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DR.

GARVEY

RENEWED;

THIRD SPRING CONTINUES

Mercyhurst President William Garvey just grins when asked if his new fouryear contract will see the conclusion of his historic tenure in the year 2002. Renewed recently by the college's board of trustees, President Garvey simply states that "nothing lasts forever, including this position with Mercyhurst." Dr. Garvey, who has been president of Mercyhurst for the past 18 years, was reappointed as head of the college Jan. 13, 1998. This newest contract will run until July 1, 2002 a tenure that will span 22 of the most progressive years in Mercyhurst history. His tenure as leader of Mercyhurst is surpassed only by that of college founder Mother Borgia Egan, who was virtual president for 30 years. He is among a very few contemporary-day college or university presidents whose longevity in the leadership role makes them living legends at their institutions. According to Colleen Allen, project associate with the American Council on Education, "Our latest statistics show 49 percent of today's college and university presidents have been in office for less than five years. This is cause for concern for many in leadership," Allen observed, "as it is difficult to make an impact in so short a time." At baccalaureate institutions presidents stay an average of 7.25 years, but at Catholic colleges and universities the average is slightly higher at about 10 years, reports Monika Hellwig, executive director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. During Dr. Garvey's 18 years as president, enrollment at Mercyhurst has increased from 1,339 to 2,830 and the number of full-time faculty has grown from 70 to 115, of which 61 percent hold the highest degree in their fields. The institution's operating budget went from $6 million to $33.8 million; the endowment increased from $96,408 to nearly $10 million; annual alumni contributions rose from 512,839 to $191,000; annual institutional fund raising skyrocketed from $140,000 to $2.3 million; and library holdings increased from 75,000 to 159,000. During the Garvey years at Mercyhurst, 70 percent of the college's main campus has been built and in 1991 the college acquired 84 acres in North East for its branch campus Mercyhurst-North East. "/ look forward to making the autumn years of Mercyhurst's Third Spring the most productive ones," Garvey said. "I am grateful for the vote of confidence by the board and the college community in the leadership team of the college."

V O L .

14,

N U M B E R

1,

W I N T E R / S P R I N G

1998

Mercyhurst
/VA
/ \

/ \

FEATURES
2 Mercyhurst Completes $25 Million Expansion
New Year 1998 marked the completion of a $25 million decade of expansion at Mercyhurst during which time 70 percent of the main campus was built.

Chairman of the Board Atty. William C. Sennett President Dr. William P. Garvey Editor Mary Daly Editorial Assistants Mary Kay Zawadzki '98 Margaret Closson Sharon Sisco Feature Writers Mary Daly '66 Kathleen Linse Yvonne Maher '93 Karen Rene Merkle '84 Don McQuaid Michael Plasha Craig Rybczynski '95 Circulation Coordinator Gary L. Bukowski '73 Photo Credits Phyllis Aiello'65 Associated Press Louis Caravaglia Mark Fainstein John Landry Mercyhurst Archives Les Young Cover Photo: Paul M. Lorei Design Graphic Design Printing Printing Technologies

Hammermill Library Gets New Look, New Technology

Before and after: The Hammermill Library underwent a S4 million expansion that included a fourth floor, gabled roof and a state-of-the-art automation system.

6 9

Deja vu at Weber
Weber Hall is restored to a thing of beauty and place for inspirational study.

A Good Year for the Arts

* i

'First Day Erie" welcomes in the New Year at the D'Angelo Performing Arts Center

10 Making Things Possible

Fund raising at Mercyhurst reached $2.3 million in 1997, making it possible for the college to continue the dream of the Sisters of Mercy.

11 President Clinton Visits Chautauqua

Mercyhurst hotel, restaurant students are given assignment of a lifetime.

12 Dead Man Walking

As Timothy McVeigh and Karla Faye Tucker are sentenced to death, Sister Helen Prejean, the country's leading advocate for the abolishment of capital punishment, speaks at Mercyhurst.

14 Mercyhurst Online: www.mercyhurst.edu

It's everything you wanted to know about Mercyhurst and then some.

16 Windows of Heritage
Artist Steve Fluder captures the House of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin in one of his award-winning stained-glass windows.

17

It's a Blessing
"Mr. Help" and the Class of '97 leave their mark behind.

18 Journeys of the Heart, Part III: The Lifers

They came to Mercyhurst as students, stayed on as young professionals and never left. With service to Mercyhurst ranging from 31 to 20 years, they are the blue- and greenbloods of Mercyhurst.

ETC.
5 New Trustees Named Plenty of DanceSpace at Mercyhurst 8

21 22

What So Proudly We Hail

Senior Karen Milinovich sings before 60,000 Steelers-Broncos fans.

Prescription for a Medical School

Mercyhurst alums Dr. Marjorie Williams Laughlin '55 and Ensign William Sauve '96 talk about their pre-med days at Mercyhurst.

15 Homecoming: That Old Feeling 23 Football Goes Division II Scholarship Women's Field Hockey Returns

The Mercyhurst Magazine is published by the Office of External Affairs. It has a distribution of 11.800. The Magazine features faculty writing or spotlights new programs and unusual and interesting aspects of Mercyhurst College. The Magazine's address is: 501 E. 38th St., Erie, Pa. 16546 Telephone (814) 824-2285 Send change of address to: Mercyhurst Magazine Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA 16546 Attention: Karen English

24

E-mail address: mdaly@mercyhurst.edu

IBC Arts & Entertainment Calendar

M E R C Y H U R S T

COMPLETES

$25 MILLION EXPANSION

BY M A R Y D A L Y

M.ercyhurst rang in the New Year

with the completion of a $25 million decade of expansion at the college's main campus which culminated in an aggressive $6.4 million program of expansion and improvements undertaken last summer. "Construction has taken place every two years at the college since 1987," said Mercyhurst President William P. Garvey, "and with the completion of this latest $6.4 million building program, 70 percent of the college has been built during the past decade." During that time, the Mercyhurst campus sprouted from its central core to a total of 33 other buildings constructed on land to the west, east and south of the original Old Main structure. The change to the physical appearance of the college has been so dramatic that one 10-year alum was prompted to say, "If it weren't for Old Main and our front gates, there wouldn't be much resemblance to the college we knew years ago. But I like it!" The latest changes to Mercyhurst involve a $4 million library renovation, including $519,000 for an automation system; the construction of two dance studios costing $500,000; and a $500,000 renovation of McAuley

Residence Hall used for men the past 20 years. "These are great days for the college," Garvey said, explaining that this latest building and renovation program impacted the four sides of Mercyhurst: its front campus, back campus, and east and west campus. Other developments that contributed to a whirl-wind summer were the purchase of six additional apartment buildings on Briggs and Lewis Avenues for student housing, the expansion of Garvey Park to the southern quad between Zurn and Baldwin, and making Mercyhurst a seamless campus connected by fiber optics to the World Wide Web. "We added 25,000 square feet to the Hammermill Library," Garvey explained, "and with its new state-ofthe-art automation system the college now has the most advanced information technology system in support of scholarship and instruction of any liberal arts college in western Pennsylvania." The college library, once a boxlike structure, has a new look with a gabled roof, bringing the lines of the building into conformity with the rest of the main campus, and its fourth floor addition is scheduled to be completed in late spring. The library

was also given a new entrance with the opening of the Walker Wing that connects the college's Hammermill Library to the newly restored Weber Library, which had been a dance studio for 24 years. The two single-storied dance studios built over the summer replace the Weber dance studio, and the renovations to McAuley are dramatic. New plumbing, electric and heating, as well as new ceilings, furniture, carpeting, lounges and laundry rooms were added, and the wooden doors and closets were restored. Each room in McAuley was given two connections for free Internet access using the college's server, as were all the other residence rooms on campus. Mercyhurst was able to undertake this ambitious building and renovation program primarily with funds raised in its $12.3 million Continuing the Dream capital campaign which financed the building of the $3.7 million Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center two years ago. With all the trials and tribulations, the setbacks and delays of last year now history, the grassed-over construction scars signal that Mercyhurst is prepared for the next century and the challenges that lie ahead.

Catherine McDonough Walker

H O N O R E D

hen Mercyhurst opened the new Walker Wing of Hammermill Library Jan. 1, 1998, the day marked another milestone in Mercyhurst history and unfolded yet another chapter in Mother Borgia's dream of building a great college on the hill. The 7,500-square foot addition was named to honor Catherine McDonough Walker, a gracious, elegant, fun- loving woman with an Irish heart and a soul of mercy. Catherine was educated by the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh at St. Agnes Elementary School and Mount Mercy Academy and has been close to the Sisters of Mercy in Erie for the past 30 years. She is a woman who lives the corporal works of mercy in her quiet, unpretentious way, never calling attention to herself or to the works that she does. She is the wife of Mercyhurst College trustee Dr. Barrett Walker and the mother of three sons, Karl, Frank and Mark Frankovitch. The Walker Wing, which became the new entrance to the Hammermill Library, houses the new automation system, circulation and the Catherine McDonough Walker Reading Room, where an oil portrait of Catherine was unveiled at the New Year's Day dedication. Dr. and Mrs. Walker contributed $1 million to the library renovation program and to the Walker School of Business at Mercyhurst College.

