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John Abraham Takes a Stand

Jim Winterer '71 : Photo by Mike Ekern '02 — Fri, 11 November 2011 9:13:00 CST

Dr. John Abraham and his wife, Molly, packed up their kids and headed to Disneyland in July 2010 for the family’s first real vacation. Four-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Lilith fell in love with Disney’s dazzling King Arthur Carousel. They didn’t ride it once or twice, they went on it seven times.

While his kids were having the time of their lives, the St. Thomas associate professor of mechanical engineering unfortunately had other things on his mind. Between carousel
rides, Abraham kept checking his cell phone for messages. Headlines like this one - not only in the United States but in Europe, Australia and New Zealand - explain why: "The Monckton Files: Bombshell!!! John Abraham to be Sued!!!"

Abraham had tangled with Scotland’s Christopher Monckton, one of the world’s most prominent global-warming skeptics and a sought-after speaker by the kind of organizations that share his skepticism.

In fact, what became a global confrontation between Abraham and Monckton can be traced to an invitation that the Minnesota Free Market Institute extended to Monckton in October 2009 to speak on the Bethel University campus in Arden Hills. In his talk (not sponsored by Bethel), Monckton maintained that scientists are wrong about warming temperatures, rising sea levels, ocean acidification and even problems facing polar bears. At last count, a YouTube video of that talk had received 259,517 views.

"I knew I needed to respond," Abraham recalled. "I could not let that go unanswered,
and I asked myself, ‘If I don’t, who will?’" He spent that winter researching Monckton’s
statements to the Minnesota Free Market Institute.

"I thought, man, this guy is a great speaker and he is very convincing. If I didn’t know the science, I would believe him. Frankly, the nonscientists in the audience didn’t have a chance. They had no way of knowing what he said was not true. I felt Monckton took advantage of them and he knew he was taking advantage of them."

As part of his research, Abraham wrote to the authors or the directors of organizations
that had published papers that Monckton referenced in his Bethel lecture. In case after case, the scientists wrote back to say that Monckton had it wrong.

If you believed Monckton, Abraham said, you would believe that: the world is not warming, sea levels are not rising, ice is not melting, the ocean is not heating, scientists
are lying and there’s a conspiracy.

Abraham’s calm and cerebral response took the form of an 83-minute video that he
made available on the web in late May 2010. And there the point-by-point rebuttal sat
for some weeks, for the most part unnoticed. That changed, and dramatically so, when
George Monbiot, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper in England, wrote about Abraham’s work.

"Viscount Monckton’s assertions have been comprehensively discredited by professor of mechanical engineering John Abraham, at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota," Monbiot wrote. "Abraham, like the other brave souls who have taken on this thankless task, has plainly spent a very long time on it.

"The results of Abraham’s investigation are astonishing: not one of the claims he looks into withstands scrutiny. He exposes a repeated pattern of misinformation, distortion and manipulation. Some of Monckton’s assertions are breathtaking in their brazen disregard of facts."

Picking a fight with ‘quite a dragon’

The story might have ended there, but Monckton tossed gas on the fire by responding
with the kind of verbal attacks that attract audiences to professional wrestling.

In his initial response, Monckton said Abraham’s comments were a "hilariously mendacious 83-minute attempted rebuttal" that was "delivered in a nasal and irritatingly
matey tone (at least we are spared his face - he looks like an overcooked prawn)."

He also wrote that Abraham was "snake-like" and "his deliberately dishonest personal attack on my integrity and reputation is an ingenious fiction."

But Monckton was just getting warmed up. On the Alex Jones radio and Internet program, Monckton described Abraham as "this wretched little man" who "only belongs to this half-assed Christian Bible college." Monckton described Abraham’s response as "complete fabrication" and "lie after lie after lie after lie."

Jones, for his part, called Abraham’s response a "scurrilous list of fiction" and asked Monckton: "Doesn’t he know that you’ve routed all these other fraudulent professors
and this time he’s picked a fight with quite a dragon?"

"I don’t think he’s realized it yet," Monkton replied. He later gave Father Dennis Dease’s email address and encouraged viewers to "email this creep of a president." (It marked the first time, Dease later said, he’d been called a creep, at least in public.) In the first of repeated threats of legal action against Abraham and St. Thomas, Monckton said, "We are looking at a legal case if we can’t get any sense out of the president."

Global movement’s salvo ‘fired by a quiet, unassuming professor’

News of the dust-up was still mostly confined to the Guardian and websites that
follow climate change.

As the environmental reporter Peter Sinclair blogged: "There’s a building storm of
indignation out there among those literate in science - who have gone from depression
and despair at the tsunami of fossil-fueled ignorance that’s passed for reporting - to a
real resolve and willingness to fight back, not just for the planet, but for the very idea
that objective truth exists, and that science is a tool to find it.

"One of the opening salvos of that movement," Sinclair wrote, "was probably fired by a quiet, unassuming professor at a Catholic university in St. Paul, who did not set out to place himself in the center of a storm."

A New Zealand-based website devoted to global-warming topics, meanwhile, posted news about the controversy under a headline: "Support John Abraham." It quickly received more than 1,000 letters of support from around the world.

While news of the controversy was spreading around the world among those following the climate-change debate, back home Abraham wasn’t even a blip on the media radar. At least not until Casey Selix, then a reporter for the online MinnPost, got wind of the story and found that if you Googled "John Abraham and Christopher Monckton" you’d find more than 21,000 search results (as of 01/05/12 it is 27,500). She spent days researching the topic before filing two stories that appeared in July 2010.

"Quite simply," she wrote, "the scientific community’s inability to explain the risks of climate change on Earth to the public propelled Abraham into action. ... Observers and scientists around the world have hailed Abraham’s ‘A Scientist Replies to Christopher Monckton’ as one of the best attempts yet to take on Monckton."

The Selix stories caught the attention of other reporters; within days newspaper readers across the Twin Cities, state and nation began seeing headlines about the controversy.

It is likely that, worldwide, no other St. Thomas professor has been written about more than Abraham, with the exception of 1968 presidential candidate Sen. Eugene McCarthy, who taught sociology at St. Thomas from 1946 to 1948.

"I thought there would be criticism about my response," Abraham said, "but I didn’t realize how large the story would get. Initially, it was not a clear path. From the very beginning, though, I have always been concerned about the impact this might have on the University of St. Thomas. I didn’t want my actions to have a negative effect on the university."

Abraham also is concerned that in his effort to present accurate science on climate
change, he will be seen as a "lefty trying to score political points against conservatives.

"I really try to quiet the political rancor on this subject," he said. "Both sides need to
come together to find solutions to this problem that cannot only help the environment but also fix the economy. I encourage people to work hard to bridge the cultural divide
we have on this issue.

"People on both sides need to be sensitive to the concerns of others. Some of those
concerns are well-founded. If we can find ways to work together on mutual goals, we can make some progress toward solving this challenging, but not insurmountable problem," he said.

Top-down support

In the summer of 2010, when Monckton first threatened legal action, Dr. Susan Huber,
St. Thomas’ executive vice president and chief academic officer, called Abraham to her office for a meeting.

"I thought uh-oh, I’m gonna be in trouble," he recalled later. "But when Dr. Huber called me into her office, she just wanted to make sure I was doing OK. What a great surprise."

Abraham was in for another surprise when he joined other faculty members at the president’s fall convocation, where Dease shares news and sets the tone for the coming year.

"We can take great pride in scholars such as John Abraham who place their scientific
learning and expertise in service to the larger good, even at the risk of personal disparagement," Dease said. "To his credit, Dr. Abraham knew well that of which he spoke and despite the mounting pressure he did not flinch.

"Thank you, John, for the manner in which you carried yourself! You have brought
distinction to this university community, and we are proud to be associated with you. ... His presentation was factual and respectful. He reflected so very well the civility that has become a hallmark of this university community."

Abraham would tell you that the concept of civility is as important to him as the scientific methods he teaches his engineering students. "If I stoop to name-calling, I lose my credibility," he said. "When Monckton began calling me and Father Dease names, I knew he had lost the battle."

To maintain his impartiality he does not accept funding for climate research. When he gives speeches (since the Monckton controversy he averages one a week) he never asks for an honorarium. If one is given, he asks that the check be made out to St. Thomas. If a check is made out to him, he gives it to charity.

