“It's a great honor,” Lewis says. “To be selected as the only intern out of the Dominican campus makes me feel incredibly blessed and fortunate. I'm excited that I will have the chance to see how policy is actually made, hear constituent concerns, see how policies actually affect individuals, states, and the nation at large. I am very glad that I get to actively participate in passing legislation that I care about, and that I will get to learn more about all the issues facing the district for which I will be working as well as the country."

Lewis credits Alison Howard, chair of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, and Christian Dean, professor and pre-law advisor, for encouraging her to apply and guiding her through the process.

“Dominican helped me achieve this for several reasons, the first and most obvious being that it is one of the few schools that have the opportunity to participate in the program,” Lewis says. “Dominican has wonderful staff that are super encouraging and supportive, and even my professors that aren't in the political science department were encouraging me to go for it and were thrilled to find I had received  it. They do their jobs wonderfully, which I believe is part of the reason I was selected.”

“The professors here are highly competent and convey their subject matter clearly and effectively,” she adds. “They therefore helped prepare me by enhancing my writing abilities, critical thinking and analyzing skills, and just making sure I really learned the material. All of the professors here have played a role in my receiving this internship, even if it was only a small, indirect one.”

Lewis will spend two weeks in August training at the Panetta Institute at CSU Monterey Bay then 11 weeks in Washington, D.C., working full time in the office of a congressional representative. She is a member of Dominican’s Harry Potter LLC, located in Meadowlands Hall. She also works as store manager for Silbermann's Ice Cream in Terra Linda.

“It’s really about the Board of Trustees’ vision for Dominican the year I came here, and our perseverance implementing the Campus Master Plan until it was completed,” Charton said. “Working collaboratively with the City of San Rafael and the neighboring community, we took the opportunity to really change the campus from where it was. It was a full transition …. I’m receiving recognition for the hard work of many.”

When Charton arrived at Dominican in 1995, there was poor outdoor lighting, minimal signage on buildings and the campus’ walkways were made of gravel.

“It was time for a change,” Charton said.

Prior to Dominican, Charton was Director of Facilities at the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo where he worked for 11 years.

Upon receiving recognition from the NBJJ, Charton praised his hardworking staff, including Associate Director of Auxiliary Services/Facility Services Coordinator Michelle O’Leary, who has worked with Charton for 15 years, and Michael Henkes, Associate Director of Facilities Services, who recently celebrated his 20^th anniversary of service at Dominican. Charton also oversees campus security, food services, custodial services, and campus bookstore.

In her first year at Dominican, President Marcy has done much to advance the University’s mission while building upon the University’s position of strength in the Bay Area.

President Marcy led her cabinet to identify five areas as strategic priorities for the University: engaged learning; a common academic first-year experience program focused on Big History; diversity; internationalization; and sustainability. These five strategic priorities have significant promise of launching Dominican into the forefront of higher education in the Bay Area and beyond.

In order to support the development of academic programs that would enhance these strategic areas, President Marcy invited faculty to apply for funding from a newly created Strategic Initiatives Grant program. The University recently distributed more than $1 million in support of innovative faculty work under this program.

President Marcy currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Liberal Education, the Academic Advisory Council of the Panetta Institute, and the Higher Education Advisory Board of the National Council on Education and the Economy.

When asked by the newspaper to describe her strategy for success in a tough economy, President Marcy replied: “Clarity of mission and focused strategic priorities coupled with an unwavering commitment to a rewarding, creative work environment for everyone on campus. Mission guides decisions; people make them successful.”

President Marcy, who received both her M.Phil and her D.Phil in Politics from the University of Oxford, noted that earning a doctorate from Oxford at age 28, and using that education to create opportunity for others is her proudest professional accomplishment.

President Marcy will be recognized during a reception in San Francisco on June 7.

Click here to watch the YouTube video of Farrow's speech.

“It is youthful qualities - a resistance to rules for their own sake, a fearlessness in challenging norms, a willingness to accept risk and uncertainty - those same qualities that will carry you through this next period of change in your lives,” Farrow said. “They have animated these changes around the world.”

Dominican President Marcy B. Marcy paid tribute to the family of Jordan Fromm, honoring his memory by awarding a bachelor’s degree posthumously and announcing the creation of the Jordan Fromm Scholarship Fund. The 25-year-old business administration major died following a yacht racing accident April 14 off the Farallon Islands.

“Jordan was a case study for a college education because in the process of completing his education he found his own voice,” President Marcy said. “He took a liberal education and became an education that liberated.”

President Marcy introduced Farrow as a man of “great wisdom” and “great distinction” and “you would assume I would introduce a man of great age and you would be wrong.” Farrow graduated from Bard College at the age of 15 and, at age 16, was admitted to Yale Law School. Now 24, Farrow was recently named a Rhodes Scholar, and will begin studies at the University of Oxford in Fall 2012.

“The journey you are all embarking on now  -- entering the real world, finding your passions,  laying the groundwork to build your families --  is among the most important tests we undergo as a species. That’s why evolution gave us our reckless brains,” Farrow said. “The trailblazing qualities of youth provide us with an unmatched power to accept change, challenge norms, and adapt to challenging new environments.”