Catherine McDonough Walker Reading Room

The Walker Wing and new entrance to Hammermill

1 9

BY

K A R E N

R E N E

M E R K L E

v .v:

Wh a leading New York City hen

architectural firm was hired by the sisters to design their new library, the Learning Resource Center, in the late 60s, no one realized until it was much too late that, despite its merits, the building would be viewed as something of an architectural sore thumb. It was broad and boxy and the contemporary style of the building always seemed a misfit placed among the gabled Tudor splendor that is old Mercyhurst. Now finally, one of the most prominent buildings on campus at least to passersby on East 38th Street has the same style and personality that the rest of Mercyhurst exhibits. "It was my job to turn the box-like building into a Collegiate Gothic structure to fit with the design of Old Main," architect Richard Weibel explained. "Normally, buildings are not designed for upward expansion. In fact, in my 40 years as an architect, I have only added a floor to existing buildings twice and they are both at Mercyhurst a third floor to Preston Hall in 1989, and now a fourth floor to Hammermill" The new, steep-gabled roof 60 feet to the top and covering 28,000 square feet took one year to design and seven months to complete. And according to the men responsible for its construction, "This is no ordinary roof on the Hammermill Library. It is the most unique of its day in the Erie area." The project involved extensive demolition work to the top of the original structure which Weibel described as having been built like a fort. "It took longer than was expected to demolish the 10- to 12-feet of solid concrete before 140 tons of steel could build the new frame," Weibel explained.

"This is a one-of-a-kind structure with its hip and valley configuration," said Mike Russell, president of Erie Steel Co. "It is rare that you see one like it nowadays because of its complexity. Builders have opted for more simple techniques because they cost less and are quicker to construct." Anyone watching the construction of the Hammermill roof can vouch for that. It took over half a year to complete the roof, and the fourth floor interior is not done yet. "The college has made a real investment in this roof," said Pete Alex, president of Alex Roofing. "They used a 50year slate look-alike shingle realizing that the cost to replace this roof will be extraordinary. The roofing material alone cost $336,000 today. Just imagine what that will soar to over the years." The building also has cooper flashing and custom made stainless steel gutters and down spouts. Limestone quoins and banding were added to the corners of the building and, as a finishing touch, an 8-foot, copper Celtic cross, a gift of Dr. Barrett and Catherine Walker, was added at the top of the tower on the eastern front of the building. The cross, which is lit at night, reaches 80 feet above the ground and gives southeast Erie a new landmark. But this most visible change to the outward appearance to the library is only one element in a $4 million library expansion program. Reclaiming Weber Hall is another, adding the Catherine McDonough Walker Wing is a third element (see related stories on pages 3 and 6). Altogether they have added 9,500 square feet to the original 36,000square foot library. And when the fourth floor is completed later this year, another 11,000 square feet will give ' Mercyhurst a library of 57,000 square feet and a collection

M A G A Z I N E

Access to the wide range of information and ideas, that has grown to more than 150,000 books and bound whether in books or in cyberspace, is imperative at the dawn periodicals a respectable number for a college the size of of the new millennium. But in the face of all this technology, Mercyhurst, according to college President William Garvey. Dr. Roy Strausbaugh, dean of libraries at Mercyhurst, reasIn addition to these physical upgrades, the practical and sures, "We will never replace the book. It will remain our technological demands of the present and future have been incorporated into the excellence and classimission to house, make available and cism of Mercyhurst. The college has installed deliver the world's body of knowledge " he "THIS IS NO a $519,000 front-end automation system in adds, in whatever forms that information ORDINARY ROOF the library, giving Mercyhurst the most can be disseminated. advanced information technology system ON THE And rather than mark an end to libraries currently available. as we know them, the arrival of the technoHAMMERMILL Keystone of the system is the Online logical advances we see today has instead LIBRARY. IT IS THE Public Access Catalog, the computerized spurred even greater interest in our card catalog that makes information about libraries and the knowledge they guard. MOST UNIQUE OF the library's entire collection, as well as the "This renaissance in libraries, whether ITS DAY IN THE collections of others libraries and institutions in an academic community or in a town, is available at the click of a computer button. a reflection of our interest in maintaining a ERIE AREA." common thread, of our desire to have A search engine gives faculty and stuaccess to information about our world and humankind," dents access to not only the 800 professional journals to Strausbaugh opines. "The focus of a community is the library." which Mercyhurst subscribes, but also to the thousands of And at Mercyhurst that will be truer now than ever before. others that are available via the Internet.

NEW TRUSTEES APPOINTED LAST YEAR TO SIX-YEAR TERMS:

Mary Ami Baukiauf'85 Former board member, Mercy ministries Erie, Pa. and Findley Lake, N.Y.

Arthur Baldwin President, Baldwin General Contractors, Inc Vice president, Baldwin Brothers, Inc Erie, Pa.

Rosemary Durkin, Esq. 77 Director of Planned Giving Drexel University Philadelphia, Pa.

VTtlhdm Maier President Omni Plastics, Inc Erie, Pa.

Sieve McGarvey President Signature Management Group. Erie, Pa.

Doris Stackpole President St. Marys Regional Medical Center, St. Marys, Pa

Kathleen Zum Director of Marketing Services Signature Management Group Erie, Pa.

1 9

BY

M A R Y

D A L Y

If the walls could talk they would tell stories of two Sisters of Mercy who gave their inheritance to build a memorial to their father, Joseph Weber; they'd remember the excitement of moving the books from the second floor of Old Main to Mercyhurst's first honest-to-goodness library; and they'd recount with great affection stories about the librarians of their days Sister Ligouri, Sister Jane Frances and Sister Mary Martin. Weber Hall's history includes a chapter on how the cozy, welcoming library with its magnificent architecture and wooden cathedral ceiling became one of the most beautiful dance studios in the country for a quarter of a century. It is a Cinderella story with a happy ending about a building that was given a new life in 1998, when it reopened as the splendid Great Room of the Hammermill Library. It is the fascinating chapter in Mercyhurst history which will go down as the least-known-about project that we have done in 18 years, yet the one which turned out to be one of the most talked about improvements ever made at the college. 5 _ , _. _ - ^Hk. ; | For today's stuI dents the Weber I Greal Room is a I much appreciated J addition to the cam9 pus, but for yester9 day's students from I the classes of 19531 73, it's a classic story of deja vu.
as a dance studio 1985
0 n ,

Their 60s hairdos and clothes are back in style. So is Weber, where Emily Fatica Sertz '69 and Kathleen Cermak Polito '69 are pictured studying.

can appreciate its restoration completely. They remember the way it looked as their library, and they are stunned by the obvious attention to detail that went into recreating that same look today. Today's Weber, with its cathedral ceiling, stained-glass window in memory of Sister Mary Alice Weber, and the awesome grandeur of its new 14-foot-high, leaded-glass windows which were replaced as part of the restoration project, make a magnificent Reading Room that connects by elevator to the fully automated Hammermill Library. The Joseph J. Weber Memorial Weber 1969 was designed in the early 50s by Brandon Smith, a leading Pittsburgh architect, who, while working on the plans for Weber, informed Mother Borgia Egan that the gates of the Harry K. Thaw Estate in Pittsburgh were available and suggested that they would make a stunning entrance to Mercyhurst College. Smith created a showpiece for the front campus when he designed Weber Hall and the Little Theatre beneath it. Hoisted high on its west wall are the distinctive limestone medallions of Shakespeare, Thomas Aquinas, Mozart, Dante and Michelangelo who watch over the interior of this 44-year-old building. These medallions are an affirmation of the liberal arts nature of the college and a reminder of the excellence sought by its ever-vigilant keepers. The restoration of Weber cost $250,000 for the five window replacements, 12 seven-foot oak tables, 72 oak and cushioned chairs, four Renaissance-series chandeliers and 24 Westwood table lamps that so well define the flashback to the way the room once looked. The original black tile

theSe

alumS

M A G A Z I N E

floor was covered with 550 square yards of carpeting and the area that had been the old stacks was turned into a computer area with 11 pentium PCs, two copiers and two printers. The walls are decorated with the Mercyhurst suite of pen and ink drawings by celebrated Erie artist and Mercyhurst graduate, James E. Sabol '73. The new Weber is indeed something to get excited about. "Most of the students are just amazed when they come in here for the first time," said Julie Zook, a sophomore hotel, restaurant management major. I get excited just thinking about coming over here to study. I love the atmosphere." So does Andy Canfield, a senior English/education major. "I'm very impressed, and that's the reaction of all the other students I've talked to. It's quiet, comfortable and very conducive to study." During the two weeks leading up to winter-term finals, Weber was a beehive. "At 9 p.m. on Feb. 16, we counted

154 students in Weber," library dean Roy Strausbaugh recalls. College President William Garvey masterminded the restoration and kept the planning cards close to his vest, which is the reason the return of Weber has had such an impact. "In 1971 when we opened

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Hammermill, we were a small college with a small collection and we had more space in the new library than we knew what to do with." Garvey added,"It was always our intention to someday return Weber to the original purpose Weber Great Room 1998 of its founders It just took us a little longer than we had expected." That "little longer" took 25 years, but the element of surprise which comes with seeing Weber looking remarkably like many of us remember from our college days made it worth the wait. It is once again an inspirational environment and a hallmark of beauty. You have to see it to believe it.

