchell ’81 was named Metro Editor in charge of local content and operations for the Courier-Post newspaper in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Christina has been with the newspaper for 26 years. She has two sons, 16 and 13.

Julie Bamberger-Herrmann ’83 has been married to husband Bob for 12 years. She has been a social worker at the Philadelphia Corpora-

tion for Aging for nearly 20 years. Julie loves working with the elderly and their caregivers.

90sLisa Bellini Crytser ’93/M’95 lives in Florida with husband Alfred and children Dominic, 12, and Angeline, 10. She teaches fourth grade at Oasis Charter Elementary.

John McGovern, Esq., CPA ’93 is the Treasurer for the campaign of Sid Michaels-Kavulich, candidate for Pennsylvania State Representative, 114th District.

Janice Leshner Jakubowitcz ’94 was proud to attend Dr. Lombardi’s retirement celebration at Folio Night in April. One of Janice’s stories was published in Folio. She has been

writing stories and poetry over the years and has been published in magazines and on the Internet. Janice’s daughter is a sophomore at Muhlenberg College.

Terri Tallon-Hammill ’96 was appointed to the position of Execu-tive Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees at Thomas Edison State College in March 2010.

Dr. Lourdes Reddy Santoni M’96 recently traveled to India to learn about Buddhist tradition and how it compares to Christianity in its philosophy. Lourdes and others on the trip developed an anthology of poetry.

Michelle Tumolo ’96/M’06, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Holy Family University, will be married on December 4, 2010. Michelle’s fiancé is Mark Foley,

PROFILE

Anthony (Tony) Renzi ’86 recently was named Executive Vice President of single-family portfolio management by Freddie Mac. Renzi is a 24-year veteran of GMAC Residential Capital, where he served in numerous leadership positions and gained considerable hands-on experience in operations, portfolio management, and loss mitigation on a multi-billion-dollar portfolio.

2010 Alumni Reunion and Awards DinnerHonoring the School of Arts and Sciences


a nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

David Beaver ’98 recently assumed the role of Assistant Controller at Crown Holdings, Inc. in Philadelphia.

00sSuanne Bernacki M’03 achieved board certification in Nursing Professional Development from the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC). The ANCC, a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA), provides individuals and organizations throughout the nursing profession with resources they need to achieve practice excellence.

Dan Kilcoyne ’04 and his brother Shawn began selling flash-frozen ice cream while they were in high school. In April of this year the brothers became owners of the U.S. business Mini Melts. The Mini Melts company manufactures and sells flash-frozen ice cream. The two brothers had been Mini Melts ven-dors since 2004. It is sold through vending machines that dispense the

cryogenically frozen ice cream in small cups that come with spoons. Dan, who was president of SGA for two years while a student at Holy Family, still brings ice cream back to campus each year for stress reduction week.

Johanna Engel Flickinger ’05 married her college sweetheart on September 15, 2007, in Philadelphia. Johanna, who graduated with a degree in Communications, is now attending school to become a nurse. Johanna and husband Aaron moved into their first home in March 2010.

Jeffrey Kruczynski ’05 is a Writer/Editor at The Sports Network in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. It is a Web site with clients throughout the United States and Canada who rely on the site for stories and game recaps.

Phyllis Bourke Schuck ’07 was married on May 9, 2009.

Matt Gremo ’07, who previously worked in Information Services at Holy Family, recently accepted a position at Yellow Book as a Web Content Writer.

Sarah Varacallo ’08 was recently accepted into Drexel University’s Science of Instruction Program.

Kaitlyn Mrozinski ’09 and Joseph

Zuchero ’09 are engaged with a summer 2012 wedding planned.

Deniene Tosto ’09 is a Staff Accountant at Universal Technical Resource Services (UTRS).

Jessica Kovalchick ’10 was hired at Foundations for Behavioral Health as Therapeutic Staff Support.

Brittany LaCouture ’10 has been accepted into law school at George-town University.

Steven Nicoletti ’10 completed a co-op with Liberty Mutual and was subsequently hired by that firm as a Financial Sales Representative. Steven already has two business trips scheduled for Liberty Mutual: one to Orlando, Florida, and the other to Phoenix, Arizona.

In MemoriamDeborah Sembello Keefe ’64 passed away on June 12, 2008. Deborah was the mother of Dawn Keefe McFadden M’97.

Nicole Schiavoni ’09 died on June 14, 2010.

All alumni are welcome and Arts and Sciences alumni are highly encouraged to attend. For more information and to RSVP, call 267-341-3339 or e-mail [email protected].

Join us for a tribute to former Arts & Sciences Dean and faculty member Regina Hobaugh, PhD, and a special welcome to incoming

Dean Michael Markowitz, PhD.

