Summer 2006
Vol.7 No. 3
Contact
is published by the
Office of University Advancement
St. Thomas University
16401 NW 37th Avenue
Miami Gardens, FL 33054
TEL: 305-628-6660
FAX: 305-628-6703
Susan M. Smith
Editor & Associate Director
[email protected]
Kevin Shea
Assistant Editor
[email protected]
Jerry Bernfeld
Alumni Association Director
[email protected]
Janine “Gigi” Laudisio
Director of Annual Giving
[email protected]
Beverly S. Bachrach
Vice President,
Office of University Advancement
[email protected]
Rev. Msgr. Franklyn M. Casale
President
[email protected]
For the Class Notes section,
we welcome alumni news and
photos, including career
changes, marriages, births,
memberships and honors.
Please send this information to
Susan M. Smith by fax, mail or
e-mail (see above).
Information Update
Please keep us informed of any
change in address, employment
or contact information by
completing the form on Page 3.
Include the e-mail address
(home or business) at which
you prefer to receive news
about St. Thomas University.
Please send by fax, mail or
e-mail to Carla Valeriani at:
[email protected]. Thank you!
Contact is also available
online at:
www.stu.edu/alumni
Super Saturday Gala
Mayor Shirley Gibson, Class of
’81 and ’03, and Michael Kelly,
Class of ’94, were honored at STU’s
Third Annual ”Leader for Life”
Award Gala held April 29 in downtown Miami.
More than 250
trustees, alumni, faculty, and friends
of the university attended the gala,
which raised over $200,000 for
student scholarships.
The
ballroom
at
the
Intercontinental Hotel was transformed into a football extravaganza
in tribute to the awardees and the
upcoming Super Bowl to be held in
L to R: Mayor Shirley Gibson, ’81 & ’03, Rev. Msgr. Franklyn M.
Miami next year. Shirley Gibson is
Casale and Michael Kelly, ’94
Mayor of Miami Gardens, the city
proudly hosting the event at Dolphin
Well-known comedian and STU alumnus Dom
Stadium, and Michael Kelly is President of
Irrera, Class of ’72, was master of ceremonies and set
the South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host
the tone for the fun evening. The live auction included
Committee.
continued on page 5
STU Faculty Attend Conference in China
Dr.
Guiyou
Huang, STU Dean of
Undergraduate
Studies,
returned
recently from Beijing
where he co-directed
the
International
Conference on Asian
American Literature.
The conference
was held on the
campus of Beijing
Dr. Guiyou Huang
Foreign
Studies
University. It was sponsored by STU in
collaboration with the Beijing university.
Other STU faculty participating in the
conference included Dr. James W. Conley
who presented on “Matteo Ricci, China, and
Renaissance Literature;” Dr. Gary Feinberg who
chaired a panel on “Crossing the Cultural
Divide:
Towards
Advancing
Cultural
Competence in American and Chinese Films,”
and Dr. Gloria Ruiz, who also presented a paper
on this topic.
Dr. Huang became the first permanent Dean
of Undergraduate Studies at St. Thomas
University in the fall of 2005. He is also a
Professor of English. He holds a Ph.D. in
American Literature from Texas A&M
University, M.A. in English from Peking
University, and B.A. in English from Qufu
Teachers’ University.
Prior to joining STU, Dr. Huang was
Director of the Honors Program at Grand Valley
State University in Michigan, and Chair of the
Department of English and Director of the
University Honors Program at Kutztown
University of Pennsylvania, where he also
directed the university’s writing center.
! Contact
Summer 2006
1972
1983
Martin Sullivan, B.A., History, has
been employed as a bank examiner for
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
since 1979. He and his wife Kathy relocated from Springfield to Wilbraham,
MA, in 1993.
Pedro E. Dijols, B.A., and J.D. (1987),
became a Circuit Court judge in
February. Previously he was a criminal
defense attorney in private practice, and
also served as an assistant state attorney.
1985
Gloria McSwain, M.S., Health
Management, Director of Patient Care
Services for Emergency Services at
Jackson Hospital, was named to the
Board of Directors of the Nursing
Consortium of South Florida.
L to R: Martin Sullivan with Professor
Raleigh on a recent visit to campus
1974
Warren
Brown,
B.A.,
Public
Administration, retired from the Hialeah
Police Department and was promoted to
Lieutenant with the Opa-Locka Police
Department. He obtained a Ph.D. in
2000
from
Nova
Southeastern
University, in Conflict Resolution.