We

b i d

t ti e c

f a r c w c
Jacquelyn Howey Chair, Division of Human Development Associate professor of human ecology/fashion merchandising Joined Mercyhurst 1963 Died July 6, 1997 Sister M. Evmard Povdock '43 Director of Cancer Research Professor emeritus of biology Joined Mercyhurst 1947 Died January 4, 1998

Sr. Juliana Stora Baldwin Desk Attendant Joined Mercyhurst 1970 Died March 26, 1997

Robert Munson '94 "Mr. Help" Joined Mercyhurst 1994 Died April 11, 1997

Robert Buettner Carpenter Joined Mercyhurst 1985 Died May 9, 1997

CLASS OF 7 3

Plenty of...

risCsC
While it wasn't a case that required the skills of a psychic sleuth, a discovery made by workmen during the Weber restoration did have a touch of the ghostly about it. After serving as the primary studio for the dance department for 24 years, the impressive space was in the early stage of its return to a library in late October, 1997. No sooner had the workmen finished removing the wooden floor that had absorbed the leaps of ballet dancers for almost a quarter of a century than they discovered small pieces of masking tape on the black r-% * tiles beneath the wood pieces. Like ^Jr v^ S ducks in a row, the tape carried the names of persons printed on them.
* * ,

It was soon learned that the pieces of tape held the names of the members of the Class of 1973 who had assembled there for the infamous graduation that the class had petitioned be held outdoors the unforgettable commencement that got rained out, and which found the Class of '73 dashing and splashing their way to St. Luke Church, arriving soaked. Amidst the dust and debris on the second floor of Weber were the still legible vestiges of a bygone era, a time when the school's enrollment was half what it is now and the entire graduation class and its guests could fit into a nearby church. "When I heard about what happened, I went up and looked for my name and was thrilled when I found it," said Mary Ellen Dahlkemper '73, director of adult and graduate programs at the college. "It was a little uncanny, though, because it felt like no time at all had passed, while in reality it was almost 25 years ago."

>S"

The arts at Mercyhurst have blossomed in recent years into one of the most vibrant and definitive facets of the college. Programs in dance, theatre, music and the visual arts once housed in several locations have been brought together to form the only comprehensive arts complex under one roof within 100 miles. The latest addition to the D' Angelo Performing Arts Complex is DanceSpace a 6,600 square-foot facility which features two airconditioned practice studios constructed over the summer of 1997 on unused land between Zurn Hall and the D'Angelo School of Music. Studio A has a wood-beamed cathedral ceiling which emulates the former dance studio in Weber Hall. Other amenities include male and female locker rooms with showers, four offices, a lobby and a study lounge. DanceSpace is the home of the college's 24-year-old Dance Department and the Erie Ballet Theatre formed in 1996. "These studios bring a new focus to the Dance Department and give us a competitive edge with institutions our size," said Tauna Hunter, director. "It is the only facility in the region designed and built specifically for training in intermediate to pre-professional classical ballet." Applications for next year's class are already at 62, way ahead of any previous year, according to Hunter. "This is a happy problem to have our target is to bring in a class of 30," she said. Currently there are 50 dance majors at Mercyhurst. The total arts complex exceeds 50,000 square feet and includes, in addition to the new dance facilities, the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center dedicated in April 1996, the Taylor Little Theatre named to honor Sister Eustace Taylor in October 1994, and the new Sister Angelica Cummings Art Gallery named for the beloved founder of the Mercyhurst Art Department, which was relocated from Hammermill Library to the Performing Arts Center in September 1997.
I N E

Some of the other class members whose names were still legible were Allan Belovarac, Gary Bukowski, James Sabol, Sue Swanson, Victoria Yurcovic, Peter Winklbauer, Susan Dwyre, Susan Hurley, Robert Parks, Sophie Ann Gorel, Thomas Richter, Kenneth Harris and Elizabeth Novicki. We'll never forget that graduation or that class who definitely left their mark behind.

B Y
Y V O N N E

M A H E R

A G O O D YEAR FOR THE

As the old year passed and a New Year was born, the series
of firsts for the Mary D' Angelo Performing Arts Center continued. "First Day Erie" a new tradition in Erie and at Mercyhurst began in the Mary D' Angelo Performing Arts Center on January 1, 1998, with a spectacular celebration of Austria's most famous family of composers, the Strausses. The sold-out concert on New Year's Day "Vienna in Erie" recalled the glamorous sounds echoed throughout the world at the infamous Strauss Ball in Vienna. Performed by a 55-member orchestra, and conducted by Mercyhurst's Maestro Frank Collura, First Day Erie promises to become an annual New Year's Day event on the hill much like Mercyhurst's 15-year-old Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration. As one of Mercyhurst's newest additions, the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center continues to develop into a premier cultural center and members of the college and Erie communities proudly observe its progress with keen interest and speculation. There is a buzz about the facility as the exciting world of entertainment unfolds in a celebration of culture, music and dance each event in its own right is a ground-breaking first. The first concert of the 1997-98 season showcased the inaugural performance on a new $60,000 Model D Steinway Grand Piano donated to the college by the Wilhelm Maier Family of Erie. This opening event featured American pianist Peter Serkin and was played to more than 400 season subscribers the first time the college had recorded such a large subscription base. Following on the heels of that event, the center noted its first official sold-out house on September 24, when Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez took center stage and thrilled its captivated audience. Performing on its 45th anniversary tour, 65 dancers and musicians in spectacular kaleidoscopic pageantry, lavish costumes and breathtaking sets, displayed why their country has crowned them Official Cultural Ambassadors of Mexico. "This is truly an international celebration of culture," noted Michael Fuhrman '85, '91, director of the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center. "We have hosted performers from around the world ... from Mexico to Canada, from Russia to Cuba and that's just the first half of the schedule." Not to be outdone, the Taylor Little Theatre, the college's original performance venue built in 1950, also had a standing-room-only house when Pulitzer Prize-winning

composer Robert Ward watched students from the D'Angelo School of Music stage his opera "Roman Fever." Dressed in 20s flapper dresses, the performers danced the Charleston and surprised the packed audience with an unexpected ending, accompanied by the D'Angelo Chamber Orchestra. Following the performance, Ward met with members of the audience when he hosted a reception for his 80th birthday. The Film Series On the Big Screen also received a boost this season with the purchase of a Simplex PR 1060 35mm film projector and two LA 325 three-way full-range stereo speakers. The improved equipment moved the quality of the series from classroom cinematography to a professional theater level. Structurally capable of showing first-run and old-stock films at an exceptionally high level and technologically equipped to accommodate ever-evolving technology, the sound system received a further boost in the winter when surround sound was added. Word of the new-and-improved foreign and cultural movie series spread quickly, and it became clear that the $35,000 investment was paying off. The number of patrons doubled from the first to the second film and skyrocketed to six times the original number of patrons by the beginning of the winter series, with an average per film attendance at 250. The winter and spring series promised more world-class entertainment including the second annual Irish Extravaganza, the Afro-American Choral Ensemble and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Other events include an International Pops Concert (April 5) and the 22nd D'Angelo Young Artists Competition (April 25), this year featuring young performers on piano from around the world. Mercyhurst will close the 1997-98 cultural season May 16-17 when the D'Angelo School of Music and the college's Dance Department collaborate to stage for the first time in Erie, "Song of Norway," an operetta and ballet based on the life of Edvard Grieg. "This season of entertainment has put us on the cultural map as a college with a bona fide Performing Arts Center. We have proven ourselves capable of hosting artists and events that regularly play at Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall," said Furhman. "We are encouraged by the audience attendance this year and expect to continue to be the first in our field for the upcoming season."
Yvonne Maker '93 is the assistant director and publicist of the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center.

W I N T E R / S P R I N G

1 9

Making things possible

BY

D O N

M C Q U A I D

A sampling of recent gifts

$51,000 was received by the art department in memory of Deloras A. Fratus '54 who majored in art. The funds have been used for six new G3 Macintosh computers for the graphics lab and the purchase of art books. Q $74,000 was received from 12 donors for the purchase of a new Steinway piano and other improvements for the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center. The major portion came from Wilhelm and Peggy Maier and their son Mark. Mrs. Maier is a member of the Board of Visitors of the D' Angelo School of Music, and Mr. Maier is a member of the Mercyhurst board of trustees. Q $250,000 was raised by the North East Advisory Board to pay off the cost of the new culinary kitchens at Mercyhurst-North East. The main gift was a $176,000 bequest from the estate of Georgina M Hitchcock, a resident of North East, in addition to $74,000 from other North East contributors. A gift of $22,600 from Hank and Peggy Meagher Pietraszek '68 and the Hamot Health Foundation Second Century Fund was received for the purchase of a new fluorescent microscope to be used in cancer research. $38,000 was awarded by the HessRoth-Kaminsky Urological Foundation for cancer research to be conducted by Dr. Vickie Kimler, assistant professor of biology.

Evidence of the dramatic growth at Mercyhurst in recent years is everywhere: new buildings, new programs, record enrollments and a corresponding increase in faculty. Not so obvious is the dedicated, highly motivated and obviously effective fund-raising effort that has made such growth possible. At the helm of this bustling, well-oiled operation is Gary Bukowski '73, vice president of institutional advancement, who came to be known as "the million dollar man" after Mercyhurst's first million-dollar fund-raising year, 1992-93. "That first million-dollar year broke a kind of invisible barrier and gave us a momentum that continues," Bukowski said. "Then the tremendous success of the capital campaign of 1994-95 took the college to a whole new plane of giving. The original goal of the drive was $6.2 million, and we ended up raising SI2.3 million in 18 months." In fiscal year 1996-97, the college received $2.3 million in gifts from over 2,900 friends and trustees, including two individual gifts of over half a million. "One of the most significant things about 1996-97 was that major progress was made in planned giving," Bukowski explained. "This was in the form of bequests, charitable remainder trusts, charitable remainder annuity trusts, insurance and gifts of real estate. Alumni, parents, trustees and other friends of Mercyhurst are looking at planned giving more than at any time in the college's history. This will ensure our continued health into the 21st century." Bukowski also cited a significant increase in alumni giving in both the capital drive and the annual campaign. More major gifts were received from alumni than ever before over $200,000 was received from alumni in 1996-97. The level of participation was 25 percent, while the national average for alumni is 22 percent and top schools claim up to 50 percent. "We're taking the initiative with our alumni," Bukowski said enthusiastically. "We have meetings scheduled for them in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Philadelphia to bring them up to date on all the exciting developments at their alma mater. More and more of our alums are from out of this area, so we have to take the story to them." There has been a corresponding increase in giving from parents and even past parents. "This group is important because it signifies a continuing interest in the college even after their children have left," Bukowski said. "Past parents are giving at a record level and several have made planned gifts. Students are also coming through. For 1996-97 we had the largest percentage of seniors to ever participate in a senior class project." The momentum has continued into the current fiscal year. In the first six months of the college's fiscal year 1997-98, over $1.3 million in gifts has been received. "These have been some very gratifying years, but at the same time we have a lot of work before us," said Bukowski. "A majority of the gifts from the capital fund have come in now, and we'll have to find ways of replacing them and developing new initiatives." To grasp just how far the college's fund-raising efforts have come, it is necessary to compare figures from institutional advancement's first year of operation, 1980, with now. In 1980 there were 400 donors; for fiscal year 1996-97 there were over 2,900. There were no gifts from parents in 1980, and there were over 250 in 199697. The college's endowment in 1980 was $96,408; today it is nearly $10 million. "We're making great inroads, and I want to personally thank all those friends of Mercyhurst who have made it all possible," Bukowski said. "I look at these big universities with their incredible alumni bases and envy them a little, but when you look at how far we've come and where we intend to go, I'll take the Mercyhurst spirit any day it's what makes our job enjoyable."
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Chautauqua and M e r c y h u r s t HRIM

