Student-athletes SHINE and dinner with recent graduates.

Last night I got together with 6 former students - all from the Class of 2011 - at American Flatbread in Burlington and then, of course, we ended up at Ben & Jerry's for dessert. We ran into Evan Dewey and Brian Ahern on Church Street as they were on their way to dinner too. Kimmy Thevenet had contacted me earlier this week asking if we could all get together for dinner soon and I was only too happy to agree. Next to Kimmy (far left) is Jess Sanborn and then Ryan Stanley and on my left is Meaghan Cormier, Will Towne and Sarah Regan. Except for Will, all of them are living and working in the Burlington area and along with a large number of their classmates, they are enjoying Burlington, Vermont in the summer. We laughed (a lot) and talked about how they are all doing (working at a variety of places - some just for the summer and some already with full-time employment). It was great to catch up with all of them and we decided we need to do this again so the next time, it is a barbecue at my house. Chris Kenny is our Associate Athletic Director and Chris compiles data on how well our student-athletes are doing academically. He just released the latest information and it is GOOD. Overall, our student-athlete grade point average is the HIGHEST ever recorded = 3.127. These student-athletes carry a full academic load AND compete in our varsity athletic program which is also very time-consuming. For the first time, the student-athlete overall GPA of 3.127 is HIGHER than the general student body. Also, for the first time, the male student-athlete overall GPA (3.000) is HIGHER than the general male student population. The male student-athlete GPA is the HIGHEST ever. We have been attempting to convince our student-athletes, and especially our male student-athletes that they are expected to do well academically, they CAN do well, and that it is acceptable for student-athletes at SMC to do well in the classroom. Our women student-athletes GPA of 3.242 is their second HIGHEST ever. Also, we have 21 varsity teams and for the first time, 16 of those teams had a 3.0 or higher. Congratulations to the student-athletes, their faculty who work so closely with them, their coaches who support their academic achievement and to the Athletic Department for their continuing support of our initiatives to improve the academic achievement of our athletes.......

Take care, be well, and please keep all of the members of our military and our veterans in your thoughts and prayers. When President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor the other day to Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry it was a very moving and important occasion. HIS story is repeated over and over again by members of OUR military - his words (I did it for my brothers - to protect them) get repeated time and time again by the men and women in our Armed Forces - it is so important that we make sure that they know that they have our support - our thoughts and yes, our prayers.

Dave

New students arrive on campus for Summer Orientation

Kayaking at Indian Brook, about 5 miles from campus provides me with great shots like these two. The Great Blue Heron picture was not taken with a telephoto lens but I was that close.....New students for the fall semester arrived on campus yesterday for Summer Registration/Orientation and many of them are also now participating in one of the 4 Wilderness Program Trips or POW (pre-orientation weekend). I attended the advising session held by Associate Dean Joan Wry (a fantastic resource for students and faculty alike) and Prof. Ray Patterson, Religious Studies professor extraordinaire. They advised the new students on HOW to register for classes for the fall and then the students were off to meet with temporary advisors to select their classes. I love having students back on campus as their energy fills the place.

Seth Cole has been the College's Sports Information Director for many years - he also is an alumni of the College and was also our men's baseball coach for several years. Seth has decided to leave SMC and move with his wife to New Hampshire where they will be closer to family. Seth has done an amazing job over his many years here and he will be sorely missed - the Best of Luck to you Seth.

Lots and lots of contacts with former students as Jenny Pietroski was back in town from Maine this past week and I had the chance to have lunch with her and catch up on how she is doing. She graduated in 2010 and started graduate school in psychology in Colorado - great to catch up with her. Mary LeClair is back for a few days and her Dad, music professor Paul LeClair has just retired after a lifetime (Paul began here in 1970) of great service to the College and to all of our students - Paul is featured in the Spring/Summer 2011 Saint Michael's College Magazine. Mary and I will get together tomorrow. Barb Puls ('84), Meaghan Cormier('11), Eda LaPlaca ('11), Jason Fuchs ('10), Brett Peryer ('09), Seth Brown ('09), Craig Farnum ('99) have all been in touch lately - just one of the many, many things I love about being at SMC is the relationships that will last a lifetime.