Farrow has most recently served as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues and the director of the State Department’s Office of Global Youth Issues.

Peter Jean “J.T.” Teodoro, a Humanities and Cultural Studies major, delivered the Senior Class Address and Emmeline Academia was named Dominican’s Outstanding Student during the commencement.  The Summa Cum Laude and Honors Program student received her Bachelor of Science degree.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dominican, John R. Gaulding, founder and director of Sage Partners LLC, also received an honorary degree. He delivered the graduate commencement address to about 160 students on Friday in the Conlan Center.

Getting to know you this well wasn’t what I intended to do.

 I ended up knowing plenty, sometimes too much about you. See we came from different sides of town. Different towns. Different states. Different coasts. Different countries. Even from different continents.

And for four years, we shared the same world in San Rafael.

One day you probably made a sudden stop, along Grand Ave. before it crosses Locust because two large deer just crossed the road with a baby deer struggling to catch up, and another one, and another one. You admired the flutter of a hummingbird’s wings, around the Meadowlands lawn and up above with the view of Mt. Tam. You probably saw a hawk gliding against the wind, in a steady place like a sticker, on the wallpaper of a blushing sunset-kissed sky. You saw a zap of lightning in your peripherals, while walking towards Alemany Library realizing it was a gorgeous blue jay diving into the bushes. You probably avoided the gallery of webs displayed by spiders, on the low branches of the trees leading up to Fanjeaux.  You encountered a few hares running around, the lawn of Edgehill mansion and squirrel villages on the tall trees. You probably scrammed when you heard a buzzing bee, which set out a quest to pollinate the flowers.

We now see blooming late in spring.

You met a neighborhood cat named Tim, who hangs out near Guzman after your night classes when night turned morning. You probably heard the acappella chants of birds singing gospels to the Earth. You’ve taken hikes around the hills and the fire trail pondering what you would do if you saw a mountain lion and you might’ve asked yourself: Was the admission to the national park included in my tuition fee?

This national park of a campus is where we have shared experiences. A park of a legacy passed down for us to walk and study in the beauty of our campus is evident. But I learned that in our rush to be in time for class, or while we’re occupied with projects and personal issues, we sometimes forget this beauty around us because there’s too much here to appreciate.
I’m not just talking about nature and squirrels. I’m talking about the beauty of people and how I discovered the little things about you: We came from meeting each other at an icebreaker or a party to playing Rock band and trash-talking with people in online Halo to road tripping down to So Cal to being housemates, even getting evicted.  We’ve crashed each others’ couches and shared countless laughs that we couldn’t duplicate.

I noticed you grow as an artist. I still remember the work you displayed in the library we learned music together as a tight-knit group. You broke out of your shell when you performed in Soul Candy. It wasn’t your time to get your Bachelor’s then with a little more traveling, experience, and struggle. You’ve come back to school for your degree and shared insights from a generation before me. You taught me that there’s no shame in enrolling later taught me that we are learners in and out of school that we are lifelong students and teachers. You showed me what it meant to master a complex piece watching you perform. It is like you were simply going to sleep like the art form is your bed and all you needed to do was to sink into it so effortless. People don’t know how much sweat you poured behind the scenes, in order to deliver with such brilliance.

You always kept it real.

And though insecurities and jealousy can throw javelins of judgments and rumors your way, you had a castle of confidence positive energy like water, flowed through the moat surrounding you and only respect could enter your gates because you treated everyone like a queen and a king so you deserved to be treated the same way. You’re a force of positivity and respect on our campus, no matter what they say.

When the music played, I knew you would bring it matter fact. You would bring it even before the music played because you told me that everything was dance from our pulse, to our breath, to our walk as a carrier of light. You’re a poet of kinetics from the flick of your finger, the passion in your eyes, to the tips of your toes so in everything I do. I’ve made it a point to dance with such commitment as you.

I’ve witnessed you become a leader.

We started a student association together. Created events that became new Dominican traditions. Built a family through our need to rediscover our cultural heritage. You were an RA. In ASDU you took initiative when many just complained. We opened up to each other in LeaderShape.

We studied abroad together and became lost in a new world. We seized the spirit of our new places, traveled and wished we could bring it all home from there. We were homesick between multiple places.

You told me about your stories from NCUR. The researches you conducted, the labs you interned for and how meaningful your work has become for you. Your life was fulfilled when you opened up a child’s confidence. When you taught someone how to walk again. When you cured another of their maladies, with medications, therapy and noble intentions. When you made relationships in the office, the classroom, the hospital, the field when your patient held on to you until their last breath of life, as they finally rested their eyes thankful to know that you were with them until the end.

I would often come across, the oh-so glorious smell of your sweaty lacrosse gear on my way to open-gym. You told me about your sports tournaments in Hawaii, representing the Penguins the toughest, most rugged mascot in the NCAA. OK, well maybe not rugged, but the coolest.

You told me how much it meant for you to work as a nurse in Uganda to acknowledge the privilege you’ve been granted here and apply your work where it matters the most. In places where each drop of water is a diamond . Where poverty and smiles coexist. Where the little things are celebrated. Where a few minutes, a few cents, just a bit more love and care, saved a life. And you wondered why our human greed has denied others of this. That their simple needs are sacrificed by our first-world indulgence for luxury and extravagance.