Beyond Monckton

If Abraham led a busy life before his response to Monckton, it has gone into overdrive.
In recent months, he has been asked to provide climate information to the U.S. Congress and the Minnesota Legislature.

In addition to reporters, he has been interviewed for a documentary that was broadcast
by the BBC (despite Monckton’s efforts to block it). With two colleagues, he created an international "Climate Science Rapid Response Team" of more than 140 scientists who are available for media interviews, and he supported the creation of a legal-defense fund for climate scientists threatened with legal action.

About John Abraham

To understand Abraham’s interest in climate change, it helps to know that his field, mechanical engineering, has subdivisions. One deals with mechanical things, like
engines and pumps and gears. Another deals with fluids and heat transfer, which is Abraham’s field. As he explains it, "the earth’s atmosphere and its oceans are both fluids. The principles are the same, whether it’s the planet or in the laboratory."

Abraham, 37, earned his three engineering degrees at the University of Minnesota. He received his doctorate in 2002 and came to St. Thomas right out of graduate school,
first as an adjunct instructor and later as a full-time faculty member.

Abraham has published 130 peerreviewed journal and conference papers, and in addition to teaching, he’s been an engineering consultant for the past 15 years in the aerospace, biomedical, manufacturing and energy industries. He’s done work on stents and other devices that treat heart disease, on chronic-pain devices, and even methods to cool radar systems on jet airplanes.

He sees great value in blending his consulting and teaching careers. "I spend more of my time on industrial research than on teaching. I enjoy working on real-life problems with students. I get calls from companies that are having trouble with a product, and then I work with students to get working products."

Between family, teaching, research and consulting, Abraham estimates that since the
fall of 2009 he has carved out 1,000 hours of unpaid time to work on climate research and the Monckton controversy.

He decided to jump into the fray, he said, "because it’s just that important."

"My agenda is to safeguard the future of the planet and to make sure that real science
gets out there. And I’ll tell you what, we have some tough decisions to make and we can only make good decisions if we really know the science. The more we argue about
whether or not climate change is occurring, the longer we delay making those decisions."

Student > Athlete

Gene McGivern : Photos by UST Photo Services — Fri, 11 November 2011 9:14:00 CST

Here’s the beauty of NCAA Division III athletics at a dynamic university like St. Thomas: Your rosters are filled with well-rounded individuals who also happen to be good at sports, not simply pure athletes who happen to have a few outside interests
and talents.

Take these four high achievers:

- The captain and leading scorer on St. Thomas’ nationally ranked men’s hockey team, 24-year-old senior Robby Philipp, helps pay his tuition with a work-study job ... doing his team’s practice and game laundry.
- A swimmer and aspiring photographer, Alexis Rodarmel (top) is a student government representative, has a lengthy service résumé and takes part in a rock climbing club ...
all while making the dean’s list.
- A four-year starter in soccer, Tess Hanson played on an MIAC championship team and holds a research job while she prepares for medical school ... and maintains a 3.98
grade-point average.
- A five-time All-American on the track at 800 meters and a four-time All-MIAC soccer player, Mike Hutton takes classes at the University of Minnesota’s ROTC program ... and chose the Tommies over the Gophers, where his twin brother competes in the same event.

While facilities, coaching and tradition are important to the overall success of Tommie athletics, games and championships are won with dedicated and diverse student-athletes like this foursome.

St. Thomas’ 700 student-athletes have an average grade point above 3.00. The Tommie women’s teams have been especially proficient. Last year alone, women’s basketball posted a 3.519 GPA; women’s cross country had a 3.50 GPA; women’s tennis had a 3.44 GPA; soccer had a 3.40 GPA; softball had a 3.38 GPA; women’s track and field had a 3.36 GPA; and women’s swimming and diving had a 3.31 GPA.

St. Thomas has had 74 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including 51 in the last 10 years in 11 different sports. In four sports last fall, six Tommies made first-team Academic All-District and are on the national ballot for All-America consideration.
Robby Philipp explains his daily schedule, which is fairly typical for students juggling varsity sports, academics and activities:

"My typical day involves waking up at 8 a.m., and I try to study before going to class." he said. "I’m typically at class from 9 to 11 a.m., then it’s off to hockey from 1 to 5 p.m. After hockey, I go to classes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 9:15 p.m. After class, I study again and get homework done. My day is jam-packed and stressful, but I believe that it will better prepare me for life in the working world where there are constant deadlines."

All four agree that their sacrifices and time demands are worth it as they seek the best possible college experience.

"St. Thomas definitely has allowed me a great balance between being a student, an athlete and an actively involved college kid," Rodarmel said. "Plus, St. Thomas has given me many opportunities and many people whom I can thoroughly rely on."

A native of Thief River Falls, Minn., Philipp played two seasons of Juniors A hockey for the Fargo-Moorhead Jets after graduating from high school. He turned 21 in his freshman year at St. Thomas, and that maturity helped him appreciate the opportunity he had in the classroom and on the ice.

Coming into December, Philipp led the conference in goals with six in UST’s 6-2-1 start. The Tommies had won their last 10 games when he has scored a goal. He’s on pace to
play in more than 100 college games.

Philipp originally committed to play Division I hockey at the Air Force Academy but
changed plans. "I decided that the academy was not a good fit for me, and decided to go to St. Thomas because I heard a lot of great things about the business program it offers," he explained. "What I like most about St. Thomas is that it has a small-school feel but you’re in a big city. I’m originally from a small town, so the transition to St. Thomas was very easy for me. Also, the opportunity the college offers in job placement was also a major factor."

Despite his age and status as team leader, Philipp is a down-to earth guy who does the team laundry at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. His leadership in hockey, his 3.64 grade-point average and his 2010 summer job at a small-town bank in New Folden, Minn., put him in a position to receive (and accept) a full-time finance/accounting job in the Twin Cities at Honeywell.

"Hard worker, fierce competitor," said UST men’s hockey coach Jeff Boeser of his senior captain. "Rob does not like to lose, no matter what he is competing in. He’s very passionate, wants to be the best and is reliable in any situation during a game."

Alexis Rodarmel, a junior who competes in the sprint freestyle races, joined the long tradition of UST swimming and diving athletes who contribute so much to campus life outside the pool.

"Her greatest attribute is her ability to channel positive energy into doing good for others, whether it’s lifting someone’s spirits in practice, cheering for someone in a race, or organizing a fundraiser to battle cancer," said her coach, Tom Hodgson. "She has a remarkable, totally natural generosity of spirit. ... She gives with no thought of reward."

Rodarmel admits she misses her native Colorado Springs but said she doesn’t regret making the 1,000-mile trek to Minnesota.

"I came to St. Thomas because I was seeking independence. I wanted the opportunity to sink or swim (both literally and figuratively) on my own." Rodarmel said. "I needed confirmation that I could indeed flourish in a new place and succeed at achieving my goals. Coming to St. Thomas allowed me to do all of that. I feel like I’m constantly accomplishing goals, both big and small, almost every day that I’m here. I know I’m constantly learning when I’m in the classroom, and I’m definitely learning about how resourceful and successful I can be so far from home."

Rodarmel’s experience rings true, for student-athletes or any students.

"When I get into a week that is absolutely crazy, I just stop and make myself take it one day at a time," she explained. "Sometimes, it turns into one ‘thing’ at a time. There are days that start at 9 a.m. and do not stop until 10 p.m. I watch the time like a hawk. I’m a queen of time management. I look at my week and know that I cannot miss class and I cannot miss swim practice. From there, I look at the free time I have and utilize it for volunteering, meetings, homework and whatever else I have to get done. You should see what my planner looks like some weeks - it’s amazing I can get that much on a single page!"

A rare athlete who competes in fall, winter and spring, Mike Hutton will fulfill his Marines commitment starting next year. He aspires to be a unit commander.

"I definitely can feel overwhelmed at times, but the people around me, including my family, ROTC classmates and my teammates, are the ones who keep me sane," Hutton explained. "I think that is also why I enjoy sports so much is because you can get a break in your day to do what you love and hang with some cool dudes."

Hutton has received MIAC Player of the Week honors six times so far during his career in soccer (three times), indoor track (twice)and outdoor track (once). Hutton closed his four-year soccer career with 35 goals and helped the Tommies win all four meetings versus archrival St. John’s. St. Thomas went 23-6-2 in games when Hutton scored a goal. In track, he’s been part of five MIAC champion teams and holds the school record for 800 meters at 1:50.98.

