Reflections Magazine Issue #78 - Spring 2013 | 页面 7

Campus News

Siena Bids Farewell to
Longtime Employees
Siena Heights University bids farewell to several
longtime employees who are retiring or moving
on to different career paths.
Pat Palmer is retiring in
June after more than 30
years at Siena Heights.
He has served the
University in many ways
over the years, including
as a coach, athletic
director, faculty member,
dean and most recently as the vice president
of Enrollment Management.
English faculty member
Saleem Peeradina retired
in December 2012 after
more than 23 years at SHU.

Rick Smith retired in March
2013 as director of the
custodial staff after more
than 10 years at SHU.

Director of Admissions
Sara Johnson ‘02 took a
new position at Jackson
Community College after
nine years of working
in the Siena Heights
Admissions Office.
SHU Chaplain Father Tom
Helfrich is also leaving the
University after accepting
his new role as pastor of
St. Rita’s Catholic Church in
Clarklake, Mich.

Anne Hooghart is also
pursuing a different career
path after serving as a
faculty member and most
recently as dean of the
SHU Graduate College.

Finally, English faculty
member Davin Heckman
is leaving SHU after
accepting a similar
position at Winona State
(Minn.) University.

Singing in the New Year
SHU Vatican Choir Has Memorable Visit to Italy

M

ost people consider New York
City’s Times Square to be the ultimate place
to ring in the new year.
Beth Tibbs may disagree. She and a small
group of Siena Heights University students,
faculty, staff and alumni and friends spent New
Year’s Eve in Italy as part of the Vatican Choir.
The group performed before Pope Benedict
XVI as well as at several other holy sites during
the 11-day trip, which Tibbs called “amazing.”
In fact, she said her group was so excited
they often broke into song during the trip.
“We would stop periodically and just start
singing,” said Tibbs, associate professor of music and choir director at SHU. “People would
jump in front of us and want to get their pictures taken with us.”
This was the second time Tibbs took a
choir to perform at the Vatican. In 2010 she led
a youth choir from Arizona. During that trip,
she befriended the Vatican’s head of music.
“He invited us back whenever I wanted to
bring a group,” Tibbs said. “When I got the job
at Siena (in August 2011), I thought it would
be a perfect fit for us to go to Italy and perform. I thought it would be really important for
us to include all the different things that are
connected to Siena Heights.”
The trip started in Florence, the cultural
center of Italy. After first performing at a
church, the choir performed at the home of
St. Catherine of Siena (Siena Heights’ patroness), as well as in her chapel. They even sang
a piece written and composed by Adrian Dominicans Sister Magdalena Ezoe (former SHU
music faculty member) and Sister Nadine Foley
(former SHU faculty member) based on the
Dialogue of St. Catherine.
At a performance in the local university
chapel, Tibbs said the choir received several
standing ovations and an invitation to return.
After spending New Year’s Eve in Florence,
the group performed at a New Year’s Day Mass
in Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis. SHU
Chaplain Father Tom Helfrich, who was part of
the choir, was a co-celebrant at Mass in Assisi
and a couple of other Eucharistic celebrations
during the trip including St. Peter’s Basilica.
It was then on to Rome, where after a bit
of sightseeing, one of the most special parts
of the trip occurred. Tibbs said performing
at an all-volunteer elderly home was a heartwarming experience.

“They just started singing along,” Tibbs
said of the residents, who recognized the
Disney-themed pieces the choir performed
and often chimed in. “I think people felt really
uplifted, and the students did, too.”
The apex of the trip was performing at
the Vatican, the capital of the Catholic Church.
Tibbs said after the choir was announced, they
starting singing for the pope, who was blessing the other visitors that day.
“He started blessing people, and so while
he was blessing people, we became his blessin