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Reflections on 10 and 20 Years:
Faculty and Staff Members Honored for Long-Term Service to CUA
By John H. Tucker
In 1984 the Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the film "Amadeus" racked up seven Academy Awards. Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Walter Mondale and the Detroit Tigers were champions of Major League Baseball. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a number of new faculty and staff workers began employment at The Catholic University of America. Seventeen of those individuals, who are still with us today, were recognized on Nov. 30 for 20 years of CUA service. In addition, 26 individuals were honored for 10 years of CUA service.
Approximately 185 people, including past 20-year honorees, filled the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center’s Great Room to applaud this year's honorees. Emcee Frank Persico, CUA’s vice president and chief of staff, provided a short, often humorous, biographical introduction to each person being honored, and Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., university president, delivered remarks thanking them for their faithful service.
Let’s Do Lunch
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Sister Catherine Dooley, O.P.
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Twenty years makes for 5,714 lunches, not counting weekends. Sister Catherine Dooley, O.P., associate professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies, cannot remember every lunch she has had on campus since 1984, but she will never forget her first one. It was the meal that won her over.
“I remember coming in for my interview and people were very frank about what to expect and what not to expect. I wasn’t completely sold,” says Sister Dooley. “When two faculty members took me out to lunch that day, I had to ask them, ‘Why do you stay?’ They didn’t hesitate for a moment. They said, ‘The people.’ ”
By the time lunch was over, the Dominican nun from Minnesota knew where she wanted to be.
CUA buildings, salaries and class sizes have changed over the last two decades (when Sister Dooley first arrived, she typically taught 50 undergraduates per course), but for her, the good nature of the people has remained the same.
“The people are the most wonderful part about being here,” she asserts. “Often you’ll hear about academia and the great competition between people. I never saw that. I just saw people who wanted you to succeed.”
The professor boasts three master’s degrees (from CUA, Harvard Divinity School and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium) and a doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven. She is best recognized for developing a field called liturgical catechesis, which acknowledges the liturgy as a source for catechesis — a pastoral activity that aims to lead communities and individuals to full, active and conscious faith in the light of instruction and the experience of Christian living. She notes that CUA has allowed her to combine the two loves of her life, namely liturgy and religious education. She has taught courses in both since she arrived at CUA.
Reflecting on her time at CUA, Sister Dooley speaks of her pride in the “classical education” CUA provides its students: “Twenty years ago there was a lot of talk within colleges about devising your own curriculum. CUA, however, kept the same basic curriculum, requiring four religion and four philosophy courses [for students enrolled in the schools of arts and sciences and philosophy], as well as a dedication to the languages. Students graduate with a broad, humanistic experience that is invaluable today.”
Harmony in the Mailroom
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Frances Gray shakes hands with Father O'Connell at the service awards ceremony.
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Walking down the corridor of McMahon Hall’s basement, passers-by are seduced by the soulful R&B harmonies melting out of the mailroom doorway. “Music makes you work,” exclaims Frances Gray, assistant manager of postal services, as she rhythmically sticks envelopes into mailboxes to the groove of Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me.” “When you turn that radio off, the mailroom slows down, but when it’s on we’re good to go.”
Gray should know. For the past 20 years she has played an instrumental role in maintaining order in the mailroom. She has even volunteered to come in during Christmas break to sort through the holiday mail. During her tenure, she has manned the mailroom customer window, directed the package room, managed the postage meters and delivered mail throughout the campus. As a result, she claims to know the name of every person who works at CUA.
Although Gray entered CUA accustomed to working around young people (she used to be the head cook at a local elementary school), she says she didn't foresee how rewarding it would be to work alongside college-aged work-study students. Gray beams when recounting the surprise birthday party the mailroom students threw for her during her second year at the university.
“They all saw me cry,” remembers Gray. “It was so touching to realize that the students care about you like that.”
Campus Consistency
For Professor of Politics David Walsh, it’s not what has changed, but rather what hasn’t changed on CUA’s campus that impresses him.
“In terms of size, we’re almost identical to what we were when I came in ’84,” notes the professor. “In terms of the mixture of students in the undergraduate and graduate population, we’re pretty similar. In terms of the whole atmosphere, there is not much that has changed, which, I think, is a very good thing.”
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David Walsh
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Even so, there have been a few transformations that are welcome to the veteran professor. Pointing to the university’s new buildings as its biggest change over the last 20 years, Walsh recalls the days when there were large patches of campus occupied only by weathered sheds and barns. He also reminisces about the day five years ago when the wall of his Marist Hall office started bowing out, due to the sheer weight of the building. (The professor likes to joke that he thought his office was getting bigger.) “We had to get this gigantic safety pin and run it through the building to hold it together, because otherwise you could see down to the next floor,” relates Walsh with a grin.
He speaks of the many shining characteristics of CUA that have kept him here so long. The former politics chair is a lover of Christian political thought and was hired in 1984 to teach courses in this subject. Walsh is a disciple of political philosopher Eric Voegelin (1901-1985) and his classes cover all forms of Christian political thought, from its foundations in the ancient Near East all the way to Pope John Paul II.
“You couldn’t teach these courses at a secular level,” explains Walsh. “You couldn’t really approach them with the same degree of openness. At CUA, you don’t have to keep those spheres of faith and reason completely separated. You can explore their relationship as fully as you want. It’s one of the major attractions of this university.”