We’ve seen each other wear multiple uniforms and hats witnessed each others’ success as well as mistakes. We spent all-nighters together because 90 percent of the time, we didn’t pace our selves well enough to sleep right. Our cram of studies included countless Jack-in-the-Box runs, even Sol Food, if we had the money to spend. But in the end, we got it together hence why we’re here.

We had differences and lost friendships. And when it comes to the problems of the world, with poverty, social and political injustices, the damages on our environment, everyone has their own way of seeing things, with opinions on how these things are to be addressed.  But each day, with our differences of where we’re from, we saw how much we had in common in this Dominican park where we sometimes shared 14 meals together in a week with a chance to say hi to each other at least thrice in one day and knew each other on a first-name basis or by nicknames and inside jokes. We saw each other as human beings like ourselves no matter how distant our upbringing, how varying our personality, how clear the color line, how established the gender role, how imbalanced the class, how long the generation gap, how conflicting the belief, and how alienating the culture.

Getting to know you this well wasn’t what I intended to do but being with you throughout college was the greatest experience I could ask for.  I learned about you in profound ways. There is much more about you than I first thought and you taught me much about myself, beyond the superficial armor I chose to wear coming in. This is what makes our experience special, an eye-opening experience that many people may never have. An eye-opening experience that reminds us to keep our eyes open because life is so large and complex. Our bubble of a world in this park is the tip of the iceberg so as Penguins, let us swim and march to new lands. Like the Dominican Sisters who wore Habits and chartered this college, with merely a vision, commitment to serve, scarce resources, and the ability to bake delicious cookies.

One person who comes from a different world is merely a portal, to what else we’re missing before we explore these portals we can’t miss out on due recognition:
 Let us thank our wonderful administration, and the legacy that the Dominican Sisters have left us, for having a vision that we were nurtured in.

Let’s us thank our faculty: from the school of Business and Leadership Education and Counseling Psychology Health and Natural Sciences my school - Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Service-Learning, the Pathways programs and all other programs. We can all go on about our favorite professors. I have many great things to say about them, except it would be unfair for me to do so if only I could share.

Let us thank the office of Student Life, Campus Ministry, our career and internship offices, and alumni relations for bringing our Dominican experiences full-circle by sharing Dominican traditions, staying true to its ideals, keeping us bonded and included in the community.

Let us thank them in advance, as they keep us connected to our Alma Mater and help determine our future paths.

Let us thank the great workers, the staff and facilities crews who do the work we take for granted they prepare to work at dusk, in the night, and at dawn so that we can study and enjoy this place during the day they have kept our community clean, safe, our facilities functional, our files in order, and our food well-prepared.

Last but not least, let us thank our families our mothers, our fathers, our parental figures, our children, our siblings, our best friends, our relatives, our mentors, our community from our hometown through the ups and downs. We can’t count how many times they’ve been there for us they are the most meaningful relationship we will ever have.

Let us remember all that we have here.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and inhale all the life you can. Exhale a future of endless possibilities. Feel the touch of the souls of your loved ones, those who are here and those who are far away.

Open your eyes. Look at the sky and remember the dreams. Of our loved ones who have passed away. Right now I’m thinking about my Pops.  This prayer is dedicated to them. To Jordan Fromm.  To Beto Hernandez. To Johnathan Maloney, his wife, their two children. And Steven Culbertson.

May our work come to life through the seeds of their souls and dreams as they rest in power within our hearts pumping life to the palms of our hands, and the arches of our feet. Yes, our life’s work leads to endless possibilities. I’m looking forward to a time when I call you, about your research and the work you did to ask if you are interested on collaborating on a project. If you want to start a business with me. If I could send my niece and nephew to your clinic or your school. When I could ask about our reunion or if we could simply hang out, get a few drinks and some crack jokes.

Let’s stay in touch. Because truly, all we have at the end of the day is our vision, our story, and each other. May the world be our Dominican park where we learn in similar ways as we did here.  May we bring souvenirs from our travels back to our communities. May we be humbled in awe of how great life is, how little we actually are yet how much difference our work can make for others’ lives may our senses. Be F-R-E-E , Forever Reborn Eyes and Ears.

May we be the ethical leaders and responsible global citizens we were set out to be. May we end the wars in the Middle East, reinvest on healthcare and education, heal our environment with conservation, renewable energy sources, sustainable practices may we recognize workers’ equity, and peoples’ rights around the world often times we forget, that even Jesus of Nazareth was among the poor and oppressed.

So let us pay attention to other people and reconstruct our world economy that relies on child labor, the prostitution of women and the poor in the third world, deforestation and toxic disposal. I ask all of us to be the solution, by picking one battle, and fighting with our ethics and with purpose.

 I’ll end by sharing with you a challenge I tell myself: I want you to die, as many times as necessary to rekindle the yearning of a new born baby. I want you to fly, suspicious mysterious and scary like an alien denied of their humanity. I want you to be the dusk that welcomes the dark so we’ll open our eyes when we’re trying to act smart be a typhoon, nature’s protective arm to clear the fires of war that they’re trying to start.  I’d prefer your ship sunk under a sea of harsh tests than see you remain in an island of regret . Do not believe in ghosts who wander after death. Do your best and die peacefully in your last breath practice, t he theory that you study to serve. May community save you when you fall to your worst. May you reflect on these words: The process never ends, your spirit committed to progress, forever will stand.