B Y K A R E N R E N E M E R K L E

Students in Mercyhurst's Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management program undoubtedly receive some of the best training in that field just ask anyone for whom they've worked. But even the most rigorous course of study can't fully prepare one for the experience of a lifetime: serving the president of the United States. But that's the duty five of the college's HRIM students were called for when President Bill Clinton selected the Chautauqua Institution as the site for a brief vacation and as the ideal place to prepare for his pre-election debate with opponent Bob Dole. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, one that left the Institution very little time to prepare for one of its most important guests ever. With the season over and most of its staff gone, the Institution's management turned to someone they well knew could help out. "I've had an almost 20-year relationship with Chautauqua," explains HRIM department chairman John Wolper, having not only spent time there himself, but also having placed interns there as well. So when the institution called asking for help from him and some of his students, he was obviously pleased, flattered and aware that these youthful professionals would be taking on the assignment of their young careers. "It was an honor and a privilege to be asked to serve in that capacity" Wolper now says. "It especially demonstrated the industry's high opinion and support of our students. For in fact, these students are the next generation of the industry's leaders and management personnel." A student who was also a familiar presence at Chautauqua was one of the five from Mercyhurst selected for this very special assignment. Bryan Crail '97, then a senior HRIM major, spent the summer of 1996 at the Institution, working as captain of the Athenaeum Hotel dining room. He had even been helping out after the regular Chautauqua season ended, as a number of conventions, weddings and other events were scheduled. But on the last day of that extended season, the call came from the White House: the president wanted to come to Chautauqua the following Thursday. Crail and fellow HRIM majors Jennifer Eckels '96, Marie Watkins '98, Dan Bigger '98 and Steve Baldzicki were tapped for the Chautauqua assignment. "The management was really wonderful," Crail enthuses. "They were well organized and able to remain calm in the midst of all the excitement." They also had to withstand the

invasion of a variety of Secret Service agents, members of the president's personal staff, and various other individuals invaluable to the operation of this traveling White House. The grounds were surrounded, and the Coast Guard completely cleared Chautauqua Lake in front of the Institution. "The White House staff really took over the Institution " Crail remembers. "There was no one on the grounds who wasn't there to serve (the president)." Security checks were run on everyone who would be working near him, and all were searched upon entering the hotel. Bryan and others in his position were ultimately given clearance, their names were put on a list, and they were able to go anywhere on the grounds. To signify that status, he was issued a pin, to be worn at all times, which indicated that he had been cleared to wait on the president himself. The president usually ate in his rooms, but he did occasionally venture into the dining room and when he did, Bryan Crail was the one to serve him. The president's personal steward was there to advise Crail and check on the contents of the food that was going to be served to Mr. Clinton. Crail has served a number of celebrities at Chautauqua, but the president was obviously the most important. "I was so nervous" he admits. "But he was very approachable, he just wanted you to treat him like a normal guy. When he came into the dining room, he would socialize with the other diners. And he told me a couple of times how much he was enjoying his stay because it was so restful." He didn't mind posing for photos as long as White House staffers were around, and he made a point of visiting every department in the hotel to show his appreciation and to visit with the employees. "The entire experience was very surreal," Crail says. "But it was great to be a part of it all. The president thoroughly enjoyed the experience at Chautauqua, and said it was one of the best vacations

he'd had
since being elected." g 1

^ ^ 0 ? \ ft

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J^jjecause it is literally a matter of life and death, capital punishment, like abortion, continues to be one of the most controversial issues of our time. Like many people, I had given some thought to the subject but had yet to come down firmly on either side of the question. When I was assigned to cover the keynote address by Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., at the 13th annual Criminal Justice Conference at Mercyhurst, it was my intention to approach the task in a purely disinterested manner, believing that by so doing I could render a real service to our readers. But Sister Prejean, author of the book and screenplay "Dead Man Walking" and this country's leading advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty, had other plans. Following the showing of a film clip from "Dead Man Walking," this diminutive, soft-spoken lady with a Cajun accent, walked to the podium to begin her talk. "I have never spoken to an audience of this mix," she said, "law enforcement people, the commissioner of the department of corrections, college professors, members of a religious community and people from the greater community. I've been inspired by the questions raised here this morning and by the belief that we have to find a better way other than simply incarcerating more and more people." As she spoke I couldn't help but wonder how this gentle, totally unpretentious little woman intended to hold the attention of the hundreds in the audience for more than 10 minutes, let alone sway their thinking on so major an issue. But she continued to talk with the openness and sincerity of a close friend and as she

did, the barriers between her and the audience, myself included, began to dissolve. "I saw some stuff and I know some stuff and I've been through some stuff," she said in reference to her motives for writing her book, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. "I wasn't always involved, but after I witnessed several executions and talked to people in prisons, there was a passion in my heart, and I had to give voice to it." Incredibly, within five minutes the barriers were gone. Now Sister Prejean was able to share at a personal level her firsthand experience with capital punishment something the great majority of people would never choose to undergo. And therein lies the heart of the matter. When people are asked in the abstract whether they favor the death penalty, 75 to 80 percent say they do, but just below the surface is a deep ambivalence about giving the government the right to take people's lives. "Is there dignity in a human person even when they've done unspeakably horrible things?" Sister Prejean asked. "Is this just hopeless pie in the sky a luxury we can't afford when Jesus calls us to identify with every member of the human community and to practice compassion?" To my surprise, her question penetrated to the deepest part of my being. For the first time I found myself looking at the whole question of capital punishment in the light of the Gospel. Clearly, the two do not belong together. Where I was concerned at least, one of them would have to go. Was I really prepared to abandon the Good News? It was Susan Sarandon, who plays Sister Prejean in the movie, "Dead Man Walking," who first expressed an interest in seeing the book made into a film. Sister Prejean said she came to trust Sarandon because she described acting as "enforced compassion" and refused to play roles where women are victimized or are depicted as too weak to help themselves. She had worked with Tim Robbins, the film's director and Sarandon's life partner, on every line of the script.

"Susan always talked about the film in terms of redemption and unconditional love," she said, "and Tim said we

have this vengeful kind of religion that pictures God as a vengeful god. 'Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord. You're my representative do it for me and pay him in spades.' "Tim felt that we had to probe what kind of image of God is behind the death penalty. Most people identify themselves as Christians and with the belief in the dignity of the human person. So the question is: does that dignity exist even for those who have done terrible things? Look at who Jesus identified with. It's pretty disturbing stuff because He was always on the side of the marginal people." Once again, her words struck a responsive chord deep in my psyche. The Gospel was a radical message 2,000 years ago, and in a very real sense it is no less radical today. If Jesus were to return, one of the first places he would probably go would be to our prisons. Any hope I had of writing a "disinterested" article began to evaporate. Sister Prejean went on to tell of how she had spent 15 years at St. Thomas Housing Project, where drugs are "as

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wa.
open as loaves of bread," before going into prison ministry. While she was at St. Thomas, the son of a woman resident was murdered, but there was ; no district attorney's group I there, no investigating officers. I "You begin to get sigI nals that some lives are very important and others are disposable," she said. "Race plays a part in criminal justice because you have to be outraged over what happens to a victim to pursue an ultimate i punishment. If there's | no outrage, it's either plea-bargained or not i pursued." Sister Prejean then reminded the audience that the Catholic Church still upholds the right of the state to take human life. When she had the opportunity to write to the Pope recently, she said: "Your Holiness, we're never going to be able to get it right because you have to have a society that cares as much about the death of a black inner-city kid or a homeless person as it does about a white suburban housewife or a policeman. We can never be that pure to have the kind of power to decide that." Here, for those who could not oppose the death penalty on purely religious grounds, was a reason to abolish it. One of the bedrock fundamentals of justice is equal enforcement of the law. As Sister Prejean pointed out, the sad truth is that too often there is one standard of justice for the "haves" in our society and another for the "have nots." Prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, for example, never considered asking for the death penalty because of Simpson's status as a celebrity. By the time Sister Prejean was receiving a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of her talk, I knew that I had become an opponent of capital punishment. Now my only recourse for the writing of this article was to simply report

BY

DON

M C Q U A I D

what had happened to me in the course of listening to her without embellishment and without apologies and that is what I have attempted to do. It was on my way home after the talk, as I picked up the evening paper at a convenience store, that I was confronted with one of the most poignant ironies of my life. There in the headline was the declaration that the jury in the Oklahoma City bombing trial had found Timothy McVeigh guilty on all counts in the worst mass murder in American history. Suddenly, all of the outrage I felt when the story of the bombing first broke engulfed me again. "He has to die!" I said to myself. "If ever anyone deserved the death penalty, he does!" But as I spoke the words inwardly, I experienced a deep feeling of chagrin and spiritual loss. It did not seem fair that my newly found conviction should be put to so severe a test before it had time to take root. Fortunately, I had the sense to wait a few days, then see how I felt. The Gospel won. Despite the hideous magnitude of Timothy McVeigh's crime, it had become clear to me that nothing of any real benefit to society would be accomplished by his execution. My newfound belief was further tested in the coming months by the execution of 38-year-old Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman sentenced to die in Texas since the Civil War. At the age of 23, Tucker, who had been sexually abused as a child and was a prostitute at the time, hacked another woman to death with a pick ax while strung out on drugs. The many appeals made in her behalf had staved off her execution for 14 years, and in the meantime she claimed to have undergone a religious conversion. In addition to Sister Prejean, Tucker numbered among her supporters Pat Robertson, Jesse Jackson and Pope John Paul. Her apparently genuine conversion, along with the fact that she would be the first woman executed in the United States in recent memory, drew massive media coverage.

