[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Campus Almanac
1 2
3 4
A Legacy of Hope
She's raised buckets of money and helped establish an
orphanage and children's hospital in Haiti. Now, after
38 years as a teacher and principal, and 24 years as assistant
to USD's vice president for university relations, Sister
Virginia McMonagle opens a new chapter in her life —
retirement.
McMonagle,
81, left USD in February for a Religious of the Sacred
Heart retirement home in Menlo Park, Calif. She plans
to keep busy with trips to St. Louis this month, Maui
in May and occasional visits to San Diego. She also aims
to continue involvement with San Diego Friends of Father
Wasson's Orphans, which raises money for an orphanage
and hospital opened 14 years ago in Haiti.
"It has been a joy and privilege to serve at USD,"
McMonagle says. "I treasure every moment."
McMonagle is modest when it comes to her long list of accomplishments,
but others who know her well eagerly offer praise on her behalf.
"Lots of Sister Virginia's legacyis bringing people
to the campus," says Laura R. Nottoli, who worked closely
with McMonagle for many years. "A few of her students
are now major donors of the university. She has brought many
of these people to campus and showed them the value of education,
and because of that they are now part of USD."
Eileen Waters met McMonagle when she came to campus in 1978
and became a driving force for the USD Women's Auxiliary.
"When Sister arrived, her direction for the auxiliary
was just masterful," Waters recalls. "She is a great
leader, a friendly lady who gets along with everyone. Students
know her and love her."
A Super Week
For one sun-drenched week in January, San Diego was the capital
of the world. Hosting the Super Bowl can do that for a city.
While the game was played a few miles to the east in Qualcomm
Stadium, USD was on the 50-yard line of the week-long pre-game
hype.
First, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was the featured speaker
at "Big Game, Big Business: The Evolution of the Super
Bowl," a Jan. 22 luncheon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion
sponsored by BusinessLink USD, the university's corporate
affiliation program. Tagliabue and a panel of experts, moderated
by Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon, offered
an insider's look at the game that has long since replaced
Barnum & Bailey's Circus as the greatest show on earth.
More than 600 local business leaders and a sizeable media
contingent attended the luncheon, which also featured the
debut of an
NFL Films video history of the game.
The NFL returned to the JCP the next night for the Gridiron
Celebrity Basketball Game, a charity fund-raiser that included
luminaries such as San Diego Chargers running back LaDanian
Tomlinson and Curtis Martin of the New York Jets.
But not all celebrities, it turns out, are created equal.
All but one of the two dozen participants dressed for the
game in the JCP's visitors locker room; the larger home locker
room was commandeered by San Francisco 49er receiver Terrell
Owens.
"He had some things to sign, and the NFL people running
the show evidently felt he needed the space," says Carl
Reed, director of the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Reed says he's proud the game made USD's arena the center
of the NFL universe for a few moments, but adds that the scale
of the event, and the names involved, ratcheted up the logistical
challenges. He rates the West Coast Conference basketball
tournament, held for three straight years at the JCP, as a
five on a 10-point scale of difficulty. The NFL event, he
says, was "a 10-plus."
Fond Farewell Planned for Hayes
The San Diego City Council declared April 7 Alice B. Hayes
Day, and the Irish Congress of Southern California named her
the 2003 Irish Woman of the Year, but the USD president's
greatest admirers are right here at Alcalá Park. They
plan to send her off in style with a May 12 celebration full
of the pomp and circumstance deserving of a president.
Hayes, who will retire June 30, has been USD president for
eight years. She led the university through tremendous growth,
including construction of the Jenny Craig Pavilion in 2000,
the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in 2001,
the Douglas and Elizabeth Manchester Village residence hall
in 2002, and, this year, both the Donald P. Shiley Center
for Science and Technology and the Degheri Alumni Center,
slated to open in November.
The official farewell, expectedto draw around 2,500 people,
will start at noon, with a Mass at The Immaculata, followed
by presentations at Colachis Plaza by students, faculty, administrators,
alumni and board members. The university's banquets and catering
staff will present Hayes with a book of her favorite recipes,
served at many of the president's special events, and she
will sign copies for visitors.
"USD was most fortunate to have discovered Alice,"
says Darlene Shiley, a trustee since 1990. "She was a
worthy successor to (President Emeritus) Art Hughes and has
taken the university to its next logical level and laid the
foundation for the next president."
Shiley also is looking forward to honoring Hayes at the gala
opening of the Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology,
scheduled for June 28.
"She's not only a woman of science," Shiley says,
"she's smart, dedicated and passionate about her beliefs.
She assimilated herself into the San Diego community in sucha
way that she not only enhanced every organization in which
she was involved, but USD as well. She is truly a special
person."
[an error occurred while processing this directive]