Cheers, Class of 2012. Let’s rock the world!

“I believe that an opportunity to experience a country that is on the cusp of establishing a world-class education is one that will perhaps come once in a lifetime and a chance to contribute in a small way to it will be beyond comparison,” Appavoo said.

Beginning fall 2012, Appavoo plans to spend 10 months working in collaboration with the Republic’s Center for Continuing Education (CCE), the Maldives National University, and the Maldives College of Higher Education teaching and offering professional development seminars in developing, designing, implementing, and assessing online courses for educators, specifically in teacher preparation and educational leadership programs.

Universal primary education is mandated as part of the Republic’s Strategic Plan 2009-2013. As a result, the demand for teachers has increased exponentially.  While the government is working to develop a new cadre of teachers – often sending prospective teachers overseas to get educated – demand for teachers has outpaced supply.

 “One of the primary challenges facing the archipelago is to develop a national cadre of educators, primarily a critical mass of effective teachers who can serve as the vanguard for both intellectual and economic development,” Appavoo said.

One key challenge, however, rests with the fact that licensed teachers are required to complete 15 hours of professional development, a task made challenging due to the widespread dispersal of primary schools located in the 198 inhabited islands.

Appavoo, who has more than 15 years experience designing courses in education for online learning in both exclusively virtual and hybrid formats, is uniquely suited to solve challenges posed by physical distances and a dispersed population of both teachers and students. While the Republic’s CCE has created a Teachers Virtual E-Learning Environment and created Teacher Resource Center hubs, the center is overwhelmed by demand, Appavoo said.

 “I believe that the current technology infrastructure in the Maldives and the wide availability of the Internet presents a unique context to develop and apply online and hybrid models of learning that can bridge not only the geographic  distances between the islands, but also substantially decrease systemic inequities in education for all students.”

Appavoo will draw on his own experiences in teacher preparation and K-12 instruction to help train prospective teachers, enable new ways of using technology for instruction, and enhance the teaching-learning process. The Republic’s curriculum reform efforts aim to preserve the national culture while at the same time addressing issues of educational inequity among its citizenry – areas that align closely with Appavoo’s own background and his work at Dominican.

Appavoo, who came to the United States from Southern India to enroll in undergraduate studies in 1984, has headed up Dominican’s Office of Diversity Initiatives since 2001. In recent years he has worked in partnership with Marin County-based nonprofit Education, Excellence, and Equity (E3) on an annual Engaging Pedagogy Summer Institute designed to train K-12 teachers in culturally competent teaching and learning with the overarching goal of increasing engagement and learning for all students.

One model Appavoo helped to developed in partnership with Dr. JuanCarlos Arauz, E3’s executive director and an adjunct professor in Dominican’s School of Education and Counseling Psychology, is to use the cultural competencies and skills that many children of color and members of disenfranchised communities bring to the table as the core basis for engaging learning.

Many students involved with the E3 program already have cross cultural experiences, Appavoo explained.

“Our students come from immigrant communities and communities of color. So, simply going to school is a cross cultural experience. They have already learned to navigate social structures and survive. This shows they understand and observe cultural patterns and react accordingly, and that they are able to show a high level of resilience in surviving in what might be unfriendly environments.”

“This is important because as educators we can show students that they already have important skills – and we show how these skills can be used in the work environment, as an example, when training employees to work in teams effectively.”

Of his own teaching philosophy, Appavoo says he remains inspired by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, whose work focused on the belief that education is not something you do to people, or for people, but rather something you do with people.

“My approach to teaching reflects a dialogic process wherein the students are engaged in a process of collective joint inquiry with me. Specifically, my classes reflect multiple modalities of engagement, with a mix of simulations, discussions, critical inquiry, and reflective practice that speaks to the thinking-feeling-acting paradigm in very innovative ways.”

Te Koi, a senior Biological Sciences major from New Zealand, chose to come to Dominican in 2008 following a basketball-playing trip to Marin County with her Rotorua High School team. She spent her freshman year living with the family of Mike Dibley, a former Redwood High School basketball coach.

While diving for a loose ball on the floor, Te Koi suffered major ligament damage to her left knee on Jan. 27, 2011. She missed the first seven games this season, but scored 35 points in her first three games once she returned and wound up starting 17 of the team’s 18 PacWest games. Te Koi, the NAIA’s California Pacific Conference Freshman of the Year in 2009, averaged 7.6 points per game as senior and led the team in 3-point shooting percentage.

Hislop has been a mainstay for the Lady Penguins softball team, starting 155 of 157 games she played at Dominican, including all 47 this season. She had career single-season bests with  110 at bats and seven doubles this season and also led the team in runs batted in.

An Occupational Therapy major out Moreau Catholic High School, Hislop started and finished strong this season. She had two hits and three RBIs in the Penguins’ season-opening win over Metro State of Denver and made a couple of standout defensive plays at first base  on the final day of the season on Senior Day against Notre Dame de Namur.