Off to Indian Brook for some kayaking again - I continue with my writing and preparing for fall classes and enjoying life in the beautiful State of Vermont. Take care, and, as always, please keep the members of our military and all of our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

Summer and way too busy :)

Good morning - as I look out over campus from my office on second floor St. Ed's I am amazed as how busy I have been since Commencement. This morning I am working on my book - yes, I am attempting to finally put down in writing the many, many thoughts/comments/essays from my students in response to a paper I assign in Men & Masculinities - How My Father Influenced My View of What A Man Is - is the assignment and for almost 8 years I have been accumulating their responses with the idea of eventually putting all of this down into a book. That eventually is NOW and it has been interesting to say the least to go back and re-read their essays. I just emailed one of my students who wrote an amazing paper describing her father and his influence on her view of what a man is. I am so appreciative of my students that they have always given me "permission" to use their work "someday." For now I am just inputting their responses - at some point I will try to organize this into some coherent format :)

The other day I received an email from one of my former students, a recent graduate. He asked for some assistance on research he is doing in his graduate program. As we corresponded back and forth, he said the following, which I copy here with his permission:

"On a side note, I would like to let you know that I fully appreciate the quality of education and even more-so the outstanding quality of the professors and level of guidance that I received from them at St. Mike's. The quality of teaching, academic guidance, and of the professors themselves at my current University is questionable, even at the best of times; making me realize what I took for granted while in Vermont. Hope you're enjoying your summer break and take care. Thanks again." It is this type of response from students that keeps me going - he was a good student who went on to work on an advanced degree and his response was something that we don't often hear - not because it isn't true, but because in many cases students never tell us what we mean to them and/or they don't realize this until they are many, many years away from SMC - so thanks for this.......

I had lunch with a former student yesterday, ran into another recent grad and an "older" grad (she would not appreciate being referred to as "older" :) down on Church Street [her place of employment had just hired their 4th SMC graduate],dinner last night with another one and last week I had dinner with another recent grad. There are many of our more recent grads who have chosen to stay in the area this summer and it is great to run into them all over the area. I was at the Burlington Farmer's Market a couple of Saturdays ago and ran into Ryan Stanley and Logan Pinka - it is always so funny when they see US outside of the college environment and are reminded that we are PEOPLE too, with our own lives.

I also met this past week with two prospective students and their parents - one is the daughter of another former student and Mom and the other two daughters were here while the oldest daughter was interviewing in Admissions. The other is a dear friend of many years who graduated from SMC before I came here - she brought her son here for his interview and I not only met them in Admissions but then had the pleasure of having dinner with them downtown. We went to RiRa's as I wanted Jack to "see a college town" from that perspective. It is also nice when parents ask ME questions about the value of a liberal arts education - that question is a no-brainer as to my answer...... Hopefully both of these students will be accepted and will come here.

Back to work - take care, be well, and as July 4th looms in the near future, please remember that OUR freedoms have been earned with the lives of so many others and keep all of the members of our military and our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

