Reflections Magazine Issue #61 - Spring 2004 | Page 12

Siena Heights News
Art Professor Arranges Exhibition

Longtime Theater Professor
Named Dean Of Students

Barbara Cervenka, OP, associate professor of art, in October arranged the
exhibit “Cuadros of Pamplona Alta: Textile Pictures by Women of Peru” at
University of Michigan’s Lane Hall. The show was sponsored by the U-M
women’s studies program. The exhibit consisted of more than a dozen cloth
pictures, known as cuadros, made by women living in shantytowns around
Lima, Peru. The exhibit has been shown at about 30 locations over the past
14 years, including the Field Museum in Chicago. Barbara has been traveling frequently to Pamplona Alta since 1989. She informally sells small
numbers of the cuadros in the United States and sends the money to the
women’s workshops in Peru. In December 2002, she offered the cuadros
for sale during the annual art sale on Siena’s campus.

Come August, Trudy McSorley’s
duties will change as she leaves
her longtime role as a faculty
member and becomes the dean
of students.

Music Professor Presents At Conference

Trudy brings 30 years of experience working with SHU students
to the post that was vacated by
Carolyn Brightharp in August
2003. Carolyn had served as
dean since August 1999.

Michael Lorenz, professor of music and director of the jazz program, gave
a presentation in January. Mike’s presentation, “Three Methods to AudioRecord Your Events,” was presented at the Michigan Music Technology
Conference held Jan. 22 at the Washtenaw Intermediate Learning Center
in Ann Arbor. Mike can often be seen at Murphy’s Place in Toledo as the
pianist for the Murphy’s Place Jazz Orchestra.

Professor, Students Share Information
Linda Easley, associate professor of anthropology, and three students presented their findings at the Eighth Annual Institute on Service-Learning
program, “Inspiring Citizenship through Service-Learning.” The event,
sponsored by Michigan Campus Compact and Michigan Community Service Commission, was Feb. 5-6 at Grand Valley State University, Allendale.
Linda, along with students Jacqueline Thompson, Kia Tolbert and Jennifer
Brock, described the methods and findings of a community-based research
project which involved an informal evaluation, based on the “insiders’ perspectives” of the Boys and Girls Club of Adrian. Their presentation offered
information intended to help educators design and implement a similar
evaluation project with students in advanced social science courses and
their community partners using rapid assessment processes. In addition,
they provided suggestions on student orientations, community partner input
and use, interview questions to elicit stories and formats for final reports.

Professor Shows Recent Works
John Wittersheim, art professor, exhibited his recent works in “Perpendicular To A Point” at Flatlanders Art Galleries in Blissfield. The show
closed April 16. John is known for the plumb bobs he creates. He and
his wife, Jamie Goode, who also teaches art at Siena, recently completed
commission work of more than 100 pieces for a new church in Naperville, Ill. The couple designed and created steel candleholders and other
liturgical appointments.

Baseball Coach Joins Siena
John Kolasinski, former head baseball coach at
Husson College in Bangor, Maine, became the
head baseball coach at Siena in December. John
was head coach at Husson for 15 years and director of residential life for 16 years. He is a twotime NAIA Northeast Region coach of the year,
a five-time New England coach of the year, and a
five-time Maine Athletic Conference coach of the
year. His team won its conference twice and was
runner-up five times.

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Reflections Spring ‘04 - Campus News

While her duties will change,
one thing remains the same:
She’ll continue to work closely
with students.

 Trudy, associate professor of theater and speech and director of the child
drama program, is on sabbatical during the winter 2004 semester.
As dean of students, Trudy will continue to interact with students. The
dean is responsible for overseeing residence life, extracurricular programs
and student services, and student groups and organizations.
“I believe in ‘call,’ in this case my response is to serve in a different way
than I have in the past,” Trudy said. “The highest profession in my mind is
to teach; I’m just going to do it differently. To teach is the most significant
thing I can do and have done.”
The new dean along with Siena’s team of student development professionals will be working to enrich the total experience of Siena students.
“We’re looking at the whole experience, not just academics or
student life.”
McSorley has been a faculty member at Siena Heights since 1973 and
is the chair of the theater and speech communication department. During
her tenure, she has directed numerous shows and for 13 years led a
drama-education troupe that visited Lenawee County schools.
In 1995, she was awarded the Sage Foundation Endowed Professorship
in Child Drama. She has been leading Siena’s Child Drama program for
30 years. As director, she has organized an annual summer workshop
and fall and winter program for area youth. Annually, more than 100
local and area children participate in each of the programs. Some of
the children in the program are the second generation to explore theater
with Trudy.
Trudy is a graduate of Siena Heights University and earned her master’s
degree in theater and speech from Eastern Michigan University. She has
also completed graduate work at Arizona State University.
During sabbatical, Trudy will be pulling together the 40-year history of
Siena’s child drama program and putting it on a DVD format.