As I sat watching CNN's live coverage from the prison in Huntsville, Texas, on Feb. 3, the day of the execution, I was struck by the fact that as the result of this woman's impending death something like a national dialogue on the question of the death penalty was starting to emerge. "Does society accept that people can change?" Larry King asked Sister Prejean on his show a half hour after Tucker's execution. "No matter how much she changed, the law says she has to die," Sister Prejean answered. "We have chosen death instead of life." "Do you believe that she lives in spirit?" King asked. "Yes. It was very hard to kill Karla Faye Tucker because we could see her humanness, her love, her gentleness."

And therein lies the crux of the matter, pun intended. For whatever combination of reasons, Karla Faye Tucker had become a human being to us, someone of value, a person. And her transformation was all the more remarkable in light of what she had once been and what she had once done. Let him who is without sin throw the switch.

Don McQuaid is a writer and editor at Mercy hurst College.

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w w w .

e r c y

u r s t , e

About Mercyhurst
Admissions Academi

Athletics
Campus Tour

Library & Computers

Student Services Alumni & Parents

Visitors' Guide
News & E v e n t s Arts & Entertainment Calendar
.U

E-mail D i r e c t o r y
/ / .

It's everything you ever wanted to know about Mercyhurst and then some.
The Mercyhurst Web site, Mercyhurst Online, was created especially for alumni and prospective students of the college. There's the need-to-know information on admissions, financial aid and academic programs for prospective students, but for alums, the M e r c y h u r s t site has m o r e than the nitty-gritty, it is a treasure trove of interesting facts, resources and news. Now alums, parents and friends of the college can stay in t o u c h with M e r c y h u r s t on a weekly basis with the Monday Morning online, learn about new and notable events on campus each week, e-mail a faculty m e m b e r , submit class notes online, look up when the Lakers are playing, find out the date of an upcoming cultural performance, see what the current profile of the college looks like and read littlek n o w n facts about Mercyhurst that are sure to make you say, "I didn't k n o w that!" There's a special section for alumni that features a nostalgic and contemporary-day tour of the campus buildings, flashback photOS showing the way each looked in the early years and a history of each. The 400+ page W e b Site was developed for Mercyhurst by the Office of External Affairs with input from every area director at the college. The site was designed and produced by the Tempest Corp., owned by Mercyhurst alumnus William P. Greenleaf '93. The site is maintained by Mercyhurst's Office of Technology. C h e c k US OUt, tell your friends, remember our URL: WWW.mercyhurst.edu
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It's that time:

Homecoming!
That old feeling

1997 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners Claudia Evans Garvey '42 Sharon, Pa. Hometnaker Edward W. Inscho, Ph.D. '76 New Orleans, La. Assistant Professor of Physiology Tulane University School of Medicine Margaret Emling Mahon '37 Erie, Pa. Retired teacher Academy High School Bruce E. Swanson '86 Erie, Pa. Manager, Management Development Lord Corporation Christine Vladimiroff, O.S.B. '65 Chicago, 111. President and CEO Second Harvest Food Bank Therese Toflinski Walter, Ph.D. '43 Edinboro, Pa. Superintendent General McLane School District Young Alumni Award Recipients Mary Kay Vona, Ed.D. '83 Tampa, Fla. Principal Consultant Price Waterhouse Joseph E. McGraw, Esq. '83 Cleveland, Ohio Labor Counsel White Consolidated Industries

vm

For many of us, something happened the first time we drove though the Mercyhurst Gates. It was that "this is good" feeling that hit us deep in our stomach. We sensed that it was right for us. That this was where we belonged. That this was where we wanted to be. That everything was going to be just fine. It was Mercyworld, a place that fast became more than a college, but a home. The Gates are ready to welcome you back. Homecoming '98 is set for Oct. 2, 3 and 4. Two words say it all: Carpe Diem! If your class year begins with a 3 or an 8, it will be your turn to celebrate. The alumni office has already begun to plan Homecoming '98. Returning in all their glory to celebrate the big Golden 50th reunion will be members of the Class of 1948, and the first four-year class of men, the Class of 1973, will be marking its Silver Anniversary. Other classes planning on returning for the alumni shindig are the Class of 1938 (60 years), Class of 1943 (55 years), Class of 1978 (20 years) and Class of 1988 (10 years). What would you like? A casual class reunion at the beach or a formal dinner? We've had tennis reunions, crew reunions, football reunions and Presque Isle Bay dinner-cruise reunions. We're open to your ideas and we need class agents to help organize and plan novel reunion activities that will suit your class. We'll provide a list of your classmates, \ send the mailings and coordinate the local arrangements from this end. If you'd be willing to help plan your class's big reunion, contact Patricia Liebel, director of alumni services (814) 824-2538 or leave a message on 1-800-845-8568 and we'll get back to i you. E-mail: alumni@mercyhurst.edu
\

: (Wfer

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BY

D O N

M C Q U A I D

Windows of herita
The single word most often associated with Mercyhurst in recent years is growth, and few would dispute that the growth of the college has been both necessary and good. Along with the positive qualities of growth, however, comes the possibility that, in the midst of all the excitement and heady sense of purpose, the college could lose touch with its heritage. It was the realization of this danger and a determination to avoid it that led to the creation of Mercy Heritage Room in the space formerly known as Sullivan Hall. The transformation came in stages, beginning in 1989, when the senior class that year was trying to determine what its senior project should be. The students decided on a stained-glass window depicting the college seal that would be placed at the top of the south window in Sullivan Hall. Several years later the anniversary of the founding of House of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin led to the idea of commemorating this cherished symbol of the Mercy tradition with a second stainedglass window to be placed in the top of the west window overlooking the grotto. "We felt it would be especially appropriate to have the Baggot House window in that location because it would be facing the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes and would have a visual tie-in with the campus," said college President William P. Garvey. Funding for the project came from Mercyhurst alumni during the Continuing the Dream capital campaign, and the window was installed Oct. 28, 1997. The magnificent diamond-shaped window measures 8 feet from top to bottom and is reminiscent of classic Tiffany stained glass. It was created by artist Steve Fluder of York, Pa. The dominant colors in the piece are blue and green with a red and blue stripe used to set off the center piece. "I spent a lot of time getting input from Sister Eustace Taylor and Dr. Garvey," Fluder said. "Sister Eustace gave me an in-depth view of the sisters' mission and what they went through to found the college, and Dr. Garvey suggested that because of the Irish roots of the college some Celtic design elements might be incorporated." Fluder said the biggest challenge was what in addition to the Basaot Street house to represent in the window. "CO "I wanted the piece to be a touchstone that would evoke the origins of the order and its mission, and then had to come up with a design that would weave this all together," he explained. "I placed the Mercy cross at the top with grapevines to suggest Christ word's T am the Vine and you are the branches' while also suggesting that the sisters' work has been very fruitful. Celtic crosses were used in the corners, and two other major symbols are the white roses and the Easter lilies, both of which symbolize attributes of the Blessed Virgin.
?

The vibrant look of the window is the result of using a Tiffany technique called plating in which several layers of glass, each of varying colors and textures, are used to create the total effect of the window. "The goal is to get light projecting on the surface from behind," Fluder explained. "When you look at the white lilies, for example, you also see shades of pink, blue and green." The window met with unanimous approval from the college community. In fact, it was so striking and elegant that after it was installed the window with the college seal on the south wall looked drab by comparison. Fluder was commissioned to create a second window to replace it. "One of the biggest challenges with this piece was that there were actually several versions of the college seal in circulation," Fluder said. "So we had to come up with a composite that everyone agreed on. Because the window has a southern exposure, darker colors could be used than were employed in the Baggot Street window. Rather than detract from the seal itself with a lot of flora and so on, I used freeform designs all around it and accented the whole piece with dark, rich, red and blue nuggets implanted between the free-form shapes." With the installation of these two works of art, the room has a special majesty and dignity, and the atmosphere is so compelling that it led to the idea of changing the name to Mercy Heritage Room. Following the name change, Sister JoAnne Courneen, president of the Sisters of Mercy, said, "The community is delighted because this is an affirmation on the part of the college of the heritage of the Sisters of Mercy a visible affirmation that the college values the heritage and all the effort that went into the founding of the school." At Dr. Garvey's request, the sisters have assumed the responsibility of providing other types of memorabilia that will be incorporated in the room. A committee of four Sister Kathleen Marie Leap, Sister Aurelia, Sister Kathryn Preston and Sister Patricia Whalen will search the archives at both the college and the Motherhouse for photographs, press clippings, correspondence and other materials that evoke the school's heritage. "They will be looking for things that reflect the tradition and heritage of the order as it relates to Mercyhurst and its educational mission," Sister Courneen said. "The room is used frequently, and these materials together with the radiant stained-glass windows will make that heritage tangible and accessible in a public space. The college has changed a great deal over the years, but its spirit which is what makes it unique has not, and that is what we are celebrating with the creation of Mercy Heritage Room." .