NE-10 Sportsmanship Award goes to SMC ice hockey player Alex Higgins

Shown at the Awards Dinner for the NE-10 annual meeting, held this year, in Providence Rhode Island is men's ice hockey coach Chris Davidson, recent graduate and male Sportsmanship Award winner Alex Higgins and Julie Ruppert, Commissioner of the NE-10. Alex was honored with a plaque and a great picture which will hang over in the Ross Sport Center. Alex was nominated by his coach and not only is an outstanding student (psychology major) but a great role model for all of our student-athletes - well done and very much deserved Alex - congratulations. Our meetings in Providence were good and it was gratifying to see that the NCAA has broadened their definition of diversity as I attended, along with AD Geri Knortz, the Diversity Workshop on Tuesday. This four hour workshop addressed issues of diversity from a broad perspective and included the issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and privilege. The rest of our meetings were a combination of athletic directors, faculty athletics representatives(FAR), senior women administrators and a variety of assistant and associate athletic directors from all 16 schools currently in the NE - 10. It was nice to re-connect with many of my FAR friends for these meetings and to find that our concerns are being addressed as we work with the NCAA's Life In Balance programs to ensure that our student-athletes do, in fact, have that balance that is so necessary between their academics, their athletics AND a social life.

As I am working in my office this morning, many of my colleagues are next door attending the annual TWTW - Teaching With Technology Workshop. I would have been in there but it is a week long event and I had to be in Providence Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This workshop helps faculty members better understand how technology and all of the changes that it makes in our lives, really DOES fit into the classroom.

Take care, be well, and please keep all of the members of our military and their families, and all of our veterans in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave

Graduation pictures and Winston Churchill's spy in WW II

Now that Commencement is really over with many of my students have posted graduation pictures on Facebook. In the second picture are Tully LaBelle-Hamer from Alaska and Alex Higgins from Arizona. Both were members of our men's ice hockey team and they are just two of the many, many amazing students I have had the privilege of knowing and teaching (and learning from) here at SMC. The other picture to the lower right is one with me and Samantha (SAM) Taturczak - she is another one of those exceptional students who not only excelled in the classroom (she took all but one of my classes so I know just how smart she really is) but she is someone who is an amazing role model for all students - especially for students in our residence halls as Sam has served as a Resident Assistant for several years and she has been actively involved with all aspects of Residence Life and a major contributor and leader of several of our clubs and organizations - a special person who will be part of my "family" forever, much like Tully and Alex.

The other picture on the top is of me with my friends Max and Linda Ciampoli who are the authors of Churchill's Secret Agent. They live in Reno, NV and along with my friends Davis/Ann Clark, Jim and Sue Wall (my sister and brother-in-law) and my niece Maggie we met up in New York City's Central Park this past Saturday. Max and Linda were in NYC to present to the Jewish Book Council on their book. Max was a spy for Winston Churchill during WW II and he is responsible for saving the lives of thousands of Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazis. Max, a Catholic, was doing all of these things when he was just 17,18 and 19 years old and I used their book and Max's exploits to challenge MY students to answer the question: "what would YOU do if this country, like Max's France, was ever to be invaded?" - now there is no answer to that question but it certainly made for fascinating discussions in my Men & Masculinities class. I suggested that they might want to read the book and write a reaction which I then sent to Max and Linda - it is so important to Max (now 88 years old) to hear what young people think about what happened back then AND that they NOT forget that we all need to be aware of what is going on in our world. Being in NYC with good friends and my family was an amazing end of our academic year. More of my students, even though they have graduated, are reading this book and have spoken with me about how amazed they are at the things that Max had to do in order to save the lives of so many.

Several former students are going to be in town this weekend and Burlington hosts their marathon along Lake Champlain and I have heard from several who will be here and who want to get together - IF it stops raining, it should be a great weekend. Next Monday is also Memorial Day and so once again, I ask that we all remember the members of our military and our veterans and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Memorial Day should be every day..... We owe them all so much.

Take care and be well, and also please keep those students and staff from SMC who are doing service trips to Rawanda, India and the Dominican Republic in your thoughts and prayers too.

