Blog Archive » 2010 » February

In my next life, I will be a snowboarder.

I will hurl myself down icy chutes, launching toward the heavens while doing a halfMcTwistlattecorkscrew900halfpipe.  Or something like that.  I will wear baggy clothes and a cool helmet and throw caution to the winds.  Shaun White will fear me.

I will have good knees.

Or, perhaps I will learn mogul skiing.

Sliding down the mountain on two well-waxed and very thin slats, up and down up and down up and down go my knees over the little bumps that look easy but are devilishly hard.  I will be fast.

I will invest in thermawraps.

Giant Slalom calls out to me.

Such cool outfits, such spandex-ready bods.  How hard can that be, just skiing around the gates going, oh, maybe 150 mph vertically.  Lindsay Vonn will ask me for training tips.   Bode Miller will ask my advice on the best way to display his gold medal.

I will stick to my diet this time.

(Above: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Apolo Anton Ohno will invite me to join the short-track speed skating team.

I will lean so far over that I am skating horizontally to the ice, the sharpest blades ever made rocketing me to victory.

Plushenko will ask me to be his partner when he switches to ice dancing.  I could teach him about graciousness in defeat, but will decline because the bobsledders have begged me to steer their sled.  I will take my chances with skeleton, hurtling headfirst down that scary tube.  I will not be tempted by curling, I am incapable of using a broom.

Olympic dreams.   Every four years, the winter Olympics reminds us that some human beings spend their entire (young) lives devoted to mastering sports at speeds and levels of danger that seem impossible to most mortals.  While the summer games have sports familiar to many — we may never launch into a pole vault, but we know something of swimming or running or basketball — the winter games are a fantasy world, conducted in remote cold places (well, at least before global warming hit Vancouver) and featuring athletes whose super-normal abilities seem greatly enhanced by all that fabulous gear.

The greatest contribution the Olympics make to our civilization is the rekindling of our imaginations ever so often in ways that are completely healthy.  We may not do more than vow to re-start our exercise routines once more, but even making us think about getting off the couch is a step forward!

In my next life, I will eat Wheaties every day.   I will take care of my knees from Day One.   I will stop being afraid of small patches of ice.  I will learn to slide and skate with my knees bent.  I look great in full length spandex.

I will get a gold medal for championship dreaming.

See Vancouver 2010

Follow me on Twitter @TrinityPrez

Checkout my blog on the Washington Post "On Success"

Brenna Daugherty, Trinity 2013, grand niece of Sister Dorothy Stang, SND

at the February 13, 2010 symposium marking the 5th anniversary of Sister Dorothy's death

She knew she would be killed.   Listening to author Binka le Breton retell the story of Dorothy Stang's murder in the Brazilian rainforest in 2005, I was struck by this thought that stayed with me all night.  Dorothy knew she was going to be killed one day or the next, and yet, she did not relent in her quest for justice.

Yes, she was certainly afraid at times.  Surely, Dorothy must have had moments when she wondered if her life's work would continue when she was gone.  Surrounded by the people of the Amazon to whom she devoted her life, we cannot know what moments of great loneliness and uncertainty she might have faced.

What we do know, however, is that she set out on the pathway that fateful morning, February 12, 2005, armed with her bible and her conviction that she must continue her quest for justice.

She was 74.  She could have long retired to a safer and less strenuous life, perhaps even returned to her family home in Ohio.  No one would have faulted her for walking away from a lifetime of sacrifice in a time of increasing danger.  but, not Dorothy.  She stayed in her adopted country, she remained devoted to her community in Anapu, she continued to live a life that exemplified the Catholic principles of social justice:

*Advocacy for life and human dignity

*Protection of human rights

*Standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters everywhere

*Taking the option to work for the poor and vulnerable of ur society

*Upholding the rights of workers

*Accepting responsibility to build community

*Caring for God's creation

Caring for God's creation, Dorothy Stang was shot six times by the assassins who were working on orders from the powerful land and logging interests.  She was left to die on the muddy rainforest floor.  This diminutive white-haired nun was so threatening to those gigantic wealthy interests that they had to get rid of her.   She knew they would.  That's the most remarkable part of the story.  She knew this would happen, and yet, she walked into the forest, alone.

Most of us will never face such a life-threatening choice in pursuing our life's work.  Many of us will retire long before we reach our seventh decade.  A few of us might choose to leave family and friends to move far away to pursue God's work, but most of us hope to be able to do that in time to get home each night for supper and the late news.    We are stressed-out about whether snow plows will get to our street sometime soon; we are afraid of running out of milk, bread, coffee during the storm.

The 5th Anniversary of Dorothy's death should shock us up off those couches and out the door into action.   Here at Trinity, our heritage and still-vital life force through the Sisters of Notre Dame calls us to action for justice each day.   We say that we do that in our teaching, our service, our commitment to the education of all in our city.  Sometimes, though, we need to do even more.

In the weeks ahead, we will renew conversations at Trinity about how to express our commitment to environmental justice and sustainability in our academic programs as well as institutional practices.  We do some things here and there, we could do more.

In memory of, in honor of, and with the inspiration of Dorothy Stang, Trinity will advance the cause of social justice and especially the care for God's creation.

I invite comments from the community about the best ways to translate this intention into real programs and practices.  Please make a comment by clicking on the link below.

See Binka le Breton, The Greatest Gift:  The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang

Here are photos from the February 13 symposium:

Author Binka le Breton…

Brenna Daugherty introduces members of the Stang family…

Sisters of Notre Dame …

Trinity staff member LaWander McFarland helps Binka le Breton with the setup…

The audience in O'Connor…

Comments?  Please click on the link below…

Five years!  Hard to believe that five years have come and gone since the terrible news of the murder of Sister Dorothy Stang, SND, emerged from the Amazon rainforest.    She was assassinated because of her courageous stance against the powerful logging interests in the Amazon.   The pursuit of justice for those responsible for her death continues to this day.

Today at Trinity, the Sisters of Notre Dame will conduct a program about Sister Dorothy starting at 1 pm in O'Connor Auditorium, followed by Mass at 4:30 pm.

I will expand upon this post in memory of Sister Dorothy following today's program.

See website for the film "They Killed Sister Dorothy"

Visit this website for a large collection of materials about Sister Dorothy Stang.

Trinity will resume classes on Saturday — HOORAY! — and even today, many offices are open as our administrative team gets back to business.

Among many important items on today's agenda — REFUND CHECKS!  These are disbursements that students need, the balance on their federal loans.  We'll be distributing checks from noon to 4 pm today at the Business Office.   Many staff worked hard all week though the blizzard to be sure that student checks are ready on time.  Thanks to this great team in the Business Office and Enrollment Services….

Tracy Berman…

Jane Itzel….

Daisson Ortiz…

Brian Ford…

And student worker Heather DeLaurie…

Mason Davenport, Susie Powers, Meghan Howard…

Cathy Geier, I know you are here somewhere, I'll get your photo later!

Over in Human Resources, Carole King, Tracey Prince and Rowena Balagtas have been working hard to be sure the biweekly payroll checks are ready… thanks, team!

Carole King…

Tracey Prince…

Rowena Balagtas…

You may not know this, but the person responsible for being sure that the radio and television stations have Trinity's opening/closing information correct is our intrepid PR maven, VP Ann Pauley… she also sends out those Trinitydcalert Tweets!…

Admissions VP Kelly Gosnell will just be delighted when the US Postal Service brings the next truckload of applications!

THANKS, TEAM!  YOUR DEDICATION TO OUR STUDENTS IS WHAT MAKES TRINITY SO GREAT!

Is this like going to college in New England?

5 pm:  Done.  Over.  We are all ready to say goodbye to this hyperactive winter.  We should all spend the weekend shopping (maybe online) for suntan lotion and flipflops.  Anything to send a signal that we will not be kept indoors much longer!  Here's a summer party spot just waiting for something to happen:

As if on cue, this cardinal started singing outside of the Trinity Center:

Here's  St. Joseph thinking he's been transported to the Alps:

Oh, my, this IS a lot of snow!

Shout out for Ebert still hard at work late in the day:

VANCOUVER, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

(Try to guess the location of that shot above…)

And as the sun sets over Main Hall once more, we are all happy to say, "Spring is One Month Away!"

Remember these days when August heat is upon us….