Holy Cross Class of 1986

Welcome to the Class of 1986 Webpage!  We hope you will use our site as a way to connect with the class and the College.

Our 20th Reunion will be held on June 2, 3 and 4, 2006.  Mark your calendar now and plan on being part of the festivities! 

Class Chairs  

Ginny Ayers
gmjml@comcast.net

Pat McCarthy
pat.mccarthy@fmc-na.com

Ed O'Donnell
eodonnell@holycross.edu

Kathleen Quinn Powers
kquinn1964@yahoo.com

Class Events

Our 20th Reunion is coming up fast!  Get all of the information you need about the weekend - schedule of events, hotel information - by clicking here! 

Find a Classmate

Looking to reconnect with a classmate?  Just register with the Holy Cross Online Community and you will gain instant access to the alumni directory.  Click here and follow the steps for registration.  While you are there, check out the career center,  message boards and yellow pages!

HC Class Liaison

If you would like reach our class liaison at Holy Cross, please call Heather Gelardi at 508-793-2707/2421 or email her at hgelardi@holycross.edu.  

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Class of 1986 - 20th Reunion Photos

December 2005

Greetings from I-80!! 

This ??fall?? letter is finally getting composed thanks to a last-minute decision to drive to Iowa for Thanksgiving.  Eight years have passed since the last time we tackled this drive with a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old who picked up pneumonia and a 4-month-old brewing his first ear infection.  Given the season, I have to acknowledge that I am, in fact, very grateful for pre-teens and for the multitudes of their mobile media that I usually eschew at home.  The long drive has been remarkably tolerable for all and here I sit with Mike??s laptop and a pile of updates from the Hill that I have actually been able to read!  Yes, it is an arduous trip for a relatively short visit but I was delighted to hear my daughter tell my mother that ??It was worth it.??  In retrospect, we never seem to regret time and effort invested in maintaining family ties. 

A belated but heartfelt thank you to all of you who maintained financial ties with our Holy Cross family this past year.  As you will see below, you supported some wonderful endeavors.  The College was disappointed that the overall alumni participation rate for the 2005 Fund drive of 48.9% was below the critical 50% benchmark for the third consecutive year.  Nonetheless, it was a successful drive, raising a total of $6.6 million for the annual fund.  The Class of 1986 once again distinguished itself, raising a total of $122,102 from 303 donors for a 53% participation rate.  An interesting aside, we had exactly 303 donors last year as well.   We were able to maintain this donor number thanks to 48 new donors who jumped in for the classmates who were able to contribute last year but not this.  Imagine where we could be for our reunion year if everyone were willing and able to pitch in at the same time!  Hmmm.

Finding the time to write these letters can be a challenge, but I am rewarded each time with a sense of enthusiasm when I catch up on the news from Mt. St. James.  A few items of note:

?? Class of 2005.  The Class of 2005??s freshman year began with the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and ended with the senseless death of a classmate in a fight with other students.  Drawing from a speech of Robert Kennedy in her commencement address, Valedictorian Mary Beth Ryan (remember the little blond bouncing around campus with her Aunt Christine Ryan (??87) or on the shoulders of her father, Tom Ryan (??76)?!?) spoke the following: 

??Book-ended by tragedy, our freshman year became the foundation for our time at Holy Cross.  Through our experiences, we gained a deepened sense of community, solidified our burgeoning relationships, and, most importantly, strengthened our commitment to ??achieving in the future...to making it our own.????

The Class of 2005 was full of accomplished graduates including six of the 14 candidates selected for Jesuit Volunteers International, multiple additional volunteers for the JVC, Peace Corps, Teach for America, Nativity Schools and many other service organizations. 

Remember the ??Concentration in International Studies?? that was established during our tenure on the Hill?  Well it??s come a long way.  Katie Yue-Sum Li, who won a Truman Fellowship her junior year, constructed her own major in Asian American Studies, which included a semester at UCLA and internships with Greater Boston Legal Services and the Chinatown Resident Association.  Six other classmates were awarded Fulbright Fellowships to teach and research in countries from Korea and Singapore to Russia, Austria and Slovenia.  Not bad for a small liberal arts college.  I am grateful for such accomplished graduates who further bolster the reputation of our Alma Mater.