Dave

Commencement was exceptional

Yesterday we all gathered on campus for the annual ritual called Commencement. On Sunday we had gathered in the chapel for the Baccalaureate Mass and then in the Ross Sport Center for the Honors Assembly and then a reception following in the Tarrant Center. It was a time of celebration, and a chance for me to meet the parents of so many of my students from over these past four years. It is always an emotional time for all of us and I had the unique opportunity to thank these parents for sending their daughters/sons to us - while I understand fully that these students are better because of the time they have spent with us, I also reminded the parents and thanked them because WE are all better because they have been with us for these past four years. The Commencement speaker was Jim Wall - Jim, while having the lofty title of Global Managing Partner for Human Resource and Talent Management for Deloitte, Touche, Tomatsu (the largest accounting firm in the world) his is best known because he is ONE OF US. Jim's time at SMC as a student in the early 70's contributed to the success he has experienced since his graduation from SMC in 1974. His Commencement address is worth watching in its entirety and I simply cannot do it justice here so I will only ask that you all go onto YouTube and type in Commencement at Saint Michael's College - James H. Wall - please watch it and see why I have said that Jim's talk was exceptional - I have listened to many, many Commencement speakers and Jim was wise enough to speak with six seniors prior to writing his speech and his talk was honest, REAL, emotional and so well received by students, faculty/staff, parents and everyone who heard him. Since yesterday I have heard from many of my students and many of my colleagues who commented that Jim's speech was simply the BEST they have ever heard. Great praise indeed. Thank you Jim.....

One additional note from Commencement - near the conclusion of the celebration, Vice President for Academic Affairs Karen Talentino asked all of the members of the faculty and staff to stand and be recognized by the students - we did and they, and their parents and families also rose and gave all of us a spontaneous round of applause - a first in my memory - just more evidence of what an amazing class this is. thanks.....

It is never easy to see students leave - we have watched them over the past four years grow and mature into amazing individuals who will make our world a better place - I never say goodbye- merely a "later" as they leave for the next step in their journey. So, thank you to all of you who have so impacted me - thank you to Sarah Regan's Dad for letting me know that he DID read my blogs (it usually seems as if no one else does read this thing) and thanks to all of you who DO read this but who choose not to comment on it.

Take care, be well, look for summer postings from me and, as always, please keep all of the members of our military and all of our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers. I just finished reading the final paper of one of my former students - my friend Alan - his final paper for the completion of his Clinical Psychology graduate degree was a qualitative essay on how these wars have impacted his life. He presented information on how he decided to join the military, his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and his being Stop-Lossed and returned to Afghanistan after having already served his four years and finally to how all of this has impacted him as he has transitioned OUT of the military - an amazingly powerful story - his story will help him AND others as they learn how to deal with what they have seen, done, experienced in service to ALL OF US - they deserve our thanks AND our prayers........

Dave

Let the finals begin.........

Practicum Reception
Psi Chi Induction

Yesterday was the last day of the semester and now it is time for finals to begin. It has been an incredibly busy couple of weeks as the College held its Symposium featuring academic departments honoring student achievements. The Psychology Department was no exception as our students who had completed their Honors Projects (bottom right picture) presented them to the Department and the College. Students who had participated in Practicum and/or Independent Study also presented their POSTERS (upper right and bottom left) over in the Ross Sport Center. We also held our induction of new members of Psi Chi - the International Honor Society for Psychology. We also hosted the first annual Practicum Reception (top center picture) in the Pomerleau Alumni Center where current Practicum students met with next year's students and we thanked the site supervisors for their participation in our very successful Practicum program.

The sun has come out again (we had forgotten what it looked like) and it has stopped raining - Lake Champlain is at its highest level EVER and this has impacted everyone in the area who enjoys the many opportunities offered by this great Lake... BUT life goes on and as students begin their finals and our seniors reluctantly get ready for Commencement on the 16th, we celebrate the conclusion of yet another academic year. I have had five groups of students over to my house for dinners this semester and that ends on this Thursday when I am having my Practicum class over for lunch. the students are always so grateful to be invited to a professor's home and it is always so much fun for me. At least having this group for lunch will hopefully mean that I won't be telling them that they have to leave at 11:15 p.m. which happened all five times when students were here for dinner.........

As always, please take good care and keep all of the members of our military and our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave