Saint Mary's Newsroom

Saint Mary’s alumni and friends pose with a couple of their Nairobi alumni hosts. Pictured are, from left, Tao Peng M’11, Abbey Smith M’17, Amy Conniff ’91, M’03, Diane Blocher, Michele Mahoney ’94, Melissa Swenson ’91, Thomas Holmes ’63, Joseph Muema ’15 (Nairobi host and CTIE graduate), Patrice Henning ’84, Mary Modelski ’89, Nancy Holmes, Kassondra Burtis ’12, Denis Aloys ’05 (Nairobi host and CTIE graduate), and Peggy Calhoun M’95.

Earlier this month, 12 Saint Mary’s University alumni and friends traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, as part of the second international alumni service trip. The alumni, who came from Minnesota, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Toronto and whose graduation years span from 1963 to 2017, visited and served with current students and alumni from the Saint Mary’s Nairobi Campus at Christ the Teacher Institute for Education (CTIE) located at Tangaza College in Nairobi. Saint Mary’s has had a presence in Nairobi for the past 25 years.

The U.S. alumni were hosted and accompanied by a handful of Nairobi alumni and joined by many others throughout the week. Together, the team spent time learning about and serving the programs and communities where our Nairobi alumni live and serve. One of the programs they worked with was Friends of Love Kibera, founded by Jeremiah Mumo ’12 (a CTIE alumnus), which serves children a hot lunch — many times the only meal they receive that day — and provides opportunities for learning, including proper hand-washing techniques to avoid diseases. Another project visited was the Ngao Society, an organization founded by Anthony Hulula ’07 (a CTIE alumnus) which teaches women sustainable business practices to help financially support their families and mentors youth about life, post-education work, and how to be successful. These alumni and friends enjoyed strengthening the Lasallian mission and building community through service.

Dear Members of the Saint Mary’s University Community and Friends:

Recent critical events in the Catholic Church have given me pause to reflect on how essential is the role of the Catholic University in the face of great tragedy. What we have learned in the news and from our leadership impacts so many members of the Church and thus our community and as such it demands some response. I have consulted with university leadership and there is a consensus that since we are a Catholic and Lasallian university our response needs to depend upon knowledge, analysis, and especially prayer. We have many bright minds here at Saint Mary’s, as well as people with pastoral and professional skills, and these professionals will, I hope, be part of strategies and movement forward. We are a community of faith here at Saint Mary’s and I hope our members will be part of the prayer and love needed to move us forward. We also have a wonderful Christian Brothers community and a Catholic seminary on our campus along with a relationship with the Bishop and priests of the Diocese of Winona – Rochester. These men, young and old, will need our support and encouragement as we move forward.  On this feast of the Queenship of Mary, Patroness of our University, let us entrust them all to her maternal care.

These are very difficult days for the Church. Tragically, the serious sin and abuse by some priests and bishops (and the blind eye of others in authority) has harmed many good souls. Power has been abused and what should be rightful authority has been used illegitimately. These events have also become for some an occasion for vengeance and revenge. Further, it also reminds us that for some in our Saint Mary’s community, who are of other faith traditions or who profess no faith, may also have been victims of sexual abuse by leaders and so we join with them in solidarity and prayer for healing. All of this leaves many feeling disheartened, angry, and disconsolate. The behavior that got us to this place is morally wrong and in many cases criminal. Those who have committed crimes will make restitution as the courts determine it. In the midst of all this, we as a community of learners, scholars, and believers must chart a new course. I would propose a course based upon Christ and His gospel message of “repent and believe the good news” for truly He is the Good News and has the words of life.

