SMU professor awarded $60,000 grant from Lilly Fellows Program

WINONA, Minn. — Jane Kelley Rodeheffer, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts. The program was established in 1991 to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning for the 21st century.

The Lilly Fellows Program is funded in part by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., an Indianapolis-based private foundation with longstanding interests in education, religion and community development. It offers graduate and post-doctoral fellowships for young scholars who wish to renew their sense of vocation within a Christian community of learning in order to prepare themselves for positions of educational leadership within church-related institutions.

Together with a faculty member from Baylor University, Rodeheffer was selected to serve as a mentor to the first cohort of 15 graduate Lilly Fellows. She and her colleague will facilitate the communication and collaboration of these fellows with one another in areas of research, teaching, and professional development, beginning in the summer of 2008 and ending in the fall of 2011. Lilly graduate fellows and mentors will participate in conferences, group readings, and online and video-based discussions over the course of the three-year program.

The grant award to Rodeheffer will fund travel and a quarter-time reassignment from teaching to mentor the cohort of graduate fellows, and fund a conference, to be held on the campus of Saint Mary’s University in the summer of 2009 or 2010. The Lilly Conference will allow graduate fellows to collaborate with each other and with senior scholars and luminaries who integrate research, vocation and an interest in Catholic and Protestant higher education.

After a rigorous interview process, the first cohort of graduate fellows was recently chosen from a pool of recent graduates of church-related schools in the Lilly Fellows Program National Network. Rodeheffer participated in a panel presentation on “The Integration of Christian Faith with Teaching, Scholarship, and Family Life” at the Initial Conference of the Lilly Graduate Fellows on April 12, 2008.

Rodeheffer has received three previous grants from the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts and has twice served on its National Network Board. She holds degrees from Boston College, Harvard University and Vanderbilt, where she received her Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1989. Rodeheffer joined the Saint Mary’s faculty in 1989 and is past director of both the Lasallian Core Traditions and Lasallian Honors programs. She held the Brother J. Robert Lane Chair in Humanities from 1999-2003 and was awarded the Brother Charles Severin Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. She is the author of a number of articles in philosophy, literature, and great books, and the co-editor of two volumes of essays: Core Texts in Conversation, and The Work of Andre Dubus.

Winonans Gaut and Neff honored for courthouse controversy chronology

WINONA, Minn. — Winona authors Dr. Greg Gaut and Marsha Neff received the David Stanley Gebhard Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians at their annual meeting and banquet on March 26 at the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul.

The Gebhard Awards are given biannually to the best book and article on the subject of Minnesota's built environment. The major criterion is how well the work strikes a balance between scholarship and accessibility. Gaut and Neff’s prize-winning article, titled “‘Save the Lady’ – The Struggle for the Winona County Courthouse,” appeared in Minnesota History, Vol. 59, No. 7 (Winter 2005-2006). The Gebhard Award for best book went to Jeffrey A. Hess and Paul Clifford Larson for “St. Paul’s Architecture: A History” (University of Minnesota Press, 2006).

In their article, Gaut and Neff provide an extensive history of the Winona County Courthouse and examine why the courthouse has been at the center of one of the state’s longest battles regarding the historic preservation of a public building. The couple detail the reasons why some Winonans in the ’50s and ’60s fought to restore the courthouse, while others thought its Victorian architecture made the town look “old fashioned.” The article also recounts a second controversy over whether or not to repair the building in 2000 after a fourth-floor ceiling collapsed, breaking water pipes and flooding the building.

Gaut serves as an associate professor in the Saint Mary’s University Department of History, and Neff is the grants development coordinator for Mercy Medical Center, North Iowa.

To order the complete article, go to www.mnhs.org/market/mhspress/MinnesotaHistory/backissues.html.

For more information on the David Stanley Gebhard Award, visit www.mnsah.org/gebhard.php.

Scott and Jeff radio marathon fundraiser for Habitat

WINONA, Minn. — For the third consecutive year, the Scott and Jeff Show (a quirky talk show hosted by two Saint Mary’s University business faculty members Scott Deml and Jeff Hefel) will do a 10-hour Habitat for Humanity Radio-a-thon.

The quirky and unpredictable fundraising show will run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 3. Additional members of the SMU community will be making guest appearances.

Callers may pledge money by dialing (507) 457-1615. In 2005, the duo raised $500; the total tripled to nearly $1,500 last year; Hefel and Deml hope the donations continue to grow. The Scott and Jeff Show can be heard on SMU radio station, KSMR, 92.5-FM on the Saint Mary’s campus and 94.3-FM in Winona. Their regular show plays 3 to 5 p.m. Thursdays.

Known for being “so bad they’re good,” the duo play music by Jimmy Buffett and Elton John in between their corny contests and bantering. For the radio-a-thon, the group will expand their music venue to play a variety of artists.

Kirk to give piano concert March 24-25

Photo: Dr. Ned Kirk

WINONA, Minn. — When the Page Series presents Dr. Ned Kirk in concert March 24 and 25, audiences will be treated to a variety of piano music ranging from a little known “jewel” to one of the greatest works ever written for piano.
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Among the program selections are Ottorino Respighi’s “Notturno,” which Kirk called “a wonderful, small jewel of a piece that’s rarely played,” and three movements of Claude Debussy’s “Estampes” that evoke images depicted by their titles: Pagodas, Evenings in Grenada, and Gardens in the Rain.