1978
John T. Mazzola, was named the executive director of the Albany, GA, Civic
Center. The Albany Civic Center complex consists of a 10,000 seat arena, 974
seat historical auditorium and a 2,500
seat riverside amphitheatre and festival
park. John was formerly the facilities
director for the Okeechobee County
(FL) Agri-Civic Center, a 2,500 seat
open air equestrian facility.
1981
Ed Kobak, B.A., is the President of
Global Sports Production, Ltd., a sports
marketing and publishing firm specializing in sports reference books and directories from around the world. Ed has
authored and published sports reference
books since the 1980’s. He also writes a
column titled “Around the Globe,”
which appears in Sports Collectors
Digest, North America’s oldest and
largest sports hobby collecting magazine.
2
Robin Reynolds, M.S., Sports
Administration,
was
promoted
December 16 to the dual position of
director of the Family Circle Cup and
the Family Circle Tennis Center. The
tournament is a Women’s Tennis
Association Tour event that takes place
in Charleston, South Carolina, and is the
city’s largest annual sporting event.
1988
Mike
Budler,
M.S.,
Sports
Administration, is a Missionary
Appointee for Evangelical Baptist
Missions. He and his family, wife Laura
and four sons, Josh, Jake, Nick and
Luke, will be heading to Capetown,
South Africa this September.
Brian
Young,
B.A.,
Sports
Administration, is a boxing promoter.
Brian brought the Lennox Lewis – Mike
Tyson fight to Memphis in 2002.
Young’s Prize Fight boxing business in
Memphis promoted or co-promoted 23
fights last year, making them one of the
four busiest boxing promotion companies in the world.
1989
Alfred Frazzini, B.A., Human
Services, is a Principal/Partner with
Trinity Hotel Investors L.L.C, an international hotel company located in New
York City with assets in the United
States and throughout Europe. He is
also an adjunct associate professor at
New York University’s Real Estate
Institute, where he received his M.S. in
International Real Estate Investment.
1994
Blake
James,
M.S.,
Sports
Administration, was named Director of
Athletics at the University of Maine.
Blake has been at University of Maine
since 2003 and has served as interim athletic director since July 2005, and was
chosen after a nationwide search.
1996
Kathie Iannone (Hagood), B.A., Liberal
Arts and Matthew Hagood, B.A.,
R to L: Joseph Patrick and Delaney Marie
Hagood
Communications Art (1995) and M.S.,
Sports Administration (1997), have two
children Joseph Patrick (2 ½ yrs.) and
Delaney Marie (10 months), grandchildren of STU faculty Drs. Joe and
Mercedes Iannone. Kathie, Matthew and
their two children reside in Plantation, FL.
Diana Tello, B.A., Sports Administration,
is the new Vice President of Operations
for Euphoria Water Co., the official water
of the Miami Heat and American Airlines
Arena. Her job focuses on organizing the
Parent Teacher Association Fundraisers.
1997
Judith Goode, M.S., Marriage/Family
Therapy, has released her latest books,
God + Work= Success and From Law to
Disorder: The Beginning. Judith’s books
are
available
online
at
www.JudithGoode.net. She resides in
Bushnell, FL.
continued on page 3
! Contact
Summer 2006
Lee Pagan, M.S., Sports Administration,
has been hired as director of business
development at All Access Sports &
Event Marketing in North Palm Beach.
In
addition,
Pagan’s
company,
Promowearhouse, has been merged into
All Access.
Michael Banks
2000
Vinnie
Chulk,
B.A.,
Sports
Administration, is
in his second year
in
the
Major
Leagues with the
Toronto Blue Jays
as a relief pitcher.
Vinnie was an AllAmerican as a STU
Bobcat snd still
holds several records in the Florida Sun
Conference.
Guerdy Rejouis, B.A., Communication
Arts, has established an event planning
company called Divine Design, LLC,
focusing on planning spectacular, oneof-a-kind social events. She was previously Senior Catering Manager for
Fisher Island in Miami.
2001
Michael Banks, B.A., Communications
Arts, was a basketball player in the 19891990 and 1990-1991 seasons and was the
last person to make
the All Conference
Team for STU.
Michael, now a
Memphis Police
Officer, is happy to
see
basketball
come back.
2004
Barbara
Ana
Perez,
M.S.,
Management, has been named director
of Imaging and
Therapeutic
Services
at
Jackson Memorial
Hospital
in
Miami. She is a
registered radiologic and ultrasound technologist. She is president-elect of the
Women’s Healthcare Executive Network
and is on the board of several South
Florida healthcare organizations.