?? Change in Admissions.  In an effort to recruit and enroll not just intelligent individuals, but rather students who will be successful academically while also embracing the College??s mission, Father McFarland announced that beginning with the applicants for this coming year, SAT and equivalent tests will be an optional portion of the admission process.  He gave a number of reasons behind the conclusion that the test scores are not as good an indicator of a student??s potential as their high school record is.  ??In other words, we favor high achievers over those who are just getting by on their talent?K.We think that ultimately this change will bring us closer to just those students who will be most successful at Holy Cross and who will make the biggest contribution to the school and to the wider society, both now and after graduation.??  I am grateful to be a graduate and not an applicant right now.

?? Gulf Coast.  As most of us watched in horror the physical devastation of our Gulf Coast and subsequent breakdown of its social order, many in the Holy Cross Community were profoundly affected.  As Fr. McFarland relayed, you can take pride in Holy Cross?? collective response.  ??The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities quickly put up a temporary website to facilitate communications for Loyola University of New Orleans and began coordinating efforts to place Loyola students temporarily in other Jesuit schools.  Within hours Holy Cross was able to set up policies and procedures for accepting students from Loyola and other schools in New Orleans.  The generosity, efficiency, and spirit of cooperation among our staff was impressive.??  The College ended up taking in 14 students from Loyola, found housing on a crowded campus for all who needed it, and waived all charges for the semester.  Many donations were made for the students, from books and clothing to airfare for those students most severely affected to visit their families over the Columbus Day weekend.  We can all be thankful to be a part of such a caring community. 

?? On October 14, Holy Cross held its fifth annual Relay for Disaster Relief (started after 9/11) at the Hart Center Track.  Almost 500 members of the Holy Cross community participated in the event which raised thousands of dollars.  This year??s proceeds, together with the funds raised from the sale of special ??Stand Bayou?? t-shirts, will all go towards Gulf Coast disaster relief.

?? Amy R. Wolfson, associate professor of psychology, received a four-year grant of $1.07 million from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for a sleep research study; this is the largest research grant awarded to an individual in the College??s history. 

?? David O??Brien, Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies in the department of history, has been selected to receive the University of Dayton 2005 Marianist Award.  The award is presented annually to ??a Roman Catholic who has made an outstanding contribution to scholarship and intellectual life.??

?? Stephen Ainlay, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Holy Cross, has been named the 18th president of Union College, Schenectady, NY.  Ainlay, a sociologist with a distinguished record as a teacher, scholar and administrator, has been a professor at Holy Cross since 1982 and a dean since 1996. 

?? Vince Lombardi Jr., son of the late Vincent T. Lombardi, gave a talk entitled ??High Performance Athletes:  What They Do and How They Do It?? on November 2 in the Hogan Ballroom.

?? Fenwick Theatre??s fall production was Frank Edekind??s 1891 tragedy, Spring Awakening, was directed by none other than Margarett Perry ??86, now a professional New York-based director.

You can access these updates on a more current basis at the Holy Cross website, www.HolyCross.edu.  As for more ??86 news,

Michael & Gloria Chojnacki announce the births of Amanda Rose on March 12, 2004 and Colleen Frances and Paul Robert on May 10, 2005.

Brian D. Waldron, his wife, Helayne, and their son, Hunter (2), are pleased to announce a new addition to the Waldron family.  Hailey Erin Waldron was born on August 7, 2005.  The Waldrons reside in Martinsville, NJ.

Julie (Thompson) Quinn writes:  "My husband Chris and I just celebrated the birth of our fourth child, Alice, in February 2005.  We're thrilled!"

