The Scroll

During this final year at St. Thomas, I will cherish more than anything else the opportunities given to me to grow as a person.

The unique characteristic of St. Thomas is how it intertwines all elements of life in its curriculum. Opportunities abound to pursue a plethora of academic, artistic, social, athletic and professional interests. This is our greatest strength. Our graduates cannot help but be well-rounded individuals.

Unfortunately, I noticed that some of my friends who walked south through the Arches after graduating last spring were apprehensive to leave the confines of John Ireland’s statue. Some of this hesitancy can be explained by a natural fear of the unknown, but another element may have been at play in their minds: never again would they be challenged in the same way to become a more holistic individual.

Graduates may enter their jobs or graduate programs and find that they are being shaped into a mold. Perhaps it is the mold of an accountant, an elementary school teacher or a teacher’s assistant at a prestigious university. Certainly, they are qualified for such endeavors, but by and large they no longer are challenged to understand in unison the beauty of a Platonic dialogue, the simplistic delight found in Ricardo’s theorem of comparative advantage, or the subtlety of a Vermeer.

In other words, our minds will be pressured to focus our endeavors on our professions. We mostly will leave our freewheeling days behind us in hopes that they have left their mark.

It isn’t a tragedy that we focus on our careers upon receiving a diploma. Rather, it seems a natural part of leaving a campus such as St. Thomas. We cannot be expected to take our excellent education and squander it. Rather, the hope is that our understanding of art, commerce, philosophy, theology, literature and science will benefit us in the long run – in our careers and in life. We will find that that our liberal arts education will pay dividends beyond the realm of salaries and compensation packages. In fact, it is likely that our time spent in the shadows of the Arches will prove very profitable in a variety of ways.

For my part, I plan to make the most of the rest of my time at our university, and I will continue to explore the opportunities that are provided here. Moreover, I will keep in mind that my time is running out. I feel like making a desperate push to take advantage of everything offered by our university while I can.

In closing, I wish to offer this advice to students who have not yet reached their final year: Go join a club in which you are interested, talk to your professors as often as possible, sit down with someone you have never met and eat a meal, play video games less and watch TV as seldom as possible. Go out and experience the richness of our university, or you may regret that your college years, although fantastic, could have been even more rewarding.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On Monday, Donna Brazile – CNN and ABC commentator, the first African-American to direct a major presidential campaign, author and political activist – kicked off St. Thomas’ CommUNITY series.

Now you might wonder, “What could Susan Alexander – nerd economist, academic, shunner of the limelight – have in common with Ms. Brazile?” A lot, I now think. Furthermore, I’d be willing to bet that almost everyone in that crowd of hundreds who stuffed OEC Auditorium felt a bond with her.

Maybe that’s the point of the CommUNITY series. We find common bonds. Cynthia Fraction of the McNair Scholars Program and Michael Glirbas of the Registrar’s Office worked hard and long to arrange this event. It was worthwhile; the kickoff of CommUNITY gave us the expression of community we seek.

As for my connections with Brazile, they are:

• She precociously began her political career at age nine. She campaigned for a city council member who promised a playground for her neighborhood; he won. I began my political career at a young age as well. At the tender age of five, I fell in love with a candidate who was running for Arkansas attorney general. I was so in love with him that I picked up every flyer he distributed in my small town. Looking back, I don’t think that was the most helpful tactic to further his campaign. He won anyway, but later was removed from office in an oil and natural gas scandal. Because this episode is indicative of my political savvy, maybe Brazile and I don’t have that perfect a bond. Well, Al Gore didn’t win either.

• Then there’s her book, Cooking with Grease. The phrase I always heard was “cooking with gas,” but the idea is the same. And our love of Southern food seems to be the same. Audience members offered recipes for pound cake, pralines, and cornbread. We were one.

• Brazile is a centrist. She says we are a centrist nation. We just haven’t talked that way lately. She called for a return to civility and a search for common ground. She said it was important to listen to both extremes, to learn from them, to respect them as individuals. She related her advice to George Will on Direct TV for maximum baseball coverage. It was all I could do not to leap on to the stage and hug her (and I don’t even like baseball). I don’t think she would have minded.

Other audience members may have felt the same connections or totally different ones. But I know they were connected; you could feel it in the room. I think Brazile may have felt connected to us, too. At the end of the evening, she stayed for photographs – and maybe to collect a recipe or two.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editor's note: Father Erich Rutten, director of Campus Ministry, contributed this guest column to The Scroll.

We’ve all seen them – quirky, sometimes funny and sometimes annoying bumper stickers.

“Envision whirled peas.” “Dog is my co-pilot.” “When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.” But there is at least one bumper sticker that is worth taking to heart: “Practice Random Acts Of Kindness And Senseless Acts Of Beauty.”

Last spring, in the heart of the financial crisis which has impacted so many and in the midst of the tragic disappearance and death of freshman Dan Zamlen, members of our community got together to promote a campaign to support “Acts of Kindness” at UST and in our local community.

