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President's Blog: From the Heart

That's Passion

By Eric F. Spina

(Eric Spina's remarks, 2018 Alumni Awards Dinner)

I am thrilled to be here tonight to honor some of our most selfless and gifted alumni who represent the best the University of Dayton offers to the world.

At last year’s Alumni Awards dinner, 2008 graduate Molly MacCready, who established a nonprofit organization to provide scholarships to street children in Uganda, coined a catchy new phrase, “Learn. Lead. Serve. Repeat.”

Learn. Lead. Serve. Repeat.

Our students have come to believe that they can change the world because of the lives you lead. I firmly believe that they are drawn to UD because of the path that all of *you* have charted as students and alumni. A path of selfless service to others, to your communities, to your cities, to the world. There is a virtuous circle here at this great University, and I thank each and every one of you for the critical role that you play in defining our difference and enabling our greatness.

As I’ve gotten to know our alumni award winners, I’ve come to deeply admire the way they have lived the mission of the University of Dayton in their everyday lives. They have made a real difference in the world. And to be able to celebrate their achievements is truly a blessing. Thank you for being here tonight to honor them. I offer a special thanks to Rick Granite, outgoing president of the Alumni Association, and the Alumni Awards Committee for shining the spotlight on these outstanding individuals.

Our honorees will tell their stories in their own words, but one word describes each of them — passionate. They used their UD degrees to follow their dreams and, in that journey, encouraged others to dream big, too.

For instance, when Jan Lepore-Jentleson heard people in Dayton’s Twin Towers neighborhood say “our children have no dreams,” she founded East End Community Services. The non-profit organization provides a helping hand to impoverished families through after-school programs, job training and other initiatives to give their children the power to dream — and to realize those dreams. That’s passion.

Like Jan, Steve Budd is also devoted to the vitality of Dayton. As president of Citywide Development Corp., he worked with partners to help turn around several Dayton neighborhoods. He has left his mark on every major redevelopment project in the city, including Tech Town, which has grown to house 50 high-tech companies. That’s passion.

Ruth Beckman and Nicole Olszewski graduated more than a half a century apart, but they both have changed the lives of the less fortunate in their communities. Ruth served as director of a Catholic Charities organization in Columbus, where she worked tirelessly to lift families out of poverty. Nicole founded and is principal of a charter middle school in Nashville that serves the city’s most underrepresented students and sets the children’s sights on college. That’s passion.

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Howard and Sally Stevens well, and I so admire their dedication, loyalty, and service to their University. They helped establish the Center for Professional Selling in the School of Business Administration 15 years ago, and even though they’ve retired and sold their sales performance consulting company, they continue to mentor countless students, preparing them for careers in corporate America. That’s passion.

Finally, we’re honored tonight to honor Lourdes Maurice, who did not let obstacles deter her from pursuing the American dream and becoming one of the most respected leaders in the world for her work in setting aviation noise and environmental policy. Lourdes has served as a lead author for the Nobel‐Prize winning United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Academies of Science National Research Council. Her personal story of fleeing the Castro regime in Cuba for a better life is inspirational. Her decision to start a scholarship at the University of Dayton reflects her strong desire to give back and prepare other engineers to imagine the possibilities, too. That’s passion.

Congratulations — and thank you — to tonight’s honorees. We are so proud of all you’ve accomplished — and the mark you’ve made and will continue to make on the world. You truly exemplify what it means to “Learn. Lead. Serve. Repeat.”

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