Archive for April, 2013

Spring Has Sprung on Mount St. James

April 24th, 2013 by Christian Santillo

Photography by Christian Santillo

Volunteer Spirit Takes Over Worcester

April 22nd, 2013 by smorriss

Created and organized by Holy Cross student Jeff Reppucci ’14 (below, right), Working for Worcester is a citywide project that mobilized hundreds of student volunteers from across Worcester, as well as folks from sponsoring companies, including Unum and The Hanover Insurance Company. After registration and speeches at the morning kickoff event at the Hart Center, groups dispersed to about a dozen work sites to construct new and renovate outdated family spaces, play areas, libraries and more. With tens of thousands of dollars donated, along with supplies and skilled labor, Working for Worcester garnered regional media attention.

At the kick-off event at the Hart Center, College President Rev. Philip Boroughs, S.J., (above left) spoke to the gathered crowd. (Photo by Dan Vaillancourt)

Volunteers posed for a group shot at one of the work sites, the Goddard School of Science and Technology, which serves 586 students from Kindergarten to 6th grade. (Photo by Patrick O’Connor)


One of the Goddard projects was prepping community garden boxes with fresh soil. (Photo by Patrick O’Connor)


At the Elm Park Community School, volunteers painted murals and gave the library and cafeteria a lift. They also installed playground equipment. (Photo by Patrick O’Connor)


Artists like this Crusader seemed to be having a blast at their work site. (Photo by Patrick O’Connor)

At the Worcester Youth Center, the girls’ dance team and a variety of after-school dance programs used a large empty space with a cement floor as their “dance studio.” The cement floor, in particular, was very limiting and possibly harmful to dancers’ knees. Working for Worcester volunteers prepped the space to receive a new, professional-quality hardwood dance studio floor AND a surround-sound corner-mounted speaker system. Walls got fresh paint, mirrors were hung around the perimeter, and a ballet stretching bar was installed on the west side of the room. (Photo by Patrick O’Connor)


The NROTC battalion got its hands dirty at South High School, where a lot of debris and brush around the grounds needed to be cleared to make way for upgraded outdoor play spaces and new plantings. (Photo by Matthew Atanian)

Over at The Belmont Street School, volunteers chalked out and painted basketball, hopscotch and four-square courts to make better use of a paved outdoor area. (Photo by Dan Vaillancourt)

Explorasian!

April 22nd, 2013 by smorriss

As a warm spring day turned into a misty evening on April 19, Asian Students in Action (A.S.I.A.) presented ExplorAsian 2013. The popular event featured music and dance performances, student testimonials and an impressive buffet of Asian cuisine. All proceeds from ticket sales were donated to Kiva Microfinds, a nonprofit group connects thousands of people to borrowers and partner institutions around the world, working together to create opportunity and alleviate poverty with loans as small as $25. (Photo by Stephen Albano)

Student organizers for the evening event included

Left to right, front row: Stella Wan ’14 (in beige dress), Tery Vinh ’15, Ingrid Rivera ’13, Kim Khuu ’13 and Kharisha Laroco ’15 (holding umbrella)

Left to right, back row: Amy Cao ’15, Andrew Cavicchi ’14, Chapin Evans ’14 and Ian Jones ’15 (Photo by Stephen Albano)

Tery Vinh ’15 and Amy Cao ’15 dressed as empresses from the Tang Dynasty. (Photo courtesy Amy Cao ’15)


Students Share Science-Inspired Creative Writing in Science Library

April 18th, 2013 by

Twelve Holy Cross students pose before reading selected passages from their science-inspired creative writing in the O’Callahan Science Library in Swords Hall. Passages from the students’ writing were on display in the science library in poster sized renditions. The second annual event, titled “Opposites Attract: Exploring the Bond Between Science and Literature,” is part of a course taught by Leila Philip, associate professor of English. Front row, from left, are Barbara Merolli, science librarian, and Philip.

Photograph by John Morton ’15

Holy Cross Community Gathers for Boston Marathon Interfaith Vigil

April 17th, 2013 by

Scores of students, faculty and staff gather at St. Joseph Memorial Plaza for an Interfaith Prayer of Lament two days after the Boston Marathon tragedy. The gathering offered an opportunity to voice grief, offer prayers for the victims, and lift up desires for a more peaceful world in the face of the bombings at the marathon.

Photography by John Morton ’15

Students Get Healthy Boost at Wellness Fair 2013

April 17th, 2013 by smorriss

On Wed., April 17, the entire campus community was invited to kick off spring with the annual Wellness Fair. About 44 vendors from on and off campus offered samples and information. There were spinal screenings, foot assessments and vision screenings, as well as screenings for BMI, skin and eating disorders. Free massage and Reiki treatments were quite popular, as were goodies like moist chocolate zucchini cake from the bakers at Holy Cross Dining. Students and employees took home free pansy plants and Holy Cross string backpacks. There was a free raffle as well…prizes included 4 free front row box tickets to Disney on Ice, gift baskets, gift certificates, Kettlebells, stability balls, pull-up bars and a decorated hula hoop! (All photos by John Buckingham)

Evan Morgan ’13 of Cleveland, Ohio, took advantage of the expertise offered by South County Physical Therapy in Auburn, Mass. Physical therapist Melissa Graves was helping visitors by giving analyses of their feet and footwear. Morgan learned he needs sneakers with more arch support.