We cannot undo the past but we can learn from it, resolve to be a better Church and a better people in the future, to live a different way today because of what we know. We are called to be people of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. We are called to be a people of hope and prayer, especially that this sin will occur no more. We are all called to repentance and change of heart even as we are keenly aware that the sins of some members do not spoil the whole Church nor the good She does. We are in need of more good, faith-filled brothers, priests, Bishops, seminarians, and leaders. We are all in need of the prayers and support of one another. As a Catholic university, over the long term, we can continue to put our minds to use to become part of the solution to what has ailed us and more immediately we can unite in prayer and sacrifice. Today as a university we heard our keynote speaker Ms. Liz Huntley, Esq., speak of the importance of having people who exhibited virtue and character help to transform her life after she suffered serious abuse. This underscores even more urgently a presidential initiative that will be part of this year of inauguration, i.e., to host a series of talks on the Cardinal virtues and begin plans for a university wide character development program. Furthermore, I would like to ask, for the good of the Church and for all who lead, and for the renewal of all priests, brothers, sisters, deacons, Bishops, and lay faithful, that we join together in intentional prayer. I have some practical suggestions which can be found here. May God grant us all His peace and compassion in this time of need.

Headlines demonstrate why this is a crucial time for public health advocacy. Important public health threats caused by rising obesity and the opioid epidemic, escalating gun violence, increasing suicide rates, and emerging zoonosis diseases are among a growing list of current public health crises. Making matters worse, there is a shrinking number of public health workers who are qualified to address these issues.

These imminent threats are further advanced by an emerging conspicuous rollback of environmental health protections, the rise of the anti-vaccination movement, an emerging social media era of misinformation, and a growing influence of corporate power over proven age-old public health strategies. The current environment with its pressing uncertainties urgently demands rapid progress in scaling up the public health workforce. With its new Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Master of Public Health (MPH) program, Saint Mary’s University has taken the lead to confront these challenges.

Saint Mary’s offers public health programs congruent with core public health self-determination and collective responsibility aimed at building multidisciplinary public health skills. Our programs offer training in building our students’ core public health core competencies and delivers an exceptional value. At Saint Mary’s, our faculty instills a shared concept of critical thinking concepts as they explore with their students the plethora evidence of public health efforts that work, investigate innovative approaches to collaborating with diverse communities, and learn policy development and system thinking skills.

Our curriculum is designed to develop the required skills of distilling clarity on public health issues at hand, as students learn to be clear, accurate, and relevant. We develop critical skills needed to position our graduating students to advance their public health careers, and prepare them to embark on solving both traditional and emerging public health challenges. Saint Mary’s goal of building a future multidisciplinary public health workforce aims at teaching approaches to prevent disease and death; design interventions for better quality of life; and develop strategies for creating healthy environmental conditions. In our collective effort we aspire to contribute to the nation’s public health systems and with the purpose of improving the overall wellbeing of members of our communities.

Careers in this field include public health care services, governmental public health agencies, the private sector, nonprofits, hospitals, and other settings. Saint Mary’s exciting new program will thread the themes of social justice, service, and social determinants of health throughout the curriculum and student experiences.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota has a long history of preparing students in a number of health-related occupations, including pre-professional tracks in medicine, mental health practice, psychology, human services, healthcare management and administration, and advance practice nursing.

Saint Mary’s University has added a new Master of Public Health program which will begin January 2019. The recently accredited program will be offered on the Twin Cities Campus and online and is a response to Strategic Priority 1 – Advance Online Learning and Growth as well as Strategic Priority 4 – Achieve Growth in the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs through innovation and disruption of the model. Focused on understanding persistent and emerging public health issues, the program will teach students to address health disparity in all communities and to advocate for systemic solutions, clearly complementary to our Lasallian mission.

Saint Mary’s recognizes the urgent need to create a robust public health workforce to handle pressing public health issues, including those resulting from rising obesity and the opioid epidemic, escalation of and growth in gun violence, increasing suicide rates, and emerging zoonosis diseases. Learners in the 42-credit program will gain real-world experience through a curriculum that focuses on knowledge acquisition balanced with practical application including substantial discussion and research on health equity and social determinants of health. Upon earning their degrees, students will be prepared to build on a strong foundation in public health knowledge; learn translation of evidence into practice, policy, and public health improvements; apply their knowledge to clinical practice; and work in a variety of positions within government, healthcare, industry, and non-profit agencies.