The Wheat and the Chaff
Skip Tate
Three Xavier baseball players are now picking up paychecks for their on-the-field efforts. Jordan Wolf was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the Major League draft. He is the fourth highest Musketeer drafted in the program's history behind Richard Donnelly, who was taken in the 1967 draft in the ninth round, and Michael Scuglik and Lou Witte who each went in the 12th round in the 1999 draft. Meanwhile, pitcher Bill Konecny signed by the Florence Freedom of the independent Class A Frontier League. He joins former Musketeer Mark Janszen on the team.
Students raised more than $25,500 for cancer research during The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on campus in April. More than 250 students gathered pledges and then took turns walking or running on a track on the green space.
Fourteen students were initiated into the first Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Xavier this year. They were: Daniel Flynn, a senior Spanish major; Rachel Bohlen, a senior psychology major; Kathleen Gorman, a senior psychology major; Laura Arthur, a senior psychology major; Edward Stockhausen, a senior in the philosophy, politics and the public honors student; Kelly Jamieson, a senior psychology major; Lindsey Clark, a senior natural sciences major; Sarah Dawson, a senior natural sciences major; Anneliese Spaeth, a senior math and applied physics double major; John Kelly, a senior English major; Rachel Bensman, a senior biology major; Matthew Risley, a junior English major; Dana Hunter, a senior music major; and Lindsay Jackson, a junior psychology major.
The Xavier dance team finished eighth at the NCAA cheer and dance collegiate championship in Daytona Beach, Fla., this year. This was the third straight year the team participated in the championship. Towson University won the nationals for the sixth straight year.
The University hosted its first international photo contest this year, with students capturing different places around the world on film. First place went to Rachel Bensman for “Sorrentine Hillside Coast,” which was taken during her study abroad experience in Paris. Photos from the winners and finalists were showcased in the Faces of the World lounge in the Gallagher Student Center.
Katie Rapking, a junior athletic training major who works in the office of the registrar, was named the University’s student employee of the year and the Ohio student employee of the year. She was selected as the Xavier student employee of the year from among 19 nominees based on—along with basic skills—her extensive knowledge of the registrar’s office procedure and for developing student worker guidelines and references on those procedures, especially when it comes to the registrar’s complex confidentiality system. She was then selected as the student employee of the year by the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators. She is the third Xavier student to receive this honor in the 11 years the University has participated.
Sophomore Sarah Krings won the University’s first regional equestrian championship this spring. Krings won in the intermediate equitation over fences division.
Professor of leadership and entrepreneurship Arthur Shriberg received the Merlin Pope Jr. Award from the Cincinnati Human Rights Commission for being the individual in the community who best embraces and promotes diversity. Shriberg is director of the diversity program, E Pluribus Unum, and is the past president of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, past president of Temple Sholom and an active leader in interracial and inter-religious dialogue.
A man wrongly convicted of several crimes and sentenced to death in New Mexico spoke at Xavier about being innocent on death row. Ron Keine, along with three other men, was convicted of murder, kidnapping, sodomy and rape and was sentenced to death. A subsequent investigation by the Detroit News, however, uncovered lies by the prosecution’s star witness, perjured identification given under police pressure, and the use of poorly administered lie detector tests.
Professor of accountancy John Surdick was named the Bishop Fenwick teacher of the year by the Xavier chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society. The award goes to a professor who has a profound impact on a wide range of students. Surdick has been teaching at Xavier since 1986.
Tennis coach Jim Brockhoff became just the second NCAA-Division I coach in history to reach 1,000 wins. He joins retired University of Hawaii coach Jim Schwitters in the exclusive club. “Once I knew the match was in hand, a lot of thoughts and memories from my 45 years doing this started to come to mind. All the faces I've seen; all the players I've coached; all the cans of balls I’ve opened. It was pretty overwhelming to think about. I guess I have a story to tell my grandkids now.”