Matt Elliott, Senior Staff Psychologist in the Counseling Center, is also the Coordinator of Relationship Peer Education (RPE) Program at Holy Cross. “Most students come to see us with stress and anxiety issues related to relationships and transitions in their lives,” he explains. Those transitions may include moving from freshman year to sophomore year, going on a study abroad program or entering senior year with worries about what comes next.

Students from HEAL (Healthy Eating and Lifestyle) shared information about becoming a HEAL peer educator AND about a free clinic given by Brittany Kiel, the assistant strength and conditioning coach. The clinic will teach students how to  improve their exercise experience. From left: Joseph Vara ’15 of Blacklick, Ohio; Victoria Piscatelli ’15 of Middlefield, Conn.; and Meghan Donnelly ’15 of Trumbull, Conn. “Our goal today is to get more students involved in HEAL,” Piscatelli said.

Several fair-goers showed off their fitness in the friendly 4-minute plank competition.

Students and Alumni Take Part in Holy Cross Cares Day

April 13th, 2013 by

Each year on Holy Cross Cares Day, alumni and students go out into their communities and help with a cleanup or other work project. This year in Worcester, students tackled cleanup in Middle River Park along McKeon Road (across from the lower athletic fields) and alumni cleared brush in Cookson Park just off College Street. The day began with a kickoff breakfast, speakers and registration at the Hart Center, after which volunteers from both groups walked to their sites to begin working.

Photography by Matthew Atanian

NROTC Students Recognized at Presidents’ Review

April 12th, 2013 by

Faculty, staff, families and students gathered in the Hart Center for the annual Presidents’ Review, a ceremony during which the midshipmen and Marines of the NROTC unit present themselves in formation to the presidents of the three Worcester institutions in the NROTC consortium: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester State University and the College of the Holy Cross. Before the formal review, awards were given to outstanding ROTC students by administrators and members of the local military community. Afterward, students and guests gathered for a reception in the main hall of the Hart Center.

Photograph by Deb Endyke P13


Midshipman 3/C James D’Angelo ’15 poses with his parents, John and Suzanne of East Williston, N.Y., at the reception. D’Angelo won the 1st Lt. John Power Memorial Book Scholarship for outstanding non-scholarship student. Named for Worcester native Lt. John V. Power ’41, who was killed in action in World War II and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, the Memorial Book Scholarship was presented to D’Angelo by Allison Power O’Neil, Lt. Power’s great niece.


Midshipman 3/C Marcus Antonellis ’15 (third from left) of Groton, Mass., earned a certificate and scholarship for outstanding contribution to the sophomore class. Here, he poses at the Hart Center reception with his parents, Tiffani and Jim (far left), his fellow NROTC mates Midshipman 3/C Bennett Rogers ’15 (third from right) of Ridgewood, N.J., and Midshipman 3/C James D’Angelo ’15 (second from right) of East Williston, N.Y., along with D’Angelo’s mother, Suzanne.


Naval Science instructors Lt. James Lee (left) and Lt. Anson Isaacs pose with the ceremonial bell that is rung as each of the review ceremony’s VIP guests arrive and are announced, as they would be if they were boarding a Navy vessel. Lt. Lee explained the origins of the Presidents’ Review at the beginning of the ceremony: “Present day reviews in the Naval service have their basis in both history and tradition. The massed formation of troops on one long line at close interval made possible the concentration of firepower from muzzle-loaded muskets,” he said, adding that the line of battle in those earlier times looked much like the parade formation guests see at the Presidents’ Review today.

Photography by Suzanne Morrissey

Three Holy Cross Students Recognized at Financial Executives Meeting in Boston

April 10th, 2013 by

Three Holy Cross accounting majors were recognized at an awards reception and dinner sponsored by the Boston Chapter of Financial Executives International, an association for senior-level financial executives in the Boston area. Anthony Cordio ’13, right, was awarded an Outstanding Senior Award, and Christina Rudolf ’14, center, and Peter Anastasio ’14, not pictured, each won $1,000 scholarships. “The scholarships are competitive, and the fact that Holy Cross was two for two this year speaks to the strong qualifications of both Christina and Peter,” says Alex Yen, assistant professor of accounting, left.

Rowing Teams Dedicate Boat to Athletics Chaplain Fr. Kuzniewski

April 6th, 2013 by

The Holy Cross men’s and women’s rowing teams dedicate a new boat in honor of Rev. Anthony Kuzniewski, S.J., professor of history and athletics chaplain, at a ceremony at the Donahue Rowing Center at Lake Quinsigamond. The teams recognized his long service as athletics chaplain, his devotion to Holy Cross and its student-athletes.


Rev. John Savard, S.J., rector of the Jesuit community, and Rev. James Hayes, S.J., associate chaplain for mission (not pictured), bless the boat.


Fr. K, as he is affectionately called by members of the Holy Cross community, christened the boat with holy water.

Fr. K stands next to the boat that bears his name. Alumni and friends of the team were in attendance.

Photography by Ed O’Donnell