Although the bumper sticker might seem trite, how else can we respond to those around us who are hurting? How else can we raise the bar on making UST a great place to learn, work and live? A little kindness goes a long way to brighten someone’s day and to make the world a better place. Kindness provides hope that the world doesn’t have to be so cold, impersonal and unforgiving. Simple acts of kindness, whether “random” or “intentional,” can be a powerful response to difficulty and tragedy.

This year, let us all make a point to reach out each day by performing at least one act of kindness. It might be as simple as a smile or a hello or lifting up a quick prayer. It might be organizing a food drive in your department or club or organization. It might be sending a card to someone who needs a good word. It might be spending time to listen or time to help.

The Office for Mission and the Human Resources Department, along with representatives from all areas of the UST community, will be promoting “Acts of Kindness” throughout this coming year.

We will hold our first public Acts of Kindness event at noon Thursday with “Flower Power.” Children from the St. Thomas Child Development Center will help us give flowers to passersby in the lower quadrangle of the St. Paul campus as an act of kindness, and will suggest that they pass along the flowers to others as their own act of kindness. In Minneapolis, we will give away flowers in the School of Law atrium and outside the Food for Thought restaurant.

I invite you to visit our new Web site to find ideas and resources, and to send your stories of “acts of kindness” to us at actkind@stthomas.edu. Get involved. Make a difference.

Let’s turn this bumper sticker slogan into a life-giving force for good here at St. Thomas and in our communities.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

She was there in front of me, maybe four or five years old, when I walked out of the adobe shack with the tin roof in the middle of a slum in Casablanca, Morocco. She was wearing a pink, floral-print dress, stained with dirt.

She was too thin. But her brown eyes sparkled and a broad smile creased her face. We just stared at each other, neither saying a word.

Three of us – Brad Jacobsen, Tom Whisenand and I – had just interviewed (and photographed) a mother and her 17-year-old daughter, who made a life and family together thanks to Aïcha Ech Channa and her Association Solidarité Féminine.

In less than two months, the University of St. Thomas and the Opus Prize Foundation will honor three social entrepreneurs from around the world, and one will receive $l million to further humanitarian work. Aïcha is one of the finalists for the Opus Prize.

Aïcha, a 68-year-old Muslim woman, founded her association 25 years ago to provide services to single mothers and their children. Since then, she’s been criticized, castigated, recognized and rewarded. Her critics say she is supporting prostitution. Her supporters say she is fighting for the rights of mothers who are too often maligned and too little supported.

We met several women who managed not only to keep their children but raise them and provide them with opportunities they never had. Adjou Kabob and her daughter, Dounia, live in the slum, one room maybe 10 feet by 12. But Dounia will graduate from high school in a year and has passed her TOEFL exam.

That’s a great story. But the most memorable moments on the trip were with this little girl. After a couple of minutes, I sat down on the pavement, the alley between shacks. We were face-to-face, eye-to-eye and, as strange as this sounds, soul-to-soul.

Her smile seemed so sweet. But that was tempered by an apparent sadness in her eyes, as though she’d seen things I couldn’t imagine and faced uncertainty I could barely understand. She was a youngster, just a kid, with an old soul.

I pointed to the scar on her forehead. Someone said she’d been in an auto accident. I wondered what other misfortunes befell her and what obstacles lay before her. Would she be healthy and strong? Would she go to school? Could she find a skill and get a job?

She reached out to touch my hand. I patted her cheek and she smiled.

And then it was time to get in the car and go. We had another interview lined up, a half-hour away from this neighborhood called El Hank, the site of an old psychiatric hospital that had been invaded by the homeless. They fashioned their own rooms until they could find a better place to stay.

I don’t think it’s likely this little girl will find a better place, at least not for a while. But maybe the same spunk and spirit that allowed her to go up to a stranger will make her a survivor – and give her hope.

Maybe. I’m going to keep her in my morning prayer for awhile, tucked between friends and family.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A new school year. A fresh start. As Carol Bruess blogged on Friday, it is “a new slate of possibilities and a new set of ideas to be explored and knowledge to be discovered.”

This time of year is exciting for all of us in higher education. Returning students come energized from their busy summers and ready to make a difference on our campus. They are excited to share the details of their summer-abroad experiences, internships or jobs. New students enter with high hopes and unparalleled excitement to begin this special journey called college.

This year marks the beginning of my third year at St. Thomas, and each year I am continually amazed at the caliber of students enrolled here. I recently facilitated the Linkages Mentor training, and it was extremely refreshing to work with this group of sophomores, juniors and seniors who are willing to volunteer as mentors for first-year students. Giving of their time, talent and resources, these students embody the convictions of this university, specifically personal attention and gratitude.

As I prepare for this academic year, I do not have to search hard for inspiration. These students continually serve as an inspiration and remind me of the gifts and privilege we all have in attending or working at St. Thomas. Through their actions and dedication, they exemplify a true “Tommie.”