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B Y K A R E N R E N E M E R K L E

It's large, it's majestic, it involves water but don't you dare call it a fountain. The latest addition to Garvey Park South is Munson Plaza with its one-of-a-kind water sculpture. There are few things as soothing and refreshing as the sight, the sound, even the scent and feel of water, especially when it is found in conjunction with a stirring piece of art. That fact is what makes "Blessing" by California sculptor Archie Held much more than a mere fountain. "It's a water sculpture," explains Dr. Joseph Gower, academic dean of the college, "and an exceptional piece of art." It's also a fitting testimonial to a man much loved at Mercyhurst, the late Robert Munson, known as "Mr. Help" by the hundreds of college students whose lives he touched. Munson died April 11, 1997. Among the projects Munson wanted to complete in his remaining months was to present the school with some gift, a token of the affection he felt for the place that had come to mean so much to him. "I told him we could use some public art," remembers Dr. Gower, who shared a wide-ranging interest with Bob. "When he asked me what I would do, I told him I was very taken with some water art I'd seen on the West Coast." That art was created by San Francisco area artist Archie Held, a graduate of UCLA, whose work is in extremely high demand throughout the country. It became a collaborative process, with the artist talking to students, faculty and administrators in addition to Bob Munson and college officials to determine what the work should be.

"He sensed that this was a campus that appreciated beauty one that would value a signature piece of art." On a visit to the campus in January 1997, Held got a sense of the location and proportions that would surround the piece. He then returned to California to construct the sculpture. It was transported cross-country and dedicated Nov. 16, 1997. The tall graceful bronze forms that sweep skyward are contained at ground level by a 10-foot sandstone surround. The pool at the base has already become a wishing well of sorts, with all the coins thrown in going to benefit Campus Ministry. The elegantly arched main elements were built and then treated, quarter inch by quarter inch, to allow the water to ripple smoothly down the sides. Most fascinating is that from a distance the water is barely perceptible, but as you near the piece it gradually comes alive. At night it is lit from the base upward, replicating a beacon in the darkness. To show their love for the man who made an impact on their lives while at Mercyhurst, 45 percent of the Class of '97 contributed $3,700 for landscaping and a plaque for Munson Plaza. The granite marker carries the names of the 146 Mercyhurst alumni who wanted to be part of keeping the memory of Bob Munson alive at Mercyhurst.

Its large, it's majestic, it involves water but don't you dare call it a fountain."

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JOURNEYS

OF
BY

THE

HEART:
L I N S E

PART

III

K A T H L E E N

Hoooe... ojHGRe THC HCART IS

I

It's probably been quite some time since many of us were working our way through a "required reading" list. Undoubtedly, that realization inspires a sigh of relief even as we acknowledge (maybe with a mixture of laughter and longing) that there are books we just never got to and perhaps never will. Instead of burdening ourselves with recrimination and regret, we should resolve this spring to squeeze just one more book into our busy schedules. It's Thomas Moore's "The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life." In one part of this captivating work, he writes, "Our dreams and fantasies of home may give us direction and calm our anxieties... because home is ultimately located in a deep recess of the soul, a cornucopia that pours forth endless gifts." Here at Mercyhurst College, we are fortunate to have in our midst people who came in pursuit of an education, worked to obtain it, graduated and then stayed all able to claim at least a 20-year history to their names. These individuals consider Mercyhurst to be home: an emotional state, a place in the imagination (as Moore writes) where feelings of security, belonging, placement, family, protection, memory and personal history abide. As home is an enchanted place, so is Mercyhurst, and what better introduction to Moore's book than these stories of those who have found it to be thus?

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5=5: S M K -

CJ:-

HOME .. .WHERE THE HEART IS

Dr. Allan Belovarac '73, professor of history Enchantment
As a little boy growing up in the Erie neighborhood of 31st and Ash, Allan Belovarac had a straight view of the college on the hill. His thoughts upon that sight? "Wow! To me, it was like a castle ... that was my very first impression of Mercyhurst College. It just made me full of wonder." Allan is one of "^"' Mercyhurst's most versatile alums, yet the years spent on the hill as a crew coach, a history professor, a Naval Reserve officer, an intelligence analyst (and don't forget Cub Scout leader) haven't dimmed the twinkles of delight in his eyes. For him, the wonder of Mercyhurst still sparkles and shines even as his career has allowed him to literally wander the world at times. Yes, for Allan, Mercyhurst has been a lively place since he arrived as a transfer student from Allegheny College. When the financial package that allowed him to attend Allegheny dissolved, it was the influence of another Mercyhurst notable Gary Bukowski, now vice president of institutional advancement, a classmate from his school days at Cathedral Prep that brought him here. And the attraction to Mercyhurst, he discovered, was as strong as that early enchantment. "I remember Mercyhurst in the early 70s as being exciting and undergoing dramatic changes ... there were just so many opportunities for growth outside of the classroom. This place has always felt more like a community to me than just a school." And how does he feel after all these years and the travels that sometimes take him far and wide? "I never know what is just around the corner in my life ... or just right here. A good measure of my happiness is knowing there is always something to look forward to right at home, and that is Mercyhurst." path. And I am staying on it. Mercyhurst is where I belong." Born and raised in Erie, he attended the Columbus College of Art and Design, and, after completing a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, Mercyhurst College and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Dan still recalls meeting with Sister Angelica Cummings (founder of the Mercyhurst art department) on an autumn afternoon in 1966. "I'll never forget coming through the entrance by the Chapel and walking through Old Main with my portfolio." Since that day, his career has become a catalogue of accomplishments, not the least of which is holding the distinction of being the very first male graduate of this college on the hill. Why remain at Mercyhurst? Dan's assessment of his tenure here is surprisingly simple. "It just happened." In 1969, "Sister Angelica asked me to teach a course or two." Half time went to full time went to " ... beyond conscious choice. It just flowed into this direction, being here, staying here." Dan has never considered another path, feeling that the one he is on the one that keeps him home at Mercyhurst is the right one. And it is Sister Angelica who still receives his fondest praise. A teacher and an artist, for Dan she was much more: "a respected and treasured colleague, and beyond that, a dear friend." Throughout veritable whirlwinds of transformations, however, one constant has been David Cherico, a steady manager, calmly keeping it all together. But Dave certainly made a name for himself in other areas as well, as a criminal justice major and member of the baseball team. There were job offers in police departments in Florida, but he remained in Erie and at Mercyhurst. Today, he credits the people here as the decisive factor. As a member of the original football staff, as assistant baseball coach, as director of intramurals, he fondly looks back on each of his various positions with the same sentiment: "This place really is my home away from home, and the people here are like a family. "What I could have done ... where I could have gone ... I have no regrets about staying here. Not a one! I have many close friends throughout the college, and my job gives me a chance to meet people from all over the world. The atmosphere here is the best. I am content and I anticipate being on the Mercyhurst team for a long, long time."

Mary Daly '66, vice president of external affairs Personal History

While her high school classmates were sending away for information on colleges, Mary Daly was writing to airline schools listed in the back of "Seventeen Magazine." So how did this lifelong westsider from Erie and dyed-in-thewool Villa girl educated by the Josephites since age 7, get to the east side of town and to Mercyhurst College? "I needed a new beginning," she remembers. After spending six months in nurses' training a strategic move, so she thought, in her long-range airline plans Mary forfeited a full-tuition honor scholarship, free room and board (even her books were paid for), and quit nursing school. Why? "I hated my dorm room and no amount of freebies could make me happy." It was a big misstep for the young girl who only months before had graduated as class president and honor student the one with the reputation for being a leader, organizer and go-getter the person you could always count on to get things done.

Dave Cherico '79, director of athletic maintenance and assistant director of maintenance purchasing The sporting spirit George Orwell once described sports as "War minus the shooting," which speaks volumes about the competition involved in the recreation and entertainment we call athletics. This metaphor also reminds us of just how crucial the organization behind the ^^^^ scenes really is. msr > J ^ ^ ^ ^ j! ***% The person who M | ^ f t | ^ - ^ ^ manages to keep J H l H mK^m i d ^ l everything tip-top shape i.s certainly an asset to players and coaches alike especially when it comes to an athletic department like Mercyhurst's one that has experienced many exciting changes and impressive growth over the last 20-plus years.

Dan Burke '69, professor of art Memory For Dan Burke, home is simply that place where you enjoy what you do. As such, Mercyhurst is, as Elbert Hubbard defined it, his "abode of the heart" since Dan feels literally "tied by my heartstrings to the college ... I don't think, never did think about it consciously; I have just always firmly felt that I am on my

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HOME .. .WHERE THE HEART IS

Mary recalls, "My sister, Charmaine, was going to Mercyhurst and I needed a fresh start some place where the sisters-in-charge didn't know me." Mary fast became to the Sisters of Mercy what she had been (and I am sure still is) to the Sisters of Saint Joseph a source of great pride. The rest is history. And it is not only Mary's history, but Mercyhurst's as well. She's lived it, reported it, written it and directed parts of it for 35 years. For a woman who never took her initial career flight, Mary has soared ... but never, ever far from Mercyhurst except for the year she spent at Fairfield University earning her master's in corporate and political communications. "I have been able to advance in my field and grow in my chosen profession because Mercyhurst never placed limits on my opportunities. This has never been just a job to me; it's been a way of life." smile. But what is more emphatic, accompanied by more smiling, is her genuine amazement just about the Mercyhurst community in general. "Yes, I continue to be surprised, happily so, that Mercyhurst has such a 'knack' for attracting so many 'good to the core' people. I have wonderful friends here who care for me as a professional and as a person. They really are like my family. And doesn't that then make this my home?"