Coach Aaron Macke will miss the intensity that Hutton brings to the soccer field. "I’m inspired by Mike’s determination, discipline and motivation to succeed," Macke said. "On the soccer field that equates to being exceptionally fit, well prepared and leading by example. I also know that Mike has set numerous records in his (ROTC) Marines regimen.

"Mike’s day is very full with morning training in his ROTC program, classes throughout the day, soccer or track in the afternoon and class work or traveling for athletics in the evening. This full schedule requires extreme discipline and sacrifice to manage his time, take care of his body and mind, and stay focused on the ultimate goal - being the best
at whatever he sets out to do."

Hutton’s track and field coach Steve Mathre added, "Mike has this rare positive and infectious personality that says, ‘There’s nothing we can’t do.’ His teammates see his example and success and positive attitude and believe in him completely. He helps elevate everyone around him."

A defender, Tess Hanson missed only one college game due to injury and played in 75 games over her four-year career. She helped St. Thomas record 32 shutouts and build a 47-20-9 overall record. Hanson took a VISION service trip last spring break to Colorado and worked with an Americorp branch that provides outreach to the homeless and migrant populations and cooked food in a shelter. She also has volunteered with Tommie Park and Rec, United Hospital, Elder Network as a youth soccer coach, and
campus community cleanup.

"St. Thomas has provided a multitude of opportunities that have rounded out my education in more than just the liberal-arts sense," Hanson said. "I’ve been able to meet people and get involved in things that have made my time outside of the classroom just as meaningful as my time in the classroom. I’ve always had amazing support from my professors and classmates in my athletic endeavors, as well as incredible support from my teammates and coaches for my academic and career goals."

Hanson has applied to 11 medical schools, interviewed at many of those, and already has been accepted into one. "This past semester has been a bit crazier than most," Hanson said. "Applying to and interviewing for med school has been an additional extra-curricular that was fairly unpredictable and slightly more stressful."

Coach Sheila McGill said that Hanson is first and foremost a good person, which
will serve her well in a medical career.

"Tess is a quiet, kind and reassuring leader," McGill said. "This year Tess had to balance soccer, med school interviews and her academics, and excelled in them all. She is always the first person to step up and lend a hand, helping others carry equipment all four years, baking for the team and helping a sick or injured teammate. Her smile and kind heart truly will be missed."

"My time at St. Thomas has helped shape the type of doctor I want to be, not only in specialty but in character," Hanson said. "I hope to build on these experiences,
pursuing the service and academic interests I’ve cultivated throughout my time at St. Thomas."

That’s the life of a Tommie student-athlete - classes, homework, activities, practice and competition, with a little time left over for rock climbing and laundry.

Student Centered

St. Thomas Magazine : Multimedia by Mark Jensen — Fri, 11 November 2011 9:20:00 CST

Here's a floor by floor description of the Anderson Student Center:

Lower level

Bowl: The new bowling center features four lanes, along with shuffle board and
arcade-style games. The bowling center is available for open bowling, along with rentals by clubs, organizations and community members.

Dance: Looking for an open-mic night or a STAR event? The lower level features a dance space, equipped with a stage, a 960-square-foot dance floor and a high-quality sound system.

Groom and Style: Get a fresh new look at the full-service hair and nail salon, which offers hair services for men and women, as well as manicures and pedicures.

First floor

Scooter’s: Scooter’s has moved to its new home on the first floor of the ASC, and features a stage and a 1,554-square-foot dance floor. Pool tables and darts are available, along with seating options for groups or individuals. The floor design opens to the entire south corridor, inviting all students to come and go.

’85: Named for 1885, the year the university was founded, ’85 is home to air hockey, foosball, purple ping pong tables and six flat-panel televisions for video gaming systems, including Xbox Kinect, Wii and Playstation 3.

Atrium

Thanks to the 50-foot wall of windows, loungers in the atrium enjoy views of John P. Monahan Plaza and the lower quadrangle. The three above-ground floors of the facility open up to this space and are connected by a grand spiral staircase.

T’s: Folks who were accustomed to dining in The Grill in Murray-Herrick Campus Center have a new option in T’s (short for Tommie’s). T’s offers a deli, grilled items and a daily special.

Summit Marketplace: If grab-and-go items are more your fare, Summit Marketplace
has hot and cold sandwiches, pizza and typical C-Store options.

Second floor

AMAA: The American Museum of Asmat Art is home to the university’s collection of more than 2,000 artifacts created by the Asmat people of Indonesia. A gallery on the second floor showcases pieces ranging from sculptures to fiber art to shields.

Campus Way: The second-floor corridor running along the south wing of the building is known as Campus Way. This is where student clubs and organizations can set up tables for their various outreach efforts.

The View: Student dining has taken on a new persona with the aptly named "The View." It features a "scatter-style" layout with several food stations offering international, deli, grill and action options (like a stir-fry bar). Adding to the enhanced dining experience are the large windows that overlook O’Shaughnessy Stadium and the quad.

Third floor

Frank and Judy Sunberg Student Leadership Center: On the third floor, the Frank and Judy Sunberg Student Leadership Center offers space and resources to help foster collaboration among student organizations. The center houses the yearbook staff, Undergraduate Student Government, Hana, STAR and a leadership reference room. In addition, a program resource room has everything student club members need to make posters and event materials.

Woulfe Alumni Hall: The multipurpose space is named James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall. It is a spacious hall that can be divided into two separate spaces and will be home to events ranging from large lectures to wedding receptions, and can seat 650 people for dinner. Woulfe Lounge: Soft seating and a grand piano are available in Woulfe Lounge, adjacent to the Woulfe Alumni Hall. The windows look out to the most picturesque view of the quad in the entire building.

The Loft: Smoothies, tea and coffee drinks are available at The Loft.

Hearth Room: A two-sided fireplace visible from the corridor also faces the inside of the Hearth Room. This space is available for intimate events and receptions for small groups.

This Dorm's Life

Doug Hennes '77 : Photos by Mike Ekern '02 — Fri, 11 November 2011 9:20:00 CST

The president of St. Thomas was worried.

Enrollment had more than doubled, putting a strain on everything from classrooms to offices to residence hall rooms. There seemed to be no option but to build - and build soon - in his view, and money would need to be raised for any new construction.

Sound like the 1980s, after St. Thomas began to admit women as undergraduate students and saw enrollment double in a decade? Similar to circumstances when graduate enrollment tripled over 15 years, leading to the opening of the Minneapolis campus in 1992?

No, you need to go back much further - more than a century, in fact. The year was 1910, the president was Father Humphrey Moynihan, and the bursting-at-the-seams institution was the College of St. Thomas, which had grown from 250 to 600 students in just seven years. Moynihan knew action must be taken.

"By 1910, it was apparent that the Dormitory Building (1900) was going to be needed for instructional purposes," wrote Joseph B. Connors in Journey Toward Fulfillment, the centennial history of St. Thomas, "and that a new, much larger residence hall would be required."

That residence hall would become Ireland Hall, named after Archbishop John Ireland, who founded St. Thomas in 1885. The building opened in 1912, and this June its centennial will be celebrated.

The Catholic Bulletin, the archdiocesan newspaper, called the new hall "massive" but with "unusually graceful proportions," featuring 160 student rooms and 20 two-room apartments for priests. "Supplied with hot and cold water and lighted with electricity, the entire building is admirably ventilated and embodies what is the latest and best in
school architecture."

The cost of the project: $127,500.

Beyond Moynihan’s concerns about lack of space, little can be found in archival files about the decision to build Ireland. The college’s board met May 20, 1911, at the archbishop’s residence to open construction bids, and a subsequent meeting was held June 12 at the office of architect Emmanuel L. Masqueray to consider plumbing and
heating bids.

Masqueray was a busy architect that decade. The longtime friend of John Ireland also designed the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Grace
Residence Hall at the St. Paul Seminary and the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas.

W. H. Grady Co. of Merriam Park completed construction of Ireland Hall in April 1912. The college catalog that year describes it as "built in the form of a broad H," with a 170-foot-long central hall and north and south wings of 100 feet. College and academy students occupied all of the 14.5- by 10-foot rooms except for the southwing apartments, which were "thought to be a temporary arrangement" for priests, Connors
wrote. "It was to last for more than 60 years" (until the Faculty Residence opened in
1973). The priests used a first-floor oratory to celebrate daily Mass.