Jean P. (Rainville) Randazzo writes:  "I am pleased to announce that I am enjoying my career move into private practice, at Internal Medicine of Morristown, NJ.  My son, Domenico (7), is an aspiring rock star; he plays the drums as well as Ringo!"

Back in August, Pamela Desmarais checked in:  "Hello!  Still living in the San Francisco Bay-area and loving it.  Although the activities have changed a bit in nature since we have two beautiful children now -- Nicholas (almost 2) and Rachel (a new 3 months) O'Connor.  My husband, Dennis, quit his job and stays home with the kids, and I head back to work very soon.  I'm the President of an educational arts company that creates and manages audio and audio/visual tours in museums, parks, and cultural institutions.  It's fun and growing fast.  My entire family was able to spend 7 weeks on the Cape with my mom this summer while I was on maternity leave, and it was great.  Spent a day with Melinda Gleason, who is as wonderful as always, looks terrific, and just started her own business.  I keep in touch with Kerry Casey Kelley and Mary Alice Dolan Noone, who are also both terrific and busy being moms of 3 & 4 kids respectively.  I also see Jenny Stebbins Griggy frequently as we live near each other, and our kids play together.  She hasn't changed!"

Kevin Reilly saw many '86ers and others at "The Packers/Bears Weekend" last September (2004).  Gracious hosts were Dave and Leanne Kearney ('87) Hock.  Kevin wrote:  "Golf and boating on Saturday, awesome cookout, and, of course, the game at Lambeau.  Survived (barely) the Bear's bus ride.  Brendan Sullivan, the Kutschke Bros (Ed & Frank '87), Pat Shea (HC '87), Mark Morasch, Mike Dooley, Big Dick Mulligan (HC '85), and Kevin Garvey (HC '85).  Coach Duffner visited our tailgate post-game."  Kevin Reilly is living in Cincinnati, OH with his wife, Cathy, and 6 kids -- Colleen (12), Kevin (11), Brendan (9), Maureen (7), Kathleen (5), and Sean (2).  Kevin works as an orthopaedic surgeon.     

Loretta DiBianca Fois writes that ??2005 has been a year of great changes and challenges for me.  I started a new position as Director of Dance at Raritan Valley College.  It??s the perfect job for me.  I get to teach dance and dance theory, administrate, do curriculum development, and choreograph.  I am also working with my dance company preparing for our 2005 season; a new work inspired by a Vivaldi concerto.  I am quite excited to be nominated as President of Dance New Jersey.  It??s a wonderful thing to be doing what you have always dreamed of, and to be leading the state organization in advocating for the dance arts!  I am so thankful for the years at Holy Cross; the liberal arts, the great experience in theatre and all the good people there.  It seems like yesterday when we were all doing the senior play (Anything Goes)!  My husband, myself and our three children (Daniello, 8, Teresa, 6, and Marcello, 1) hope to see everyone at the reunion.??

I am happy to report that after 17 years, much of it spent on opposite coasts, I was able to meet up with one of my former roommates, Maggie Rode Adam, her husband, Frank, and their three children, Bridget (9), Nicholas (6) and Matthew (3) when our family vacations crossed paths.  Maggie is an Internist in Seattle; she looks exactly the same and is as delightful and funny as ever.

That about wraps up the current and not so current news.  In an effort to maintain those HC family ties, send in your updates now (forward e-slips to Tom Cadigan ??02, our class liaison, at tcadigan@holycross.edu ) and mark your calendars for our upcoming 20th reunion, June 2-4!  Registration packets should be arriving mid-to-late March. 

In the meantime, the snow and ice have arrived!  If the holiday rush is upon you and you??d like to take a few minutes to regroup, the Chaplain??s office has just put out an on-line mini retreat of sorts for Advent, designed specifically with alumni in mind.  I just checked it out and it is truly delightful.  You can access it at the following site:  http://www.makingthepartswhole.com/online_retreats/advent/index.html 

Warm wishes to all for peace and love in this Christmas season and throughout the coming year.   

Ginny (Casko) Ayers ??86

gmjml@comcast.net

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