A Look Back
Following are other quotes by honored faculty and staff, reflecting on some of their most memorable CUA moments over the last 10 and 20 years:
| “I remember when my daughter, Elizabeth, was a 4-year-old in the on-campus day care center: The center closed early one day, and I had to take Elizabeth with me to my afternoon class. I settled her down in the back to color and began my professor’s spiel, but after about 20 minutes or so her little voice piped up with the ‘Little Bunny Foo-Foo’ song — and after a few chuckles, my entire class of sophomores and juniors very sweetly joined her for the remaining verses, ‘scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head!’ Lordy, I love this place.” |
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-Stephen Schneck, chair and professor of politics
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| “My son, a freshman at CUA at the time, was diagnosed to have cancer. I received an enormous amount of support, encouragement, understanding, love and prayers campuswide, even from people I did not know. The CUA community provided comfort and solace for my family during a most difficult period of time. The prayers of the university community were heard and there has been no sign of the cancer’s reoccurrence. I will never forget it.” |
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-Ann Kasprzyk, administrative assistant, Life Cycle Institute
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| “A student came into the office frantic because she could not get into the Cardinal Students database to register for classes. After we found out what the problem was and got her into her classes, her tears turned into a smile. Two days later I was shopping with my family and I heard someone call me by name. I turned around and there she was thanking me again and telling her friends how I had helped her. It’s a moment I’ll always remember.” |
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-Ursaline Cunningham, transcript supervisor, registrar’s office
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| “My first Christmas break was scarcely long enough to prepare three new courses for the spring semester. Panic set in as I stared the opening of the semester in the face and my courses were still far from complete. But rescue came in the form of the blizzard of early January 1996, which blanketed the city in two feet of glorious snow. The university closed down and this assistant professor went into high gear, finishing up her syllabi while singing the praises of Mother Nature.” |
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-Katherine Jansen, associate professor of history
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“I had just moved from admissions to financial aid and was asked to post a departmental award for a student who barely squeaked through the admissions process due to low grades and SAT scores. Instead of posting the appropriate award, which was very tiny, I posted a huge Cardinal Gibbons Scholarship (our second-most prestigious award). My boss was auditing disbursement data several months later and came upon the mistake. If you’ve never seen a person come to within a heartbeat of having a really serious heart attack, I have to say that it’s pretty scary!"
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-Doris Torosian, director of financial aid
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“I remember going to Washington Hospital Center where my mentor of 20-plus years, Dr. B.T. DeCicco, was receiving cancer treatment and having lunch with him. He insisted I eat his ham sandwich because he had no appetite. He signed my Ph.D. dissertation at that time as his last official departmental act.”
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-James Keeven, biology department technician
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“One of my most memorable experiences at CUA was the outdoor evening memorial service at the University following the 9/11 crisis—a time when the spiritual, scholarly and humanistic dimensions of our lives came together in a common sharing of genuine compassion and hope.”
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-Sister Ann Patrick Conrad, M.S.B.T., associate professor of social service
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Honorees for 20 Years of Service
Marek Brandys, research associate, Vitreous State Laboratory
Sister Ann Patrick Conrad, associate professor of social service
Sister Catherine Dooley, O.P., associate professor of theology and religious studies
Rita M. Gdula, administrative assistant, English department
Frances A. Gray, assistant manager of postal services
Gail J. Hershey, assistant to the chair, physics department
James K. Keeven, biology department technician
Hanna H. Marks, associate professor of modern languages
Jerry Z. Muller, professor of history
Margaret M. Rheault, certifications, registrar’s office
Stephen F. Schneck, chair and associate professor of politics
Joseph J. Shields, associate professor of social service
Peggy V. Stack, zone engineer, power plant
Doris A. Torosian, director of financial aid
William J. Wagner, professor of law
David J. Walsh, professor of politics
Rosemary Winslow, associate professor of English
Honorees for 10 Years of Service:
William A. Barbieri, associate professor of theology and religious studies
James H. Clark, watch engineer, power plant
Deborah M. Clawson, associate professor of psychology
Massakay M. Collins, custodial services
Ursaline L. Cunningham, transcript supervisor, registrar’s office
Jean C. DeGroot, associate professor of philosophy
Chu-Fen Feng, lab technician, Vitreous state laboratory
Eric D. Fischer, chemical engineer, Vitreous state laboratory
Jesudoss Gabriel, custodial services
Catherine M. Giancoli, counselor/analyst, student accounts office
Jerome Gilchrist, lieutenant, public safety department
Wendell L. Hankins, painter, structural services
Katherine L. Jansen, associate professor of history
Ann Kasprzyk, administrative assistant, Life Cycle Institute
Maryann K. Cusimano Love, associate professor of politics
Charles G. Mann, vice president for business services
Antoine R. Mason, custodial services
Timothy B. Noone, professor of philosophy
Kathleen L. Powell, information coordinator, enrollment services
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., associate professor of philosophy
Donald M. Smolley, machinist, mechanical engineering department
Stephen F. Stahl, office manager, The Jurist
Gerald J. Sullivan, director of academic affairs, Metropolitan College
Joan L. Thompson, associate professor for professional practice of education
Zhongwei Tian, library assistant, nursing/biology library
Leon Wamak, carpenter, building and mechanical services
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