2005
Eric
Smith,
M.B.A.,
Sports
Administration, manages a wellness program for Public Employees Insurance
Agency (PEIA), the largest state insurance company in West Virginia. He
oversees 35 worksites over a six-county
region, which includes mostly elemen-
tary, middle and high schools.
Former Administrator
Paul J. Olsen, STU registrar from
1989-1992, STU Choir Director and
“Voice of the Bobcats” (basketball),
has taken a new position after 30 years
as a college registrar, at DATATEL, a
company that sells administrative software to colleges and universities. Paul
continues to direct the church choir at
Our Savior’s Lutheran in Salem,
Oregon and is President of the East
Salem Rotary Club. He says hello to
all his friends at STU and congratulations on re-starting the basketball team!
In Memoriam:
Our condolences go to the families of:
Steve Bertucelli, M.S. (1976), a 25
year veteran, who ran the organized
crime division of the Metropolitan
Dade County Police Department and
later took the same position in
Broward, passed away in March.
John W. Harsch, B.A., Criminal
Justice (1990), recently died in
Mashpee, MA, while trying to save his
9 month old Samoyed puppy that had
fallen through thin ice. He owned the
company Harsch Background Checks
and was a breeder of Samoyed dogs.
STU Alumni Update Form
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Please fax to the Office of University Advancement at (305) 628-6703 or mail to 16401 NW 37th Ave., Miami, FL 33054
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! Contact
Summer 2006
John Ashcroft Addressed Economic
Crime Conference at
St. Thomas University School of Law
St. Thomas University School of Law concluded the
Economic Crime in the 21st Century conference March 18,
with a keynote speech given by former U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft. Mr. Ashcroft spoke to 300 Law
Enforcement Officials, Attorneys, Law Students, Professors,
Judges and Guests about issues of economic crime and
terrorism.
Undergraduate Science Symposium
STU hosted the “1st. Annual Southeast Florida Cell Science
Undergraduate Research Symposium” April 22. More than 40
students and faculty from four local institutions participated in the
oral presentations and poster sessions: St. Thomas University,
University of Miami, Florida International University and Florida
Memorial University. The symposium was funded by a grant
from the U.S. Department of Education, Minority Science
Improvement program.
Dr. Jeffrey Plunkett,
organizer of the symposium, welcomes
the participants to
campus
Professor Steve Clark, Mrs. Ashcroft, John Ashcroft and Msgr.
Casale
STU Professor, Dr.
Jeffrey Pickens with
his student researcher,
Jennifer Torres
Construction on New Dorm Begins
Construction for the new residence hall has begun, and will
be completed in the spring of 2007. The building will be
four stories and 3,700 square feet, featuring 14 four-bedroom units and 42 single/double units. It will form a quadrangle between the existing dorms, Cascia and Donnellon.
STU Students, Laura
Fernandez and Aura
Zambrano
2006 Spring Commencement
May 13, at the James L.
Knight Center, 313 undergraduate and graduate students participated in the 43rd
Annual Commencement. The
keynote address was given
by former Miami HEAT
coach Stan Van Gundy.
Architectural rendering of the residence hall
4
Stan Van Gundy
! Contact
Summer 2006
Super Saturday Gala, continued from page 1
a weekend on the luxury yacht belonging to Caribe Homes’
Martinez family, a luxury cruise on Caribbean Cruise Lines in
the owners suite, a Superbowl package with tickets to the game
and all pre-game parties, a gourmet dinner for six prepared by
STU president Rev. Msgr. Franklyn Casale, and tickets to the
Pro-Bowl game in Hawaii.
The university is grateful to gala sponsors CBS WFOR-4,
Williamson Cadillac, John Dooner of McCann Worldgroup,
US Trust, Southern Wine and Spirits and Bacardi USA.
Ben and Susan Chen with Jason McClair
Bill Cutler and Carol Ellis Cutler, ’96
Leader for Life Award Winners: Danny Katz,’93, Ivan Marin,’95,
Michael Kelly, ’94, Shirley Gibson, ’81 & ’03, Dan Axman, ’96
and Ervin Gonzalez, ’82
Professor Cece Dykas, Bill Dykas and Professor Tamara Lawson
Dom Irrera,’72
Gene and Frances Sevilla Sacasa
Mara Gonzalez and Willy Izquierdo, ’90 & ’96
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Alumni News
! Contact
Summer 2006
Miami Heat/Washington Wizards game in Washington, DC,
April 8
top: Mark Savercool,’88, and Anthony Michael Sloan,’92
right: Ramon Regal, ’05, David Hannett, ’68, VP for
University Advancement Beverly S. Bachrach, Anthony
Michael Sloan, ’92, and his wife Alison Hanks
far left: Mayor Shirley
Gibson, ’81 and ’03,
and Rod McCarthy, ’73,
at a Miami Heat game
March 12
left: Pete Davis, ’73.
