USD Magazine, Summer 2004

Do you recognize this man? "Trif" in his early days at USD.

A Long Wait for Graduation Day Thirty-five years afi:er he first enrolled at USD, Bill Anderson walked across the stage in May as one of this year's more than 2,000 graduates. The 2004 commencement cere– monies, held from May 22-23, rec–

Breaking Boundaries Many college students spend spring break lounging on the beach without a care in the world, but a handful of USD students used their vacation to care for people in other parts of the world. As part of an alternative spring break sponsored by the Center for Community Service-Learning, nine students and one admin istrator traveled ro Honduras and mer up with Pearl Ly '00, a Peace Corps volumeer. The group painted a school, led dental hygiene clinics for children, built wood-burning sroves for families, visited with AIDS patients and played a game of soccer

"She said I just might like it here, and when I walked into Founders Chapel the first time, I knew right away this was where I wanted to be," he says. "I just didn't know it would be for 30 years." Even as an undergraduate, Burke recalls, Trifiletti was an advocate for students, adding that he quickly became used to the resident assistant from OeSales (now Mal1er) Hall dropping by his office. "He was never shy about telling us when this or that wasn't being done," Burke says. "Housekeeping issues, the kinds of food in the dining hall, just about anything you can imagine, he'd come to us with suggestions to make it better. Students today can never know how many little things that they take for granted started with Trif. " Trifiletti did not limit his critiques of campus life to discussions with Burke. Once, while driving with friends through campus, Trifiletti noticed a woman picking flowers from one of the beds near the west entrance to campus. "He stops and says, 'By what right do you pick those flowers?"' recalls USO President Emeritus Author E. Hughes with a laugh. "Back in those days, budgets were pretty tight, and my wife used to pick flowers to make the centerpieces for the formal dinners we'd have. When he realized it was the president's wife he was talking to, he was a little embarrassed."

ognized the hard work and dedica– tion of 1,177 undergraduate students, 568 graduate stu– dents and 374 law stu– dents. Among them was rhe

Bill Anderson

53-year-old Anderson, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in art, with honors. Anderson, an adm inistrative services manager at USD's School of Law, starred as an undergraduate student in 1969 and was one class away from gaining junior status when he dropped out, traveled the world and enlisted in the Marine Corps. He returned ro USD in 1991 as an employee and lacer a student, juggling coursework with his daytime duties ofscheduling classes and programs at the law school. "Ac my age, ro cell you the truth, I hadn't thought much about what an accompl ishmenc (graduating) was until ochers scarred celling me," Anderson says. "Bue when it came from ochers - t)Ot just family and friends, but people in academia who have been around the block - it made me stop and think. "

The student team helped familes build wood-burning stoves.

with children at an orphanage. The trip, March 12-20, was organized by USD senior Lea Troeh. "We weren't there ro save or change Honduras," says Troeh. "We did things we could do here in San Diego or in our own homerowns. Service doesn't have boundaries."

Former crew coach Joe Flohr, accompanied by alumni Stephen Plourd '78, Bill Plourd '78, Brian Dunn '78 and John Trifiletti '78. Later that afternoon, a fl.oral centerpiece was delivered to the Hughes home with a card from Trifiletti. "We thought that was a wonderful gesture, but even more wonderful was this kid who thought so much of his campus that he spoke up when he thought it was being defaced," Hughes says. "It's not surprising to me he has been so dedicated to USO for so long. He truly loves the place." Though he now is moving on professionally, Trifiletti says his personal ties to USO will never be broken. "There are so many people - alumni, students, parents, colleagues - I have met here who I know will be lifelong friends ," he says. "Thar's what the wondrous part of my experience here has been. There are too few places in the world like USO, and I am blessed to be a part of it."