USD Magazine Fall 2006

LETTERS TO THE EDI TOR

[ c o u n t e r p o i n t s ]

month to the chancery office for deposit into a special building fund. That fund was named“The Little Flower Fund,”in honor of St. Therese, and that is the fund that was used to build the University of San Diego. Now it was clear to me that St. Therese should certainly be hon- ored on our campus, and that she was behind the persistence and prayers of Diana. I asked Bob Baker if he would meet with Diana and her group and consid- er their proposal. He was happy to do so. There were still a few bumps in the road, but these were all smoothed out. Within another year, the project was underway. Lastly, we needed a rose gar- den. I suggested that the presi- dent's rose garden was an ideal location. As a gift to me, it was announced at my farewell that the presidential rose garden behind the Hughes Administra- tion Center would be named the Alice Hayes Rose Garden. I wonder if it shouldn't really be named the Diana Githens Garden! — Alice B. Hayes Former USD President H is for Hoosegow Congratulations on your recent cover story, "The ABC's of Volun- teering" (Spring 2006). It was interesting, provocative and enlightening, and makes one proud to be connected to USD. I was particularly interested in the item titled "T is for Tax Returns." Professor Tom Dalton has been a savvy, dependable friend to us, The Friends of the Poor, for years now, and we couldn't manage without him. No matter how his personal situation changes, he reminds us of the impending nature of the tax returns we must file, and so far has succeeded in

to campus. She and a small group of faculty and staff members came to me five or six years ago and asked me to create a rose garden with a statue of St. Therese. I told them that we had no funds for the project and that I was very reluctant to have a public project for a private devotion. Also, the only statues we had placed on campus could be directly linked to the history of the university or However, Diana did not give up. The following year she proposed that the group would raise funds for the statue and garden, and had identified a potential donor, Bob Baker. Again, I had to deter them. Bob had just given us a major gift, and it didn't seem appropriate to say,“Thank you, I'd like more.”I did promise them that we could look into this the following year. Independent of the St. Therese garden initiative, one of our gradu- ate students was writing a history of Bishop Buddy and the founding of the university. This book described the early days of fund- raising for the campus. The bishop put the burden of building the university on the parishes of San Diego, and directed them to for- ward one Sunday collection a the history of the area; there seemed to be no compelling USD linkage to St Therese.

keeping us out of jail. Or, as he puts it, “in good graces with the government." Our thanks and blessings to Pro- fessor Dalton, without whom things might be a lot harder than they are —and raisingmoney is hard!!! Again, thank you and God bless you all for the great and good things you are doing in so many areas. I'm proud to be an alum! — Anita V. Figueredo, M.D.

Brother Salutes Father I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article on Father Owen Mullen, “The Good Guy” (Summer 2006). “O.J.”— as many of us from the ‘80s know him—made an indeli- ble mark on our lives. The students interviewed for the piece echo the same sentiments as the students from when I was in school. However, I did want to make sure people were aware of his involvement as the advisor and member of Phi Kappa Theta frat- ernity during his tenure here at USD during the ‘80s and early ‘90s. He was integral in saving the group from oblivion when it only had seven members left; by the time he departed, there were over 100 members. Having been one of the hundreds of brothers involved with the group, I want to recognize his involvement with and impact on all of us. — Jack Kelly ‘87 Senior Director, Alumni Relations Little Flower Blooms I always enjoy USD Magazine, and in the most recent issue you encouraged readers to tell you stories. Here is a little more about the article on the Little Flower, “Upon Reflection” (Summer 2006). Writer Kelly Knufken rightly gives credit to Diana Githens for bringing the statue of St. Therese

Warm Fuzzies First-class job on the new issue (Summer 2006). The photos, the content, the layout — all outstanding. The photo of The Immaculata in the back of the magazine was a warm and inspirational close to the issue as well. I am a grad- uate of the USD School of Law and am inspired to get even more involved. — James Waters ’81 Write us ... We welcome letters to the editor about articles in the magazine. Letters may be edited for length and content, and must include a daytime phone number. Write: Editor, USD Magazine , 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110. E-mail: letters@sandiego.edu.

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FALL 2006