The Arts and Sciences Alumni Award will be presented to a graduate whose personal, academic, and humanitarian

accomplishments exemplify and advance the mission of Holy Family University through dedicated commitment and service to the local

community and society at large. To submit a nomination, visit holyfamily.edu/alumni/awardform-arts.doc.

2010 Alumni Reunion and Awards DinnerHonoring the School of Arts and SciencesFriday, November 19, 20106 pm to 9 pmTorresdale-Frankford Country Club


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News for the alumni community

Two Holy Family graduates were recognized for out-standing achievement in their undergraduate careers

on May 18 at Commencement ceremonies. Alumni Association Board Member Karen Menello Fox

’94, M’07 presented the Asso-ciation’s Alumni Senior Award to Gina D’Emilio ’10, an Art Education major. The award is given each year to a graduating student who best represents the student body through his/her campus involvement, com-munity service, life experience, and academic achievements. D’Emilio was a member of the University’s soccer team, Presi-dent of the Student Visual Art Association, and an intern at a summer arts camp. She was the featured artist for the University’s annual Senior

Awards Presented to University’s Newest Alumni

Thesis Exhibition on display at the Art Gallery in April.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Sister Maureen McGarrity, CSFN, PhD, presented The Mother Mary Neomisia Award to Julie Ivers ’10, a Manage-ment/Marketing major. Holy Family’s Board of Trustees established the Mother Mary Neomisia Award in honor of the University’s Found-ing President. The award is given annually to a senior who exhibits outstanding qualities of service and loyalty to the University and the ideals that S. Neomisia had in mind when she established the institution. Ivers served as student ambassador for Undergraduate Admissions, Editor of the Tri-Lite student newspaper, student mentor, student representative on the Middle States Reaccreditation Sub-Committee, and received several University awards and national honors.

Legacy Campaign Doubles Participation, Contributions

The 2010 Senior Class Legacy Committee began its campaign

to raise funds for a senior class gift early last fall. Marissa Donatone, Gary Gentner, Melissa Hipwell, Julie Ivers, Jessica Kovalchick, and Patricia Paluch, along with faculty moderator Dr. Mary Carroll Johansen, worked closely with the Alumni Director and the Vice Presi-dent for Student Services to organize events and campaign for a $20.10 donation from fellow classmates.

Several senior class events were offered to those who donated, including a class pinning and dinner in April with President Sister Francesca Onley, faculty, and administrators.

As an added bonus, the seniors who donated were invited to represent Holy Family at Philadelphia: A City of Graduates at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mayor Michael

Nutter and Bill Cosby participated in the first-ever, city-wide event honor-ing Philadelphia’s college graduates and were pictured in several photos with Holy Family graduates.

At the close of the campaign on

June 30, the committee had raised more than $4,200, doubling both participation and contributions over 2009. A dedication ceremony for the 2010 senior class gift is planned for early November.


Jan Duggar, PhD, Dean of the School of Business Administration, alumni, current students and faculty

celebrated the 10th anniversary of the graduate Human Resources Management (HURM) Program at the Torresdale-Frankford Country Club in May. The reception and networking event included a special tribute to Anthony DiPrimio, PhD, the founding director of the HURM program.

Betsy Wilkinson M’09, a HURM graduate, honored Dr. DiPrimio and presented him with a congratulatory plaque on behalf of the Alumni Association. Among the special guests was Dr. Alexander J. Hatala, Lourdes Health System President and CEO and a close colleague of Dr. DiPrimio.

Class of 1960 Celebrates Golden Anniversary

on Sunday, May 16, Sister Francesca Onley, CSFN, PhD,

and the Alumni Association welcomed the Class of 1960 and other alumni celebrating anniversary years for a Reunion Brunch at the Torresdale-Frankford Country Club. Alumni from the classes of 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1990, and 2005 attended.

The brunch was highlighted by a tribute to the Class of 1960, given by Sister Francesca, with special recog-nition given to all of the anniversary classes by Linda Colwell-Smith ’83, past Alumni Association President.

Florence McGuckin Hogan ’60 gave the invocation and Gini Fluehr Campbell ’60 amused the group with memories and trivia about Holy Fam-ily College rules back in the late 1950s. Some examples included “stockings

HURM Alumni Celebrate Program’s 10th Anniversary

HURM alumnus John Biasiello ’97, M’03 was instrumental in organizing this special program with the Office of Alumni & Parents and the School of Business Administration. - Marie Zecca

The Class of 1960 celebrates their 50th anniversary at the Kimmel Center.

are to be worn at all times—knee socks will be frowned upon” and “students are allowed to leave campus daily if they return by 7 pm.”

The program ended with Marianne Clisham Harrington ’60 leading a round of the Holy Family “College” School Song.

After the brunch many of the gradu-ates attended the Baccalaureate Mass of Thanksgiving, held in the Campus Center. The Class of 1960 was recognized during the Mass by Reverend James MacNew, OSFS, Campus Minister.