Msgr. Casale, Mario
Trueba, ’80, and John
Dooner, ’70, at May 18
Board of Trustees meeting
Bobcat Speaker Series
held May 17 on campus.
Michael Kelly was the
featured speaker.
right:
Michele Errair, ’93,
and Michael Kelly
far right:
Felecia Henderson,’02,
and Leslie Nixon, ’05
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!Contact
Summer 2006
Alumni News
ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY
ALL CLASSES REUNION
October 6-8, 2006
Reunion Headquarters: Don Shula's Golf Club
It’s time to return to Miami during St.
Thomas University’s Alumni All Classes
Reunion Weekend, taking place October
6-8, 2006. Whether you graduated five,
fifteen, twenty-five or more years ago, Reunion
Miami's best alternative to South Beach. Golf by
Weekend is an excellent opportunity to reconnect
day, South Beach by night. Have the best of both
with old friends and the University. This year, we
worlds. Don Shula's Golf Club, located in the
are celebrating Bobcat alumni who graduated in
heart of Miami Lakes, is only 14 miles north of
years ending in “1” and “6”. So, if that’s you, we
Miami International Airport and 18 miles from
want to see you in October at your class
the beach. Rooms are $129 per night and must be
reunion! If your graduating class year didn’t end
reserved by August 25 for the guaranteed rate.
in “1” or “6”, we encourage you to attend as well.
7601 Miami Lakes Drive Miami Lakes, FL 1-800-247-4852
You can reminisce, laugh, and visit until dawn.
Bring your spouse or guest, lots of pictures and all
of your stories. It will be the best
time you’ve had in a long time!
Tentative Reunion Agenda
You will be so impressed and
proud when you see the many
Friday, October 6
advancements St. Thomas
6:30 pm—Welcome Reception at Shula’s Hotel and Golf Club
University has made since you
graduated, so mark your calenSaturday, October 7
Golf on your own in the morning at Shula’s Golf Club
dars today!
1:00 pm—Barbecue poolside and campus tours, at St. Thomas University
7:00 pm—Reunion Banquet at Shula’s Hotel and Golf Club
Sunday, October 8
10:00 am—Reunion Mass in the Chapel of Saint Anthony
11:00 am—Getaway Brunch at St. Thomas University
For additional information, please visit us on the Web at http://alumni.stu.edu or call 305-474-6857
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An Evening With Dom Irrera, ’72
All Classes Reunion Weekend
July 1, 9 p.m. Atlantic City, NJ, at the Borgata
October 6-8 (See page 7 for more details)
Tickets are $40.50 and include a pre-show reception with
Biscayne College alumnus Dom Irrera. Please contact Jerry
Bernfeld at (305) 474-6857 or [email protected] for tickets and/or more
information.
Michael Ewald Art Exhibition
Cocktail reception to meet the artist
December 7, 6 - 8 p.m.
Tentative: August 12, Dom
Irrera at the Comedy
Connection in Boston
Michael Ewald’s paintings and constructions will be exhibited in STU’s Sardinas Gallery in connection with the internationally-acclaimed Miami Art Basel Fair. Ewald’s work is
shown throughout South Florida and in New York City. The
exhibition continues through March.
New England Chapter members are
planning this outing. The Alumni Assocation will pre-purchase tickets, so please contact Jerry Bernfeld if you are
interested in attending.
STU Night at the Ballpark
STU Trip to China
July 8, 7:05 p.m. Philadelphia, PA
June 10-26, 2007
St. Thomas University is offering a trip to China for alumni,
faculty, board members, and family and friends. The tour
includes visits to
Beijing, Xi’an, Hong
Kong, a three night
Yangtze River Cruise,
Tiananmen Square,
The Great Wall, Terra
Cotta Warriors, Three
Gorges and Suzhou.
Contact
Jessica
Antelo at (305) 6286660 for more information.
Come watch the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Pittsburgh
Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. The pre-game party at Harry
the K’s starts at 4:30 p.m. Please contact Jerry Bernfeld at
(305) 474-6857 for more information.
A Day at the Races
September 16, Monmouth, NJ
The New Jersey Chapter will gather for a day of racing and a picnic
at Monmouth Park Race Track.
Tickets are $10, which includes a
lunch buffet. Please contact Jerry
Bernfeld for more information.
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