The basement proved to be perhaps the busiest area, providing recreational and
meeting rooms as well as space for the cafeteria, post office, snack bar and library.

Perhaps in accordance with the tradition of other buildings’ names reflecting their
use, the building officially was called the Residence Building. Students immediately
began to refer to it as Ireland Hall, however, as did college catalogues after 1924.

Academy students lived on the fourth floor and "weren’t allowed to mix with the college students," wrote student Anthony Kadlec in a 1987 history class paper. "A tiny platform stood outside Room 405 for the bugler to stand on as he played ‘Reveille’ at 7 a.m. and ‘Taps’ at 10:15 p.m."

By the summer of 1942, all but 100 college students had left to serve in World War II and the Navy V-12 program moved onto campus - and into Ireland - the following year to provide bachelor’s degrees to future Navy and Marine officers. The program stayed for three years.

"The arrangement with the Navy wasn’t always smooth - in fact, it gave the school’s
president (Father James Moynihan) a lot of grief," Kadlec wrote. "Undoubtedly the
greatest aggravation Father Moynihan underwent during the war years occurred when
the leader of the V-12 program installed condom dispensers in the bathrooms of Ireland
Hall. In a moment of outrage, Moynihan had the dispensers physically ripped off the wall and then spoke with the Navy commander."

After the war and the departure of the V-12 program, college students again filled
Ireland and high school students continued to live on the fourth floor until 1965, when
St. Thomas Academy opened a new campus in Mendota Heights. St. Thomas constructed Dowling (1959) and Brady (1966) halls to provide more housing, and students demanded more freedom from residence hall rules.

"Ireland Hall policy, when it came to female visitors, was that the student could have a guest in his room but he had to keep his door open and have the girl out of the hall by 10 p.m.," Kadlec wrote. The college changed the policy so that doors "could be partially closed - to the point where a book must be placed in the doorway. ... Gradually the books got smaller and smaller until one day a student decided that a book of matches
was the equivalent of the mandatory book."

1967 saw the arrival of "Lavin Burgers." Monsignor James Lavin ’40, who had lived in Ireland as a student and returned in 1946, put out loaves of bread and tubs of peanut
butter and jelly for students two nights a week. Even though he moved out of Ireland
in 2002, Lavin Burgers still can be made every Sunday night in the basement.

The long-term future of Ireland occasionally is called into question. In 2003, for example, a consultant recommended as part of a campus planning study that Ireland, as well as Cretin and Grace on the south campus, should be demolished and replaced with more-efficient residence halls. St. Thomas administrators, however, have no plans to raze any of the halls and even have looked at plans to renovate Ireland, including the installation of an elevator at the east entrance.

The reason is simple, said Jane Canney, vice president for student affairs: "Ireland has
a great tradition," she said. "Just think of it: 100 years! Why wouldn’t you want to preserve it? Thousands of alumni have cherished memories of Ireland Hall. I hope it stays around for another 100 years!"

Kadlec captures the historical resonance of the now 100-year-old dormitory in the
conclusion of his 1987 paper:

"Far too often, people look at an old building and simply see just the surface. ... They fail to see any beauty in the old bricks, the tall ceilings or the worn-down staircases. One such building that escapes the appreciation of the casual observer is old Ireland
Hall.

"Sometimes when I’m alone in my comfortable little room I think of all the students
who have made their homes in my room over the past 75 years. Knowing the rich history of Ireland Hall often makes me wonder about such things. And if Ireland Hall were a real person, I think she would want it that way."

An Oral History

Monsignor James Lavin ’40 (religion)

Monsignor James "Scooter" Lavin lived in Ireland Hall longer than anyone - 1936- 1940 as a student and 1946-2002 as a faculty and staff member. He taught religion from
1946 to 1967 and was a counselor from 1967 to 1988, when he became a special assistant to the president in the alumni office. Scooter’s restaurant - the original in Murray-Herrick Campus Center and the new version in the Anderson Student Center - carries his name, as does an award for volunteer service to the Alumni Association.
Lavin, 93, lives in the Little Sisters of the Poor residence in St. Paul.

He didn’t know the founder, but . . .
"John Ireland died in 1918, and I was born in 1918. No connection otherwise."

Small rooms had a purpose
"We had small rooms for two people, but wide corridors. We did all of our visiting
out in the corridors. We got to know people better that way."

Why live in Ireland for 60 years?
"I liked it. The Notre Dame priests were on to something when they lived with
students and as students lived."

Lavin Burgers
"When I went to college, I was always hungry. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
were one of the best investments I ever made. I could get my supplies through the school much cheaper than at the supermarket. I would set everything out and have
a foreman. You always need a foreman to control a mob (he said with a wink)! It was
surprising how much students would push the limits. If somebody bolted the line, a
husky Navy man or Marine would say, ‘Get to the end of the line and start over.’"

How he dealt with problem students
"I’d have them call dad at 3 ... in the morning. That would work very well."

His move out of Ireland
"It was tough to do, but it was the only thing to do. One thing I learned in grade school was when the company says move, you move. So when the doctor said, ‘You have to move,’ I moved."

Does he miss Ireland?
"The students come to me now."

Jay Kelly ’48 STA and ’52 CST (political science)

Jay Kelly grew up in Gary, Ind., and arrived in St. Paul in 1944 as a St. Thomas Academy freshman. He lived in Loras Hall for more than a year until moving into Ireland after the Navy V-12 Program left campus. His hall director was Father John
Roach, who became academy headmaster and was archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis for 20 years. Kelly lived off campus as a college freshman and junior but was in Ireland for his sophomore and senior years. He earned a law degree from
Georgetown and practiced in Chicago before returning to St. Paul in 1966.

Life as a 14-year-old in Ireland
"When I started off at the academy, the plebe system was just like West Point. We had to lean against the walls when the seniors went by, and we had to polish their shoes. I used to walk in the ‘Hour Line.’ If you got demerits, you marched back and forth for an hour down by the old Armory. You could get demerits for looking backwards at people. Smart off at seniors, and they’d nail you."

Overcame homesickness . . .
"We were all in the same boat together, and we got along well. The guys in school were like my brothers - even to this day. We have stayed in close touch with one another all these years. We still meet the second Thursday of the month at Dixie’s."

. . . and polio
"As a sophomore, Father Roach gave me a job to head the intramural program for
academy kids, but I came down with polio. I was taken to a hospital and sent home. I
came back for the spring semester but took only a couple of courses."

Survived "Crash Vash"
"Father (Robert) Vashro (then an academy teacher and later college dean of students) was tough. He had one of those fraternity paddles and he’d go wake up the seniors. He said, ‘Get out of bed or by dear God I’ll break your backs!’"

Roach no slouch, either
"His face would get so red when he got mad. He (once) blew a gasket and sat us down: ‘I’m tired of hearing spoons scratching in cups every morning! Don’t fill your cups half full of sugar - pour your coffee in first and add a teaspoon of sugar.’"

Thank goodness for the Mothers Club
"They all had daughters and we were a captive band of boys. They’d have us show up at social events. That’s how I met my wife, as a sophomore on a hay ride. She went to St. Joseph’s (Academy, then a high school)."

Ray O’Connell ’48 (sociology)

Ray O’Connell, a Deephaven High School graduate, enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served on the USS Emmons in the Atlantic before his 1944 assignment to the V-12 Program at St. Thomas. He spent a year on campus before finishing the program
at Marquette, then returned to St. Thomas to earn his degree and play football and basketball. He worked as a lobbyist during his career. He turns 90 this year and plans to
shoot his age - or better - in golf.

Why he came back to St. Thomas
"Father (William) O’Donnell was the registrar at St. Thomas. I was leaving Holy Name Catholic Church in Minneapolis one Sunday and Father O’Donnell was at the door. He talked with me and said, ‘Where are you going to school?’ I told him the University of Minnesota because I wanted to go into forestry, but I was having trouble with my transcripts. He said, ‘Listen, Ray, you come over tomorrow morning at 10, and I’ll
register you at St. Thomas.’"

