From the President
Of Home Improvements & Hard-Won Degrees
H
ammers and drills and assorted construction tools and equipment have been making happy music on
our Adrian campus this summer. If you’ve been here recently, I don’t need to tell you that many of
our buildings have needed repair. Now, thanks to the Board of Trustees’ decision to authorize a $4
million tax-exempt bond issue, repayable over 20 years, the College is moving forward with a long list of muchneeded repairs to our physical plant. Tax-exempt bonds are a standard means for colleges and universities to fund
the kind of infrastructure improvement projects that are inherently “unexciting” to donors but are critical to the
maintenance of our facilities. Such projects are similar to investing in a new furnace or replacement roof in your
own home: You’re rarely excited about the expense, but you pay the price or imperil the house.
We can’t do everything at once, of course, but we’re hard at work and hope to boast many positive changes by the
time classes resume in August.
Those changes began the morning after our Adrian Commencement, when workers began replacing the flat roof on
Lumen Chapel and resurfacing driveways and parking lots around campus. Other projects underway this summer
include: a new floor, roof and ventilation system for the Fieldhouse; new or repaired roofs for Benincasa Dining
Hall and the Performing Arts Center; an upgraded elevator for Ledwidge Hall; a new elevator, storage shed and
other improvements for Studio Angelico; and various internal and structural repairs to Ledwidge and Archangelus
Halls. The first of several science labs will receive a summer facelift with new computers, microscopes, stools and
tables funded through donations.
On our “to do” list for the near future are roof repairs for Sacred Heart Hall and the Science Building; improvements to the heating and ventilation systems in various campus buildings; new doors for the Science Building;
waterproofing several buildings, and miscellaneous other repairs.
As you visit Siena Heights over the next few months--for Alumni Weekend, an athletic event, concert or art exhibit--look around and ask questions. Like the homeowner’s new furnace, our home improvements may not be
obvious at a glance, but they’re important to the quality of campus life. We’ll be happy to tell you all about them!
Commencement is an occasion of celebration, when we reward the accomplishments of our students with the conferral of earned degrees. It is, as well, an opportunity for the College to recognize the outstanding achievements of
other individuals, men and women whose work in the world bespeaks our institutional values. We are privileged to
confer upon these people the honorary doctoral degree.
This year, we granted the Doctor of Humane Letters to: journalists Peter Steinfels and Margaret O’Brien Steinfels
of New York, both nationally recognized writers on religion, ethics and social issues; Latin American expert and
former Ambassador to El Salvador Robert E. White of Alexandria, Virginia; and Detroiters Daniel and Rosemary
Kelly, founders of the Rose Hill Center for treatment of mental illness. Earlier in the spring, the Board of Trustees
also awarded the honorary doctorate posthumously to the late Virgil Gladieux, a longtime leader in the Toledo business and civic community and loyal Siena Heights trustee.
Art students from the 1950s may recognize the Steinfels name: Peter’s father, Melvin Steinfels, taught art here for
five years and oversaw the design and execution of the extensive mosaics adorning the walls of Lumen Chapel.
Peter’s return to Adrian in May was a very nostalgic and enjoyable visit to his childhood haunts.
Joan and I extend a warm welcome to all our new degree
holders--recipients of associate, baccalaureate, master’s and
honorary doctoral degrees--into the Siena Heights alumni
community.
Richard B. Artman
Back row from left: Honorary degree recipients Daniel Kelly, Rosemary Kelly,
Robert E. White, Margaret O’Brien Steinfels and Peter Steinfels. Front row
from left: Chairperson of the Board John P. Tierney, President Rick Artman,
and Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation Patricia Walter, OP.
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