Also on the program are “Alberto Ginastera’s “Argentinian Dances, Op. 2,” “El Puerto from Iberia, Book 1” by Isaac Albeniz, and Johannes Brahms’ “Variations and Fugue in B-flat major on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24.”

“This is one of Brahms’ largest works and stands as one of the great variation works in the piano repertoire,” he said.

Kirk, a native of Redding, Calif., is an associate professor of piano at Saint Mary’s University. He earned his B.A. in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and his D.M.A. in piano performance from the University of Washington. He has performed throughout the world, been a faculty member and/or musician with Colorado Music Festival and Marrowstone Music Festival, and will be performing this fall in Kenya.

The Page Series will present two concerts by Kirk — 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24, and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 25 — both in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center. Tickets cost $12, $9 for senior citizens and $8 for students and are available at the Performance Center box office, (507) 457-1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

‘From Faust to Wikipedia’ presentation March 15

WINONA, Minn. — Dr. Mark Barber, professor of philosophy at Saint Mary’s University, will discuss “From Faust to Wikipedia: Intellectual Achievement and Its Discontents” Thursday, March 15, at SMU.

The event — free and open to the public — will begin at 7 p.m. in the President’s Room of the Toner Student Center. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Ayers at (507) 457-1523 or cayers@smumn.edu.

Dr. Barber’s presentation is sponsored by the National English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta.

Six honored at Founder's Day ceremony

Brother Paul Joslin, FSC, left, and Brother Martin Spellman, FSC ‘54, received Presidential Awards for Outstanding Merit at Founder’s Day.

At its Founder’s Day ceremony Feb. 27, Saint Mary’s University honored an alumnus, killed 25 years ago while working in Guatemala; two Christian Brothers; a dedicated faculty member; and two outstanding seniors. Founder’s Day is the annual celebration of the founding of Saint Mary’s in 1912 by Winona Bishop Patrick R. Heffron.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Brother James Miller, FSC ’66. For Saint Mary’s it’s an appropriate time to remember the life of Brother James, a man whose mission was to better the lives of those he served.

Born in Wisconsin in 1944, Brother James Miller, FSC ’66 taught high school in the Midwest for several years before going to Nicaragua, and eventually Guatemala. At the Casa Indigena Huehuetenango, he taught English, religion and Guatemalan art to secondary students. Aware of the oppression of the indigenous people of Guatemala and their need to be trained in job skills and leadership skills, he helped begin an experimental farm where indigenous students learned agricultural methods and improvements. More importantly, he prepared native leaders for rural areas who would work for collective development in their villages.

Brother James Miller is remembered for his life’s work, and for the way his life ended. He was only 38 when he was killed by gunmen on February 13, 1982, as he was mending a wall outside a school in Guatemala. Saint Mary’s honors his memory with the Brother James Miller Campus Ministry Service Awards and with the Brother James Miller Scholarship for Access.

Two Brothers who were with Brother James at the time of his death, Brother Martin Spellman, FSC, ’54 and Brother Paul Joslin, FSC, received a Presidential Award for Outstanding Merit. Brother Martin currently serves as director of senior brothers for the Midwest District. Brother Paul is currently teaching at Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, N.J.

Preston Lawing,
2007 Severin Award winner

The 2007 Brother H. Charles Severin Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented to Preston Lawing at Founder’s Day as well. Lawing has been a member of the faculty since 1997. Over the years, he has shown consistent excellence in preparation of his courses, in communication and delivery of course material, and in fairness in dealing with students. He joins 20 other past and present faculty members as a Severin Award recipient. Recipients exemplify the teaching excellence and commitment to a student-centered learning that characterize a Saint Mary’s University education.

The Outstanding Male and Female Senior Awards were presented to students who have demonstrated the ideals of scholarship, character, leadership, service to colleagues and the university community. Above all, these men and women have shown genuine concern for meeting the needs of others. The Outstanding Male Senior Award went to Davey Warner, son of David and Valerie Warner of McGregor. The Outstanding Female Senior Award went to Sarah Bellingham, daughter of Jane Bellingham and Don Bellingham of Harmony.

This year's Outstanding Seniors are Davey Warner (back row, third from left) and Sarah Bellingham (front row, left).

The following students were finalists for the 2007 Outstanding Senior Awards: females, Sarah Engle, daughter of Michael and Alisan Engle of White Bear Lake; Amy Glasgow, daughter or Roger and Janet Glasgow of Dubuque, Iowa; Sarah Kay, daughter of John and Jeanne Kay of Rush City; and Sandra Mason, daughter of Bruce and Sherry Mason of Burnsville; males, John Clementz, son of Chris and Jean Clementz of Aurora, Ill.; Justin LeBreck, son of Paul and Mary Ann LeBreck of Cary, Ill.; Jacob Olzen, son of P.J. and Julie Olzen of Roselle, Ill.; and Aaron Reihl, son of Gary and Susan Reihl of Mantorville.

McCullough to co-present workshop in Minneapolis

WINONA, Minn. - Ken McCullough, local writer and translator, will participate in “The Art of Making Truth: A Memoir Festival” at the Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, on Jan. 12-13.
Read more.McCullough will present a workshop with Cambodian poet U Sam Oeur, titled “One Life, Two Witnesses: Translating Across Cultures,” and assist Oeur in a panel workshop, “Who am I? For Whom am I Writing? Memoir in Context.”

Oeur's memoir, “Crossing Three Wildernesses,” was co-written with McCullough, and nominated for both the Kiriyama Prize and a Minnesota Book Award in 2006. McCullough works as assistant director of Academic Advising and director of the PASS program, at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.