Sister Patricia Whalen '63, assistant academic dean Placement

Sister Patricia's recollections of her beginnings at Mercyhurst bring to her mind not just time: her days as a high school student when the college was still Mercyhurst Seminary, but also place. For the office she occupies now in Old Main was once, in fact, a parlor in the best old-fashioned sense of the word. And for Sister Patricia, while rooms have changed and some people have gone on to other pursuits, one constant remains: "The mission of the founding sisters ... those women who envisioned the high school and the college as a community of service to others, a sacred trust of dedication to acting intelligently, responsibly and prudently so that all segments of the community are supported in the endeavor of education." The journey that began with Sister Patricia's calling as a Sister of Mercy has been as varied as the many tasks that the Sisters espouse in their commitment to serving others. Since graduating from Mercyhurst Seminary and then the college (Class of '63), she has been an elementary school teacher and principal in various diocesan schools, and at Mercyhurst she has served as an adjunct faculty member as well as director of the cadet teaching program. In her present position as assistant academic dean, Sister Patricia's enthusiasm is evident: "I truly enjoy all of my responsibilities. The interactions I have, the problems to be solved, the challenges to be met it is a richness of purpose I would have never imagined." But she is quick to add, "Nothing has been my choice. The professional and personal reality of my religious life is that I have been assigned my ministries. But I have found enrichment in continuously being challenged to contribute to society and to people's lives." She is clearly confident and confidently clear in her belief: Mercyhurst is home, and God does abide within.

Sheila Walsh Richter >77, director of financial aid Belonging

Sheila Richter hadn't a clue in 1973, but she was already laying the groundwork for a career with Mercyhurst when she arrived on campus as a freshman that year. As she recounts, "I really didn't have any professional goals at that time. I changed my major from special education to social work, took required Civil Service exams while keeping up with special ed activities ... and graduated "undecided!" Little did she know that her indecision would turn out to be the perfect preparation for launching a satisfying career with Mercyhurst. Her first job after graduating in 1977 was one in admissions that eventually developed and led her to admissions operations manager in 1981. In this position, Sheila supervised operations of the admissions office and processed all admission inquiries. One of her most important duties was advising freshmen freshmen who were undecided about career objectives! Staying "home" at Mercyhurst was not so much a deliberate decision as simply inevitable. "For the past 20 years I've just been too busy to leave home!" And so, for Sheila, out of hesitation has come calm assurance that her career is just where it should be. "Mercyhurst has given me security and a profound sense of belonging." She considers her current position as director of financial aid to be, to date, her greatest professional challenge. This Mercyhurst grad still describes each week as "on-the-job training" and she pronounces herself on most days (accented with laughter and an engaging grin) as "really thrilled to be here." Sheila, like all of these Mercyhurst "homebodies" truly loves the college atmosphere and proclaims herself proud to be part of Mercyhurst's ever-growing, always-thriving environment.

Bonnie Yost Hall '75, registrar Family

The year was 1975. Five new faculty members joined the Mercyhurst College community only to later move on to other institutions. Bm as luck would have it, Bonnie Yost, a H M H ^ ^ transfer student majoring in French, graduated and stayed at d((*rf^^B% Mercyhurst, but flB89HH^^^^^| not as teacher. Although her stint at student teaching revealed not just competence, but a true excitement and enthusiasm for her subject and her pupils, she diverged from her career path when a teaching job was not available locally, and accepted a secretarial position in the registrar's office. So while the teaching profession probably lost potentially one of its finest, the college gained a one of its finest young administrators. As Bonnie tells it, "My small-town upbringing as a child in a dairy-farming family taught me at a young age the merit of hard work, honesty and commitment to family and community. In claiming my loyalty as a student, Mercyhurst had such a tremendous sense of family for me, and so I felt comfortable in seeking refuge here, rather than pursuing teaching jobs out of town." Recalling her progression from administrative assistant to assistant registrar to her current post as registrar, Bonnie is still a bit incredulous. "Really, I never envisioned this when I came here from Westminster College as a transfer student," she marvels with a

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M A G A Z I N E

P R O F I L E

Karen Milinovich '98

By Don McQuaid

Singing the national anthem in front of several hundred fans at a sports event on the Mercyhurst campus is one thing. Accomplishing the same feat before 60,000 people and a television audience in the millions is another. That is the quantum leap Mercyhurst senior Karen Milinovich faced when she was asked to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" at the Steelers-Broncos NFL game at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium on December 7. Was she nervous? "Yes, before it happened," Karen recalled with a smile. "But to be honest, I can't remember my emotions at the time I was actually singing the anthem. I was right out in the middle of the field, standing on the Steeler logo. When I got to the words 'the land of the free,' all 60,000 started screaming and shouting, and I couldn't even hear myself sing 'and the home of the brave.'" As daunting as such a performance might seem for a petite, 21year-old student from a small town south of Pittsburgh, Karen in large part because of her achievements at Mercyhurst was prepared to "seize the opportunity." An early childhood education major, her goal since high school has been to become an elementary school teacher. In her sophomore year she was chosen as the recipient of the St. Catherine Award for outstanding service to Mercyhurst and the Erie community, and in her junior year she received the Outstanding Ambassador of the Year Award. She is also president of the Phi Eta Sigma academic honor society and works regularly with Campus Ministry. It was in high school productions of musicals that Karen got her first performance experience, landing the female lead in such shows as "Oklahoma" and "The Music Man." For the past three years, she has studied voice with Louisa Jonason at the D' Angelo School of Music, singing the female lead in the D'Angelo Opera Theater's production of Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" in March 1997. Singing is a family tradition for the Milinovich Family. Karen's grandfather was a founding member of the Duquesne Tamburitzans and later conducted the singing group. Her father and uncle both sang in the Junior Tamburitzans and passed down their love of music to Karen. "When I was trying to decide where I wanted to go to college, I learned that Mercyhurst had a school of music, as well as a good education department, and that was definitely a factor in my applying here," Karen said. "After graduation, I'd like to perform for three to five years and then go into teaching. My dream is to be on a TV show for children where I can incorporate ^ singing, acting and working with children." As Karen tells it, it was Erie's notoriously unpredictable December weather that almost deprived her of her big moment at Three Rivers Stadium. (Xi aa/u& wie "That was the weekend we got hit with all the snow," she explained. "The game Qs 'nijM&t wawwiwa t/te i<t/iKw. was on Sunday, but by Friday night both Interstate 79 and Interstate 90 had been closed. I really didn't want to drive down by myself, so I began to think I wasn't going to make it. Then on Saturday morning I got a call from my mother who said, 'Your father left at 10:30 this morning to come and get you. He's definitely a man on a mission.'" Like father, like daughter. If her performance in Pittsburgh is any indication, Karen is also a person with a mission one that will no doubt brins honor to herself, her family and the alma mater she has served so well.
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BY

M I C H A E L

P L A S H A

IPTION R MEDICAL SCHOOL

It has been 42 years since Mercyhurst graduated its first student who went on to become a doctor. Even though there have been profound and sweeping changes in society and education, some things have remained the same. The same type of pre-med preparation that gave Ensign William Sauve '96 the confidence to enter medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences supported the career of Dr. Marjorie Williams Laughlin '55. "Mercyhurst gave me a strong ethical basis that has guided me through my career," Dr. Laughlin said. "I was also given a solid foundation in science and language. The small class size enabled me to get the attention, assistance and advice that I needed to help me succeed in medical school," Laughlin remembers. She was the first Mercyhurst pre-med student to observe surgeons at Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie. A true pioneer in the medical field, Laughlin entered the Georgetown University School of Medicine with only six other women out of a class of 100 students. Dr. Laughlin started a general practice limited to pediatrics. At the same time she raised five children and then trained to become an emergency room physician. "Even though I love children and pediatrics, my first love has always been emergency medicine," she said. Today she is an emergency physician at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, which is affiliated with the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Laughlin also assists on the hospital's extensive AIDS unit. "We get to know these patients well and help them face death," she explained. "The compassion I feel for them was inspired by my philosophy and theology professors at Mercyhurst." But it is her years of observing children as a pediatrician and as an emergency room physician that she shares with Sauve, who hopes to specialize in pediatrics like Dr. Laughlin. "What is often not taught in medical school, but which we learn through experience, is how to approach children when they are in pain," she said. "We have to be careful what we say to them and how we say it. Children will associate certain phrases with pain. When a mother tells them it
22
M E R C Y H U R S T

Today about 50 students are pursuing a pre-med or biology and chemistry major at Mercyhurst.

won't hurt and then it does, they become frightened when they hear those same words again. It is almost better to be quiet." Although Sauve recognizes practicing pediatrics is "far away" as his goal, he appreciates her advice. "This is the kind of mentoring that has guided me from the beginning," he said. "When I was only five or six I remember the feeling of wanting to be like my pediatrician. He didn't scare me like other doctors and since then we have become good friends. He was always gentle and non-threatening, and I hope I can be that way in my practice." Sauve is also appreciative of the small class size he had while at Mercyhurst and the ongoing advice and assistance he has received. "It was much more flexible and personal than what I've heard can happen at a large university," he said. "And Dr. Lutton (director of the biology department and pre-professional studies) was forever pushing us to explore who we are and what we wanted to do with our lives. When a Mercyhurst graduate today goes to medical school, it is because he or she really wants to for the right reasons." "I want to emulate Dr. Lutton's love and respect for life," Sauve says. "I hope that attitude will always guide me in making the right choices." A native of Detroit, Sauve excelled at Mercyhurst, earning the President's Associates Achievement Award for exceptional achievement in natural sciences and mathematics. He graduated with a B.A. in biochemistry and a B.S. in biology, was president of the pre-med society and an oarsman for the crew team. Sauve is currently in his second year of medical school as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy in Bethesda, Md. During the last 42 years, about 40 Mercyhurst graduates applied to medical college and half became doctors. Today, about 50 students are pursuing a pre-med or biology and chemistry major at the college. Despite changing times, Mercyhurst pre-med majors will hopefully continue to share Dr. Laughlin's and Sauve's healthy medical attitude. It is a prescription learned at Mercyhurst that sounds just like what the doctor would order.