On Monday, May 17, members of the Class of 1960 were invited to re-turn to campus for a tour

and meetings with University adminis-trators and staff. They were especially interested in Holy Family Hall, where they attended all of their classes, and they were particularly impressed with all of the changes that have occurred on campus over the years.

The tour was followed by lunch in the Campus Center, where the group received updates on the athletic program, residence life, and academic programs.

Finally, the University paid special recognition to the Class of 1960 at the May 18 Commencement, held at the Kimmel Center. Graduates of the class came from California, Florida, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for this special occa-sion. After 50 years, the class remains active and in touch with each other, gathering annually for reunions.

Graduates from the Class of 1970 celebrate their 40th reunion at the Torresdale-Frankford Country Club.

Dr. DiPrimio, founding Director of the HURM program, accepts a plaque from Betsy Wilkinson M’09


A nostalgic trip back in timememorylane

HideoutThree students grab a bite to eat on the roof of Holy Family Hall, affectionately called the “sun deck,” in the mid 1970s.


Automatic Umbrella 42" folding umbrella with Holy Family logo $14.98

Legacy Adjustable Washed Twill Cap* Unstructured twill cap with embroidered Holy Family logo, 100% cotton $19.98

Red Shirt V Notch Hoodie Junior fit hooded sweatshirt with screen printed Holy Family logo, 60% cotton/40% polyester $39.98

Alumni Coffee Mug 11 oz coffee mug with alumni logo $8.98

Jansport Open Bottom Pant Open bottom sweat pant with embroidered/appliquéd Holy Family logo, 55% cotton/45% polyester $34.98

* Washed twill caps are available in a variety of specialties.

Due to seasonal changes, some items shown may vary slightly in color and or graphics.

Say It Loud,Wear It ProudCatch the Holy Family spirit at our online bookstore. Order at holyfamily.bncollege.com


Making a difference on campusgivingback

FALL 201046

last September, the Athletic Department endured a dif-ferent kind of loss as it mourned the sudden passing

of longtime manager Walt Swartz ’92. Since the beginning of his freshman year, over 20 years ago, Swartz was an Event Staff Manager at all men’s and women’s basketball games and women’s volleyball games.

While the University community mourned the loss of this longtime friend, his family and friends decided to take action. They established The Walter J. Swartz, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund to be awarded to a student who continues in Swartz’s footsteps as a student manager in the Athletic Department. Through a generous contribution from Swartz’s family, the scholarship received a jumpstart. His friends and family then began diligently organizing a beef and beer with the goal of

A Legacy to Remember raising an additional $14,000 to endow the scholarship and keep Swartz’s memory alive in perpetuity. This event, held on May 8, was successful.

Through this endowed scholarship, Swartz’s legacy as a fun-loving, enthusiastic, spirited, and dedicated Holy Family volunteer will last forever. If you would like to contribute to this schol-arship, please send your

contributions to: Holy Family University, c/o the Walter J. Swartz Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, Attention: Institutional Advancement, 9801 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19114.

beginning next year, nursing students will have a chance to

impact the local community long be-fore graduation. Through a generous grant of $10,000 from the TD Bank

Foundation, Ana Marie Catanzaro, PhD, Chair of the Master of Science in Nursing Program, will work with approximately 45 undergraduate and graduate students to provide targeted

Grant to Provide Community Health Resourceshealth education, disease prevention plans, and vital immunizations to underserved populations throughout the Philadelphia region.

The grant will help expand pro-grams currently in place at Libertae, Inc., a transitional housing facility for women recovering from chemi-cal dependency and their children, and Mercy Neighborhood Ministries, a day program for developmentally delayed adults and seniors who live in group homes. Dr. Catanzaro, along with Holy Family faculty and students, has provided limited healthy living programs and flu and H1N1 vaccines to vulnerable populations at the two organizations for the last few years.

Without the assistance of Holy Family faculty and students, neither of these nonprofit organizations could provide health promotion, immunizations, or disease prevention services to their clients. According to Dr. Catanzaro, the grant will help support more community members and provide additional services. – Suzanne Libenson


ON THE SCENE Scholarship Ball 2010Holy Family’s generous benefactors joined the University for its 17th annual Scholarship Ball on June 10 at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City Philadelphia. Walter D’Alessio, Vice Chair and Board Member of NorthMarq Capital, Inc., received the 2010 Corporate Leadership Award for his 50-year career in public-sector urban planning and private-sector real estate financing and development. The event raised more than $309,200 for student financial aid.

1) For the fourth year, the Wanamaker Building’s Crystal Tea Room played host to the Scholarship Ball.

2) Holy Family President Sister Francesca Onley, PhD, chats with Corporate Leadership Award winner Walter D’Alessio at the cocktail reception.