Lewis, a business administration major who was Dominican’s Student Body President as a junior, finished his senior year in style for the Penguins. They won eight of their last 11 games and Lewis scored 91 points in that span, including a career-high 19 at Hawai’i Hilo on Feb. 18.

The 6-foot guard out of Canyon High School in Canyon Country played 102 games in his four-year career with the Penguins. He led the team this season in 3-point field goals and was second on the team in free throw shooting percentage. In his Dominican career he connected on 76 percent (119-of-157) of his foul shots.

Dominican also recognized its top scholar student-athletes of the year on Sunday. Senior soccer defender Katie Brown (Business) and junior volleyball player LaShelle Rullan (Occuptional Therapy) were the top scholars among the Penguins’ female student-athletes while senior Reed Upson (Business), the school’s all-time leading scorer in lacrosse, and soccer goalkeeper Casey Gibson (Communications) were named the best scholars among Dominican’s male student-athletes.

Members of the Penguins’ coaching staff also handed out individual awards for student-athletes on their teams this season for being the “most outstanding” and “newcomer” plus winner of the “Coach’s Award.” The recipients of those awards by sport were:
MEN'S SOCCER -- Most Outstanding Player, David Mendez; Coach’s Award, Sam Vella; Newcomer of the Year, Cory Vanderpool.
WOMEN'S SOCCER -- Most Outstanding Player, Shayna Elkins; Coach's Award, Katie Brown; Newcomer of the Year, Megan Hanson.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL -- Most Outstanding Player, Jessica Jones; Coach's Award, Kelsey Lardner; Newcomer of the Year, Katy Batchelder.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY -- Most Outstanding Player, Kevin So; Coach's Award, Josh Tegeler; Newcomer of the Year, Adam Scott.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY -- Most Outstanding Player, Keara Teeter;  Coach's Award, Kendra Woodglass; Newcomer of the Year, Ally Rosemond.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL -- Most Outstanding Player, Kimi Nakamura;  Coach’s Award, Taki Te Koi; Newcomer of the Year, Sarah Nelson.
MEN'S BASKETBALL -- Most Outstanding Player, Xander McNally; Coach's Award, Mark Lewis; Newcomer of the Year, Jammall Clark.
MEN'S GOLF --  Most Outstanding Player, Kevin Santos;  Coach's Award, Sean Kawaguchi;  Newcomer of the Year,  Tom Morris.
WOMEN'S GOLF --  Most Outstanding Player, Kari Young; Coach's Award, Noelle Mathew; Newcomer of the Year, Victoria Grajeda.
MEN’S LACROSSE -- Most Outstanding Player, Austin Franks; Coach’s Award, Reed Upson; Newcomer of the Year, Brian Raaka.
WOMEN’S SOFTBALL -- Most Outstanding Player, Kayleigh Klingberg; Coach’s Award, Kellie Hislop; Newcomer of the Year, Leslie Mesa.
WOMEN’S TENNIS -- Most Outstanding Player, Irina Morozova; Coach’s Award, Jamie Fernandez; Newcomer of the Year, Gaby Verspieren.

“It's a great honor,” Lewis says. “To be selected as the only intern out of the Dominican campus makes me feel incredibly blessed and fortunate. I'm excited that I will have the chance to see how policy is actually made, hear constituent concerns, see how policies actually affect individuals, states, and the nation at large. I am very glad that I get to actively participate in passing legislation that I care about, and that I will get to learn more about all the issues facing the district for which I will be working as well as the country.

Lewis credits Alison Howard, chair of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, and Christian Dean, professor and pre-law advisor, for encouraging her to apply and guiding her through the process.

“Dominican helped me achieve this for several reasons, the first and most obvious being that it is one of the few schools that have the opportunity to participate in the program,” Lewis says. “Dominican has wonderful staff that are super encouraging and supportive, and even my professors that aren't in the political science department were encouraging me to go for it and were thrilled to find I had received  it. They do their jobs wonderfully, which I believe is part of the reason I was selected.”

“The professors here are highly competent and convey their subject matter clearly and effectively,” she adds. “They therefore helped prepare me by enhancing my writing abilities, critical thinking and analyzing skills, and just making sure I really learned the material. All of the professors here have played a role in my receiving this internship, even if it was only a small, indirect one.”

Lewis will spend two weeks in August training at the Panetta Institute at CSU Monterey Bay then 11 weeks in Washington, D.C., working full time in the office of a congressional representative. She is a member of Dominican’s Harry Potter LLC, located in Meadowlands Hall. She also works as store manager for Silbermann's Ice Cream in Terra Linda.

Farrow's speech will be streamed live through Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM), public access cable televison. Click on http://cmcm.tv/special to view the commencement address.

Radio Dominican will broadcast the entire commencement ceremony. Click on http://radio.dominican.edu to listen live.

Farrow has most recently served as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues and the director of the State Department’s Office of Global Youth Issues. He recently was named a Rhodes Scholar and will begin studies at the University of Oxford in Fall 2012. Farrow was Bard College’s youngest ever graduate at age 15, among the youngest students ever admitted to Yale Law School at age 16, and the youngest State Department political appointee on record at age 21.