A land lover
"The food was served downstairs, and we got three good squares a day. We had double bunks in each room. I always had the upper. I was probably the oldest guy in there
because I had a lot more experience from the war. I was elated to live there - it absolutely was better than living on a ship. When you’re at sea, anything can happen. You live one day at a time, and you have to do your job 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Paul Schons ’62 (German)

Paul Schons of Tracy, Minn., lived in Ireland Hall as a freshman and the new Dowling for the fall semester of his sophomore year before returning to Ireland for the spring semester. His floor director was Father Terrence Murphy, president of St. Thomas from 1966 to 1991. Schons started teaching at St. Thomas in 1967; now in his 45th year of teaching, he is the longest-tenured professor at the university. He and his daughter, an adjunct music instructor, will team-teach an Aquinas Scholars honors seminar this summer on German poetry and music.

Not a musician
"I came in thinking I wanted to major in music (he played the clarinet), but (professor)
Frank Mayer informed me, ‘Young man, you have no talent.’ I was really enjoying
German by then, so I chose that, and here I am today."

Cookies, not Lavin Burgers
"The south wing was all priests, with rooms broken into apartments. One young priest by the name of Lavin would come over into the student quarters and ply us with cookies. This was before his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became famous."

Tight rules
"We had to be in our rooms for study from 7:30 to 9:30. Then we had a half-hour
break, and back in our rooms at 10. On weekends, we could stay out until midnight.
That got to be a pain because St. Kate’s students could be out until 12:30 a.m. There
were no visiting privileges - absolutely verboten! If women came within 20 feet of the dorm, Father Vashro would be out there yelling. We didn’t know how he saw all the
things he saw."

The ghost of (John?) Ireland
"The ghost wasn’t there yet; he came later. For a number of years, students told me about a ghost. Sometimes they’d be looking out a window and see a reflection of
someone behind them, and they’d turn but no one was there. I have assured my students that it wasn’t me."

Surprised Ireland still standing
"It does seem like something out of the distant past. It was a pretty old building when I lived there. I’m surprised so many students are happy to live there, but it does have a certain tradition to it. And charm, I suppose."

Tom Luka ’68 (political science)

Tom Luka came to St. Thomas from Chicago to play basketball on teams that won MIAC titles his sophomore and junior years. He started as a junior and senior and lived in
Ireland as a freshman. He spent most of his career in financial services and investment businesses in Minnesota, California and Chicago before retiring in 2008.

The quirks of Ireland
"It had plumbing and heating problems - even then. We had bunk beds. When you met your roommate, the first thing you did was the coin flip for top or bottom. I got the
top, and that was OK with me."

Evening prayer and lights out
"We had prayer every night at 9 or 10 out in the hall. You’d stand in the hall in your PJs and Monsignor Lavin or one of the priests would say a prayer. Then it was back in your room and, theoretically, lights out. It was a form of discipline, I suppose, but it also was to not disturb the high school kids by running around in the middle of the night. Some guys would put blankets over their heads and read with flashlights."

‘Shindig’
"We had one black-and-white TV in the basement, with an antenna. No cable, of course, and we could only pick up local stations. One big show was "Shindig," and we’d have 50 guys down in the basement watching it, or an occasional football game. I don’t think TVs were allowed in the rooms, but you could have radios."

Life at Stewart’s
"There was a little store right across Cleveland called Stewart’s (now the location of 128 Café). Mr. Stewart was a little munchkin of a guy, kind of grumpy, and we’d make a run over there for sodas and stale doughnuts before lights out. You could get 3.2 beer."

Ireland’s enduring popularity
"Well, I was pretty happy to not go back! It’s one of the oldest buildings on campus, so it has a lot of tradition. It has stood the test of time. Now, was it the most comfortable place in the world to live? No!"

Jim Snell ’75 (social work)

Jim Snell of Philadelphia lived in Ireland as a freshman, junior and senior (the latter two years as a resident adviser). He was a member of the crew and fencing clubs. In
December 1974, a candle tipped over in his firstfloor room and ignited a fire that caused extensive damage (two months later, a fourth-floor fire heavily damaged
sophomore Mark Cashman’s room). Snell served in the Marine Corps for 30 years,
rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, before starting a San Diego area company
that offers executive leadership courses based on Marine principles.

Ireland was his first - and only - choice
"It was what a college dorm should look like - big hallways, huge steps. You felt you were part of something special; that you were on to something big, that you were part of a great short story. You developed social and emotional intelligence by living together like that ...
"It was a good feeling, coming out of the library late at night and walking up the hill to Ireland. We were all little boys who got bigger."

Hallway duels
"It was not uncommon that someone would come to my room with a sword and boom, we’d be out in the hallway, fencing."

About that fire . . .
"I went down the hall to get a Coke. Within a couple of minutes, the fire alarm went off. A lot of my stuff got burned up, and I had to move across the hall. They rebuilt the room."

Easy life as an R.A.
"It was a no-brainer. Nobody really needed assistance. Everybody was pretty independent."

Tony Kadlec ’90 (mathematics)

Tony Kadlec came out of Silver Lake High School near Hutchinson. He lived in 106 Ireland for two years and played football as a defensive end, punter and kicker and was team captain his senior year. He also has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master of manufacturing systems
engineering degree from St. Thomas. He worked for Braun Intertec before founding Good Point Technology, a software developing and engineering consulting services firm.

Scooter’s pep talk
"Father Lavin talked me out of quitting engineering. I came from a small high school and we didn’t have calculus, so when I got to St. Thomas I had to learn calculus plus
take Intro to Physics and spend four hours a day in football. I wasn’t the kind of guy
to quit anything, but it was just too much. I sat down with Father Lavin and he told me, ‘Education is like a marriage. You don’t quit when it gets rough.’ He recommended I drop one class, and that helped me get through."

History paper kudos
"I interviewed Father Lavin for a paper
(HIS 122: ‘The History of Ireland Hall’). I
saw him a couple of years ago. He remembered
my paper, and he paid me one of the
best compliments I’ve ever received: he said
I had a sense of history."

That’s what he remembers about Ireland
"It’s that sense of history. When you walk in there, you feel you are part of something
important. I loved where my room was, right across from the R.A. I probably
shouldn’t tell you this, but that side door is the one my girlfriend used to sneak in
through."

The ghost of Ireland
"We called the ghost Herbie. That might have been a pet name. The room that supposedly was haunted was the first one on the west side of the hallway, next to the
statue of John Ireland."

Andy Pieper ’03 (English), ’08 (J.D.)

Andy Pieper grew up in New Prague, Minn., and lived in Ireland as a freshman and
sophomore (first floor). He taught English in the Czech Republic after graduation
and held odd jobs after returning until he enrolled in the St. Thomas School of Law. He is an associate at the Minneapolis law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi.

The tour
"I remember going on a tour of St. Thomas when I was in high school and they took us to a dorm room in Ireland Hall. I thought, ‘Wow, this is kind of a cool place. It would be interesting to live here.’ It was my first choice. When I moved in, I was really excited. I liked the historical aspect. My mom, who wasn’t on the tour with me, saw Ireland for the first time when we were moving in and her reaction was, ‘I can’t believe I’m dropping my son off at a building that’s falling apart.’"

What he liked the most
"The best friends I’ve made in my life - the people I still keep in touch with this to this day - are from relationships when I was in Ireland Hall. I don’t know what it is about that setting that forms such a bond, such a shared experience. Maybe it’s because the rooms are smaller - that forced you to go out into hallways and meet your neighbors
or experience other parts of campus."

Outside living room
"We had easy in-and-out access on the first floor because we were right by the door
that led to quad. We would pick up our couches, which we bought from Goodwill, on nice fall and spring days and haul them out to quad and make it our expanded living room."

Ireland-Brady snowball fight
"Once there was a decent amount of snow on the ground, the R.A.s got together and set a date. The number of Ireland Hall guys always was more than the Brady Hall guys. It almost was an unfair fight. We’d win. Definitely."

Helping Scooter
"Father Lavin would bring his bags of groceries but couldn’t carry all of them up four flights of stairs, so he would leave some at the bottom of the stairs and would walk
back down and pick them up. One time, a friend and I saw a couple of bags there, so we brought them up to his room. It was getting late and he answered the door in his pajamas. He was so happy and thankful."

Nick Chang ’13 (political science and justice and peace studies)

Twenty-year-old Nick Chang is a junior from Green Bay, Wis., and as a resident adviser on Ireland fourth floor north is responsible for 38 students. He also lived in Ireland his
first two years and was an R.A. last spring semester. He is vice president of operations for Sigma Chi, a leadership fraternity, and studied abroad in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania
and Ukraine during 2010 January Term. He hopes to attend law school after graduation.

