Monday Morning Update

January 12, 2009

Passage to India: Expanding the College's global ties, President Mark Cregan, C.S.C. '78 is on a two-week visit to India. The Congregation of Holy Cross, Province of North-East India, invited Fr. Cregan to lead its annual retreat this year. While in the city of Agartala, capital of Tripura state, close to the Indian-Bangladeshi border, he will meet with Congregation members who operate a high school there and wish to open a Catholic college. Fr. Cregan will also explore internship and post-graduate service opportunities there for Stonehill students and young alumni.

Community Engagement: Stonehill's growing support of community engagement projects has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which approved the College for inclusion in two of its community engagement classifications - Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships. The strength of our service learning opportunities, the outreach of the Center for Nonprofit Management, and our many volunteer options for students from Into the Streets to the Alternative Spring Break H.O.P.E. program all contributed to securing this significant Carnegie classification. For more on this story, visit here.

Alumni & Service: Following our previous story, we note that, this year, Stonehill has a record number of alumni engaged in post-graduate service. According to the Director of Community Service and Volunteerism Nuala Boyle '96, there are 24 alumni serving with organizations such as the AmeriCorps NCCC, Augustinian Volunteers, Peace Corps, and Teach for America.

Terror's Impact: Today's economic woes can be traced to the events just after 9/11 according to Economics Professor Robert Rosenthal. Writing in the Providence Journal, he argues that the Fed's attempt to limit the economic damage of 9/11 by pushing down interest rates facilitated (1) an unprecedented demand for housing, giving rise to a huge real estate bubble and (2) a frenzy of greed that resulted in our current meltdown. As a result, the terrorists are succeeding in ways they perhaps never imagined. They destroyed buildings, murdered thousands and gave impetus to the collapse of key economic institutions, yet another way of inflicting terror. To read the article, visit here.

High-Ranking Hoops: The women's basketball team is off to another remarkable start this season (13-1), receiving its highest ranking ever in the latest ESPN USA/Today Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll. To read more about the fourth-ranked Skyhawks, visit here.

Science Center: Despite the recent bad weather, construction of the Science Center is on track for completion in June and to be ready for classes in August. To see photos of recent work on the inside of the new building, visit our Science Center Snapshot.

Prayer Requests: The Mission Division is creating a Stonehill College Prayer Book with prayers, meditations, scriptural passages from the Catholic tradition and other great world religious tradition. To nominate your favorite prayer, meditation or scriptural passage, visit our Prayer Book Web page.