About 160 students will participate in Dominican’s graduate ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. in Conlan Recreation Center. Gaulding is a founder and director of Sage Partners, LLC, an advisory and investment firm providing capital and strategic counsel to emerging growth companies. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dominican University of California.

For more information about Dominican Commencement 2012, click here  Commencement or visit the Commencement page on the University's website.

BIOGRAPHY

Ronan Farrow
As Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues and director of the State Department’s Global Youth Issues office, Farrow has served as the senior US official on youth engagement during a critical time of youth-led unrest. Farrow and Secretary Clinton founded the State Department’s first Office of Global Youth Issues to engage young people as economic and civic actors through U.S. programs, encourage governments to respond to youth through US diplomacy, and directly engage young people around the world.

He assumed his current role following two years as the State Department’s Special Adviser for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, overseeing the U.S. Government’s relationships with civil society and non-governmental actors.

Prior to joining the State Department, he served as Spokesperson for Youth at UNICEF, working with youth groups on the AIDS epidemic in Nigeria, on post-war reconstruction efforts in Angola, and in the Darfur region of Sudan.

His writings on humanitarian and human rights issues have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal, and he has appeared on MSNBC, ABC and CNN, among others, advocating for children associated with armed conflicts.

In 2009, Farrow was named by New York Magazine as their “New Activist” of the year and included on their list of individuals “on the verge of changing their worlds.” In 2010, Harper’s Bazaar named him their “up-and-coming politician of the year.” In 2011, Forbes named him to the “30 Under 30” list of high-achieving young people.

John R. Gaulding
John R. Gaulding is private investor and advisor in the fields of strategy, organization, and governance.  He serves on the boards of directors for Yellow Media, Inc., Canada's leading internet company, and for Monster Worldwide, Inc., parent of the leading global careers portal Monster.com.  He has also served on the boards of ANTS Software, Inc., Ortel, Inc., and National Insurance Group, Inc. where he was also Chairman and CEO.  In addition, Mr. Gaulding was non-executive Chairman of Novo Media, one of the first digital agencies in San Francisco, and of Get Me In, a London-based provider of secondary ticketing systems in Europe.

Previously, Mr. Gaulding was President and CEO of ADP Claims Solutions Group and President and CEO of Pacific Bell Directory.  Earlier in his career, he was a senior partner in two global management consulting firms and more recently was a senior advisor to the global strategy practice of Deloitte.

Mr. Gaulding has served on the Board of Trustees of Dominican University of California for fifteen years, and is now completing his third term as chairman.

Mr. Gaulding holds a BS degree in Engineering from UCLA and an MBA with honors from the University of Southern California, where he has taught and served on the Board of Visitors.

“We are bringing together our vast resources in the area to help grow companies, scalable ventures with strong value propositions,” said John Stayton, Co-Founder and Director of Venture Greenhouse. “Marin County has all the pieces to have a vibrant entrepreneurial community.”

The Venture Greenhouse is a pioneering, early-stage business incubator providing an intensive acceleration process for growing companies that have the potential for significant environmental and social benefits.  VG’s 5,000 square foot  “innovation engine” houses up to 12 companies at a time, with the goal of graduating companies within one year. VG is currently accepting applications for their next intake of client companies.

Inspired by Dominican’ s groundbreaking Green MBA program, the Venture Greenhouse is a growth accelerator for budding social and environmental entrepreneurs, a learning laboratory for the University’s business students, and a community resource for innovators, investors, sustainability advocates and new ventures.

Among the core clients who will be participating in “Marinnovation” on May 17 are Urban Algae, Skip to Renew, CadTrak, Clearly Next, Trimtab Media, Pulpwork, ECOlunchbox and Neozyte.

To RSVP or for more information, visit www.marinnovation.org.

The Venture Greenhouse opened in February of 2011. In its first year, VG worked with eight client companies. Since then, two client companies have graduated (Illumalighting/Evolvelectric and Next Phase Solar) and two new clients have joined VG (Urban Algae and Cadtrak Engineering).

An accelerator is a form of business incubator with an intensive business development process that helps new ventures to achieve rapid growth and greater success in the marketplace.

Companies currently involved with the Venture Greenhouse focus on a wide variety of sustainable issues, including, biofuel production, bio-based chain lubricants, water filtration, recycled-content packaging, employment coaching, and non-toxic lunchware.

Client companies pay a nominal monthly fee of $100 per person to help pay for utilities. Client companies can have a maximum of three people with offices in the facility. The Venture Greenhouse also may take equity stakes in client ventures. While some clients may continue to hold other jobs, their priority should be the creation of new employment for themselves and others with the launch of their enterprises. Selection criteria include companies focused on environmental and social impact and financial viability.

Venture Greenhouse was founded by Dominican faculty members John Stayton and Paul Bozzo, and Stuart Corvin, a local businessman who was formerly the owner of Cal Steam Supply.

In addition to being a year-long accelerator program, Venture Greenhouse’s mission is to help generate jobs for Marin County, provide a learning laboratory for the university’s business students, and serve as community resource for innovators and new ventures.

Venture Greenhouse has established working relationships with Keiretsu Forum, North Bay Angels, Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, SBDC, Marin Economic Forum and regional economic development offices.