Mom wasn’t crazy about Ireland
"She was horrified that I would live in Ireland. During a tour, we came out of a room and she looked like she had seen a ghost. We hadn’t made a room deposit yet, and she called my dad and told him to do it right away so I could get into Brady."

He loves the community
"The rooms are small so kids will just hang out and talk in the halls. People like the community aspect of Ireland."

But his floor can get hot
"The joke about the heat is that every floor you walk up, the temperature goes up five degrees. You can be cold on 1 but by the time you get to 4 you’re back in the sauna
and you want to take a shower."

Loves being an R.A.
"The guys tend to be pretty good. The reputation when I came in was that Ireland was a party dorm, but I haven’t seen too much of that."

That ghost of Ireland still may be around
"One story this year, on 4-South: a guy was sleeping and felt a presence. He couldn’t
breathe and felt something pushing him down. He was pretty freaked out. I could see
it happening. This is an old building. There is a lot of history here."

St. Thomas will celebrate the centennial anniversary of Ireland Hall with reunion festivities on Saturday, June 2.
The winter and spring issues of Connections, a print newsletter distributed throughout
much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, will have more information about the event.
You also can check www.stthomas.edu/ alumni.
Alumni are encouraged to go online (to www.stthomas.edu/alumni) and write about
their favorite stories and memories of Ireland Hall.

Final Thoughts: Welcome, Students

Mike Orth : Photo by Thomas Whisenand — Tue, 03 January 2012 14:29:00 CST

Magical: That was the only description I could summon when I first walked up to the Anderson Student Center, after having passed through the new lower quadrangle and the John P. Monahan Plaza for the first time. It was a brisk Friday night in early September. A high school football game was roaring away on Palmer Field, a place once hidden from the rest of campus but now connected. I said with a smile to my friend, "Welcome to the new St. Thomas."

Seeing the plaza and student center up close for the first time was not only exciting, it was emotional. Over the past year and a half I have witnessed this student center come to life - not by simply watching the construction but also through observing and listening to the people who dreamed it and ultimately made it happen. I have learned that this is much more than a building. It is an icon that represents our St. Thomas community.

As a representative on the Undergraduate Student Government, I had a unique opportunity to work with other students in giving feedback on the new building. After sitting on countless student focus groups and meeting with Student Affairs staff members, I received a rather unusual email last October from Jane Canney, vice president of Student Affairs. She asked that I and a few other student leaders join her for lunch with Julie Woulfe, the benefactor of Woulfe Alumni Hall in the new student center. With curiosity, I accepted the luncheon invitation.

Woulfe, a resident of Danville, Calif., had flown to St. Paul to visit campus and view the construction. When the other student leaders and I sat down to lunch, Canney was quick to start the conversation. She asked Woulfe about her late husband, James Woulfe ’43, for whom Woulfe Alumni Hall would be named. Woulfe was delighted to talk about him. Any nervousness she had quickly vanished as she spoke about the person she loved and the man who inspired her to give back.

James Woulfe made his living by working at a car dealership for most of his life. At the same time, he was deeply passionate about giving back to those institutions that gave so much to him. He often made significant contributions to a variety of Catholic organizations while doing his best to remain discreet about his giving. More than anything, St. Thomas was very special to him, and it was in this spirit that Julie made a contribution on behalf of James to the Anderson Student Center.

While speaking about James and his willingness to give so much, Woulfe’s words had a profound effect on everyone in the room, and I began to reflect on what this new student center meant. In part, it represents the ideals of giving back that the Woulfes so deeply cherish. But it also represents the hard work of many people like Canney and
Dr. Mary Ann Ryan, associate vice president of student affairs, who have dedicated years to this masterpiece. They and many others have worked with students every step of the way to build a center tailored specifically for students.

After the luncheon, I began helping Ryan give presentations about the Anderson Student Center to groups around campus. Whether speaking to an audience or having a chat with a friend over lunch in the Grill, I never get tired of talking about this wonderful new building and the people who made it happen. More so, I never tire of the excitement and joy it brings to those who listen.

When the new student center opens in January, may it be a reflection of our St. Thomas community and its incredible devotion to its students.

When Life Gives You Art

Kate Metzger : Photos by Mike Ekern '02 — Fri, 18 November 2011 10:25:00 CST

When Amanda Leaveck ’10 was a senior, a friend who had studied abroad told her about the educational hardships facing children in India. Leaveck felt compelled to help. But rather than solicit support with a typical fundraiser or door-knocking campaign,
Leaveck did what she does best: she produced a large-scale performing arts event.

It was an inspiring night.

On April 28, 2010, fashion designers, dancers, musicians, poets - artists from many walks of life - all brought their best performances to the main room at First Avenue where 600 people were treated to a flashy, multidisciplinary show titled "Face Forward." When all was said and done, $3,000 was raised for children in India who needed an
elementary school. Along the way, Leaveck discovered that what she thought was a one-time project could become a lifelong pursuit.

Leaveck started at St. Thomas with the goal of becoming a physician. "I wanted to make a good living and I thought being a doctor was the best way to do that." After trying her hand at a few of the sciences, she decided to major in neuroscience, with a minor in dance.

While the two fields seem to be at opposite ends of the academic spectrum, to Leaveck, they fit together in an oddly perfect way. "My neuroscience classes actually affected my dancing in a good way," she said. "I learned in my neuroscience classes how the brain moves the body - I use that on a daily basis in the dance studio."

As a dancer, she found her niche as a member of Pulse, a performing arts student club on campus, and as a founding member of the Dance Club. Her work with these student organizations connected her to a network of student artists she didn’t know existed.

"I would run into people who were into photography and painting - sort of underground artists - and I’d wonder, ‘Why didn’t I know about you?’" she said. In a collaborative effort, Leaveck would work with these fledgling artists to produce multidisciplinary shows on campus - a skill that would come to help her in the future.

As a student, Leaveck also became involved with VISION, a cultural immersion program that offers students the opportunity to travel abroad to work on service projects. Through VISION, she traveled to Venezuela, Chicago, Uganda and the Virgin Islands.

"VISION trips put you in touch with who you really are," she said. "They taught me to really delve into the value of humanity." The opportunities offered by VISION for self-reflection and learning about different communities helped Leaveck gain an understanding of how to live more simply. "What I learned through VISION contributed to the energy and motivation that was needed to plan that first Face Forward event."

Taking on a project of this magnitude was no small task for a college senior trying to graduate. Leaveck immediately tapped her network of artist friends to find the top local talent to perform at Face Forward.

By a stroke of luck, Leaveck was able to book the main room at First Avenue. "To this day, I’m still not quite sure how that happened," she said. But the venue offered a much higher level of visibility that attracted a completely different level of artists.

Many disciplines were represented, including fashion designers, musicians of different genres, dancers and spoken-word artists. All volunteered their time, and each brought with them their own communities of fans and followers. It made for a diverse crowd. According to Leaveck, "There were 18-year-olds next to people my mom’s age - it was pretty cool to see that."

The production was not without its bumps and glitches. The show was initially delayed for two weeks. Yet it still managed to attract 600 people on a Wednesday night and generate enough enthusiasm among the artists that a second show was held that fall.

The second Face Forward show was more polished than its first edition. It spun off several smaller shows that took place during the fall of 2010. But it also turned into something that was difficult for Leaveck to keep her arms around. It was time for reflection and to ask, "What is this?"

Working with the network of people that helped her plan the shows, Leaveck determined that the strongest thread tying it together was the collaboration. What started out as a group of energetic young artists had evolved into an organization with two very specific goals: bringing high-quality performing arts to places with limited access in the Twin Cities and supporting the development of local talent.

Taking advantage of the buzz that surrounded the successful First Avenue productions, the organization took the name Face Forward, and Leaveck became its artistic director. "It’s a multidisciplinary collaboration bringing together different artists with completely different audiences," she said.

Since defining its mission, Face Forward has produced a number of events in the Twin Cities that have benefitted local outreach and educational organizations. The September 2011 "Move Me" event featured local poets, dancers and musicians in a multimedia benefit show for the Arizona Bridge Project, an organization that serves inner-city teenage girls who have an interest in the arts. The standing-room-only crowd witnessed documentary-style videos introducing many of the artists as they discussed the impact the collaboration has had on their work.

