Reflections Magazine Issue #50 - Spring 1999 | Page 6

From the Campuses Siena Heights honors 6 Madrigal Singers entertain 20th holiday audience his past December, Susan Matych-Hager ‘68, coordinator of the music program and head of vocal ensembles at Siena Heights, directed her 20th annual Madrigal Dinner. This event is Siena’s version of a 16th century English dinner celebrated during the Christmas season. Costumed in authentic Elizabethan dress, 35 performers — faculty and staff as well as students — entertained the audience with singing, dancing, magic and a play-within-a-play, along with a traditional four-course meal. “This is the greatest event I’ve been involved with at Siena Heights,” said senior singer/actor Sean Ferratt. To be added to the mailing list for the 1999 Madrigal Dinner, contact Susan Matych-Hager in the music department ([email protected]). n Keep current with Siena: surf the web he Siena Heights website (www.sienahts.edu) is a constantly evolving source of up-to-date information about University people, programs, events and opportunities. All degree-completion centers as well as the Adrian campus are represented on the web, along with academic departments, library resources, the career center, alumni activities and more. Your son or daughter can apply for admission on the web. What else can you do on-line? Send in class notes, locate a classmate’s e-mail address, nominate someone for an alumni award, contact a professor, check athletic schedules, and see what’s happening on campus. n Sister Carmie Day blooms on campus ister Carmie Day, when Adrian campus students volunteer to help beautify the campus, is alive and well. This year’s Student Senate-sponsored project involved landscaping the courtyard between Science Hall and Benincasa Dining Hall. Sister Carmie Day is named for the late Carmelia O’Connor, OP, who taught at Siena Heights from the 1960s to the ’80s. A much loved mentor who led volunteers to Appalachia for many years, she was known for tidying the residence halls as she passed through, commenting on the “wonderful” and “beautiful” world around her. Alumni relations director Lynne Hill is interested in exploring Sister Carmie Day community service ideas with alumni. Interested? Contact Lynne in the alumni office ([email protected]). lumni Award Recognition Day on March 23 was a day of celebration as Siena Heights honored three outstanding women for their accomplishments in education, social work and art. The awardees shared their experiences throughout the day in classes and at the Alumni Awards Luncheon. (For further information about each award, or to nominate an alumna/us for the 2000 awards, see page 23.) Mary Duggan Cassabon ‘48 of Eastpointe received the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Award. Mary is a retired kindergarten teacher with the Detroit Public School System and a leader in St. Veronica’s Parish where she co-founded the Young Child Religion Program in which she has taught for almost 34 years. She also is a past board member and past president of St. Veronica’s Board of Education. She received her master’s degree from Wayne State University. “A good education is a gift; a Dominican education is a blessing. No one knows this and shows this better than Mary,” said Rosemary Dorr, one of three classmates who introduced Mary at the luncheon. Dorothy Noetzel Sullivan stressed Mary’s devotion to religious education: “Mary always says that there is nothing greater in life than to teach little children about God.” Mary Conway Mullins, who spearheaded Mary’s nomination, read the award citation. In accepting the award, Mary quoted Miriam Stimson, OP ‘36, saying, “ My Catholic identity is how I see the world and the world is dependent on God.” Tarianne DeYonker, OP ‘70 of Grosse Pointe Park, president of Dominican High School and Academy since 1996, received the Alumni Association’s Sister Ann Joachim Award. Tarianne was nominated for her contributions as a counselor in community and global service, and as a creative leader guiding Dominican High School toward the 21st century. A licensed marriage and family therapist and certified social worker, she also has served as executive director of “Beginning Experience,” a world-wide ministry assisting separated, divorced and widowed persons through the grief of n