Media Contact: Sarah Gardner, Director, Communications & Research, sarah.gardner@dominican.edu, 415-485-3239.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) selected an abstract of this research to be presented at the ASBMB annual meeting at the Experimental Biology 2012 conference in San Diego on April 23.

Breast cancer results from the abnormal growth of the cells in the mammary gland. The normal growth of mammary gland epithelial cells is modulated by the circulating levels of estrogen, a hormone produced by the ovaries.  The activity of estrogen is stimulated by the estrogen receptor (ER). Heavy metals such as cadmium can act as endocrine disruptors and mimic estrogen, thereby disrupting the hormone dependent pathways.

While other studies have shown links between acute cadmium exposure and activation of the ER, Louie’s study is one of few to focus on chronic cadmium exposure and breast cancer.

“The relationship between cancer and chronic exposures at low levels is important to understand because most people are not exposed to high levels of heavy metals, unless they work in manufacturing plants that deal with such metals,” Louie said.

“Unfortunately, cadmium is all around us. Cadmium is in our food, our water, our makeup, and our air. Understanding the role that cadmium plays in the progression of breast cancer is extremely important in order to find better ways to prevent the disease from advancing.”

Louie has received two National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to study cadmium’s relationship with breast cancer. Research supported by the first grant demonstrated that acute cadmium exposure stimulates breast cancer cell growth and activates estrogen receptor regulated gene expression.  These findings were published in 2010 in the peer-reviewed journal, Molecular Endocrinology.

The work presented at Experimental Biology 2012 is a follow up study looking at the effects of chronic cadmium exposure on breast cancer progression in a cell culture model that Louie developed in the lab. The study indicates that chronic exposure to cadmium can contribute to the development of more malignant characteristics in breast cancer cells.

“Many of us are exposed to very low levels of cadmium from the environment on a daily basis, and our research shows that even small concentrations of this metal at prolonged exposures can cause breast cancer cell growth.”
Cadmium is produced mainly as a byproduct from mining, smelting, and refining sulfidic ores of zinc, lead, and copper. Rocks mined to produce phosphate fertilizers also contain varying amounts of cadmium. Cadmium also is found in rechargeable batteries and cigarette smoke. Cadmium enters the body through consumption of contaminated food or water, or inhalation of cigarette smoke.

The research was conducted by Louie, along with her graduate student Esmeralda Ponce and undergraduate student Natalie Aquino in Louie’s lab at Dominican University of California. Louie’s research is supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Ponce also is the recipient of an NIH grant under the institute’s Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research program. Ponce’s grant covers her graduate studies at Dominican.

Louie’s preliminary data show an increase in the ability of breast cancer cells to migrate and invade through the extracellular matrix with prolonged cadmium exposure. The extracellular matrix is the outer barrier of an organ or tissue. Increased invasive and migration abilities are characteristic of cancer cells’ ability to spread. Louie discovered that MCF-7 cells chronically exposed to cadmium express higher levels of SDF-1, a protein associated with tumor invasion and metastasis.

How specific proteins, including SDF-1, contribute to the aggressive characteristics of the cadmium exposed cells requires further research, and understanding their role in cadmium-induced carcinogenesis will provide further insights to how heavy metals contribute to breast cancer progression.

Experimental Biology is an annual gathering of six scientific societies that this year is expected to draw 14,000-plus independent scientists and exhibitors.

 Media Contact: Sarah Gardner, 415-485-3239, Sarah.Gardner@Dominican.edu.

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, in her 10th term as the United States’ representative from California’s 6th District, spoke at the “Sustainability Showcase.” It is a grant -- researched and created by a team of four faculty members and five student interns -- that impacts many departments at Dominican involved with sustainability-related work.

• The Green MBA: The leading MBA program in Sustainable Enterprise.
• The Venture Greenhouse: Green Business Incubator in San Rafael.
• The Sustainable Practices Certificate: Professional development in Sustainability.
• The Environmental Finance Center: Building Green Economies.
• Bon Appétit Catering: Sustainable Food Service on Campus.
• Environmental Research: Environmental Preservation through Scientific Research.
• Campus Natural History: A 100-Year History in Valuing Nature.
• Campus Sustainability Assessment: Sustainability Tracking & Assessment Rating System.

The “Sustainability Showcase”  followed two other Earth Day events on campus:  an Education Fair outside Caleruega Dining Hall and a Local Food Reception on the Meadowlands Hall lawn.

All events were free and open to the public.

For more information, call 415-828-5451 or email Allison Chapman, Earth Day Event Planner, at Allison.chapman@greenmba.com or visit www.SustainableDominican.org.

Dr. Garbelotto trained about 10 participants to identify SOD symptoms; explained the details of the sampling/collection process; and distributed necessary collection materials to participants.  Once the samples are collected, the UC Berkeley diagnostic laboratory, at no charge, will analyze each collected sample through microscopic and DNA analyses to determine the presence or absence of P. ramorum/SOD.

Dr. Garbelotto said Marin remains a hot-spot for SOD. Following a SOD Blitz at Dominican last year, 18 of the 51 samples collected were positive for SOD. This 35% positive rate was the highest in the state. A very large number of the positive samples came from Mill Valley on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, which not far from where the California SOD infestation presumably started.