As Face Forward evolves, the organization is branching out. Eventually, Leaveck would like to expand Face Forward on a national scale and make it her full-time profession. "I know this is a long way down the road, but I’d love to have Face Forward be in Chicago, San Francisco and New York, with Minneapolis always being our home base," she said. "We already have someone in Denver who is interested in starting up there with lots of connections to artists."

For now, Leaveck works as an administrative coordinator with University of Minnesota Physicians to help pay the bills. She also makes sure to take time to do the things she cares about. In the summer of 2011, she founded the Arizona Dance Company. She’s also training to become a yoga instructor. What she does in her spare time helps her keep things in perspective. "If I didn’t take time to be a 23-year-old, everything else I’m trying to do would suffer."

Leaveck credits the success she’s had with Face Forward to her ability to build relationships with a diverse range of people - a skill she honed at St. Thomas. Building a network of motivated people has been key. "We survive on other people’s connections," she said. "I can’t bring 600 people together all by myself."

Trustee Profile: Kathleen Higgins-Victor

Doug Hennes '77 : Photo by Thomas Whisenand — Tue, 03 January 2012 14:26:00 CST

Kathleen Higgins Victor always has been a take-charge person.

When her dad died unexpectedly during her freshman year in college, leaving her to raise her brothers ages 13 and 14, she bought a house, went to school and managed Sambo’s restaurants. "I just about killed myself with the long hours," she said, "but we got through it."

As an executive at Burger King, Pillsbury, Grand Metropolitan and Northwest Airlines, she took on increasingly important human resources positions, always with a goal of providing a better working environment for employees.

And when she grew weary of high-stress, corporate lifestyle demands, she adapted by starting her own company to provide executive development and coaching services
to organizations as varied as small nonprofits to Fortune 100 companies with $100
billion in revenue.

Higgins Victor’s life may be just as busy today as it was when she founded Centera Corp. 17 years ago - she works with up to 30 clients at any time - but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

"I can’t imagine doing anything else," she said one afternoon between meetings over a cup of tea at a Minnetonka coffee shop. "I love the work that I do. I have ultimate control, and I work with really neat people."

It may help that Higgins Victor is a pretty neat person herself - a go-getter who faces challenges in a forthright, full-speed-ahead pursuit of doing what’s best for clients ... and herself.

She grew up in New Haven, Conn. Her dad was a sales and marketing executive for a hydraulic equipment manufacturer and was transferred to Overland Park, Kan., during her senior year in high school. She chose to attend Avila University, a Kansas City school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (the order also founded St. Catherine University in St. Paul).

When her dad died, she gave little thought to her options. She knew she would care for her brothers. She did just that while earning a degree in public administration and personnel management and working her way up to district manager for Sambo’s. She remains close to her brothers, who she proudly reports founded J. Higgins Ltd., which
makes kilts and other Scottish clothing.

She met her husband, Bob, while working in human resources for Burger King and they moved to the Twin Cities in the mid-1980s. She held senior executive positions at Burger King, Pillsbury, Grand Metropolitan and Northwest Airlines, where she was senior vice president of human resources when she decided it was time to make a career
change in 1995.

"I had envisioned owning my own company for five years," she said. "Psychologically, I am an entrepreneur. In business, I was always dealing with turnaround situations, and over time I realized I wanted to start my own company."

Higgins Victor saw a void that she wanted to fill. Companies typically hired psychologists to provide executive coaching services, but too often they lacked relevant business leadership experience. She thought her firm could integrate both perspectives and she founded Centera, whose name reflects a goal of providing "a new era of coaching for the next century," as the company’s tagline states.

She always has kept Centera small - just five employees - and while she is the sole owner, she never has wanted to sit back and just run the show.

"I want to practice - to get involved with clients," she said. "I don’t want to manage. Our core model has not changed. Our practice has evolved into working with chief executive officers and their boards to become more effective."

Centera’s philosophy centers on three words: "PRAGMATIC simplicity, RELEVANT leadership and business WISDOM" - and she has commonsense explanations for each:

- Pragmatic: "We focus on what’s needed. We customize everything to be practical -
to build on an executive’s experience. If the competition wants to come in and look at a company A to Z, we’ll say that if the company is doing A to D well, let’s start with E."
- Relevant: "We want to know the objectives the organization is holding the executive responsible for, and we focus on those."
- Wisdom: "All of us have been involved in top leadership positions, and we have the wisdom necessary to help organizations improve."

While it may sound, with 30 active clients, that Higgins Victor is ready to work with anybody who walks in the door, she insists that isn’t the case.

"I won’t take on clients if they are not ready to do the work they need to do," she said.
"I won’t waste my time or theirs - if they’re not ready, they need to find somebody else."

Centera’s client list is loaded with highprofile organizations: Accenture, Hazelden,
Medtronic, Piper Jaffray, State Farm Insurance, SuperValu, 3M, University of Minnesota, Wells Fargo and YMCA. She also has served on corporate boards, including Best Buy since 1999.

Higgins Victor has an innate sense of when she is successful, recalling one executive who tracked her down when she was out of town to thank her for working with him.

"I helped him understand that in his relationship with his board, he wasn’t approaching it to get the outcomes he wanted to achieve," she said. "We made a number of adjustments. He told me it was the first time he had come out of a board meeting in three years not feeling beat up."

Barb Bindgen, a former General Mills human resources director who has a consulting company and collaborates regularly with Centera, said Higgins Victor has an uncanny ability to assess an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

"She has a strong business acumen," Bindgen said. "She understands what it takes to be successful at different leadership levels of an organization. She also has a very practical approach - she is flexible in figuring out what will work within the culture of that organization."

Mike Connly, chief technology officer at UnitedHealth Group, said Higgins Victor is a quick study who "understands the dynamics and culture of an organization. She is very good at matching people with the right coach and giving them the feedback that they need."

Higgins Victor has found that leadership issues, regardless of an organization’s size, "are pretty universal." She often gets inquiries from companies that are pinning their success on CEOs "who have been pushed into high-pressure roles with a lot of responsibilities" and need help.

"When you are running a company that is profitable and doing well, that’s easy," she said. "Leaders are tested when things aren’t going well. That’s when you see true leaders emerge."

The same way a certain young woman once emerged to run restaurants, work her way through college and be a parent ... all at the same time.

Up Front: Heart of the Campus

Father Dennis Dease : Photo by Elias Adams — Tue, 03 January 2012 14:27:00 CST

After the construction fences around the Anderson Student Center came down one afternoon in mid-November, I began to notice an interesting phenomenon.

The center wouldn’t open for two months, yet people kept walking up to and around it. They would cross Cretin or Summit avenues from the south campus, take the new sidewalk past the University of St. Thomas stone marker and peer into windows. They would step back and gaze along the Summit wing, from right to left and back again.

My sense is that they were in awe, and I say that only because I, too, am in awe of this incredible new building.

I was in awe in May 2010 when the crews from Opus began digging a big hole on the spot where only weeks earlier hundreds of cars were parked. That corner had been a parking lot, in one size or another, since 1932.

I was in awe in the fall of 2010, when the steel structure sprung into place for the new center. We held a "topping off" ceremony that November, signed a 26-foot, 312-pound steel beam painted half purple (for St. Thomas) and half blue (for Opus) and watched as the beam was hoisted into place on the northwest peak of the building.

And I was in awe whenever I walked or drove by the building as masons began to hang our signature Kasota limestone, shingle the roof and install windows. Every day, it seemed, another section was finished regardless of how cold it was, and then suddenly the exterior was complete and I could only marvel at how quickly the process had moved along.

Now that the building is open and teeming with students, I have to think hard to remember what that corner looked like when it was a 400-car parking lot flanked on the east end by O’Shaughnessy Hall. That wasn’t very long ago, but my memory seems to be failing me. It may just be age, or it may be that the student center is such a perfect fit that it seems like it has been there forever.

Jane Canney, our vice president for student affairs, likes to call the student center the "heart of the campus" and our "living room." I think those are perfect descriptions. It bustles with activity - the place where students hang out with friends or just take a break from the stresses of class and work. They go there to dine, too, of course, so maybe the center also is our kitchen!

I also like the description from Mike Orth, executive vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government. In his Final Thoughts essay (Page 65), he calls the student center "magical" because that was the only word that came to mind when he returned to campus last September and walked through the expanded lower quadrangle and the John P. Monahan Plaza for the first time.