At a recent event, junior Sahr Brima addressed his peers and cited Matthew 25: 14-30, which is a passage about talents. After he read this passage, he encouraged all of us to use and share our talents with others. To give back to the community. To pay it forward. I thought this to be a beautiful reminder to each of us as we start this school year. We are all here for a reason, and we all have the choice of what we do with our gifts – whether it be volunteering as a mentor, helping out with the Dease Move-In Crew, supporting students or colleagues at events, or something as simple as an encouraging word or to give thanks.

After working for a few public institutions, I can see the difference between them and St. Thomas. Giving back here is not the exception, it is the norm. Students, staff, faculty and administrators make St. Thomas the outstanding institution it is through their personal attention and commitment to its mission. After each event, working with my students or collaborating with my colleagues, I am overwhelmed with pride in UST and the amazing talents of those who are a part of our community.

As we start this new year, let’s commit ourselves to continue to live our mission, to give back and pay it forward!

Posted by Doug Hennes at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

They caught me at a weak moment. My kids, at some point this summer, talked me into letting them “redecorate” their rooms. Having eagerly devoured many times the stories of my sister and I being allowed to do the same at about their age, my nine-year-old daughter had been quite persuasive and relentless: “Let’s continue the tradition” in her room! Her brother, 13, quickly jumped on the bandwagon.

I finally gave in. Which is why I spent many August hours up and down the aisles of Target and Ikea. If you haven’t noticed, they are overflowing with items begging and specifically designed to be in your college apartment or residence hall. And in those aisles I was endlessly seen. Choosing. Negotiating (“No, you can’t get a new bed, but how about I sew you some new pillow covers?”). Purchasing. Returning (nine-year-olds have this unsavory habit of changing their minds). And, too often, assembling things (Argh, Ikea!).

The upside? Like having a front-row seat at a choice concert, our little project has provided a unique and extended chance to meet and observe the palpable “back to school” tasks and excitement of new and returning UST students, as well as their peers from other colleges and universities.

It’s irresistible, isn’t it? The urge to sharpen your pencils, buy new socks, clean out your drawers, create your “place,” purchase notebooks and imagine what’s possible for a new (school) year ahead! It clearly was for the students I had the joy of observing and meeting.

Like the four handsome young men – UST students, apparent by screen printings on their shirts – selecting glassware, lighting and a rug for their new apartment on Ashland Avenue.

Or the first-year student at Macalester who had just arrived – moments earlier – from Brooklyn, N.Y. His parents and I chatted. Matt had donned a brand new (the creases still fresh) orange “Macalester” shirt and “new student” lanyard with “new student” ID dangling proudly with the keys to his new room. He and his parents, with a visible sense of nervousness and excitement, shopped for a desk chair, reading lamp and set of sheets.

And then there were the kind and smart young St. Kate’s women – roommates, no doubt – who happily chatted about and gathered goods for their first apartment. I’ll admit I was eavesdropping, but their “we can’t wait to have our own place” conversation simply made me glad. In each case, the enthusiasm about beginning the new school year was, as it always it this time of year, fresh and contagious.

In each of these instances – observations of optimism amid the glue sticks and loose-leaf paper, area rugs and portable filing systems – I was reminded of what I love most about the new academic year. It’s a fresh start. A new slate of possibilities! A boatload of options. And, most importantly, a new set of ideas to be explored and knowledge to be discovered.

Ah, academia. It’s the best, isn’t it? Especially this time of year.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the summer, I came across a lovely passage in an essay written in 1990 by the late Joseph Connors about the history of St. Thomas, and I wanted to share it with you as we begin a new academic year.

“Sometime, in a campus walk, stop for a few moments at the crest of the slope where the walks divide leading to the residence halls, and look out across the lower campus,” he wrote. “Try to imagine what it must have been like for a young ex-soldier named William Finn, who stood near there in 1848, studying a primitive landscape and thinking, ‘This would be the best place.’”

The best place, then, for Finn’s farmhouse. The ex-soldier had received title to 160 acres of land in this area as a result of a shooting accident at Fort Snelling. He farmed the land before transferring it to Archbishop John Ireland, who founded St. Thomas in 1885.

And the best place, today, for the University of St. Thomas, although I smile when I wonder about what Finn, Ireland and Connors would think were they to stand there today and see the construction zone for our Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex. That view from the crest of the slope isn’t what it used to be – even four months ago.

At first they might ask, "Are they crazy?” But given their farsighted nature, I suspect it wouldn’t take long for them to nod and simply say, “Progress. It’s all about progress.”

Ireland understood progress as well as anyone when, 124 years ago this week, he opened the doors to the school that would evolve over the next century into the University of St. Thomas. In nearly 35 years as leader of this archdiocese, Ireland always looked ahead in a most-positive manner. He once urged that society must “ever press forward” because he believed that “God intends the present to be better than the past, and the future to be better than the present.”

As we take time this year to celebrate our 125th anniversary, it’s important that we keep in mind Ireland’s words and be grateful for the hard work of generations of people who studied, taught and worked here. They entrusted us with something very special, and we must care for it and always seek to build a stronger university.

In just more than a year, we will be able to stop for a few moments at the crest of the slope, view the lower campus and our spectacular new athletic facilities, and say, “This is the best place.”

The best place, indeed.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)