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92
ND
ANNUAL
RING DAY CEREMONY
“Her ring we take, of us a part, encircling
fingers young ‘round her heart. I pledge
to her, a ring to keep, like Woods is
lovely, dark and deep. And I have
promises and miles to go.” With these
words, part of the Ring Song, the 92nd
annual Ring Day ceremony at Saint
Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC)
concluded. Echoes of the recipients’
collective voices beautifully fell on the
hush of the audience in the Church of
Immaculate Conception on Sat.,
March 22, 2014. A total of 81 traditional
campus, Woods Online and graduate
students received their Woods Ring in
the emotionally moving ceremony.
SMWC JOINS RURAL HEALTH
INNOVATION COLLABORATIVE
The Rural Health Innovation
Collaborative (RHIC) welcomed
SMWC as a primary member after
the board of directors of the Terre
Haute-based collaborative approved the
membership application.
“Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is
pleased to become an active member in
this thriving organization to improve
the quality of health care in rural
communities,” said President Dottie
King. “With the launch of our nursing
program, we see this opportunity
as a true collaboration. Our students will
benefit from existing facilities
and a dynamic community of health
care professionals.”
WESTERN TEAM IS REGION’S BEST
On March 7, 2014, the team was
crowned IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse
Show Association) regional champions
for Region 7, Zone 1. For the third
consecutive year, the SMWC western
team led the region for the entire
season against some of the state’s
big name schools such as Ball State
University, Indiana University and
Purdue University.
The team finished ahead of its
competition by an impressive 68 points
by the conclusion of the season.
The team was undefeated in the fall
semester and won all but two shows in
the spring semester.
CELEBRATING FACULTY
EXCELLENCE
To celebrate their commitment, three
SMWC faculty members were recognized
with the 25th annual Sister Mary Joseph
Pomeroy Faculty Excellence Awards for
their high ideals of teaching, scholarship
and service. Recipients of this year’s
awards are Michael Boswell, associate
professor of music - for scholarship;
Jamie McCracken ’99
, associate
professor of business - for service; and
Douglas Scheib, Ph.D., assistant professor
of mathematics - for teaching.
The Alumnae Faculty Leadership Award
is given each year for outstanding faculty
leadership resulting in added benefits
to students. Sharon Boyle, associate
professor and coordinator of the
undergraduate program in music therapy,
is the 2014 recipient of the Alumnae
Faculty Leadership Award.
WOODS ONLINE ACCOUNTING
PROGRAM RANKED TOP 20
SMWC is listed among the best online
accounting programs for the 2014
academic year according to BestColleges.
com. SMWC’s Woods Online accounting
program is recognized as one of the
20 best colleges that offer online
bachelor’s degrees in accounting.
175
TH
COMMENCEMENT
On Sat., May 3, 2014, seventy-six
SMWC students walked across the stage
of Cecilian Auditorium with pride in
their success and achievement. Sharon
Vergez Vercellotti, the president and
founder of V-LABS, INC., delivered
the commencement address to the 2014
graduates – 72 bachelor degrees and 4
master degrees – from 11 states. During
the commencement ceremony, Vercellotti
C A M P U S
N E W S
92nd Annual Ring Day
Western Team is Region’s Best