3) Pictured from left to right are ball-goers Ray Angelo, President, Westinghouse Lighting Corporation and Member, Holy Family Board of Trustees; Carol Angelo; Corporate Leadership Award winner Walter D’Alessio; Melve Freeman; and Marshall Freeman, Commissioner, Philadelphia Human Relations Commission.

4) Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Joseph A. Frick (left) and other ball attendees bid on silent auction items.

5) Sister Angela Cresswell, CSFN, Assistant Professor of Education, and Sister Benita Skrzyp, CSFN, get down on the dance floor.

6) Sister Jolanta Kruczak, CSFN, and her partner polka the night away.

7) Feather boas make the night merrier!

8) Guests groove to the beat of the David Christopher Orchestra.

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lastword

You have earned four degrees, including a PhD, and are working toward a fifth. What is it about learning that appeals to you?No one field is an entity to itself, so challenging yourself is important. Business affects health care. Educa-tion affects health care. Research affects health care all the time. The need for knowledge becomes inter-connected, and when you are able to tie it all together, you wind up with better outcomes.

Health care has been a hot topic lately. What are your views on the changes taking place in health care and how they will affect nursing?

Bruce Boxer, PhD, M’06Teacher and author Bruce Boxer is the Nursing Quality/Magnet Program Director for South Jersey Healthcare. He holds four degrees, including an MBA in Health Care Administration from Holy Family, and is working towards a master’s degree in Nursing. Bob Macartney recently caught up with Boxer to get his perspective on health care in America and his new book Creative Solutions to Enhance Nursing Quality.

One of the things we need to realize is that the realm of nursing has changed. Nursing accountability and the knowl-edge nurses need has changed. Quality improvement is on the nurses’ heads now. They are the caregivers and need to understand how to keep improving quality. I believe we are going to see more consumer-driven healthcare. Consumers will be much more savvy, and with insurance reform will have more freedom of choice in the hos-pitals they want to go to. So how will they make that choice? They will look for the best hospitals. Data shows the consumer is starting to look more for quality indicators in health care, and I expect that trend to continue.

Questions and answers with…

Your new book, Creative Solutions to Enhance Nursing Quality, deals with starting magnet programs. However, there is quite a bit of controversy over these programs, which require hospitals to satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. What is it about the magnet program that you feel makes it successful?We are creating innovative ways of delivering patient care to meet our patient’s needs. I am obviously a big believer in the magnet program. One of the problems with the magnet framework is people have a hard time navigating it. Most new magnet starters fumble until they talk to someone who has done it, so the impetus to write this book was to give people guidelines as they start the magnet journey, and help enhance nursing quality.

What led you to co-author a book with your sister?I have a unique blend of education, and I have the ability to integrate and see a global view of things and how they interrelate. With that, I have a well-rounded view of a lot of aspects within the magnet program and I can give people some insight. I also reached out to my colleagues, and at the end of each chapter, we have contributions from nurses at other institutions—creative solutions and innovative ways nurses have taken care and changed it to solve problems in care delivery.


STUDENTS ARE COUNTING ON YOU!

HOpEKNOwLEDGEOppORTUNITIES

TO THE ANNUAL FUND

“I came to Holy Family University to study

Psychology for Business, and I graduated last

spring to begin pursuing a career in human

resources. But I will be the first to tell you that

I couldn’t have done it without help. Like

most of my classmates, I received financial aid.”

Melissa hipwell ’10Financial Aid Recipient

Annual gifts from alumni and other generous friends allow Holy Family to provide financial help to students like Melissa. Government support is declining, and with the economy down, such contributions are more important than ever. More Holy Family students need financial aid, and many who’ve been receiving aid need additional assistance.

If you’ve been making annual gifts, please continue to give what you can. If you haven’t given, there will never be a better time to start. Everybody’s help is needed. Each contribution to Holy Family makes a difference and is appreciated.

No gift is too small. Make yours today using the enclosed envelope or give online at holyfamily.edu/giving.

+The Tigers Turn 25From moving into the Campus Center to joining the NCAA Division II, Holy Family Athletics have come a long way, baby.

{ }in This issue

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPhiladelphia, PAPermit No. 2378

9801 Frankford AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19114-2009

Walking with SaintsSeven days after a massive

earthquake shook Haiti to its very core, emergency room

physician Keith Lafferty, MD ’89 boarded a plane bound for the devastated country,

and an experience that would indelibly change his life.

Playing for LaughsForty years after doctors said he wouldn’t live past his 30s, comedian Tim Grill ’05 is lighting up the stage and keeping audiences in hyster-ics throughout the Delaware Valley.

Prison BossAs head of the Philadelphia

Prison System’s correctional industries, Eleanor Simpson Doherty ’81 provides incarcerated men and women with real-life job skills and

alternatives to a life of crime.

+

Documents

Holy Family University Magazine - Fall 2010