M A G A Z I N E

LAKER FOOTBALL TAKES THE NEXT STEP

BY C R A I G R Y B C Z Y N S K I

Following one of his most successful seasons at Mercyhurst College, head football coach Joe Kimball has had little time to savor the 6-3 season. Hunching over his desk in the corner of his office, Kimball sifts through the papers that litter his desk, from Christmas cards to newsletters to recruiting information. Still dressed in a white shirt and tie, worn on another daylong recruiting trip, he tries to prepare for the upcoming season. It is a season he began preparing for long before the Lakers defeated Ohio Wesleyan to end the 1997 season. In October, the coaching staff received the news that the Mercyhurst board of trustees approved the move to Division II scholarship football. "We are entering a league with the best Division II schools in the country, so we have to make some adjustments just to be competitive," Kimball said. "The next couple of years will be very difficult in all aspects of the move." "The anticipation was always there," he added. "Every coach, even myself, has to learn the ins and outs." In 1998, the Lakers embarked on a new era in the football program, climbing to Division II scholarship as a member of the prestigious Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference. Mercyhurst will compete in the South Division against Ashland, Hillsdale, Wayne State University, the University of Findlay, Indianapolis and Westminister College. "This upgrade will give our football program the benefits that presently do not exist: the opportunity for greater regional recognition, a guaranteed 10-game yearly schedule, the ability to compete for a national championship, and the opportunity to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament," Mercyhurst College Director of Athletics Pete Russo said. It was five years ago that Mercyhurst competed at the Division III level and played its home games at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium. Kimball has seen the transformation of the program from Division III to Division II non-scholarship in 1993, (the first season for Kimball at the college) to the decision to elevate the Lakers to scholarship football. "We have learned a lot in the past, competing at the Division II level," Kimball said. "So far we have played Division I-A, non-scholarship Division II and upper echelon Division III. Now we have all Division II scholarship schools on the schedule." "It is a really big move," Laker quarterback Matt Kissell said. "We are looking forward to the challenge. We played Findlay last year and got a taste of what the competition will be like. It is a step up."

Mercyhurst's leading rusher Justin Gibson, with 734 yards in his second season, said spending time in the weight room and watching game films could make the difference against the powerhouse teams in their conference. "We have to step it up right here," he said, pointing to the football weight room. "Last year we made some J/r mistakes thai we can't make it' we want to be successful." To ensure that he performs as well as he has in the past, Gibson augments his lifting with hours observing the other Division II scholarship programs in the region. "I have watched film of the playoffs, and size and speedwise they are no bigger, stronger or faster than we are," said the sophomore running back. "If we execute and keep our heads in the game, we should be successful." The Lakers, however, will not only compete with the schools on the field, but in the war with recruiting highquality talent. Gone are the days worrying about Buffalo State, Ithaca College, Robert Morris and Baldwin-Wallace. This off-season, the Lakers are battling Division I-AA Akron University and the University of Buffalo, and conference foes Ashland University and Hillsdale College for top recruits. "It is definitely different recruiting," Kimball said. "Akron, Kent State and Ohio University are the schools that we have to worry about as we go after our top kids. But we know that we are going after the right kids if people of that caliber are trying to recruit them." With only a couple of months to recruit for the '98 season, Kimball said his team will face opponents with four classes of recruits, compared to the handful at the Hurst. Despite the team's inaugural season in the MIFC, Kimball hopes to send a message to the conference after the game with the Huskies. When the Lakers suit up against Michigan Tech Sept. 12 for the team's home opener, Mercyhurst will battle the Huskies at Louis J. Tullio Field, Mercyhurst's on-campus football stadium. "It will be awfully nerve-racking because I know what we are up against," Kimball said. "But the kids will play hard and never quit. Win or lose, Michigan Tech will know they played a hard, tough, aggressive and intense football game."
Craig Rybczynski '95, a communications graduate from Mercyhurst, is the assistant sports information director at Mercyhurst and publicist at Mercyhurst-North East. He also teaches part time in the communications department.

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That all changed in 1972 when Title IX passed, requiring equal opportunities for men and women. Girls' and women's athletics have been on a dramatic upswing ever since. Ruggiero said that Erie's early winters and heavy fall rains often cut short the hockey season at Mercyhurst, and that factor also played a hand in the discontinuation of the sport in the 50s. But to a college president who will never close Mercyhurst because of bad weather, Garvey was unfazed. "We can't do much about Erie's weather," he said, "but we can even the number of sports for our women students who make up 54 percent of Mercyhurst's current student body." The rest is history. Sister Maura made the motion, it was seconded by Sister Mary Charles and the Mercyhurst board of trustees voted unanimously to begin women's field hockey at the college a second time. The Lady Lakers scored three goals this year, but 1997 was not a no-win season for them as it was for the first team in 1930. With a sole win against Elmira, they finished 1-8. The weather, however, remained the same as was reported 67 years ago. There were heavy rains and early snow .-. but no dampened spirits.

or years Mercyhurst students chuckled at archival photos of the college's early field hockey teams. Those were the good old days, they thought, until Father Time had a way of repeating history at least in some ways. When college President William Garvey brought up the possibility of adding a 10th women's sport to college trustees last year, little did he know that two of the trustees, both Sisters of Mercy, would carry the day. Garvey asked trustee Sister Maura Smith '48, a former president of the Sisters of Mercy, and Sister Mary Charles Weschler '40, a former chair of the chemistry department, if they happened to recall when women's field hockey was played at the college. "Remember it?" Sister Maura laughed, "We both played it! It was quite the sport at Mercyhurst at one time." The historic pendulum has swung again. This past fall Mercyhurst added its 20th Laker sport, bringing the number of men's and women's sports to 10 each. And you guessed it, that 20th sport is women's field hockey. Old "Merciads" report that women's field hockey was played from 1930 until 1951, and Elaine Ruggiero, the Lady Lakers historian, says, "Mercyhurst discontinued the sport because of a lack of opponents stemming from the postWorld War II emphasis on physical ,rnT1j education and away from women's athletics."
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Arts Aj Entertainment
April 5 Pops "International" Orchestra Concert, 2:30 p.m., PAC Celebrating the sounds of the Big Band Era, theme music from Broadway musicals and popular pieces from around the world. Conducted by Frank Collura.

17 April 17 to May 23, Ceramics Show by Matt West, CAG This artist, potter and national exhibitor from Cheyenne, Wyo., will present the first ceramics exhibit in the new Cummings Gallery. 19 Paramount Brass (Quintet), 2:30 p.m., PAC Grand Prize winners of the 1992 New York Brass Conference Quintet Competition, this acclaimed brass quintet from Boston has been hailed for its musicality and audience rapport.

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16 Song of Norway (Operetta & Dance), 7 p.m., PAC The D'Angelo Opera Theater collaborates with the Erie Ballet Theatre to perform this operetta based on the life of Edvard Grieg, Norway's most famous classical composer. 17 Song of Norway 2:30 p.m., PAC
PAC - Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center TLT - Taylor Little Theatre CAG - Cummings Art Gallery

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501 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16546 www. mercyhurst. edu Forward and Address Correction

Expanding Upwards
Hammermill Library gets a gabled roof, a fourthfloor,a new uring and a state-of-theart automation system. What was once an architectural sore thumb has been brought into harmony with Old Main. (p. 4)

Weber Comes Full Circle Who will win the gold?

Mercyhurst^ highest student honor, the gold medallion Carpe Diem Award, will be presented at the 70th Commencement Sunday, May 24th, 1998, at 2:30p.m. at the Warner Theatre in downtown Erie. Last year, for thefirsttime in the history of the college, two students were corecipients of the Carpe Diem AwardStacey A. Fitzpatrick (I) a hotel, restaurant institutional management majorfrom Munson, Ohio; and Mindif McDowell (r), an English majorfrom Rockland. Pa. Mercyhurst alums from the Classes of 1953 through 1973 remember it as their library. Alums from 1974 through 1997 remember it as a dance studio. Today Weber Hall has been restored to the look and purpose of its founders, (p.6)

Catherine McDonough Walker Honored

At the New Year's Day dedication of the Walker Wing of the Hammermill Library, an oil portrait of Catherine McDonough Walker, wife of Mercyhurst trustee Dr. Barrett Walker, was unveiled in the Reading Room which carries her name, (p.3)

Dead Man Walking

Sister Helen Prejean, the country's leading advocate to abolish the death penalty, speaks out at Mercyhurst. Is there justice for all? (p. 12)

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The colleges new Web site, Mercyhurst Online, made its debut with the New Year 1998. Bookmark our URL. (p. 14)