"Welcome to the new St. Thomas," he told a friend.

New, yes, but with a wise appreciation for more than 125 years of history. All you have to do is stand on Monahan Plaza and look to your right to see Aquinas Hall, our first Collegiate Gothic building (1931), or walk to the north end of campus and check out venerable Ireland Hall (1912) or the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas (1918), one of the most beautiful college chapels around. There is plenty of the new and the old.

And I, for one, am in awe of all of it every day.

Book Excerpt: Shiny Objects

James Roberts '82 : Photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images — Fri, 11 November 2011 9:21:00 CST

Our current consumer culture is, according to researcher Russell Belk, best understood as "a culture in which the majority of consumers avidly desire, pursue, consume and display goods and services that are valued for non-utilitarian reasons such as status, envy, provocation and pleasure-seeking." Whether you reside in a major metropolitan city or a rural outpost of North America, you are part of the worldwide consumer culture. To ignore the importance of material possessions in our lives would be equivalent to ignoring that we are born of mothers and fathers.

As a professor at Baylor University, I have spent more than 20 years conducting research with thousands of consumers from all walks of life on the related areas of materialism, credit card use and compulsive buying. Why, in a land of plenty, do Americans want more? And why is more never enough? Given that most Americans would readily admit that money and material possessions are not going to make us happy, why do we continue to act as if they will?

The emergence of a worldwide consumer culture has potentially severe consequences
for everyone. Even if you don’t practice or espouse materialistic ideals, you are affected by others’ pursuit of them. A good example might be the ghost of a recent Christmas past for retailing giant Walmart.

Surely a man the size of Walmart worker Jdimytai Damour could control the expected
Black Friday shopping crowds. At 6 feet 5 inches and 270 pounds, he was a force to reckon with. In fact, he was chosen to work the front entrance to the Walmart store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y., precisely because of his hulking frame. But, alas, he was no match for the crowd of 2,000 Walmart shoppers eagerly awaiting the 5 a.m. store opening. A few minutes before store opening, the throng could no longer be held back. The sliding glass doors that separated the would-be shoppers from the holiday bargains ("door busters" takes on a whole new meaning) bowed from the bodies pressed against them. Six to 10 workers attempted to no avail to push back, but they were fighting a losing battle.

In an instant, the glass doors shattered and the frenzied mob surged into the store in search of the heavily discounted "door busters" available in limited quantities for a short period of time. Tragically, Damour was thrown to the floor and trampled to death (the official cause of death being asphyxiation related to his trampling) in the stampede that streamed over him in pursuit of bargains on big-screen TVs, electronics, clothing and a myriad of other consumer goodies. One shopper, Kimberly Cribbs of Queens, said that the crowd acted like "savages." And the shoppers’ bad behavior didn’t end with the trampling of Damour. When the shoppers were informed that the store would need to be cleared because of the death of an employee, many continued to shop, yelling that they had been waiting in line since the day before. Many had to be escorted from the store.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines materialism, in that word’s common usage, as "devotion to material needs and desires, to the neglect of spiritual matters; a way of life, opinion, or tendency based entirely upon material interests." I think of materialism as a mind-set, an interest in getting and spending, the worship of things, the overriding importance that someone attaches to worldly possessions. For a consumer who has fully embraced shiny objects, possessions take center stage and are considered to be the primary source of all happiness. Money and material possessions are seen as an end in themselves rather than as a means to an end. Materialism is the cornerstone of our modern consumer culture.

We Americans attempt to find happiness and satisfaction through the acquisition of possessions, which typically assume a central role in our lives. Of course, not all Americans are equally materialistic, but on average we are a materialistic lot. Those of us who are highly materialistic (let’s use the term "materialists") believe that expanded levels of consumption will increase the amount of pleasure we achieve in life. Research, however, paints a bleak picture for happiness through acquisition, consistently showing that those of us who live materialistic lifestyles are less happy with our lives than less materialistic people are. On average, U.S. consumers are no happier than less profligate consumers around the world.

Materialists tend to judge their own and others’ success by the number and quality of accumulated possessions. The primary value of possessions, for diehard materialists, is their ability to confer status and project a desired self-image. Materialists view themselves and others as successful only to the extent that they possess products that
project a desired image. How successful can my colleague be, they wonder, driving a car like that? Judging others by what they possess is a deeply ingrained part of our collective psyche.

In our rush, rush world, a common way we tell others who we are (or would like to be) is through our use and display of material possessions. He drives a Mercedes, so he must be a captain of industry. A truck and he must be a cowboy or at least a rugged individualist. A Hummer, and - I’m not sure what that says about the driver. This
tendency to define ourselves by the products we consume results in what researchers call the "extended self"; in other words, our possessions become an extension of who we are. I amend the label to the "overextended self" when referring to consumers who have fully embraced the shiny-objects ethos. Research has found that highly materialistic people value their possessions for their ability to conjure up a desired social image, whereas their less materialistic brethren value their stuff for the pleasure and comfort it provides.

Furthermore, as you’ve probably noticed with your more pretentious acquaintances, materialistic people are more likely than less materialistic people to mention an item’s financial value when describing why it’s important to them: "That cost me nearly $30,000!"

Not only do a person’s materialistic values affect how he or she relates to possessions, but they also affect how that person spends money. Compared to less materialistic people, materialists believe that they require more money to satisfy their "needs" and are more likely to spend money on themselves and friends and donate less to charities.

The "Great Recession" of 2008-2009 and the continuing economic malaise have the average folks on Main Street on edge regarding their financial futures. With high unemployment, mortgages being forfeited and credit being tightened, it’s likely that Americans will spend less this year - and that’s a terrifying thought for citizens who have been taught that shopping is a patriotic act. We live in a country where we are repeatedly told that happiness can be purchased at the mall, online or from a catalog, so the idea of scaling back on our purchases is frightening. But I’ve got some good news to share: happiness is not positively correlated with consumption.

Between 1972 and 2010, the standard of living in America increased dramatically. When we produce more, we consume more, and within that time period, our national output per capita increased by 96 percent. But GDP for earlier years has been adjusted to current dollars. Happiness data was taken from the General Social Survey (GSS) of more than 50,000 people and represents the percentage of people who responded "pretty happy" to the question: "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days - would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?"

But while our standard of living has improved over the past 30 to 35 years, our happiness has not. In fact, as the graph above depicts very clearly, our happiness has flatlined. The graph shows that the number of people reporting that they are "pretty happy" has varied little. So what does this mean? It means that more stuff does not
necessarily make us any happier. And this particular study paints a "rosier picture" than other research findings - alternate surveys reveal that the more we spend the less happy we are.

Throughout my book I reveal surprising studies that showcase just how deeply ingrained our materialism and spending habits are in all aspects of our lives. A substantial amount of research supports the materialism-happiness disconnect. Materialism negatively impacts (1) how we feel about ourselves, (2) our personal relationships, (3) our life satisfaction and (4) of course, our finances.

One of the more obvious negative outcomes of materialism is that fourth point: the havoc it wreaks on our finances. No matter how much we consume, we never get closer to happiness; we only speed up the treadmill. This process of adaptation has both positives and negatives. The primary positive is that we adjust quickly to most bad things that befall us; however, we adapt to good things equally well, and that can be problematic to our happiness and financial well-being. For example, the (huge) 2,500-square-foot house almost instantaneously becomes the new "normal."

We are like drug addicts, needing a continuous fix of newer, bigger and shinier possessions. We need more and more of the good stuff to achieve an equivalent (albeit ephemeral) high. As you can imagine, all of this spending has a ruinous effect on our finances. We are a nation of compulsive buyers, purchasing products far in excess of our needs and resources. Outside of our basic need for food, shelter and clothing, everything else we purchase is discretionary. Given that nearly three-quarters of all U.S. families live paycheck to paycheck, it is obvious that many of us struggle with money issues.

Money and the accumulation of material possessions are such an integral part of our current consumer culture that few have stopped to think about how this mad material dash has impacted their quality of life. But judging by the latest research on materialism, it appears that our perspective may be beginning to change. Can we reject our obsession with possessions and embrace a willingness to get involved in community affairs and social issues? I hope so, and I explain how in Shiny Objects, a hopeful tale of how true happiness can still be found in a culture awash in material possession love.