Hall director, 4 rectors to leave Saint Mary's, Notre Dame
By Scott Brodfuehrer
News Writer
By SCOTT BRODFUEHRER
News Writer
Students who return to Howard, Keough, LeMans, Lyons and Sorin halls next fall will find a new face greeting them in their dorms as four rectors and one residence hall director will leave campus for new positions.
Sister Kathleen Beatty is leaving Lyons Hall to be closer to her family, and will become a pastoral associate at St. Catherine of Sienna parish in Clearwater, Fla.
"I left home at age 18 and entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph and I haven't been close to home since then. It's not the place that I would want to live, but there is a family need for me to be close to home," said Beatty.
During her 10-year term as rectress of Lyons, Beatty also served as the advisor to Amnesty International and taught three semesters of a University seminar. In her new role as a pastoral associate, she will work in a parish that serves 3,000 families.
"It is an open-ended position, but some of the things that I will be doing are visiting people who are shut-ins and conducting an adult bible study," said Beatty.
Before coming to Notre Dame, Beatty taught for 24 years, beginning at age 19 in a second grade classroom in a Philadelphia school with 60 students, five of whom only spoke Italian.
During her career as a teacher, she taught history and religion in Winston-Salem, N.C. and Allentown, Pa. She graduated from Chestnut Hill College of Philadelphia in 1978 with a B.S. in Education. While teaching during the school year, she came to Notre Dame in during the summer beginning in 1979 to earn a Masters degree in History and received her degree in 1983.
Beatty says her departure from Notre Dame will be bittersweet.
"It's going to be difficult. I have been connected with this University since 1979, but I have to help my family. I will miss the students," said Beatty.
Sean Seymore has served the men of Sorin Hall for the last four years – three as an assistant rector and this year as a rector. He is graduating Sunday with a PhD in chemistry and will be a professor of chemistry next year at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
After Father Steve Newton departed from Sorin Hall last year, Seymore was asked by the Office of Student Affairs to serve as rector for a year.
"I was somewhat surprised to be asked, but I gladly accepted," said Seymore.
In addition to serving on the residence hall staff, Seymore has worked as a teaching assistant in the chemistry department and in course development.
"It kept me busy, but it gives me a unique perspective on the University to work in both a residence hall and in the classroom," said Seymore.
Seymore has earned two prestigious awards as a graduate student. Seymorereceived the Emil T. Hoffman Award for outstanding teaching in a freshman class for his work in developing the Chemistry 113/114 sequence, which incorporates weekly homework and group problem solving sessions into the curriculum. Seymore also received the Kaneb Center Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Seymore lived in Sorin for four of his five years as a graduate student, but at Rose-Hulman he will not work in a residence hall. He will instead concentrate on teaching organic chemistry in the fall.
"I have lived in Sorin for four years, and have become somewhat attached to the dorm, but life moves on," said Seymore.
After serving as a hall director at LeMans Hall for two years, Sara Scalzo will be leaving Saint Mary's to become an assistant director of Student Life at Loyola University in Baltimore. Her new position will be similar to the one she fulfills at Saint Mary's, but she will have more responsibilities, including supervising graduate students.
"I have mixed emotions. I am excited for myself professionally, but I will miss the students and the relationships I've developed here over the last two years," said Scalzo.
Laura Sobieck, currently a Hall Director at Holy Cross Hall, will be assuming Scalzo's role next year in LeMans. The College is currently seeking a new Hall Director for Holy Cross Hall.
Father Tom Doyle has spent a total of 13 years at Notre Dame — five as Keough Hall rector, four as an undergraduate, including a term as student body president, and the rest as a seminarian at Moreau Seminary following a two year stint in the accountancy firm of Deloitte and Touche.
He feels, however, that now is a good opportunity to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School. While studying at Harvard, he will serve in a Boston area parish and unofficially at Harvard.
"I will primarily be pursuing my MBA and just assisting in a parish in the Boston area. Probably just by nature, I'll be involved in the business school community, but not in an official capacity," said Doyle.
After his first year of study at Harvard, Doyle will make a decision on whether or not to pursue a PhD.
"I'll make a decision after my first year. If it jumps out at me, and if I feel that it would help me serve the Holy Cross community, I will consider that option," said Doyle.
Although Doyle may eventually return to Notre Dame, that decision must be made by the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
"They try to look at the talents and gifts of the priests when they make assignments. It's certainly a possibility to be back here at Notre Dame, but the congregation has assignments all over the world," said Doyle.
Leaving Keough Hall and saying goodbye to the residents was difficult for Doyle.
"It was difficult but also beautiful. It was hard especially this year because usually you say `I'll see you after the summer,' but this year it wasn't so certain. I am excited for them, and I am not worried about the future of the hall, but it is hard to leave," said Doyle.
In addition to serving as a rector these last five years, Doyle has been teaching business ethics at the Mendoza College of Business, has been involved with freshman retreats and served as chaplain to gay and lesbian students.
Sister Anne Dougherty, a Franciscan sister, is transferring to St. Bonnaventure University after being named a vice president for university ministries, which entails overseeing the campus ministry department, social concerns center and possibly teaching.
The offer took the Howard Hall rectress by surprise, because this was her first year at Howard; her contract with Notre Dame was supposed to last three years.
"I was expecting a call in three years and then returning to my home region [of Tampa]," Dougherty said. "At first, I thought of 24 reasons why I shouldn't go."
Dougherty's superior, however, encouraged her to think and pray about the offer. Eventually, she accepted the position after an interview.
"I wanted to honor her and honor my vows," she said. "Once I went for the interview…[I realized] it was right up my alley."
Although Dougherty loves Notre Dame, she said she is looking forward to the more intimate nature of St. Bonnaventure, a smaller school with 2,500 undergraduates and 300 graduate students.
"It's a very small campus and Franciscan oriented, which tends to be simpler," she said.
Although she looks forward to her new position, she said she will miss the Notre Dame community.
"I enjoyed being a rectress…I like the community experience. I felt like I was building up a community," Dougherty said.
Andrew Thagard contributed to this report
All News Stories for Friday, May 18, 2001