 The Garbelotto lab has genotyped all isolates from Marin, in a way similar to human genetic profiling used in legal criminal cases.  Thanks to the presence of a large genetic database at UC Berkeley, the identity and movement of any SOD genotype can be inferred. These analyses will ensure the pathogen strains used at NORS-DUC will be monitored at all times.

Researchers have discovered that Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen that causes SOD, spreads most often on infected California bay laurel leaves. It is threatening the survival of tanoak and several oak species in California. Currently, SOD has been discovered in 14 coastal California counties from Monterey to Humboldt.

SOD-blitzes inform and educate communities about Sudden Oak Death and get locals involved in detecting the disease, training them to collect samples for testing and data to help produce detailed local maps of disease distribution. Maps then can be used to identify those areas where the infestation may be mild enough to justify proactive management.

 The goal of SOD-Blitz public meetings are:
• Train participants to identify SOD symptoms on California bay laurel and other hosts.
• Explain the details of the sampling/collection process (number of samples, bagging, storing, tagging, distance between sampled trees).
• Explain how to record the sample location (address, GPS, etc.).
• Explain how to fill out the collection form.
• Define collection areas for each participant.
• Distribute necessary materials to participants (forms, bags, markers, GPS units, laminated pictorial identification cards).

Thanks to funding from State and Private Forestry through the U.S. Forest Service, Dr. Garbelotto has organized SOD-Blitzes in the Bay Area to inform and educate community about Sudden Oak Death.  

 NORS-DUC is the first nursery facility in the United States dedicated to the study of diseases of ornamental plants in a simulated nursery setting.  NORS-DUC was being created with a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture through the 2008 Farm Bill.

Scientists from the national and international research community currently are conducting studies at NORS-DUC focused on understanding and controlling Phytophthora ramorum and ramorum blight on nursery stock.

For more information, contact Sarah Gardner, Dominican’s Director of Research and Communications, at (415) 485-3239 or sarah.gardner@dominican.edu. Or log onto the NORS-DUC website at www.dominican.edu/norsduc or the SOD-Blitz Announcement page at http://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelotto/english/sodblitz.php.

On April 21, mass was observed at the St. Catherine Benincasa Chapel starting with a social hour following in Legacy Hall and on the porch of the Heritage and Alumni House. Reunion classes were recognized at the Anniversary Luncheon in the Shield Room at Caleruega Dining Hall.

Alumni was treated to a campus tour  on April 21 and some watched  the Alumni soccer game on the new athletics field at Forest Meadows or visited the Marin Tennis Club where Dominican was hosting the Pacific West Conference Women’s Tennis Championships. The day ended with a Young Alumni social hour at the Flatiron Grill in downtown San Rafael from 5-7 p.m.

On April 22, Dominican alumni were admitted free of charge to attend a recital by San Francisco Symphony violist Jonathan Vinocour in Dominican’s Guest Concert Series. The concert was in Angelico Hall.

"Dominican raised the bar for future PacWest tennis tournaments," said Dixie State coach Eric Pelton.

Joining Dominican and the undefeated Seasiders in the eight-team tournament are fifth-ranked Hawai’i-Pacific University, University of Hawai’i-Hilo, Chaminade University, Grand Canyon University, Dixie State College and Academy of Art University of San Francisco.

Singles and doubles competition began on April 19 with quarterfinal matches on the 12-court complex at Marin Tennis Club. Host Dominican, seeded eighth, faced top-seeded BYU-Hawaii on Courts 2-7.

Other quarterfinal match-ups were No. 2 seed Hawai'i Pacific vs. No. 7 seed Dixie State, No. 3 seed Grand Canyon vs. No. 6 seed Hawai'i Hilo and No. 4 seed Academy of Art vs. No. 5 seed Chaminade.

Semifinal matches were on April 20 and team championship finals matches were played on April 21 at Marin Tennis Club.

Consolation finals matches on April 21 were played at the Terra Linda High School courts.

The host Penguins were led by sophomore Irina Morozova, a native of Ukraine who is Dominican’s top player out of West Bay High School in San Carlos. She and her doubles partner – Fair Oaks’ Gaby Verspieren, a transfer from NCAA Div. I  Gonzaga – had a winning record as the Penguins’ No. 1 team.

The No. 1 player at the PacWest Women’s Tennis Championships was BYU-Hawaii junior I-Hsuan (Annie) Hwang from Tainan City, Taiwan. She is undefeated  in her two-year career with the Seasiders. Teammate Shoaozhuo (Sherry) Li, a freshman, is undefeated as BYU-Hawaii’s No. 2 singles player this year.

Other No. 1 players in the three-day tournament at Dominican were Grand Canyon’s Katharina Mittag from Germany, Hawai’i-Pacific’s Zora Vlckova from the Czech Republic, Chaminade’s Yanita Arnaudova from Bulgaria, Academy of Art’s Kunkanda “Cartoon” Phukchampa from Thailand, Hawai’i-Hilo’s Melanie Viriyapunt from Santa Ana and Dixie State’s Krista Anderson from St. George, Utah.

The tournament was sponsored by Macys.com, State Farm Insurance, Brad Gilbert’s Tennis Nation in San Rafael, Post Street Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Corte Madera and Private Wealth Partners of Larkspur.